im-on-pinecone-duty-blog

[steelthroat]

Ooooh we have the results so I'm taking from both polls the 2 winners:

Last vote

Let it be known I have a favorite... so I sure hope you choose the prettiest mech. Pretty. You know. My favorite pretty guy

:3

[nanamis-bigtie]

lucid love

↬ kinktober 2024 x voting event | round 1

cw: fantasy elements in modern setting, smut, sexual dreams, fictional stimulants, reader with a vagina, BDSM & dark themes present in some rounds, aged up characters available as options in some votings, further warnings vary by story summary: lucid love! the latest fashion on the eropotion market and the absolute must have of everyone you know! a collection of potions providing realistic and vivid erotic dreams has gone viral and become almost unavailable in regular sale. a little potionary in the red-light district is your last hope for finally getting a taste of the most wanted product this october a/n: happy kinktober y'all! little birds chirped you wanted more voting events 💅 this time the game will be a little simpler - you will know characters and know what to expect from each option. i can't promise though it will be easier to choose 🤭 voting and more details at the end of post!

It's so…average. Looks like any other potionary.

It takes you aback at first. You've expected something rather extraordinary, befitting a building located in the red-light district—instead, you're standing in front of a shop that could be easily mistaken for a pharmacy. You even take a double look at Google Maps. The address checks, so does the neon magenta potionist emblem, neatly slotted between signs hung over sex shops, massage parlors and love hotels all around. 

The door is heavy and announces your arrival with an old school bell. Potionary is more spacious than you assumed from the window display, almost soundproof, replacing the street noise with soft jazz music. There's a distinct sweet vanilla smell in the air; you inhale deep, your confusion and uncertainty in no time replaced with relaxation. A simple sensory stimulant, a popular booster trick used in almost all shops nowadays. 

Woman behind the counter peels eyes off a book and stubs her cigarette into a pocket ashtray. She's really pretty despite dark circles under her eyes and intimidating aura surrounding her. At the first glance you know she's not someone to mess with, even if short and petite; she must be a mage, and not just an average amateur mage you can usually meet in potion shops, but a true magic master, maybe even the head behind this business.

The name tag on her white coat doesn't ring any bells, though. Shoko Ieiri. Vibrant, easy to remember.

"Welcome." Her voice is dry, and she speaks a little too silent, forcing you to lean towards her over the counter. "What can I interest you with today?"

Hangover treatment, sexual potency boosters, aphrodisiacs, soft hallucinogens—this is the usual merchandise sold in potionaries from the red-light areas. But you're looking for something else, something you're not even sure if it's currently offered. You tried in three different shops already, three times sold out & no idea when the delivery is coming. Demand is huge, the factory can't follow the appetite of customers, and the prices from the private sellers break records on amazon. 

"Do you maybe have—" 

Half of the sentence in, Shoko's face turns from disinterested to mildly curious. She coils a strand of hair around her finger and smiles, "Lucid Love, right?"

As you nod, she presses a button under the counter. In no time another woman peeks out the backroom, bows at you awkwardly.

"Take the register for me." She moves to the back, then motions you to enring the counter. "And you, come with me."

There's another room, protected by a code lock, small and cluttered. Scents and music don't sneak here, space is filled with shadows and shelves, packed to the brim with boxes and folders. Shoko maneuvers through this labyrinth with ease, leading you to an armchair hidden in a cozy corner. Table lamp provides more light, there's a plate with complimentary cookies and an instant potion kettle, an older, almost vintage, model.

"You're in luck, I'm in good contact with the main designer, so I got a hold on quite an interesting stash extra." Shoko turns the kettle on for you. Waters inside swirls and bubbles, turning from clear to violet within seconds.

"Is the price also…extra?"

"Whom do you take me for?" She laughs. "This is a legal business; I can't sell it above the price tag."

You're handed a mug with the company logo, "It's herbs, dried fruits and a splash of relaxing solution. Clean and organic. Treat yourself."

Drink is sweet, floral and hot—but not hot enough to burn your tongue. When you lean to pour yourself more, you spot a fatigued leaflet folded and hooked under the kettle. 

You peel it out for a closer look.

"Will it be to go or—" Shoko watches you intently. Not until then you realized that the armchair can be spread and morphed into a makeshift bed. 

"Oh, no, I'll test it at my own place."

She doesn't say anything, just leaves you to your own thoughts, to fumble in one of the shelves behind your back. 

"Have you ever tried Lucid Love? Or a similar hallucinogen?" A sudden question makes you flinch. Silence and a tasty, relaxing drink have dulled your senses and let your mind drift away.

"No, never." Potions influencing dreams haven't really grasped your interest before Lucid Love became viral. It wasn't the first of its kind, but it grew in popularity so fast and gathered so many ecstatic reviews that you just couldn't stop the seed of curiosity from growing. You still fought quite long against it, but once you gathered enough spare funds for treats and nights started growing longer and colder… Temptation has become too unbearable to resist.

"Any special interests? Fetishes?" The clatter of boxes and folders move towards left and Shoko's gaze meets yours when you look over your shoulder. 

"None that I can think of now."

"Since it's your first time—" She eventually pulls a thick binder out. "—I'd recommend something simple and well-tried."

She flicks the pages over too fast for you to follow but you recognize the familiar pattern of Lucid Love label and logo. You take a closer look once she finally stops; the folder is full of leaflets describing offered dream scenarios, varying in colors and content warning symbols.

"Those are from last year, the second released collection." Shoko hands you the chosen three. "100% positive reviews. I tested a few from this line myself, they do hit the spot."

Even the paper is magically derived, soft and velvety in your fingers, promising the softest and most pleasant sensations. It takes you a while to focus on text instead. As much as it's tempting to buy all three of them, knowing the tricks of magic stimulants, you took only as much cash as needed for only one.

It may be a difficult choice—but it needs to be made. 

There are 45 prompt & character(s) combos divided into 15 votings, 3 options to choose from per each round. Option with the highest number of votes wins.

This way, you will choose 15 kinktober fics: one shots on shorter (below 2k words) side. Themes vary, from very vanilla, through kink and fetishes, towards dark content and monsterfucking. Everyone will (hopefully) find something for themself 😤

Prompts were selected from my private drafts and are partially pre-written, so I hope I can keep the ~24h per fic tempo, however I don't promise anything. My goal is to fit everything in October, stretching it no further than half of November - but only time will show!

If you don't want to miss fic posting time and next votings, you can ask to be added to a tag list! I'll try to keep more or less the same time of publication (so, 3pm CET) but I can't promise I will always fit there.

Before you ask - I'm not sure if all of the losing options will be eventually written. Some of them for sure, since I've been itching for working with them for a while now, but I often abandon drafts for no reason. So, again, no promises. It's better to fight hard for your favorite option, agenda and voting suasion is encouraged ;)

i'm super excited for this kinktober! and i hope y'all will enjoy the ride the same 🤭

[badnewswhatsleft]

total guitar #160 march 2007 [joe's video]

transcript below cut:

You voted Dance, Dance in at No 57 in TG’s 100 Greatest Riffs, so we managed to collar the dual guitar talents of Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman and Patrick Stump to ask them how they write riffs, who they think is the ultimate riff-writing machine and what they deem to be the top five greatest riffs ever written…

Words: Claire Davies, Images: Joby Sessions

When you look at Fall Out Boy or listen to any one of their albums, it’s easy to dismiss them as pop punk scamps who like to mess around on the guitar but don’t take it that seriously. In some respects you’d be right, but singer/guitarist Patrick Stump and his talented co-guitarist Joe Trohman know quite a bit about writing insanely catchy riffs and playing guitar.

Patrick, for instance, doesn’t respect players who wail unnecessarily over a song. “I like restraint in guitarists,” he says. “It’s easy to go overboard and try to be Eddie Van Halen. But here’s the thing: you’re not.” Joe, on the other hand, is completely obsessed with vintage guitars. “I was really into vintage Gibsons, but I just used to break them all the time and it turned out to be kind of expensive. Now I play Washburns ‘cos they have that same wide-neck feel and pickups as some of those 70s Les Pauls.”

One thing they’re both passionate about, however, is writing great riffs and how you - by expanding your musical horizons - can write one with as much groove as Pantera’s Walk…

So guys, why did you choose guitar and when did you start playing?

Joe Trohman: “I started playing guitar because of Metallica. I used to listen to them loads and when my grandma got me the Live Shit: Binge And Purge video I couldn’t stop watching it. I used to play viola and trombone in my school band, but watching bands like Metallica and Smashing Pumpkins made me wanna play guitar. From the moment I got a cheap $50 guitar, I played it all the time.”

Patrick Stump: “I chose drums to begin with, but my dad was a folk singer in the 70s so he always had a guitar lying around. I’d mess around and write songs on it, but I never fancied myself as much of a player. When the band started I ended up singing, even though I was supposed to be a drummer. Then one of our guitarists quit, I had to fill in and it went from there.”

When you were starting out, which guitarists influenced you?

Joe: “Kirk Hammett and Dimebag had a huge impact on me, as did Billy Corgan. I was into a lot of lead players, I guess, but as I got older I realised how important it was to play rhythm as well. People don’t realise how good a rhythm player James Hetfield is. I also love Johnny Marr, who has probably been my biggest influence so far.”

Patrick: “I’m not a huge Stones fan, but I appreciate Keith Richards’ playing ‘cos it’s all about his riffs. Outside of that, my favourite shit as a guitar player is funk; everyone from James Brown to Prince. I also love jazz player Joe Pass, who is one of the only people good enough to noodle on guitar, and Jesse Johnson who was in a band called The Time from the Prince movie Purple Rain. My favourite solo of his is just one note, but the crazy shit he does with that one note is unreal.”

Moving on to riff-writing, how would you describe a guitar riff?

Joe: “It’s a cool guitar part that catches you instantly. It’s something you can play over and over without it losing its edge.”

Patrick: “Yeah, it’s four bars that are simple and that grab you immediately, like the riff from Janet Jackson’s Black Cat. I think a good riff comes down to a good rhythm section. When you look at a guy like Dimebag, he always got right in there with the bass and drums. Pantera were built on a groove as strong and simple as any R&B groove.”

Joe: “Yeah, Walk has to be one of the simplest riffs ever but it grooves, and that’s what matters: what you do with the riff and how much it grooves.”

So how do you come up with riffs, such as the one on Dance, Dance?

Patrick: “We just fuck around until we come up with something. You’ll come up with a gazillion riffs when trying stuff out, but every so often something will jump in front of you. Once you’ve got your four bars, stuff will start happening. With Dance, Dance I was just sitting in the van and we were all talking about The Cure, and I had this idea of a Cure bass line that they never wrote, which ended up being the riff in Dance Dance.”

What’s the best riff you’ve written?

Patrick: “I really like the riff on Of All The Gin Joints. But The Take Over, The Breaks Over from our new record [Infinity On High] is easily one of our best riffs. I wrote it after reading something Bowie said: that he was sitting around one day and decided that he really wanted to write a riff like Keith Richards did. So he wrote Rebel Rebel. After reading that I thought, ‘Fuck! I wanna do that!’”

What, in your opinion, makes a kick-ass riff?

Joe: “A great riff comes from being part of the rhythm and acknowledging that you’re not gonna produce something totally original. You should listen to loads of different music and put your own spin on it. Like on our last album we wrote a riff that was like Panama by Van Halen. We’ve obviously taken influence from them on that song, but we’re not ripping them off wholesale. Instead it’s like paying homage to them.”

Patrick: “When you’re writing a riff you’re part of the rhythm section and you keep up the tempo and rhythm as if you were the drummer. You have stabs as though you were the snare drum and you’re hitting low notes as though you’re the bass drum, but you’re also controlling the melody. At the end of the day, a riff is something that you can hum and it’s a rhythm you can play on drums. If you have both those qualities in your riff then you’re onto something good.”

What do you think are the Top Five greatest riffs ever written?

Joe: “I love the start of This Charming Man by The Smiths, and Black In Black by AC/DC. Walk by Pantera is probably one of the best riffs ever, same as Battery by Metallica, but if you can’t do triplets and haven’t got tons of stamina then it’s hard to play. I also love South Of Heaven by Slayer just ‘cos it’s so evil sounding.”

Patrick: “Satisfaction by The Stones is the be-all and end-all of riffs. I’d also go for Rebel Rebel by David Bowie, Janet Jackson’s Black Cat, the second section of Bohemian Rhapsody and Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. That one riff alone changed metal as we know it. I also wanna throw in Owner Of A Lonely Heart by Yes ‘cos it’s a great example of having really talented guitarists who still keep it simple.”

Who do you think is the ultimate riff-writing machine?

Joe: “I’d go with Randy Rhoads, just ‘cos I love that riff in Crazy Train. That guy was a genius.”

Patrick: “Angus and Malcolm Young have written so many phenomenal riffs that you can’t do any better than those guys. But I come from an R&B background so I wanna say Prince, just ‘cos Let’s Go Crazy is so awesome. And I also wanna know who wrote the riff to Michael Jackson’s Beat It [TG mentions it was session musician and Toto guitarist Steve Lukather]. Was it Lukather? Yeah, of course it was: he played the riff and Eddie Van Halen played the solo. I wonder why Lukather doesn’t get more recognition? Now you’ve mentioned Lukather, I wanna change one of my Top Five riffs to Toto’s Hold The Line, ‘cos that’s one of my favourite riffs ever!”

How did you approach the guitars on your new album, Infinity On High?

Patrick: “We’re both playing a lot more rhythm on this record, but if there is lead then it’s in much more of a BB King way where there’s a call and response.”

Joe: “My favourite thing about the guitars on our new songs is that I can ad-lib when we’re playing live. I know scales well enough and understand the fretboard well enough to do that. I could never tell you what key something is in, but in my head I know what it is. The cool thing about being in this band is that Patrick and I play guitar really well together, and I’ve learned a lot from watching Patrick and playing guitar with him.”

So can we expect a lot of guitar interplay from you on this album?

Joe: “Patrick also plays piano on this album, so he’s not always on guitar, but we split up a lot of the guitar playing. There’s a solo on The Take Over, The Breaks Over that we split in half when playing live, even though on the record it was done by Chad from New Found Glory and Ryan from Panic! At The Disco. We thought it was cooler to have guest guitarists than guest vocalists. So yeah, we split a lot of the guitar stuff up and switched between rhythm and lead. The weird thing is that I’m always pegged as the lead guitarist of the band, but we always switch back and forth.”

Patrick: “I think in general, I play a lot of the single-note leads and Joe plays a lot of the octave and chord leads.”

Which tracks on the new album best exemplify you guys as guitarists?

Patrick: “The end solo of Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am? Is how I love to solo. It’s real bluesy, which is what I’m about as a player. I’d also say the solo on You’re Crashing But You’re No Wave.”

Joe: “Yeah, that one had a lot of Johnny Marr filler guitar in there, and also Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am? It's filler guitar that doesn’t really jump out at you, but it’s atmospheric and it changes the vibe without you really knowing it.”

Finally, how proud are you as guitarists of your new album?

Patrick: “This is my favourite record because it’s restrained and funny. It’s basic rhythm playing, which is my favourite kind of guitar playing. I’m much happier playing a strong riff 100 times over than playing a kick-ass solo once. We do have kick-ass solos, but the way we write doesn’t always leave that much room for them.”

Joe: “I learned from playing on this album that I don’t need to play solos all the time. I’m proud of the record and proud of the cool riffs and songs that we’ve written together.”

Patrick: “I’m less impressed when someone shows off, and on this record we don’t show off a lot so obviously you should be impressed… I’m kidding!”

[gayforanthonyjcrowley]

So, I have this writing idea, but I might need some help from you guys.

I have this idea where Crowley and Aziraphale go on abc dates, but I need some ideas. This is the list I have so far:

A: alpha Centauri, amusement park, arcade, aquarium, …

B: baking, boat ride, botanical garden, berry picking, backyard camping, bowling, …

C: cooking, circus, concert, craft night, chocolate fondue, …

D: dinner order, drag show, drive-in movie, …

E: eventing, eating escargo, Everest, estate sales, escape room ( no miracles ), enchilada date, elephant back riding, Easter egg hunt, Eden garden, …

F: fishing, filharmony, fruit picking, firework show, …

G: gaming, getting matching tattoos, goat yoga, …

H: hair tutorial remaking, hiking, horseback riding, historical museum, …

I: ice cream, ice skating, ikea shopping, …

J: jazz club, jogging, jacuzzi, jigsaw puzzle, …

K: kayaking, Karaoke, …

L: live music, Lego building, …

M: movie night, museum, mini golf, magic show, …

N: national park, Nintendo game night, …

O: oven baked cookies, opera, open mic night, origami class, …

P: pancakes, planetarium, pottery, painting, picnic, …

Q: Queen concert, quiz night ( triple date ), … 

R: roller skating, Ritz, …

S: swimming, sushi, stargazing, …

T:  tour with the Bentley, thrifting, trampoline park, train ride, …

U: ugly sweater party ( triple date ), …

V: vintage car rally, vinyl record shopping, vineyard experience, volunteering, Venice trip, Venus, …

W: wildlife sanctuary, wine tasting, waltz lesson, …

X: Xylophone concert, Xylophone lessons, Xerox, X-Rays, Xbox gaming, xtreme sports, xylophone, …

Y: yacht ride, YouTube marathon, yoga, …

Z: zurich mini break, zero-proof cocktail making class, Zumba class, Z A Rob Zombie concert, zen garden, zoo, …

So let me know if you have another fun idea! I’ll post a poll on my tumblr, so you guys can decide what they are going to do on their date! ( If no one votes, I’ll choose myself, but I hope I’ll get at least some votes )

I’ll be posting this story on my AO3 account, same as my tumblr, GayForAnthonyJCrowley.

[ofliterarynature]

TBR TAKEDOWN: Week 13 (Aug 25)

TLDR: I have too many unread books, and I’m asking tumblr to help me downsize. Pick one or none, and comment if you can - a convincing sentence is worth a dozen votes! You’re also welcome to just choose the one that sounds the worst :D Book descriptions below the cut, see my pinned post for more info.

Artemis by Andy Weir

[For reference, I *did* like The Martian but did *not* like Project Hail Mary]

Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich.

Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity's first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich enough to pay off a debt she's owed for a long time.

So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can't say no. Sure, it requires her to graduate from small-time smuggler to full-on criminal mastermind. And it calls for a particular combination of cunning, technical skills, and large explosions--not to mention sheer brazen swagger. But Jazz has never run into a challenge her intellect can't handle, and she figures she's got the 'swagger' part down.

The trouble is, engineering the perfect crime is just the start of Jazz's problems. Because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself.

Trapped between competing forces, pursued by a killer and the law alike, even Jazz has to admit she's in way over her head. She'll have to hatch a truly spectacular scheme to have a chance at staying alive and saving her city.

Jazz is no hero, but she is a very good criminal.

That'll have to do.

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.

Merchants of Culture by John B Thompson

For nearly five centuries, the world of book publishing remained largely static. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century, the industry faces a combination of economic pressures and technological change that is forcing publishers to alter their practices and think hard about the future of the book.

John Thompson's riveting account dissects the roles of publishers, agents, and booksellers in the United States and Britain, charting their transformation since the 1960s. Offering an in-depth analysis of how the digital revolution is changing the game today, Merchants of Culture is the one book that anyone with a stake in the industry needs to read.

[saxandviolins88]

Weezer Green album is genuinely melting my brain right now, so let's vote.

I tried to choose the more "obvious" options for characters, but idk... maybe you think Ironhide listens to Weezer or smt.

Either way, vote and the bad taste in music shall prevail.

[bestanimatedmovie]

Tumblr's favorite animated movie!

Vote in the other polls! What fans say:

The Book of Life:

It's a day of the dead movie that came out a few years before Coco and crafts a simple yet elegant story about God, love, adventure and facing your family's scorn for the right to be yourself. The protagonist Manolo is by the creator's own admission a sort of self portrait, and Manolo going against his father's dreams of him becoming a bullfighter while Manolo wants to go into music are reflective of the creator's own tension with his father over being an artist. It's a very Mexican film in that Jorge Gutierrez, the director, specifically informed his creative team to not do one of those 'touristy research trips' and to instead ask him or the other Mexican staff members about cultural things. Also it's so fucking beautiful like look at it. There's this part where the Manolo is facing his greatest fear, the epitome of his family legacy staring him down, and for a moment nearly gives in to the pressures of his family name but chooses mercy instead of violence and saves the bull he was pressured to kill. Apologizing to it for all the pain his ancestors put its kind through for the sake of their bloody sport and in his mercy wins a chance at coming back to life.

It's an amazing film, from the beautiful artwork and animation, to the casting, to the overall plot. My favorite scene is probably when La Muerte yells "You misbegotten son of a leprous donkey!"

The Aristocats:

Jazz musician cats.

Great art/animation, great characters, great music, a great story. The kittens! Roquefort the mouse! The romance between Duchess and Thomas O'Malley. She -- an elegant purebred cat -- doesn't care that he's a scruffy stray. He -- after being briefly taken aback -- doesn't care that she already has three kittens who need looking after. The butler Edgar is one of the scariest kinds of villains, because no one knew he was one at first, and even when the cats knew it, he still had the trust of his mistress. Truly someone who deserved to be shipped off in a crate to Timbuktu. And the cats, man, O'Malley's jazz-loving friends. EVERYBODY *dances* EVERYBODY *blows trombone* EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A CAT! *Goes to town on the piano*

[discord-lurking]

Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 2)

Act 2: The Wax Melts, The Sea Beckons

In which the wings begin to fall apart.

Despite the drama unfolding over the November admin discussion post, wiki life continued. User posts showed cracks in the foundation. Something was rotten in the state of Wikia.

November 6th, 2023:

November 9th, 2023:

It seems that the administrators were deleting pages, instituting rigid new rules about how long a post could stay unfinished (and, apparently, what qualified as unfinished).

Enter anonymous wiki user Chekovsnakess.

November 23rd, 2023:

Chekovsnakess pointed out the issue inherent in the deletions- moderators wanted more people to engage with the wiki, but what's the point, when the page will get nuked?

Chekovsnakess: "The wiki feels more of the admins' wiki rather than a community wiki."

The admins didn't take well to this critique.

TwoRatner: "In no way have we, the admins, been hostile."

TheOneTrueGod41: "It can't be unprofessional if we absolutely mean it."

PawnSum: "Uh, you can't type fast or something? I can, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Also, iconic quote from PawnSum: "I literally broke my ankle and couldn't get home, so I understand what pain is."

PawnSum makes a good point- only they, a wiki editor experiencing mild criticism and a broken ankle, could ever understand true pain.

Opening a paragraph with "you also don't seem to understand that your opinions aren't facts" and closing it with "Please stop leaving and just stay!"

A masterpiece of salesmanship. Glenn and his high Persuasion rolls could only hope to reach the levels of charisma displayed by wiki administrator TwoRatner.

Other iconic TwoRatner quotes:

"Admins are like princiPALS after all, or a nice janitor."

"You want me to quick my job? I can't! I already paid for the funeral and now I need more money to feed my family."

After this, Chekovsnakess remained silent, perhaps choosing to disengage from fandom wiki drama and move on with their life. An unthinkable choice, to be sure.

More users turned to the forums to express frustrations with the wiki, falling on the administrator's deaf ears.

November 29th, 2023:

December 3rd, 2023:

With this, we segue to the moderator response to wiki user critiques: splitting the wiki into two websites with separate mod teams, one for season 1 of the podcast and one for season 2.

In haunting Anakin-like fashion, TwoRatner says "I promise to bring about a satisfying future to this wiki." A promise they would be unable to live up to.

December 2nd, 2023:

TwoRatner's attempt to bring peace to their new empire wiki would first involve mysterious user Largeo and a separation on par with the Great Church Schism of 1054. Equally important decisions with equally worldwide consequences.

TwoRatner made the generous decision to put this up for a community vote, with only one dissenter: Zilstreet.

Zilstreet pointed out the obvious criticism: wouldn't splitting a wiki for a single show between two different places make it confusing for casual browsers? What about characters that appear in both seasons? Was there a specific game plan?

This was met with a measured, thoughtful response from the administrators.

"When life gives you grapefruit, you make grapefruit pellets to shoot at your friends, because plastic pellets hurt." -HungerBunger, December 5th 2023

How dare Zilstreet not take into account HungerBunger's trauma and exercises in extending trust???

"It's very obvious. We clearly thought about this."

Indeed.

More users with suspiciously similar speech patterns chime in to support TwoRatner's proposal.

Interestingly, MotPot brings up jazz unprompted. Where have we seen that before? Honic Washington and The One True God 41, in Part 1.

Clearly, there must be a lot of overlap between jazz fans and D&D podcast wiki editors.

Marth8204 came out swinging, telling Zilstreet that they should be ashamed for having the audacity to ask questions about a drastic site change, but seemed pacified by TwoRatner's warning to "tone it down a bit."

TwoRatner imposed a deadline for users to vote on the change.

FunderStun also came out swinging- this time, against Gaycowboyrats (featured in Part 1) and... Amber Heard? Then they delivered this line: "There is no savior, so we have to be."

Again, poetry.

And again, I'd like to put a pin in the Gaycowboyrats reference.

Thus ended the split discussion thread, leaving me with more questions than answers.

Nicoh Watonshing seems to be referring to wiki security breaches. Was this an ongoing issue? Were admins getting hacked? If so, by whom? What could hackers possibly want from the wiki?

What happened between Brazil86 and TwoMarshall? What did Brazil86 do wrong? Are there any words in the English language that can strike as much fear in one's heart as "abnormally long Discord call"?

Note the TwoMarshall brother reference: this is very similar to references made by TwoRatner to a brother that died. How coincidental.

This period of forum volatility closely follows the themes established in Act 1: a strict, opaque sense of wiki justice, wiki moderator power as a status more important than wiki functionality, calling for more community engagement while largely ignoring community engagement when it happened, and making drastic changes in response to real or perceived wiki problems.

Here, we see more new administrator names pop up in the forums with similar styles of speech and occasional non-sequiturs, even after Honic Washington's (apparent) departure.

Here, we see new discontent in the moderator ranks- some apparent failure by Brazil86, and its severe consequences with TwoMarshall.

Here, we see two moderators (TwoRatner and TwoMarshall) with similar brother-related situations. Did TwoRatner switch accounts? Was this related to the alleged security breaches in the wiki?

Despite being active in the forums and wiki at large before this, Gaycowboyrats is now conspicuously absent except for the reference by FunderStun, who wants to remove Gaycowboyrats from his position of influence and "free" the fandom.

Has the Dungeons and Daddies wiki been subject to some kind of administrator security breach and subsequent overthrow, resulting in a schism?

Life seems to be giving this wiki a lot of grapefruit.

And when life gives you grapefuit, you make grapefruit pellets to shoot your friends.

Chorus:

A statement from Zil Street.

Interim attempts at community engagement by the administrators.

Stay tuned for part 3 tomorrow with the thrilling conclusion of the wiki split saga!

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

The Music Goes On and On

Rating: K/General

Setting: in the decade before the main story.

Synopsis: Shinji is going about his daily life at his job in a music store, until he sees an old face from the past.

AN: the winner of my first poll! This was fun to write, so thank you to everyone who voted for it!

I hope I did Shinji justice here. He's a character I love, and I've always wanted to know what he and Visoreds did after escaping the the Living world and before they introduced themselves to Ichigo. I've broached the topic before in As Months Go By, As Season Change part II, but I wanted to write a specific instance of his life in the World of the Living. I had intended this to be more comedic, but well...it's me, and it ended up more angsty with one sappy moment.

In terms of research, I looked into Japanese 1990’s music and the workforce during the 1970’s. I'll briefly go over it here, but if you want to skip it and get to the fic, continue to the line break before the story begins.

For music, I mainly used information from this article about Japanese jazz bands, doing Youtube searches for 1990s Japanese music, and searching for what records stores in Japan typically look like.

The songs, albums, and bands mentioned in this fic are:

B'z: a Japanese rock duo who sold millions of albums during the 1990's. They're one of Japan's best-selling artists even to this day, having sold over 80 million albums. Sasori ni sasa reta by Kimidori Review by Glay: this was one of the best-selling albums in Japan for 1997, and sold over 2 million copies in it's first week. Casiopea: a Japanese jazz fusion band who have created over 40 albums as of the time of writing this fic. They've been active since the 1970's, and have gone through four phases with different band members; in this story, they're in their second phase. Light and Shadow by Casiopea Casiopea by Casiopea Yasuko Agawa: a Japanese jazz and blues singer. Before releasing her debut album, Love-Bird, in 1978, she starred in movies in the early 1970’s. This included the Bloodthirst Trilogy, a Japanese horror film trilogy that involves unconnected stories about vampires. Agawa starred in Chi o suu bara, which is the final film in the trilogy and it's title has been translated to Evil of Dracula in English. Love-Bird by Yasuko Agawa All Right by Me by Yasuko Agawa Scenery by Ryo Fuuki (also mentioned in As Months Go By, As Season Change part II)

In terms of the workforce research, I had to change the timeline in light of what I found. Rather than seeing a coworker Shinji knew from 30 years ago, it's now 21 years. This is because the store they worked at together, Yodobashi Camera, opened it's first store in 1975, and in this fic Shinji got a job with the company a year later. In it's early years, the stores primarily sold cameras and photography equipment, but eventually branched off into other technology and home electronics such as TVs and PCs. Nowadays it's online version is incredibly popular and one of Japan's most visited online shopping platforms. Why a camera store? I can't explain why, but I have this weird feeling that Shinji might've worked in a camera store at some point. Maybe because old camera's used to have inverted lenses, meaning they could be upside down (and we all know how Shinji feels about things that are inverted).

Finally, there's a slight joke with the name Shinji chooses to use here. From what I saw in my research, ‘Mako’ can use the same Kanji characters as ‘Shinji’, (which are ‘真子‘ and if I’m not mistaken have the same meanings of ‘truth’/’sincerity’ and ‘children’) but both names can also be spelled using other Kanji characters too (but it changes the meaning of the name). While ‘Mako’ tends to be primarily a girl's name, it seems it can also be a boy’s name too, and from what I can see, the spelling of it can be same for both boys and girls when using the same characters as ‘Shinji’. If I got any of this wrong, please let me know so I can change it. My sources for all of this were here and here.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this!

______________________________________

The bell above the music store’s entrance rings as the latest customer leaves. Shinji doesn’t glance their way, taking and unfurling a poster of B’z from his cart. After pinning it to the wall, he lifts out a box of CDs to restock the ‘New Releases’ display rack at the front.

 Karakura Beats Records Store is empty save for him and Kana, who resumes pricing the latest shipment of vinyls behind the cash register. The morning sunlight pours in through the many posters and notices stuck to the windows facing out on to the quiet street, casting blocks of shadow over the many vinyls and CDs.

From the speakers high up on the walls, a tune he’s never heard before begins to play quietly through the air. Shinji drums his fingers on the CD rack to the tune in between stacking in copies of ‘Review’ – which will no doubt be gone by the end of the week if the hype around the album and the sales figures from other music stores are to be believed.

Eventually, he’s swaying his body to the beat too. “Yo, Kana-san!”

She looks up, her bright, dyed hair falling over one shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Which track is this?” he asks, still swaying as he tops up the rack the. “It’s a good one, I might buy the album if the rest is any good.”

“ ‘Sasori ni sasa reta’ by Kimidori.” She grins. “I knew I could get you to like something I like.”

“Didn’t think you’d like hip hop.”

“Not much of it, but I heard this one when I was in my last year of high school.”

Done with the CDs, Shinji returns to his cart and rolls it behind the cash register. “Ya done with those?” he says, pointing at the vinyls.

Sticking a price on the top one, Kana picks up the pile and drops them into the cardboard box that just had 'Review' in it. “Done now.”

He goes to pick it up, but blinks down at the cover. There’s three shadows on a white surface, and above them with is a de-saturated sky, and running along the middle is a dark lake and the silhouettes of hills and houses. The album’s title is in English, as is the band name. Even so, he recognises the name without having to read the blue slip on the vinyl’s side with a translation. “Huh, when did this come out?”

“In September. The old drummer came back, apparently.”

“Ya mean Jimbo Akira?”

“Yeah, but it’s got a guest drummer too.” Kana cocks an eyebrow at him. “I’m surprised you don’t know. You like Casiopea, right?”

Shinji shrugs. “Some of their stuff, sure. I can take ‘em or leave them, just surprised I didn’t know about this one.”

“They release something every year, right?” Kana says, moving on to the next stacks of vinyls and CDs to price. “Shouldn’t be too surprising.”

No, it shouldn’t. He’d been listening to their music since their self-titled debut album in 1979, and even though he’d lost some interest in their music by the late 1980’s, he still kept tabs on them. But then, even after being in the world for as long as he has, the passage of time is so different it sometimes escapes him.

Resisting the urge to shake his head, Shinji puts two other boxes of CDs and vinyls Kana had prepared into his cart, and rolls it down the right-side aisle.

Hecomes to a stop at his favorite section. Written above the display racks and cupboards is ‘Jazz’. When he’d started here three months ago, while he'd been impressed the store's collection was better than others he'd come across, the section had been smaller and in desperate need to of a wider range of artists. After showing his extensive knowledge about jazz and blues music had been one of the reason’s he’d been hired by he and Kana’s manager.

Aside from the usual roles in customer services, he’d been tasked with refurbished the store a little, putting up posters for bands and music artists on the walls and redoing the titles over each genre section. While doing the latter task, he had to withhold the temptation to write every genre name upside down – he’d tried to argue it would make them stand out from other stores, but backed down when Kana protested against the idea, saying ti would confuse customers.

The jazz section was his unofficial space in the whole store, the one where he got to arrange it as he wanted. The entire row against the wall has a wide variety of artists, from the famous to the up and coming to local talent. He goes to the where the rest of Casiopea’s discography is and clears a space for the vinyls.

The bell rings again. Kana greets their new customer from the counter and offers assistance. Judging from the voice that thanks her, the person is elderly.

Shinji doesn’t listen to the rest, but as he makes his way down the middle aisle to stack some vinyls and CDs in the ‘Rock�� section, the older man remains in his peripheral. He takes out the box, balancing it on the rack with his arm over the top, and unloads the vinyls two at a time into an empty space with the others. He frowns at the sensation in the back of his mind; something nags in the back of his mind, begging him to look at the man.

The bell rings again. This time by the sounds of it, it’s one of their regulars, a young woman who’s name doesn’t remember. She and Kana chatter away, discussing the weather and family. It’s so ordinary, so far away from all of the worlds he’s ever known. He hasn’t been in the Soul Society for decades, and yet there are times like now when it feels like only yesterday he was a captain.

With all the vinyls stacked in, he begins to lift the almost empty box back into the cart. However, his arm bumps into someone, clattering the records inside. Shinji turns to apologize, but his throat closes up involuntarily when he sees it’s the older man from before.

“Oh, sorry, please excuse…” The old man trails off.

Shinji frowns, that nagging sensation getting stronger now that he has a closer look at the man. He’s not as old as he thought. His hair is greying, but there’s still some dark hair on the top of his head and in his thick eyebrows. Wrinkles ring around his eyes and the ends of his mouth, but they aren’t deep, only just beginning to show more prominently. Behind his glasses, the man’s eyes are dark brown, and widened with probably the same strange feeling of familiarity as Shinji is experiencing.

Then, when the man tries to speak again, and his brows furrow into a frown, it hits Shinji.

He nearly has to bite his tongue from saying the man’s name aloud. “No harm done,” he somehow manages to say without any of the spiking nerves thrumming through him.

He tries to remain calm as he continues stacking the vinyls in, but he can feel the man’s – Keiji Mimura’s -- lingering gaze on him, even as he turns and pretends to browse the albums in front of him.

He has to get out of this fast. He can hear the cash register going; Kana must be ringing up the regular, which means she’ll be free any second now. He hoists the box back into the cart, planning to head back to the counter, then offer to take over the register for Kana. She’d go out on to floor, probably keep Keiji distracted and try to sell him some obscure rock album she likes. If he ends up buying the album, Kana will likely keep the conversation going all the way to register, get Shinji to move aside so she can ring Keiji up, and then he’ll be gone from the store, and Shinji’s life again.

Shinji doesn’t even make it three steps when Keiji speaks up behind him. “…Hirako-san?”

Shinji has no choice but to stop and turn around. In the face of the man’s shocked expression, Shinji somehow manages a smile. “Excuse me? Did you say something.” It sounds lame even to his own ears.

The man shakes his head. “Forgive me, it’s just…you look and sound like someone I used to know.”

It takes everything in Shinji to not drop the smile, but even then, the corners of his mouth twitch. How to get out of this?

He and the other Visoreds had managed to keeps their identities a secret up until now, switching jobs every few years, never getting close to any coworkers and never revealing anything about their personal lives. They mostly find work outside of Karakura Town in the major cities, countryside towns, and to a smaller extent the towns that surrounded Karakura. The commutes were a pain, but they needed to make a living and not expose themselves as being ‘ageless’ to local residents. This was his first job in Karakura Town, and it had partly been out of desperation when he couldn’t get another anywhere else.

He can dismiss Keiji, just treat this as an awkward encounter with an elderly man who had a case of mistaken identity. It happens, more often than he realized before being forced into the World of the Living.

It’s what he should do.

Later, as he's walking back to the warehouse and then while being lectured by the other Visoreds after telling them about his day, he will reflect on this moment where he chose to do something far more troublesome for himself.

Shinji’s widens his eyes, pretending to come to a realisation. “Ah! Wait. I think I understand your confusion.” He chuckles and shakes his head to himself for effect, leaving the older man bewildered. “I’m terribly sorry, sir,” Shinji continues. “Did you used to work with Hirako Shinji?”

“Y-Yes!” Keiji stammers out.

“Ah, ya see, he’s my father. I’m his son.”

The older man blinks, briefly scanning Shinji from head to toe. “He never said anything about children,” he murmurs under his breath.

Shinji pretends he didn’t hear it, remaining rooted in place, grin plastered wide over his face and a fisted hand on his hip. Seeing the man’s unfaltering skepticism, he bows slightly and holds his hand out to him. “I’m Hirako…Mako.”

Of all the names! He purses his lips and continues to stare at the ground, hard, as he inwardly begs, Please don’t think too much on it, please don’t think to much on it, Keiji-san, don’t think --

After a beat, the older man bows and shakes Shinji’s hand. “I’m Mimura Keiji. Forgive me for before, it’s just that you look so much like Hirako Shinji – your father, I meant.”

“That’s fine. I’ve gotten that quite a bit, actually. Everyone’s always saying I look like my old man.”

That gets a huff of a chuckle out Keiji; Shinji can’t tell whether it’s due to the comment, how informally he’d spoken, or how the way he spoke was identical to his 'father'. It's probably the latter.

Keiji lets go of Shinji’s hand and they both straighten back up. The store bell rings, briefly drawing Shinji’s attention to Kana. To his chagrin she doesn’t look his way, instead continuing her chat with their regular as she makes her purchases.

“I worked with your father a long time ago.” Keiji explains. “We were coworkers”

Shinji keeps his grin small as he returns his focus back to his old coworker. “Where did you work with him? The old man’s had a lot of jobs across his life.”

Keiji smiles. “So he said. We used to work at Yodobashi Camera together.”

“Ah yeah! He was a sales clerk there. He barely knew a thing about camera’s when he started, huh?”

Another huff of a chuckle broadens the old man's smile. “He learned on the job. I was no expert at the time by any means, but he even had to learn which button to press to take a picture.”

Shinji chortles, both from the memory and the embarrassment of those years. He’d been the World of the Living for several decades by that point. He’d known about cameras but was so concerned with training to control his Visored abilities and stay afloat money-wise he hadn’t ever learned about some of the most basic things for humans.

“He was all right with the other technology of course,” Keiji continues. “We often had shifts together. Every now and then we went for drinks at ‘The Golden Cup’ with everyone else.”

Despite himself, Shinji can’t help but grin wider as nostalgia flutters in his chest. He and the other Visoreds tried to maintain a certain distance between themselves and the cowrokers in whatever job they worked in. Regardless, on rare occasions, he’d indulge himself and go drinking with his coworkers. He did it more often with the employees of Yodobashi Camera than in any other job, and he’d never had a bad night out with them. They were a good bunch of hard workers who knew how to party even harder afterwards -- or at least as much as they could given that they all needed to wake up and go to work the next day.

“I -- He mentioned that too,” Shinji eventually says. “He always came home in a good mood after those nights, tripping over his feet."

Keiji gives a nervous snort. "I must admit, I did worry about how much he drank sometimes."

Shinji did too. He recalls the concerned pinch of Keiji's brows when he was about to leave, wobbling on his feet. He rarely got drunk, and he didn't always understand why he chose to get drunk with those guys.

"Nah, he was always sharp," Shinji says, "even when drunk. Heck, he could even play mahjong while drunk and still win." He let's Keiji's chuckle fill in the air for a pause. "He used to play that game with his coworkers too, right?”

“Ah, yes! I used to enjoy our games.” Keiji sighs. “It’s been a long time since then, and Yodobashi Camera has certainly grown bigger and bigger over the years.”

“Ya can’t escape them these days, huh? Feels like they’re at every railway station in the major cities.” Shinji leans back against the vinyls racks, trying to appear casual. “So, do you live in Karakura Town now?”

“Oh, no. My wife and I are visiting our daughter. I assume you live here?”

“Yeah, I moved here about a year ago.” A lie, so natural sounding from years of saying many more like it before.

He can sense the next question coming – something to effect of ‘Do your parents live here as well?’ – so he quickly continues, “It’s a small town, but there’s a few places I can recommend for visitors if your daughter hasn’t taken you to them already.”

“We only arrived two days ago. We visited one of the shrines with her yesterday. My wife and daughter are having breakfast at a cafe nearby. We’re planning to walk around the shopping district this afternoon.”

“All good ideas. There’s also Tsubakidai Park, it’s always nice to walk around there. There’s also a music performance happening there two days from now, local bands mostly.”

“Is there now?”

Shinji points to the most recent poster taped up next to the store’s entrance. He briefly glances at Kana, who had gone back to pricing the vinyls, but she’d stopped at some point, staring at their exchange. She eyes him with a raised brow. Her expression is asking him ‘Is everything okay?’

“See that there?” Shinji says, keeping Keiji distracted long enough to wink at Kana in reassurance. “It’s got the details for it if you’re interested.”

With a shrug and a good-natured roll of her eyes, she returns to her task.

Keiji nods. “I’ll be sure to look at it on my way out.” Turning back, he looks over Shinji shoulder. “Speaking of, I came here to get an album I was told would be here. I believe it will be under jazz.”

“Yeah? Which one?” Shinji asks as he leads Keiji to the ‘Jazz’ section.

“It’s often hard to find, but Umei -- oh, she's my daughter -- thought I should try my luck here. She said this store often sells music from older artists. ‘Retro’, she calls it.”

“She ain’t wrong.”

Keiji frowns thoughtfully when they stop in front of the rows of CDs and vinyls. He let’s out a sudden, ironic laugh. “Actually, now that I think about it, it’s from a singer your father introduced me to.”

Shinji already knew, and his heart squeezed for a moment. “Oh, yeah? Which one?”

“Agawa Yasuko.”

The memory comes to him. He’d gone drinking with Keiji and his coworkers, and they ended up discussing films they love. When the topic of The Bloodthirsty Trilogy came up, Shinji brought up how Yasuko Agawa had gone on to make music since then. Only Keiji was interested, and took up Shinji’s suggestion to go buy her debut album. He hadn’t seen someone as smitten with a jazz album as Keiji (and apparently his wife) was. They discussed her singing the next day during lulls at work, and for the first time in a while, Shinji felt relaxed, briefly forgetting the troubles that always weigh on his mind.

“Well, her albums are just here,” Shinji says, gesturing to the left-side display racks. “Were you after CD or vinyl?”

“CD,” Keiji says while steps around him. He bends over the CDs and thumbs through them. “You have most of her albums here.”

“It’s like your daughter said, we’re retro here.”

He takes out a copy of ‘All Right With Me’ with a grin. “This is the one! I listened to it last year, but haven’t been able to find a copy of it until today.”

“It’s a good one, she’s always had a great voice. I can recommend any of her albums, they're all good.”

“Ah, are you a fan of jazz music too? Just like your father?”

“Yeah, like my old man, jazz is one of my favourite genres. It never gets old.”

“He said the same thing.”

Then, because one of half of him is now stuck in the past, Shinji says, “My father mentioned you had a wife, a daughter, and a son. They doing okay?”

Keiji hums in ascent. “Yes, very well. I’m not sure if your father told you, but my wife, Kyoko, works in a bakery. She has worked in the same place for over twenty years now, and got promoted to manager five years in.”

“That’s incredible!”

Keiji nods firmly and returns to flicking through the albums. “She’s always been determined. Umei is a newspaper reporter for the local news here, and my son, Naoya, is an accountant in Tokyo.” He grins. “He’ll be having our first grandchild soon. My wife is eager to be there in the weeks before the baby is born, she already has gifts planned for him. He’s a lot like his mother, determined and hard-working. I have no doubt he’ll be a good father.”

Shinji has the sudden urge to reminisce with this man. To talk about their days in the store, where Shinji learned how to use a camera, and about their regular customers. To show he remembered the little details Keiji had told him about his life outside of work – how Kyoko would come to visit them with baked goods when she knew her husband hadn’t packed a lunch, or how happy he was about Umei’s first day of school, or when he was pleasantly surprised by Naoya’s sudden obsession with the new ‘Astro Boy’ anime. To talk about the music from that time, and see if he’d taken on other jazz and blues recommendations he’d made.

At Shinji’s silence, Keiji’s grin transforms into a bashful smile. “You’ll have to forgive me. I must seem like an old man rambling about my family and reminiscing about the past.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I get it. My old man worked at Yodobashi Camera over twenty years ago, and if I saw an old coworker, even if it was their kid, I’d want to talk about it.”

"Well, thank you then," Keiji says, “How is your father these days? I probably should've asked that first.”

Shinji knew it was coming, hovering over them from the moment Keiji recognised him without realising. Even so, the pit of his stomach plummets along with his grin. He’s at another crossroads.

He takes in the man’s features again. How the wrinkles gather deeper around his eyes and around his mouth as he speaks. The fact he wears glasses now, resting over the faint scar on his nose he got when he broke it during a high school baseball game – he’d tumbled after getting homebase and cracked it on the ground, Shinji recalls; it'd been a drunken confession made on one of the night he'd gone out with the coworkers.

He thought noticing age couldn’t affect him anymore. But seeing someone from his past, someone who he got along well with and truly wished the best for, it strikes something in him. He’d been a Shinigami for centuries, ferrying hundreds of Souls like him to the Soul Society. One day, Keiji will be met by a Shinigami when he passes on, and forget the life he’d lived by the time he gets to the Soul Society.

It’s then SHinji realises he's been living in this world for too long. That detachment, that knowledge that he was not like humans, has eroded over time, crumbling bit by bit, leaving only a thin slab behind. Hiyori was right; he should’ve left his job at Yodobashi Camera sooner. It's been one of the longer jobs he'd had, and he recalls trying to stuff down the bitterness of leaving it behind when he left on his last day.

It hadn't been right to drag Keiji along like this, for his own selfish whims of wanting to relieve the past. So he does the right thing this time.

Shinji looks off to the side. “He’s gone. So is my mother.”

In the pause, Keiji remains frozen in place, lost for words. “Oh, I…I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up…I had no idea.”

“It was three years ago. He and my mother were involved in a car accident.” Like all his lies, it comes out smooth and natural, like he is the son reflecting on grief he's only just overcome. He hates it.

Keiji shakes his head in disbelief. “That's awful, truly. I really am sorry.”

“Thank you, but you don’t have to be. I’m sorry you found out this way.”

Keiji is silent again, staring at the ground for a long moment before raising his head. There’s a faint mist across his eyes. “Your father and I only knew each other at work, and on the occasions he came to drink with the rest of us. Even so, I could always tell he was a good man. He worked hard, but he always had time to help others around the store too. Not just his coworkers, but also the customers.” His smile faintly returns. “I always wondered what happened to him after he left the store. I always thought, though, that wherever he went, he’d do good work.”

Keiji always saw the good in others, and in a time where Shinji still hadn’t fully processed Aizen’s betrayal, he’d been wary of the man at first. He'd reminded him of his seated officer Genji Isawa: a hard worker who could bring a smile and laugh to anyone who met him. Maybe this is why he'd eventually came around to being a little less guarded with him.

In his last year with the store, it was only then he’d begun to take an interest in his personal life and the lives of his coworkers, whether it was the rowdy Takahiro, or the quiet but hard working Kaneshiro. In some ways, now that he thought about it, Keiji might’ve been the closest thing he’d had to a friend in many years. Still kept at a distance, still lied to, but still an echo of a friend, one he probably would've had in another life.

He can't tell him any of this, not without it sounding like he truly knew him rather than a son telling a father's old coworker what his old man thought of him.

He'd put what little detachment he still had between him and his past, but now it came bleeding through like a bruise. If only he knew he was speaking these words directly to him and not to the son he thought he was.

“Thank you,” Shinji says quietly, still unable to meet Keiji’s eyes completely. “He’d have appreciated your words a lot.”

A sombre awkwardness settles over them, only broken when the store bell rings. A young couple come in, with the woman goig straight to the ‘New Releases’ rack. Shinji looks to Kana, who now unabashedly just stared at the scene unfolding in the corner of the shop. She’s only distracted away when the man who just entered asks for assistance.

Keiji bows. “Thank you for your assistance and for listening to my ramblings today, Hirako-san. I’ll go purchase this now.” He rises, but doesn’t move to the counter. He hesitates to say something else, lips parting and closing. "And I'm truly sorry for your loss. You have my condolences."

Shinji can only nod. This will be the last time he ever sees Keiji. It’s just as well, given the emotions and reactions he’d undergone today. Who knew how he’d react to meeting some of his other old coworkers from his other jobs. If nothing, this has reiterated why he shouldn’t get close to any of the humans, not even asking them about or taking an interest in their personal lives.

But some part of him, a wistful part that he’d thought was buried under the cynicism and hurt of Aizen’s betrayal, urges him to do one last thing. His detachment tries to block it, but it shine through, clutching at his heart.

“Did my father ever tell you what his favorite record was?” Shinji asks.

Keiji frowns slightly and shakes his head. “He might have, but I’m sorry, I can’t remember.”

“Well, to be more accurate, it’s one of his favorite records.” Shinji takes a step backwards and scans the lines of CDs until he finds the one he needs. He fishes it out of the rack and presents it to Keiji. A copy of ‘Scenery’. “He loved it from the moment he heard it. I still have his vinyl copy of it.”

Keiji is slow to take the CD. “I’ve always been more into pop music, really. Agawa Yasuko is the only jazz singer I liked.”

“It came out in 1976, the same year he started working for Yodobashi Camera. He said that while listening to it, it’d remind of his life at the time, including his work and his coworkers. He always associated it with good memories.”

Keiji nods, and his smile returns, albeit with a sadder edge to it. “I’m glad, then.” As Shinji holds his hand out, planning to take the album and put it back, Keiji raises his gaze back to him. “In that case, I’ll be buying this too.”

Shinji let out a chocked chuckle. “Whoa, hey, I wasn’t trying to make a sale –”

“I know, but I want to buy this now.”

Keiji had to be guided by his sentimentality right now, this isn’t fair. Did he feel the need to listen to this to honor him? “Hey, look, it’s really not –”

“If you recommend it, and if your father would’ve recommend it to me, then I have no doubt I will enjoy it. I’m sure my wife would too. She also likes Agawa-san’s music, and a few of the other recommendations your father made.”

Somehow, that lightens the load on his heart. He even manages a grin. “Then in that case, it’s on me.”

“What? Oh, no, please, there’s no need –”

Shinji holds up a hand to silence him. “It’s no trouble. Think of it as a gift.”

Even as they walked to the counter, Keiji fretted about the idea. Kana is ringing up the couple, but as the woman counts out the money, she eyes Shinji and Keiji as they approach.

After serving the couple, Keiji comes up the counter and Shinji digs his wallet out of his pants pocket.

“He’s buying the Agawa album, the Fuuki Ryo one is on me.”

“Really, you don’t have to do this,” Keiji insists.

Kana only shrugs as she takes Shinji’s money. “If you’re sure.” She turns to Keiji with a smile. “Good choices by the way.”

Keiji hands her the albums and his money. While waiting for Kana to count up his change, Keiji reads the poster for the upcoming music festival. “I’ll tell Kyoko and Umei about this. I have a feeling they’ll be interested.”

“It’s looking to be a good line up this year,” Kana says while handing him his change and bagging his purchases. “They have a lot more local acts. It’s always good to support them.”

“Yes, it is.” He bows to her after taking the bag from her. “Thank you very much.”

She bows in return. “Have a good day, sir.”

Keiji then bows to Shinji. “And thank you so much, Hirako-san. I’m glad I got to meet you. Please, pay my respects when you next see your father and mother.”

Shinji bows in return. “Likewise, Mimura-san. I’m sure my old man would’ve been happy to see you today.”

Both rising, Keiji smiles broadly, before turning and leaving the store. There’s a still silence after the bell above the door rings. A few heartbeats later, Kana finally speaks. “What was that about?”

“One of my dad’s old coworkers,” Shinji says, ungluing himself from his spot and going back to get his cart. From across the store, he says. “My old man and I look a lot alike, so he thought I was him.”

“Huh,” Kana huffs. “That sounds like it’s be awkward.”

“It was, but…I’m glad I got to see him.”

Kana’s brows frown slightly, but she doesn’t say anything about him ‘seeing’ rather than ‘meeting’ him. “So long as you’re feeling okay about it.”

“Yeah, I am.”

The rest of the day continues as usual until closing time. The sky has turned to amber, with the last of the sun peaking out over the horizon, by the time Shinji and Kana steps out of the store.

After locking the front door, Kana spins to him and hitches her bag over her shoulder. She jerks a thumb in the direction of Karakura’s main shopping districts. “You want to go for a drink?”

She always offers, and just like every other time, Shinji shakes his head. “Nah, gotta get home.”

Kana shrugs. “Suit yourself.” Unlike other times, concern flickers across her expression. He’d tried to hide the sombreness that’d settled into him after Keiji left, but maybe he hadn't been convincing. Maybe he's losing his tough.

Kana bows. “Thanks for your hard work today. See you tomorrow.”

Shinji does the same in return. “See you tomorrow.”

They part ways, going in opposite directions.

Autumn is in the air, crispy in the wind that brushes against him as he walks the quiet streets of Karakura Town. The streetlight pop on, beaming down over him and the those either returning home or heading for a night on the town in the shopping district. He can blend in with everyone, dressed like them and walking like them, but never be one of them.

He never wanted to be, still doesn't, but like them, he'd let that small part of him, that sentimental part of him, get the better of him.

As he comes to the quieter part of town, getting closer to the warehouse, he contemplates quitting his current job. It's only a passing thought, one that he dismisses when he considers his and the Visoreds financial situation. Kisuke had been generous over the years for someone struggling almost just as much as them, but they can't rely on him.

They needed to make their own path back to the Soul Society. Back to Aizen, to take him down once and for all. The old fire returns in Shinji's, a determination he'd used to fuel his detachment form humans.

But he's been here for so long, more than a century now. He's been alive for too long, and been around humans for too long.

Their lives are so short; one moment they're here, and the next, they're meeting a Shinigami or another agent of death. Yet, he'd come to like some of the human's he'd interacted with over the decades. Keiji is clearly one of them, and for all of the grief today had caused him, he still can't deny he'd been glad to see him. But now he'd another person in his past, one he'll never see again.

And one day Kana will have to be one of those people too. He could still visit the store for next few years and get away with it, but there will come a time where he’ll have to stop visiting. And even then, he’ll have to watch himself more in public; Karakura is a big place, but there’s still a decent chance he’d run into her on the streets in the years to come.

When that time comes, she might wonder where he went, what he’s up to, or maybe she won’t. Maybe she’ll unintentionally spare him and move away, going back further north to be closer to her family and finally confess to that one highschool friend she sometimes calls on her breaks and still lives in her hometown. Maybe she’ll use the money she’s saved over the year for singing and guitar lessons, then start that rock band she’s always dreamed of and leave Karakura to go touring.

And maybe none of that happens, and she stays here until the end.

It’ll be a shame when it happens. Despite how small the store’s original jazz section had been, he always loved the store’s collection. He hadn’t found another like it in all his time in the World of the Living.

[lanassgirlll]

Old Faces

Elijah Mikaelson x Fem!Reader

Summary: The last time you saw the Mikaelson family, you got left heartbroken. Now, you meet a certain member of the family again after centuries.

Warnings: kidnapping (kinda?) tiniest bit of angst, mentions of paranoia, use of y/n!

Words: 1,7k

AN: First of all, it's been a while since I have posted something, but I am back! So, I'm thinking about making this story into two or three parts. Also, I haven't decided which the love interest will be, so I will make a poll and I ask of anyone who reads this, to vote and choose!! Anyway, enjoy my new story and I hope you like it! (side note: please excuse any grammar and spelling mistakes, lol)

Getting out of the taxi, Y/N took in a deep breath whilst looking around the fascinating streets of New Orleans. She had only been here a few times, long before the city was founded. So, saying the place had changed would be underestimating.

It was almost dark outside, and she couldn't wait to have a shower and get some sleep. The flight she had booked was early in the morning, so she had spent many hours in the air just to get here.

Taking her bags out of the car, Y/N slowly made her way inside the hotel she had booked a room in. The hotel itself wasn't anything special and it wasn't one of the best places to stay in the city. But she liked the simple, rather than the extravagant places, so this would be just perfect for her.

It was now early in the morning when Y/N was getting ready for her day. She had decided that she'd spend the few days she was staying in the city, exploring, and collecting little souvenirs for her home in Europe, instead of sulking and rotting in the bed of her hotel room. Y/N didn't like traveling so far away from home much, as she loved the comfort of it, but whenever she did, collecting things that would catch her eye was like a tradition for her. Her house was full of colorful toys, rugs, all kinds of weird cutlery and even furniture, all of which she had gotten from her travels.

Putting on her coat and grabbing her bag, she made her way out of the room, and outside into the streets of New Orleans.

After strolling around the more modern part of the city, Y/N decided to go to the famous French Quarter, as she had heard many good things about it. At least more good than bad, as the place was known for the wicked vampires and witches who somehow never could make peace between their communities.

The place was truly beautiful, she had to admit. The buildings, the people, the jazz music, which she didn't like much, but it was still charming in a way.

But as she was walking around the streets, simply just admiring the place like a kid would admire a toy store, Y/N couldn't get of the feeling that someone was following her.

Sure, she was known for being a little too paranoid at times, but this time she really couldn't find out why. A thousand questions were running in her mind: Was it because of the stories she had heard about this place? Were the witches trying to get her for being in their territory? The fear was slowly building up as the paranoia was taking over her mind.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly made her way into an alleyway and looked around, just to make sure she was alone.

Just as she was about to open her bag, a man appeared in front of her. And as she was about to speak, the unfamiliar man broke her neck, and her world went dark.

Slowly waking up, a quiet groan escaped Y/N's lips. She figured it had to be from getting her neck broken. As the realisation kicked in, she opened her eyes and looked around.

She was in a big room, big windows letting the bright sun lighten the space. The room itself didn't have much furniture nor people in it. She looked down at herself and saw that she was tied down to a chair, and from the burning that she felt, it was obvious that the ropes were soaked with vervain. Great.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she managed to speak up.

''Hello? Is- is there anyone?''

She had to admit, she was scared to death right now. She had never really been in any situations like this up until now. She had never gotten attacked by anyone and it's been a few good centuries since anyone has broken her neck. The worst feeling was the anxiety she was feeling at that very moment.

How could she be this stupid? She was such an old vampire and she always let her fears get the worst out of her at the worst moments. Like this one. Y/N thought that this would be the day she'd die.

She was so lost in her thought, she didn't even notice the man that was now standing behind her.

''What do we have here?''

Hearing the deep voice behind her out of nowhere, made her squeak and close her eyes tightly, trying to control her breathing. She was a scaredy cat and at that moment she felt more embarrassed than afraid.

''Who are you? What do you want with me?''

The question started flying out of her mouth as she tried to get a better look at the man behind her.

''The more important question is, who are you? And what are you doing here?''

Just as Y/N was about to answer his questions out of fear for her life, she heard another man walking into the room. Of course, she couldn't see him either and the only thing she could hear now, was the quiet mumbling between the two of them.

Y/N swore that the voice of the man who had just walked in was one she had heard before. She just couldn't place where.

She looked down at her hands, trying to pull them out of the ropes, even though she knew it was of no use. She hissed at the burning feeling and clenched her jaw. Y/N was getting angry now. She had done nothing wrong to deserve this.

''Hello? If you won't tell me what you want, just let me go! I have done nothing to you!''

As she looked up, with the corner of her eye saw one of the men making his way over to her. He stood in front of her and looked her up and down, and Y/N swore she could feel the judgment in his eyes.

''Quick change of attitude, I see?''

The man was tall, with dark skin and sharp face. His expression wasn't giving anything out, and she couldn't read him.

''Look, I only-''

She stopped mid-sentence as the other man now stood in front of her, too. Memories started flooding her mind as she stared up at him. It had been centuries since she last saw him.

The one and only, Elijah Mikaelson.

He was looking at her, like he had just seen a ghost. His brows were furrowed, and his lips were parted, as he was sucking in a breath.

Before either of them could make a sound, the dark-haired man that stood next to Elijah, spoke up first.

''I'm guessing the two of you know each other. Care to explain, Elijah?''

Y/N clenched her jaw tightly, looking away from them without a saying a word. She was getting overwhelmed with all the memories that were coming back. She had been keeping them locked at the back of her mind, as they were too painful. It had taken her decades to get over what had happened. In all honesty, she never truly got over it, but at least she managed to control the thoughts.

''Marcel, would you be so kind and leave us.''

She heard the man, whose name apparently was Marcel, sigh with a hint of annoyance before slowly making his way out of the room.

Y/N reluctantly looked up at Elijah again, her jaw still clenched tight. He looked so different since the way time she saw him, yet still the same in a way. The only obvious changes were, of course, his clothes and his hair style.

''Y/N, this is- a really unexpected surprise.''

She scoffed as she heard his words. Using the word 'unexpected' was a funny way to describe it.

''Then let me go, and we can all continue with our day, peacefully.''

''I'm afraid I can't do that. Just yet.''

''You cannot be serious, Elijah.''

She was so angry at this point, her blood was boiling. What did he want with her? She knew that he didn't know she was here until he saw her with his own eyes. The shocked face he had made told her everything she needed to know.

''Just let me go. I don't know why your friend had to snap my neck and bring me here, but I assure you, I have done no wrong to him!''

Elijah had a small smile dancing on his lips as she chuckled at her words lightly.

''What's so funny?''

''I'm just- I am at loss of words. You've changed so much since the last time we saw each other.''

''I will not sit here and suffer, just because you want to chit chat.''

As she was looking at him, she saw as an emotion flashed in his eyes, but it was gone before she had the chance to figure out what it meant.

Suddenly, he ripped the ropes off her hands and threw them down on the ground.

Y/N quickly stood up and took a few steps backwards, needing space from him.

''Don't expect a 'thank you'.''

''Why are you here, Y/N?''

Her brows furrowed as she heard his question.

''Excuse me? Suddenly you own the world? I was here on a holiday, and now you have ruined it!''

His face was like a rock. She couldn't figure him out and it was slowly starting to annoy her, along with the other hundred things that were already annoying her.

''No, of course not.''

''Listen, Elijah. I don't want to be around you. So, I will get my things and go back home, and you won't hear or see me ever again. Sounds good? Great!''

Just as she started walking towards the door Marcel had walked out of earlier, figuring that had to be the way out of the building, Elijah appeared in front of her, startling her.

''Jesus-''

''Don't go. Just not yet at least.''

''I don't owe you anything Elijah. And you don't deserve a second of my time. Now get out of my way.''

''Y/N, please, let's talk. Or let me talk. I believe we have much to go through.''

She was looking at him, thinking about his plea. Was she really about to agree with him? She had tried so hard to keep the memories out of her mind, because of how painful they were.

But just like in the past, she really could never say no to him.

Knowing she'd regret it later, she took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest, before speaking up.

''Fine, let's talk.''

[boroughshq]

Welcome to the community bulletin board! Here are some events happening around the Boroughs this month:

September: Fall Film Festival @ Technicolor Theater, Queens

September 9: Make Your Own Pasta @ Vino e Cucino, the Bronx

September 12: Wine Tasting @ Vault, Brooklyn

September 13: Pumpkin Spice Bake Off @ The High Line, Manhattan

September 14: Core Fitness’ 4th Annual Mud Run @ Staten Island

September 15: Free Community Paddling @ the Bronx River

September 17: Full Harvest Moon Viewing Party @ Prospect Park, Brooklyn

September 20: Speed Dating @ The Blue Note, Queens

September 21: Bar Olympics @ The Well, Staten Island

September 24: DIY Fall Candles @ Sappho’s, Brooklyn

September 26: Advance Line Dancing @ Cowbells, the Bronx

September 30: Ghost Stories w/the New York Public Library @ Central Park, Manhattan

September: Fall Films Festival @ Technicolor Theater, Queens

Every weekend in the month of September, Technicolor Theater will be showing a marathon of certified fall classics at their projected outdoor screen - from When Harry Met Sally to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to Remember The Titans to Little Women and everything in between! A schedule of the films can be found on their social media, but they advise coming in blind for a peak movie going experience. It's chilly, so don't forget to bring your blankets!

September 9: Make Your Own Pasta @ Vino e Cucino, the Bronx

Join the family who owns this beloved restaurant and their dedicated cooking staff in a paid cooking class where they'll show you how to make your own pasta from scratch!

September 12: Wine Tasting @ Vault, Brooklyn

To usher in the season, Vault has secured fresh seasonal wine offerings for their refined guests, all carefully sourced, and all boasting brilliant flavor profiles perfect for the fall season.

September 13: Pumpkin Spice Bake Off @ The High Line, Manhattan

The Borough Baking Bites (an amateur online baking community) are hosting their first Pumpkin Spice Bake Off right on the High Line! To participate, amateur bakers only needed to sign up online for $20 and bring a homemade baked good of choice that includes pumpkin spice. Any citizen walking by is welcome to stop and try the different pumpkin spice goods for no cost at all - just a simple request to make sure to Scan the QR code provided to vote for their favorite treat. Winner of the bake off gets half of the total entry fee as their prize!

September 14: Core Fitness’ 4th Annual Mud Run @ Staten Island

Sponsored by Core Fitness and hosted at Staten Island's Greenbelt Nature Center, Core Fitness is proud to host their 4th Annual Mud Run! Gym members and non-members alike are invited to participate in a 3 mile outdoor challenge course filled with over 30 man-made and natural obstacles to overcome! And remember, this is a mud run - don't forget to bring an extra change of clothes for the ride back home!

September 15: Free Community Paddling @ the Bronx River

Join the Bronx River Association for a free community paddle on the Bronx River! Canoes and kayaks will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis for partners, families, and solo paddlers to enjoy a fun day on the beautiful Bronx river!

September 17: Full Harvest Moon Viewing Party @ Prospect Park, Brooklyn

The New York Galaxy Patrol is back to host another astronomical event viewing: the Full Harvest Moon! With a partial lunar eclipse expected to occur, this supermoon will surely be a site to see! Astronomy fans are invited to join the astronomy club as they host a moon party for the community! Be warned - the eclipse is projected to enter it's darkest phase around 11:44pm - prepare for a late night!

September 20: Speed Dating @ The Blue Note, Queens

Calling all 25-36 year old singles! Spark Events proudly invites you to enjoy a night of smooth jazz and mingling at their speed dating event, hosted at The Blue Note! Choose whether you want to sit or rotate at the start, then take part in engaging five-minute conversations in search of that ever elusive spark. Keep a record of the people you'd like to see again to submit to the organizers at the end of the event, and you'll get your matches sent to you the next day!

September 21: Bar Olympics @ The Well, Staten Island

Bar Olympics is the name, and pools, darts, and beer pong are the games. The Well happily presents September's Bar Olympics for their guests to take part in!

September 24: DIY Fall Candles @ Sappho’s, Brooklyn

Join the staff at Sappho's starting at 5pm for a DIY Fall Candles workshop! Some signature scents available will include Pumpkin Spice, Cinnamon, Sandalwood, and Maple!

September 26: Advance Line Dancing @ Cowbells, the Bronx

Think you know your way around a dance hall? Come prove it at Cowbells! Line dance instructors are ready to teach the more serious dancers some advance line dances to current country hits starting at 7pm!

September 30: Ghost Stories w/the New York Public Library @ Central Park, Manhattan

It's almost spooky season, and the New York Public Library wants to celebrate! Guests are invited to sit around the Central Park firepits to swap ghost stories together -the spookier, the better!

[itsyaboighostie]

When you wanna make your first DP fic but don't know which stupid idea of yours to choose from, you go to Tumblr. So here's a series of potential fics I wanna make bc my mind is rotten and rotting. Be warned some of these ideas aren't so kid friendly.

Muon

In which the Ghost Portal wasn't just made to be a gateway between realms, but also a biologically engineered ghost trapper made from artificial ectoplasm. Meaning the portal was alive at some point till Danny happened. The Portal still works, of course, it's just that no one knows what happened to the trapper. Wonder where it could be 🤔.

Cookies to those who see the Ghost Busters reference here 😛

Oh Klahona

A story about one of Vlads master plans going a bit too far causing the permanent destruction of Dannys timeline, forcing said ghost to travel to another universe where he was never meant to be. This however is easier said than done obviously bc this boy isn't allowed to get a break, especially from me. Stuck thousands of years into the past of the Ghost Zone, Danny is frozen in time. Cursed to forever grieve his old family and remain conscious all throughout his punishment. The small Ghost eventually accepts his fate, becoming a legend told by the undead through whispers on how he came to be. Until a certain girl finds his resting place.

Ft Halfa Jazz, title inspired by Oh Klahona by Jack Stauber. More specific this line "Tears falling down at the party, saddest little baby in the room, fears, tell me fears, don't get me started, I get a little gray hair for every scare you share."

Winter Birds

Sister fic to Oh Klahona where Maddie, Vlad, and Jack get hit together while they're in college. Maddie and Jack are of course together while Vlad is a close friend. Brain Cookies decide it's high time they start a family together after years of protecting Amity from ghosts, however because of their half-dead status they're unable to conceive children of their own. Of course, this doesn't stop them from looking for a way, and with some research, and help from the Fruitloop, they discover the Ghost Zone adoption system. Things don't go to plan however when they find two children that look suspiciously like them frozen in time. (Description and finer details still a WIP)

Ft Fenton Family Bonding (Everyone is a Half Ghost Edition :D), Tiny Danny and Jazz, some questionable parenting choices, kicking dead ass as a family while causing property damage, and learning how to parent. Title from Winter Bird by Aurora (Sending many hearts to my fellow Sky Kids)

[worstvideogamesong-poll]

Worst Video Game Song Tournament - Round 2 Match 19

The Moving Gigantic Ship - Tales of Xillia

VERSUS

Track 7 - Frozen Fruits

FIGHT!

I would recommend listening to as much as you can of each song before voting, but how you choose is up to you! Remember to be civil in the tags and replies!

Propaganda under cut:

The Moving Gigantic Ship:

"My friend group nicknamed this one "Satan's smooth jazz." YMMV severely on this one, but just understand that this track starts making it impossible to concentrate on anything else once it's been playing at you for longer than ten minutes. It's found in one of the longer dungeons of the game."

"Ok i dont think anything is going to top satans smooth jazz this sucks in such a funny way"

"#please join me in hating this one xillia song"

"#I have a theory that motoi sakuraba purposely makes shit soundtracks for recent tales games #so bamco will stop hiring him #because he's better than this! #just listen to the music he did for both baten kaitos games! #just let go shiina compose for tales from now on I beg of you"

"#ah yes #the Discordant Hell Jazz"

Track 7:

"(the youtube uploader got the numbering off by one, but it's this one) Pretty obscure computer game with a soundtrack of messed up midi files. I love most of them tbh but this one is the strangest for sure"

Feel free to add more propaganda in the tags and replies, or send it to me in the ask box and I'll try to share it as soon as I can!

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #7: 1956

One of the interesting things about doing these polls is seeing how going through each decade starts to feel like a countdown to some great cultural moment. I imagine the 60s polls will feel like a countdown to Beatlemania, the 70s to disco, the 80s to the MTV era, the 90s to grunge, the 00s to the mp3 era, and the 10s to streaming. And the 50s felt like a countdown to Elvis Presley.

So much has already been said about Elvis, from his "King of Rock and Roll" moniker; to his producer' Sam Phillips' infamous quote about making a billion dollars using a white man to make Black music; to the numerous controversies and legends that could only be attached to a figure of this level of cultural impact -- for better or for worse. As many know, one of the Elvis songs featured in this poll, Hound Dog, was a cover of the blues song originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton. For the sake of these polls, the songs will be voted based on the versions that reached the Billboard charts. However, I still found it important to highlight the song's origins. Many may also know that his rendition of Hound Dog lead to an outrage of controversy, because he had the audacity to move his h*ps on The Milton Berle Show.

If you disregard Elvis the Pelvis, however, the top of the 1956 charts may not feel all that different from prior years. We still see a lot of the traditional pop, vocal quartets, and jazz standards we've grown accustomed to. Which makes sense. Not only do changes rarely happen overnight, but the full snapshot of the culture at any given time can rarely be seen in the Billboard charts -- much less the top ten picks from said chart. However, something is definitely different.

In my opinion, the most telling evidence of this change isn't Elvis Presley. It's Kay Starr's Rock and Roll Waltz. For one, it's a novelty song -- a style of music popular in this decade and will only see more popularity as we move into the 60s. But it goes beyond that. The joke of the song is that the narrator of the song sees her parents try to dance the waltz to this new "rock and roll" music, and she's commenting on the absurdity of it. As the song says, "it's old, but it's new". Some less charitable modern listeners may even call it the "how do you do, fellow kids?" of 1956. That's how you know that something is shifting in the culture, and record labels are scrambling to catch up.

In addition to the change in sound, 1956 also brings us an expanded Billboard Chart to pull from. With more young people listening to their own music, charts began to focus more on retail record sales, rather than performances in public venues like previous years. However, we're still a few years away from the Billboard Top 100.

More information about this blog here

[pansy-placebo]

I have an idea- a news organization which only reports the most pressing matters a person actually Wants and Needs to know.

You say you're interested in like, Your Country's General News and LGBTQ Affairs and you get like, updates which actually mean something. You choose how many articles you get a day and they're ranked by importance, and if there's literally no news: there's no news. If a day passes without a subject you actually need to know happening globally, or your country updating it's queer laws, then you don't have to know.

Also, it would report on positive things, too. I know there are like mailing lists and such which include "good things which happened today" but like. Again. A lot of them aren't relevant, and often bring to light issues I can't do fuck all to help. The heartwarming stories are sometimes great, like "X country is sticking to promised green incentive to Y" but sometimes they're like, "Child Survives a disaster that killed literally everyone but them" like WHAT

It wouldn't be a publicly traded company so it wouldn't need continuous profit, it would only need to stay afloat for those who're currently signed on. That would erase the need for catchy headlines and keep the subscription as low as the site's maintenance and the worker's wages.

The point would be to lower day to day stress while keeping on top of things. People already get their news from fucking everywhere, but by using the app they wouldn't feel as much pressure to doomscroll or whatever. They'd know they're doing what they can because they've been told what's important. So like. If there's some disaster across the globe that they can't actually provide financial or direct assistance to and/or they're not signed up for global news, then they won't know unless someone else deems it important enough to inform them throughout other means.

That means you'll be informed about an upcoming vote in your area, and not be informed that someone across the globe has been trapped in a cave.

Think Wikipedia's featured articles, not a news website covered in 800 disasters, many of them actually the same disaster posted about at different points or shit made to sound worse than it is, or YouTube's news algorithm which tells you about the 1 sponsored topic of the day.

It could be called "Actually Matters" or "Need to Know" or something.

Only problem is. I would find it hard to trust any news website if it claimed to be this- most websites have a center-to-right bias, which is proven to be less factual.

Additionally, I certainly don't want to be the one to start this because the reason I think it would be a good idea is because I've had to take an all-or-nothing approach to social media for my mental health. So I sure as shit can't start it, my mental health would be down the drain the first day of looking for what's important enough to cover, let alone writing up the relevant info, and then doing this all day every day.

We'd need a very specific type of person/people to write for a site like this. A regular journo-type who can write about anything without their mental health going down the drain, but also someone who's not likely to sensationalise the fuck out of things AND someone without a right-wing bias.

Anyway:

Uh. Do ya like jazz?

[gothroughthelookingglass]

Making it it's own post!

@ayoharuko Thank you for saving my life with your reblog!

Y'know, I really didn't like school festivals. Partially because all the ones I've attended so far had an Overblot occur, but they were also just boring in general. Especially those end of the year ones. Like the one I was attending at that very moment.

The whole island was jazzed up for the joint school festival, and I was just sitting on the bench in the square doodling.

"Oi, prefect!" I looked up from my notebook, flower doodles littering the otherwise blank page, to see Ace and Deuce walking towards me. When I saw the large book in the formers hand, I raised a brow.

"What's that?" I asked, closing my notebook and setting it down. One of Grim's ears twitched as the pair came and sat on the bench on either side of me, and he moved to Deuces lap when Ace passed me the book.

"It's the sage island yearbook." Deuce explained simply. "This is your copy, Ace and I already signed it." I hummed with a smile, opening the book.

I was a part of that years yearbook committee as a photographer because of the ghost camera Crowley gave me. Most, if not all, the pictures of NRC and its students were taken by me, and I got some good ones at RSA as well, there was this end of year dance thing being hosted there and a bunch of NRC students went.

"Oh awesome, thanks for bringing it over." I expected that to be the end of it, but both Ace and Deuce had a little grimace on their faces. I sighed "Okay, what happened?"

"You should see for yourself." Ace stated gravely, flipping to the student hall of fame pages.

All the students and staff in both schools could vote for random things like 'most introverted' or 'teachers pet' or 'most likely to commit a crime and get away with it'(My Idea) stuff like that.

I quickly understood why Ace and Deuce were acting so...odd. one of the categories was 'Most Beautiful' and instead of one of the two Actors you'd expect to see. My name and picture were there.

It was a good picture, thankfully.

"Oh, that's what happened." I said plainly, a little in shock. "Have either of them even..."

"Vil Senpai hasn't gotten one yet. I'm not sure about Neige." Deuce said confidently. I waved my hand at the mention of Neige.

"That's fine, Neige isn't who I'm worried about." I hummed nonchalantly, looking at the other people in the hall of fame pages. Iida got 'most introverted', some RSA student got 'teachers pet', and Epel got 'Most likely to commit a Crime and get away with it' which made me laugh a bit.

He could, and would, pull that off. Depending on the crime anyway.

"Hey you know what this means?" Ace perked up, a grin on his face. "This means that a majority of students and staff in both schools think that you're prettier than both Neige and Vil!"

"Yeah, I noticed." I sighed out. "And I do not want that, Vil gets homicidal when he's jealous."

"Ah, Prefect." I froze, looking up to see Vil approaching, yearbook and a cloth pencil case in arm. "Just who I was hoping to see."

"Hi Vil Senpai." I greeted calmly, closing my yearbook and standing up, putting my yearbook on top of my doodle book after it had fallen from where I wedged it. "Something I can do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could sign my yearbook." He mused, holding it and the bag out to me casually. "I have plenty of to choose from."

Taking the two items from him, I opened the bag to see a variety of different colours and styles of pens.

"Only if you sign mine." I smiled, picking up the, admittedly heavy, book with my free hand and passing it to him. He took it with a smirk.

Luckily, there was a table nearby that we could put the books on to sign them better. I picked out a sparkly purple gel pen and jotted down a little note. I didn't want to take up too much space, since there were probably a lot of people wanting to sign his.

"Just because you're the Villian of someone else's story, doesn't mean you can't be the Hero of others."

Signing my name with a little flourish at the end, I closed Vils yearbook, and we swapped them back once he was done with mine.

And of course, this is when Neige popped by with his own yearbook, asking both Vil and I to sign it. Vil begrudgingly agreed, but handed it to me first. I took the book and switched my purple out for red.

"Be the Hero for whoever you can, even if that means stepping out of the spotlight."

By the time I had finished writing my little note and singing my name, I found that my yearbook was being passed around by my other NRC friends, everyone wanting to sign it. Ace, Deuce, and Grim had wondered off somewhere, probably a food stall.

"Say, Prefect." Vil started out, holding his yearbook under his arms while everyone was using his pens for my book. "What are you going to do now that the year is over?

"I... don't know, honestly." I answered plainly. "I'm not sure if Crowley would be willing to let me stay over the summer. Especially not since Grim has to go to that rehabilitation centre for the summer break after...well, you remember."

Judging by the face Vil made, he did indeed remember.

"Oh well, we can't have that!" Neige piped up, claping his hands together cutely. "You can stay with me for the summer!

"Um, Absolutely Not." I sighed at Vils immediate interjection. "The Prefect barely even knows you. They'll stay with me."

"And be stuck on their own? I respect you, Vil Senpai, but you're always working. If they come with me, they'll at least get to have some fun!" Neige countered, grinning. "Honestly Senpai, you need to learn how to take a vacation."

I sat back down on the bench, grabbing my notebook and flipping it to a clean page as the two Actors got lost in their 'my horse is bigger than your horse' like bickering. I pulled my pencil out from behind my ear and leaned back with a small smile.

"Oh geez, what's goin on here?" Epel walked over to me, my yearbook in hand, and sat down next to me.

"Oh, they both invited me to stay and their place for the summer and now they're arguing." I explained simply. Epel let out an amused chuckle and leaned back, my yearbook resting in his lap.

"Hey if you don't wanna deal with either of em you can always spend the summer with me. MeeMaw would loveta see you again." I giggled and nodded at Epels suggestion, it had been a long while since I spent a summer of a farm. "How long do you think they're gonna go at it for?"

"Who knows at this point."

The answer: Long enough for me to sketch them, steal a black inking pen from Vils bag to ink that with, and for me to go buy quality art pencils from a booth an RSA student set up And colour it.