#where I live is actually in the path of totality it's VERY exciting!!

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Happy Day of Black Sun to everyone getting to see the eclipse. May your invasion of the Fire Nation be a success.

[weebsinstash]

Now don't get me wrong, I like how... calm and unbothered Alastor is, or at least tries to pass himself off as being

but like.... we know he's a drinker.... and we know certain details about him having an alcoholic abusive father who was cruel to his mother which heavily influenced his whole Dexter serial killer morality bs... and I can't help but think of a fic idea where Reader and Alastor are together and, suddenly without warning you break up with him BECAUSE YOU CHEATED ON HIM. you're like, legitimately heartbroken and missing him but you broke up for a good reason and, time passes and you dont see or hear from him, you're basically just going on with your life, and, MEANWHILE HE'S JUST SLOWLY DEVOLVING IN A PATHETIC LITTLE MEOW MEOW

His radio show comes on and he's SLURRING and people are aghast. Alastor is usually such a classy gentleman, so careful with his image??? Meanwhile he's in his radio station with several glasses of whiskey and staring at a wall lined with your photos while he's broadcasting, "ohhhh hEeeEy LiSteNers!! How-how are you all doing this.... 😡LOVELY😤 evening. Isnt..... isn't it... so nice to... spend time with loved ones when you need them? 🥴 WELL I WOULDNT KNOW HA HAH HA" *cue 30 straight uninterrupted seconds of unhinged laughing from a man clearly having an emotional crisis* "so on tonightsssshow I was-i wasszzz hoping to-to discussss-"

Like imagine tuning into his show after avoiding it because it broke your heart and it turns from him like, having an actual topic and planned structure of his show, to then, one day you overhear a broadcast and he's just occasionally slurring, saying really really vague shit about how "real men are supposed to be strong enough to protect and hold onto those they hold dear" and you can occasionally hear the THUNK of his whiskey glass hitting the table meaning he's already drunk but still drinking WHILE broadcasting and, oh honey you already sound so wasted you don't need more--

You guys don't understand. I want this man having a very PUBLIC very MESSY mental breakdown because he was CRAZY IN LOVE WITH YOU and you sat him down and told him you love him deeply but you need sex and you've cheated on him REPEATEDLY and EVEN THEN he was HARDCORE COPING, "w well as long as you promise it won't happen again-" "I cant and i won't. I love you but i cant repress this part of myself" LIKE YOU DECIMATE THIS MAN. Alastor's just beside himself because like, not without valid feelings but you're basically dumping him to fuck strangers. Like. I just. What if he literally had a ring box or was starting to realize he's demisexual on the ace spectrum and was starting to have Those Feelings for you and you're just. Breaking up with him, and all he hears is "sorry but having these disgusting men I don't even know hunch over on me grunting like disgusting animals and defiling me who is definitely way too good for them is way better than being with you my respectful funny classy charming totally-not-husband"

I want you to be walking down the streets of Hell and Vox suddenly comes on their equivalent of a jumbotron and he's visibly beside himself with excitement, "BREAKING NEWS, THE RADIO DEMON IS PISS DRUNK IN THE GUTTER LIKE A FUCKING LOSER, MORE NEWS ON THE SCENE" and it just snap cuts to him facedown in the street somewhere. Have you ever seen Intervention. You can have grown ass adults with successful careers and loving communities and when they find something that breaks them you'll be seeing shit like, children finding their mothers literally passed out in the yard because they were too drunk to get into the house or even WALK properly. So. You just. See him in this legitimately pathetic absolutely humiliating state and you can't help but feel that that's YOUR fault, meanwhile Vox is living his best fucking life, GOD FORBID VOX SEES YOU STANDING THERE CRYING ON THE SIDEWALK, he's then broadcasting your crying face all over Hell, "Hey Alastor even your EX is CRYING AT HOW PATHETIC YOU ARE, GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY LEFT YOU HUH" and like. The live feed of Alastor shows him just, struggling to even lift his head to look up to, wherever, and see your image there, looking absolutely devastated, looking at him with pity and heartbreak. oh, his sweet beloved, looking so distressed because you see him so weak...

Vox is just living it up mocking both of you but he's made several enormous mistakes by putting you on the air, especially looking like THAT, especially with Alastor in this mental state, and ESPECIALLY to mock you when you're already looking so broken. The feed cuts. All the TVs read "LOST SIGNAL" and nothing comes back on the news for the rest of the night. Less than a week later, the radios are on again, and Alastor sounds... completely back to normal? Chipper, even? And at first you're happy to hear he's all good and well, but, there's something about some of the things he's saying that are making you a little.... nervous?

"You know folks, it took me an EMBARRASSINGLY long while to realize that, a true traditional man puts the needs of others above himself, and especially the needs of his special somebody! One can't truly care for one's loved one properly if you're too boggled down with, FEELING SORRY for yourself right? How else are you going to... defend what's yours if you just lie down and take it?"

"So while I was off the air, good listeners, I was doing quite a bit of, spring cleaning, let's call it! Yes, I was... unfortunately very busy, having to wrangle up quite a few.... disgusting, insignificant, dirty, thieving PERVERTS!!!! ....but now that that's all good and done with, I'd certainly like to think these streets are a little more... respectable!"

"To end the broadcast tonight, a final word to all my fellow men out there. If you happen to discover that, for whatever reason, your beloved has run off with another? It was because you deserved it for being WEAK. You allowed another man to just, COME IN and... DESECRATE what is precious to you? Disgraceful. Pathetic. Ill-mannered. You cannot call yourself a worthy partner if you simply allow your beloved to waltz themselves into the mouth of danger, can you? So, a little piece of advice from your humble host here tonight: Take back what is yours. Take them back, do not let them go, and do not let anyone EVER soil your love ever again. ........Also hey! Don't forget that the annual Cannibal District Cook-Out is this coming weekend so be sure to--"

[devilishchaos]

Can you write a ruben smut where maybe it’s the middle of the night or maybe very early in the morning, and y/n and ruben are sound asleep in bed with ruben spooning her and at one point she probably having a dream and she unconsciously backs her behind towards ruben and starts moving slowly. And ruben wakes up and gently wakes her up. Upon letting her know what had just happened and becomes mortified but when he said he was into it, and making sure she consent, they do it from the back being impossibly close with the whole thing being intimate and passionate, and thank you for your writing - you're my favorite

Love on you | Rúben Dias imagine

Rating / genre: M (18+); smut, fluff

Pairings: Reader x Rúben Dias

Warnings: Explicit smut, explicit talk, use of pet names "baby", "babe", "princesa"

AN: This is heaven! I LOVED this concept and I LOVED working on it, thank you so much. <3 enjoy x

Word Count: 1 975 words

This is a work of fiction. The story, names, characters and incidents either are product or the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

When you woke up, it wasn’t to the sound of your alarm. You became aware of your consciousness when you felt a warm hand stroking up and down your arm. Then down your back, gliding over the oversized t-shirt you’d slept in, down to graze over your panties, finally landing on your hip. After a moment, it went in reverse, moving slowly, the touch so gentle and pleasant that it almost put you back to sleep. 

Still half out of it, your breathing stayed even, eyes remaining closed as you let Rúben trace over you. When he shuffled a bit closer, you could feel his chest pressed to your upper back, his hand changing its path to caress over the bare skin of your thigh up to your ass. Then there was a press of lips to your shoulder, so soft that you were almost sure you were dreaming. 

God, it felt good. You didn’t want him to ever stop. Barely able to compose a thought, you still registered how sweet it was, him just slowly kissing your skin and holding you close to him. Perhaps Rúben liked the feel of you as much as you did of him. 

When he moved to kiss your neck, your shoulder twitched up slightly and he paused for a moment before continuing. A quiet hum came out of you a moment later, unable to keep it in at the feeling of his lips pressing against you, your hair being gently combed out of the way. 

“Hi..” you said so quietly that it was barely audible at all. 

“You don’t have to wake up. I just wanted to touch you.” he grumbled low against your skin, arm tightening around your waist. 

“You can touch me.” you whispered back softly, about to doze off again with his permission. 

So he did, continuing to explore you with his lips as he caressed a finger over your midsection, almost tickling your ribs with how light his touch was. Somehow it was just making you more sensitive to him, faint chills erupting on your skin. 

“Is this okay?” Rúben asked directly in your ear while his fingers teased at the hem of your (his) t-shirt, pushing it up and slipping them under until his whole palm was pressed warm against you, starting at your hip and slowly moving up. 

“Mhmm..” you sounded in agreement, nodding a little as you adjusted your position a bit, pressing your ass back against him, happy to feel him against you. 

It would’ve been nice to roll over, pull him to you in a slow morning kiss. But you felt so at ease, body totally relaxed, plus you were a bit curious at what he might do next. The thought of it, paired with the feel of his erection hardening against your ass, were enough to have you excited, even in your dreamy state. 

“I’m going to kiss you. You can keep sleeping.” Rúben whispered, adjusting to sit up a bit more so he could trail his kisses over more of you, your t-shirt ending up bunched up so he could brush his lips over your hip and in the dip of your waist. 

Somehow your panties had been removed when your eyes fluttered a bit, you waking slightly once again to something warm grazing up and down the back of your thigh, teasing to the inner portion so that it was just brushing over your pussy. A faint whimper came out of you in your confusion, the light touch eliciting a feeling through your core so easily. Your nipples were hard, poking against your t-shirt uncomfortably. 

Another tantalizing brush over your pussy lips then the mattress was moving behind you again, weight causing your body to shift slightly. The movement up your thigh, against your cunt, up over your ass then back down became consistent, causing you to go back into your slumber. 

When you woke once more, the pleasure was much more intense, something hot and hard flicking back and forth over your clit and through the wetness at your entrance. You became aware of heavy breaths behind you, a quiet groan from Rúben coming out and causing your heart to race as your mind started to piece together the physical sensations with reality. 

A soft moan left you as your hips pushed back against the feeling, wanting more, suddenly hyper-aware of how needy your cunt was, how empty it felt, being teased over and over by his cockhead. 

“Fuck.” a low grunt came from the hot body pressed behind you. 

You whimpered at the sound, pussy clenching around the tip of him in invitation. When Rúben’s lips found your shoulder once again, you turned your head, blinking a few times to focus on him. Just as you locked gazes, he pushed in more, the sudden shock of the stretch causing you to gasp at him with wide eyes. 

“Oh, fuck. How do you feel so good, amor?” he groaned loudly before closing his eyes shut. 

Overwhelmed, your body took over, pulsing around his cock as your hips rolled back, trying to get him in deeper. He’d gotten you so wet and ready..now you just wanted to feel full. Once again, he was cursing, hand finding your hip and following your shallow movements. But it was too hard in your position to get as much as you wanted. 

“Please..baby.” you whined.

“Please what?” he asked, meeting your eyes before interrupting your ability to answer with his lips on yours. 

“More. I- I n- need more, need you to f- fuck me.” you moaned into his mouth, squirming against him in search of friction, before pulling back. 

He hummed into your neck, pulling you close with both arms wrapped around you until your torso was flush with him “Just wanted to feel you.”

A sad little whimper came out of you and you felt him twitching inside of you. 

“But you turned me on so much.” you whined quietly as you turned forward, grabbing the pillow and trying not to sound as bratty as you felt right then and there. 

“Mm, I know, baby. You got so wet for me. So cute and sexy, moaning and sighing in your sleep.” he whispered right in your ear. 

His words were making you clench more and more, causing you to soak his cock and the inside of your thighs. 

“Made me so fucking hard..fuck..I’m so hard for you.”

“Yeah, I know.” you whined once more “Please, meu amor, please fuck me. Wanna feel more of you.” 

“You have me, baby. I’m inside you.”

“No, you’re not.” 

Rúben chuckled quietly then just when you thought he was going to speak again, he thrust his hips forward sheathing the last few inches inside of you and making you cry out, gripping onto the arm that was wrapped around your middle and across your chest. 

“Oww, fuuuuck.” you moaned, your hips once again pushing forward and back, succeeding only in sliding him in and out an inch or so “Again, please.” 

“So whiny and needy this morning.” 

“For you. It’s your fault.” you told him, breathless already as your pussy ached. 

Thankfully, he listened, beginning to push his hips marginally, then a bit more, losing the lock on his lips when his cock started to slide in faster, breathing pretty little groans into the crook of your neck. 

Your back arched away from him, letting him press deeper. He felt so good, wrapped around you, pulsing inside of you. The wet sounds of him slipping into you over and over were audible, even from under the sheets. When he moved to prop himself back up, his hand switched to your hip to leverage his thrusts, allowing him to fuck into you harder. 

“Ahh, yes. Rúben, fuck- ” you choked out, everything getting more intense as he took advantage of his power. Already feeling like you could come too easily, you slipped your hand down between your legs, the addition of your fingertips swirling over your swollen clit, causing you to let out a throaty groan as you tensed around him. 

“You feel so good..” he moaned, practically whispering “Oh my, God.” It just made it better, how he sounded so soft, his voice breathy and needy. 

“You’re gonna make me come, Rúbes.” you mewled into your pillow, your hips pushing back to meet him, the pressure building inside of you as he pounded deep in your walls. 

“Ugh, yes- fuck, fuck, fuck..” the word fell from your mouth continuously, a bit louder, a bit tighter with the pleasure radiating from your core where your clit was throbbing under your fingertips. 

“Come for me, princesa. Wanna feel you coming around me- ”

Before he could finish the words, you were, letting out a low breathy moan that might have resembled ‘holy shit’ in some shape or form, the feeling washing over your whole body. 

“Oh my God, fuck! Oh, fuck.” he let out with a multitude of other ridiculously hot sounds as he came as well, still giving you shallow desperate thrusts as best as he could, even as he faltered through his release. 

“Oh, yes..yes, give it to me, baby.” you echoed his sentiment but in a shaky whisper as you began to come down, your orgasm ricocheting inside you with each additional movement. 

He adjusted his hand, holding once again around your chest so you were close to him as he rolled into you a few more times, slower and without much consciousness. His forehead pressed gently to your shoulder while your hand went back to hold his hip, simply wanting to be touching him more. 

Eventually you both stopped the languid waves of your bodies against one another, stilling completely to catch your breaths. Blinking away the remains of sleep, your awareness caming back. 

If you could wake up like this every morning, how could any day be a bad day?

Rúben’s head laid against the pillow now but he was still right up against you, his breath hitting the back of your neck. To fully wrap you up, his hand had moved to cup your breast, just holding it in his warm grasp. 

You found yourself smiling.

“Hmm. Time to go back to sleep.” he mumbled cutely, burying his face into you. 

“If I wasn’t hungry, I might actually agree to that.” your hand traced over his hip to the side of his ass where a perfect divot sat thanks to all his muscles. 

“But if you go back to sleep, it means I get to wake you up again.” Rúben said as he lifted, leaning onto his hand to look over at you, finally letting you get a good look at him: beautiful, flushed, his messy morning hair everywhere. And, of course, smiling. 

“Don’t tempt me, Dias..” 

He chuckled, sitting up more. His hand moved to your thigh to push it up slightly as he withdrew before he was turning to his side of the bed and getting up. 

“Rúben!” you said suddenly before allowing yourself to move an inch “Did you-? Did we-?” 

“Huh?” he asked as he walked away from the bed. 

Then you watched as he dropped a tied-off condom in the little trash can. 

“Oh, okay. Whew.” you rushed out with a gust of air, a relieved smile pushing up on your cheeks “For a second, I thought you weren’t wearing a condom.” 

“Oh. No, I wouldn’t do that.” he replied quickly, brows squishing together. 

“No, I know. I just..in the moment..I worried you forgot.” you said with a little shrug, biting down on your bottom lip. 

“Baby, you were practically asleep.” he said with a little chuckle, coming over to where you were still lounging under the covers, leaning and giving you a kiss on the forehead “Don't be anxious. I got you.”

[whetstonefires]

I think a part of the reason I feel so connected to JGY and XY is that I, too, think everyone is lying about what a good person they are. Sure, there may be a few genuinely good people, but those are in the minority and never claim the title.

I don't know about never; some people are pretty straightforward.

And in some ways the whole point of the concept of 'a good person' is that the feeling of losing the right to consider yourself one can impose instinctive recoil from doing wrong, in situations where you don't have the leisure of working your way through an ethics diagram and choosing the logically moral path before reacting to a situation. It has practical utility.

But that system can backfire pretty horribly too, in a lot of ways. It can be hijacked by definitions of 'good' that actually make you recoil from ethical acts because they're deviant. It can lead to disappearing up your own ass lmao.

And definitely the threshold for 'talking about how you're a good person' enough that it makes you suspect as either a) a liar or b) someone who values that self-image over objective reality and other people's wellbeing is. Not very high.

Jin Guangyao, ironically, is one of those people who's so performatively A Good Person in his public life that in retrospect it looks like a red flag. Which knowing this about himself in an ongoing fashion ofc just reinforces his own cynicism about everyone else lmao.

Even Lan Xichen, who I think he may see as a genuinely good person, he also sees as an easy mark who will reliably choose what is comfortable over what is 'right,' if you just structure the scenario to make that an easy choice that's easy for him to justify.

Xue Yang's bitterness is in many ways more exciting than Jin Guangyao's because he has a way more unusual relationship to reality, but it does share a lot of notes.

The role of deception in his psychology fascinates me because as far as I can tell he's as instinctively straightforward a person as Lan Wangji, albeit along quite different lines involving a total lack of impulse control, but has adopted 'deceit' as a weapon against the wicked world in the same way he has adopted 'murder.'

But when he feels someone is not merely lying but papering over bad behavior with principles they are not living up to he is livid.

People claiming to be better than him because they're 'good' when 'good' is a construct of privilege, is the underlying idea he's not equipped to articulate. Except he takes that and applies it to 'hitting me to interrupt my random murder of some guy who happened to be within arm's reach when I wanted to hurt someone.'

Which isn't like philosophically perfect, but the underlying problem he's actually reacting to is that he understands the social contract as a lie that has never protected him but seeks to control him, while protecting rich men it has no power to control.

Which it is fair to be mad about, but then his feeling is that since that's the nature of the world and all people, he is entitled to amass for himself the power to inflict hurt without consequences as much as he possibly can, and to use it against the vulnerable for fun, and no one is entitled to interfere.

Which brings him to a place where he is violently angry at anyone talking about trying to treat other people well as a value, because either they're a hypocrite and a liar or they threaten his entire system of rationalization for why he can be The Worst and still In The Right.

'Everyone is equally bad, actually' is like, an understandable take for anyone who's had cause to become embittered. Everyone is free to make whatever philosophical peace they can with the world and by and large there's no ethical weight to any such opinion, in itself.

But it's an ideological crutch people tend to wind up leaning on very heavily when they can't or don't want to take responsibility for their own behavior.

Which is an approach that Xue Yang, Jin Guangyao, and Su She all share, and which not only is shitty of them, it...traps them in a wheel of doubling down on their own worst impulses because rather than going 'that was bad and I shouldn't do it again' they've repeatedly invested all this energy into making what they did actually the correct thing, according to their interpretation of the context. Which means they're more likely to do it again.

(I think this is how Jin Guangyao became a serial killer, for example. He followed a doing-a-murder-impulse and then internally doubled down on how he had nothing to be ashamed of, so he was more likely to do it again, every time.

Wei Wuxian's strain of self-righteousness about his revenge was less...thorough than Jin Guangyao's, because he had the benefit of going after people on the opposite side of a war from him while Meng Yao's first known murder plot was against a shitty boss. But it probably didn't help him not try to solve army-shaped problems with mass murder, even after that stopped being allowed.)

If any of them had just like, zero moral sensibilities they would have created very different problems, and very possibly fewer of them. It's making a central goal of your operations 'self-vindication in your own internal narrative, created retroactively via reframing' rather than 'figuring out what I think I should do and trying to do that' that traps them in the self-reinforcing murder pissbaby vortex.

So if you look at it one way, these three villains are themselves perfect examples of how pursuit of the 'feeling of being good' (or at least 'not the bad guy') can make you worse.

Notably Wei Wuxian was also extremely sensitive to hypocrisy in his youth; it was the only part of Madam Yu's behavior he was ever shown objecting to. But he's sufficiently mellow and cynical from regret and burnout by the 'present' timespan after his resurrection to just get disgusted and alienated about it, rather than outraged.

He wasn't even all that mad at Xue Yang, though honestly that may be partly because he stopped entirely characterizing him as a person at some point during their interaction. Like, there's no point being angry at someone whose moral sensibilities operate exclusively on the plane of 'is this unfair to me' for manipulating and destroying people who were good to him, and then getting obsessed with his own self-pity about it. This is not a person who understands how not to be, metaphorically speaking, a cannibal.

And Wei Wuxian did know better and still got roughly the same result, so what business does he have getting angry?

Anyway yeah those two villains are both delightfully relatable if you sit down and put their perspectives together; they are clearly operating with the same basic suite of human needs and emotions as everybody else, without that being in itself particularly exculpatory, which is honestly refreshing. They've just got the most fantastically toxic interpersonal habits that knowing them counts as some level of Suffering A Curse.

Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang do both stand as scathing rebukes of the society that created them. But within the narrative, wherein they're people, the fact is that each of them had agency and one of the things they chose to do with it was develop rationales for why they were the most special little guy and everything was someone else's fault.

And their moral nihilisms, while also grounded in serious trauma, ping me as emotional masturbation of this variety.

[supercalime]

i heard about the whole jatp drama, and i totally get your worries in that regard 😭 sooo often a show has something great going for itself, just for the creators to fuck up so badly that it's almost unfathomable sksksk (also looking at the umbrella academy season 4 disaster). gotta say that at this point, i think i will leave 911 behind fr if bucktommy aren't together anymore. i am out with one foot simply because i only watch certain storylines while skipping others, some characters haven't interested or excited me in literal years. but i love buck. after so many years of watching him try to find real happiness, and with the show slowly reaching a point where imo it's seriously time to wrap it up very soon, i cannot imagine that they will manage to strike gold the way they did with bucktommy ever again. tommy is the first love interest of buck that they actually tried to integrate into the world and the firefam. tommy got the seal of approval, we see buck seemingly finally reach that point in life he was searching for. making him go through ANOTHER breakup just to introduce ANOTHER love interest, nullifying all that bucktommy has established? there is a limit for how often you can press the reset button, and we have reached it with buck a long time ago. let the man finally have something else to work towards. we need a breath of fresh air in here. i am optimistic about s8, and i will live no matter what happenes, but i think that would be my final straw to disconnect from 911 amd canon buck ngl 🤔 fingers crossed that bucktommy is alive and well because it's got sm potential!! 🙌

Couldn’t agree more bestie!

Tbf my reaction to the jatp bs is on me haha. Everything was more intense in 2020/2021 for obvious reasons so it wasn’t surprising for me to have latched on to a tv show and relying on it for my mental well being. But all that bullshit made me learn to change my mindset and behavior on how to interact with media and fandom, which is to have the bar so low it’s in hell.

Anyway, back to 911. I wouldn’t blame you for stopping to watch the show at any point if it’s not interesting any more. I’m not even a fan of this one. I saw bits and pieces throughout the years as one tends to do with procedurals and didn’t want to have my experience tainted with the fanon ship that shall not be named. In fact, I’ve followed lone star from the beginning and I think I still prefer it over the og.

Now onto buck and his relationships. I completely agree with what you said about hitting the reset button over and over. Procedurals tend to stall instead of committing to a solid change unless they get repetitive and/or write themselves into a corner (which both apply to buck here). So yeah, it would be a disservice to bucks character if he yet again goes through another breakup and the cycle keeps going, specially since tommy was pretty well received as his LI unlike all the other ones that weren’t meant to last from the beginning (Abby, Ali), were the wrong person for him (Taylor) or were forced down our throats (Natalia - there was so much telling and not showing how “right” their relationship was, it’s embarrassing).

So, unless there’s outside factors preventing tommy to come back and stay for good (contracts, conflicting schedules, etc), it makes no sense for bucktommy to not continue on the path they are going.

I want bucktommy to thrive, but I won’t hold my breath waiting just yet. If they are broken up or eventually will break up (which I must emphasize I do not want cause I ship them with all my heart) I might quit the show as well. Buck and Tommy were a breath of fresh air and I would love to see what could happen to them if we are lucky enough to see their romance continue

[itsallmadonnasfault]

Thurston Moore on Madonna: ‘She had credibility, she was really ahead of the game’

The former Sonic Youth frontman remembers her emergence from New York’s underground scene.

We were neighbours. We knew each other, by sight. She would say hi to me and I would say hi to her. She was dating a friend of mine for a millisecond, so we were introduced that way and then, through the years, when we’d cross paths on the street, we’d nod heads and smile. She was very friendly with Jean-Michel [Basquiat], Keith Haring, and these artists who were all our neighbours, and we all hung out at the same places: Danceteria, CBGB, Tier 3 and Club 57 were the main places. When she became super-famous, which was all of a sudden, she disappeared from the New York scene. It was a very strange thing, to be working washing dishes, and making pennies per day, and seeing someone who was in your neighbourhood all of a sudden become a superstar. It was unusual. There was no real model for that, for us. It became kind of exciting.

She was really ahead of the game. She was taking elements of what was cool at that time – punk rock, new wave, dance music, hip-hop and Latino music all clashing in this great non-hierarchical playground of New York. It was all kind of new; everybody was trying different things. Madonna was actually in a couple of no-wave bands that nobody ever talks about. She was in a band with these two twins, Dan and Josh Braun, who were the first members of Swans, Michael Gira’s band. Nobody really knows about that part of her history; she was in a pre-Swans no wave band! There’s all that interconnected history in New York with Madonna and the no wave scene.

She was really able to tap into the sound of what was genuine and the culture at the time, where it was free from any gender or sexual persuasion distinctions. There was no concern about any inequality or [the boundaries of] gender or race – that’s how we felt, it was totally revolutionary. And [there was] this balance between Latino, black and white culture on the scene. She was really significant in giving voice to that and consistently doing it – you never got the sense that she was doing it as a gesture of being hip. She was a person, I think, who was really very loving toward people who were historically disenfranchised by society.

We actually embraced Madonna’s joie de vivre, her celebrity. We did that record and everybody felt we were crazy, and some people lambasted us for giving her some kind of credibility in the underground. But she already had credibility, as far as I was concerned; she was already a part of the downtown scene. I don’t think she capitalised on it.

When we first came to London, Lee [Ranaldo], Kim [Gordon] and I wore Madonna shirts and I remember kids at the gig coming up to us and saying “Are you taking the piss?” and we would say “No, have you heard this Madonna album? You should listen to it next to your Swell Maps albums, next to your Wire albums, next to your Raincoats albums.” Mix it up. Don’t be stuck in some kind of tunnel. I was all about bringing people together. Plus the T-shirts were really cheap.

Actually, I think she was very dignified in the way she referenced all of these different subcultures. She was a very big part of it. She made a lot of money, and when you make a lot of money and become so famous you have to protect yourself, because everybody wants to claw at you. It’s not like she could just walk into a Tesco and buy milk; she’s going to get hammered. People who bring that in to their lives… it’s a mixed blessing. It does prohibit you from being free in the social world. I think she dealt with it really well, let’s put it that way.

[lemonswoop]

You're not allowed to make fun of my play hours for rebirth. I was only mildly obsessed with this game.

Full journal entry and more art under the post

Start date: 2/29/2024

End date: 5/11/2024

Platform: ps5

Hours played: 156 hours

Rating: 4/5

I went into this game from the perspective of someone who has grown up with this game,from someone who accepted that this was a sequel and not a true remake. I was excited to see where the series would go from where remake left off. And boy, was this a very long adventure. This game was a BEHEMOTH! Where to even start...

Again, I think this game did not miss with its characters. They were as charming and lively as they were in part 1. One thing I loved most was Cloud himself. Cloud in the original was a broken and unreliable narrator, but with the game medium moving from pixels to 3D, letting Cliuds perspective shine seemed to be the focus and highlighted Cliuds crumbling mental state. Towards the end, Cloud went from unwell to downright scary. Creatively, I think the focus on Clouds warped perspective, that can't be entirely trusted, was a good move.

Now onto "that scene." The one everyone and their brother knew was coming. To me, that scene is the "Luke, I am your father" and "Snape kills Dumbledor" of gaming. It's hard to be in the gaming sphere and not know about it. And because of that, I'm probably going to have the unpopular opinion that it's not obligated to emotionally hit in the way that the original did. Actually, making it hit the same way it did in the original would be a near impossible, herculean creative task. It's damn near impossible to make an iconic moment that hinges on shock his hard when 90% of the audience it sitting around saying "-and this is the part where she's going to die" (I know I was guilty of that as the moment drew closer).

With that in mind, I think they made the correct creative call. They doubled down on Clouds broken and unreliable perspective instead of the original emotion players had 20 years prior. The whole scene is playing out from the pov of a man who barely has a grasp on reality instead of the shock and sadness present in the original. They chose to focus on the moments surrounding it, like the trials of the main cast living out their most traumatic moments (of which Barrets and Aeriths hit me particularly hard). Those moments hit way harder knowing what was about to come.

The themes of loss, to me, weren't in the inevitable. It was in the loss that surrounded the inevitable.

It was in the last ditch date before Aeriths death where nothing went right.

In Cloud, losing his sense of self and his unwillingness to accept loss.

In Zack's false sense of freedom and choice no matter what path he chose.

It's in the parties loss leading up to that moment and what they still stand to lose.

In the false hope of Biggs and Wedge surviving.

In the timeliness where Aerith doesn't join the life stream and can't cast Holy, a time where humanity accepted its inevitable end; a slow creeping death.

Thinking about that hit a lot harder than what I already knew was coming. Everything seems to be hammering home that despite their best efforts, fate is a lot harder to change than they thought. That loss is still the main overarching theme, even if the story of "how" is told differently. It was those moments that tended to hit me a lot harder.

Speaking of Clouds' character, there is one shot in particular that really stood out to me as well done. After Cloud gets ahold of the Black materia, Barret takes it from him. The shot of Cloud demanding it back is shot in Barrets' perspective, intentionally making Cloud look small and not totally in control from a simple camera switch. He looked like a petulant child. As a big appreciator of creative uses of camera angles to tell story, that one was just *chefs kiss*

This is a series I'm still very much along for the ride, and I have to let it play out. I have my gripes, as I always will even with my most beloved series, but so far, I'm pleased with how they played with expectations. The game play loop was fun enough for me to sink hours into and i got plenty of laugh out loud moments from this journey.

The wait for part 3 will be a long one!

"Loss... it engulfs fleeting moments of joy, transforms them into rage, sadness, and hatred."

[bg-brainrot]

To start, I’m a huge fan of your writing! Seriously, I’ve been reading your stuff since maybe October or November? I always look forward to updates, and I genuinely think your writing is of top-notch quality. Thank you for sharing your stories with us on the internet. ❤️

I saw your post saying you were in game development, and I wanted to ask what are some good ways to network and work with game studios? I’m actually an artist working in the animation industry now (this is an alt account to save posts for my brainrot lmao), but would love to transition into games sooner or later, just not sure how to find good info or leads? There’s only so many animation studios producing major work so it’s easier to scout info, but the world of games is daunting to say the least, even if I’ve been a gamer my whole life.

Any insight helps, but totally understand if you don’t have a straightforward answer to this question lol. You rock, and hope you’re having a good day!

Ahhh first off, thank you so much for reading my fic <33 You best believe I recognize your username when you like my posts and I appreciate it every single time. C: Second, thank you for asking a question!!! I am unreasonably excited to answer it!

To answer your question, I have a few tips, but I will say it will definitely depend on where you live what resources are available to you (it sucks, and it's honestly a huge downside to this industry :') ). Some tips below, sorted by, like availability ~

Networking from anywhere:

Join Discords! There are a ton for general game developers, a ton for people in specific fields, a ton for specific demographics within gaming, a ton for recruiting or for connecting with mentors-- and honestly, it can seem like a lot, there are a ton of people, a lot of them might already know each other, etc. but everyone is super friendly and super willing to help.

Join GameJams! I cannot stress this enough, but one of the biggest things that will help someone transition into games from another field is experience making games (I know it sounds counterintuitive, but bear with me haha)-- but making games, even if they're small games you make with a group over a weekend, shows directly applicable experience and looks great on a portfolio! GameJams are an easy way to find a group, set aside time, and make a game before you even join a studio. Bonus note: animators are *always* in high demand for those.

Reach out to people whose work you like directly! This is by far the most nerve-wrecking (to me at least), but reaching out to people, like cold-emailing, cold-LinkedIn messaging, is just such a good way to get to know people. As awkward as it is for you, people who like what they do will always be excited to answer questions and help set you on a path forward (like me! I receive messages myself and each time I get excited that someone even bothered to reach out tbh). If you're super lucky, you may even get a mentor out of it!

From in-person locations:

Join local indie dev meetups! I've done this in my area, and each and every time everyone is so willing to talk, to connect, and to give each other advice. The best part of these meetups is that they tend to be very informal, and you may even find teams looking to expand.

(Disclaimer, this one is expensive and genuine connections can be difficult given the sheer number of participants, but it's not impossible) Attend conventions/game dev events! Even at GDC, people from all types of industries attend to try to get their foot in the door, speak with recruiters, get portfolio advice, and learn a bit more about how the industry works. A quick word of warning for this one: be wary of the type of convention! For example, GDC is great for growth and connections, but attend something more press-oriented like PAX or more creator-oriented like TwitchCon and you may be disappointed at the lack of opportunities to just sit and talk. Smaller conventions can sometimes be more helpful to actually network as well.

Attend any local universities/incubator programs game showcases! Again, hyper-specific to this being in your area, but often people will take time to show off their game, host in-person game jams, and more-- usually you'll find these around major universities, major companies, and even places like video game museums. All great places to meet and get to know some mentors or even recruiters.

and some general tips for animation specifically that you probably already know as an animator in another field but are always worth mentioning:

Make sure that you know what type(s) of animation you want to get into (Technical animator, rig specialist, gameplay animator, etc.), which studios rely on which animation types (some studios have one generalist, some split up their animation pipeline very thoroughly, some have only 2D animators, some 3D, some a mixture of both), and which game engines they use-- the more programs you know, the better, of course. I've seen 2D animators spend many a personal hour learning 3D animation for the sake of getting on a game they want to work on, so the sooner you learn the better :')

Again I want to stress the gamejam, but if you don't want to talk to other people or it's difficult to find one, I would recommend at least trying to make your own small game. The reason being that, while animators in general are super highly sought after in the industry, the more you know about game development itself the more sought after you will be! A good animator is fantastic, an animator who knows why their animation breaks as soon as it's in engine is even better (and the best way to figure that kind of debugging is really from trying, failing, iterating!)

Beyond just reaching out to people, find animators you like in the industry and see if they're involved in any mentorship programs, are giving any talks, maybe already have some talks online (old GDC talks end up on YouTube sometimes), or even have guides on how they got their start in the industry. It's definitely not a clear cut journey for anyone into gaming, so there's no one-size-fits-all, but it can give you a gauge for how others in your position got there!

PHEW, I think that's it! I hope some of this is helpful, feel free to like, ask for clarification as I know I can ramble, and thank you again for asking! You rock and hope your day is excellent :D

[tobiasdrake]

So, if I know my Mesa Island geography, we should be getting pretty close to Songshroom Marsh. Wonder if Yoyo's still hanging around here?

That's, uh... that's... not an ominous name or anything....

This place... doesn't seem quite as fun as Luana made it sound.

Okay, full disclosure, I was actually trying to drown myself in the mire because I want to tell Quarble about all the cool stuff I did.

But this is cool too. I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes attempted suicide comes with neat prizes. If they ever write a fable about all the things I learned on my travels, I'll be sure to include that.

Holy shit, the Magic Seashell? The one from Watcher Island that lets you breathe underwater?

Wait, no, I can already do that for some reason. Plus, it doesn't really look that cute. Luana said it was a cute pink clamshell thing. She was very excited about it. But this more resembles a slug.

That does sound like it relates to the magic Docarri shells, though. Hmm....

Yeah. Uh. What the hell happened to this place? Luana didn't like it very much but what she described pales in comparison to how tortured and gross the marsh is.

Also, she called it Songshroom but the sign at the entrance said Quillshroom. So. Obviously some changes have taken place.

Oh, is it the cool magic seashell I found? 'Cause I found it. You can't have it back. It's mine now, as laid down in the Mine Now, Fucko bylaw.

Primal Fear... fuck, I know that name. It's... somewhere. Maybe one of Teaks's stories? I don't know. I've heard it before. I know I've heard it before.

No, wait! It was one of the volumes of prophecy that Yoyo kept in her cabin. She had a book on Primal Fear. That's where I know the name from.

Is. That. Where the living mushrooms come from?

...Luana wrote about them singing. The ones I've seen have not been singing. I don't think they're enjoying their fungal lives anymore.

With gusto.

I can't believe you told me to fight it! Do you have any idea how humiliated I was!? That was the most embarrassing moment of my goddamn life.

And I once screwed up Cloudstep practice so hard I ended up dangling from a tree branch by my pants around my ankles. I met Quarble on a return trip through a challenge I'd already solved. So the competition is steep.

How many times have you sent members of my order to their graves to pick a fight with a harmless glowball minding his fucking business!?

FUCK. No wonder Luana called probably-you an assclown!

WHAT. NO. I don't really see much relevance or importance in your stories - I think the pear tree one might have been about Yoyo maybe? - but I've been enjoying them nonetheless.

I'll stop touching your cabinet if you keep sharing stories with me. ._. Pweese?

Oh, there's the singing mushrooms. Okay, so they are still here.

They. Uh. They don't look very cheerful, though. Luana said they were cheerful.

Gotta say, not a fan of the titular quillshrooms. Their quills are incredibly difficult to dodge, especially when they fire while I'm in midair. What total assholes.

As a botanophobe, I can't be surprised by this, but fungus is far more dangerous than turtles.

...how stupid do I feel like being today?

I am... passably competent at the Cloudstep. I think I could--

Okay, I want it on record that I actually made it, but was killed by a Quillshroom afterwards. After being thoroughly tenderized by spikes in the process of making it but that's beside the point. The point is I'm awesome and this is definitely going down as a W in my book.

Not important. What's important is HEY BESTIE, check out where we are? Yeah, that's right, I'm blazing trails through Quillshroom Marsh with my expert jumping and profound getting-stabbed proficiencies.

I know we were in Howling Grotto last we talked but I... found the exit of my own accord and nothing else happened. Now we're here. Trying to not be here as expediently as possible because I don't want to be a mushroom.

...

Why is this my life?

...we've found one secret path beneath the mire. I wonder... This does look very suspicious.

They thought they could hide their secrets from me. Joke's on them, I am highly skilled in observation and pattern recog--

I think I hate this place.

[and-a-pidgey-in-a-wepear-tree]

good [insert time of day here] i realised i never thought to ask you amid my delight of you being the most interactive follower i have that isnt an irl friend do YOU have ocs or blorbos. i wish to know. for reasons.

OH hello yes thank you for asking!!! I have several OCs but most of the time I simply Do Not Explain on here; I have lots of ideas and doodles but I make it mostly for myself and don't think to share — doesn't mean I don't want to tho! exhibit A: this absolutely massive post I'm about to make lmao. putting it under a read more bc Oh Boy, the floodgates have been opened

most of my OCs are for two different projects I have: The Visitors and my D&D Dark Star Campaign.

The Visitors is just a lil worldbuilding project I've been chewing on for.... oh wow, over a decade at this point??? I love all the OCs I have in there very very much, but they're definitely never intended to go in an actual story, I just enjoy the speculative biology and character / world building process.

Val is one of my oldest OCs, and she's changed SO MUCH over the years! nowadays, she's a sort of insect/dinosaur mashup alien who uses gravity warping magic and a very large axe to hunt demons. a huge issue for magic users of her species is keeping cool, as magic generates heat and can literally cook you from the inside out, so you'll notice the multiple vent-like spiracles across her body for this purpose. she was born blind and so relies heavily on her best friend, Django, to be her eyes and keep her safe. fortunately, Django has Too Many Eyes. he's a dragon genetically engineered by those in Val's species to be the perfect vessel for storing and releasing massive amounts of mirror-based magic. this kind of magic gives him many abilities, including seeing around corners, creating illusions, or multiplying attacks when applied in different ways, and he acts as Val's seeing-eye dragon. in battle, she likes to get up in the action while he holds back and gives her cues on what's happening, only jumping in himself if she's in major trouble. she's very friendly and excitable, and loves to get into the culture of whatever planet they're visiting, while he's more interested in observing and snooping. there's a lot of espionage and hijinks.

these are some of my most recent sketches of them, tho I'm sure the designs will changes in the future. specific colors don't matter at all, it's all about vibes! not pictured in the halfway colored one is Val's big iridescent black cape thing that has a slit down the middle for her rigid tail, nor her weird arms since I wanted to figure out where the torso vents could go.

Duke is another Visitor who visits planets and solves problems, but his path to get there was a whole lot different! I made him up as a coping mechanism when I was 12, and I'm still very fond of him.

he started life as a human video game speedrunner and modder prodigy. in a "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" situation, a devil (very distinct from demons!) struck a deal with him, challenging his gaming abilities with his soul as the stakes. he won despite the devil's cheating, but that's where the resemblance to the song ends. in this world, a devil winning your soul allows them to fuse with you and gain total control over your body, mind, and actions; but if YOU win, the control is reversed! and like any 14 year old who suddenly has the power to rival minor gods and a chaotic creature living in their head.... he goes off the rails for a while. Val and Django eventually find him and help him cope. his powers include electricity, glitching reality, flailing his glaive around, and being a menace to evil overlords.

you can't see it very well in this picture, but his eyes and the segments between his tail glow lime green! I'm not a fan of drawing clothes, but in my head he's relatively fashionable for a teenager and refuses to wear anything other than black. also, he decided to tell me he was trans a couple years ago, thanks for letting me know buddy 😂

my other project does actually get to see the light of day, if very slowly — I'm running a homebrew D&D campaign for my irl friends called the Dark Star Campaign! none of em use tumblr so WHEEEE I get to post all the spoilers I want! there's a kinda staggering amount of lore behind it and a ton of minor OCs, but the two I rotate in my head the most are Anya the Timekeeper and The Master, aka Armageddon.

Anya the Timekeeper is a chronomancy lich from an alternate universe! she used to help Armageddon travel the multiverse and gain power, but she's decided she's tired of being evil, and now hides in a mansion on a tropical island where she breeds dinosaurs for fun. though she's now very determined to help the party, they'll eventually have to kill her past self to prevent a paradox. her familiar is a little archaeopteryx named Trix who steals hats!

(I commissioned this art from @/goodlouse a while ago! highly recommend checking out his blog!!)

Armageddon is the BBEG and he's SO EVIL and SO MUCH FUN. he's an ancient amethyst dragon who, up until a while before the campaign's beginning, was steadily finding alternate universe versions of himself, killing them, and eating their souls to gain Unlimited Power™. unfortunately, his partner in time (hah) Anya told him to fuck off, so the quest for Unlimited Power™ has been kinda slow lately. fortunately, a D&D campaign started, and he cheated his way into existing at the players' table as The Master! my players can ask to talk to him sometimes, and I'll put on a mask of his head I made specifically for this purpose — very useful for not breaking character when the character is supposed to literally be the one sitting at the table talking to the players. I don't try to hide the fact that he's evil and they all know it, the fun is in giving them little hints and tidbits of lore to munch on. right now he's being very docile and helpful but things will get very very interesting eventually as more of his nature and plan is revealed..... =)

I'm still playing around with what he looks like as The Master, but I really like this recent design I did. his eye glows dark and menacing. I haven't found a design for his dragon form I'm really pleased with yet tho :/

okay wow thanks again for the ask, I have many many ideas in my head and it felt pretty nice to get em out!!

[nomsfaultau]

Daily ask №18!

DSMP edition!

This is gonna be another one where you can basically write a fic off of that one prompt. Actually please do write that, I'd totally read it. (/not forcing obviously) So 3 questions.

The Fault crew gets dropped into DSMP. Specifically right before the Pogtopia revolution dsmp. Like 5 days before. They get dropped somewhere on the prime path where they get discovered by Tommy. What happens next is up to ya but it would be cool if they got to meet the Pogtopia crew. Also potentially fix the mess that happened during the revolution since this would be the same Fault crew that got shown the songs and got to chat with the dsmp characters, so they do have whatever knowledge of the future they managed to gain. Do they try to fix it? Do they just hang out? Do they idk, ruin even more shit? How do DSMP characters react? Who knows! You do probably. The Fault crew gets teleported back a day after the revolution. They get a countdown during the last day so they know exactly when they're going back and get to say their goodbyes.

I wonder how they would react to the differences in the worlds. Like Minecraft mechanics existing, inventory, communicators (no phones don't typically say when someone has died), 3 lives system, mobs like withers, enchantments. Also the fact that this word is essentially stuck in the middle ages (?)(whatever time would dsmp be. Not modern that's for sure.). Also the differences between the characters that they met previously, so the future for this reality, and the characters which universe they are in currently. Especially Tubbo cause C! Tubbo's character arc was WILD man.

Which Minecraft soundtrack/discs would be which fault crew characters?

1.Ah man let's see if I even remember that far back lmao! FTubbo and FTommy feel obligated to help the revolution for moral reasons, The Blade is helping because he's nice, and Fhil is still trying to figure out if alternate universe versions of his Collected are also under his jurisdiction. Ultimately he's going to go for no I think, give the dsmp crew their own choice in the matter (and I don't think on average he tends to prefer having too many Collected, since conflicting morals and goals get tricky). FWilbur is like what the hell guys we need to dip yesterday, and the walls make him itchy as hell since it hates being unable to run. Dsmp guys are excited for more soldiers, and aren't suspicious because none of the betrayals have happened yet. It flips the tide of the war by a lot. Aside from Fhil they're not great at weapon combat, and might need specialized armor, but honestly the power scales are very different.

If pursuaded Fhil might just go dragon mode, create an impassible flaming wall around L'Manburg. With some piecing together they figure out green boi is responsible for a lot that went down (not to limit main cast's flaws and mistakes etc but still). He reminds FTommy a lot of Dr. Blake. He's definitely getting hunted down and murdered how ever many times it takes. Can't remember why the election happens, but JSchlatt tries to kick them out and the anomalies just laugh and refuse. I imagine new problems arise from butting heads, Wilburs arguing about control, Tommys being hella chaotic, but for the most part things actually are kinda chill? Like probably not for long because everything goes wrong on that server if left alone for long enough, but major antagonists don't have a lot on the anomalies. Not sure ctechno and cphil even show up since they're not requested for battle.

The anomalies are just chillin without the Foundation to worry about, are absolutely outraged when they realize they're going back. Since the plot is derailed so early a lot of their patchy knowledge is kinda useless aside from knowing the potential fracture lines for the dsmp crew. Or. Fault lines, if we want to be silly.

ah hell I just reread and realized that said Pogtopia and not L'Manburg ooops. It's been an extremely long day.

2. NO WIFI?! they're in HELL! what but we're homeless we don't have wifi THIS IS WORSE THAN THE FOUNDATION- In all honesty Philza is perfectly fine, but misses all those human inventions he gets so hyped about. Tommy and Tubbo have the worst go of it. Wilbur is losing its mind over how few food items exist. Tubbo is confused with how fast the crops work, which probably go into steroids around Tubbo. They're like walking bonemeal. The trees scare them. Not the inventory tho, Tubbo already shoves random tupperware in their mouth all the time. Phil tries to put his kids in his inventory once for the joke. It works. Wilbur adores enderchests because amazing food store no one else can get to. NOT happy about creepers tho. The voices won't shut up until they kill the wither.

As for character differences, fTommy and fTubbo really consider them to be like Pre-Foundation, fresh untraumatized kid versions of themselves. Probably over protective to be honest, in a similar vein to how fwil is about ftommy. Again Fhil is absolutely unable to get that CPhil is an independent adult doing his own thing and leaving his kids to their own devices. Though the letter situation dulls his anger. Techno's change isn't as dramatic since he's trauma repellent (/j). Filbur can tolerate this version of Cwilbur.

3.The Blade likes Pigstep for normal reasons.

Tubbo likes Cat, it's energetic and bouyant.

Phil likes Mall, very relaxed and meditative.

Tommy likes otherside for the space/star association.

Wilbur likes Stal, it's suave. Or one of the broken ones bc edgy.

[tomorrowxtogether]

TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s playlist

The group resists temptation and walk their own path

2023.02.13

Following The Dream Chapter and The Chaos Chapter, TOMORROW X TOGETHER has now opened the door to The Name Chapter. They stand now at a crossroads between their desire to become adults and to live forever in a fantasy world of dreams. We asked the boys of TOMORROW X TOGETHER about their fifth mini album, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION, and the portrait it paints of young men given the promise of growing as adults while also wavering in the face of temptation. They also gave some song recommendations for the people who are always by their side, no matter the path they choose: MOA.

“Sugar Rush Ride” (TOMORROW X TOGETHER)

SOOBIN: It’ll be more memorable if you watch the performance with the song and get the mood we were trying to deliver better. Please enjoy how we switch from-and-to different sides!

YEONJUN: It might sound like a refreshing song, but at the same time, the drop in the chorus, the hook and the whistle all throughout make it extremely catchy and captivating.

BEOMGYU: The song has refreshing and sexy vibes and they will be amplified if you listen to it with the performance.

TAEHYUN: This is a refreshing song that we sang in a way to give it a sexy nuance. This is the first single we’ve put out where there’s no melody in the chorus—it’s the beat and the breathing that come after the drop that are the real highlight.

HUENINGKAI: I feel like this is a kind of song no one’s ever heard before. It’s upbeat but sexy at the same time and it comes across really well. The chorus is catchy and the melody’s a total earworm!

“Devil by the Window” (TOMORROW X TOGETHER)

SOOBIN: The full English lyrics and all the little details make this song fun to listen to. It’s got a lot of personality and will make you think of the devil just by listening to it and it really suits the somewhat grotesque choreography that goes with it.

YEONJUN: This song’s so unique and trendy it makes me wonder if there’s ever been a K-pop song like it. It’s our second fully English song so I hope our fans all around the world enjoy listening to it.

BEOMGYU: It’s been a while since we put out a song that’s entirely in English. It’s really trendy and catchy.

TAEHYUN: The transition almost feels like it could’ve been changing to a different song if it hadn’t been done right, but it’s actually really clever the way it’s done. It’s very TOMORROW X TOGETHER!

HUENINGKAI: This is TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s second English song. We’ve never done a song in this style before! It also feels like a trendy pop song.

“November Rain” (JANNABI)

SOOBIN: I listen to this song on repeat at night lately. I’m moved by those sad lyrics and the guitar is so good it gives me goosebumps.

“My Fire” (Sam Ock)

YEONJUN: I listened to this song on Christmas. It’s a good song and it makes me feel relaxed when I hear it, so I’m recommending it to you, too.

“Happy Fools” feat. Coi Leray (TOMORROW X TOGETHER)

BEOMGYU: I helped write the lyrics for this song and the story’s all about TOMORROW X TOGETHER. You’ll be able to think, Oh, this really happened, when you listen to it. It’s also nice to listen to when you’re out for a walk.

TAEHYUN: You don’t have to be a singer to relate to this song. Lots of people can. And it’s hard to find any K-pop songs with groovy Afrobeats like this that sound really wide when you listen to it on speakers.

HUENINGKAI: This song’s great anytime. I’m recommending it because it makes me feel happy and I get excited every time I hear it!

[29pageshomestuckeveryday]

Homestuck, page 3,297

[S] Wake.

Song used: MeGaLoVania by Toby Fox, with Tensei on guitar

Author commentary: Fef is the first to go. She suffers a similar fate to the eventual comeuppance of her scorned moirail. Is there deliberate relevance to this echo? I dunno man, to be honest, lots of folks get gruesomely bisected in this thing. If you want it to be true, feel free to believe in it. As you know by now, believing in things always makes them at least kinda true. Especially when I'm the one doing it.

There are only five towers on the Derse moon, compared to Prospit's seven. Prospit has one extra due to Sollux's binary nature, and Derse has one fewer due to Aradia's dream self being MIA from the get-go (because of her ghost). Aradia's mysterious dream self conditions, and the question of where she actually is, get addressed in a couple of pages. Only visually though, and the viewer must make some inferences on what is actually going on there. Not anymore though, because now you have me along for the ride to EXPLAIN THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF EVERYTHING!!!!! Oh yeah, also Dream Nepeta kicks the bucket, because it would be malpractice not to shoehorn in a little more dead Nepeta content.

There's a John arm there in the upper left, because why not. I didn't add them to many of the animations because it was more annoying to edit and resave Flash files than it was for simple GIF panels. But it also felt wrong to completely ignore the Flash pages during the retconned arm stunt. This seemed like a good place for one. Why? Maybe John sensed Jack's outstretched arm and thought he was going up top for a high five. It's established canon FACT that John doesn't like to leave people hanging, so let's say that's what's happening here.

We zoom way into the core of Derse to find Aradia's sleeping dream self. This is where she's been hiding all along. One simple visual provides so many answers and questions all at once, and since it's happening in a textless, rapid-fire animation, there isn't much you can do except sit there and take it like a chump, and start trying to make some inferences about what's going on here. That's okay though, I got your back this time. Having died long before they began Sgrub, Aradia is officially "the dead player," and Sgrub, in its unsettling state of all-knowingness, knew this about her as well and provided some structural accomodations on Derse from the very start similar to how it accommodated Sollux's binary nature by letting him be on both moons. We know that's a Quest Slab, because we already saw Vriska's in her Quest Cocoon. This one, however, is free-floating in the center of Derse's crypt, as if it were meant to hold a long-entombed corpse. The fact that Aradia began the game as a ghost seems to have resulted in a sort of "stillborn" dream self, or at least one that exists in a much deeper state of sleep than usual. Whether she's dead here, or in a coma, or sort of semi-undead...that isn't totally clear, and it doesn't matter much. The only relevant fact is that Aradia was going to stay put on that slab until exactly this moment. The only way off this slab for her is for the body to be consumed in this green inferno and resurrect as a god tier player. Note her robot self explodes as a result of the destruction of the dream self, just as the death of dream Jade established in [S] Descend. Even though Aradia is a very special case (there's nothing "normal" about beginning a session when one of the players is a ghost), and Sgrub accommodated her specialness in this way, this also charts a secondary path to achieving god tier status. We can then start speculating there are other ways of doing this even if the standard way becomes inaccessible (such as through death of the dream self). So when we find out Rose and Dave also manage to reach god tier in a similar way in [S] Cascade, it's an exciting development but not exactly shocking. The method they use was already seeded here. There are differences, of course. Rose's and Dave's Quest Slab ascensions should be regarded as more typical of how the game works, since they're "normal" players. The slabs are typically found in the core of the moon, not the planet itself. Also, the dream self typically is not lying on it in a sort of coma for many years in advance. They have to actually find their way down there and complete the ritual sacrifice. See also the Alpha Kids, who all utilized this method. They had no choice, since their session didn't even have a Battlefield, which is where you're supposed to end up if you do it the way John and Vriska did.

It's a whole new Aradia. Not a moment too soon, since frankly that robot bitch was a real drag. Just kidding, she was great too. All Aradias are valid. This one just happens to enjoy a major personality boost. A reinvigoration of her true self, due to not being dead, or doomed, or carrying around the baggage of the old, toxic relationships that resulted in her death. I see this form as a much more distilled version of her personality compared to all her other phases. Unwaveringly cheerful, exhibiting a fairly "normal" personality, and yet still as naturally drawn toward chaos, death, and destruction as ever. It's an odd thing about her. The only other troll who rivals her in terms of sheer delight and enthusiasm derived from destruction is probably Gamzee. You'd think that wouldn't be a flattering comparison. But somehow it works for her, says me. Crack ship, anyone? Please, don't sit there and act like I couldn't have made that work. You know it would have been great. There's something about her confidence as a god tier that seems related to her unflinching infatuation with death and destruction. Here she sees Jack bearing down on her and isn't concerned at all. She had the same demeanor while watching a black hole swallow the green sun and rip apart all of reality. She's completely fearless in this form.

A relentless, unshakeable sense of cheerfulness in the presence of horror is a trait Aradia shares with Gamzee. But for her, it's a positive thing. For him, it's negative. Why am I harping on this? I don't know, it's completely irrelevant. Just thought I'd point it out. After all, rams and goats are both known to be stubborn creatures. Did I actually intend for these two characters to have this in common? No, I'm not going to kid you about that. ("Kid" is a goat pun, and that was intended, so you're welcome.) Instead what I'll do is ram more quality analysis down your throat. ("Ram" was a ram pun, JSYK.) This is the third god tier we've been introduced to, and all in fairly rapid succession. One is a point, two is a line, three is a trend. So that means with this reveal in particular, the god tier stuff is starting to get very exciting. The story is paying out generously with it now, like a loose slot machine in Vegas, which makes you wonder how many more of these characters will reach this state. It stands to reason there will be more, due to the hot pace of these reveals. That assumption isn't wrong, but at the same time I tried to be somewhat judicious about not throwing too many of these out there, which would cheapen them a little. Shoving all eight human kids in pajamas by the end was probably pushing it a bit as it was. Still, as of this moment I'd say the mission is accomplished: your imagination has been successfully captured. Now you have a lot to speculate on. What do the rest look like? What are the color schemes, symbols, costume designs? Do you have enough raw material to start crafting speculative fan works, illustrations, OCS and such? (HELL YES.) Stoking the reader's imaginative fires in this way is every bit as much of the point of rolling out a system like this, as it is to serve the story's purposes.

Aradia shows off some powers. Turns out they're…time powers? What a twist. Then the animation flips an hour ahead, from the moment linked to the destruction of Derse, to another key moment. (Remember we saw Terezi crying and running off deeper into the lab at 3:14.) But suddenly it seems we have something else to associate with this timestamp: Vriska Time™.

Per the previous notes on Aradia, and extrapolating that perhaps achieving god tier status has a way of giving the player full license to be the purest version of themselves—that is, yoloing their best and truest life possible—then maybe Vriska is taking this idea to heart as well. God tier mode seems to bring something out of her. Like she feels empowered to fully tack into her role as a completely obnoxious, overconfident luck fairy. She's just capering around, taunting Tavros, and spreading her pixie dust. But unlike Tinkerbell's, this dust won't make him fly. Or will it?! (The answer is yes, when she throws him off yet another cliff in a few moments.) She didn't just become god tier, though. That happened quite a while ago, and she's simply been hiding it because she prefers her plain clothes (and more importantly, it would have been a spoiler). So this hyperactive fairy act seems more a result of the fact that she's currently wearing the outfit, rather than an extension of the powers themselves. Sometimes certain clothes and accessories just make you feel different. Remember how Kanye said wearing the Trump hat made him feel like Superman? Whoops, it was a mistake to mention that. I apologize. My youth pastor has a big smile on his face, and he's slowly shaking his head, as if to say, yes Andrew, it certainly was. And yes, I'm perfectly aware that I shot my youth pastor and he's dead now. I simply have him propped up on my knee, and now I'm operating him like a ventriloquist's doll. This is also a fact I should not have mentioned, and he is currently scolding me for that decision as well.

Here's little nod to Dave's strife with Bro, where he held up a decapitated smuppet to intimidate his opponent. The move is even less effective against Vriska as it was against Bro. She just taunts him back with his own useless pair of severed legs, which she clearly regards as a symbol for how she has a habit of repeatedly owning him, and this time will likely be no different. And also revealing to him that…she still has them for some reason? I think I made an inappropriate joke about that in the last book, and I'm being asked to apologize again. She wasn't even the one who cut off the legs. But a good thief doesn't let such a golden opportunity go to waste, does she? Maybe she even anticipated wielding the legs in a future moment just like this. The glorious moment where she foresaw herself vanquishing the loathsome villain Tavros once and for all. My hero. <3

This nifty little move Vriska pulls, and and how easily she pulls it, kind of proves how ridiculously outclassed Tavros is. Which also reveals how unnecessary the move was. Yanking the lance out of his hand, flipping it around with one hand in a split second, and then running it through the bullseye on his chest. (Which unfortunately somewhat reframes that symbol in hindsight as possibly being destined for this purpose, surprising no one because: Tavros.) If she did this, she could have done anything. Like, punch him in the face and KO him across the room for another nap at the bottom of the stairs? Or even if her intent was more brutal than that, she still easily could have stepped out of the way, smacked him in the ass, and sent him falling off the cliff without impaling him first. The pre-plummet impaling carries some additionally malicious messaging, obviously. Same deal as GAME OVER, when Gamzee did basically the exact same thing to Karkat (whose shirt also provided a couple of handy bullseyes to aim for). So why does Vriska do this? Later, she sort of admits that she got a bit carried away here. Everyone's all about to get carried away, now that we have just officially entered Murderstuck.

[elliepassmore]

Cage of Dreams review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: urban fantasy, mysteries, noir, monsters

City of Nightmares review

There's a new plot afoot in Newham and Ness, Cy, and Priya are once again in the middle of it. To be fair...they might not have been quite as in the middle of it if Ness hadn't agreed to do the Nightmare Phantom a favor, but details.

This book retains the humor and grittiness of the first book, and we actually get to see a bit more of Newham since Ness spends most of the book there and is investigating more than just the Friends. As I said before, I would be happy reading an entire series set in this world with all the shenanigens Ness and her friends get into.

I was worried at the end of the last book that Ness was going to pull a complete 180 and be totally fine with Nightmares despite having spent the majority of her life terrified of them. I'm happy to report that that was not the case. She's certainly made a lot of progress toward being okay with Nightmares, but she does still struggle. Sometimes a lot. Like with book 1, a lot of Ness' personal journey is spent on herself. In this one, she spends a lot of time working through and recognizing that her anxiety was both warranted (from her sister) and not her fault (thanks, Friends) and working on trying to overcome the more extreme side of her anxiety.

Priya got her dream at the end of book 1: she's in the Nightmare Brigade. While she's excited about helping people and fighting Nightmares, her experiences there aren't living up to how she hoped it would be. Priya seems to thrive on chaos, but at her heart she's interested in helping people, and the way the Nightmare Brigade is run isn't really meshing with those two things. Luckily she finds her own solution and is able to both enjoy chaos and helping people. Like with City of Nightmares, I do wish she was in this one a little more.

Cy, on the other hand, is in this one more. He and Ness are currently living together (another source of anxiety for Ness, lol), so we get to see a lot of their dynamic. This book actually focuses a good deal on Cy since his father is in it and is coming out with a new movie. Cy's had enough with his horrible father casting himself as the romantic hero, and now Cy is determined to do something about it, even if it means putting himself in the path of his murderous father. While Ness grapples with her anxiety, Cy grapples with his own fears of being too like his father.

The Nightmare Phantom is back in this one and is up to causing real-world mischief now that he's free. He's obviously a very chaotic character, and it's kind of hard to tell his morality since he does seem to genuinely think he's helping people by turning them into Nightmares, but he's actually kind of a mild villain. It was interesting to see how Ness and co. dealt with him and the end of his plotline definitely sets up future books, if the author so chooses.

One thing that did confuse me was the history of the world. I was kind of under the impression that Nightmares had been around for longer, long enough for people to forget life without them and the world to have been shaped by it....but it kind of seems like it's only been in the last 100 years or so? Someone would have to be very old to remember a non-Nightmare world, but there would certainly be books about it and it would be mentioned more in history class. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the timeline, but it felt a little off.

This book definitely ended the duology, but, like I say above, I would be happy to read more books in this world and I could feasibly see more books happening in Newham and beyond. Ness, Priya, and Cy all got a good ending to their arcs and plotlines and I liked seeing where they all ended up.

[coyotiii17]

Freemaker Adventures Headcanons

Zander's passion for starships came from Pace. The reason why Zander is just so obsessed with starships is because they remind him of his father. It's kinda a comfort thing.

Kordi is so overprotective towards Rowan, because the loss of their parents had such a huge impact on her, that she's terrified of losing another family member (and Rowan has a knack for getting into trouble and almost getting killed).

Roger blames himself for not being able to find Pace and Lena after they disappeared, even though he tried many times.

The reason why Rowan was so happy to admit that he's a Freemaker in "Duel of Destiny" is because he often doubted if he should even consider himself a Freemaker. He had a huge complex about not being as skilled as his older siblings and often causing trouble instead of being helpful. That's why he tried to find different, more fitting path. He always wanted to help people and that's why he wanted to be Jedi so much. However, after finding out about Naare's true plan, Rowan started thinking that he's not anything. Nor Freemaker, nor a Jedi. But after reuniting with his family in "Duel of Destiny" he finally managed to believe that he's a Freemaker and he doesn't need to be anything else to be happy.

When Freemakers were still living in the Wheel, Kordi had a lot of problems casued by stress like constant tension headaches, nightmares and overall problems with sleeping. Although after joining the Rebellion she became much happier and those issues stopped bugging her that much.

At first, Zander really couldn't grasp flying with starships and he often made really stupid mistakes. But then he started doing things "his" way and that's why sometimes he's flying like a madman.

Kordi learned to fly with starships quite fast. She also likes doing it, because it helps her relax a bit whenever she's stressed.

Rowan can't whistle, no matter how much he tried to learn it. Zander even tried to help him, but he failed.

Kordi swears a lot, but she tries to do it less and she always holds back when Rowan is around.

Even though Zander calls himself 'superstar pilot guy' sometimes he doesn't actually realize how great his flying is and how many times it actually saved his family.

Kordi tried many times to give Zander some advice when he tried to talk to Becky and maybe ask her out, but every time Zander backed away in the last moment, so Kordi kinda gave up.

Zander likes to pick Rowan up just for fun. He started doing it when they were both younger and Rowan was really small. Zander was just very excited about being a cool older brother, since he never felt like a cool older brother around Kordi who liked to boss him around.

Rowan doesn't get sick very often, but there was this one time when he was sick and although it wasn't very serious, Kordi was on edge almost all the time.

After joining the Rebellion, Rowan actually started having nightmares with Naare. Since at first they didn't know what exactly happened to her after Empire Day, Rowan was actually anxious that she's going to quickly come back to take revange on Freemakers. It got to the point where Kordi and Zander had to have serious talk with him.

Zander hates coffee and he stares with fear when Kordi drinks cup after cup.

Rowan would totally hyperfixate on games like Five Nights at Freddy's and he would tell Kordi and Zander about it and they would understand nothing out of it. He would also love games like Sonic The Hedgehog and Pokemon.

Now some LGBT+ headcanons:

Kordi is asexual lesbian.

Zander is bisexual.

Rowan is aroace.

Naare is a lesbian.

I need to make some icons-

Also a picture with Rowan telling Kordi and Zander about fnaf lore *wheeze*

[knowltonsrangers]

noteworthy ch.2

Enoch Hale x F!reader

If there was one thing that college boys loved more than alcohol, it would have to be something homemade.

They act as if they went their entire lives without having warm food, it seems, every time you cook or bake something for your friends. You assume that’s what college does, strip you down to eating terrible foods for months that when you finally get to eat something good, it’s like the world is ending.

In your arms is a small tupperware of brownies, something that you had signed the communal kitchen for in order to make last night. It’s small gesture, you know that you owe them a lot more than this, but for now, you’ll give what you know they’d love.

And besides, it wouldn’t be a total downside to see Enoch again, either. You enjoyed your time with him, and it was nice to see him smiling so much. Nathan had told him in your next lab together that he hasn’t seen him smile so much since he was a child, so it made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“Hi Enoch!”

You think back to the very end of that first week when you had met, where you had run into him while walking out of the science building. He was sitting on a bench, reading something, and it seemed he was just as happy to see you.

“Ah, y/n. I was hoping to see you, I wanted to know how your lab went. Nathan mentioned it was today.”

He stands and you begin your walk down the path, your eyes flitting over to his book to try and see what it was.

“Oh, it was great. It’s so much more fun when you actually understand what’s going on,”

Enoch snorts, and the sound is just so adorable, you aren’t sure how you kept your composure from sinking.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”

“All thanks to you. Oh! Speaking of, is it alright if I stop by tomorrow? I have something for you.”

You hold up a hand as he begins to protest, and quickly begin again so he can’t say a word.

“Not up for debate. Still okay for tomorrow?”

He all but nods, and you smile brightly.

“Are you headed this way?”

You ask when you come to a fork in the path, and you miss the red that twinges his cheeks as you look straight ahead.

“Oh, I’m headed back to my room. I can walk you to yours, if you’d like?”

Smile unable to fade, you bob your head happily as you lead the way.

“That sounds great, thanks!”

That memory was just enough to get you to his shared room, and you hold the plastic container in one hand as you raise your hand to knock.

He was absolutely going to murder Nathan.

Enoch was tearing it across campus, running as fast as he could to make it back to his room on time.

His brother had so kindly asked him to stop by the mailroom to get some letters from their father, and while he was excited to read them, they could have waited another hour.

As he takes the steps two at a time, he fumbles for his key, spinning the lock as quickly as he can.

“Hi Ben!”

You chirp as the blonde answers the door, eyes subconsciously looking behind him for any sight of Enoch.

“y/n, hello! To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Is Enoch around? These are for you and Nathan too, of course. I just wanted to thank him for the other day.”

“He’s not in, but you’re welcome to wait for him.”

You thank him, walking inside and setting the brownies down on his desk.

“He said he’d be right back.”

“Thanks. I really owe him, I can’t believe how much more sense geology makes.”

He laughs, and you can’t help but join.

“Trust me, I know. I’ve been Nathan’s lab partner before, and let me tell you, I’ve abused Enoch as much as I could.”

Ben whispers, and you wave your hands frantically, trying to reel back on what you said, realizing how bad it came across.

“N-no! Nathan is a great lab partner, and I’m sure he’s an excellent teacher! I just didn’t have the chance to be taught by him, that’s all.”

“I’m just messing with you, y/n. But truthfully, Nathan is the worst at science. Math or English, he’s your guy. Anything else, he’s probably just faking that he knows.”

For the second time you were here, the door flies open, and in comes a red-faced, out of breath Enoch, a couple envelopes under his arms as his hands slam down on his knees.

“What happened to you?”

Ben asks, hands on his hips as you both turn to help the man.

“My…brother…I’m going to…kill…him, y/n—“

As he speaks your name you come into his vision, hands out to help him to stand.

“Hi, Enoch, you didn’t miss me. I just got here.”

You try to reassure, but he’s seemingly having none of it, though, he does take your hand as you pat his back gently.

“Here, Tallmadge, from your father.”

He holds out a white envelope, and Ben takes it, and Enoch pulls reluctantly from your grasp as he tosses the remaining letters on his bed.

“I’m very sorry, y/n.”

“What for? Don’t be silly, I’ve only been here less than five minutes, ask Ben.”

You turn away for a moment, scooping the container off his desk and handing it to him.

“Here, these are for you! I think I’d have to bake probably a few more times to repay you, but!”

Enoch looks confused, then his eyes jump wide, carefully taking the container from you with as much energy you’d compare to a sloth.

“You bake?”

Ben asks, peering over your shoulder as he watches Enoch peel the container open.

“Yeah! I mean, it’s not my recipe, but, I hope it tastes good all the same.”

“Thank you, y/n. These look amazing.”

The brunette smiles softly, eyes moving to meet yours. Out of habit, you open your arms, squeezing him into a hug.

As quickly as it came, your touch left him once more.

“Thank you, again. I have class, so I can’t stay, but maybe we can meet up later?”

Your hand comes to tuck a stray lock behind your ear.

“O-of course, I’d love that,”

You flash him that smile, and his knees just about give out under him.

“Bye!”

All he can do is wave dumbly at you, with that dumb smile on his face.

“Y’alright?”

He is snapped back to reality at Tallmadge waving his hand in front of his face, blue eyes blinking wildly as he comes back to focus.

“Ooh, you have it down bad for her.”

“Tallmadge—“

“Hey, secrets safe with me. It’s your brother you have to worry about.”

He’s right. Nathan would never ease his relentless teasing, lest if he knew about his admired.

“Also, I think you should hide those. After you give me one.”

Ben points to the container, and Enoch all but rolls his eyes.

“If you do not tell Nathan about them, I will give you two.”

“Deal.”