#which drags the journey a lot admittedly

[dayurno]

general hcs for aftg zombie apocalypse? me i think kevin would try to be leader but unfortunately no one would listen to him/take him seriously :(

now i think if we’re talking like a few years into the apocalypse then it gets interesting like how the characters would change physically like….and what weapons would they use!! they’d def run into people who use exy rackets as weapons and kevin would be disgusted with them i think.

i LOVE apocalypse aus but none center kevin or write him right i wanna know what you’d think he’d be like in one

SUCH A FUN ASK THANK YOUUUUUUU! first of all your idea for kevin is so funny i have to concede. its true no one would care for him at all even if he tries.... honestly though (thinking hard) i think what kevin lacks in leader charisma he makes up for in the department of giving the rest of the group a Reason To Live and creating schedule and purpose where there is neither, so maybe he ummm...... well he's not gonna be the leader of the pack but he can be like the mascot. the shiny thing to cling to. you know what i mean. kevin's indomitable human spirit!

not to be guy who is kandreil pilled but i do think kevin would be very important for andrew and neil to live beyond the survival! i will put a dollar in the kevin day bird motif jar for this but in a way hed be like their little canary in a coal mine... while the crew travels i think kevin would be the one to point out the scenery or the bits of history along or to go over peoples houses and find pieces of life that are useful and maybe even endearing. and yeah hed hate the racquets as weapons! the complaining and the grumbling about it is not as annoying as andreil thought it would be (they are pleasantly surprised kevin still has it in him to care about anything)

AHHH sorry u asked for fun hcs and i gave you a long poem about kevin day being everyones special little boy lets see hmmm... of course andrew has the knives but i think he would eventually pick up something more violent as the world falls deeper in despair. a mallet perhaps? a hammer? something heavy! neil would i think do well with a gun and not actual hand to hand combat, sniping behind them....... i think kevin would also have a weapon of sorts something like a switchblade or a baseball bat. non-lethal but definitely harmful

[avatar-of-the-web]

I'm seeing posts about amatonormativity but they don't seem to be made by people that have sat with every angle of the subject (fair) so here's my two cents with an angle I've yet to see. Forgive my lack of simplicity and language mistake. Can't afford to write better for now.

It, the nuclear family, the idealisation of a singular monogamous partner and marriage are largely modern concepts, at least in the form they now take anyway. And the whole point of the thing is boosting capitalism and keeping community fairly divided. If we're sectioned off in groups that mostly focus on and care about only people that live in our house with us, where does that leave the collective?

Helping anyone outside is a drag, it's too difficult, it's too much. Engaging anyone outside is a drag, it's too difficult, it's too much.

Why is it so inconvenient?

There is a loneliness epidemic.

On valentine's day, there are a lot of reasons people become severely upset.

You could ask yourself if you're aro, of course, but don't reduce that just to a label—it's a journey, and plenty of aro people spend a long time thinking they want a partner when they really wanted a best friend, or someone who focuses on them before anyonelse without all the excess bullshit, but not all aromantics want that either. We can argue about semantics and where we draw lines in the sand for eternity but ultimately it's individual, it's about what you want and how you want it and how you view that.

If the label helps you find your community then it might be for you. I know I used to be, but I didn't fit in there quite right. I became an identity anarchist instead—I found labeling myself so vaguely confuses people more than it helps. But that's my opinion about me and my parameters.

I digress.

Especially if you seethe with jealousy when you see couples that at least seem to click just right, that show it off but ask yourself if what you need most is an actual support system.

And an actual support system can include a partner, of course, but it should not be compromised of Only or Mostly a partner. But don't mistake this for me saying not having more than that is an individual issue; quite the opposite.

Imagine, a community of people that you can properly interact with and rely on.

Do you have someone or a group even for every side of you? Do you have places you can go to engage with different aspects of yourself and society in a pleasant and meaningful way? Are they accessible? By which I mean, can you actually make it there, and as often as you need to? Can you stretch out parts of yourself too complicated/unrelatable for one group to understand by engaging with another? Whenever you need advice, can you think of a person you can reliably ask, which varies by the subject you need help with?

Do you have someone you can cry to without having to pay a therapist? Do you have anyone who'll be your rubber ducky in a pinch, that you can rely on to have faith in you to grow and not antagonise you for what you said or did once forever?

They don't have to be able to offer advice beyond normal capabilities. Crying to your friends and accepting their advice (which is admittedly usually mediocre BUT still gives something abundantly helpful—a different perspective you don't have to pay money for but friendship instead) is an old social behaviour of humans. Bitching to friends so they can comfort you and/or help you see where you went wrong so you can be more reasonable with the people they're upset with is much the same.

But more and more I saw the attitude of saying "seek therapy, friends aren't for that" rise. And worst, it escalated to "strangers aren't for that", which tells me with the lack of anyone to depressurize with people just started spilling uncontrollably more. And what are they met with? It being called trauma dumping, being pushed farther in to isolation.

I'm not saying every friend needs to "allow" or "put up with" that. That's why it's a COMMUNITY. If the thought of a friend venting to you drives you up the wall—good news! Other people LOVE being that friend, so you don't need to be them, or get personally heated like that. Maybe you're just not That Type of friend. I don't know, I'm not you.

But in a community you can depend on the fact that there will be someone who enjoys everything if only you could mingle enough to explore it and individuals enough to find that out.

In community we challenge ourselves of course! It's full of compromise. But ideally we accentuate our strengths instead of focusing on forcing ourselves through our weaknesses pointlessly. We can lean on eachother for help. It's give and it's take and we pay with favours and trust and joy and quality time and more so that we can keep the support going without burning out; we give.

Humans did not EVOLVE to function alone. Like it or not, we simply can't. The closest we can do is blind ourself to how much the hands of others play a part in our life and wonder why things aren't going so smoothly when we avoid them or they retract, and we're more alone than perhaps we ever even intended.

How do we go back from here?

Who does it benefit if the only question you ask is "why don't I have a partner?" and perhaps "why don't I feel like I can handle one even if I want one"

And the latter is a reflection of this; they'll say you shouldn't put Everything on your partner, but fail to discuss why that's a reoccurring issue in the first place!

Who does it benefit if you're not asking "Where is my community, and how do I help build it?" instead.

Because I don't think it's you!

We all deserve to be well adjusted. And amatonormativity is never going to lead to a society made of mostly well-adjusted people. Almost all of us in places where we've been robbed of community are severely under-socialised, and that ranges to places with apparent community which is largely compromised of vapid attitudes that allow people to have friends at such an arms length that we still feel alone.

We deserve better than that.

[arcplaysgames]

Well you said "gender" so now people give a shit.

gosh you know what yeah, in America we get taught that Frankenstein is the first work of science fiction, but the story of Kaguya honestly fits the bill much better-

gurl what

MORGANA IS A VOLKSWAGON NOW

This line made me laugh out loud tbh. Way to hang a lampshade.

Okay so instead of Tartarus, we have Mementos. Admittedly not as pithy of a name. Morgana is hoping to unlock the secret of their true form by exploring deeper into Mementos, delving into the collective subconscious.

I love you, Ann.

Does Morgana not remember whether they are boy or gorl or other? That's very telling. By all means, if he feels like a boy, neat. But the fact that there are a lot of question marks around that makes me think once again that Morgana isn't human but is some manifestation of something from the collective unconsciousness, like Teddie was.

Also Morgana gives me massive Teddie vibes anyway. Oh, the annoying mascot character who I wind up liking a whole bunch? but a CAT THIS TIME instead of a white guy? Perfect.

Maybe Notigor is the Big Bad of the game while Morgana is the Big Good. Notigor represents confinement and false accusations and abuse of authority masquerading as "rehabilitation." Morgana has thus far enabled actual rehabilitation.

But we're so early on, who fucking knows. I am very interested in Morgana's arc tho. Like Teddie as the Star, Morgana's SLink is on a plot-progression time table, so I assume he's going to be tied to the themes of the story like Teddie was.

also the degree to which i mistrust this child cannot be overstated. FEAR ALL PRECOCIOUS CHILDREN. You better fucking not be the Justice arcana, child, i swear to fuck.

WOW Mishima's personality change now that Kamoshida is gone!!!!

Which: makes sense. He was one of the preferred punching bags and was the fucking grim reaper to his classmates, sending them to see Kamoshida for their daily beatings. Breaking loose from that would inspire a dramatic turn, easy.

He's the one who set up the Phan-Site (lmao, nice pun tbh) for the Thieves. He really really really wants to get in on helping them out and is, uh. Mildly overeager.

Moon arcana, huh. I'm being a nerd and staring at one of my own Moon cards rn.

Moon and Hanged Man are very similar in my eyes. Hanged Man is about the Choice but with the Moon, it's a place you find yourself eventually. When there has been a dramatic change in your life, the Moon represents the period of calm after. The usual depiction is of the Moon's reflection, actually, bouncing up from a pond or river, and drawing the attention of a fish or scorpion or something else.

The Moon is like staring into a mirror. It can help you understand yourself and become re-acquainted after a traumatic event. But it can also drag your journey to a halt and even lead you into madness if you don't figure out how to look away and understand what reality is.

Mishima has def been through the traumatic incident. My fear is that he throws himself too far into the Phan-Site thing and needs help clawing his way out.

also, in the Death route, I am picking the most ridiculous options and I cackled at her response. there ain't a drug that can fix Reverie Vantas The Fifth lmao.

anyway, LOOK AT THE FUCKING POLLEN

As someone living in the american south, I can look out my window right now and see my car fucking covered in a sheet of pollen. IT'S HELL. IT SUCKS. FUCKING GODDAMN TREES, STOP IT!

[pearlthebard]

She’s spent a fair few nights in woods like these before. Admittedly, the circumstances are not so different now to what they were back then, if you account for the fact that the shoe’s on the other foot now. Before, Pearl would do anything if it gave her a chance to get closer to Scott. Now, well...

The night’s clear and warm, at least. That’s been the one saving grace of this whole journey so far - the trip south has made for a lot more warm nights than anything they get up in the Archipearlago. It’s a lovely beach, all shells and white sand, but goodness knows it’s not warm year-round like the jungle climate of Sanctuary or the blue-bright docks of the Eversea. Cogsmeade, too, is warm enough that the old black cloak-tent is serving her just fine through the evening.

These woods are big, though. The curse of the borderless world has returned in the form of a sprawling forest that feels as thick and heavy as a bad memory. It’s not like Pearl feels unsafe, per se, just... uncomfortable.

Not for the first time, she wishes she’d brought the dogs.

It’s a selfish wish and she knows it. Tallulah and Tito are nice, well-mannered things, and they wouldn’t have done well being dragged around a dozen different empires in Pearl’s attempt to keep herself away from Not-Smajor and whatever the heck he wants from her. (Ignoring the fact that her stupid mouth went and made the stupid choice to ask if they could start anew, because she’s been equal parts relief- and regret-filled since she said it, and she’s got no clue what she’ll do next time she’s unlucky enough to cross paths with him. Seriously - it’s like the universe is drawing them together or something. Which it’s not supposed to be doing. Not any more, at least.)

They’re lovely dogs, and she misses them, and she can’t wait to pick them back up again when all this is over, but -

Look. At the heart of it... they’re just not Tilly.

Tilly was fierce and scrappy and she never backed down from a challenge. Tilly bit Pearl more times than she could count, snapping at her fingers for the scraps of rotten flesh that were all that Pearl could scrounge out there in the wilderness. Tilly wrapped herself across Pearl’s chest at night and kept an ear to her doubled heartbeat, keeping her warm through the freeze of the loneliness and her soulmate’s best attempts to ice her out of things.

Tallulah and Tito are lovely, but their fur’s too shiny and their eyes too light to really compare to the memory of her old best friend. They’re not as skinny, don’t need to huddle at night to keep the shivers at bay; they don’t dig in the dirt when they’re bored of sitting around and get mud all built up in their paws. Their barks are never really angry, their swipes never really land. It’s like a replica, a photo-memory of the dog she used to love more than anybody else on that wretched server.

Of course, right now, Pearl’s got no dogs at all. They’re still in Gobland, with the best babysitter that money couldn’t buy. She hopes they’re treating Sausage well.

She hopes that, wherever her baby girl is, Tilly’s happy.

The night is warm, and though sleep does not come easy, Pearl finds some familiarity in the crowding of the trees on every side. There is no dog curled across her chest, but there is an uncaring wood to keep her hidden from her hauntings.

At least, if she’s alone, she’s got nobody to protect.

[toksinblack]

I usually don’t share my thought on much of anything on the internet, but seeing how negative people, especially on Twitter are about Dream smp ending really rubbed me the wrong way. 

I want to preface this by saying that this is all coming from my subjective experience and taste. You have complete right to disagree with me, I would love to have a conversation.

It feels like no matter what the ccs would have done, people would have been unsatisfied, because it seems like people had huge expectations for a silly minecraft roleplay server. I feel like if we look back at the lore streams themselves, they were never serious with maybe the exeption of exile and even then exile had plenty of goofing around, which people forget in favour of dramatic scenes. The fandom ourselves being angsty and hyperfocusing on those scenes does not help either.

Like with a lot of things the problem is that people take everything too seriously, at least regarding the ending, not the abuse portrayal (I have no experience with it, so I can't speak on it). I’ve consumed a lot of media in my life and spent a lot of time dwelling on how things could have been better. And don’t get me wrong, being able to critique is a usefull skill that helps us learn on other writer’s mistakes. But also being able to enjoy things not for what they could have been but for what they are made my life so much better.

It’s kinda funny how people say that the ending was rushed and dragged out simultaneously. Was it rushed? Personally, I don’t think so. Were lore streams far and few between? Yes. But also I don’t wish for them to have streamed everyday, like during quarantine. Again, personally, I have a full-time job, personal life and other interests and hobbys, so I wouldn’t be able to keep up.

I understand, that people probably wanted something grandiose, that involved every person on the server. But I have the feeling that it was simply not possible. I understand people being upset that Techno’s house is gone. I am too. But even if it was around, we almost never would've see it in lore. I'm content with going back to older vods and seeing both the house and Techno preserved in that small window in time. Unchanged. Forever.

What I don't understand is people on Twitter posting shit like "abuse apoligism??!!" And oh boy I'm gonna bite someone's fingers off. No, not it's not. People have already said this but I'll repeat for thr people in the back. Sympathy =/= forgiveness. Different people will have different interpretations of Tommy's last words. I saw the sorry as "I'm sorry things had to be this way" when he realized him and Dream ultimately wanted the same thing. It's this bitter realization that if things went differently they could have had happy lives. Or it could be "Sorry I have to kill you, I didn't want to kill anybody in the first place". It can be different things and forgiveness is not one of them. You think a guy who, just a few days prior, scolded c!Dream apologists will have his character forgive his abuser? Guys, please, have more faith in him than that, jeez.

I don't know which one it is: viewer's either a) inability to engage with media critically and taking everything on a surface level or b) willingness to engage with media and ccs in worst faith baffles me, either way.

There are also sentiments floating around that fans' time and energy, that they put into supporting the story over the past 2,5 years, was somehow 'wasted' by an unsatisfactory ending. Sure you can dislike it, but it shouldn't and does not take away from the fun and enjoyment we collectively had in that time period. It's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

Regarding the nukes, it's great that they used an already established pieces of lore, instead of pulling something out of their asses or going with a Deus Ex Machina. Admittedly, I haven't kept up with Tubbo lore, from what I've seen the nukes got stolen and they dropped the storyline, so to bring them back in an impactful way creates nice continuity.

I also understand from what I've seem that people wanted a good ending. That after all that suffering the characters deserved a nice happy live. I've got nothing to say on that, I enjoy angst. It has a right to exist.

And I understand the ccs wanting to flip over a new leaf, instead of letting everyone live and continuing with their characters. Yes, people have emotional attachments to these characters, but if they stayed in the same world they would've had to navigate through 2 years of lore and relationships that have accumulated and viewers would have been not happy if they got that lore wrong. So starting over allows them to have new storylines, new relationships without having to trip over preexisting convoluted mess that is dsmp lore. Everything has to end. Let's let go.

On that note, what upsets me is that a lot of lore streams are fucking lost media now. I loove how Wilbur made his lore videos, they're bite sized and easy to follow. I was trying to pick out important exile streams recently and god damn it's impossible. There will be them joking around, one important line and then another hour of not really important stuff, I swear.

In conclusion: let's enjoy thing for what they are and engage with media in good faith please. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[thetravellingvagrant]

Day 7: In Which Everyone's Ugly Children Can Die For All I care

I had planned, this morning, to get out and about into Seville nice and early to undertake a self-built walking/cultural tour of the City; my body, however, had other ideas. Not satisfied with simply being fooled, like a chicken, into thinking that my alarm had gone off at the wrong time, due to the efficacy of the rooms blackout blinds, when I awoke, properly, an hour later than I'd intended, my body screamed at me with every movement I made. My muscles hurt, my bones ached and I was all grumpy with no one to point it at, the fault for my agony lying squarely at my own feet. Who knew dragging a backpack half my own weight around for two hours in the rain and getting savaged by a mule would take it out of me so much? Not me. It was a genuine surprise.

I quickly - perhaps too quickly - dismounted the bunk bed on which I had been sleeping - a novelty in a private room, but crucially, not a nice one - wrenching all my joints out of place in the process and set about planning my day. 

Google didn't offer much in the way of interesting ideas. The museum of illusion looked quite cool, though at 17 euros a ticket with an average time spent there of under one hour, I decided instead to just look at photos other people had taken while there online which, in many ways, I found to be the same, if not better, than actually going. 

Beyond the museum of illusion, which has to be the name of a Sega megadrive game, I couldn't find much to do. At least nothing that would be doable with under 15,000 steps, which was about 16,000 steps than my body could take, today.

I decided then, begrudgingly, to switch today's plans with that of the next day, tough it out and go to the aquarium. God I'm brave.

The Seville aquarium was one of the few things I had planned to do before embarking on this trip. I had spotted it on the map during the planning stages of the journey and, when I did, made an audible “ooh” noise. It was supposed to be quite a big, cool one, according to reviews and while the Vasco Da Gama had been largely disappointing

Apart form this fuckin' guy.

I had high hopes for this lad which was advertised, promisingly, as having “a decent variety of fish”. 

I set out into town - taking the metro this time; I'm not a fucking idiot, which was unpleasantly crowded, though with a journey time of just over ten minutes, it was difficult to mind that much.

What I *did* mind, however, was knowing that instead of the hideous trek I had undertaken the previous day, I could have just hopped on the tube for twelve minutes and spent the rest of the time having a nice hot chocolate in a cafe, rather than been pushed off the road by an irritable ass. Oh well. You live and learn, I suppose. C’est la vie. Sunrise, sunset. I'm still absolutely fucking furious.

On the other end of the journey, I realized that to make it to the aquarium, I would still need to walk through a very big, nice park. Which I did. See above re: me being brave.

The park was reet nice and I had a reet nice time there, looking at all the nice greenery and that

Oooh...

Having a good old gawk at what maps has told me was called “the old big tree”

They should call this old large tree!...No, big is better.

Having a quick wander around the, to be honest, a little oversubscribed plaza de españa 

...Admittedly there aren't a lot of people in this photo, but there were loads there.

And enjoying a quick half-lunch on a nearby bench before ambling, finally, to the aquarium. By the time I arrived at it's gates, it was past 1pm.

“Oh, no!” I mumbled to myself, remembering the exquisite five hours I had spent at the Genoa aquarium last year and one very shit half hour in its cafeteria, forcing down a dry bread roll, thindly dappled with only the very scantest idea of cured meat, “only four and a bit hours til it closes! I hope I've left myself enough time to enjoy the experience!”

I checked in, using my pre-purchased ticket, thereby skipping the substantial queue that had formed at the reception and stepped boldly into the aquarium itself. And an impenetrable wall of people. It was fucking rammed.

I hadn't expected the aquarium to be so popular an attraction; particularly not so on a Wednesday afternoon, but popular it was, to the point of becoming absolutely maddening. 

A veritable sea of slack jawed, witless, dead eyed dullards stood before me, taking photos of the deep sea fish with their cameras’ flash enabled, banging on the glass to get the fishes attentions and occasionally just shining their phone torch directly into the terrified faces and ill-equipped eyes of the startled creatures. People were banging on the side of the ray tank to get them to swim over through sheer curiosity then stroking, squeezing and in one case - and this is genuinely true - trying to feed one a piece of popcorn. It was insanely stressful and upsetting to watch.

Yes, the air was thick with cunts, alright and this quickly presented another problem: I couldn't fucking see anything. So absolutely swarmed with twats was the place that I would genuinely have to wait in a queue-like system for up to five minutes but typically two or three, before I could get anywhere near close enough to a tank to even get a glimpse of its contents. Then, when I did, I had to face the tuts of disgruntled parents, furious that my shoulder was appearing in the selfie they wanted to take of their child standing next to a carp or whatever stupid shit they were doing.

That was the worst thing, by far. The selfies. Parents were, as I say, literally queuing to get to the front of a tank, not to marvel at the wonder of deep-sea nature, up close, but instead to plonk their ugly, disinterested child in front of the enclosure then get a picture of it with mum, then a picture of it with dad, then a picture of them alone, before moving into the next exhibit to do literally exactly the same thing.

Fuck. Offfff.

It was a resoundingly depressing and infuriating experience, all round. Sighing, I sped up my pace and skipped a few tanks in order to get slightly ahead of the thickest throng of people (both in terms of their numbers and intellect) and managed to get maybe one percent more relaxed now they were behind me. There were, however, another group a bit ahead and the aforementioned group hot on my heels, which meant that I had to sort of stutter my way through the place, not wanting to go so fast as to run into the group ahead, but not wanting to languish too long in case the one behind caught up. It was effing nightmarish. Also, and I swear this is true, one toddler literally shit their pants mid queue and their parents finished queuing, and took two selfies before going to change their child. What the *fuck* is that?

Still, I did get a lovely picture of a jellyfish.

Eventually, I had seen, through the screens of other people's cameraphones predominantly, everything there was to see in the basement of the building. I ascended the staircase back to the first floor, steeling myself for more cuntery to come and…found myself in the gift shop. That was it. That was the whole thing. I had been there for 55 minutes, paid 15 euros for the experience and had 0 fun. I was beyond relieved to leave - 0/10; may God have mercy on all of their worthless souls. I was even too angry to steal a magnet. 

I left them, fuming and disappointed, both in the aquarium and society at large and sat in the park to eat the second half of lunch. I also met a nice cat while doing that, which made things lots better.

Well done that gato

I farted away to a nearby supermarket, not.willing to undertake the bullshit walk to the Lidl “nearby” my flat, again and…it was closed. That was odd; it was only half past two… 

I tried two more. All closed. I checked Google. Apparently it was something called “constitution day” which meant everything would be shut. Apart from the aquarium, I suppose, although I contest it should be shut, condemned and demolished immediately.

Quietly resigning myself to it likely being sandwiches for dinner last night and breakfast, lunch and dinner today, I sighed and moved on, with little else to do and my body really needing a bit of rest, I decided to return home for the day, making a hail Mary stop at a nearby tesco-metro equivalent on the off chance it would be open. By some miracle, it was, and I even managed to find a nice little self contained Caesar salad wrap box, fill of all nice green vegetable things which, if I'm totally honest, I think my guts have been crying out for for some days.

I then left and returned home, once more, totally ruined, to have a reasonably nice dinner, a bigger nap than I intended followed by a smaller nibble than I intended and my third sleep of the day. This one semi-permanent. As in I slept for the night. I wasn't in a coma. 

[aptnahas]

Cymatics ableton tips

#CYMATICS ABLETON TIPS HOW TO#

#CYMATICS ABLETON TIPS MAC#

You’ll see the following box come up, allowing you to resurrect it whenever you need by pressing the same shortcut. To avoid this, deactivate instead by pressing 0 with the audio clip, MIDI clip or MIDI note in question. Sometimes you aren’t sure if a certain element or sound is going to work, but you don’t want to delete it. There are three types in Ableton, and each is self-explanatory: These devices group together with other devices and plugins into one ‘chain’ so that you can drag and drop on demand, loading everything up as is. Tip 12: Effect and Instrument Racksįast workflow is what makes Ableton Live so great, and racks are a gamechanger in this department. This handy shortcut allows you to combine multiple MIDI or audio clips into one, and/or ‘bounce’ the fades so that they become part of the audio clip. Tip 11: ConsolidateĬmd + J (Mac) or Ctrl + J (Windows) is your friend. In essence, you can save samples, racks, files and presets into different collections, even if they are all over the place on your hard drive.īonus tip: Spend some good time going through your samples, presets and files, organizing them into collections so that when it comes to making music, your favourite sounds are at hand whenever you need them. When Ableton Live 10 was announced, I was over the moon about this feature-to-be – Collections. Tip 10: Collections – Save Your Favourite Resources Select part of a clip and press the same as above – the selection will become separate from the rest of the clip.Move the insert marker to a defined point in the middle of a clip, and press Cmd + E (Mac) or Ctrl + E (Windows) – the clip will become two.Tip 9: Split ClipĪn underrated tool for chopping, mangling and arranging audio and MIDI in new and exciting ways. This alone will shave off lots of time in your production sessions. It will then automatically copy and paste the selection directly after the selected clip. Simply press Cmd + D (Mac) or Ctrl + D (Windows) with at least one clip selected. This is another one of those shortcuts which will make you think that Ableton is the best DAW. Recommended: Ableton Tutorials: The Best 21 YouTube Channels Tip 8: Duplicate Great for adding new sections into your tracks, or changing up the arrangement. This trick blew my mind, and admittedly I learned of it way too late in my music production journey, but pressing Cmd + I or Ctrl + I will allow you to insert a specified amount of bars, beats and 1/4 notes at the insert marker’s position. You’ll see two handles on the left and right you can drag, as well as two curve adjustors: Before After Tip 5: MIDI Editor Note Preview Simply make sure Automation Mode isn’t enabled by pressing A and hover over the clip. You can see the layout of the keyboard, and how it mimics a real keyboard.įades have always been one of Live’s strong points, allowing an easy way to clean up the start and end of audio clips. Press M on your computer keyboard and suddenly, A to L on your keyboard become playable, with the same layout of keys. If you don’t use an external MIDI keyboard controller, then you still have an option if you’re wanting to play notes in.

#CYMATICS ABLETON TIPS HOW TO#

Recommended: How To Use Ableton Live (for Beginners) Tip 3: Computer MIDI Keyboard On top of that, you can hold Option + Spacebar (Mac) or Alt + Spacebar (Windows) with a portion of the arrangement selected, allowing it to play only the highlighted area, stopping at the end. If you want to continue playback from the last stopped point, simply hold Shift + Spacebar instead. But you may also have noticed that it begins from the same spot every time you toggle between Play and Stop. You might have guessed that pressing Spacebar is the shortcut for Play and Stop. Here you can set the quantization size, the amount of quantization (having less than 100% can maintain a ‘human feel’) and whether you want the start and end of notes to snap or not. If you need to get specific, press Shift + Cmd + U or Shift + Ctrl + U to bring up the settings, pictured above.

#CYMATICS ABLETON TIPS MAC#

Simply press Cmd + U on Mac or Ctrl + U on Windows to quantize your notes. Whether you’re drawing or playing in notes, sometimes you need to tidy up the timing of certain notes, so that they play ‘on the grid.

[captains-simp]

Dark!Valkyrie and pet play, took r from midguard and chose to keep her, potential boot jumping if your comfortable if not idm COGRATS ON 1K 👏🏼👏🏼

Shout out to this anon that's waited months for this fic and never got impatient dkwksnsmwm

@romanoff062 helped me a lot with ideas so thank you bestie and some elements of the fic are inspired by @peachyteabuck 's fic And I Plead which I highly recommend y'all check out

2k words

Warnings: innocence kink, non-con/dub-con (R doesn't fully understand) forced heavy pet play, ownership, boot jumping, spanking, degrading, strap on sex, mild amnesia and kidnapping

[ masterlist ]

Buy me a coffee ☕

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New Asgard was a beautiful place. That much became apparent before you even set foot in the small town. All it took was a brief glimpse from the winding roads across the hills a few miles away and you instantly wanted to take a closer look.

You were on a road trip; had been for a while. It was a solo trip. A chance to get away from the hectic life back home and for you to figure things out. You had just graduated college and like many of your fellow students you had no idea what you were going to do next. So when you heard some people talking about a road trip, you decided you would give it a try aswell. You had a brief route planned but you ended up stopping off at a lot more places than you thought, even then none of them helped you with whatever it was you were trying to get out of that journey.

You parked up along the edge of town and grabbed your phone and wallet before getting out of the car and started towards the buildings.

It was starting to get late but there was still a fair few locals around who all waved or smiled at you as wandered around. You let the distant and lively murmer in the middle of town direct you and it wasn't long until you spotted a pub.

You knew you should have booked a place to stay for the night or few days, but you had been on the road for a while and wanted to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the town as soon as you could. Surprisingly, you weren't tired either.

A few people greeted you in the pub, clearly noting the new face, but they didn't draw too much attention to you which made you feel all the more at ease there.

You bought a beer and sent a quick text to your parents to let them know you were safe and took a sip of your beer as you admired the art work across the walls. They ranged from tapestries to paintings and even some sculptures, the likes of which you had never seen before. They had a distinct Viking style to them but with a regal touch.

"You like them?" You looked to your right to see a dark haired woman leaning on the counter besides you, nursing her own beer.

She had an easy smile on her lips that hinted at something more, as did her hazel eyes that watched you carefully. She was beautiful to say the least and it took you a moment to find the words ton respond.

"They're amazing, where are they from?" You asked as your eyes flickered away from hers, unable to hold her strong gaze.

"A very special place." Was all she said. "Valkyrie." The woman declared as she raised her bottle to yours. You smiled and tapped the top of yours against hers.

"Y/n." You replied. Valkyrie hummed.

"And what brings you to New Asgard, y/n?"

Convosation flowed between you easily from that point on. You found yourself telling the older woman a lot about yourself, more than you had ever told a stranger. You just couldn't seem to help it, she encouraged you to tell her everything and you did.

Once you realised you barely knew anything about Valkyrie the convosation took a swift turn to handsy flirtation. You didn't mind, of course, but it sure did surprise you when Valkyrie shamelessly pulled out the cliques and let her hand wander boldly up your thigh.

You were captivated by the stranger. And you wanted to experience her further, everything she had to offer you would willingly take.

You groaned quietly when you back hit the hard wall of the pub. Valkyrie pulled you into a rough, demanding kiss that you could hardly keep up with, only stopping when she pulled away begrudgingly, as though she wasn't running out of oxygen like you were.

"I want to see you come undone." She whispered lowly against your ear. You gave a whine and closed your eyes with a smile.

"Come on." Was all she said as she grabbed your hand and led you through the empty street back to her house that seemed somewhat larger than the ones around it.

You were barely through the door and she was undressing you. Her hands ran frantically over your body that was admittedly growing tired and weaker from your travels. It didn't help that everytime Valkyrie's fingertips danced across your bare skin you melted just a little more.

You whined longingly when she dipped her slender fingers through your wet folds. She glided them over your sensitive clit that was begging for any attention but she soon withdrew those torturous fingers once more.

"You want something, pet?" You head was too clouded with need to pay much attention to the nickname. You had no prior experience with anything of the sort, no real understanding of what Valkyrie had planned.

"I need you." You whined again and went to kiss her only for the older woman to chuckle and pull something out of her pocket.

She attached the collar swiftly. It was locked around your neck before you could object and even if you did, it would have been futile.

"What's this?" You asked, dumbfounded.

"Your collar. All good pets have them." Valkyrie said simply and reached her foot around the back of your legs to pull forward with her foot, making you fall to your knees with a thud.

"What does that mean?" You asked again, confusion and mild panic starting to rise.

"That you belong to me, so you better behave." Valkyrie warned before pressing her boot covered foot between your legs and pressing down on your neglected clit. You moaned despite yourself and grinded down on the polished material out of pure instinct.

You lifted your hands up to grip onto Valkyries thigh as you dragged your cunt along her boot but she slapped them away. You whined, not knowing what to do with your hands.

"Hands behind your back." Valkyrie instructed and you did so quickly, glad to have something to follow.

You built up a desperate rhythm quickly as you looked up at Valkyrie pleadingly. You needed your release badly.

"Please." You tried. Your wetness was covering her boot and you were so close to releasing everything you had onto the boot.

"No." Valkyrie defied as she yanked her boot away from you. You whined loudly and she tutted as she grabbed your collar and pulled you up to lean over the edge of her bed.

"Please make me cum." You whimpered, earning you a harsh smack to your ass.

"Pets don't speak unless spoken to. Seems like we have a lot of training ahead of us." Valkyrie said darkly. You groaned again, not knowing what the hell that meant and wanting to know what you were getting in to.

You tried to look back at her but your head was forced down into the sheets with one hand while Valkyrie's other started to undo her zip.

She pulled her jeans down and off swiftly and threw them across the room to reveal the strap on she had been hiding. This only became apparent to you when you felt the large head against your entrance, bringing out another breathy whine from you.

Valkyrie edged the tip of the strap into your less than prepared pussy and revealed in th noises it brought out in you. You squirmed against the bed and her hold but she continued to push onwards as she held you down.

It with take long for her to thrust the entirety of the the toy deep inside you, brushing against nerves that were rarely touched. With each passing second you lost more of your grip on your speech until Valkyrie pulled out only to slam the rest of the you into you.

You moaned out loudly and clung onto the bedsheets frantically as Valkyrie continued to fuck.yo7 at a brutal pace, never faltering. You were all overwhelmed with pleasure you hardly heard the dirty things the woman above you whispered into your ear. With that, it didn't take you long to get close.

"Gon cum, please!" You tried, your speech far too slurred for you even to understand luckily Valkyrie did.

"Cum for your queen." She ordered and with that, you fell over the edge. You moaned loudly as your back arched and you clenched around the toy, desperate to feel it as much as possible when you came around it.

Valkyrie didn't stop once you came, not after you came a few times either. Because while you may not have ever completely remembered the events of that day, you would sure as hell feel them for a while.

*

You awoke in a brightly lit room with walls that seemed to literally shine. You blinked quickly as you looked around and found yourself in a bedroom. A fucking big one.

Next to you, or more towering over you from your low position, was a Grande bed that was unnecessarily big, as though it was there for show more than comfort. The gold painted posters and luxurious pillows and covers made it the perfect image of a King's bed and had you wondering what fantasy land you had dreamed up in your head.

You looked down and furrowed your brow as you realised you were laying in large dog bed that fit you as if by measurement. It was lined with quilts and soft pillows that matched those on the bed.

You sat up in the bed and took in the rest of the room and all its glory. Long drapes hung from the ceiling and parted for an open pair of doors that led onto a sizeable balcony. With a deep breath, you got up out the bed and ventured towards it.

It was only when you left the warmth and softness of the bed that you realised you were fully nude, but there was no dresser or closet door around to provide you with any clothes. You timidly edged towards the doors and stood to the side to peer out, hoping no neighbours would get an eyefull of your vulnerable state.

It was also hard to stay oblivious to the thick black leather collar that was around your neck so tightly. There were some hazy memories it awoke in the back of your mind that you couldn't quite see.

Your breath hitched in your throat as you peered out from behind the curtain. What became apparent first was how high up you were. The balcony leaned over the whole land and let you see the whole of the city and the dark forests beyond it.

The building below you shone in the sun, gleaming boldly in a way you couldn't tear your eyes from. It was almost mythological.

"You're awake!" An excited voice exclaimed from behind you. You spun around to see the dark haired women coming through the main doors towards you.

You didn't recognise her at first, especially with the cheerful grin plastered across her face. But soon the pieces fitted together and you took a big step back away from Valkyrie.

"Don't be like that." She said with a frown, her eyes shamelessly raking over your body.

She walked towards you quicker than you could get away and gripped you collar, forcing you to your knees. "Much better." She mused as she looked down at you.

She attached the leash to your collar and gave it a tug as she strolled back to the balcony with you having no choice but to follow as she instructed.

"I've waited so long for this." She beamed as she looked out at the city. You sat by her side, your mouth and throat too dry to let you speak and feeling too scared to even try. "Finally, Asgard is back to how it should be, and with you by my side." She looked down at you with a smile and noted your confusion.

"Earth just didn't cut it." She said simply. "So we're starting over, again. We have this whole planet to ourselves and I'll make sure it stays this way." Valkyrie explained as she looked back out at the city she ruled.

"I want to go home." You piped up as you stared at the ground, too afraid to meet her gaze.

"You are home." Valkyrie said as she crouched down and lifted your chin to look at her. "I'll give you everything you could ever want." Your bottom lip trembled as you realised you really had no way out.

"All you have to do is be a good pet."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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[28whitepeonies]

Here is the full article (under the cut) since I can’t find a post to reblog where they haven’t tried to edit Louis’ life for him and it’s pissing me off

Louis Tomlinson is playing tour guide in London. He’s not giving a rundown of the best pubs, highlighting where to snag the best tea sandwiches or which museums are a necessary detour, however — he’s showcasing a misty, cobblestone passageway that could have easily been a part of the set of any Harry Potter film. “Lovely, innit?” he quips, balancing a computer in one hand while waving a cigarette around in the other. Yet this one — behind the renowned Konk recording studios, to be precise — is where he happens to be filming a documentary about his life and his relationship with his fans. In fact, Louis has spent most of the day propped up next to a piano, trying to recall long-buried details about his life. So a few drags were necessary, but he’s admittedly “buzzing” — both from talking all day and from the thought of his sophomore album, Faith In The Future, due this November.

It’s taken a minute for Tomlinson, who was catapulted into being under the microscope of fame in one of the biggest boy bands of the world at just 18, to be genuinely at peace with where his career is headed. No longer is he letting the anxiety or fear of who others expected him to be — or who he thought he should be — define him. He is both a man at ease and one whose excitement about this very moment in life is so palpable it fills the room with a constant sly chuckle.

But becoming this version of Tomlinson — one who's so unrestrained — has been a challenging process for him. Getting to a place where he could even make an album like Faith In The Future, which is primed for the energy of a live show and shies away from much of the acoustic aspects featured on his first record, has been a years’-long journey of learning to tune out the noise from others about what he should do, of quelling his own self-doubt, of really reconsidering who he wants to be as an artist.

“If I'm being honest, I could have made a second record that would be a bigger commercial hit than this will be. I am confident in that,” he says. Yet he craves something more meaningful. “If I can pull off an album, like I think I have, that is something I would actually listen to, sits in line with the stuff that I love and has references all over it that I think say something about me, that's so much more fulfilling than having a fucking No. 1 record. Because I got loads of them in a band,” he says.

Getting to this stage has, inarguably, taken a lot of work. But to understand who Tomlinson is now — and who he wants to be — it’s necessary to return to January 2020 when he released his debut solo album Walls.

Of One Direction’s four members, Tomlinson was the last to release one. Truthfully, the Doncaster, Yorkshire-born musician had long struggled to figure out what he wanted to say, who he was as an artist because he’d never really thought about what a solo career would look like. “I knew who I was in One Direction, but I'd never thought of who I am on my own as [a] solo [artist]. I was so in love with being in the band that I never really had those thoughts,” he says, settling back into the studio after his smoke break.

He spent three years “just treading water.” But the record’s title track helped him find clarity. “That was a moment where I was like, ‘OK, I can see my lane now," he recalls. Walls, which evoked the soft, snarling tone of Oasis (Tomlinson even gave a songwriting credit to Noel Gallagher), attempted to stray from his mainstream pop days with hints of Britpop and pop punk — a callback to when he was 14 and singing Green Day and blink-182 covers in his first band. But just as he was beginning his first world tour, the pandemic forced everyone into lockdown, allowing him to perform only two shows in Barcelona and Madrid.

At the time, he recalls, it seemed “really unfair.” “I just thought, ‘Well, when am I gonna get a break?’ Because I felt like I'd worked really hard and deserved to have those experiences and those moments,” he stammers. He felt angry, frustrated, purposeless. “I wondered if this was going to be my narrative for the rest of my life, where I'm just constantly frustrated that life wasn't dealing me the hand that I wanted,” he adds. Still, it felt like another pain point in his life.

In the years since One Direction went on hiatus, Tomlinson had dealt with a series of family tragedies. In December 2016, his mother died from leukemia just a year after his son Freddie Reign was born; roughly two years later, his younger sister passed away from an accidental drug overdose. But the 30-year-old singer doesn’t like to dwell too much on any of that. Sporting a black-and-white colorblock hoodie and sweeping boy band hairstyle (the one visible reminder of his One Direction days), he’s a gregarious, larger-than-life personality whose eyes widen as if he’s unraveling a ribbon around a Christmas present whenever he speaks; he’s a self-described “not very serious guy.”

Tomlinson was able to really embrace that part of himself when lockdown happened. After all, there had been little time to actually take a break during his years in One Direction, what with their five LPs and four world tours; and the years since had been flanked by working on his solo music and parenthood. “I've never had a moment in my career, where I felt the pressure that surrounded me had been loosened, and that was a really nice feeling because my life in One Direction and even post-One Direction, I'm constantly thinking about what the next thing is, how I can better myself as an artist and how I can get what I want,” he says.

It helped that Tomlinson was able to spend some quality time with his son, journeying between the U.K. and Los Angeles where he lives with his mother. There, he could put his “dad hat” on and have a purpose. But back in the U.K., the musician was like the rest of the world “watching lots of shit TV and shit films.” (“I fucking hate Love Island,” he yells. “I got no time for that.”) His version of bad entertainment was actually watching something “amazing” — he became enamored with the 2003 Red Hot Chili Peppers concert film Live at Slane Castle, which he viewed five times throughout lockdown. While he admittedly didn’t learn any new skills during that time (“I didn’t do no banana bread!”), he was able to really look inward.

Gone was the knee-jerk reaction to the news that the tour wouldn’t be going as planned — he snapped out of it. Instead, he found gratitude for the two nights he had onstage. “There might have been an element had I not had those shows that, by the end of lockdown, I would have convinced myself that maybe I'm not going to be able to cut it,” Tomlinson admits. Luckily those two concerts he did do gave him somewhat of a foundation for what his live shows would look like. So he joined the many artists who had been forced off the road and decided to host a virtual concert in December 2020 — “Live From London” — that raised upward of $1 million for four different charities. The 18-track set, which was livestreamed on Veeps, sold 160,000 tickets worldwide and earned him a spot a Guinness World Record for “Most Tickets Sold for a Livestreamed Concert by a Solo Male Artist.”

“It was fucking amazing. It was a moment where I'm just like, ‘Well, maybe I'm gonna have a good year when everything comes back to normal,’" he says awestruck. For the first time since the tour schedule had been jilted, he felt hopeful — inspired. “It was that first moment of, ‘If I could deliver a good album and I could deliver a good tour, maybe I'll have a good year because it looks like I've got people's interest,’” he says excitedly. The performance — the support from fans from afar — finally made him feel a little less lost.

“I know every artist says this, but I've got a deep fucking connection with my fans. I think of it as one entity,” Tomlinson gushes. “I was 18 when I was first in the band [One Direction], and we've grown up together.” Self-doubt, worry and a lack of confidence have, at times, plagued Tomlinson, to the point where he’s become co-dependent on them. “There's genuinely been times in my career where I've really needed them, like the livestream,” he confesses. “To show their support on the level they did, to make me go, ‘I can do this at a high fucking level.’” The aforementioned documentary makes sense now: Truthfully, he might not have come to that conclusion on his own without them.

With Tomlinson’s confidence gradually returning, he was able to take a step back and objectively analyze Walls — what he liked about it, what he didn’t. He found himself focused on how heavy the record was and how it didn’t fully represent who he was. “Although that was what I was experiencing in my personal life at the time, and I've always liked to be honest and quite literal in my lyrics, there was a weight to it emotionally, and that's not really how I carry myself as a person. I don't fucking like people feeling sorry for me,” he declares. The opinions — that noise — that came from being tied to the music industry machine for so long, he realized, had prevented him from taking risks.

Take for instance his collaborations with Bebe Rexha and Steve Aoki, his two dance-pop crossover singles that came out after One Direction went on hiatus. “That was me doing what I thought I was supposed to do, essentially, and what maybe other people thought I should do,” he shrugs. Tomlinson, however, pauses — he wants to be clear how proud he is of Walls. He had, after all, spent years writing it. But he’s left with some frustration about how he played it safe.

“I just wasn't brave enough. That's the bottom line. I wasn't brave enough sonically, and I wasn't brave enough to follow my heart and what I really loved musically because I was so reliant on other opinions,” he sighs. Of the songs on Walls, “Kill My Mind,” the pop-punk-charged opener that happens to be his son’s favorite song, was what he felt was emblematic of his sound. “That was the first moment where I felt the kind of energy and intensity and tempo that I was looking for out of my music and out of my live shows,” he notes. From the livestream and the two tour dates he played, Tomlinson knew he couldn’t get onstage and play fans 12 ballads, even though, he hypothesizes, “they’d still be fucking dead loud.”

That critical lens was instrumental in helping Tomlinson shape Faith In The Future, a title which he casually teased on social media last March. His goal with the record? To match the sweaty, screaming, enthusiastic fans in the crowd. “The thing I wanted to get out of this record, mostly, was to create a great live experience on the next tour,” he asserts. To do that, he had to trust his gut, which he found to be a daily struggle.

Tomlinson decided he had to rethink the songwriting process for Faith In The Future, so he opted to collaborate more with artists than with professional songwriters on this record. “Some professional songwriters, their intentions are quite obvious. It's their livelihood, so they're looking for singles, and unfortunately, when you look for singles, and there's that intention, in my opinion, it can affect the song and the reason that you're making the song.” Working with artists, at least in his experience, Tomlinson was able to have more natural conversations and focus on the heart of the music. There was also more freedom and spontaneity to it—and most importantly, authenticity.

“Bigger Than Me,” his new project’s anthemic, arena-sized lead single, aligns with his vision, as he actively fights back against the noise that crowded his mental space during Walls. It had everything Tomlinson needed to reset — it was energetic, ambitious, had scale and a sing-along chorus. “The bottom line is I wanted it to feel like a statement of intent,” he says of the track. For him, it was always going to be what introduced the record.

But within the record, Tomlinson isn’t afraid to toy with genre. While he was resistant to dance-pop music following his singles with Aoki and Rexha, he found a new appreciation for it thanks to the Australian rock trio DMA’s. “When I heard DMA's latest album that was produced by Stuart Price, those sounds were all over that record, but it's done in a very authentic, very credible way,” he notes. The fact that it was created in a way that wasn’t for radio play gave him “real food for thought.” “There were sounds that I would have maybe disregarded for the wrong reasons,” he explains. But dressed up by Price, his perspective shifted.

That incorporation of dance melodies is something that erupts on “Out of My System,” a pulsating, punk-tinged Arctic Monkeys-inspired track that recalls the heyday of early aughts indie rock. The day Tomlinson made the track, he had been listening to “Teddy Picker” or “Dancing Shoes” (he can’t quite remember), but he knew exactly what kind of music he wanted to make. “I went in and said, ‘Let's try to write a song that is as punk as I can get away with,’” he recalls. And he led with that kind of intensity and energy from early Arctic Monkeys albums to craft the song.

Tomlinson’s focus on intensity doesn’t extend to every song on Faith In The Future — at least not overtly. While he would have left the listener (hopefully) wanting more with “a wall of sound” on a record’s final track, he approached Faith In The Future’s closer “That’s The Way Love Goes” differently. The song, which was his take on the vulnerable simplicity of the Streets’ “Dry Your Eyes,” was the only track he could end the record on — one about a friend encouraging another friend to get over the fact that he’s not in a relationship anymore. “It's not the fact that you're not sympathizing. You're looking after him from afar, but you're not necessarily a shoulder to cry on,” Tomlinson explains.

Of course, Red Hot Chili Peppers, even if indirectly, influenced Faith In The Future. After watching their concert film, Tomlinson is convinced it’s affected his subconscious when he’s gone into the studio. But it’s a little more overt than that. Tomlinson sweetly bursts out of his chair while detailing how bummed he was to miss them perform with the Strokes and how he’d dream of collaborating with Flea (“Imagine him playing bass!”) and “next-level guitarist” John Frusciante.

The latter, he actually spent lockdown, doing a deep dive on, he explains: “I've pretty much top-to-bottom educated myself about his life and his journey and find that very, very interesting.” While much of Tomlinson’s self-doubt has dissipated, he’s hesitant to move too quickly on those. “I feel like I've got to show my own individual identity, embrace that and really drive it home before I would think about anything like that,” he notes.

But identity is a funny thing. Tomlinson’s boy band roots are still very much in his thoughts. While the band doesn’t have a group chat (“We’re shit like that”), the musician is “really proud of what they're doing.” “We're all watching each other from afar,” he smiles. “When we do see each other inevitably, it feels like not a day has passed.”

For now, however, Tomlinson is much more focused on his future — even beyond his own personal music career. Back in March 2021, the singer tweeted he wanted to start his own music management company, something that he can envision for himself. “That’s long game for me,” he explains. “There's a lot of interest and excitement for me in that space.”

When he was in One Direction, he was told he could have an imprint through his label at the time, Syco. “It was a certain genre of label, let's put it that way,” Tomlinson says, carefully choosing his words. “So where I found frustrations was I'd have this long list of different bands, occasionally solo artists, and unless I was bringing a ready-made Taylor Swift through the door, their ears weren't that interested.” Ultimately, many of the artists he believed in were scooped by other labels. But Tomlinson’s artist perspective, he believes, makes him uniquely adept in this area. In fact, he just hosted a competition for a new band to open for the festival he created and curates, Away From Home.

“I can look a little bit deeper, and I can also trust that maybe the future is going to look more exciting than it necessarily does right now on paper, whereas unfortunately, often record labels want to see the finished product,” he explains. Tomlinson remains on the lookout for new artists, but for now, the venture will be something he works on behind the scenes: “Are you going to see anything from me in that space in the next two, three years? Probably not. But in the next 10 years? I fucking hope so.”

[thatwheelchairchick]

LITG Top 5 Fics of 2021

Out of 600 fics that I read last year, 300 of them were LITG, so I'm going to give some recommendations. They weren't necessarily written this year, admittedly, since I didn't join the fandom until summer, but I'm not going to look at the date last updated and I'm just going to share my favourites.

I will tag the author's tumblr if I am aware of it, but if I am not, I am really sorry and will edit the post if someone tells me. 

Reasons To Be Brave by MamaMiaOhMy

Summary: Jake Wilson never expected actually to be chosen for this season of Love Island; in fact, he hadn't even applied. Still, as he finds himself thrown into the villa among both men and women who are louder, wittier, and more charming than he ever is out loud - he begins to develop an undeniable draw to one girl in particular and uncontrollable jealousy.

This fic follows Jake's perspective through Season 1 of the Love Island Video game. It is mostly original cannon/existing game scenes but with dialogue tweaks, added/extended scenes, and an alternate ending that gives depth to characters I think need it and adding a lot of fun and heartache to the MC/Jake relationship. I hope that it adds a ton of spice and drama; giving myself and readers the full sexy plotline Jake and MC deserved.

This was actually one of the first fics I read, and I loved every bit. It is rated Explicit and obviously check the tags, but I loved it more than I expected to, which is a common thread across my top choices.

Nothing Gold Can Stay by americangrunge

Summary: As she wraps herself in Rahim's embrace, she can’t help but to look over at Bobby. God, it’s almost sadistic how much she loves watching him hurt, to finally come to terms with the fact that he’s lost her and only has himself to blame.

---

A canon rewrite of Operation Nope and the Disaster Recoupling. Bobby deserved to get dragged for being an idiot, so here it is.

I love Bobby and Priya, so much, but both fucked up immensely with ON, and although Priya did suffer for her actions, Bobby did not and this oneshot is amazing.

Capturing The Circus King by TwoSpoonsOfSugar

Summary: Remy finds herself in a life-altering predicament- does she leave the Villa with her gorgeous, wild, circus lad, or open her heart to the earnest, thoughtful "Sweetcheeks" chef?

I am very soft for Rohan and I loved this fic. It is a love triangle situation, but either way, I loved it and I'm currently re-reading it.

The Sun in My Eyes by @sparxaf

Summary: Bobby's friends dared him to audition for Love Island and he never could resist a good dare. He didn't expect to make it onto the show, but he did, and now he's there for the free vacation. He knows that love isn't in his future, in or out of the villa. Bobby is a master of baking pastries, making people laugh, and friend zoning the absolute fuck out of himself. Because love requires letting someone in and that's the one thing he just can't seem to do. Until he meets her.

His summer of love starts now.

This is a monster of a fic and was so worth the 3 days spent reading it. Also, I have the biggest crush on Lili, although this is the case for quite a few MCs.

Of Twos and Threes by @bypine​

Summary: That is not how to play the game—Noah is quite sure it's what everyone else is thinking. Then again, he's always been quietly subversive, Bobby is a rebel, and in Love Island, they meet a very dangerous woman.

Their villa journey in 31 snapshots.

I've read this all the way through about 4 times at this point and I will definitely reread it a few more times.

All The Pretty Faces by sweet_talk

Summary: Margot enters the Villa as the #blondebombshell. She instantly finds a connection with Ibrahim, but could she be better suited to someone else? Betrayals occur. Grudges are held. Trusts are broken. Connections are made.

This fic is largely based on the actual structure of Season 2 of LITG. However, some aspects have been added to make it more like the actual TV show.

Note: Ibrahim exhibits some toxic traits and a lot of jealousy – if this is triggering please do not proceed. Possibly not suitable for Priya stans as she isn't portrayed in the nicest way here. This fic is pro-Nope (or at least the character is, author's opinion may differ!).

I don't know the end couple as this fic is fairly new, but it's great so far, and Ibrahim, Bobby and Lucas are the main LIs in it.

[warriorsbutnotreally]

Sandstorm Is Tigerstar's Daughter AU

So, to preface this

a lot of changes had to be made to canon

but in the end it came to a result that made me happy

and to add - this isn't super long

I don't even span the full first arc

Self edit before this is even posted; I got carried away and this is longer than I expected

this was a fun idea and [admittedly] I almost ignored it - cause I was worried I would have no ideas - until a bunch of cool ideas hit me at once and then I got excited about it

There's also changes to some relationships for very obvious reasons!

Sandkit is born alongside her brothers Swiftkit and Lynxkit [who are not Patchpelt's kits. You cannot convince me they're Patchpelt's. I have a lot of negative emotions towards the retconned family relationships in Warriors]. They are born about six moons before Rusty / Firepaw joins, meaning Swift and Lynx are older than they are in canon.

Sandkit is very proud of her heritage, as is her brothers and the three are close. Lynxkit is the most level-headed as his brother and sister can be stubborn and hot-headed.

When they're apprenticed, Tigerclaw goes out of his way to have his kits apprenticed to cats he considers his friends by convincing Bluestar and Redtail that it's a good idea. Sandpaw goes to Whitestorm, Swiftpaw goes to Longtail, and Lynxpaw goes to Darkstripe.

When Firepaw joins ThunderClan, Tigerclaw is quick to make sure his kits do not like and do not trust this kittypet and allows them to openly antagonize Firepaw. This gets so bad that apprentices den is split into two factions; the group who likes Firepaw; Firepaw, Graypaw, and Ravenpaw and the group who wants him gone; Sandpaw, Swiftpaw, Dustpaw, and Lynxpaw.

However, after their first patrol together, Lynxpaw is the first to change his mind about Firepaw. He becomes more welcoming, but expresses to Firepaw in private that he doesn't want his siblings to turn against him. Firepaw and Lynxpaw bond quietly behind Sandpaw and Swiftpaw's backs.

Sandpaw sticks close to her father or her mentor most days and as Bluestar's mental health starts to slowly decline, Tigerclaw is planting the seeds of disloyalty into her head. This only gets worse when she learns that Lynxpaw and Firepaw are friends and she lashes out at her brother

Swiftpaw is still on Sandpaw's side, however, and refuses to budge, though he's unsure about being angry at their brother.

When Fireheart and Graystripe become warriors, Sandpaw is even more outraged and - with some prompting from her father - starts making plans to make Fireheart's life just a little worse every day

Sandpaw sticks with Tigerclaw and it's thank to him that Bluestar finally gives her and her brothers their warrior names while Fireheart and Graystripe are out saving WindClan; Sandstorm, Swiftfang, and Lynxclaw.

When Tigerclaw tries to clear Bluestar on the Thunderpath, Sandstorm does manage to stop Cinderpaw from going as she knows the apprentice isn't the target.

After Bluestar fails to show, however, Sandstorm and Tigerclaw start up a different plan. Sandstorm openly blames Fireheart for the fact she didn't show, despite her being sick with greencough.

They do try to drag Swiftfang into their plans, but he expresses concern. He only agrees after Sandstorm peerpressures him into it, but it's clear that he believe they're going too far.

When Bramblekit and Tawnykit are born, Sandstorm becomes like a guardian older sister who spends time with them. This has her thinking of starting a family, but she wants to wait until she finds a proper mate - she is considering Dustpelt - and when her father is finally Tigerstar

Swiftfang does eventually tattle on them before the rogues attack and turns Sandstorm and Tigerclaw in as traitors, as he finds himself unable to just sit back and let them kill Bluestar and Fireheart, especially as he believes Lynxclaw loves the former kittypet.

Sandstorm is outraged as she and her father are exiled from the Clan. She tries to get Dustpelt to join, and for a moment she thinks he will until he reveals he'll never be able to stand beside someone who willingly walked with Redtail's killer.

After joining ShadowClan, Sandstorm assists her father in working hard, though she dislikes ShadowClan's territory. She starts considering having kits, not for a family, but for strong warriors that are loyal to her and her father.

When he becomes Tigerstar, he makes Blackfoot his deputy and Sandstorm is irritated but decides that gives her time to work out her own plan.

She starts carefully deciding which cat is the strongest in ShadowClan and, after being rejected by Blackfoot, settles on Boulder to sire her kits.

While she's courting Boulder, she learns of BloodClan and tells Tigerstar. The three go and meet Scourge and her plans change as she starts talking with Bone.

She's early into expecting Bone's kits when Scourge kills Tigerstar and she lashes out at the BloodClan cats. She isn't killed and ShadowClan ends up exiling her after she refuses to renounce her father's crimes.

When Scourge and Bone are killed, Sandstorm sneaks into the ranks and quickly earns favor with BloodClan as they know who she is and she reveals that the kits she's close to having are the proper heirs of BloodClan.

Cats try to challenge her, but Sandstorm allows herself to be brutal and relentless, which soon catches the eye of a certain one-eyed molly.

Fury becomes co-leader as she teaches Sandstorm the shaky customs of BloodClan and the two become close by the time the kits are born.

There are four kits born to Sandstorm; a dark calico tabby she-cat named Omen, a pale ginger and white tom named Talon, a mostly black tom named Bane, and a dark tabby with white patches named Tiger

Sandstorm instantly favors Tiger more than any other of her kits and is determined that he'll take over BloodClan when the time comes.

As the kits grow older, Fury and Sandstorm grow closer and eventually the two becomes mates and work together to help BloodClan grow better and stronger.

Sandstorm starts spying on the Clans again and learns, angrily, that Firestar and Lynxclaw are mates now and that the two have had a litter of kits together; Squrrielkit, Leafkit, and Spottedkit [Squirrel is dark ginger, Leaf and Spotted are both tortoiseshells] [how is also up for interpretation]

Sandstorm starts making plans again to take down ThunderClan and Fury is more than happy to help.

This comes together in an idea to steal the kits and hold them hostage until Firestar comes to get them.

The first attempt doesn't go well and many BloodClan cats are wounded in trying, but that doesn't stop either leader and they try once more. This time they manage to steal two of the kits; Squirrelkit and her brother Spottedkit.

While watching the two kits, Sandstorm is overtaken by rage at her brother becoming mates with 'the enemy' and for a brief moment she actually considers killing one of the kits. She actually almost kills Squirrelkit before she is stopped by Bane [he and the others being the age of older apprentices].

Bane becomes the watcher of the kits and he bonds well with his cousins and feels pity for them. When he learns his mothers' plans, he convinces Omen to help him carry them back home before any needless death happens. Omen is hesitant at first, but agrees and the two carry the kits back to ThunderClan.

When she learns about this, Sandstorm is outraged and she considers a regular punishment until Fury insists that Bane needs to be made an example of.

Sandstorm allows Fury to publicly kill their son and Omen feels like she's the only one truly horrified at this. Talon seems openly interested in the violence and Tiger was never easy for her to understand, as they are rather withdrawn and never talked to her or their brothers as they were being trained to take over BloodClan.

Sandstorm goes on to not allow Omen to be alone and Omen has a guard with her at all times.

Eventually Omen escapes her guard and flees to the Clans, being taken in by ThunderClan, who promise to protect her.

There she meets her cousins again, plus Leafkit, and gets to know her uncles, Lynxclaw and Brambleheart. She is treated with love and welcoming for the first time in her life and she finds herself about to cry.

She chooses to join ThunderClan after a moon of thought as well, as she fears what will happen if she ever encounters her mothers again. She is given the name Lightpaw.

Eventually Sandstorm does attack again and Lightpaw tries to hide, only to be found by her brother Talon and attacked. He almost kills her only to be killed by Firestar.

This outrages Sandstorm even more.

She attacks Firestar and takes away one of his lives, but before she can do more harm, she is attacked by Lightpaw.

Lightpaw fights her mother off and Sandstorm swears that she'll have her revenge and that ThunderClan will never be forgiven

Lightpaw tries to reason with her sibling, Tiger, but they push her away and lash out, angry that she let their brother die She tries to reason more, but it's useless

She watches as they leave

.

BloodClan does return in the form of Tiger, eventually, but my brain didn't plan that far, but Sandstorm eventually does pass away and Tiger kills Fury in a silent retaliation against her as they never forgive her for killing Bane.

She and Fury do also end up with another litter; a ginger tabby she-cat named Wrath, and an albino tom named Wisp.

Lightpaw eventually earns the name Lightstep and she's the one chosen to represent ThunderClan in the Great Journey.

Spottedkit/paw ends up being killed by BloodClan in a random, aggravated attack and Squirrelflight almost dies in the same attack, but survives, unlike her brother

Squirrelflight eventually becomes mates with Shrewpaw/heart, who survives in this AU and they have a very happy and healthy relationship

Lightstep originally is crushing on Feathertail, but she passes away. Later she actually becomes mates with Daisy and the two are very happy and comfortable wives to help take care of kits who need help raising.

Swiftfang leaves ThunderClan and ends up joining WindClan to get away from all the drama involving his family. He never takes a mate or has kits and he's perfectly happy just living a nice life.

[generallypo]

in all sincerity, kim dokja makes me happy and he deserves to be so too :^(

incoherent yelling and sobbing under the cut. these fEELINGS will not be contained aaauuunnghhh. 

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anyway i binge-read all 500+ chapters of ORV this week and i honest to god feel bad for this -- completely! fictional! aghhhh -- guy. in case you haven’t figured it out, the following is some spoilerly shit

i went in expecting a fun, brainless power trip fantasy for dudes with an isekai addiction. instead, it turns out ORV is actually a gigantic, self-deprecating prank on the entire genre itself. kdj plays more into the sad -- if high-functioning-- clown trope than the sexy, edgy, chuuni bastard type i was prepared to laugh at. there were -- gasp! -- female characters with personalities! parents (aka ADULTS who act like ADULTS) who actually survive and feature prominently! adorable children! a real sexy, edgy bastard! a power trio with amazing fashion! sexual tension and bickering! friendship! life and death bonding! 

*breathes in deeply* fouND FAMILYYYYYYY.

like, yeah, the plot around the first few arcs seems a little aimless, but the buildup is worth. the world-building is pretty decent. there’s discernible effort put into the fight scenes, and i can appreciate that. but -- but! what i stayed for were the characters -- namely, the fantastic OT3 of KDJ, HSY, and YJH -- who come together despite their initial rivalries and end up saving each other’s asses, like, every other day. granted, the other characters don’t get as much focus, and they do fall into certain character tropes.. 

but a trope done well is nothing i would gripe about. every significant character in ORV has a coherent, and more importantly, respectful take on their respective trope. maybe it’s because sing-shong is actually a married couple, but all the interactions between even minor characters are a convincing blend of awkward rambling, suggestive humor, sharp remarks, and casual banter. in other words, this cast of mostly working adults (plus a teen and two kids) talks like working adults. the relationships built throughout the story are, frankly, some of most realistic of its genre. sing-shong has managed to craft a dynamic that undoubtedly brims with fluffy fondness all around, but also drips with sarcastic tension, with unspoken urgency, with a wariness that softens into sincerity over the course of many, many chapters. it’s the kind of progression that makes even stock characters read like more than just the 2-bit villain or comrade or love interest. here, we have relationships both straightforward and not, strained or otherwise, romantically-oriented as well as decidedly the opposite -- and then numerous others scattered along the spectrum with the freedom to shift either way. 

it’s also an interesting point of note that our MC kdj actually does not end up with a stated romantic partner, much less a conventional heteroromantic harem. he gets teased about that fact from time to time, but it’s with less of the sleazy shonen locker room humor one would expect and more of the good-natured ribbing you’d find among friends or that one especially nosy auntie at the yearly family reunion. kdj is a grown ass man. in the background, i applaud his maturity, and he handles all the prodding like a champ. 

so instead of finding and fulfilling his horny, he builds himself a wealth of loving family. yeah, there are beautiful men and women around him. yeah, they unequivocally adore him. but they’re also adults, and they have priorities, too -- which are not so much finding a way to bang kdj’s brains out and more so simply keeping the damn guy alive. this is truly not ‘oblivious mc with his thirsty, sex kitten harem’. it just so happens that a guy proves himself to be unflinchingly gentle and capable in an apocalyptic setting despite his broken self-esteem, and lots of people find that attractive, romantically and platonically. 

it.. kinda makes sense? he’s a hard worker, thoughtful, and good with kids. kdj is the kind of guy you know would make a reliable partner, and anybody with eyes can plainly see and appreciate that. 

and it’s not that our MC’s a total brick wall. in fact, it’s likely the opposite, and he’s just too darned repressed to admit it. from what has been implied, kdj does indeed recognize and accept love, or at least a primitive concept of it. i like to imagine that the kind of love that he ends up seeking out simply manifests itself more easily as acceptance and safety, as warmth and a home of people to return to every day. even better, the people who surround him know this, and they give him exactly that. it’s refreshing, and honestly, really sweet.

(as a side note, i really, really do appreciate the cosmic bi energy radiating off of kdj, who canonically earns the title of being loved by all and is all but in name married to yjh and hsy. he also respects women and small children and honestly anyone who isn’t total scum to him or his family. i respect that.)

but the happy stuff aside, you know it it just ain’t ORV without the generous screaming dollop of angst. admittedly, there’s self-sacrifice, injury, lonesome wandering, more sacrifice, some epic fighting, reunion and confrontation. all of it is a lot to digest, sure, but never does it feel entirely hopeless, or truly, truly heart-clenching. ORV, up until the final act, is a mostly light read. you relax in your chair, thinking that nothing beyond this point can disturb you. 

yeah fucking right.

------

and then the beginning of the end arrives. when the squad finally break through to their ‘ending’, the scene that kind of breaks me is the reveal of the Most Ancient Dream. it ties so much thematically into the little tidbits that we get of kdj’s past, and it though it feels like almost a joke that the source of the goddamn apocalypse is a kid with bruises smeared across his skinny ass body -- it’s such a pathetic picture that it’s kinda poetic, actually. you’re left mystified but somewhat convinced, like a math problem explained halfway through. this.. child.. is a villain somehow, isn’t he?

and then 999th turn uriel speaks up, and she. just. hugs him. 

[[You are this universe’s most powerless existence, aren’t you.]] 

that. that gets me. kdj’s reaction immediately upon this revelation? absolute murder. seeing him essentially self-destruct upon realizing that all these people he’s surrounded himself with -- some who continuously proclaim their loyalty and affection for him throughout their journey, some who suffered eons of war and loss and trauma because of his existence -- not only forgive his younger self but smother him with unconditional acceptance and love is stifling, is too vulnerable and exposed and he simply can’t cope -- it’s so telling of his true mentality, of his crippling insecurity and crumpled sense of self-worth. kim dokja is a liar, through and through, so much that he fails, or perhaps refuses, to comprehend the veracity of others’ kindness and love towards himself. 

by some miracle, the events at the end of the world somehow resolve.. or so it seems. there is a departing train, a liberated team of ex-gods, and a child rousing from his slumber. in the aftermath, i am left shaking. somehow, despite the ending having been (happily?) reached, there’s still another chapter ahead. what is this witchcraft?

------

and then ah, yes -- the epilogue arc. i teetered on the edge of being critical for a little bit there -- is that display of deus ex machina, of sad, self-sacrificing nobility a bit too egregious to be acceptable? is this some wild last let-me-yank-this-outta-my-ass plot twist to drag out the chapter count? i sincerely thought that the arc before it would have been the finale. i was wrong. thank god.

anyways, as an answer to the above: no, and no. i stake my firm claim on the belief that the epilogue arc was meticulously planned out well in advance of its release, confusing and time-warpy as it is. i liked it. tremendously. even if it entirely invalidates all of kdj’s supposed development (”haha lol yeah sure i won’t sacrifice myself or anything anymore guys don’t worry about me” -- KDJ, at some point because he’s a lying rat bastard). actually, our beloved MC disappears for a large chunk of this arc, and i think it’s great. in his absence, the other characters not only go absolutely fucking nuts, but they have to figure out this new problem on their own, even if the lure of peaceful complacency in the newly saved Korea might convince them otherwise. 

and then the whole time paradox thing comes around. yjh goes to space, hsy saves the only life she can, and kdj grows up. the crew waits, holding onto their hope even if it bleeds them dry. sing-shong does a damn good job of illustrating their fraying calm, their lurking madness, the unseen but pervasive depression that seeps in from kdj’s absence. the kids lose their father, lhs and jhw lose their reliable leader figure, ysa loses a best friend and confidant, lsk -- as distant as she pretends to be from her son -- loses her only child. and then there’s hsy and yjh , who are essentially bereft of the other half of their existences. their pain is palpable, is grounded in the hopeless, gnawing frustration of an utterly meaningless victory. emotionally, ORV hits all the right -- if agonizing -- beats.

however, a story can’t sustain itself just through its pathos. i’m happy to say that ORV doesn’t drop the ball after the first milestone, and after all the hurt, the characters do leap straight back into action. even better, the plot holes actually do get patches, and the poetic cycle of writer, protagonist, and reader comes full circle by making use of all those supposedly throwaway characters from the myriad world lines. 

at the end of the road, there is a distinct sense of unity, of a delicate but undeniable cohesion to the world lines and their origins. sing-shong lets us guess a little here at the finish, but there’s just enough information to feel hopeful. maybe there never had been a definite start -- or finish -- to the story of kdj company, and... that’s okay. everybody ends up where they were meant to be, where they fought and struggled to reach. it’s.. almost like a happily ever after, if we’re allowed to dream of that.

------

now, i realize, this was all an orchestrated maneuver.

i’ll take it.

to me, all of this work sounds like someone put some serious thought into this behemoth of a plot. it cements the entire original premise of the story. it suggests -- but never explicitly confirms! -- the possibility that breaking free of the cycle is possible through the exact same system that sustains it. it’s terribly interesting -- and inspirational! with all the dramatic revelations and life-threatening scenarios  and the cast’s resigned acceptance of them that essentially make up ORV’s entire mood, there’s still that last hint of rebellious and righteous anger that lights up the whole damn nebula. it’s like the kdj company blasting away at the heavens just to yell into the nether: we’re not looking for the happy end, but the free one. stay alive.

it’s subtle, and yet it’s such an emotional gut punch. i came away with the most ruinous, frustrating, bittersweet sense of longing in ages. i pined. for these fictional darlings. god, i am weak.

so. yeah. ORV is pretty good. flawed, but ambitious and impressively thought out.  i’m stoked that the webtoon is making pretty good progress, even if it’ll take an eternity and a half to meet that monstrous chapter count. i’m still gonna follow it. hell yeah. 

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(by the way the idea that secretive plotter and co are literally gonna take care of and raise baby kdj and spoil him and be the best friggin family a kid could ever want does things to me. protect him. he’s suffered too much. let at least one worldline’s version of him know happiness. and actually, aLL OF THEM DESERVE DOMESTIC BLISS TOGETHER IN A BIG OL MANSION WITH SUN AND FRESH AIR AND TENDER FAMILY MOMENTS UGH)

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and there you have it, folks. you made it to the end. in the far, far distance, i’m cheering you on and crying my eyes out in gratitude. thanks for tuning in!

[rosemary-is-in-pesterquest]

I am. SO. frustrated. that they keep fucking up davekat. like I just wanna go off. just wanna go the fuck off, man, I didn't even ship them that hard at first but god damn I do now and it's pretty much because the epilogues and HS2 have fucked them up so bad and I know they are better than that. let me just.

okay so originally, davekat is built on themes of mutual defensiveness in response to insecurity. when Dave is first introduced, he portrays himself as a cool guy, and gives us the concept of Strider irony. where a normal person might claim to love something shitty as an ironic joke, or maybe the ironic joke masks sincere enjoyment... Strider irony, according to Dave, has a billion more levels of sincerity and insincerity, to the point where you have no idea what the real intent is. in part, this is due to teen pretentiousness... but in some ways this is a reflection of him genuinely finding his Bro unfathomable, and wanting to protect his own genuine thoughts, opinions, and interests from criticism, without actually coming off as insecure. as time goes by, you can watch him and figure out what is sincere and what isn't... he doesn't actually keep that tight of a lid on things, but that's partially because the game allows him more freedom than he usually has. he at least isn't living in his Bro's shadow anymore. some might extrapolate this to mean that he's experiencing more physical and mental security than usual, while others might just say he's coming into his own via this journey, but the fact of the matter is that he felt the need to hide behind this facade in the first place. and the tricky thing with Dave is that it isn't all fake. it's a weird mixture of who he is, who he wants to be, and what he thinks others will respond well to. his development isn't so much discarding the mask, as it is reconciling what it's made of, and incorporating it into his true self as he matures. he accepts it as a piece of him. it's very subtle, and natural, and true to what growing up is really like. I think this is why so many people like Dave and relate to him so much.

for Karkat, insecurity manifests in the form of being hyper critical of everyone around him. to be honest, this also comes from a deep sense of concern for the people around him, and the fact that his friend group is made of a bunch of loose canons who do destructive shit for fun, and people who are easily dragged into that sort of thing. but the thing that keeps Karkat's hyper critical nature from irritating people too much is that he's also super extra critical of himself. he admits it when he's done something wrong... though admittedly often after it's made people angry at him, and he has a good amount of very sincere apologies that he delivers so that they come off as very sincere and actually work in terms of reconciling with people. Karkat's biggest issue is that criticizing your own internal flaws and actually fixing them are two different things. and while Karkat can identify many problems with himself, he's not always the best at making them go away. it takes him a long time to learn how to change himself, because in order to change yourself, you have to accept the flawed parts of yourself and work with them, rather than just trying to push them out of your sight. this is why his anger at his past and future selves is ultimately unhealthy. it keeps him from truly addressing the fact that his current self is just as subject to those same flaws. for example, if he's talking to a past self and a future self, and his future self is condescending to him, and his past self is naive, then his present self is both of those things to his conversation partners. but he's so repulsed by his own negative attributes that he's not really dealing with them. his saving grace is that everyone can see how hard he's trying, and how worried and scared he is. ultimately, Karkat doesn't want to be the reason for screwing everyone over, and that's more concern for others than anyone ever asked for. it gains Karkat a lot of good will, without him necessarily even realizing what he's doing.

what's excellent about davekat is that they come out the gate fully critical of one another... but neither is willing to back down either. somehow, these two insecure idiots trick each other into defending themselves. and it's brilliant, because they get all their critical bullshit out of the way immediately. they don't fear criticism from one another. they already criticize one another all the time, and it's fine. like, their worst complaints about each other are right out there in the open, and how freeing must that be for a couple of guys who worry about other people's opinions of them so much? Dave has nothing to hide and nothing to prove. Karkat defends his own positive qualities. it's good for them. eventually, they just kind of run out of material... and there's something comforting about knowing that they've said every bad thing they can think of about each other, and none of it was a deal breaker. they're still in each other's business constantly. and that's when they start to learn from each other. see, Karkat is really blunt. he wanders into the thick of things, yelling at people and making mistakes all over the place... and Dave is just more cautious than that. his whole cool guy persona is made to keep that kind of raw emotion from leaking out, and to make every mistake seem like he meant to do that. but Karkat makes mistakes all the time. and apologizes all the time. and he comes out okay. Karkat is sincere. but Karkat is also high strung... and Dave isn't. Dave knows how to chill, and he plans things, and he can sit down with people and calmly talk through a plan. get it in simple terms and hash things out without panicking. Karkat often exhausts himself trying to run around and manage everything, and while it can be kind of endearing to see how much he cares... it's not exactly healthy. Dave has more of a level head, beyond just his cool kid persona, and isn't afraid to make people walk things back and take it from the top. and actually, what Dave and Karkat have in common is that they try really hard for the people around them, and feel great concern for the people they love. when the chips are down, they value similar things. and once they've run out of ineffectual ways to badmouth each other, that's what they have left. probably the thing that bugs them the most about each other is how much they actually have in common in terms of priorities. and while I do think that in their relationship, they'll probably always bicker with each other, that's the core foundation. they're caring people who look out for their group and try to help wherever they can. in essence... they're both knights through and through.

and then HS2 fucks it all up. legit why even confuse anything about their relationship? just let them uncontroversially date, keep it lowkey and tasteful, realize the wonderful potential of their friends razzing them about it a little, and write a better story for them to exist in. god damn. like, seriously, just give them more people to actually care about, because Dave and Karkat feel out of character if they aren't constantly in the lives of a plethora of friends who are important to them. look at them in homestuck. look at everything they do best. of course they wouldn't thrive in HS2, none of the cast even likes each other anymore!! Dave and Karkat were basically instrumental in setting up rosemary, which fits so well with all of their characterization its insane. I just want everyone to periodically go back, and reread homestuck, and remember when these characters were good people.

BASED WENDELL COMING IN WITH THEIR ANALYSIS BETTER THAN WHATEVER THE FUCK THE HS2 WRITERS SHIT OUT 

[fangaminghell]

Since I feel like I won't be playing a lot of Pokemon rejuvenation for a while, I think I might as well do some oc rambles and thoughts.

Originally, I was planning to do more of the heavy characterizing of Imani, my mc-oc, until I was done with the current update, since I want all the details I can get about the mc, canonically, and what's their role is. I know that they are the Interceptor and I know that's pretty important. I know they have made, assumedly, multiple different pasts. Finally, as the game tells us again and again, the mc is very quite. I'm not sure if that's a joke thing, a canon characteristic to the mc, or an Interceptor thing ( and as curious as I am, I don't want to get majorly spoiled if the mc's quietness is a big detail regarding them being an Interceptor. This is just me hypothesizing. However, incredibly vague answers are welcomed).

Now onto Imani, who I've already seen as this bubbly, kind person. She likes making friends if she can and can get very talkative. At least, maybe she was very talkative until * gestures to everything that happens in rejuvenation up to chapter 10 cause that's where I'm at right now*. Though honestly I feel like that's fine. I've always seen Imani as very expressive through her movements, and even then knows sign language so if I decide to add the quietness that her character, I feel like it wouldn't change much.

Onto relationships, I have to say, so far, Imani was the closest to Aelita. That might seem off considering how she met Melia, Venam and Ren first. Which, yeah, fair, but at the point where I am in the game, I feel like those relationships are kinda being fixed. Let me explain. Imani no way blames Melia for faking her death, the death of their mother, or "dragging" her into everything with Team Xen. Absolutely not. But I still feel like Imani's allowed to be a little hurt by all the things that happened. Specifically about Melia not being dead, cause on top of her missing mother at the time, Imani grieved over Melia, only to have her suddenly be back and okay ( relatively speaking). Again, Imani doesn't really blame Melia, but I feel like theirs been a bit of distance between the two. Not a big rift, but I think things were a bit tense post Blacksteeple Castle. Then again, everything was tense post Blacksteeple Castle. Venam is simply a case of Venam running away and not really opening up when Imani kinda needed a friend to lean on. Though, I will say, the recent chapters I've been playing is where I really think these three really become closer as friends. It's still rocky, but it's getting better. Ren, as far as Imani is concerned at the moment, has betrayed all of her trust. She knew that he was having a tough time, but joining Team Xen, who not only had a hand in everything Melia went through and just every obstacle in their way, but also had a hand in their mothers death?! That's just low. Admittedly after a few side quests and Sharon and Eli and Madam X helping(?) her that one time, her view in Team Xen began to change, though it's mostly a mixture of confusion and a bit of sympathy for some of the grunts she got to know. But still. Thinking about Reb just hurts at the moment.

Anyway, with all of that aside, I just think Imani and Aelita just vibe together. Like, insanely well. Especially since Imani met Aelita at a time when it was literally just her, yeah, I think these two just mesh really well together. Which it's why the more painful when Aelita gets put into a coma. Oof.

Honestly, throughout her journey, Imani probably went from " super bright and bubbly and optimist" to " that but a bit more dim". She still tries her best, and she really doesn't want her friends to worry, especially with such stressful times, but it's kinda becoming hard to keep being endlessly positive when you yourself is just constantly getting hurt and bombarded with so much different information ( apparently she knows people she never met????). Like. This girl needs a break. And she could take one but the overwhelming guilt of feeling like their not doing enough for her friends cripples them greatly.

Anyway.

I think that's enough rambling. If you made it this far, thanks for indulging in my nonsense haha.

[shredsandpatches]

sunday snippet (sing, John Ball, and tell it to them all edition)

I feel like I’ve been kind of in the zone writing about the Rising of 1381, and also the novelthing, since it has a lot of sex, needs more violence, and so this week I wrote up John Ball’s execution scene. It definitely balances the ratio out a little bit. But I think it actually came out pretty well and I’m a little bit “huh, so I can write a horrible medieval execution, I guess.”

I’m not giving you the whole scene below—it stops before the gross parts—but I really like the scaffold speech I wrote, even though I only technically wrote about three lines of it and pulled together the rest from the Wycliffe Bible and Ball’s sermon on Blackheath (admittedly, the version given by the hostile Walsingham, but it does evoke some of the language of Ball’s surviving letters. Incidentally: Walsingham was probably AT John Ball’s trial, which was held in St. Albans, and does not describe it in any way. This is a common sentiment here but: fuck you, Walsingham).

--

They have set up a throne opposite the scaffold. It glitters in the sunlight. Tresilian is at his right hand, looming over him like his ill angel, as he has ever since they left for Essex—ever since they returned to the Tower from Clerkenwell.

At the scaffold they have already lit the flame. Richard stares into it, although in the sunlight it seems feeble, scarcely like something that would burn a man’s heart and entrails. He remembers the fire he had felt inside himself, on the day of Smithfield; now he, too, feels like a thin flame that a slight breeze might easily snuff out. Richard wonders if John Ball had felt like that, when he preached on Blackheath—if he too had known himself filled with light. He wonders if that light still burns within him now.

His flame will be extinguished today.

Richard had expected jeering, from the crowd, although as Ball finally comes into view, dragged on a wooden frame behind a horse, there is only a murmur that rustles through the crowd like dead leaves blowing across stony ground. Tresilian rests a hand on Richard’s shoulder, just for a moment, in a gesture that might be a paternal reassurance, but the slight pressure he applies might also be a stern warning: now is not the time for mercy.

If you let this continue, he had said, the blood will be on your hands.

John Ball, though bruised from his ignominious journey, mounts the scaffold as if he were ascending the altar to say mass. He is not a big man, like Wat Tyler had been, although he looks as though he had once been well-fed, before extended imprisonment. His face is bruised in a way it had not been, during his trial. As the executioners strip him to the waist, his eyes meet Richard’s and Richard feels, for an instant, as if it is he who were being stripped bare.

This is in your name, Richard tells himself. You cannot look away.

Ball is given the chance to speak, one last time: to make a confession, or to plead for mercy and thus entertain the crowd. But when he steps forward, he is brief, and his voice is steady, firm. His flame has not been extinguished yet.

“Brothers and sisters,” he says, in his thick Yorkshire burr. “You have heard my message by now. I would say the one thing I have said again and again. God has made no distinction of men, between bondmen and free men. But the Evangelist tells us that our Lord—our only Lord, Christ who is in heaven, has said: ‘whoever receiveth not you, neither heareth your words, go ye from that house and city, and scatter the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, it shall be more sufferable to the land of men of Sodom and of Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than to that city.’ And so I say the same unto you. Now is the time, appointed to me by God, in which I will cast off the yoke of bondage, and recover liberty.”

He steps back, offers his wrists to be bound, and inclines his head to receive the noose.

[louisarchiver]

How Louis Tomlinson had to find his purpose again to make Faith In The Future

Ilana KaplanPublished: September 6, 2022

[Photos by Edward Cooke]

Louis Tomlinson is playing tour guide in London. He’s not giving a rundown of the best pubs, highlighting where to snag the best tea sandwiches or which museums are a necessary detour, however — he’s showcasing a misty, cobblestone passageway that could have easily been a part of the set of any Harry Potter film. “Lovely, innit?” he quips, balancing a computer in one hand while waving a cigarette around in the other. Yet this one — behind the renowned Konk recording studios, to be precise — is where he happens to be filming a documentary about his life and his relationship with his fans. In fact, Louis has spent most of the day propped up next to a piano, trying to recall long-buried details about his life. So a few drags were necessary, but he’s admittedly “buzzing” — both from talking all day and from the thought of his sophomore album, Faith In The Future, due this November. 

It’s taken a minute for Tomlinson, who was catapulted into being under the microscope of fame in one of the biggest boy bands of the world at just 18, to be genuinely at peace with where his career is headed. No longer is he letting the anxiety or fear of who others expected him to be — or who he thought he should be — define him. He is both a man at ease and one whose excitement about this very moment in life is so palpable it fills the room with a constant sly chuckle. 

But becoming this version of Tomlinson — one who's so unrestrained — has been a challenging process for him. Getting to a place where he could even make an album like Faith In The Future, which is primed for the energy of a live show and shies away from much of the acoustic aspects featured on his first record, has been a years’-long journey of learning to tune out the noise from others about what he should do, of quelling his own self-doubt, of really reconsidering who he wants to be as an artist.

“If I'm being honest, I could have made a second record that would be a bigger commercial hit than this will be. I am confident in that,” he says. Yet he craves something more meaningful. “If I can pull off an album, like I think I have, that is something I would actually listen to, sits in line with the stuff that I love and has references all over it that I think say something about me, that's so much more fulfilling than having a fucking No. 1 record. Because I got loads of them in a band,” he says. 

Getting to this stage has, inarguably, taken a lot of work. But to understand who Tomlinson is now — and who he wants to be — it’s necessary to return to January 2020 when he released his debut solo album Walls. 

Of One Direction’s four members, Tomlinson was the last to release one. Truthfully, the Doncaster, Yorkshire-born musician had long struggled to figure out what he wanted to say, who he was as an artist because he’d never really thought about what a solo career would look like. “I knew who I was in One Direction, but I'd never thought of who I am on my own as [a] solo [artist]. I was so in love with being in the band that I never really had those thoughts,” he says, settling back into the studio after his smoke break. 

He spent three years “just treading water.” But the record’s title track helped him find clarity. “That was a moment where I was like, ‘OK, I can see my lane now," he recalls. Walls, which evoked the soft, snarling tone of Oasis (Tomlinson even gave a songwriting credit to Noel Gallagher), attempted to stray from his mainstream pop days with hints of Britpop and pop punk — a callback to when he was 14 and singing Green Day and blink-182 covers in his first band. But just as he was beginning his first world tour, the pandemic forced everyone into lockdown, allowing him to perform only two shows in Barcelona and Madrid.

At the time, he recalls, it seemed “really unfair.” “I just thought, ‘Well, when am I gonna get a break?’ Because I felt like I'd worked really hard and deserved to have those experiences and those moments,” he stammers. He felt angry, frustrated, purposeless. “I wondered if this was going to be my narrative for the rest of my life, where I'm just constantly frustrated that life wasn't dealing me the hand that I wanted,” he adds. Still, it felt like another pain point in his life.

In the years since One Direction went on hiatus, Tomlinson had dealt with a series of family tragedies. In December 2016, his mother died from leukemia just a year after his son Freddie Reign was born; roughly two years later, his younger sister passed away from an accidental drug overdose. But the 30-year-old singer doesn’t like to dwell too much on any of that. Sporting a black-and-white colorblock hoodie and sweeping boy band hairstyle (the one visible reminder of his One Direction days), he’s a gregarious, larger-than-life personality whose eyes widen as if he’s unraveling a ribbon around a Christmas present whenever he speaks; he’s a self-described “not very serious guy.” 

Tomlinson was able to really embrace that part of himself when lockdown happened. After all, there had been little time to actually take a break during his years in One Direction, what with their five LPs and four world tours; and the years since had been flanked by working on his solo music and parenthood. “I've never had a moment in my career, where I felt the pressure that surrounded me had been loosened, and that was a really nice feeling because my life in One Direction and even post-One Direction, I'm constantly thinking about what the next thing is, how I can better myself as an artist and how I can get what I want,” he says. 

It helped that Tomlinson was able to spend some quality time with his son, journeying between the U.K. and Los Angeles where he lives with his mother. There, he could put his “dad hat” on and have a purpose. But back in the U.K., the musician was like the rest of the world “watching lots of shit TV and shit films.” (“I fucking hate Love Island,” he yells. “I got no time for that.”) His version of bad entertainment was actually watching something “amazing” — he became enamored with the 2003 Red Hot Chili Peppers concert film Live at Slane Castle, which he viewed five times throughout lockdown. While he admittedly didn’t learn any new skills during that time (“I didn’t do no banana bread!”), he was able to really look inward.

Gone was the knee-jerk reaction to the news that the tour wouldn’t be going as planned — he snapped out of it. Instead, he found gratitude for the two nights he had onstage. “There might have been an element had I not had those shows that, by the end of lockdown, I would have convinced myself that maybe I'm not going to be able to cut it,” Tomlinson admits. Luckily those two concerts he did do gave him somewhat of a foundation for what his live shows would look like. So he joined the many artists who had been forced off the road and decided to host a virtual concert in December 2020 — “Live From London” — that raised upward of $1 million for four different charities. The 18-track set, which was livestreamed on Veeps, sold 160,000 tickets worldwide and earned him a spot a Guinness World Record for “Most Tickets Sold for a Livestreamed Concert by a Solo Male Artist.” 

“It was fucking amazing. It was a moment where I'm just like, ‘Well, maybe I'm gonna have a good year when everything comes back to normal,’" he says awestruck. For the first time since the tour schedule had been jilted, he felt hopeful — inspired. “It was that first moment of, ‘If I could deliver a good album and I could deliver a good tour, maybe I'll have a good year because it looks like I've got people's interest,’” he says excitedly. The performance — the support from fans from afar — finally made him feel a little less lost. 

“I know every artist says this, but I've got a deep fucking connection with my fans. I think of it as one entity,” Tomlinson gushes. “I was 18 when I was first in the band [One Direction], and we've grown up together.” Self-doubt, worry and a lack of confidence have, at times, plagued Tomlinson, to the point where he’s become co-dependent on them. “There's genuinely been times in my career where I've really needed them, like the livestream,” he confesses. “To show their support on the level they did, to make me go, ‘I can do this at a high fucking level.’” The aforementioned documentary makes sense now: Truthfully, he might not have come to that conclusion on his own without them. 

With Tomlinson’s confidence gradually returning, he was able to take a step back and objectively analyze Walls — what he liked about it, what he didn’t. He found himself focused on how heavy the record was and how it didn’t fully represent who he was. “Although that was what I was experiencing in my personal life at the time, and I've always liked to be honest and quite literal in my lyrics, there was a weight to it emotionally, and that's not really how I carry myself as a person. I don't fucking like people feeling sorry for me,” he declares. The opinions — that noise — that came from being tied to the music industry machine for so long, he realized, had prevented him from taking risks. 

Take for instance his collaborations with Bebe Rexha and Steve Aoki, his two dance-pop crossover singles that came out after One Direction went on hiatus. “That was me doing what I thought I was supposed to do, essentially, and what maybe other people thought I should do,” he shrugs. Tomlinson, however, pauses — he wants to be clear how proud he is of Walls. He had, after all, spent years writing it. But he’s left with some frustration about how he played it safe.

“I just wasn't brave enough. That's the bottom line. I wasn't brave enough sonically, and I wasn't brave enough to follow my heart and what I really loved musically because I was so reliant on other opinions,” he sighs. Of the songs on Walls, “Kill My Mind,” the pop-punk-charged opener that happens to be his son’s favorite song, was what he felt was emblematic of his sound. “That was the first moment where I felt the kind of energy and intensity and tempo that I was looking for out of my music and out of my live shows,” he notes. From the livestream and the two tour dates he played, Tomlinson knew he couldn’t get onstage and play fans 12 ballads, even though, he hypothesizes, “they’d still be fucking dead loud.”

 That critical lens was instrumental in helping Tomlinson shape Faith In The Future, a title which he casually teased on social media last March. His goal with the record? To match the sweaty, screaming, enthusiastic fans in the crowd. “The thing I wanted to get out of this record, mostly, was to create a great live experience on the next tour,” he asserts. To do that, he had to trust his gut, which he found to be a daily struggle. 

Tomlinson decided he had to rethink the songwriting process for Faith In The Future, so he opted to collaborate more with artists than with professional songwriters on this record. “Some professional songwriters, their intentions are quite obvious. It's their livelihood, so they're looking for singles, and unfortunately, when you look for singles, and there's that intention, in my opinion, it can affect the song and the reason that you're making the song.” Working with artists, at least in his experience, Tomlinson was able to have more natural conversations and focus on the heart of the music. There was also more freedom and spontaneity to it—and most importantly, authenticity.

“Bigger Than Me,” his new project’s anthemic, arena-sized lead single, aligns with his vision, as he actively fights back against the noise that crowded his mental space during Walls. It had everything Tomlinson needed to reset — it was energetic, ambitious, had scale and a sing-along chorus. “The bottom line is I wanted it to feel like a statement of intent,” he says of the track. For him, it was always going to be what introduced the record. 

But within the record, Tomlinson isn’t afraid to toy with genre. While he was resistant to dance-pop music following his singles with Aoki and Rexha, he found a new appreciation for it thanks to the Australian rock trio DMA’s. “When I heard DMA's latest album that was produced by Stuart Price, those sounds were all over that record, but it's done in a very authentic, very credible way,” he notes. The fact that it was created in a way that wasn’t for radio play gave him “real food for thought.” “There were sounds that I would have maybe disregarded for the wrong reasons,” he explains. But dressed up by Price, his perspective shifted. 

That incorporation of dance melodies is something that erupts on “Out of My System,” a pulsating, punk-tinged Arctic Monkeys-inspired track that recalls the heyday of early aughts indie rock. The day Tomlinson made the track, he had been listening to “Teddy Picker” or “Dancing Shoes” (he can’t quite remember), but he knew exactly what kind of music he wanted to make. “I went in and said, ‘Let's try to write a song that is as punk as I can get away with,’” he recalls. And he led with that kind of intensity and energy from early Arctic Monkeys albums to craft the song. 

Tomlinson’s focus on intensity doesn’t extend to every song on Faith In The Future — at least not overtly. While he would have left the listener (hopefully) wanting more with “a wall of sound” on a record’s final track, he approached Faith In The Future’s closer “That’s The Way Love Goes” differently. The song, which was his take on the vulnerable simplicity of the Streets’ “Dry Your Eyes,” was the only track he could end the record on — one about a friend encouraging another friend to get over the fact that he’s not in a relationship anymore. “It's not the fact that you're not sympathizing. You're looking after him from afar, but you're not necessarily a shoulder to cry on,” Tomlinson explains.

Of course, Red Hot Chili Peppers, even if indirectly, influenced Faith In The Future. After watching their concert film, Tomlinson is convinced it’s affected his subconscious when he’s gone into the studio. But it’s a little more overt than that. Tomlinson sweetly bursts out of his chair while detailing how bummed he was to miss them perform with the Strokes and how he’d dream of collaborating with Flea (“Imagine him playing bass!”) and “next-level guitarist” John Frusciante.

The latter, he actually spent lockdown, doing a deep dive on, he explains: “I've pretty much top-to-bottom educated myself about his life and his journey and find that very, very interesting.” While much of Tomlinson’s self-doubt has dissipated, he’s hesitant to move too quickly on those. “I feel like I've got to show my own individual identity, embrace that and really drive it home before I would think about anything like that,” he notes. 

But identity is a funny thing. Tomlinson’s boy band roots are still very much in his thoughts. While the band doesn’t have a group chat (“We’re shit like that”), the musician is “really proud of what they're doing.” “We're all watching each other from afar,” he smiles. “When we do see each other inevitably, it feels like not a day has passed.”

For now, however, Tomlinson is much more focused on his future — even beyond his own personal music career. Back in March 2021, the singer tweeted he wanted to start his own music management company, something that he can envision for himself. “That’s long game for me,” he explains. “There's a lot of interest and excitement for me in that space.”

When he was in One Direction, he was told he could have an imprint through his label at the time, Syco. “It was a certain genre of label, let's put it that way,” Tomlinson says, carefully choosing his words. “So where I found frustrations was I'd have this long list of different bands, occasionally solo artists, and unless I was bringing a ready-made Taylor Swift through the door, their ears weren't that interested.” Ultimately, many of the artists he believed in were scooped by other labels. But Tomlinson’s artist perspective, he believes, makes him uniquely adept in this area. In fact, he just hosted a competition for a new band to open for the festival he created and curates, Away From Home.

“I can look a little bit deeper, and I can also trust that maybe the future is going to look more exciting than it necessarily does right now on paper, whereas unfortunately, often record labels want to see the finished product,” he explains. Tomlinson remains on the lookout for new artists, but for now, the venture will be something he works on behind the scenes: “Are you going to see anything from me in that space in the next two, three years? Probably not. But in the next 10 years? I fucking hope so.”