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#writing ‘12’ in the month slot
dreamings-free · 1 year
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Music Business Worldwide | April 25, 2023
[excerpt]
[..] Perhaps the most discussed driver behind vinyl’s rise in music biz circles, though, is the so-called “superfan”.
In a 2020 interview with The Times of London, Rob Crutchley of the UK music trade industry group BPI [167 articles]">BPI said “superfans” were powering a “buy-to-own rather than buy-to-listen” trend.
“A proportion of people are buying vinyl because they’re a superfan, so even if they don’t actually have a turntable they’re still keen to support the artist and have the artifact itself,” he said.
“Sometimes it can be because they’re catalog titles that are being re-pressed in a new edition — maybe a run on a different colored vinyl — other times it might be a new title that has a limited press on a certain format.
”In its 2023 report, Luminate defines superfans as “music listeners who spend above average (median) time AND money on music, actively discover new music, participate in music-related activities on social media, and plan on attending a live music event in the next 12 months.
”Three core behaviors set these ‘superfans’ apart from others, Luminate found:
First, they engage in social signaling (i.e., they want people around them to know about their passion for a particular genre or artist);
Secondly, they view music as an expression of their identity;
Thirdly, they engage in a community centered around music.
All of which suggests that the music industry could make serious money off of superfans’ love for vinyl in the coming years – regardless of whether or not they end up playing the format on a turntable.
[read the full article here]
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hey guess what. it's finally time for my Stardew Valley Loredump. i’m about to ramble about my farmer and yo-yo/yoba and shane in a probably long-ass, disjointed post because i have a problem ok. not expecting anyone to read it all of course—just want to finally write these brainstorming shenanigans down. the loredump will be below the cut below the image 👇 (WARNING: IT'S LONG):
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SAMUEL IZAWA:
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*samuel is 28 years old, pan, japanese okinawan (no im not self projecting hahaha), and goes by he/they. main thing is that they’re from “our world” where stardew valley is a video game, but he died and ended up in the stardew universe. because i think isekai tropes are fun and silly. as the player, samuel can do things others in the stardew world can’t do, such as: 
summon the in-game HUD that’s only visible to him, so he can see health/energy levels and inventory and all that.
speaking of inventory, it’s essentially a pocket dimension samuel can shove stuff in. the inventory doesn’t really care about size/weight/etc as long as it’s something the system considers an “item.” so like samuel can put a whole ass four poster bed in there but he can’t do that to a person or a whole house. samuel just needs to touch the item to make it disappear into his inventory. he can then summon it back out when he needs it. the game’s inventory limit system remains the same. samuel gets 12 slots on their own, but if they have a bag on them it increases to 36.
can access the player menu you can normally access in game. so like profile, skills, collections, relationships, etc are all there. no options or quit tab though. having the relationship tab is a nightmare for samuel, who has major insecurities about what people think of him. that tab is a quantifiable measure on how much people like him. it a real brain demon for him to know it exists and is right there for him to access anytime. 
can see the “stats” of food and healing items. hp/energy recovery amounts, buffs, etc. 
*funny thing is that samuel has never played SDV himself and only has knowledge based on what he’s heard and seen online secondhand. ironically he was planning on playing the game for the first time before the whole dying thing ruined it. they can’t even remember how they died, but it doesn’t bother them as much as they think it should. they didn’t leave much behind in that life.
*anyway, i’m talking a lot of game terms here, but don’t get it twisted. while samuel has all these game systems going on, the SDV world is very much a real one that doesn’t normally work by that logic. by that i mean time flows normally like in our world and there isn’t just 4 months in a year. things exist outside the valley. there’s a whole planet of places and people. 
*luckily samuel has help in navigating this new world in the form of yo-yo the junimo, who is the first living thing samuel sees when he first wakes up in that joja cubicle. yo-yo helps explain a lot of things and guide samuel around in its own abrasive way. he’s also there to be like, “hey i gave you a second chance at life so you kinda owe me actually. sign this contract.” and samuel, who is a pushover and also confused, is just like, “ok.” (yo-yo sounds like danny devito btw. because i think it’s funny.) 
*i call the contract a “magical girl contract” because that’s essentially what it is. samuel gets access to extra powers/abilities on top the stuff he can already do as a player. in return he fights monsters n shit for yo-yo and generally does things for them that they can’t do easily on their own. the extra benefits include: 
higher pain tolerance. which isn’t always a good thing. especially when you tend to not be great with self-preservation like samuel is. 
can heal most injuries by just eating/drinking stuff to regain hp.
yo-yo can teleport the both of them around as needed, but it’s tiring and it drains a lot of magic. distance matters too.
yo-yo can spawn items but it drains magic as well. the more valuable/rare the item, the more draining it is. spawning items is already a magic-intensive thing in the first place. also yo-yo isn’t creating the item out of nothing. they’re actually randomly taking it from wherever it already exists in the world. for example, say yo-yo “spawns” a jar of pickles. somebody in the world is going to open their fridge and discover their jar of pickles is missing or maybe a grocery store will have a sudden empty spot on its shelf. yo-yo doesn’t have control of where the items are taken from (or so they claim).
samuel and yo-yo’s magic pools became connected so they can both do more than they could do on their own before. this is one of the reasons why yo-yo wanted a contract with samuel, who has a larger magic pool than normal due to being from another world. but it’s possible for one side to use up all the magic for the both of them. 
*samuel’s personality can be summed up as Awkward People-Pleasing Tired Sad Garbage Dork. either he’s dressed like a grandparent in sweaters and turtlenecks or he’s wearing a button up shirt with the collar undone and jeans. they usually have their neck covered in public to hide the mark of yoba embedded there. he has a “resting bitch face” as some may call, but that’s just because his brain is busy over-analyzing 193828 different things. he loves being outside in the grass and dirt, looking at bugs n shit. he’s also a nerd who likes to play video games and ramble about the lore in them (he likes RPGs the most, but if the game’s got a good story and cool world, he’s into it). they like to do things with their hands like model building/painting. in their new stardew life, they get into woodcarving after willy teaches them the basics (he carves shane a little chicken). 
*samuel does NOT know how to say “no.” absolute pushover. their self-worth is based on how much they’re liked by others, which isn’t healthy obviously. he has a fear that the only way he can be liked is by being useful. he’s scared that he is inherently a bad and selfish person, because he can’t say for sure if he’s helping others purely out of kindness or because it just makes him feel better about existing. deep down there’s anger/frustration that’s accumulated over the years, anger towards himself and also others because he’s always doing things for other people—going above and beyond—but it never feels like enough. at the same time though, they hate it when these thoughts come up because they believe that you shouldn’t go into helping somebody expecting that you’ll get something out of it. he hates how much of a hypocrite he is. he hates how he bases so much of his self-worth on the opinions of others, but feels helpless to it. they usually just push these emotions down because samuel feels guilty about them. how can they be a good person if they’re thinking like this? how can they deserve to exist with this mindset? however they get a chance to let out the anger/bitterness/frustration through fighting monsters. kind of disassociating in a way. this also isn’t a good thing because his demeanor is much colder and scarier during combat. having someone who’s felt powerless for so long suddenly gain power is a dangerous thing.
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*this mindset when monster fighting shatters when samuel meets krobus and realizes that monsters aren’t just the simple enemy NPCs their brain had been automatically categorizing them as. guilt galore. he gets real depressed about that for a while but yo-yo, krobus, and shane are there to help him. 
*SPEAKING OF SHANE… it’s crush at first sight for samuel because hot damn is shane their type. i mean just look at him. mamma mia. haha anyyyway, they first meet at the stardrop saloon. samuel’s waiting at the bar for his to-go order near where shane is drinking. shane’s looking sad, so samuel gives in and decides they’ll start a convo to maybe distract him from whatever’s bothering him. samuel employs the “crack a dumb joke to hide the fact that i’m nervous because i’m talking to a hot person and then use that opening to introduce myself” strat. shane, being an asshole, is like, “oh so you’re the new farmer. here’s a tip: don’t bother me.” samuel takes 999 damage and their brain immediately goes “THIS IS MY FAULT I FUCKED UP like who wants to be talked to by a stranger when they’re sad goddammit why am i so bad at this?!!” it’s overall not a great first impression. after that, samuel tries to avoid shane out of embarrassment, but circumstances keep making them run into each other. for instance, samuel works a lot with marnie with her being a mentor figure to him in animal husbandry, so he and shane have a lot of opportunity to interact through that (plus marnie is secretly trying to get them closer to each other). through these meetings and shenanigans, samuel and shane get to know each other better until one day they’re friends. then good friends. then best friends. then kiss friends. then marry friends. :)
YOBA (A.K.A. YO-YO): 
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*yo-yo is ????? years old and goes by any pronouns but most of the time it's it/they.
*yo-yo is actually THE yoba, but they’re not the completely benevolent creator-of-all-things humans have made them out to be. maybe they were in the past, but now they’re selfish and rude and swear a lot. but they do still care, even if they don’t admit it (tsundere-ass). yoba is currently stuck in the form of a little junimo and is substantially weakened because it gave too much of itself away to the world in the past and got burned for it. because the world kept taking and taking. and now there’s war and pollution and shit and yoba/yo-yo is maybe just a teensy tiny bit angry and bitter now. but it’s ok because now they got this human from another reality to help them reclaim the pieces of itself. and maybe along the way relearn how to love the world again.  
*oh also yoba didn’t create the whole planet like the creation story claims. they’re technically an alien that came across a young planet full of life and decided to stay and help it develop. 
*main reason yo-yo made a contract with samuel is because it needs help finding/reclaiming the pieces of itself. pieces can usually be found in strong monsters empowered by the piece. this isn’t always the case though. sometimes it’s in an ancient artifact. sometimes it’s in a specific place like a temple. sometimes it’s in a person. 
*samuel doesn’t have to deal with having an existential crisis about yo-yo, since he’s from our world where yoba doesn’t even exist as a god. yo-yo claims to be the one responsible for bringing samuel over into the stardew universe, but there are holes in their story. where did yoba even find the power to do such a thing when they’re in such a weakened state? mysterious. 
*the first time yoba reveals itself to shane is kind of chaotic. it’s in the middle of the night when yo-yo suddenly appears in shane’s room, grabs his face with its little stick arms and yells, “WAKE UP!!! YOUR BOYFRIEND IS IN MORTAL PERIL!!!” shane is like, “WHAT THE F–”     it was an act of desperation on yo-yo’s part, because samuel was in trouble and shane was the only one it could think of going to for help. essentially samuel meets something Bad in the deep mines, something that takes him out of commission and puts him in a trance state while draining his lifeforce. y’know, the classic kind of trance state where you need to figure out how to get the person back–how to snap them out of it. yo-yo tried and failed, so that’s where shane comes in. it’s the classic “love-interest-breaks-main-character-out-of-mind-control-with-sheer-power-of-love” trope. except shane does punch samuel during it. lovingly. in the face. hey it works ok.     after the chaos is over and everyone’s safe and gathered together, samuel and yo-yo explain everything to shane (well more like samuel explains everything while yo-yo wishes outloud that they had their memory erasing powers back). shane, who is canonically an atheist, learns that this talking pottymouthed jerkass apple is actually THE yoba and is just like, “yeah. this might as well happen.” and then he remains atheist because what else are you going to do when you learn that god is a talking pottymouthed jerkass apple who calls you a bitch and is also responsible for your partner having to go do dangerous shit. he and yo-yo have a rocky relationship at first to say the least. but once they both realize how much the other cares about samuel, things get a little better. 
*yeah, yoba may be a bitch and they may be angry and they may be bitter, but they really do care, even if they try to convince themselves otherwise. even though so much got taken from it, it still cares about humans and dwarves and shadow people and everything else on the planet. and when it eventually comes down to it, yoba will step up to protect what it loves, even if it means losing everything again. 
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SHANE FINCH: 
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*this post was technically supposed to just be about my farmer and yo-yo’s lore and stuff, but i gotta give some personal headcanons i have about shane… like for instance his last name is “finch.” because i thought the bird theme was cute. he’s 29 years old, bi, and half asian, half white (in our world that asian half is korean). i’m not being specific because i don’t know if korea even exists in the stardew world, since all we know in the game is that there’s a “ferngill republic” and a “gotoro empire.” i was thinking of just headcanoning that stardew’s planet is essentially the same as earth. so like most of the same countries/nations exist except the history diverged a bit along the way, leading to the ferngill republic and gotoro empire. OK SORRY for the tangent—back on topic.
*so shane is a trans man who started transitioning back in high school. he had two best friends who were very supportive and really helped him on his journey to figure himself out. those two friends were like family to him. it was good that he had this support because his parents were always pretty shitty and shane transitioning just made them act even shittier. the only good family member of shane’s is marnie, who was supportive, but she lived far away, was busy, AND wasn’t on good terms with her sister (shane’s mom), so shane didn’t get to see her much. 
*the moment shane became a legal adult, he got away from his parents, finding a place with his two best friends and moving in together. oh and his friends’ names were rosa and heath. should’ve probably mentioned that earlier oops.     shane, rosa, and heath go to the same college together, suffer student loans, graduate, etc. haven’t thought of what shane would get a degree in yet—most likely something “generic” because he’s unsure of what he wants to do himself (i feel u bby). 
*ok so rosa and heath were dating since high school, but they were so comfortable with shane and vice versa that things never got that awkward living together. however when rosa and heath got married (“yoba, FINALLY,” shane would say), shane felt like it was time to find his own place, much to the devastation of his bffs. the apartment ended up close to where rosa and heath lived of course—the couple made sure of it (“stop backseating my apartment hunting!” “MAKE US”). 
*rosa and heath get pregnant and have a healthy baby girl that they name jasmine. i headcanon jas as black (from heath’s side) and portuguese (rosa’s side). everyone is thrilled about the baby. shane was immediately offered godfather role and he happily accepted. jas was the cutest baby ever and he adored her. he babysat jas all the time. 
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*jas was 4 years old when rosa and heath tragically passed away in a car accident. they were coming home from a business dinner when they lost control of their car on some black ice and slid into oncoming traffic. shane was babysitting jas when he got the call. in the span of one cold winter night, shane and jas’s world shattered. 
*rosa and heath didn’t have any reliable relatives either. those relatives only came to take the money and belongings. shane was the only one jas had, so he adopted her. he tried his best to pick up the pieces. he really did. he lasted for a year trying to raise a kid on his own with the salary of a dead-end job, but he knew the situation wasn’t good with the money and how much his mental health was spiraling. he knew he and jas were in dire need of more support (“jas deserves better than this”). so he turned to the one person he had left to rely on: his aunty marnie. and that’s how shane and jas ended up in pelican town.
*shane’s joja jacket was actually originally rosa’s. rosa worked as an accountant for joja and would get free promotional items all the time from the company. the jacket was one of the only things she actually ended up using because “it’s pretty comfy for being joja bs.” she would wear it all the time, much to her more fashion-conscious husband’s chagrin (yet he would patch up any holes she’d get in it anyway). after rosa died, shane kept her jacket. there were a lot of memories in it. 
~~~
ok that’s it for now. if anyone actually read all that, thank you for even wasting your time to process my ramblings. i’m sorry it’s so fucking long like jfc.
*who is mr. qi?
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nouearth · 10 months
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12 Months
peter parker x male reader.
series: 12 Months. part i.
summary: where you couldn't possibly imagine to find love and sanctuary anywhere else, you somehow find it in the presence of a boy named peter.
wc: 4.3k. genre: angst. warnings: loner!reader, sad!reader, implied abuse, implied bullying, high school senior year, slow-burn.
a/n: i'm trying something new with my writing! mostly not using all lowercase because it became a pain to type on my phone, LOL. but i welcome you guys to my fully planned series! it's exciting, but especially kind of scary since school is coming up. i might put off requests to focus on this, if it does well, but if not, i'll slowly update. i guess the reader kind of hits close to home, a little too close, since i've been feeling some type of way recently. nonetheless, i hope you enjoy the first part!
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SEPTEMBER.
The big hand of the clock flicked closer to the end of the day, the small hand circling around the circumference to pass time. 
Conversations of peers were usually drowned out with the help of your earbuds. The gentle strum of acoustics would counter the excitement of the students’ well-being; friends opinionated in after-school activities, athletes talked about the upcoming game with your rival school, artists boasted over the amount of commissions they’ve received overnight.
For the first time, you heard it all, and took it all in with an inhale, then silence as you stared at Peter Parker. The earbuds were slotted into your ear canals, but today, the wired nubs were worn to merely dull your surroundings as you awaited the intercom to bid the occupants of the building farewell for the day. Your leg shook, bouncing your book bag atop of it, and you held it steady when you hugged it close to your chest, chin resting at the strap. It appeased the throttle in your chest, but every time the classmate opened his mouth for a laugh, it swelled painfully larger. A pump to the husk of a balloon, a breath to the bubble of blue raspberry bubblegum, a vapor to the particles of billowed smoke, it continued swelling and roped your anxiety along for the journey. A part of you needed to talk to him, but the other part begged for reconsideration. 
At some point, you forgot to breathe. Feeling blue in the cheeks, you finally exhaled the caught nerves. They drew out of you in shivers, spaghetti boiling in bubbling water if the warmth of your breath could change matter. While the man listened, then talked within his small group of friends, chairs and desks were gathered around to form a circle, you examined him cautiously. If Peter was to turn his head and meet the affection in your gaze, you were lucky to have the window by your side to turn back to, feigning interest in the clouds, the sky, the breeze in the trees. Until then, his smile unmasked pearly whites that rivaled the lights that illuminated the classroom. His russet hair was pushed back, wavy locks that were brushed simply so people could easily follow the pattern with one glance. 
“Gooooood Afternoon, Midtown!” The intercom blared, and a warning from your teacher hushed your classmates into a sea of scatters. “Before we send you kiddos off, we would like to remind all of you that the Midtown Tigers will be playing against Weston’s Sea Hawks tonight! Show your support by attending the game and cheering for our team. Let’s show those dirty hawks that tonight will be the night that we can bounce back from our 18th consecutive loss!” It continued with its usual announcements of bus delays and afternoon activities before finally blaring that cathartic bell.
Footsteps crowded the halls, and your classmates joined its symphony in heavy to light strides. While you watched, your pace slowed deliberately as Peter’s friends bid him farewell. You overheard them asking him if he was going to join them in the mall, but he declined, blaming his absence on his aunt. They left one by one, until the only occupants were you, your teacher, and Peter.
“Peter?” You were up on your feet, approaching him from the back of the classroom as you slung the bag over your shoulder. Your voice cracked from the parched of your throat, mousy in performance, and you were unsure if Peter heard you. Your mouth opened again to call to him again, but he turned with a friendly smile, raising his brows in interest, and they closed.
“Oh, hey!” His face lit up when he saw you, or maybe you were convincing yourself. Not even your reflection looked at you the way Peter did. You were even surprised he recognized you. Cared to remember you. He hurriedly threw his books into his backpack before swinging it over his shoulder, meeting you in the middle of the row of desks. “What’s up?”
“I…” You’ve only spoken to him twice. The first was a mere greeting, and the second was a painful answer to his worry. 
Are you okay? Yes.
The beating in your chest hiked in rhythms, compelled gravity to rob your voice, but you were conscious enough to steal it back, softly speaking. “I just want to thank you for… last year. I never got to… properly thank you. So, thank you…” You were intoxicated by the amount of times you said those appreciative words, but gratitude sobered you up, offering the latter a small, grateful smile. 
“Oh…” The smile on Peter’s face simmered into a relieved line. He then nodded towards the door for you to follow him, and you did, silently by his side. “You don’t have to thank me, (M/N). I did what anyone would do.”
Everyone let it happened, except for you.
The hallway was quick to clear as students rushed to spend the remaining hours of their Friday without any regrets. The silence was deafening except for the squeak of your shoes and the whispered gossip between faculty members, and for a place you often labeled as your personal hell, it wasn’t so bad when it was purged of those that spawned that definition in your life.
Maybe you were walking slower, or you were keeping with Peter’s pace, or the hallways had undergone construction to stretch the floors, or the awkward silence between the both of you that blurred your perception, but the travel from your classroom to the exit of the building was a journey.
“Is he still bothering you? I don’t know if he’s in your other classes, but he’s not in mine, so…” Peter spoke up, alluding to the classmate who called you disgusting names, shoved your books to the floor, stole the change of your clothes during gym. And you wished it would stop there, at the actions of the cliché bully trope, but it never did. He pushed the door open, politely letting you out first, and you stepped into the warmth with a small thank you,’ and continued walking with him. Summer cicadas harmonized in their greeting.
“No, not anymore.” You lied, dropping that hand that once held onto the padded straps of your backpack to your side. The dark color of your pants masked the bruise on your wrist when you shoved it deep into your pocket. “I have him in a few of my classes, but luckily he’s preoccupied with his friends.”
“Geez, you got his friends too? That’s… gotta be a loud classroom.” He laughed, and you joined in to delude yourself, and Peter, into thinking everything was okay.  
The sound of multiple engines running within the yellow busses reminded you how incredibly enamored you were with Peter. By now, motors would’ve been buried by earbuds, and the walk wouldn’t have been so deafening to your ear canals. But hearing Peter’s voice soothed the damage, and you wished you had a playlist of him saying your favorite words, reading your favorite novels, rescuing you with worried comfort. You wanted to continue the conversation, change the subject, but you never knew how, so it fell to silence. Again.
“I’ll see you around, Peter.” You spoke softly again, paused when you and Peter reached the end of the sidewalk. You were familiar with Peter’s route. He lived in the opposite side of your street, and the curved path to the right practically led him back to his apartment. All he had to do was follow the beige pavement. “…and thank you, again. It means a lot.” A genuine smile, one that you haven’t been able to sprout for weeks, months you could argue, and Peter’s breath hiked.
“Of course…” It took his breath away. The cloudy day was drawing in the last of its colors, but the rare hint of your teeth, the curve of your lips, made the sky above him, behind you, bloom in the softest blues, yellows, and whites. Selfishly, he wished you smiled more, because the release that was pulled from him evened the astonishment of a child seeing stars for the very first time. 
“I’ll see you around, (M/N).”
OCTOBER.
The workload in your classes had picked up, and with the part-time job at the local bookstore, you were envious of customers who had finished their backlog of novels. Mainly working adults. Still, there was never enough hours in the day to immerse yourself in the world of a brave protagonist, slaying off demons and dragons in the pursuit of love. You never got to finish the fantasy novel you were reading, but you’d imagine it ended with the hero beheading the fire-breathing behemoth, and its head would be pridefully worn on a stick like cotton candy. Cheers erupted when the character returned, then roared when their love blessed them with one thankful kiss.
The ladder was anchored to the wooden, though creaky, floors as you held your breath from inhaling dust. When the door was pushed open by curious passersby, particles of dust sailed with the draft that was invited in, and you coughed into the crook of your arm whenever one floated into your throat. Though, you couldn’t be too annoyed. It also provided a test to see if the Halloween decorations could withstand the wind as they sat on hooks that were nailed into the ceilings. Spirals of orange and black ribbons roped cartoonish gravestones, black cats, pumpkins, skulls, ghouls, all the mascots of the holiday, from above. The draft animated them in gentle swings, delicate arcs that cooled the confined space of the bookstore, but as far as you could tell, none of them had landed on the ground.
“Looks great, (M/N)! I think we’re good on the hanging decorations!” Your manager, Anna, gave the metal ladder a strong pat before tending to the fallen dust. It shook in fear, and you did too, immediately clutching to the fly to stabilize it.
“Any else? We still haven’t decorated the windows.” You climbed down cautiously, making sure she was in your line of sight because for all you could know, she could be an omen.
“The stick on the ones I got suck, so I was thinking that we’ll decorate it on Halloween? Before opening?” She said, opening the door after to sweep out the culprits of your coughing fits. 
“Sounds good.” You collapsed the extension of the ladder once you stepped off, folding it into a thicker shape, and nodded before returning the ladder to its rightful place in the storage room.
“Doing anything fun for Halloween?! Parties?!” Anna’s voice boomed despite the door muffling it. The natural luminous of her voice was something you usually cowered away from, especially when she called for you in front of customers. Luckily, the store was closed, vacant of any witnesses to the flare of your cheeks. Cardboard boxes stacked atop of one another, and for some reason, you were suddenly determined to face your procrastination head-on. “Horror movies?!”
“Uh…” The volume of your voice was still muted despite forcing yourself to make it sonorous. It came out in staggered breaths as you flattened the boxes with your weight, stepping on them at the crease and fold, until you were able to fold them into neat, flat shapes. “Not really! I usually don’t do anything for celebrations.”
“Seriously?” The sound of sweeps came closer to you. They sounded like laughs, almost as if they were mocking you. When you looked up, it was Anna’s fretted expression that reminded you that they were just sounds. No one was here to hurt you. Laugh at you. 
It was just you and Anna. And sounds.
“Mm-hmm.” You simply answered, packing the flattened boxes into a trash bag before storing it back to where the stack previously harbored. The room felt bigger now. You exited after switching off the lights, and took Anna’s broom to sweep up the fuzzy stray materials of cardboard. 
“How come?” Her shoulder supported her leaning stance as she pressed to the wall, watching you diligently work with crossed arms. She gasped out of realization. “Oh no—did something horrible happen on Halloween? Is that why you don’t celebrate?!”
“No, nothing like that!” You laughed. It was always genuine with her. Anna was at least twenty years older than you, but she still kept the youthfulness of a child. You were envious of it. 
“I just…” Big sweeps to walnut flooring kept your mind at ease. The thick hairs brushed evenly, catching lint in the hay. They clung protectively onto the strands the more you brushed, the harder as well. It reminded you of nights, lonesome in your bed. No matter how hard you tried to remove those pesky lints, they always stayed. Always found a way to intrude. “—don’t have parties to go to.”
Nor did you have friends to watch movies with, or a willing family to celebrate with if all plans fell through. It’s been you since you can remember, and you’ve gotten used to it. Though, you’d never admit that to her.
The trail of your voice and the mindless polishing of walnut immediately foiled your discreet speech, but Anna knew better than to prod. From the day you came in for the interview, she remembered the timidness of your slouch, your pattern of speech, your orbs. One could argue that they were nerves, universal tremors one every eighteen year old got when applying for their first job. Then, she trained you. It was just you and her, and the shelves of delicate books. Over the next few weeks, Anna learned that you were as frail as the old spine of donated hardbacks. 
Her knowledge of you only sank surface-deep, barely a scratch or a wound. At one point, she thought it was because of her personality: chipper as a mourning dove, loud as her neighbor’s lawnmower on Sundays, but compared to how she met you five months ago, it delighted her to see progress. Slowly but surely, you opened up to her. She knew your favorite color, your favorite meal, your favorite novel, and she was no longer insecure. There will be a time when she’d meet the root of your soul, and if it took a month, a year, or another, she’d wait.
“Everything okay at school?” She’s been meaning to ask. It was an exciting time for a new business, but incredibly stressful as well. Most never made it after six months, especially within an industry where independent bookstores have become increasingly difficult to sustain with the presence of technology. Anna was just fortunate enough to have seen such quick growth.
Anna took the broom from your hand, stashed it back in the storage room, then guided you to a table for two near the entrance of the store. It was her favorite spot because she loved seeing the wonderment of her customers when they left with the book they couldn’t find anywhere else.
“Yeah,” You quickly answered and offered her a simple smile, devoid of any purpose but to pacify her worries. It worked on your parents, and you liked to think that it worked on Anna as well. “Well, they’re doing some construction in the school gym. I heard that they’re planning to add a room for—“
“That’s great, (M/N), but…” Her arms remained crossed, below her chest, and she nodded to the bruise on your cheek. Purple bloomed high on your cheekbone. Occasionally, it throbbed whenever a draft hit your frail skin. You assumed it was its way to kiss it better, and so you would let it in seek of sating the empty feeling in your stomach. “That. I meant the bruise…”
“Oh—“ Out of instinct, your hand reached up to dab at the purpling skin. Numbed at the first layer, but you pressed deeper, and you hid a jolt with a sudden clear of your throat. “Uh… cat— got me. My mom always said to never play with strays.”
It was a lame excuse and you knew it. Anna did too. Before you could see her face scrunch into a stew of concern, you turned the bruised cheek away and looked to the heights of the sky, out the window, and wished you could fly into the night.
On Halloween, the promotion regarding a sale on donated books, though only paperbacks, if you wore a costume propelled the place to a considerable height. The small size of the store felt even smaller, even more so as Anna’s playlist Halloween music blared in the wall stereo. The sound waves and chatters of excited customers confined you, and you shrunk yourself in corners where it would be coldest. Anna took care of the crowd of patrons, while you assembled the paperbacks in a neatly order within the shelves. 
Anna didn’t expect you to comply in participating in the event of Halloween, so the elation in her face was immediately framed in your mind when she hugged you tight, bruising enough to beckon the former bruise on your cheek to reappear, in your Where’s Waldo outfit. Simple, but you were a simple man.
“Excuse me?” An inquisitive voice tore your focus from arranging the novels in alphabetical order. You were kneeling to fill the lower shelf that was too low for anyone to comfortable browse through, but maintained the position as the crowd seemed to have closed in on you. “Do you know if this book qualifies for the sale, or is it paperback only?”
You looked up through your artificial glasses, and the size of your eyes matched the roundness of your frames when it embarrassingly didn’t take you very long to uncover who was under the layer of green face paint. “Peter?”
“O-oh! (M/N), you work here?” His eyes also widened, but he was sober enough to reach his hand out for you to grab onto. “That’s fitting, I guess. You always went to the library during lunch—I-I mean, not that I watch you or anything. I just— happened to notice…” The heat from your palm jumped onto Peter’s when you held on and pulled yourself to your feet. You weren’t sure what to respond to first, but the closed distance between you and Peter was distracting. A fleeting feeling in your chest, and it still overstays it welcome when you backed a step away. 
Peter’s never been so close to you. He could smell the scent of ocean mist that he likened to previous shopping trips ago. His aunt may would drag him to the nearest retail store and he’d spend every second of the agonizing trip smelling laundry scent boosters while she stocked up on the pantry. He laughed to himself. You seemed like the type to use those.
“Thanks, uh…” You carefully took the hardback in your hand, examining it with several cycles of flips. It was in mint condition. Usually, a poorer state allowed an extra discount. “The sale is only for paperbacks, but…” Your eyes scanned the room. Fewer people now. Anna was still busy entertaining those that came to participate in the costume contest, a sudden endeavor to drive engagement.
“I can make an exception.” There was a swell in Peter’s heart when you gave him a smile, an uncertain small one, but nonetheless, a smile that warmed his insides. He wouldn’t have minded if he had paid full price anyhow, but he also wouldn’t reject the opportunity to save money. 
He followed your steps to the back, away from the engaged crowd, and stilled as you began checking him out. “Just one book?” You looked up, and his lips were already parted as if he was about to say something, but he nodded instead.
Another moment of silence as you took his card after applying the sale to his book, and your fingers drummed to the beat of the music to fill it out, awaiting the receipt to print out. Whenever you had the courage to look at him, he was immersed in the ambiance of the bookstore. Smiling to himself, to Anna, to the laughter of the crowd, and you couldn’t help but hide one yourself, to the ground. When Peter faced you again, you quickly looked away in time, and the receipt rolled out in one smooth motion.
“How are you? Is it always this busy? I’ve never heard of this place.” Peter had a habit of stacking multiple questions with his own observations, with statements, with more questions. Rambles, people would call it. He was attentive, curious, and it all made him the more endearing.
“I’ve been doing okay. Tired, mostly. Miss Wilson’s been keeping me up though.” It was your attempt at a joke, and luckily, it landed when Peter laughed in agreement, elated as if he’d been waiting for the culprit of all-nighters to be of subject.
“Right?!” Peter shook his head when you asked if he wanted a bag, and continued, tucking the book in his armpit when you returned it to him. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love her—she’s awesome. But chill out on the essays! An essay about our essays is a task sent from the devil himself.”
A chuckle escaped from your lips, and a wider smile brimmed your face in support. For the first time, you felt compelled to talk, to engage into conversation.  “Yeah, I missed a few deadlines, but she’s pretty lenient with late work, thankfully.”
“Really? I have a feeling it’s because it’s you! You’re probably her favorite student since you always get the right answers when she calls on you.” He laughed again to escape the awkwardness of his compliment. Subtle, but he hoped you took it pridefully.
Peter looked to the side to see if anyone was coming to conclude their purchase for the night, and was delighted to see the hardwood floor left unattended. “Are you doing anything after this? It’s Halloween, so I imagine people are probably out partying or something.”
“I’m not really a party person.” You nodded to assure yourself, mindlessly rearranging the supplies around the desk to avoid the gaze of his eyes. It sucked you in once, couldn’t look back even if you tried. It was only when Peter turned himself away that you were no longer staring into warm chestnuts. “I only dressed like this since I’d probably look a little out of place if I showed up in my usual uniform, haha.”
“You look cu—“ Peter hurriedly cut himself off, frantic before smiling again. “Nice. You look nice.”
“Thank you,” You returned his smile, soft in form. “What about you? Are you doing anything?”
“Well, I’m not a party person either—oh! There’s this new horror movie that came out a week ago! I’ve been dying to see it,” Peter sparked, gently bouncing on his toes as hope frayed within his words. “If you’re free, would you want to watch it with me?”
“Oh—“ For the first time, you had the option to say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ and for some reason, Peter was always at the crime of your firsts. “W-what time? I’ll have to see if it’s okay with Anna if—“
“Let me see…” Light reflected off of Peter’s faced as he searched on his phone, but a buoyant smile that revealed his teeth shined brighter. “One showing at eight, another at ten, and one final one at midnight!”
“Is… midnight okay?” You hesitantly asked, and Peter brightened.
“Midnight is perfect.”
When you left from work, you didn’t bother to call for your parents. It would’ve gone to voicemail anyhow. Instead, Anna took the excited initiative to drive you to the theater despite your assurance that walking would’ve sufficed.
Nonsense! I’m getting my coat. Hold on! Stay right there!
The mystery of what held the rest of the night for you frightened you to the core. What if everything went downhill from here? What if Peter never showed up? What if this had been a prank all along? During the car ride, you breathed, and breathed, and breathed.
And then, breathed. 
Inhaled.
Blew in one continuous breath.
Inhaled.
Your chest ran steady again.
That night, Peter made you feel normal. As normal as someone like you could be. 
You didn’t plan on getting your fingers buttery, but Peter assured you that his  popcorn wasn’t going to finish itself. You shared your sour gummies in return. Peter jumped when a ghost flew to the screen, and you did the same from his own erratic movements. You watched the film through half-closed eyes, peeking between the cracks of your greasy fingers, prepared to be startled by the sound of a door closing, and you laughed silently to yourself because it was silly when you flinched to a cat scurrying away.
While you focused, the structure of your nose and lips, your entire side profile, were handsomely illuminated by the flickers of the screen and Peter took in the animation of your presence, a behemoth contrast of the you he’d known silently for years; the you that kept to himself, ate at lunch by himself, did group projects by himself, studied in the library by himself, walked home by himself. It was pathetic, many would heckle to their circle of friends. Peter overheard the tease and taunts, and he wanted to defend you in those moments. But he couldn’t, not until he knew you.
When you felt the air thicken, you turned to Peter and his gaze unfurled the heavy cloud between the two of you until it vanished into smoke. It sucked you in; his eyes. And you stared wide-eyed, bewildered and lost in the sea of broken stars the screen illustrated in Peter’s orbs. They twinkled with every cut of the scene, sparkling under the terror of the performer’s haunting, until they no longer didn’t when he turned away. 
Crimson blanched and wilted into his face, radiated even in the dark when you followed and turned back to the screen. You felt your cheeks rivaling in swatch.
For the first time, you weren’t scared. 
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nouearth. please do not repost, plagiarize, or translate my works. and if you like this story, please reblog and leave a like!
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vetteltea · 6 months
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Daniel Ricciardo and Trying to get a Family Photo [no warnings]
Day 12 of the Vetteltea Advent Calendar
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Note: This one was such a pleasure and so, so fun to write and it is solely dedicated to my soulmate, @a-distantdreamer. It is a genuine pleasure to speak to you every single day; thank you for having a whole notion board with me, dedicated to Danny Ric, Baby Badger & Bingo. I love you so, so much.
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The sand of the beach felt warm underneath your feet, the Australian sun dancing across your features. Christmas cards were portrayed with layers of snow across quaint little villages, a stark contrast to the scenery which you were currently standing in. 
It had been a whirlwind choice to attend the holidays alongside the Ricciardo clan; having barely been dating four months, official for two and public to the world for zero, your stomach had originally dropped at the idea of being so far away from home for Christmas, instead surrounded by faces you had only briefly interacted with over a FaceTime call. 
Daniel would never have forced you to come, hands cradling either side of your face and dark eyes boring into yours, making you promise him you were okay with coming home for the holidays. He knew the risks; even though his parents were adamant you were such a lovely girl and were crawling the walls more than him to meet you, it meant traveling the world publicly; the followers were far from stupid, the moment they saw a beautiful young girl stood alongside him, everything would fall into place. 
Standing on the soft grains of Leighton Beach now, you couldn’t understand why you had been so nervous; Grace’s arms had pulled you so tightly into her chest when arriving to the family home, Issac tugging at your arm, insisting he had to show you his new bed because ‘Uncle Daniel had already seen it!’
You’d found out on Christmas Eve, whilst Joe was packing up one of the people-carriers, that it was a Ricciardo tradition to spend Christmas Day on the beach, with presents in the evening and tender kisses when Michelle and the children traveled to be with her husband’s family on Boxing Day. You’d been quick to jump up and assist with packing up the car, the patriarch of the family passing a loving comment that you had slotted into the family perfectly already. 
The fact was only highlighted further when you had been curled underneath a blanket alongside Daniel later on in the family room, glasses of wine held by most whilst you listened intently to the stories they felt you had to know. 
Come Christmas Day, the sun was glowing across the horizon, Daniel’s fingers had barely unlaced from yours, his family knowing he had never been this smitten from his previous partners and they could not seem to find a single fault with the wonderful girl he had brought home as his partner. 
“Everybody stay put!” Daniel’s voice had struck you from the traces of memory you had from the past four days. He stood further up the beach than the rest of you, attempting to set his camera up on a makeshift tripod, determined that after last years’ lack of a family photo, he would make up for it now. 
He’d planned it oh-so-meticulously; Grace and Joe stood in the middle, their new puppy that his father had gifted his mother sat at their feet. Michelle stood on one side, her husband’s arm wrapped around her waist. Issac and Isabelle stood either side of the new puppy, fighting every will they had not to bend down and cuddle the new family member. 
You had stood just out of frame, unsure of whether it was overly pushy to place yourself alongside the family; after all, it had only been a few months, the relationship wasn’t even public to the rest of the world. If Daniel had the desire to post this to the public, it would open an entire new world for you. Besides, even if your heart melted at the idea of being nestled into the family, there was no way-
“Timer is set! We’ve got ten seconds!” 
Your head snaps upwards, seeing a mass of dark curls and a gaudy Christmas shirt, identical to his father, nephew and brother-in-law sprint at you. A tanned hand snatches at your wrist, pulling you clumsily across the grains of sand and slipping into the gap on the opposite side of his sister. Daniel barely has time to adjust himself, wrapping both of his arms around you tucking you neatly underneath his chin, his grin sparkling as the shutter snaps, both of you smiling as if your childhood-self had found a room stocked with an infinite supply of candy. 
The moment after the photo is taken, the children are chasing after the puppy, Grace turning to Michelle to continue their previous conversation. Daniel’s hands are hesitant to unwrap from your frame, instead opting to look down, seeing your widened eyes and mouth slightly open. A look of concern laces across his face, one hand gently reaching down to trail against your cheekbone, taking in your appearance. 
“All good?” He cradles you closer, brushing the hair out of your face oh-so-delicately. “I didn’t…you’re all good, yeah?”
“Yeah-” You’re quick to respond. “I just…I didn’t think you’d want me in with…y’know, the family photo-”
 There’s zero chance of you finishing your sentence when your boyfriend leans in, pressing a hard kiss against your lips, almost as if he could convey everything he had felt for so long into one action. He’d never believed when his mother had told him he would know. That feeling never came with the previous girls he had bought home. It had lingered when he first set eyes on you, and now stuck like adhesive when you had slept in his arms for the first time. 
When he pulls away, his tanned forehead rests against your own, content as your breathing patterns synchronize, his grin returning, voice low; his next sentence is to be treasured by you, and you alone.
“You are family.” He murmurs. “You’re my family.” 
There’s no words that can fall from your lips, instead letting him pull you back into his chest, feeling him press a butterfly kiss to the top of your head, both of you tilting your gaze when seeing the two children sprint into the sea after the new puppy, his sister beckoning you over to come and look at something, Joe patting a hand onto his son’s back. Only 365 days until the next Christmas with your family.
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enhastolemyheart · 9 months
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KINKTOBER '23 — ENHASTOLEMYHEART
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HEY EVERYONE! WELCOME TO MY FIRST EVER KINKTOBER!
note. this is my first time ever doing this type of an event so please let me know if I need tips on any such things! My only goal in doing this is to have fun exploring and writing new prompt related works. I will start on october first.
requests: OPEN! nsfw content.
please read the guidelines before requesting!
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RULES.
I will be writing only for ENHYPEN. only for the hyung line. If I come across a request regarding any other member other than these four, I will simply ignore.
I will be writing twelve [12] drabbles (three for each member); since it's my first time.
I won't be posting everyday. I will post every other day or every two days. I know the point of kinktober is to post everyday of the month but I want to be able to take it slow for my first time. I hope you guys understand!
You can request any kind of kink you'd like (but nothing to the extreme), and do mention the member you want specifically. You must be 18+ to request. Any slot left open would be filled by me. (only in the worst case possible.)
I will be opening a taglist for this so, if interested, please do send an ask!
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M.LIST.
📎 day one: car sex with Heeseung | wc. 1.6k+
📎 day two: somnophilia with Jay | wc. 1.5k+
📎 day three: vanilla sex with Jake | wc. 0.7k+
📎 day four: somophilia with Sunghoon | wc. 0.8k+
📎 day five: daddy kink with soft!dom!Heeseung | wc. 1.2k+
📎 day six: degradation with Jay | wc.
📎 day seven: sex with pervert!Jake | wc.
📎 day eight: nipple play with Sunghoon | wc.
📎 day nine: strength + roleplay with dom!Heeseung | wc.
📎 day ten: shower sex with Jay | wc.
📎 day eleven: edging + overstimulation with Jake | wc.
📎 day twelve: jealous sex with Sunghoon | wc.
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taglist: @seungiesluv @jak-ey @unlikelysublimekryptonite @seungcore @heeseungshim @arizejkt19 @manasasugarbaby09 @wildflowermooon @lixieisfrv @racerhee @kaykay11sworld @heeliopheelia @sweet-kisses-and-bloody-screams
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THANK YOU AND HOPE YOU ENJOY!! <3
@ ENHASTOLEMYHEART, 2023. - please do not repost, copy or translate.
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hannah-banana-lou · 2 months
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Resurrection
not the best at writing but i was on c.ai talking to bots... as you do. and got a really good idea for a fanfic!!
also pt 2 of come back to me will be up soon! i've been super busy with work and stuff sorry!!
Steve Raglan x Fem reader!
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Content warnings! : murder, corpse, death, smut, paranormal, age gap couple (reader early/mid 20's - Steve/william early 50's)
This Chapter content warning: Age gap, paranormal, murder mentioned, death. MDNI!!! 18+ ONLY
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Ressurection - Chapter 1
Darkness. Cold. Dirt. Buried. Gone.
A year has passed. 365 days. 12 months since he killed you. a bullet to the chest. bleeding out profusely. disposed of like you were a weeks worth of rubbish accumilating in the bins.
It took a while to accustom to your ethereal form, it has allowed you to stalk, observe, learn. you knew the world was big, but not to the extent you have discovered. there is so much humans don't know, things... entities... lurking, preying, living amongst them. you've filled your time with learning about ressurection. your mortal mind believing it was impossible, your enlightened mind welcoming the propsect.
it was rather simple. to be ressurected one needed to have access to their corporeal form. like a demonic possession. although, a corpse doesn't pertain consent. the obstacle opposing ressurection... most bodies are buried, inaccessable. including yours.
You find yourself sat across from your murderer, Steve. a man you once loved with all your heart. a heart that powered your vitalised body. It's late, he turns the desk lamp on, offering a warm glow to his office. His eyes focusing on client files spread across his desk, glasses slotted into his shirt pocket. you want to hate him, with all your being. you yearn to hate him but your mind wants otherwise.
You're nervous, fiddling with the engagement ring sat snugly on your finger, a ring that once was a symbol of the love you both shared. you had to speak to him, scared, apprehensive of how to do it. maybe it's best to rip the band aid straight off, just appear. no... how would he react?
you decide to just do it, allowing yourself to become visible from your phantom form. staring at him, the wooden desk seperating the both of you.
he notices a figure sat across from him, head shooting up, eyes widened as his gaze focuses on your features. the perfect picture. a snapshot, identical to the day he destroyed you. ruined you. He's frozen, mouth agape, eyes wide.
"Steve" you greet him softly
no response, like a frozen statue of your former lover in front of you.
"you're not hallucinating. it's me"
he stands up, looking around the room in a frenzy
"this some sort of joke? HUH? WHO IS IT?" his tone becoming panicked, angry. storming around the room trying to find a projector or some sort of strings, you're unsure.
"Steve. sit down. no one is in the office apart from you"
He storms over to you, swiping his hand towards you. a firm slap to the cheek. his lips quivering as if he was expecting you to be some sort of hollagram. a hallucination maybe.
"sit down steve. i wont tell you again" you command sternly
he nods, sitting down quickly, a thousand yard stare across his desk at you. "H-How... you're dead?"
"i am dead, you made that possible. i'm an apparition. a ghost. i can present myself to you"
you can see his mind working overtime, trying to comprehend the mere concept of the fact that you are sat across from his desk.
"... what do you want from me?" he asks quietly
you stare at him unsure of how to begin, fiddling with the engagement ring. he notices, staring down at your hands
"you.. you still have that?"
you nod. staring down at it before looking back up, meeting his gaze. his eyes roam yours, one of his favourite features about you were always your eyes. always shining. like a jewel. guilt washes over his form as he stares at you. your eyes causing memories to flood his mind. happy memories. sad memories. remenants of what once was.
he stands up, walking around the desk to your seated form. you stand up, height meeting his chest.
he reaches his hand down to your face, the appendage cupping your cheek, carressing the temporary skin with his thumb "i didn't want to." he whispers, his tone melancholy. "you found out too much for me to let you live. i hope you understand that. i loved you. i still... love.... love you. i'm so sorry. i really am. i miss you so much bunny"
he leans his head down, nose against yours, a small eskimo kiss. something you both did as a small sign of affection.
"i stumbled across it by accident. that wasn't my fault. and i told you... i told you i wasn't going to say anything"
he recoils his hand, leaning back up. his stern gaze returning.
"i couldn't take that chance now, could i?"
"so i just had to be added to your long list of victims?"
he groans. ignorning what you said, picking his glasses out his shirt pocket and situating them onto his face "what do you want?"
"a favor. call it what you will, but you owe me"
he sits back down behind the desk. you follow suit, across from him. he flicks his hand, gesturing for you to continue. resting his elbows ontop of the client files spread amongst his desk. chin resting against his hand
"i need my bod-"
"no" he interrupts you. "not a chance in hell. that is absurd, what do you even need it for?"
you huff. not wanting to tell him but you know no one else knows where he buried you. "you're going to bring me back"
"oh so you can go to the police? no. how is that even fucking possible? bring you back? that's crazy talk right there"
"crazy talk? as if me sitting in front of you isn't crazy enough for you"
before he can respond you protest. always debating and arguing something. an aspect he adored about you at times. apart from when he was on the recieving end.
"you took everything from me! i was young! i had my entire life ahead of me and yet i agreed to spend it with you! how foolish of me! you have had too long on this earth. you are bringing me back. no if's or but's about it. i will not go to the police." you spit out.
his eyes narrow at your angry protest. shaking his head. "no"
"please steve. please baby. for me" you plea, softly. hoping to appeal to the man who loved you under that hard exterior.
he stands up, closing the files and gathering them up placing them into a filing cabinet before turning off the lamp. "i'm going home. no."
he leaves quickly. hoping that maybe he was just halluncinating. locking the office door. brisk strides towards the elevator. scurrying to the home once shared by you and your murderer
you're left in his office. in the darkness he provided. this was going to take some work.
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ladykailitha · 11 months
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All My Roads Lead Back to You Part 17
Welp. We are in the home stretch. I’m almost done writing the last chapter and then there will be a small epilogue. Thank you so much for sharing this ride with me on this one.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16
*
Edie isn’t exactly sure when it started happening, but she began to notice little changes in her dad’s eating habits. Some times he would go for seconds if he liked it or he would keep some kind of fruit on hand to snack on.
But knowing her dad’s past also helped her notice when he would get that thousand yard stare or when he would jump at certain sounds. Knowing that he had walked through hell, not just once, but multiple times was like slotting in a piece of the puzzle you didn’t know was missing. And just watching all the other pieces that didn’t make sense before form a complete picture.
She knew that they had told her was only scratching the surface. Things they weren’t directly involved in but didn’t want to know. After she was told about their past Mr Munson gave her permission to dig into the incident surrounding the actual fucking lynch mob that was led by a psychotic basketball star.
What made her the angriest was that the asshole died in the earthquake and never had to deal with the consequences of his actions. That the town took that as liberty to just sweep it under the rug. The police chief quietly resigned two years later. No one that was involved in the witch hunt was actually punished for what they did to Mr Munson.
So she decided she was going to make a long distance phone call. A very long distance phone call.
“Miss Thing!” Lily Byers greeted cheerfully. “To what do I owe this totally awesome pleasure?”
“Cousin Itt!” Edie greeted back. “How’s it rocking, girlie?”
“You know,” Lily said, “as much as I love traveling the world, I got soo super jelly of your prom pictures. I’m trying to convince Mom to let spend the last year of high school with you.”
“Just say the word, Cousin Itt,” Edie said seriously, “I will deploy the puppy dog eyes.”
Lily laughed. “I’m not quite that desperate. Yet.”
“Duly noted,” Edie said. “Hey, I need a favor. But first how much do you know about your parents’ high school days?”
“You talking normal angst filled love triangles?” Lily ask slowly. “Or are we talking about nightmare fuel?”
“Nightmare fuel.”
Lily let out a slow breath. “I got ‘read in’ last year.” Edie could feel the air quotes from here. “I’m guessing you’re new to the ‘my parents are fucked up’ club?”
“About a month I guess,” Edie said with a sigh. “Me and Harri Munson. They tell you about what happened to his dad? Eddie Munson? Not the monster shit, but the normies fucking shit up stuff?”
Lily let out another long sigh. “Yeah. The witch hunt of the century.”
“Can you please explain why your mother and father didn’t expose the fucking town the way they did the Lab?” Edie asked pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.
“That is a really good question, Miss Thing,” Lily said. “And I think you just gave me new leverage against my parents over the whole high school senior year dealio. I’ll get back to you.”
“Love you lots!” Edie said.
“Love you more!” Lily replied and then hung up.
“You know,” a voice said from behind her, “that’s a pretty low blow, weaponizing your cousin that way.”
Edie whirled around to see her dad leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom. His arms were crossed over his chest, but he had an easy smile on his face.
“Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop,” she said glaring at him.
“I just came to ask if you wanted pizza or kebabs tonight,” he said, his smile turning into a grin. “I did knock. A couple times in fact. But you were the one plotting world takeover with your bedroom door open.”
Edie flopped on her bed. “Is that one of the reasons we rarely get together, because we’d take over the world?”
Steve laughed. “One of many. One of many.”
Edie grinned. “I’m just correcting a miscarriage of justice is all.”
“Oh, is that all?” he asked grinning back at her. “Knowing Lily Byers like I do, I fully expect an expose by the end of the week and formal apology from the city of Hawkins and the state of Indiana to Eddie by the end of the month.”
Edie pretended to toss non-existent long hair over her shoulder. “Good.”
Steve pulled her in for a hug. “I think the reason she didn’t is because of me.”
Edie pulled away slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I think she didn’t want to stir up feelings for Eddie after he left.”
“But he left three months after,” Edie insisted. “Why didn’t she say something then?”
“Our town was nearly destroyed,” Steve reminded her. “And the government had found a scapegoat in Henry Creel, got Eddie off and all this while Eddie was still in a coma from being nearly ripped to bits. She had a lot on her mind those first three months. We all did. And then he got a record deal, he was going to be famous. She probably didn’t want to make waves for him and ruin his chances.”
“Damn it,” she sighed. “Those are all really good reason not blow up the biggest scandal since the ‘gas leak’.”
“So maybe tell Lily to ease up a bit on her mom?” Steve asked.
“Not a snowball’s chance in hell, Dad.”
Steve sighed. He figured that was the answer, but felt he had to try. At least a little.
*
School was ending and Edie and Harri both had summer school. Mandy and Kenny were free, but then they were good in school and mostly liked by the teachers.
Their rich school was a bit backwards. Probably because it had only been built in the last decade, but Mr Pearson wasn’t the only teacher that turned their noses up at old money students like Edie. She had the misfortune to be old money, too. Her family’s wealth went back as far a century at least.
She wasn’t third or even fourth generation wealthy. Her great-great grandparents were stinking rich. They were among the few families to come out of the stock market crash and Great Depression relatively unscathed. It’s why Dad’s trust fund was so sought after.
A trust fund that only grew because he may not have had a head for numbers, he had a head for business. He knew when to pull out if something was failing and when to pour more money in if they looked on the verge of discovery.
But it meant that all the teachers thought that her dad didn’t earn having his daughter at their school. So they always went a lot harder on Edie then they did her friends. All three of which had parents that came from nothing or very little to make their wealth. Mandy and Harri were both children of rock stars. Kenny’s mom invented some kitchen gadget that had taken the world by storm and now was in nearly every house in the country.
Harri was only joining her in summer school hell because two of the credits he needed to graduation next year didn’t transfer over and he had zero desire to sit with sophomores and juniors his last year of school.
“They should standardize the curriculum across the country,” Harri grumbled, kicking at a rock on their way into school.
Edie sighed. She agreed with him, but if they had she wouldn’t have a summer school buddy to be miserable with.
“I hear that,” was what she said instead. “And you should be allowed to skip a class if you don’t want to take it. As long as you get two years of math, who cares if it’s just basic math. It’s like judging a fish by its ability to climb or however that quote goes.”
“Right?” Harri agreed. “Like if what you want to go into takes heavy math that sure, you do the advanced math, but if you’re going into art and the only math you’re going to need is fractions they shouldn’t have to force you into bullshit like that.”
They both had to take a math class and a science class, so they took the same ones so that they could at least have a study buddy.
“I hate that I have to do this,” Edie groused as she flopped down in a desk somewhere near the back of the class. “It means I can’t go to the gala this year.”
“Gala?” Harri asked, sliding into the desk next to hers. “What gala?”
“The biggest event my dad does all year,” she explained, resting her head on her hands and staring off into the distance dreamily. “He’s involved in a shit ton of charities, but this is his biggest. It’s like the it party of the year and everyone foams at the mouth for an invite.”
“So why can’t you go?” Harri asked.
“Because for everyone else it’s a one night event,” Edie said, “but for my dad it’s a week long thing just prepping for it. And because I have summer school, I can’t help him. His rule has always been that I’ve been too young and that was supposed to change this year. I was going to help out and get to go. But because I have this stupid shit, I have to spend the week at Mandy’s.”
“You’re nearly eighteen,” Harri protested. “Can’t you be left home alone?”
Edie sighed. “If it was about Dad being gone all the time, sure. But it’s not. It’s held at the house. Or rather the backyard. There are people coming and going all hours of the day and night. Setting up lights, preparing food, setting up tables. It’s a whole thing. And if I want to actually pass these classes...”
Harri winced. “You can’t be around all that shit...Point well and truly taken. So what are you going to do instead?”
Edie shrugged. “Normally Mr Lawrence lets Mandy have a party that night and we stay up late watching movies, but I think the Lawrences are going this year, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Harri opened his mouth to ask another question, but the teacher chose that moment to walk in and they were forced to pay attention to the class.
***
Part 18 Epilogue
@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk​ @trashpocket @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @mightbeasleep @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @trashpocket @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666  @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @steddie-as-they-go @lillemilly @callas-shitshow @bisexualdisastersworld @renaissan-vvitch @immortal-iratze @bookbinderbitch @cardigangoth @lilacrobin @nightmareglitter @nerdsconquerall @stxrcrossed186
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chuluoyi · 6 months
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LOVER'S PLAYLIST
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“can i go where you go? can we always be this close, forever and ever?”
a little thank you from me to you—for all the love and interactions for my silly little blog during two months of me being here!
[ status : closed ! ]
1K MILESTONE EVENT PLAYLIST
. . .
NOTE ok first thing first, this is long overdue already bcs now i've gone past 1k—it's now 1.5k! thank u sm aaa <3 i never expected this. i still think my writing is kinda average and all but thank u for all kind words and interacting with me!
so what is this event? simple. pick your fave, prompt, setting, add your idea—then send it straight to my askbox!
how does it work? let us get a move on...
INFO
i will write 7 fics, ranging from 2k ~ 5k words, and mostly made up of angst, fluff or a combination of both
i will choose from what’s been sent to my askbox. so it’s possible for me to combine two similar requests or drop it (sorry!)
each prompt and setting can only be used once. i'll regularly update this post to cross out prompts and settings that are already taken!
anons are allowed, but since this is a followers event, i’ll prioritize the ones who choose to be off anons—i appreciate you for doing so!
with the speed of my writing, as always, please kindly expect delayed releases. there are still weekly series and regular requests—ah, you just have to make me reach 1k now, don’t you? :')) and now it’s 1.5k… really, love y'all!🫶🏻
now on to ordering...
HOW TO ORDER the format: character — prompts — setting — additional ideas
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✧ pick your character ! for this event, the character roster are limited to:
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✧ pick your prompts ! rules: max up to 3
1. “nah, i’d win.” 2. “i can show you incredible things.” 3. “i just have to ask. will you go out with me?” 4. “you don't deserve to be unhappy. and i don’t want to be unhappy, either.” 5. “i will protect you.” 6. “why did you do that?!” 7. “we are getting a divorce.” 8. “shut up and kiss me.” 9. “you have been kind of obvious.” 10. “if you feel safer with me being here, then i’ll be here.” 11. “it’s me and not him!” 12. “i suck at telling people my feelings, but i love you. i still do.” 13. “i can't do this anymore.” 14. “don't act innocent when we both know what filth come out of your mouth just five minutes ago.” 15. “tell me the truth. what are we?”
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✧ choose your setting ! rules: max up to 1
♡ happy marriage: you are married to the love of your life♡ married on purpose: marriage of convenience with your enemy seems to be what would solve your problems right now ♡ lover’s quarrel: fights, words you don’t mean—is this what it takes for your relationship to end?
ah i ran out of ideas. i’m opening the last four slots to cater to your desired ideas—give me your best!
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✧ lastly, shoot it right to my askbox! please tell me it’s for the event so i won’t confuse it with the regular requests! add your own idea too while at it, it'll be waaay more helpful!
if you want to use the available setting:
e.g. “for 1k event, gojo — prompt x and x — married on purpose — and i have an idea: yadda yadda yadda
if you want to suggest your own setting:
e.g. “for 1k event, megumi — prompt x — and i have a suggestion: yadda yadda yadda and it should be yadda yadda yadda
end of the word, thank you again for 1.5k!🫶🏻 if you have any questions regarding this event, feel free to ask me! hope you'll enjoy the 7 upcoming fics from this event!
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helpimhyperfixating · 4 months
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Commissions Open!
It’s taken a few years, but they’re finally here!
Slots open: 2/3
What will I write? Literally anything! Character x Reader, Character x OC, Character x Character.
I will do: canon, au, nsfw, fluff, angst, a mix of those, whatever you need! If you’re unsure, just ask and I’ll let you know if I write it (i.e. if you’re unsure about some topics or kinks)
What characters and fandoms will I write for? Also literally anything! Got a blorbo you want from an obscure fandom? Pass it on. If I don’t know them, please just give me a description of their personality and mannerisms and I’ll go to town. This also goes for your oc’s (this is a ploy to tell me about em >:3333)
Prices:
€1,50 - per 100 words
€2,00 - per 100 words for smut
You can let me know beforehand how long you’d like the fic to be (i.e. 800 words) and the price will be based on that (i.e. €12/€16). If I go over the word count, that’s a nice bonus for you, you ofc won’t have to pay ;3 (I’ll never go under the word count).
Payment will be half upfront and then half after when it is done 👉👈
I will try to finish your commission within a month of getting it, but it will depend on how many I have at the same time/what happens with my life, lol. Either way, I’ll keep in close contact and you’ll stay in the loop!
When I’ve written it but you don’t like something or think it’s wrong (that a character wouldn’t say it), please let me know! I’m writing this for you after all and want you to be 100% happy with it ^^
If you’re interested, please DM me!
I also think there is a commission system on kofi which I have but I don’t know how it works 💀
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in-death-we-fall · 1 year
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A New Beginning
A year ago when Terrorizer spoke to Joey Jordison, the drummer was a man of (sic) the edge. Now the Slipknot founder is in a different headspace and facing the future with heady determination.
Words: Tobyn Dorcian  Pics: Kane Hibberd Terrorizer #224, July 2012 (google docs link)
**self harm warning for questions 4 and 5 and image 4**
When Joey Jordison was in Australia in March 2011, he was a wreck. Ten months afterPaul (sic) Gray, Joey’s best friend and fellow Slipknot originator/bassist had died from a drugs (sic) overdose, and the drummer was psychologically frail. To distract from his grief, Jordison had over-committed to Soundwave festival as both guitarist in the Murderdolls and drummer for Rob Zombie – exhaustion led to him cancel (sic) a Sydney show.
A year on, Jordison is the antithesis of that vision. Once again in Australia, this time with Slipknot for their 7pm slot at Soundwave festival, he is chipper and energetic. Near unrecognisable with a bush ranger-like beard and moustache, the 37-year-old is in such a great mood he insists on doing two interviews: one at 6.30pm prior to Slipknot’s Melbourne arena sideshow, and another at 11.40pm at its conclusion.
How has the past 12 months been for you? “Very positive. I’m happier than I’ve been for a long time.”
The death of best friend and Slipknot bassist Paul Gray had put you in a bad place. What’s helped you to move forward? “I went right into the studio. I’ve been working non-stop, pouring all my energy into writing music, and nothing but good results have come from it. I am happy being (sic) the studio and am working on music because that’s my life-blood. We all have deaths in our family but you have to move on. [Pauses] It’s really hard for me to talk about Paul’s death…”
Do you ever feel Paul’s presence? “Oh yeah. I’ve been writing stuff since his death and he’s with me at all times. I will be sitting writing a riff, and I know the exact part where he is coming in. I almost talk to him, in a weird way.”
** As a tribute to Paul, Corey [Taylor, vocalist] got a tattoo of him on his leg. “I don’t have any tattoos but I have this. [Rolls up his left shirtsleeve to reveal two several inch-long scars on his shoulder]. After he died, I cut two lines [Paul Gray was Slipknot number 2] into my arm. He remains on my snare hand.”
** What do the lines represent? “That he’s with me at all times. I will never have tattoos, ever. I don’t put ink in my body. I am the only one in the band that doesn’t have them. I don’t want anyone putting my memory into my body but me. This will never go away. When I did it it cut pretty deep. Now, he is playing with me at all times.”
You have spoken about your life in Iowa, that you live in isolation. In your house there are no clocks, the windows are blacked out and you rarely answer the phone. To what extent has that changed? “I now have three cats: Mokey, Melvin and Murray [previously, Joey had Mokey], but nothing has changed. That part of me will always remain the same. It [that feeling] is even happening right now. When I walk out of this room [backstage at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena], I can’t stand it until I get behind my drums; that’s my safe zone. That’s where I feel at home, besides in my house with a guitar. I didn’t pick isolation – this is not a story piece, that’s fucking bullshit – It’s the way I am. I like things that I like and I stick to them. I’ve been like this since I was a kid.”
What do you think that’s about? “I don’t necessarily know. I guess I was so interested in music when I was a kid and was so engulfed by it that it was all I could think about. I was like, ‘This is what I want to do and this is my calling’. I knew what I wanted to do at a very, very young age, so I am very lucky in that respect. On tour, I have done the sightseeing and it is beautiful and I love that but if I want to see something I’ll got (sic) and see it. If I want to stay in my [hotel] room and listen to music… that is what I usually do. It just depends on my mood, which is a little different every day.”
You feel comfortable at home and behind the kit, but not so much in the places in between. “I can’t relate to too many people. When I was very young my grandma told me that if you have just one really close friend you should consider yourself lucky, and I still live to that rule, because honestly, you cannot hardly trust anyone. That’s why I termed the song ‘People = Shit’. I had that term on a t-shirt when we were a club band, way before we got signed.”
It seems like you don’t fit in. “I don’t. I have never been that person who goes out to try to make friends intentionally. I like to have a drink here [at the venue] and hang out with good people but I don’t go out anymore. I like hanging out with my family and my cats and my guitar. I am probably one of the only people who has a guitar in their bathroom. It’s there just in case when I have to go shit [Laughs], I have a cool idea. I always wake up with a riff, so when I have to go and do the morning thing, I play guitar while I’m doing it.”
Something might come of it… “A lot has come of it. [Laughs] I like taking baths. I’m not a shower guy too much. I love soaking in the bath and I get really good ideas there too. I like coming out and grabbing my guitar. Even if I write some of the craziest, fastest shit of the Slipknot catalogue, I am always at peace. I have to be at peace. I can never write anything unless I am at peace. That’s what’s good about having this sort of [musical] gift.
“I watch a lot of shows on the Discovery Channel about how things are made: it intrigues my brain. Some of the science stuff makes me feel a little stupid, but then I’m like, wait, what they (sic) hell are you talking about? They can’t do what I’m doing.”
Surely, you are in the wrong business [music] if you are looking for trust? “I can’t bitch about anything because I am very lucky, but luck has nothing to do with where I am right now. That luck shit can fuck right off. I work my fucking ass off to be like this. I did this to be true to myself and to my friends. Then you have all these assholes come in and they are like, ‘We can’t play a goddamn note but we learnt how to market a bunch of shit and collect off you’. I cannot stand one of them. Slipknot is a product of the shit we hate, and when we go out onstage it is vengeance.
“On the other hand, the maggots who come to our shows, I have something in common with each one of them: that’s how much they understand my music. Our music becomes their music. They give it right back to us and it gives us energy. I can see in kids’ eyes what we have done, what a movement we’ve created. Not many bands have done what we have.”
Last year Clown [Shawn Crahan, percussionist] told Terrorizer he wasn’t sure if he wanted to do Slipknot anymore. “I don’t believe that at all. Plus, there isn’t any shit that needs to be ‘repaired’, like there’s a rift between band members. We all do other stuff. There are no fights. We are getting along so well right now. The feeling is like it was in 1999, when we first came out. Corey and I understand each other more than we ever have. The thing is that we have never not gotten along; it’s the fucking press that turned us against each other. In fact, I brought Corey into Slipknot. Back then, no one even wanted him in the band.”
Why not? “At that time we were like an eccentric death metal circus act. It was great, but something was missing. I said to Clown that we needed to get Corey to sing for us. Shawn [Clown] is hardcore, he is the dad of our band and we respect his opinion. He was like, ‘Fuck no’, but said he liked Corey’s vocals. So myself, Mick [Thompson (sic), guitar] and Shawn went to the porn store where Corey used to work. When we arrived Corey was really nervous, like we were going to beat him up or something. Shawn went up to Corey and asked him if he wanted to try out and he freaked out.
“The next day he parked his car around the back of the studio – because we didn’t want anyone to know – and it was just me and Shawn. The first song he demoed was ‘Me Inside’. I sat next to Shawn and said, ‘Watch this shit, I know what’s going to happen’. Corey got to the chorus and Shawn looked at me and was like, ‘You were right’. Corey’s relationship with me has come full circle. We love each other very much.”
Right now, what binds Slipknot together? “We started to think, what if it [Slipknot] did go away, and realised how much the band meant to us. The songs mean more to me now than they ever have… remembering the crap we went through, all the stupid bickering and crap that never needed to happen. All of that has been weeded out and now it’s like we’ve been rebuilt, stronger than ever. Slipknot is a machine right.
“Our band is nine fucking extraordinary personalities, extreme, intense personalities, who live all over the place and yet we are still together, so fuck you. I would die for these guys. If I died onstage, I wouldn’t care. This is going to sound stupid, but it would be from my heart. It’s a fucking war onstage, it isn’t safe.”
Your temporary bass player [Donnie Steele] is out of view. Why? “The other guy [Donnie] is not allowed onstage, no fucking way. He is behind the stage and does a great job. We are nine people and we unfortunately lost one. But it doesn’t matter; we are still nine. We can never replace Paul, but that’s why I bought (sic) Donnie into the band. He was the first guitar who played before I came into the picture, when we were The Pale Ones. He is a really cool guy and very mellow.
“We haven’t decided on another bassist yet. We don’t want any marquee names or anything like that. It doesn’t make sense to bring anyone in from another band that’s huge. We want to keep it in the family, and he’s part of our family and it’s been great ever since.”
Will the next Slipknot album still be “the darkest one ever?” “It’s going to be dark no matter what. There ain’t no changing that fucking statement.”
How much darker than ‘Iowa’ can you go? “That’s up to us. So far, I’ve written and recorded 40 songs.”
Is there a song about Paul? “Yes, my working title is ‘Gray’.”
Have you been working with the other guys or by yourself? “To tell you the truth, it’s just been me. Everyone is writing stuff, but people want to do other projects [Corey Taylor and Jim Root and (sic) working on a new Stone Sour album. Clown has released a photography book], and so I’m writing alone until we can all come together. Then we can start playing and go from there. That’s how we wrote, ‘Prelude’, ‘The Blister Exists’, it’s how we start a lot of songs.”
With the next album, what is the journey you wish to take the listener on? “This will be our deepest, most celebrated record. The journey is that we are trying to live our lives, just like everyone else is trying to live theirs’. We all have weird shit in our lives and a lot of our songs reflect that. On the next record we will be exorcising, getting out a lot of the crap out that I think personally, we have held in too much, against each other.”
What sort of emotions will come out? “Both positive and negative. Jealousy? That doesn’t exist in this band. That is the worst emotion; it kills people. You know who fucking does that? It’s the press, and it just pisses us off. People [journalists] keep putting words in our mouth. If they want to keep doing it, keep doing it, because it’s pissing us off right now. Everyone on the outside – journalists, business manager, accountant – this album will be the worst in terms of ‘fuck you’. ‘Iowa’ was kind of playful. This one, as far as emotions go, is going to connect with everyone way more than any of our others.”
Where do you see Slipknot evolving from here? “Slipknot can do two things: either leave the legacy where it is now or cut everything that’s been before and take it even further. That’s where my mindset is at. I can only see it getting even bigger.”
In the early 2000s, Clown had stage props of cow heads on spikes. What is the most shocking thing Slipknot has done? “We never look to shock anyone. If it’s shocking to some people, then I guess you can call it shock but that was never the intent. That’s just Shawn being Shawn. We used to go down to the meat packing plant [in Des Moines] and were really intrigued by the smell of dead animals. We’d just sit there and gawk at them. We just liked the fucking smell of it. No matter how pungent or grotesque.
“Bringing that type of stuff out was part of the ‘Iowa’ cycle and it made sense then. I don’t think it makes sense now. The thing about that is you never know what we are going to do tonight. I don’t know what the rest of them are doing (sic) to do; they don’t have to know what I am going to do. We don’t have structure. Ours is no choreographed shit.”
You’ve been doing Slipknot for almost 20 years. To what extent have you mellowed? “Not at all. I’m still punk rock. I will travel in a van; I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me: trains, buses, planes, whatever, I’ll get there. As long as I have my leather jacket and maybe a toothbrush, throw me in a fucking corner and I’ll sleep there. I don’t give a fuck.”
Slipknot must have made a lot of money. Looking at you, you’d never know it, as you are in no way ostentatious. “To tell you the truth, I have no fucking clue about it. [Laughs] It’s there, but money and all that shit doesn’t register with me. I don’t calculate it. Maybe it’s stupid but I don’t give a fuck about money, which is maybe why I’ve been ripped off in the past, but I just don’t care. Money is bullshit to me. I hate it. It’s an evil fucking thing. It controls the world and that’s why I don’t like it. With our band, it was never about that and it still isn’t. The last thing we think about is that. But if there is money to be made, of course we want to make it and not get ripped off.
“When we were starting we thought maybe we’d sell 30,000 records. Even getting signed was weird. When someone says, ‘You need to get business smart’, I’m like, fuck all that. I am still that little punk rock kid. That little kid that was in his basement playing drums, blast-beating and learning all this shit from the bands I grew up listening to.”
What does your number [1] mean to you? “Now it doesn’t really mean much. When we started it was an idea and I am number one for a reason. I was that number because I am the base of the band, the rhythm section, its glue. I don’t really look it at (sic) much anyone (sic), I try to think of us by our names, but I’m glad to still have that number.”
In 2000 you let my 15-year-old socially awkward nephew watch Slipknot from the side of the stage [in Melbourne, Australia]. 12 years later as his mother was dying of cancer, he recalled how much that meant to him. And how you looked after him. “That means a lot to me. [Pauses] I’m glad he had that outlet [Slipknot] because that’s what I needed when I was young. I needed it because I was an outcast. I don’t have many friends and I don’t want them: that is my sickness. The ones that I have are the guys in my band; they are my brothers. They would do anything for me.
“When I was young… that’s why I was so attracted to music. Everyone else was into sport and extra curricular activities and so I was the misfit. Music just felt safe. It spoke to me so loudly that it made everything seem clear – nothing else at that time did. In a weird way, it almost chose me. The demon grabbed me by the throat and put me on a mantle and said, ‘This is what you are going to do’. I have been stuck there ever since. [Laughs] It’s not a bad place to be. It makes me comfortable and keeps me warm.”
‘Antennas To Hell’ is out on July 16 on Roadrunner www.Slipknot1.com
Joey on:
Watain “They are the real deal, man. I think [frontman] Erik Danielsson is in the top 3 black metal singers of all time. That guy’s voice is pure. Watching them, people want to do the whole pit thing, but I am the opposite, I find it relaxing. It’s weird. The blood they put on, that’s real. They are coming to Iowa, so I will probably be in the front row, being a fan boy.”
Burzum “I loved ‘From The Depths Of Darkness’ [2011]. A lot of people focus on the murder [of Euronymous], but I look beyond that, to his music. I don’t condone murder, but I’m like, ‘Get over that and listen to this shit’. The Count is about as dark as you get and I totally love everything he has done. I haven’t met him, but he’s definitely one of the people I’d love to meet.”
Marilyn Manson “I met him a long time ago and we became friends after that. What I like about him more than anything is that you never know what’s coming. He is unpredictable and that is punk rock. That to me is true fucking art. I think that’s why him and me really connected. He gets me and I get him too. I haven’t talked to him for a while, but he’s always been nice to me.”
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sanguinesky-if · 5 months
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Patreon page is live / Ko-fi news about the early-release date.
Hi, I hope you were able to have a good rest this weekend before starting a new week! As for me, I have two pieces of news for you.
First: the Patreon page is now live! You can check it out HERE!
I've had to reschedule the early-access release date due to Patreon's billing policy. New early-access demo release date: 01.02.24.
Before the early-access release, I will post some free content that will give you some insight into what to expect from the upcoming update and Patreon in the future. So join for free to stay tuned!
[There's already a pinned post on the Patreon page about content release dates for January–February.]
Second: After a vote on Tumblr, it was decided to reschedule the release date on Ko-fi as well. Thank you to everyone who voted!
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The content on the Ko-fi page will be the same, except it will lack the higher membership tiers like Patreon.
But, there will be special commissions available on Ko-fi: your very own special ID card illustration for your MC! Here's what it looks like:
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Important information: the illustration will be created from the assets I created for Sanguine Sky when it was planned as a visual novel. Accordingly, the choice of assets is limited: 2 body types, 12 hairstyles, 12 hair colors, 12 skin colors, 12 eye colors, 2 types of shirts of 2 colors.
Custom hairstyles and hair colors are available for an additional fee. Only 2 slots available per month. More info is available HERE.
I'm not sure if I'd add the same feature for Patreon, as it's harder to implement. I'll think about it, but I don't want to overdo anything right now, plus I want to focus on writing and make sure I stay on the schedule.
Thank you all for reading to the end! I hope you'll enjoy my content ♥
Links: DEMO | CoG forum | RO's info | Q&A info | Patreon | Ko-Fi
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brawltogethernow · 8 months
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I don't know if you're the best person to ask this but you're the only person on my dash who reblogs Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya shit in 2023. I have to know, did Haruhi... finish? I know it was a light novel series (tho I've only seen the anime) but like did the story arcs conclude? Are they translated?
You've lucked out: I am. It did not finish, but it got a lot further than the anime took you. Everything is translated.
The anime adapts light novel volumes 1-3 and some of 5 (short story collection partially set before 4). The movie adapts 4. I've heard "Endless Eight" is the way it is because they were set on doing 4 as a film, and...didn't just use their episode slots to adapt achronologically despite their existing reputation for doing that for some reason? Incomprehensible. Anyway.
If you haven't seen the movie because it came out after the moment was already dead, you should, even if you were just kind of neutral-positive on the show, because from a purely objective perspective it's a contender for the best quality movie following an anime show that exists. Also that installment is just a much better stopping point than where the TV part left things. Like the ~entire concept~ remains open, but some arcs actually evolve or wrap in a way where you can be satisfied with the story you've gotten.
So 4 1/2 volumes have been animated. There are 13 light novels. 4 is a stronger book than the preceding volumes, and the quality continues to wobble irregularly upwards from there. It pulls off another unprecedentedly good entry that isn't an ending but is a pretty acceptable place to put it down in 11 and 12 (which are functionally one two part book). 13 came out a literal decade later in 2020 and is another short story collection; nice to have but doesn't change the metrics much except to make the indefinite hiatus look slimmer on camera.
All of the books have been officially translated by Yen Press. (They recently did some sort of rerelease that didn't fix any of their typos but removed the slurs they added in the first place? So that's...nice ? ?) Everything they've covered except a chunk of 13 has also been unofficially translated, which I like to keep on hand because while the YP translation is very readable, it...requires a second opinion sometimes. There are also still some loose short stories that only have fan translations, and apparently there's about to be an official release of some nonessential short story collection from twenty years ago I heard about for the first time in my life a month ago. (Also there's a like, officially licensed Koizumi POV fanfiction short, fanlation only.)
Will Tanigawa ever put an actual cap on the series? Idk it's not technically impossible. It seems more likely to me that he'll pull off one more absolutely batshit installment that resolves nothing and then vanish forever except to write a new short story every eight years. It's worth catching up though imho. The later books do a lot to pull the earlier ones up behind them retroactively. Themes solidify, elements that were wavering between parody and deconstruction collapse into sincere reconstruction, the characters actually like each other, that sort of thing.
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not-poignant · 5 months
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January 2024 - Update Schedule
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January chapter update schedule:
(Tier+ = This tier or any higher, as every higher tier accesses all rewards in lower cost tiers)
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Monday 1st -> Saturday 13th - [POSTING HOLIDAY]
Saturday 13th - Birthday Spotlight - Dr Gary Konowalous
Sunday 14th - A Stain that Won't Dissolve 29
Tuesday 16th - Constellations 01/05 (AO3 & Patreon + Ream - Gary&Efnisien Tier+)
Wednesday 17th - Birthday Spotlight - Nathaniel 'Nate' Prince
Thursday 18th -  Underline the Black 76
Tuesday 23rd - Underline the Blue 09/12 (AO3 & Patreon + Ream - Augus&Gwyn Tier+)
Thursday 25th - Underline the Black 77 
Sunday 28th - A Stain that Won't Dissolve 30
Tuesday 30th - The Nascent Diplomat 40/41 (AO3 & Patreon + Ream - Augus & Gwyn Tier+)
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This month is quiet, and I'm continuing with the doubling up - if a chapter from an early access story releases, then the actual early access chapter will go up that day as well. So far folks don't seem to mind this, so I'm going to keep trying it :D February goes back to a more regular schedule. :D
You'll notice new slots on the schedule - Birthday Spotlights! These aren't chapters, but special Tumblr posts which spotlight a character and their birthday, and shares quotes, details, the stories their in, what they're known for, and some trivia about them. All of Fae Tales and other worlds are pretty huge now - nearly over ten years of writing! - so this is a way to reminisce over favourite characters, discover new stories, learn about alternate universes, and find out about characters you might not know much about yet! You'll all get to learn the character's birthdays, and see if they match your sun signs, hehe :D 
TRADEWINDS is LAUNCHING in January though I haven't picked a date yet. This is an original and complete Fae Tales novel that will only be exclusively available via Patreon and Ream in the Gary+Efnisien tier+. This story follows the journey of bird shifters and merchants, the Seelie Matan (a Malayan Peacock Pheasant) and the Unseelie Udir (a Lammergeier shifter), in an enemies-to-lovers tale filled with intrigue, secrets, a quest to break a quest, and a look at the lives of fae in the southern hemisphere. 
~
Stories with updates as yet undetermined: Palmarosa (I managed four updates in December, so hopefully this continues well in January!)
Most chapters go up between 6-7pm GMT+8 (or the time that you’re already used to me putting chapters up, lol). For those who are anxious to know when chapters are updating, hopefully this helps! If there's ever an emergency, or a scheduling issue (like a surprise family dinner) I generally put up stories a day early and not late.
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seoafin · 6 months
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seoafin commissions info (as of 12/3, 3/3 slots filled)
Pricing: $10 every 1k words 1k - $10 2k - $20 3k - $30
i will write ocs x character, x reader, ship fic (if applicable).
i will write nsfw, but i will not write dark content. dubcon can be...dubious. but anything else i'm not comfortable with. will write hard yandere/yandere-adjacent, etc and all the warnings that come with it. i will not write first POV. A/B/O is okay.
fandoms: jjk. anyone i post on my blog is fair game. probably.
you will not be charged if i exceed the word limit we agreed upon. i take half payment upfront and the rest when i send you the fic. payment will be through paypal.
feel free to send me an ask off anon or on @/joyglass. or email me at [email protected] to ask any questions/sort any kinks out.
please give me around a month to write the fic. i will send you periodic updates. i'm extremely generous with refunds, and if i feel that i cannot complete a fic in a timely manner, i will fully return your money.
my commissions operate on the basis that unless you give me explicit permission to post it, i will not post it. on here, or ao3.
i do not take commissions from anyone under 20
if you just want to donate feel free to drop by my ko-fi!
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unholyverse · 8 months
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waterparks // rock sound awards 2021
(full text under the cut)
WATERPARKS
CLASS OF 2021 ARTIST OF THE YEAR
WORDS: JAMES WILSON-TAYLOR PHOTOS: JAWN ROCHA
Another album, another lap around the world…another year that very much felt like it belonged to Waterparks. Their exponential growth continued this year with a new label deal and their latest and absolutely greatest record.
They began 2021 in isolation putting the finishing touches to 'Greatest Hits', and end it off the back of a triumphant, huge North American tour, by way of big, big festival slots and the realisation of more ideas than even they might have thought possible.
Here, Awsten Knight looks back on the journey he and his bandmates Geoff Wigington and Otto Wood have been on over the past 12 months, and faces towards the future.
How has your 2021 been, Awsten? It seems like a lot of bands have understandably found this year to be way more productive than last…
"It's better, but it's been equally productive. In 2020 I still made over 100 songs. Still recorded all of 'Greatest Hits'—it was pretty much done by January—made the DVD, 'FANDOM: LIVE IN THE UK'… that took like, five or six months. Yeah, 2020 was still super productive and then obviously this year…album release, making a million more videos, playing shows. That's why I say it's equal."
Was there any transitional period for you, or were you just straight into work mode?
"It never stopped. And I'm not saying this is necessarily a good thing, but I just can't stop working. It's very hard for me to stop. Sometimes I actively try to just because, but I feel like I just operate better if I'm working on things. The thing is, at least if we are out doing shows, I'm not writing songs because of it. But last year I didn't have an excuse."
'Greatest Hits' was of course released this year. You've talked before about wanting to better yourself with each album, but what's interesting is it feels like the leaps between each record are now getting bigger too…
"I'm very about smooth transitions between stylistic stages. It feels very inorganic if somebody has screamo, alternative rock and then they try and go full pop. It's like you didn't do it naturally, so it feels disingenuous. I also think that I was more impatient being stuck at home. And on top of that, since I had more time to create and just make weird sounds and demo things out, I got to learn a lot and hit a lot of things that I wouldn't have necessarily found so soon. So I think it's a combination of those things. This gave a lot of time for me to find the most weird, left of centre, out of pocket stuff. I can't tell you how many Halloween sounds I went through making 'See You In The Future'. Sorry, 'See You In In The Future."
It's funny hearing you talk about acts earning that change in sound. It's like you are world-building but it's about the musical sounds rather than characters or stories…
"Yeah, and wanting to make as many different styles as you can. Because when it stops being fun or fresh or exciting, I don't wanna do it. Touring itself is very fun and rewarding, but it can also get monotonous. So if you are not pushing the boundaries everywhere you can, whether its sonically or show production or whatever… I mean, you see how easily I get distracted. I won't want to do it if it's not fun. You know who has got the best transition between that I think I've ever seen? Like, as far as musical styles go as a band? Bring Me The Horizon. I know where they started and watching them go to 'That's The Spirit' and even the stuff they are putting out right now… it changes style-wise so much. Not only is it consistent, but it changes and I think thats awesome. Not a lot of bands are willing to do that in case it feels like they are putting on somebody else's clothes. But they've done it in a very smooth way."
"WHEN IT STOPS BEING FUN OR FRESH OR EXCITING, I DON'T WANNA DO IT"
"I THINK BEING ALONE ALL THE TIME MADE ME WANT TO COLLABORATE MORE…"
Was there anything specific on 'FANDOM' that you wanted to improve on or push further this time around?
"I don't wanna compare songs especially because if you compare old things to new things, just because of how nostalgia works, it'll never compare until more time has gone by. But if I can sit down and look at 'Numb' vs 'Watch What Happens Next… They're both cool, they both have interesting pre-choruses in very different ways. One of them is more drawly, very minimal and then the other is a little hip-hoppy but more in a Beastie Boys kind of way. Then that outro is from hell, just crazy. I love the vocal patterns in it, in the b-section. And then I'll look at 'Watch What Happens Next' and compare those patterns. I look at things like that. What stuff got added in that's special? What are the special elements that aren't just guitar, bass, drums? I compare stuff like that a lot. Some songs are written where it's like, 'This one will have a pit'. Some songs it's like, 'This is for people who don't even fuck with us, but it has such a groove'. Or, 'This one is a dark 'Life Of Pablo'-type production that's dark and evil but expensive-sounding'. There's just certain things I wanted to accomplish and especially at that time, during recording, being stuck at home, I needed to do what's going to make me feel fulfilled right now."
You seem to be in a very collaborative mood too with the guests on the album and then things outside the album like the track you did with DE'WAYNE. Is that collaborative spirit something you are becoming more open to?
"Yes, definitely. I think being alone all the time made me want to collaborate more. And then also I feel like, and I hope this comes off okay… as good as I feel like I am at writing and production and finding creative ways to do things, I know that other people are so much better than me at other things. I don't wanna be the fucking best in the room at everything, because then why am I in this room? When I gave 'Crying Over It All' to Zeph, I didn't give very much instruction. I was like, 'Just add harmonies, do your thing, pretty freeform, just go for it'. Because when I listen to her stuff, she'd always send me demos or even on her Instagram stories she'll post the acapellas of stuff she is working on. There's like twenty layers of vocals and they are doing these random swells and all this cool shit and I'm just like, 'Woah, that's insane'. So when she sent back all of the vocals for that, it was the same kind of thing. And that's not something I would have thought of. It's no longer me sitting at this desk right here working on 'Double Dare' or 'Entertainment. I think you can only go so far alone and if you happen to have friends and people you like around you who are incredible at other things, I don't see why you wouldn't collab with them. At the end of the day, all I want is the best album in the world."
It felt like that spirit of collaboration had disappeared in the scene for a while but is now coming back around again, which is great because, like you say, everyone benefits from that…
"Yeah that's totally true. And at least for me, I felt like I had something to prove, especially early on. Because we did… we had a lot to prove. But I think, maybe in an ego sense, or I don't know what it was, but I took a lot of pride in it. We'd meet people in other bands who were bigger than us and they'd go, 'Is it true that you had no co-writes or people working on this or anything?' But in the grand scheme of things, we're not shit. In the world of music, most people don't even know we exist. But I feel like that thing - that weird alternative music mindset. Some, 'Us against the world, got to prove yourself' type of shit - I don't really have that anymore. And I'm glad, because it's not productive, it's not helpful, it's not gonna make you have a better album. I feel like alternative music, as stubborn as everybody is, I think they are probably seeing how good collabs are in hip-hop, or how Spotify works and are like, 'Oh shit, we should do that"." You've always talked about personal stuff within your lyrics but it feels like on 'Greatest Hits', you were a lot more open and direct.
What do you think has changed in your approach to lyrics?
"I think there's multiple reasons for it. I think most people just don't look that deep into stuff and I want them to know what I'm talking about. 'Entertainment… that whole fucking album is metaphors. The whole thing. And I think with stuff like 'Turbulent', that was in a way more cathartic. This isn't an objective truth or anything, this is just for me, but I think it's more cathartic to be blunt. And thats not to say metaphors or keeping things poetic isn't good. I want to still use metaphors, part of me wants to lean a little more on that. There's just something very cathartic about just saying it. 'LIKE IT'… just getting to talk shit for verses and I had even more verses written but I just wanted it to be like a punk song. A very grungy, punk kind of thing. It was just more of a release. People that are very into the band will look more deep into things but sometimes I just want someone who hears ten seconds on Tik Tok to know what the fuck I'm talking about. Lyrically, I didn't want to waste any time, I just wanted to get to it."
'Double Dare' celebrated its fifth anniversary this year. Is there anything about the creative process back then that still applies to how you work now?
"Honestly, it's the same. Sit down, laptop, guitar, keyboard, bass, mic. Shut everything out, start making shit. What is made has changed, but the process is the same."
Is there anything you wish you knew back then that you know now?
"All I would do if I could go back is just give them a mixing budget. Because I wouldn't change anything. I like some of the songs more than others but I still think they should all exist. We made the whole album for like, $10,000. Some people might hear that and think it's a lot, but it's not. For making an album, especially on a label, thats nothing. If we could get a Zakk Cervini mix, like a remix…"
When it came to the live show, this tour seems to match this new era in feel. How did you approach bringing 'Greatest Hits' to the stage?
"We went through a lot of different stages with the production. This was the first idea - I want it to make it look like thunder if we want to, make it really dark and moody, no lights around us just silhouettes and bits of lightning, because it's just a full cloud wall, so we can be in a storm like we are going to die or it can glow gold like we are in heaven, or like a sunset. Somebody actually asked me at a Q&A the other day about the symbolism of the doors onstage and I think being in my apartment so much for that long, I was always just looking at them. It felt right to bring the three doors hovering in the clouds. We had the red, yellow and blue bikes because that was my only escape during it. I could come up with crazy production all day, but you also have to take into consideration the rooms you are doing. Is it indoor, outdoor, 500 people, 2,000 people…You base these things on that. What can work in different ways. I think it's the most fitting and conceptually it's probably the best pairing we could have had visually with this album. But some day I think it would be so cool, when we get to do those fucking arena shows, to collab with someone who has done it a million times. The first time or two around, you don't understand the capabilities of what can and can't be done. You don't know what your limits are, so you just kind of be safe. So I'm excited to eventually start collabing with someone on that."
As things get bigger, it feels like the rooms are starting to match your ambition. Is there a pressure to scale things up?
"There's not really a pressure. I just don't think about it like that. The other night, and this hasn't happened in forever, but right before going on I had this weird moment where I felt like I'd re-entered my body. They were already playing 'Greatest Hits' and the first song is about to start and I felt like I'd re-entered. I glanced at the audience and thought, 'Oh god'. Fucking freaked out. Like, 'What the fuck am I doing?' I say that because the best thing you can do is not think. If you just show up and do it, cool shit gets done. If you think about it, if you analyse it, you psych yourself out."
"I NEEDED TO DO WHAT'S GOING TO MAKE ME FEEL FULFILLED RIGHT NOW"
"SOMETIMES I JUST WANT SOMEONE WHO HEARS TEN SECONDS ON TIKTOK TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK I'M TALKING ABOUT"
It was also great to see you be joined again by Mikey Way during this tour…
"I know man, that was so cool. We're always talking about when we can do stuff because he loves playing shows and he fucks with Waterparks and stuff which is so crazy. I was in Nashville a month before the tour and we hung out and got dinner, and he's like, 'Dude, I wanna play one of these shows'. And he's gonna be in Nashville so I'm like, 'How about Nashville? And anything else you wanna do'. And he's like, 'Definitely Nashville and I'd love to do more'. I was like, 'You let me know what you wanna play and we'll switch up the set after'. That was so fun. He is one of the nicest fucking people in this world. He's in the biggest rock band in the world and does not act like it. He's so humble and so nice. He's just a good dude."
Looking forward, what do you think are the biggest things you learned in the process of making 'Greatest Hits"?
"I definitely don't wanna talk too much, especially as I don't know way too much, but I think that the one drawback that I've had with 'Greatest Hits'… it's not even a drawback with 'Greatest Hits', it's just the way in which it was consumed. I think that because it's so long, and not even long runtime wise… It's just that 17 tracks is intimidating to some, especially if you are not a diehard listener. I think some songs got overlooked, or under-appreciated. There are certain ones where I wonder how long it's gonna stay underrated. The production on 'See You In The Future' is fucking insane but its not even in the top seven of the most listened to. Or 'Magnetic'. Or 'Crying Over It All' is I think one of the best songs Waterparks has ever put out. They just get overlooked. 'American Graffiti', I kind of made that song as I was frustrated one night at how dogshit a lot of alt rock stuff that was coming out at the time was. I was just like, 'This is so uninspired, I'm just gonna make the way fucking cooler version of what these people are trying to do. I'm gonna do the perfect mix of Jimmy Eat World and Death Cab and all these people. And then just throw in some real wild production'. That outro is so fucking pretty. I feel like a lot of those get overlooked because theres so much. And there's a lot we can't put in the set because it's literally 17 songs. We're already playing for an hour and a half every night, which is a lot. We're not playing six of the songs because theres not even time. What I'm getting at is, the next album will probably be more…I don't wanna say concise, because it's not like 'Greatest Hits' isn't. It definitely goes on more tangents because that was the point. But it'll probably be shorter."
It certainly feels like alt.rock is the place where the album is king. In hip-hop you can release singles all the time, EPs, whatever you want. Is that something you've thought about in terms of release structure?
"I'm cool with singles. I don't really wanna do EPs anymore. Mainly because I'd rather just do four singles or release them as a pair. Because then if somebody hates one, they'll probably like the other. But I think that I would probably just do singles or pairings then drop another album."
What is on the to-do list for 2022?
"We are coming to Europe. We've got some more shows that we are gonna announce soon. Some places we've never been before. We've locked in support, haven't announced it yet but its gonna be very cool. We're playing that London show—insane. I wish I could say more. It's gonna be a good year."
Waterparks' latest album 'Greatest Hits' is out now via 300 Entertainment. They're due to tour the UK next summer.
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doonarose · 1 month
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I am back in the Danger Zone of writing. Which is to say the space where I write too much, go to bed late and wake up early to write, you all benefit, and I slowly lose my mind. It's actually a very pleasant place.
I still have to finalize the second part of the bathhouse fic but it is dropping in less than 12 hours because I have a GOAD slot and by god I'm not gonna flake on it! I've had amazing betas and been made a lovely header so I just need to work less, write more.
I also have the other fic.. and in the depths of last night I came up with the climax... so to speak, and in the light of day I'm still too scared to look at it because it is filthy.
Two and a half months off writing have somehow made me filthier?
I also word-vomited a thousand word essay which I'm also too scared to look at because I am now a fandom elder in terms of how many times I've been through the top/bottom debate and newbies need to learn their lore (and some semblance of introspection and thinking imo).
And I have two things I've promised to beta. And at least five fics that I'm dying to read...
And in two days I have to drive down to the city for a massive weekend of socializing and then the Monday-Wednesday directly after I am running a local evening science festival thingy which basically means work from 9am-10pm which does not sound compatible with fannish activities but I'll just not sleep...
So anyway. Hey.
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