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bimbobaggins69 · 7 months

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𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌.

virgin eddie munson x experienced fem reader

summary: you go into the boys locker room with a plan to steal the polaroids your now ex boyfriend took of you to show off to his friends, but the last thing you suspected was to be met with Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson and his very big friend.

warnings: smut ahead, 18+ minors dni, no use of y/n (use of pet names), non consensual sharing of nudes, reader technically cheats, big dick eddie, slight fingering, oral (m receiving) unprotected p in v, cream pie, fluffff.

authors note: I feel like I haven’t written a one shot in awhile, so…hope you like. As always thank you to my lovely beta’s @take-everything-you-can & @xxhellfiregirlxx <3

wc: 3.4k

You are fuming, absolutely seething with rage.

You couldn't believe your boyfriend, scratch that ex boyfriend would do this to you. How could someone swear to be ‘so in love’ with you but turn around and do this? It just didn’t make sense, but you only have yourself to blame.

All of your friends warned you about Andy, said he was a pig and would just use you as another notch for his belt, but you wanted to believe you were different or that maybe you could’ve changed him. Instead you allowed him to take very x-rated polaroids of you, that he in turn showed to all of his basketball buddies, who told their cheerleader girlfriends, who then told you he’d spent all of gym bragging and showing them off in the locker room.

So…you’d devised a very impulsive and hell bent plan; while they were all outside running the annual mile, you decided you would sneak into the locker room, find Andy's locker, then you would break into it and steal the polaroids back. It was a fool proof plan… or so it seemed in your frenzy of rage.

But as you walk into the quiet, cold, sterile room filled with green lockers. You quickly realize you're not alone.

“Oh my god!”

“Oh fuck!”

Was said in unison as you and Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson locked eyes, but they didn't stay connected for long as yours roamed his body, all the way down to the biggest cock you had ever seen in your life. Not that you’ve seen so many, but you’ve had your fair share of hook ups and I mean c’mon you're not a prude, you do watch porn.

But, even so… his cock was still bigger than anything you’ve come in contact with, albeit on screen and off.

“I’m so sorr–”

“What are you do-”

You both say again, voices overlapping as Eddie catches the wide eyed stare you're giving his flaccid manhood.

He quickly covers himself with his hands, his cheeks pinkening in embarrassment.

Eddie was rather dense when it came to his size, considering he was a virgin and he’s been using the locker room while it was empty since he started at Hawkins High, not wanting to give the jocks anymore fuel for their relentless fire. He didn’t have much to compare it to, nor did he want to participate in any dick measuring contests. The only porn he had hidden under his bed were his dirty fantasy magazines but all the dicks in there were monster cocks, literally.

“What are you doing in here?” Eddie huffed in annoyance as your eyes continued to burn a hole into his now covered groin.

“I um, I–” You couldn't even find the words to explain why you were in the boy’s locker room, not one that would make any sense to him, anyway.

“You what, huh? Spit it out.” Eddie didn’t mean to snap at you, but he was already in a foul mood. He had been present when Andy was showing off your goods to his ogling friends, who all agreed he was a ‘lucky guy’.

Eddie patiently waited for them all to retreat out and onto the track so he could finally shower and get dressed back into his all black attire. Eddie, oh lovesick Eddie had been nursing a mammoth sized crush on you since your freshman year. So, to say he couldn't help but roll his eyes and clench his fists at not only the thought of all these other dudes getting to see you, but also the fact that you even picked a shit stain like Andy Clayton to give an ounce of your time to, really pissed him off.

“I came to try and get something back from my ex.” You bashfully murmur as your eyes once again find the metalheads.

A remorseful look passes over Eddie's face at your revelation, as you both continue to stare at each other you quickly notice his wet hair has been dripping down onto his tattooed chest, the scene makes your breath hitch and you want so badly to clench your thighs from the heat that's been ignited in your center.

Eddie’s confidence begins to grow as he notices the flush of your cheeks and the way your breathing went ragged as your eyes wandered.

“Ya’ know, if i didn't know any better i'd say you’re checking me out?” He declares with a cocky smirk.

“What? I-I’m not-” You stutter before shutting your eyes tight, as if it’d shield you of your utter humiliation. You quickly exhale in an attempt to rid yourself of the mix of arousal and embarrassment that has simultaneously filled your body.

“Okay, I was… but I didn’t mean to, I'm sorry.” You whisper as your eyes meander the tiles under your black loafers and white slouch socks.

“You didn't mean to check out my dick?” Eddie says in bewilderment as his brows raise, disappearing behind his shaggy, wet bangs.

He’s surprised he has the confidence to stand so close to you with his dick literally in his hand, but watching you stutter and squirm has got to be the highlight of his whole high school career.

Well this and that time he, Gareth and Jeff left that flaming bag of shit on Mr. Higgins doorstep. Yeah, watching that old fuck struggle to put out a burning bag filled with dog shit was definitely up there.

“I mean, I did mean to, it’s just– nevermind, I'm sorry. I’ll leave.” Your words fly out of your mouth before you begin to turn and leave, back out the way you came without fulfilling the mission you were on just five minutes ago.

You didn’t even make it two steps before Eddie was gently grabbing your bicep, his hands no longer covering his cock that now grows hard between his scrawny thighs.

“It’s just what?…Color me curious sweetheart.” He says as his calloused fingers slowly run down your arm and back to his side.

Sweetheart, you liked hearing him call you that. Jesus, what is happening?

“Well um, your dicks like really big.” You say as your eyes fall back to his package, you lick your lips at the sight of it twitching at your words.

“Really?” The way he questions you is confusing because there is absolutely no way he doesn’t know he’s hung like a goddamn horse.

“You’re joking right? You’re gonna act like you don’t know your cock is massive?” You say with a tilt of your head.

His eyebrows shoot back up in amusement, the cocky smile on his face a complete rival to his rapidly beating heart.

You move closer into his space, looking up into his innocent looking doe eyes.

Eddie Munson is anything but innocent, right? I mean he sells drugs for fuck sake! You’ve even heard about him grabbing a cheerleader's tit during a drug deal, of course she was trying to get him to lower the price, but still…well now that you come to think of it, that's really the only sexual thing you’ve heard about him. There’s no way he could be a… yeah right.

“Can I ask you a question?” You whisper as you move in even closer, moving a now damp, stray strand of hair behind his reddening ear.

“S-sure.” He whimpers when your long nails lightly scratch down his jaw, which he quickly covers with a cough.

You bit at your lips trying to hold back a giggle at the noise that went straight between your legs.

Okay, fuck those pictures! What better way to get over a guy than to get under a new one…right? Especially one your ex hates…who has a huge cock…I mean this shits a no brainer… you’re gonna fuck Eddie Munson.

“Are you a virgin?” You question sweetly as you ‘innocently’ play with the hem of your plaid dress, the white turtleneck underneath making your already hot and bothered body, burn more with the intense electricity radiating between the both of you.

“I uh, how’d you know?” He sighs as his shoulders drop in exasperation, not at you but at himself for being so fucking obvious.

“Well, with that third leg I never would’ve guessed…but you have this innocence in your eyes that’s kinda telling.” You giggle as your eyes meet his still hard cock, and all you wanna do now is wrap your hand around it and watch him lose his mind.

Eddie throws his head back and laughs into the open air of the now humid locker room. He whispers third leg to himself, nodding his head as if he was hearing that term for the first time. He was.

“Do you wanna stay a virgin, Eddie?” You whisper as the tips of your fingers gently trail over the patch of hair on his lower stomach, just above the spot your hand is aching to touch, that he’s aching for you to touch.

Two things in this moment make the metalhead equally lose his mind, he might actually cum untouched if he’s being honest. Your hand is so close to his throbbing cock, just a few centimeters down and you’d be brushing against his pink, sensitive tip. And hearing you say his name. Wait, you know his name.

That alone is an aphrodisiac for him.

“No, I-I don’t.” He admits before swallowing hard, his damp Adam's apple bobbing at the motion.

“Can I kiss you?” He surprises himself as the question leaves his mouth.

“Please.” you whine with desperation, making Eddie groan as his lips find yours in a frenzy.

Your fingers slowly trail down, finally wrapping your dainty hand around the sheer girth and length that is Eddie’s cock.

Another whimper falls from between his pretty lips, but this time it's unashamed and without a cough to cover it up. No, he wants you to hear what you’re doing to him.

“That feel good, baby?” You murmur into his mouth between the smacks that echo off the barren walls.

“Fuck, yeah mhm, it does.” He rushes out awkwardly, making you giggle into the kiss.

He wraps his arms around you, in an air of confidence and pulls you in closer, chests now flush as your hand continues to softly tug at his cock.

“Do you wanna fuck me, Eddie?” You whisper as you lean your forehead against his, wet bangs be damned.

“I’ve wanted to fuck you for a very long time, princess.” He admits without much thought.

You break away from him, eyes boring into his as you take in his confession. You step back and Eddie’s heart shatters as he curses himself for opening his big, stupid mouth and scaring you off. But before he could get down on his knees and grovel for you to just ignore him and stay, keep paying attention to him. You take his hand and lead him to the wooden bench towards the back of the locker room.

He follows you like a lost puppy before you’re gently pushing at his chest, a silent instruction for him to sit down. He quickly takes the hint, clumsily plopping down onto the stiff wooden bench.

He looks to you for direction, those innocent eyes blinking up at you and goddammit if it doesn't chip away at the walls your now ex boyfriend has helped you build. But, that's a thought for another day.

You fall to your knees, cold tiles digging into your skin as you wrap your hand back around his cock in a wildness that you’d never felt for any of your previous partners.

“Holy shit.” Eddie spits out in disbelief. This has to be a wet dream, there's absolutely now way this is happening to him…he’s never this lucky, and in typical eddie cynicism, he looks around to make sure no one is filming or waiting to pop out and laugh at him or better yet, to tell him this was all some elaborate prank, get the freak all riled up just to leave him high and dry.

The thought is quickly extinguished when you wrap your lips around the head of his cock, gently sucking before you're removing your soft, pillowy muscles that are now coated in his precum, you alluringly flick your tongue across them gathering it all, just to get a good taste of him. His soul just about leaves his body and you've barely even started.

You take him back into your mouth, but this time without mercy as you relax your throat, slowly moving down inch by delicious inch as you try not to gag, his tip now bullying your uvula like his own personal punching bag.

“Oh, oh fuck, please. I-I…” He stammers as his hands flex and clench beside him, too afraid to run his fingers through your hair like he so badly wants to.

You fuck his aching cock into your throat, bobbing your head up and down, over and over before you’re popping off of him, placing a sweet kiss to his tip then standing back up onto your feet, your knees burning from the pressure that was placed on them, red indents now take their place leaving very little mystery as to what you’ve just done.

“I need your cock so bad Eddie.” You moan into his mouth before kissing him, it’s deep and needy and you never want to kiss anyone else like this for as long as you live.

“Use me, please. J-just fuck, just use me pretty girl.” Eddie whimpers, before he begins attacking your neck, sucking hard before soothing the skin with his tongue. You couldn’t care less if he leaves marks, in fact you want him to mark you up, make you his.

You thread your hand into his still damp hair, pushing him closer as he begins to suck at a particularly sensitive spot, just below your ear.

Eddie places one last tender kiss there, before he removes his face from your neck. He confidently lifts the hem of your dress up and over the tops of your thighs, exposing your slick soaked, red panties. The metalhead swipes a finger over the thin, lace fabric that clings to your hips.

“Can I take these off?” He asks as his eyes continue to bore into the growing wet patch in the center of your covered slit.

“Mhm.” A high pitch whine escapes from the depths of your throat at how harshly he tore them off from between your legs. Needy boy.

“Fuckin’ aye.” Eddie murmurs to himself at the sight of your glistening cunt right in front of him, so pretty and wet just for him. He wanted to run his fingers through the damp, trimmed coils on your mound but quickly decided against it, he didn’t want you thinking that was weird.

“H-have you ever seen a pussy before?” You chirp up, bashful as you grab his hand and move it towards your soaked slit.

He clears his throat before answering- “just in magazines.” He admits as his cheeks tinge a pretty shade of pink.

He’s embarrassed by his revelation, but you can’t help but think that’s the hottest thing you’ve ever heard.

You work his fingers through your slit, rubbing at your own clit with his hand and it all just fuels that fire growing deep in your belly.

“Oh!” You moan as your eyes gently roll back, you swipe his finger through your wetness again, “you feel that? Feel how wet you make me Ed’s?” You whisper as your eyes now hold his.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful! I-I need to fuck you or im gonna cum. You can’t just talk to me like that, princess.” He mutters as he loses all resolve, not that he had much to begin with.

“Yes, sir.” You whisper into his ear before you’re placing a gentle kiss there. You turn around, hand grabbing onto his still hard cock, you lower yourself into his lap, pink tip already prodding at your hole as your back becomes flush with his chest, you lay your head back against his shoulder and burrow it into his neck, both of you moaning in unison as you sink onto him, slowly.

He’s so big it’s like he's ripping you in half, but you welcome the burn. The pleasure and pain of it all makes your cunt drip even more, further creating less pain and a whole lot more pleasure.

“Mmf.” Eddie moans into the side of your face, as you’re finally seated flush in his lap, cock buried deep inside your aching pussy, you clench around the intrusion, making Eddie gasp and whine.

You smile back at him before you’re doing it again.

“Fuck, do you want this to be over before it starts? Huh?” He says threw his teeth, as he grabs your chin to reprimand you. And you want nothing more than to play further into that dynamic.

Andy was a shit lay compared to this, Eddie Munson a virgin is fucking you better than your ex, and if that doesn’t speak volumes as to how the relationship was. The thought makes you feel stupid.

Before you can fester anymore on your dumb mistake, Eddie begins to fuck up into you, all his patience seeping through the air vents that you now realize are on and blowing, creating a chill throughout the room and goosebumps to trickle over your body.

His big hands grab at your waist, roughly bouncing you up and down on his cock as he follows the same rhythm. You’re both moaning into each other's mouths as you bring your hand to the nape of his neck and holding on, as you get absolutely railed in the boys locker room.

Not only is the location turning you on but the thought of being caught by anyone, especially Andy, has got your cunt dripping and making a mess of the metalheads balls.

“Shit, you’re so wet and warm and so fucking tight, baby.” Eddie huffs as his words begin to spill out with no filter, theres no fucking way he can think about what he’s saying before he says it with you clenching around him like that.

“I remember the first time I fucked my fist thinking about you; you wore that little jean skirt with those fucking red cowboy boots a-and the tightest little white shirt, I could see your nipples perfectly. Didn't even bother to wear a bra, just wanted everyone to see, didnt you? Mmm, bad girl.” He starts his confession out whiney and whimpering until he gets to the bad girl with a growl and an extra hard snap of his hips that make your eyes cross in complete carnal delight.

“That’s so fu-ucking hot that you think about me when you jack off, fuck.” You stutter as your body continues to be used as Eddie’s personal little fuck toy.

“Yeah? But I don’t have to do that anymore do I? You’re gonna let me fuck this tight little cunt whenever I want, aren’t you baby?” The confident rasp in his voice is a complete 360 to the awkward, innocent boy he was just seconds ago. But, the way your pussy tightens around him tells him you fucking love it, so he files that information away for next time.

“Yes, yes whenever you want Eddie!” You wail as your legs begin to shake, your cunt clenching around him as your nails dig into his thighs that continue to slap up into the backs of yours. The sounds were filthy, but they egged you both on as your highs so quickly approached.

“Ed- I’m cumming, oh my god!” You sob, fully convinced someone has had to have heard you both by now. But you don’t care, how could you when the most intense pleasure was coursing through your body, turning you into a twitching mess.

“Fuck, me too baby, wher-” He doesnt even get to finish, before you’re begging him to cum inside you. Of course he obliges, eyes rolling back into his head and cock throbbing as his heavy load shoots deep inside you.

“Goddammit.” He whispers into your neck after you've both come down from your panting highs. The breath he exhales tickles you, making you giggle. His arms wrap around your front, holding you tightly before burrowing his head deeper into the skin between your jaw and clavicle, he blows a raspberry and you can't help the shriek that leaves your mouth as he continues to tease you.

“So, you want help getting those pictures back?”

#eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie x y/n #eddie x you #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fanfic #eddie stranger things #eddie x fem!reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fan fiction #virgin eddie munson

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drchucktingle · 1 year

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tingleverse lore: tingle types

recent post on the four tingler types has got buds talkin about TINGLEVERSE LORE so i thought it would be nice time to talk on the ways of dinosaur, unicorn, bigfoot and living object, since there are some new buckaroos who are just jumpin in the tingleverse deep end OK HERE GOES

four tingle types is not something chuck just now made up it has been that way since beginning. anyway theres several layers of reality in infinite stack and the EROTIC TINGLEVERSE is a group of CLOSE layers (outside these layers is THE VOID but we dont need to talk on right now)

the HORROR TINGLEVERSE is part of the same stack but farther away. it is a separate group of layers with a few similarities to erotica layers (mainly dealing with THE VOID and the consequences of weaving timeline layers) but otherwise a different space within tingleverse stack

anyway back to the erotic layer. the thing that makes these layers unique from our own is the incursion of four sentient species which are the ones listed. i will now go over what each group encompasses because it might not be what you think

first of all, DINOSAURS is not just reptilian creatures it also means ancient mammals (sabertooths and mammoths) and even prehistoric squids and sharks

next is BIGFEET. in the tingleverse bigfeet are a broad species that also includes mothmen and jersey devils and some other cryptids. this is discussed in the the books they are featured in in more detail

UNICORNS are next. unicorns are pretty much just unicorns what the heck can i say. of all the creatures inhabiting the tingleverse they have the least variety but the most beautiful mane and i think thats worth something

last is LIVING OBJECT which a lot of buds seemed confused by in quiz. in the tingleverse, living abstracts concepts fall into the living object category because once they physically manifest they BECOME a living object. so thoughts and ideas that are sentient are living objects

LIVING OBJECT is the most broad group because it can encompass ALL THINGS. it is also the most existential of the species as i think some buckaroos discovered on the TINGLE TYPE test.

i suppose i should put link to the test here also if you do not believe this has been master plan for nearly a decade of worldbuilding rules here is an old shirt with the tingle types on it. one of first shirts chuck ever made

alright buds hope you enjoyed this tingleverse lesson. LOVE IS REAL

#tingleverse lore #love is real #unicorn #bigfoot #dinosaur #living object #buckaroo lifestyle

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a-silent-symphony · 4 days

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Nightwish: “The whole theme of the album is time, history, humanism, mortality. It’s really optimistic”

Tuomas Holopainen gives us the lowdown on everything you need to know about the hopeful new Nightwish album, Yesterwynde…

In the four years since their last album, Finnish symphonic metal titans Nightwish have been through much change, challenge and uncertainty. And that's without the pandemic kicking the legs out from underneath a year's worth of touring plans for 2020's HVMAN. :||: NATVRE a month after it came out.

First, in December of that year, longtime bassist and vocalist Marko Hietala announced that he was leaving the band. In October 2022, singer Floor Jansen revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and successfully underwent surgery.

Then last year, they dropped a worrying newsbomb, announcing that upon completion of their then-current touring duties – which had included a mammoth show at Wembley – they weren't going to be booking any more gigs for an unspecified period of time. Including, they confirmed, even when a new album came.

“After the planned shows for June 2023 we will be ‘hanging up our spurs’ for an indeterminate time, as far as live concert performances go, and won’t be touring the next album," they wrote in a statement. “The reasons for this decision are personal, but, we all agree, vital to the wellbeing and future of the band. Be assured that we still love working together, and this decision has nothing to do with Floor’s pregnancy or our other individual projects."

They did, however promise new music. True to their word, they've just announced that in September they'll release their 10th album, Yesterwynde. A record immediately more heavy than its predecessor, it's also one that sounds refreshed, vital, optimistic.

"Yes, that's definitely a word you could use for it," says keyboardist and composer Tuomas Holopainen when we catch up with him in Berlin to get the skinny. "The whole theme of the album is time, history, humanism, mortality. And it has a really optimistic vibe going through it all."

The first track, Perfume Of The Timeless, arrives on May 21. Ahead of all that, we sat down with Tuomas to get the first look at Nightwish's next chapter…

You’ve been working on the album for ages. When did you start, exactly? “I started writing it in January 2021. It was the second year of pandemic. I wasn't supposed to start writing songs for this album yet, but there was nothing else to do because of COVID, so I thought I might as well use the time for it. So I used all of 2021 to do that. Then in early ’22, we did a demo with just me and the engineer, and had a listen to the demo with the whole band for the first time in May ’22, during our American tour. It’s always a really exciting moment to present the new songs to the band. And terrifying, to be honest!

“Then we started recording it last August, and it took a few months to record. And after that, four and a half months of mixing, and a few mastering sessions. And now here we are. And we're still working with the atmos mixes – there's going to be an atmospheric mix of the album and the orchestral version of the album.”

That’s not long after HVMAN. :||: NATVRE came out. Were you doing it with the hard intention of writing a full album, or were you just initially doing something just to pass time? “For some reason, I just felt really inspired. I felt like it was the perfect time to do another Nightwish album. And, like I said, there was nothing else to do. The previous album, HVMAN. :||: NATVRE was released in April 2020, about a month after the COVID lockdowns started, so tough luck there! It was frustrating, but as always, you have to try to look at the bright side of things. I thought, ‘Okay, maybe this album, now people can listen to it in peace. They have nothing else to do, either. Maybe it brings them some hope and comfort during the dark times.’ So you always have to turn things an optimistic way.”

This is a lot more of a metal album than the last one. Was that a conscious thing? “That just happened. We never, ever think about this stuff in advance, like, ‘Let's make a heavier album.’ It's just the stories need to be told in a certain way. And this time, they needed to be told in this way. And it's really interesting that you should say that, because there were two journalists yesterday who said, ‘I was expecting something much more metal. This is a really mellow album.’ Really? Okay, I don't hear it that way. But it's all in the listener’s ear, I guess.”

The first single, Perfume Of The Timeless, is nearly 10 minutes long. Not exactly easing people in, are you? “No! But, when we had the first meeting with Nuclear Blast, talking about the new album and singles, I told them, the first single will be a song called Perfume Of The Timeless, and it's eight-and-a-half minutes long, and the chorus comes in at 3:30. And they were like, ‘Perfect!’ I think that has to do with the fact that we have a long legacy. You know, we can do whatever we want, and I do, but it says something that we can do that, when I heard that for Spotify it’s good to have the vocals start after 15 seconds, or people skip it, they don’t have the attention span anymore.”

What does the title, Yesterwynde, mean? “It’s a made-up word. There's this thing called The Dictionary Of Obscure Sorrows. It gave me the idea that if you don't have an English word to describe a certain emotion, you can just make your own. This particular dictionary is dedicated to that, like, the feeling of longing for a place that you have never been in. What is that feeling? And it was something weird, I can remember. And this album was born from a certain sensation that I felt really strongly, but I couldn't find a word in human language to describe it. So I started to talk with Troy [Donockley, multi-instrumentalist] and said, ‘Should we come up with a new word? Does that make any sense to you?’ And he's like, ‘Yeah, that's a brilliant idea. What did you have in mind?’ It was something like time, memories going black and white, sepia, and I said, ‘something yesterday’. Then he said, ‘How about Yesterwynde?’ That's perfect! But yeah, it's just a made up word to describe what the album is about."

A sense of longing? "Not so much longing as realising what time is all about. Realising that there is such a thing as time and past and history. The internet and YouTube is full of these old black-and-white images, and even video clips, that you first see in black-and-white, and then they have been coloured. Have you seen those? That's the effect that I get at the moment. It's like it's coming from an other dimension, these are black-and-white images, then you colour it, and it's right there, as if it was filmed yesterday. Something happens in my mind when I see those. I thought, 'This has to be put into a song or into an album somehow.' Suddenly, you feel so connected to the past generations, and those people that you see in those images. They've all had their lives, their ups and downs, and they don't exist anymore, except as atoms scattered all over the universe. And we're going to be in that state pretty soon as well. So that should give you something to think about."

Are you just worried about getting older? "Not at all – on the contrary (laughs). But they are the ultimate cliche of: seize the day. That's something that I think about more and more. We're all going to be dead soon. It's just a matter of what you're gonna do before that."

That's a very positive outlook. You can hear that in the record. There's an enthusiasm, rather than a sense of bleakness or defeat… "Yes! Spot on! People often ask, 'Where do you get the inspiration?' Well, just look at this world, look at everything's that happening. Look at the sky, the scientific innovations. History is so full of stories that are just a bottomless pit of inspiration. And also, especially these days, there's a lot of fear mongering going on, like end-of-the-world scenarios, which I find, let's say 'distressing', but also a bit annoying, because humankind has ceased to see the good that we have accomplished as well. There is no denying that the world is going through a horrible stage at the moment. But it's always been like that. If you go back to the Middle Ages, things were much worse. Throughout the human history, it's always been like this. But now because of fear mongering, and the media, and the authorities, whether political or religious, telling us that it's all coming to an end, we have to repent. And a lot of people buy into it, and they live miserable lives. Because of that, they forget the beauty of existence. It's an unbelievable stroke of luck, and a privilege, that we are actually alive. So you might as well enjoy it."

There's a song called The Antikythera Mechanism, which is the name of an ancient Greek device used for astronomy. You don't get many bands writing about that… "Yeah, it's considered today to be the first analogue computer made by mankind. So, imagine that 2,200 years ago, in ancient Greece, they were able to build a computer. It just blew my mind when I read about this machine in a science magazine, and I thought that the world needs to know about this. Well, now everybody knows because of the new Indiana Jones film, because that's also about this particular mechanism. But yeah, it had to be done into a song.

"I was just thinking that humankind was so advanced back in those days that were able to build a machine like this. What happened? What if religions hadn't happened, or the burning of The Library Of Alexandria hadn't happened, where would mankind be today? Maybe we would be living all across the solar system already. Who knows?"

Again, it feels like there's still a very positive outlook there in the music, rather than moaning that it's all gone wrong. "I think it comes down to the word 'imagination', which is the biggest strength that we have as human species, compared to the other lower species. We like to imagine things, imagine things that might be better on the other side of the fence and things we will never have. But also imagination takes us to huge innovations. So it's a really good thing.

"The ancient Greeks did that with their computer. They started to imagine, 'Is there a way to predict those solar eclipses or star constellations moving? I bet there is, let's start building this machine.' So it all started from the imagining. It's similar with creating any art or music. Could there be a way to tell a story through music? I do that a lot. There's a song on the album called The Children Of 'Ata, which is a wonderful story of these kids on a deserted island and surviving there for 15 months. I heard the story and thought, 'There has to be a way to put this into music.'

"It's a crazy story, from not that long ago, 1965. I think some of the kids are still alive. It's important to tell these stories, because it really did happen. And maybe it can change the human perspective of the concept that if you take a bunch of people and put them into an isolated place for a certain period of time, they become savages. But this is proof that that's not the case. So they are a perfect example that humankind has hope."

This is your first album since Century Child in 2002 without Marko Hietala. Did that change your approach to writing? “No, it doesn’t really change anything, except that now we had two voices instead of three, only Floor and Troy. But that's it – it really didn't change much at all. And Jukka [Koskinen], the new bass player, is such a grounding personality that it's so easy to work with him. And his bass playing skills are tremendous, quite different from how Marko played the bass, which also brought a new spice into the music. So nothing but positive things to say about it all.

“There are many bands in the world that don't have a single original member anymore. And I think it comes down to the fact that if the music is good, then that's all that matters, in the end. Maybe for some people, certain bands are so holy that they can stand if they don't have certain members in it, even though the music would be good, but I don't really think like that. I just listen to the music, not the personnel behind it. That's all that matters to me.”

Similarly, does it feel weird to be talking about an album that, for the first time, you won’t be going out to tour? “No, it doesn't feel weird. It just feels right. But people shouldn't get worried. It's not the end of the band. We just signed a multi-record deal with Nuclear Blast, so there will be more music coming, definitely. But as far as shows, we're just gonna have a long breather now and see what happens. That's all I can say at the moment. We got our fair share in 2022 and 2023 when we did a lot of shows. So that helped.”

Yesterwynde will be released on September 20 via Nuclear Blast

#nightwish #tuomas holopainen #Yesterwynde #perfume of the timeless #2024 interviews

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extinctionstories · 11 months

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What do you think of companies like colossal, who are working to bring back the mammoth and thylacine, among others? I’m on their email newsletter list because I’m fascinated and feel the need to keep up with their progress but will it ever actually happen? I’m not convinced. Hopeful, but not convinced

Thanks for the ask! I hope you don’t mind if I ramble a bit, haha; as with all extinction stories, this is something that I have a lot of feelings about.

For as long as I can remember, the various Mammoth People have been making announcements like clockwork that we “will have a live mammoth within ten years!” The first time I heard it was, oh, about twenty-five years ago.

Back then, the plan was to clone directly from permafrost tissue; my understanding is that now the strategy has shifted to gene-editing an elephant to make it into a mammoth. I’ve also heard similar ideas thrown around about trying to make a thylacine out of a numbat or Tasmanian devil, or a Dodo from a Nicobar pigeon. At that point, I have to wonder what the point of it all is?

Professedly, we want to bring these animals back in order to heal the wounds we have left in the web of life. To have them step back into their places, as though they had never left. But how could a genetically-modified numbat or elephant ever fill such bespoke shoes? Even if we were capable of it, how would we even begin to “program” the instincts and behaviors of animals of which we know so little?

Do we, instead, simply want the satisfaction of seeing a lost animal standing in front of us (or at least, something that looks like one)? Anyone who loves extinct species is familiar with the hunger for photos, videos, sound recordings—anything, to see them. Will we be happy if science can present us with the living, breathing equivalent of a museum’s goose-feathered imitation Dodo? A Disneyland sort of creature, like Franklin Dove’s unicorns, with no natural place outside of some big budget exhibition?

(Has the existence of rebred Tarpans and Heck Cattle soothed the ache we feel when we look at cave paintings of ancient horses and bulls?)

Personally, I would jump at the chance to see an extinct animal be alive again, in any form or capacity. Even just seeing a realistic CGI reconstruction of a passenger pigeon flock, or a Steller’s sea cow, would absolutely thrill me. Selfishly, I can admit that I do just want to see them—to have that lost experience of knowing what it was like to look at these lost creatures. As long as I feel that way, I can’t judge de-extinction efforts too harshly.

The fact is, though, that DNA is much more fragile and complicated that anyone could have guessed during the first heady days of Jurassic Park.

When Celia, the last living bucardo died, the effort to clone her was already in progress. The team had so many factors on their side: tissue samples collected while Celia was still alive; an ideal proxy species to carry the cloned offspring; a thorough understanding of the biology and reproductive mechanisms of goats. It was as close to an ideal situation as could be hoped for. Nearly 300 embryos were created; a single one survived to term. That clone died minutes after birth, due to a malformation of her lungs, giving the bucardo the rare distinction of being the only animal to go extinct twice.

And that’s not even getting into the problems presented by the theoretical cloning of egg-laying animals (which also represent the majority of extinct species).

Technology progresses in ways we could never imagine. One day, I’m sure the things that these groups promise will be possible, and more; we’ll discover the cure for cancer, and the cure for regret. For the time being, though, de-extinction is a self-indulgent distraction. It’s attention-getting clickbait, at the expense of animals that are still here to save—a plan to raise the crumbling hulk of the Titanic, while ignoring a thousand other ships sinking around us without a lifeline.

I know some of the companies involved do state that they intend to use their discoveries and funding to benefit extant endangered species, but I don’t think it undoes the damage that is done every time a website runs a headline like, “This Company Is Bringing Back the Dodo by 2030!”. It all erodes the gravity of extinction in a way that greatly concerns me. The more times a person sees de-extinction presented as a simple, achievable matter, the closer they will come to the conclusion that, well, extinction isn’t forever. And if the loss of a species can be so easily reversed, then why should anyone be overly concerned about its prevention?

#extinction #from the storyteller

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why-so-serious-lucifer · 6 months

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K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Red Velvet (Part TWO)

A Disclaimer: I was planning, when I first started Tumblr, to be a lurker, but then I began an office job and needed something to listen to to keep myself occupied. And then, I started going through entire K-pop groups’ repertoires, album by album, and jotting down my thoughts. And then, I stumbled into K-pop tumblr and decided, you know what, there’s at least four people on this hell site who would read in depth rants about these discographies and at least five who wouldn’t read it and then get mad because it’s kind of our job as K-pop fans. My lukewarm takes should be taken with an entire silo of salt and the knowledge that this is completely for fun and occupying my very bored, very neurodivergent brain. All this to say, for the love of god, I’m a sleep-deprived student and I don’t have time for internet hate, so don’t kill me. With that being said, enjoy!

Here are my credentials: Red Velvet was the first k-pop group I ever loved, even though Blackpink was really my introduction. I became a ReVeLuv in 2019, because of Russian Roulette, and I’ve been a fan since, including of the members’ solo careers (Wendy in particular). But as I’ve gotten more into k-pop and since they come back so infrequently, I haven’t really been keeping up with them and I feel like I’m less of a fan than I once was. So, I’m super excited for their comeback on the 13th (especially with a full album!) and I’m hoping that through this deep dive, I’ll fall back in love just in time for the new album.

This is Part Two of the review, and we left off just before another famous summer comeback in Power Up. Right away, Power Up feels like an interesting combination of Red Flavor’s warm excitement and Ice Cream Cake’s high bubbliness. It’s unusual for their music, because despite its bursts of aegyo in its choruses, it also has more subdued moments in the verses to breathe. I confess that for me, it doesn’t balance quite enough and I find that the song just feels immature and shrill, rather than Red Flavor’s good mix of youthfulness and wistfulness. It’s not for me, but it’s not a bad song.

From the Summer Magic EP, it was hard to choose a hidden gem. Blue Lemonade has a delightfully fizzy feeling with its popping, while Hit That Drum has (unsurprisingly) a great driving beat and a smash of a bridge / last chorus, and Mr. E’s “abracadabra” refrain remains stuck in my head.

#Cookie Jar and SAPPY are both Japanese releases, so I won’t spend long on them, but suffice to say I do like them both. SAPPY is a touch too bubbly for me, but it mixes its R & B and pop better than Power Up, but #Cookie Jar (despite the silly title), is actually a pretty good balance and very catchy.

Really Bad Boy immediately introduces itself as a little bit strange with Joy’s 1,2,5! countoff. With all my ranting and raving in past reviews about how much I hate empty, chanty choruses, I’m sure everyone’s expecting me to rip this one to shreds. But I’m actually not going to. A little bit of excellent harmonizing and background vocalizing goes a long way, and there’s not much harmonizing better than that in RBB. Red Velvet’s voices really are doing the heavy lifting here, but that’s really what sets it apart from all those songs I’ve complained about. It may be a little hard to take seriously, but just like War Of Hormone of BTS, it’s a pretty good time if you suspend your disbelief, throw up your hands, and have as much fun as the people singing it.

From the RBB mini-album, Butterflies was a standout for me. Like the best of RV’s b-sides, it zings along with a delightfully breezy feeling and some great slowly rising vocals to complete the sound. Shoutout also to the interesting vocal fry in Sassy Me and the playful back-and-forth vocals in Taste.

RV’s 2019 work is divided into three EPs, each with its own title track, that together form one mammoth album: the ReVe Festival. Zimzalabim is the first single, and is infamous both amongst ReVeLuvs and other k-pop stans alike. While other RV titles have been odd, this song takes it to a whole other level, like Rookie’s insanity on steroids. There are parts that work (like the na na na na na higher in the pre-chorus), but many more that don’t, and, just like with Rookie, we’re left with a song that has good ideas and good parts, but needed a few more drafts and way more editing. “Are you ready for this?” Wendy asks at the beginning. Well, apparently not.

From part one of the ReVe Festival, I liked both the calming, slightly reggae-inspired Sunny Side Up (because who doesn’t love terrible puns?) and the drum-line heavy, quick-footed Bing Bing, which, despite much of it being nonsense vocalizations, is very catchy and will have you dancing before the first chorus.

Umpah Umpah is often overshadowed in the ReVe Festival, due to the craziness that comes before and the that comes after (we’ll get to that), but it’s actually my favorite of the three songs. On first listen, I didn’t appreciate its humor, odd lyrics, and 60’s-at-the-beach vibes, but after learning that it’s actually a special track marking their 5th anniversary, it grew on me. I especially like the background vocalizations that round it out beautifully and the way-too-short acapella section at the beginning of the last chorus because it was probably my favorite part of the song. It’s really a celebration of their friendship and how far they’ve come, and I’ve never been able to resist songs that wear their heart on their sleeve.

Just as Umpah Umpah is my favorite of the three titles, the ReVe Festival Part Two is my favorite of the three mini-albums (and one of my favorite RV albums in general). I found it quite difficult to choose between the carnival-meets-doo-wop of Love Is The Way, the brisk chantiness of Carpool, and the feel-good girl power disco of Ladies’ Night. But the other songs are great too.

Despite the popularity of the many titles mentioned before, none come close to the almost inescapable fame that Psycho reached internationally. From the first whispered accusation “psycho” and the swirling electronic background meeting the delicate strings, it has this creeping unsettling feeling that never quotes goes away—which makes sense, given that it’s a song about a toxic relationship. While I do like this song, I think it’s not surprising that it doesn’t live up to the insane amount of hype it recieves, because really, how could it? It is what it is, and it does what it sets out to do well, but in such a strong discography, it’s just a footnote.

From the last part of the ReVe Festival, my favorite was definitely the jazzy, bluesy La Rouge, which I wish could’ve gotten a special music video like Be Natural or Automatic, because it’s definitely at that same level. I know I’ve mentioned the harmonizing in nearly every b-side but it’s just so good that, well, how could I not? The vocals are at some of their most refined here, oscillating between drawn-out and self-assured and gently emotional, giving the song much-needed layers.

Soon after Psycho’s release, Wendy suffered a terrible stage accident that injured her hip, jawbone, and wrist, and, needing time in order to recover, Red Velvet went on hiatus for almost two years, before returning with Queendom in late summer 2021. Because of when I became a fan, this was the first RV comeback I saw in real time, so I fully acknowledge the rose-colored glasses I’m looking at it through. It’s a basic pop song, and I’m not going to champion it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but it does get me bopping my head. It’s got the bones of another of their classics, but none of its strongest moments are pushed quite far enough.

From the Queendom EP, I had two hidden gems. Pose, despite what in lesser hands would immediately make me classify it as an anti-drop, is actually my favorite, and the combination of self-assured sing talk and exuberant singing really works for me. Knock On Wood is a calmer R & B b-side, and like many of their Velvet tracks, it’s nothing incredible, but their voices elevate it to great. That post-chorus is a highlight too.

Feel My Rhythm is the 1st single from the ReVe Festival’s 2022 counterpart, and is honestly one of my favorites. The song is lovely, weaving in a classical background and samples of twittering birds and running water to truly establish a calm feeling. The song bursts with life, but a more refined, almost mature version of it compared to Red Flavor’s bombast. The title “Feel My Rhythm” may create the image of a very dancy, upbeat song, but in truth, it’s more like the quiet beauty of an Oh My Girl track than that. Also, the MV is just really pretty, with its moving impressionist paintings, while keeping some of that signature Red Velvet strangeness.

From the mini-album, though I did like both Bamboleo and Rainbow Halo, In My Dreams was my clear standout. That chorus is the stuff of legends: the way it rushes back and forth from quiet to loud, the way the voices blend in such a stunning way, and the way it combines its driving emotion and the beautiful elegance swirling around it. Perfection.

Birthday is the single from the 2nd part of the ReVe Festival 2022. After how much I liked the 1st part, I wish I could say I liked this one too. Unfortunately, I think that despite a few standout moments (like the pre-chorus), I have no idea what on earth SM Entertainment was thinking. This song isn’t “bad”, in the way of Rookie or Zimzalabim, where, despite not being for me, I can at least respect what they were going for. Instead, it sounds nothing like an RV song, and just rumbles around in bizarre, uncharismatic sing-talk that does a disservice to such great vocals. The girls do their best but even they can’t save this one, because every time I hear this song I just wonder who mixed up the tracks for Red Velvet and NCT 127. I also think that the accompanying EP is one of their weakest, and I don’t have a hidden gem for it.

Red Velvet just came back today (the 13th, as I’m writing this) with their third full album (finally!!) and the title track Chill Kill begins with the kind of creeping yet lovely string-accompanied verse that I wish Psycho had. I was worried that we’d get a repeat of Birthday but thankfully I needn’t have worried. The chorus bounces with horrid delight in alt-pop perfection while the girls cover up a murder in the background (as one does). The bridge, meanwhile, culminates in a 3rd gen trademark high note as a house burns to the ground, the girls dance in front of the police pursuing them, and face their fate together in a surprisingly touching show of sisterhood. I couldn’t have asked for a better single; it’s that more vocal focused and emotionally driven Peek-A-Boo that I always wished for.

The album, Chill Kill, is just as strong, harkening back to the Red Velvet I loved back in The Perfect Velvet. It was difficult to pick a hidden gem, as I loved the cathartic high part and scratchy strings in Knock Knock (Who’s There?), the surprisingly video game like chorus in Will I Ever See You Again, the catchy yet gentle comfort in Nightmare, and the slowly rising a-capella in Wings that encourages the listener to be a brave butterfly no matter what the world says.

My Top 5 songs by Red Velvet are One Of These Nights, Russian Roulette, Umpah Umpah, Dumb Dumb, and You Better Know, with In My Dreams and Peek-A-Boo as honorable mentions. Red Velvet gets a 9 out of 10 from me, and I think that both that and my distance from the band can mostly be put down to the fact that while the songs themselves are almost all technically excellent, very few of them have deeper meanings than a typical b-side.

The ones that do—like One Of These Nights or Umpah Umpah—are some of my favorites, but on the whole, I don’t have as deep an emotional connection to their music as I do to Dreamcatcher’s or to Seventeen’s. This is also down to the fact that Red Velvet doesn’t write any of their own songs, unlike the previous two (who write / compose some and all, respectively), and thus the members have less of an emotional connection to the music too. This isn’t a dig at Red Velvet, who are all incredibly talented, but I would love to hear more of what they have to say, like on their solos.

So, did I meet what I set out to do at the beginning and rediscover my love of Red Velvet? Well, I think I did! I’ve honestly yet to find another group like them, barring maybe SHINee, whose voices are all excellent separately but together become something far greater than the sum of their parts. I think it’s safe to say that Red Velvet will always have a special place in my heart, even if I don’t listen to them every day. No matter if they disband tomorrow or not for decades, I’m proud to call myself a ReVeLuv. I’ll be here on August 1st. 2024 for their tenth anniversary, blue lemonade in hand, and I hope you will be too.

Next time, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming with just one group a week. See you then, for a boy group. Tschüss!

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hurlingsupport · 3 days

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Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (Gender Neutral Reader Insert)

Chapter 13: Salvation

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Running through the forest at night wasn't something you planned to do, nor would you ever want to do. But after seeing that fire in the distance, you all wasted little to no time in running towards the campfire.

One after another, you each would take turns climbing up the trees to make sure you all were still heading in the right direction. Still, you had your doubts.

What if the fire was started by some dinosaurs? Of course, you don't think a dinosaur is going to pick up a match anytime soon, but maybe they knocked something flammable into a rogue spark? But even on the offset chance that's what happened, it would have made some noise. This was quiet, and quiet meant that the fire had a purpose.

So you ran, and you ran, your heart beating faster each time one of you climbed up that tree. Were you scared that the fire would disappear? Yes, definitely. Were you also scared of what you'd see if you made it to the fire? Also, yes.

The stick in your hand rubbed against your palm as you ran. Sure, a stick probably wouldn't do much against the predators on this island, but the false feeling of safety was enough for you. Plus, they took down mammoths with sticks back in the ice age, granted they were sharpened, longer, and more stable. Either way, you just held hope that you all would make it to the campfire before any predators found you. Darius's smile was bright as he climbed up the closest tree, but as he came back down, he held an expression of fear.

“The bonfire, it's gone.” He mutters, his brows pinched in dread.

“What if they left?” Sammy worries. “What if-”

“No one could have left the island that fast.” You interrupt.

“But what if they did?” She asks, clutching the stick in her hands like a lifeline.

“If we weren't able to leave the island in an hour, I doubt these people could do it in under a minute.” The words came out rather rudely, but they were meant to be reassuring.

“Alright,” Darius started. “We can't give up now. Let's try to keep going in the direction the campfire was, and-”

A growl among the dark of the jungle intercepted the boy's words. Your heart skyrocketed, and in an instant, everyone was huddling together. Briefly, you wonder how you had forgotten that you were on a dinosaur-filled island, but it didn't help to think about that now of all times. Your grip on the stick grew unsteady, your hands growing clammy with sweat.

“Could be a really big Compy, right?” Kenji whispers optimistically. “Darius, didn't you say they were creepo skylarks?”

“I said they were crepuscular.” Darius corrects him.

A snarl from behind your group has you all screaming as a Ceratosaurus pounces on you all from behind some shrubs. Some of you stumble on your feet getting away, but you all manage to get upright in time to make a run for it either way.

The roar that the carnivore emits causes your ears to ring; whether that's because of the actual power of the roar or the proximity between you and the creature, you don't really care. All that matters to you at the moment is getting away from this two meter tall dinosaur.

The green foliage leaves an itchy feeling across your face as you push through it, face hot from how fast you were running. You could feel the ground shake as the sound of thumping got closer. On one hand, you were glad you could hear the sound of the Ceratosaurus's footsteps, and on the other hand, it just made it all the more scary to hear it get closer and closer.

A different sort of thump, and a yelp following it, has you turning around from the direction you were running. Your heart skips a beat when you see Kenji hit the ground, the culprit of his fall being an outstretched branch.

A fight occurs within yourself. Would you rather live, or would you risk yourself for a rich boy? The answer comes to you when Kenji lets out a pained groan as Sammy trips over him, and the heavy footsteps of the carnivore grow closer.

Taking a sharp turn, you make a grab for the boy's shoulders, but when he stays balled up in fear, you curse.

“Kenji get up!” You order, heart pumping faster as the Ceratosaurus appears from behind the dense forest.

Instead of doing what you had in mind, the boy throws himself onto you, taking the both of you down. What he thought that would do, you had no idea. Luckily, the two of you aren't dinosaur chow just yet, as Brooklynn, Darius, and Yasmina take a stand against the dinosaur.

“Okay, come on!” Brooklynn pumps herself up, baseball bat held tightly in her hands.

As the Ceratosaurus closes in on your group, all you can hear is your own heartbeat, along with Kenji's hurried breathing against your neck. But when a red light soars across the air above the large carnivore, drawing its attention with the addition of your own, your heart beats fast for a different reason. When the red light explodes, the single-horned dinosaur growls in a mixture of pain and shock.

“Get down!” An unfamiliar voice shouts, forcefully pushing Brooklynn to the ground.

You yelp when someone grabs you, shoving you along with the boy clinging onto you behind a tree trunk. Despite your initial annoyance, you watch in wonder as multiple flares go off, exploding into an array of red sparks. The Ceratosaurus continues to whine before making a break for it, disappearing into the dense jungle it had originally appeared from.

Once the threat is gone, your eyes focus on three figures standing in front of your group. Though, it's hard to see with the smoke filling the air. Coughs rip from some of you, the smoke infiltrating your lungs. A gasp from Darius has two of the figures turning to your group on the ground.

“Oh, thank goodness. You're okay.” A woman sighs. Her mostly white clothing has you arching a brow, and her blonde hair and lipstick stained lips have you even more confused. A professional looking camera hangs from a thick strap around her neck as well. As the silence goes on, from utter shock and confusion, the random adults grow concerned.

“You are okay, aren't you?” The man next to the woman questions. His appearance is less poise, a similar white hat being worn with a half unbuttoned blue shirt. He wears a thick strap around his neck as well, an identical camera hanging from said strap.

The third member of their group, an older looking man with a ruggish appearance, walks closer. His unshaven beard and hard stare give you a sense of normalcy for whatever reason. Although having the eyes of all three adults on your group does put you on edge no matter how they look.

“Who… who are you?” Darius finally spits out.

“Well, after all that, maybe you should call us your salvation.” The bright pink sash tied around her neck draws your attention for a moment, and now you're truly wondering what these people are doing here.

With the growing daylight putting you all at ease, the ruggish man from before walks ahead of you all, cutting down the foliage to carve a path for your little clique.

“We could not believe it when we saw your campfire!” Brooklynn told the cleaner looking adults.

“Did you get left behind, too?” Yasmina asks.

Kenji barks out a laugh, shaking his head at the black-haired girl. “Not looking like that, they didn't.”

“Yeah.” Sammy agrees with a smile. “Are you, like, some super stylish rescue squad?”

“Guys, take a breath.” Darius holds his hands out to calm everyone. “We don't even know your names.”

“I'm Mitch,” the man introduces himself before gesturing towards the woman walking beside him. “and my better half here is Tiff. We're eco-tourists.”

“That's a fancy way of saying we travel to exotic places and photograph rare animals.” The woman you now know as Tiff explains.

“I know Simon Masrani.” Kenji brags. “Or… knew.”

“When we heard what happened here, we were, like, zoop!” Mitch goes on, ignoring Kenji.

“Zoop! Gotta get down here.” Tiff adds.

You watch their little display quietly, frustration growing the longer you stare at the couple.

“I was fine taking snaps of lions and tigers, but –”

“Pics of dinosaurs in the wild?” Mitch continues Tiff's thoughts. “You don't pass that up, do you, babe?”

“I guess you don't, babe.” Tiff smiles, leaning into the man.

You grimace, before asking something that had been on your mind for a bit. “So, who do you work for? Do you have an agency or something?”

The couple stared back at you in surprise, as if they had forgotten you were behind them.

“Oh,” Tiff laughs. “I mean, we do it for ourselves mostly. Seeing the world is a nice thing, isn't it?”

“Yeah.” You answer curtly, a frown tugging at your lips.

Tiff engages in an awkward staring contest with you until Brooklynn draws her attention.

“I travel, too!” Brooklynn grins. “Before we got stuck here, obvi. You've seen my videos, Brooklynn unboxes the world?”

The confused glances the couple exchanges with each other puts a strain on Brooklynn's smile.

“The web channel?”

Tiff hums before they move on from the topic without any further words. Brooklynn lets out an annoyed scoff.

“When we activated the emergency distress beacon, we hoped someone would get our signal.” Darius smiles brightly, walking backward in front of the pair. “I kind of can't believe it worked!”

“Oh, yes, the signal.” Tiff gasps, grabbing Mitch's arm. “Honey, remember when we got that? It was right after the boat dropped us off.”

A pit grows in your stomach, and you cross your arms in an attempt to stabilize yourself.

“Really?” You ask, if only to get their attention. Once their eyes are on you, you continue. “I thought 150 miles was farther than that. You must have a really bad system.”

There's a tense silence after that. Until Tiff laughs.

“Yeah, our EPIRB’s on the older side!” She smiles.

“Such a shame.” Mitch agrees.

When the aggression from the man leading you all through the jungle is finally noticed, the couple introduces the rough man as Hap, and everyone moves on from the previous conversation. Much to your annoyance.

You continue to glare at the back of their heads. Suspicion running through your veins. Their story wasn't adding up. An old EPIRB with those clothes? No way. Plus, having an old radiobeacon didn't mean their system could be that bad. They were lying. But why?

“Our camp's not much, but hopefully, you'll be okay with roughing it up with us.” Tiff's voice snaps you out of your irritated state.

Pushing past some stray leaves from where Hap had cut through, a luxurious camp greets your eyes. Not much? You can't stop yourself from rolling your eyes. You're already sick and tired of their humbleness. But to your displeasure, your peers are ever generous.

“Outta my way!” Yasmina warns before she takes off running further into the camp.

Soon after, everyone follows in her footsteps. Bursting into different tents, exploring every nook and cranny, and other things of that nature. You only follow after them because you don't want to be left alone with the suspicious adults.

Peeking into one of the tents, the sight that greets you is more lavish than you'd like to admit.

“Even the mosquito net is luxurious!” Sammy smiles.

“This is what I imagined Kenji's penthouse would be like.” Yaz comments. “But better because we aren't locked out.”

Brooklynn squeals, “I see brand names!”

“It's fine, I guess.” Kenji mutters, hands in his pockets.

You eye him for a second, still a little annoyed by his actions back when you saved him. Or, well, tried to. He doesn't seem to have any survival instincts, which would've killed the two of you if luck wasn't on your guys’ sides. You ultimately end up tuning him out once he starts going on about the formation of the yurts or something.

Soon after, Sammy discovers a stray can opener laying on the wooden table, gushing over it to Tiff. The woman takes off her hat gingerly. And with a kind smile, she directs a gaze full of pity towards your group.

“My goodness, I can't imagine how hungry you all must be! Would you like some breakfast?”

Well, one meal with these people wouldn't hurt.

“Oh, man, that's good!” Sammy says with a mouth full of toast and bacon.

Swallowing down some of his own toast, Darius continues recounting each and every tale he can think of. “After that, we escaped another dinosaur attack, and another one!”

You chew on a piece of bacon, brows furrowed in disgust as you watch Kenji lick the remains of his meal off his plate. With a sigh, you push your plate towards him. There were only eggs left on your plate, but he seemed grateful either way.

“And then we saw your bonfire…” Darius's words trail off as he shoves more toast into his mouth.

“This is like cooking back home!” Sammy compliments.

“... and you saved us from a dinosaur attack!” Darius finishes.

“So many attacks.” Yasmina mumbles.

“And here you are, after all you've been through.” Tiff says, placing her mug of coffee onto the table. “Camp destroyed, being abandoned, losing your friend…”

You go rigid for a second, nails digging into your arms. It doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter–not anymore.

“Oh!” Tiff begins fanning herself with her hand, tears brimming at her eyes.

Her display is met with surprised stares that eventually change into pitiful expressions. Perhaps it hadn't really registered in everyones’ mind just how much you all had gone through. Still, it shouldn't matter anymore. Not with these people here.

“Don't be a downer, babe.” Mitch places a hand on her shoulder, glancing towards your group with a smile. “They're with us now, and they're safe.”

With his words in mind, your group shares exhilarated smiles.

“And when our boat comes back in a couple of days–”

“After it refuels in Papagayo.” Tiff reminds her husband.

“After it refuels in Papagayo, we'll get you back to the mainland.” Mitch finishes.

“We're leaving in two days?!” Darius shouts in disbelief.

“Is this really happening?” Sammy asks, hands balled into fists from the overwhelmed anticipation.

“It is, sweetie. You're going home.”

Those words break the dam that is your guys’ excitement, and screams of glee ring out across the camp.

“Yes! Home!”

“Yeah!”

Once the laughter dies down, Mitch captures Darius's attention with some animal pictures on his camera. You watch as Kenji leans back in his chair, gazing at the two.

“The camera does the work for you.” The rich boy jabs. “I've also got a JC-1000.”

When his words are completely ignored by the pair, Kenji raises a brow in perplexity.

“Actually, I've got a JC-3000. Prototype, never been on the market–”

Kenji's jealous rant is interrupted when Darius starts asking Mitch about dinosaur shots and such. Rolling his eyes, Kenji crosses his arms in front of his chest with a frown.

“Kenji.”

The boy in question jumps, head whipping towards you.

“Do you actually have those cameras?” You ask, not really because you're interested, but because he's acting just pitiful right now.

“Uh, yeah, duh. Of course I do!” He grins.

You stare at him with a deadpan expression.

“I mean, well, they're not mine. But… they basically are.” He corrects, wiping his hands on his shirt as they grow sweaty. “My dad has a company share with these camera dudes, so he gets first pick on some stuff.”

You hum, fingers tapping against your arm awkwardly.

“Are you… into cameras?” Kenji's eyes gaze at you questioningly.

“What?” Your brows furrow together at his weird suggestion.

“Wait, no, like–” Kenji stutters, eyes widening. “Do you like doing that photo stuff?”

“Oh,” you pause, taking a moment to think about it. “I used to. I did a lot of research on it and what it took to be a photographer. But I lost interest soon after.”

Kenji nods his head, hands folding in front of him. “Right. Also, thanks.”

Your eyes fall onto him, squinting as you catch an unfamiliar tint falling across his face. “You're welcome, I guess.”

Laughter from Darius and Mitch draws Kenji's attention elsewhere, and his sour mood returns.

“Looks like your dino-buddy is having fun.” He remarks.

“Yup.” You answer.

“You gonna join him?” He points a finger towards the boy.

“Nope.” You tap your plate, already missing the meal you finished not too long ago.

“So… that's a new look.” He eyes your sweater.

“Uh huh.” Your eyes wander towards Brooklynn, who holds a one-sided conversation with Hap.

“It's kinda cool.” He compliments.

“Huh?” You mutter, watching as Hap loses his temper with Brooklynn. Not that you can blame him. She can get pretty invasive. “Sorry, what'd you say, Kenji?”

His eyes are wide when you redirect your gaze towards him. “Uh, nothing.”

“...okay?” You stare at him in confusion.

“All right,” Tiff draws everyone's attention. “why don't you kids freshen up while we clear the table?” The woman gestures towards one of the yurts strewn about the camp. “It's a little primitive, sorry. In the bathroom yurt, you'll find a solar-powered shower and a heated toilet.”

Quickly chugging down her drink, Sammy grabs hold of Tiff's arm. “I love you! It's fine if you don't say it back.” Sammy then walks off before going back to grab Tiff's arm again. “Love you!”

With a giggle, Sammy waves her arms to get your guys’ attention before diving behind the yurt’s curtain.

As soon as you're all gathered with the bathroom yurt, Sammy's going on about the luxuries of the camp again.

“Pre-pasted toothbrushes? What are we, royalty?” She gasps. “Four kinds of hand cream? Eeh! Little soap peacocks!”

“Please, this is all so basic.” Kenji complains from his seat on the heated toilet. The plate with eggs resting on his legs. “If you guys had seen my penthouse–”

Brooklynn quickly shushes him, arm outstretched to further communicate the urgency she feels. “I can't prove it yet, but I think…”

She pauses, pulling the yurt curtain back just enough to peek outside. And whatever she sees obviously doesn't please her, as she forces you all into the toilet area. With yet another curtain pulled for more privacy, you all crowd around the toilet.

“...there's something going on with Hap.” Brooklynn explains, sitting on the toilet with her elbows resting on her legs. “He dodged all my questions and was really weird about the key card I found in Wu's lab.”

When Kenji prepares to dig into the eggs, Yasmina snatches the plate from his hands, placing it on a nearby ledge. Brooklynn spares an irritated glance towards the boy but ultimately continues with her theories.

“Mitch and Tiff are clueless. She's too ‘golly goodness’ to notice anything, and all he thinks about is dinosaurs!”

“What's wrong with that?” Darius asks the pink-haired girl.

“No, I…” she sighs. “I'm just saying Hap's suspicious. He's gruff, and unsmiling, and–”

“What's wrong with that?” Yasmina asks with down-turned brows.

“I don't mean…” She scoffs, regaining her composure. “Look, could Hap be involved with Mantah Corp? Am I crazy?”

Darius and Kenji share a look that screams ‘yes!’. Meanwhile, you hold a look of contemplation. You did agree that Hap was suspicious, but she was wrong about Mitch and Tiff being unaware. They obviously had a part to play, given how they downplayed every concern you threw at them. But, you're not sure if you want to speak on it.

“I mean, the Mantah Corp folks who sent me were like corporate spies, not action-man, secret-identity, pew-pew spies.” Sammy adds.

“Look, I know you've got conspiracy on the brain, Brooklynn, but forget Hap.” Darius spoke gently towards the girl. “In two days, we're going home. Let's focus on that.” He then turns towards you unexpectedly. “You too.”

“Huh?”

“You're obviously suspicious about Mitch and Tiff. You were interrogating them on the way here!” He places his hands on his hips like a scolding mother.

“No I wasn't. Those were genuine questions.” You argue, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Well keep the questions to a minimum until we're on the boat home.” He orders.

You huff, but relent either way. You didn't want to fight with Darius just because you had a bad feeling about the first adults you've seen in… What? Weeks?

“Don't worry, guys. Just in case, we'll keep our eyes open.” Sammy reassures the two of you.

And quite ironically, Sammy's eyes were currently closed as she enjoyed the massage Tiff was giving her. You quickly avert your eyes, grossed out by their actions. Sitting across from Kenji (because you refused to sit near Mitch despite Darius's orders), you lay your head in your hands.

Your group had gone a full day without sleep, and you're surprised that only you seem to be affected by it. Granted, Yasmina was lying on top of two chairs pushed together, but you didn't know if she was sleeping or resting her eyes. In your opinion, there's no true distinction between the two.

Your arm is poked once or twice, whether it's by Kenji's hand or his plate full of food, you don't really care. Especially not when your eyes are fluttering shut and the world around you is going dark.

The area around you is dark, plants and trees surrounding you from all sides. The grass is long, thin blades scratching against your pants. And you can't even see the stars with the mixture of leaves and branches hanging above you. There's the faint chirping of unknown insects, and your skin crawls as you come to the conclusion that you're all alone.

Until you're not. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps appears in the air. The unmistakable noise of grass crunching underneath shoes. And then you see him. He's all that he should be, unlike how you saw him in your last dream.

He calls your name hesitantly, as if he couldn't believe that you were present in your own dream. And despite this, you smile. You smile because his hair is brown, and his hands fidget with each other, and his fanny pack is buckled around his waist. You smile because he's looking at you, and he's alive.

“Ben.” You say softly, overcome with a sense of sorrow. “Ben, why did you leave?”

His fidgeting pauses, and his brows furrow. Mouth pulling into a grimace before turning into a smile. It's concerning, but it's Ben, so you ignore it.

“I didn't leave.” He states simply, and the crunching of grass hits your ears again. It's hard to see in the dark, but when his hands grab hold of your arms, you feel as if you can see everything. “I died.”

Your heart stops for a second before resuming its rhythm with a new speed. Clenching your fists, you shake your head. Ben's hands move from your arms to your wrists, trailing down until he's holding your hands. Gently, as if his touch was nothing but a breeze of air, he pulls your fingers away from your palms, caressing the bleeding crescents they left behind.

“I died, you know that. At least you should.” His voice is a sweet thing to hear.

“I do know.” You whisper, afraid to wake up. Afraid to open your eyes and face the reality of Ben being gone.

“Yeah, I thought so.” He brings your shaking hands to his face, breathing hot air against your icy knuckles. “Do you miss us? Me and Bumpy?”

You can't answer, not with the sobs now racking your body. His touch is so warm, so real. Why isn't it real? You try to ask, but the words die in your throat as you choke. Your face is drenched in tears, shivers falling down your spine as you try and clear your vision. You want to see him. Even if it's in a dream, you want to see him. Look in his eyes and pretend he'll be there when you wake.

The warmth spreads as his arms wrap around your taller frame, and you'd laugh if it wasn't so sad. Will you continue to grow as his body rots? Maggots eating at his flesh somewhere on this island, whilst the rest of you leave on a luxury boat? And what about Bumpy? The small little dinosaur with the big, round eyes? Will those too rot on this island? Will bugs eat her flesh, uncaring of what a sweet little thing she used to be? Why is that? How can that happen?

The tears don't stop, and you cry in misery. You cry because you can't see Ben, and you can't see Bumpy. And you know it isn't right, but you wish it was someone else. It's so selfish, but anyone else would've been better. Even if it was you. Oh god, you wish it was you. Ben was loved, and Bumpy was loved. It would've been okay if it were you. But it wasn't, and a new round of sobs escapes you as you think of that.

Your name falls from Ben's lips, and you look at him despite the tears blurring your vision. He's smiling, you realize. He's smiling, and his hands are rubbing your back in a comforting manner.

“Do you want to lay down?” He asks, as if it's the most normal thing in the world.

And, despite your initial confusion, you nod. And gentle as ever, he pulls you downwards. First, into a sitting position, before you're both laying in the grass. The green blades tickle your cheek, and you're weary of the bugs hiding within the green mass. However, one look at Ben's smile, and your mind is pulled away from those thoughts.

“Are we friends?” He asks quietly, eyes half-lidded in relaxation. Is that how he felt in reality, too? Was he relieved now that he didn't have to worry about dinosaurs anymore?

“Of course.” You answer, clasping his hands in your own. They're not cold like last time. You hope they're never cold again. His legs are tangled in yours, and you find it all so wonderful. Even though your skin is growing clammy.

“Then, can I tell you something?” His smile widens, and you find yourself following his actions. It's so cold, but his warmth makes it bearable.

“Yeah.” You murmur, leaning in close as he cups a hand around his mouth. You feel something crawling within your skin, eating away at the flesh within. But despite that, you keep your gaze locked on his smile.

“You're selfish.” He whispers.

A maggot escapes your fleshy prison, and then there's another, and another. Your hands no longer hold onto his, and now his warmth can do nothing to help you. And you smile, as does he. His brown hair intertwined with the green grass, eyes swirling with an emotion you don't have the words to describe. And throughout all of this, something resembling a smile stays stuck on your torn flesh.

“I know.”

#gender neutral reader #reader insert #x reader #jurassic world camp cretaceous #camp cretaceous #jurassic world

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lsdunesarchive · 9 months

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L.S. Dunes On A Year Of Collaboration, Community, And Venturing Beyond The Realms Of A ‘Supergroup’

Words by Maddy Howell Photo by Kevin Estrada August 8, 2023

Frank Iero and Travis Stever reflect on the genesis of the project, the creative lifeline it provided and the current honeymoon period that suggests the best is yet to come.

With the entire live music industry shut down in the midst of a global pandemic, starting a band may not have sounded like the best idea back in 2020.

As all touring plans ground to a halt and inspiration became limited to the confines of four walls, for many creatives it would have taken something truly special to defy the stagnation that thrived in such darkness – but as luck would have it, that’s exactly how the story of L.S. Dunes begins.

Starting out life as a group chat between long-term friends during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, L.S. Dunes was born from a sheer desire to create and a refusal to succumb to nature’s obstacles. Over the last year three years though, it’s blossomed into something much more powerful than any of its members could have imagined.

“In the beginning, it was a big lifeline,” guitarist Frank Iero starts.

“Our industry was one of the first ones to go and the last to come back, but this band gave us hope. It gave me the ability to be creative in a world that was virtually void of all creativity, and at a time that we were all struggling. Most of us had tours booked, and we were ready to go when the pandemic happened, so when we came home the darkness began creeping in. This gave us a light at the end of that tunnel.”

Creatively starved and writing remotely with no expectations, it wasn’t long before the five-piece realised this was more than just a lockdown project to stave off their boredom, and by the time the first demo was finished – they knew they had something special.

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Embracing a healthy competitive spirit and challenging one another to step outside their comfort zones whilst adding their own unique mark to each track, the creative freedom saw them venturing into new realms of prog-rock, post-hardcore, and emo. As more and more ideas came together, it wasn’t long before a debut album had formed, and with ‘Past Lives’ – L.S. Dunes was truly born.

“I was so excited for people to hear the record because I loved it so much. However, there were those thoughts creeping in before the release like, ‘Are we crazy? Have we been locked up for too long?’,” Frank laughs.

“I had moments where I’d be tearing up listening to the record because I was so proud, but then I’d stop and be like, ‘Wait a minute, this is insane!’,” guitarist Travis Stever adds.

“We had to remember not to put too much weight on how people would perceive it. If you’re making art, it’s hard not to do that, but we were very lucky in that sense.”

With a star-studded line up also featuring Anthony Green (Circa Survive, Saosin) along with Tucker Rule and Tim Payne (Thursday), after the surprise single drop of ‘Permanent Rebellion’ ignited the internet in late August 2022, anticipation for a debut show was at an all-time high.

Having only practiced in the same room as one another on two occasions prior, a performance at Chicago’s Riot Fest was a bold move for show number one – especially with Frank pulling double duty with My Chemical Romance headlining the night – but at Douglass Park on September 16th, L.S. Dunes took to the stage for the first time.

“It was beyond what any of us expected. We were getting ready to go out there thinking, ‘If there are a few hundred people out there, that’s cool!’,” Travis laughs.

“All of a sudden, we got on stage, and even though we only had one song out – people knew every fucking word to that song. It was exciting to watch them hang onto every other melody we were playing too. It was pretty mind blowing.”

“It’s certainly the biggest first show I’ve ever played with a band!” Frank smirks.

A mammoth debut show that could arguably have gone one of two ways, L.S. Dunes’ landmark set filled up the tank and left its five members itching for more, rounding out the year with further shows across the US and Canada before hopping across the Atlantic for their first shows in the UK and Europe to celebrate the new year.

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A busy schedule triggered by the triumphant return of the live music industry, the last twelve months has seen L.S. Dunes balancing their duties with the responsibilities of their other respective projects, as well as fulfilling their family roles outside of music, a feat that has seemed remarkably natural for the five-piece.

“When real life came back, and we were able to go back to our respective bands and do other things… that served as testament to how much we love L.S. Dunes. It’s easy to focus your energy and creativity on something when nothing else exists, but when everything else came back we still wanted to be a part of this.” Frank explains.

“It’s like being a dad. You’re never truly prepared to have a kid, or another kid, but somehow you find a way. You find the extra love in your heart, and you find the extra time to dedicate to something that you truly care about, and that’s how it felt with this band. Schedules are difficult, but they’re not insurmountable. Anything worth doing is a little hard to do.”

Touring across the US throughout the summer, they’ve come to realise that whilst they have a deep love for this band and the journey it’s taking them on – there are thousands of strangers who love it too.

With people across the world connecting to the songs on ‘Past Lives’, as they’ve witnessed people showing up at venue doors hours before they open and shared the artwork sent to them online by talented fans, L.S. Dunes have begun fostering a passionate community of their own unique creation.

“As artists we often wonder if we’re the only ones who like what we do,” Frank explains.

“When people go out of their way to show their support, it’s a wonderful feeling, but it is a bit shocking. In the beginning, I think there were people who just wanted to see what it was about because they were fans of our other projects, but we’re treading into the territory of people just being L.S. Dunes fans. That’s an incredibly fulfilling feeling.”

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It’s how L.S. Dunes have been able to shed the ‘supergroup’ label first plastered on them upon their line-up reveal, having proved the project worthy of its own merit through the spirit of their live shows.

A constantly growing entity, new ideas have been explored within every rehearsal and practice they’ve had, and whilst finding time to record and release those ideas may be a little harder to schedule – when it happens, it’s magic.

Most recently, they headed to the desert to record two new tracks at the legendary Rancho de la Luna studio in Joshua Tree, California, with producer Alex Newport (At The Drive-In, The Mars Volta). With filmmakers Pat and Nick Demarais capturing the recording process for a documentary titled ‘Limitless Sky’, it was the first time the five of them had been able to record music whilst in the same room.

“You need to be in the room with one another to be able to hear things and respond immediately. That immediacy is lost when you’re recording remotely, and to be able to react, evolve, and change on a dime is so fun,” Frank recalls.

“The stars aligned for us with that opportunity, and it was such a fun thing to do within a group of friends. When something like that happens, it becomes a milestone within your band. It’s proof of what you can do if you set your mind to it, and I can’t wait for people to hear the other song that we did out in the desert. It’s a night and day scene – ‘Benadryl Subreddit’ is the days in the desert, and ‘Old Wounds’ is the nights spent out there.”

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As the first year of L.S. Dunes draws to a close, the five-piece find themselves in a unique position.

The product of five extraordinary musicians with extraordinary ambitions, the special qualities of each member can be heard in everything the band creates. Funnelling their individual creative inspirations into a project defined by infinite possibilities, every voice is equal, every idea is valued, and experimentation is the key to forward motion.

From the passion of their live shows to the sheer joy that radiates when they speak of their future, it’s clear that L.S. Dunes is the favourite band of everyone within its ranks. Proving that greatness can be achieved with the help of hard work, friendship, and a healthy dose of fun, with a second LP already well underway – largely written whilst on the road together – they’re showing no signs of slowing down.

“We’re working on all this new material, but the other side of it is showing that we’re taking it seriously,” Travis explains.

“You have to consistently be out doing shows and touring, and luckily, we love doing that.

“With all due respect to our other projects, this is one of the funnest bands I’ve ever been in,” Frank finishes.

“I love the camaraderie within the band, and we’re still in our honeymoon period! You can put in a lot of work with other bands, and although it’s fun, sometimes you need a little vacation – this is a vacation band for me.”

#ls dunes #l.s. dunes #m: anthony green #m: frank iero #m: tim payne #m: travis stever #m: tucker rule #lsd: 2023 #in: aug/23 #t: photo #t: video #t: text #ph: kevin estrada #misc: interview #p: knotfest #archive[ane]#‘Benadryl Subreddit’ is the days in the desert and ‘Old Wounds’ is the nights spent out there.” aight this is really cool

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thequietmanno1 · 2 months

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TheLreads, Vigilantes ch 100, Replies Part 1

1) “And today was…. Ah, right, Vigilantes. And look at that number! 100 chapters! my oh my, felt much, MUCH, longer than that, that’s for sure. “- Not so long to the finish line now…

2) “oh yeah, because they definitely don’t stand out alright

fine, I suppose that they can pass unnoticed considering that we are focusing on the fact that people are too comfortable due to hero society blah blah blah that doesn’t change the fact they aren’t subtle when causing chaos. How are you expecting people to feel divided and isolated if they are seeing the person causing the chaos and how it doesn’t even look human?”- I guess in the low lighting they assume they couldn’t make out too much of their “facial features” or assumed they wore face-obscuring equipment like balaclavas. Still, it might have been more effective to give the anonymous troops access to Nomura’s own face-shifting ability, especially since they also share the bomber parasite cells, just to sell the sense of division more.

3) “McBee your tulpa is tempting fate right at the start of the chapter, I’m not even going to blame you when All Might does show up to ruin the fun.”- Technically, if it’s part of his own mind, doesn’t that mean that it’s still Nomura tempting fate indirectly?

4) “Hey I want to see the giraffe person on the back! C'mon Furuhashi, you gave us thomas the tank engine but you’re not even going to show a simple furry?”- “checks out Mirko”. I think Horokoshi’s pulling double-duty on that front, and doing a fine job of it too.

5) “OH MY GOD EDGE KITE

C'MON I WANTED TO SEE MORE OF THAT, THAT’S SO ABSURD I LOVED IT”- An actual ninja tool for infiltration, though I guess it took some aid from Jeanest to pull off with his fibre master powers giving it a boost and a grounding line. 6) “My god man, the heroes are really falling into hard times if they weren’t even given a simple table to put their map on, and have to dramatically crouch down to make their plans

This absolutely hurts my knees just from watching”- Gonna need to do some more squats to keep the knees in line, stop them complaining.

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7) “Those damn millennials, don’t know how to act without power and internet. Back in my day if we had to call the emergency we just sent a smoke signal after hunting some mammoths.”- True, but with light pollution in a darkened night-time area, would anybody be able to see the smoke from a better-lit section of the city? Ironically, smoke is easier to make out when backlit by light. 8) “Yeah I mean, this situation is far from dire when we have a human missile that can zapt out of here and call for help in less than two minutes.”- True, but a lot can go down in less than two minutes. It’s all a matter of who moves first, and how fast the other side respond. 9) “Edge, we saw you being used a fucking kite, drop the chuunibyou attitude, there’s absolutely no way we ever will take it serious”- I dunno, Tokoyami would be all over that stuff like a pigeon at feeding time…oh, wait. 10) “Oh hey Koichi, nice to see you here. Now piss off, the grown ups are working and they still haven’t forgotten you made them circle around town the whole day long”- He tried, but Aizawa’s here to make him apologise to the nice heroes he made fools of in public, running around and evading them all day and all night. He’s trying to teach Koichi that with great skills, comes great accountability. 11) “oh my god- alright, points for koichi for actually doing what I told him to do, even if it failed miserably.”- Koichi tried to peace out, but Aizawa came here for war. 12) “…

Yeah Aizawa, sure… Absolutely sure of that… I won’t give five minutes before you have him fighting villains.”- To be fair, with the bombers attacking everybody at once, Koichi would have been mobbed with Anonymous drones regardless of where he went. 13) “Okay now that one I’d love to see Aizawa. I am not sure you have authority to do that as a hero, haven’t you seen what happened to Captain Celebrity when he used a bit too much force?”- And later in life, Aizawa would wind up mentoring a kid who’s so helpful, he breaks his own legs to spare Aizawa the effort! 14) “Yeah, thought so. You fucking tsundere.the ADHD is strong, they didn’t got two blocks away before getting sidetracked, I feel seen.”- Being a hero is merely an example of picking up every single sidequest in a videogame before you progress the main plot. Explains how All Might’s so damm OP actually, he power-grinded even the most obscure quests to reap all those hero points and put them into strength.

15) “Oh it’s McBee talking again? I hope so, because it’s funny to see him realizing that anon hate in the inbox is one of the least efficient ways of causing discord.”- Nomura realised he needed his hate statements to carry more “oomph” and figured the best way was to prepare an explosive delivery system, guaranteed to blow you away! @thelreads

#my hero academia #bnha #chapter replies #thelreads #bnha vigilantes #vigilantes 100 #Youtube

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raisedlikeaphoenix · 3 months

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Raised like a Phoenix: Chapter 9 - The Generous

It was actually really easy to find Gorzan as Cragger, Laval, the Gorilla Legend Beast, and Li’Ella headed closer and closer to his home.

They sensed his light amongst the highest branches of the very trees he loves so much. The only problem was the fact that there were mammoths standing around the very tree he was at. Just like that vulture had texted, so at least they weren’t lying.

“So much for a discrete rescue…” Laval mumbled.

The Gorilla Beast cooed in agreement.

“Okay, what's the plan?” Cragger asked them.

“We can probably knock down a tree or two as a distraction. Or to even knock them down.”

“We do need to clear out this forest since I’m pretty sure all these trees are dead. We’ll need the space to plant new ones.” G’Loona said sadly, Cragger mumbling a soft yeah.

…

Wait!

“Wha-” He almost screamed before Laval forced his snout shut. “What are you doing here?” His best friend asked for him.

“Saving Gorzan! What else? I heard your plan when I was heading to the bear’s blacksmithery and I wanted to tag along.”

Li’Ella pulled out a small blaster. “Well, do you know a good way to get up to Gorzan? We can keep you covered down here.”

The Gorilla Beast grinned.

“Let us know when you find him.”

G’Loona nodded, a playful smile tugged at her face as she headed off to a nearby tree.

She manovered up the tree easily. Remembering each and every branch she needed to take to get up to the top. It felt like freedom to simply climb up a tree from her home again. Sure, the Outlands had some good plants, aside from those that were both mean and green. But to actually return to her jungle and reach for each limb of one of her wonderful trees, climbing closer and closer to someone she considered family!

Why, it felt like freedom!

She practically flew to the top, almost a little sad the climb was over.

“Okay, how am I supposed to find Gorzan?” G’Loona asked out loud.

She received an answer through a rogue shot that barely missed her.

“Whoa!” She squealed in shock, as she looked over the trees to see Li’Ella firing her blasters, the Legend Beast easily taking them out, and Laval and Cragger activating their firewings. She watched in awe as pure fire escaped their hands but cringed when the two floppily flew around with their brand-new wings. These two were clearly not used to flying. (And was Cragger’s wings supposed to be green?)

But when they activated their power, something caught G’Loona’s eye. It shimmered among the pure white trees, glowing a soft… pink?

She headed towards it, swooping from tree to tree. Someone must have noticed her as a few shots were fired in her direction. Luckily, she avoided them all thanks to Cragger knocking down the Hunter’s with his reckless flying. She couldn’t help but let a small chuckle escape her lips at the sight.

But when she saw the one, she considered an older brother to her, the feeling of laughter and joy vanished. Hidden in what could have been a cozy nook of a tree was Gorzan, frozen in ice. A permanite scream on his face. It sent chills down her spin.

But it also made her wonder why no vultures or anyone else with a flying machine didn’t see him.

Maybe he was revealed to me because of those fire wings Cragger and Laval activated? The Gorilla girl thought to herself.

She tried to yank him out, but he was frozen to the tree itself and she had a feeling that breaking the ice itself wouldn’t do her any good.

“I found him!” She yelled to the others down below. Li’Ella nodded and threw an orb of Fire Chi at the Gorilla Beast, who ran up the tree closest to G’Loona. When he reached the top, she pointed towards the nook and the Legend Beast reached down, pulled out the frozen popsicle-like Gorilla, and gently placed the chi in his harness.

This… was a… bummer…

He should have… tried harder…

He should have… protected them…

But now…

But as the ice… took hold…

The moment the freeze… took hold…

Took… hold…

A welcoming warmth… returned…

“Gorzan!” G’Loona cried out, tears trailing down her eyes as she hugged her brother.

“G’Loona?” He mumbled. When did she get here? Wait, were they in the jungle? The Gorilla Beast patted his head.

“Good to have you back, dude.”

Back?

G’Loona hugged him tighter at the words. He would have hugged the little dudette back (though she didn’t look as little as he remembered), but there was one problem.

He didn’t have any arms!

He looked around and realized the jungle he loved with all his heart had been covered in pure white ice. He gasped. “G’Loona? What happened?” Panic filled his voice as the two gorillas gave him a sad look.

“Hey! Are you guys okay?” Laval!

Gorzan looked over the branches and saw Laval, Cragger, and Li’Ella. The lioness chasing off some mammoths with nothing but a few tiny blasters and-

WHY DID THESE DUDES LOOK LIKE THE HUNTERS? WHERE THEY ZOMBIES TO?!

“Are you dudes, okay?!” He yelled, as he tried to get down without his arms, G’Loona and the Legend Beats followed him down. It was a bit of a struggle but once he got down, he stared at Laval and Cragger in shock. They looked… so different…

“Dudes… we didn’t make it?” He asked, even though he knew the answer.

“I’m sorry, Gorzan.” Laval said, patting his back.

“On the bright side, you have a cool outfit.” Cragger said, gesturing to Gorzan’s new attire. He had on a sort of skirt (that actually felt quite soft) with a sort of pattern that could be described as leaking tree sap. The top layer was pink, leaking into a light neon green, and then leaking into purple.

Around his waist was a belt that held his fire chi.

“You know, I was wondering, why do your guy's chi all glow a different color? Even Cragger’s firewings glowed a sort of green.” G’Loona asked. Gorzan tilted his head and summoned his wings without even thinking about it. They glowed a bright pink.

“Huh! I’m not sure.” Laval scratched his head, perplexed at the question.

“Maybe it’s because you all died with them.”

A chill ran down his spine at Li’Ella’s words, but she kept going with her theory.

“These were the phoenix’s wings and they died with them. But you died with them as well. So perhaps in a way they sort of bonded with you and they show this by glowing in your own colors. And giving you clothes that you might deem more comfortable.” The lioness concluded.

The three revived warriors looked at each other, then at the outfits and harnesses they now dawned.

“I mean we can ask Foltrax about it too.” She added with a shrug.

“The Fire Chi outfits were a little uncomfortable…” Gorzan muttered as he continued to wrap his head around what was going on.

“I know, RIGHT?!” Cragger put his arm around the gorilla. “It was like walking in a prison of spandex! I much prefer these pants over that ugly thing.”

A small giggle escaped him. “Well, if I really died, I’m glad to be back with you dudes!” Gorzan said with pride.

The Gorilla Beast hooted with joy, G’Loona laughing along. “Then, come on! The rest of the tribe has to see you're okay!” As the gorillas walked ahead, catching Gorzan up on what he missed, Li’Ella turned to Laval and Cragger.

“You two okay?” She asked.

“We need flying lessons.” Cragger declared with defeat in his voice.

“Well, I have a feeling who we’ll find next will be a big help.”

Cragger looked at Laval, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

“You sure he won’t charge us for flying lessons?”

“It might be better to go save him next because someone else's light is pretty close by~.” The lion almost sang.

Cragger and Li’Ella looked at the lion with confusion, till the crocodile closed his eyes and focused on the light he was talking about.

A second later, Cragger jumped up in the air and yelled, “I knew they were dating!”

Li’Ella blinked. “What the fuck are you two talking about?”

Chapter 8 <- ⭐️ -> Chapter 10

#legends of chima #chima #lego chima #lego legends of chima #lego #the legends of chima #cragger x laval #laval x cragger #lego chima cragger #lego chima laval #laval the lion #cragger the crocodile #gorzan the gorilla #chima laval #chima cragger #chima gorzan

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f0point5 · 3 months

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As an American fan from the Midwest, yeah Chicago could be cool but I just don’t see the point. Miami and Vegas are ridiculously expensive. COTA is during college football season (and those games have 100k fans coming to games ESPECIALLY this year bc it’s a big game) so the hotels sold out more than a year in advance. If your going it’s going to run you $5k just to sleep somewhere within 40 min if the track. Then add in flights, food, tickets, etc.

After pricing out multiple races this year it was SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper for me to go to the Canadian or Spanish GPs then any in the US. Plus then at least we get some international travel out of it…

I’d much rather they focus on real tracks because there’s actual infrastructure around them for fans to be able to attend (transportation plans, hotels, etc) then keep pandering to Americans (when frankly most of them don’t even know F1 exists)

- 🤠

If they want Chicago, they should dump Miami. They don’t need two street tracks that are basically just corporate events. Vegas is different because it’s a whole party (it’s not my vibe but it does have its own vibe and its own “culture”), and COTA is a legitimate track and we need those.

5 thousand American dollars? Is this for grandstand tickets? In what universeeeeee. SIR. That’s a whole crime.

I’ve heard the infrastructure in Hungary needs some work lol but yes you are right. The track have the infrastructure for the fans but also for the cars. It’s irritating watching these mammoth cars drive around a city. I like the track limits violations and the three abreast corners. This “two place to pass where the road is just wide enough for one and a half cars” is a bit meh.

Lol I wasn’t going to bring up that F1 isn’t even that popular but thank you for adding that as an American so I can agree with you. Four races in a country where f1 isn’t even the most popular motorsport? Needed? Not, imo.

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slowroadtosantiago · 1 year

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Day 19 - Hornillos to Castrojeriz

(Posting delay of yesterday’s walk as there was rubbish signal and wifi at the albergue)

It was about a 20k day, 12 miles or so.

Each day when we set off I think ‘what on earth am I going to write about today? It’s not a long day, we eat, we walk’ and each day something different happens…so here’s today’s story.

After a reasonable night’s sleep we were rudely awoken by an alarm going off at 6, and people shuffling about and opening the door. Then the light went on, hrmph!

We had breakfast at the hostel then set off about 7:20 with full packs today. My blisters have now all healed so I walked without plasters, and Jane was walking for the first time without strapping her feet up too. Jane’s heel is also OK after rest.

There was a steady climb out of the valley onto the plateau at the top. It was a cooler morning but we still stripped of our jackets half way up. The land is very open with chalk white soil on the hillsides. The fields are full of barley or wheat and young poppies are just starting to appear on the verges and you can see that in a couple of weeks it will look gorgeous.

Across the plateau we started having a go at the Welsh national anthem. My Bethan is going to send through a line a day to learn so we should have it sorted by the time we finish!

We were caught up by an Irish couple who had heard the ‘singing’ and we chatted about our journeys. They were travelling light and doing it in stages so soon sped past us.

Scott also caught us up and we walked down into Hontanas together for our first proper coffee of the day. Hontanas is a nice place that just suddenly appears as it’s down in a dip. On the way out we passed an old 2CV, haven’t seen one of those for ages, and whereas you usually see a fountain cherub having a wee, today we saw a full sized version!

The path followed a nice valley and where it joined the road again we found a comfortable spot under a proper tree to have a rest and change into our sandals.

The road eventually led to an old ruined monastery at San Anton where there was a huge arch over the road and where some of the old buildings had been preserved as an albergue.

The last stretch on a long straight road brought us to Castrojeriz looking impressive in the distance with a castle on the hill and church down below.

Our hostel is clean and the beds not too rickety. It is also unusual as the evening meal is South Korean inspired.

We dumped our stuff then found a cafe for a beer and some lunch for me - I had been looking forward to a wedge of tortilla. We met up with the Texans in the same cafe though they are sleeping elsewhere tonight. We clocked that the church was closed so would visit it later.

Back at the hostel it was time for a shower and a chill. We then had a mammoth session sat in the garden planning out the rest of our trip. Nicole, the Australia, was planning on celebrating her birthday on the 15th of May in Herrerías so we’ve worked out how to get there for then. At the moment it looks like we may get to Santiago on the 24th May and fly out on the 28th, but things can change.

We decided that after all that hard work we deserved a glass of wine so started making our way to the local bar. The clouds behind were very ominous.

The church on the way was open so we thought to drop in there first. It’s a museum as well and the guardian very enthusiastically talked about some of the exhibits, in Spanish, so we nodded along enthusiastically too!

As we reached the entrance again the skies started to open up. We decided the better course of action was to get back to the hostel. As we were running back it started hail storming! A bit damp we got back and watched the streams of water running down the street.

After a while we were called to dinner. The Korean meal was delicious. There was rice on the bottom and different veg arranged on top along with ground beef. You then added a fried egg, soy sauce, miso soup and as much spicy red sauce you could manage and mixed it all together. We’ve got quite a few Koreans in the bunkhouse and they enjoyed it very much.

We’re now in our bunks listening to the thunder outside. The bad weather is due to move off tonight and we should have a dry day tomorrow, fingers crossed.

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pizza-soup · 1 year

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Hey! Just checking in and letting everyone know things have been really good. My family is doing well, even planning on finally going on vacation. Work is good, still crazy and weird as ever and I'm currently going through my yearly retraining. My health could be better, I'm still getting lightheaded due to LBP but nothing serious like before, I just need to watch my hydration levels and eat a bit more salt.

Luna and the kittens are so big now! I doubt you'll recognize them. They grew up so fast and they're little monsters. I love them. I'll get some photos of them soon.

My analog life is going well, got a lot of things I've been procrastinating out of the way at last, been dabbling in analog photography with my brother, bought an instant camera, been buying analog media, and doing some gardening as Spring is just right around the corner. I started a carnivorous plant terrarium, and one with some collected moss and lichen. Really interesting to just observe them, you find details about them that are fascinating all the time, and just watching them thrive is satisfying. I'm also going to order some mushroom spores (oyster variety) and create a kino-terrium, an enclosed space to watch the develop of the mushroom. Since they grow so fast, they'd be a good subject for time-lapse photography. And the results will be delicious mushrooms to stir fry.

I got a lot of things planned. I'm even thinking of buying supplies from the labs to start my own bioluminescent algae tank for my home. They're the same thing as what you'd find during the blue tide. I think a jar of them plus the grow lights are just under $15 from the supply station, and are readily available year round, since some employees make glowing ornaments during Christmas.

Speaking of the labs....

I'm currently collaborating with Brun on a project that involves early warning detection systems for flood prone areas. A huge issue in our region. They're devices that stay dormant until activated by rain water, and they're shaped like trilobites! It's a perfect blend of Brun's love of future engineering and my love of a prehistoric aesthetic. In fact he knows me so well, he bought me a mini mammoth plushie for my birthday last year. It's so cute. I have to think about what I might get him. I was thinking one of those retro tin robots. I think he'd get a kick out of it considering he works with robotics and ai.

Annnd that's about it. I'm still unsure when I'll be coming back to this blog. I'm still working on why social media is causing me so much dread and anxiety. I think the culture in it is to blame, it's more hostile I think, and while that hostility isn't aimed at me, I still feel it secondhand. Might be part of my empathy trait. The bad vibes are affecting me and my mind is like "yeah, I don't need that energy in my life", and I've always been one to follow my gut instincts about that sort of thing. Maybe when people on social media chill out and learns to live more peacefully, I'll come back.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my time out here, more or less living in the past part time. It's a much more simpler era, that is until I have to come back to civilization for supplies and such. I wish I could find a way to stay this way permanently.

#I'm okay!#Just checking in

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pbandjesse · 8 months

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I did not accomplish the things that I was thinking I was going to accomplish today but I did get a lot of organizing down in that was nice. Even though it was fueled by anxiety.

I slept really hard last night and when I woke up this morning I was so tired. I told myself so I could just be awake for 1 hour and get something done then I could go back to sleep. But I did not go back to sleep. I woke up and I got dressed and I just kept telling myself to stay awake for one more hour. I'm trying to fix my sleep schedule so that next week when I'm actually working I will not fall apart.

So I got dressed and I actually felt okay. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast and I decided that I would get some work done in studio. But then as soon as I got in there I was like oh I have to figure out how to use this little shelf thing that we found in the trash last night but then it didn't work on the shelf I thought it would so then I started taking off the shelf. And then I was like well I should just reorganize this. And then I was like oh wait no I need to do this thing. And I was just jumping around the room not actually accomplishing anything but taking everything down and making a huge mess. So I knew I was going to have to make some calls and decisions today so that I could actually utilize my room again because I'm not going to have a lot of time when I go back to work.

So when I decided to do was take everything down off the shelves and then I went out to the car to get the coffee shelf that we found him on the side of the road earlier this week.

When I went down there there were two old guys sitting on the stoop and when I brought the shelves back The one told me I should hit the guy with the shelf and I was like I'm not going to hit him with the shelf! Being very silly.

And then I decided that it needed to be painted. Because someone had painted it a very early red color. Not a good tone at all. But I was being lazy and so I just tighten all the screws and then I paint it with a brush. Instead of using spray paint which was the original plan. I'm not that concerned. It's mostly going to be covered with stuff but someday maybe I'll paint it nice.

I was listening to podcasts and learning stuff about history today. Specifically it was about history of the swastika which was fascinating. Apparently it's shown up in like every culture and it might be because it's similar to the inside of Mammoth bones. It's the first complex shape that we ever drew. Amazing. I hate how much it's been ruined by horrible people. But that also led to me getting a new book recommendation so I bought a book called swastika night that is apparently the inspiration for 1984 and some aspects but it's about what if the Nazis won and it's like 300 years in the future and I'm looking forward to it but it seems like it's going to be like a bummer. Still looking forward to a sort of history book.

once I painted the shelf I had to wait for it to dry so I started working on other things and then all of a sudden I got very stressed out about my stuffed animal collection. And I basically took almost all of my large stuffed animals and put them into trash bags. I'm not necessarily getting rid of them but I am going to make my parents take them back to the house because I can't have them here right now. And like I told Jess if we have a baby we will never have to buy them any toys because we'll just go to my parents house and pick a few and wrap them up and give them to the baby. But I felt a little better once I got those out of the space because it was just causing me a lot of grief. And just having the few up there now makes me feel a little bit better.

I also changed the direction of the cube shelf so that it would be on its side which worked way better and organized my yarn and all of my drawing utensils. I put all of the markers in color order and boxes and it's way more accessible now. And I started cleaning off my desk and while they're still a lot of catch-all in the desk itself at least the top is neat.

And I was doing this literally all afternoon. I started a 11:00 and I worked in there until around 3:30. I was exhausted by the time I was done and I did not want to go to Jesse and Haley's birthday potluck tonight. I was just dreading it.

But soon James would be home and they told me the plan was to leave at 5:30 and go to the grocery store to get sodas and then we would go and we would stay until 7:30. And I did not want to go but I knew that it would be nice and so I kept my opinions to myself.

I fixed my makeup and I put on the nice jade bracelet my mom just gave me. And then we got in the car we headed out.

The grocery store was fine except there was some confusion of the checkout and I got a little annoyed but we figured it out it was fine. And then we got to Jessie's house and we were basically the first ones there. Which was nice. Haley showed up right afterwards. And it was really nice to see her.

And honestly once I ate something I was in a much better mood and I really enjoyed talking to them and showing off some of my knitting projects and asking people about their pets. And I even showed them the very silly T-shirt I designed with sweet peas face all over it that I ordered today. And I got to have a really lovely conversation with the guy named Harry who's partner isn't influencer of some kind. And was telling me about all the whole videos that they do and how they just have way too much stuff in their house. They were asking if I had tried monetizing my making and I was like I've tried but it's just emotionally not something I want to do. I like making the little videos and posts that I make but I have no interest in really the type of videos that I would need to do to create an audience in the way that people do that. Just not something I'm interested in. But I love hearing about what they do even though they kept saying that it's boring doing systems coding. And I'm like it doesn't sound boring but I love learning about what other people do. And I just wish that people wouldn't be so mean to themselves about what their jobs are. I love telling people about my jobs but so because I want to hear about yours! Like everyone's things are interesting and different and that's what makes the world beautiful.

And the food that we had was really good. Me and James both made what we called pasta plates which were just four different types of pastas / noodles and we have had a piece of pizza. And it was really nice. I kind of wish I grabbed a cookie before we left but there was too many people standing around the food. At 7:30 though we gave Jessie and Haley hugs and then we were off. The perfect amount of party.

We got home and me and James stopped outside so they could take my picture and then we came up here and I called a couple more snails to put into the snail jar. And they got on their call for their podcast. And that I have just been laying in bed since then but I'm going to go take a shower now. I feel a lot better than I did. It was a good day even if I did not accomplish as many things as I maybe hoped. At least the studio is nice and clean. And all the camping stuff has been pulled into the living room. Even if that was just to make space for the tornado that was cleaning the studio.

I have the market tomorrow and I have my new piggies that I'm hoping do well and I'm going to bring some of the big bears and we'll see if I have a good day. I hope that the weather is nice and the people are kind. I hope you guys all have a good day. Until next time. I hope you are telling the people around you that you love them.

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callmeblake · 9 months

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Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada, 2022

L.S. DUNES ON A YEAR OF COLLABORATION, COMMUNITY, AND VENTURING BEYOND THE REALMS OF A ‘SUPERGROUP’

POSTED BY MADDY HOWELL IN CULTURE ON AUGUST 8, 2023

Frank Iero and Travis Stever reflect on the genesis of the project, the creative lifeline it provided and the current honeymoon period that suggests the best is yet to come.

With the entire live music industry shut down in the midst of a global pandemic, starting a band may not have sounded like the best idea back in 2020.

“In the beginning, it was a big lifeline,” guitarist Frank Iero starts.

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“I had moments where I’d be tearing up listening to the record because I was so proud, but then I’d stop and be like, ‘Wait a minute, this is insane!’,” guitarist Travis Stever adds.

“We had to remember not to put too much weight on how people would perceive it. If you’re making art, it’s hard not to do that, but we were very lucky in that sense.”

“It was beyond what any of us expected. We were getting ready to go out there thinking, ‘If there are a few hundred people out there, that’s cool!’,” Travis laughs.

“It’s certainly the biggest first show I’ve ever played with a band!” Frank smirks.

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“As artists we often wonder if we’re the only ones who like what we do,” Frank explains.

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As the first year of L.S. Dunes draws to a close, the five-piece find themselves in a unique position.

“We’re working on all this new material, but the other side of it is showing that we’re taking it seriously,” Travis explains.

“You have to consistently be out doing shows and touring, and luckily, we love doing that.

“With all due respect to our other projects, this is one of the funnest bands I’ve ever been in,” Frank finishes.

L.S. Dunes finish their summer headlining tour this week with two dates spanning Northern and Southern California before heading to Chicago next month to revisit RIot Fest.

The band then begin an extensive fall run supporting Pierce the Veil on the Jaws of Life Tour along with Dayseeker and Destroy Boys. Dates and cities can be found below.

PIERCE THE VEIL ON TOUR: WITH L.S. DUNES, DAYSEEKER, + DESTROY BOYS: 11/4 — Sacramento, CA — Hard Rock Live 11/5 — Fresno, CA — Fresno Convention Center 11/7 — Phoenix, AZ — Arizona Financial Theatre 11/8 — El Paso, TX — UTEP Don Haskins Center 11/10 — San Antonio, TX — The Espee 11/11 — Edinburg, TX — Bert Ogden Arena 11/12 — Houston, TX — 713 Music Hall 11/14 — Orlando, FL — House of Blues 11/15 — Orlando, FL — House of Blues 11/17 — Myrtle Beach, SC — House of Blues 11/18 — Corbin, KY — The Corbin Arena 11/19 — Macon, GA — Macon City Auditorium 11/21 — Boston, MA — MGM Music Hall at Fenway 11/25 — Reading, PA — Santander Arena 11/26 — Columbus, OH — KEMBA Live! 11/28 — Chesterfield, MO — The Factory 11/30 — Chicago, IL — Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom 12/2 — Des Moines, IA — Vibrant Music Hall 12/3 — Minneapolis, MN — The Armory 12/5 — Oklahoma City, OK — The Criterion 12/7 — Las Vegas, NV — Brooklyn Bowl 12/8 — San Diego, CA — Viejas Arena

#frank iero #ls dunes #knotfest #august 2023 #2023 #the 8th #jean jacket frank #kevin estrada #tucker rule #anthony green #tim payne #group shot #travis stever

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