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argumentl · 2 years

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The Freedom of Expression Vol:12 - Again, looking back on 25 years with Gara.

K: Hi, here we are with The Freedom of Expression on our Nico Nico channel. Im Kaoru from Dir en grey.

J: And Im Joe Yokomizo, who has just been for a beer in the Chinese restaurant near the studio.

T: And Im Tasai from Tokyo Sports.

K: And we also have someone who was with us last time, and he just didn't talk enough, so he's here again this time. Its Gara from Merry.

G: Good evening, Im Gara from Merry.

J: The staff have told me you're pretty annoying.

K, T: Haha

G: Not at all!

J: Kaoru, what would you say? In your view, is he annoying?

K: Haha, no, he's not.

J: Gara, I wanted to ask you, were you Dir's first roadie?

G: For the past 20 years, I always thought that I was, but after the show last time, I was in the dressing room, and I got a message from Shinya. He told me the name of the guy who was there before me. So I thought, 'Aghh, there really was someone before me!'. I wonder if that guy actually counts though?

J: Haha, Leader, what do you think? This is quite important.

G: It was only for a short time.

K: Yeah, but it still counts. As soon as I heard it, I thought, 'Oh yeh, of course!!'

G: Kaoru, that means Im the second roadie?

K: Yep, you are the second. I was right after all.

G: I must have forgotten, because I never thought there was someone like that before me.

J: Do you kinda feel like he's stealing your glory a bit now?

G: Yeah, I always thought I was the first.

J: I see, haha. So, from now, your are Dir's second roadie?

G: Yeah, Ive been exposed by Shinya. Im the second roadie.

J: Do you feel a bit like Shinya should have kept quiet about this? haha

G: Yes, I really do.

J: Haha. Yes, well today we are joined by Dir en grey's second roadie, Gara. So, last time you were looking back at Dir en grey's history, from the Indies days, to now, right?

K: Yes.

J: I was unable to join last time due to my work schedule.

K: This is the first time for you to be here when we have a guest, right?

J: Yes, thats right.

K: He always disappears somewhere whenever we've had a guest before.

J: Oh no, not intentionally though. Its purely by chance!

K: It was as if guests would come because you weren't here.

J: Yeh, I've heard that. I don't know about that though. Anyway, today we are gonna be looking back at the indies era in detail. There'll be loads of great stuff to hear, so stay tuned. Please send in your comments too, questions, thoughts, messages of support, anythIng is ok. People using twitter can use the tag TFOE. The first part of this show is free for anyone to watch, but the second part is for channel members only. If you become a member, you can watch this live broadcast in the archives for a year, and you will also be able to access members only videos. Please click the blue link at the top of your screen to joIn, and enjoy this broadcast to the end. Leader was just pointing to it. Dir's second roadie was pointing too, weren't you?

G: Haha, yes...second...I'm quite sad, I tried so hard back then too.

K: Surely, trying hard has nothing to do with whether or not you were first?

J: Maybe you are just slightly envious. Ok, well, as for today, we will have another look at photos from back in the day. (*Indies photo of Kaoru appears on screen*) Here we go, since we are looking closely at the indies era today. How do you feel about this, Leader? Do you recognize this photo?

K: Well, we used this photo last time. Only you wouldn't know that.

J: Oh, I see. I do apologize. Maybe I should stick to the script more.

K: Haha, no no.

J: But anyway, we'll be digging deeper into the Indies era today, but first we have a quiz. Its time for the "Does Kaoru remember?" quiz!!

*applause*

J: Ok, so Dir's second roadie, Gara...

K: Haha, you just want to keep saying that, don't you?

J: Yes, haha.

T: He is the first one in my mind!

J: You are first in your heart, but second in reality. Anyway, Gara has created a quiz for Kaoru about the indies era. So Kaoru, try your best to remember. There are quite a few questions, but we will try to do at least 5. Try to get them all right, Leader.

G: You'll be able to to tell if i really was first, and whether there really is a bond between us from this.

T: Haha

J: Right? We need to look out for that. Ok, Gara, I'll hand over to you.

G: I start from Question 1, right? Ok, Where was the place where I first met the members of Dir en grey? I said last time that the first live show I saw them was at Shinjuku Rock, but this time I'm asking about our first meeting, so its not a live venue.

J: Ok, so Q1 is asking for the place you first met. Leader, you have a sketchbook in front of you to write your answers. For some reason, myself and Tasai also have sketchbooks, although its not likely that we will know the answers...

T: Yeah, we will just try our best.

J: Yes we will. So, Gara, is this with no hints, right?

G: Yeah, the meeting place, this was an important moment.

J: If he doesn't remember this, it could seriously damage your trust in him.

G: Right.

J: Haha, but look at Leader's face! He totally looks like he can't remember. Can we get a camera close up on him? This is important! If you'd never met, we wouldn't be here now.

G: This was earlier than the live.

J: Ah, they want you to get this right in the comments. Gara, you probably spoke about your love towards Dir en grey last time, but this time its all about how far Kaoru's love extends to you. Ok, Tasai, you write something too, make it Tokyo Sportsy if you want.

T: Ahh, its difficult.

G: Kaoru is writing something now.

J: Ah, a comment saying 'Kaoru looks cute when he's thinking'. And 'A forfeit if he gets it wrong!'...'Leader's love is deep!'

G: Its the first meeting, remember.

J: Yeah, the place.

T: By the way, how did you feel when your first met?

G: Well, I'd only ever seen them in magazines before then, so I was nervous, but I still remember introducing myself.

T: Ahh, I wonder where it was...

J: Hmm, ok, Tasai, you show us your answer first.

T: So this was when you were new in Tokyo, right? Ok, here's my answer. 'A bus stop at Tokyo Tower'. Like maybe they decided to meet up here for some reason. Maybe there were just there for some reason.

J: Ahh...Ok, I don't quite understand this, so moving on...haha.

T: Haha

J: No no, you mean, maybe they had planned to go somewhere, so they met up there first?

T: Yeah.

J: Well, the real question is whether Leader remembers. The place he first met Gara. Leader, lets have your answer.

K: The studio in Kōenji.

J, T, G: Ahh.

T: That sounds more like it.

J: Ok, Gara, tell us the answer.

G: The correct answer is, an in-store event at Like An Edison.

K: Don't remember that! Hahaha

J: He doesn't remember!

G: It was an in-store event to coincide with the CD release, so I went and met the members for the first time. Meeting in the studio was after that.

J: Well, he must have been close with this answer, right? If you met for the second time in the studio?

G: Yeah. I have a tonne of memories from that studio too. I saw them making new songs and and stuff there. I used to always drive the equipment truck too back then, but at the time I didn't have my own parking space. They told me to be responsible for truck, even though I didn't have a parking space, so I had to park it on the street in front of my place for about a month.

J: Ahh, I bet you got a tonne of parking tickets.

G: Yes.

J: Ahh, that sounds painful. And despite this you still might be the second roadie! Leader, why did you think the answer was Kōenji?

K: Well, he was just there a lot.

J: It seemed likely to be the place?

K: Yeah.

T: Kaoru, do you remember this in-store event?

K: No, we did a tonne of events like that back then.

J: If any of the viewers were at that event in Like An Edison, please tell us in the comments. I wonder if anyone was? Not that we can give them anything if they were, except say, 'Oh wow!'. Haha. Well, that was question 1. A comment there says, 'A shock for Gara!'

G: He was close though, because I was often in the studio at Kōenji.

K: You were following us, haha.

J: Its like, he was only a little bit wrong.

G: Ok, shall we move on? The next question is this. 'Where was the first region (outside Tokyo) that Gara travelled to as a roadie? And what was the amazingly delicious restaurant where Kaoru took Gara out to eat for the first time?'

K: This is hard! haha

J: The restaurant name.

T: Is this maybe a hint? You told us the region you are from last time, right, Gara?

J: Eh? Where are you from??

T: No no no, don't tell him! haha.

J: Eh, whhhy? Ok, whatever. But we need the region Gara first travelled to as a roadie, and the name of the delicious restaurant where Kaoru first took him out to eat.

T: Joe, you write something first.

J: Its not WHAT you ate, right? Its the name.

G: Yes. If I say what I ate, I think Kaoru will know where it was.

T: Kaoru, do you know?

K: Well, I'm just not sure about the timing as for the region.

T: Its difficult!

J: The restaurant name is tricky too.

G: But its something that everyone has heard of.

J: Oh, so its not lIke an independent, local place, right?

G: Yeah. But back then, it was only...oh, I'll give it away if I say that.

K: Back then it was only..?

T: Ok, lets write our answers. Some comments saying, 'Gara is causing trouble for Kaoru', 'Leader, think!', 'I think I know it'. If you know it, don't tell us!

J: Well, I really have no idea, but this is my answer. For the region, Hokkaido. And the restaurant, Dosanko Ramen. This is what I would eat after a concert, so I thought it could be this.

G: That's a good answer.

J: Thank you. Ok, Leader, your turn.

K: Osaka, and Kamakura (ramen).

G: Oh, that's correct!! That makes me so happy!

*applause*

G: He told me about this incredible ramen, and took me to try it. So my first time trying Kamakura was with Kaoru.

J: Ah, great! You got it right.

G: You remember that?

K: No no, I just used to go there all the time back then!

T: You don't actually remember going with Gara?

K: Well, he said the words, 'Back then it was only...', which reminded me that this place became a national chain a little while later. Haha

J: Ahh, I see.

G: Ahh, I gave it away with the hint.

J: So it wasn't your memory, it was the hint that got you there.

G: Kamakura ramen was totally different from any of the ramen I'd had before then. I didn't realise ramen could be like that.

T: Ahh, yeh, its good, isn't it?

J: Did you go there to finish a night of drinking or something?

G: No, I think Kaoru just took me there.

K: We still couldn't really afford to go out drinking much back then.

J: Ah, financially, right? Eat loads of ramen instead, right?

K: Yeah.

J: Ah, well, we got a correct answer! Shall we move on?

G: Ok, the next question is this. 'What was the first song on which Gara helped during the recording?'

J: This is quite important, right?

G: Yes.

J: This is the first question related to the actual job. Hmm, a song from the indies era?

G: Yes. I was able to see how the recording process worked.

K: I'm trying to think what the timing would be...haha.

J: Hmm, when would it be?

K: Yeah, I mean, within our timeline.

J: Tasai, do you have any idea?

T: Well, hmm, I don't think we talked about this kind of thing last time...I might be wrong.

J: Hold on a sec..Gara, you want him to get this right, yeh?

K: Ahh, I dunno.

J: You just wrote something though!

G: I saw the while process of recording the song with this one.

J: So, you were there watching the whole time?

G: Yeh, from when they started making the song in the Kōenji studio.

K: Well, in that case I think I've got it right.

T: Well, this is kinda vague, but my answer is, 'That song you recorded in an old house somewhere'.

G: Oh, that was Jealous.

T: Yes, Jealous.

J: Ok, Leader?

K: Haven't you written anything?

J: No, I haven't. Haha.

K: Ok, my answer is Ash.

G: Correct!!

*applause*

K: Well, I thought it was likely to be this.

G: Yep, I was there during the recording.

K: For that omnibus album?

G: Yes.

K: Yeah, he said 'which song', so that means it wasn't part of a collection of songs. And if it wasn't a single, then it would have to be this.

G: I remember I went for Tendon with Die.

K, J, T: Hahaha.

J: Is food all you remember?! Haha. So you saw the whole recording process. Do remember making any new discoveries about the secret to Dir en grey's sound?

G: I didn't understand the secret to it at all!

J, T: Haha.

J: But you remember the Tendon.

G: Yeah. Well, it was only one day. From the drums, bass, guitars, and even to the vocals, it was all done in one day.

T: Amazing.

J: Yeah, but with a few hints, Leader got it right.

G: Impressive!

J: Yes, two out of three correct so far. Ok, do we have time for another one?

G: Ok, next question please. 'There was once a mid-summer outdoor event back then, (which I attended as a roadie), but what did Kaoru say to me in the car on the way home, which to this day, I can never forget?' I can give you a small hint, it was a bit of a shock.

J: So it wasn't something moving, or meaningful?

G: No

J: He wasn't commending your abilities or anything?

G: Not at all. My response was more like, 'Ehh? Kaoru, did you really say that??!'

J: It was something a bit shocking?

G: Yes.

K: Did it have some connection with the event?

G: Yeah...this mid-summer outdoor event

K: Ah, I see.

J: That's a hint! Mid-summer, outdoor event. Ahh, there is some interest in the comments too. 'Gara, this quiz is fun' etc.

G: Thank you. Its been 20 years, but these words of Kaoru's have stayed with me. The main hint is probably that it was shocking.

T: Well, since you've been talking about food, Gara, I think its about food, so my answer is, 'I just ate shaved ice, but I hid it from you'.

K: Haha

T: Like in the heat, he ate it all.

J: Ah, like Gara would resent Kaoru for it?

T: Yeah, he'd be shocked.

J: Well, since it was summer, my answer is this. 'Your sweat stinks!' It'd be shocking to be told this, right? Ok, Leader? I wonder if you remember.

K: My answer is this 'What are you doing with us??'

T: Ahh, that would be bad.

K: Well, it was an event, so there might have been some other bands playing that he liked, you know?

J: Ahh, so it wasn't like a solo event.

G: Well, one time Kaoru came over to my place, and I had posters of all sorts of other bands up everywhere, so maybe he wondered what I was doing with Dir?

T: Did any of us get it right?

G: Actually, one of you did! Shall I tell you what he said to me? He said, 'You stink of sweat!'

J: Yeahhh!

K: Hahaha

T: How did you get that??

G: Well Done, Joe.

J: He really said that to you?

G: Yeah, it was the middle of Summer, and I was moving all the equipment around by myself, I worked so hard. Then at the end I got in the car and sat next to Kaoru, and he said, 'Ugh, you stink of sweat!'

K, J, T: Hahaha

G: I was like...I've been working hard for you all day! I've never been able to forget it.

T: Kaoru, do you remember?

K: No..

G: I was pretty young, so it was quite a shock for me.

K: But I vaguely remember him telling me about how I said that to him once.

J: Did you tell him about it?

G: Maybe when we when out drinkIng once, I might have mentioned it. But it really was the most shocking thing to hear from him. I mean, that's how a roadie should be, right?

J: It shows that you've worked hard. If you weren't sweaty, you wouldn't have been doing your job properly.

G: Right? That's how I should be.

J: Its a sign that you did a good job.

G: Yes

T: Someone commented, Kaoru should apologize.

J: Haha

K: I'm sorry.

J: Ahh, an apology from Leader!

G: I feel purified, haha.

J: Ohh, that's good. Ok, next question.

G: Ok, the next question is, 'Which food which Gara hates did Kaoru force him to eat, all in one?' This was a thing when I used to go for drinks with Kaoru, hated foods or stuff like that.

J: Well, you DO stuff like that when you are young, don't you?! I mean, if we don't know what foods you don't like, we are never gonna get this, but Leader probably knows. Its just a matter of choosing the right one.

G: Yeah, this particular food, I still can't even eat it.

J: You can't eat it?

K: Something that can be eaten in one go?

G: Er, we talked about this last time, but he also made me do 'Pistachio all in one' before too.

J: Ugh, that's like hell.

G: I wasn't allowed water, so I just had to keep crunching away until I could swallow.

J: That sounds tough, you cant really swallow it all at once either, can you?

K: Inside your mouth was shredded, wasn't it?

G: Yeah.

J: Ugh, really? Well, viewers, please write in the comments if you have any ideas about this one. Someone just wrote pizza, but its something you still can't eat, right? If its something even an adult can eat, it must be something with quite a distinct taste?

G: Ah! Yes.

T: Ahh, I've already written something.

G: *reading comments* Century egg? Ohh, that would be tough!

J: And expensive!

T: Ok, lets reveal our answers. So, last time Gara said he doesn't like chicken much, and I thought if he's done 'pistachio all in one', maybe he might have done this too, 'Fried chicken cartilage all in one'

J: Ah I see. Well, my answer is this. 'Goya' (bitter melon). A lot of people hate this, and it tastes very distinct. Ok, Leader?

K: Haha, I don't even remember, but..'Pickles'.

J: Gara, are any of us correct?

G: One of you is close.

J: Ohh, ok, tell us the answer.

G: The correct answer is, Okinawan pickled onions (島らっきょう). So 'pickles' is nearly right.

K: Goya is kinda there too, haha! (*Goya is an Okinawan vegetable*) Ahh, pickled onions, I think I kinda remember this now.

T: Like, how did that work?

G: Well, all the onions were in the bowl, and I had to put them all in my mouth at once, and swallow them without a drink.

J: Ahh, the things you got up too.

G: I can still remember the disgusting aftertaste.

K: The taste lingers, right?

G: Yeah.

J: Ahh, is that the time already? Did we do 4 questions?...5? We did 5. How many did Leader get right? 2?

T: 2.5, right? With 'pickles'

J: Ah, ok, yes. 2 correct answers, and 1 good try. Half correct. What do you think Gara?

G: Yeah, I think he remembers a lot, since he was close with that last one. If this were baseball, he would be (*baseball reference, I dunno*)

J, K, T: Yeah, haha.

G: It was a good result.

J: Ok, Leader, 5 questions about the indies era from Gara. What did you think?

K: I don't remember anything.

J, T, G: Hahaha

K: I just worked out the answers from the hints. I don't actually remember.

G: We were close though, we we working together practically every day.

K: But it was only one year out of 25, haha.

J: Well, yeah...

G: Maybe that's the fate of being the second roadie...haha.

J: Ok, we're going to have to finish the first part of the show, but we'll learn more about Kaoru in the second half. We'll continue talking about Kaoru and Gara's history, so please become a channel member to see that. I'll just let you know how you can do that. The second half of the show is for members only, so you need to be a channel member if you want to see it. If you join, you can watch this broadcast in the archives for a whole year, and we also have members only videos, where we challenge ourselves to all sorts of things, so you can enjoy those too. Ok, how to join. Its very simple. There is a blue link at the top of your screen. Kaoru is pointing now. Click this link, and you will get a screen asking you to choose your payment method. Choose your method and click proceed. Then you can enter your payment details, and you're done. If you haven't yet joined, please do, and enjoy the rest of the show. Ok, now, some news from Gara?

G: Yes, thanks. Uh, on Dec 25th Merry will hold our 'Very Merry Xmas' event at Shinagawa Club eX where we will show the history of Merry (*etc*).

J: Ok, thank you. Leader?

K: Hm, was there something? Ah, well, we are mid-tour now. We still have Sapporo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Osaka. And then an extra date on Dec 16th at Shinjuku Blaze. Uhh, I think there are quite a few venues with tickets still available, so people can definitely come by on the day and check it out.

J: I saw you at Zepp Haneda recently, but I'd love to see you in one of the other regions if my schedule allows it.

K: Please do.

J: Ok, a quick break here while we change over, but channel members hang tight. Lets continue The Freedom of Expression in the second half!

#the freedom of expression #translation #薫 #dir en grey #メリー #ガラ #Gara

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dancefitwear · 2 years

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blazestowpress · 3 days

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“Get me the leash!” demanded Ms. Akerlund with a maniacal titter as an entourage in white lab coats sprang into action. One of her assistants, Blaze Stow, dressed in a fitted gray Hugo Boss suit and black vintage leather tie, returned sporting a leather dog collar and long chained leash. “She’s obsessed with this today,” said Mr. Stow, with an indulgent eye roll. Wearing a long-sleeve glossy black dress with a jacquard paneled skirt from the & Other Stories collection, Ms. Akerlund — whose own default look is part midcareer Shannen Doherty, part Morticia Addams — led her leashed assistant down the hallway while the Swedish photographer John Scarisbrick clicked away and Depeche Mode’s “Master and Servant” boomed over the sound system.

She stopped near the elevator. “Get on your knees,” the stylist demanded. “On all fours!” Mr. Stow dutifully obeyed. More photos.

In the elevator on the way down to the street, Marissa Gonzales, another of Ms. Akerlund’s assistants. turned to Mr. Stow to commiserate. “It’s O.K., I had the dog mask on earlier,” she said.

Outside the studio, located half a block south of the still somewhat seedy intersection of Hollywood and Vine, two police officers on bicycles were assessing the consciousness of a slumped-over man as a 1979 boxy Rolls-Royce with a black top and cream-colored sides slowly emerged from the alley. From the rear passenger seat, Ms. Akerlund leaned out the window, her blond-by-nature, jet-black-by-design hair cascading over the door. Mr. Scarisbrick eagerly snapped away as the chauffeur, played by Mr. Stow, reversed the Rolls along Vine. Oblivious to the goings-on of the police behind the car, Ms. Akerlund joked to the photographer: “Do you have any Grey Poupon?”

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shapesdefined · 1 year

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About the Author:

This article is written by Allan Rufus, Marketing Manager at Shapes Defined, a fully automated studio in Dubai, which specializes in offering high quality ecommerce product photography services. Their photo solutions and services include from HD photography to 360° rotations and 3D interactive animations to business from fashion and apparel, food, sports, electronics, and more.

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hue12studios · 2 years

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Tips for Hiring the Perfect Professional Event Photographer

As we grow younger, we make new connections, and our circle consisting of friends family and relatives becomes larger. As the circle keeps growing, so does the number of events you attend and host. Events could be conducted for different purposes, whether it’s a festival, an educative event, a personal celebration, or a larger event such as a sporting event or a mega campaign. All such events do require a common thing and that is a professional event photographer which covers the whole event with clarity and gives you some outstanding memories to cherish. A simple online search of Event Photography near Me will provide you with tons of options to choose from but making an informed choice to find the right photographer is very important if you wish to have the desired results. Hue12 Studios provide some of the best results for Event Photography in Cincinnati as we have got a team of super skilled and professional photographers who understand the different events and provide you the best captures accordingly. Let us move further and understand all things one should consider while hiring a professional event photographer and some of the right tips to make the process easy for you.

What Should Someone Look For When Choosing An Event Photographer?

The most important thing to consider while choosing an event photographer is the experience. What sort of experience does the person hold when it comes to working under different lighting conditions and what sort of area can be easily covered? Photography under daylight or in the afternoon is comparatively easy and most photographers are experts in that. But working under the extreme lightning condition which they might have to face during the event is the real test and experience in that kind of photography will be worth considering. It depends on the type of event you are conducting. If it’s for a personal event that is happening in a broad daylight or evening with natural light conditions it will be easy to find a photographer in comparison to finding one for an event with extreme lights.

Also, read about Why Are Headshots Important for First Impressions?

What Is The One Thing You Wish People Knew About Event Photography

Creating the right angles while moving around the site of the event is a skill every photographer must possess to get the right photos. The constant movement of the guy on the job is also critical one it comes to covering the whole event and getting the shots or every detail that has been presented. Being in a constant position with a wide-angle camera would never really help you get the desired results. It is also important to note that these events always face changing timelines or other restrictions at the site, so a photographer should be flexible to adapt to those changes and still be able to present the best results possible.

How Would You Describe Your Photography Style?

Hue12 Studios provide the best results both in photo journalistic and editorial styles of photography. Both of these styles demand their unique requirements which are effectively fulfilled by our experienced photographers who possess the desired skills and a passion for delivery. Hue12 studios are certainly one of the best company for Event Photography in Cincinnati and our team consists of some of the most dedicated professionals who are never out of hungry to provide you with the best results through their work.

RESOURCE URL: - https://bit.ly/3C0QswB

#Event Photography in Cincinnati #Event Photography near Me #Photography in Cincinnati

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kusogamesss · 2 years

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WTF: Work Time Fun

When you first open Work Time Fun you're greeted by a screaming cat, then a screaming man, then a car filled to the brim with garbage photographed with harsh flash at the dead of night. Is this last image a sign of a hoarder mentality, a messy person, or a houseless individual? It's impossible to say, but Work Time Fun's design leads me to believe it is either the first or last of these possibilities. You fill out a short profile with your name, sex, blood type, DoB, address, and message. The urine coloured dithered background image of someone near a standpipe gives way to a blood tinted photo of another person near a window box of flowers. A woman and face-painted figure awash in blue while inputting your message for multiplayer offer a sort of levity, perhaps, but this triptych is nonetheless impersonal, the gaze always directed away from the player. All the while, the echo of dripping liquid persists like torture ordained by Hippolytus de Marsiliis.

A BITE O' HELL

Clock into work. Check your email. One message to welcome you to the WTF Network. Go to job placement. Be greeted by the job demon?

Unbeknownst to the player, and as I will touch on later, the WTF Network and all its job offerings are in Hell.

You're offered four jobs to start.

Baseball Superstar

Baseball has been a staple of video games since the days of early mainframe gaming. Those early iterations, be they on the DECsystem-10, the RCA Studio II, the Famicom, or the Epoch Cassette Vision all follow the same primitive approach to the sport. You swing and hit the ball. Rarely, if ever, do you catch. The aforementioned DECsystem-10 interpretation is an exception, but even there fielding consists purely of boolean choices. If I had to posit a guess, this omission would be because the act of catching is simply less engaging and fun than taking a crack at bat, particularly with no conveyance of height or distance. Missing a ball is a quick process when swinging, retrieval of the ball is a labour. Baseball Superstar makes this painfully clear. The angled perspective of those ancient versions is on display, the field not a verdant blanket of manicured grass, but a piercing monotone orange, as if the mounds have subsumed the totality of the space. Here one does not even get to pitch, the batter automatically lobs his own ball for you to catch. Your movement is semi-slippery and arduous. Despite your size, the tiny ball slips by without perfect placement. Diving or jumping for the ball is a commitment that rarely pays off. Throwing the ball to your first baseman takes a while as it arcs through the air. However, if you throw the ball 'perfectly' it zips straight to them and you get a gravelly 'OK!' The counter at the bottom ticks up by one, expecting a similar performance for the next 999 hits, with only two failures permitted. The hits become harder to predict, and that goal must be an impossibility. From the outset, Work Time Fun is setting the player up for a one-two punch of overpromise and underdelivery. When your defeat comes and your player smashes their glove into the ground, you're presented your first paycheque. With how hard the work was, surely the pay will be great to compensate for the difficulty, right?

You get around $0.02 per ball.

Pendemonium

Far and away my favourite job offered in Work Time Fun. The description puts it perfectly: 'Put the caps on the pens.' Start the job and you see a horribly dithered and artifacted image of factory line workers, facing away from you and stretching into the distance. The fluorescent lights flicker incessantly. The only modicum of colour in this space is the rust-red script hanging from the ceiling, presumably stating not to speak to your fellow employees. Atop this all sits a polygonal ballpoint pen with a rotating cap floating overhead. Press X to cap the pen. Press up or down to invert the pen. Press X to uncap the pen. Press O to proceed to the next pen.

The bottom of the screen displays a counter, sitting then at 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001.

The counter goes up to just shy of one undecillion. That number is literally impossible to reach, even if you capped one pen every millionth of a nanosecond for the entire age of the universe. There's no conceivable end goal here, the player has no choice but to stop when they feel it appropriate.

As you cap the pens, you hear the inhuman whirring of machinery and the faint mutterings of your co-workers. "I guess I'll wait till payday." "I love celebrities." "I wanna go home." "Have you ever thought about divorce?" "How are the stocks today?" "They should change the design of these things." "My hands are so dry." "I'm hungry." There's a hollowness to it all, and you quickly become numb to this prattle as the pens move along. The volume of the pens and their conveyor belt is vastly higher than the background noises anyways.

You can only ever see three pens at once: the one you are capping, the one you just capped, the one you will cap. This prevents any sort of planning for the upcoming series of pens, preempting your movements for maximum efficiency. This also means that your mistake becomes apparent only for the length of time it takes for you to cap one more pen. As Pendemonium offers a substantial bonus for perfect capping, missing that chunk of change because of a mistake, particularly one you missed even making, becomes a horrifying proposition. One has to wonder when they went wrong, one starts to second-guess themselves, questioning if they should clock out when those doubts manifest to minimise the damages incurred by a potential mistake, or continue apace and hope for the best. You enter an intense rhythm in due time, cursing those streaks of upside-down pens, and feeling enthusiasm for streaks of correctly oriented pens. I've given myself literal blisters on my thumb from this job. I adore it, despite it being so soul-crushing. It is a perfect skinner box stripped of its pomp and circumstance. The only endorphins released by my brain come from that number going higher, not from any flash or cheer.

On numerous occasions I have recorded myself capping pens into the thousands. I have also watched myself capping those pens. It is an ultimate catharsis.

Mushroom Xing

You guide blocky, Minecraftian pedestrians to the other side of the road while avoiding cars. You can get mushrooms for extra points. That's kind of it, a resurrection of David Crane's Freeway on Atari 2600. I personally find this to be one of the worst jobs available for its slow pace and poor theming. Besides the mushrooms in the road, you get a little image of mushrooms on the side of the screen. This, as it turns out, is because this and the other jobs thus far are actually sequels to jobs found in Groove Jigoku V: Sweepstation Version. The Japanese release of Work Time Fun (there titled Baito Hell 2000) labels these returning jobs with a 2 in their title screens, but as this is the first in the duology released in the West, no such numeral appears here. Mushroom Xing in Groove Jigoku V lacked the decorative mushrooms because of its aspect ratio, but the widescreen of the PSP compensates for this change with the mushrooms. Mushroom Xing is the feeling of waiting for an old person to cross the street so you can make a left-hand turn with a line of cars behind you turned into a game.

Traffic Counter

As the title suggests, this job involved counting foot traffic in an area. It's a primitive form of more nuanced means of people counting in the modern day. Electronic people counters allegedly existed as early as the 1980s, but it is nonetheless a job prone to error, making its human operated form a perfect inclusion. As your definitely-not-DOOM-guy (given glasses in the West to avoid legal complications) gazes upon the street, you are instructed to count passersby who qualify as people, ignoring everyone else. Your counter occupies the bottom-centre like a super shotgun. The difficulty comes from the overlapping and speed of sprites, as well as the fact your counter only goes up. If you overcount by accident, you're hosed.

On completing a day, another crimson or blue dithered image appears, blurring the bodies on display so as to be largely dehumanised. Those deformities that were being counted a moment ago become normal by comparison.

The backgrounds are largely monochromatic pixel streets punctuated by rust or blood or water. By round 5, however, a photographic landscape becomes your playspace, littered by physically impossible skyscrapers and boundless concrete cubes. The next round is amidst the flames of hell. The last, an inky void. Your final reward is the image from earlier back in saffron tones. Failing a single round nets you an empty cheque. Perfect play pays $32.00.

DENKI DETOUR

As mentioned above, Work Time Fun is a sequel to the Japan-only Groove Jigoku V: SweepStation Version. This prequel is erroneously titled Denki Groove Jigoku V: SweepStation Version across much of the English-speaking internet despite 'Denki' not appearing in the title at all. This confusion seems to be caused by the game Groove Jigoku being produced by the musical duo 'Denki Groove,' a fact which appears only in the intro cinematic for Groove Jigoku and has no English sources. The Japanese Wikipedia article for 'Denki Groove' does list the group's involvement in Groove Jigoku as producers, as well as front man Pierre Taki's producer role for Baito Hell 2000. Jigoku itself means Hell! Is this hell real or imagined? In Groove Jigoku V it is clearly literal as the player character dies at the beginning. In Baito Hell 2000 who is to say for certain. Apparently 'Denki Groove' considered their game to be deliberate kusoge, which Famitsu seems to, in part, agree with, stating something along the lines of 'the happiest time is while reading the game explanation in the instruction manual before playing the game' (very roughly translated). Also, the original Groove Jigoku site is archived for your perusal here.

BACK TO THE GRINDSTONE

What these four jobs illustrate with crystal clarity is the dehumanisation of work, central to Work Time Fun and antithetical to its title. It is not only that the work is itself degrading in its evaluation of the player as a producer of labour rather than as a player of a game, but also that the Other is rendered as less than human. Those photos from the information input screen at the start of Work Time Fun refused the player a gaze to render them visible, to acknowledge them as participants, as people. The first contact made to you by your temp agency is a generic introduction from the corporation itself. The job demon is themself non-human, and their recognition of the player amounts to little more than a sounding board for their own problems, with the worker/player's name never coming into the fray. Your name is an unchanging statistic next to your funds at the bottom of the screen. Your name is nothing more than a destination for those miniscule cheques written and signed by machine which would quickly deny you the satisfaction of an earned wage if it could get away with it. All representations of people in those four jobs are wet with Otherness in turn. Baseball Superstar has only the player and demons. Pendemonium has your co-workers malformed into blobs that camouflage with the concrete and rust, their voices a distant echo. Mushroom Xing's pedestrians lock their gaze upon the player avatar, but not the human player themself until the crossing is completed. Even then, their acknowledgement is terse yet passive. Traffic Counter has no 'ordinary' humans to identify with apart from our not-DOOM-guy.

Returning to the Inbox that was so impersonal at the start, the player by now has received a few messages. One comes from WTF Net again, a congratulatory gift of $5.00 for completing your first job. One comes from Hariyama-Mart to inform you of a 'Popular Comic Book Box Set' available for purchase. Depending on performance, some additional messages from WTF Net might arrive to congratulate you on 'Your Great Achievement' and bestow you a title in the vein of 'Ballpoint Pen-Robot'. Again, your value as an individual here is that of your production. Shattering this facelessness is one message from a 'Ken' with the subject 'Yo!'.

Ken's email suggests some degree of familiarity with the player and implores for any questions to be brought to him (though this is an impossibility with Work Time Fun's one-way email). His face, contorted between a smile and a cough, cements him as of 'personhood.'

With some funds, the player will no doubt be intrigued by the next menu option 'Vending Machine.' Another demon greets us with a little more charm, and we are presented with three identical 'Bronze' gashapon machines. Plop in a dollar, open the capsule, and more often than not you'll receive a little trinket and a cheery jingle! Receive a duplicate and the chime becomes disappointed. With luck, you will instead receive a new job, or a tool. Besides these three machines are the $5 Silver, $10 Gold, and $50 Celeb tiers with potential rewards differing with each tier.

TOOL TIME FUN

The tools are a new addition seemingly to take some advantage of the PSP's portability. They function largely as ur-apps from the near-launch of the iPhone App Store, those halcyon days of iBeer, Sonic Lighter, and PhoneSaber. These are admittedly more utilitarian, but they nonetheless fit specific niches that are largely ignored by the App Stores of 2022. In keeping with that kusoge intent, those niches are, lets say, not champing at the bit for a tool in a 2005 PSP game to meet specific needs.

The only ostensibly useless tool is Eye Spy, a swappable set of eyes intended to be held in front of your face like goggles. You manipulate the eyes with the analogue nub, blink the eyes independently with the shoulder buttons, and can toggle a censorship bar at will with X. We could consider these eyes to be an instance of the game's acknowledgement of the player, but as this artificial gaze is subject to our own control, is it really anything but us looking at ourselves? Perhaps in using them as intended for the amusement of an other we approach the possibility of being perceived by said other, but as they obscure our own real vision we become prisoners in a panopticon that is itself in the dark; the panopticon itself and its observational guard might not even exist in that moment. Unrelatedly, the only walkthrough on GameFAQs has the authour mention he used this tool to make fun of a Vietnamese guy in his class.

Ramen Timer is, as the name suggests, a ramen timer with options for 3, 4, or 5 minutes, as well as a Male or Female version. When the timer starts we're greeted by a bikini-clad gravure idol or speedo-wearing oiled up muscle man on a fake Hawaiian beach making small talk about ramen for the duration while posing. The portrait layout of the FMV makes Work Time Fun seem all the more prescient. The tool is twofold here in the functionality of the timer, and the placement of the chosen figure as objet petit a. Our desire perhaps is not only some gratification through or with this virtualised other, but a longing to be seen as we-- Oh! Timer's up, your noodles are ready! Goody goody!

Handy Light is a light, filling the screen with a single hue like Uber's Spot feature (I have no idea if that is still a thing). We are told explicitly not to shine it in other people's eyes. Restaurant Bill Splitter is also self-explanatory, though it curiously includes a 'Gentleman Mode' to, unknowingly, exacerbate the gender dichotomy and in turn create a greater distance between the self and the other within a gendered binary. The suggested split when using 'Gentleman Mode' is around 80/20, turning the feminine contribution into a pittance. Counter is fascinating in that it provides two counters with the option to set 'units' which are effectively bases. One option for the noise that plays when another unit rolls over is 'Sexy' which is predictably a woman moaning. Chinese Astrologer helpfully informs us we do not need to be Chinese to use it. The results are gendered and obtuse with the vague nothings of any horoscope.

King of the Castle Tool is the oddest in the collection, being a tool for the playing of a Japanese parlour game called "Ōsama Gēmu" or "King's Game." It is in effect a game of Truth or Dare without knowing the specific identities of the participants, all involved being reduced for a moment to numbers. The tasks that can be chosen randomly vary from the simple 'sip your drink' to the gnarly 'gargle your drink and have X' drink it to the profane 'X, describe your sexiest body part. Y, take a picture of it.' The idea of passing around a PSP with a copy of Work Time Fun in it in the West to play a Japanese parlour game is endlessly confusing and amusing, but its anonymising of the tasks to be performed could theoretically make this a great means of playing said game.

Matchmaker has you inputting the names of up to five men and five women to determine romantic compatibility. However, the name input field allows only three characters, an obvious holdover from the Japanese release which forces participants to identify their Snoo-ish putti by their initials, not that it ultimately matters. Unlike the love testers that we might consider this to be an analogue of, Matchmaker does away with these pretenses of warmth equating to interest. Each participant simply chooses one other, opposite-gendered participant and selects their level of interest. What's strange is that despite being able to choose different levels of romantic desire, you can only pick one person. This means if the person you choose doesn't choose you as their sole suitor, this is read as a rejection. When the confessions are revealed, the male putti walk with a rose to their chosen sweethearts, with other suitors for the same partner professing their love in turn. Whoever that potential partner chose is the one that gets the match. Where the levels of affection do come into play is in the 'Feeling Index' shown for the 'winning' couple, erring closer to the vague gauge readings of those electromechanical love testers.

Bingo is bingo. It chooses bingo numbers. It doesn't include the letters appended to each number but I suppose that isn't necessary. There is a small mustachioed, cowboy-hat wearing, maraca shaking man in the corner. He is named Mr. Bingo. If anyone has ever used this for bingo night as an old folks home, I would love to know about it.

The last tool is potentially the most useful. World Clock is what one would expect, letting you see the time in 73 cities across the world, and bearing an alarm function. It doesn't display every possible timezone, however, so even this purely functional tool refuses to wholly fulfil its duty.

MORE WORK TIME LESS PLAY TIME

After using each tool or playing each job for the first time, you'll invariably receive another email from Ken. In series these read as a mini-memoir of a man who has time for infinite play and infinite work, of a man who engages in countless social activities that the player can never join in on.

Other allegedly familiar faces rear their head too in time. Lai, whose photo is of a small boy shoving mandarins in his mouth, is generally braggadocios about his performance. Mr. College stares at us, cigarette in hand, red eyes thoroughly not reduced and offers small nuggets of encouragement. Vernon's femininity is disquieting abutted against anecdotes of abuse and harassment. Before long our inbox is as crowded with emails from co-workers as it is from the company and junk mail.

This re-humanising transpires in the jobs themselves. Lumberjack shows the player as well as an elderly sage. Three Count is resplendent with actual humans in its parody of Fire Pro Wrestling. Private Number involves direct engagement with a specific individual as we try to guess their phone number in a clone of Mastermind. Ready to Order involves painstakingly copying down the food orders of an indecisive group. We even receive an oppai-filled rhythm job in Hand Bell Delight where the girls get visibly annoyed with you, letting you consume them with a (in 2005) presumably male gaze which they transform into disdain. It is not only the human element that returns to us, but the notion of fun as well.

The jobs which are unlocked begin to more closely resemble actual games rather than work. While they would still remain out of place in a minigame collection like Wario Ware or Mario Party they nonetheless capitalise on the absurdity of turning work into games and games into work. Some jobs are obscenely short, taking mere seconds to get your cheque. Some are obscenely long, like Chick Sorting, an exactly 10 minute long job of separating chicks based on their sex (Fun fact: Chicken sexing via venting (opening the chick's cloaca) was first discovered in Japan in 1933!) (Not fun fact: Male chicks are considered useless and are culled almost immediately, and overcrowding in hatcheries leads to further deaths, probably explaining why there are so many dead chicks to be sorted.) Some are infinite like Pendemonium or 4 Fingers wherein you play the knife game with an awl. Some remain hopelessly tedious like Caddy Quest, a Brendan Keogh's Putting Challenge-esque collectathon. Some are just retools of other games, like Copycat, a spittle-infused Simon clone, or Pollinator, a Lunar Lander-like Some are cruel jokes, like Space Blaster, a shmup with a massive hitbox and hyperfast lasers that cut off your profits around $0.16.

TINKER FAILURE WORKER, DIE

In reviews and contemporary coverage of Work Time Fun, a word that always rears its head is 'Japanese-ness'. Like the 'Japonisme' of early modern France, there's an obsession among gamers and the gaming press with 'Orientalism' in the interactive arts. Jeff Gerstmann noted the 'Japanese eccentricity' in his review for Gamespot. Angelina Sandoval said Japanese games like Me & My Katamari or Work Time Fun might seem bizarre in her review for GameZone. Steve Tilley said for GamesRadar+ that unlike frozen Kirin or hentai, Work Time Fun is a Japanese concept we aren't missing in the West. Karen Chu of 1Up.com said Japan must be bizarre and into metaphysics. Perhaps what is so fascinating about Work Time Fun is that it doesn't compromise its vision for a Western release. Hell, I'm surprised it even got one. The idea of a sequel to a piece of kusoge by a Japanese music duo that only released in Japan getting a release stateside is absurd. And while temporary work is degrading in the West, anecdotes of arubaito paint an even more grim portrait. These reviewers might all say that the Japanese-ness of Work Time Fun is seen in its jobs, but I see it most potently in the trinkets.

One of the first trinkets I got from a vending machine in Work Time Fun many moons ago was a menko card. I still don't really know what menko is! There's the whole gamut of shogi tiles, finger puppets for careers that patently don't exist in the West like ama and shimei. Certainly the majority of the available trinkets are not exclusively Japanese in origin, but the sheer novelty of these items is reminiscent of buying Japanese snacks at an import grocery store. Yes many of these objects are functionally identical to ones seen or originating in the West, but their placement as something foreign makes them worthy of attention. These objects are othered because we have heard them to be an other. If Work Time Fun were not sold to the West by the gaming press as a Japanese title exuding Japanese-ness, would we even notice? Would we even care about its origin? Would the game itself be of any merit? Does it matter if we're really in Hell or not? Isn't life itself a Hell?

WORK TIME FUN

What every reviewer, every fan, every off-hand mention of Work Time Fun seems to stress is that the game is not fun on purpose. I don't know that I can fully agree with that, or rather, I think the idea of intrinsic fun is counter-intuitive to understanding Work Time Fun. Obviously as deliberate kusoge the intent was never to make an objectively 'good' product. Taken at a surface level, the jobs almost universally suck to play. The rewards are so meagre as to be insulting. Leaving the opportunity to get new, more fun work up to utter chance and running the risk of getting another Muscleman eraser is potentially infuriating. Being granted a title that only identifies you as a bozo that wastes their time when you do well in a job is cruel. But at the same time, it's all hilarious. Work Time Fun is a hysterical work. And yet I don't laugh at it, I laugh with it. Here lies a game which antagonises not only the player, but the creators, the gaming industry, and life under capitalism as a whole.

Work Time Fun has the confidence to not only ask you to put caps on pens in perpetuity, but to laugh at you for expecting some grand recompense.

Work Time Fun doesn't hold up a mirror to society, it is society.

Work Time Fun is making the best of a shitty situation.

Work Time Fun is entertaining oneself in solitary confinement.

Work Time Fun is whistling while you work.

Work Time Fun is the realisation that hell is other people.

Work Time Fun is the car full of garbage, a horror from the outside, someone's reality on the inside.

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enchantedlife · 2 years

Photo

Mary-Edna Monahan about 1955 or 1956 in the apartment she shared with her sister Bobbie (Roberta) in Utica, NY.

On August 1, 2022 I had lunch with my Aunt Bobbie Murad and her daughter Jacque. It was a chance to catch up and celebrate Bobbie’s 90th birthday which was ten days away on August 11th. We met at the Wigwam, an iconic small restaurant and bar on route 28 in Forestport, NY which is a landmark for anyone driving that road as the tail of a small plane protrudes from the Wigwam’s roof and is highly visible from both directions given the Wigwam’s location on a small curve in the road in a clearing near Woodhull State Forest.

I was visiting Old Forge to be present for the celebration of Dan Tickner’s life. Bobbie is now living at the Masonic Care Community adjacent to Proctor Park in Utica not far from her daughters Debbie and Jacque. Jacque had recommended we meet at the the Wigwam as is approximately halfway between Utica and Old Forge and Bobbie loves an opportunity to take a drive. Bobbie’s memory has started to fade but Jacque brought an a photo album that Bobbie started when she was a young girl that held photos from her childhood to her marriage and each image triggered great family stories that afternoon. The photo of my mother (Mary-Edna) is from an apartment she and Bobbie shared as young single women living in Utica and is one I’d never seen before.

Bobbie and Mary-Edna were very close in age with 13 months between their births. They also were the two sisters of the clan who lived closest in distance to each other after they married with Bobbie settling in Utica with her husband Tony Murad and Mary-Edna moving to Old Forge upon marrying Joe Uzdavinis. The strong-willed Monahan clan holds their moral ground and frequently will stand on their convictions and that led to Mary-Edna and Bobbie having a parting of ways after the death of their grandmother in 1967 and ironically the two sisters who lived closest to each other saw each other less than they would see their other siblings. After Mary-Edna’s death Bobbie reached out and worked to reestablish a connection with me and my brothers which was a bit tough given my knowledge of some of the reason for their parting of ways and the fact that I wasn’t living in the area anymore. Years later it became easier to be in touch both due to the passage of time and technological advances. Bobbie’s oldest daughter Susan reached out to me to connect and given the loss of so much of our family, especially our mother’s sisters it’s been lovely to connect and reestablish more regular contact with this part of my family.

I love hearing about the fun that the two sister had while living together and about the love and respect Bobbie had for my Dad, Joe, when he came into my Mom’s life when the two sisters were roommates. Mary-Ed was working at Cunningham Photo a studio owned by Art Cunningham in Utica around the corner from the Utica Observer-Dispatch the newspaper where my Dad worked in the Advertising and Sports Departments.

0 notes

movedbl0g · 3 years

Text

Skz reaction - them seeing you during/after a workout

Warnings: kinda suggestive

Gifs belong to their original owner, not me

also- requests are open so feel free to request/ask stuff

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Chan:

You were just finished with your workout, as Chan came back from the studio. You were still breathing heavily , drenched in sweat , giving Chan a sweet smile as a hello. He came up to you, wanting to hug you, but you lightly pushed him in the moment he wanted to wrap his arms around you.“I’m like really sweaty, you know”, you said with apologizing puppy eyes on your face. Chan just smirked “ don’t worry, already have seen you sweaty a lot of times”.

He hungrily he licked over his lips, seducing you with his gaze. “Do you maybe want to shower.....together?”, he asked innocently, “ we would save a lot of water, you know...,”

Lee Know:

You were in the middle of your workout, but suddenly Lee Know bursted through your door, wanting to show you cat photos on his phone, so you stopped your actions and walked up to him. Your heavy breathing was really noticable and as you were looking at Lee Knows phone, his eyes lingered over your drenched body, appreciating your physique. As you catched him staring, he shyly tilted his neck to the said and nervously put his hand on the now free space.

“Do you uhmm....maybe need a workout-partner?”, he asked, his shyness making you giggle. “But only if you’re really working out with me, nothing different” you answered teasingly, placing a light peck on his cheek.

Changbin:

Changbins cheeks were blushing as soon as he entered the room, seeing you all sweaty. His eyes lingered over your frame, staring at you intensely while leaning himself against the doorframe. When you noticed his presence and his obvious staring, you let out a small “hey! You’re staring babe!”.

He just responded with a smirk, as he turned around. “Meet me in the shower when you’re finished” was the last thing you heard from him as he already walked out of the room.

Hyunjin:

You were so invested in getting the choreography right, that you didn’t even notice that Hyunjin walked into the practice room, silently looking at you from afar. It took a while for you to notice him, but as you finally did he was staring at you intensely. “Hey you stalker”, you said teasingly, “for how long did you already stare at me like that you creep?”

He walked up to you, licking his lips hungrily before giving you a smirk “What else am I supposed to do if you look that hot?”.

Jisung:

You were in the middle of your workout as your phone rang, Jisungs name popping up at the screen ,so you decided to pick up. “Hey y/n, do you maybe wanna eat thai food tonight, because i am near this new-“, Jisung began to say but stopped as he heard your heavy breathing. “Uhmm...did i interrupt you while doing something uhmm...you know that I’ll be home soon right,y/n?”.

You couldn’t hold back your laugh “I’m actually doing a workout rn babe, but it’s okay don’t worry, I’m almost finished anyway”. A silent “ohh” left Jisungs mouth as he started laughing too. “So thai food is alright??”

Felix:

Felix giggled as he saw the sweaty, red, heavily breathing mess in front of him. “You look absolutely stunning”, he stated, his eyes growing big. “No i am sweaty, and besides that really hot”, you whined, whipping the sweat from your forehead. Felix’ expression changed in a second, his giggle turning into a lustful smirk. “actually”, he said while pulling you into his embrace, “you’re looking really hot right now”. He pressed his lips on yours, pulling you into a deep kiss.

After a few seconds he pulled away, giving you a reassuring smile, “let’s go into the shower”, he whispered, while gently pulling you into the direction of your bathroom.

Seungmin:

“A-are you alright??do you have a fever? Because uhmm... you look really...kind of...sick?”,Seungmin asked worried, his face expressions soft and his eyes marked by his puppy gaze. “What..I- do i look that bad?” you asked. “I mean you really look kinda...exhausted you know, like...ohh”, Seungmin continued to speak, until his eyes met the yoga mat on the floor with light weights standing right besides it.

There was an awkward silence, but after a few seconds you both broke out into laugher. “I’m glad that you’re fine”, said the beautiful boy while pulling you closer.“we can also do some sport together, you know?”, you teasingly suggested, causing Seungmins soft smile to turn into a smirk. “Of course”

Jeongin:

It was your idea to suggest a couple workout, but while your well trained boyfriend did every exercise with ease, you were struggling a lot, already sweaty and out of breath, while your boyfriend still looked flawless. “I think I need a break”, you admitted, trying to breath as normal as you could. Jeongins eyes immediately wandered to you giving you a smirk.

“You look really hot like this, y/n”, he said, while lingering his eyes over your body. “Oh no”, you laughed, “YOU look hot right now, but I, I am just a really sweaty mess”. Jeongin pulled you close to him, his face only a few centimeters away from yours. “You’re a beautiful,hot, sweaty mess”, he said, “and most important, you’re my hot, sweaty mess”.

🖤masterlist

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spideyspeaches · 3 years

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Spotlight ↬ t.h

A/N: This whore made me write this okay? shh you didn’t see me write this 🤡 Lord save me what have I written 😪😪💀

WC: 1.4k+

Warnings: smut. minors dni

Pairing: tom holland x photographer!reader (basically the plot lmao)

Masterlist || Taglist

“Is it just me, or are these pants super tight?” Tom grunted, pulling the tight dress pants in question to fit over his thighs. Wiggling his toes, he tried not to groan at the numbness in his limbs the uncomfortable pants brought, hoping the photoshoot wouldn’t take long.

He really wasn’t in the mood for a photoshoot this late at night, especially after a long day of continuous online press. The things he did for his fans. He just hoped that the new photographer wouldn’t be a rookie, he would feel terrible if he snapped at them for doing their job. Not that he would ever, his anger management was going well.

“I don’t know man, ask your stylist.” One of the dressers said. Tom didn’t know what his name was, there were too many people to keep track of names. And then there was the makeup artist, who decided that he needed makeup that very moment, brushing his nose with powder with a fluffy brush. Trying hard not to rip his pants, he sneezed three times in succession.

“Bless you.” The makeup lady chuckled, dusting more on his cheekbones before going to the rest of his face. Trying to deflect her, he moved around a little, earning a chuckle from the others.

“I think I’m already pretty without makeup, thank you very much.” Tom joked, rolling his sore neck, curling his toes once again as they cracked satisfactorily, sighing in relief that the darn fitting was finally done.

“You are pretty but the camera needs a little highlight to show your cheekbones off.” she retorted.

Scoffing, he looked around, eyes landing on the multiple flashlights in front of the green screen, and another person. Furrowing his brows, he shrugged, maybe that was the new photographer.

“Who’s that woman?” He asked anyway, sneaking a glance at You. He could only see your back, but he could see your hair tied up in a bun, baggy olive pants and a plaid shirt loosely hanging off your waist. He felt jealous looking at your comfortable clothing, pushing down the feeling with a huff. You were a stranger, and he would be home soon anyway.

“That’s the new photographer, she’s an intern but quite good at what she does. We saw her portfolio and immediately hired her.”

“That’s great.” He muttered absentmindedly tracing his eyes over your form. He found himself unable to stop the blush creeping up his cheeks when you turned around, a smile on your lips when you saw him eyeing you. It wasn’t often that somebody caught his eye.

“She’s off-limits.” The older woman muttered, smirking when he huffed.

“It wasn’t like I was going to do anything.” he said defensively, yet unable to take his eyes off you.

“Of course you weren’t.”

No he wasn’t. At first he wasn’t, but his stupid tight fucking pants were making him uncomfortable, twisting the rings in his fingers to stop the anxiety blooming in his chest. His eyes followed you again as he sat at the ground, watching you as you adjust the settings of your camera.

"Y/n, right?" Tom asked, as you nodded bashfully.

“Ready?” You smiled. Giving you a thumbs up, he posed in multiple positions, his eyes following your hands as they held the lens of the camera. You tried not to pay much attention to the man in front of you.

You had come here strictly to click photographs, not hook up with a celebrity who was decidedly the most attractive person in this room. You felt your breath hitch as he spread his legs, casually sprawling his hands between his thighs, right on top of his crotch. The rings on his fingers and the highlights of his makeup visibly shone against the bright lights. Clearing your throat, you lowered the camera from your face.

“Can you- can you turn a little bit? To your right?” You stuttered, indicating the new position, bunching up the hem of his grey dress pants as he shifted.

“This is better?” He asked, looking up with a smirk. He definitely knew what he was doing, and judging by his smug expression, which you decided to capture before it vanished, he knew how it was affecting you too.

The overall shoot was exhausting, with the constant wardrobe change and time limit. But the entire time, you couldn't help but be intrigued by the British actor in front of you.

His wardrobe definitely defined his muscles, the lights working wonders as they created shadows in just the right places.

“Can I see the photos?” He asked, coming to stand behind you once the rest of the crew disappeared to pack everything up. Your breath hitched again, the closer he came, the faster your heart beat.

“Th-they need to be edited.” You stuttered, switchin on your camera anyway. Without turning, you held the instrument in your hand, lifting your elbows as he came closer, his mouth nearly on your neck. You were both thankful for the empty dressing room.

“I bet they look good, they came from a sweet thing like you.” He whispered, bringing his hands closer to your waist, teasing you as his fingers traced non existent circles on the small of your skin visible from the hitched t-shirt. The air around you grew thicker, it was getting harder to breath with every passing minute as he ran his cold fingers burning your skin, the cool of his rings a foreign touch.

You’ve had a one night stand or two before, but they were usually men from random dive bars. Not a celebrity, who had taken interest in you surprisingly fast. Your gut twisted at the thought of doing him, the heat of the spotlight suddenly burning your skin. Was this going to be a one night thing too? You didn’t know. You didn’t care. You weren’t going to admit it, but you were a fan of Tom Holland. You had seen his interviews of him for Cherry, but somehow, the Tom Holland standing behind you was a complete 360 of the Tom you saw in the interviews.

“They look good because they have you.” You said, squirming at the funny feeling of his lips on your neck, sucking on the nape. Fuck professionalism, no one was there to catch you, the lights of the studio having been switched off because of it nearing it’s closing time. You had a trailer of your own, but you were too lost in his lips to care.

Twisting around, you jumped up as he caught you with ease, crashing your lips with his with a hunger that surprised you, arms grasping his shoulders as you dug your nails into his clothed shoulder.

Panting as you parted, you took off your clothes, the cold air hitting you as your body got used to the sudden temperature change. He watched in awe as they fell one by one, first your pants, then your shirt, leaving you in your sports bra and panties. His hard on was very visible from his pants, as he reached to unveil himself alongside you.

“Don’t you think this is a little unprofessional? We literally just met.” You spoke, walking closer to him, holding his cheeks in your palm. Biting your lips, you ran your hands on his now bare chest, feeling the hard skin of his nipples, his defined pectorals. Yeah, you really didn’t give a fuck about professionalism, you were about to fuck Thomas fucking Holland, maybe teach him a lesson after he left you all hot and bothered during the photoshoot.

“It’s unprofessional only if you want it to be darling.” He groaned, pulling you closer to his, your chests smacking against each other as he grasped your head, kissing you, the pace increasing as he picked you up by your waist, slamming you against the door of the studio.

You never knew a touch could mean so much, lost in your high of his lips against yours, his skin against yours feeling like fire and ice at the same time.

“Say the magic word babygirl, and I’ll stop.” He said, grunting as you dug your fingers in his back, your head spinning at the euphoria his voice brought you.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to say anything with your dick against me.” You said, stopping for a moment as he looked at you open mouthed. A moment passed and his laughter rang in the studio, your own mixed with his.

This was gonna be the longest night of yours.

A/N: SO THAT HAPPENED HAHA BYE IMMA GO INTO HIDING

#This isn't showing up on tags fml 😭😭😭#imma still try anyway #tom holland smut #tom holland x reader smut #tom holland #tom holland x you #tom holland x actress!reader #spideygirl writes

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finkanie · 8 months

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WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Red Arrow Soccer Club photos are now booking! Sessions will be hosted at Finkanie Photography in McGillen’s Crossing, 56310 City Center Circle, Mattawan, MI - next to Pizza Hut (entrance is on the road side of the building - don’t get lost!) :)

Sessions will be M-F starting October 9, 2023 and run through October 17, 2023! DON’T MISS OUT! No makeup times will be added, so be sure to schedule your time right away and mark your calendar!

To book your session, click here

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libraford · 8 months

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While I myself don't have kids I do live near a high school due to cheap apartments. As I passed the school I say they had a sign up saying school pictures retakes we the 13 of next month which confused me because I grew up where it was one day and thats it. It also made me think of how this ex coworker of yours would let kids see their pictures. How often does this in fact happen or is this a rare moment?

It's pretty common to have a retake day one month from the original day, especially now that it's digital and the cost of processing is lower than it was when I was younger (and it was all on film.) Even so, when I was younger there was a retake day. I think it depends primarily on what company is doing the photography. Big companies typically have a retake day. I can see why a small, local photography studio might not have that as an option.

I got in trouble for showing the photos last year. Company policy: we are not supposed to do that. The reason being that it slows down the workflow. It also creates inconsistencies between photographers and we want to all be on the same page when we're at a school. Teenagers, especially, are known to not be satisfied no matter how many takes we do, and it's common for some of them to gum up the works intentionally to get out of class. The exceptions are for sports portraits- which do not take place during the school day and are featured in multiple print publications outside of yearbooks.

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natromanxoff · 3 years

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Queen live at Royal Dublin Society Simmonscourt in Dublin, Ireland - November 22, 1979 (Part-1)

(x)

Tonight is the opening night of the "Crazy Tour," the tour when Queen decided to go back and play the smaller, more intimate venues (especially the London ones). The lighting rig had to be scaled down to accommodate most of the venues. There used to be five rows of red and green lights and four rows of white, but the red and green have been cut back to four as well. Along with the change in the band's attire (particularly Freddie's pants with knee-pads) and Roger's bass drum head sporting a picture of himself, all these factors make pictures from this tour easy to distinguish from those taken earlier in the year.

Queen's old front of house sound technician returned to the job after a long illness (the Jazz album is dedicated to him for this reason).

The show now begins with an intense drone leading into the thunder and lightning. Combined with their lighting rig (even the scaled down version), this would be a very effective opening of their show. It has been said that people were often left breathless before the band even played a note.

Being their first gig in the UK since releasing Live Killers, the band decide to shake things up a bit by opening the show with Let Me Entertain You, followed by the fast We Will Rock You. The setlist is otherwise mostly similar to the live album and previous tour, with a couple new songs added to the repertoire (Mustapha made its first appearance in Saarbrucken in the summer).

Tonight would see the first performances of Save Me and Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which had been recently recorded. The latter has been released as a single and would fare quite well on the charts, becoming their first American #1. Save Me would be released as a single early next year, peaking at #11 in the UK. On stage, Brian May plays the piano on the ballad. Through 1981, he'd play the first two verses on piano and switch to guitar at the second chorus. The instrumentation would change slightly in 1982 with the addition of an auxiliary keyboardist. In the meantime, these 1979 versions would have the band finishing the song at the end of the last chorus, omitting the piano outro.

As for Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Brian would start on acoustic guitar, switch to a black Telecaster for the guitar solo, and to his beloved Red Special for the finale of the song. Unlike the 1950s-flavoured studio version, it would become a heavy rock song by the final verse. By 1982, the end of the song would often be a relatively long jam. Freddie would play a 12-string Ovation Pacemaker acoustic guitar for the song through 1982, and would switch to a cream-coloured Telecaster from 1984 to 1986. Throughout the years, he would often joke about how he knew how to play only a few chords on the guitar.

On stage, the band end Crazy Little Thing Called Love with a coda similar to the one in You're My Best Friend.

This is Queen's first of four shows they would play in Ireland, and so they perform a one-off version of Danny Boy in the encore. As told by someone who attended the show, almost no one in the audience knew the words of the second verse, while Freddie had done his homework.

During Now I'm Here, a fan manages to make his way on stage for a brief moment, and Freddie sings, "Now He's Here." An audience recording of the song was reportedly broadcast on the radio not long after the show, but no known copy has survived.

At the end of the show, instead of playing their version of Britain's national anthem as always, in Ireland the band use the outro from the A Day At The Races album - the only location where they would make a political gesture like this.

Here is a review of this show from the Dublin Evening Press, submitted by Rob Schoorl.

Photos 1-3 were taken by Eddie Mallin.

Fan Stories

“I couldn't believe it! Summer 1979 and I was reading a review of a gig in one of Dublin's evening newspapers. At the end of the review, added almost as an afterthought, was news that the promoter, Pat Egan, was planning to bring Queen to Dublin! I read and re-read it but still could not believe it. Queen, at last, would make their debut in front of an Irish audience! The Crazy Tour would begin in Dublin. Fast forward to the autumn and myself and a number of friends from school eagerly queued up to buy tickets to see our heroes. After buying the tickets, it was a long countdown to the show which would take place on Thursday November 22nd 1979. I still clearly remember the date even after all the years. Eventually the day arrived. That night Queen were on Top of the Pops with Crazy Little Thing Called Love but I didn't mind missing it. We were going to the real thing! After a long day in school we made our way to the RDS in Dublin. After a wait outside the gates we were allowed in to the venue and found a standing place near the front of the stage. I recall it got ever more crowded at the front of the stage and before the show, the tour manager (was it Gerry Stickells?) had to go on stage and appeal to people near the stage to relax and step back. Eventually the lights dimmed, there was a tremendous roar from the crowd, the Pizza Oven exploded into light and there were our heroes only yards away from us. I recall at the time being so overwhelmed by the amazing lights and the fact that we could almost touch Freddie, dressed all in black leather and sunglasses, that I barely registered that Let Me Entertain You was the opener. After that, it was into We Will Rock You and, largely the same songs and running order as the Live Killers album which I knew very well (!!) at that time and had almost worn out playing over the previous months. There were however some exceptions. Of most interest to Queen fans now and the biggest shock to me then was that Danny Boy was played live - a great version, from what I recall which received a terrific ovation from the audience. Also, If You Can't Beat Them was played which surprised me as it wasn't included on Live Killers and I wasn't even aware at that time that it was ever played live. The Dublin show was the first time that Save Me and Crazy Little Thing were played live. I remember being astounded at the power and range of Freddie's voice - even better than Live Killers. At that stage he was developing as a singer and over the next few years became recognised as one of the best rock singers and best frontmen in the business. (Am I the only one who was slightly disappointed with the quality and range of his voice during the final Magic Tour especially when compared to earlier tours?). The gig was a terrific show, especially to a young person attending his first major rock gig, and many of the songs are still memorable to me. During Now I'm Here one idiot actually got up on stage and Freddie sang "Now *he's* here" before he was removed from the stage. One girl also managed to get up on stage and plant a kiss on Freddie during the show. The following night, a couple of songs recorded during the show by someone in the audience were played on the Radio Dublin pirate radio station. These included Now I'm Here. A bootleg of the gig definitely exists *somewhere* but, try as I might, I cannot track it down. I would be grateful if anyone reading this comes across it or has it in their collection, that they get in touch with me!” - John Brogan

“The first night of the Crazy tour - amazing show. Seen some people on the web note that they played Danny Boy that night but for some reason I can only remember Brian playing it as part of his solo and us singing our heads off. Freddie handing out a champagne glass to a friend of mine who still has it. Anyway it was nearly 30 years ago and I find it hard to remember what I did last week never mind that long ago. They ended the show with the outro from A Day At The Races which took me a while to figure out what it actually was. The lighting rig was totally amazing - the pizza oven was aptly named - it was scorching and the intensity of the light when it turned around behind the band to face the audience was something else made a couple of friends that night (in the horse show bar opposite the venue) that I am still in contact with and we are all still crazy after all these years.” - Gary aka hoops

“A couple of notes on the Queen show in Dublin, 1979. Fred was in red trousers, not black as John Brogan has mentioned above. Small point but there you go. And when it came time for the audience to sing along to Danny Boy, almost no one knew the words of the second verse - I remember one chap shouting out to Freddie that he was doing a grand job all by himself. I saw them sixteen times in all and that show, the first, has a very special place in my memory. On the subject of bootlegs from that show, a chap in Aungier Street in Dublin used to have just about every show ever played in Dublin by anyone worth taping. I got a really bad and incomplete (C60) copy of the Queen show from him just as a record of having been there - his voice could be heard just before the start of the show, discussing bootlegging. The tape is somewhere in a box in my house and should I come across it, I'll let you know.” - Paul

Part-2

#queen #queen band #roger taylor #brian may #freddie mercury #roger meddows taylor #queen concerts

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shapesdefined · 1 year

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Why Professional Product Photography is Essential for Your Business

High-quality photography is a critical element that can influence the success of your product marketing efforts. Photography can showcase your goods in the best light while keeping your branding presence consistent wherever you post the photos.

Consumers are drawn to attractive imagery before reading any text or caption accompanying it, proving the importance of having eye-catching and quality product images. We’ll answer some questions about professional product photography to help you understand its significance.

How can professional product photography near me help communicate my brand’s value?

Product photography can be an investment that can boost brand and product recall. Professional photographers have the skill and vision to communicate the value, innovation, and creativity of your business to your customers. Professional photos of your products can convince prospects that you care about their needs and wants. Moreover, they encourage loyalty and repeat business.

I can take my own pictures, so why should I hire a professional to do it?

Have you seen a poorly taken photograph of a product with unflattering lighting and an inappropriate background? How did the image make you feel? Did it make you interested in the product and make the business seem credible to you?

Professional product photography can perfectly show the quality of your products while boosting your brand image’s credibility. Images can influence first impressions, as humans are naturally visual-oriented. According to statistics, 93 per cent of consumers consider visual appearance critical to their buying decisions.

Hiring a professional product photographer lets you avoid the guesswork in making your products look great in photos. They have the gear and the know-how to show your goods in the most flattering angles.

Can professional product photography near me increase sales?

Professional product images can entice customers to browse your products and drive their purchasing decisions. Today’s consumers have less patience and would rather look at pictures or watch videos than read product descriptions. That’s why you need impactful product images that instantly capture their attention and encourage them to buy.

How do I choose a photographer that offers professional product photography near me?

Find a local photographer with an inclusive approach to product photography. Look for a professional with packshot photography techniques to provide the best photos of products taken from various angles while proudly showing off your labelling and packaging. Reputable photographers can provide other services, such as macro, vertical or ghost mannequin, flat product, still life, lifestyle shot, and model photography.

About the Author:

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sinceileftyoublog · 3 years

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Indigo De Souza Interview: Compassion for Different Modalities

Photo by Charlie Boss

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Calling from her home near Asheville, North Carolina earlier this month, singer-songwriter Indigo De Souza is getting ready to go on tour behind her terrific sophomore album Any Shape You Take (Saddle Creek). Like everyone, she’s anxious about navigating the current COVID-19 landscape, but how she and her band adapt to a live performance and play the multi-dimensional songs that make up the record seems to be of little concern. I guess if I was as talented as De Souza, I wouldn’t be worried, either. Released last month, Any Shape You Take is a stunning series of ruminations on love and relationships, platonic and romantic, that span a number of years in De Souza’s life. Raised in a conservative small town in North Carolina by a mom who was an artist, De Souza doesn’t shy away from the fact that her family did not fit in. At the encouragement of her mother, she leaned into her artistic visions, making music as early as 9 years old, releasing her first EP in 2016.

After self-releasing her (very appropriately titled) first album I Love My Mom in 2018, De Souza signed to indie stalwarts Saddle Creek, who rereleased her debut and supplied her with the means to craft a much larger-sounding follow-up. Working with prolific secret weapon co-producer Brad Cook, her first proper label release occupies an incredible amount of genre territory. “This is the way I’m going to bend,” announces De Souza on auto-tuned synth pop opener “17″ before, well, bending in a number of different directions. “Darker Than Death” and “Die/Cry”, nervous songs that were written years ago, sport fitting build-ups, the former’s slow hi hats and cymbals giving way to jolts of guitar noise, the latter’s jangly rock taking a back seat to yelped harmonies. Songs like “Pretty Pictures” and “Hold U” reenter the dance world, the latter an especially catchy neo soul and funk highlight, a simple earworm of a love song. In the end, whether playing scraped, slow-burning guitar or rubbery keyboard, De Souza’s thoughtful and honest meditations center the emotionally charged album, one of the very best of the year.

De Souza takes her live show to the Beat Kitchen tonight and tomorrow night (both sold out) with Dan Wriggins of Friendship opening. Read our interview with De Souza about the making of Any Shape You Take and her songwriting process.

Since I Left You: On Any Shape You Take, there seems to be a good mix of folks you’ve worked with before and folks you’re working with for the first time. What did each group bring to the table?

Indigo De Souza: Brad Cook was co-producing. It was my first time working with a producer on something. That was crazy. He was very supportive of everything and very encouraging. It was nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of who wanted to encourage my vision. I also worked with Alex [Farrar] and Adam [McDaniel] from drop of sun studios in Asheville. They’re both just so sweet and talented. They were engineering but also helped with production as well. I ended up getting really close with Alex, and me and Alex finished out the album together doing vocal overdubs and random overdubs. It feels like he did a lot of production on the album and was a star for me in the process. They were all great to work with. It was interesting to me to have so many people working on the album.

What I realized after the fact, [though], was that it was kind of distracting for me to have so many brains working on it. It taught me I actually feel very confidently about my vision for songs, and I can trust myself to have ideas for my own songs. I think I was scared going in that I was going to come up blank in that scenario because it was such a high-pressure thing, getting on a label and making a high-production album. But I definitely thrived in the space. It was really fun.

SILY: It shows in the finished product. There are so many different styles and subgenres within the record. Do you listen to all the types of music that show up on this record?

IDS: Yeah, for sure. Mostly, I listen to pop music and dance music. That’s probably my most daily genre. I don’t listen to a lot of music daily, though. I listen to music probably a couple times a week when I’m in the car, but it’s so random, and the genres I listen to are pretty random. It depends on my mood. I think when I’m writing, it’s the same way, whether I’m writing a poppier or rock-based song. They’re different moods for me.

SILY: How do you generally approach juxtaposing lyrics with instrumentation?

IDS: With writing, it’s different every time the way they fall into place together. I do notice that one of the more common ways it happens is I’ll be going about my day and hear a melody in my head and start humming it and realize I’m making it up, that I have no record of it before. I’ll start attaching feeling to the melody, depending on what I’m feeling, and at first I’ll be singing gibberish with the melody, but I’ll usually get some headphones on and plug into the computer so I can sing into a microphone. I’ll mess around with the melody and sing random words until something true to me kind of sticks. That’s usually how it goes. Sometimes, I [do] sit down and it comes out in one breath, like the song is already written in my mind.

Honestly, it’s so normalized how songwriting is. It’s such a strange, magical thing that people can write songs that have never been written before. [laughs]

SILY: Thematically, there are a lot of songs on Any Shape You Take where you’re feeling doubts about a relationship, like on “Darker Than Death”. Someone’s feeling bad, and you’re wondering whether it’s you making them feel bad. And on “Die, Cry”, you sing, “I’d rather die than see you cry.” On the other hand, there are some songs like “Pretty Pictures” where you know your place more within the relationship, and you know what’s eventually gonna happen to it. How do you balance those feelings of doubt with knowing what’s gonna happen?

IDS: It’s funny, because the first two songs you mention were written a very long time ago when I was in the only very long-term relationship I’ve ever been in. I was very confused in that time and was having a hard time in general with my mental health. “Pretty Pictures” is the newest song on the album, a last minute addition because another song we had on there didn’t really fit. We looked through my demos folder and chose “Pretty Pictures”, the most recent song I had written at the time, and recorded it for the album. They’re totally different times in my life, and how you said it is definitely how I was. There’s a time I was more confused, and now, love is more simple in my life, and I can process things and see how they are, have compassion for different modalities.

SILY: I love the line on “Way Out”, “There are no monsters underneath your bed, and I’ll never be the only thing you love.” It’s a very logical statement in the face of unbridled emotion that can make you think illogically. Is that contrast something you think shows up throughout the record?

IDS: Within love, over time, I’ve realized that there’s not one person for anybody. There’s a lot of fluidity in the ways people can feel towards other people. That line is definitely a nod to allowing people to love many other people and not taking it personally.

SILY: From a singing perspective, you have a lot of different vocal stylings on the record. I found it interesting you led it off with a track where you’re super auto-tuned. Can you tell me about that decision?

IDS: “17” originally was this demo I made in 2016 or 2017. It was a very old demo. In 2018 or so, I brought the demo to my band at the time, and we created a live version of that song that was nothing like the recording that you hear. The recording was so weird and had a lot of auto-tune and higher-pitched and lower-pitched vocals. We had a live version we played for a while that’s on Audiotree. Whenever we were recording Any Shape You Take, we started to record it the live way and realized it wasn’t feeling right. We listened to the old demo, and it gave this wake up kick to everyone. We got excited by how the demo sounded because we hadn’t heard it in so long. We realized we wanted to record it based on the demo. So that song sounds very similar to the way the demo originally sounded.

SILY: What’s the story behind the album title?

IDS: There are so many layers to the album title. [laughs] It came to me mostly because the album takes so many musical shapes but also so many emotional shapes. It feels like a lot of the themes in the album are about change and acceptance of change and acceptance of a full spectrum of feelings of pain and grief and allowing people to take many forms. It was mainly inspired by the fact that I’ve taken so many forms in my life and am witness to the way changing forms yourself can either push people away or pull them in closer. I’ve always been so appreciative of the people in my life who allow me to take so many different forms and are still there to witness and care about me, whether we’re close to each other or far away. That’s the main reason I wanted to call the album Any Shape You Take. The most beautiful kind of love you can have is allowing someone to be themselves and shift in and out of things freely.

SILY: Is your live show faithful to the studio versions of the songs, or did you have to learn how to adapt the songs to the stage?

IDS: A lot of them sound very similar to the recording. We’ve been having so much fun practicing them and playing them live.

SILY: Is there one in particular you’re most looking forward to playing?

IDS: I love playing “Bad Dream”. That’s just a crazy song to play live because it’s so loud and rowdy. [laughs]

SILY: You have that falsetto in the middle of it, too.

IDS: Yeah. It’s so fun.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, reading, or watching lately that’s caught your attention?

IDS: I’m excited that one of my favorite authors, Tao Lin, just put out a book I haven’t been able to get fully into. It’s called Leave Society. I just got it in the mail last week. Other than that, I’ve just been so, so busy with interviews and work on the computer and with my manager, staying on top of this crazy shift happening on top of my life. I haven’t taken in a lot of media. I was just watching Love Island recently because I wanted to shut my brain down. Somebody was telling me about Sexy Beasts last night, which sounds insane. I’m excited to watch that.

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