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birchkillchronicles · 1 year

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Getting to Marigold

Chapter Thirteen

Teal, Citrine, Lime

“You’re not my favourite colour. But I could see you working okay beside my bed at Mommy’s house if you were a blue-ish shade of green.” Tara was addressing a small antique rug which hung attractively over the rung of a vintage pine quilt holder. “She’s got too much red in her, don’t you think, Ms. Jeanie? After all, my comforter is mostly teal with gold swirly lines...”

Jeanie contemplated the rug as seriously as the child had done.

“I think you’re right, kidlet. Teal and red? Mmm. Not not so hot a combination. But you might not want to go with aquamarine, either. How about picking up your comforter’s golden accents instead?”

“You don’t think that would be kind of—I don’t know—garish?”

“Well, there are golds—and there are golds. A butterscotch-gold—you know, one with a very warm undertone—might be a mistake. But a cooler lemon-gold could be just the ticket.”

Tara cocked her head to consider this suggestion and then nodded earnestly. “I can see that, Ms. Jeanie.”

The May-December window shoppers were having a marvellous time at the indoor antiques and collectibles market. Long after the rest of their party had retreated to the book and video game stands, Jeanie and Tara were still agreeably absorbed in critiquing the merchandise.

Here, they found a vendor who specialized in milky Depression glassware. There, one who featured cast iron bulldog doorstops. And, over here, one whose cases were brimming with vintage crystal perfume flasks.

Of course—since they were purportedly on an educational outing—as soon as they’d arrived, Jeanie and Tara had spent the better part of an hour gazing in fascination at the tightly packed showcases of the Barbie Doll Museum.

Tara had been especially drawn to the fashion designer dolls. And, after rolling names like Oscar de la Renta, Givenchy and Dior around on her tongue, the little girl had fallen passionately in love with the extravagant Bob Mackie creations.

Opal rhinestones. Amethyst sequins. Silver lame…

My gosh.

What wasn’t there to adore about those?

However, as tempting as it had been to purchase one of the fetching Barbies, it had been clearly understood by both Jeanie and Tara that real shopping with actual money for tangible goods was forbidden today. So, with no prospect of filling up a bag with fashion treasures—and their purses no lighter—they’d eventually turned their attention to the rest of the sales floor.

Strolling casually through the crowded market aisles, the odd-sized pair paused to point out antique furniture that caught their eyes. They compared tastes in chinaware and vintage jewellery. And fantasized about where unusual objet d’arts might find a perfect home in their décor.

And—since they were outlawed from buying anything—the price on the tag didn’t matter at all. So, Tara could speculate about where she might wear an art nouveau citrine and amethyst pendant necklace. And Jeanie could consider the unblemished mahogany veneer on a nineteenth century chest of drawers. And neither felt compelled to consult with the respective dealers about either the cost of the jewellery or the machinations needed to deliver such an unwieldy item back home.

Sadly for Jeanie, poignant reminders of Sylvie were everywhere. Yet, she never mentioned a single memory to Tara. Today was solely for the little girl’s amusement, she argued to herself. And it would have been just as wrong to burden Tara with the heartache that the sight of Sylvie’s favourite style of Nova Scotian Chippendale chair awoke in her breast as it would have been to similarly encumber Bernie.

Therefore, Jeanie stayed mum—and she and Tara blissfully prattled on.

Finally, the congenial gal pals came upon the tables filled with jellies, jams and pickles. But, just as Jeanie and Tara embarked on a lively discussion vis-à-vis the merits of apple butter versus lime curd versus classic strawberry jam, they were rudely interrupted by an ear-splitting shriek.

“Tara! What on earth are you doing here?”

Startled, the little girl and Ms. Jeanie swung around in tandem to witness her mommy bearing down upon them like a runaway freight train.

But Dolores’ headlight glare wasn’t fixed upon her daughter.

Nope. Not at all.

“Jeanie! I thought I told you that I didn’t want you taking Tara out shopping!” the outraged woman barked as she rolled up. “I hope you’re proud of yourself. You’ve just screwed over Chuckie—but good! C’mon, Tara,” she snarled, grabbing her daughter’s hand. “You’re coming home with me!”

“Mommy!” cried Tara, pulling back from her infuriated parent. “We’re not doing anything wrong!”

“Please don’t take this out on Tara and Chuckie,” pleaded Jeanie, putting a restraining hand on Dolores’ arm.

“Back off, Jeanie!” snapped Tara’s mother, shaking her hand away. “Tara! C’mon—!”

“No!” Tara sank to the floor in a flawless imitation of a boneless chicken and lay as one dead.

“Get up!” Her mother continued to tug at the child’s flaccid arm.

“Dolores! It’s my fault. Please leave her alone!” begged Jeanie, as other shoppers muttered and edged away from what was obviously a domestic dispute.

“Dolores? Tara?” inquired a fourth feminine voice.

Jeanie glanced up to see a woman, perhaps a little older than herself, off-loading a bunch of shopping bags to Tara’s stepfather, Mark. And, behind them, dashing through the market at a rapid trot, she spotted Chuckie, with Bernie and Don right on his heels.

“What’s going on here?” asked Mark. “Hi Jeanie! Nice to see you again.”

“Dolores? Mark?” quizzed Chuckie, pulling up in a cloud of dust.

“Chuckie!” began Dolores, red-hot. “Tara’s being a complete brat!”

“What? Why?” Chuckie squatted down to talk to his kid. “Bugsy, get up. You’re gettin’ all dirty down here.”

“I’m not getting up ’til Mommy says I can stay!” wailed Tara, still prostrate on the floor.

“Well, they’re closin’ up in a coupla minutes anyhoo—”

“I mean—stay with you, Daddy! And Ms. Jeanie and Ms. Bernie and Mr. Don—!”

“What?” Still on the floor with Tara, Chuckie took a big breath and blew it out. “Dolores, what’s this all about?”

“I told Jeanie that I wouldn’t put up with any more materialistic crap!” Dolores glared from above. “And here she is out shopping with Tara anyways!” Taking a firmer grip, she tried once more to haul her unruly daughter upright.

“We weren’t!” howled Tara, losing all muscle tone once more.

“They really weren’t…” echoed Don, with quiet sincerity.

“And, by the way, if it’s so evil to shop—what are you doing here?” asked Bernie, hovering nearby with a saccharine smile.

Her cheeks scarlet with the exertion of tugging on Tara’s dead weight, Dolores refused to even acknowledge this insolent question from Chuckie’s latest squeeze. “Ta-ra! Get! Up!”

“And the fact of the matter is,” explained Jeanie, virtuously, “we came here to visit the Museum. It’s the only one that’s free.”

“What museum?” snorted Dolores, resentfully giving up her assault on Tara’s arm to face off with Jeanie again. “There’s no ‘museum’ here!”

“Yes, there is,” interjected the older woman who, by now, had been joined by an older man. “A Barbie Doll Museum. Did you enjoy seeing it, Tara?”

“Yes, Gramma K!” exclaimed Tara, almost knocking her mother over as she suddenly bounced to her feet. “It was amazing! Did you see the beautiful Bob Mackie dolls?”

“Oh, yes! Weren’t they spectacular, honey?” nodded Tara’s Gramma K. “And did you notice the Christmas collectible dolls in their ballgowns? So pretty!”

“That’s not a real museum!” objected Dolores.

“Yes, it is!” chorused Tara and her Gramma K.

“It’s says it’s one on the internet,” stated Bernie, blandly exhibiting the entry on her phone screen to Dolores, who clucked her mistrust of the obviously spurious listing in reply.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be closing in five minutes,” a loudspeaker announcement suddenly blared. “If you need help with your purchases, please see a vendor for assistance”

“We’d better get a move on, folks,” suggested Don.

“Yep. Sounds like they’re ready to shutter the bazaar,” said the other older guy. “I’m Mark’s dad, Allen Boxer, by the way.” He shook hands with Don and gestured to the woman by his side. “This is his mom, Kendra. We drove up on Christmas Eve from Hamilton to hang out with the grandkids for a week or so.”

“Don Todd and Jeanie Dinmont. Bernie Todd—and you’ve already met Chuckie?” returned Don, shaking hands while indicating who was who. “I hope it’s not a problem that we’ve got Tara with us until New Year’s—?”

Allen smilingly shook his head, “Not at all.”

“We shared a lovely Christmas Day,” beamed Kendra.

But, “Not any more you haven’t got her!” Dolores overrode her in-laws’ pleasantries. “I expressly barred Jeanie from—”

“Shush, Baby,” soothed Mark in a low voice. “You’ve already caused too much of a scene.”

“But she isn’t supposed to—!”

“Okay, okay.” Mark turned to his stepdaughter. “Tara, honey, what did you buy?”

“Nothing! We were just looking—!”

“Okay, Tara, you simmer down too,” cautioned Mark. With a sly nod to the little girl, Mark gave Dolores a sideways hug. “See, Baby? She’s just been window shopping. It’s not really the same thing—”

“It’s emphasizing stuff over substance.” Dolores wasn’t giving up, but she was calming down.

“It’s an outing to an antiques market with her daddy and his girlfriend’s family,” stated Kendra, calmly. “Seriously, Dolores, there’s no reason to get your knickers in a twist.”

“But material junk is all this woman cares about—”

“No, it’s not,” stated Bernie, flatly. “In fact, my mom’s absolutely a people person.”

“Yeah,” agreed Don. “So much so, she’s determined to put on a huge family reunion next summer where—for our sins—we’re going to be sporting plus-fours and flapper skirts all week long.”

“Not forgettin’ that supa-cool Roarin’ Twenties play she’s got Lindy pennin’ for it. Starrin’ moi and my band o’ merry thespians!” added Chuckie, with a theatrical bow to Tara who giggled and bowed dramatically back.

“Well, if it’s as good as the one we saw you in last summer, it’ll be hilarious!” grinned Allen. “Can we get in on this reunion thing?”

With her family rallying around her, Jeanie felt heartened enough to answer honestly. “I’m afraid you’d have to—” But the jam and jelly vendor cut her short with a gruff, “You guys need anything else?”

“We’ll take a jar of the apple butter—and a lime curd, Tara?—and one of the strawberry, please,” requested Bernie.

“Is that okay, Dolores?” asked Jeanie, archly. “They’re consumables. Not something that’ll clutter up a shelf. And we’ll be sure to recycle the jars.”

“If you guys hadn’t—” responded Tara’s mommy, stiffly.

“Oh, please don’t worry about Dolores,” broke in Mark, with a smile. “She’s a just teensy bit cranky today because it’s the first time she’s left our twins with a sitter.”

“I am not cranky! And I—” bristled Dolores, but it was pretty clear that she was on the verge of tears.

“You, Baby, you are going to say bye-bye to your daughter and the nice folks,” broke in Mark again. “And we’ll see Tara on New Year’s Day, just like we planned.”

“That really would be for the best,” agreed Kendra.

“Mm-hm,” nodded Allen, tapping his watch significantly.

So, Dolores—still looking as if she didn’t agree at all with this course of events but was unreasonably outnumbered by the people who did—muttered, “Bye, Tara…” and suffered herself to be drawn off by Mark and his parents. Who merrily waved and smiled “Bye!” to Tara and the others as they left.

“You need a bag?” asked the jam and jelly vendor, handing Bernie change for a twenty-dollar bill.

“No, thanks,” said Bernie, tucking the jars into the side of a large cloth sack.

“You bought something else?” asked Jeanie, surprised.

“Just a video game,” smiled Bernie.

“It’s a classic,” nodded Chuckie.

“That’s a big bag for just one video game,” said Jeanie, eyeing the bulging sack suspiciously.

“Not if there’s a cool crazy quilt an’ a bedside lamp for me in it too,” laughed Chuckie. “Here, Cutie. Let me make like a Sherpa an’ haul that load.” And, taking the bag, he gestured for Bernie and Don to proceed him to the car.

“So—” Tara’s major pout from earlier was reclaiming her face. “Ms. Bernie and Daddy get to buy jam and a quilt and a video game and a lamp? And I don’t get to buy anything?”

“No,” returned Jeanie, cheerfully. “But I’ve got a couple of belated Christmas presents for you to open in my craft room when we get home.”

“Oh,” said Tara, her expression clearing instantly. “Is one of them a kit to make jewellery with?”

“That would be telling,” said Jeanie, but her answering smile gave her small friend more than just a little hope that it might be so…

#gettingtomarigold #original novel #satire #summer theatre #parenting #grief/mourning #interior design #best friends #family reunion #theater

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kyotakumrau · 3 years

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2021.04.06 a talk event at Meguro Rock-May-Kan film screening at Namba Hatch with Kyo and Shinya - PART 2

Report by とあ on twitter (topics are not reported in order things happened, I followed the order they posted, 1st and 2nd session are mixed)

"What is Shinya's hair colour called? Is it okay to copy you [and dye my hair the same colour]?"

Shinya: Violet rose.

Fujieda: How about copying?

Shinya: It's fine.

Kyo: ... Violet rose?! It's called violet rose? (laughing)

Fujieda: It's sounds like a song title.

Kyo: Like our next song? Doesn't sound exciting at all (laughing).

Kyo: Did you name it Violet rose yourself?

Shinya: No, when I requested pink shade I got this colour, when I asked what colour is it I got told it's Violet rose.

Kyo: It's not pink at all.

"Which place is painful to get tattooed on?"

Kyo: It's said that the hand's palm and back of the foot. The one on this hand was done by the person who did the tattoo on my back, but she lives in Germany. She told me it's easy for the colour to fade on the palm. That's why she told me she will use an ink that's not approved in Japan but will not fade, and she did it for me.

Fujieda: It's really not fading.

Kyo: That's why she used some weird ink. Suspicious one, with something bad for people in it.

There are four small tattoos on this hand

(during this talk Kyo was showing his palm almost all the time)

Shift of conversation to the topic of tattooing a giraffe on Fujieda's back.

Kyo: A giraffe going all over your back to your thighs.

Fujieda: And the head would be on the neck?

Kyo: No, on the shoulder. So when you move your arm the giraffe's head would move as well. If I had a machine I could do it on you.

Fujieda: When there's a chance.

Kyo: Eh, if there's a machine?

(*there's a brilliant word play here with 機械・machine and 機会・opportunity both being read as 'kikai'🤣)

Kyo: Then I'm going to get the machine and tattoo you. Using that not approved ink from Germany.

Fujieda: No no no, we're talking about different 'kikai'.

Fujieda: "I'm in trouble eating too much. What should I do?"

Kyo: Eat!

"What do you drink when you wake up?"

Shinya: Cola.

"What lip balm do you use?"

Kyo: Cola flavour.

"A drink you like"

Kyo: Ehm... Dekavita, Oronamin C, things like that. But it's not good to drink those too much.

"Favorite chocolate sweets"

Kyo: Ehm... there are too many. ...Ah, but I love cheap sweets.

"When you eating a candy do you suck it till the end or do you crunch it?

Kyo: I crunch it from the start.

"Your favorite Japanese sweets"

Shinya: Ichigo daifuku (rice cake with a strawberry)

"Anything special about Namba Hatch, first time in a while?"

Shinya: Not really. First time since we played here and not for a show. It's feels quite empty.

Kyo: I have something I buy every time I come to Osaka, but I'm annoyed because they weren't sold. Half of me is made of sweets! I always buy 3 or 4 flavours of Curl before going back but I couldn't find them.

(*Curl is a corn puff snack)

Kyo: I never talk to the shop clerk, but this time I checked the shop few times and couldn't find it so I asked. I got told they only have cheese flavour so I got it and left.

Kyo: But don't send me Curl. It'd be troublesome to start receiving so many Curl packs. I'd get them myself.

Before I bought 4 packs to take home but by the time I was home I only had one left.

"What type of dogs do you like?"

Kyo: It's a secret. You'll know eventually.

Shinya: small dogs.

"What colours do you like besides members colours?"

Takavayashi: How were those colours decided? By the hair colour?

Kyo: That's what I think?

Shinya: They were decided without my knowledge.

Takabayashi: it's pink for you, right? Although it doesn't really match you?

What colour do you like best?

Shinya: Black.

(two if them look at each other in silence and laugh)

Takabayashi: How about you Kyo?

Kyo: Pink!

"Merchandise item you like"

Shinya: I guess the travel pouch.

Fujieda: Are you using it?

Shinya: Today I brought a smaller one.

Fujieda: Eh? You use it...

Kyo: He said he doesn't. The size is wrong.

Fujieda: Btw where's your bag from?

Shinya: It's from MUJI.

Fujieda: How was the hot pack? It's warm!

Handed it to Kyo

Kyo: Yeah, it's warm... but it was supposed to be released last time.

Fujieda: Eh? Saying that does it mean it was your idea??!

Kyo: Yup. Actually I wanted to have it last year, last year end was cold right? But the design wasn't done in time.

That's why it didn't come that time, just now. Niw it's not needed anymore. ...I hope you can use it next winter.

(*aaaaah so that's why he was poking at Fujieda so much about it☹️ it'd have been great last December!😆 but it'd definitely be useful next winter!!😊)

Fujieda: That's true, let's use it next winter. And it can also be used as a power bank so that can be used now.

Power strip.

Fujieda: Before this event Shinya was using this backstage. There aren't enough outlets backstage.

Kyo: Lol... is there really that few outlets backstage?

Fujieda: Well... not that few. But he was using it.

Kyo: Huhm.

Kyo (looks at Shinya): what is that, drawn on it?

Shinya got the power strip in his hands.

Shinya: That is cats who got electrocuted.

Kyo: Those are cats? Why cats?

Shinya: Who knows.

Fujieda: But isn't it cute?

Kyo: Yup, ...I guess it is.

Kyo likes the hoodie.

Kyo: The design in the back was drawn by the person who is my tattoo artist after I asked.

Fujieda: Why a hoodie?

Kyo: Eh?If its something to use it at home... you can't use a heat pack at home. Only a loony would use a heat pack at home. It's better to just turn on the heating. So it'd be crazy to use heat packs at home.

Kyo: and then you also won't use the pass case. And no use for the travel pouch at home nor the sticker...

Fujieda: What about the tote bag? Shinya is using it, for his shoes etc.

Shinya: I'm using it. I didn't bring it today though.

"In an old interview you said that because you couldn't afford to stay in a hotel you slept in the car and thought of sleeping position like yoga, what kind of position was it?"

Kyo: I said that?

Takabayashi: In a magazine interview I think? Didn't you said you didn't stay in a hotel?

Kyo: Saying I slept in the car, it must have been when traveling?

Kyo: You're sitting, right? There's someone next to you so totally no space. Saying it's like yoga, so like this, your head goes down and your legs go up, kinda have to turn around

Shinya: I thought then Kyo had a great idea, when I tried it, it was comfortable.

Kyo: I've put a plastic box in the legs and used it for my head, rose my legs, like L shape.

Fujieda: Is that really comfortable?

Kyo: Yup.

Takabayashi: There won't be any swelling, if you raise your legs.

Kyo: But in the past, when we got to the venue I was in that position some fan suddenly opened our car's door. I was so upset she saw the L shape position.

Fujieda: It's also hard to believe someone would just suddenly open your car door.

"How do you like your meat cooked?"

Kyo: rary rare

Fujieda: You mean to grill it only a little bit? Like sizzle siz..done?

Kyo: Yup.

Fujieda: How about you Shinya?

Shinya: Medium rare.

Kyo: You don't eat Yukhoe? (*dish similar to tartare steak)

Kyo: Isn't it rary rare?

Shinya: But that's special.

"A song you just hum"

Kyo: the '♪gohan ga susumu gohan ga susumu♪' one

"Do you look at the needle when you get an injection?"

Kyo: Fixedly. I also watch when I'm getting tattooed.

"You should know that ZARAME DONUTS bacon donuts will come back, so don't worry."

Kyo: .......? What? How do you know that?

Fujieda: When we were in Nagoya we got told the same. That for now they are gone but they will be available again.

Kyo: Uhm... Who are they? Why do they know this? Are you the shop's spy or something??

"A vegetable you like"

Kyo: what spring veg are there?

Fujieda: Bamboo shoots and so on.

Kyo: Bamboo shoots!

"What are you into right now."

Kyo: Sneakers and Bugs Bunny.

Fujieda: Batsu Bani?!

Kyo: Batsu Bani lol

Fujieda: What's that? Batsu Bani?

Kyo: It's a character...

Fujieda: Eh? Do you know it?

Takabayashi: Of course.

Fujieda: Batsu Bani... I have no idea. I didn't bring my phone so I can't check... What kind of character is it?

Kyo: I said.

Fujieda: Baksu Bani?? ...ah! Bunny! It's a rabbit?

"What fabric softener do you use?"

Shinya: No preference. Something smooth

Takabayashi: Not the pods?

Shinya: No. Water... should rather say liquid.

Takabayashi: I'll look for it next time.

Kyo: Any softener would be okay for me, but there's Fafa, isn't the bear super cute? Have you seen that commercial? Where the bear falls on the towels. It's very cute. Watch it. It's on the net. It makes me feel better even when I'm irritated.

Fujieda: So at the moment you like two characters, FaFa bear and Bugs Bunny.... !!! Bugs Bunny! You meant Bugs Bunny!

Kyo: You finally got it 😆

#dir en grey #kyo #京 #shinya #talk event #爆音会 #目黒鹿鳴館gig #translation

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dailytomlinson · 4 years

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While many artists would jump at the chance to tell you how lockdown has been a fruitful opportunity for self-improvement, full of pseudo self-help books and pompous podcasts, former One Directioner Louis Tomlinson is adamant that he has done, well, nothing.

“I’ve just watched loads of s___ TV,” he says after a long pause. “The Undoing is decent, isn’t it?”

Twenty-eight--year-old Tomlinson from Doncaster was always the down-to-earth Directioner, frequently describing himself as fringe member who spent more time analysing the band’s contracts than singing solos, known for chain-smoking his way through several packs of cigarettes a day and swearing like a trooper. A rarity, these days, among millennials who’d rather suck on a stem of kale and tweet about their #blessings.

The gig means a great deal to Tomlinson, whose first ever tour as a solo artist, to promote his debut solo album WALLS, was cut short back in March after just two concerts in Spain and Mexico. It was an album he’d spent five years working on: a guitar-led project that ruptured with the preppy pop anthems of One Direction, inspired instead by Tomlinson’s love for Britpop.

No doubt he was anxious to get it right following a decade “grown in test tubes”, as Harry Styles once described the band’s formation on the X Factor, where they came third before going on to make a reported $280,000 a day as the most successful band in the world. The pressure, too, was intense: all four bandmates had already released their own solo debuts.

Was he left reeling, I ask, unable to perform at such a crucial moment?

“The thing that I always enjoyed the most about One Direction was playing the shows, so my master plan, when I realised I was going to do a solo career, was always my first tour. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to for the best part of five years now. I got so close, I got a taste for it, and it’s affected me like everyone else, but I’m forever an optimist,” he says down the phone, with what I can only imagine to be a rather phlegmatic shrug.

Sure, I say, but the last year can’t have been easy. Didn’t he feel like his purpose had popped?

“You know what,” he says, reflecting, “maybe because I’ve had real dark moments in my life, they’ve given me scope for optimism. In the grand scheme of things, of what I’ve experienced, these everyday problems...they don’t seem so bad.”

Tomlinson is referring to losing his 43-year-old mother, a midwife, to leukemia in 2016, and his 18-year-old sister Felicite, a model, to an accidental drug overdose in 2018. The double tragedy is something he has been open about on his own terms, dedicating his single, Two of Us, from WALLS, to his mother Johannah, while often checking in with fans who have lost members of their own family.

It’s not unusual for Tomlinson to ask his 34.9 million followers if they’re doing alright, receiving hundreds of thousands of personal replies. It’s not something he will discuss in interviews, however, after he slammed BBC Breakfast for shamelessly probing his trauma in February this year. “Never going back there again,” he tweeted after coming off the show.

“Social media is a ruthless, toxic place, so I don’t like to spend much time there,” says Tomlinson, “but because of experiencing such light and shade all while I was famous, I have a very deep connection with my fans. They’ve always been there for me.”

In return, Tomlinson is good to them. Last month he even promised some new music, saying that he’d written four songs in four days. Does this mean that a second album is on the way?

“Yeah, definitely,” he says. “I’m very, very excited. I had basically penciled down a plan before corona took over our lives. And now it's kind of given me a little bit of time to really get into what I want to say and what I want things to sound like. Because, you know, I was really proud of my first record, but there were moments that I felt were truer to me than others. I think that there were some songs where I took slightly more risk and owned what I love, saying, ‘This is who I want to be’. So I want to take a leaf out of their book.”

Fans might think he’s referring to writing more heartfelt autobiographical content such as Two of Us, but in fact, he’s referring specifically to rock-inspired Kill My Mind, he says, the first song on WALLS. “There’s a certain energy in that song, in its delivery, in its attitude, that I want to recreate. People are struggling at the moment, so I want to create a raucous, exciting atmosphere in my live show, not a somber, thoughtful one.”

He sighs, trying to articulate something that’s clearly been playing on his mind for a while. “You know, because of my story, my album was a little heavy at times and a little somber. And as I'm sure you're aware, from talking to me, now, that isn't who I am.”

It must be draining, I say, the weight of expectation in both the media and across his fanbase, to be a spokesperson for grief and hardship. To have tragedy prelude everything he does and says.

“Honestly, it’s part of being from Doncaster as well, I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. That’s the last thing I want.”

Too many incredible memories to mention but not a day goes by that I don't think about how amazing it was. @NiallOfficial @Harry_Styles @LiamPayne @zaynmalik . So proud of you all individually.

The problem is, says Tomlinson, he doesn’t have the best imagination. “I have interesting things to say musically, but what’s challenging from a writing perspective is that I write from the heart, and I can’t really get into someone else’s story. And right now, being stuck at home, you have so little experience to draw from. It’s actually quite hard to write these positive, uplifting songs, because actually, the experiences that you're going through on a day to day basis, you know, you they don't have that same flavour.”

There is something that’s helping, though: a secret spot near Los Angeles, where he divides his time. “It’s remote and kind of weird, and I’m going to go there for three days and write. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to it. I found it via a YouTube video. It’s got some very interesting locals who live there, it’s sort of backwards when it comes to technology. It feels like you’re going back in time when you’re there. But I don’t want to give it away.”

Another source of inspiration for his second album is the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ back catalogue. “I grew up on their album Bytheway. And during lockdown I've been knee deep in their stuff. I’ve watched every documentary, every video. And I find their lead guitarist John Frusciante just fascinating.”

Has he spoken to Frusicante?

“I f______ wish,” snorts Tomlinson.

Surely someone as well-known as Tomlinson could easily get in touch?

“No, honestly, I think he’s too cool for that. He’s not into that kind of thing.”

Tomlinson’s passion for all things rock is also spurring on a side hustle he picked up as a judge on the X Factor in 2018: managing an all-female rock band via his own imprint on Simon Cowell’s Syco label. While the group disbanded before releasing their first single, and Tomlinson split from Syco earlier this year, the singer is keen to nurture some more talent.

“I'm not gonna lie, my process with my imprint through Syco, it became challenging and it became frustrating at times,” Tomlinson says a little wearily. “The kind of artists that I was interested in developing – because I genuinely feel through my experience in One Direction, you know, one of the biggest f______ bands, I feel like I've learned a lot about the industry – they weren’t ready-made. So I had lots of artists that I took through the door that were rough and ready, but major labels want to see something that works straight away. I found that a little bit demotivating. I love her and she's an incredible artist, but not everyone is a Taylor Swift.”

Tomlinson spends much of his free time scouting new talent either on YouTube, Reddit or BBC Introducing – he’s currently a huge fan of indie Brighton band, Fickle Friends. His dream is to manage an all-female band playing instruments. “Because there's no one in that space. And I know eventually if I don't do it, someone else will!”

Before he drives off to rehearsals, we chatter about how much he's been practising his guitar playing, and how he can't wait to take the whole team working at his favourite grassroots venue, The Dome in Doncaster, out ice-skating after he performs there on his rescheduled tour. “Because I've got skills,” he says, and I can hear his chest puff.

And then I ask the question every retired member of One Direction has been batting off ever since they broke up in 2015, after Zayn Malik quit. Rumours that his bandmates saw him as a Judas went wild after some eagle eyes fans noticed they’d unfollowed him on Instagram. Payne, Tomlinson, Horan and Styles have barely mentioned him since. Recently, however, they re-followed him, and Payne has teased that a One Direction reunion is on the cards.

So: might 2021 be the year of resurrection?

“I thought you were going to ask something juicier!” say Tomlinson witheringly. “Look, I f______ love One Direction. I'm sure we're going to come back together one day, and I'll be doing a couple of One Direction songs in my gig. I always do that, so that's not alluding to any reunion or anything. But, I mean, look, I'm sure one day we'll get back together, because, you know, we were f______ great.”

#telegraph uk #press #louis tomlinson #241120 #its FULL of stunts as telegraph usually goes #stunt mention #Eleanor Halls

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louistomlinsoncouk · 4 years

Link

“I’ve just watched loads of s___ TV,” he says after a long pause. “The Undoing is decent, isn’t it?”

Far from aimless, however, today the singer is full of beans, cheerily shushing his barking dog as he potters about his North London home where he lives with his best friend from home, Oli, and his girlfriend, the model Eleanor Calder.

Was he left reeling, I ask, unable to perform at such a crucial moment?

Sure, I say, but the last year can’t have been easy. Didn’t he feel like his purpose had popped?

In return, Tomlinson is good to them. Last month he even promised some new music, saying that he’d written four songs in four days. Does this mean that a second album is on the way?

It must be draining, I say, the weight of expectation in both the media and across his fanbase, to be a spokesperson for grief and hardship. To have tragedy prelude everything he does and says.

“Honestly, it’s part of being from Doncaster as well, I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. That’s the last thing I want.”

There is something that’s helping, though: a secret spot near Los Angeles, where he divides his time to see his four-year-old son, Freddie, whom he shares with his ex Briana Jungwirth, a stylist. “It’s remote and kind of weird, and I’m going to go there for three days and write. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to it. I found it via a YouTube video. It’s got some very interesting locals who live there, it’s sort of backwards when it comes to technology. It feels like you’re going back in time when you’re there. But I don’t want to give it away.”

Has he spoken to Frusicante?

“I f______ wish,” snorts Tomlinson.

Surely someone as well-known as Tomlinson could easily get in touch?

“No, honestly, I think he’s too cool for that. He’s not into that kind of thing.”

So: might 2021 be the year of resurrection?

#louis tomlinson #24nov20

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hlupdate · 4 years

Link

“I’ve just watched loads of s___ TV,” he says after a long pause. “The Undoing is decent, isn’t it?”

Far from aimless, however, today the singer is full of beans, cheerily shushing his barking dog as he potters about his North London home where he lives with his best friend from home, Oli, [...].

Was he left reeling, I ask, unable to perform at such a crucial moment?

Sure, I say, but the last year can’t have been easy. Didn’t he feel like his purpose had popped?

In return, Tomlinson is good to them. Last month he even promised some new music, saying that he’d written four songs in four days. Does this mean that a second album is on the way?

It must be draining, I say, the weight of expectation in both the media and across his fanbase, to be a spokesperson for grief and hardship. To have tragedy prelude everything he does and says.

“Honestly, it’s part of being from Doncaster as well, I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. That’s the last thing I want.”

There is something that’s helping, though: a secret spot near Los Angeles, [...] “It’s remote and kind of weird, and I’m going to go there for three days and write. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to it. I found it via a YouTube video. It’s got some very interesting locals who live there, it’s sort of backwards when it comes to technology. It feels like you’re going back in time when you’re there. But I don’t want to give it away.”

Has he spoken to Frusicante?

“I f______ wish,” snorts Tomlinson.

Surely someone as well-known as Tomlinson could easily get in touch?

“No, honestly, I think he’s too cool for that. He’s not into that kind of thing.”

So: might 2021 be the year of resurrection?

#louis tomlinson #241120 #lt livestream #e and f mentions from the journalist removed where there is [...]#nothing altered from louis #stunt mention #at the link

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long-bodyswap · 4 years

Text

Yotta Life

(Im sorry I don’t have the credits, but if you know the author you can @)

It’s been an adjustment lately getting used to all this fame and attention since Adele’s new album came out. The whole world knew it would be huge, but even the most optimistic among us couldn’t have imagined that it would have the best selling first week sales of any album in history! With massive, iconic numbers like that, it was only natural that she would need more security while she goes on her whirlwind press promo, and I’m the best in the business- ermmm- I mean technically my host, Peter Van der Veen is the best in the business, but it’s not like anyone could tell the difference since the spell I used gave me access to all of his memories, training, and personality traits. No one has suspected a thing, and I’ve been inside Peter since he was Lady Gaga’s bodyguard!Possessing the top bodyguard for the stars has been a dream come true because I’ve met and spent time with almost all of my idols. Gaga is much more normal in private than people give her credit for, but my favorite client so far has been Adele, BY FAR. Never have I ever met such a witty, sweet, funny as shit, monumentally talented, and down to earth person. Rumor has it she used to be quite the drinker before she had her baby, but every now and then she’s whipped out a little reward for the road with her team, meaning I was naturally drawn into the fun. IIt’s been simply remarkable getting to know Adele and honestly consider her a friend. She’s so honest and personable that I catch myself shifting out of Peter’s stern persona, dropping sass and giggling to her jokes. I remind myself often that it’s only acceptable around Adele, but anyone who had previously known Peter would be immensely suspicious. Still, it’s been the single most meaningful (and lucrative) gig I’ve ever done. You can see that I try my hardest to remain stern and serious. It’s so hard because even her commentary during casual conversation is adorable and hilarious enough to make a stone gargoyle let out a good chuckle. Sometimes it honestly is too much and I can’t help but smile and join in the silliness. It’s comforting at least to know that Peter’s smile looks so fucking sexy- almost as sexy as his stern smolder.

The bulk of the promo circuit ended in December so now that it’s January 2016, I finally have some time to myself. Adele thanked me profusely for my service and friendship and begged me to free up my schedule so I could join her when her tour starts in April. I promised her I’d lock in the dates, but it’s going to be nice to have some time to have fun behind closed doors…At the very least it’ll be nice to show off this body.Fuck, what a great day. I’m rocking this perfect bronze and I can finally show off this sculpted body. I work ridiculously hard to keep it up to Peter’s standards, but it’s so worth it. Peter’s body looks sexy as hell in a suit, but it was meant to be seen and envied by others. And the Adele gig was so lucrative that I’m set to be enjoying the next four months shirtless and glistening at this Mexican resort. I used this morning to do a power workout of sprints and chest interval training in a nearby canyon, and then I rewarded myself with a nice afternoon spent relaxing at the beach.Peter’s sore muscles always made me horny for some reason, which meant that I was on edge almost all day every day…I didn’t mind though. It reminded me of how powerful and full of my vitality my host was. What I did mind though was burning in this hot sun. Noticing a cute boy eyeing me, I saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. The adorable fucker looked about my real age, but way better looking, not that that mattered since I was inhabiting Mr. Europe 2005. Being bisexual, I’ve been able to use Peter’s body to anonymously fuck around with hotties from all over the world, but I’ve gotta say I’ve developed a strong preference for boys, so let’s test the waters and see if this kid wants a taste of the premier bodyguard to the stars.“Hey, kid.” I said in a deep, yet friendly tone. “You got a sec to help me out with something?” I made sure to flash him a subtle smile, also pulling my shades down so he could see the twinkle in my beautiful eyes. It only took me a second to realize I had him hook, line, and sinker.That big smile was one thing, but I had also completely stopped him in his tracks. He was walking back over to me without a single hesitation. “What can I do for you?” The chap asked with a friendly tone that was masking what I, after maaaanyy similar encounters, knew was lust.“You see, I’m going to start burning soon, so could you help me with a fresh layer of sunblock?”He kept his jaw from dropping, but I knew he was shocked and ecstatic. “You mean, on your back?” He asked, treading cautiously.“Actually, I was hoping you could help me with the whole thing,” I said, pointing out my sculpted chest and abs before biting my lip in a fake show of nervous anticipation.

The boy paused to think for a second before smiling again and walking over. “Sure, I’d love to help out,” he said in a way that tried to make it sound like he was just doing a normal favor for a stranger.

I grinned in relief before putting my shades back on and getting out my tube of sunblock. I laid down, making sure to get comfortable before I took a second to adjust my junk since I was about a quarter hard from the sheer testosterone pumping through my veins.

“Sorry about that,” I said before getting relaxed again. “Had a brutal workout this morning. Always gets the testosterone flowing, if you know what I mean.”“I could tell you had a good workout this morning. You’ve got the pumped look. Maybe you can share some workout tips- I’m trying to bulk up, but it’s been kinda hard.”“Son, you don’t need to add a single pound of mass. The lean look is really sexy on you.” I said that right as he popped the cap open, making him blush before he squeezed a healthy helping of that cream into his hands.

“That’s easy for you to say,” he said before slathering that cream on my abs. I shivered and gasped from the cold, tightening my core from the surprise, but he kept talking. “Especially when you have a body like this.”As far as I could tell, he had no idea who I was, so it was safe to see if I could push his buttons a little.As he spread the cream over Peter’s ripped abs, I quietly moaned from the feeling of those smooth fingers rubbing that coconut scented goodness into my stolen skin. The look on this boy’s face was one of inner conflict. He didn’t know if he should go a little further, but he finally got my subtle hint and began rubbing me more purposefully until he was giving my abs a slow and deep massage.

“You have…so much definition,” he marveled as he worked his strong fingers more and more expertly. “mmmmmmm that feels so good, kid. Guess you could tell that yesterday was ab day,” By this point his constant touch had me more than half hard. He definitely noticed my long and thick cock growing in my shorts, but he didn’t back away. He started massaging me even more purposefully, sensually even. Damn, this kid had some kink in him.

“And I’d bet money you did a chest day today,” he said slowly and smoothly as he began working his magical hands up to my muscular slabs of pec perfection. I moaned louder this time as he worked his hands up to my chest so he was grabbing a pec with each hand, squeezing firmly enough to loosen up those stiff muscles. He squeezed harder, massaging my sore chest and making me groan in a mix of ecstasy and agony. I was shocked though as he, without stopping his deep tissue chest massage, began to gently flick and rub my nipples with his thumbs. I inhaled deeply, feeling my cock twitch and continue to engorge as this boy worked Peter’s incredibly sensitive nipples. My breathing picked up, getting slightly faster before this kid made his big move. I gasped loudly as he leaned down and began sucking on one of my nipples before reaching the other hand down to rub my cock through my shorts, making it pulsate and swell to full hardness.

“Unnnngggg,” I groaned as I looked down at this cutie with thick, bushy eyebrows give in to his hunger for cock, specifically my cock. I gasped again as he gripped my cock through the shorts, feeling the thickness of my girth and the obvious length before smiling, apparently satisfied with Peter’s thick 8.5 inches. “If you wanted me, you should have just said so,” he whispered seductively into my ear.

I knocked the big tube of sunscreen onto the sand before grabbing him and pulling him on top of my powerful chest, enjoying the weight of his body against my greased up chest. I brought my mouth to his and he eagerly opened as I locked our lips and brought our tongues into a dance of lust. Fuck, he tasted so minty. My rock hard cock pulsated as I humped my crotch up against his, feeling his hard dick rub back against mine as I let us get lost in the lust. FInally breaking the kiss, I told him, “I have a room,” barely having the breath to make the sentence. He just smiled before we made a mad dash to pick up our shit and cover our raging hard ons as we ran back to the hotel. I woke up the next morning alone int he bed except for a little note that had a phone number and the name Zac. Man, last night was crazy. I mean, I’ve done some kinky shit with Peter’s body, but I think I blew four of Peter’s loads into that boy last night. Yeah, there was the load when I was fucking him doggy style. Then another when I was fucking him missionary. The third one was when he was riding me. mmmmm, the last one was my favorite. I pinned that kid against the wall with my strong arms and bounced him up and down off my powerful thrusts until I finally blew that last load so deep inside him. On that one things got so intense. Zac was hollering and almost hyperventilating my cock made him feel so good. He didn’t even touch his dick that time since he was scratching at the wall the whole time, but his cock still blew a load all over the two of us. That was about when I hit my limit. I remember roaring so loud I thought the walls were vibrating before finally, dripping in sweat and muscles and veins bulging all over my body, I blew all of the remaining cum in Peter’s balls so deep into that boy. When I calmed down, I carried the boy back to the bed and we both laid there making out and squirming from the afterglow of our orgasms before passing out from our multi-hour fuckfest.

I smirked as I thought to myself how this would be my life for the next four months. I got up and walked over to mirror, admiring my boxer-clad vessel, still just as high off of the beauty of this stolen body as I was two years ago when I first took Peter over.

“You’re one sexy man,” I said to the reflection before winking. God damn, seeing Peter’s body respond to my actions was still so satisfying. I felt a fluttery sensation deep in my gut before blushing from the sight of the sexy body in front of me. Mmmmmm yeah, Peter might be a strong and tough man, but I can always make him do whatever I want because he’s powerless with me inside.

“Don’t ever forget that you’re too weak to resist me. You couldn’t do a thing to stop my soul from slipping inside you and stealing you,” I taunted his reflection as I leaned his head down to his pit and huffed in his manly sweat and stench from yesterday’s workout and fuckfest.

“You smell like a real man,” I said with appreciation before I stripped off the boxers and brought them up to my face which instantly scrunched up into one of ecstasy, huffing in the crotch area, almost coughing from the power of the manly muskiness. It was so fucking masculine and sexy, and it always got me hard.“That turns you on doesn’t it, you kinky queer?” I asked his reflection before I brought my lips to the mirror and pretended to make out with Peter. My heart sank though as the cold glass reminded me that I was on the other side. Sure, I could take over some other stud for a night and use my powers to mind control Peter into having a wild night of passion, but it takes me a lot of time to build up the energy to switch, so I only like to switch sparingly. I need at least three months to build up the necessary energy, so I don’t use the gift for casual flings. No. It’s a commitment, so the stolen life has to be perfect. I stayed in Peter for the last two years because life has been so perfect, but it would be nice to finally feel and taste his body from the other side…Still, I’d need to find the perfect body and life in the next week or two in order to have enough time to get back inside Peter in time for Adele’s tour. I guess I’ll just have to wait until after the tour…My frustration built, and I decided to take it out on Peter. Even though I knew he was blacked out, I liked to pretend he was aware of everything when I got mad. Grabbing his semi-hard cock, I pumped it until I got it back up to full hardness, watching myself make angry, yet sexy and turned on faces in the mirror as I pumped myself mercilessly.

“Yeah! You like that you queer slut?! I’m gonna make you eat every drop of this cum! unnnnngggggggg it’s gonna taste so fucking good, you fag! Who’s the tough guy now, you freaky fag? Can’t believe a tough guy like you is gonna eat your own load like some queer cum whore!” God, this always made me feel so turned on and so much better. I was getting close to orgasm when the phone rang. I instantly clicked ignore, but it started ringing again. I growled as I clicked ignore a second time, but the damn phone rang a third time. Cursing, I let go of Peter’s cock and switched to his professional voice as I answered the phone.

Even though I was initially annoyed, I was so glad I picked up the phone. Smiling from ear to ear, I listened to a very special new client ask for my services over the next three and a half months. Apparently he needed extra security for his wife, so tomorrow I would be on an early morning flight to Beverly Hills. My vacation wasn’t over, it was just moving to another locale…and I’d finally have the chance to taste Peter’s lips and mouth from another perspective.Fuck, I was so excited I went back to pumping Peter’s cock. I ate his load, this time to celebrate! Now it’s time for me to get cleaned up, buy tickets, and pack!It was so lucky to get that call from Bastian Gillmeier, or Bastian Yotta as the media and instagram know him. couldn’t help but enjoy one more early morning walk in Peter’s body, happily flaunting his muscles as I left shirtless and enjoyed the feeling of the breeze on his skin. But then I checked his watched and realized how late I was.

“Shit! Better get back and shower. Gotta get to the airport. Damn, I won’t even have time to yank out one last load!” I quickly cleaned up and called for a cab, and before I knew it I had checked in and boarded my plane en route to Beverly Hills. Still, I was frustrated by this libido and the desire, no, the NEED to feel Peter’s cock be relieved one last time. It was one of those rare flights where it was barely at half capacity, and somehow I was the only one in the first class section. This airline was my favorite too because instead of thin curtains separating first class from economy, there were actual doors, affording me a much greater sense of privacy. Still, I didn’t feel comfortable pumping a load out with that cute flight attendant around. With me being the only client, he was checking on me practically every ten minutes, and I wanted to make this last. I thought about going in the lavatory, but there was something so nasty and classless about that. No. I guess I’d need to test the sensibilities of this handsome flight attendant. Maybe he could even help me out.

I looked behind me and predictably saw him waiting there with a puppy like grin, waiting to please me. “Would you like another drink, sir?”I flashed him an enticing grin as I thought pensively. “That does sound refreshing,” I remark as I subtly relax in my seat, getting more comfortable and spreading my legs just a little. “Another barcardi and coke?”“I don’t know. I’m craving something a little different. I’m just so on edge. I could really use something to help me unwind,” I say breathy as I rub my hands in between my thighs and groan lightly. This boy gulps loudly, nervously adjusting his tie. “W-w-well…We have mojitos.”“No…that’s not what I want…” I say with a husky tone as I look him directly in his eyes, licking my lips while I rub my host’s crotch, groaning slightly more loudly as I feel this meat starting to get hard and strain within the confines of its denim prison.

“Sir! This is inappropriate! I’m going to need to ask you to-”“Shut up and touch it. I know you want to. Your cock can’t lie to me. “SIR. If you don’t stop I’m going to have to-HUH?!” he gasped as I grabbed a hold of his arm and yanked him close to me.He was speechless from the shock as I pulled him onto my lap, keeping him firmly locked in my grip thanks to Peter’s strong muscles as I went to work grinding my tented crotch against his backside and reaching my hand around to begin rubbing his engorging cock. “MMMMmmmmmmpppphhhhhhhhhhmmmmmnnngggggggg” he groaned through Peter’s big hand that was muffling his shouts.

He squealed as I grabbed a firm hold around his rod, stroking and pumping him through his soft uniform pants, breathing hot on his neck as I whispered into his ear. “You’re getting so horny, boy. I can feel you getting hard in my hand. mmmmmm a tasty boy like you is just the refreshment I needed.” I followed by licking up and down his neck, making him gasp as shivers coursed their way up and down his spine. “You liked that didn’t you?” I asked with a chuckle before experimenting and easing up my grip on his mouth.

He took several deep breaths before slowly turning his head to face me. It could have gone either way at this point as I saw the panic and indecision in his eyes. But then the look in his eyes focused in and I knew he has made his decision.

He lunged as he joined his mouth with mine, moaning loudly into my mouth as he wrestled his tongue past my lips and hungrily tasted me. I needed to remind him who the big man was in this steamy moment, so I forced Peter’s tongue into this boy’s mouth, reveling in the pleasurable moans echoing into my mouth as I ferociously tasted my mile high slut. Pulling back, he now had a look of hunger in his eyes. “I-I’ve never done this before at work…”“It’s just the two of us in here. No need to worry about anything.”He looked into my eyes briefly before biting his lip nervously.“Can I…taste it?” He asked with such anticipation in his eyes. I just smirked at him. “You think I’d say no to a hot mouth like yours? Get to work, boy.”I closed my eyes, smiling with satisfaction as this boy crawled down onto his knees, no longer able to suppress his desire as he unbuttoned my jeans and pulled down the zipper. I lifted my butt up to help him as he pulled down my pants and drawers, letting this big fat cock spring out, slapping him lightly in the face as he gawked at my host’s unveiled meat.

I shivered as he immediately went to work, grabbing me with one of his hands, pumping me softly as he wrapped his lips around the head, getting it nice and moist as he swirled his tongue around. My fingers were trembling, and the sensation crashing through my cockhead, down to my groin and down my thighs was so powerful that I had to bite my lip and focus on gripping the armrests just to keep from shouting out. This boy knew what he was doing, and he had just barely gotten started.

I felt the veins on Peter’s muscles expand, letting an intense surge of blood-flow crash through every part of his body. It was a euphoria like no other, and it only intensified as this mile high slut began bobbing his slick mouth up and down, up and down, picking up speed as he kept sucking that meat and swirling his tongue over all of Peter’s most sensitive spots. I cringed and scrunched my face it felt so fucking good, but I didn’t want to make too much noise. At this point though I think he was almost challenging me to give in and admit how good it felt. He finally had his wish as he all of a sudden jolted his head down, swallowing every inch of my meat as he scooped both hands up my shirt and found my sensitive nipples.

My eyes shot wide open as he began deepthroating me with ferocious speed, all while squeezing, twisting, and rubbing all over my massive pecs, and particularly, my tight and hard nipples. My back arched violently as a loud groan finally escaped my lips. I bit my lip though to shut myself up, scrunching my face up again and hyperventilating as this boy kept swallowing my entire length.

I couldn’t have hoped for a better last orgasm in Peter’s body, but I still wanted it to be at least partially on my own terms. Growling as I felt the testosterone levels in Peter’s body rising, I grabbed the boy’s head with both of my hand’s, getting no resistance from him as I began to pull him down onto my cock, harder and even faster than he was already going. Mmmmmmm it felt so satisfying as I used Peter’s strong arms to pull that mouth and tight throat down onto his juicy meat. Such a good throat fuck, but I couldn’t hold my hips back anymore, so it got even more intense. I know I might have been going rough on the boy, but he wasn’t complaining as I started bucking my hips up, thrusting into his mouth and thrusting powerfully down his throat. The boy kept squeezing my pecs and nipples, getting more intense as I added more and more power to my throat fuck. My toes were curling in my shoes as I looked down at this hungry mile high slut, and seeing the desperation in his eyes finally sent me over the edge. Groaning loudly, I slammed his mouth down onto one last powerful cock thrust after what had seemed like an eternity of building pressure in Peter’s massive balls. With that thrust, my pent up load was finally free, releasing stream after stream directly down the hungry throat that was so expertly milking my cock. I shivered as kept yanking his throat down onto each new ribbon of cum, milking out over a dozen shots before the stream finally slowed to mere droplets which we sucked straight out of me with that skilled mouth.

Attention Passengers, Please prepare for landing. We will be arriving in approximately five minutes.

“Damn, sorry boy. I guess I don’t have time to return the favor.”He just smiled adoringly at me though. “No, don’t be sorry. That was-That was amazing! I’ll be thinking about you and this later tonight. This will be on my mind for the next month at the very least!”He gave me one more passionate kiss before he straightened his tie and uniform, giving me a sexy wink as he made the landing preparations, leaving me in my golden orgasmic bliss. He was kind enough to point to my ankles though, reminding me my pants and boxers were still down, leaving my softening meat out for the world to see. I quickly pulled my pants back up as we began the descent.

I hopped in the cab at the airport, unable to contain my grin as I gave the driver the address of Bastian’s Beverly Hills mansion. The cab driver wasn’t particularly talkative, so I sat in eager silence as I mentally prepared for my transfer and mini vacation from Peter’s body.

The passing vistas and palm trees zoom by as I absentmindedly reach my hands underneath my shirt and begin rubbing and feeling Peter’s body. I know I’ll be feeling this body from the other side, but I’ll miss the feeling of ownership and possession. Something about feeling Peter Van der Veen’s abs and squeezing those massive pecs with his own strong hands was immensely satisfying. Taking over strong men and making them my hosts…my vessels…will always be my drug of choice.

“We’re here, Mister,” the taxi driver says, looking at me with an odd expression as I realize I’m still circling Peter’s hard nipples. I swoop my hands out from under Peter’s shirt, unable to help but go a little red in the face as I awkwardly thank and pay the guy. I pull out Peter’s wallet, so comfortable now seeing his ID and associating that image and identity as my own. That’s when you know you’ve found a keeper, when you look at your host’s ID and instinctively think, “Damn, I look hella fine.”

I tipped the guy well to mask the awkwardness and walked over to the front door, suitcases in tow. There was a note on the front door telling me to come on in and meet my new employers in the back. The note said to just keep on following the central corridor until I reached them. Opening the door, I was blown away by the extravagance of this massive and modern mansion.

“What a great place to vacation,” I said aloud to myself in shock as I plopped my bags on the marble floor, closed the door, and began the long walk down the central hallway. I passed by massive living and entertaining rooms, all decked out with expensive art, impeccable decoration, and state of the art technology. The kitchen and dining room was as large as most people’s whole apartments, and I think I walked passed a whole new set of entertainment and party/recreational rooms. It was simply unbelievable, but I got pulled back to reality as I heard light moaning emanating from the last room at the end of the hall.

The moaning was definitely deep, low, and masculine. Judging by the videos I had watched during my research, I knew it was Bastian who was cooing and making those sweet sounds of pleasure. I could hear him faintly egging on what I can only assume was his wife, Maria. That accent was still distinctly German, and thought some people thought it was a little harsh, I shivered from its foreign and exotic appeal. I had never taken over a foreigner before, so I wondered if I would have the joy of speaking with such a German flare. I kept walking cautiously towards the moans, concerned that I was going to interrupt a particularly private and intimate moment. Still, I advanced. That’s one of the great things about Peter’s body. I’m this massive tank of toned muscle, but he is so light on his feet. I barely make a sound as I walk right up to the cracked door and slowly push it open as I walk inside.

“Huh?” I asked aloud as I creaked the door open and saw Bastian, shirtless and laying down on a medical table as his wife performed a spa facial. She was dressed and made up to the nth degree with her pink mini dress, pumps, and full make up while she massaged her husband’s face, working the active ingredients deep into his skin that would help maintain his youth. He clearly found the experience very pleasurable as the sounds coming out of his mouth were almost orgasmic.

“That must be you, Peter,” he said in his sweet German accent and without even opening his eyes.

“We’re just finishing the last step,” Maria said with a smile as she spread the remaining moisture serum down his neck before clicking a button that brought the reclined medical table back up to a chair-like angle.

Bastian finally opened his eyes as he smiled at me, happy to see that he had been able to afford my services. My host was, after all, the most sought out bodyguard in Hollywood.

“Maria, can you give us some time? I need to show him the house and talk about the next three months. Here’s some cash–go buy something pretty,” he said as he casually handed her a thick strap of hundred dollar bills. She was almost giddy with joy as she collected the multi-thousand dollar wad of cash and left to go shop to her heart’s content at her favorite designer stores. “Now, that frees up some time for just us guys,” he said with a cheeky grin as he got up off the table and put his shirt back on.

This was going too perfectly. I tried to suppress my own giddy grin as he began to show me around the house, when like he said, it was just us guys.

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moiraxknight · 3 years

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@knightsarmor

Moira and Yael had their rituals and dynamics already, mother and daughter becoming the powerful duo they were destined to become. Yael was five months already - Moira had no idea how since only yesterday she was pushing that huge, crazy-haired baby out of her body - and was a huge, pale mass of curly dark brown hair, big blue eyes and a distinctively Jewish nose. Her mother’s nose, like Oliver had wanted, and the hooded eyes she got from her father. She had already started to babble incoherently like she was having a full conversation with people, especially Billie and Wolf, the biggest listeners of her baby lectures.

Staying away from work was simply not something Moira had done. Maybe for the first month after Yael was born she’d stayed home but longer than that would have made her crazy. So they had come up with their own mother-daughter schemes. Moira had found a way to put Yael into the sling where she’d be upright, with easy access to Moira’s breasts and full view of the world if she wanted to inspect her surroundings (which she did, often, curious eyes roaming around and discovering the world, something her parents encouraged greatly). But Moira could admit it was tiring to do both so her deal with Oliver was half a shift at the shop, only in the mornings since Yael woke up early and then she worked from home on her commissions so Yael would be away from her dad for too long either.

Right now, Yael’s head was covered by the hood on the sling while she carefully held with both tiny hands onto her mom’s left boob, eyes on Moira while she ate her lunch, and Moira was picking the new colors of yarn to add to the shop’s stock. Little Knight over there had a saying in every single item that had entered the shop’s catalogue since she was born and even before because Moira took her kicks as signs. “Which one do you prefer? Violet or Grape?” Moira lifted the two different purple shades of yarn to her view and Yael stared, cooing with her mouth full of milk and making a bit of a mess Moira had learned to ignore by now. “I think so too, this grape one is just too dark.” She nodded, putting it back on the cardboard box.

The bell at the door rang and Moira lifted her eyes, fighting hard not to roll them when she saw the person walking in. Mrs. Mills was an old church rat, queen of the catholic ladies in town, that every now and then would throw in a commentary on how incredible Jesus was specially in the presence of any of the Lieberman-Knights. Oliver in special, since the lady was still the only person in the whole of Rhineback that though Oliver was scary and mean. But the woman came into the shop at least once a week to get supplies for her crochet classes in church, usually on the afternoon shifts but not today. “Good morning, Mrs. Mills.” Moira greeted as politely as possible, closing the box with the deep purple and moving with the violet to load them into the shelves, Yael’s eyes curiously moving and her lips hard at work while she ate.

“Oh, you’re here.” The old woman seemed startled, eyes moving to the beautifully drawn menorah on the wall Moira had put up as Hannukah approached. Moira bit back the urge to remind the woman she owned the shop, it had her name on it. “Shouldn’t you be home with your baby?” Mrs. Mills said in the most judgmental voice Moira had ever heard and she ignored it.

“Got her right here with me, ma’am, she’s perfectly fine and beautiful.” Moira didn’t bother looking back while the woman filled a basket with thread and some other colors of yarn. Yael blinked, trying to look to see who it was but Moira shook her head letting her know it was not worth it.

“Good God, woman, I can almost see your breasts!” Mrs. Mills exclaimed and only then Moira noticed she was much too close, trying to take a pick on Yael, probably wanting to make sure that Jewish baby wasn’t horned and hooved, a little Jesus-less devil.

“It’s her lunch time.” Moira added simply, eyes back on the box full of yarn while Yael let out a happy sigh against her breast and a light cough, probably chugging a little too excitedly on all that milk.

“Cover yourself up, you’re a mother!” Mrs. Mills demanded and Moira took a deep breath, finally turning to face the woman, who was considerably shorter than her even though Moira wore flat boots.

“Mrs. Mills, do you need anything, any help with your supplies?” Moira wrapped her arms around the baby, an instinctive protective move, and Yael smiled as she felt the warmth of that hug. It was December in Rhineback, which meant cold even with the heater on.

“I need you to maintain a certain level of decency when attending your customers, Mrs. Knight, this is a family town.” The old woman barked at her, with that perfectly pushed back hair in a tight bun, doing no good to her eternal frown.

“Mrs. Mills, my child is hungry, I am feeding her, it is quite simple actually.” Moira arched an eyebrow at her. “I find it very decent to keep my daughter fed and alive. Now if you’ve come to teach me how to be a decent mother, I’d ask you to return another day. If you need help with supplies, I am all yours.” She gave the woman a smile that had Mrs. Mills gasping in complete outrage.

“You shouldn’t speak like that to your customers, Mrs.Knight!” The woman raised her voice and Moira’s patience was gone. Mostly because she noticed Yael flinching. They didn’t raise their voices around her unless they were singing and happy, having family time. Yael was a highly sensitive child just like her mother. “But what else could I expect from someone like you and your people?” The woman huffed and Moira took a step forward, watching her wince, not having expected Moira to react since she usually just chuckled and walked away.

“Like my people what, Mrs. Mills?” Moira leaned forward slightly, Yael widening her eyes in amusement as she moved along. “My people that refuse to hide their feeding children? My people that work hard to keep their family safe, fed and happy? My people who would never walk into your shop to tell you what you should be doing?” She added. That woman had caught her in the wrong day, and Moira would not be quiet, not in front of her daughter. She would not teach Yael to just bow down to disrespectful and intolerant people.

“Your people that denied and killed the son of God!” The woman insisted, pointing a finger at Moira, raising her voice again and Yael was starting to wine, having let go of Moira’s breast now, looking at her mother with scared eyes like she could feel the hostility in the air.

“Get the hell out of my shop, Mrs. Mills.” Moira pointed at the exist. “Right now. This is no place for antisemitic, racist ignorante people. Get out!” She demanded and the woman gasped, dropping her basket to the floor and making Yael cry, Moira’s embrace around the little girl tightening. “You do not get to insult my people in front of me, in front of my child. I have never be anything but respectful and polite to you, Mrs. Mills, but my God did not teach me to suffer quietly, he taught me to fight for my family. Get the fuck out of here!”

“This is absurd! I’m going to talk to the mayor!” The woman was yelling, stepping back to the exist as Moira moved towards her precisely to lead her out of the establishment.

“And I’m going to call the police and report a hate crime if you don’t leave right now. Religious intolerance, do you know what that means?” Moira arched an eyebrow, holding tight onto her daughter while she cried, walking the woman out of the shop and onto the sidewalk. “Go away, Mrs. Mills.” It was a final warning.

“You Godless people! You and that devil child and your evil husband!” The woman yelled at her, nearly tripping on the snow.

“Get out of here and may God bring back to you everything you give out onto the world.” Moira spoked in Hebrew, in a threatening voice, and the woman shouted in utter panic.

“You witch! She’s a witch! They’re all witches!” The woman ran off, drawing a cross over her chest, looking back to make sure Moira wasn’t following her. Moira looked down at her daughter, both of them instantly freezing out there, Yael crying startled, that pale face turning red.

“Shhh, it’s okay, neshama. The mean old lady is gone.” She whispered to her little girl, moving her body to rock her softly, wiping the tears off her cheeks. “I don’t think Jesus would like her very much.” She added, smiling at Yael and the little girl smiled back through her tears, looking confused, extending her little hands so Moira would hold onto them, kiss her tiny fingers.

“What the fuck was that?” Moira heard that voice that instantly washed her over with calm and Yael’s eyes widened as she recognized it too. Moira looked back to see Oliver coming from the diner, lunch packed in a takeout bag, layers of clothes on him and that cute beanie hiding his hair thought hit full beard was out for her to appreciate. “You two will freeze out here.” He immediately wrapped his arm around them and brought them back into the shop, tapping the snow out of his boots by the entrance.

“Doo? Doo!” Yael cooed, shaking in the sling, turning her head to see her very favorite man in the world. Oliver came into view to kiss Moira’s lips, lingering for a moment, and she smiled widely, a toothless grin as she cooed even louder, gesturing her grabby hands towards him. “Doo!” It seemed to be her coo to her father while her mother was “Dee”. Very creative. She immediately started babbling to Oliver, telling him all the gossip of her morning at work with her mom.

“Yes, tell dad everything, how that mean old lady came in here and complained mom’s boob was out.” Moira nodded, detaching the sling so she could take Yael out of it and pass her onto Oliver. Yael was babbling nonstop when Oliver put the bag on the counter and grabbed her, covering her face and neck in kisses, rubbing his hand on her back to warm her up. “She called her a devil baby and you my evil husband.” Moira told him, wiping the dripped milk off of her chest and putting her shirt back in place, the putting on her jacket and scarf.

“She what?” Moira knew Oliver didn’t care that the woman called him anything she wanted, but he wouldn’t stand anyone speaking will of his child. Moira waved it off, sighing and picking up Yael’s little jacket to put it on her, but the baby was busy trying to eat her dad’s nose.

“I cursed her, we’ll be fine.” Moira said simply and he arched an eyebrow. “Next time she says anything, I’m calling the police.” She added, finally able to put the jacket on their girl, making her look like a little fluffy marshmallow as she zipped her up. “Tell dad, what are we?” Moira pointed at her and she cooed. “That’s it, Jewish and what?” Yael cooed again, lifting her arms in the air. “Jewish and proud, that’s my girl.” Moira lifted a hand and Yael laughed, giving her a light high five. Oliver chuckled, shaking her head at his ladies. “Wanna look like abba?” Moira smiled and she grinned back at her mom, letting her put on the beanie on her hear, little curls sneaking from underneath the fabric. The little girl touched the beanie on her hand and Oliver’s and smiled, recognizing their were looking alike.

“Wow, I got some feisty ladies in my life.” Oliver nodded, looking quite smug and proud and Moira grinned, picking up her purse and the keys to the shop, turning the lights off before she took the bag with their lunch.

“Oh, Mrs. Mills thinks we’re witches now, all of us.” She told him as they stepped out and Oliver laughed out loud, Yael following just because she loved the sound of his laugh just like her mom.

“We should light up a big menorah on the first day of Hannukah here, invite people in town just to spite her.” Oliver teased as he held Yael in one arm and reached for Moira’s hand, leading them back to the car once she had locked up the shop.

“Ugh, you’re so hot.” Moira groaned, pulling him to her to kiss his lips again, a soft but lingering kiss she only broke when Yael smacked her own on her cheek and made her laugh. “Let’s go home and do some witchcraft, you Godless Knights.”

#drabble

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lt2archive · 3 years

Link

The former One Direction star and solo artist reveals his plans to manage woman rock bands, and tackles those pesky One Direction rumours

24 November 2020 • 4:05pm

“I’ve just watched loads of s___ TV,” he says after a long pause. “The Undoing is decent, isn’t it?”

He's getting ready to rehearse an exciting one-off gig that will be live-streamed from a secret London location on December 12, announced today exclusively via the Telegraph. The proceeds of the night will be split across four charities: The Stagehand Covid-19 Crew Relief Fund and Crew Nation, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and Marcus Rashford’s charity FareShare, to help end child poverty. Tomlinson will also be donating money to his own touring crew, many of which have been out of work since March. “I've been incredibly worried about them and felt incredibly powerless, so wanted to give something back.”

The gig also means a great deal to Tomlinson on a personal level. His first ever tour as a solo artist, to promote his debut solo album WALLS, was cut short back in March after just two concerts in Spain and Mexico. It was an album he’d spent five years working on: a guitar-led project that ruptured with the preppy pop anthems of One Direction, inspired instead by Tomlinson’s love for Britpop.

Was he left reeling, I ask, unable to perform at such a crucial moment?

Sure, I say, but the last year can’t have been easy. Didn’t he feel like his purpose had popped?

In return, Tomlinson is good to them. Last month he even promised some new music, saying that he’d written four songs in four days. Does this mean that a second album is on the way?

It must be draining, I say, the weight of expectation in both the media and across his fanbase, to be a spokesperson for grief and hardship. To have tragedy prelude everything he does and says.

“Honestly, it’s part of being from Doncaster as well, I don’t like people feeling sorry for me. That’s the last thing I want.”

Too many incredible memories to mention but not a day goes by that I don't think about how amazing it was. @NiallOfficial @Harry_Styles @LiamPayne @zaynmalik . So proud of you all individually.

Has he spoken to Frusicante?

“I f______ wish,” snorts Tomlinson.

Surely someone as well-known as Tomlinson could easily get in touch?

“No, honestly, I think he’s too cool for that. He’s not into that kind of thing.”

So: might 2021 be the year of resurrection?

Tickets for Louis Tomlinson Live In London are on sale tomorrow from 4pm

#lt live from london #nov. 24 2020 #press #the telegraph #nov 2020

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neko-snicker · 5 years

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A super fun walk through of how my art has changed over the years

check it out if you’re interested!

I’ve always drawn things as a kid, I honestly can’t remember a time in elementary school where I wasn’t getting in trouble for drawing all over something. I always drew traditionally until my grade six “graduation” when my parents got me an Ipad 2. I got to choose one app to buy, and that app was Idraw, a simple Vector-based drawing app that immediately took over my life.

I would draw all sorts of stuff on that app from Nyan cat to my Minecraft avatar. And then I found the horse show. Feeling Pinkie Keen was my gateway drug to horse fandom. I watched all of season 1 (which was all that was there at the time) and my little 12 year old mind got an amazing idea: I’LL MAKE MY OWN PONY. Her name is Firefly and I still love her, fight me.

I drew a TON of drawings of her (which I don’t have anymore ;n; ) It wasn’t until I started looking for information on season 2 that I discovered the fandom: mostly through YouTube videos of askblog dubs. And then I found DEVIANTART and I was hooked. I started actually posting my drawings around 2012-2013 I remember my only art goal was to get into EQD’s Drawfriend

And then came the ask blog. After discovering Jan Animation’s Ask The Crusaders, I knew I had to do it. Here are some of my first few posts. It’s obvious that even from a young age, I craved that horse clout.

And then I got THE ACTUAL DRAWING TABLET, my good old Wacom Bamboo that my mom picked up at winners or something. I torrented Sai and got right to doing my first raster-based drawings

By late 2013 I was in much better shape vector drawing wise, and my ask blog picked up! I’m still proud of the adventures these three dorks went on, I even still have a huge archive of fanart of them <3 It was also around this time that my first version of “Neko” appeared and I came up with the name “NekoSnicker”

Here’s some more of my early sai Work. Some big inspirations for me at the time were Jitterbugjive and DVixie (at the time, DennyButt)

2014 was a lot of askblog stuff and learning more about Sai. I was just watching ponies and chatting on skype with my other horse art friends like ShibaRoll (ThunderDaze at the time) and TheLikeableArtist. I think this is the year I made my Neko-Snicker tumblr account started doing paid commissions as well.

By late 2014, my ask blog was at an all time peak and my style had gotten a lot better and I had started getting good at animating. I was involved in projects and other blogs and was posting art regularly every day.

December 2014 would be last time I updates Ask-Firefly and the last time I had any presence on my other accounts for about seven months. Needless to say, I was going through some hard life times. When I did finally come back, I had completely changed the direction I wanted my art to go (before and after break):

I still feel awful for leaving without a word for so long, 15 year old me was not kind to do that.

It was during this break that I started my Ask Student Luna Blog. I think I hid under another name because I was scared of people not liking my new art style. All I wanted to do was use harsh shading, interesting shapes and exaggerated faces. The freedom of a new name gave me the confidence to do this.

Student Luna really was the art outlet I needed at the time and I am soooo happy I deviated from the on model, cute style I was using before because it turns out, people liked this side of me a lot more. I gained 12,000 followers over the span of a year, 4X as much as I ever had with Firefly. And it was so much more fun.

Of course, when I did come back to my “NekoSnicker” accounts, I cut Neko’s hair and made her into who she it today to fit my new aesthetic a bit more

And from then on, I wasn’t afraid to experiment and draw less cute and more abstract horses

The last few years has really just been a steady pace of me improving my style and gaining more of a presence. I also met these two losers who have each been a big part of my art journey: Modularpone and Anticular

Thanks for reading about my art journey! There were highs and lows but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am now happy where I am and excited to see where I’ll go next. Let’s finish off with some of my favs from the last year:

#nekotalks #long

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girlactionfigure · 5 years

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He was drafted into the Army in 1943. His fellow recruits remembered him as "simple, bland, unassuming." He described himself as a "nothing, a nobody." No one, including the young man, knew what life had in store for him.

In the Army, he served as a staff sergeant in the 20th Armored Division. Elements of his division participated in the liberation of Dachau concentration camp - Although his unit was near, they did not actually enter the camp.

Although he was proud of his service, he remembered that time as very painful for him - he not only witnessed the horrors of war, but it was also the same time his mother passed away.

His father, a barber, was born in Germany, and his mother was of Norwegian heritage.

He was born on this day, November 26, 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Being the only child, he was very shy. His uncle gave him the nickname, "Sparky" after the horse "Spark Plug" from the Barney Google comic strip.

His mother was bedridden during his high school years, and the young man often heard her cries of pain. Her illness was identified as cancer in November 1942, the same month he was drafted. On February 28, 1943, he used a day pass to visit his mother one last time. He got to say goodbye to her that day, but he said, "I'll never get over that scene as long as I live."

He would also regret the fact that his mother would never see what he would become.

After returning from the war in the fall of 1945, he sold his first cartoons to his local newspaper.

"The first Peanuts strip appeared on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers nationwide. Although being a professional cartoonist was [Charles] Schulz’s life-long dream, at 27-years old, he never could have foreseen the longevity and global impact of his seemingly-simple four-panel creation," according to the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

In the summer of 1968, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and after corresponding with teacher Harriet Glickman, Schulz made a bold decision, introducing a character named "Franklin" to his Peanuts comic strip. As told in the July post on the Peace Page celebrating Franklin's 50th birthday, Schulz by that time was already a very popular comic strip artist and did not have to acknowledge the school teacher's request to introduce a black character in order to bring the country together and show people of color that they are not excluded from American society.

Schulz carefully thought about it, knowing that his career could be in jeopardy, as other cartoonists had politely declined Glickman's request. But, he corresponded with Glickman's black friends to ensure that he would present Franklin in the best light, smart as Linus and not condescending, even to the point where some would joke that Franklin was too boring and "normal" compared to the other Peanuts characters.

He also received backlash as some newspapers threatened to cut his strip if he showed Franklin in the same classroom as other Peanut characters. He courageously ignored the threats, sitting Franklin in front of Peppermint Patty at school and playing center field on her baseball team. He even told the president of the comic's distribution company that "Either you print it just the way I draw it or I quit."

According to The New Yorker, Schulz always worried about the portrayl of Franklin. "He needn’t have worried, though, because Franklin felt real — or at least felt respected — as a kind kid on the beach with whom Charlie Brown plays in the sand. (“Whites Only” pools were not uncommon in 1968.) Though Schulz may have lived a quiet, remote life in his California studio, he was woke enough to realize that all one had to do was care enough about a character for he or she to 'work,' even if the shell of the character wasn’t his own."

Schulz later introduced another black character, Milo, as well as semi-Latino Jose Peterson, one of the first characters of Hispanic descent in U.S. comics. He also gave voice to women in sports in the strip after he became friends with tennis star Billie Jean King, leading to a lifelong interest in the fair treatment of women athletes and a seat on the board of the Women’s Sports Foundation that King founded.

Today, the work of Charles Schulz is still very popular, even though recently the Peanuts' animated Thanksgiving special is embroiled in some undeserved social media controversy designed to divide fans who may not be aware of how Franklin was originally introduced.

In an article in Snopes, Nat Gertler, author of a book about Peanuts, wrote:

That even though the animated cartoon was in a completely different media than Schulz' newspapers, there is an "assumption that Charles Schulz himself planned the admittedly awkward shot being referenced [of Franklin sitting alone on one side of the picnic table]. While Schulz definitely kept a hand in the animated work, by 1973 when the Thanksgiving special aired, the Peanuts characters were starring in not only a steady stream of TV specials, but also a series of animated feature films. Schulz certainly wasn’t laying out every shot himself — he had a day job to take care of, writing and drawing the most popular comic strip going, as well as creating original books, handling licensing materials, and so on. A talented team of animation folks were doing their job on this."

Schulz critics also like to ask why Franklin was drawn to look "dirty" in the first early panels, not realizing that back then every newspaper comic strip was printed in black and white with no option for shading other than drawing lines to depict shades.

Gertler would conclude, "Schulz stuck his neck out introducing Franklin." Others have pointed out that the network which produced the original Peanuts Thanksgiving special is also responsible for cancelling The Smothers Brothers show for being critical of the Vietnam War and the political mainstream. It should also be noted that it was only recently in 2015 that the television academy recognized a black woman, Viola Davis, for best actress in a drama, the first time that award has gone to a black woman in nearly 70 years of award-giving, shedding some light on how ground-breaking the introduction of Franklin was in 1968.

"Despite the over-all racial imbalance of the “Peanuts” cast, this caring is really the secret, mysterious power of Schulz’s entire strip. Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Schroeder, Franklin, and everyone else came alive on that page because of Charles Schulz’s ability to make you care about and feel for — and, in Charlie Brown’s case, at least, feel through — nearly every one of them," according to The New Yorker.

Schulz died on February 12, 2000. By the time he retired in "December 1999, the Peanuts comic strip was syndicated in over 2,600 newspapers worldwide, with book collections translated in over 25 languages," according to the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

The Museum also says of Schulz, "The continuing popular appeal of Peanuts stems, in large part, from Schulz’s ability to portray his observations and connect to his audience in ways that many other strips cannot."

"The thoughtful pacing in 'Peanuts' is reminiscent of that of 'Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.' The two also share a rejection of the violence and manic energy that characterize other children’s media of the time", according to the New Yorker.

“Schulz wasn’t an artist because he suffered. He suffered because he was an artist," said writer Jonathan Franzen in the Press Democrat. "To keep choosing art over the comforts of life — to grind out a strip every day for 50 years, to pay the very deep psychic price for this — is the opposite of damaged. It’s sort of choice only a tower and strength and sanity can make.”

Bruce Handy in The Atlantic wrote:

"So if I were asked to pick the character most likely to find happiness if he or she ever grew up . . . I wouldn’t hesitate to pick Charlie Brown. Maybe he does find a form of redemption in his suffering? He feels his failures deeply, he suffers profoundly, and yet he remains ever willing to take another run at kicking the football or trying to get his kite aloft or pitching the next game or hoping this year, finally, to receive a valentine. If he is a blockhead, it is in part because he cares so much; diffidence doesn’t merit the insult. Like his creator, he has passion and persistence. If he were real, I like to tell myself, Charlie Brown would be fine."

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

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pokefan531 · 5 years

Text

Miraculous Ladybug Production Analysis

Today, I will be reviewing Miraculous Ladybug on the production quality. This goes on video quality and knowing its original format. We will be going over the base resolution, framerate, audio, and others. I've done some test by analyzing different sources of the show, and to see the techneical side.

Miraculous Ladybug credit goes to Zagtoon. Images are used for demonstration.

Video Resolution

On TV stations and on digital distribution, it is common to air or stream it on 1080p. In fact, most anime are digitally drawn on lower resolution than 1080p. For Miraculous Ladybug, this is the case.

Miraculous Ladybug is rendered at 720p, across all episodes and specials as of current. By taking some frames from Netflix stream, it is clearly upscaled from 720p. I did some check by looking at individual screenshots of the show and look at it on Photoshop. Looking at the characters hairs and some edges, you can tell that the source is upscaled.

It is common for a 3D animated TV show to render at lower resolution than 1080p, aside from the texts and the credits. The credits are clearly 1080p while the background is just upscaled to 720p. The text are clearly sharp and doesn't have anti-aliasing. The Ladybug icon on the left is also 1080p. On the opening, only the text are rendered at 1080p, but it's not as sharp as the credits. Still, it doesn't have jagged edges on the texts. Again, it is mixed with 720p background. Also, the logo scene seems to fit well with debicubic filter. I've tested upscaling filters with Avisynth on the frames to see what was the best. It seems like the studio actually use Bicubic scaling with Blur=1, and Ringing=3 setting. It is the default filter setting on Avisynth's Bicubic filter. I've check some masking between original frame and debicubic and use bicubic again, there was no difference aside from blurring out small compression artifacts caused by streaming.

So clearly, the show is upscaled from 720p with Bicubic filtering, with texts being full HD, especially seeing the credits.

(Although, the scene where Plagg gets sucked in on Stormy Weather, the vertical resolution looks like it's half. We know the show is not interlaced, but what happened?)

(Look at the edges of the objects when watching 1080p quality. It is certainly upscaled. Images from Robostus episode and The Bubbler)

Tonemapping

Like most 3D television shows, all scenes are tonemapped to sRGB/rec.709 colorspace. No HDR or wide color gamut is natively supported. Since it is tonemapped to SDR displays, at certain points, Ladybug's outfits seems to have slight red value cut. It is seen when the red shades are over 255 red value, that it can't go brighter and either shows red banding, or red highlight details may be lost. However, the problem is minor, since other color values are present to shade over it.

Overall, the show looks colorful and looks nice for any displays.

(The suit seems to lost some the bump mapping due to compressed tonemapping? Images from Stormy Weather.)

Framerate

By looking at available sources, it seems like the show is rendered at 24fps. By watching Princess Fragrance and The Mime from official Miraculous Ladybug Youtube channel, I can hear the speed difference from most sources that plays at 25fps. It supposed to sound like the 24fps version. Background music tracks and the theme song are available. They seem to match the episodes' audio speed by reconizing the tempo. A lot of sources are seen as 25fps, with the audio sped up without altering the pitch. Technecally speaking, it would be 23.976fps instead of 24fps, but still is.

Framerate Conversion list

As said above, a lit of sources found are playing the episodes at 25fps with sped up audio, but no audio pitch has changed. It's common for PAL conversion to speed up 24fps content to match their 50hz displays (aside from portable displays and computer monitors show natively 60hz). However, in recent years, they use better technology to speed up the audio without altering the pitch, so that it stays true to the pitch of the original format. That way, no one can tell the difference.

Since PAL regions use the format above, I'll list the countries and channels that airs in 60hz or NTSC regions.

South Korea:

The show is aired in the original format. It's 24fps on all channels that airs the show.

Japan:

The show airs in the original format.

Brazil:

The show airs in the original format.

Canada:

Quebec airs the french version, but airs it at 24fps. Family Channel airs it the same way too.

United States:

On Nickelodeon, they would air it at 25fps. Even though most content in the country would air at 24fps, 30fps, or 60fps, Nickelodeon decides to air their shows at 25fps to make more room for commericals to earn more revenue. That also means they cut the credit sequences for the same reason too, with the credits displayed on last 30-seconds of each episode. The audio pitch is unaltered, however. Even their streaming services airs the show at 25fps. Few of their early episodes has wrong conversion on their website, by converting from 25fps to 24fps, albert, with interlaceing, for some weird reason. They look terrible when Nickelodeon had them on their website back in 2015. It is unknown if KidsClick airs it in the original format since I never watch the show from their platform.

Latin America:

This is the most weird conversion of them all. While the show airs at 24fps, Disney Channel LA did the inverse of PAL conversion. THAT MEANS the audio pitch is LOWER than most sources! When I saw their commericals or clips of the recordings taken from their channel, I can hear the audio pitch being altered, but not the typical PAL way. It is very uncommon for NTSC standards to do this sort of thing. I even went to Costa Rica to hear how the show plays over there. I hear the audio pitch being lower as of last year. This is very rare for any channels over there to do this. I don't know what source Disney Channel LA got for the episodes, but it seems like they got 25fps ones and decides to think it is converted already for PAL regions. Very weird. However, streaming services outside the channel never had this issue. It is unknown if PAL countries like Argentina did this too. Their Disney Channel is basically the same, except it's their timeline and broadcasts in PAL format, 50hz.

It is possible that each country can air the show in their own local channel. However, you would have to be in the spanish community to know if they're playing the show correctly.

Netflix:

As far as I know, they have the episodes at 25fps everywhere. iTunes:

Not sure if they still have it, but I remember them having 25fps playback.

Youtube:

Only Princess Fragrance and The Mime are available. It is in the original format, and so as the clips on their Youtube channel.

Overall, it is commonly seen as 25fps in most platforms. I'm not sure if they preserve 25fps on Shouts Factory's DVDs R1.

Blu-Rays

There hasn't been a Blu-Ray release for the series. It's not uncommon for the series to be released on Blu-Ray. Star Wars The Clones Wars, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Samuari Jack, and Batman Animated series has got blu-ray releases at 1080p. DVDs are never HD, and are usually compresses poorly due to using MPEG2 codec from 1990s. You can only find the HD versions on digital platforms. I only know iTunes would do digital release of their episodes. You may have to rip the episodes yourself from other digital platforms. I know not many TV series here have blu-ray releases, but majority of the medias are movies and anime. In Japan, they have very high sale rates on Blu-Ray releases. Not only you get to watch the episodes without internet, but you have very high quality studio like video at the highest resolution with barely video compression artifacts.

Audio

It is common to have stereo audio on TV shows. However, Netflix seems to have 5.1 Surround Sound audio for the show. Usually, the voices are at the front speakers, while you hear the rest of the sound everywhere, with panning from one or multiple speakers to the next. Nickelodeon has aired the show in surrounded sound format before on their HD channels.

Censorship

Miraculous Ladybug is a family friendly TV series, and nothing weird or inappropiate is in it. It was intentionally made for worldwide audience. However, very few television networks made their censorships to any shows. Miraculous Ladybug never got cuts or alterations for anything, but rather small decisions.

On Disney Channel UK, they did a simple motion blur on some scenes to avoid or reduce fast motion lights to reduce risks of seizures. Most notably, the transformation scenes, catching the Akumas, flying butterflies restoring damaged properties, and fast fight scenes that takes big part of the screen. On Frame-by-Frame, the image either have the next frame blended on the current frame, previous frame blended on the current, or both.

Reducing seizures by motion blur may help, but the show doesn't have any strobe or seizure induring scenes. Most broadcasts would leave the show alone. Even Japan leaves the video untouched, despite having paka-paka laws in place on TV broadcasts for airing Electric Soldier Porygon in December 1997. All TV shows have the "Watch in bright lit room" notice on the beginning of the episode in Japan.

Saudi Arabia has skipped Copycat for some reason.

(The bottom one is from Disney Channel UK. All episodes are censored this way to reduce fast bright objects.)

Conclusion

Miraculous Ladybug is rendered at 720p 24fps, with sRGB/rec.709 colorspace. The framerate, whether you're watching 24fps or 25fps, you wouldn't hear the audio pitch being different on the latter, so it's fine. The audio is maxed to 5.1 Surround Sound. Censorship goes from very small to none.

The overall TV show's quality seems pretty good for a TV series. Netflix has all the episodes for two seasons. Even if watching upscaled content, it still looks pretty fine. The audio and sound editing seems pretty great. The animation is smooth overall. The second season is the best season so far. It can be possible that later on, the series may start doing native 1080p rendering. It could be due to the fact that ray tracing on the studio's budget would take too long to render 1080p. Hopefully, native 1080p may soon be used for the future.

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #1080p #720p #3D #tv series #Analysis #Technechical #censorship #upscaling

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katedrakeohd · 5 years

Text

Chapter 34: Come fly with me

(Part one)

A few minutes after taking to the air their jet banks slightly to the right and begins it's flightpath to the east. The fasten seatbelt sign goes off and Jerry's voice can be heard over the public address system. "Good Afternoon, and Good Evening everyone. In about 5 minutes dinner will be served in the lounge. We're offering the choice of filet Mignon with roasted root vegetables or Chicken Cordon Bleu with mixed greens. Your choice of spirit is also available if you wish. Thank you for flying with us today and God bless."

Kate can feel the gurgle of her stomach. With everything else that had gone on today they had missed lunch. Steak or chicken sounded wonderful, and the smell of food coming from somewhere else onboard held the promise that it was going to taste wonderful too. Across from her Drake was looking out his window at the cloud tops, his hand on his belly. No doubt he was feeling hunger pangs too. The sound of Maxwell softly snoring nearby causes Drake to look away from his window, he catches Kate's amused expression too.

Lowering his voice he whispers. "I'm absolutely starving, I don't know about you."

Kate nods, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Shall we leave Maxwell and Hana here and go to the lounge then?" He asks, keeping his voice low.

Hana like Maxwell, has her seat tipped back. She's listening to something through her earbuds with her eyes closed. The window shades on their side of the aircraft have been pulled down to block out the golden glow of the sunset. Drake and Kate do the same, and then escape to the lounge.

In order to reach the lounge they had to pass through the tiny galley kitchen. Kate closes the curtains behind them, essentially leaving the seating area in darkness. The lounge was was set up similarly to the area they had just left with groups of seating on either side, with the exception of the tables between the groups. The shades here had been partially pulled, allowing the sunlight to permeate the space in a rosy golden glow. It reminded Kate of the ambience at Auden Bistro back on Saturday when she and Drake had had their first date. They were alone except for Tariq who was sitting at the far end of the lounge watching a movie on a moderately sized flat screen with earbuds in his ears. His back was turned to them, and the movie onscreen wasn't one Kate recognized.

Drake comes up behind Kate, placing his hand gently at her lower back, steering her toward the bank of seats to the left. "Have a seat," he says.

Kate chooses a seat similar to before, with her back to the front of the plane, with Drake choosing the opposite seat. Looking across at him as he gets settled in, Kate is struck by how the light plays with his features. How it puts reddish highlights in his hair, and changes his eyes to an amber color. Kate had no trouble with the space between her seat and the table, but Drake did. He had to make adjustments to his seat and she was pleasantly surprised that the power seats moved backwards as well. She watched with amusement as he made himself comfortable. With a sigh he finally finds the right fit for himself.

Kate speaks up as he finally stops fussing around. "I would have thought that with all your travels you would already have a spot customized for yourself."

Drake pulls his window shade down to cut the glare from the setting sun. "I do. It just happens to be the one you're sitting in."

Kate wiggles around in her seat, appreciating that it's 'his' spot. She grins back at him. "No wonder I like it so much then, it's molded to your shape."

Drake chuckles, but then his tone goes serious. "And don't you dare make any adjustments. I customized that space for me a long time ago."

Kate's hand strays teasingly toward the control panel on the side of her chair, and Drake raises an eyebrow. Pulling her hands back she folds them together on top of the table. "Happy now?"

Drake smirks at her, nodding his head. "For now."

Jerry walks up to them, carrying two plates. One is chicken the other steak. He sets them on the table for their appraisal. They both looked delicious. Kate was drawn to the chicken, but not so much the mixed greens. "Uh, Jerry is it? Could I have the Chicken Cordon Bleu with the roasted vegetables?"

Jerry nods, smiling. "Certainly ma'am."

Drake speaks up, "I'll do the steak and vegetables."

Jerry nods, leaving the steak plate and taking the chicken plate back to dress it to Kate's specifications.

Pulling the plate over to himself, Drake leans in to take a nosefull. "Damn that smells good."

Unrolling his napkin to find his utensils, he places his napkin in his lap and picks up his fork. Then he remembers that Kate is still waiting for her food and then he sets his fork down next to his plate. His polite gesture doesn't go unnoticed. Kate smiles because she knew he wasn't totally clueless when it came to decorum. Knowing which fork to use during a multicourse meal on the other hand, Drake was totally lost. But Kate didn't mind, it was part of his charm.

Jerry carries out her new plate of Chicken with roasted vegetables and sets it down in front of her. She smiles and thanks him, "Thankyou Jerry this looks delicious."

Jerry nods back with acknowledgment. "Would you like a drink to accompany your meal ma'- "

Kate raises her hand to cut him off, "Please Jerry, call me 'Kate'."

He nods, "Miss Kate, would you like a beverage?"

Smiling back she replies. "A glass of white wine would be perfect. And a glass of water."

Jerry nods, "and for you Mr. Walker. The usual?"

Drake nods, and then Jerry leaves.

Kate picks up her utensils, "Let me guess, a glass of whiskey."

Drake levels her an amused glance and a smirk. "Of course."

They dig into dinner as they wait for their drinks to arrive. Jerry returns first with a pitcher of ice water and two glasses, and then their wine and whiskey.

After he leaves Kate strikes up a dinner conversation with Drake.

"So now that Nicholas has essentially cancelled his engagement tour, what's next in the Cordonian social season?"

Drake finishes his mouthful of potato before answering, "Cordonia basically has a festival for each month of the year. September has a harvest festival that should be in full swing at the moment. October shares part of that too. At the end of October is the costume ball at the Palace."

Drake finishes this statement with a certain amount of disapproval in his tone. Giving the impression he didn't have much desire to participate in costume anything. Kate picks up on it based on his grimace when he says 'costume'..

"So I take it you in particular, don't like to dress up for Halloween."

"Not since I was a little kid."

Kate pictures Drake in a Spider-Man or Captain America costume as a child and it warms her heart. "Aww, I bet you were adorable in your little superhero costume for like 5 yrs in a row until your Mom forced you to stop wearing it."

Drake drops his fork on his plate, his jaw dropping. "Did my Mom tell you that? How did you know?"

Kate chuckles at the expression on his face. "Just a wild guess actually, but thanks for confirming my suspicions."

Returning to her chicken and vegetables, Kate tries to imagine adult Drake in a superhero costume and feels a measure of excitement at the idea. He certainly had the muscles for it.

Drake looks across at Kate, trying to imagine her in a wonder woman costume. She could totally pull it off. He wasn't ashamed to admit he was a little aroused by the idea. Ok a lot aroused.. Clearing his throat he picks up his whiskey glass and tries to put the idea out of his head for now.

"So after the harvest and costume thing is over then what. Does November have a festival?"

"Well where it doesn't really snow in southern Cordonia to make a winter festival worth while, they hold it in Lythikos. And then of course December has a whole lotta Christmas."

Kate smiles, "I love Christmas. My Birthday is in December."

Drake perks up at this information. He suddenly had visions of sitting by a roaring fireplace with Kate this winter with a bottle of whiskey to share. Enjoying birthday sex on the rug next to the fireplace after the whiskey was gone. Damn he felt that arousal coming back. He finishes his glass of whiskey and decides to ask Kate about her birthday. "So Darling, when is your Birthday?"

"December 17th."

"A week before Christmas." he says.

"Yes."

Drake sets his plate aside, pouring himself a glass of water. He loved Christmas too, but he hated to admit it to many people. When he did let it slip out, then everyone made him do Christmassy type things. Which he hated being forced into. His father died near Christmas, so doing the things his family used to do together brought him more pain than joy. But knowing that Kate was now his family he was reconsidering some family traditions. And where her Birthday was so close to Christmas, it made him want to experience all the best parts of the holiday all over again. He suddenly felt a warmth spreading through his chest, which was probably caused by the whiskey, but he wanted to believe it was love. Sucking in a deep breath he catches Kate staring at him again from behind her glass of wine.

"Penny for your thoughts Mr. Walker. Because from where I'm sitting it's pretty clear they're happy ones."

Drake looks down as a smile spreads across his face, then he looks up at Kate. "Yes they are."

At this point if he were out on a date with someone he'd be asking for the check. But tonight he didn't have to. It was time to show Kate the King's bedroom suite.

Continue on..

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walkthroughfox · 6 years

Text

PC Gaming E3 Conference Break Down

PC Gaming E3 June 11th, 2018

Satisfactory

By Coffee Stain Studios

Gameplay trailer shown

First person sci-fi factory building game

Gather resources from the world to build a self-sustaining factory on an alien planet

Play as an engineer sent form Earth to an alien planet

Use vehicles to explore for further resources

Factories will grow to be enormous

Singleplayer or co-op

Closed alpha in the coming months (sing up now)

Neo Cab

Gameplay trailer shown

Play as a cab driver in the future

Dialogue options with your various passengers

Mavericks Proving Grounds

By Automaton Games

Battle royale with 1,000 players

Trailer shown

More realistic setting (i.e. more like PUBG than Fortnite)

First person

Made on Cryengine

Persistent social hub in the world called The Capital (more of a full world than just a map)

The Forgotten City

Gameplay trailer

First person puzzle exploration game to solve a mystery of what is corrupting the city

A re-imagining of the mod

Coming 2019

Star Control Origins

Trailer shown

Sci-fi

Explore thousands of planets that you can land on

Focus on discovery and exploration using your spaceship

Open universe action RPG

A full story

Ship to ship combat

Fully open, simulated universe

Create your own ships, planets, or adventures with mods

Multiplayer Fleet Battles mode

Ship combat PvP

Preorder and play the beta today

September 20th release

The Hunt Showdown

New trailer

New weapons

Crossbow, throwing knives, handheld crossbow, sticky bombs

Archangel: Hellfire

Multiplayer, off-rails mech combat

4 maps, 6 mechs, 13 weapons

July 17th release (Early Access out already)

Trailer

Destructible maps

Free roaming PvP

TDM

The Sinking City

Third person, Lovecraftian open world action mystery game

Gameplay demo shown in background

Investigations are the focus of the game

No handholding, no objectives or markers

Takes place in fictional Massachusetts city

Sanity mechanic

Choices or seeing disturbing things will affect the player’s character’s sanity

Cause hallucinations, disturbing sounds, etc.

Different monsters that the player must defend themselves from using weapons (scarce ammo), traps, etc.

Reiterated that investigations are still the core of the game, not combat

Warframe

Trailer for The Sacrifice (story expansion)

Coming this week on PC

Umbra Warframe being added

Trailer for Tenno Live 2018 (Warframe convention)

July 7th

Already sold out, will be streamed on Twitch

Sega Games coming to PC (shown in compilation video)

Shenmue I and II

Shining Resonance Refrain

Yakuza Kiwami

Valkyria Chronicles 4

Yakuza Zero

Releasing this August

Killing Floor 2

4 major updates this year

First came in March

Summer sideshow coming back

Weapons upgrade system

Trailer for The Summer Sideshow Treacherous Skies

Steampunk style

New map is a steampunk airship

New robot enemies

New guns

New character (Ms. Foster)

Coming tomorrow with a free weekend coming up

Tripwire stepping into publishing

Publishing Road Redemption

Man Eater

Made by creator of the original Killing Floor mod

Made by Blindisde and Tripwire

Trailer shown

Play as a shark

Open world action RPG where you play as a shark who hunts humans

Full single player campaign

Untitled Publisher (that is actually their name)

Bravery Network Online

Trailer shown

Turn based fighting game

Cartoon art style

2019 release

Morningstar

Trailer shown

First person farming game with some sort of dark twist

Overwhelm

Trailer shown

2-D platformer shooter

Art style reminiscent of Downwell

Available now

Jurassic World Evolution

Out tomorrow (June 12th)

New trailer

Jurassic Park building/management game

Stormland

Made by Insomniac Games and Occulus Studios

Trailer (same one that was released last week)

First person shooter open world VR game

Play as an android

Ability to fly and climb

Focus on fluid movement

World is ever changing

Entity called the Tempest rearranges the world every week

Night Call

Trailer

Noir game set in Paris

Play as a taxi driver who gets involved in a world of Crime

Black and white drawn art style

Sable

Open world narrative focused exploration game

Think Journey

Trailer

Unique shaded art style

Pre-alpha gameplay shown

Star Citizen

New trailer

Alpha 3.2 coming soon

Acer came on stage to talk about their new monitors

Genesis Alpha One

Randomly generated universe

Build your ship out

Explore planets in first person

Splice alien DNA with your crew

Fight off alien attacks

September 4th

Don’t Starve Hamlet

Trailer

Looks like more Don’t Starve

Coming this December

Just Cause 4

New trailer showing off the new Apex Engine

HDR, Interactive weather, improved draw distances and lighting, Physics based aerodynamics, improved destruction systems

Reworked combat model

New weapons, AI, guns, etc.

Improved grapple system

Grapple is now customizable

Overkill’s The Walking Dead

Set in Washington DC

New gameplay trailer

4-player co-op shooter

November 6th release

Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season

Pre-release footage shown in background

Unscripted combat being added

Story starts after the time jump from the comics

August 14th release

Noita

Action roguelike where you play as a wizard

Pixel art, but every pixel is physically simulated

Allows for mechanic interactions and full destruction

Two Point Hospital

Gameplay shown in background

Hospital building game

Comedic tone (certain diseases include Turtle Head)

Cure patients

Improve you doctors and nurses

Investigate cures

Releases this Fall

Realm Royale

Battle Royale game with fantasy RPG elements

Different fantasy classes with different abilities

Forges can be used to craft gear, but will show the forge as being lit up, making it a target

Its been out for a bit (Free to Play) (Currently in Alpha)

Ooblets

New trailer

Farming and building game where you also collect Pokemon style creatures

Inspired by Pokemon, Harvest Moon, and Animal crossing

Anno 1800

Trailer

RTS

Looks like more Anno

City building, economy, and naval warfare

Rapture Rejects

Top down, cartoony battle royale by TinyBuild

Trailer

Cyanide and Happiness art style

Hitman 2

New trailer

Shows mission set in Miami

November 13th release

Even bigger crowds than last game

Player can hide in crowd to evade pursuers

Sniper briefcase is back and can hold more than just your sniper rifle now

Elusive targets (limited time events) coming back

Preorder for access to co-op sniper mode

Overall: A fun little conference that was completely free from bloated PR talks and only focused on games (except for the brief segment from Acer). Both of the hosts were great and took any slip ups in stride. Only complaint really is how long it was. And since it's the PC Gaming show, there aren't any massive title reveals, but that's to be expected.

Favorite Moments

Good to hear more about The Sinking City. I really want a new Lovecraftian game.

Man Eater; You play as a shark who eats people and its an open world RPG. It's crazy enough that it might work.

Genesis Alpha One sounds really awesome. Definitely on my radar.

Two Point Hospital looks like a fun twist on the building/management genre. Plus, the host perfectly handled the mic not working situation.

Rapture Rejects; I'm a sucker for Cyanide and Happiness. The really funny trailer grabbed me.

Let me know if anything is missing/wrong and I will fix it.

Other Conference Breakdowns

Microsoft (Xbox)

Bethesda

Square Enix

Ubisoft

Sony (Playstation)

Love game walkthroughs? Bookmark WalkthroughFox.Com as it's about to rain walkthroughs.

#gaming

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usuknetwork · 6 years

Text

USUK Christmas Countdown 2017: December 20

Title: Of Ugly Sweaters and New Friends Day 8: Baking/Cooking Summary: Arthur has a crush on school poster boy Alfred, and in order to get closer to him, he decides to join the Baking Club, because they share a similar passion for the kitchen. Rating: PG Warning: None

(Written by: @apanphanfanwithaplan and Art by: @kurisutythehero)

High school consisted of three main things is what Arthur always thought. People, parties, and clubs.

He himself was a part of several clubs, such as the Magic Club, Model UN, and Gardening Club. Not very interesting hobbies, people always thought, but they were his.

He had friends, like Lukas Bondevik and Francis Bonnefoy. No matter how annoying the latter was, they were friends, and friends introduced friends to cute new boys in Model UN.

Alfred F. Jones was five feet, six inches tall, had a nest of messy blond hair, and god, was he loud. He carried a somewhat authoritative aura that clashed with his impulsive personality and made Arthur Kirkland fall head over heels. He was the new captain of the football team, America in Model UN, student council President, and part of the Baking Club.

The Baking Club was not for kids like Alfred. Kids like Alfred joined sports teams and played the trumpet. Kids in the Baking Club were like Feliciano Vargas and Feliks Lukasiewicz and Emma Maes, who were sweet and kind and as soft as their desserts. But all desserts had their secret ingredients, and Alfred's was his real personality.

Alfred thought only the Baking Club understood who he really was and how different he was, because he definitely was not like the other ‘jocks'. He helped at his grandmother’s animal shelter on weekends, cheered for his brother at chess matches on Wednesday, went to baking Tuesdays and Thursdays, and did football on Mondays and Fridays. He played flute in band, was in HRC in Model UN, and picked up trash around school as president of his peers during school hours. All in all, he was absolutely perfect, and it gained him a one way ticket to Arthur’s heart.

And now, Francis was teasing Arthur endlessly at lunchtime.

“Get your eyes off Captain America over there and onto your pizza. You haven’t even touched your grapes yet! I swear, Artie, if I wasn’t your bestest friend, I would seriously be supes worried,” the Frenchman complained.

“Okay, one, shut up, and two, who said you’re my bestest friend?”

“Who bailed you out of jail when you had some fun at that amusement park?”

“Okay, yeah, but that was holding. There’s a difference. So shut up.”

“Besides, who else would be your best friend? Lukas? He spends more time with that weird Lego Robotics kid. What about that vampire? You still friends with him?”

“Vladimir isn’t a vampire, he’s just Romanian.”

“Yeah, right. And there’s something in the Kool-Aid making us gay.”

“That’s it, for once, you’re right. I need new friends. I’m joining the Baking Club!”

“Not to interrupt your ‘starting today I’m going to be a host' moment, but last time you ‘baked', you set the kitchen on fire. You were literally heating ramen in the microwave, and you burnt my house down!”

“Is that why you stopped inviting me over for sleepovers? Just because I burnt your house down? I said sorry!”

“We’re getting off topic. So, how are you going to get loverboy to love you back?”

Arthur blushed a deep shade of crimson at that.

“Hopefully my charm will take over if not my obviously amazing cooking skills.”

“Arthur, you’re my best friend, so I’ll say it one more time, just to get it through your thick skull. YOU BURNT MY KITCHEN DOWN MAKING RAMEN, YOU PRICK!”

“Details, details.”

And with that he walked off to sign up for the Baking Club.

Soon enough, Arthur had signed up, the rest of the school day had passed, and he was standing at the door for Baking Club, which was covered in mistletoe and holly in celebration of the Christmas season, it being mid-December.

Definitely not the kind of club he thought he’d ever join, but here he was.

He gently rapped on the door and pondered if it was too late to run away when none other than his reason for joining this stupid club answered the door in a super cheesy Minnie and Mickey ugly sweater.

“Hey! Arthur, man, I didn’t think you were into clubs like this! Come on in, I’ll introduce you to everyone!”

He grabbed Arthur’s ugly-sweatered wrist and dragged him in, and he saw the kindest club in school in all of their ugly-sweatered glory.

“This is Feliciano Vargas, whose specialty is cannoli!”

A young man with dark brown hair and an obnoxious curl in a two person sweater with a blond male waved energetically.

“And this is Emma Maes, and her main dish is waffles with boysenberry syrup and strawberries inside, and she’ll be adding some extra stuff to her usual waffles today for holiday stuffsies!”

A girl with mid-length blonde hair and a kind smile wearing a punk sweater the same colour as the patterned blue and black bow in her hair waved nicely, and then turned back to her measuring cups and holly.

“Here’s Ludwig Beilschmidt, who’s a little grumpy, but really nice when you get to know him, and he loves to make bread pudding, and he’s making a plum one today for the Christmas celebration, which isn’t as terrible as it sounds!”

The tall stoic guy next to Feliciano and in the couple’s sweater with him calmly waved and smiled ever so slightly.

“Feliks Lukasiewicz, my man! He specializes in making this thing, it’s like funnel cake! You know what funnel cake is, right Artie?”

Arthur nodded.

“What’s it called again, bro?”

Feliks, who was wearing a slightly less dramatic sweater than the others, rolled his eyes and sighed, flipping his blond hair from his eyes. “I’ve told you like, at least five times, Al! It’s called skruzdelynas! It’s a Lithuanian dessert, and yes, it is like funnel cake, I suppose.”

“I don’t know how to pronounce that, so Feliks specializes in funnel cake, and he’s making a cherry one with powdered sugar today for Christmas!”

“Ugh, you could, y’know, at least try!” called the Pole to Alfred as he went on to introduce the other members.

“Love you too, bro!”

“Ugh, whatever.”

“Is he actually your brother?” Arthur asked Alfred.

“Who? Feliks? Nah. My brother is Matthew, and he’s at a chess meeting today. He’s got a tournament tomorrow! So proud of him. But his twin is in this club, and my twin is in Swim Team. Which brings me to our next member… Madeline!”

A shy girl with pigtails and a red beret with maple leaf hair clips who greatly resembled her brother Matthew waved a little before looking back down at what she was doing.

“Maddie is the beeessstttt at maple pops!”

“Maple pops?”

“Yeah! And maple donuts! And maple bacon biscuits! Just a lot of maple, I guess. I don’t know where she gets it.”

He lowered his voice.

“But between you and me, I think she has a dealer.”

Arthur had to stifle a laugh.

Only Alfred would think his own sister had a maple drug dealer.

To his surprise, Madeline, in her The Nightmare Before Christmas sweater, laughed at that. “Alfred, mom and dad and Matthew have all told you, there is no dealer! We can talk about this later, I’m making muffins.”

“Fine. Bye sis!”

“She seems nice and calm, at least for being related to you,” Arthur laughed out.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Eyebrows? What if I said your brothers were pretty sober, at least compared to you?”

“Then I'd call you a liar.”

Alfred laughed, and it made Arthur think of home.

“Annnndddd last but not least, in our fabulous baking club, we have our longest here members, Antonio and Matthias! Toni is best at chocolate flan, and Matthias here rocks at making rice pudding with cherry sauce, and he’s even adding sugar plants to it!”

Matthias waved politely in his stoner themed sweater, but then looked back determinedly to his pudding, which he was decorating with edible sugar holly.

“Hey, Arthur! I haven’t seen you since forever man!” Antonio, himself, in an incredibly tacky sweater, waved and spoke cheerfully to him.

“Oh, hello, Antonio. Fancy seeing you here,” Arthur spoke quietly.

“What’s wrong Artie? Did you two have an argument or something?” Alfred asked, puzzled.

“Hmm? Oh no. We’re just old friends. We used to play pirates on playgrounds, but we kinda grew apart, I guess,” Arthur said to him sadly.

“Well now, since you’re in the same club, you can grow back together as friends! Wouldn’t that be awesome?” Alfred asked excitedly.

Arthur smiled at his enthusiasm.

“Totally.”

The tour of everyone in Baking Club was now over and Arthur finally got to sit down and start baking his own something. Scones were always his favourite. And Alfred mentioned something about liking boysenberries, so boysenberry scones it was.

For an hour or two, he sat there in his area making and cooking scones, just for Alfred. These had to be perfect, because he probably wouldn’t get another shot to impress him.

Francis was right, he thought. I can’t cook, and I certainly am not handsome enough for the likes of Alfred, he sighed sadly.

Soon enough, the scones were done, and with only minimal burning!

“Al, Alfred?” he called out.

Alfred was over there in a heartbeat.

“Something wrong, Arthur?” He sounded worried.

“No, no, I just, uh, I made you some scones?” he stuttered out.

“For me? Really?”

“Yeah. I heard you say something about boysenberries, and I kinda suck at anything but scones, so here’s some boysenberry scones, I guess.” He sheepishly handed him the plate of scones.

Alfred cautiously picked one up and took a bite. He first made a slight face of disgust, then corrected himself. “Wow, these are pretty good!”

Arthur frowned. “You hate them. I suck at baking. Sorry.”

Alfred looked upset at Arthur being sad. “No, no! These can get better with just a little bit of improvement! Here, I can help you!”

Alfred went over to Arthur’s cooking area, which was covered in flour and hearts drawn in it.

Alfred laughed. “You like hearts, huh?”

Arthur blushed like mad. “I, uh, I, like the design?”

“It’s fine, I like hearts too!” Alfred replied cheerfully and flashed him a wink.

That did not help Arthur's blushed state in the least bit.

For two hours the duo worked together on new boysenberry scones, and some Christmas cookies as well, and both drew more little hearts on the flour around the area, laughing at shared jokes and throwing berries and sprinkles at each other joyfully.

Soon, they were done.

“Wooo! These look great Artie! Try one!” Alfred exclaimed.

Arthur took one and started nibbling, and was surprised at how good they tasted. “Wow! Al, you’re, well, amazing!” He finished it up.

Now Alfred blushed. “Oh, it’s nothing. You did most of it anyway.”

Arthur grabbed another from the tin.

“Hey Artie, close your eyes, I made you a surprise!”

“Alright…” he agreed suspiciously, closing his eyes.

Within two seconds, he felt a pair of warm lips against his own. They tasted like berries and soft vanilla crumbs.

He opened his eyes and almost gasped. It was Alfred.

Alfred pulled away slowly but kept his hand on Arthur’s back.

“Heh, sorry Arthur. I have been wanting to do that for forever. Plus, mistletoe, y’know?”

Arthur looked up and laughed at the plant hanging above the two and then, without thinking, immediately pulled him back in, and there they stood for a few more seconds before breaking apart again.

“I guess we match my sweater, huh?” Arthur said sheepishly, and Alfred looked down at his KISS sweater and chuckled.

“We should probably go share these scones and cookies anyway. Come on, and today is actually club picture day, in case you forgot. We haven’t taken a Baking Club picture for the year book yet, so it’s good you came here today,” Alfred spoke first.

“Good idea.”

The two shared their scones and when everyone was done, Alfred ran to get Francis, in his own ugly wine themed sweater, from Photography Club to take their group picture.

The group of only but nine huddled together for their picture, Alfred and Arthur side by side, holding hands.

“Everyone say ‘merde'!” exclaimed Francis from behind his camera.

Everyone took French, so they all laughed cheerfully, and said “Merde!” into the camera, the group of mismatched friends smiling ever so brightly, because they had found their home, right here, in this silly high school baking club, with more friendship and adventures to hold.

He originally joined it for the boy toy, but stayed for the friends and fun.

Arthur had changed his mind.

There were actually five things that high school was made of.

Sweets, friendship, clubs, ugly sweaters, and love.

And he couldn’t be happier that he had found all of them here.

#usuk #ukus #usukxmascountdown #day 8 #aph america #aph england

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