#get ready for some fucking whimsy

[artbyhauk]

This year for Global Game Jam, our group made Circus Dimension- an infinite runner where you play as a clown.

Help Zimbello escape the neverending laughter and whimsy! Try it here:

#global game jam #clown #game #gamedev #get ready for some fucking whimsy #make sure to check out the other people who worked on this project!! #theyre listed on the website

[sing-you-fools]

IF I CANNOT FIND A LITTLE WHIMSY IN THE MEN'S CLOTHING SECTION THEN DAMMIT I WILL CREATE SOME MYSELF

anyway I bought the most colorful jeans I could find. and some fabric paint

#get ready for some polls because i'm indecisive as fuck #gonna add metallic stars to these purple jeans #queer fashion #whimsy #does anyone have tips for painting clothes #sing-you-fools

[petergabrielyuri]

lewis carroll's stories and peter gabriel era genesis will both just be like "crazy shit is going to happen to you. just batshit random ass whackadoodle things with no rhyme or reason and you will be taken so far from home. Things will look so different and this the journey you never let yourself go on before. And you could go back home. But it's not going to be the same, is it? Haven't you been fundamentally changed by what's happened to you?" and you just have to be like "ok..."

#please give me a minute #the light's dying down on broadway and the window is closing but rael doesn't go through #he stays to save john. he stays and he saves himself #and he becomes one with himself and he becomes one with the universe and he becomes it. #and dont get me started on supper's ready.... #like yeah lemme go back to chillin with my gf on the couch after we've witnessed the downfall of man and seen the truths of God... #not fucking likely! #look i barely remember the alice stories and i remember sylvie and bruno even less but yeah also applicable... #plus the dark whimsy of lewis carroll just fits genesis so well.... #they even used some alice and wonderland art for the cover of i know what I like in your wardrobe #because they know im right... #my post #genesis #lewis carroll

[borzoilover69]

Jake Writing Guide : 2024 Colourised!

Ok well, this isn't the prime year 2014 but I really wanted to make a concise and easy to consume guide for how to write Jake accurately since he can be quite the fussy tosspot if you dont know where to start. [ WARNING ITS A BIT LONG I INCLUDE JAKE DIALOGUE TO HELP WITH UNDERSTANDING WHAT IM SAYING. ] First off: drop the commas, and the apostrophes. He uses largely run-on sentences and has a sort of rambly sense of words. He does however use "these" every now and then and just as it strikes him tends to *Drag out the ole roleplayisms.* when it suits the situation.

Jake doesn't really tend to use old-timey slang but he does have rather antiquated ways of speaking, with a pension for more articulated language. He only REALLY breaks out the old timey words when particularly impressed or exasperated for emphasis. Usually, these words are british slang.

Note how he goes on a ramble that is slightly self-centred. He also spins stories similiar to how Dirk does, but without the ice-cold deal. Tossing in his own spin with his own words.

This one is just really fucking funny.

When hes particularly exasperated he leans into it MORE. Just really spreads it on thick. Like if he continues to say funny words you'll forget everything else and be distracted by his whimsy.

Jake is FAR more socially aware than people give him credit for but prefers to avoid tricky subjects hes not too comfortable with until he feels suitably ready for it, prefers battles he knows he can win so to speak. He also tends to think hes overthinking it and backtrack into ignorance. He overcomplicates things same as dirk does but rather than doing Dirks "yup thats a me problem. Im going to quietly stress about it now!", jake brushes it under the rug and tries not to think about it like a college student trying not to think about their outstanding academic paper and the promise of "Yeah, I'll do it later" (doesn't)

Note his more genuine understanding of why Dirk functions the way he does, well aware of the pros AND cons of having something like a combat machine hunting him.

His awareness of Janes crush and reluctance to deal with it:

Subsequent backtracking and denial of said premonitions, brushing it under the rug. Again, stating his reluctance to get into it because it's a situation he's not wellversed. Jake doesn't like being put into unpredictable situations, he prefers the easy road that won't inconvenience him much.

Also his desire to be seen as seemingly perfect and not have to dwell on others intents. Now this is something I don't see touched on as MUCH on writing guides for Jake English (then again the majority were made in 2014 so who can blame them.) But when Jake touches on what he views as MORE TABOO feelings aka ones which compromise the go-getter Adventurer image that arent BRAVE and GUSTO and GUNS, such as weakness, hesitation, he tends to pose back to the asking party as a question and reconsider his thought process. Like: Do YOU think its ok for me to feel this way? Why do you think that? Could you imagine me thinking something like that? He cares a LOT about his image and whats acceptable for him to be and to mask his difficulty in some social situations.

He doesn't like acknowledging that which might be sort of difficult for him to come to terms with, with the ye olde character trait of repression that him and John share, believing if he keeps his feelings buttoned up, they don't need to feel embarassed (aka: avoidance)

Hes also a fair bit more snarkier than fanon gives him hooks for. His subconscious takes the form of his best friend, but its commented as being “like hal, in terms of snarks”. Jake can also be the snarky customer to Dirk AND Hal, and Caliborn too. He's a gentleman to ladies (TO A DEGREE) but with guys he's not afraid to be more cutting with it. I am begging you on your hands and knees to drop the woobified jake english and make him slightly snarky and a bit offputting and weird. Jake grew up in the middle of a jungle and burned his grandmother.

Also he seems to be slightly aware of outside forces, note him calling attention to the fact he knows things he shouldn't canonically even be able to know.

Because Jake IS a little freak. He thinks corpse puppetry is funny. He punches what he thinks is fish hitler while ranting about movies. Hes funny as fuck. Hello.

However, with all of THAT out of the way, lets focus on some of the more ABRASIVE parts of his personality. While Jake is funnily charming with his old lingo and tendency to ramble, he has issues! One HUGE one is reluctance to fully FACE things he doesnt feel he has a full grasp on. He DOESNT like going out of his comfort zone, he DOESNT like talking about his emotions to people he really cares about or thinks has fallen for his manic dreamboat pixie persona, He's well aware people fall for it. He works hard to make sure people DO. But it sort of restricts him to that persona, he can't grow from it as long as he holds onto the idea that this persona hes chasing is the only way he can BE without being vulnerable.

Jake can be OVERBEARING, and not just that, painfully unaware when he's up his own ass! This critic he gives to Dirk applies to himself! The reason why he doesn't like brainghost dirk is because GOD forbid the man self-reflect juuust a little and find something that upsets him. Nope! Not going to deal with it. Just as quickly as he is to switch the thought that everyone loves him, he is just as likely to switch to think that everyone doesnt.

Anyways, I think thats all I have to say, Jakes words speak a LOT about his character, and I genuinely love him a lot. He has some words i think about a lot and hes genuinely such an awesome guy. I'll let a few choice pieces of dialogue from Jake himself close this out for me.

This was one of the last conversations we see with him. And I still think about his words a lot.

I'll probably edit this when I get the energy. But I think i covered most of it. Happy writing!

#jake english #homestuck meta #borzoi meta #homestuck #hom3stuck #borzoi talks #astonishing roleplay guide in this year of 2024.. #boy oh boy was this a doozy..

[joestarfoundation]

dom female reader headcanons + imagine

your babyboy wakes up every morning, eager to please you. you are his everything, his entire world revolves around you<3 he loves the feeling of submission and the thought of you being in control. It's not just a kink for him, it's a lifestyle

you can see the excitement in his puppy eyes when you enter the room, dressed in your favorite leather outfit. he knows what's coming next, and he can't wait. as you walk towards him, he kneels down in front of you, ready to serve and devour your delicious cunt<3

he loves when you use him for your pleasure. whether it's making him worship your body or using him as a human furniture, he is more than happy to fulfill your desires. he finds joy in knowing that you are satisfied and that he has pleased you<3

one of his favorite things is when you take him shopping for new lingerie. he loves the feeling of you picking out what he will wear, knowing that it's not just for show, but for your pleasure! he takes great pride in wearing what you have chosen for him, and it makes him feel even more submissive:((

he also loves when you take him out in public, holding his leash and showing everyone who is in charge. he loves the feeling of being owned by you, his goddess, and being on display for everyone to see. it makes him feel special and wanted

tell him he's your good little slut and feminize him, although he doesn't accept it, he has fantasized more than once about you dressing him up in pretty, girly outfits. he knows that you would take such good care of him and make him feel beautiful and desired, much more than he already is<3

slap him, peg him, degrade him, ride him, praise him... practically use him

you hummed as you looked for some strap that could break the little naughty whore you had behind you, he had been very whimsy all this time that you were gone

he even touched himself without your permission, you found him in the room you both shared, humping his hand while making a moaning noise like a bitch and he seemed to have forgotten you were right there

"oh my god what did i do, im so sorry mommy..." he sobbed when you heard his voice from inside of the closet

"what is this my babyboy?" you asked while staring at him

he blushed heavily but still tried to find the words, "i uhm... im sorry about earlier, i was really confused and all, it won't happen again i promise-"

"didnt we agreed that if i caught you doing something like this again you would be punished?"

he tried hard to say anything but you didn't give him any chance "well baby, i'm not gonna forgive this..."

he stared at you in fear and he slowly took off your skirt, "so what are you gonna do now?" he asked with big, childish eyes

"do you wanna know what's gonna happen now?" you ask with an evil smile on your face

he nodded nervously while looking down, he didnt understand why you had come here to punish him, all he did was touching himself!:((

"bad boys deserve to be punished and take up in the ass mommy's huge cock"

now, at this moment you had a big dildo tied to your waist, probably one of the biggest ones you had used with him. you tried to close your legs a little and press the base of the fake cock against your crotch to get some stimulation, you imagined that this time it would be like the other times, him lying on his back, with his legs open, your dildo in his ass, and your hands jerking off his neglected cock<33

he loved being dominated by you after all, no woman ever made him feel more wanted and horny than you :3

but now, you couldn't imagine it anymore. he stood there completely naked and scared:(

"baby, just let me put this thing in your butt and i'll leave you alone, it wont hurt much, i promise..."

he shook his head. completely scared and helpless:(((

"just trust me baby... you want mommy to fuck you, don't you?"

the question had been rhetorical, but you knew exactly what he wanted. he stared at you with those huge eyes, shivering from fear and need, "yes please mommy, i-i need you to please me.."

"good boy<33" you whispered and moved closer to him. "close your eyes and wait for mommy to fuck your sweet asshole :3"

he followed your orders like a good boy and he closed his eyes waiting for you to get ready to slide your fake cock into his ass<3

"mhmmm-m-mommy" his cute moans, echoing in the silence of the night, helped you to relax a bit before going through with it

"ready baby?" you asked as you pushed more of the toy towards his hole and started sliding it slowly inside of him

"uhhuh-hhuh-mm-mmm" he answered in a whisper as you continued to slide your big plastic dick in and out of his ass, occasionally stopping to put pressure on the tip of the cock

"your mommy loves how tight you are babyboy~ fuck- could you call me by my name sweetheart?" you asked while pushing the dildo deeper inside of him

"mhmm hmmm- y/n!! y/n baby<3" he moaned in excitement, he was trying his best to make his tiny asshole take more of the giant dildo inside of it, but he was struggling. his cute face was red from embarrassment and lust, you could tell he was really enjoying every second of it though<33

"oh my god mo...mommyyy!! i cant hold it, its coming!" he cried out loudly

the combination of his cries and you slowly moving the dildo in and out of his ass filled the room with soft moaning sounds <33

you finally stopped the slow motion movements and decided to speed up a little bit, slowly slid the big strap inside of him, each inch pushing further inside of him, deeper and deeper until it pressed against his prostate, stimulating him with gentle vibrations until he reached another orgasm:(((

he collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily while you removed the strap from his ass. you smiled down at him and knelt down to pet his hair, smiling widely at the sight of your babyboy getting pleasure from such things

a minute later he turned around and hugged you tightly, "thanks mommy... i love you so much <3" he said in between kisses on your cheek you smiled, "of course you do baby, i love you too <3" you replied and kissed him passionately on the lips

then, with nothing else left to do you both fell asleep wrapped up in each others arms:)

#mommy k!nk #md/lb #domme mommy #domme reader #dom reader #dom fem reader #sub men #x reader #headcanon #imagine #mommy dom little boy #femdxm #male sub #subby boys #soft fem dom #gentle fdom #fdom #boy sub #subby men #dom mommy #sub puppy #he gets pegged #men gets pegged #reader insert #reader interactive #oc x reader #your character here #imagine your f/o #imagine your favorite character #fuck tumblr

[kteezy997]

6 Months- Part Eleven// t.c.

Warnings: smut, breast worship, female receiving oral, fingering, brief hand job, semi-public sex, cursing

Cam and Timmy arrived at the after party. The atmosphere was lovely, very Wonka-esque, with bright colors and candy decorations all throughout the venue. It was a celebration of the joyous film with tons of people.

But Timmy’s thoughts were far from the child-like whimsy of the movie. He just wanted his Cam. He could barely focus on anything else.

“Let’s go somewhere private, please.” he begged her, quietly. “No one will even notice that we’re gone.”

“Timmy, you’re the star of the movie for gosh sakes. They will notice!”

“Whatever. I don’t even care. Let’s get out of here, just for a minute.” he pleaded with his eyes, such a desperate man, acting like a lovesick puppy. A horny dog, really.

“If we get caught or if people get mad because they can’t find the man of the hour, you, it is not my fault.” Cam said plainly as he took her hand, quickly whisking her away from the party.

They ended up in a bathroom, and he locked the door. “Fuck, I think it’s the dress. It’s doing things to me.”

“Well you helped design it, silly boy.” she teased, “It’s not like it’s a total surprise.”

He threw his body against hers, backing her up to the sink counter as he devoured her neck with sloppy kisses. He moaned against her skin and his hands went to her hips.

Cam stretched her neck some to give his lips more access. She moaned as he kneaded her hips, he reached back and palmed her ass through her dress. She unwittingly raised her leg up on him.

Timmy held onto her leg which was left bare due to the high slit on her dress. He ran his hand down the silkiness of her outer thigh. He kissed her lips, then brought his fingers to his mouth, generously moistening them with his tongue before dipping them down, passed her thong which he pushed to the side.

Cam bit her lip to silence a moan as Timmy slid his wet fingers along her clit. She braced herself up in the counter behind her with her hands.

He sprinkled warm kisses to the tops of her breasts while he rubbed soft circles around her clit. With his other hand, he untied the corset behind her. Once he loosened the top of her dress, he was able to pull it down and unveil her breasts.

Timmy put a hand on each breast, squeezing them lightly and kitten licking her nipples. He moaned as he sucked her right one into his mouth. He massaged his tongue on her bud as it hardened in his mouth. With his hands, he kneaded her breasts as he switched back and forth, suckling her tits, worshipping them.

Cam moaned softly, playing with Timmy’s curls, and running her fingernails along the back of his neck. She giggled as he held her breasts and pushed his face between them and he groaned with bliss. His voice vibrated against her skin and she combed his curls back.

He looked up at her with a sexed out smirk on his lips, and Cam kissed him on the forehead.

His next move was kneeling down between her legs. He put her right leg over his shoulder, and slid her lacy thong to the side again. He started lapping on her clit, wet, swelling, and ready. He licked a long stripe over her, making her legs twitch. He tucked his lips on her clit, sucking, and he slid his fingers along the inside of her folds.

Cam whimpered as she felt Timmy push his fingers inside of her.

Timmy pumped his fingers in and out, while rubbing her clit with his thumb. He curled his fingers each time they went in, making her squirm and cry softly in pleasure.

She was panting after a moment of his fingers ramming into her, and she was aching for more.

He stood up, unzipping his fly and taking out his hard cock.

Cam moaned at the sight of him, instinctively, she wet her hand with her spit and started to jerk him. She turned her hand on his tip, letting him feel the softness of her palm.

“Ahh.” Timmy groaned lowly, shaking his head. He watched her hands stroking his cock for a moment, then cupped her face in his hand. He kissed her, they moaned together, and he took ahold of his cock to enter her warm, wet pussy. He fucked her absolutely senseless. Luckily, no one came knocking on the bathroom door.

…..

Cam was still in a daze moments after they finished. Timmy held her hand as they walked back to the party. There were so many people and lots of conversations and things going on that they were confident that no one would be suspicious about where they went or what they did.

Now the role of the needy one was reversed, and Cam just wanted Timmy. But not just for the sex, she wanted to be close to him, to hold him and snuggle up in bed. She didn’t care about the party, not anymore.

“We’ll go back to the hotel soon, but I have to stay here a little longer. For work, babe, you understand that.” he said, tenderly, bringing her hand up to his lips and pressing a sweet kiss onto it.

“Yes, I know. But I just want to be alone with you. I don’t want to share you with the world tonight.”

“Awe, honey. Come on, it won’t be long. I’ll introduce you to Paul King, the director, and some of the cast. They’ll tell you how wonderful I am.” he joked.

“I already know, I don’t need anyone to tell me.” she replied, kissing him before they walked back in.

…….

The night drew on, and they retired to their hotel room. They didn’t make love again that night, but there were many kisses exchanged and lots of warm cuddles in the hotel bed.

Cam rested her head on Timmy’s chest, drawing light lines on his skin with her fingers.

Timmy gingerly wound his hands into her hair, using his fingertips to rub her scalp. “When are you gonna tell me what your new book is about?” he asked, curiously. He was genuinely interested her work, and he asked about it frequently. As did she about his films. They were both creative people living their dreams, and they were fascinated with one another’s careers.

“I don’t know. It’s not even a book yet, mostly just a big idea. I don’t know if it will work for my audience or not.”

“Is it not like your other books?”

“I mean, it is. In the romance, sex, and mystery sense. But it’s kind of, I don’t know, controversial you could say.”

He furrowed his brow, “Hmm, controversial how?”

“Not telling you yet.” she hummed her response.

Timmy smacked his pillow playfully in frustration, “Damn it! I just wanna know what’s going on in that brilliant mind of yours.” he then combed her hair back.

“You’ll know more about it soon, I promise.” Cam was surprised that he didn’t have any guesses as to what she would be inspired to write about.

A/N: This will be the last part of 6 Months. An epilogue will follow(:

@gatoenlaciudad @thebetawolfgirl @musicandbooksaremyhappyplace @softhecreator @tchalamss @chalametbich

#timothée chalamet #timmy chalamet #timothée imagine #timothee chalamet smut #timothée chalamet smut #timothée chalamet fanfic #timothee fluff

[ghastlytofu]

HEY ive seen talk here & there about how EA!wyll is way different from how he is now. can you tell me what the rewrite changed about his character, im so so curious

AAAHHHHH YES. So okay. I tried to break this down into more digestible pieces and I'm working almost entirely off my memory so please forgive (and for anyone who's reading and knows better, feel free to correct) any errors.

Wyll's story - originally Wyll was a son of house Eltan (relatively minor noble house compared to Ravengard but still very well-known, they founded the Flaming Fists). He was sent to the Fists as punishment for stealing (this was seemingly where his strained relationship with his father began, rather than the pact with Mizora - which came later rather than him defending Baldur's Gate at seventeen). Apparently he didn't excel there because in addition to the disastrous goblin attack that led him to treating with Mizora in the first place, one of the Flaming Fists talks shit about him when you meet her, the gobbos call him Captain Failure, etc.

Wyll's personality - he was quicker to anger, especially as it concerned goblins. His whole vendetta was against goblins: they killed people, stole his eye (and were HOLDING ONTO IT IN THE CAMP) rather than him losing it during the battle with the Cult of the Dragon. He was ready and willing to torture the goblins at the windmill on the off chance that they had intel on the one that took his eye, and when you met Spike Wyll would tadpole into your brain with an eager LET'S KILL THEM. His Blade of Frontiers persona was just a little more obviously put-on, like he was clinging to it out of insecurity.

EA Wyll was more prone to puns and saying weird shit than even his final release self (which is saying something bc Wyll as he is now loves puns & whimsy & being a huge cheeseball).

Wyll's romance - EA Wyll was willing to get physical sooner, even though Mizora's presence cast a dark cloud on the romance. She'd interrupt your moment of intimacy using Wyll's sending stone (though it's a bit ambiguous whether it's actually her or Wyll's conflicted feelings toward her that makes him hesitate). You can tell he's sort of playing the suave hero during the scene - "may I kiss you?", "where were we?", leaning in and smirking, the whole bit. You basically had the choice to 1) fuck him so good he forgot all about Mizora or 2) hold him through the night and just make him feel safe and protected, which surprises and pleases him - "I'm used to being the hero. Not so used to needing one."

Mizora - she was kidnapped by goblins in EA and that was her whole rescue mission, rather than being spirited away to Moonrise. Wyll in final release explicitly states that he's never slept with Mizora - "I'm really not that kind of man" - but in EA there was some indication that their relationship was physical, that he wanted her despite himself.

#hope this helps! #tackypies #asks #baldur's gate 3 #wyll ravengard #early access #baldur's gate 3 early access

[marsti]

the feedback i've gotten in calling the 14th doctor age regression is mostly people agreeing with me but also a few people saying "wouldn't it make more sense if it was 11? he's more childlike than 10" so i feel like i have to clarify my thoughts a little more here. get ready for some genuine analysis to justify a joke i made.

i specified that i think this is time lord age regression, because i don't think it'd manifest in the same way for them. their stages of life simply don't go baby -> child -> teen -> adult, each regeneration is functionally a different person with their own thought processes and dominant personality traits and that's their stages of life.

i don't think it would make sense for 13 to regress to 11 because 11 is a fakey fake fake. his whimsy is performative. 11 is a man who's done the work, understands his feelings, but refuses to process them so he's still a little mentally ill with it. that's why everyone who is or has ever been a lol so random emo groks him. if anything he WISHES he could be an age regressor, he doesn't like that he has to have the complicated mind of an adult. but he fully drops it at the end and reveals he's always been a grumpy old man underneath it all, and then literally regenerates into a grumpy old man.

that's decidedly not the mental framework 13 was working off of at the end of her life. she was confused and crushed by guilt. what was supposed to be a new start for the doctor after 12 finally worked through their feelings and re-discovered what being The Doctor means and took responsibility for their actions? tough luck sucker. everything you thought you knew about yourself was a lie. half of the universe is dead. it's your fault.

to me this is very close to the mental framework that underpins everything about 10. a man who had lost his main coping mechanism (rage) and was now forced to actually confront the guilt he felt, a man who was just so so so very sad. someone who was just so... lost, and alone, and fucked up in the head. desperate for someone to understand what he was going through. and genuinely a little silly with it too! it's all very teenage-like, to me.

14 has a lot of that, and especially in wild blue yonder you can really see how much he wants donna to remember what it's like to be him. he wants someone to LITERALLY read his thoughts, because he craves understanding but doesn't wanna talk about it. the words wouldn't come out anyway. i also think that the ways 14 differs from 10 are interesting, because he's not an exact copy. it really feels like the doctor wanted to go back to before all of this happened, they don't want to be changed. they don't want to be affected. but they were, and the only way they can cope with it is to pretend to be 10 again.

#shut up sender #doctor who #dr who #dw #doctor who spoilers #fourteenth doctor #14th doctor #wild blue yonder #keeping this entirely 10-13 because this is all very contextually dependent on the emotional fallout from 9 letting go of his anger #also see what i did there at the end im kinda clever sometimes #long post

[weneverlearn]

Kurt Bloch: An Awesome Guy Who Awesome People Like

Rocking with the Fastbacks and recording all your favorite bands since 1979

Fastbacks, 1988; Kurt Bloch far left, Gumby t-shirt

“There truly is something about inspiration and enthusiasm that really is inspiring and enthusiastic!” - Kurt Bloch

--------------------------------------

By: Eric Davidson

I’ve been thinking a lot about joy of late. Like pure, eyes-to-the-sky, skipping down the street joy. There is a paucity of it around right now.

We could follow a zillion trails to and from how we got here, but this is ostensibly a music blog, so I’m going to make a quick stab at the roots of this unenviably joyless position we’re sitting in, rock-wise.

The Fastbacks were joyful. Starting out in 1979 in the dawning days of Seattle’s punk scene, they became a local fave on the basis of action-packed shows stuffed with careening pop hooks, irked energy, and a friendly, guffaw around onstage demeanor that didn’t exactly scream “pre-hardcore era.”

Fastbacks retreated for a few years, circa 1988, and when kicked back into gear a couple years later, found themselves being a preferred opener for a load of grumpy grunge bands who I’m guessing hoped to absorb some of the Fastbacks positive energy to counteract their mope – which the Fastbacks were more than ready to supply.

A mélange of metal volume, fleeting bouts of prog whimsy, Ramones tempos, and BubbleYum stickiness, the Fastbacks created a  singular sound. Like most great bands, they never fit into any particular zeitgeist – too raggedy for the pop punk contingent, too peppy for the grunge trend, they nonetheless retained a respected status among bands who appreciated their consistently grabby tunes and fun live show.

Despite any remaining expectations of what “success” was supposed to be, by the turn of the millennium the Fastbacks became that precious thing – one of those awesome bands that awesome bands like.

It should be noted that, while grunge soon gained a definition as a downer genre (that has taken root since), Bloch and company palled around with that Seattle scene from the get-go, and knew many of them as fun rocker kids just trying their best to get through seven months of rain by rocking. 

The Fastbacks kept careening forward right through the ‘Alternative Rock” era that ignored all the fun underground garage punk and instead painted rock as increasingly dreary and grievance-based. The early 2000s came, and the Fastbacks took their leave.

They’ve recently gotten back together for occasional reunion shows. Always holding them together throughout their stop/start whirlwind of a career was ace guitarist/producer and philosophical center of the band, Kurt Bloch.

Bloch, who began his career as a recording studio whizz with Fastbacks, never stopped twiddling the knobs for lots of your favorite bands and/or underrated acts. We checked in with him on his ongoing mission to bring fun to the fringes despite the mainstream consistently choosing incorrectly.   

-------------------------------

Kurt Bloch, rockin', 1990 (Fuck the NRA. I will assume Kurt's t-shirt here was de rigueur '90s irony.)

-------------------------------------

What was the first album you loved; and what was the first album you loved because of its production?

Good question, hard to answer. I think it was 45s and AM radio that got me going on recording qualities, how loud some of the great hits of the early-’70s sounded. How some records sounded like they were a band playing inside your head. I think I was aware of EQ and compression sounds early on, how the drum fills would sort of obliterate everything behind it on some songs. How the guitar would be so loud in the breaks. How, if the record didn’t have enough treble, it would be unexciting; if there was too much then it’d sound wimpy.

Then getting into albums, and FM radio, you’d listen to Larks’ Tongues In Aspic or Dark Side Of The Moon, and they had this spacious quality that was rad; the Scorpions’ Fly To The Rainbow was right in your face, really up-front and close. Then, going to see bands live, we’d see the coliseum style shows – that was so cool, but then getting to see bands in smaller spaces where you could hear the amps on stage, and feel the sound pressure in the room –now that was a mind-opener. You could feel the Marshalls and the actual sound coming off of the stage.

Then when punk bands started playing, that’s when it started getting interesting. You know, like I just saw this killer band that sounded so great at the show, and their record sounds like a bowlful of shit. Why?! That leads to one-track, two-track, four-track tape recorders, and each time you record something, you have a whole book of revelations of what to do and what not to do. So many great recordings from that early punk era without a bunch of reverb. It was another revelation. A lot of those early digital reverbs that everyone had, I just hated that fake trebly, scritchy sound. Rather just not use any reverb than that icky sound.

How did the Fastbacks form?

Kim and Lulu were high school friends of ours, The Cheaters was our neighborhood band; only lasted a couple years but they were good ones! When that band disintegrated on-stage, there was still band gear in my parents’ basement. Kim (Warnick, bass/vocals) had been in a band, The Radios, and Lulu (Gargiulo) wanted to play guitar and sing. Somehow my parents didn’t put a stop to it all, so we started playing a couple times a week. Not saying we got good, but we got better.

How long before you felt you had locked into the Fastbacks’ sound?

I reckon whatever “sound” we had was pretty well established early on; it was just whatever we wanted to do. Of course we loved the punk bands of the era first and foremost, but also the ’60s and ’70s pop music we grew up with; and the hard rock bands of the ’70s too! And I always was a fan of the wonderful arrangements and sound of the ’70s prog bands, once I started writing most of the songs, these things would creep in.

Live, 1986

I have this romantic vision of Kim Warnick as a long-haired rocker teen crashing parties and such. Is that correct?

Ha ha ha!! We were all pretty good (bad?) at crashing parties, some of the shit we did makes me wince thinking of it all. But it was 1977, ‘78; things were different back then, a different kind of boredom ran rampant through kids’ minds back then. There was a real disdain for society, maybe not to the degree of the UK bands at the time, but still there nonetheless. Often there was nothing to do other than the proverbial let’s go fuck shit up. And the music was such a part of all that.

So you got a story about something back then that would make you wince now?

Back when we were teenagers in The Cheaters, we would go to pretty desperate lengths to create excitement. The Cheaters singer, Scott Dittman, was maybe the funniest person I’ve ever known, and often in our search for something to do, he would drive a car full of us down to the frats at the University Of Washington. We’d go crash frat parties, rarely did we fit in unnoticed. You’d grab some keg cups and try to hang out, usually immediately, “Would you please leave.” And that didn’t often sit well with Scott. If we were going to “please leave” then we would not leave without exacting some sort of a toll. I guess we could run pretty fast, or we would’ve got our asses kicked pretty well back then. Somehow a few weeks later we’d go back to the same frat house that had a bookcase upended or a row of bikes knocked over, and lo and behold, the same thing would happen again. Of course we were never hired to play any frat parties.

Scott also loved to fight. He took boxing lessons and was always trying to teach us how to fight too. You knew when the gloves came out it was time to find something else to do. “Come on, you just gotta keep your guard up.” (smash smash smash) “You said you weren’t gonna hit us in the face.” Yeah right.

The Cheaters and The Accident (another erstwhile punk outfit) set up a show at a non-punk bar, somewhere down by Olympia. This would’ve been 1979 maybe. There were no roadmaps for like-minded or “friendly” places to play, outside of the major cities. But we were trying to do something, anything, and our double bill got the booking. This bar had a dance floor that also was used for bar fighting. There must have been some sort of organization to the fights, but it was sanctioned bar fighting. No-one was on the dance floor or anywhere near it when we started, so Scott tried to solicit a fight or two during our set. This was unfriendly territory, we were all, “Stop this nonsense!” But once you told Scott not to do something, well he was going to double down of course. Fortunately no one took him up on his offers, and we got out unscathed, but the bar owner took me into his office at the end of the night and gave me a rundown on what we needed to do to become successful in the music business, and the first thing was to get rid of that singer.

1978

First Fastbacks show, February, 1980 – any memories of it?

Oh, totally! The first Fastbacks show, it was at a rec center in a quiet neighborhood, it was three bands: The Vains, Psychopop, and The Fastbacks. We were all friends, and it was all three bands’ first shows. Very ramshackle, but we cobbled together a sound system, someone had a few lights, everyone brought what they had, and the show went on. A little rough around the edges, but the power didn’t go out, no cops were called, nothing was ruined – an early triumph for sure.

Was the power pop zeitgeist of that time a thing for Fastbacks? Did you feel a part of it?

No! For sure the New Wave was hitting strong at that point, but we were certainly not embraced by the new wavers at all. I suppose for that first year, we were pretty terrible, but we had some friends and people who wanted to give us a chance. Getting Duff (McKagan – yes, that one from Guns ‘N Roses) to play drums was the first step into making the band more listenable, but we were still a long ways off of what the general public would consider valuable music. We got kicked off of a show after our first set (of two). “That’s okay, you guys don’t have to play another set.” And I was all, “What do you mean we don’t have to?!” Oh, I get it.

Then when the hardcore bands cropped up, we were pals with some of them, but we weren’t furious enough for them really. I recall some sort of fury at a DOA/The Fartz/Fastbacks show. It required some foresight, which many didn’t possess, to support any kind of music that wasn’t 100% punk. Conversely, the proper power pop bands, well, we were a little too power and not enough pop, I reckon. We wanted to be that, but it’d take a bit still to hone those chops.

Had Duff McKagen played in any band before that?

Duff was the bass player in The Vains, who played that Laurelhurst Rec Center show. That was his first show. He must’ve been 15, barely 16?

Did he exhibit behaviors that would later align with Guns ‘N Roses’ infamous lifestyle?

We were still pretty reeled-in at that point, no one really even got plastered, no one started doing drugs yet. Might’ve been some Budweisers around, but nothing stronger yet.

Guns 'N Roses 2nd show, 1985

Got any Vains stories, recollections of a show, or the general scene from whence they came/played? Was there a good raw, original punk scene in Seattle in late '70s? I'm aware of Soldier and some other bands, but I wanna get it from the horse’s mouth.

The Vains only played three, maybe four shows total. In the late ’70s into early ’80s it was pretty hard to keep something going if you were any sort of impatient. Most bands never got the chance to play enough to iron out any difficulties, or taste any sort of real success. Lots of arguing over what direction to take, stick to your punk rock guns, and play to a rental hall of your friends; or try to get “jobs” in the bars, which would mean being stricken with the “cover band” tag, which was NOT punk.

1978

The Enemy worked the hardest, yet still couldn’t crack the code in 1979. The Telepaths, The Blackouts, The Lewd – everyone broke up, or moved away and then broke up. The Fartz made a pretty good go of it, but even they sorta morphed into Ten Minute Warning, and then morphed into an art band… The Silly Killers stayed pretty punk. The Living ripped it up for their short lifespan. But they were all in that 1982 dilemma, you can almost see a line in the sand, drawn in the summer of 1982. Not a lot of bands made it across that line that summer.

The Enemy live, 1980

If I remember it was some sort of divine intervention that The Fastbacks reconvened in 1983 to fire it up again, it was nearly the end of the line. But it was also clearly a new beginning, a new lease on life, a new crop of kids started bands in those Metropolis years; the Metropolis was a new all-ages venue that I would consider the petri dish of the next bundle of bands.

As the ‘80s took hold and punk rock hall shows were sort of the only stage for many of our bands, after a couple years of not getting to any sort of next level, it was clear that there needed to be a re-grouping of some sort. We’d see our friends’ bands get actual paying gigs in bars – if they were non-punk sounding. Of course many of the punk bands went to the dark side of ’80s metal. Everyone was looking to do something that could “go somewhere.”

Somewhere right in that 1982 corridor, drugs started flourishing, stupidity set in. Duff came with us Fastbacks as a “roadie” in 1984 down to L.A., and when we came back I reckon he moved to L.A. to escape that whole rigamarole. No one was getting anywhere here anyway. A bold move at that time, at the advanced age of 20!

1987

Word is Fastbacks have had between 12 and 20 drummers. Short of naming every single drummer, are there a few you’d like to point to as having had a particularly interesting stint; or who went on to other bands?

Gosh, all the Fastbacks drummers had something great about them. There were a few who only did one show. I publicly apologize to those who didn’t last. Those were strange times. I don’t think there are any unsolved mysteries in the Fastbacks drummer world, Dan Peters, who recorded a couple songs with us but no shows, Tad Hutchison, and Tom Hendrikson, who each did one show…. Some convoluted moments for sure, and all killer drummers!

Do you think if you would have remained drummer for Fastbacks that you would have still gotten into production?

Yeah, I think the fascination with recording was parallel to the live playing side of things, it was always there in my constitution. Wanting to learn, wanting to figure out how to make records that captured how killer bands sounded. It was such a tall order back then. Seemed like the old guard [engineers] didn’t “get it,” or were prohibitively expensive; and so many of the others didn’t sound kickass like we wanted. Of course this comes from the actual band, first and foremost; that is learned the hard way! But if the band blazes at their show, it seemed that their records should sound blazing too, but that wasn’t often the case.

1988

1989

From what I remember, the Fastbacks rep was that of the favorite local band of all the Seattle bands, and hence got on as openers for bands who would soon get huge during that whole grunge thing…

Pretty hard to say from the inside view. We had the unfortunate hurdle of being broken up from late-1988 till mid-1990. A lot of opportunity probably squandered during those times. But, unlike anyone else I can think of, we did get a second chance via Sub Pop, and another decade of rock. I know we were quite lucky in that department. We never did gigs large or small with Nirvana, Soundgarden, sort of the class of ’89. We did share a slightly miserable practice space with Green River and later Mother Love Bone. Always pals with those cats, so we did do opening stints with Pearl Jam in 1996, all around the world.

What was miserableness about it?

Oh man, that place… It was in a basement in Pioneer Square, the old, original downtown Seattle. The Great Seattle Fire devastated downtown in like 1889, and they rebuilt the city on top of the old city, one floor higher. So our basement was on the level with the old, original city; some rooting around could be done. There was no bathroom or running water down there, so you had to go to the bar a block away to use the facilities, but often you just couldn’t be bothered. In the space next to ours, it was a smashed up, decrepit old room that we moved all the garbage from our side into. No lighting of any sort, so it was all flashlights if you had them, and filling up bottles of pee and putting them where ever we could find room.

But of course we raged supreme down there, some epic parties, bands playing, and whatnot; of course no water or facilities, but grand times in the ’80s. Somehow, I ended up being in charge of paying rent, not the best job for me to take on. It meant tracking down Andrew Wood once a month and trying to get him to pay his share of their rent. First it was Malfunkshun, and Green River was there too. We might’ve blown up before Mother Love Bone started? I think I remember Green River blowing up too, after their California trek; it would’ve been not too long after that that The Fastbacks unceremoniously imploded. But for a while it was definitely a rager.

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Nifty, random link I stumbled on with some cool early Fastbacks fliers, stories, and live stuff.

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1992

While you didn't play with the "biggies" of the scene as much as I thought, got any early Nirvana or Soundgarden tale of any sort you'd like to share?

Our fabled practice basement was just a couple blocks from The Central, a venue that was sort of home base for a lot of stuff. The Vogue as well, it was on the north end of downtown, we were on the south end. Many people had keys to the place, so it was not surprising to duck in between sets at The Central, to have cheap beers or whatnot. I first saw Soundgarden at The Central, and they were certainly mind-blowing. Would’ve been ’87? Quickly became a favorite Seattle band, and when their first 7” came out, my roommates hated me. I had a tendency to play those 45’s over and over and over again. But they played The Central a lot, and just got better and better, heavier and heavier. I remember the first time they played “Beyond The Wheel”, it was at the Vogue. I was standing next to Mark Arm and we looked at each other and just said FUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH…

The first Nirvana show I saw was also at the Vogue, it was maybe not the greatest Nirvana show, but man I thought that singer was amazing. Shortly after, Jon Poneman (Sub Pop co-founder) was at the bar there and said, “If you buy me a coffee now, I’ll give you a 45 tomorrow that will change your life.” An easy proposition. Sub Pop HQ was half a block away, he gave me a “Love Buzz” 45, and once again, the roommates had a reason to hate. I must’ve played that record 100 times in a row. Might’ve taken them a bit to find their pummeling style, but man they sure did. Then after Bleach had been out a while, all the rumors of major label this and major label that… So exciting and weird.

Who is a favorite Seattle “grunge era” band you really dug and maybe didn’t get the recognition you think it deserved? Mine are the Derelicts and Zipgun.

Of course! Pure Joy, Flop, H-Hour, the Meices – wait they were actually from SF… Huge Spacebird, Once For Kicks…. Have you got an hour or so?!

I know you are no doubt tired of this question, but do you have a late ‘80s/early ‘90s story or show that happened where you thought, “Damn, this Seattle scene thing is getting some real attention? This is fucking weird.”

After the Fastbacks blew up in 1988, I started playing with the Young Fresh Fellows, and we were off and running pretty hard right away. Certainly a parallel path from the Seattle Grunge Explosion, but a decent path it was! I was pals with Jon and Bruce (Pavitt) at Sub Pop when they started, so I’d go hang out at their early HQ/distributor place downtown. It was amazing to see some of these bands blow up when they did.

Young Fresh Fellows, 1989; Kurt Bloch far right

I suppose the thing that sealed it for me was listening to the advance cassette of Nevermind on a Young Fresh Fellows trip. Scott McCaughey had been assigned to review it for local music rag, The Rocket, and I nabbed it from him on a trip out East. It totally blew my doors wide open. Already having been a superfan since that “Love Buzz” 45, and seeing a couple of the shows they did here before going out to record that album, then hearing it for the first time on headphones; then as our tour progressed, seeing the record just going ballistic at every record store, it was just crazy. It never stopped getting bigger and bigger. This is so fucking weird!

Strange feeling of seeing a local band you saw shlubbing around town or peeing next to them at a dive, to hearing them play in a grocery store in Nevada, or whatever....

Soundgarden was the first one I remember blowing up. They went from Sub Pop to SST to A&M – they sorta seemed to have their shit together pretty well. Alice In Chains were kinda off our radar, they were only on the Rock radio stations; it wasn’t until their second album that I noticed that they actually were killer. But Nirvana, they were crazy cool from the get-go, not in the FM Rock station sort of way, but the punk underground sort of way. Plus I didn’t really know them at the beginning, so there was way more mystery about them. A couple legendary Seattle club shows before they went off to start Nevermind; the OK Hotel first playing of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” we were just transfixed – What the fuck is this?! Then the Off Ramp show, they went on really late, and got cut off right before 2am. Somehow the club picked up the empties and let the band play on into the night, and what a show it was. Then… nothing.

Didn’t really hear anything from Nirvana ‘til the advance cassette of Nevermind went out, and of course thinking, if I like this so much, it’s probably never gonna go anywhere. Wrong. It was like a slow ball of fire, radio then record stores, like every record store playing it, every magazine… It would’ve made you hate a lesser band, but it really was great so there was a sense of pride attached to it all. Finally something we loved is big. But then how big? There seemed to be no end to it. It was everywhere. And so weird to think that kids dug something that was blazing and amazing.

Were you defacto producer of Fastbacks from the get-go of recording?

Oh for sure. Not by strong-arming anyone, but just because there was no money, and no one else could be bothered! Our first 45 was with Neil Hubbard and Jack Weaver, as we were doing a song for a Seattle comp LP, and as per the usual, just recorded some extra songs in our allotted time. The first EP was Peter Barnes, drummer for The Enemy, killer Seattle band and very much an inspiration to all the bands in the late-’70s in Seattle. Then after that, it was trial by fire.

Can you tell me more about The Enemy, and their local import?

The Enemy pretty much initiated the punk “scene” in Seattle. There were a few bands, but they started a club, it was all ages, March, 1978. Otherwise it would’ve been hall shows, but The Bird brought everyone together. Originally only open for a few months, but there were shows there every Friday and Saturday, it really did give us something to do.

My first band, The Cheaters, might not have actually played anywhere if not for them. We could have languished in my parents’ basement forever if not for being stopped by The Enemy members at a Ramones show: “Hey! Are you guys in a band? Would you want to play at our club we’re opening up in a few months?” Of course we said yes, we didn’t tell them that we were just barely a band, we’d never actually played a show, nor would we maybe ever had if not for their offer. We were just teenagers, my brother Al was still in High School. But they took us in and let us play shows. The drummer, Peter Barnes, filled in for a night our real drummer couldn’t play.

Everyone knew each other, when it was time to record what was to be The Fastbacks’ first EP, Peter volunteered to be our producer. He figured out how to get cool, kickass sounds and make things happen. No one had any money or experience so it had to be on a budget, but he made it happen. The record turned out great. “In America” was on the commercial new wave station, we thought we had it made!

I thought I knew what to do, to various degrees of success. Conrad Uno at Egg Studio did much of our first album. He was wise beyond words and also a great teacher. After that LP was finished he was all, “You can do all this, I think, I’ll be back at the end of the night to close up!” Then it seemed like the right avenue. So many producers seemed like they just wanted to add stuff in order to have their presence be felt. I always felt, like – what is the least amount of stuff we can have on here to make it happen? Less stuff, but louder. Certainly not against adding things, but also happy to leave things out as much as possible. Always loved the one-guitar bands that didn’t double everything all the time. Makes you think a little harder about what you’re doing.

1994

Okay, I will name a band, and you give me the first thing that comes to mind when you think of your production gigs with them:

Presidents of the U.S.A.

We’d do several takes of any given song, as the band was learning them, Chris (Ballew, singer) would play his two-string bass flawlessly every take, and sing a scratch vocal that could’ve been used as the keeper. Never a mistake, never less than killer every time.

Robyn Hitchcock

Also just an amazing music machine. Put him in an iso booth with a mic for vocal and one for acoustic guitar. He’d show the band a new song and go into the booth, sometimes it would just be one take and they’d nail it, with the lead vocal included. Never a lyric sheet in sight. A brain that truly works overtime. Peter Buck playing his 12-string on a song that he had just heard, and plays flawlessly the first time. Great Peter quote: “I like to get things right.” Indeed!

Fastbacks

Ha!! Some of the recording we’ve done astounds me to this day. It’s like any idea we had, we’d just do it. I swear, no one ever said, “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Listening back to the early ’90s recordings, there truly is something about inspiration and enthusiasm that really is inspiring and enthusiastic! Some of that music is pretty weird, even some songs that I wrote, I can’t imagine where they came from. I know we did them and all, but what was the impetus, where did they come from?!

Nashville Pussy

Another tale of just trying not to ruin a band that sounded killer. Amazing to think that they all fit in the tiny live room at Egg for that first album. The sheer volume of air pressure in there was unbelievable. A perfect example of what we’d set out to do, just try to not let the recording process get in the way of the recording. And nominated for a Grammy! I went with them to the Awards show – limo, booze, and afterparties. We were scheming all the horrible things that we’d say when we won the award, who we were gonna thank, who we were gonna blame. Of course there’s no way we’d win, they barely could say the name of the band when reading off the nominees! But what an experience. So many laughs.

Mudhoney

Five Dollar Bob’s Mock Cooter Stew (Reprise, 1993) doesn’t get enough props. I think it’s a great record. I really tried to make each song sound different and killer in its own way. Dan Peters (drummer) is always dishing out the quality.

Young Fresh Fellows

It’s easy to work quickly with a band you’re in. You kind of already know what’s going to happen, you know how to set up since you’ve already seen what works and what doesn’t over the last decade or two. We had intended to record maybe four or five songs for Tiempo De Lujo. Somehow we’d crammed all four of us in the basement here; after the two days we’d recorded twelve band tracks – so an album it was! Toxic Youth as well. We’d gone over to Jim Sangster’s living room to learn a few songs before starting recording the next day, and once we got going, they just kept coming and coming. When inspiration strikes, keep the tape rolling!

Can you describe Conrad Uno's Egg Studios; the kind of size or situation you were dealing with? Was there like a famous recording board there you worked with?

Egg Studio, where I and others honed their chops, was a welcome alternative to the “normal” studios of the time. It was truly a basement studio, the performance room was smaller than an ordinary living room. Many bands’ rehearsal spaces were larger than this. But it really did have a relaxed feel to it, and loud bands could all set up in the room and play live and get a good sound. Mudhoney, Nashville Pussy, Supersnazz, Devil Dogs, Supersuckers, Zeke – it was home base for so many great albums.

Conrad Uno moved into the house in maybe 1987, I reckon we finished Fastbacks …And His Orchestra there; and by early 1988, we began Very Very Powerful Motor, then the Sub Pop 7” and Zücker sessions. It began as an 8-track studio. Conrad brought in the Spectrasonics console that was formerly at Stax/Volt studio – rumored to once be owned by Paul McCartney, under whose purview a varispeed knob was installed. The knob remains, it’s Paul’s Knob. The console is now at Crackle And Pop studio here in Seattle, and is working better than ever.

Before Mudhoney began their third album, Piece of Cake, their second at Egg, they bought a 16-track machine for the studio, and that was the classic setup for so many records there in the ‘90s.

1996

I personally would love to hear about making the classic Devil Dogs album, Saturday Night Fever (Crypt/Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1994). Whose idea was it to make it kind of like a party, with friends and fans whopping it up in the studio between songs?

It was their idea from the beginning to make it a party album, “You have been invited… to a party!” Another band that didn’t need any fancy fussing about, they already sounded like a house on fire. Just tried to record them and not get in the way, make sure that the playback sounded like it did in the room with them.

Definitely the last night of the session, they invited all their Seattle friends over for a party, and we played the songs from the album through twice, if I remember, and just had a mic in the room while they were going. All the bottles clinking and all the blabbering was totally what happened. There was so little time to get everything done while we were there. They had booked two gigs on recording days – one out of town in Bellingham! Basically it was like wrangling the Three Stooges to record and mix a full album and an EP in like five days. Let’s just say that the morning hours were not particularly productive. But fortunately, when they were on, they were unstoppable. And so fuckin’ funny! What a fucking great record!

Oh yeah, definitely the most hilarious band to tour with too! We did a month with them once in Europe, traveling in the same packed little van. And even the bad hungover mornings in the van drives would lead to so much cracking up. Singer Andy G. sometimes stood up and imitated Tom Jones live. Anyway, can you recall who all was in the “crowd” on that record?

Honestly, I don’t! The studio was in a neighborhood, so all sessions had to be finished by 10pm. I loved the idea of recording a loud listening party and then mixing that in with the album, but it was so precarious to cram a bunch of drunks in the tiny studio and try to not let any gear get ruined, while still egging on loud misbehavior. Then getting all the cats out of there by 10 and not annoying Conrad or his neighbors in the process.

You must have some fun Andy G. stories too.

All three of those guys had their moments! Andy, Steve, Mighty Joe. Someone should’ve given them their own TV series. It might not have lasted very long, but what a show it would’ve been. I’ve never seen a group rile each other up the way they did. Should’ve had a room mic going constantly while they tried to make a group decision. There was way more work than we had time for. Somehow we got it all done, but just barely.

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Crypt Records, 1993

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And here’s where I decided to check in with Devil Dogs drummer, Mighty Joe Vincent, to get some more details on their Bloch party: "So, in the friends crowd [on the Saturday Night Fever album] was Eddie and Dan Bolton from the Supersuckers, James Burdyshaw and the rest of the Sinister Six, and a bunch of really cool women whose names have escaped my memory banks.

We def recorded on the Stax board. I remember because we had hopes that there was some soul residue left in the cables that might coat our tracks.

We totally loved Kurt. What’s not to love? I do remember that it was a Crypt budget recording so we had to make every minute count, so we were mixing until we were all so tired we were delirious. I’m pretty sure we went ‘til 2a.m. or something like that, but that was mixing. We did that in the middle of a tour, so we did about two weeks of gigs from NYC across this great nation of ours as well as that other great nation to our north, then out to Seattle. While we were doing it , we had a gig up in Bellingham, so we took a day off to drive up there.

I remember Scott Mccaughy was working there at Egg. I was talking to him one day and he told me his days of playing out on the road were over as his wife just had a kid and he had to be a good dad and provide a steady paycheck. I really felt bad for him. And then of course, a short time after that, Pete Buck asked him to come on the road with R.E.M. and said he would pay him a million dollars. Like an actual million dollars. That always made me happy to hear."

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And now, back to Kurt Bloch!

Who were bands you liked to tour with? And/or, a classic Fastbacks tour story?

We had some great west coast tours with DOA in the early-to-mid ’80s, they were definitely an early inspiration to go head-on and charge through best you can. They certainly blazed a trail for the rest of us to follow, doing everything themselves, like Black Flag did from Southern California. The ’80s were a rocky road for the Fastbacks. We played a lot of shows in Vancouver, BC, as well as Seattle, but it was a lot of problems and fighting, ha, and it wasn’t until the ’90s that we actually went out for any length of time – certainly getting into occasional serious trouble with The Meices, Motocaster, Gaunt, and even the New Bomb Turks!

Pearl Jam asked you to do some stadium shows in 1995, arguably the peak grunge year. How did you relate to the whole fame/stadium situation surrounding those shows?

It was January ’95, Pearl Jam asked us to play a radio show from their rehearsal space. I kinda didn’t know what they were talking about, and maybe sort of blew it off. I was trying to finish a Sicko record that night, couldn’t be bothered. I did like their Vitalogy record, “Not For You,” “Spin The Black Circle.” The rest of the Fastbacks were all, “C’mon, we’re doing this!” And I grudgingly told Sicko I was going to have to leave early. I didn’t even bring a guitar, I knew that Stone had a cool ‘50s Gold Top, maybe I could use that.

Then of course we get there and it’s really fun, just a big party scene, tons of buddies and band cats. We played three songs on the Pearl Jam gear setup, maybe Kim talked on the radio, drank some beers, great time! That was cool enough, but then they asked us to open a few shows at the end of the year, Salt Lake City and San Jose I think, and we’re all like, “Hell yeah!” And everything went well, then, “Would you want to go do a U.S. tour, oh and maybe a Europe tour following that…?” And we were all, “Hellz yeah!” And that all went great, clearly we would be the next big thing, the world is gonna love us, nothing holding us back now! We had a great record out, New Mansions In Sound (Sub Pop, 1996). Man, that was it – lots and lots of fun, great shows. We invented an auxiliary opening band for some of the shows, The What. We played Who tunes with Eddie Vedder incognito with a wrestling mask. We drag Mike McCready out for jams, Stone Gossard to sing one of his PJ songs, Eddie did “Leaving Here” with us a couple times, just great rock times in the giant venues. Somehow it didn’t lead to us being the Next Big Thing, but it was fun to pretend for a few months.

1994

Any good backstage shenanigans stories?

There weren’t a whole lot of super shenanigans. They had an espresso machine onstage every night, so we’d all slug down coffees, blast through our tunes, and then get drunk and watch Pearl Jam. Sometimes we would annoy their wonderful crew by being loud and boisterous aside of the stage, spilling bottles of wine or whatnot, but not much more than that. Everyone got along really well, and it was well-protected against after show bullies or negativity. We’d just keep on our course, often ‘til the huge sports arena closed down and they’d kick us out after everything had been loaded out – and we’d still be back there cranking tunes and running around.

It was totally like an arena-sized version of a living room party most every night. Their crew moved all the gear, we barely had to do anything except play every night.

I know you knew some of their members from earlier in the scene, but did you know Eddie Vedder before he got asked to join Pearl Jam?

I might not have met Eddie until the live radio show we did? He came up from San Diego. Didn’t know him before then at all, but we were fast friends. We would spend hours talking about the Who and riding around on the catering carts and smashing into the walls of the arenas. Come to think of it, we were probably very annoying. But no one, like, smashed up their hotel rooms or anything. It was probably comparatively tame.

Might sound weird, but while playing in the Seattle scene -- which is generally described as kind of serious, or dark, or junkies, or you know, “grungy” – did you and the Fastbacks feel kind of out-of-place; or are those kind of definitions of grunge and that town/time not correct?

The Seattle “thing” certainly was a dark, serious sound. That isn’t to say that every musician was dark and serious, but that darkness prevailed. To say The Fastbacks felt a little out of place at that point would be correct; but I always thought we were here first. It’s not like we didn’t dig lots of the bands, but it also wasn’t like we would try to take them on at their own game. It just wouldn’t’ve happened. We did do a version of “Swallow My Pride” – Green River’s, not The Ramones – on Sub Pop 200 [compilation], after a Soundgarden version too; but it ended up being menacing only in a Blue Öyster Cult sort of way, rather than ala either previous version. Slow and heavy just wasn’t in our DNA.

Columbus, OH, 1993 (Courtesy of Bela Koe-Krompecher)

I remember when Fastbacks stayed with New Bomb Turks while on tour in 1993, you guys, well I think specifically Lulu, made an amazing Thai meal for us. Did you always cook for bands you crashed with, or just for us ‘cuz we’re so awesome and nice?

Ha. I think the wonderful cooking was a bit of a rarity. We weren’t much of a crash on people’s floor kind of band by the ’90s, but sometimes it was great to have a day off and some good ideas! Remember that Metallica VHS box set had just come out, and we watched it ‘til the end because Lulu and I both worked on the film crew for the shows they filmed in Seattle, and we wanted to see if we, several years after the actual shows, got any credits at the end… and sure enough we did. Reason to celebrate!

Columbus seemed to love you. What were some other fave towns you played?

Always a great time in Columbus. Not necessarily Cleveland though. We weren’t the hard-touring road warriors that a lot of the other (more successful) bands were. It was whatever city we had friends in that were the best. Vancouver BC, San Francisco, L.A., NYC, maybe Albany, Columbus, Istanbul…

Contract and ticket for 1993 Columbus, OH show. (Courtesy of Bela Koe-Krompecher)

Highly technical and professional stage diagram implorations, Columbus, OH, 1993 show (Courtesy of Bela Koe-Krompecher)

I could be wrong, but you didn’t go over to Europe a lot, did you? Were you able to procure any production work from Euro bands you met whilst on tour there?

Oddly, not a lot of Euro tours… Seems like we should’ve done more, but there was always something. Young Fresh Fellows did some great trips, especially in Spain. Fastbacks Spanish tour was a bit of a dog’s breakfast. Not because of the people in Spain, no sir. We certainly lit it up in Japan once, though!

I did a couple albums for Les Thugs, the French band. One of them in Seattle and one in Angers. May have been bookended with some music travel. It’s amazing to look back at the old calendars and see that between tours with the Fastbacks and Young Fresh Fellows, recording with those two bands and recording other bands. Man, there were times when there was nary a day off, those ‘90s months were packed! Gotta consider myself pretty lucky. And so many killer records I got to be part of.

As a producer, do you feel you are mainly bringing an “ear” to finding the sounds the band wants, or do you try to gently impose a certain style and sensibility over the whole production?

Always try to keep the kickass factor high. I would never try to impose anything other than to try to keep everyone happy so they could do their best work, and not do the same bit over and over and over. Work hard and play hard, but not to overanalyze every little thing. Not under-analyze either, but if it’s killer, it doesn’t matter if everything “lines up” perfectly, or if the choruses speed up a little bit. Try to capture what is great about a band live in concert, and not dilute that if you can help it. Don’t add a bunch of crap just to put your mark on a project.

It's interesting how you professed a love for prog, but you had an innate sense of not always overdubbing too much – note your comment about loving bands that only had one guitar, etc.

The true exciting prog bands started coming out around 1968 and ’69, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator; Pink Floyd and Moody Blues had already been around but maybe weren’t quite included. Recording technique at the time was still fairly straightforward for the most part, there was of course room for overdubbing on an eight-track machine, but most of the first-wave prog bands’ recordings were not overloaded with overdubs. The magic was what they did with their four or five musicians, the arrangements you hear on the record were the same instrumentation as they played live. Some of the songs would have been concocted in a studio, but it wasn’t until later that walls of overdubs became commonplace.

That’s where the greatness of the original bands lies – cool vocal arranging and melding several songs’ worth of ideas into one track. Not a lot of room for squirminess either, it wasn’t so easy punching in on a giant eight-track tape machine in 1968. You made one mistake on that verse? You do the whole thing again!

Okay, gotta ask, with as much exposition as you’d like – what was your favorite recording session(s); and worst recording session(s)?

Pretty much always subverted the disasters. A time or two I told a band, after seeing a live show, that they weren’t quite ready to record yet; play a few more shows and practice a lot, record your practices and actually listen to them constructively. Studio time is expensive, practice time is (or at least was) cheap. You don’t have to have every bit of every song nailed down exactly, but do have most everything pretty well figured out, and be ready for criticism during the recording. If the rhythm isn’t working, be prepared to fine-tune your part so it is; if your harmony vocal is a half-step off, go ahead and adjust!

Some of the great sessions are those where I feel that I learned things, a new piece of gear, a new way of looking at things. Overwhelming Colorfast, Supersuckers, Les Thugs in France, The Meices in Florida… Or the records that just slammed out of nowhere. Devil Dogs, Flop, Supersnazz, Nashville Pussy. So many first albums by bands where they have been playing the songs at shows for a year or two, the tempos are up, the blood is pumping, get rid of the headphones and make it like you’re playing a gig. Play the song three times without stopping. Play three different songs in a row without stopping.

1999 (Courtesy of your's truly)

You’re still actively producing. What have you worked on recently you’d like to highlight? And what’s coming up?

There’s always some great Seattle band records going on – Bürien, 38 Coffin, Once For Kicks, Insect Man, The Drolls, Zack Static. These days, some records take a while to finish, I suppose it’s the nature of the business now. Trying now to clean the slate and get these out the door before starting new ones!

And there’s maybe a new Fastbacks coming, no?

There was no plan of any sort. We were having lunch as we sometimes do, and started talking about a couple songs it would be fun to learn and maybe record. Our pal Joe “Meice” Reineke had recently finished an ambitious and fantastic recording building in his back yard; wouldn’t it be fun to check that out….? Well let’s call him and see what his schedule is. Oh! he’s got a day open, whaddayasay, let’s take it. Well there’s a few other songs we could learn, let’s make it two days… I guess we’d better practice… What if we did enough songs for an album? Maybe we did! Got some band tracks, everyone played their butts off! Now we gotta make more magic. No target completion date nor avenue to release, but everyone is excited to finish it!

------------------------------------

Post Script: This article sprung from an editor at a national mag asking if I wanted to do a story on Kurt Bloch, which of course I said yes to cuz Kurt's a great guy and I've been a Fastbacks fan for a goodly spell. But some months passed and plans changed, and so here it is! Also, I would've put more videos in this piece because the Fastbacks have a ton of great songs, but I guess I just learned there is a 10-video limit for a tumblr post. Who knew?

All images courtesy of Kurt Bloch, except where noted.

#punk #fastbacks #Seattle rock #seattle scene #grunge #1990s punk #1990s rock #1990s #sub pop #nirvana #soundgarden #Kurt Bloch #garage punk #devil dogs #Mighty Joe Vincent #crypt records #Seattle punk #Conrad Uno #Egg Studio #mudhoney #nashville pussy #Presidents of the United States of America #robyn hitchcock #guns n roses #new bomb turks #gaunt #columbus ohio #Youtube

[sqwdkllr]

dude your art is so amazing..i fucking love how you do anatomy, and linework, its just so perfect and also your qsmp designs??!? so fucking cool. your deathduo especially is so so dear to me<3 and your bluebird au(/aus?) amd your bluebird art in general its just so <33333…and your qsmp entities like cucu and eye creature and especially baribel, MAN those are singlehandedly my favorite qnpc designs theyre so great like. how the eye guy just has Teeth that come out of his head wherever?? and all your little headcanons about the bears??? THEYRE SO COOL MAN. and your philza with the patches on his pants n the baby zombie scar on his leg (also whats the scar on his nose from?)(also also i love your phils hair, like the short with the little braid its so neat:DD), and pommes hijab braids, and the zippers on th back of cucu and ositos heads (i have yet to figure out what those are for but ehatever theyre cool anyway) n just like. the thought and detail that goes into them, im rambling but aa<333 theyre all amazing:) OU AND YOUR COMICS,, i love love love how you structure n format them because theyre so dynamic and interesting while still being super readable and the ART IVE SAID IT ALREADY BUT I NEED TO SAY IT AGAIN I LOVE YOUR STYLE SO MUCH. its just so nice. like how you use general shapes and like i dont know how to explain it but its cool:)) your art lives in this little spot in my brain rent free…made me subconsciously kind of incorporated stuff you do into my own art process like sketching shit in blue LOL

anyway sorry for the wall of text i just needed to rant a tiny bit because youre one of my fsvorite artists n you inspire me so much ssob,,anyway have a good day mate

This ask makes my heart explode oh my goddd. I'm so happy you enjoy the stuff I put out augghh that so sweet THIS ENTIRE MESSAGE IS SO SWEET WTF. I hope you are ready for a ramble about hc/theory/design choices. Seriously its long-

I have so many head canons I like showing. Some lean towards theory territory and others I legitimately do not believe in myself BUT I like drawing it out because WHY NOT !!?? I like the whimsy of it all

THE BLUEBIRD AU is purely me having fun. Its such an angst filled au that is coated with a mask of nuclear family and hurt/comfort. In reality its like being hit with a sauce pan repeatedly. I'm more of a scientist Jaiden believer personally. DON’T GET ME STARTED ON DEATHDUO- Man I want to go back to drawing self-indulgent stuff for that. Fuck this ask is making my brain engine go insane AUGHH-

Like stuff about Osito just being a huge flirt because of their exposure to Roier from the beginning or Baribal being a pot head, yeah those sort of head cannons I'm sure people are dying to hear from me (sarcasm). Or more serious ones like the relationship, more like lack of, between Cucurucho and Baribal being one of miscommunication that snowballed into hate but never enough to kill each other. Literally the trope of "twins separated where one is raised within evil and other is forced to take them down" but it's very dark grey from both sides. YESSIR

Or other theory territory like federation not knowing that Cucurucho and Osito are not the same person because it’s a secret- BUT THAT’S VERY FANON/THEORY TERRITORY AND TOO CONVOLUTED FOR HERE-

Oh and of course more tame head cannons like sexualities and stuff. Cucurucho is aromantic to me. All of them are transgender. The entire fed staff. Fuck even the purgatory island goobers. No real concept of what gender is and sort of adopted what the islanders do or what the federation refers to them as. It's just not a thing, same with labels on sexuality. If you like someone then you just like them and that’s how it rolls !!

THE WATCHER. MAN DO I HAVE THOUGHTS ON THIS GUY. Like actual constant threat and you are left scrambling trying to figure out the rules of not pushing the wrong buttons so you stay alive. I know his concept art had like him as a human at some point, but I like fungus goop watcher more. Little goober who just so happen to survive the longest, learn the most, and as a result evolve to what he is now. Eventually became strong enough to overthrow the previous leader (and consume them-) and is now king of the purgatory island in privacy. Until the new islanders were sent there ofc. So yeah, bro is very old, its why Cucurucho has no clue who this dude is when he does get to put a face to the name.

PHILZA. This guy is the kinda guy to put survival above all. So I like to imagine that not only would he be covered in scars because he tanks most of the hits and is generally a very selfless person- SOME SCARS HAVE A REASON ! The zombie scar being one of course, semi infected bc I like to think that he did not die in his hc world but rather came close to it. And his buildings is what caught the attention of the goddess of death and allowed for her to give him immortality and be her eyes in the mortal realm as her angel of death. So the poison is still in his foot, just unmoving. Stuck in time just like his body unable to age. As for the scar on his cheek? Nightmare Stalker grabbing him by the face and throwing him in the ocean the second time he tried to get up to save Tallulah. The only evidence left of that night happening. YES SHORT HAIR PHILZA AND POMME WITH A HIJAB YESSS

The zippers are supposed to show that their "head" is not actually what they look like. It’s a helmet/mask. I don't draw their real faces out of fear of making them look too "human" but rather I enjoy the implication that they COULD LOOK LIKE any other islander. Isn’t the thought that this horrible twisted shell of a being could look just as human as you so much more eerie? I dunno I was watching horror analysis videos of the unknown while building the fanon side of them- Now why their masks can emote?,,, its cartoon logic !! And it's cute I have so many thoughts on these guys can you tell? OH MY GODD THANK YOU THO. Augh this is the sweetest message ive ever read pls.im so so very glad these little guys can make you happy. That’s such an honor fr !!

#posts that have a high change of me rbing or linking this later with art #i talk a lot and you all will suffer with it #ask #anon #anon you have no clue how much of a motivation boost this was #I NEED.... A PEN.. NOWWW...

[demonichikikomori]

Opinions on our sunshine boy kalim?

Kalim has a special spot in my heart after I finished book 4. I view him very differently than how I did before I truly ‘met’ him.

I feel like people who are like ‘I don’t like Kalim’ just hate joy magic and fun. They do not enjoy childlike wonder and whimsy. Hater behavior. KALIM IS STUPID!!!! BUT THAT MF KNOWS HOW TO HAVE A GOOD TIME!!!!!!! And that’s okay. Firstly, I have loved Kalim’s design since 2020 when I discovered the game for the first time during quarantine. I knew nothing about him other than he was the sultan and I actually thought Kalim was going to be more… Almost devious?? But when I found out he was just a goofball everything had changed.

Kalim is a big sweetheart and I honestly???? I’m gonna say it. And everyone can hate me if they want; It is not Kalim’s fault for what happened with Jamil. Blaming Kalim for Jamil being raised to be Kalim’s best friend is outrageous. Because that tells me some of you people have not experienced abusive households. You cannot blame me Kalim who was kept in the dark and was raised with ignorant bliss. Jamil has placed all his anger on someone who didn’t even know he was hurting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ready to fuck Jamil. But him hating Kalim and not his parents is misplaced anger. That’s like me hating my younger sister because my mom said ‘don’t ever outperform her or I’ll kick your ass.’ You see??

Another thing…

WHY DOES NO ONE THINK KALIM GETS HORNY?!?!!!!!! I see a lot of the fandom doing fluff and sweet things with Kalim and that’s so wonderful but I feel like they forget that Kalim has like over 30+ siblings I think?? His dad has a harem I’m sure. Which means Kalim will most likely have a harem… Well, let me not say ‘harem’ but Kalim won’t be monogamous because of culture. Right?? So if Kalim takes after his father?????? I promise you he’s down to fuck and I refuse to pretend he’s not. I think Kalim is in a perpetual state of ‘wow I can’t wait to make babies’ when he looks at MC. Male or female, fertile or not, SOMEONE will be pregnant in his mind. Everyone needs to open their eyes and understand Kalim has been raised with the knowledge that one day he will be in his dads shoes and he will get plenty of bitches to keep his bloodline strong. He’s not here to just make you smile; he is going to crack you open like a fucking lobster tail and that’s on everything I believe in.

#ask the devil #kalim al asim propaganda

[raymurata]

perhaps the most impossible ask: reasons why oak is problematic

See, I was just talking to @skullhaver and @ghosty-ana about that.

And here's the thing, Oak falls in love in 3 days, man. Next question.

Lol. XD but like, I'm not joking, they're ready to peel tangerines for Gal, and they've known each other for a month and flirted for literally 3 days. This fucking idiot has no chill, they're gonna u-haul Gal within six months of this relationship, if Gal lets them. 😂 They have so much love to give they might suffocate Gal with it. They'll try not to. XD A complete fool, a clingy buffoon, um tolo romântico.

And they don't let anyone sleep because they're such a blabbermouth. Problematic for the Moonlighters and Galsariad in particular. Also, they cry at the drop of a hat. They cry over everything and then some.

Class consciousness overkill? Too woke for their time, anachronistic; bad indigenous rep bc they have taken on the colonizer religion and also technology and magic. Also I didn't research the patterns on their clothes enough or choose any one culture to base myself on, I just made my own fantasy culture adding onto CR lore ( adding more nuance to CR lore).

And as Liv pointed out, they have an extremely badly calibrated love and friendship care bear beam xD The little guy (gender neutral) just spills out people's shit in the gentlest yet most brutal ways possible, and then just look cute and like, no one ever gets mad at them. They do think that being adorable and whimsy will get them far -- they know very well how to be serious and gloom, but you catch more flies with honey. Please protect me I am small. Also, can you give me a hug? -puppy eyes- Little shit knows exactly how irresistibly sweet they are.

Also, they fit the "child-like, innocent, uwu asexual character" trope. And not only that, an ace character whose backstory touches heavily on the matter of sex. I'm pretty sure a lot of people would come for my neck (others would relate, I hope. I try my best to handle this with utmost care and proper narrative weight, like everything else in Tarlyn's story), so like, yeah, oof.

Problematic little guy would get canceled or infantilized by the fandom.

Finally, they smoke tobacco. Like, everyone has to have an irredeemable flaw, amirite?

#Tzan'oak zahar #i love roasting my characters #oc asks #problematic oak #to defend them just a little bit they also have the emotional weight of three years of relationship with gal #suddenly fresh in their heart #and more years of being colleagues #so it's not just one month lol

[madaranuii]

YEAH I'VE SEEN ALOT OF PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE NEW CHARACTERS😭😭 enstarries dont know how to experience whimsical fun..!!! (/j) BUTTT tbh im like . in the middleee i think? like im VERYY excited for the new unit but also as a yuzuruP.....,.,.new unit before he gets any big character development ooooouuu yuzuru get UP!!!! . still very excited tho >__< they look very fun !!!.! ALSO .HIMBO !.!!! I NEED NEEEEED ONEOF THEM TO BE A HIMBO OMG (guy whos insane about any and all idiots)

I RLLYLIKE THE LONG HAIRED ONE TOO their my second fav i think . i think...my prediction for the one onthe left . i want them to be alittle bit of a brat i cant explain why . like a cute chr with a >:3 face whos ready to complain about everything LMAOOO . i don't have any predictions for the long haired ones personality yet but im sure i'll love them no matter howthey act (≧▽≦)

i am also apart of himbo loser nice guy wanters ... hes already got the loser part down now go through with it and make him a silly old man too I YEARN FOR HIM TO BE JUST A LITTLE GOOFBALL . like when parents make a joke that they clearly dont fully get cuz its not from their own generation like if hes not like that whatsthe point

ALSOYAYY even more excited for miss calis dead dove..!!!.! i've already got mr nice in my grasp cant wait for the new unit for more ^__^

doll :3c

GIVE SOME ENSTARRIES JOY AND WHIMSY ON A PLATTER AND THEY WILL BE LIKE. NAH I DONT WANT IT .....(⁠˘⁠･⁠_⁠･⁠˘⁠)</3 MORE FOR US!!!!!! (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

OHMYGOD YUZURUP..... YOUR TASTE DOLL!!!???? WAAAAH PICKS YOU UP AND SHAKES YOU AFFECTIONATELY!!!!!!!!! BUT WAAAAGHHDHFD ｡⁠:ﾟ⁠(⁠;⁠´⁠∩⁠`⁠;⁠)ﾟ⁠:⁠｡ I can definitely understand not wanting the new charas in that regard!!! I think (I might be wrong I only like took a lil itty bitty glance at the new stories) but I think they're going more into character lore now so!???? YUZURU DEVELOPMENT WILL BE REAL SOONI BELIEVE IN IT!!!!! IM MANIFESTING IT FOR YOU!!!

ABD YESSSSS YOU GET IT!!! I LOVEEEE IDIOTIC PRETTY GUYS HEHEHE.... ♡♡

HAPPYELE!!!!! PLEASE GIVE US MORE DUMBASSES TO POINT AND LAUGH AT AFFECTIONATELY I AM STARING AT THEM LIKE THAT BOBA EYED HAMSTER

OHMYHOF we were thinking the same thing for the left chara!!! They just give off bratty vibes in the silhouette.... Rubs hands together.. man I'm going to make some yummy ass brat taming bots about them HEHEHEGS I feel like they'll be REALLY nitpicky idk why and probably affectionately (or not....) have one chara they take their brattiness out on WEEHEHEHE

With long haired guy I'm on my hands and knees PRAYING pretty guy no brains but he's having the time of his life.......... or even just that he has that fuckass hair strand going over his nose all my faves have HEHDHSHD

YESSS FUCK YEAH!!!!! FELLOW NICE YEARNER HEHESG I love him so much already I love this looser dumbass dilf,I would peg him♡♡ i will loose my mind if he canonically cracks dad jokes like WEEHEHEHE he seems like the type of guy to be like "Where my hug at? ☺️" Then proceeds to accidentally activate the sprinklers and still smiles as his suit gets progressively soggier and soggier..... Very oddly specific but HEHSGS

YESS!!!! MORE DEAD DOVE IS DEFINITELY HAPPENING!!! HEHEHDG I've been having a little break from cai to kinda regain my motivation with it and I'm like coming up with so many ideas !!! And the moment the new guys drop it's going to be CalicOver for everyone >:3c HEHEHEGEH

#₊ ⊹ calico.mailbox .ᐟ #.* 𖦹 doll anon !!

[neixins]

yona of the dawn ofc :3

help i typed up whole paragraphs and then my browser crashed and none of it got saved 😭 i won’t be stopped though!

My rating (1-10): if it ends the way i think (hope) it will 10/10 no notes perfect historical fantasy shoujo series <3 if it doesn’t i hope we all explode

My favourite character: predictable answer but yona really is THEE protagonist of all time. she’s such a vibrant character even before she begins her journey and seeing her grow throughout the series is just so !!!! she cares so much and is ready to do anything to protect everyone and she’s clever and kind of insane but also silly and i love her so much!! also honorable mention to my special little guy gija <3 i adore his relentless optimism and how No Rational Thoughts Only Emotions And Actions he is 99% of the time. also he’s just so relatable To Me when he’s in poor little guy mode. i adore the entire hhb though, and so so so many of the side characters. they’re all just so well-written, it’s impossible not to love them

My least favourite character: probably chagol, mostly bc i keep seeing theories about how he’s not really dead and blah blah blah (in the famous words of kesha) and i’m sick of it. he’s a good villain and while i believe kusanagi could pull off his resurrection well if she so chose, as a meinyan fan, i LIKE that her abuser died so unceremoniously. let him rot, i say! even if he does get resurrected he’ll always be Just Some Gross Loser Guy to me

The character I think I'd be friends with: gija :) we’d get along so well on account of The Neuroses and The Only Child-isms

The character I think I won't hit off with: keishuk doesn’t seem like someone who’d appreciate my whimsy tbh

My favourite episode/scene: (don’t say gijaeha love potion shenanigans don’t say gijaeha love potion shenanigans) trying to pick One Scene in a 40+ volume series pains me so i’m gonna cheat and pick five (in no particular order) :3 (1) this scene from ch 163. all the hakyona scenes are so fucking good but this one’s just so so so sweet and i think about it all the time + it encapsulates so many elements of their relationship that i love, mainly how deeply they care about each other and help each other grow (where’s the post about austenian romance as a mechanism for self-actualization…), but also how goofy hak acts when he wants to cheer yona up

(2) yona getting the south kai envoys to admit to the shit they’ve been doing in kohka and then going “okie dokie now let’s get this meeting started shall we :)” she’s an icon and a legend <3 (3) gija in ch 252. absolutely devastating chapter and i need my guys back posthaste but OHHHH!!!!!!! i have so many thoughts about gija and monstrousness but i’m just gonna link to this post lest i go on too many tangents again…. (4) the hot springs chapter of course OF COURSE what kind of gijaeha enthusiast would i be if i didn’t bring that chapter up. it’s one of the most crucial chapters for the development of their relationship and it so perfectly captures how different yet similar they are + getting to see so much of jaeha’s thoughts on page really helps contextualize a lot of his actions in general (also i find his tendency to overanalyze and act on his assumptions instead of just. talking to the guy who’s been nothing if not remarkably earnest from day one lest he accidentally makes the situation worse to be both very endearing and very funny). (5) the “he’s stronger than i am” moment in ch 168. actually that whole battle scene Fucks Severely on so many levels but that!!!! line!!!!!! it makes me so crazy like. jaeha’s not just trying to stall for time, he genuinely thinks gija’s stronger than him (“from good morning to good night” bonus chapter) but like. looking at it purely physically they Are equals. but gija doesn’t hold back like jaeha does (ch 75, ch 170) and also it’s clear from the hot springs chapter that jaeha admires gija for not letting himself get shackled by his past (even though he’s Literally Being Haunted). also the moment right before that, when jaeha fucking. obliterates the bow of the soldier who tries to shoot gija (he’s doing SUCH a good job pretending that they’re enemies btw) is soooOOUGHHH like jaeha doesn’t get angry often but he’s FURIOUS in that moment and it’s so delicious (i think it’s the “let’s deliver him as a gift to lord kuelbo” part specifically that gets to him bc like gija can dodge one (1) arrow just fine without help but he risked the whole plan—) (getting vaudeville hooked off the stage) wait i lied :) (6) the blue forest mini arc is soooo good and so dear to me i HAVE to mention it!! it really showcases how caring sinha is + there’s also the lore drops about ghosts and the hakyona/gijaeha parallels, both of which make me wanna explode <3

Whose clothing style I like best: jaeha. the slutty little crop top wins by a landslide <3 i wish we got to see it more often (wistful sigh)

Times I watched it (and if I would again): once all the way through but i’ve reread parts of it many times for fic research and while theorizing. i definitely wanna reread it front to back though, all the parallels and foreshadowing make it so perfect for rereads

#there’s something wrong with me teehee <3 #thank u for giving me this wonderful opportunity to ramble 🥰 #asks #akayona

[cheolism]

for the ask game: 2,3,12,24,38 💌

i hope you're having a lovely day/night!!

-bintific

omg ty sm! <33 i hope you have a good day/night and that everything goes well for you :)

2. show us a picture of your handwriting?

unfortunately my handwriting is average lol. i write better when i know somseone is going to be reading my writing, but this is a page from my math notes:

3. 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored?

little women (greta gerwig vers)

howl's moving castle

knives out lol

12. what's some good advice you want to share?

this is particularly for college students, so it may not apply to some of you. BUT college is something a lot of people struggle through! anyways. if you're attending a class that is content-heavy, highly recommend reading through your textbook to take notes before/after class, not DURING the class when the instructor is teaching. a huge part of learning, for me, is listening. i can't take notes at the same time i listen and still listen effectively. devote your entire self to listening, don't let yourself be distracted by trying to rush and get all the notes down before the instructor moves on. if need be, get a page of paper out for class to jot down any key ideas the instructor goes over. also. if your class uses an online service (@pearson) that allows you to do an assignment over and over until you get 100%, do it. for my math class i don't move on from a question until i get it right. this isn't for memorization per say, but for the POINTS. i'm not a good test taker, and last semester having 100% on all of my homework from not moving on until each question is complete SAVED MY ASS. this means sometimes homework takes longer, but as someone who does horrible during tests it genuinely saved me.

24. what's one thing you're proud of yourself for?

turning out all right. i grew up in a shitty situation with both my parents being various degrees of absent. i won't talk about my home enviroment, but it's something i will never forgive my parents for. i was extremely anti-social and sensitive as a result of my home life, and my mental health was extremely damaging when i was in middle school and part of high school. that being said: i turned out all right. i'm okay. i'm a good person despite it. i struggle, still, but despite everything i am still alive and am good. :)

38. fave song at the moment?

OMG OKOK SO. magnetic by illit and bbb by purple kiss. one is about having a crush and despite being complete opposites, you're attracted. it's so whimsy sounding, the instrument sounds like its from a fucking video game, it's so low-fi and i love it! as soon as wonhee starts the intro i am keyed IN AND READY TO PERFORM. and bbb! bad bitch behavior! let's fucking GO okay so i'm a bad gg stan and haven't liked most of purki's titles. but bbb is amazing and they fucking own the chorus and i love it soo much.

QUESTIONS I THINK WOULD BE FUN TO BE ASKED

#— jupiter is talking #ask #game

[diamondcitydarlin]

talking about Jack again bc ofc how can you not, but there's something really freeing about having a villain again that is not only indisputably evil and morally bankrupt, but avidly delights in being awful, and even has an air of twisted whimsy to him, like it's almost a crime this guy didn't get a Ratigan-style musical number at any point in the film, I can almost hear it in my head lol

ymmv and i'm sure there are exceptions, but it felt like we entered this era for the past decade, 15 years or so where main villains had to be more complex than just 'mwahaha i love evil' and that often led into a more morally grey kind of situation that allowed for back and forth discourse about whether or not someone was really evil and blah blah blah and that's fine and all but....

I can't help but love this horrible pink-haired monster of a man that proudly proclaims his intention to shoot a puppy in the face and just "agree to disagree" that he doesn't deserve ALL the magic in the world and no one else gets any because obviously he does, IDIOT. Fucking love that for him and me lmao

That's not to say, as I've pointed out before, that he isn't without depth. Like, I kind of suspect he was lying about having a wealthy childhood considering his flashback of himself (which is decidedly a more reliable narrator than what Jack says happened) and maybe his acquisition of some kind of magic was the catalyst that propelled him into wealth and power and I think there's more to explore there. I think there's more to explore in his subtle shame at admitting he's only from a nursery rhyme and not a fairy tale proper. I think there's more to unpack in his description of 'little Jack' just being a loser baker's boy with no magic.

But at the same time none of it excuses or muddles anything he does as somehow justified, and that's great bc I'm really just ready for a villain that gets to be evil, to delight in his evil, to know he's evil and selfish and either not care or think it's a cool way to go or whatever like idk I missed that go off king!!!

#jack horner #'we cant manipulate mansplain malewife our way out of this one boys' - jack at some point probably #puss in boots the last wish