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chaoticrebels · 2 years ago

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My Muses

Canon

Steve Harrington {Stranger Things, Dead By Daylight}

Eddie Munson {Stranger Things}

Billy Hargrove {Stranger Things}

Ji-Woon Hak {Dead By Daylight}

Yoichi Asakawa {Dead By Daylight}

Leon S. Kennedy {Dead By Daylight, Resident Evil}

Loki {MCU}

Peter Quill/Starlord {MCU}

Peter Parker/Spiderman {The Amazing Spiderman / MCU}

Wednesday Addams {Wednesday, The Addams Family}

Peter Pan {Disney, Once Upon A Time}

Tinkerbell {Disney, Once Upon A Time}

Blue {Jurassic World}

Jim Hawkins {Disney, Once Upon A Time}

Ariel {Disney, Once Upon A Time}

Jack Frost {Rise Of The Guardians}

Kitty Song Covey {XO, Kitty! To All The Boys I Loved Before}

Dae Heon Kim {XO, Kitty!}

Min Ho {XO, Kitty!}

Nathan Drake {Uncharted}

Ellie {The Last Of Us}

Lara Croft {Tomb Raider}

Brian Kinney {Queer As Folk}

Luke Patterson {Julie & The Phantoms}

Reggie Peters {Julie & The Phantoms}

Alex Mercer {Julie & The Phantoms}

10K {Z Nation}

Original Character

Violet Blair Munson {Stranger Things}

Carter Harrington {Stranger Things}

Twyla Luna Nyx {Stranger Things}

Dakota Harrington {Stranger Things}

Kairi Sykes {Stranger Things, Dead By Daylight}

Caspian Hargrove {Stranger Things}

Roxxi Hargrove {Stranger Things}

Nikita Thorne {Stranger Things}

Styles McKenzie Corbyn {Stranger Things}

Kimo Jae {MCU}

Nyx Astraeus Moonshadow {MCU}

Storm Lokison {MCU}

Holden Stark {MCU}

Raine Wynter Barnes {MCU}

Luna Jessenia {Disney, Once Upon A Time}

Roxas Morningstar {Fandomless}

Ryker Kaiden Phoenix {Fandomless}

Ashley Jamie Moore {Fandomless}

Dimitri Nikolaevich Graves-Romanov {Fandomless}

Calista Lokelani Dreamtide {Fandomless}

Gavin Zane Rossi {Fandomless}

Myka Ditka {Fandomless}

Rory Novalie Graves {Fandomless}

Jakai Holden Alexus {Fandomless}

Sereia Acqua Celestial {Fandomless}

Laney Rayne Rivers {Fandomless}

Phoenix Akira Storm {Fandomless}

Kiani Jaidyn Parker {Fandomless}

Leilani Akela Parker {Fandomless}

Jasper Kyrie Parker {Fandomless}

Private

Jace Corbin Wells {The Flash, Stranger Things}

Parker Caspian Moore {The Flash}

Harrison ‘Harry’ Wells {The Flash}

Request

Mike Wheeler {Stranger Things}

Chrissy Cunningham {Stranger Things}

Barry Allen {The Flash}

Jack Sparrow {Pirates Of The Caribbean}

Daryl Dixon {The Walking Dead}

Paul ‘Jesus’ Rovia {The Walking Dead}

Test

Taylor Bourne {Fandomless}

Noah Sykes {Stranger Things}

Special Guest

Matteo Alister Drakos {Stranger Things}

Makena Taylor Monroe {Stranger Things}

Kataleya Rose Bynes {Stranger Things}

Jupiter Morgan Winters {Stranger Things}

Exclusive

Kas {Stranger Things}

Matthew Joshua Brooks {Fandomless}

Muses Now On SlytherinTragedy

Draco Malfoy {Harry Potter}

Regulus Black {Harry Potter}

Nyxia Kalea Atreides-Nightstar {Harry Potter}

Anastasia Rose Nott {Harry Potter}

Romeo Asher Ripley {Harry Potter}

Raena Lily Potter {Harry Potter}

Akira Skye Rayne {Harry Potter}

Galexia Cordelia Malfoy {Harry Potter}

Discord Muses

Jack Dawson {Titanic} - Canon

Wanda Maximoff {MCU} - Canon

Billy Kaplan {MCU} - Canon

Rio Vidal {MCU} - Canon

Tiger Lily {Disney, Once Upon A Time} - Canon

Scotty Valens {Cold Case} - Canon

Ransom Caiden Ryder-Perez {Fandomless} - OC

Luka Rian McKinsey {Fandomless} - OC

Andrew Noah Brooks {Fandomless} - OC

Zachary Demetrius Brooks {Fandomless} - OC

Ember Thorn Nightingale {Disney, Once Upon A Time} - OC

Amber Rose Nightingale {Disney, Once Upon A Time} - OC

Hermione Granger {Harry Potter} - Canon

Luna Lovegood {Harry Potter} - Canon

Cho Chang {Harry Potter} - Canon

Lucius Malfoy {Harry Potter} - Canon

Narcissa Malfoy {Harry Potter} - Canon

Severus Snape {Harry Potter} - Canon

Druella Black {Harry Potter} - Canon

Daneiris Lieke Black {Harry Potter}- OC

Ashlyn Rose Malfoy {Titanic + Harry Potter Crossover} - OC

Jaeden Andrew Malfoy {Titanic + Harry Potter Crossover} - OC

Kaeden Jack Malfoy {Titanic + Harry Potter Crossover} - OC

James Severus Potter-Malfoy {Harry Potter} - OC

Scorpius Remus Potter-Malfoy {Harry Potter} - OC

Lily Narcissa Potter-Malfoy {Harry Potter} - OC

Luna Aquila Burke {Harry Potter} - OC

Cedric Draco Burke {Harry Potter} - OC

Rhys Alexei Malfoy-Dawson {Titanic + Harry Potter Crossover} - OC

NPCS

Marz Winters

Luca Drakos

Niko Thorne

Keeley Evans

Jay Rathaway

CLICK THE MUSE’S NAME FOR THEIR BIOS. :)

#✪↬ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ѕωᴇᴇᴛʜᴇᴀʀᴛ↫✪ ✘Save✘

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frustrated-writer-skyeknight · 4 years ago

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The One with the Runaway Groom, Part 2

After Dimitri finished his Iced tea, Jack had the group moved back into his apartment especially since they were getting too much attention with a heavily sweating, nicely dressed companion. Plus, there was a call that needed to be made. Sooner, rather than later, before the cops would be called on Jack for abduction of an heir. Surely, Dimitri wasn't a child nor was it time enough yet to report a missing person.

But Jack also knew that his friend's parents didn't like him that much and wouldn't put it passed them to blow the situation out of proportion.

If that meant the others taking space of his apartment as if they lived there, for certain leaving him a lot to clean up after... Well, it wasn't like that wasn't already usually the case. At the very least, it forces him to clean his place often. And in the event his mom would drop by for an unexpected visit, the tidiness would prompt the idea: 'Hey yo, your son is doing fine and not living like a slob just because he separated from his ex-wife.' It helped that Jamie had moved out of his apartment and went to take up space in his older brother's guest room, something he couldn't do with Jack still living with Elsa originally since she used it as an workshop of sorts for any of her fashion design projects. So it wasn't like he was completely on his own in housekeeping, it had been rough going at first when Elsa first moved out and Jamie couldn't move in until he had finally paid off the lease in his previous, smaller unit.

"I’m fine, uncle Vlad. No, really. I know you haven't met him yet, but Jack's a good friend from college so don't worry about..."

Dimitri was using their phone. Because apparently, in his whim to run from the wedding, he forgot that he had given his Smartphone to hold to his best man and uncle, Vlad. Meanwhile Jack was refilling bowls with chips and pouring drinks for everyone, who were watching TV, Jamie was taking stock of ingredients that he could cook for he and Jack's dinner. After deciding on one, he closed the fridge and went to join the others at the center of the apartment.

"Ever notice that the most popular KDramas usually involve love triangles, petty jealousy, and cliché main guy heartthrobs? I could never understand the hype." Hiccup mused, taking a Dorito from the bowl Jack had set down. "Songs are awesome though, even though I don't know what they're singing about half the time."

Jack shrugged, pulling over an ottoman to sit on so he would still be near the chips. "I don't know, I only watched one so far. Because of my in-laws. Well, ex ones anyway. And Kingdom isn’t like that..."

"Yeah, but that one has the overused zombie infestation plot to make up for it."

"When will you guys just watch shows for their purpose?" Jamie raised a brow. scrolling through his phone and thinking of which film to watch instead. No one seemed too heavily invested in Start Up right now anyway.

Who even put it on then? Jamie supposed one of Elsa's friends or other, since this Netflix account was shared between her and Jack. Something they continued to share even after the divorce, as they didn't see the need to stop.

Astrid shrugged, "And what’s that?

"Entertainment."

"Well, when it’s actually doing its purpose I guess."

Jamie rolled his eyes, about to question why they weren't changing what was playing when he was cut off as Dimitri, from the Island counter, was starting to get particularly loud as he talked over the phone. "...I’ll feel much better if I wasn’t hearing dad cussing like a sailor in the background." He said in a bit of a huff, "You know what, just put him on and let’s get this over with…"

Jack took his own phone and paused Netflix, much to the ire of Jamie, so they could all turn to not-so-subtly eavesdrop on Dimitri, even Jim stares at the Russian after acquiring a muffin from the fridge.

"Yeah, it’s m─dad no─Well, if you stop cursing my existence long enough to let me explain─Is mom there? Cause she’d be rubbing soap on your mouth by now!" Dimitri spat at the phone angrily.

Jamie cringed, awkwardly getting up from the couch to head to his room. Jack and the others passed the Doritos around. As far as he was concerned, it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.

"─Me?! An ingrate?! I don't owe you anything; you're the damn parent, it was your job to provide those things! And you never even came to watch those Equestrian competitions I joined, and I only ever took up lessons on your demands; I never asked you to spend on those lessons!"

Jim didn't know what the argument was about, but he was definitely taking Dimitri's side. "Huh, dad troubles." he hummed as he walked back to the others, "A good enough reason for the Russian ran."

"In your case," Hiccup shrugged, "your dad ran though…"

That got him a glare from the part time Astronomy professor, "This muffin" Jim growled, holding the muffin towards his friend. "could be used as a lethal murder weapon, Haddock."

"In your hands? I don't doubt it, bud."

"Znayete chto, k chertu eto, ya prosto skazhu eto!"

Astrid, Hiccup, and Jim blinked in confusion. They turned towards Jack, who raised a brow in response. "I was his roommate," he said. "but I didn't learn his language. Turn up the subtitles or something."

"I’m gay, and always have been since forever. Even Anya knows!"

Jack raised his closed fist up, before a finger folded out, "Called it."

"He was your roommate at college." Hiccup pointed out leadingly, "Of course you called it."

The silver blond scowled at the brunette, "We weren't like that," he said. "More like he kept claiming he was bi, when I kept telling I already knew he was gay."

"Yeah well, tell mama I love her but screw you pops!" Dimitri huffed, putting the phone away to scream at it before bringing it back near his ear. "It’s my life, and I’m gonna live it the way I want…… Well, maybe I don’t need your roof to return to. I’ll just stay here…… Hey! he may be bottom feeder Jack to you, but he’s my friend bottom feeder Jack! And what the hell, his big ears don't even have anything to do with the possibility of him being a gold digger."

Hiccup and Astrid both snickered, as Jack looked unamused. "I guess we established I’m still bottom feeder Jack..."

"With big ears."

"I was pointedly not mentioning that."

Then, Dimitri continued with some tone of finality, his voice lowered as if sounding tired now, it somber up his audience. "It’s my decision now, dad… Well, maybe I don’t want to keep my inherita─" He cuts himself off quickly, his eyes widening. "No, no! I said maybe!" There was a click at the other end of the phone, and Dimitri's face fell. "Well, now I’m cut off." He places the phone back on the counter and slumps on a dining room chair. "Shostakovitch… I don’t know if the heatwave is just hitting now, or if I’m having a panic attack…"

At the phrase 'panic attack', Jack moved. The paper bags weren't where they usually were, and he remembered Jamie was the last one who went grocery shopping. He called for his brother, who returned outside to get the paper bag. The silver blond gave it to Dimitri, placing a hand behind the Russian's back as well to rub comforting circles against it, pretty much what they'd do for each other whenever one of them came back to their shared dorm room drunk after random frat parties they've been invited to.

Jack: Okay, just take calming breaths buddy. It's not the end of the world.

Dimitri: *breathing quickly, narrowing his eyes at Jack*

Jack: Okay, maybe it's a big deal but c'mon, don’t look at me like that. I mean, what were you expecting? Just… You know, think of less stressful thoughts. Think happy thoughts.

Dimitri: *inhales* I am *exhales* drawing a blank… Little help?

Jamie: 🎶Think of a wonderful thought. Any merry little thought…🎶

Jack: 😐

Dimitri: 😑

Jamie: 🎶 Think of Christmas, think of snow. Think of sleigh bells off you go!🎶

Dimitri: *throws off paper bag* Not like that.

Astrid: *shrugs* Made me happy. You should join the choir, Jamie.

#S.q.u.a.d.#F.r.i.e.n.d.s AU #Jack Frost #Hiccup Haddock #Jamie Bennett #Astrid Hofferson #Jim Hawkins #Dimitri Sudayev #JiMitri #JamiStrid #HiJack

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dustedmagazine · 4 years ago

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Michael Rosenstein 2020: Seeking Sojourn

What was I doing in 2010? What was I listening to? Honestly, without doing some digging, nothing springs immediately to mind. I’m guessing that ten years from now, thinking back on 2020, that won’t be the case. In mid-March, my wife and I took off on our annual winter/early spring sojourn to Provincetown, Cape Cod. When we headed out, the state of the world was tenuous. But over the course of four days, we split our time between idyllic, cold walks on the Outer Cape beaches and tracking the pandemic slide into lockdown and mayhem. We came back home to an entirely different world which has continued to spiral and swirl. This was a year where I spent far more time walking in a woods near my house, searching out a pair of barred owls and their four fledglings than I did listening to music. Focus for listening has waxed and waned and online video streams just haven’t resonated with me. But still, music has brought me some sense of solace over the course of the last year.

AMPLIFY 2020: quarantine

Without a doubt, most of my listening over the year was spent following the AMPLIFY 2020: quarantine festival. Organized by Jon Abbey, who runs the Erstwhile record label along with musicians Vanessa Rossetto and Matthew Revert, the online festival kicked off on March 20 and ran through September 20, presenting 240 newly-recorded pieces and 80 hours of music by musicians from across the globe. Most were solo contributions, with seven “blind overdubs” where two musicians with established working relationships chose track lengths in advance and submitted their recordings which were superimposed with some light mixing by Taku Unami. While the pieces are all available as free downloads on Bandcamp, that only reveals part of the story. Over the course of six months, the Facebook group grew to 3000 members, acting as a virtual gathering place for online conversations and musings with countless posts a day. Additionally, Abbey tirelessly posted an ongoing playlist which he dubbed “atmosphere” with cuts that ran the gamut from Albert Ayler to Funkadelic to Keith Hudson to Al Green with an extra-heavy helping of DJ Screw. Just tuning in to those choices and jumping on conversations was enough to save some days.

While anyone following the Erstwhile label caught some memorable submissions by expected participants, the organizers and some guest curators had more in mind than that and sub-threads developed early on. Yan Jun recruited fantastic submissions from little-known musicians from China while also contributing two pieces of his own. In addition to delivering three strong pieces, Revert brought in an Australian contingent. Rossetto delivered a festival highlight with her piece “perhaps at some time you have acted in a play, even if it was when you were a child” while also inviting a wide network of sound explorers constructing intimate sonic investigations. Abbey himself cast a wide net, probing for both established and little known musicians who had caught his attention over the years. (I’ve known Jon for a long time and was honored to be amongst those invited, contributing a piece assembled from field recordings from my Cape Cod trip.)

A number of musicians who hadn’t put out solo recordings in years, some who hadn’t had any recent releases at all, were lured back, with highlights by Greg Kelley, David Kirby, Joe Panzner, Annette Krebs and Sean Meehan. There was also a somber thread of homages to musicians who died over the last year, starting with a dedication of the entire festival to Australian percussionist Sean Baxter as well as a stirring tribute to bassist Simon H. Fell by Rhodri Davies, a dedication to Keith Tippett by Mark Wastell, and pieces commemorating Cor Fuhler by Dale Gorfinkel, Marcus Schmickler, Jim Denley, Nick Ashwood (recorded with Fuhler shortly before his death), Clare Cooper and Reinier van Houdt (whose six monthly missives delivered throughout the duration of the festival are all well worth spending time with.)

I find myself still catching up on the overwhelming array of contributions but here are a small sampling that caught my ear, though if I were to assemble this list a week from now, the choices would certainly be different.

Zhao Cong – “Homework”

homework by Zhao Cong

Yan Jun’s choice of musicians from China was uniformly superb and all are worth checking out. But Beijing-based Zhao Cong’s entry, in particular, has continued to hang with me. Her piece, constructed from two bass guitars and objects with its scrabbled detail of electronic hum, grit and glitch shot through with ringing bass strings popped out on first listen and continues to deliver.

Rie Nakajima – “carpet”

carpet by Rie Nakajima

Nakajima’s approach to sound-making, utilizing motors, mechanical devices and found objects proved the perfect tonic for pandemic listening. Her piece for AMPLIFY was recorded in her home in London “with all familiar objects I have been using at home.” The percussive piece is shot through with timbral depth, clattering along with a barely-contained momentum. Her release Karu Karu for Café Oto’s digital Takuroku lockdown series is also well worth checking out. And while I tended not to connect with online video over the course of the year, I found myself returning to Nakajima’s seven days bird songs which unfolded over the course of a week, multiple times.

Ivan Palacký – “Sanctuary”

Sanctuary by Ivan Palacký

Czech-based Ivan Palacký’s “Sanctuary” hit early on in the fest and remained a favorite. Palacký spent the first day of quarantine exploring his flat with an electromagnetic sensor, capturing the buzzes and tremors of everyday electronic devices. A few weeks later, he pulled out three knitting machines which he contact mic’d and used to improvise with the electromagnetic recordings. Palacký deftly interleaved percussive patter with wafts of static, grit and crackles, creaks and sputters and resonant thrums into an immersive piece.

Martin Kay – “Bath Time (2nd Edit)

Bath Time (2nd Edit) by Martin Kay

Through the festival, a thread developed of the pieces constructed as sonic response to the physical surroundings of isolation. Moniek Darge's gutting “Quarantine Child,” assembled from interior recordings and the desperate wail of a child, Mark Vernon's “The Dominion of Din,” woven together from field recordings from outside his Glasgow flat, cataloging exterior sounds that have annoyed him over the years and Kate Carr’s haunting “on every stair another stairway is set in negative” recorded using an old reel to reel tape and instrument recordings captured in her bathroom are three. Martin Kay’s four-part “Bath Time” delves in to that personal, interior realm, composed from recordings made in and around his bathroom during the routine that developed with his daughter’s nightly bath. The use of shifting focus, natural resonances of the room, the tub and underwater recordings transform the private, domestic activity into an increasingly abstracted aural study.

Distant Duos

The Distant Duos project that Mary Staubitz and Russ Waterhouse embarked on was also instigated by a sense of lost community. But here, the strategies employed were markedly different. The two are immersed in the DIY noise/improv New England community, spearheading shows in basements, bars, galleries and ad hoc venues and collaborating with musicians from New Haven to Portland, Maine, with all stops in between. They’ve also been instrumental in developing a network of like-minded musicians and bringing travelers through, some who have become frequent visitors. Unlike the duos in AMPLIFY, Staubitz and Waterhouse curated the 78 sessions, inviting pairs of musicians with a simple strategy. “Two remote artists record five minutes of sound while thinking about the other artist, unable to hear each other. The two tracks are combined into one.”

Released in sets of five on Bandcamp, the first on April 30 and the last on December 9, these bursts served as vital postcards. For those of us based in New England, these were both bittersweet reminders of the pre-COVID world we frequented and exultant celebrations. As someone who organized shows with the two and often played on the same bills, these really connected. (I was asked to participate, paired with Worcester-based Abdul Sherzai.) Some of the duos were longstanding partnerships (Greg Kelley and Vic Rawlings have been working together for over a decade). Some were pairings of musicians who knew each other but had likely never played together. Some participants were drawn from the deep field of regional musicians while others were recruited from across the US and Europe. With only five minutes at play, these served as sketches, vignettes or rough drafts. But keen curation and Waterhouse’s astute mixing and mastering made these hold together. Like AMPLIFY, these periodic missives kept me going through the last year.

Flip through any of the contributions and you’ll find plenty to encourage further listening. This batch, culled from the October 28th releases, provides a glimpse into the broad crew of musicians pulled in and the diverse strategies they came up with.

Adam Kohl and Mickey O’Hara

Adam Kohl and Mickey O'Hara by Distant Duos

Western Massachusetts-based Kohl (better known musically as Arkm Foam) and Worcester-based O’Hara have been performing together for a while now, and experiencing their mix of low-fi cassette manipulation and laptop generated deconstructed clatter and glitch inhabit a performance space is enthralling. This brief snapshot serves as a succinct snapshot of one of their sets.

J.P.A. Falzone and Hali Palombo

J.P.A. Falzone and Hali Palombo by Distant Duos

This mashup between J.P.A. Falzone (part of the ensemble Ordinary Affects) and composer and visual artist Hali Palombo comes across as quavering pulsations dialed in from some ethereal transmission. Listening feels like one is tuning in to an hours-long broadcast of hovering tones and fluttering waves which fuse together into shuddering oscillations.

Henry Birdsey and Mary Staubitz

Henry Birdsey and Mary Staubitz by Distant Duos

Birdsey has been developing his micro-tonal musings as part of the duo Tongue Depressor as well as his solo releases under his own name and as S.T.L.A. while Staubitz jumps from the solo sonic onslaughts of Donna Parker to a wide-ranging array of ongoing and one-off collaborations. Here field recordings of rippling water and electric pops and crackles mix with shuddering overtones of bowed metal for an engulfing sonic snapshot.

Lexie Mountain and Angela Sawyer

Lexie Mountain and Angela Sawyer by Distant Duos

Baltimore’s Lexie Mountain and Boston’s Angela Sawyer have known each other for years, so it’s no surprise that their distant connection of broken electronics and found objects clicks so well. Here, everyday detritus is elevated to a compact improvisation imbued with skittering percussive tumult, whirrs and clatter.

New Releases

When I did carve out time to listen, here’s a few that stuck with me through the year.

Toshiya Tsunoda & Taku Unami – Wovenland 2 (Erstwhile)

Wovenland 2 by Toshiya Tsunoda/Taku Unami

Working from basic field recordings, Tsunoda and Unami use the studio as an alchemical laboratory, delving into mixing and mastering tools to explore, process and transform environmental sound. In their hands, the digital artifacts of that process are as intrinsic to the results as the source material they have deconstructed. They sum it up succinctly. “Our goal is to focus on acoustic experiments. No more and no less.”

Here are some more that stuck with me in no particular order:

Rhodri Davies – Telyn Rawn (Amgen Records)

Judith Wegmann – Le Souffle Du Temps II - Reflexion (ezz-thetics)

Clara de Asís & Mara Winter – Repetition of the same dream (Another Timbre)

Takuji Naka/Tim Olive – Minouragatake (Notice Recordings)

Magnus Granberg – Come Down to Earth Where Sorrow Dwelleth –Revised version for sho, koto, prepared piano and electronics (Ftarri)

Tasting Menu – Mueller Tunnel (Full Spectrum Records)

Simon H. Fell & Mark Wastell – Virtual Company (Confront)

Xavier Charles & Bertrand Gauguet – Spectre (akousis)

Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, Seymour Wright, Jean-Luc Guionnet – Solos (Remote Resonator)

Archival Releases and Reissues

Reissues continued to pour out from record labels. Some applied studio wizardry to revive and restore previously issued material and others dug out material from the vaults that rightfully deserves to be heard. But with touring opportunities gone, the ability to collaborate in person evaporated and the monthly boon of Bandcamp Fridays, many artists also took the opportunity to dig in to their personal vaults.

Gentle Fire – Explorations (1970-1973) (Paradigm Discs)

Explorations (1970 - 1973) by Gentle Fire

This one just hit in December but quickly shot to the top of my listening pile. Working in London in the early 70s, this little-known quintet of electro-acoustic pioneers worked at the edges of composition and improvisation, putting out a single, now impossible-to-find, LP performing graphic scores of by John Cage, Earle Brown and Christian Wolff (which, in itself deserves a reissue.) If they hit listeners’ radar at all, it was due to the fact that Hugh Davies was part of the group. This 3-CD box of previously unissued material is comprised of one disc of works by Wolff, Stockhausen, Brown, Cage and Ichiyanagi, another of their own compositions and a final disc capturing an extended improvisation. Five decades later, this stuff is still essential listening.

Rhodri Davies – Archif Series (self-released)

Archif #13: BMIC 17/09/1997 by IST

Currently at number 28 and counting, Davies dug in to his archives and unearthed a passel of gems, documenting live performances and studio experiments from 1995 through 2000. From solos to various group sessions, this is all music well worth spending time with. Particularly welcome are two releases by IST (Davies, Mark Wastell, and Simon H. Fell) and one by Assumed Possibilities (Davies, Wastell, Chris Burn and Phil Durrant). One hopes there is more to be unearthed.

Cor Fuhler Conundrom label

SLEE by Cor Fuhler

The sudden passing of Cor Fuhler was a tough one in a tough year. Whether as a pianist, instrument inventor or ensemble leader, Fuhler was always bristling with ideas. As part of a group effort, the discography of his Conundrom label is now available on Bandcamp with proceeds going to his estate.

Here are some others of note in no particular order:

Albert Ayler reissue series (ezz-thetics)

Phillip Wachsmann – Writing In Water (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

Charles Mingus – @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (Sunnyside)

Voice Crack – Glasgow 20/11/1999 (scatter)

John Butcher – On Being Observed (Weight of Wax)

Derek Bailey and Mototeru Takagi – Live at FarOut, Atsugi 1987 (NoBusiness Records)

Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley – Birdland, Neuburg 2011 (Fundacja Słuchaj)

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heathered-beinn · 4 years ago

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BTS American Hustle Life Ep 2 musings

Recap of Ep 1; so BTS arrived in LA to learn about hip hop. They got about 1 days’ worth of sightseeing and fun before they were “kidnapped” late at night in the van while making a ‘stop off’ on the way back to the hotel. Some of them seemed genuinely scared and that was not okay. However, they are now in ‘hip hop school’ and have already met their teachers and special guest; Coolio.

Let’s see what Episode 2 brings…

Wow so V actually had to do the push ups. Give the lad his due I think his first set of push ups were impressive enough.

Straight into the tough talk. This feels a little over-dramatic; even for a tv show. I get what Coolio is saying though. Hip hop saved his life from prison and/or an early death and therefore it’s nothing to joke about. However, I do think he’s laying it on a bit thick for the camera.

LOL, called it. Coolio leaves the room after his tough talk and calmly has breakfast (?)

I do wonder if there are translators around behind the scenes and whether they can do their homework in Korean lol.

Their performance for Coolio was pretty impressive for off the cuff - although I’m curious as to what Coolio thinks of the dancing. BTS are great dancers but is that polished synchronisation to much for hip hop?

Coolio calling RM and V “Brain and Clown”? Bwahahahahaha, omg.

Okay, I choked over the murder stats for the Compton area. I googled it, they didn’t fake how dangerous it is. And they want BTS to go out into it on their own. Jeez, is that really necessary?! I want to say that they wouldn’t put the band in any real danger but… I actually really don’t know this band or their management well enough to be sure to what extent their safety weighs against profit.

Jeez, I feel like this should be some kind of meme. Boy scouts venture into da’ hood to give out cookies and lemonade.

The ‘sing to the neighbours’ challenge is quite cringy. I think I’m going to need to fast forward. *side note* there’s something about the way BTS act around women that reminds me strongly of the movie American Pie. It’s awkward and over-played and a bit ridiculous. Who would be who thought? My opinion: (and this is only based on how they act around women and NOT their personalities also this is really spur of the moment and no in-depth thought from me lol)

Jin = John (party dude - mostly vocal on his appreciation) Suga = Jessica (can’t put my finger on why but it just fits) RM = Sherminator (I really think he’s a nerd deep in side) J-Hope = Oz (the girlfriend kind of lad but not immune for stupidity with girls) Jimin = a very tame Stiffler (because he over-acts) V = Finch (like Suga I can’t explain it but to me it fits) Jungkook = A cross between Jim and Heather (clueless and a bit standoffish).

IMPORTANT NOTE

The reason I likened Jimin to Stiffler is simply because he is a bit extra… like over-compensating kind of extra. I really don’t think he’s had much experience with girlfriends or boyfriends. He does not have Stiffler’s obnoxious personality – I cannot stress that enough!!!

BACK TO THE SHOW

Phew that singing to the neighbour cringe-fest is over. Thank god. Let’s see how they did with their homework.

Lol, Jungkook, J-Hope and Jimin look like they are struggling a bit as their teacher is talking about a song they should sing. I don’t know whether the struggle is with the language barrier, or that they are not really interested in hip hop music or are a bit underwhelmed by the particular song choice. However, they still clearly want to work hard and try to do their best. This offers a moments’ insight into their work ethics and self-motivation. This is just my opinion but after watching Rookie King, China Job, and now American Hustle Life, I get the vibe that J-Hope’s motivation, at least at that time, came from a place of wanting attention and feeling competitive. Jimin’s motivation on the other hand seems to come from wanting to prove himself and also needing attention. There is a subtle difference between J-Hope’s want and Jimin’s need for attention – Jimin’s need is from perceived starvation while J-Hope’s want is more for validation.

Jungkook’s motivation seems to come from the need to please and to be seen to be a good. These are fairly strong motivations and I would be surprised if they don’t do well as a team.

So the winners of the sing to the neighbours activity get to have dinner with Coolio and the losers have to stay behind.

Aww, it’s nice seeing Jungkook having the confidence to sit next to Coolio in the car and actually converse. Atta boy.

Poor RM, V, Suga, and Jin. Not only do they have to stay behind but also do push ups and sit ups as punishment.

Jimin, Jungkook, and J-Hope are drinking sparkling water at the restaurant… Wait, of course, they are all underage for drinking in America. I forgot. I think it’s 21 there and Jungkook’s, what, 16???

OMG Jimin’s expression was so cute when he tasted the meat. Happy bean.

Hahaha, Suga and Jin were totally milking their mini win over V and RM. They definitely have a vindictive streak in them lol. OMG Suga “Go to the restroom for me” (!)

Jimin looks waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too awake for 7am.

Wait, did V just go to Tony’s bed?????????? Wow, the confidence, the daring lol.

“Wash your face, brush your teeth,” lol, the teachers are turning into parents!

I love V.

Lol at Jin going around feeding everyone a nutritious crisp (chip) breakfast.

Jimin doesn’t seem too enthusiastic today – kinda just sitting there, barely claps when the others do, doesn’t put his hand up to say he’s hungry. I wonder what’s up. Is he tired? Sick? Fed up? Fallen out with someone?

Shopping: *hides face* at RM and V in the underwear store. Lol, that silver hat makes V look like a glittery sperm. Aww at V charming the older ladies. But HEY! Don’t teach them to say “Jimin is dumb” in Korean! Poor Jimin. Lol V, I’m disappointed young man.

Ah, RM breaking things again.

What on earth is J-Hope talking about in the car lol. Drums? Glasses? What?

LMAO at Jin and Suga in the other car. Oh my god Jin Jin: We need to do Fire Show. Teacher (frown): Like fireworks? Jin: Like cook. … Teacher (mildly impressed): You know how to do that? Jin (nonchalant): No Teacher (excuse me, what?): It’s your first time? Jin: Yeah Teacher (wide eyed and alarmed): You’re going to burn down… Jin and Suga: Don’t worry, you trust me. Teacher (hand to head in mild panic): ooooooooh

So the cooking part… yeah. I think I my brain might have gone offline when Jimin walked in with Tony dressed like…. Well okay, I may have had to fast forward through most of that cooking skit.

So to the results of the cooking challenge…

Jeez, Coolio, harsh much? Poor V, labelled a disadvantage before nearly having his spine ejected out his mouth by the force of those backslaps.

J-Hope, Jimin and Jungkook win again! Oooh, I just noticed, 3 Js… J3?

Chokes $1000 ??????!!!!

Aww, the others got a chain too, nice.

A good moral at the end of the day; do it for the love of music not the fame or money.

Jimin in the traditional girl’s clothes; he looks cute. Also, look at those arm muscles.

Wait, Suga, who were you shaking/holding hands with in that end scene?

Okay, so this is my least favourite series so far. There are a lot of cringe moments and there has been someone questionable things said and done. However, it’s still early days so maybe it will chill out a little in the coming episodes.

#bts #American hustle life #heathered beinn musings #jin #suga #rapmonster #j-hope #jimin #v #jungkook

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mezzomercury · 5 years ago

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Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue: Chapter Eight- Good Company

A/N: Here it is, after working on it on and off for almost for six(!!!) months. Apologies for the delay and I hope my readers are just as excited about reading this as I am about posting it. FYI, this is a picture that was in Eliza’s nursery.

Warnings: Mentions of food, vomit (that’s about it I think)

Word Count: 2.7k

*************************

January 22, 1986

The Garden Lodge

London, United Kingdom

Circa 3:00pm

It had only been two days since Freddie and Jim brought their daughter Eliza home to the Garden Lodge, but it was evident that they had more than their hands full with being new fathers. Although Nadia was staying with them for the next couple weeks, she could only do so much to help them, as her doctor put her on strict bed rest for the time being. Sleep deprived and with barely any time for themselves, Freddie and Jim still couldn’t be happier with this new chapter in their lives.

Now, it was time for little Eliza to meet her uncles. Brian, Roger, and Deaky had eagerly awaited this day for nine months, and were beyond ecstatic upon hearing the news that their friend and lead singer along with his husband had welcomed a beautiful and healthy baby girl. Since they were all parents themselves, Freddie had already been seeking their advice almost constantly. They would normally be bothered or annoyed by his incessant badgering, but they all remembered what it was like having their first baby and how the first couple of months were rather difficult and nerve-wracking to say the least. Brian, Roger, and Deaky had never expected Freddie to become a family man, but Jim brought about a change in him that they never thought was possible, and now the addition of a child settled him down even more. For once, they weren’t worried about their friend’s well-being, as he was now positively in love, and, as Freddie himself stated, “no fucker in the world is going to change that.”

The three visiting members of Queen piled into Roger’s car, along with a mountain of gifts for both Eliza and her mother. Freddie and Jim had planned a small get together for them at the Garden Lodge. Afternoon tea would be served, in addition to champagne and cigars wrapped in pink ribbons, all graciously prepared by Phoebe and Joe. It would be a rather small affair, but it had no probability of being dull, as long as the four members of Queen were together in an event hosted by their lead singer.

As Brian, Roger, and Deaky parked at the Garden Lodge and rang the bell at the front door, they were greeted by Phoebe, who assisted them in hauling gifts inside. Upon walking into the drawing room, the first thing they saw was Freddie, dressed in an old, yellow sleeveless jersey that was covered in spit-up, and white running pants that they had never seen him dawn before. In addition, he was carrying little Eliza in a sling strapped to his chest as he was bottle feeding and talking to her in a very cutesy voice, all while rocking her and pacing around slowly. Of course, his bandmates found it adorable, and even a gasp of awe couldn’t help but escape Deaky’s mouth, but it was strange to see Freddie already taking fatherhood so seriously.

“Hey, Mary Poppins! We finally made it!” Roger quipped in order to get the new father’s attention.

Freddie promptly halted his baby talk and turned his head to see his three bandmates standing right in front of him, which made a huge toothy smile spread across his face, though it was met with a hint of blush in his cheeks.

“Oh bugger, I was hoping you didn’t hear any of that. Did you?” he asked, waiting to hear the response he was fearing.

“We did, unfortunately.” Brian answered him, to which Freddie sighed, but had a feeling that he would be saved from any further embarrassment as he watched his husband Jim waltz into the room, greeting everyone with a hug.

“Welcome, lads! We’re glad you all could make it.” Jim addressed the three guests, “Did you all remember to wash your hands?” stating his concern of spreading any germs to his newborn daughter.

He earned three nods in response and he couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

“Say, where’s the woman of the hour?” Deaky asked, referring to Nadia, “She’s the one who we should be celebrating here. She did all the hard work while you two just watched.” This earned a playful scoff from Freddie.

“She’ll be here shortly. She’s resting in her room at the moment.” Jim responded, earning a nod of understanding from the bassist.

Once Phoebe brought in several teapots, cups, as well as an assortment of sandwiches and cakes, everyone sat down and tried to make themselves comfortable. Freddie, who was still holding Eliza in the sling, showed no signs of giving her up easily.

“Alright, Fred, let’s see our new niece. She was nearly born in my car, after all, so I should be the first to hold her, shouldn’t I?” Roger stated, eagerly awaiting to meet baby Eliza.

Much to his dismay, Freddie was extremely reluctant to pass the baby to anyone, so Jim had to silently coax his husband in to passing her to him, to which he then carefully deposited her into Roger’s awaiting arms. Everyone gasped in amazement as they finally got a glimpse of Eliza’s tiny face.

“Goodness, she’s absolutely beautiful. Well done, you two.” Brian remarked, silently adoring her tiny, delicate features.

“Yeah, you didn’t do too bad. She’s quite an adorable little potato, isn’t she?” Roger gushed as he adjusted his hold on the baby.

Seemingly discontent from being mildly jostled, Eliza began to fuss in Roger’s arms, to which her uncle cooed and shifted her so that her head was on his shoulder.

“There there, dear. It’s alright. It’s just your Uncle Rog. No need to fuss, dear.”

As he slowly pat the baby’s back he noticed her fussing subdued once he felt her hiccup, but he was unpleasantly surprised when this was followed by her vomiting on his shoulder. Everyone in the room couldn’t help but laugh at the situation, especially Freddie, who burst into a fit of laughter as he nearly collapsed into Jim’s lap from hysterics. When he collected himself a bit after a minute or so, he noticed Roger’s unamused expression and chortled,

“That’s my girl. Very good.”

As Roger noticed the vomit that was running down his back and destroying his shirt, he began to panic while simultaneously regretting that he chose to wear one of his favorite shirts for this occasion. Luckily, Deaky came to his rescue and suggested to him,

“How about you pass her along so you can go ahead and clean off? Your time’s up to hold her anyways.”

Roger obliged and quickly handed Eliza to Deaky, who took her into his arms like the professional father that he was. As the baby was still fussing a bit, she calmed down and fell asleep as soon as her godfather held her.

“That’s a bit better, dear. I don’t blame you for doing that to Roger.” Deaky whispered to her, causing everyone to chuckle.

“You’re quite the baby whisperer there, aren’t you, John?” Jim mused.

“He’d ought to be, darling. He’s had four of them.” Freddie retorted, “You’re not planning on having any more, are you, Deaks?”

Deaky shrugged as he rocked Eliza in his arms, to which everyone groaned jokingly.

“You and Veronica are breeding like rabbits at this rate.” Roger teased, “But I don’t blame you, honestly. You do make very cute little hobbit children.”

“I think the amount we have is fine for now, but who knows, this little one might change our minds, especially when the missus meets her.” Deaky remarked, gently cradling Eliza.

“I’m sure Freddie and Jim will let you borrow her whenever you want,” Brian responded, still unable to believe how the Deacons managed to raise that many children and make it look as simple as could be, “But in any case, I’d like to see my niece now, Deaky, if you don’t mind.” He tried to be as polite as possible without sounding too impatient.

Eliza, who wasn’t too thrilled to be passed around like a hot potato, began to fuss again, causing Deaky to smirk as he decided to let Brian deal with it.

“I know, you don’t like being tossed about like this, do you, dear?” Brian startled cradling the baby who seemed to be quite overwhelmed with everything going on, “Stick with me for a bit and it’ll all be fine.”

As tea was being served, Brian continued to hold Eliza and walk around the room with her, insisting that he wasn’t really hungry anyway. The others in the room engaged in mild, business-related conversation, all while Brian was softly singing ‘39 to his niece. Brian’s soothing voice seemed to have a positive effect on the infant, as she sighed contently while studying his face, trying as hard as she could to commit it to her memory. As he was singing the famous refrain of his song, all eyes were on him when he interrupted himself with an unexpected yelp as he felt a strong tug at a strand of his curly mane. Trying not to react too harshly, he looked down to see little Eliza holding onto his hair for dear life, making tiny cooing noises while doing so. The sight of it all would have made him soft, except her surprisingly strong grip prevented him from adoring it too much.

“She’s not going to let go anytime soon, I can tell you that.” Freddie interjected while he and the rest of the boys were laughing at the scene before them.

“It’s quite alright. I should be used to this by now, anyways.” Brian replied, trying to get Eliza’s grip off of his lock of hair, but to no avail.

Jim promptly rose from his chair to provide some assistance, gently coaxing his daughter’s chubby hand to free her uncle from her grasp by getting her to latch onto his own finger, then moving her hand to grip onto Brian’s shirt.

“That’s better now, love.” Jim whispered to the infant as he bent to her level to kiss her pudgy cheek.

Now with his hair free from her chubby but surprisingly strong grasp, Brian resumed walking around the room with Eliza, stopping at the pile of gifts and quietly showing and explaining her new toys. Overhearing this soft, one-sided conversation, Freddie turned around and asked the guitarist,

“Bri, you’re not trying to brainwash her with astrophysics yet, are you?”

“Not quite, Fred. You see, newborns just like to be stimulated both aurally and visually. It helps with their development.”

Freddie playfully rolled his eyes and let Brian continue “stimulating” his daughter, but before he could one-up his friend, Nadia quietly appeared into the drawing room and was immediately showered with attention and friendly affection from everyone occupying the space. As Freddie caught her out of the corner of his eye, he nearly dropped his cup of tea in a panic,

“Nadia, darling, what did the doctor tell you about standing up for too long? Please come sit at once!”

As he whisked away the poor woman and helped her sit on the sofa next to Jim, he was met with light chuckles and playful eye rolls from his friends. Before anyone could make a joke about Freddie’s new mother hen behavior, Deaky chimed in as he got up and presented his children’s former nanny with a bouquet of flowers accompanied by four handmade cards which were obviously done by the younger members of his family,

“Freddie and Jim told us about your new ‘updated’ agreement and we couldn’t be happier that you’re here to stay.”

“Thanks Deaky. I’m so glad to be here. It’s safe to say that I’ve grown attached to all of you.”

”You’re an incredibly strong woman for putting up with these two for the past nine months” Roger joked, referring to Freddie and Jim, “Are you sure you want to keep dealing with them? They’re quite the handful.” Freddie playfully smacked him, as was common for him to. Rubbing his head, the blonde drummer followed up.

”Actually, it’s better if you stay. I don’t want Freddie corrupting that poor girl too much. God knows what would happen without you.” Another smack, this time a little bit harder, or so the victim claimed.

”Rog, you’re almost asking to be puked on again at this point.” Freddie smirked, acting as if he had done nothing wrong.

Somehow, in the middle of all of the riveting conversation, baby Eliza, who had been carefully placed in her bassinet a few minutes ago by Brian, started to cry, almost as if she noticed everyone’s attention was on her mother and not her. Deaky, being the first to notice, made an effort to point it out as much as he could over the infant’s high-pitched near shrieking.

“Someone is quite the attention seeker already. I wonder who she could’ve gotten that from.”

Almost comically, everyone turned their gaze to Freddie, who merely scoffed and waved it off.

Nadia, who knew immediately the reason for her daughter’s fussiness, picked her up and walked into the other room to nurse her in private. Once she left, the living room became incredibly silent, before Roger tried his best at whisper,

“So, have you two shown her the house yet?”

This question was met with both Freddie and Jim violently shushing him, but Brian and Deaky were quick to inquire about this to their hosts. Jim made sure again that the coast was clear and that Nadia wasn’t in earshot before replying,

”Oh, did Freddie not tell all of you?”

The two clueless guests shook their heads, still utterly puzzled.

“We bought Nadia a house a few blocks away from here. We figured she’d want to live closer now that she’s a part of the family, and also as sort of a thank you gift. It was all Freddie’s idea really, as you could imagine.”

Everyone cooed in awe, but still trying to keep quiet so Nadia wouldn’t hear. Freddie was quick to answer Roger’s underlying question,

“No, we haven’t, but we’ll take her there once she’s fully recovered. I’m honestly quite surprised that she hasn’t figured it out yet.”

”Well, you know, she’s been pretty busy lately, you know, creating a new life and all.” Brian quipped as he took a generous sip of his tea.

“I wish I could see the look on her face when she sees it. Knowing you two she’ll probably love it.” Deaky muttered before quickly trying to signal everyone else that Nadia is heading back into the room.

Everyone became suspiciously quiet once again, but now they were met with Nadia raising her brow, trying to find the reason for it, all while burping Eliza over her shoulder.

“”What were you boys talking about? The room is never usually this quiet when you all are here.”

Freddie was quick to respond, even though he didn’t have a carefully thought out alibi.

“Oh, um...nothing darling. Just about………..how we’re going to try to finish the record now with the baby here and all.”

This caused Nadia’s curiosity to peak, but before she could say anything, Jim was quick to have her sit down again, taking Eliza from her and rocking her gently.

”Do you like your uncles, dear? They certainly are an odd bunch, but they love you all so much.”

Jim took a moment to reflect once he referred to all the men in the room as his daughter’s “uncles.” It went without mentioning that none of them were at all true blood relatives, but the bond as a nontraditional, chosen family was even stronger that he and his husband had with their actual family members. Little Eliza would grow up to have at least three surrogate uncles always by her side, and that was enough to provide relief to either of her parents. This wild and crazy group would prove to be the biggest support system she would have in the years to come, and for that Freddie and Jim were forever thankful.

As Jim was suddenly pulled away from his thoughts by his approaching him and kissing him gently on the cheek, then bending down to do the same for their daughter, the Irishman sighed in pure content.

After all these years, after all this time, I am finally where I was meant to be.

**************

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#bohemian rhapsody in blue #freddie mercury imagine #freddie mercury x jim hutton #freddie mercury fic #freddie mercury #jim hutton #bohemian rhapsody imagine #queen imagine #queen fic #classic rock fandom #my stuff #micaela's fics #original content #roger taylor #brian may #john deacon #peter freestone

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chiefnooniensingh · 5 years ago

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I Won’t Hesitate (For You) Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Come Back (I still need you)

In this chapter: In the past, Michael and Alex, scarred both physically and mentally, part ways. In the present day, Kyle Vale's trustworthiness is called into question. Some new information about Michael comes to light, once again shaking up Alex' theories. Meanwhile, time is running out on solving this murder.

A/n: As always, a special thanks to Aileen (@acomebackstory), Callie (@callieramics), @hm-arn, @royalshadowhunter, @ladymajavader and May (@merlinss) over on Tumblr for their continued support and cheerleading. I don't know if I would've finished it without you guys!

Last week's chapter title hasn't been guessed yet! I have to admit, it might be because it's a niche song? I have no idea about it's popularity, the only reason I know it is because we sing it in my Rock Choir. So it's still open, be my guest and keep guessing!

Can anyone guess this week's?

also on: ao3

other chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

February, 1925

Alex stood at the regional airport, the most basic of his belongings in a duffel at his feet, looking miserably at the small plane that would fly him to Albuquerque, where another plane would take him across the country.

Today was the start of basic training, and Alex was absolutely miserable.

He hadn’t even said goodbye to Michael.

Since the…incident, they’d barely seen each other. Alex’s father had put him on house arrest and Michael had been in hospital for a while. When he came back to school – the only place they could still safely see each other – his hand was in a thick bandage and he told Alex in clipped tones that it would probably never heal properly. Alex had barely been able to look at him and also noticed that Michael was avoiding him.

Alex never blamed Michael for that. No, that was Jesse Manes’ fault.

Jesse Manes, the man who called himself his father, who threatened Michael’s life. After Michael had left that night, Jesse Manes had sat Alex down and instead of beating him, had done something far worse.

“If you value that boy’s life at all, you will do as I say from here on out. The army is recruiting a new wave of soldiers. You turn 17 soon. You’ll start your training in February.” Alex had tried to protest, but Jesse Manes went on, “You will go into the army, Alex. They will beat this disgusting perversity of yours out of you. If you don’t go, or if you have the nerve to desert, a very nasty accident might happen to rash, hot-headed Michael Guerin.”

Alex’s heart still ran cold at the memory, and he shut his eyes against the pain. He knew he had no choice, knew his father had finally found the one thing that would keep Alex in line. Threatening Michael was so much more effective than the threat of personal physical harm.

So Alex was here, five feet away from his father at all times, watching as Master Sergeant Jesse Manes conversed with the officer that was going to take him away from his home, his life, his Michael.

And Michael would never know why. Alex could still see the hurt and anger in Michael’s eyes when Alex told him he was leaving the next day. He hadn’t been able to tell Michael why, and it had sparked a fight between them unlike any Alex had ever had. Michael had stormed off, and Alex had left.

Maybe it was better like this, Alex tried to convince himself. Michael would be better off hating him. It would hurt less.

“Alex!” Master Sergeant Manes called authoritatively, and like an obedient dog, Alex came. “This is private Jackson. He’ll escort you to basic training.” Alex nodded to the young man, who seemed fairly nervous in the presence of the Master Sergeant. “Now,” Manes continued, “I expect you to uphold the valour and honour this society has begun to expect from the Manes family. Your brothers are war heroes. Try to live up to them. Then maybe, finally, I can be proud of you.”

Alex hated the way his heart jumped, hated that after all this time, making his father proud still held appeal. Alex hated everything about the man. But he was still his father. “I’ll try,” Alex said shortly. He took up his duffel and nodded to his father. “Bye, dad.”

His father gave no reply but watched Alex board the plane and the plane start to take off. “You did well,” Master Sergeant Manes said coldly. From behind a crate, Michael Guerin appeared, watching the plane take off with red-rimmed eyes. He didn’t comment, so the Master Sergeant continued. “This is what’s best for him, Michael. You pushing him away only made it easier for him to go after his destiny. It was the smart decision.”

Michael snorted, flexing his healed, but permanently disfigured fingers in anger. “It wasn’t my decision. You said you’d do to Alex what you did to me. I couldn’t let that happen. At least now he’s safely away from you.” Michael spat on the floor in front of Jesse Manes’ feet and turned on his heel, leaving the man behind.

On the plane, Alex was oblivious to this exchange. He and Jackson were laughing together, bonding over their mutual dislike of the Master Sergeant. “Hey, did you see the news?” Private Jackson held up the newspaper, and Alex took it. The paper was a local Roswell paper, the headline was in aggressive bold letters, shouting: Sheriff Jim Valenti found dead at Santa Fe, New Mexico home. Police suspect suicide.

“Jesus,” Alex murmured, scanning the rest of the article. Apparently, the unsolved case of Rosa Ortecho had always haunted him, even after moving to another town and trying to start over. The pressure and the guilt seemed to have finally gotten the better of him.

Rosa Ortecho’s murderer was still wreaking havoc, even five years after the murder.

Jim Valenti (41) leaves behind a wife, who will take over his position as sheriff in the interim, and their fifteen-year-old son, Kyle. The family was not available for comment.

Present day, 22nd of October, 1935

“Son of a bitch,” Alex cursed, taking off towards the corridor, barely avoiding a full-on collision with a wide-eyed Max Evans as he made his way quickly towards the voice of miss Otto. Kyle Vale – no, Valenti, son of disgraced Sheriff Valenti, who killed himself because he couldn’t solve Rosa Ortecho’s case – was standing over her, inspecting the wound and looking up startled at Alex’s less than subtle entry. “You!” Alex said, his heart beating fast. “You’re Kyle Valenti, aren’t you? You’ve been lying about your identity all this time, haven’t you?”

Kyle’s eyes widened almost comically, basically giving himself away before he could ever defend himself. “Alex, you don’t understand…”

“No, I think I understand perfectly,” Alex said, controlling his voice with difficulty. “Your father was on Rosa Ortecho’s case. He couldn’t solve it and killed himself over it. This was cold-blooded revenge.”

Several gasps sounded behind him. Alex turned and realised he hadn’t exactly been quiet. Every passenger was standing at the door, staring at the two men staring each other down, with miss Beth sitting in between them, looking shocked. Not very professional, Alex. “Kyle Valenti?” he heard someone whisper incredulously.

“Alex, I didn’t – ” But Kyle could only bluster, his face red, as good as a confession.

“You knew the open window would speed up the temperature changes in a dead body. You purposefully pretended not to know that! You murdered him and opened the window and then lied to my face about everything!”

“No, I – ”

“It’s true, Alex, he didn’t!” Maria said loudly, pushing forward and shrugging off her mother’s hand. “I’m sorry, Alex, I lied to you. I was with Kyle the entire night. After our game of cards that night before, Kyle invited me back to his cabin for a nightcap, so that my mother could get some rest, and we just…kept talking. I promise, Alex. Kyle had nothing to do with this.”

Alex turned towards Kyle, who shrugged with a half-smile. But Alex was done. This entire case had fucked him over multiple times, nearly cost him his life and also cost him a second chance with the love of his life. He wasn’t going to bend so easily. “Then why was your identification altered? Kyle Vale?”

Kyle’s smile vanished immediately and opened his mouth to reply. He closed it again after a few seconds. “Yeah,” said Alex, scoffing, “that’s what I thought. Michael!” Michael stepped forward, his eyes barely meeting Alex’s. “Please take Mr Valenti’s keys from him and lock him in his cabin. I want him locked up until the matter is resolved,” Alex said, throwing a hard look at Kyle as he did, who had the decency to look ashamed as he handed over his keys.

Alex turned around, but not before he saw the look Kyle was shooting Maria, who was looking wide-eyed at the scene before her. “Alex, you can’t – ” Maria said desperately, grasping Michael by the arm to stop him. “Michael, don’t let him do this!”

“Miss DeLuca, while I appreciate your input, this is the first solid lead this case has had so far. Unless you can provide me with a better one, I have no other choice than to detain Mr Valenti for the time being. If he didn’t do this, we’ll know soon enough. If he did, do you really want a murderer in your midst for even a second longer?”

To that, Maria had no retort, and Michael escorted Kyle to his cabin. A dreadful, pressing silence filled the train. Even the noise of the engine seemed to bend to its presence. Alex immediately knew that the equilibrium had shifted; before, everybody could still believe the other innocent. Now they had a target. Someone they liked, someone they trusted.

Alex knew how they felt.

And yet.

It didn’t feel right.

Kyle was his best suspect, and yet only a fraction of the evidence pointed his way. It was more than to other people, to be sure. But still, Alex mused, it wasn’t his most solid case by far. He knew the courts would probably not even touch this case on this little evidence.

Sighing, Alex left Miss Otto’s cabin, with Beth still looking stunned, behind and went back to the dining carriage. He pushed open the door thoughtlessly, and found it was not empty.

“Michael, please, just a few more – ”

“ – no, Max, I can’t do this anymore! I can’t lie to – Alex!”

Michael and Max Evans were standing very close together, both with red faces and looking as though Alex just caught them having a very heated argument. “Is everything okay?” Alex said, suspiciously, closing the door behind him. “What can’t you lie about, Michael?”

“It was nothing – ” Max began, but Michael cut him off.

“Max, for once in your life, shut the fuck up.”

Both Max and Alex looked at him in surprise. Alex knew Michael had a foul mouth, but he was polite when he needed to be, when his job required him to be. He would never talk to guests this way… “What’s going on, Michael?”

Michael ran his hands through his curls, trying to make up his mind. “Damn it. Alright." He sighed. "I've been sick of secrets for a long time now. It's time." Alex frowned, his heart picking up its pace as Michael straightened up and looked him square in the eyes. Was Michael going to confess...? "You remember I told you my siblings found me?” Alex nodded, a realisation dawning on him. “Max is my brother. Isobel is my sister. I’m sorry,” Michael said to Max as the latter began to protest, and then again to Alex, who stared, open-mouthed, at the two, “I just can’t lie anymore. Not to you.”

“Michael, I – ” Alex looked from Michael to Max and back. The two couldn’t be more different. Where Max and Isobel shared the same bone structure, the same facial features, even the same shape of their mouths, Michael didn’t look anything like his siblings. He was soft where they were hard, wild where they were reserved. But now that he was looking closer, he could see it in the colour of Michael’s eyes and the set of his shoulders. “How?” he managed to choke out. “How are they both here? Why? Precisely on your train?”

Michael shook his head miserably, but Max stepped in. “Michael got us the tickets. We wanted to be with our brother. It was easy to pull Noah along. He didn’t even realize.”

“You realize how this looks, though. A man gets murdered, and his wife’s two brothers are on the train. One of which, they didn’t have contact with until a couple of years ago! What am I supposed to make of this?!” Alex was well aware his voice was beginning to crack. So many emotions raged through him. He wanted to get to know Michael’s brother, wanted that happiness for Michael, but he also was scared of what it all meant. The coincidences just kept piling up around Michael.

“Nothing,” Michael said, stepping forward and taking Alex’s hand. “You’re not supposed to make anything out of this, because it’s not anything! Alex, please.”

“Why did you lie?” Alex croaked, his eyes boring into Michael’s. “Just give me a reasonable explanation. You sat there,” Alex gestured wildly at the table they had sat at not a day ago, “and told you me your siblings found you and you just…neglected to mention they were on this train? Why?”

“Max asked me to. He didn’t want you to think exactly what you’re thinking now. Alex, I would do anything to protect my family. You know that better than most.”

“Oh, do I?”

“You think I got this,” Michael held up his maimed hand, and Alex flinched at the memory that surfaced with it, “for fun? You think I would’ve let you go to the army if I didn’t think you were safer there than you were with me?”

“Let me?!” Alex yelled, near hysterical now. “I chose to go into the army! To protect you, from my father! He would’ve killed you, Michael! You couldn’t have stopped me, even if you tried! Which you didn’t!”

Max was backing away from the conversation, looking startled at this sudden change in subject, but Alex barely noticed. Michael was eyes were wide and tears were threatening to spill over. “I didn’t stop you, because your father threatened you! He said he would do to you what he did to me! And I couldn’t let that happen! Your father was going to kill you one day, and I knew that pushing you away and towards the army was going to save you!”

A ringing silence hung between the two of them as they processed what the other had just said. “He did what?” Alex eventually managed. Michael nodded, a few tears escaping. “So my father threatened both of us.”

“We both thought we were doing what was best for the other.”

“And in the end, it was Jesse Manes who got what he wanted,” Alex finished bitterly. “As per fucking usual.”

“I’m so sorry, Alex.”

Alex let out a broken laugh. “What for? You were trying to protect me, I was trying to protect you…we were both hurting and stopped communicating. Jesus, we’re both fucking idiots.”

Michael let out a surprised laugh as well. “Yeah, we are.”

And without waiting another second, Alex flung his arms around Michael’s neck and pressed him into a hug. Michael wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist and squeezed tightly. Alex felt warm and fuzzy inside, and for a second – as happened often around Michael – he forgot his current predicament. The hug lasted forever, or so it felt to Alex, and it made him feel warm inside, giving him a strength he hadn’t realized he had been missing. In the end, it was Max’s uncomfortable cough that broke the two apart.

“So,” Max said, scratching his ear, “you must be the Alex Michael’s always going on about.”

Alex raised an eyebrow at Michael, who shrugged noncommittally. “I guess I am.”

“Then let’s start over. I’m Max Evans, Michael’s brother.” Max extended his hand to Alex, and Alex took it without hesitation.

“Alex Manes. I’m Michael’s…well, we don’t have a name for it.”

“I think I got what you two are from the many, many, many stories Michael has told us,” Max said teasingly, winking at the pair of them, earning a disgusted scoff from Michael and a chuckle from Alex.

Michael sighed, rubbing his forehead. “So what now?”

Alex rarely encountered three words that could change an atmosphere so profoundly. What now, indeed? “It’s all going in my book, that’s step one.” Alex took out his notebook and traced a line between Max, Isobel and Michael. SIBLINGS, he wrote over the line. “And as for after that? I honest to God have no fucking clue.”

The train slowed down and Michael, Alex and Max watched as the train pulled into a train station. The sign on the platform read LAUSANNE. They’d reached Switzerland.

Their final stop before Paris.

Time was running out.

#malex #malex ff #rnm ff #malex fanfic #roswell new mexico #Alex Manes #Michael Guerin #a disaster bi and a chaotic gay #what could go wrong #otp:I Don't Look Away #my fanfics #my rnm ff #my malex ff #motoe au

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punkscowardschampions · 5 years ago

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Janis & Jimmy

Janis: Don't get excited or anything Janis: only talking to you to look busy Jimmy: steal my job an' all or just my lines? Jimmy: so proud me Janis: technically I got you fired from that one Janis: and not to get ahead in the java game myself so Jimmy: fucked my future as a recruiter that Jimmy: tah very much Janis: 💔 Janis: what can I say? Janis: your chat has left a lot to be desired from the start Janis: though I'd happily pick up a CG shift now, nothing to do with your skillz or lack thereof Jimmy: You could've started this one with 'oi Jim don't put persuasive on the CV' and have done, mate but here we still are pissing about Jimmy: 🎻🎻 Jimmy: use your head and pick up a shift where Pete works now not where he burned his bridges if you want the good chat, girl Janis: Yeah 'cos you want me interrupting your bromance time more than I already do Janis: reverse psychology won't work on me either, boy Jimmy: Tell it to the lad who's rewriting a birthday classic in your honor 'cause that ain't me, babe Jimmy: Still got it bad after all this time he has 💘 Jimmy: #thejulieteffect Janis: God, Gracie didn't slip him an invite as a tip, did she Janis: will have to maim my face to avoid any further association with her, like Jimmy: Might've Jimmy: Much as we throw Shona on that Gracie sized bullet she's nowt but persistent Janis: Desperate is the word Janis: invite half the town, why not Janis: no girl needs that many 'idk you really so I got you a bath set' gifts Jimmy: Alright, alright I'll take yours back to the shop Jimmy: Calm down Janis: bung it her way Janis: still might get some 'gratitude' 🤞 Jimmy: 👌 Janis: cool so it's a plan Janis: you distract, I'll make myself scarce Jimmy: challenge accepted Janis: it's not known to be challenging Janis: but we have just discussed your shortcomings too so yeah Janis: maybe baby Jimmy: having her about when I ain't being paid is proper challenging Jimmy: you wanna sweeten the deal, rich girl Janis: Hmm, what you got in mind? Jimmy: we both make ourselves scarce Jimmy: I reckon that's a better plan Janis: maybe ain't earned persuasive still but Janis: you can tick off problem solver Jimmy: 👍 Jimmy: ain't gonna be a problem if have the dickheads in town have an invite to your gaff Jimmy: slip away easy through that #opendoor Jimmy: half* Janis: you forget I'm 1 outta 2 guests of honour Janis: sadly, you are the only one on that score Jimmy: Nah Jimmy: nobody but Pete's coming for you, babe and we can slip him a note ahead of time Janis: You really know how to make a girl feel special, huh 😏 Jimmy: 💕 Janis: is it worth me coming to you Janis: how long you got left on Jimmy: both feeling special now Jimmy: how #goals Janis: well you know Janis: hit up the CG already and the replacements aren't much Jimmy: 💔 for 'em and you Janis: don't look too 😢 for me when I show Janis: not #goals Jimmy: Drying my eyes on my apron as we speak, like Janis: need your 😎 Jimmy: that's alright til the fans wanna see my 😍 Janis: who are you kidding, Doris can't see in front of her face Janis: it's the accent Jimmy: she can see my 🍆 Jimmy: keeps her coming back Janis: please don't make me laugh Jimmy: sexual harassment is no laughing matter, dickhead Jimmy: she's a menace 👵🚫 Janis: you know you're asking for it, babe Janis: made your granny love no secret Jimmy: when I'm not 😢 over you I'm 🤤 over her Jimmy: busted Janis: can't fool me Janis: know what you're like far too well tbh Jimmy: see right through me you Jimmy: only gonna get more of a bighead the older you get, aren't you? Janis: don't plan on changing Janis: not that kind of birthday girl Jimmy: 👍 Janis: dunno why she's bothering Janis: 'less she can get Pete to fake marry her she ain't even competing Jimmy: shut up, he'd get a decent amount of song writing material outta that Jimmy: enough to consider it Jimmy: don't be giving ideas like that out for nowt Janis: so you're saying recruiters out for you but pimp/band manager is my calling Janis: cheers, keep it in mind Jimmy: can't be living off mummy and daddy forever, babe Jimmy: time's running out Janis: they're running out of kids who wanna be around them, more like Janis: you know they don't wanna be left just them and Gracie Jimmy: Give 'em the heads up and they'll have time to have a load more Janis: 💀💀💀 Jimmy: 💸💸💸 Janis: if they do, not me Janis: and all the others Janis: splitting it 10 ways makes it less impressive Jimmy: actually 💔 Janis: I know Janis: babysitting is your primary gig Janis: soz, like Jimmy: 🎻🎻 Janis: Poor, poor boy Janis: have to stick with your two Jimmy: You still ain't taken the 🐶 off me yet so it's 3 Janis: if you put 'dog dad' in your bio it's over Jimmy: saved that 💎 for the dating apps Janis: fairplay Janis: go over well with that crowd Jimmy: 🐶💕 Jimmy: gotta earn her keep somehow Janis: subtle Janis: what do you want, like Jimmy: other than 🐶💀 Janis: you love her, shut up Jimmy: bollocks Jimmy: you love her Janis: I know what I've 👀 Janis: and I've got plenty of blackmail evidence for when this all goes tits Jimmy: I know how to fake it Jimmy: tah for all the practise Janis: mhmm, 'cos you did such a top job at that Jimmy: 🥇 me Janis: Sure thing babe Janis: best bae ever Janis: fake enough for you? Jimmy: might be if you didn't mean every word Janis: Idiot Jimmy: you love me Jimmy: and you're on your way here, deny it Janis: I can't deny I'm en-route Janis: but that's like 96% because I need to hide Janis: no funny business Jimmy: I get it Jimmy: only thirsty for a fruit juice Janis: I ain't a toddler Janis: and obviously, I ain't looking for you to serve me either 🤷 Jimmy: you ain't a coffee drinker and we don't serve booze, pisshead Janis: 1. I'm gonna subtly wait for Pete to be free 2. we'll think of something Jimmy: 1. enjoy helping him close 2. he won't be thinking of owt when he's this hungover so enjoy doing that yourself an' all Janis: 🙄🙄 Janis: not entirely sure you barista boys are worth the hassle Jimmy: on you go then Jimmy: find a barman and solve all your problems Janis: no tah Janis: can't be going there Jimmy: 🎻💔🎻 Janis: it'd be like you cracking on with a miner Janis: assume your granddad was a miner Jimmy: be like me having a go on a 👻 Janis: can make that happen Janis: that kinda cool girlfriend, obvs Jimmy: 😍😍😍 Janis: find out the equipment Janis: not talking 🍆🤖s Jimmy: so I'll meet you in the cemetery or what? Jimmy: #datenight Janis: Such an emo Janis: called it and you out from day one Jimmy: Piss off Jimmy: You reckoned I wanted to suck Alex Turner's ballsack Jimmy: Indie and emo are different genres, mate Janis: It's all fringes and marding really, isn't it, mate Janis: point is, ghosts are everywhere Janis: have as much if not more luck in any house in this shithole of a town Jimmy: proper poetic you Jimmy: I smell a lyrical collab with your bf Janis: nah Janis: we both know muse is about as good as I got Jimmy: but there's no need to pass that along to Pete and have him 💔 Janis: Shut up Janis: he loves me just the way I am, and YOU'RE just jealous Jimmy: #duh Janis: if I wanted that kind of guilt-trip, I'd have stayed there Jimmy: The orchestra is raring to go here Jimmy: What more do you want? Janis: you Janis: dickhead Jimmy: I'm yours, dickhead Janis: Good Janis: I need you, like Jimmy: We don't need to be here, either of us Janis: I can't Janis: I can't be anywhere near that fucking party tomorrow Janis: it's not just because it's the usual bullshit family function either, like Janis: just Janis: nah Jimmy: Alright Jimmy: good thing I have a better idea Janis: Yeah? Jimmy: Nowt for you to do but come with me Janis: Alright Janis: obviously Janis: never gonna have better plans or better company 'round here so Jimmy: 🥇 Jimmy: come here and we'll go from there Janis: I am Janis: I'd almost forgot how long this bus took Janis: been that long, like Jimmy: you should be live tweeting Jimmy: fans love a throwback Janis: well, we both know what I should really be doing Janis: but ain't really feeling it and this bus driver is new Jimmy: 🤞 our top bloke ain't 💀💀💀 Jimmy: weren't meant to be part of the pact, like Janis: if he was on the outs, I'd have 💀 him at the wheel ages ago Janis: just that good Janis: call me the eternal optimist Jimmy: 🌹 by any other name Janis: peak romance always Jimmy: 💪🏆 Jimmy: you ain't seen nowt yet birthday girl Janis: Idiot Jimmy: 💕 Janis: do I need to bring anything Janis: not fishing for clues or nowt but could be relevant Jimmy: bring whatever you would to fuck off for a day Jimmy: we ain't coming back til its over Janis: okay Janis: just us? Jimmy: you can bring the dog if you want Janis: 😏 Jimmy: I draw the line at Pete's puppy dog eyes though Janis: 💔 Jimmy: You'll live and he's half 💀 so there ain't no challenge in smacking him down Janis: Hot Jimmy: 😏 Janis: is that my surprise? Jimmy: Do you want that to be your surprise? Janis: Yeah, I'm gonna be an accessory by admission Janis: think on, babe Jimmy: 👍 Janis: Your man of mystery bit is very unhelpful sometimes Jimmy: poor baby Jimmy: soz you can't handle being kept on your toes Janis: oh please Jimmy: What? Janis: I could run circles around you in my sleep Jimmy: go on then Janis: maybe Janis: if the plans allow time Jimmy: maybe I'll make time if it's that important to you to prove yourself, Juliet Janis: I know I don't need to prove myself to you Jimmy: 👌 Janis: fuck off Janis: you love me Jimmy: You're alright, for a rich girl Janis: I'm the best Jimmy: 🥇 or nowt babe Janis: #duh Jimmy: #youknowthedrill Janis: town is finally in sight Janis: jesus Jimmy: the new driver ain't winning me over 💔 for him Jimmy: sort it out knobhead Jimmy: 🎅 will get there before his bus, like Janis: N'awh Janis: you missed me? Jimmy: for a sec or two Jimmy: not owt to get a big head over Janis: have to work on that then, won't I Jimmy: hate for you to be bored while you're waiting for Pete to make you a drink Jimmy: gotta give you something to do Jimmy: it'll take him ages longer than two secs Janis: weird brag, mate Janis: usually the other way 'round but admire the honesty 😂 Jimmy: been a bit since I've made shit weird Jimmy: nice to know you've missed it Janis: you know Janis: keeps things interesting, you do Jimmy: Yeah Jimmy: part of the deal, like Janis: I'll renew your contract Janis: 👌 job Jimmy: tah Jimmy: might take you off the trial period for a bit Jimmy: see how you go Janis: 😏 Janis: might not hand in my notice Jimmy: won't have to get a replacement in then Janis: 💔 Janis: know how you love that Jimmy: 🎻🎻 Jimmy: keep disappointing me, you Janis: psh Jimmy: It's alright, well used to it, me Jimmy: nowt I can't handle Janis: We'll put that theory to the test when I get there Janis: 5 mins Jimmy: good Janis: thanks Janis: by the way Jimmy: you ain't opened your bath shit yet Jimmy: leave it out Janis: I've got to work on my so real surprise/grattitude some time, babe Janis: want me to fake it when I'm there Janis: alright Jimmy: that top job you reckoned I did faking it goes double for you, girl Jimmy: I ain't helping Pete close so you've got more time to piss about having a go Janis: Not how I remember it, boy Jimmy: scroll back through all your feeds Jimmy: I'll hang on Janis: admitting you're more #basic Janis: cute Jimmy: surprise! 🎉 Jimmy: happy birthday Janis: 😍😋 Jimmy: 💘 Janis: love you Jimmy: I love you Janis: I really do Jimmy: Is it my turn to act surprised or what? Janis: You can Jimmy: #kinkunlocked Jimmy: ages after I thought we'd run out Janis: just that good, baby Jimmy: I'll give you a few minutes Jimmy: deffo worth that Janis: and so generous Janis: 😩 Jimmy: too northern for that shit Janis: Nah Janis: this place has changed you Janis: 🍀💀 Jimmy: If owt's changed take your share of the blame Jimmy: 💕🔪💀 Janis: alright Janis: I ruined your life Janis: do something about it

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sweetestlittledarling · 7 years ago

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I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Prompt 1: Mistletoe

Damien/District Attorney (Reader?) (Mostly in the past)

Notes: Actually been sitting on this idea for a while but when @jim-news put up the prompt list for the Ego Christmas thing, I figured it was a good time to write it. It was written in one night and kind of quickly edited as to not miss the first prompt date so please excuse some minor mistakes. Other then that please enjoy.

P.s. Looks better outside of my blog (with italics and what not) for some reason, trying to fix. You can also read it here now for full effect: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12890124

The grand ballroom was a shell of its former self. The windows had been boarded up and a faint layer of dust covered everything. The beautiful architecture, that dated back to the 1900’s, was now starting to show wear and decay. The doors were locked with signs posted everywhere about how the building was condemned. But Dark didn’t need permission nor a door to enter anywhere he wanted to be. He simply appeared inside the giant room, cane in clutched in his hand. He didn’t usually pull out his cane but he felt it was something he would want for this occasion. He wasn’t sure why he came here exactly, just a sudden need filled him and he couldn’t stop himself. In his mind's eye, he could still picture the ballroom before it started to fall apart when it was taken care of like it should have been. Dark walked to the middle of the ballroom. He remembered at Christmas time they used to put a big Christmas tree here, and decorate it with all sorts of beautiful glowing lights and ornaments.

Dark reached up a hand, imagining touching one of the forever green bows.

“If you keep fiddling with it, it’s going to fall off.”

Damien looks up as you approach. He places the glass orb he had been fiddling with on the tree again, trying to seem like he wasn’t guilty of tampering with it. The grand tree looks beautiful as does the mayor standing next to it. “How long have you been here old friend?”

“Long enough to know that you should stop fiddling with the tree and be getting ready to greet your guests,” you say with a shake of your head.

“I just want everything to be perfect,” Damien argues, “this is my first Christmas as mayor and I want everything to go right.”

You smile as you lay your hands-on Damien’s shoulders. “Everything is perfect Damien!” you say, “The tree is perfect, the decorations are perfect, and you are perfect as usual.”

Damien smiles but rolls his eyes. “I am hardly perfect!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” you chuckle, “and I should know I’ve seen you without your morning coffee.” He shoots you a little glare as your hands slide down to his arms, giving him a comforting squeeze. “Stop worrying, everything will be fine. Everything looks great and I’m here to help so we’ve got this handled. You just be your handsome charming mayor self, and I will handle the rest okay?”

Damien’s smile softens as he looks at you. “Thank you, old friend.”

Suddenly there is a loud sound from the back of the room making you both jump. It sounds like it’s coming from the kitchen. Damien turns to go but you quickly grab his arm, pulling him back a bit. “Nope, you go and be charming mayor guy. I have got whatever crisis handled!” As you move past him, you hear Damien sigh.

“What would I do without you?”

You just smile and shoot him a quick salute. “I got your back chief.”

Dark walked about the room, his feet kicking up the layer of dust. Most of the furniture had been removed from the building when they condemned the place, anything of value being quickly either taken by auction or by looters. Still, Dark found that not everything had been taken, the bar with it’s cracked mirror and fading finish still had a chair or two. He sat down on one, not caring about the dust or the cobwebs he encountered. In all honesty, they helped fit his current mood. He looked out at the room, imagining it filled with people dressed up to the nines. It would have been crowded for the Christmas gala.

You sit at the bar and sip your drink as you watch Damien do his thing. He really is impressive, how he can talk to everyone like they are his friend and yet have them respect him as mayor. It’s like he casts a spell over them. Well if that’s true, you mused, then you have been under his spell for many years now and don’t think you ever will be freed (not that you would want to be really). Suddenly you see him look up and spot you watching. He smiles, and you feel a warm thing grow in your chest. He makes his way over to you and takes a seat beside you. “The place really is quite packed tonight,” he muses after he orders his drink.

“Yeah, and it’s all thanks to that handsome charming mayor guy,” you chuckle.

“Well, he wouldn’t have had any of the luck he’s had thus far if it wasn’t for his wonderful friend the city’s best district attorney.”

“Yep, good thing they have each other because frankly they would be lost if they didn’t.”

“I think that is a good thing to drink too,” Damien says raising his glass. “To our partnership and our friendship, two things I promise to always treasure.”

You smile fondly as your glasses clink together. Dear gods, what did you ever do to deserve this man? Whatever it is you want to know so that you can keep doing it forever and ever. Suddenly you hear the band begin to play another song and you realize that it’s ‘I’ll be home for Christmas’. “Oh, I love this song!”

“Then will you do me the honor of a dance?”

“What?” You look at Damien who is suddenly holding out his hand to you. Now, you want to protest, saying you don’t dance (at least not like anything that doesn’t resemble a dead fish) but his eyes…you can’t say no to those eyes. So, you sigh, down your drink in one hail Mary gulp and take his hand. “Okay let’s do this.” You feel your heart begin to pound as you are lead out onto the dance floor. You can feel all eyes on you and you wonder if there is a good rock you can hide under when this is over.

“Don’t worry,” you hear Damien say as he squeezes your hand. “I won’t let you down.”

You feel comforted although your heart is still racing. It’s mostly because now you find yourself considering Damien’s eyes and as he leads you gracefully around the dance floor you realize that you could stay in this moment forever. Just dancing with Damien, considering his eyes, as the soft slow music plays….

Christmas Eve will find me…Where love light gleams…I’ll be home for Christmas…if only in my dreams…

Dark could hear the echo of fading music ringing in his ears. It was a song he had long forgotten, it’s notes twisted in his heart. Now he was standing in the back of the room, underneath one of the arches, leaning against the wall as he surveyed the cold dark room. It was like death in that room now, death where there once was life. This place was like a shell now, empty and devoid of all that had once made it good in Dark’s eyes. It was just like Dark himself. Dark glanced up, suddenly having a flash of thought that something would be there, a certain thing…

“There you are!” You finally find Damien standing in one of the archways, leaning against the wall. Although he still looks handsome as always, he also looks tired. You come up and stand beside him, watching as the last of the guests get their last celebrations in before heading out. The night really has been perfect. “Tired?” you ask.

“A little,” Damien confesses, smiling. “You?”

“I do think that the adrenaline is starting to wear off,” you say, giving your arms a bit of a stretch. “I’ll probably go home and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.”

“Sounds like a great plan to me.”

For a moment the both of you stand in silence, listening to the music. “You should call her,” you say suddenly. “Your sister I mean.” Damien looks at you curiously and you quickly begin again. “I mean, I don’t mean to pry but she is your only remaining family and I know how much you miss her, and I’m sure that given that it’s Christmas, she probably would want to hear from you- “

“It’s alright old friend,” Damien says, laying a hand on your shoulder and calming your nervous chatter. His smile is gentle but sad. “I know you are trying to help me, but the truth is that while she is my only family, my sister cut ties with me years ago, even before the great calamity that broke up my friendship. Every time I’ve tried to reach out in the past, she has rejected me, and I’m afraid even Christmas won’t heal the wounds she feels I have caused.”

“Well that’s just silly, you are her twin brother!”

“Yes, be that as it may, I’m afraid even being a twin doesn’t always fix things.” Damien sighs sadly. “Sometimes it makes them worse.”

You feel a little bit bad for bringing it up. “I’m sorry.”

“No harm done, old friend,” Damien says, “while I may not have my sister, I still have many other people I can call my family, including you.”

You feel a warm feeling creeping into your face as you find yourself looking up. Then you see it. “Crap, I think we’ve been caught.”

Damien looks up and spots it as well. He chuckles. “I guess we have been.”

“And who thought it funny to hang up mistletoe huh?” You quickly look around to see if anyone else has noticed. “Maybe we can get away without anyone knowing!”

“That would be dishonest,” Damien says, a little bit of teasing in his voice. “And it wouldn’t be good if the district attorney was found being dishonest now would it?”

You shoot him a glare. “Darn you and you’re always being right.” But as you are glaring at him you find yourself considering his eyes again. His eyes are dark, warm and deep, and you find yourself being pulled in. Suddenly you realize how warm it is in the room, or is that just you? Are you about to do this? You’re not fighting it as you get closer, feeling one of Damien’s hands' cup your face as you both close your eyes and…

“Dark?”

Dark’s eyes snapped open, his one hand floating in mid-air as if cradling something. He turned and found Warfstache standing there. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere man! I wanted to tell you my latest ideas for the staff Christmas party.” Warf tilted his head curiously. “What are you doing in this dusty place anyways?”

Dark looked at Warfstache a moment and then looked at the space in front of him. It was empty, kind of like his heart. “Nothing Will,” Dark said, as he walked away from the memory of what was and could never be again. “I was just chasing ghosts.”

I’ll be home for Christmas…If only in my dreams…

#egochristmas #darkiplier #markiplier #markiplier egos #who killed markiplier #fanfiction

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skinks · 7 years ago

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New York Times: The Best Albums of 2017

1. An indicator of walls soon to fall: Joe Mulherin, who records as nothing,nowhere., finds common ground between the charred screams of second- and third-wave emo and the easy swagger of contemporary hip-hop, using both in the service of stark emotional vulnerability. [Read the interview]

nothing,nowhere. Blends Hip-Hop and Emo to Make Tomorrow’s Pop

Joe Mulherin is part of an emerging group of artists that is bridging the chasm between rap and rock. His debut is one of the most promising albums of the year.

By JON CARAMANICA OCT. 20, 2017

HYDE PARK, Vt. — At Green River Reservoir State Park here earlier this month, the water was placid and clear, and the leaves on the surrounding trees were a dozen shades of green, lustrous red, pumpkin and taupe. Every now and then, a loon floated by, incurious.

It was a Friday evening, and Joe Mulherin — who records scathingly beautiful hip-hop-influenced emo music as nothing,nowhere. — was building a fire for the night.

“I feel the most calm when I’m here doing this and I’m away from it all,” he said of camping out. He unsheathed a small ax and found a skinny, dead tree to chop down, then used a bow saw to cut its trunk into campfire-size pieces, which, over the course of the night, were reduced to silvery ash.

Vermont’s outdoors is a salve and a muse for Mr. Mulherin, 25: His right arm is covered in tattoos of the state flower, the state fish, the state seal, the loon from the reservoir (“They don’t know how hard I ride for them,” he said, referring to the loons).

But just as often he’s indoors. In the basement of his parents’ house, not far from this park, he has spent the last few years refining his music, one post at a time on the streaming service SoundCloud.

On Friday, nothing,nowhere. will release “Reaper,” an outstanding album that synthesizes the second-wave emo of the early to mid-2000s with the rattling hip-hop low end of the last few years. It is one of the most promising pop albums of the year; the logical, and perhaps inevitable, endpoint of hip-hop’s broad diffusion into every corner of American musical life; and also the most viable current direction for guitar-driven music in the mainstream.

The lyrical rawness of “Reaper” — Mr. Mulherin’s proper full-length debut album, and his first on a record label — can be searing. “There’s a lot of instances on this record where I probably should have just taken a nap,” Mr. Mulherin said while finishing off a fireside pad thai, cooked with water boiled over a modified seltzer can filled with isopropyl alcohol.

“I haven’t spoke to you since 17/Just thought I’d let you know you’re dead to me,” he lovingly sings on the spooky, abraded “Clarity in Kerosene,” one of the album’s most anguished songs. At the chorus, Mr. Mulherin toggles back and forth between shrieking and soothing, and in the verses, he alternates between a kind of whispered, conspiratorial singing and nimble rapping.

The music is similarly piercing and caressing. Mr. Mulherin often plays with an arid electric guitar tone redolent of lonely folk music. “I’m really into open tunings,” he said. “There’s something about that tone that’s chilly, that’s kind of cold and removed.” His beats are urgent and dark. (He produced the album with the punk producer Erik Ron and JayVee, a SoundCloud collaborator.)

The music of nothing,nowhere. is an intriguing turn for emo, which has been through at least four waves, and has been celebrating a revival by classicist-minded new bands in recent years. Mr. Mulherin is a devotee of the genre’s older standard-bearers — “I never stopped listening to these bands,” he said of groups like Mineral and the Promise Ring. But he’s part of a young, still relatively fringe group of artists, largely gathered on SoundCloud, that is melding vintage emo with contemporary hip-hop production, finding unlikely kinship.

In the way that the rise of Drake portended the final obliteration of the wall between hip-hop and R&B, the music of nothing,nowhere. — along with other SoundCloud-first artists including Lil Peep — helps bridge the chasm between rock and hip-hop. Unlike the rap-rock of a decade and a half ago, which was often clunky, expressed via brute force and a constant reminder of its forebears, Mr. Mulherin’s blend is seamless and intuitive.

That’s clearest on the ethereal and sinewy “Hopes Up,” which features a guest appearance by the emo godfather Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional.

Mr. Carrabba likened nothing,nowhere.’s embrace of hip-hop to his own generation’s engagement with hardcore: “Some of the trappings are similar: posturing, hypermasculine, not necessarily inclusive, cocky and braggadocious,” he said in a phone interview. “Joe seems to have embraced the best pieces of that and laid the tropes aside. That’s where I see a connection to our generation.”

Mr. Mulherin still has the voice mail saved on his phone of Mr. Carrabba agreeing to sing on the track and asking “to hear more of your music just because I’m kind of obsessed with this song.” He said hearing that kind of praise from someone he looked up to “really puts wind in my sails, because I’m not the most confident person.”

Mr. Mulherin was raised in Foxborough, Mass. but spent summers in this part of Vermont. By the time he began taking guitar lessons at 12, he was already immersed in the bruising rap-rock of the era, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park (“my first vulnerable band”), and also emo and post-hardcore bands like Taking Back Sunday, Thursday and Senses Fail.

He was shy, preferring listening to music in his room to doing homework. Soon he was posting emo covers of rap songs like 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” and Jim Jones’ “We Fly High” on his Myspace page.

After high school, he went to the only college that accepted him, the hippie-leaning Burlington College: “It wasn’t unusual to walk into class and no one would be wearing shoes, or deodorant, for that matter.” He fell hard for the beauty of Vermont. Already straight edge, in his freshman year, he went vegan. He’d been making videos with his friends since high school, and got a job editing videos for a local business. In 2013, he won a short-film competition as part of a young-filmmaker internship that brought his work to the Cannes Film Festival.

Still, he was dissatisfied, and after saving up a few thousand dollars, he left college after earning an associate’s degree and started nothing,nowhere. He posted his first song in his current style on SoundCloud in 2015 and, after getting a positive reception, made several more songs quickly. Online interest grew, and eventually led to offers from touring agents, managers and record labels. Last year, at dinner before his first label showcase, “I was shaking,” he recalled. “I couldn’t even drink my water.” (nothing,nowhere. is signed to DCD2, the imprint founded by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.)

A sensitive child who refused to kill insects, Mr. Mulherin had a panic attack in second grade, and has been grappling with anxiety ever since.

“I’d be a lot worse if I didn’t make music,” he said. “With my worst moments, I just put it into a song so I don’t have to feel it elsewhere, and sometimes that works.”

It’s that emotional immediacy that radiates most powerfully from his songs, and has resonated. Since he first began getting attention online, Mr. Mulherin said has been receiving emails and messages from fans, like “I got this tattoo on my neck of your logo cause I was gonna kill myself and then I heard ‘Deadbeat Valentine.’”

“I know my message and what I bring to the table is positive,” he said. “I’m acting upon my empathy. I have nothing but good intentions.”

With that, he headed off into the trees to gather more wood, making sure the fire would keep burning.

#long post #nothingnowhere #nothing nowhere #MY BOYYYYYYYYY #i'm so proud #stan talent #the line about needing to take a nap is hilarious #that last bolded paragraph hit me hard because tbh that was me

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thickcrskiin · 5 years ago

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👨🏻+ "Do you feel any shame for being so awful to your daughter she can barely handle a conversation with you without being shaky after?"

Talk to my muse’s parents

Send “👨🏻+ Question” and my muse’s Father will answer

“despite what you or the rest of her friends might think---- yeah. i do. i do want a better relationship with her, and i’m trying to make more of an effort lately. it might not look like it to the rest of you, but i’m proud of how far she’s come over the years. as her parents, we’ve tried to push her to become better than she could have been.

the fact that she thinks she can’t hold a conversation with me? unfortunate.”

#⁎ || guest muses ( jim song. )#primankapustoty #.......wtf the fuck kind of answer was that jim #⁎ || a story will be told ( answered. )

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the-record-newspaper · 5 years ago

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Looking back on 2019: The music kept flowing

VFW Post 1142 Honor Guard members during the flag raising ceremony on Saturday at ChickenFest. From left to right, Ann Craighead, George Morgan, Post Commander Foyst Blackburn, Honor Guard Commander Claude Sturgill, Vilas Payne and Ward Eller. Eller celebrated his 89th birthday on Friday, May 24. Record photo by Larry Griffin

Music and remembering fallen veterans was the focus of ChickenFest 2019.

The event was held Friday and Saturday, May 24 and May 25, at The Record Park at the corner of Fourth and E streets in North Wilkesboro.

ChickenFest, hosted by The Record, presented by Tyson Foods and sponsored by Bojangles of 2nd Street in North Wilkesboro, drew hundreds of people to the venue A variety of chicken dishes were prepared by Roger’s Café of North Wilkesboro, and folks gathered beneath the American Drew Audience Shelter to enjoy their meals and the music.

Friday evening was emceed by WKBC Radio’s Ed Racey and Larry Griffin. Griffin also emceed the entire day Saturday as well as playing sets on both the Sammy Lankford Stage and Tut Taylor Spotlight Stage in the Tyson Pavilion.

Performers included – on Friday evening – Mike Palmer, Ben Holbrook, Rick Gaughan and Niki Hamby; Griffin, Doreen Pinkerton; Doug Davis and the Catawba Bluegrass Boys; R.G. Absher and Bob Kogut and R.G. Absher and Blue Rock.

Saturday’s acts included: The Dixie Duo, Devin Huie and Wade Dancy; Griffin, Penny Foster and Julie Wyatt; Libby Harbour; Horse Play; Copper Creek; Adam Winebarger and Kaleb Buck; Ernest Johnson and Friends; Alex Key and the Locksmiths; David Culler and BackPorch Bluegrass; Jimmy Owen and John Logsdon; Rude Mood; Padraic Wildermuth; Sonny Remington and Mike Earp; R.G. Absher; Cali Johnson; Doreen Pinkerton; Crabgrass; and Virginialina featuring David Johnson, Eric Ellis, Scott Gentry and Scott Freeman. Virginialina’s set was sponsored by The Wilkes County Heritage Museum and the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame.

BackPorch Bluegrass performed on Saturday. Members include Jake Joines Wes Tuttle, David Culler, Jim Matthews and Jon Cornatzer.

Record photos by Larry Griffin

At noon on Saturday, Record Publisher Ken Welborn and North Wilkesboro Mayor Robert Johnson welcomed the crowd. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1142’s Honor Guard members then conducted a flag raising ceremony. Post Chaplain Larry Reavis gave the invocation while other Honor Guard members raised the flag, then lowered it to half mast in honor of Memorial Day. Honor Guard member Ann Craighead then played Taps. She was followed by Libby Harbour who performed a heartfelt rendition of the National Anthem on the fiddle.

Andy Rhodes was the sound engineer for the event.

Carolina in the Fall

The fifth annual Carolina in the Fall Music & Food Festival, presented by Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express, offered world-renowned music talent, exciting family entertainment, the region’s best food truck cuisine, and unique arts and crafts shopping along Main Street in historic downtown Wilkesboro on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 20-21.

The festival offered four stages of entertainment: Carolina Stage, Foothills Stage, Hall of Fame Stage and The 1915 Stage. In addition to festival host The Kruger Brothers, guests enjoyed performances by Balsam Range; Chatham County Line; The Black Lillies; EmiSunshine; Hawktail; Trout Steak Revival; Scott Mulvahill; Cicada Rhythm; The Contenders; The Honey Dewdrops; Baucom & Jones; Williamson Branch; Hank, Pattie & The Current; Zoe & Cloyd; Red Wine; Newberry & Verch; Presley Barker; Lateral Blue; Nikki Talley; Thurler-Mosimann Project; Carly Bannister, S. Grant Parker and Jac Thompson; The Burnett Sisters; Cane Mill Road; Back Porch Bluegrass Band; Shay Martin Lovette; Alex Key & The Locksmiths; and Bob and Roberta Kogut.

On Saturday evening of the festival, VIP ticket holders were treated to the Carolina Jam at the Yadkin Valley Event Center at the Wilkesboro Holiday Inn Express. The jam is hosted by the Kruger Brothers and features other artists from the lineup, creating unique jam sessions and once-in-a-lifetime collaborations between the artists on hand.

MerleFest

Thursday, April 25 through Sunday, April 28, MerleFest, presented by Window World, featured a number of electric collaborations, spontaneous sit-ins, and world-class performances.

Wynonna & The Big Noise, Amos Lee, Tyler Childers, Sam Bush Band, Brandi Carlile, and The Avett Brothers all brought extra MerleFest energy to the Watson Stage, marking another successful year for the long-running festival.

Early estimates show that from its start on Thursday, April 25, to its close on Sunday, April 28, participation over the festival’s four days exceeded 75,000 attendees and artists from across the world.

MerleFest, held on the campus of Wilkes Community College, is the primary fundraiser for the WCC Foundation, which funds scholarships, capital projects, and other educational needs.

“We’ve had an incredible weekend,” Festival Director Ted Hagaman said. “With over 100 artists on 13 stages over the four days, we again feel we succeeded in providing a quality and successful event for all involved. Preliminary numbers show we attracted thousands of fans from all over the world. We appreciate their support. This event could not happen without the work and dedication of our 4,500-plus volunteers and the many great safety and service agencies in Northwestern North Carolina. We’re already looking forward to MerleFest 2020.”

Thursday

Chatham County Line kicked off the 32nd annual MerleFest with a big “newgrass” bang. At the top of their game, Raleigh-based Chatham County Line appeared right at home on one of the biggest stages their home state has to offer. After Thursday’s sunset, Wynonna Judd and her band, The Big Noise, set about conjuring up enough rock and roll, blues, and country juju to knock the first-day crowd right off their feet. Once the crowd had recovered, the ones left with enough energy to carry on into the wee hours were treated with more electric boogie music in the form of Donna The Buffalo. Sporting dancey rhythms and electric improvisation, Donna proved to be the ultimate weekend ice-breakers, encouraging the late night crowd to let loose during their First Night Dance on the Bojangles’ Dance Stage.

Friday

Before the sun had set on Friday, patrons were treated to show-stopping sets from the likes of Texas troubadour Radney Foster, Boston-based bluegrassers Mile Twelve, and the soft folk harmonies and humorous musings of The Milk Carton Kids. Upon the close of the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition, festival first-timer Amos Lee took the Watson Stage with his unique blend of soulful Americana.Tyler Childers closed out the Watson Stage with his now famous concoction of mountain music, old school country, and 1960s The Band-ish rock and roll. Under the bright stage lights, Childers rollicked through songs off of his award-winning 2017 album “Purgatory” to the delight of fans, some of whom had traveled to MerleFest on Childers’ merit alone. During Childers’ set, eclectic folk rockers Scythian set up in the Dance Tent for their second set of the day, the annual Friday Night Dance. Keeping the night owls rocking until almost midnight, Scythian reminded fans just how fun their music can be.

Saturday

Saturday saw Chris Austin Songwriting Competition winners perform on the Cabin Stage to an audience eager to hear these up-and-coming songwriters before they’ve hit the big time. Now in its 27th year, the contest is an extraordinary opportunity for aspiring writers to have their original songs heard and judged by a panel of music industry professionals (Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, better known as The Milk Carton Kids, Cruz Contreras of The Black Lillies, and Texas-troubadour Radney Foster), under the direction of volunteer contest chairperson, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale.

The first round of the CASC took place in Nashville, Tenn., and was narrowed down from 970 entries to 12 finalists representing four categories: bluegrass, country, general and Gospel/inspirational.

Each of the 12 finalists received admission and lodging for three nights at MerleFest. Finalists attended a workshop Friday morning given by D’Addario prior to the finals. After the contest, all finalists took part in a songwriting mentoring session with Jim Lauderdale and the on-site judges. The first-place winners in each category received $600 cash from MerleFest, a performance at the Cabin Stage on Friday night, and a 20-minute set on Saturday at the Cabin Stage. In addition, the first-place winners received a live performance/recording session with Saloon Studios Live, D’Addario strings, Shubb Capos, and their winning song will be aired on WNCW 88.7. Net proceeds from the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest help support the Wilkes Community College Chris Austin Memorial Scholarship. See below for a complete listing of winners and finalists.

On Saturday, Molly Tuttle returned to the MerleFest stage for the first time since she won the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition in 2012. A rabid crowd ate up every guitar lick and melody Tuttle played as she continues to push the envelope of what can be played on a dreadnaught guitar. The Waybacks’ annual Hillside Album Hour found the bay-area band covering Led Zeppelin IV in its entirety with Sarah Dugas (formerly of The Duhks) handling most of the vocal duties and Sam Bush, Jens Kruger, Red Young, and Tony Williamson backing them up for yet another memorable Saturday afternoon set. Sam Bush Band lit up the Watson Stage ahead of Brandi Carlile, running through his career-spanning catalog of “New Grass” tunes and closing with his new rousing rock and roll anthem, “Stop The Violence”. Traditional Bluegrass super group Earls of Leicester once again paid excellent homage to the giants of the genre, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. In an era of progression for the genre, the Earls brand of picking reminded the crowd that it’s perfectly OK to stick with tradition from time to time. Brandi Carlile and her band closed out Saturday with her signature songwriting style and vocal fireworks. Drawing from her newest release, “By The Way, I Forgive You,” and then diving deeper into her past works, Carlile and longtime musical partners Tim and Phil Hanseroth belted and whispered in close three-part harmonies well enough to make every last MerleFest attendee’s jaw drop. To close out an already special night, Sunday headliners Seth and Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers joined Carlile around a single mic at the front edge of the Watson Stage and performed the Avett’s “Murder In The City”, drawing a huge reaction from the already stunned crowd.

Sunday

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper introduced Steep Canyon Rangers Sunday afternoon on the Watson Stage. Late last year, Gov. Cooper declared 2019 to be North Carolina’s “Year of Music”, adding, “from bluegrass to the blues, from gospel to funk, from beach music to indie and hip hop, North Carolina is the birthplace of many musical styles and iconic performers.” Gov. Cooper was in attendance for Steep Canyon Rangers’ “North Carolina Songbook” set on the Watson Stage which dove into the rich history of the region’s music, specifically the musical heritage of their—and the festival’s—home state, and solidified their place in MerleFest lore. Bluegrass patriarch and hair-style pioneer Del McCoury celebrated his 80th birthday surrounded by friends, family, and the Del McCoury Band. Del and the boys fired up the Hillside Stage, highlighting his eight-decade milestone with class and style that only the McCourys can provide. North Carolina’s own The Avett Brothers closed out the festival after having joined their father, Jim Avett, for Sunday’s annual Gospel Hour. On the Watson Stage, gladly playing tunes that spanned their almost-two-decade long career, The Avett Brothers had the crowd singing along from the very first line. While many MerleFest patrons have seen the Avetts at the festival before, this performance proved that the brothers and their band have now truly transcended to the next level of much-deserved stardom.

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vinylbay777 · 5 years ago

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Week In Review: New Songs / Music Videos You Need to Check Out (October 13-19, 2019)

A lot of new music is released over the course of any given week. This week was no exception as we saw a wealth of new songs and music videos hit the internet, especially when it came to rock and pop. Jimmy Eat World, The National’s Matt Berninger and Marilyn Manson were just some of the artists to drop new tracks over the last seven days.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, loves new music. That’s why we’ve once again scoured the internet for some of the week’s best new songs and music videos. Here are nine (and a few more) that we think are worth a listen this weekend.

1. Jimmy Eat World, “555”: “555” is a different sort of sound for Jimmy Eat World, trading in their “emo” sound for something more snappy and confident. The pre-chorus run chorus is triumphant leading into the big, full chorus that’s more Muse mixed with Sting than typical Jimmy Eat World. The video is especially strange for the band, this time going for a sci-fi, horror feel with frontman Jim Atkins playing the role of an evil cult leader. (video)

2. Waterparks, “Easy To Hate”: Pop-punk band Waterparks just released their new album ‘Fandom’ last week and have now put out one final single/video from it. “Easy To Hate” has that bouncy, fun energy to get you excited. The verses are wordy and fast, leading into big sing-a-long chorus’ sure to be a hit at live shows. (video)

3. BTS feat. Lauv, “Make It Right”: If you’re looking to get into K-pop, “Make It Right” is a good place to start. Lauv’s vocals on this reworking of the ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’ track work well to draw you into the song’s infectious pop. Then, BTS take you further in to the world of actual K-pop with the song’s sweet melody and heavier rapping. As they swap between English chorus and Korean verses, you get the best of western and eastern pop. (video)

4. Marilyn Manson, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”: Marilyn Manson lays off the shock for a little while with his latest single “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” Manson chants the song’s menacing lyrics over an outlaw country beat and electric acoustic guitar, which makes the tone far less creepy than usual. It’s a different sound for him, but not unwelcome. (video)

5. Wolf Parade, “Against The Day”: “Against The Day” hits you right out of the gate with a powerful blast of distorted guitar, heavy bass and buzzing, synth. The song maintains this bravado as frontmen Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug start in with their echo-y vocals. The result is a combination of 80s synth-rock and jagged Muse-like stadium rock with a sound big enough to fill a room. (video)

6. Sudan Archives, “Glorious”: “Glorious” has this unique, exotic sound to it that sounds so natural and yet so different for western music. Her vocals sound like mid-2000s Rihanna while her fiddle-like violin playing brings in a middle-eastern vibe to the song’s bare-bones melody. (video)

7. Matt Berninger feat. Phoebe Bridgers, “Walking on a String”: Starting out low-key and mellow, “Walking on a String” feels like an easy kind of love song. The National Frontman Matt Berninger and guest vocalist Phoebe Bridgers effortlessly trade vocal lines, their voices blending well when they come together to harmonize. The song gets more passionate and louder as it progresses before devolving into chaos near the end. However, Berninger and Bridgers never lose one another, their vocals uniting at the end of the song as if the extra guitars were never there. (video)

8. Fran, “So Surreal”: “So Surreal” pulls you in its first few seconds with its upbeat, “cool” energy. Frontwoman Maria Jacobson’s vocals feel effortless amongst the bright melody and steady snare beat. It’s a good song to soundtrack a day wandering around a park with the sun overhead. (video)

9. X, “Delta 88 Nightmare”: X have reunited and are back with “Delta 88 Nightmare,” a classic punk track that will take you back to the 1980s Los Angeles scene. Exene Cervenka’s terse and shouted vocals clash against the thrashy guitars for a bit of welcome dissonance. (video)

Further Listening:

· Peggy Sue, “Motorcade”: (video)

· Jack Penate, “Murder”: (video)

· Upset, “Tried & True”: (video)

· Holy Ghost!, “Heaven Knows What”: (video)

· Echosmith, “Lonely Generation”: (video)

· Bebe Rexha, “You Can’t Stop The Girl”: (video)

· Beach Slang, “Bam Rang Rang”: (video)

· Of Monsters and Men, “Wild Roses”: (video)

This week saw a lot of great new songs and music videos hit the internet. With the weekend here, now is the perfect time to take a look back. Check out some of our favorites above and let us know what new tracks you’ve been digging this week in the comments below.

---

Discover music new and old at Vinyl Bay 777. As Long Island’s top new independent record shop, we have thousands of titles to choose from in an array of genres to suit the tastes of most music fans. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more in store at our Plainview location or online at vinylbay777.com. Whether you’re looking to find something new to you or to rediscover the classics, we have you covered. And with more titles being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you might find at Vinyl Bay 777.

#new music #songs #music video #weekend #Week In Review #rock #pop

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oregonjayhawk63-blog · 5 years ago

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Ghosts of Professions Past...

Many moons ago, when I was much younger, more naive, and eager to find a way to make a buck or two without doing too much work, I discovered the world of Radio Broadcasting. “Discovered” might not be the most accurate description of how I was introduced to Radio. Stumbling drunk into the campus radio station with a fraternity brother is more to the truth. Here’s the backstory...

Music was a big part of my life growing up. It was always on in the house, the garage, the car...wherever we were. The radio was our main source when it came to music. Listening to the songs, hearing my dad croon along with Dean Martin or Bing Crosby...memories were made of this. Yet it wasn’t only the music that got my attention. Over the years I listened to many disc jockeys in the Quad Cities (Davenport, Iowa being my home town) and enjoyed their banter, the information they provided about the songs, the call-in contests, and the whole three-ring circus called Radio!

Once in college, I had planned on becoming a music teacher and was enrolled as a Music Education major. I was part of the marching band, playing tenor saxophone. For some reason, they stuck me in a line with the sousaphones (you know..marching tubas that look like albino boa constrictors wrapped around the musician). Well, my silver tenor sax stuck out like a sore thumb, so I naturally switched to sousaphone. Mind you, switching from sax to tuba is like driving a moped, then being given the keys to an 18-wheeler! But it was a challenge, and a fun one at that. I met several guys who invited me to pledge their frat, Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity. Originally I had planned to pledge Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, which is the fraternity for “serious” musicians, but the Kappas were a fun bunch and I went with them.

During those first few weeks of college life I discovered the downfall of many a noble dream... Beer. Tony’s LaPizzaria on College Hill in Cedar Falls, Iowa was the favored hangout of the Kappas, and many evenings were spent quaffing beer, eating Tony’s famous pizza bread, and singing along with the jukebox. After one such night I was invited by a frat brother to stop by the campus radio station where he worked. It was there the Muse hit me. Music...buttons...microphones...albums galore... I was hooked. Changed my major the next afternoon (after sleeping off the hangover) from Music Education to Communications with an emphasis on Radio/TV. Needless to say, my dad wasn’t terribly thrilled with my move, and probably is still peeved to this day...and he passed away 23 years ago!

That fateful night began my career in Radio. I got my first real radio gig in Rock Island, IL at WHBF (Country Sunshine) as “Jay Thomas,” then moved across the Mississippi River to my hometown of Davenport, IA to work for the mighty KIIK 104, using my real name, but gaining the nickname, “the Weekend Wombat,” and eventually settling in as the overnight DJ. After a few years it was time to spread my wings and move on, landing a gig at KFDC Country in the small market of Fort Dodge in what was deemed “Central North Central Iowa.” I re-named myself “Jay Bird” and settled in for the ride. In a very short time I went from afternoon jock to morning jock/Program Director/Music Director/Production Director/Anything-That-Needed-Done Director. Huge jump for an overnight guy! Many calls were placed to my former boss, Jim O’Hara at KIIK 104, for advice...and this was when long distance calls cost you a bunch!

Fort Dodge was a nice enough place, but the station was run more like a bar than a radio station. Most of the advertising was done in trade, and several of our advertisers were bars. After a few years of that it was time to leave. Besides...my liver couldn’t handle many more station events! I went back to Davenport and worked a few months at KUUL (formerly KIIK) and WOC before making a leap of faith by moving to Denver, Colorado. Got hired on as a night/weekend jock at KHOW playing Denver’s soft rock favorites as “Jay Harrison.” The station soon switched formats to news/talk, and I survived the purge by having news experience. Worked as a reporter/features editor for a while, then went across town to the competition, KOA, to be a news reporter/writer/editor. After a year at KOA my then-wife informed me her job was transferring her to Indianapolis. Goodbye Colorado...hello Indiana.

I latched on to oldies station WGLD in Indianapolis under the name “Jay Hawk.” Had a lot of fun there, but after a few years my then-wife again informed me we were moving. Back to Colorado. I got a gig at Jones Radio Network, which is/was a satellite operation providing music and DJs for stations across the country. National syndication if you will. I worked double shifts, mostly as “Jay Hawk” on their U.S. Country format and as “Tom Taylor” on their Good Time Oldies format. Pulled a few guest shifts on other formats as “Thor Ravenswood,” but those were few and far between.

By this time my marriage was crumbling apart. Separation and divorce soon followed, and I gave her just about everything except my radio headphones in the divorce. One nervous breakdown later I found myself back at KUUL/WOC in Davenport, IA working for my old boss Jim O’Hara. Great guy. Hired me three times in 17 years! But it didn’t last, as my ex-wife decided she was going to move to Oregon. If I wanted to remain a part of my sons’ lives I had to move to the Pacific Northwest. Landed a job at KUIK news/talk in Hillsboro, OR as a producer, then got a gig doing overnights for KUPL Country. After 4 years of overnights and filling in on the morning show I went back to KUIK and being a talk show producer. I “retired” in 2015 when health issues prevented me from working.

So here it is, 2019, and still to this day I get people constantly saying things like, “Wow, you’ve got a voice for radio! Ever thought of being a DJ?” And sometimes when a clerk or restaurant server sees the name on my credit card, they ask, “Weren’t you a DJ at (insert station call letters here)?” Recently, a pharmacist whom we’ve been using for a few years put two and two together and said, “Didn’t you used to be Jay Hawk?” I smiled, lowered my chin to my chest, heaved a deep sigh, and replied, “I’m STILL Jay Hawk.” Rapid apologies from the pharmacist, “Oh, I didn’t mean you aren’t Jay Hawk, but you’re just not THAT Jay Hawk anymore...OK I’ll just shut up now...”

While it does bother me that a lot of good radio people are out of jobs because technology has made radio operations cheaper by voice-tracking and syndication, I don’t regret my time in the business. Well, maybe there was a two-month stretch in Fort Dodge where I wasn’t the happiest camper in the park...but overall it’s been a fun ride. Do I want back in the business? Not really. It’s changed too much for my tastes. DJs are no longer, for the most part, allowed to be themselves. They have to follow a script, say the right words, don’t deviate from the content provided by the corporate offices in some big city. It’s discouraging to witness, but it’s out of my hands.

The best part is when someone recognizes my voice or stops me on the street, saying, “I used to listen to you on (insert station call letters here) years ago and remember when you said (something halfway funny or clever).” That always makes me smile. The fact that I made a person smile or laugh, and that they remember it 10, 20, or 30 years after the fact. That’s a legacy I can live with and a Ghost of Professions Past I’ll gladly choose to be haunted by.

#olddj radiobroadcasting didntyouusetobesomeone

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prettybabyhazy · 8 years ago

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Moriarty x Reader | Always Take The Shot | Part 2 FINAL

READ THIS FIRST:

YOU GUYS! I can’t effin believe how much love i’ve gotten from this thank you! So ye this is the last part (i know...) BUT, the lovely @magpiesandmurder have taken the theme and basis and turned it into a hopefully ongoing story! Which you can check out HERE (it’s super amazing)

PART 1

Later

You went over the photos you took of the supposed ‘Richard Brooke’ You smiled at how naive you must’ve acted. He was so photogenic, gorgeous. You put them down and ran into your room. You paused.

You were looking at yourself in the mirror, pondering on what to wear. It was only 5 PM but you still were worried you wouldn’t have enough time. You pulled open your wardrobe and sifted through your clothes. Pulling out different outfits but still nothing excited you:

“Should I go out and buy something new for tonight?” You mumbled to yourself. “Why on earth did I say yes?” You asked yourself quietly. Staring at yourself in the mirror.

Although, you did know why. Your love life had been put on hiatus for far too many months and Sherlock and Lestrade had kept you far too busy for any sort of relationship. You didn't mind most of the time but you felt the sense of dread to coming home to an empty apartment. Seeing your empty studio. You yearned for someone to be waiting for you. You wanted a muse. You really enjoyed taking photos of Moriarty. And you were excited for tonight. (But you wouldn't tell yourself that)

You went to go and grab your purse until you heard the letterbox go and something dropped through. You tilted your head outside from your bedroom and saw a package. You ran up to it and ripped it open.

It was a *outfit of choice* . You gasped, grinning. A small black letter fell out too. You picked it up and opened the black envelope. It read the address of the venue. Luckily you had heard of it, it was at a very prestigious and posh hotel, something you weren't used to. You received another text.

I hope you like what my stylist chose for you tonight x

You smiled and texted back:

See you at 8 x

(Y/i)

You continued to get ready and ordered a taxi to pick you up at 7 PM. You looked at yourself in the mirror one last time as you could hear the beep of the taxi’s horn. You grabbed your coat. Pulling it close as you went down the stairs and out the front door. You gave a quick smile to the taxi man as you got in. You told him the address and he started the journey. You got another text.

Got anything on the Moriarty case?

Your heart started to beat a little faster, the fact that you were meeting Moriarty at 8 PM and not for business reasons scared you. You texted back, fingers shaking a bit as you did.

Nope, none yet, I’m out tonight. I won’t be able to reply.

(Y/I)

You put your phone away now. Not wanting to talk to Sherlock anymore and focus on the night. You tried to relax in your seat and looked out the window, breathing heavy. You were slightly nervous.

You walked into the hotel, being directed to the elevator, to the very top floor. You shifted awkwardly in the hotel elevator, the people who got on with you looked so posh, so refined. You felt as if you were in a movie. The room the elevator opened to was decorated in a very art deco style. It was breathtaking...

You looked around at all the very well dressed guests, going on your tiptoes a little. More importantly you looked around for Moriarty, but trying not to seem like you were lost as people were staring. You half hoped it was how good you looked. You walked up to the open bar, nervous still and turning your head trying to look for him, you waited to see his smirk and deceiving eyes. Then you felt an arm wrap around your waist, gently. You turned your head and there he was. Those deceiving eyes.

“Right on time. I'll have a whiskey and for my darling here a…” He said to the barman. He looked so gorgeous, his suit was sharper than ever. He looked back at you. You felt relaxed again in his presence.

“Uh… Just a red wine please.” You said smiling. Moriarty let go of you and paid the bartender, taking your drinks to a more secluded spot when you got them.

“You look absolutely amazing tonight, Y/N…” Moriarty purred, grinning. You got a much better look at him now. “How does it feel to dine with one of Britain's most notorious serial killers?” He asked, taking your hand in his. Your cheeks heated up once again. You looked down at his hands. They looked so large compared to your small ones. You looked at the

You knew that Moriarty isn’t a good person, that the devil himself hid behind those eyes. Yet you still felt so different and wonderful around him. So you looked away, scared almost.

“To be completely fair, I didn't expect it. But… Why would you take me out? I'm just a photographer, really nothing special.” You said, you admitted it sounded a little cliche. Being a photographer wasn't really the norm. He leaned forward.

“You intrigue me. You intrigued me from the first time you took the camera away from your eyes. It's not normal for me to feel this way.” He said a smirk forming. “And we both know you work with Sherlock and I suppose I work against him.” He continued.

“You could call this night a test if you will.” He added, letting go of your hands and sipping on his whiskey. Your eyebrows perked up.

“Well.” You started, Almost sipping all of the rest of your wine. He grinned as you did. “Let the test begin.” You smirked this time, you liked a good challenge.You stood up boldly. Moriarty put his hand on the small of your back, walking you over to some of his friends and colleagues.

“Evening Moriarty.” An older looking man said. “And you might be?” He continued, looking to you. Moriarty was about to speak for you, but you butted in a little, stepping forward.

“Y/N. Pleasure to meet you.” You gleamed. His other colleagues really were taken aback at how confident you were. They looked over to Moriarty, worried he’d not approve. But he just grinned. Taking the hand off your back, he knew you could lead the conversation.

The two of you started small talk and how the two of you met. You really quite impressed Moriarty’s colleagues, making them laugh and engaging in conversations about your photography, creating a new fake life with Moriarty. When they were all distracted, Moriarty whispered gently into your ear.

“Care for a dance?” He asked. You chuckled and took his hand, he pulled you up. He pulled you close.

“I’d thought you'd never ask, or think you could.” You said as he walked you over to the center. One of his eyebrows perked.

“Of course I can, a gentleman must know how to dance.” He said, he put one hand on your waist and the other on your other hand. The new song started and the two of you waltzed around the room, along with the other couples too. You both looked like a dream together. You thought that it was possibly a twisted dream but still beautiful.

You felt like the two of you were the only two people in the room, you felt like royalty when you were with him. His eyes never leaving yours, the both of them, E/C against his brown, searching and wondering what the other was thinking. Wanting to know more about the other. He spun you around and pulled you close at the end when the song finished. You also hadn't realized that everyone was applauding the two of you. You laughed, embarrassed and hid your head in the crane of his neck, he held you closer. He led you back to an empty table.

“I can't believe I just did that! I've never waltzed in my life. Well certainly not in front of a crowd!” You said excitedly, Moriarty laughed and smiled at how proud you were of yourself.

“You did great, although you couldn't keep up.” He said, you fake pouted and gently kicked him under the table. One of his eyebrows raised and he lightly kicked you back. The two of you were acting like school children almost. Until you raised the trouser leg of his with your foot, slowly. You noticed a change in expression as he smirked, a sense of flirtation between the two of you now.

“Now Y/N, stop these games. You'll make me fall for you harder if you carry on.” He said very quickly. You stopped. Blushed at his remark and a waiter walked up to the two of you. Moriarty ordered you the most expensive things he could find which you loved.

“Oh Y/N, taste this.” Moriarty said, finishing a bite. He held out the fork and you leaned forward. You bit down on the food. You saw the lust in Moriarty’s eyes now. As flirtatious as this action was, it honestly tasted delicious. You both brushed it off like nothing happened. The sexual tension was rising by the second.

The meal was amazing, and left you very full by the end of it. You were also a little more merry now, not drunk but after the 5th time of asking Moriarty to come back to the dance floor to show him you ‘great moves’, you looked at your phone. You soon realized it was around 11 PM. You tapped his arm gently to get his attention.

“Moriarty, I've really got to be off soon. It's nearly 12.” You said looking at your phone.

“Slow down cinderella, i'll get you home. I was hoping you'd stay longer and show me some more dance moves.” He said. You laughed. “But I know you've got to entertain our little detective tomorrow. Come on.” Moriarty said grinning. You nodded. He paid for the meal you had and escorted you to a very fancy looking car, that was waiting at the bottom of the hotel’s steps. He held the door open and then joined you on the other side.

“Moriarty I-” You started.

“Please, call me Jim.” Jim said gently, a different side of him showing. He slid his hand onto your thigh. He seemed more bolder now. You blushed and then looked down at his cold hand and back at him.

“Jim What I was going to say was… I honestly had the most wonderful and magical night of my life. I don't think I could've ever been happier. Thank you so much.” You said properly, you liked the way his name sounded to you. Jim Moriarty gleamed at your words. “I'm an awfully lonely person, but tonight you made me feel not so lonely. Even though there’s the fear of you, possibly. Killing me… I had fun.” You added. He smirked at the last part.

“It's been an absolute delight to have taken you out. And i'd love to again.” Jim replied, he was very taken aback by what you had said. “And what’s life without a little bit of murderous fun?” He added. You chuckled.

“I also… Still don't get what's so intriguing about you, you're so…” Jim chuckled, looking down, having no words and being slightly drunk. Which now made you laugh too. His face was close to yours now, you could feel the warmth of him and smell the expensive cologne he had put on. He leaned in and kissed you, his hand cupping your cheek and the other to the back of your head, bringing you closer. You shifted closer to him. You could taste the whiskey on his lips and it drove you crazy, he felt so dangerous. But before it could go any further he pulled away.

“Ah, ah, ah Y/N not tonight. I don't trust you yet.” He whispered seductively, making your heart beat even faster, which you didn’t think it could. And then you were outside your apartment. You wished the ride lasted longer. You grabbed your bag and the chauffeur opened the door for you. Jim pulled you back quickly for a kiss on the cheek.

“Goodnight Jim Moriarty.” You giggled. Jim smirked.

“Goodnight F/N L/N.” He said, the door closed and you waved him off. You looked up at the night sky and sighed. You then ran up the steps to your apartment, it was very chilly.

You wished you had your camera. In fact you wished you brought it with you tonight, he looked stunning tonight as did you.

You sighed as you shut the door and dropped your bag. Leaning against your front door, you kicked your legs and your shoes flew off. You un-buttoned your coat and threw it on the floor. You draped yourself over the sofa and grabbed for the light.

“When were you going to tell me you were seeing Moriarty?” A voice said, you screamed. There he was sat on one of your corner chairs. Sherlock Holmes. He held up the polaroid of Moriarty.

“Sherlock?! What the hell, you don't just go and bloody… Break into my apartment!” You said, standing up, but honestly did you expect any less from Sherlock bloody Holmes.

“I didn't break in. Remember our first case? You said If I needed any help at any time, I could come right round.” He stood up, pacing around your living room. He was right. “Also your door was unlocked. Although well done on keeping your spare keys hidden. Buried under some moss and then under another plant pot never came across my mind.” He added. You still had no words. He looked at you. Deducing you.

“New outfit, not yours. Far too expensive. Hair, same as always but styled differently. Perfume.” He paused, stepping closer and smelling your perfume. You gulped, feeling uncomfortable. “Hmmm… Cheap disguised as much more expensive. And you've been drinking, red wine on your lips and…! Moriarty kissed you. You don't drink whiskey. You liked the kiss.” He finished. “Why?”

“He… Said if i didn't go with him, he'd kill me essentially. How could I not. Moriarty would've hurt you and John again.” You explained. “He took me to this gorgeous hotel Sherlock…” You fantasized still slightly hazy and drunk. Sherlock rolled his eyes, pacing again. “We danced and I spoke to his colleagues, we ate and drank. Nothing about you. He said it was about a test.” You finished.

“A test… He's lying to you Y/N, he doesn't like you, couldn't like anyone if he tried.” He said, harshly.

“There you go talking about you again. He was different. You can't stop me from seeing him.” You said dangerously.

“Y/N… Please, he's not a good man, he’ll use you. Like all your other relationships.” He said standing tall. The last bit really stung. You threw your arm back and slapped him across the face. Hard.

“Get out.” You said quietly. Tears running down your face. He left.

“I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, to discuss this properly.” He said seriously. He closed the door behind you and you ran to your room. You cried. But then of course… A text:

Stop. You're far too wonderful to cry, too beautiful, don't listen to him. Sleep.

You almost didn't care if he was spying on you or not. You smiled and went to bed straight away. You wished he wasn't like the rest. Just here to use you. You felt protected throughout the night, feeling as if Moriarty was there with you. You were a mess but he didn’t care.

The next morning you spent it just taking photos around London, trying to clear your head. You thought about Moriarty, you weren't really clearing your head to be perfectly honest. You decided to visit Sherlock too.

You were sat in the client chair, you and John sat in silence. You drank tea quietly as Sherlock paced the room. No one had said anything since you arrived other than John asking if you wanted sugar or not.

“Look Sherlock I-” You started but he told you to shut up as he thought. “No, I won't shut-” You started again but he stopped you once more. You were now angrily sipping your tea.

“Leave them be… He doesn't seem as if he wants to kill Y/N…” John suggested.

“We don't know that. He said he was ‘testing’ you?” Sherlock asked you. You nodded.

“Yes but, he didn't take it too seriously... In fact he meant it in a fairly flirty-” Sherlock cut you off again. You were really getting pissed off now.

“Get out, go home or something. It’s as if i can hear your thoughts of that disgusting man.” Sherlock said abruptly. “And I can still smell that bloody whiskey.” He said in annoyance. You went to go and slap him again but instead pointed at him.

“Stay out of my apartment unless I invite you in.” You said, much more calmer this time. John chuckled. Proud of you standing up to Sherlock. You left, grabbed your camera bag and rushed out. You didn't know what you wanted. Was Jim here to just use you? Was last night a facade to just trick you?

You caught the tube home, not making eye contact with anyone, just focusing on nothing and wondering whether to call Jim or not. You took some more pictures outside of your apartment. Nothing seemed to be capturing your eye.

“Always take the shot.” Someone whispered in your ear, you jumped as you realized it was Jim Moriarty.

“You're here!” You said smiling, hugging him tightly. You quickly let go as you realized you were embarrassing yourself. He held you still.

“Yeah… I was a bit bored at home and thought I'd come see you. Killing people was boring today, also I'll be honest. I couldn't stop thinking about you. Cliche I know.” He said looking down a bit. You smiled even more. “Also as Sherlock was in your apartment last night, I got worried. I'm so sorry about that.” He added. Stroking your cheek, you leaned into his touch. You could see the almost worry in his eyes.

You reached up to him and kissed him, pulling his face towards yours. You stood there, feeling that feeling again when you were the only two people in the world. You both pulled away and you smiled. For once Jim was speechless.

“There's just something so amazing about you. I can't place my finger on it.” He said.

“How about we discuss it over a coffee?” You suggested. He nodded and the two of you left.

AAAA I AM SCREECHING! I’m so sorry? That ended so badly... Ugh. This won’t be the last of these I feel and PLEASE gimme some requests. I loved writing this. I also feel my writing of Moriarty is so bad?? aaaa!

Thank you so so much for reading this! x

taggin’ people who asked! @niawoods @adaleya @cutie1365 @thedumbestravenclaw @kpafb-love

#moriarty x reader #jim moriarty x reader #moriarty #sherlock #sherlock bbc #imagines #moriarty imagine #always take the shot #jim moriarty #test

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