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justsomerandomfanfic · 1 month ago

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The Witch In The Forest - Draco Malfoy X Female Reader

Title: The Witch In The Forest

Draco Malfoy X Female Reader

Additional Characters: Nymphs, Centaurs (Mentioned), other people at Hogwarts (Mentioned), Draco's parents (Mentioned), Blaise (Mentioned), Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy

Originally based on The Ash Lad, but I loved the story so much that I adapted it for Harry Potter.

WC: 9,919

Warnings: Royal AU (in a world where Hogwarts is a school for young royals, and the Forbidden Forest is filled with witches and wizards), Reader is mentioned to wear a dress, mentions of murder/killing, threats, yelling, italics, Draco being Draco, very brief mention of food poisoning and throwing up, very brief mentions of injuries/blood, very brief mentions of eating bugs/animals, love at first sight?, teasing, banter, flirting?, slight suggestiveness, name-calling (coward, lowly peasant, etc.), no Voldy!, enemies to lovers, forbidden lovers, prejudice, angst, and fluff

The forest was thick with heavy green brush and tall, wide trees that stretched beautifully into the sky. The world around you was peaceful, with soft chirps from small birds, and the bright sun’s light shining through the canopy of leaves, warming you perfectly. Today was indeed a breathtaking, and perfect day for collecting more ingredients that you were running out of. Herbs, mushrooms, berries, you placed all that you could find and needed, carefully in your woven basket. Crouching on the ground, the trim of your brown skirt became slightly damp from the moist moss beneath your booted feet. A faint rustle in the undergrowth went unnoticed at first, a pair of rabbits slipping quietly from the bushes, their noses twitching, bold in their searching for fallen fruits. Nearby, a sleek fox moved soundlessly from behind a tree, its golden gaze briefly flicking in your direction before settling elsewhere.

You thought that this day was going to be like any other day, but just as you were going to pick some blueberries, you froze. Above you, the insistent chirps and shrills of birds alerted you, their song different; they were trying to tell you something. Slowly, you looked up, spotting the blue birds in the arms of the trees before turning your head towards the west just as a small gust of cold wind blew past you, ruffling through your hair under the hood of your cloak slightly. Something was wrong, and your instincts and the cries of nature were never wrong.

A rustling in the underbrush made you glance down. The rabbits had vanished, leaving only trembling leaves in their wake. The nearby fox, now wary, stood frozen, its golden eyes locked onto something unseen in the distance. Even the insects had gone quiet, the usual hum of life replaced by an eerie, expectant silence. And so, you stood, abandoning the lush, purple berries to follow the small gust of wind, which carried some of the dead fallen leaves of the oncoming autumn off the ground; creating hauntingly beautiful swirls of orange, yellow, red, and brown.

Following the swirling wind for what felt like only a couple of minutes, you finally reached a path. It was free from any fallen leaves, branches, or twigs; which led right to a tall rock surface, covered in vines and moss. You tilted your head and stepped close to the stone, you looked up, seeing that the blue birds had followed, jumping around on their branches as their wings fluttered, nervous. You looked back at the stone before placing your palm upon its cold surface. Shutting your eyes, you felt the warmth of your energy flow through your body, tingling from your head to your toes before flowing out of your fingers as a soft, silver light. It sparkled and glowed as gentle little spindles of light emitted from your hand, swirling in an intricate pattern around the stone. Your eyes snapped open again, taking in every single detail of your surroundings. Everything seemed to shift and change, it was mesmerizing.

You took a step back from the rock as it slid open. It moved to the side, revealing a dark, hidden passageway. You quickly moved forward, feeling a sense of urgency, not knowing what was wrong, or whether someone required your help. There was a reason that the forest was forbidden. Stepping past old stocks, dead leaves, and a low mist that hovered over the ground, you found yourself face to face with a group of Nymphs. Now, these weren’t simple woodland Nymphs, no, these were the worst kind. These Nymphs were dangerous and unpredictable, hiding deep in the depths of the forest.

Their haggard appearances were enough to make anyone uneasy and their stomachs upset. Their hair was dark, covered in dried mud, dirt, and whatever else. Their faces, much like any stereotypical hag, any guardian would tell their children about as a cautionary tale before slumber; wrinkled faces, long warty noses, grimy teeth. They spoke with high-pitched, scratchy voices, laughing to one another, fawning and buttering up their most recent prey; a young man.

From where you stood, you could tell that he was already deep under their spell, eating the bugs, snails, and such that were simply illusioned as sweet treats in his eyes. From his mind’s view, and from what he could tell while under their spell, he was simply eating delicious strawberries, and devouring pleasant pastries. Under their sorcery, instead of somewhat terrifying Deep Forest Nymphs, he saw beautiful young women; sparkling eyes, breathtaking velvet voices, and long flowing hair.

You had to act fast to save the man’s life, and so, you went straight into action. Crouching down, you placed your hands on the dirty ground. Shutting your eyes briefly, the palm of your hands shone in the dark hall of the cave, just as it did at the face of the stone. Slowly, you watched as large vines slithered and crawled past you, as if with a mind of their own, towards the evil and vile seductresses. You continued to watch as they began to panic as the vines began to climb and twist around them, pinning them in place where they sat at a long wooden table, encasing them in a thick, vine prison.

“No!” One shrieked, “He’s ours!”

“Ours! Ours! Ours!” Yelled another.

They screeched, and cried, struggling against their only temporary bindings as you scurried closer, reaching the young man. He continued to laugh, high on the hallucinations, his fingers almost numbly reaching out to try and grab a dead rat from the table. You cringed, instantly pulling the man up from the table’s wooden bench before tugging him through the cave’s tunnel, his feet stumbling as he fought against your hold to get back to the ‘beautiful women.’

“Let go of me.” He spoke, his words slightly slurred as he continued to drag his feet, trying to get back to the cave now multiple feet from the both of you. “Let go of me! I want to stay with them!”

Stopping in your tracks, the man stumbled into your back as you did so. He rubbed at his dirty hair with his free hand, a frown on his equally dirty face as he looked around; hopefully, the spell was fading off, at least his sluggish laughter had stopped.

“Snap out of it.” You scolded him, growing irritated, “What you had seen in there was all just an illusion; a spell.”

Immediately, the man glared daggers at you, “How dare you tell me what to do! Do you know who I am?”

You narrowed your eyes, though you likely thought it went unnoticed beneath your hood. Taking the chance to study him, you quickly noted the familiar uniform - Hogwarts School of Nobility and Royalty. Founded by four of the most influential and powerful rulers of their time, the academy served as a boarding school for future monarchs and nobles, shaping them into the leaders they were destined to become.

You disliked the school, not only because you believed it molded students into power-hungry, pompous rulers but also because its rigid house system only reinforced future prejudice. The separation of students by status and lineage served as a breeding ground for arrogance and division - an irritation you could never quite ignore. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the school eagerly spread propaganda about the forest you called home, painting it as a treacherous place teeming with unruly creatures. Half of that was true, there were large spiders and evil Nymphs who lured unsuspecting trespassers into their lairs, but they conveniently ignored the gentle woodland animals, the kind-hearted dwarves, the playful fairies, the protective centaurs, and the rare, majestic unicorns that roamed beneath its canopy. And of course, your people; the witches and wizards.

“No, and I do not care or wish to know who you are until we get to my cottage.” You replied sharply, turning around and walking through the forest once more. “And it would be smart to shut your mouth. Somehow, you have found yourself in the deepest part of the woods, and there are other dangers that are far worse than what you have recently encountered.” He probably didn’t know it, but just a hop, skip and jump away from the Nymph’s nest was the home of something even you couldn’t save anyone from.

Sighing dramatically, the young man followed behind you obediently, muttering curses and harsh words in general under his breath. His legs were weak, tired from the constant movement, but he kept pace with you nonetheless. And finally, after a bit of a long walk, climbing a few cobbly steps and through a tunnel of pink-flowering trees, you reached your cozy, little cottage.

“You live in this dump? How pathetic.” The man sneered as he stared at your home, his nose wrinkled in disgust.

Entering, you pulled the man inside and shut the door. Your animal friends made little sounds of joy at your arrival, bringing a smile to your lips. The young man, startled by the sheer number of creatures, watched as you gently asked the handful of squirrels to vacate what seemed to be your bed. A snake slithered lazily along the mantel above the fire, its smooth scales catching the glow of the flames. A few birds of different breeds perched atop the small candle chandelier, their feathers ruffling as they observed the newcomer. The open cupboard housed more squirrels and even mice, chattering softly as they nestled among stored goods, while over on the window seat, a pair of raccoons lounged comfortably, their bright eyes flicking toward you with casual curiosity.

“Sit on the bed.” You ordered simply, setting down your basket of what you salvaged from your busy morning of saving rude men - which you may or may not have wished you hadn’t saved, but you knew that having your life in the fate of Deep Forest Nymphs was far worse than any death imaginable; in your opinion, nobody should suffer through it.

He didn’t move, eyes wide with shock and disgust, “Excuse me!? I will not touch anything that those vermin have touched!”

You spun around in alarm, “Excuse me, but that is uncalled for! It would do you well to be kind to the creatures around you. Now, I need to heal you. Sit.” You repeated, pointing to the bed as he continued to stand in the middle of your cottage with his arms crossed, defiant.

“No. I will not take commands from some lowlife peasant.” He practically spat, “I am a Prince, I’ll have you know.” He spoke, all high and mighty for a man that was covered in layers of dirt and grime.

You scoffed, pivoting your weight to one side, jutting your hip out, and resting your hand there as you stared at him. Oh, you knew of what he was, just not who. “And that concerns me why?” You questioned him mockingly, “If you had come from Hogwarts, then you should know better than coming into these forests. They did tell you that this forest is forbidden, right?” You spoke before pointing a finger at the bed once more, “Now, sit, or the longer you wait, the faster the food poisoning will occur, and the sooner you die. But, if you think that you are strong enough to deal with it by yourself, then please, be my guest, the door is there. I don’t have to waste my precious ingredients on you.”

Silently, the prince stared at you, guarded, before reluctantly going over to take a seat on your bed, as you’d instructed. Shifting uneasily, he watched you warily as you moved around the cottage, rifling through drawers and shelves to gather the ingredients you needed. A soft flutter of wings broke the quiet, and a brown owl swooped down, holding a small vial delicately in its talons. It passed the vial to you, and without missing a beat, you silently whispered a thank you, the owl hooting softly in acknowledgment before flying back out to its perch upon the high wooden rafters. You began to combine the right ingredients, mixing various herbs and roots, and grinding them together into a smooth, dark green powder in your mortar and pestle.

He continued to watch as you finished smoothing the powder before grabbing an empty circular bottle. Pouring the powder into the bottle, you then grabbed a secondary vile, which was filled with a purple-ish substance. Combining the two, it sizzled slightly as you swirled the bottle, mixing the liquid and powder together, creating a purply-pink foam before it dwindled out.

Walking over, you offered the bottle to the man, who stared at it, up to you, and back. “You don’t honestly think I’ll drink that do you? You could be poisoning me.”

You inwardly sighed, “Why would I drag you out of a cave of hungry Deep Forest Nymphs only to bring you to my cottage to kill you?” You countered, gesturing to the bottle. “And I already said that you are currently dying. So if you don’t drink this, you will die. Your choice.” You shrugged, as you waved the bottle in his face. “Some advice though? I would choose the bottle.”

Snatching the bottle, he slowly brought it to his lips. He cringed, the overwhelming smell of what he could only describe as rotten eggs engulfed his senses. He paused briefly, muttering, “My father will hear about this. Forcing me to drink this…” Before squeezing his eyes shut and chugging the concoction in just a few quick gulps. Cringing once more, he pulled the bottle away once it was empty, blindly handing it to you as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “That was disgusting, what was that!?”

“I didn’t say that it was going to taste good.” You ignored his question, setting the bottle into your sink across from the bed. “Now, that should take effect in no more than a few moments.” You continued, beginning to untie your thick, red cloak, “It will counter the food poisoning that you have most likely obtained while staying with those Deep Forest Nymphs. Tricky creatures, they are.” You finished as he tilted his head to the side like some confused pup.

“Deep Forest Nymphs?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowing, creating a small crease between his brows.

“What’s your name?” You then asked suddenly - again - ignoring his question as you removed your cloak, turning to hang it on the hook near the front door. And then, the man found himself speechless. As a prince, he had met a lot of people - not only from Hogwarts, but the people that his family were associated with - possibly meeting hundreds of beautiful women, but you… You were something else entirely. You had taken his breath away, completely and utterly, leaving him almost gasping. You must have been a Veela. That was his only conclusion. Your hair was a perfect shade, complimenting your skin, and framing your face beautifully. His cold gray eyes began to look over your features; your soft lips, the slope of your nose, and the bright sparkle of your eyes. He suddenly felt warm, and it wasn’t due to the fever raging within his body from the food poisoning. His heart beat quickly like he wanted nothing more than to run his fingertips along your jawline and cup your cheeks, pull you close, and press his lips against yours. What was happening to him? Was this your spell? Was it from that potion you gave him? No, you had to be a Veela. “So?” He heard your voice say, plowing through his daydreaming and thoughts, “What should I call you?”

His mouth went dry, and he licked his lips, his eyes narrowing. "What did you do to me?" he asked accusingly. "Are you a Veela?" He demanded, his voice tinged with suspicion.

You chuckled, surprised at his second question. Shaking your head, you let out a soft laugh. "No, no, I am not a Veela," you said calmly, crossing your arms over your cream-colored chemise and brown corset. "But I'll take that as a compliment." You grinned, amused by the fact that the young man before you seemed to think you were either impossibly beautiful or somehow hypnotizing him. You ran a hand through your hair as you glanced at the fire, the flickering flames casting a soft glow over your face. "If I were a Veela, wouldn't you be losing your mind over my beauty or something?" you teased, shrugging with a playful smirk. You then shifted your gaze back to him, "Now, what's your name?"

He paused, before clearing his throat, his hand forming a fist at his mouth. Yes, it was true, he seemed to still be in his right mind. From what he knew, if hypnotized, the male victim wouldn’t be able to think about anything else but you. “Draco. Prince Draco Malfoy.” He answered before clearing his throat again and returning to look at you, “And what should I call you?”

You leaned back against your wooden table, resting the palms of your hands on its surface. Well, now, you definitely heard of the Malfoy royal family. The Malfoy family was as rich as they were highly influential, but not in the best way. The forest, though far from the world beyond it, wasn't spared from the news and gossip. From what you heard from a Centaur friend, the Malfoys were ruthless and cruel, and their kingdom was deeply corrupted, ruled by greed and a thirst for power that left little room for kindness or fairness. And this young man before you, was the king and queen’s spawn. Lucky you.

“My name’s Y/N.” You answered, tilting your head.

Prince Draco narrowed his eyes, “What are you?”

“What am I?” You repeated, “Quite rude of you to ask me what I am.”

Prince Draco stood, puffing his chest slightly, making you smirk again, amused at how he tried to make himself seem tough. You had no doubt that he could fend for himself, provided that he had a sword in which to use. “I have survived Nymphs from what you say. What creature are you?” He asked, almost judgingly as he raked his eyes down and back up your body.

“I’m a witch… A Forest Witch specifically. If you want to get technical.” You answered with a sigh, turning to bend over the fire, checking on the small pot of soup that was bubbling there; cooking, almost ready.

“A witch?” He then asked, seemingly shocked, maybe tense, “But you’re not ugly.”

That made you laugh, a real, genuine laugh, as you turned away from the fire and back around to face the Prince. “Once again, I’ll take that as a compliment,” You said, a playful glint in your eye. "But I’ll have you know, that school of yours isn't truly accurate with their information. Not all witches are ‘ugly.’”

Prince Draco tilted his head, his curiosity piqued. "How do you know about my school?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

You gave him a deadpanned look, your expression unchanging. "Hogwarts is literally my next-door neighbor," You replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Now, down to business,” You walked over to him, “I will allow you to stay here for no more than three days, so you can get your strength back and I can monitor you. For now, you will eat and sleep - I’ll take the extra bed in the other room. And once you are better, I’ll lead you back towards the edge of the forest. Is that clear?”

“You expect me to stay here? With these creatures everywhere? And in these dirty clothes? Unless you are going to offer to wash them then I demand new, clean clothes, peasant.”

You hummed, stepping closer to the prince, “Well, your highness, I guess you’ll just have to wash them yourself if you don’t want to wear them… I do have extra clothes that might fit you, but you won’t get them unless you ask nicely.”

He stared down at you, his lips parting slightly as his eyes traveled over your face, taking in every bit of beauty that his gaze landed upon. His fingers twitched nervously and his breathing quickened; there was just something so strangely alluring about you. “This is ridiculous…” He muttered before gulping. It didn’t take long, as he stood, taking in his appearance. His school uniform, black, silver, and green, were dirty, as well as parts of his face, hands, and blonde hair. He smelled foul, and the prince blinked before frowning stubbornly, “Fine. I will take the extra clothing.”

“Please?” You prompted, tilting your head to the side slightly, “Gotta use the magic word.”

His eyes narrowed, matching your force with his own, fueling the tension that sizzled between the two of you, “Please?” He sneered, his stomach churning as a strange fluttering warmed in the pit of his stomach. “Happy, are you?”

You hummed, allowing yourself the pleasure of admiring the prince before you leaned back, “Very.” You smiled, “Now, I’ll go grab those clothes, you can help yourself to the stew. It’s mushroom and potato. After dinner, you can wash the muck off you. And, do not worry, my friends do not sleep in my cottage, usually they leave after dinner and return for breakfast.” Draco felt a sigh leave him as you turned around the corner, only for you to peek your head back around a second later, “And don’t think I forgot the ‘thank you for saving my life’ that you own me.”

~~~

“I am fine.” Draco tried to assure you stubbornly, crossing his arms as you made one last elixir, “I do not need another one of those dreadful things.”

You hummed, flicking your tongue to the roof of your mouth, “These ‘dreadful things’ are what keep you from becoming more sick.” You spoke calmly, pouring a bit of spring water into your circular bottle before mixing the ingredients together with a few twists of your wrist, “This also helps with any stomach issues you may have. You don’t want to throw up, do you?” You asked, turning from the table to walk the few steps to the bed where Draco sat.

“No, I wouldn’t.” He continued to be stubborn, however, turning up his nose at the drink that you offered.

“Then drink.” Your grin widened when he - again - snatched the potion from your hand and drank the whole thing in a couple of chugs. “There, not that bad, right?” You playfully cooed, only for Draco to look at you with a hardened glare.

“Don’t treat me like a child.” He scolded, setting the empty vessel down on the nightstand beside the bed with a hard thump, thankfully, the bottle didn’t shatter or crack.

“Then stop acting like one.” You answered back, crossing your arms as you leaned against the wall, the snake that was on your mantel yesterday, was in his usual spot before slowly slipping onto you, slithering around your shoulders, “The faster you drink what I make, the faster you’ll get better, and the sooner you can go on your own way.” You ran a hand through your hair, “I don’t know why you have to be so stubborn. I am just trying to help. I don’t have to help you, but I do. And it’s not weak to need help or ask for help, if that’s what your problem is.” You watched him carefully as he crossed his arms across his chest and looked away.

“I hate it here.” He grumbled, making you groan in frustration and push off the wall. “It’s too cramped.”

“Well, I am sorry that I don’t live in a castle or mansion.” Walking towards the table again, you felt your blood boil slightly as you spun around and leaned against it, “You just never learn, can you? I’m only trying to help, I’m trying to make everything easier for you, but you refuse to accept my help.” A bluebird flew from the rafters to land on the table beside you, brushing up against your arm as a hedgehog waddled over to your foot, nudging you; all trying to give you their emotional support.

“Because you are forcing me to stay here.” He growled lowly, “I’ve told you before, I don’t need your assistance. Especially from some lowly witch.”

You barked out a sarcastic laugh, narrowing your eyes as you smiled darkly, “A ‘lowly witch,’ well, I haven’t heard that one before.” You huffed, “I may be far too kind and generous for my own good, but I am still a witch, and I can still be quite vicious if I feel it is necessary. I have a lot of hexes in my book. I can and will turn you into a ferret, if I must. And this situation certainly qualifies for that, don’t you agree?” He kept silent. Sighing, you pushed yourself from the table, some of the animals following after you, “If you want to leave, you may, I can’t force you to stay here. You can leave whenever you like. As I said yesterday, I don’t have to waste my ingredients on you.” Your voice was soft as you walked past him, pausing momentarily at the corner. “You may keep the clothes, I won’t need them. I would advise that you bring my extra cloak, it’s getting cold. It might rain.” You finished before slipping out of the room, and into your storage room that you also used as a small craft room, your animal friends following.

For the next hour or so, you stayed in that room, knitting one of the raccoons a scarf from the yarn that you had saved up to buy at the nearby village of Hogsmeade. It was quiet, far too quiet, and you made up your mind that Draco had left. Half of you was disappointed, liking having someone around that could speak back to you, even if they were a bit of a pain. The other half of you said ‘good riddance.’ It was going to be so quiet around the cottage again. You, being a witch and all, didn’t have many friends that had the ability to speak. You had only the Centaurs.

But, as you sat in your little, wooden rocking chair, warm, brown spun wool in your lap and needles in hand, you paused. Looking out the window, you found droplets of rain running down the glass, the sky was gray as rain continued to fall down from that gray sky. You shivered slightly, tightening your shawl tighter around you. If you were cold, he must have been freezing. But he had been so rude to you, o mean, why should you care if he was cold out in the rain, probably shivering and wandering the dark woods; lost, alone.

You couldn’t help but care. You sort of liked the prince, finding him rather attractive - especially when he emerged from your bathroom, clean of any dirt, and dressed in clean clothes - despite him being an utter jerk for most of the time he was with you; only two days. Being born within a royal family, raised to think those who weren’t royal or of high influence and status were below you, and therefore to act accordingly; he did have reason to dislike the idea of being in your presence. Not only from his forced prejudiced views, but from the school that warned him of the ‘evil’ creatures in the forest.

Still, it wasn’t easy to see how you could ever make him change his opinion. It was true that the prince was very difficult to understand. He was rude and stubborn. He was arrogant, conceited, cruel, and proud. He was the definition of a prince with no heart. The only times that you thought you saw something different in him were the few times that you were able to catch him watching you intently, and that, coupled with the fact that you could tell by the way his eyes shone and darkened that he was curious about you, almost fascinated. Those brief glimpses of light that he gave you made you wonder what else there was behind that stoic exterior. There had to be more than what meets the eye, after all. Deep down, despite yourself, you believed in the good… Of most people.

Before you knew it, you were standing from your rocking chair, haphazardly setting your knitting down where you had once sat before leaving the room. Turning the corner, you stopped, finding the bed empty, and the extra cloak on the hook gone. You frowned, swiftly moving through the small cottage to grab your cloak before stepping out the door. The harsh, cold wind blew past you as you hurriedly moved the hood of your cloak over your head before you were totally drenched with the bone-chilling rain.

The sky was dark, with angry gray clouds covering most - if not all - of the sky; blocking all the stars and the full moon. Shutting your eyes, you began to concentrate, feeling the warm and familiar sensation of magic flowing from your fingertips, and into the ground beneath your feet. Within seconds, the ground below you began to snake its way through the woods, creating a pat for you to follow.

Following the light, you held the cloak close to your body with one hand, the other free just in case anything were to try and attack you, which was a rare chance. Sadly, even though you were a powerful being, others would’ve loved to feast on your flesh if you had given them the chance.

Twisting around trees, large piles of brush, and stepping over overgrown tree roots, you finally found him. You breathed out heavily, catching your breath, bracing yourself against the trunk of a tree. Draco sat on a large mossy boulder, shivering with your cloak rung tightly around him as the rain pelted down on him in sheets. You almost felt sorry for him, but you were thankful that nothing had found him. Even though he had every right to leave, you still would’ve felt a bit guilty if you had come to find that he had been killed.

Walking over, the sharp snap of a twig under your feet made Draco turn his head, looking towards the sound, spotting you walking towards him. He rose to his feet, you could tell that he was trying to put on his tough facade as his green eyes narrowed with confusion. He continued to stare at you, his eyebrows furrowed in suspicion.

“Here to put me out of my misery?” He asked snarkily, only for you to sigh.

“Come with me,” You spoke, offering your hand out to him, but you could see the hesitancy in his eyes as he looked down at your hand, “Please,” You practically begged, Draco looking up at you before slowly reaching you to grab your hand. The walk back to the cottage was a quiet one, as you followed the silver ribbon of light magic. Draco’s eyes widened as his jaw dropped at the sight of it, amazed by your creation, only to clear his throat and look off into the distance and go back to his stubborn self. Only once the both of you entered your cottage, did you speak up, “You surely would’ve caught your death out there,” Draco continued to say nothing, collapsing in front of the burning fire in your fireplace, still shivering, trying to warm up. You quickly began working, reaching out to take the soaking cloak only for him to pull away from your touch. “Let me help you, Draco.” You insisted, “We need to get you out of those wet clothes. Thankfully, I have cleaned your school uniform.”

Draco looked at you silently, and you could practically see the gears in his head turning before he began to untie the cloak from around himself. Only when he took off the said cloak did a small gasp leave you at the sight of the small gash on his forehead, dirt and mud covering the side of his face; which you did not see when you found him in the forest.

He seemed to have noticed that you had noticed his small injury. “I fell.”

“That’s alright. Everyone falls,” You said, grabbing a small bowl and filling it with water before taking a clean rag. Settling beside him in front of the fire, you dipped the soft corner of the rag into the water, squeezing out the excess before carefully raising it to his cut.

The moment the damp cloth touched his skin, Draco flinched dramatically. “Ow! That hurts,” He whined, clearly overreacting.

You rolled your eyes, your tone amused but patient. “Calm down, you big baby,” You muttered as you gently wiped away the blood, dirt, and mud from his face. Despite his protests, you remained careful.

“Why are you being so… Nice to me?” He asked, his voice quieter now, unable to look at you as you cupped his cheek to wipe the rest of the dirt and whatnot off.

Your movements slowed until you had wiped everything off his face. You pursed your lips as you lean back on your legs. “Well,” You began, reaching up to brush his damp platinum blonde hair from his forehead, your finger just brushing long his skin. You paused, feeling a tingling sensation on the tips of your fingertips as you dropped your hand, placing it in your lap. “I believe that there is good in everyone. Even in princes.” You answered, before collecting the bowl and rag, standing, “I’ll get the bath ready for you again. You stay and rest until it is ready.”

Draco watched you go feeling conflicted with emotions. Your words were kind and understanding, and although he couldn’t quite figure out why, they brought back feelings inside of him that he hadn’t expected to feel again. That fluttered in his stomach, the warmth spreading through his chest. It was strange, but he didn’t hate it. Not exactly anyway. He slowly raised his hand, his fingers just brushing against his forehead where you had briefly touched him, before dropping it back down, returning to stare into the fire.

For the next couple of minutes, you went back and forth, heating up a bucket of water that hung over the fireplace before rushing it over to the room in the back of the cottage, one where Draco had been before yesterday to get all that dirt off of him. Before he knew it, he was once more sitting in a large tub, the warm water soothing his aching muscles and soothing his throbbing head as well.

The room was small, everything about the cottage was small, far different than his home kingdom or Hogwarts. But you had left him a few items before you went to make supper. His princely clothing, washed and dried, and you also had left another large towel, a different color than the one you gave him the day before. He dried himself before pulling the towel on his head, before dressing in his pants. Grabbing his white button-up, he tossed it over his shoulder as he walked out, drying his hair with the towel.

You looked up when the door opened, sitting in front of the fire, a sleeping rabbit in your lap, waiting for the soup to be ready. Draco said nothing, entering the room, his feet softly hitting the wooden floor. What you couldn’t quite help but notice, however, was that Draco was shirtless. Your eyes lingered longer than they should have, tracing the sharp lines of his toned chest and the way the firelight flickered over his skin. You swallowed, quickly averting your gaze, but the warmth creeping up your neck betrayed you.

Draco, of course, noticed. His lips twitched into a smirk as he ran the towel once more over his damp hair, feigning obliviousness. “Where should I put this?” He asked casually, holding up the towel. “The clothing basket is missing from the bathroom.” His tone was light, but there was amusement dancing in his eyes, and you knew - you just knew - he had caught you staring.

You opened your mouth to answer, but your words caught in your throat for just a second too long. “Oh, um- just- just leave it by the door,” You managed, cursing yourself for the slight stumble.

Draco’s smirk deepened, clearly enjoying your flustered state. “Alright,” He drawled, tossing the towel aside by the door with little care, and nearly hitting a chipmunk, before strolling further into the room - still very much shirtless. Was he ever going to put his shirt back on?

“Let me take care of that, okay?” You asked, looking back at him, eyeing the clean cut that was red. “I don’t want you to get infected or anything.”

“What are you giving me this time?” He asked, sitting down beside you as he slipped his shirt on, buttoning it as you shook your head at his question, your hand raising, palm up.

“I won’t be giving you anything this time.” You spoke, your magic flowing through your veins and out of your fingertips, creating swirls of glittering silver. “I know many spells, and one can heal you- well, minor injuries. My magic, sadly, can’t heal internal injuries, which was why I gave you those elixirs.” You spoke, looking up from your hand to the prince, who was already staring at you. Wordlessly, you raised your hand towards his temple, small wisps of silver light floating from your fingers and into his cut, instantly healing him as the cut seemed to fade and then disappear. You smiled as a small sigh escaped your lips, “There. All good as new.” You spoke softly before taking the sleeping rabbit into your arms and standing. Placing the little rabbit on the makeshift bed of wool, yarn, and cotton, you grabbed two bowls from your little kitchen. “Want some soup? It’s chicken, carrot, and potato.”

“Yes, uh, thank you. For… Helping me.” Draco spoke, his words stopping you in your place, with the two bowls in hand.

You seemed pleasantly surprised, your smile widening as you continued your way over, sitting beside him once more before handing him a bowl of steaming soup. “You’re very welcome, Draco.”

~~~

The next morning as the sun slowly rose into the sky, Draco found himself almost wishing that the sun would go back down upon the horizon. Even though he knew himself to be proud, arrogant even, he could admit that he liked spending time alone with you. Spending time with you was easy. Again, he was conflicted. Once he got back to Hogwarts, he and you would have to go your separate ways.

Walking out of his temporary room, Draco found you already pouring porridge into bowls for the both of you. The warm scent of cinnamon and honey filled the air.

You looked up as he entered, offering him a small, bright smile. “Good morning,” You greeted.

Draco hesitated for half a second before returning a small but genuine smile of his own. “'Morning,” He said, his voice still slightly rough from sleep.

He took a seat at the table, watching as you picked up your spoon and began eating. “I’ll bring you to the edge of the forest after we eat,” You informed him casually between bites.

Draco only nodded, not saying anything - until something small and soft suddenly landed on his head. He tensed instantly, eyes wide in alarm. “What- what’s on my head?” He demanded, his voice bordering on panicked.

You chuckled, covering your mouth with your hand as you fought back a full laugh. “It’s just a sparrow,” You said, clearly amused. Draco stayed frozen as you reached out, extending your finger gently toward the tiny bird. “Come on, little one,” You murmured, and, as if it understood you perfectly, the sparrow hopped onto your finger without hesitation.

Draco could only watch, his expression unreadable, as you handled the creature with effortless ease - like nature itself bent to your will. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “Why do the animals like you so much?” He asked, still eyeing the little sparrow as it fluttered up to the rafters.

You watched it go, a soft smile lingering on your lips before you turned back to him. “I’m a Forest Witch,” You said simply, shrugging. “I suppose it’s just a part of my nature for all creatures to bond with me.”

Draco considered that for a moment, glancing around the cottage at the various animals resting comfortably in your home. He wasn’t sure if it was magic or something else entirely - but whatever it was, it was undeniably captivating.

Time moved quickly before he found himself following you through the forest to the edge of it.

“Well,” You began with a sigh as you stopped at the edge of the forest, Draco could see the willow tree and a few of his peers beyond that. “This is where I leave you.”

Draco felt like blaring alarms were going off in his head, as he snapped his head to look at you, “Come with me to Hogwarts.” The words left his mouth before he had any time to really think them through, surprising not only you but himself.

“I can’t.” You spoke, frowning as you looked out past the trees and bushes, “I’m not like you, or them…” You paused before letting out a sad breath, “Being a witch and all, no fancy school for royalty will allow me to reside there.”

“I’m a prince. It doesn’t matter what they think- what I say goes,” Draco insisted, his voice firm.

But you only hummed softly, giving him that same sad smile. “Even with your status, I doubt your school would allow me,” you said gently. “And even if I went, prejudice follows. It always does.” You glanced back toward the trees, the place you had always called home. “Besides, I have my cottage, my animal friends… My life here in the forest.”

Draco was quiet for a moment, studying you, as if searching for something in your expression. He didn’t argue again - but he didn’t look entirely convinced, either. Huffing, he ran a hand through his hair, giving you a glance, “Will I ever see you again?”

“See me again?” You asked with a little laugh, “Only a couple of days ago you were trying to get away from me.” You teased lightly, making Draco roll his eyes playfully, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. And after a slight moment of silence, you continued, “I’ll find you.”

“Find me?” He asked out loud, turning his head only to see that you were gone. He looked around swiftly, eyes wide in a slight panic as he found himself alone.

“It’s the prince! It’s Prince Draco!” He heard, but he was too distracted, his gray eyes searching for you, only to be swept away from the edge of the forest and into the open; the bright sun blinding him slightly as he found himself in front of Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and Pansy.

“Draco!” Pansy exclaimed, “We have been searching everywhere for you. Where have you been?”

Draco raised a hand to his temple, the ghost of your magic still lingering in his mind - a warmth that had yet to fade. But as quickly as the thought surfaced, he dropped his hand, his expression hardening as he returned to his usual stoic, stubborn self. “Nowhere,” He said flatly, brushing past her. “I’m here now. That’s all that matters.” But even as he walked away, he couldn’t shake the feeling that part of him was still back in the forest - with you.

~~~

Sitting on the bench during supper, Draco propped his elbow on the long wooden table, his cheek pressed onto his hand. Normally, he was joining in on the fun, and he had been for the first couple of days, recounting his adventure in the Forbidden Forest, lying that he encountered creatures beyond anyone’s wildest dreams or nightmares - excluding the Nymphs. But, a week after returning, he found himself rather quiet; thinking back to what really happened.

“Draco!” Someone from his Slytherin table called out to him, raising their glass of pumpkin juice, “Tell us again about your adventure!”

Draco sighed, having grown tired of reciting the same thing over and over again. “You’ve all heard the story enough times by now, haven’t you?” He spoke, causing some of the people - especially his friends - to look at each other confused before he suddenly stood. “I’m going to bed.” He quickly left the Grand Hall, finding himself in his room.

Draco took in a deep breath, walking to his bed and sitting down. Running a hand through his hair, he shut his eyes; immediately, he saw you. He snapped his eyes open. What had gotten into him? Why was he acting like this? Wasn’t it supposed to be better? Here? That he should be happy to be back and able to live with his friends and learn at Hogwarts? He didn’t feel like himself anymore…

You sat on your bed, the one that Draco occupied, now empty and cold. You almost didn’t want to use the bed. You almost believed that he might come back, but you knew that was foolish to think possible. Draco was probably in a class or something, or eating dinner, doing whatever a prince was supposed to do. And you… You were just some witch from the woods to him. He was royalty, after all, you were a peasant. There was no reason for him to remember you or come back. He’d be foolish to do so, he almost got killed once. Though, it didn’t really hurt to dream, to wish that he’d someday come through your cottage door. It didn’t hurt to dream, right?

~~~

One Month Later ~~~

“Draco,” Crabbe said, causing Draco and Goyle to hold their horses. “I don’t think we should go this deep into the forest.”

“Yeah,” Goyle spoke up, “They say that witches and centaurs and werewolves are in here. And it’s also forbidden. I don’t know why you would want to go in here again, willingly.”

Draco scoffed, “If you both are going to be cowards, you can go back. I can handle this myself.” He said, urging his horse forward further into the forest, heading deeper into the thicket that surrounded your cottage. The forest had begun to darken, trees and foliage growing thicker with every passing moment; the sun setting in the sky. Draco, however, unnerved, trotted on, Crabbe and Goyle following behind as an owl hooted somewhere in the distance. The atmosphere was becoming increasingly eerie. “See? Nothing to be scared of-” Draco spoke confidently, turning his head only for his smirk to turn into a frown; Crabbe and Goyle were gone. Turning back round, Draco huffed, “Cowards.” He muttered, swallowing thickly as he urged his horse to continue forward.

With one hand on his horse’s lead, and the another on the hilt of his sword, Draco surveyed his surroundings, as much as he could anyway; the forest was dark, the moon’s light only allowing him to make out vague shapes. As he continued forward slowly, his eyes widened as something flew straight towards his face from the darkness. Instinctively ducking, he pulled back sharply on his horse’s reins to halt his progress forward, his horse rearing up, knocking him to the ground.

With a grunt and a groan, he pushed himself onto his feet, brushing himself off as he stared into the darkness ahead. A low growl filled the air, drawing the attention of Draco who turned quickly and held his blade out protectively in front of himself. Something moved forward out of the shadows, it was tall and bulky and covered in black fur and long claws. It brought its head up, its sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight. It was a large wolf.

“Back, you beast!” Draco yelled, trying to mask his terror as he pointed his sword at the wolf, its teeth growing larger as its snarls grew stronger until Draco was backed up against a tree, his sword pointed down at the wolf. “Get back!”

The wolf continued to snarl, its saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth as its large paws stepped closer and closer towards him. Its tail twitched as it prepared itself to pounce. Draco was frozen as he watched it approach, staring at those red orbs. Eyes that reminded him of fire, glowing fire. The wolf hunched its back, preparing to spring, the prince shut his eyes.

The silence was deafening and for a slight, split second, Draco thought he had died. But he felt no pain, no teeth as sharp as daggers ripping into his flesh, nor did he feel the burning sensation in his throat that signified a wolf’s attack. Opening his eyes, he watched as the wolf stood still, his nose turning into the air, sniffing, smelling the air. Suddenly, the wolf moved its head to the side, its ears turning, listening before he howled. Its howl cut through the air, filling Draco’s ears, making his body tense.

All of a sudden, a familiar silver ribbon of light began to weave around the wolf’s body, its light reflecting off its fur before continuing its path. Draco then watched as the wolf turned and left, disappearing into the shadows. He took a deep breath, feeling more safe than he had before. He lowered his sword, leaning against the tree, breathing heavily. He shut his eyes, relief filling his chest.

“I think you owe me another thank you.”

Opening his eyes, Draco sighed, turning his head to find you standing beside him. For a moment, all he could do was stare before he cleared his throat and looked away, puffing his chest a little as he spoke, “A thank you? For what, may I ask?” He asked, still slightly shocked by your sudden appearance.

You tilted your head slightly, a slight smirk on your face as you stepped closer, “For saving your life. Again.”

“I could’ve handled it.” He insisted, placing his sword back into its sheath.

“Oh, I knew you could.” You stated sarcastically, folding your arms across your chest. “I never knew you were such a skilled fighter… I’ve never seen anyone attempt to fight a wolf with their eyes closed.” You continued to playfully taunt him, stopping just inches away from him as he looked at you, his gray eyes glinting in the moonlight. You raised your brow expectantly, waiting for him to respond.

“Well, I was going to kill it, I was just waiting for the right chance to do so,” Draco responded, “I didn’t need you.”

You hummed, “Well, killing him was never going to be an option. If you remember, all the animals are my friends.” You shrugged, “But you did need me.” Your eyes briefly raked over his face before returning to his eyes, “Admit it, you missed me.”

Draco rolled his eyes, shaking his head lightly, “No, not at all. Why would I miss seeing a peasant like you?” He asked, feeling a rating, hot tension that made a shiver crawl down his spine.

“Oh, I don’t know…” You teased, looking away coyly, “Why else would you be in the Forbidden Forest, at night, all alone?” You countered, a mischievous smile spreading across your lips as you looked back up at him.

“I’m not alone…” He argued, his brow rising slightly as he glanced around. His eyes stopped on yours, his face becoming warm. “I have my friends.”

Your smirk grew even wider, “Ah, yes, and where are they?”

Draco pursed his lips before wetting his lips, “Ah, uh, we got separated.” He spoke, stammering only slightly hardly noticeable as you raised both of your hands to straighten the collar of his white button-up; the tips of your fingers just barely brushing his burning neck.

“Seperated?” You repeated, your hands resting on his chest as you finished fiddling with his collar, “I’ve told you before… It’s dangerous in these woods.” You sighed softly, your smirk forming a small, sad frown as you stared at his chest. “You shouldn’t be out here. I’ll lead you back to the edge of the forest.” You quickly turned away, only getting so far before Draco grabbed your hand.

Turning your head, you were about to speak when Draco stopped you by tugging at your hand, pulling you close. Your body was immediately pressed against his, your hand flying to land back on his chest. You blinked, taken aback, watching the way his hair fluttered slightly in the wind, the way the moonlight illuminated the contours of his face, his features softening and relaxing as he watched you.

You had guessed right, he had missed you. Your voice, your company. It was addicting. Like the first night that he had met you, the night you saved him, Draco felt a warmth rise from within, a fluttery feeling settling in his stomach. It was an unfamiliar yet exciting feeling, one that made him feel almost giddy inside.

He felt himself begin to lean in. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to kiss you. You didn't move as he placed his hand beneath your chin, tilting your face upward slightly, his thumb racing - brushing - along your bottom lip as your eyelids fluttered shut. Leaning in ever so slightly, you allowed yourself to get lost in the feeling of his touch as he closed the small gap between the two of you.

His lips brushed gently against yours, a gentle pressure, not wanting to push too far but not wanting to leave completely either. You couldn’t help but return the gesture, placing a hand on the back of his neck - gently carding through the short, platinum blonde hair there - while the other wrapped around his waist, holding him closer as if you feared that if you let go, he might disappear. The kiss lasted a few seconds, neither party was willing nor wanting to pull away. The palpable tension between the two of you was so strong that it almost seemed like it might burst.

Just when you thought you couldn’t hold back anymore, the spell broke as you felt his lips part from yours, breaking contact with your own and causing your eyes to flutter open. Draco’s eyes remained locked on your lips, lingering before they shifted.

He gulped, licking his bottom lip before looking into your eyes, searching them before he whispered, “Thank you.”

You couldn’t help but smile, unable to break your gaze away from his soft gray eyes, “You’re very welcome, Draco.” ~~~ “They're going to be looking for you again, Draco,” You murmured, your voice gentle yet firm.

You sat beside him on your bed, back in your cottage - the place he had softly demanded you take him to instead of the forest’s edge. His grip on your hand tightened slightly as he shook his head.

“Let them,” He muttered, his thumb brushing absentmindedly over your knuckles. “I don’t care.”

You exhaled softly, watching him. “You should.”

Draco finally looked at you, his stormy gray eyes filled with something unreadable. “The only thing I care about right now is being here - with you.”

You smiled softly, your hand gently coming up to cup his cheek, leaning in to kiss the opposite side of his face. “To think, under all that stubbornness was such a softie,” You teased lightly. “But you have to go back at some point.”

Draco cupped your hand on his cheek, his eyes shutting briefly. “I’ve got one more month until I graduate,” He murmured, his voice low and steady. “And then I’m coming back to you.”

Your eyes widened, a sense of disbelief creeping in. “But… What about your parents?” you asked, worry lacing your voice.

Draco's gaze softened, but you could see the shadow of doubt in his eyes. You knew exactly what their views were on non-royals - they would never allow someone like you to be with him. They would never let him just pick up his life and stay here, away from the rigid expectations of his family.

“They would never allow me to be with you,” You continued softly, your thumb gently tracing his cheek. “They wouldn’t let you just walk away from everything you’ve been taught and brought up to be.”

Draco’s jaw tightened, but his voice was calm, almost determined. “Then I’ll change that.” He slowly brought your hand from his cheek to his lips, his gaze never leaving yours. The warmth of his breath sent a shiver up your spine as he pressed gentle, lingering kisses along your fingertips. His lips brushed each finger with careful tenderness, “If they don’t accept us,” He murmured, his voice a quiet but firm conviction, “Then I don’t accept being Prince.”

His words hung in the air, heavy with sincerity. His hand, still holding yours, felt steady, certain. He was already willing to make sacrifices, even if it meant defying everything his world had ever taught him.

You swallowed, your heart pounding. “But Draco, this is everything you’ve known. Your future, your family-”

“I don’t care about any of that if it means losing you,” He interrupted, his thumb tracing the back of your hand, each movement deliberate, like he was memorizing the feel of your skin. “I’ve spent my whole life being molded into something I never wanted to be. If I have to lose my title, my name... My family’s approval, so be it.” He leaned closer, his voice low and intense, a whisper just for you. “Because what I want is you. And I won’t let anyone - no matter who they are - stand in the way of that.”

His words stirred something deep inside you, a mixture of hope and fear, but above all, a quiet understanding. You knew Draco wasn’t the same person you first met - the prideful prince, hidden behind layers of arrogance and duty. No, this was a side of him that had been buried, one that only came to life in moments like these, when he let his guard fall.

You let out a soft breath, your chest tight with emotion. “Draco, I-”

He cut you off gently, pressing one final kiss to the palm of your hand before bringing it back to his cheek, his eyes closing as he rested his face against your skin. “You don’t have to say anything,” He murmured. “Just know that I mean it. I will fight for us, for you... No matter what it costs.”

You bit your bottom lip, your eyes watering slightly as you whispered, “One month?”

Draco nodded, opening his eyes to meet yours, a smirk tugging at his lips. “One month,” He confirmed, his voice soft but filled with certainty.

Slowly, you both leaned in, the distance between you closing as your noses brushed together. “If you move here,” You asked quietly, your breath mingling with his, “Are you sure you’re going to like it?” His smirk deepened at your question, and he leaned in just a bit closer, his lips barely touching yours, “Last I remember, you said my cottage was cramped.”

“I did,” He whispered back, smiling against your lips, “But I think we can make it work.”

~~~

Main Masterlist | Harry Potter Masterlist

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slavghoul · 2 years ago

Text

Interview from Upset Magazine 6/2023

Words: Steven Loftin

Like an apparition manifesting within a dense fog, it was through radio static that Swedish rockers Ghost were formed. In the kindergarten he attended as a young boy, Tobias Forge found himself enamoured with the music crackling through the little toy speakers. From this point forward, he began picking apart the notes and melodies - his journey toward the lore and canon coming into focus as he sat, trying to figure out how this black magic could be summoned.

While it would be many years before he would don his garb as Papa Emeritus, the essence of what his future would sound like was being set through his exposure to a wide variety of music. If any proof were needed, just look to the impressive list of covers Ghost have put their ghastly mark upon, including 2016's 'Popestar' EP, which included the band's takes on Echo & The Bunnymen ('Nocturnal Me') and Simian Mobile Disco ('I Believe').

Ghost's latest EP is another covers bonanza. A five-piece offering of Tobias's backstory, 'Phantomime' plays out like a Greatest Hits radio playlist - a fitting throwback to Tobias' first dalliances with music. Of course, when a group more aligned to the metal/hard rock community bust out covers, including Genesis and Tina Turner, eyebrows are raised. To this reaction, Tobias scoffs. "In 1991, Genesis was one of the biggest bands on the planet! That was a huge hit. In the mid-80s, when I had an older teenage brother who rented every VHS movie that came out, of course, we saw the fucking Thunderdome, and that was a huge hit, and it's still being played on Swedish radio. It's an evergreen; it's not an eclectic choice at all," he declares. "I grew up listening to Stranglers because my brother liked them. What else do we have, Iron Maiden - I mean, are you kidding? I'm a metalhead!"

Originally conceived during the sessions for their fifth album, last year's 'Impera', there were two folders on his computer's desktop: one named 'Impera', the other simply 'Covers'. As the ideas for 'Impera' grew, Tobias would enter his usual routine of working on a cover or two. "At any point, when you lose a little wind in writing your own things, it's quite nice to say, 'Today let's go in and work on the covers'; you can choose anything you want, you can work on absolutely anything you want. And you don't have to finish it, you don't have to release it, you don't have to do anything, but just continue working."

He likens it to the freedom of being a theatre owner who, instead of trying to pen the next greatest Broadway phenomenon, opts to have a go at something already timeless and perfected.

"Maybe you're like, 'Okay, so this fall we're just going to do a reinterpretation of Hamlet instead, that's going to be fine, and that keeps everyone working, and that keeps a project moving along! And I find a similar thing with working on covers. So as I was writing "Impera', the covers folder was also growing exponentially and at a point. I had this idea that was going to be a full-length album."

With COVID restrictions meaning the original producer for 'Impera' was stuck in the US, Tobias had to source a replacement. It would be Klas Åhlund who stepped up to the plate. But, on one condition. "He was pretty upfront. He was like. Yeah, I only want to make the record; I don't want to work on covers," Tobias remembers "Fine, fine, fine, that's fine." he shrugs. "So, after the 'Impera' recording was done, I felt as if making a completely different, whole record again: I didn't have time for that. I didn't have the energy for that. But once I trimmed down the number of songs to only these five to make a very rocky record, it loosened up the screws a little bit for me in terms of like, "Okay, so now I know what the EP is going to be - it's going to be a full, full-throttle rock one."

Ditching some rumoured softer covers, including U2, Misfits, and Motörhead. 'Phantomime is instead a delectable slice of Ghost doing what Ghost do best: creating theatrically big rock. It's Tobias's mark upon some bonafide classics, including Iron Maiden's 'Phantom of the Opera' which feels as befitting to Ghost as it does seeing Papa Emeritus kick the bucket ready for his next iteration. While the focus was on creating this small dose of Tobias's musical DNA, it also served another purpose; to simply be "not very complicated." The project began with the mindset of "we can make this recording loosely - quick but stress-free - as opposed to making a record which is your hard fifth record that needs to live up to certain standards. So it was just a very inspired, very simple recording, actually."

After the complexities of 'Impera' which wound up requiring two studios simultaneously running in parallel "to be able to work efficiently" - Ghost was morphing into a taxing experience for the band leader, "It was just a bigger thing [and] way more stressful."

Deciding to strip that covers folder down to the five tracks, by all accounts, 'Phantomime was a measured and reserved effort. "It ended up being me, an engineer, and an occasional musician coming in and doing something. It was so much looser, so much more mentally Feng Shui," he smiles, relief glowing in his voice. "And I think that that reflected a little bit on the two different records. They're meant to be related - they are definitely related - they were made roughly in the same time, but they're completely different things."

'Phantomime' plays out like a ghoulish social commentary. Starting with a searing rendition of Televison's 'See No Evil, the journey traverses the scourge of Televangelism (Genesis' Jesus He Knows Me') with a delightfully-fitting NSFW video, the instant gratification humans require to feel (The Stranglers' Hanging Around"); the pull back into cruel reality (Phantom Of The Opera"), and the resulting undying hope from a degraded society (Tina Turner's 'We Don't Need Another Hero"). Each offering is bolstered with Ghost's dramatic, theatric rock licks and Tobias's powerhouse vocals.

With 'Phantomime' in the bag and the European leg of the 'Impera' tour imminent (Tobias is currently holed up in preparation), the idea of reflecting on how he came to go from a young boy listening to the static sounds of pop hits on the radio to orchestrating not only a feverishly adored band and its lore but finding the capacity to embrace his inner music nerd, couldn't be more timely. Tobias's relationship with music has always been one of intrigue. He's a pop songwriter with the ambition and ideas of a stadium rock band, which, in essence, explains perfectly why Ghost can sit in a unique, exponentially growing and expanding space.

"My earliest inclination of wanting to transform into something else was definitely Twisted Sister," he recalls. "You know, "I Want To Rock' and 'We're Not Going To Take It' - that was a huge record in 1984, and in 1984, I was three years old," he says. "My brother was 16, so everything that was going on pop-culturally amongst teenagers was happening in my home."

It was thanks to his brother that much of Tobias's relationship with music was formed. He's introduced him to various giants of the time, like tectonic plates being pushed around, impacting and shaping his musical landscape. Translating for young Tobias the attitude of punk at the time, as well as everything else that was 'in', he remembers, "When I was a kid, and he was supposed to babysit me, as a pacifier he would put me in front of [Sex Pistols mockumentary film] 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle"," he laughs. "And then when that was over, he would just switch to [X-rated cartoon] Fritz the Cat. And I loved that stuff, of course. That was as much [about] the expression and the attitude. Of course, I loved the songs, but it was also filtered or combined with big songs for me." Those big songs ("Men At Work 'Down Under'," he initially cites, "those sort of songs still have a unique place in my in my writing") would eventually entwine with his darker side that he'd explore as he grew older. "Whilst my whole adolescence was completely in the name of extreme metal, I always had a very soft spot for Top 40 rock and pop radio always," Tobias explains. "And I've listened to that all my life. So it's almost equal portions of Venom as it is anything. that was on the radio."

Also, witnessing shock and glam-rock bands explode intrigued Tobias. He became swept away in the idea that not only could you push a boundary to its absolute limits with convictions and over-the-top grandiosity, but you could do so with songs that quantifiably bop. But, as time has gone onto prove, it wasn't pop music that enamoured Tobias enough that he wanted to become a pop star. It's the mythology and mystery that has become his calling card.

Tobias remained an enigma under the disguise of an evolving form of the iconic Papa Emeritus (now in his fourth incarnation) until 2017, after a lawsuit from a previous iteration of his backing band's rotating cast, the Nameless Ghouls. Visual and video components to releases are often hoovered up by the fandom, stripped apart for meaning and potential. Instagram posts are referred to as a '[Message From The Clergy]" (a phrase later claimed for 2022's Best Of playlist), and lest it is forgotten, the Ghost 'Grucifix' - the prominent crucifix deconstructed into Tobias's gothic 'G' logo - which ties together the vision, religious imagery and satire that would become a core part of the Ghost experience.

His musical ambition and education colliding in the middle of his Venn diagram between dark metal and pop magic is thanks to the likes of the aforementioned Twisted Sister and W.A.S.P., as well as his teen years in the black metal community. "Their first record was also a huge impact in Swedish media," Tobias remembers. "There was this big sort of Satanic panic thing going on at the time in the fall of 1984. Where you had essentially all those things happening. You had Mötley Crüe 'Shout At The Devil', which came out a year earlier, and they were there because they toured with Iron Maiden in 1984, so there was a lot of focus on these shock-rock bands. I saw that as a kid, and I was immediately blown away - it was the coolest thing I've ever seen. And I think that that was the trigger that made me identify as that is how I want to express myself."

Decoding the songs he'd hear also became an integral part of that expression. "That was the only thing I did for years before I started writing my own songs." Recalling his time in kindergarten, they had a piano and guitar, which Tobias became infatuated with. Instead of playing with the other children, he would find himself enraptured, listening to the radio or flipping over whichever cassette happened to be loaded at the time. He would then imitate the sounds he was soaking up. "A lot of those early beginnings of how to learn and how I've learned how to understand music filters through everything I do now," he explains.

The early records he'd find himself trying to unpack included KISS 'Alive' and Pink Floyd's 'Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' - disparate matches, but undoubtedly Ghost fuel with hard rock melodies and psychedelic tendencies. "I had the first and the second Pink Floyd on a double LP that was called 'A Nice Pair'. And that's the shit that I sat and listened to and played guitar to," he says proudly. "That's weird music, that's really weird chord sequences and melodies that sort of went nowhere. And, that coloured me a lot in my vision of this is how you write a pop song. Of course, I knew more conventional writing as well. But I figured that this resonates with me, and I want to write more like that."

Tobias is the first to admit that the influence his musical exposure has had on him isn't the most straightforward. "For all the years that I was in bands, up until Ghost, basically when I was in bands not doing well, I got a lot of, I wouldn't say stick, but it was always like, 'You write weird songs, there's something weird about them, and it will never really become anything because it has that sort of weirdness to it".

As he grew, the songs he'd heard reflected this inherent strangeness he'd constructed. Before the days of mass formulaic pop factories, the music emanating from the radio abided by the strictest rule of needing to at least be approachable, but within these confines, artists of the 70s and 80s would push the envelope as far as they could. Citing Nik Kershaw's 'The Riddle' as one example, "Holy shit, if you would have taken that song and taken it to a chord structure masterclass amongst pop writers now who want to write songs for Miley Cyrus or The Weeknd or any of that sort of level they would say, no, no, no, no, that this will never work. It's too strange. It's too weird. You can't do that; it doesn't have the normal chord progression.

"There are a lot of songs from the 80s that are like that," he reckons, "compared to the now, more informative way of writing, the 80s was braver actually, and it worked well. And those songs are evergreens in a way that a lot of the top radio shit from seven years ago is forgotten, and that's the stuff that I grew up with when I started playing the guitar."

Having made that inner sanctum, he would enter kindergarten a reality, one where he can explore those recesses of his mind shaken by the musical earthquakes he experienced; now, he's matured and deeply entrenched in the reality. "Throughout the modern day of pop writing, I know a few professional pop songwriters, and we continue having these conversations because in pop," he says, "where some of them work prolifically on really high releases, they're like, it's strange how the business wants everything to be so informative. Everybody wants a weird song, but still, all the big songs are usually very, very formatted [and] very, very simple."

While unpacking the songs he'd heard back in the 80s offered Tobias a chance to comprehend what makes a good song, it, more importantly, helped him to set out doing it on his own. When digging into crafting a new Ghost number, Tobias explains that "each new song is a little bit like virgin territory with its own riddle to be solved, and is always a combination of the horror of maybe not solving the puzzle, with the thrill when you do. And it's never easy because each new song needs something new. And so you constantly need to feed your ability with knowledge about how other things are."

Breaking it down into a figurative example, he likens it to being like a detective. "I'm assuming that part of being a great detective is to constantly have an open mind, but also constantly learning about human behaviour and wha people do. If you just had 100 forensic classes, but you know nothing about people and how they live their lives, it's gonna be hard to solve crimes." The same rings true for writers who have to read to improve and further understand language, while comedians pull from real-life experiences - music is no different. Tobias's early days of stripping down songs to their basic parts and then rebuilding them have remained a constant endeavour. "But that's how you write songs as well; you go and absorb new things."

The covers process, as mentioned, is a release for Tobias. When things are stuck when trying to piece together a new chapter for the Ghost bible, a cover offers up a chance for something lighter. "Working on covers can be equally euphoric," he confirms, "because it's fun to understand a song whereas, on the other hand, it can be almost demoralising because you're like, I can't believe that this song is so much better than anything that I've written! And it's so much easier. It's so simple."

"I find myself overcomplicating things often, but you might not hear the complicated detour that I took to end up at the more understandable, straighter version that ended up being the actual recording," he continues. "That's a never-ending struggle because that's how it's supposed to be. It's not like you write the one song. I don't think I know anyone or know of anyone who's content with the idea of having written one huge song. And then you know, okay, that's nirvana for you. You don't write the one song the same way that if you're a comedian, it's not like, 'Oh, I just told the funniest joke. So now I'm done".

While Tobias is one for wanting to keep the ball rolling and on a constant endeavour to continue his musical evolution, he knows there's a limit. Every release of Ghost must have a purpose. Nodding to the 60s method of firing singles out on all fronts, eventually compiling them for a full-length release, Tobias acknowledges his relationship with his fans is based on a more long-term understanding. "That's not how we do things; we make an album, and off of that album, there are singles - it's a 70s/80s thinking. And I don't want to refrain from that - I don't want too many singles to be these autonomous little creatures."

But the world is different now. It's a Wild West where being in the masses' consciousness is key, so things may have to change for him. Admitting that right now, he knows he's post-release of Ghost's last canon entry, 'Impera', which arrived back in 2022, and while 'Phantomime' is a reasonable enough bridge, sooner or later, he's going to have to play the game of ensuring Ghost ramp up. Earlier this year, Ghost collaborated with Def Leppard's Joe Elliott on a re-release of 'Impera' cut 'Spillways' which, while a fantastic addition to their arsenal, adds to the same notion Tobias is fearful of. "I'm slowly preparing for making a new record that's going to come out in 2024, which is way too long for the current contemporary music climate; you need to be ever-present," the last phrase hanging in the air ominously.

That doesn't mean he has to lower his standards, however. No Ghost release will exist just for content's sake. Everything must have its place. He even reckons a 14-track album is "a lot of music", and he still sees an album as being "22 minutes of music per side" - true to form, currently, no standard issue of any Ghost album breaches 12 tracks. He's even ready to aim for the likes of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles by swiftly lobbing a couple of spicy takes out. "Look, man, I don't even think that 'Exile on Main Street' is that good. Not even the fucking White album is that great - break it up! Both of those records would have been better if they were trimmed down to singular records."

That pop mind breaking through; Tobias is someone who knows that music is entertainment. Certainly, a medium which often leads to more bulky connotations, but it must entertain. It's why he doesn't pay any mind to those naysayers that yearn for Ghost to be more metal or to follow a different path. This is Tobias's game; we're just privy to the sermon. These days the floodgates are open and, when compared to previous decades, as Tobias remembers it, "you had to buy your own records. Whatever additional music you got, that wasn't maybe heard on the TV or the radio, when you took something from someone else, was usually a choice, so music styles could in some way be a little bit more insular back then just because you weren't subjected to as much." He mentions his beloved death metal as being a signifier of the changes happening. "Back in the day, when I was starting listening to extreme metal, that was completely embraced by a certain little subculture or group of mostly teenagers and 20-somethings. Whereas in the 2000s, when Vice started doing black metal reporting, all of a sudden you have indie personalities who were fans of Darkthrone, and so, obviously, what ended up that turned into this fusion, which was a positive and very natural thing."

This cultural shift is another reason Ghost's space is widening and its success growing. "Nowadays, people are a little bit more open," he admits. But, with this comes issues. "As time has progressed, metal and hard rock, as well as most genres that have been around for a while, [they've] gone from this youth culture to a conservative institution because so many of the fans are now aged." The passage of time waits for no one. But, more presciently for culture, it also means our understanding of what is 'good' and what should be where is moulded differently to when we were younger. "Unfortunately, that happens to most people regardless of who you were when you were 20," Tobias reckons, "or your ideals when you're like 40/50/60 years old. Your brain starts morphing into a slightly more conservative, slightly more nostalgic... You don't want things to change."

Tobias is the first to hold his hands up and admit the same has happened to him. He yearns for 1984 and even 1990-94. He would even be happy with 1987, back to those days with the crackling radio and a childlike spirit. "That would be so much cooler. I loved that way more than in this day and age. But I can't sit around and mope about that because it's not a problem that it's not 1987."

'Phantomime' is proof nostalgia can be a useful tool. It fuels with passion, and Ghost is Tobias's Neverland. "There's such a debate about what we are and why that is." Ghost are a band that, thanks to Tobias's musical education, transcend time. They exist on their own plain and with the evergreen, timeless sounds of yesteryear echoing around Tobias's head, long may Papa reign with his gloved melodic iron fist.

#the band ghost #tobias forge #interview #really good one 👍

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brightside-of-the-upsidedown · 2 years ago

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I'm not sure how I'll continue it yet, but this is the infamous pastel grunge punk!Steve I ended up writing instead of tentacles, so enjoy XD

Sparked by this beautiful post

By @discodeviant because while I was reading, Beggar's Song by Matt Maeson started playing in my head.

Steve looked into the backroom bathroom's cracked mirror and fixed his hair for the seventh time in the last thirty minutes. It was practically a ritual at this point when he was nervous. Well, maybe it'd become his lucky thing after tonight.

He brushed the hair away from his face and clicked his tongue ring pensively. From one side, his new haircut still had his usual thick brown voluminous waves with highlights that nearly brushed his shoulder. From the other side, he'd had it trimmed down into a disconnected undercut and dyed baby pink. He'd originally been planning on dying all of his hair pink and getting both sides shaved, but had chickened out. He'd still been thrilled by the outcome though.

Or at least he had loved it just this morning. But would everyone else? Had he made a mistake and fucked up one of the only good things about him-

A fist banged on the door and Robin's voice came through the door. "Come on, dingus, you're already pretty. Stop spiraling and let's go!"

Steve smiled and let her in. "Aw, Buckley, I'm pretty? Even pretty enough for you?"

Robin snorted and wrinkled her nose. "Don't push it. Now get your ass up on stage before it escapes those pants and makes a run for it. You're never going to throw those out, are you?"

Steve looked down at his worn thin jeans and yeah, maybe they were a bit tighter than usual in the ass, but their new apartment had a lot of stairs, okay! Despite it being almost more holes than pants, they were comfortable and definitely something his parents would never have let him wear when he'd still been under his dad's thumb. So of course that made them his favorite.

He turned and washed his hands once more. Robin let out a choking noise and pointed at his ass. "That's a new hole."

For a split second, Steve thought she was talking about something else until she poked at a spot on his ass not covered by the pants. There was a new hole in his jeans that showed off a not small peek of his ass and thigh. But it was low enough that Steve wasn't too worried about it.

"Buy a guy dinner first, jeez." Steve teased her.

She just slapped his ass. "Yeah, sure, I know a great little place on Easy Street called Cafe Puttana."

"Did you just call me a whore in my own mother tongue, Buckley?!" Steve gasped dramatically. "And maybe if you dressed like this more often, you'd stop having to resort to handing out free drinks to get a girl's attention." Steve hip checked her as she giggled at him and opened the door. "Now let's get this show on the road before everyone notices their favorite bartenders are both missing. My public awaits." He adjusted his pink jean vest over his Nirvana t-shirt as he stepped out, still picking, still-

"Your 'public' is a bunch of drunks, punks, burnouts, and half dead partiers." Robin hugged him from behind just before they got to the stage in the bar. "So don't let the nerves get you. Just have fun and sing me a song, piano man."

That got a genuine laugh out of him. "I'm no Billy Joel, but I'll see what I can do, uptown girl."

Robin went up on stage to announce him. She hyped him up as best she could given her audience and got a not too bad round of applause. Steve wasn't expecting much, this was a gig he'd just gotten only because he worked at the bar and the band that had been scheduled to play had canceled. He usually worked as their bartender and he was good at it. He probably wouldn't have gotten either job if Robin hadn't stepped up to bat for him.

Steve practiced his breathing exercises as the players they could find on such short notice got ready. He stepped up on stage, gave a friendly wave to the regulars who recognized and cheered for him.

He took a seat at the piano he'd had to tune himself before the show because it got so little use.

"Hey, you bunch of vagrants and drains on society." His words were met with proud hoots and hollers. "It's me, Steve, your favorite bartender." This was met with a loud boo from the bar, Robin playfully heckling him.

"That bunch of assholes the boss hired canceled, yeah, I know. So you get me instead, aren't you lucky? Usually you have to buy a drink to get to listen to my dulcet tones." Steve grinned as the crowd booed, whistled, and catcalled. "So enjoy the music, I wrote it myself. Yeah, that's right, fuck you, I have layers. Or if you don't like it, just shut the fuck up and enjoy the view you bunch of pervs." More catcalls.

Steve signaled the players and waited a moment, waiting for his cue, as they played the intro. They weren't bad for only two days of practice.

Jesus, come talk to me

I am but a blind mess, I am wild and free

I know that I need us more than I need me

One more whiskey, I am wild and free

Steve started playing as he continued singing.

Oh, but I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down

Oh yeah, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down

Steve didn't hear any hecklers, not that he thought anyone was that willing to get on Robin's Shit List, but he still didn't dare look up.

Oh, my mother Mary, come walk with me

I am on four drugs, I am wild and free

I know that I failed less, the less I knew me

Wander through the darkness, and come walk with me

Steve felt good about the beat and the band seemed to be really getting into it.

Oh 'cause I'm a beat down washed up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'll be damned if I let it keep me down

Ay, yeah

Yeah I'm a beat down washed up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'll be damned if I let it keep me down

Yeah, yeah

He timed his breathing as the band trailed into the chorus.

Oh yeah, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down, yeah, yeah

Oh, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down, yeah, yeah, yeah

Steve nodded and belted the post chorus.

You know that it's not over

It's okay to let yourself hurt

Swimming in the murky water

Won't you come on out? Yeah, yeah

You know that it's not over

It's okay to let yourself hurt

Swimming in the murky water

Won't you come on out? Yeah, yeah

We sing a beat-down, washed-up beggar's song

And we sing it even louder when the money is gone

Because we'll be damned if we let it keep us down, yeah, yeah

Oh, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down, yeah, yeah, yeah

Steve blinked his eyes open when he felt a bit of an echo- no, there were people singing along. He recognized Robin's off key voice and smiled. Steve sang out the lyrics with his whole chest.

You know that it's not over

It's okay to let yourself hurt

Swimming in the murky water

Won't you come on out? Yeah, yeah

You know that it's not over

It's okay to let yourself hurt

Swimming in the murky water

Won't you come on out? Yeah, yeah

He could hear a lot more voices raise with his as he sang the last chorus as the band tapered off. "Come on, beggers!"

We sing a beat-down, washed-up beggar's song

And we sing it even louder when the money is gone

Because we'll be damned if we let it keep us down, yeah, yeah

Oh, I'm a beat-down, washed-up son of a bitch

I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent

But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down

For an embarrassing moment, Steve thought he might fucking cry at the roars from the bar. Yeah, it was a few dozen regulars, drunkards, and partiers blitzed out of their minds, but it was leagues above his self doubt's worst case scenario. He had to swallow hard more than once before he felt confident enough to talk into the mic again.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it, you assholes?" Steve knew he was probably smiling like an idiot, but it was hard to care. "Give a hand to the band, they had like two days to fucking practice my crap, holy shit."

The bar clapped and yelled for them. The band looked pleased with the positive attention and a few waved back. One flipped off the audience much to their delight.

"Now, the rest of the songs are covers, the good shit, I promise." Steve announced. "So spend your fucking money, don't forget to tip, and enjoy."

They ended up playing some Nirvana, a little The Clash of course, Dead Kennedys, Siouxsie and the Banshees, through in a Motley Crüe song, and topped it off with his beloved Queen.

To Steve's honest surprise and giddiness, there was a demand for an encore of Beggar's Song. He led them through it one more time before ending for the night. Closing time was in less than an hour and he wanted to help Robin out with last call.

They got a decent amount of tips that he let the band take the lion's share of, but still got a sweet fifteen bucks on top of the thirty his boss had already paid him. He'd be able to buy some pretty good food for him and Robin this month.

That's all I got for now!

The backstory is Robin and Steve moved together somewhere after Robin got kicked out for coming out to her parents.

Maybe she stayed with Steve until her parents told his parents and they called to tell him to send her home, whatever. Robin and Steve decided to strip whatever they could from the house, sell it, sneak into her room while her parents were gone to pack, and they rode off into the sunset.

Now they have a shitty apartment, jobs at a shitty bar, and they've never been happier. ❤

I have plans to bring Billy and Eddie into it later.

Two Nights Ago

Robin: I volunteered you for a gig

Steve: I've only sang in front of you!

Robin: it's time to fly, I'm kicking you out of the nest, dingus

Steve: does this make you my mama bird?

-Robin throws a pillow at him-

Steve: how could you do this to your child!

#harle hums #they're little shits and i love them #robin buckley #steve harrington #punk steve harrington #punk steve au #future harringroveson #future metalsandwich

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eywaseclipse · 2 years ago

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Safe in Your Arms*

Characters: Original character Metkayina Makani, Tonowari

Synopsis: It’s been a year since Tonowari’s mate Ronal died in the battle of the sky people’s return. With life slowly going back to normal he somehow opens up to the idea of finding love again, with you. (Ronal is killed off in this, but she was never pregnant because I’m not a monster!)

Warnings: Smut. Heavy yummy smut. So no minors and 18+ content

Word count: 3k

The days that were once filled with only anguish and darkness, suddenly started to dissipate. The light beyond the horizon now shone bright again, the pain in his heart slowly lifting. Tonowari swore he would never love again, not after what the sky people took from him. His mate Ronal, was murdered in the battle against the Metkayina and RDA. His Tsahík, his soulmate, gone. A year after this tragedy he knew that in order to properly lead his clan, he must begin searching for his new mate. But why was he filled with such guilt? You saw your leader every day, eyes heavy with sadness, body tense with internal turmoil, but he still carried himself with such grace and poise, a true leader for you and your people. Tonowari and you shared a close kinship due to Ronal’s and yours friendship since childhood. Your respect for him was great, but you couldn’t deny your physical attraction to this strong warrior. He was undeniably gorgeous. Strong thighs for swimming, his core muscular for long breath holds and balance. His eyes glimmering blue like ocean water, hands strong of a true warrior. A part of you prayed he would find love again, for his sake, your people’s sake.

You were close with Ronal during you childhood and adolescence. You trained among your people passing all of your rites of passage making your way into adulthood earning your tattoo markings. But you preferred to be one with nature. She had you apprentice her up until her death, almost like she predicted it, you thought to yourself. To Tonowari’s surprise you never mated with anyone. Much too engulfed in your practice of healing, and being with your spirit sister embracing nature more than being around people. He knew you were just as skilled with a spear as the next hunter, but would never boast out of humble kindness. Part of what he admired most about your gentle nature. Perhaps you were the one who could fix his broken heart.

You were in your marui this morning, gathering all of your collected shells to make your new outfit. Carefully weaving together the beautiful abalone into your green fabric, humming a song your parents would sing to you when you were little. Your loincloth was already finished. Adorned in black and blue seaweed, pearls, sea glass, and beads. You worked hard to match the top and bottom to hopefully seek a mate. Being in your 20th rotation it’s a little odd you’re still unmated, although your people do not question your decision. The docile respectful nature you possess for one another allows the space for all to thrive. As you continue threading the material and humming, your hips begin to sway to the melody. Your body moving on its own accord, fluid like the ocean’s movements. Unbeknownst to you Tonowari came to your hut ask you for a salve he knew you had for Anoung getting lightly injured in a hunt, but he can’t seem to announce his arrival just yet. His eyes are glued to your trim waist and wide hips, your tail flicking with happiness. Your voice smooth as honey to him. His cheeks and ears are hot. His loincloth begins to tighten. He tries to fight the urge to stop himself, but instead lets his eyes trail down to your ass first.

He coughs abruptly, announcing his presence, causing you to yelp in surprise. You whip your head around to see your visitor, blue eyes meeting his. “Oh Tonowari, you spooked me!” You say lightly with a smile bowing your head to your leader. “I apologize Makani, you seemed to be in quite the trance.” He chuckled breathlessly. He hoped you had not noticed his flustered state. “I came to see if you had some of the kelp salve in here, I will find it useful for Aonung and his hunting party wounds.” Your eyes kept contact with his for a second more, then began to scan your medicinal shelf. Your delicate hands find the salve and bring it over to your leader. “I hope he’s not too wounded, I can assist in anyway that I can.” With a soft smile that melts his heart, he feels your hand brush ever so slightly against his much bigger ones. “No, he must learn his lesson to know better than to show off for his friends. He will be fine.” He assures you. You nod in agreement. His eyes making way to your halfway sewn top. “Your shells, they’re beautiful. What lovely fabric” He says blushing. “Thank you, ‘Wari, it’s for the hunting festival tomorrow night, it’s almost finished.” You politely respond, flattered by his compliment. “I’m sure you’ll find that you are the one that’s worth celebrating in attire like that Syulang flower.” You gasp at his daring words. Suddenly feeling your own cheeks heat, and heart pounding you’re left speechless. The air becoming thick with tension. A whole year’s worth of stolen glances, soft touches, yearning, and unspoken feelings finally breaking to the surface. Both of you staring at one another in silence you decide to speak. “I was hoping that adorning such material, I might finally have a chance at finding my mate.” You speak shyly testing the waters. You see him take a deep breath, almost jealousy, “Any man would be a fool not to.” He puffs out his chest. “Maybe I’m just waiting for him to choose me.” Both of you closing the space between each other. Chest to chest, you feel his heart thumping loudly against your chest, breath fanning your face. “He already has Ma’Makani.” You press your foreheads against one another, embracing this moment of revelation and deep intimacy. An unspoken bond between the two of you tracing back years only platonically. Until now. What feels like minutes passing, he slowly lifts his forehead from yours, his tail swings with excitement. Putting the salve down his giant hands find their way to your small face, lightly tracing your skin. The gentle demeanor of this hulking man, is enough for your knees to buckle. Not a single mean bone in his body, despite him being a mighty ferocious warrior. You both slowly close the space between your face, lips ghosting each other letting your bodies talk for you. Your breath in sync with his. His lips so soft against yours, you practically melt into him. He feels you kissing him back, sneaking his tongue into your mouth causing you to moan deliciously. He feels your reaction, sticking his tongue further in your mouth. The undeniable heat growing between your legs becoming too much to ignore. You rut your hips into his seeking relief. He senses your desperation and chuckles. “What is it little one? What do you need?” “You, I need you. All of you. Right now.” Your chest now heaving with tension, your untouched body on fire with just his kiss alone. He smells your arousal, making his loincloth tighten with his own. “Oh, Syulang flower, you’ve had me, this whole time. I’ve been a fool not to see it, but now I know what I must not lose. You are the light I have found my way to after great sorrow. Always there for me when I did not appreciate your presence. You have healed the hole in my heart in ways I cannot explain. If you will have me as well.” Your eyes begin to water with pure love and adoration for the man in front of you. “Oh my love, please do not shed tears.” He says softly wiping the tears streaming down your face. You lightly chuckle, “only happy tears Ma’Tonowari. I feel only happiness.”

He gasps at you returning the intimate gesture. Feeling his arousal and lust for you he cannot wait any longer. He scoops you up, causing you to squeal. He brings you over to your sleeping mat, gently laying you down. Facing each other, he slowly kisses you once again this time filled with desperation. Your teeth clank against each other, tongues battling for dominance you moan into his mouth loudly. This sends his primal urges into overdrive. Now mounting you, a low growl escapes his chest. You gasp at his sheer strength, rubbing your thighs together as wetness between your legs grows. “Princess, can I taste your beautiful nectar? You smell divine.” He practically purrs into your face. “Yes!” You respond with equal desperation. He kisses your mouth one last time, slowly trailing his lips from your neck, collarbone, and stomach leaving wet marks on your blue skin. He gently unties the knots of your loincloth, while you lift up your hips for easy removal your body moving on its own accord. You feel a surge of confidence course through your spine spreading your legs as wide as they can go. His eyes barely blue now, with pupils blown with complete and utter primal desire. “Oh my beautiful princess, I am going to devour you.” He says chest heaving with his own excitement. He bends down eye level to your glistening pussy, he swears it’s the most beautiful sight he’s ever seen. Rubbing his nose against your thigh, taking in your sweet scent, you bring your hands into his hair gripping for support. Sweet soft kisses are placed on your soft skin, the anticipation killing you as your breathing becomes heavier. You feel your pussy throbbing with anticipation. “My love, please, I can’t take it anymore!” You scream desperately. He chuckles darkly at your desperation, finally shoving his hot tongue into your silky walls, sending shocks of pure electricity through your entire body. Immediately bucking into his face, you feel him French kissing your puffy lips, like a man completely starved. Your eyes roll back, moaning loudly into the air. Causing a surge of confidence in him. He pulls your body even closer, pressing his nose into your swollen bud completely engrossed by your delicious nectar. You feel a fire within your belly start to form, a sensation you’ve never experienced before. He sucks hard, gulping you up, slurping on your sweet juices. His tongue fucking your pussy deliciously, as your orgasm approaches quickly. “Tonowari, I think! I-Oh!” You feel your body begin to writhe on its own accord. “Go ahead my love, let go.” He says moaning into your legs. Your body shakes with extreme pleasure as you grip his braids for dear life, screaming with ultimate satisfaction. Your chest heaving, and breaths deeply panting as you come down from your climax. You feel Tonowari sucking all your nectar moaning and sucking his fingers dry.

Instead of allowing yourself a minute from your orgasm, you pounce on your mate. The sight of seeing him enjoying himself giving you pleasure strikes your core with mouth watering primal desire. Your hips find their way to his thighs, finding friction on the thick muscles. Your soaking wet pussy grinding against the warrior’s rip cord strong thigh, his eyes blown with hunger seeing you ride his thighs shamelessly. You bring your hand to the back of his head and slam your lips into his, moaning into him immediately. His loincloth is so tight it begins to feel uncomfortable. You sense his tense stature, and stop grinding. Your eyes find their way down to the huge bulge in his loincloth, a smile forming on your face. “Tonowari, let me please you now my Tìyawn love. I need to make you feel good.” Whispering in his ear. Your eyes hooded with lust, and hands begin to make their way to his loincloth. He sits back watching how desperate you are for him, causing him to sweat with excitement. “As you wish my darling.” He says practically breathless.

Your fingers work hastily, untying his strings, his hips lifting up to help you take the material off. His rock hard cock slaps against his stomach loudly, with a wet mark on his skin from pre cum. The sight of his huge cock, sends your brain into a frenzy, your mouth begins to water. The strong girth of his cock, leading to a swollen big mushroom tip dark blue from arousal. He stands at 16 inches. His cock is practically throbbing from your stare alone. “Let me taste you, love.” You say misty eyed. He leans back on the pile of pillows allowing you easier access. You crawl towards him like a predator stalking its prey, blue eyes barely visible from your lust. His chest is heaving with desire. “Anything for you princess.” He says letting his lust speak for him now. You finally bring your head down to the swollen glistening tip, slowly bringing your mouth around it, trying not to overwhelm him. He immediately lets a groan leave his lips from the contact, his eyes closing from pleasure. You sense it’s okay to keep moving, so you bring your mouth down the rest of his length. His swollen cock now hitting the back of your throat deliciously. Your head begins to bob up and down, finding a good rhythm for your small mouth taking his large length. You feel his big hands lightly grab your hair, holding for support as he’s transcended in utter bliss. You hear his mewls and whimpers allowing the confidence to flow through you, swirling your tongue around his length, then sucking hard. The grip on your head suddenly tightens as he squeals out rutting his hips into your face. “Ah! My petal, I will not last if you keep this up.” His chest heaving, refraining from cumming down your throat right there. “Then I better not keep you from waiting, my king. I am ready.” You take your mouth off his length, seeing him whine at the loss your lips. You bring your body slowly up to his again, with his hands cupping your face bringing you into a passionate wet kiss, tongue making its way in your mouth hot, and sloppy. Your body straddling his, both of you desperate for each other whining into his mouth. You know he will wait as long as you with his gentle nature. You finally bring your hand back to your braided kuru and hold it in front of you. His trance suddenly broken, “My love, if we do this, we will be mated before Eywa. I will not pressure you into anything you feel you’re not ready for.” His big blue eyes bore into your soul. You lightheartedly laugh at his manners. “Oh Ma’Tonowari, I have been ready since that day you came back from the reef with the war party with that bag of shells you gave me so I could weave them into making a new outfit. You always think of others before yourself. I have been madly in love with you for much some time now.” You take his breath away with your confession, a man of tough resolve suddenly weak in his damn knees from the woman in front of him. He never thought his heart would feel whole again, his days spent with longing and sorrow. Until you found your way into his daily routines, softly floating your way into his heart.

Tears now brimming in his eyes, fall down his cheeks slowly trailing his skin. You’re there to wipe them away lovingly. Your tender touch so soft he could collapse with adoration. “Now look who’s crying my darling.” You say in a whisper, now kissing his cheeks where his tears fell. He closes his eyes wondering how he had gotten so lucky to be given another chance at love in this lifetime. You’re so patient with him, allowing him to feel all his emotions breathing into your neck as you caress his braids delicately. “Makani, I have found the missing piece to my broken heart, you’ve mended me when I didn’t have the strength to mend myself. I am yours eternally my love.” He brings his thumb to your lips, lightly tracing them. Bringing your mouths together feeling the fire burn once more, igniting the lust back into the room, you swirl your tongue against his whimpering into him with delight. Your hips begin to move against his again, seeking the friction once again. His length begins to harden again, immediately seeking the sensation of your body. He senses your desperation, and brings his kuru to the front of you, taking yours in your own hand. Slowly bringing the dancing tendrils to each other as they weave their way into unity. You both gasp at the impact, pupils dilated from the bond. Breath in sync with each other, your eyes boring into his soul, feeling the complete love and adoration he truly possesses for you. Your emotions transferred to him, drowning in the devotion you have for him, your warmth, your fondness. You both bring your foreheads to each other, relishing in this feeling. Embracing the intimate bond of Tsaheylu.

He feels your lust building in your chest, barely holding it together, as you feel his arousal seeping into your soul. Your slick now dripping onto his thighs with anticipation as he brings your body over his length, strong hands on your waist. You slowly drop down guided by him, sinking onto his throbbing cock. Breath hitched with the sensation of you and him at once. All air leaves your lungs as you bottom out, with his full length inside of you. You whimper at the feeling of being completely full. “Take your time love.” Your mate coos into your ear. He sends a shiver down your spine igniting a delicious reaction. You roll your hips against his, his pelvis now rubbing against your clit. Your head thrown back with pleasure at such an impact. “Tonowari, please move, you do not need to worry about being gentle with me. I can handle it!” Your words barely making any sense as he bucks his hips into yours. The sound of skin slapping against each other. “As you wish my darling.” He breathlessly shoots out. Feeling the speed of his hips against yours, your belly burns with the fire approaching your second orgasm. You ride him with fluid movements like a crashing wave, him bringing his body to meet yours, sensing he is still holding back so he doesn’t hurt you. “Fuck me hard ‘Wari, I can feel that you want to, just let go!” He growls finally allowing his primal urges to take over his senses. Your body now flipped over onto your back harshly. Landing with a thud your legs are spread open by his strong arms. You moan at his sudden assertive demeanor. You completely submit to him. His mate.

He brings your thighs to wrap onto his hips, leaning over you. Bringing his cock to your entrance, slamming into you. The motion now completely rampant, losing the rhythm. You feel him approaching his climax as well. His pelvis slamming into your swollen bud, the sounds of your soaking wet pussy squelching at his contact. “Ah! Yes baby!” Your head thrown back in compete utter ecstasy. He brings his mouth to yours, tongue assaulting yours. “You’re taking me so well buttercup” He shouts in pleasure. He fucks you like a man starved, allowing all primal instincts to take over his body. Now slamming ferociously into your body, with your back arched at a sensual angle, driving him to suck your nipples harshly. “Ah!” Your scream in pleasure mixed with pain. He tears the material covering your breasts like a mad man, throwing it to the side. Now taking a hand to the other breast squeezing it. Your pussy clenches down on his cock, feeling your orgasm approaching quickly. The overwhelming stimulation clouding your brain with only pleasure. He removes his hand from your nipple, and brings his hand to your clit feeling how close you are. He knows he won’t last any longer with your whimpers escaping into the air. The final motion of flicking to your swollen bud sending you over the edge, the fire in your womb reaching its climax. Your pussy clenching him harshly, screaming with pleasure as your orgasm rips through your entire body. Following suit he moans into the air as his own orgasm crashes down, spilling his warm seed into your womb. The bond creating waves of ecstasy sharing your pleasure with each other, almost overwhelming. “Fuck! Princess!” He screams as his hips rut into yours with the last of his seed being completely milked from your silky walls. He falls onto your chest, careful not to smother you. Breathing heavy, bodies damp with sweat. You bring your hands to caress his back, delicate fingers rubbing his skin adoringly. His heart swells with love and adoration for his mate. The bond sending his love for you, to you. Moments have passed while the two of you embrace each other. “My Muntxate wife, you complete me.” He sighs into your bosom. “Oh my darling, I am yours forever.” You kiss his head, both of you slowly falling into a peaceful slumber as a mated pair. Who would’ve thought a mighty warrior such as him, would be given the chance to find love within this lifetime yet again.

Hope everyone enjoyed! Tonowari just gives me big teddy bear energy he’s so bbygirl.

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simplylove101 · 7 months ago

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2024 Horror Challenge: [42/?]

↳“The juice is loose!" Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) dir. Tim Burton

Plot: After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Jenna Ortega & Willem Dafoe

I feel bad I'm only just now reviewing this movie because I definitely had watched it twice before its release on digital and had more than plenty of things to say about it but oh well. lol I think it's because sometimes I forget to think of the original movie as a horror since it doesn't scare me at all but I adore it just the way it is. That said, while this one didn't scare me too much either, the horror aspect gets a little more heightened with the assistance of Monica Bellucci's character & her powers since it was a little like, whoa dark. lol I kept going back and forth about whether to go see it in theaters or not because people kept being negative about it and saying it'd be a shitty sequel but I decided to let nostalgia win that battle. I was mostly glad I did in a way??? lol As I said, I later watched it again in theaters about two weeks later since my dad really wanted to go see it since he's a big fan of Michael Keaton and I enjoyed parts of it enough to be willing for a round 2. The truth is, yes, it's not as classic as the original movie for a good number of people, myself included (I have seen that some people prefer it though so that's interesting), but I wouldn't say that makes it awful or a waste of time. There were still moments I really liked and I didn't mind paying to see it in the theater at all. As my dad declared at the end of movie, "Well, now that was rather mildly entertaining... But I was a little disappointed. Hmm." I feel like that sums up perfectly what my initial thoughts were. lol I think my core issue with it is the pacing. It feels like it takes a good while to really get going since they certainly take the time to have us play catch-up with Lydia and her family, which didn't really feel needed the way they chose to go about it. Meanwhile, once it does get going, there's like multiple plots going on (Beetlejuice trying to get Lydia to free him, Astrid having her own major storyline, Monica Belluci's character looking for Beetlejuice, etc.) but none of them feel like they're getting the proper time to cook right since it took so long with the exposition, the other characters, and then there's the filler stuff. Now, I love fun filler stuff. I don't hate fun. lol This is a Beetlejuice movie, so you gotta have that. And I know Tim Burton loves a music moment, I do too. You knew there'd at least be one after the first one had the truly classic scene with "Day-O" but it felt like there was too much of that kinda thing in this sequel for me, at least the length of time dedicated to that stuff over plot. I just wish the editor had been able to trim some things down a bit because it managed to feel a lot longer than a basically 90 minutes movie. Anyway, I'm gonna stop being so negative and go back to how there were things I liked about it, despite my complaints. The cast was wonderful, Michael Keaton once again killing it as the iconic Beetlejuice. It did feel like they could have used Jenna Ortega a little better but maybe it's just cuz it kinda felt like they wrote Astrid a little one-note at times. Idk. lol I still laughed plenty and the music choices themselves were fun (Though my dad kept saying "Why did they have to use 'MacArthur Park' for the big moment?? That song sucks" XD) It was nice to be in this wacky world again even with different characters included. Also, no spoilers, but that nightmare sequence at the end was classic horror comedy goodness and I dug it so much. lol There's probably more I could say but I think I'll stop here by saying that even though I wanted to like it so much more than I actually did, I still had fun. It is hardly the worst sequel ever and is deserving of its blockbuster success. I'm glad it didn't get the streaming treatment.

#beetlejuice beetlejuice #horrorchallenge2024

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mapplesand · 3 months ago

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Tyler - Character intro

Marco's character intro

Tristan's character intro

Josh's character intro

“I am not going to kill you, there is nothing artistic in a corpse.”

Full Name : Tyler Sebastian Giesler

Nickname : Tay, Taytay, Ty, Big T, Green Bean (by Carmen)

Age : 15 (2022), 16 (2023), 17 (2024), 18 (2025), 19 (2026), 20 (2027)

Sexuality : Bisexual

Pronouns : he/him

Height : 6’3 (190cm)

Weight : 264 lbs (120kg)

Birthday : January 1st 2007

Birth Place : Sante Fe, Texas

Currently Living : Grundale, Connecticut |

Nationality : American

Cultural Background : Swiss

Religion : Atheist

Occupation : High school student (2022-2026) | Psychology major (2026-

Voice Claim : Legoshi (Beastars) | L (Death Note)

Theme song : AURORA - Starvation

Family : Murray Giesler (father, 1976), Adelaide Hart (mother, 1990), Lucille Giesler (younger sister, 2015), Miley Giesler (younger sister, 2021)

Significant Other : Josh

Friends : Carmen, Josh, Tristan, Marco

Physical Appearance

Tyler is a tall and fat guy with long hair dyed in green, his hair is originally brown. He has a prominent nose and has braces. His face is not really expressive and it’s hard to tell what’s going on inside his head, he doesn’t smile that much and it’s barely noticeable when he does. He also has droopy eyes that makes him look even more strange to the people around him. He also has a mustache that he sometimes trim and as he grows older, he’s able to have a full beard but chooses not to. He has braces

He also has stretch marks on his body, especially on his stomach, back and thighs and burnt scars on his arms.

Tyler usually wears comfortable and dirty clothes that have paints on the sleeves and holes in them. Most of his clothes share the same green and black color.

Personality

Tyler is often described as being a very monotone and unexpressive person, it’s hard to tell what he’s feeling or what his intentions are which makes him a quite off putting person to talk to. He usually stays all alone and doesn’t mind being by himself even if he thinks it’s boring, he tends to compensate for that by listening and observing other people. He doesn’t understand how an average person should function and use both his observing skills and knowledge about psychology to understand what’s going on inside people’s heads.

He has a good memory for details and knows a lot about his classmates despite never talking to them, he also thinks it’s easy to get information to blackmail people, but wouldn’t use his knowledge to hurt them.

Tyler is also pretty blunt and would rather tell the truth than pretending he doesn’t know something. He doesn’t really take people’s feelings into account when he does that and often gets into problems because of his inability to understand he said something insensitive. He also has low empathy and struggles with recognizing what people think or feel, that is why he uses psychology to get into people’s heads and decipher what they mean and why they act this way most of the time. This lack of empathy doesn’t mean that he’s less human than anyone else and is actually a very compassionate person, trying to comfort people in his own ways even if they don’t understand that he still cares.

However, since he struggles with people’s emotions, he also tends to disregard personal boundaries and overstep them on a regular basis, meaning he would stand too close to people or touch them without asking. He doesn’t think it’s a big deal most of the time because he would also let people touch him in various ways without minding it. It’s mostly due to him being disconnected to his feelings and body sensation, often seeking dangerous things in order to feel something, he would for example put down his cigarette by burning his arm. On another note, this mostly means that he doesn’t mind when people are overly affectionate towards him, he actually does like when people respond positively to his closeness. Tyler also has little to no shame and openly talks about a lot of things, he will also for example sleep in his underwear while sleeping in the same bed as Carmen because he doesn’t think it would be weird.

Despite him having a pretty bad hygiene overall due to his childhood, his hand hygiene is always suspiciously clean; as he washes his hands pretty often, both because he often manipulates dangerous material and also because of strict habits he has ever since he was a kid. He also needs to pile up ten various objects at least once a day in order to feel satisfied with himself, if he can’t do that he will start to feel uncomfortable as his thoughts start to swirl over the fact that he forgot to do it and that it would somewhat affect him negatively. He knows this behavior doesn’t make sense but he can’t help it.

Overall, Tyler is a pretty complex individual with a lot of underlying issues who still tries his best to be somewhat of a gentle person despite his weird demeanors.

Backstory

Tyler was born to Adelaide Hart, who was 16 going on 17 when she had him, and Murray Giesler who was 31 at the time, on January 1st 2007 in Sante Fe, Texas.

His family always had been very poor and they lived in a trailer park, he was diagnosed autistic at 5. He was then sexually abused by a close friend of his father who was supposed to babysit him when he was 7, however he doesn’t remember that time very clearly.

Tyler was non verbal to semi verbal until he was between 8 and 9, this is at the same time that he met Carmen and spent a good portion of his time over at her place. His first sister, Lucille was born when he was 8 in 2015 and he had to share his room with her.

When Tyler and Carmen were in middle school, they spent their time hanging out together in the outskirts of their town, often trespassing on private properties and throwing firecrackers and attempting many science experiments. They were always close and often slept together in the same bed during their usuals sleepovers. Tyler was the one who started going as far as attempting to blow up stuff and Carmen followed his lead. They also got in trouble several times with the police threatening them to send them both to juvie if they kept their behaviors. This doesn’t mean they stopped but they started being more cautious around the police to not get caught again.

Tyler grew up in a dysfunctional family with little to no boundaries, often barging into his room and using him as a babysitter and teacher for Lucille, he would often miss school just for these reasons and this would continue until he moved out. His father often comments on women’s bodies and jokes about him having a relationship with Carmen and how he should man up and take more “action” with girls, despite Tyler showing no interest in dating.

His parents then moved out to Grundale, Connecticut in 2021 when he started High School, their decision was made after the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting but his parents couldn’t move before 2021 for financial reasons. His father reorganized the garage of their new home into his room, it was both the first time he lived in an actual house and had a room for himself. This is also the first time Tyler started to have some privacy. His sister Miley, was also born in 2021.

He spent all of his freshman year being alone and not drawing attention to him, rather silently observing his classmates. He still enrolled in the chess club and met David, who was the only person he talked to at that time. Despite living states away, Tyler and Carmen never grew apart and continued talking to each other a lot by text and video calls.

Between may and august 2022, Tyler had a growth spurt and his voice got low, he dyed his hair in august, it was supposed to be blue but he liked how it turned green anyway and kept dying it that way after. His family then planned a camping trip and this is when he met Josh, Marco and Tristan as well as David who he already knew. He spent most of his time there drawing and trying to get to know Josh despite his reluctance.

When his sophomore year started, he somewhat convinced Josh to be some sort of artistic model for him, as it was more an attempt at forcing Josh to hang out with him. They then both started to get closer as Josh couldn’t get over his “breakup” with Kelly and started seeking physical comfort with him. They both aren’t good for each other but it never stopped them from doing what they did, as Tyler was aware of Josh’s bad mental health at the time and his growing addiction to alcohol.

At the beginning of his senior year, Tyler was convicted with juvenile possession of marijuana, alcohol and possession of inflammable and potentially explosive devices. He was sent to juvie and served his sentence without having further problems with the justice system for good behavior and good cooperation during his time, he wasn’t charged with the suspicion of bomb threat. They also put a lot of his defense on his home life and struggles with autism. When he went back to his normal life, he was on and off from school to help his mother and decided it was better to repeat the year than fucked his life even more. From all this time, Tyler was still in close contact with his friends and Josh and graduated High School the next year and was accepted in a psychology major in college. He then started living with Josh.

Facts

-Tyler is a low empathy autistic, he also has OCD

-he has OCD and his intrusive thoughts mostly revolves around hurting others or sexual harassment, he also have boundaries problems

-he has light sensitivity especially artificial lights

-he usually eats very bland food without any seasoning and drink milk straight out of the bottle

-he has a hard time with hygiene and showering ever since he was a kid

-Tyler also has a hard time with physical boundaries and often overstep people’s personal space, he also have no sense of his own body and would let anything happen to him

-he is an artist and has many sketchbooks

-he has a special interest in psychology and explosives

-he’s more of a manual guy and likes to builds stuff ranging from legos and other similar toys, engines or explosives

-his username on social media is C4H6TY_

-he has a southern accent only noticeable when he starts unmasking

Clothes

#my ocs #morbid minds #original character #tyler giesler #writing #writeblr #character intro #oc writing

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readyforthegarden · 2 years ago

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Silver Springs - Part Eight

Masterlist

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Original Female Character

Synopsis: The year was 1976, the season was summer. The days were hot and the nights were hotter. Music was the best it had ever been, especially rock music. Sam Kiszka has been riding the high of being in one of the top bands on the scene, but when his bands tour is accompanied by another up-and-coming band, with a lead singer that gets on his very last nerve, will everything come crashing down or will they end up making music that changes the world?

Warnings: Light smut, angst 18+ only, Minors DNI

WC: 1840

🎶 🎶 🎶

“Sam,” Sam’s eyebrows crinkled, taking in a deep breath as someone tried to rouse him from his sleep. “Sam, wake up.” he could feel smooth skin against his own, rubbing his legs and a hand caressing his torso. Instead of listening to them, he stretched his body, lifting his arms above his head. Feeling the bed shift around him, a weight landed on his left side. He felt lips moving up and down his arm, tracing the birthmark on his underarm.

“Do you want me to play housewife?” Harlow’s voice filtered in his ears. “Go into the kitchen in nothing but your shirt, making you eggs and bacon and coffee?” Sam couldn’t help the lip twitch at the visual of Harlow bringing him breakfast in bed, scantily dressed. “I know you can hear me, Samuel.”

“Mm, let me stay like this for a while longer.” Sam reached his right arm down around Harlow, bringing her closer to his body. She placed another kiss on his birthmark before snuggling into his embrace, laying her head on his shoulder. It felt like only a few seconds ticked by before her body was restless again, her legs moving between his, her fingers tapping gently on his chest. “Alright.” with a rough groan he enclosed her in his arms, rolling the both of them over, settling between Harlow’s legs. He let the tip of his nose graze against hers.

“What? I was finally falling back asleep!” Harlow smirked. Sam snorted through his nose, pressing kisses down her jaw and neck.

“Sure you were.” Sam laughed softly against her skin. He reached up with one hand, gathering her wrists that were relaxed above her head, the other trailing down her body, the rough calluses leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. He let them slip between her legs, through the small, trimmed patch of hair on her pelvis and down through her folds. Harlow let out a soft moan. “Is this what you wanted, baby?”

“Mhm,” Harlow hummed, arching her back as Sam’s middle finger circled her clit. “Gotta get my fill before I leave to show up to the studio, what was it? Fifteen minutes before you?”

“Or after.” Sam left a hot kiss under Harlow’s ear. “Preferably after, so I look better.” Harlow laughed, the sound turning into a breathy sigh as his finger slipped down further, pressing inside of her. He started a slow, torturous pace, making Harlow wiggle her lips impatiently.

“Sam,” she whined, shifting on his bed. “Come on, for once just give it to me.”

“And let that ego get bigger?” Sam chided softly, dragging his lips down her chest, nipping her left nipple, making her yip. “What good can come from letting you get what you want?” Harlow snaked a hand from his loose grasp, bringing his head up to hers and kissing his lips.

“So much good,” she giggled. “So, so much. You don’t even know how good I can be to you.” Sam withdrew his hand, popping his middle finger into his mouth, laughing at Harlow’s protests before scooping up her body, heading out of his bedroom and towards the bathroom.

“Well, let’s get you a little more wet and see just what we can do about that.”

🎶 🎶 🎶

Harlow sat at Danny’s drum kit, the drummer sitting taking a sip from a bottle of beer. Josh stood behind her, his fingers combing through her hair and twisting a few strands here and there, watching with a bored expression as his two brothers argue over a part in the song. On the rug the kick drum rested upon, so did Danny, twirling a drumstick between his fingers. Jake and Sam had been arguing for a while now, and Josh decided instead of inserting himself, to let them duke it out.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can stand.” Danny sighed. Harlow nodded in agreement, piping up from behind the kit. She had a notebook on the top of one of his snares, a pen that had been writing steadily the whole morning now laid down and stagnant.

“Maybe this isn’t that big of a deal to figure out right now.” she called out, interrupting Sam’s rebuttal to something Jake had said. The young men whipped their heads around to look at her.

“Like you even know what you’re fucking talking about.” Sam snapped harshly, causing Harlow to sit up, taken aback. This quip wasn’t dripping with the underlying plans to rile her up, that was a pointed dagger aimed straight at her throat.

“All I’m saying is this doesn’t need to be figured out right this second if it’s causing this big of an issue.” Harlow replied shortly. “But since I don’t know anything, I’ll take my exit.”she stood up, her hair falling from Josh’s hands as she gathered her notebook and pen, stepping around Danny’s kit and stomping to the door.

“Harlow, come on, don’t-“ she heard Danny call after her, cut off as the studio door slammed shut.

“Give her a minute.” Josh stopped the tallest member of the band from getting up, then turned to his youngest brother. “I don’t know who the fuck raised you, but it must not have been my parents. They didn’t raise us to speak to a woman like that.”

Sam was standing with his bass, eyes wide, realizing how he snapped at her.

“I didn’t-“

“I don’t want to hear it, Sam.” Josh snapped. “I’m tired. Jake is tired, Danny is tired, we’re all fucking tired of you two fighting. Whether it’s fake to hide whatever it is you two are doing or not, we’re tired.”

“When she comes back, we’re fixing this.” Jake was standing with his hands on his hips, staring down his little brother. “If we have to take all day, we’re fixing it.”

“Okay,” was all Sam said, hanging his head. He was embarrassed. Embarrassed he snapped that way towards you, embarrassed his brothers saw it and scolded him. It was in the heat of the moment, he would’ve snapped that way at Danny too.

Outside, Harlow was pacing a lit cigarette in her mouth, going over the thousands of ways she could’ve come back at Sam, flaying him to the core with her words. As she paced, she stopped, getting an idea and scrambling to open her notebook. She darted over to the old, wooden picnic table on the side of the building where workers had their lunches. Slivers be damned, she sat on the tabletop, jotting down words in a messy scrawl.

Once she was done, she hopped off the table, storming back into the studio with a force the likes of which the boys had never seen.

“Harlow, I-“ Harlow threw her hand up at Sam’s face, halting his speech as she sat at the piano.

“I don’t care.” she said flippantly. setting her notebook on the music stand. “I wrote a new song. Jake, play this on your guitar.” Harlow began playing a piano riff, repeating it until Jake caught on to her liking. Then she instructed Sam to play a bass line until he did it, as quick as he could to try and make up his prior faux-pas up to her. Danny quickly popped behind his kit, ad-libbing his own beat based off everyone else’s. Harlow began singing, her brows furrowed in concentration and pent-up anger.

“Loving you

Isn't the right thing to do

How can I ever change things

That I feel?”

Sam couldn’t help himself, as he looked over her shoulder at the words she put on paper. He sang the next verse, cutting off her own voice.

“If I could

Baby, I'd give you my world

Harlow turned her head and looked at him stone faced, as if he were once again coming at her. She turned back to the keys, ignoring him and continuing singing.

“How can I

When you won't take it from me?”

The two sang together, the rest of the band watching cautiously on from behind.

"You can go your own way

Go your own way

You can call it

Another lonely day

You can go your own way

Go your own way”

Sam was getting heated again, and took over the next verse.

“Tell me why

Everything turned around

Packing up

Shacking up is all you want to do.” Harlow took over now, striking the keys rougher than she intended.

“If I could

Baby, I'd give you my world

Open up

Everything's waiting for you” Sam joined her for the chorus again, the two of them seeming to get out their frustrations singing the words to each other.

“You can go your own way

Go your own way

You can call it

Another lonely day”

They were repeating the chorus over and over until finally Jake hit a sour note to distract them, though when Harlow turned around, her eyes were fixed in a glare to Sam. He was staring back at her with an unreadable expression. She couldn’t tell if he was angry, proud or sorry with the way his brows were knit together. Josh distracted them by asking to work on a part of the song with her, drawing her attention back to the keys.

They continued working on the song, leaving the animosity in the air to at least hammer down the vibe. When all was said and done, and they were packing up to leave, Josh stopped them.

“I think we need a day off.” he explained. “Let’s all go do our own thing for a day, and come back with a fresh headspace. Can we do that?”

“Sure.” Harlow side-eyed Sam as she agreed, and he nodded his head. “Josh could you give me a ride back to my hotel?” Josh nodded, and Harlow began following him out to his car, stopped by Sam’s hand on her wrist.

“Can I-“

“No.” Harlow’s look cut him. “I think Josh is right. I think I need some time away from you.” Sam’s hand dropped Harlow’s wrist, and he watched her walk over to Josh, and get into his car.

“A beach day sounds lovely, doesn’t it?” Josh glanced over to Harlow as he drove her home.

“Yeah, I guess.” Harlow shrugged, watching the street signs that were becoming more and more familiar pass by.

“I meant, we should go to the beach tomorrow.” Harlow turned to Josh with a soft smirk.

“Aren’t we supposed to be doing our own things?”

“No one wants to go to the beach alone, Harlow.” Josh tilted his head, flashing her a dazzling smile.

“Fine.” she laughed. “Twist my arm.” Josh chattered on about their beach day until he stopped in front of her hotel.

“I’ll be back tomorrow morning to get you, okay?”

“Okay.” Harlow nodded, leaning over and grabbing her things from the floorboard of the passenger seat.

“6 AM sharp!” Josh called out as she stepped away and shut the door, hoping the sound of the metal shutting would muffle the time.

“What?!”

“Bye!”

🎶 🎶 🎶

Taglist: @joshsindigostreak @ascendingtostardust @sammysprincess @sammykiszkamyass @belovedsamuel @sunfl0wer-power @indigo-starcatcher @sammyscherub @earthlysorrows @lvnterninthenight @allieisacrybaby @losfacedevil @xserenax-13 @sarakay-gvf @shutupdevvie @myownparadise96 @watchingovergvff @gretavanfleetposts @sacredthefran @josiee-gvf @joshkiszkatoothgap @madneedshelp @gardensgatedaisy @demonrat444 @writingcold @dannyandthekiszkas @lightmylove-gvf @tearsofbri @paleshadow-ofadragon @happy-harpy-stuff @like-a-woman-in-a-dream @starshine-wagner @objectsinspvce @josh-iamyour-mama @mountain-in-springtime @cal-a-bungaa @capturethechaos @jankandjonch @gvfpal

@allybjt @hippievanfleet @weightofbrokenbells @joshkiszkasbadussy @malany-gvf @ruby0antlers @samofthedawn @sacredjake @aim4thedoublee @diditallforyouu @gvfmarge @highladyofasgard @sammysvanfeet@gold-mines-melting @earthgrlsreasy @mountain-in-springtime @forcebond301 @stardust-and-shadows @llightmyllovee @gretavangroupie @comesofarsomehow @starcatcherkiszka @indigofallingsky @hellowgoodbye @hearts-hunger

#sam kiszka #sam kiszka x reader #sam gvf #sam kiszka fanfiction #greta van fleet #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #jake kiszka #josh kiskza #danny wagner #sam kiskza x oc #silver springs fic #i didn't know how to end this one so yeah lmao

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obscurecharactershowdown · 2 years ago

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Group F Round 3

[image ID: the first image is of Gaap Goemon. his silver hair covers his entire face and body. he's wearing a long, blue coat with white trim, and a belt around his waist. he's holding a sword. the second image is of Granger, a girl with green eyes and short, wavy or curly black hair. in her hair is a red hat or ribbon. she's wearing a black turtleneck sweater, blue overalls, and a green coat. end ID]

Gaap Goemon

a good boy who wants to make 100 allies. dope swordsman. has a silly little guy of his very own. and also sweet magic wind blades. [additional propaganda 1] [additional propaganda 2]

Granger

so granger is the main character of the indie game "NeverHome" Chapter one, which is only $1 on Steam, is called NeverHome: Hall of Apathy. if ur a fan of young protags being put in RPG maker horror games, then this is the game for you!! so granger is just that… she wakes up to find herself in a strange, hostile world. she, along with the friends she makes, must solve the various puzzles before them while creatures are out to kill them… and along the way they can uncover the secrets of these never ending halls… her dynamics with the cast is also super fun… each character gets their moment or moments with granger. and what's so cute is that there's unique art for each pair that highlights the fact you cant get through these halls alone!! she also has her own theme song!! here!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_vwtmIj5cw it's called cyclical tragedy AND HERE IS AN ANALYSIS OF THE THEME!! MUSIC THEORY!!! written by my good friend @HIEMIOLA "cyclical tragedy" embodies the protagonist, granger, through the music theory behind the track and ties itself back into the main track as well. to begin with an overview of the track, the key is D minor and hte time signature is 3/4. the piece begins with a broken minor third starting from the tonic. that is, it begins on the main note and moves along the main chord, D to F. the next set of notes are C to E, which is shifted down a step. the phrase repeats again, this time D to F, then G to E, which is an inverse movement from the original sequence. even in this first part, we could tell that the protagonist begins from square 1 with a simple pattern, then tries it again when it works. however, the inverse breaks that expectation of repetition, thus showing the diverse variations of solutions she comes up with using just the tools she has (the two notes moving in thirds). just like the game, she is given a handful of objects as well as a knife to defend herself and solve the mysteries of the world she exists in. with her creative uses of the items given to her, she continues on her way through the plot. we will keep moving. the melody begins. true to the title of the track, the melody cycles around the same beginning note, D, that she always returns to at her square 1. this is a nod to the save states she is allowed to keep to make sure that we the players don't lose the game, but it also references the health bar that appears as a circle around her avatar. the melody, mapped out, is also moving in an up-down wave movement across the sheet music. granger is creative with the knife she has and the quest items she obtains throughout the story, but she is not entirely reckless. rather, she knows when it is time to return to the safe rooms to rest. to time her returns requires skill because she must run to cover without being caught by varying her path so the enemies don't corner her as she tries to return to the room. most of the time, she is successful, shown through the consistent return to the beginning note. let's keep going. i would like to turn your attention to the main theme briefly. in the bass notes, you can hear arpeggios and outlined chords. this makes up the bulk of the accompaniment in the main game theme. [mod note: the rest of the essay, and some more propaganda, is continued under a cut because tumblr will not process more text than this in an indent. sorry to split it up, please continue below for the rest of the essay and additional propaganda!]

the third variation of granger's theme also has arpeggiated chords in the accompaniment while the melody features broken chords. at this stage, the pattern switches to eigth notes instead of the quarter notes at first. with greater movement and heightened senses, she runs throughout world and befriends other people, thus interacting further with the environment. while she isn't exactly someone we would call open, she is respectful to the people she first meets and has no problems with asking them for help when she needs it. because of her openness to working together, she speeds up her progress by asking for aid at obstacles that would be too difficult for her to overcome on her own, such as asking a teammate to break things, move things, or reach into smaller holes. fusing the main theme elements with her own theme marks this step as the inciting incident that sets her on the path to escape from this world. we'll continue.

continuing the same part, we hear some secondary fifths. i'm not entirely sure if this is what you call it, but it is a nod to the parallel key, D major. depending on what theory class you take, this could also be considered the other half of the key. i dont know how else to describe it, but i digress. these are glimpses to different dialogue options she could take, glimpses to a different key or a different ending. because this game only has one chapter ending so far, we are unsure of what other paths granger will end up in; we only know that there are certainly other endings she will experience, only to begin the cycle again when the save state is loaded for players to reach another ending. both A major and G major are chords that signify different choices that may lead her elsewhere only for her to return back to the tonic or main note, D. despite this, she keeps going, as will we.

at the midpoint of the track, we see a quick shift in patterns. instead of upward leaps in the notes, the melody falls in stepwise motion. true to the plot, this is another turning point of the game when she is forced to make a choice: continue or stop. after facing the spoiler event, her once determined personality is challenged as she struggles to keep herself and her team together. despite being the headstrong protagonist who spearheaded solutions, even now she finds herself doubting and taking smaller steps, smaller risks.

even after all of this, she rises to the challenge as the melody returns to its beginning sequence. true to a protagonist she gets up again despite the events that transpired and keeps her team moving in their lowest points. the thirds return as she finds more objects to solve more puzzles to open more rooms to save more friends. this repeating part of the track only solidifies her resolve as the piece ends with a broken chord in the main key, her key, of D minor. despite everything that transpired, she stayed true to herself."

the game is also so, so charming with the art, music, and story made by the same person… its so clearly loved and full of passion!! i love listening to the game's ost on occassion!! since it's all on youtube!

ok one last thing thing!! on may 8th, the game hit 100 downloads (on both steam and itch.io). you can see the creator of the game celebrate that with this lovely drawing of granger: https://twitter.com/NeverHome_Game/status/1655761270694633472

so at most, only a bit over 100 people have played the game… id like to say that makes it obscure!!

anyways granger and neverhome!! we love to see our protagonists put in horrific situations and isn't she super cute with a lil bow on her head? she is my daughter…

[additional propaganda 1]

[additional propaganda 2]

#obscurecharactershowdown #obscure poll #group f round 3 #gaap goemon #mairimashita! iruma kun #granger neverhome #neverhome

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acaplaya-musings · 1 year ago

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Voiceplay Visuals: My Mother Told Me

This video was released on the 24th of April, 2021, and currently sits at a very-impressive 6.7 million views! It features Jose Rosario Jr (in his first collabration with Voiceplay (on a full-length video at least)), who for a few years performed with Rockapella! (Rockapella is an acapella group who have been around for over 35 years, they were part of the OG Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego show, and they were a bit of an inspiration to Voiceplay (originally 4:2:Five) in their early days).

I wasn't actually sure whether or not this video would give me a lot of moments to point out/talk about (it's been a while since the last time I watched it), but it's obviously a big production (epic, even), and I will undoubtedly be talking about its "sister video", Valhalla Calling, when I eventually get around to it, so long story short, I'm doing this. Let's go!

Each vocalist got filmed separately for this one, each with their own backdrop (and then were all spliced together for "group shots" in the video), so each member gets their own picture when I'm talking about them in this post!

Jose is wearing some textured blanket-looking thing, plus a plain brown shirt/tunic, and he's got a pair of blueish lines on his face that almost look a little bit like scars. He's standing in front of a sort of desert plains landscape, maybe with some large red mountains/rock formations?

Oh yeah and also it's a little hard to see, but just at the neckline of Jose's shirt, underneath his beard, there's a cool viking(?) symbol on his neck that also shows up in Valhalla Calling (and on the merch for that video too)!

Eli appears to have a bit of dirt and grime on his skin (which would be intentional of course), as well as some cool-looking tattoos (even on his head!) (fake ones for the video of course), and some very heavy eye makeup. He's standing in front of some grass, rocky cliffs (possibly with water down below?), and sea mist

(Also Eli is credited with "virtual production" on this one, so I guess all these greenscreen backgrounds were his doing? Massive shoutout to Eli!)

J has the same symbol on his forehead that Jose had on his neck/chest, as well as some white powder-looking makeup stuff on his cheeks. No clue what kind of top/shirt that is, but I like the big fur coat, and cool arm cuff things as well! He's standing in front of a frozen (or partially-frozen) lake, with snow-covered mountains/rock formations behind it.

(Fun fact: Geoff re-used a few costume pieces from My Mother Told Me when filming the videos for his covers of Far Over The Misty Mountains Cold and I See Fire!

Layne has got a makeup design to Eli, with similiar tattoos on his face, and a bit of extra dirt/grime as well. He's got fur trimmings(?) on his shoulders like Eli, but it looks more like the fur that J is wearing. He's standing in front of wide open plains I guess? I'm not sure, I can't make out a ton of detail.

I think Layne's outfit might be my favourite one of this video; it seems the most complex, like it has the most going on with it, and I like the patterned cuff design thing on his right arm!

And I haven't forgotten Geoff, of course I haven't forgotten Geoff, and seriously oh my god

I'm honestly not sure if I could give a good description of Geoff's outfit even if I tried, but it works! (Also wait I literally only just realised that, once more, he's the only one in the video with exposed shoulders (well, one exposed shoulder, but still!))

This honestly might be one of Geoff's most terrifying looks of any Voiceplay video so far, if not the most terrifying. Vampire!Geoff in This Is Halloween was "scary" in the "yes please give me more of it" (i.e. hot) way. Oogie Boogie!Geoff in Oogie Boogie's Song was just theatrical and entertaining. Mr Hyde!Geoff in Kidnap The Sandy Claws was (to me at least) just a little bit strange and hard to wrap my head around. But Geoff here? This is "makes you want to move very quickly in the opposite direction" scary!

(So like well done to Rick Underwood on the makeup (but in regards to everyone else as well))

Jose, J, Eli, and Layne all got cool aesthetic landscapes as their backdrops. Geoff got darkness and STUFF ON FIRE (...yeah that checks out 😆)

Even the fingernails!!! Even the fingernails look like they've got grime on them! (Also, Geoff at his least-terrifying moment of the video)

Aaaand we're back to "time to run away very fast" mode!

(Also yes Geoff's tattoos and makeup are very cool as well)

Not that Geoff is the only one in this video that I wouldn't wanna pick a fight with!

Jose is credited with "additional acting direction" in the description, so I guess he maybe camw up with/directed some of these kind of moves?

Oh hey Geoff has that symbol on him as well! I wonder if Layne and Eli have got it somewhere on them too?

Wait hang on what is Eli holding?

A better shot of Layne's face tattoos and the cool sleeve thing!

Geoff doing a similar hand movement to the one he did in Bang! (which was my previous post actually), after he had just done a bit of an impressive bass-vocal-run (or something like that), except this time it's after holding a quite low note (a subharmonic I think?) for like 6 seconds.

Oh I think Eli was holding his cape?

Yes I can see the tattoo, thank you Jose! 😂

Also did Geoff do a bit of hair colouration for this video? Because yes he's got a bit of grey in his hair now, but not that much grey, and it's not always that noticeable (though personally I do love the grey streak he often has in his bangs, it's rather fetching if I do say so myself <3)

Run fast, and run far!

And that's the video! Man, can you believe these are the same dudes (well except Jose) that did the Aca Top 10 videos, being all silly and fooling around? Acting skills were freaking on point here! Everyone crushed it!

It's a great arrangement as well (shoutout to Layne!). The song is actually just one single verse, which here is sung like 5 or 6 times over, but you barely even notice it (if at all) because the whole production is just so mind-blowingly good!

I also wanted to do this video because I'll be skipping over You're My Best Friend and Man In The Mirror, so this'll be the last video I'm doing where J is actually a part of the group. It was of course very sad that he left Voiceplay, but he's come back as a guest artist in like 6 full-length videos now (not even counting the minis), and hopefully he might one day return to Voiceplay full-time, once he's done with his stint in the US Navy band!

#hvoiceplay #acapella #my mother told me #geoff castellucci #eli jacobson #layne stein #j none #jose rosario jr #acaplaya analysis #voiceplay visuals

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curio-queries · 11 months ago

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Run BTS: 064 | The part 2

Original Air Date: 19 FEB 2019 Episode Length: 33:28 Total Parts: 3 YouTube English Subtitles: No Title Song: Idol

Synopsis: Continuing the previous episode. This part covers the rest of the handbell game, lunch game, eating and the PE game

Production: When i was anticipating this episode, all i could remember is how long the handbell section was going to be but upon rewatching it, it actually wasn't that bad. i do think they should have trimmed it a little bit more as it starts the pacing off real slow. I genuinely don't understand why they do random non-team games in team-based epsiodes. why couldn't the lunch thing have been a team game? with the guessing, points, and reward?? The relay was a good little trick section. it's always funny when the members acknowledge that the staff is impressed by them completing something quickly.

Endearment: The guys still have their energy up and the games are proving to be good challenges for them whilst still being entertaining.

Winner/Loser: see final part

Best Cheater: V. he definitely wasn't completely through that hanger and he was holding onto the board part instead of just the ropes.

Member Moments:

RM: RM, continuing to remind his team to go slow. i just keep hearing him say 'nice and slow' from that part in Bon Voyage where they ride the carts in New Zealand.

JN: Jin immediately sharing his food with the rest. and giving an alternate when he knew Jimin wouldn't like it.

YG: Ah, Yoongi, the torture of these poor students!

JH: I would absolutely be Hobi in this situation, continually messing up but with the best of intentions!

JM: Absolutely iconic moments of JM being frustrated with Hobi

V: awww, V still trying to get it down even after they've lost the handbell game.

JK: The guess that it's Yoongi's belly button

Bonus Content: There are some good moments, but i was so distracted in the beginning by how shaky the camera work was. i know the bonus content is usually from a specific crew that's not running the main cameras for the ep, but I've never noticed it being this bad before.

CQ Rank: 3.5

youtube

(CQ Eval Date: 15 APR 2024)

Check out this post for my Masterlist of all episodes and descriptions of how I'm evaluating these.

Previous Episode: 063

Next Episode: 065

#bangtan sonyeondan #jeon jungkook #park jimin #kim taehyung #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #kim namjoon #run bts #ep.064 #bts #youtube

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dk-wren · 1 year ago

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My Thoughts on Mean Girls the Movie MUSICAL

(Taking a quick break from my usual postings to go back to talk a little bit about one of my other interests...musicals!)

I just wanna share some of my thoughts about the new Mean Girls movie, so I hesitate to really call this a review or a critique. First and foremost, gosh its marketing. Don't even get me started. I have so many questions, but that is not what I want to really focus on. I just needed to get it out of my system. Now, let's begin!

I consider myself a fan of the Broadway musical. Probably not to the extent where I would consider myself its #1 fan, but I did follow its journey to Broadway and any announcements that came during its initial run and tour. I have yet to have the pleasure of watching it live (only through a slime tutorial on YT). So, for someone like me who has listened to the cast recording and watched any live performances by the any of the Bway or touring casts countless time, I can at at least appreciate that this movie exists to deliver the musical aspect to a larger audience.

Jaquel, Auli'i, and Renee (maybe in that order?) are the standouts to me. I absolutely loved Jaquel and Auli'i as Damian and Janis. I honestly think I have nothing but good things to say about their performances and portrayals. And again, from hearing and seeing clips of Renee in the Broadway cast, I was so happy to hear she was cast as Regina George in this adaptation. If you haven't already listened to the movie's soundtrack, most of the songs from the musical were adapted to fit more of a pop vibe than the original Broadway style. While I am happy to have like an official version of Renee singing Regina's song, I felt like her voice was toned down a bit to fit this iteration of the music. Don't get me wrong, she still sounds amazing but I didn't feel like she was able to truly show off her musical theatre chops.

Also, on the subject of the soundtrack, I listened to it before seeing the movie. And can I say, watching it really makes a big difference. I had a lot of thoughts about "Fearless" and "Stop" being cut. But, it kinda makes sense since those are the Act 1 closing and Act 2 opening songs, which in a movie, is not going to have that break, or intermission. In this still being an adaptation of Mean Girls, you have the scene where Cady tells Regina she can no longer sit with the Plastics and is subsequently shunned from the rest of the cafeteria. It's there, there's just no song to accompany it. But, it did feel like the right call since I think that part of the movie would've started dragging if those songs were both kept in.

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"Where Do You Belong" is another song that was cut that I have mixed feelings about. I am still a little sad that it was cut, and I don't think it would've slowed down the pacing that much if left in. After watching the movie, while I can't say it was the right move to cut this song, it definitely didn't feel like there was something missing in this part of the scene. Now, this song leads into "Meet the Plastics" in the musical, which was significantly trimmed down for the film. It's kinda funny to me that the title is still plural when it's only Regina's part. In having this be the third song in the movie, and really the first one after the opening, there is a bit of power that inherently(?) comes with it in having Regina's entrance announced through song.

youtube

As I've seen others point out, two of Damian's songs were cut. So, I am really happy that they turned "Apex Predator" into a duet between Janis and him (rather than Cady and Janis). This is a change or perhaps addition that I really enjoyed. In the movie, this scene/song still takes place at Northshore High (with any mall scene being completely removed). Going along with the lyrics, the choreography resembles the musical in more ways than others, with the students acting like different animals. And it works but also it doesn't. The choreography definitely fits the lyrics. But that comparison between students as animals and high school as a savannah that is set up in "It Roars" does not happen because "What ifs" replaced "It Roars." As a result it feels a little weird (I hesitate to throw out the word cringey, but maybe a little bit). I'm familiar enough with the musical that I could tell they were definitely pulling from that number as it appears in the musical, but if I was not, I don't really know how I would feel.

The last song I'm gonna talk about is "What Ifs" replacing "It Roars." For the slight story adjustments that were made as to why Cady and her mom return to the US, the new song definitely works. It sets up Cady wanting to explore "normal" high school or teen life the same way "It Roars" does, but it supports the detail of Cady talking with her mom at some point about what she feels she is missing out on because they are in Africa (from what I could gather, the decision to move back to the US is much more driven by character interest or desire, rather than cut funding and becoming the only option). The vibe or style of this song also works well amongst the rest of the soundtrack, especially since I can't imagine "It Roars" translating that well into this new style.

For some smaller details that I really enjoyed, I really liked how (if I'm remembering correctly) when Karen is first introduced, she's wearing a necklace that has her name on it, but she's wearing it backwards (leaning into that "she is the dumbest person you will ever meet"). It was shown in a trailer or an ad, but during "Revenge Party," there is the section where Janis, Damian, and Cady try to embarrass Regina by turning on a sprinkler that will hit her (and ruin her makeup). I like how we see Ashley Park's character, the French teacher, try to mimic the "wet look" since it almost feels like an homage to her playing Gretchen in the musical, who is always described as trying to please or be just like Regina.

Everyone has their own opinions, so I can't say with confidence oh this type of person will love it or this type of person will hate it. But, I can say as someone who loves the musical, I really enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun and was generally smiling throughout the whole thing since in a way, this is the closest I've come to (and may come to) seeing the Mean Girls musical adaptation. Even then, this movie felt like it was trying to do its own take on Mean Girls and Mean Girls the Musical, and I'll give the directors and creatives credit, some of it really worked (and some didn't). I wanted to see this movie, but I was unsure how to feel going into it since I couldn't tell if it was going to be bad or decently/surprisingly good. And after watching it, my initial reaction is to lean more towards the surprisingly good, which makes me happy.

Go see it for yourself though and be your own judge! These are just some of my thoughts. Feel free to comment or share yours! Or ask me about any of my other thoughts about the film.

-Dakota Wren

#mean girls 2024 #spoilers?#mean girls musical #mean girls movie musical #my thoughts #Youtube

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suyooo · 2 years ago

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Making BIG SIF2 (Part 2)

Hello again. In case you missed the first part of this project, I'm trying to recreate an old SIF(1) attraction where nine players jump around on floor buttons to play the game cooperatively. Last time, I went into how those buttons work, how they connect to the game, and completed the first switch.

Just need to do that eight more times.

This is another post with a bunch of text I'm writing down as I work on the project, in case you want to see where it's going or want to build something similar yourself. The TL;DR is that all floor switches are done now, I had to change the button mapping app, and found a nice solution for selecting songs and starting Lives - and then there's a video of me trying (emphasis on trying) to play BIG SIF solo.

This is the part of a project where there's nothing to do but boring, repetitive work. There is more interesting stuff to do, but you can't get to it before you just spend several hours doing the same thing over and over again, and it's hard to get excited to do it. So, even though this was probably the most time-consuming step of the project with 25+ hours, it can be summarized in one sentence: there are now eight more functioning switches.

This involved cutting out a total of 24 more shelf liner circles, clipping holes into 8 more rug pad spacers and 8 of the shelf liners, inserting 128 snap caps, crimping 16 connectors, and placing all the copper tape and soldering it together. One small change I made is that I added a little bit of copper tape to move all the connectors a bit to the side, so you don't step right on it when going for a press, and also gave it a generous glob of hot glue to serve as strain relief. Also, I had to purchase more anti-slip rug pad after all - turns out most of the one I owned was too flat to work properly. Oops. With the new rug pad, I noticed this beady style of rug pad is more stretchy on one axis than the other, so these layers are not rotationally symmetrical. To help with that, I cut out the corner where the connectors are glued on - not only does this make that spot a little flatter, but it also makes it easy to tell which orientation the pads must be placed when assembling the switches to align everything correctly.

Since I don't own any proper presses, all of the snap caps and crimp connectors had to be done by hand. That - combined with all the liner cutting, rug pad trimming, and soldering - has not been a fun time for my wrist :) It might be a good idea to invest into snap cap and crimp presses instead of pliers, it's probably cheaper than replacing my wrist down the road... and for the soldering, I'll probably just go with copper tape with conductive adhesive next time as mentioned before, to avoid that problem altogether.

Speaking of crimp connectors: add 36 more to the count for those connecting cables, and 18 more for the other ends on the controller board. The latter one just involved replacing the little button connectors the board comes with, which would usually make it easier to wire up arcade panels.

As for the cables, those are speaker wire. It's probably extremely overkill for a simple signal wire. I originally wanted to use dirt-cheap doorbell wire which would have been more than enough to carry the signal even over long runs, but there were two reasons I didn't go with it. One reason is that doorbell wire is solid wire. But if people might step on the wire, or I want to roll up and transport the parts of this project, stranded wire is far more durable, so I wanted to make sure to use it for the extra reliability. The other reason is that it was on sale :) I decided on buying a 25m roll and having each cable be 2m long - which is probably somewhat overkill again, but for things like cable length, I'd rather go too long than too short.

But hey, we've got over the mountain that is the boring and repetitive part of the project, and now we can ride down the hill to the finish!

Wait, no, that would have been too easy. Of course there's problems.

There was something that I completely missed in my test from the first post. I only had one floor switch, so I didn't try an actual song, which would have uncovered a big issue with using Key Mapper: it doesn't support pressing multiple buttons at once. If one player holds down a switch for a hold note, and another player taps their switch, the hold immediately ends. And of course, I didn't notice that problem until I actually had multiple floor switches completed.

After a few hours of searching and experimenting, I could only find one other app that worked. It is called Mantis, and it sucks. It contains ads, requires a weird and completely intransparent set up procedure through a wireless ADB debugging session, you must map the inputs of the arcade controller board to an Xbox controller layout before you can use them or they'll just be ignored, there's an unremovable menu button on your screen at all times, the map can't be programmatically disabled to stop the buttons from inputting for a moment, and I've found it's maybe a little unreliable? It just suddenly stopped while the game was running once. But as I said, it's the only one that I've found that works. So, I'll have to live with it. At least it supports the holds that Key Mapper doesn't do. So, you can play the game fine now. We can get back to finishing up the setup.

But before that, have you noticed though some of the mapped tap locations for the buttons are slightly off from the center of the spots in the game? I intentionally moved them a little, so they still hit the tap spots during Lives, but miss certain menu buttons! For example, the tap locations for spots 4 and 6 are moved down, so they don't hit the menu buttons while the game is paused. Otherwise, the player on floor switch 6 could accidentally use up my loveca if they kept stomping on the button after their stamina ran out and continued…

Here's everything connected together! The nine completed switches, all linked up to the board, and all that's left to do is set up Mantis and the HDMI output on the phone, plug in the single USB-C cable, and it's ready to play!

But before we plug everything into the phone, I really quickly want to note something about the adapter: The adapter required for this project was not just about needing a way to go from USB-A to USB-C - after all, that could have been solved even easier by just replacing the USB-B-to-A cable of the board with a USB-B-to-C cable and connecting it directly to the phone. As you might have been able to tell from the cover picture from the first post, playing BIG SIF on the phone screen is kind of... not optimal. So, the adapter had to have both an USB-A port and an HDMI port, so you could show the game on a TV or projector!

The adapter I ended up picking not only had those two ports, but also two more USB-A sockets and an USB-C socket. The USB-C port is for power delivery - everything runs off of the phone battery if it is not used, but this allows you to use a powerbank to extend the battery, or just plug in a wall charger so you don't have to worry about it at all. And the other USB-A ports come in really handy, as well. One of them can be used for an Ethernet adapter, which can vastly improve the stability of the required internet connection, if available. As for the other USB-A... one problem I hadn't considered at all is the game menus. As in, song selection and actually getting into the game. Of course, you could always just walk over to the phone, and try to find the correct tap spot on the screen that is turned off, then walk back to the switches - but there's a better approach thanks to that last USB port, with a wireless keyboard I had around already:

This one in particular is a wireless keyboard and touchpad combo, which gets recognized as a generic keyboard and mouse on any device you can plug it into - including Android. So now, you can use the touchpad on that to move around a cursor and do the menuing that way, without having to run back and forth! It's still a little awkward to control the pointer via the touchpad, but there's more that you can do: the keyboard part is not actually needed for this project, since we don't need to type any text... and Key Mapper is sitting idle now that we replaced it with Mantis, so how about we pass the keyboard to it? The keyboard won't have to deal with multiple simultaneous presses, so by setting up keys from it in Key Mapper, we can get an entire keyboard worth of buttons to map even more taps to! That way, instead of having to move the cursor across the screen, you can select and start songs by just pressing a few keys in order. And Mantis still handles the floor switches, so holding down the buttons still works fine, no matter how many are pressed.

Also, yes, I am planning to run regular Lives when playing on this. You might be wondering - "Why? There's a Rehearsal mode now, wouldn't that be better for something like this?" And the answer is yes, it absolutely would be, since I don't have to care about LP or running out of HP during a Live then! But the Rehearsal mode has a static background (see video below) instead of the cool Live Monitor, so I'll be happy to sacrifice my LP candies for the cool effects :) I'm not going to ever use all of them, anyways. And as for the HP problem, I could just add some healers... and if anyone ever wants to see how badly a Master chart would go, I can still start a Rehearsal by clicking on that button using the touch pad.

~~~ a quick little bit of an aside

Speaking of Rehearsal though, even if I'm not using that mode - can I just say how much I appreciate SIF2's gameplay direction? It just feels like the game is far more about "having fun just playing songs" than SIF1. There's changes like the ability to restart songs right from the pause menu if you're aiming for an FC, not losing LP if you fail, all songs being unlocked from the start - but also, obviously, the addition of the Rehearsal mode, where you can play any song without using LP and with infinite HP. One key result of this kind of design is that the game is far less punishing for making a mistake, and I think it invites people to challenge themselves to higher difficulties. There's no need to play it safe anymore: If you're curious about whether you could pass a Master chart, you can just play it, without having to worry about failing and wasting resources anymore. If the chart ends up being too hard, you don't lose any LP or other resources. You can choose to either run it back as many times as you want, or to play another song, neither option carrying any penalty. That makes the harder difficulties so much more approachable, and I think it's a fantastic change.

~~~ back to your regularly scheduled programming

With the system fully set up, it can finally be played! The problem being, I don't have nine players here, just one. I tried a couple times, but it went about as well as you'd expect, even on Normal - it's kind of hard to consistenly find and hit the floor switches while staring at the screen. But it does work! All the buttons work great (as long as I can hit them)! And even with me stepping on the connectors and cables and kicking the switches around by accident, they don't immediately break.

So with that, the project is technically done! All the switches are functional, you can play BIG SIF as intended, and I can bring the controller system anywhere. That's a massive milestone done, of course - but overall, this project still very much in the "janky mess of cables" state. So there's still some stuff to do...

On the next part of Making BIG SIF2: making it nice, making it good. Probably at least a box to put everything in, maybe something to improve reliability, maybe make the interface something better than just a keyboard with labels on it? Let's see how far I can take this

update: you can find the third part here!

#lovelive #love live #ラブライブ #school idol festival #sif2 #スクフェス #i am currently wearing a wrist brace #ouch oof owie

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