#....frankly all the tracks are good to listen to tho.......

[i3utterflyeffect]

hello rhythm doctor community....................... here you go. here's the xem

Avec is an intern that just kind of showed up one day and started working at the hospital. Technically the body was made for remote work, yes, but the thing is that Ian and Ada have no idea who connected to this thing. Someone clearly did, though, and now Avec is here.

Xe's not necessarily bad at their job, but xe's certainly pretty clumsy, and can slip up quite often, especially in a panic. Once xe gets focused, though, rest assured that you'll be fine.

Xe exhibits symptoms of an irregular heartbeat, but refuses any offers for treatment. Ada swears that one day she'll find xem and drag xem into the clinic for a checkup, but that'll have to wait until the Rhythm Doctor program is a little more stable.

Generally xe's pretty closed off when it comes to their own life, but this doesn't really mean xe's unfriendly. Xe just simply doesn't talk about themself, and so long as it doesn't come up, no one really thinks to question it.

so I noticed a lot of folks (myself included) were posting rhythm doctor internsonas as of late - and I wanted to make it easier for us to learn more about these interns - so I made a small information sheet!

this is completely free to use and can help act as an introduction for those new in the community, so please pop off with your designs!

an example on how to use the sheet is below:

'gimmick' simply refers to any type of beat we learn over the story: 7-beats, SVTs, blast beats, burn and freeze, etc.

hopefully this all makes sense, but please add a comment if you have any questions! i'll answer what i can :)

[mikodrawnnarratives]

OK

Before I talk a LOT (I'm not joking, A LOT)

About this au, how I stumbled upon the idea, story and all in a rushed format,

APPRECIATE THIS

TOOK FOREVER

COMPLETELY out of my general comfort zone in art BUT OH WELL LOOK AT IT :DDDDDDDD

Also serves as a good hook for what this post is about mehehehehehehehe

CUT TO RAMBLINGS

Oh I have your attention?

Excellent.

It started with me thinking and wondering about a specific fic that is unrelated to this post, frankly different fandom, and I was wondering how it would play out in a movie format, but seeing as the fic in question currently is unfinished and won't be for a while I decided to direct my attention to other fandoms, got to DCA fandom, came up with a few cute ideas i didn't write down for unfinished fics, for the record I do think it would be interesting if Solar Lunacy was a musical just saying, and then I started to think about ok what fics ARE fini-

SLEUTH JESTERS HECK YEAH

Unfortunately at the moment I don't have any digital sketches to share for some of these points and the sketches I do have are pretty messy SO I'LL JUST RAMBLE cause I already wrote down a lot of these separately

Firstly, I imagine this kind of musical being in universe kind of au. Possibly an extension of the Actor AU where the original media (tv show? movie?) got so popular it got a musical adaptation

I imagine the actual music, whether the songs or just sound track, would be heavily inspired by Jazz or smthn. Like, the genre of music most popular during the time period Sleuth Jesters is in ish. It would still be musical-like but you can tell the genre they are going for

And before continuing, to get around not actually saying "y/n" on stage cause that might be a little awkward MAYBE there could be some kind of special sound affect for the actors mics that the audience knows is y/n's name?? Half baked tho

COSTUMES

Sun, Moon and Eclipse (at least) would have highly decorated masks to match the original just added onto because they are on stage. Masks, so that there are more options for who to cast. To make up for this, the actors have to make it clear in their body language to make up for lack of expression

in productions with higher budget mayhaps one function could be the eyes have options for what emotion they could express

In most productions there will be sound effects in the background that mimic the noise that Sun Moon and Eclipse make as they move. Or at least be incorporated into the sound track ooooo

Y/n's clothes would have an easy to notice difference in quality compared to the DCAs, which makes the bell and ribbons much more noticeable on stage

Smaller note but I think y/n's make up could be kind of fun with how they show the y and n on their face

Would probably have a wig colored various shades of silver but not required

FIRST SONG FIRST SONG FIRST SONG

Would be the introduction (of course) and depict the first chapter and likely have something to do with "Until Next Time". I think possibly it would have little breaks in the song to fit in the dialogue

Honestly, in an adaptation there might just be more scenes added between the earlier chapters to fill in points in time or smthn

OR (the answer I like better) The first act uses time between chapters to fill in reader watcher on backstories or past's of characters

Actually yeah little hints would be packed in the first half

Any other songs could be filled in for the boys or y/n that could have the potential to return as a Reprise

Now listen Mandatory Eclipse Villain song(s)

this is not optional

Duets Duets DUETS

One duet could be between characters that are foils or mirror each other but it's one of those duets that have different lyrics that still match up musically

Particularly I think the latter could be used for Sun and Moon's complicated relationship with Eclipse but not completely sure where that would be, probably second half, speaking of which...

ACT ONE ends in the chapter that Y/N has to return the favor to Eclipse, where he crashes the party and they go with him, reassuring Sun and Moon that they allways can wiggle out of situations

REPRISE OF THE FIRST SONGGGGGG

Until Next Time Reprise

Which will have a moment of silence after, showing their mutual understanding yet make it perfectly clear sun and moon don't want to do resort to this

Doesn't last to long as it proceeds with the sound track DROPPING in tone as Eclipse stuffs y/n into the car, that is actually just a prop that leads to the back stage

FADE TO BLACK INTERMISSION

ACT TWO (any major costume changes or forever hold your piece) I think would start off with Sun and Moon's dilemmas first before getting back to y/n

WHICH would likely cut to y/n maybe already in the burgundy shirt but meh that's not solid

I think the way Eclipse gives them the burgundy ribbon and bell could be changed in an adaptation of the story since it would be easier I imagine to show it later than in a car set piece

(Admittedly I have to reread these specific chapters to know specifically the order) But when Eclipse drops the bombshell he knows their past, and I think he leaves them alone for a bit after that, SONG TIME (though song could still happen with him there honestly)

Something similar to the theme "I thought I burned everything" and would just

And after that likely more backstory could be cut to depending on what it is and how relevant it is at that point. WOuld be much grimmer in tone but hey it's the second act.

Though if this opportunity is taken, this could be reprised later when Y/N proposes to the boys, with the necklaces to show being more comfortable with their past

More song opportunities with Y/N's trust issues, Sun and Moon's brother issues, etc

Final act-ish, where y/n first runs away after Sun and Moon "find out" and from there would have more focus on the score than any songs that could be fit into that small frame.

My thoughts went kind of to Heather's Dead Girl Walking Reprise and then Veronica and JD's tussle toward the end if songs got implemented there

AND OF COURSE The moment of Eclipse's death is really what makes me think this would be adapted into a musical in universe

Because it does kind of fit the bill for being tragic

You feel bad enough for what could have been

But also remember "Nah that bitch deserves it"

But also.. it's sad

PERFECT FOR MUSICAL ENDING

ish

After proposal, there is possibility to do a QUICK little glance into the future at the end, not unlike Dear Evan Hansen's ending, but maybe not

Ok now Applause section!!

Freddie and Gregory would bow together

I forgot to mention earlier, but the character that is revealed to be a spy for Eclipse at the police station I'd imagine would have hints on their clothing (like burgundy) that would foreshadow their side

Eclipse would bow by himself, flaunty as ever, yet you can still kind of tell the actor is kind of a sweetheart

Sun and Moon would enter, bow together and then welcome Y/n

Who would get to bow on their own, then with Sun and Moon

Then the rest of the cast is welcomed

How the arrangement would go from left to right I was thinking

Law Enforcement and basic background cast making up crowds, Freddy, Gregory, Sun, Y/N, Moon, Eclipse, Michael, Other Aftons and Spy, rest of Law Enforcement and basic background cast making up crowds

AAAAAaaand thats what I've got.

@naffeclipse did you catch all of that?

and @sunnys-aesthetic for their detective au! :3

[barbatusart]

Hi barbatus I love your music so much and idk if you have an ask blog, but I was really curious where you draw your inspiration? I love your music because it has all the harsh noises I crave but it isn't just pure chaos. All the sounds truly work so well together and every song is such an AMAZING, exciting, and exhilarating listen. I love listening to your music by itself but sometimes I'll relaunch the TPOF for some of those songs specifically so I can also revisit the scenes because the music you made just fits each scene so perfectly. I'm totally enamored with your music!!!! Do you get inspiration from the world around you? And what helps you "get into the zone" to make music? Thank you!!! :'33

THANK YOU YAHOO im so touched!!!!!! hahaha gosh honestly im still stunned about my stuff being enjoyed so much!

im trying to narrow down where specifically my inspo comes from, definitely im drawing a lot from 80s and 90s skinny puppy, even going as far as to hunt down sounds from the s900 to try & make a replica drum machine (used brilliantly on the Too Dark Park Album! check out the opening track Convulsion, theyre wringing the greasiest sounds out of the s900) im still not as precise or inventive as SP (and frankly haven’t gotten around to implementing film/radio/etc samples yet) but they’re a huge inspo for me, i feel like if you listen to anything off of the Bites album the line of inspiration becomes very clear

another big one is the soundtrack to rockstar’s game manhunt, which grotesquery-wise was an inspo torch i carried for decades but now im thrilled to have the inspo shine through my audio endeavors too. manhunt is so good lol the older & grimier-looking it gets the better it is

what else uhhh, there’s a fair bit of nine inch nails & tyler the creator in my more melodic stuff ive been doing recently as im trying to get Actual Chord Progression in there. (still a work in progress lol i think i figured out some fairly beautiful stuff but i wanna step it up into a proper journey instead of just loops!) early hocico also is a big one by way of disgusting noise with interesting melodic stuff but i have No idea what machines they were using, & frankly i wouldnt wanna try & imitate their early sound perfectly cus it’s so distinct to hocico lol. aaaaand what else….. dreamcrusher, coil (!!!!!!!), author & punisher, театр яда, susumu hirasawa, front 242, joy division, and the entire discography of swans (tho idk if the swans influence is audible at all honestly lol)

[zingaplanet]

Tagged by: @kuhcra 🙌❤️

Sign: I'm an aquarius, i never really get these things, come on astrology mutuals tell me smth about myselffff, am i gonna die and become a cat? Am i destined to save the world from a catastrophic alien invasion?

Height: I'm 172cm ish!

Last thing I googled:

Believe it or not, the Reading fest ticket, I'm contemplating whether 100 quid is worth it to get smashed to a pumpkin amidst crowds of thousands to watch the Killers play

Number of followers: hmm i dunno around 400ish? Doesn't matter tho, I love. Every. Single. One. Of. My. Mutuals. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ i also love that all of you come from different fandoms and come here to be chaotic with me or be introduced to some completely random ships lol. My page is a fandom networking platform n i won't have it any other way!

Amount of sleep: oof I'm an old man. I need my 8 hours beauty sleep. Sometimes 9 hours on weekends lol

Lucky #: I've absolutely no idea what this means, tumblr lingo expert help?

Wearing: A knitted sweater, cozy pajama pants and CHRISTMAS SOCKS! I luv my festive socks 🧦🧦🧦

Dream job: Oooohhhhh this is so difficult. Ok there are 2 things to this (leave it to me to overcomplicate stuffs lol)

Within the unachievable realm I've always wanted to be a musician (Hency my profile background!). I kinda almost did, I taught piano for quite some time, and was in a band for a long time. Hey you never know, might get called to headline glastonbury anytime, hang out with Alex Turner backstage and never have to work a day in my life anymore 😉

Frankly I just dream of playing a rock concert with my band at the royal albert hall and crowdsurfing the dead-est, posh-est crowd ever just cause i thought it'd be hilarious to see their faces 🥲 lol

In the slightly more achievable realm within my field right now, my dream job is to work in the UN peacekeeping or other international conflict orgs to help broker peace deals and help resolve some of the conflict stalemates around the world. I've worked with humanitarian charities before but I get really frustrated seeing so many efforts gone to waste cause the bureaucrats on top just couldn't be bothered to sacrifice their political interests for longlasting peacekeeping efforts. Sorry this is such a geeky answer! It's just that I've seen so many unnecessary sufferings and I just really really want to be in a position where I can at least make my mark to do smth good to change the world for better before I die!

Movies/books that summarise me: prob Orwell's 1984 lol, i'll leave it to you to interpret why

Favourite song: Oh this is so difficult! My current fav is by the Belgian artist Stromae, the one he made as a tribute to Cesária Évora, one of the greatest living singers of all time!

My current fav album and something that you DEF DEF DEF should listen to is the new album by the Canadian indie band Peach Pit called From 2 to 3. It has that old school road trip feel good vibes with your friends during a cross-country, it calms the soul and soothes the mind just uuggghh absolute masterpiece! (My fav track is give up baby go!)

Fav instrument: My bass! Especially my fender jazzmaster bass Rory ❤️ it's been my date for 23 years

Aesthetic: Have you seen the riverside of Thames in autumn?

Fav author: I don't read a lot of non-fictions anymore sadly, but I love poetries and literature. Jeanette Winterson is one of the only I feel that can really capture the essence of our souls and unearth emotions as raw as our hearts. Here's her masterpiece from Lighthousekeeping:

Fav animal noise: 🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬

Random: my dear mutuals, I am working on 2 deadass long angsty carraville and fedal fics that might never get finished but I'm committed to see them to the end even if it takes years!

On another note, if somehow our interests overlap again, the last fic I did was on pepmou. It's so sappy, I don't even know how I got through it! But if you're feeling a bit in need of enemies to lovers... ⬇️⬇️

Enjoy the tag my lovelies: @surreality51 @aramblingjay @tam-is-blogging @aliceinqueensland

[majicmarker]

Sliding into your inbox to just scream about how much I love Demisexual eddie!

Evryone is entitled to their own ideas for the character but Demi eddie will always hold a really special place in my heart. It just feels so right to me and I love how you write him!

I’m regard to your newest fic I’m obsessed with Eddie’s pov! It’s peak queer experience lolll I relate too well

I will say eddie messed up by not trusting Robin to set him up with Chrissy tho! Always trust your local lesbians!

(the fic in question)

listen. he knows he totally biffed it, okay. he's just a demisexual dum-dum lollipop and he's doing his best with that. frankly he’s intimidated by lesbians, they get too much done too efficiently, he can’t keep up, man.

(if you want to know if this is based on my own personal experience, i will tell you… absolutely yes it is.)

yk—and while you didn’t ask for this, i’m offering it free of charge anyway—also this just made me Think abt, is that it’s weird to think abt now, bc when i first started writing eddissy fic, i really didn’t give much thought to either of their sexualities. i was just getting my sea legs with them and everything, and, for me, i think it speaks to my own experience as a demisexual—the sexual aspect didn’t matter until they were with each other (aside from the jason factor, i suppose, but from my perspective as the writer, even that spoke less to chrissy’s sexuality and more to her sense of “duty” in their relationship). 

the catalyst was largely due to @agentmmayy's og virgin!eddie fic—a definite lightbulb moment for me (the quintessential Oh. moment, if u will). eddie had never struck me as a particularly sexual character, anyway (not to mention he’s only like, 20, tops? why are we out here believing this idea that everyone has vast sexual experience at such a young age? is this because of one tree hill?)—i just hadn’t really examined that bc, again, once i paired him with chrissy, well, all bets were off, he really wants to kiss her, etc.

and, like, okay, bit of a rant abt the larger implications of this topic ahead, whoops my hand slipped—

truly just. bonkers. that the assumption is that you must have experience to be good at sexual activity. idc how many ppl you’ve hooked up with, EVERYONE is different—their bodies, their turn-ons, orgasms aren’t one-size-fits-all. communication with your partner(s) is Far More Important than your track record, otherwise you’re just some asshole who thinks they know someone’s body better than that person does. 

and i really like exploring demisexuality through, like, a male lens—because men are so socialized to be sexual, so what happens to their sense of self when that’s just not their inclination?

like, i am. so sick. of even the most progressive of media making the same tired joke abt how all men want sex all the time, or that there’s something “off” or “not right” if a guy isn’t ready/wants to wait.

it happens constantly in so-called feminist media, and it does such a disservice to what feminism actually is—that one of the tenants of the movement is that men aren’t incapable of checking their baser desires, they’re not wild animals who can’t control it; they’re fully-realized human beings who need to be held responsible for their actions, regardless of their “physical reaction” to their attraction to someone.

so, ultimately, we have these two separate but fundamental ideas here: men deserve to feel validated in their sexuality, and they’re also responsible for how they act on it. basically, toxic masculinity can be propagated by anyone, and it hurts everyone.

and just—god, SO OFTEN aphobia is disguised as sex positivity (maybe not intentionally, but still harmfully; casual aphobia is all over seemingly progressive spaces), but sex positivity needs to also acknowledge that not experiencing sexual attraction, not wanting sex, or only experiencing/wanting those things under certain circumstances, etc., is okay, it’s normal, and it’s not less-than. 

sexuality is not this cut-and-dry thing, you know? like ik glee did a number on our perception of sexuality as this strict dichotomy of “gay or straight, that’s it,” but like. c’mon guys, time to move past that, we can all heal together.

so, yeah. tl;dr there’s a lot to unpack with ace spectrum characters, and that’s def where i want to park my wheelhouse.

[the-halcyon-effect]

copying you

cure: nothing new to say here. it's my least favorite of the singles (not to say it's bad, i just like the other 3), but it's one of the songs i'm most excited to see live because of the chorus and breakdown callout

rumor of light: HOLY SHIT JESSE'S VOICE IS SO GOOD THIS CHORUS IS FUCKING AMAZING this is already better than all the singles

ok yeah this track is just jesse flexing. and frankly i am all for it

idle wild: VERY chunky verse. incredible. also more jesse having the best cleans

not as good as the last one but this is still amazing. hopefully there's a breakdown

update: no breakdown but i still really like this one

blue reverie: once again, it was a single so nothing new. it's a great emotional song and i am a huge fan of that verse

slow sour bleed: this one has a music video (i haven't seen it yet) so i have high hopes

ok we got a synth intro this better be heavy. and yup it's heavy

ok never mind what is THIS‽‽ (affectionate)

i guess we have jesse in the verse and jt in the chorus? oh how the turntables

this kinda reminds me of the new silent planet album but obviously more like erra did it (because they did). absolutely LOVE the electronic synthy verse

okay what the FUCK is this bridge? oh it's a breakdown now

hmmm. okay. idk if this beats rumor of light for my fav song so far but it's at least a close second

wish: ghost atlas has entered the chat. it's just an intermission but it's good ig

glimpse: ah, the classic intermission-is-just-the-riff-from-the-next-song-but-acoustic. not a problem at all, it's an amazing riff

oooh i like the little dooododoododoo the guitar does

and the silent planet comparisons return for that chorus, not as good as the other ones but it's good for this song

OOOH TASTY BREAKDOWN VERY GOOD :D i like this one a lot more now

and the fade-out layered outro. that was a good one

oh? never mind? more guitar? ok i'm down

past life persona: FANTASTIC opening riff. this one's gonna be catchy

ok this is just a slightly heavier ghost atlas track. i am 200% down for this

jesse cash you are a beautiful beautiful man

somehow this is more emotional than blue reverie. might be my new favorite

hmm. would have preferred more from the bridge but that last chorus still hits HARD. if the bridge was a little better this could beat rumor of light and slow sour bleed but currently it's gonna settle for third

crawl backwards out of heaven: single! good song, very vibey and headbangable. gonna be good live for sure

end to excess: another kinda emotional one! interesting! this is really cool tho, BIG fan of the drums in the prechorus

okay the second verse is a little heavier

i could see this one having a breakdown or not having a breakdown. we'll see. although it seems the second chorus is extended so maybe not

NEVER MIND I HAVE BEEN BAMBOOZLED

OH JT IS GOING LOW NOW HOLD UP

very good breakdown. best (breakdown, not song) so far on the album.

pale iris: single, but still good! this was the song that got me into erra, and i think it served that purpose well. it's a standard high-energy erra song and sounds a lot like something off the self-titled album, and i'm a big fan. best of the singles imo

wave: before i hear this one i'm gonna predict this is going to be super emotional with a heavy ass breakdown at the end. ik it's kinda a shot in the dark BUT A GIRL CAN DREAM OK

i was wrong. oh well. let's see what happens

kinda proggy? dang this is different

oh that is a GOOD prechorus

and also a good chorus. LOVE the vocal layers

ok it looks like the top 3 (rumor of light, slow sour bleed, past life persona) are gonna stay. this is probably 5th, i think pale iris gets 4th. i'm gonna need time for the full ranking

that was amazing. gonna go listen to the alphawolf album now

cure album liveblog (aka me devolving into insanity) unedited no grammar corrections this is between me and my phone keyboard

all I'm gonna say is that the singles do not do this album justice

cure: it's a precursor to what's to come I'm already so familier with it. first time I've got both earbuds in though 🥴. it's an expeeince

rumour of light: SHES PRETTY AND HEAVY holy shit the opening instrumental I was gonna cry, the vocalsssssss! the scream melody is so good, jesse's singing is something else (he's singing lower I might be able to actually hit his notes for once) GUITAR SOLO!!! its so melodic and pretty the vocal layering in the chorus is everything to me

idlw wind: quiet straight into heavy djenty, dark ambience, pretty yet heavy chorus, guitars are tight as fuck, chorus vocal melody is so good hes got a little bit of scream in there too, the bridge instrumental part is so !!! HANG ON IS JESSE SCRWMING THERE OR IS JT DOING SOMETJING DIFFERENT I DONT KNOE. outro part of chorus is so !!

blue reverie: fits so well in the grand scheme of the album? it's the slow respite from three quick heavy songs

slow sour bleed: industrial! production heavy intro! reminds me of psalm of sedition? it's gone quiet? very djent. ambience!! heavy/light whiplash. ELECTRONIC? erra typical structure fuck. OH BREAKDOWN THESE CALLOUTS ARE AMAZING. oh she's very heavy

wish: opening guitar haunts me. she's light and building. and an interlude

glimpse: OH! SHE CONTINUES DISTORTED. jesse is going at it with vocal work holy shit! JT CLEAN YELLINH! the guitars here I adore. THE VREAKDOWN HAS BEOKEN MY CEILING. jesse's voice from this chorus specifically is gonna haunt my dreams

past life persona: intro guitar is so pretty. dust of the human shape esque opening verse. very ghost atlas, a bit radio rock (metal)? sounds seaside in summer, type of song you'd introduce to your grandma. backing screams on point. breakdown flows very well it's explosive but doesn't break the stream of the song. is jt singing here?

crawl backwards out of heaven: jt song right after a jesse song, foreboding heavy. verse two is still groovy as fuck. bridge is still haunting as fuck

end to excess: clean glittery guitars, i want this intro to last forever. and now he's screaming. oh that verse lead! blast beats! oh that chorus feels movie-hopeful! I love it! the guitar leads in the second part of the chorus! BREAKDOWN! it's so different wow

pale iris: some good old fashioned metalcore. the verse leads at the start of the verse fit the leads sprinkled throughout the rest of the album. it's weird, it's the first single from the album but appears second last, and now I'm hearing it as part of the picture it sounds so much more coherent.

wave: ?? energetic guitars? reminds me of hyperreality? I love this song I don't know what's going on. some of the vocal parts remind me of a savage hands song. oh that bridge is powerful. I don't want this to end.

it can't be over

please tell me it's not over

that might be the best album I've ever heard.

[samaspic31]

Theory : anti-spoiler culture ruined the soundtrack of the kenobi series

I relistened to the series' soundtrack last week and the thing most noticeable about it is.... how unremarkable it is. Aside from the main theme john Williams composed, can you remember or sing anything from it? Aside from few good parts here and there, the impression I have is very generic, bland, and definitely void of the trademarks that make a good, memorable star wars soundtrack in my opinion.

Now I'm not one to hang on established themes if new, equally good ones are introduced; the mandalorian is my favourite star wars music, it proved it was possible. That wasn't the case here. And the kenobi series is, let's be real, mainly an appeal to nostalgia of the prequel movies. The mandalorian made new themes for new characters; and used the force theme for Luke's appearance, because it would feel like it's missing if it didn't. kenobi was almost exclusively legacy characters, some of them with firmly established musical themes. Leia has a theme since A new hope. The series also repeated instances from the prequels that had distinct musical associations: order 66 had the march on the jedi temple, anakin's betrayal, and the obiwan - anakin duel was characterized by battle of the heroes and duel of the fates (whose absence is made more frustrating by its use for the trailer. I don't think it was unreasonable for us to expect in to be used in the series when the promo was done with it).

Leia's theme is not used at all, despite the fact it had come to represent even alderaan itself in tcw's soundtrack. It makes no sense not to use it. They used it for baby leia meeting breha, it was created for her 19yo self, why wouldn't it be relevant to her 10yo self ? Besides, the emperor's theme is also left unused despite being long established in both trilogies. The imperial march is used once, and while I don't mean to swing back and argue they should have used it as much as rebels did, I do think it was too little and felt missing in the village scene on mapuzo

Again I would not be complaining if the music we got was so great that it made me forget what it didn't include. I don't want star wars to become a repetitive loop of rehashing and never any new theme, only callbacks. I do feel those themes should be used, sparsely, when relevant, when telling the story of the characters they represent. And especially in flashbacks. And the "replacement" we were given instead is, frankly, mediocre. I can't help but feel a void listening to it, because if you are reusing so much of the prequels both narratively and emotionally... why leave out such a huge part of what made us feel this way? Why cut the wings off your most emotional scenes by not reminding us musically what it's connected to ?

If you have to make me watch order 66 one hundred times, make it good. I have qualms with tcw s7, but I can't say Victory and death wasn't efficient, fitting, and as good a track as revenge of the sith's order 66 music. And it's just my opinion, but kenobi's take didn't live up to the challenge.

Ok, rant over. Why did this happen tho ? Why wouldn't they use the established themes? This is just my theory, obviously I don't work at Lucasfilm, but my guess is : the composer didn't know who she was writing for, she couldn't know what to use when. They wanted to keep the importance of leia's role a secret at all costs and make it a big reveal, as was when the vader - obiwan confrontations would take place, and the emperor cameo. I wouldn't be surprised if it was kept from even the composer. Favloni kept Luke's cameo secret from as many people as possible, telling basically anyone but mark that it'd be plo koon, and the only reason we did get the force theme in my opinion was that it did not give away it was specifically luke but any jedi. That specific brand of bland soundtrack mediocrity reminds me of what happens with the mcu when composers don't know neither what characters nor the details of the scenes they're writing for, in opposition with the Black Panther soundtrack where ludwig Goransson was informed.

It betrays such a disdain for composers that Disney is fully choosing to sacrifice quality, retaining relevant and vital information, to exclude artists from key aspects of the projects they hired them to be a part of, stifling their abilities to give us good music, and all out of fear of leaks that they cannot stop from happening anyways. Word got out of Luke's cameo, word got out of leia's involvement. Total lack of spoilers is impossible to achieve, and striving for it is hindering the very art it claims to protect the enjoyment of. Besides, a good plot should be able to withstand spoilers, and the whole spoiler circus seems very much a way to manufacture hype by signaling to people that they should want to find out before anyone else. But I digress. My point is that the lack of involvement of the composers make for some very forgettable scores and it's a damn shame

[lokiskitten]

Loki Laufeyson | wrong room

Loki Laufeyson x fem!reader

plot : after landing on Midgard, you, Thor and Loki are forced to book rooms at the closest hotel in order to spend the night. However, you accidentally end up joining a room which isn’t yours and gain someone else’s bed.

warnings : mention of drinking, basic smut and unprotected sex.

In order to go after and find Odin, the three of you had been forced to travel to earth and lead unsuccessful investigations. Having to listen to Thor and Loki argue every ten minutes had easily gotten under your skin and irritated your nerves, which led you to beg the two of them to find a place to stay for the night. All you could think about was to find a bed in order to spend a good night of rest, and that no matter if you had to sleep onto a foreign planet. Besides, Thor and Loki’s presence managed to reassure your anxiety and fears.

And this is how the three of you ended up in a nearby hotel, the cheapest you managed to find as you wished to get over the payment step as soon as you could. Loki was getting frustrated, visibly annoyed to be forced through such a humiliating thing that was having to sleep somewhere else than in his personal silk sheets. On another hand, Thor seemed to enjoy this adventurous trip, which was far from being any surprising. You’ve know him since forever, and you knew that traveling to new places was something he liked to do- especially when it came to mixing up with “friendly” misgardians.

“Thank you.” Thor’s deep voice spoke as he took ahold of the three separated keys, Loki fainting a sarcastic smile as the three of you now turned around in order to reach the elevator. “This is ridiculous. Why can’t we just go back to Asgard? It isn’t too late.” The black haired man affirmed whilst taking decisive steps. “Because a little someone lost our own father and I refuse to go back to Asgard before I know that he is safe. Now that we left, I refuse to come back home empty handed and disappoint our people.” Thor responded. You decided to stay out of this little family argument as you believed that it was none of your business in the first place, even though the two men had insisted for you to accompany them.

Loki chuckled darkly, as if he took his brother’s many blames as compliments. The demigod shook his head as the three of you stepped inside of the elevator, Thor’s fingertip pressing against the proper button which caused the doors to close. “I did not loose him.” Loki defended his acts, earning an unamused groan from his older brother. You smirked as your head tilted towards the floor. Once the doors of the elevator finally opened again, you were all able to walk out and make your way down the corridor in order to reach the rooms.

Though, being in desperate need of a distraction and some alone time away from the two arguing brothers, you suddenly stopped in your track. “I think I’m going to make a stop at the bar. I won’t be long.” You affirmed awkwardly, earning a simple nod from the blonde god which allowed you to turn back around and disappear from their sight within a short minute. Thor didn’t worry about your safety, being aware that you were fully able to defend yourself with the help of all of the amazing skills you had developed through your many asgardian educations.

[ ... ]

About two hours later, you found yourself stumbling through the empty corridor which was meant to lead you to your room. However, the beverage which flowed through your veins caused your brain to behave slightly dizzy. Your eyesight was blurry, yet a couple of blinks were enough to make it all clear again but only for a few seconds. Upon arriving in front of the bedroom door you expected to be yours, your hand took ahold of the handle which you twisted before pushing open the door and creating an opening for you to walk in.

There was no form of light but the one which came from outside of the building- yet which remained muffled by the half transparent closed curtains. The entire room was plunged into darkness, and you therefore weren’t able to distinguish Loki’s sleeping silhouette underneath the bedsheets. The first thing you felt like doing was to remove your clothes from your body, the alcohol in your organism causing you to sweat in an uncomfortable manner. Besides, you weren’t used to the fabric of those misgardian shirts and jeans- which only led you to want to remove them even more.

Throwing your shirt towards the bed, the piece of clothing landed onto Loki’s face which immediately caused him to frown out of confusion. He reacted slowly, hand reaching up for his head from underneath the bedsheets before he dragged the shirt off his face. Meanwhile you continued to undress, taking off every single piece of clothing which once hid your body as Loki attempted to sit up straighter in order to speak up about the situation. Unfortunately, his parting lips were forced to go silent as your panties landed against his face, his eyelids shutting close out of pure instinct.

A tired sigh escaped his lips as he dragged your underwear off his tired features. Though his now fully awake eyes admired your body, his head tilting as he started to wonder when you would finally notice his presence. Meanwhile, you were finally able to slip underneath the covers as a gentle hum escaped your lips. The sensation of the covers over your silhouette and the mattress underneath your body felt absolutely orgasmic; your tired brain looking forward for a good night of rest.

However, the unexpected sensation of someone else’s warmth against your arm caused your eyebrows to frown out of confusion. Looking up from the pillow as your eyelids moved open, a yelp escaped your lips as your orbs landed onto the sight of Loki mischievously grinning at you. Nearly falling off the bed, you managed to catch the bedsheets right in time whilst your other arm reached out for the bedside lamp. You turned on the light, distressed eyes scanning Loki’s now chuckling features.

“What are you doing in my room?!” You asked him in a defensive manner, using the bedsheets in order to hide your naked body. The demigod frowned. “This is my room.” He responded on an offended tone, the two of you entering a processus of pure confusion regarding this satiric situation. Your eyes diverted towards the corner of the room, spotting his infamous black suit which rested onto a chair and which was previously worn by the demigod himself. Awkwardly, you began to realize that the god of mischief might have been right : this was indeed his room which you had mistaken for yours.

“Oh..” you spoke, admitting that you were in the wrong which caused a smile to appear on Loki’s face. The presence of light in the room now allowed you to notice that he was naked himself, a blush spreading over your face which the black haired man didn’t fail to notice. You were suddenly pulled out of your daydream by the loud sound of someone banging against the nearby wall, Thor’s deep voice soon echoing through the thick material of the building. “Hey! Cut it off.” He ordered, seemingly not appreciating to be awoken at night by the two accomplices.

Loki simply rolled his eyes, remaining unbothered face to his brother’s futile threats. Instead, his mind decided to focus onto something way more interesting which was the opportunity of engaging something lustful with you. Biting down onto his bottom lip, he watched as you dragged the sheets a little further up onto your naked chest. To be frankly honest, your fake modesty only enhanced his secretive desires. “Oh come on.” He purred seductively, hand slowly moving up to yours before he started to lower the covers in order to expose your upper body to his sight.

Even if he had the worst reputation, you tended to trust Loki with your life as you’ve known him since forever. Therefore, you accepted to lower the sheets and expose your bare chest to him. His blue eyes watched with admiration, his fingers cautiously dipping into your soft mound and causing the squishy flesh to wiggle. Your breath itched due to this unexpected physical contact, yet you managed to appreciate every single second of it.

Being aware that he had your consent, Loki then wrapped his strong arms around you naked body and forcefully pulled your silhouette close to his- your respective legs interlocking as your own arms wrapped around his muscular back. You absolutely melted into this new source of warmth, appreciating how soothing his smooth skin felt against yours. You were now able to feel his hardening genitals brush against your entrance, tip colliding with your moist lips which instinctively parted for his hardness. Loki allowed a guttural groan to escape his lips, face tilted downwards towards yours as he observed the way your facial features grimaced out of pleasure.

Your forehead was soon to rest against the crook of his warm neck, his hips grinding against yours in order to engage intercourse in the smoothest way possible. His lips started to spray kisses against your neck, causing your genitals to throb out of envy as the two of you tried your best to remain as silent as possible even tho the natural lust which filled your respective organisms held you back from being completely discreet. Your knee now moved up to his hip, allowing your core to spread open for Loki to receive easier access to your entrance.

“Allow me, if you please, to take possession of your body.” He begged, large hands roaming your back in a loving manner. You shivered as you understood his request, body turning around so that your bum was now facing his crotch. Lifting your left knee to your chest, Loki’s hands took ahold of your hips as his member aligned with your drippy entrance. You moaned silently, bum lifting against his pelvis in an attempt to sit down onto his cock on your own. Thankfully, the demigod took the initiative to push things himself by sliding his hardness inside of your throbbing cunt.

Feeling his bare member penetrate you easily led you to moan, legs spreading in the air as your knees moved up to your chest. Loki began to move his hips back and forth, veins appearing onto his neck as he focused on properly moving in and out of you. This position required a lot of efforts from your partner, yet it felt absolutely nice to you- his tip brushing against every single one of your sensitive spots. Loki’s abdomen remained contracted, winces and hisses escaping his lips as his veiny hands remained locked against your hips.

“Ah- fuck..” you whimpered sensitively, eyelids shutting close due to the undeniable amount of pleasure which filled your body the more your sexual partner thrusted in and out of your tight and clenching hole. Those unwilling mannerisms caused Loki’s shaft to twitch, his tip repetitively hitting your cervix as warm precum dripped from his sensitive urethra- mixing up with your own natural lubricants. The man’s lips collided with your neck, biting and kissing your skin with the help of all the lust which lurked within his body.

Your hand moved back to grip onto his neck, cheek rubbing against Loki’s as his eyebrows raised in that one infamous way of his. Soft pants now exited his parted lips, thrusts getting sloppier as your friend now began to have a hard time keeping up the pace. The kisses he offered your skin weren’t so lustful anymore, but mainly filled of all the love he was never able to properly offer to anyone before. This boy lacked physical and mental attention, which you hadn’t failed to notice through the many years spent in his mischievous company.

And finally, his hips locked against yours as his balls twitched, shaft throbbing as warm and sticky cum was expelled from his urethra. Moaning sensitively, you accompanied his musical rythme by allowing your own whimpers to exit your lips. His hands moved away from your hips, strong arms now wrapping around your waist to make sure you wouldn’t unexpectedly decide to break the physical contact- something that absolutely never crossed your mind. In fact, all you could think about was how nice this moment felt. So why would you ever decide to put it to an end?

Unfortunately, every nice things had an end, the intercourses ending when Loki pulled out of your cunt and allowed his cum to drip out of your entrance. Falling onto his back, he panted tiredly whilst your own self laid down onto your back, hand reaching down for his and allowing your digits to interlock with his larger ones. Sensing this new physical contact, his head turned towards yours, sad eyes staring into your soul. For a moment, he was able to feel your pain as you felt his.

I hope you enjoyed. Don’t hesitate to leave a request! ❤️ have a good evening/day my loves. Requested tag : @delightfulheartdream

[drafthearse]

albums from a couple days ago:

Razorblade Romance - HIM overall rating: 3/5 tracks to keep: 5/11 thoughts: knew right here in my arms, enjoying the rest of the keepers, esp death is in love with us. i gotta listen to more HIM. these reviews are gonna be sparse bc i’m coming back to them a while later and dont remember all my thoughts rip

Scripted - Icon For Hire overall rating: 4/5 tracks to keep: 8/11 thoughts: i really liked it! fun. get well standout track for me

The Interrupters - The Interrupters overall rating: 2/5 tracks to keep: 3/13 thoughts: meh! i like their later stuff a lot better frankly, but it’s a decent album. the metro cover is the best track imo

Kick - INXS overall rating: 1/5 tracks to keep: 1/12 thoughts: did not like it. kick the song was decent but im not sure yet if i’m gonna add it to my library

Darklands - The Jesus and Mary Chain overall rating: 0/5 tracks to keep: 0/10 thoughts: learned i am not into the jesus and mary chain

To Mend the Sun - Jhariah overall rating: 1/5 tracks to keep: 0/6 thoughts: early panic! at the disco vibes. i feel like i almost could have liked it but something about the vocals/mixing really put me off, seemed amateurish.

Punk Rock For Kids Who Can’t Skate - Destructo Disk overall rating: 0/5 tracks to keep: 0/13 thoughts: eh. boring

Unicorn Steak - Die Mannequin overall rating: 3/5 tracks to keep: 7/10 thoughts: i’m pretty certain it’s die as in dead but i always read it as die as in the -_- anyway i liked it! i like care failure’s voice. i knew a few tracks going in and those are still my faves but i liked plenty of the others. donut kill self is a stupid track title tho

Sore - Dilly Dally overall rating: 3/5 tracks to keep: 6/11 thoughts: 1. great album art. really good. 2. i like it! again not feeling articulate rn but i think they have a very cool sound. witch man is standout for me rn. 

66 albums left!

[kangaroo-sniper-imagine]

Unintimidating reader who’s a killa killa

-snipers is longer solely because ive had that idea in my head LONG before i got this request-

-also, little gorey so beware-

Medic

Ludwig is almost instantly enamoured with you once he got comfortable with you on base. He finds you sweet and calls you “kleine krankenschwester” (little nurse) whenever you insist on helping him in any way with his workload. You apologize when you bump into inanimate objects and try copying Archimedes’ cooing. You’re a cupcake!

And finally he gets a good eyeful of you on the field. You’re brutal and vicious and smiling the whole time as you bash in an enemy Heavy’s head with a sledgehammer. You take out an enemy Scout’s leg with your weapon and let him try and crawl away from you before you finish him off with a laugh. Ludwig is now convinced you’re his soulmate

Our dear doctor loves tenderness that hides ruthlessness. Loves that you are sweet as a bumble bee to your team but a beast to your opposers. He’s excited at the new possibilities between the two of you know that he knows that he no longer has to hide his own ferocity with his experiments in front of you

Sniper

Hell, Mick isn’t even convinced you should be on the field. You wore brightly colored clothes and skirts and for fuck’s sake you bake, all. The. time. You're like Holly Homemaker, why the hell are you hanging with a bunch of mercenaries? How were you even picked for this job? At your first match, he debated on whether he should watch you from his perch to protect you or do his job. He chose his job, duh. But only for a few matches. When he finally decides to track you,and oooooh boy.

An enemy Spy has his knife in your shoulder, pining you to a wall. Mick doesn’t have a clear shot to take out the spook without getting you too. It’s not fun watching a teammate die, even if they do come back. But right as he was about to shift his attention to the main battle he sees it. You. Pissed the fuck off.

Mick watches with interest as you grab the hand that’s stabbing you with one of your delicate hands as the other grabs the spook’s lapel and drag in the enemy, mouths crushing together. A shot of betrayal and shock freezes the hitman before he sees it. The red running down your chin; the struggle of the enemy Spy trying to thrash himself away from you; the look of manic rage in your eye. When you let the Spy go, Mick can see teeth but no lip and it hits him. You bit off the man’s mouth.

After you swiftly wretch the knife out of your shoulder and into the neck of your opponent, you wipe your mouth, you call for a medic and return to fighting. Mick is now a little scared of you, but now will no longer ever think again that you can’t handle yourself on the field. Never brings up what he saw but will sometimes watch you work now

Heavy

Mikhail already finds hardly anyone intimidating, you are no exception; especially with your short stature and demure demeanor. He worries about you honestly, watching you to make sure none of the other mercs try to take advantage of you because you give off the energy of a doormat. It’s his big brother senses in part, he thinks, also in part of because he has a leetle crush on tiny woman who will listen to him drone on about Sasha and Russian literature well into the night.

You do more protecting than defending during the fighting. You watch the case and keep people away from it as Misha mows down the enemies to keep them away from the intel (and you), so he hasn't had the pleasure of watching you work. But buddy, when he gets it. A chance of happenstance allows Heavy to finally see you operate, lets him see you sit pretty as the enemy steps on your hidden bombs and walk into the line of your automatic tracking weaponry and get mowed down in a hail of bullets as all you do is smile and hold the briefcase. So well covered by your own inventions you don’t even need to be worried as the blood of your enemy splashes up onto your clothes

Misha finds you even MORE endearing now. Man loves intelligent women and if you made all of those killing machines holy fuck, could you mod Sasha?? You’re in your element as you effortlessly kill the opponent, and Misha loves watching your inventions do what they do best (he feels a kinship with your weapons as he too, preforms extreme violence to protect you) (He’s still gonna watch your back at the base tho for sure)

Scout

You were like another Spy, except without all the European flair that Spy had. You were kinda bland, tired looking. Jeremy’s never seen you train or fight; you spent most of all your free time being “tutored” by Spy to become a better Infiltrator, and frankly, Jeremy is more afraid of bread than he is of you (and not just the tumor filled bread). Spy hasd insinuated that you were ready to finally be put on the field with the rest of the mercs for the next match, and now Jeremy is more excited to have another person to show off to rather than to see you in action

But of course, Jeremy fucks up. He’s hiding in an empty building, bleeding from a shot from an enemy Sniper, and staring at the wrong end of a Heavy’s gun, hating the feeling of defeat. The Heavy was rambling on about something but the wound in his side had more of Scout’s attention; that is, until, a figure slowly, silently descended from the rafters. It was you, dressed head to toe in black save for a sliver of your team’s color on your armband. You look at the monologuing Heavy before giving Jeremy a look that said “Man, he’s a wind bag, huh?” you gestured to the enemy, then drew your finger across your throat with a questioning look in your eye. Scout manages a weak nod, losing focus quickly.

Another long cord, similar to the one holding you to the ceiling, unraveled itself from around your arm, and very quickly you whipped it around the enemy’s neck, jumped onto his back, and wretched your arms back, almost instantly decapitating the Heavy. Even as the lumbering body fell down, you remained upright, hopping off the body gracefully. With swift efficiency, you kicked the head out of the way, grabbed the comically large gun, and aimed it at the door. Before Scour could even ask what the fuck was going on, an enemy Medic came in through the door. Before the German had a chance to yelp, you shot him dead.

“Yo, what the-!” You hastily toss a med-pack at him before melting into the shadow, Scout almost missing the darkening blush on your mostly covered face. After that little save, Jeremy now goes out of his way to be nice to you, and learns a lesson that looks are hella deceiving. It would pay to have someone watching his back on the field without all the unwanted french commentary (and you’re nicer to look at than Spy, let's be real)

Demo

You’re cheerful, but not in the sadistic, almost taunting way many of the other mercs are like. Not like the Doc or Spook. Nope, you were just happy. Not ditzy or stupid or anything, just a smiley little thing that had as much bite as a toothless alligator. The thought that someone could take you as a serious threat, some wee thing that eats rainbow colored cereal and wears bunny slippers throughout the base, was so hilarious that Tavish starts chuckling whenever it crosses his mind. The two of you don’t typically fight together, you sticking to high ground to pick off enemies as Demo gleefully stays in the thick of it all to implode the other team

Due to unfortunate circumstances, you're both pinned down together, shoulder to shoulder under a makeshift barrier as the enemy gets closer and closer; your bow at the ready with an arrow and his bombs prepared to go off at his command, but no opening to go up and take a shot/throw a bomb. You huff, looking around wildly before nodding decisively, looking to Tavish. “Gimme one of your sticky bombs.” He complies, half thinking that you’re gonna take the both of you out in a blaze of gory glory.

With a look of determination, you aim in front of you, not even at the enemy. Tavish prepares to die for the third time that day, but this time by his own creation, and you release your arrow. The projectile bounces off a scrap bit of metal on the ground, ricocheting the arrow up into hitting the lamppost, and then flying over their heads into the enemy’s ranks. Once the bomb went off, you instantaneously bounce out of the hiding place and opened fire on the stragglers who didn't get offed by the bomb. Tavish can only stare as you mow down the other team as a random stream of sunlight illuminates your figure. Demo catches feels in that moment

Pyro

Pryo liked that you were lowkey and sweet. The fact that you weren’t especially harsh or violent while relaxing initially made them flock to you just to hang out in their down time. Pyro loves to give you cute little toys and stuffies and see you smile! The only time Pyro really sees you on the battlefield is when they’re looking for you. They’re worried about you! You’re their favorite!

They catch you, mid-battle, covered head to toe in the blood of an enemy Scout, laying only a few feet away. They think you look so pretty! Like sparkles and rainbows are all around you and flower petals are floating in the air and surrounding you (it’s ash; pyro started a blaze not that far away and it was finally beginning to get to the two of you)

Pyro just sees this as more couple binding time, now that they know that you also tend to get a little too into the battle. It’s an excuse to spend even more time together

Engineer

This boy was so dang in love with you and he’s never even seen you fight. On the base, you were as sweet as a peach and harmless as a mouse. You spent most of your time in Dell’s workshop helping him with menial tasks like refilling his coffee mug or reorganizing his tools or alike. You got along well with all the other mercs and were quick to help others. Dell never really saw you while fighting because he had to stick near his machines while your job took you all over the battle field

He hears about you fighting from the others. Scout was retelling the group about you “friggin’ awesome fight” between you and an enemy Medic. You had, according to Scout (and Heavy, who nodded along in agreement) got into a fist fight with the enemy, physically beating them into submission. Dell wouldn’t believe it if you hadn’t walked right at the end of the tale with a black eye, bloodied knuckles, and a lopsided grin. Dell almost has a fucking heart attack seeing you in such a state. The Doctor heals you up back to normal like nothing ever happened but the fact that you relied on physical violence to fight made him anxious

He doesn't talk to you about fighting differently, he wants to know if there's anything he can do to help you fight, like making special gloves or armor of some type. Homeboy just wants to protect you, he gets hella worried.

Soldier

Jane, seemingly perpetually stuck in the 40’s and 50’s, believes most women shouldn't be on the battlefield at all. And even though you were there working with a bunch of other mercenaries, a lady is a lady and he, the old fashioned man he is, prioritizes keeping you “safe” (taking your kills before you get the chance to land the finishing blows). In his mind, he’s doing you a service. After all, you are far too soft spoken at the base to have any form of bite in you on the field.

Across the field though, one fight, Jane was just too far away to swoop in and “save” you like he normally would; not even his rocket launcher would get to you in time to stop the Spy from doing you in! The instant the enemy’s knife was about to pierce your back, though, Jane saw you turn around whip fast, your own machete thrusting forward to impale the enemy.

The soldier now thinks that your “womanly intuition” is far more superior and more finely tuned than his own, and will now generally leave you alone to fight and stops hovering over you. Will shout out encouragements from across the field whenever he sees that you hack someone apart and loudly brags that you have the “natural advantage” to sniffing out enemies.

Spy

-This is gonna be a drabble cus i dunno how to bullet point this-

Jacque didn’t think particularly much of you. You were a teammate, an asset to be used. On the base you were reserved, spending most of your time in the Doctor’s infirmary or discussing something with Mikhail about books or whatever. You stayed out of his way, not like it was hard for you, seeing as you were just some wisp of a thing, someone who if they sat still long enough would blend into the background like air. Spy never assumed that you would ever be of any use to him in a fight; you just didn’t have the look of a fighter in you.

So right now, his life being in your hands, made him uncomfortable in ways he couldn’t care to count.

The enemy Spy, who was almost as tricky as him, cleverly disguised himself as Jacque, and right as they were about to confront each other, you burst through the door, looking surprised at the two of them. Almost immediately, they started to accuse the other.

“He’s the enemy!”

“No, HE is!”

“The intruder is HIM!”

Jacque will give you some props, seeing as you drew your gun as soon as you saw the pair, but rather than aim it usefully at at least ONE of them, YOU aim it uselessly to the floor! Jacque would’ve scolded you for your unprofessionalism if the imminent threat of death wasn’t less than six feet away from him.

You looked wildly in between the two of them, your normally pleasant face now stricken with panic. Your eyes land solidly on the enemy Spy, and with a sharp intake of breath, you run to him, throwing your arms around him and burying your face into the falsely colored lapel.

Jacque felt disappointment bloom in his chest, along with dread when he watched your mistake.

The spy looked so damn smug as he wrapped his arms around you, throwing Jacque a satisfied look. The gun still was gripped in your hand, still aiming at the ground.

“Ma pauvre petite fille,” he crooned, “est-ce que le grand méchant espion t'a fait peur?”

You sniffle, and bring the gun up to the imposter’s head. “Je n'ai pas facilement peur.” Jacque didn’t think you could ever say something so coldly, and say it in french to boot. One shot rang out and the man in your arms fell to the floor, suit changing back to what it was meant to be, stained with red from the blood of his fatal wound.

After some deliberation with yourself, you shot him again, in the chest. You looked to Jacque, your face now once again passive.

With a sigh and a dramatic flourish, the living Spy fetched a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it quickly, taking a deep huff before addressing you.

“How did you know that he was not me?”

You holster your weapon back, mulling over your answer. “Few things, uh… you never speak French to me,” you stuck out one finger, “you wouldn’t ever hug me,” another finger, “you don’t stand with your feet that far apart,” one more, “and you smell completely different.” with all but your thumb sticking out, you nodded to yourself before jamming both hands into your pants pockets, tucking in your chin and turning heel back to the door, seemingly finished with your explanation and conversation.

Amused, Jacque took another slow drag of his cigarette, planning on paying more attention to you in the future, being sure never to underestimate you again.

-this, uuuuuhhh, took on a life of its own-

[sanstropfremir]

What are your thoughts on GOT's (Girls on top) "Step back"?

Honestly, whether the lyrics are problematic or not, I think they're just not really good anyways.

The song was really not my thing the first time I listened to it, but I got used to it over time. Tho I won't be adding it my playlist, I want to see some live performances (if that's ever gonna happen). Plus the styling was pretty cool, especially Taeyeon's outfit

honestly? i actually love the production and instrumental. it's a rough listen on shitty laptop speakers because there's a really wide gap between the treble and the bass in the mix (the high notes are pretty high and the bass is very low with not much to pad the mid range) but on headphones it's really fun. obvs the lyrics suck and are the weakest point regardless of who wrote them, because the concept is incoherent. frankly my favourite part of everything is the monastic bells and gregorian chanting, which set them up for some very cool medieval theatrical possibilities but was totally squandered for not very interesting choreography. like, you built that set with the faux stained glass windows and the huge dias and the song has fucking chanting in it and you didn't even go careless careless shoot anonymous with it??????? i liked the styling perfectly fine and i think whoever that stylist was tried to do me a real one because the sheer number of chains and metal accents were at least sort of vaguely medieval, if you looked at it sideways. i do wish they had pushed it further and/or it had been tied to a concept better because then it would have made a better connection, but there's nothing wrong with it ostensibly. it does make me wonder if they were planning on releasing an mv at all because the whole thing feels a bit incomplete, if you know what i mean? like the track is perfect for a crazy concept story mv like junsu's flower or some of the other 2011-2015 story mvs; they could have very easily done like a badass lady knight type vibe with lots of chainmail, paired with that lyrical bridge bridge which would have been perfect for some lady of the lake imagery. sure strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government but it would be a great concept for a kpop mv. i'm just saying.

(this is a tangent but medieval european theatre is constantly overlooked because the scripts are literally christian morality plays and very boring in text BUT these bitches invented squibs. i'm absolutely not joking medieval theatre was filled gore these people were making balloons full of animal blood and guts and stabbing them IN CHURCH. also like. doing some of the earliest forms of pyrotechnics. mystery plays was my least favourite unit in theatre history but boy the stuff that i do remember was WILD)

[fishmech]

tbh i despise that vox article on the helicopter thing because the overall framing and argument it makes just really sucks.

like yeah twitter is an argument factory and all but that pattern of internet discourse is so fucking old it goes back to the early days of usenet, about 40 years ago. and the original author did deliberately choose a provocative story subject and even more provocative title for it. this was always going to lead to a big fucking arguments online and honestly twitter doesn't have much to do with it at all!

and i sincerely doubt that the author would have been able to handle the nominally less 'intense' reaction to their provocation that would have happened if published with a similarly provocative title and subject in 2010 or 2000 instead of 2020.

because its not really like maybe waiting a few extra days or at most weeks for the word to spread and people to get angry and suspicious would actually matter, and that's what we'd be having over the story. the level of it might even be somewhat increased in increasingly older eras because the relevant communities that would be talking about it would be smaller and relatively more tightknit, which would put an additional level of intimacy into the people saying "who the fuck is this person". and there would likely have been an even more untrusting reaction from the trans community because yknow there was already a lot more open transphobia in comparison.

and like i think its very weird the way the article tries to position things as like "well the first few days after it was published not much had been written about it except by the direct readership and the surviving tweets seem positive from then". that's not special? like most speculative fiction outlets these days, there isn't exactly a huge direct readerbase for clarkesworld - they get about 50,000 monthly users. in modern terms that's pretty decent for an outlet to manage and it's still a low amount of people, particularly as many of the readership isn't actually reading the new stories as they're published.

but its like yeah, the most dedicated and prompt readers of the outlet are most likely to have a higher level of trust in what's being put out, that's why they're in that group in the first place. and it only makes sense that as hearing about the story radiates out from that generally most trusting group, people might raise more questions about the general weirdness of premise and choices in bios.

i'm a fairly avid reader of and listener to short fiction. i've heard and read so many snippet bios that i don't really care about which tend to have similar generic statements about the author - this author lives in x region, likes y and z hobbies, thinks cats are cute etc etc - that honestly it was kind of weird that the bio snippet associated with this particular article didn't have those sorts of things that really sound like they're telling you more about an author than they really do. because that is a notable choice to drop it. for those who aren't familiar with those, here's one of the author bios attached to a recent clarkesworld story:

incidentally i did enjoy the story this bio is associated with! but as you can see, it's the sort of thing that just gives you a vibe about the author who chooses to go into very little detail about their life, and it happens to link to a rather barebones writing business-focused site. she's not a first time published author with this story, but you'll see a lot of similar vague, frankly privacy-protecting, bios associated with a lot of first time published authors.

but the helicopter story decided to go full force with provocation and not doing, well, basic satisfy the reader's curiosity bio stuff associated. so yeah of course it looked suspicious. personally i also felt, when i read it when it was new, that is wasn't even a particularly good handling of the concept they were trying to get at and that i've frankly read/heard better stories about military forces where people's genders or other parts of their mental identification were replaced with identification with combat roles or equipment (and don't ask me for the names of those, it's genuinely hard for me to keep track of all the stuff i've read! pretty sure at least one of them was on escape pod in the mid-2010s tho).

so take modern twitter out of the cycle entirely and we still would have had a story that would have kicked off a firestorm of controversy and dislike through other forms of web community as word of it diffused out from the core readership. like i guess some people just have feigned or real amnesia about the world before they decided twitter was the real world, but internet controversies are again not new, nor is having it over provocative fiction in particular. it's not like lack of twitter usage would mean, say, that you wouldn't be able to search for people talking about the story on google or whatever to see negative reactions, or to experience it in large communities. or to take it back to the 80s and 90s, to see it in large irc channels and usenet discussions or on newsletters. or to peel all the way back to a full analog era (where frankly the concept of this provocation would barely work considering its nature, but fuck it lets pretend an alternate 1970s where people were widely accepting of trans people) it would be showing in letters to the editor, at fan cons, and in fanzines, as was the style of the time!

[abluescarfonwaston]

Shapeshifter Au -12

Masterpost

He cawed out to Geralt as he approached. Geralt held out his arm to land on and he did.

“Still too close?” Geralt asked glancing down at Ciri and Roach’s drooping forms. Exhausted. Ciri was half asleep in his arms.

He nodded sadly. He’d found a scout camp not an hours fly behind.

Geralt looked down at Ciri and Roach. “We can’t stop.” His face pinched painfully and he glanced at him. “Jaskier-“

He nodded.

He could shift. He could ride.

They pulled off to the side and he shifted. A few hands taller than Roach with black stockings over his chestnut hair.

Thank you. He told her pressing his neck into hers.

That’s my line colt.

I’m older than you Roach.

I’d never have guessed.

Geralt shifted the tack over to him and he did his best to tolerate the feeling. The few times they’d done this it was bareback and he wasn’t a fan of the way it sat on his back. But it would be better in the long run. Probably.

“I know you’re not a fan of this.” Geralt waved to. The whole situation really. “Thank you.”

He stopped his grooming of Roach’s withers to bump Geralt reassuringly. I might not enjoy being ridden -like this at least- but that doesn’t mean I won’t do it in a pinch. It’s fine.

Tell him he owes me so many apples for this. And some clover grass.

You know you’ll get sick if you eat too much of that. Hm. Apples tho. Not as good as lamb but-

Well that was progress at least.

I’ll make sure he knows Roach.

You’d better.

And they were off.

He wasn’t proud of how quickly he tired but his bones still ached from shifting into the wolf. Less. It hurt less now. But the insistent throb of it wore at him as the hours passed. The grime that still matted his hair itched. Hunger rumbled his belly. Lamb sounded so good right now. He could eat one whole right now, wool and all.

We’re here. Roach interrupted his. Frankly too vivid daydream.

Here? He asked as Geralt turned him off the road into the pinewood forest.

The road home.

Home. They were almost home. He surged forward with it.

“Jaskier.” Geralt grumbled at him.

How much further? What’s it like? What are they like?

She whinnied a laugh at his excitement. Two or three days still colt. Doesn’t have enough grass. Scorpion’s fun.

Days?

The ache in his toes grew that much more noticeable.

They continued on.

Geralt pulled him to a halt and he let his head fall forward panting. They jumped off.

The saddle and bit were removed.

Geralt brushed him down. Picked his feet. He felt. A little cleaner.

“Staying a horse?” Geralt rubbed his neck soothingly as he finished.

No. He leaned into Geralt and let the form collapse under him.

Geralt caught him with a sigh and pet his long ears.

“Does he do that a lot?” Ciri asked. “Turn into a rabbit?”

Geralt shrugged and set about making camp one handed. “He shifts small when he wants to be carried.”

That was. Probably not inaccurate.

No fire again. Geralt had passed him into Ciri’s arms at some point. Her warm hands soothing the pain of the day and he did his best to keep her warm in turn while Geralt worked.

“What else can he turn into? Can he turn into a shrieker? A unicorn? A dragon?”

“I don’t know what a shrieker is. Unicorns are extinct. If he could turn into a dragon he would have by now just to show off. It’s just animals. Bears, wolves, rabbits. The like.”

“What about the griffin?”

Geralt paused. “I don’t think the griffin was. Natural.”

“Why?”

“Because he.” Geralt hesitated as he carried the blanket over, settling behind her. “Didn’t recognize me.”

She looked up at him questioningly as he reached down to pet between his ears.

“But he remembers you now. Right?”

They both nodded.

“So why’d he forget?”

Geralt shrugged.

“Don’t you care? It could happen again! Why didn’t you ask him when he was human!” She turned back to him. “And why haven’t you become human since then!”

He folded his ears back and shrunk down. He. He just-

“If it happens again I’ll deal with it. He isn’t much of a fight. When Jaskier wants to talk about it he will. Talking isn’t his problem, it’s getting him to stop.” He clucked at Geralt. “See?”

He clacked his teeth together a few times before pointedly flopping on Ciri. Look how comfortable I am. More comfortable than you are. Be jealous Geralt. I’m happier than you.

Geralt shook his head at him like he was being Over Dramatic! Which he Was! Because that was his Thing!

“He looked a mess in human form. Probably has some big plan about how he’ll get all fancied up and win you over with his charming smile and music.”

Yes that was the plan.

Ciri’s face scrunched up at that. “Why?”

The drama! He wanted her to like him! He wanted to make a better first impression than the one his dirty unkempt appearance would make. He wanted her to like him at least a fraction of how much he liked her!

“Because he’s an idiot.” He snapped at Geralt’s fingers. “An over dramatic idiot who thinks he has to put on a show to make you like him.”

She studied him. He wiggled his pink nose adorably. Which probably proved Geralt’s point.

“You’re making a production out of this. So it had better be grand reveal or I’ll be immensely disappointed in you.” She threatened him with a yawn.

He purred in agreement as Geralt pulled up the blanket.

“How much further?” She asked curling into Geralt.

“The evening after next we’ll arrive.”

Almost there. Just a little bit longer.

A little bit longer and they’d be home.

 “Fuck” Geralt shifted out from under them, shoving him awake. “Bandits.”

“Nilfgaard?” Ciri whispered grabbing him around the belly which wasn’t comfortable. Support the rear Ciri! This was going to hurt his back!

Geralt crouched over them. Listening. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Plan?” She squeezed him tighter and – nope nope nope! His leg kicked out and she dropped him with a pained start which he was very sorry for except hide- hide –hide run and hide run and hide.

“Jaskier!” He heard his cub whisper shout after him but-

Run hide! Run and hide! Run and hide!

Rabbits were not brave.

He squished himself under the dense cover of a bush and waited.

“What have we got?”

“Horse and a guy with his kid.”

“Easy enough. Let’s make this quick aye? Baz was making dinner.”

Easy. They thought it would be easy. Like Geralt couldn’t lay ruin to them. Wouldn’t lay ruin to them.

Ciri would witness more bloodshed and Baz would eat alone wondering where his unlucky companions had gone.

It was the wolves all over again.

Hungry said the bellies. Easy said the eyes.

It would be a slaughter.

Rabbits where not brave and he wasn’t sure Jaskiers were either. But they were idiots so he darted between their legs and shifted.

He sniffed them loudly and they froze. Eyes and then heads slowly turning towards him.

I have rules about violence Gentlemen. The words coming out a deep growl. Protecting my mate and cub does fit within that framework. But I’d really rather not. If its all the same to you.

They shuffled away from him, clutching their weapons.

He slammed his paw and roared at them. They turned tail and ran. Roach whinnied her terror.

‘Chase!’ The bear and the wolf and the griffin screamed. ‘Hide.’ Whispered the rabbit. It was all that kept him still.

He turned and walked back to their camp. The stragglers fleeing.

Geralt was soothing Roach with axii. Ciri yanked on his arm as she spotted him. Adrenaline and fear rolling off her.

Geralt turned and he watched the tension drain from his shoulders. “Jaskier.”

He smiled back at them. Watching as the axii faded from Roach’s eyes, replaced with recognition. She settled back to her search for grass.

“That’s Jaskier?” Ciri asked. Doubtful.

“Hm.” Geralt confirmed.

She studied him before stomping up to him, hand tucked under her armpits against the cold. “You kicked me!”

He rumbled apologetically but I couldn’t breath and you were breaking my back.

She glared at him. He nosed at her, slowly shoving her into his side. She allowed herself to be tucked into his fur with only a token of protest. The fear scent fading.

“Jaskier.” Geralt returned from their things holding – oh Geralt. “You can’t play like that?” Holding his lute.

He shook his head and dragged Geralt by the arm into his side as well. That would only be significant to us Geralt. Ciri wouldn’t know what the hell we were on about and I’d still look like a disheveled mud rat. Besides she’d get cold and your bedroll’s not big enough for all three of us. Really man.

Geralt plucked a few of the strings. They were painfully out of tune. Really. Had he done any maintenance at all? He glared at Geralt as he curled around them dragging the blanket up over them. Geralt glared back.

“You can’t play like that?” Ciri questioned from insider her burrow of Geralt, fur and blanket.

“It was. What I told him the first time he shifted in front of me.” Geralt explained adjusting them so he was comfortable.

“Oh.” He felt her petting his fur under the blanket. “How’d you met?”

“I’d been hired to retrieve a family heirloom from an infested crypt but it’d been stolen by a group of bandits. I tracked them down and retrieved the sword. But I found something else there too.”

“What?”

“A little lark with a broken wing, clutching a lute like its life depended on it.”

“This lute?”

“No. That’s later.” He told her. “I bandaged it up and kept it in a nest in my saddlebag until it was healed.”

She yawned and sunk heavy into his side.

“Then I woke up and the bird and lute were gone. A single crown on my bedroll where it normally slept.”

“And then, a few months later, I met a boy in Posada, the valley of flowers, at the edge of the world.”

He listened to Geralt recount the tale until sleep pulled her deep under.

“You should have told her that story. You’re better at telling stories.”

Yes. I am. But I like your version quite a lot too.

“You will be human again right?” Geralt mumbled into his fur. “I want you to be whatever you are but I miss knowing exactly what you’re yelling at me for. I miss your stupid raunchy pun infested songs and how you’d complain about your feet being tired but you still wouldn’t shift because you wanted to talk. About nothing. You just wanted to talk.”

Geralt’s hand clenched in his fur and he rubbed his snout against him reassuringly.

“Is it something I did? Is this about the mountain? The griffin? Did I-“

He shoved him slightly to cut him off. Shook his head.

Not everything’s about you Geralt.

“Right. But you will be human again. Someday?”

He nodded.

“Okay.” He listened to Geralt drift off. “Okay.”

He’d get a bath and a haircut and he’d tune his lute and practice some scales and he’d figure out the prefect thing to say and do so that she’d love him even just a tiny fraction of how much he loved her.

That wasn’t how it worked but he needed her to like him. To not be disappointed or disgusted by him.

He longed to be simply human. Then at least he wouldn’t have had a choice. She would have known exactly what he was from the start. No tricking her into thinking he was helpful like a horse or a hawk or as soft as a rabbit or as worthy of trust as the white wolf. He would have just been Jaskier. Simple and human.

Would she feel tricked when she saw him? Would adding a human face mean she wouldn’t trust him to keep her warm? Wouldn’t trust him to listen to her if he too could speak?

He was just Jaskier and he wasn’t sure that had ever been enough.

It would have to be. He couldn’t be anyone else.

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t put his best foot forward. Or at least his best paw until he made that jump.

[dontasktheradiodemon]

I Love You (3/14/2021)

Buddy I don’t even need to summarize this thread, I can just tag it with tropes like it’s a fic, here watch me go: #angst #hurt/comfort #anguished declarations of love #tw depression #tw suicidal ideation

Immediate sequel to this thread but reading it is optional. Basically, it’s nearly impossible to spend very long in Hell without developing a guilt complex and fantasizing about whether it’d be better to stop being; Alastor and Telly @usedhearts open up to each other about theirs.

Frankly it’s a startling display of mutual emotional vulnerability and I’m proud of them both.

Sir Pentious

whenever he came back from that, what did he do

cause it said he went right to telly so 👀

Alastor

Initially? Probably just tracked him down in whatever he was currently doing and went “can I hold you”

Sorta, holding it together by a thread barely

Sir Pentious

telly probably noticed but just 'yes' and let him Hold Him no matter how grimy he was at the time

Alastor

And he’ll be content with that for about three minutes before that one thread starts fraying and he goes “... can you hold me”

Sir Pentious

thats all it takes for him to coil around alastor and hold him Tight

Alastor

Curls up tight in him and sobs on his shoulder.

Sir Pentious

telly just holds him TIGHTER

makes little comforting/soothing sounds

he doesnt know why he's upset but he will be there for him

Alastor

They’re just both gonna be grimy and that’s Fine.

Sir Pentious

so very grimy

they can take baths later

Alastor

When he’s finally capable of attempting coherent speech again the first thing he’s gonna get out is “I never, ever, ever want to leave you.”

Sir Pentious

telly just takes his face in one hand and cradles it so gently and just 'ok, alright, you don't have to.'

give him a kiss

forehead kiss bc he's probably snotty

Alastor

He’s definitely snotty. He’s full on ugly sobbing.

Sir Pentious

oh hes probably not smiling huh

i think thats probably the first time telly sees that

Alastor

NOPE, he lost that sometime while he was hiding in Telly’s shoulder.

First time Telly’s seen him with the mask off

Sir Pentious

god thats got him WORRIED and he just HUGS HIM AGAIN NICE AND TIGHT AND COILED

telly: ive got you. ive got you, im here, it's alright...

Alastor

He’s just gonna keep clinging as hard as he can, he got out One sentence and now he’s sobbing too hard to talk again.

It’s a lot of radio static and feedback noise

Sir Pentious

telly is just going to KEEP HOLDING HIM god himself couldnt pry this snake off this deer and would get bitten and injected with venom for trying

Alastor

He’ll gradually stop sobbing and the shaking will decrease to shivering

Sir Pentious

telly's just going to hold him through it all, pet his hair, massage at the base of his ears, everything he can do to soothe him

Alastor

Mumbles his gratitude and an apology for interrupting telly’s work

Sir Pentious

telly: no no don't apologize. i love you and i want to be here for you. my work will still be there. id much rather know that you're alright and have it be interrupted than you be upset or hurting and you not come to me for fear of interrupting me.

Alastor

Mumble mumble he could have handled it himself

Sir Pentious

telly: i don't _want_ you to have to handle it yourself. i'm here for you, alastor. i want you to know that you can come to me whenever you need me and i'll be here.

Alastor

Tries to say three different things but chokes on them all and just wheezes out another thanks.

Sir Pentious

he just gets a squeeze and a kiss to the nearest him surface

Alastor

He keeps holding on until he can get a small, tired smile fixed back on his face, and then he pulls back to say “Thanks” again.

Sir Pentious

he gets another forehead kiss and then telly gonna lead him to the bathroom and they are taking a BATH they are now both covered in grim AND snot

Alastor

You know, that’s fair. Bath time. Strips down to boxers, climbs in with Telly, and Clings again. ... and sorry about Telly’s clothes, he’ll clean them before the snot fossilizes

Sir Pentious

Those were his dirty work clothes, it's fine, the Eggs will wash them. But it is BATHTIME, and they are both getting a scrubbing. Moreso Telly than Alastor tho.

Alastor

... can Alastor get a scrubbing too

Sir Pentious

Absolutely!

A softer scrubbing than Telly gets

Alastor

He’s going all jelly-eyed again. It’s ok he’s fine.

Sir Pentious

He gets a nice wash cloth and a nice gently scented soap, and a boyfriend to hum to him as he kinda reverently cleans him.

Alastor

He gets self-conscious SO fast, he’s gonna hold his breath and slide under the water. It’s fine he’s fine

Sir Pentious

Telly just smiles and giggles bc that's cute, you're cute Alastor. Probably wraps his tail tip around Alastor's ankle to gently and playfully tug him thru the water.

Alastor

!!! Grabs Telly’s wrists to pull him down into the water.

Sir Pentious

Now they're both underwater!! Gonna tussle with a sea serpent in his natural element, huh, Alastor!! Play time, silly mode ACTIVATED

Alastor

GOOD he’s ready to wrestle. He’s trying not to laugh, he doesn’t want to inhale water.

Sir Pentious

Time to PLAY and WRASSLE!!

Tumbling and splashing and a big grinning snake!!

Alastor

Alastor’s got a surefire way to win this wrestling match! He’s gonna GRAPPLE THE SNAKE COMPLETELY. ... basically he’s just hugging him. Hi.

Sir Pentious

Grapple the snake and the snake grapples back. Now you're wrapped in a tail Alastor, and getting a mermaid kiss.

Alastor

Oh no, what shall he do. This definitely wasn’t his plan. Totally wasn’t. Not at all. Nope.

Sir Pentious

Kiss kiss fall in love, and he's rising up out of the water, because he wants that mouth OPEN for TONGUE.

Alastor

When they get out of the water, Alastor breaks the kiss—sorry, not going for tongue this time

Sir Pentious

Telly blinks and just brief pouting, but holds him close all the same. Kisses cheek instead.

Alastor

“Sorry. Just... tired.” Considering he sobbed about half the liquid out of his body earlier,

Sir Pentious

Wipes the wet hair off his forehead and then kisses it. "That's fine. Come on then, lets get out and dry off. Would you like a snack before bed?"

Alastor

“I need a drink. Not a drink-drink, just a drink. Fluids.”

Sir Pentious

"Of course. I'll get you some water, once we dry off."

Alastor

A nod. He’s still in a quiet mood.

Sir Pentious

Telly gonna carry him out of the bath and set him on a rug. Get towel and start drying him

Alastor gets dried first because Telly Must Care For Him.

Alastor

He puts up a token struggle against this but okay as long as he goes next.

Sir Pentious

He will. Alastor gets handed a Towel and offered his pick of head or tail.

Alastor

Head this time.

Sir Pentious

He Offers Himself on Alastor's drying alter.

Alastor

Alastor Shall Dry This Offering. And while he does he says hesitatingly, “You don’t have to ask if you don’t want to. But you can if you want.” Because it’s been weighing heavily on him as Really Fucking Weird that he just unloaded a hurricane on Telly’s nice jacket and at no point did Telly ask what that was all about

Sir Pentious

He considers it and shrugs a little. "That depends: Do you want to tell me, or would you rather not tonight?"

Alastor

He has to think about it a moment. “I think you should know.”

Sir Pentious

"Alright. Then tell me."

Alastor

Thinks about it; but then just keeps drying.

Sir Pentious

Telly just looks up at him and blinks. "Well?"

Alastor

Stops drying again. “You’re sure?” Listen, this is hard to share,

Sir Pentious

"Yes. If it had you that upset and you say that I _should_ know, then I would like to know."

Alastor

He shouldn’t have said that. He wraps the towel around Telly, hugs him, and sighs. Okay.

Sir Pentious

He's just going to lay there on the rug with Alastor, and the towel wrapped around him. And state with his big ole eyes.

Alastor

No... Not the big ole eyes... That makes this harder. He’s gotta look away. “I... don’t want to be... here.” YEAH ALASTOR GREAT START, SUPER CLEAR, RADIO HOST OF THE YEAR

Sir Pentious

A very confused furrowed brow. "Meaning what?"

Alastor

“In Hell. In—existence.” He swallows hard. “Hell wears you down. It—rubs your soul raw. It sandpapers you off a bit at a time. And I’m—I’m tired.”

Sir Pentious

A soft, concerned look and a hand cupping his face. "Oh, love...I can understand that feeling. I'm...I'm tired too. It is very tiring. Before I met Hel, I'd been close to giving up entirely. And then before I met you, I'd been ready to check myself into that hotel, just to see if it was possible. Something to change the tedium...."

Alastor

“I spend so much of my time going on walks. I don’t have anything else to do but go on walks.” He covers Telly’s hand with his own so he can press into it and shuts his eyes. “Almost every year, I wonder whether this is going to be the year that I decide to go for a walk when the angels come.”

Sir Pentious

And his heart clenches so tightly in his chest. "Don't." The word is soft and unbidden, desperate.

"There have been many a year where I've felt the same...where I thought it would be better to just end it. But I didn't. Mostly out of spite, but that can only get you so far. I like having love to live for better. Or exist for. Neither of us are living." A dry, bitter, short chuckle.

Alastor

His heart skips a beat at the word, so pronounced he flinches at the odd th-thump. Still not used to those. “I won’t. *I never want to leave you.*” He pulls Telly close. “And you’ll stay here?”

Sir Pentious

"I will." It's a promise, a swear, and he can't help but sit up to kiss him, at least once. "Don't leave me and I'll stay here, too."

Alastor

Alastor returns the kiss; it’s not a formal pact with magic and all, but it feels like one. “Then we’ll both stay.” He presses his forehead to Telly’s, eyes still shut. “It’s... heavy, though.”

Sir Pentious

"I know. Damn it, do I _know_. Humans like us, we weren't meant to be eternal. It _fucks_ with us, especially knowing that we've already died. But you have me now. And I have you. And if we share our loads, it won't seem as heavy." He may be crying, just a bit, and luckily only from the face eyes.

Alastor

“Knowing we’ve died—and knowing we aren’t *worth* eternity. I know I’m not. I know Hell is a punishment, but—sometimes it feels so *generous.*”

But he nods, slightly, with their heads still together. “But—I have you and you have me. And good God, am I glad I do.”

Sir Pentious

"I understand. I know exactly what you mean." Sighs and wraps his arms around him.

"I'm glad to have you too. I...I love you." A small kiss.

Alastor

"I love you, too." And it hurts like hellfire to say. It's the thing keeping him chained here, and it's also such a part of the reason why Hell hurts at all.

He presses his face to Telly's shoulder; this time, at least, his crying is quiet.

Sir Pentious

His breath catches and the tears come again, more freely. He can feel the eyes on his tail beginning to leak as well, can't control it in the moment. Telly's arms wrap more tightly around Alastor, and one of his hands moves up to stroke and card through his hair. He squeezes his eyes (on his face) shut again, he shakes with quiet sobs, holding Alastor to him as if everything depended on keeping him close.

Alastor

He holds Telly just as tightly, an arm around his back and an arm around his shoulders. Guilt twists in him at being the one to make Telly cry; but Alastor’s not crying hard, this time around he can support Telly through his sobbing.

Sir Pentious

They're not hard sobs, instead soft little things, hiccups more like, and along with them comes a soft chorus of "Love you, love you, love you." The amount of emotions that are roiling around inside of him, who knows if the crying is sadness, happiness, or something else. But there is an overabundance and he is letting it out.

Alastor

And Alastor will keep supporting him until it’s all out, the same way Telly did earlier. He briefly lowers one hand to Telly’s tail and gently tugs, encouraging him to coil around Alastor if he wants. He can deal with a dozen eyes crying on him.

Sir Pentious

The tail barely needs any encouragement, it is up and coiling in an instant, squeezing Alastor's lower half. Not hard enough to hurt, but definitely very tight. Telly doesn't take too long to calm, the tears stopping and his breathing evening out. Then he's just breathing deeply against Alastor, still holding him tight, but with less desperation.

Alastor

Alastor rubs Telly’s back as the tears slowly stop coming. Once Telly’s breathing has steadied, Alastor murmurs, “How do you feel?”

Sir Pentious

"I'm not sure. I'm happy, but tired, and sad that you felt so tired, too."

Alastor

“I don’t want you to be sad on my behalf.” He sighs quietly. “But if there’s happiness in there too...”

Sir Pentious

"I can't help it, I love you, and knowing that you hurt, it hurts me too. But that's not to say 'don't tell me when you're hurting' because I _want_ to know. So that I can help if I can. Or just hold you, if that's what you need. But I'm happy because you love me, and you're here with me, and we can help each other. And that is what's most important, more than anything." A soft sigh in return, and a gentle kiss to his shoulder.

Alastor

“That’s the worst part of this whole thing, isn’t it? We’ve got to carry each other’s pain on top of our own—and then we feel guilty for paining each other.” Alastor laughs ruefully. “But I’m here for you. For whatever damage control we can do.” He returns the kiss.

Sir Pentious

"It's quite something: you want your love to not hurt, but then your hurt hurts them, and they don't want you to hurt, but their hurt hurts you, and it's just another fucking ouroboros." He laughs, a bit of a hysterical tinge to it. "But I'll endure it. For you."

Alastor

“I’ve always thought there was something beautiful in the image of devouring oneself alive.” There wasn’t anything beautiful in *this,* but maybe he could find it. “I will, too. As long as I give you more happiness than unhappiness.”

Sir Pentious

Telly pulls back just a tad, enough to see Alastor's face. He cups it and kisses him, pressing their foreheads together again. "You already have."

Alastor

“Make sure I keep it up.” He cupped Telly’s face as well, running his thumbs over his cheeks. “We’ve only just gotten started, and there’s a long eternity ahead of us.”

Sir Pentious

"I will. I hold you to that." A bit of a smirk, and he's uncoiling, and grabbing the towel again. "I'm mostly dry but still a little damp. Let's finish up and get some water, _I'm_ thirsty now too."

Alastor

Huff. “*Right.* Of course.” He retrieves the towel he’d wrapped around Telly’s shoulders and helps, taking special care with the tear streaks around his many eyes. “We can try out another one of your herbal teas, see if this’ll be the one I like. I can whip up something or other to go with it.”

Sir Pentious

Telly smiles and finishes drying, before taking Alastor's hand. He kisses it and then wraps it around his arm to start slithering towards the kitchen. "Anything in particular you want to try tonight? Or should I just try and pick something that I think you'll perhaps like?"

Alastor

“Whatever you want. It still all tastes like fruity tea to me.” He laughs self-consciously. “I’ll get there.”

Sir Pentious

"Maybe something with some citrus? For a zest? I have a few mixes like that." They are now in the kitchen and Telly's going to get the kettle on and then dig around for the teas.

Alastor

“Sure, I could use some zest.” He starts rummaging around to see what he can make that goes with something citrusy. He’s got this place pretty well outfitted by now, if he says so himself.

Sir Pentious

"Alright, I have a green tea with orange, clove, and ginger. It's very tasty, has a good bite." He hummed as he got out the clear pot that he'd used before, and two cups.

Alastor

Green tea, what goes with green tea? He’s got no idea what goes with green tea. He can slap together some tea sandwiches that go with orange, clove, and ginger, though. “How does chicken sound?” And perhaps a more important question: “When did you last eat?”

Sir Pentious

Cue him pausing as his brain starts to work, trying to remember. "Ahhh...this morning? Breakfast, yes, I think that was when." Oh look how concentrated he is on pouring the water into the pot he is now.

Alastor

Maybe something a bit more substantial than a rinkydink tea sandwich, then. “Would you say that tea’s more clove-y or ginger-y?

Sir Pentious

He lifts the dried tea to his mouth to blelele and hums. "More clove-y."

Alastor

“Then let’s make that beef instead of chicken. Compliments it better without having to toss in a dozen other spices—and we don’t want to overpower the tea, do we...” He presumes they don’t want to, anyway. He checks the fridge to see what they’ve got on hand. Watch out, he’s switching into Cooking Mode.

Sir Pentious

Telly loves when he switches into cooking mode. He's just going to move the cups and the pot to the table and then settle in to watch.

Alastor

Okay, keep it simple—he grabbed some roast beef, onions, watercress, mayo, and some odds and ends to mix into the mayo that will *hopefully* compliment the tea, passing each ingredient one by one to his shadow to find a place for on the counter. Alastor swoops by Telly to give him a quick squeezing hug on his way to start prepping sandwiches—maybe a slightly longer hug. Maybe he’ll linger here a moment.

Sir Pentious

Oh! A hug, yes, a hug is good. Get that snake purring like an engine. He's very tempted to coil but he won't, he's getting hungry just watching.

Alastor

Okay, no, no getting emotional. Twice in one day is enough. He’s got fancy mayo to prepare. He lets go and hurries to the counter. “So. What’s... What were you working on earlier?” Don’t mind if his voice is a little rough, it’s fine.

Sir Pentious

"Oh, just more repairs. Installing new parts and making some delicate calibrations that the Eggs can't handle." He's watching Alastor and not even paying attention to the tea, that's gonna seep for a good while.

Alastor

“I ought to take an evening or two to help out with repairs.” He’s talking as much to himself as to Telly. “I keep coming over and *watching,* there’s no reason I can’t pick up a wrench or screwdriver and pitch in.”

Sir Pentious

"I'd love for you to help, I can get instruct you what to do just fine, I know how capable you are." A smile, and then he's re-noticing the tea and pouring a cup. Adds a little honey for sweetness and takes a satisfied sip.

Alastor

He passes over the first sandwich. “If it goes horribly with the tea: I’m sorry, forgive me, I did my best, it’s not my fault.”

Sir Pentious

Telly laughs. "I'm sure it will be fine, Alastor." He takes the sandwich and bites, and then takes a sip of tea, and then makes a very surprised and delighted noise. "Oh, that tastes wonderful."

Alastor

“Good!” He finishes his own, takes a bite—good—and pours some tea for himself to try—well, it still tastes like tea, but like, at least a tea that pairs well with the sandwich. “The good news is I think I’m starting to differentiate the taste of green tea from other teas.”

Sir Pentious

A smile. "Good! I'm glad. Maybe you're acquiring the taste for tea, at least a bit." A wink, and then he's back to eating. He finishes it far, far too fast-- Telly really does just inhale his food when propriety isn't a factor-- and then he's just sipping his tea. His tail slides over to curl around Alastor's calf.

Alastor

Alastor's taken two bites. He pauses before the third. "... Do you want another sandwich?"

Sir Pentious

Oh, shy snake look, and then a little nod. "Yes, please." And his tail retracts to let Alastor move.

Alastor

He waves his shadow over to do it and nudges Telly's tail with his foot. He's staying put.

Sir Pentious

Oh! Good, the tail is curling back around and holding him, and he smiles just so fond and bright. And another sip of tea.

Alastor

Alastor returns the smile—it still looks tired, but it’s just a little warmer when he meets Telly’s gaze. “I’m sorry I threw you off your schedule today.” Such as it was; Alastor was getting the distinct impression that Telly’s schedule was *however much I can get done today in as many hours as I can keep working.* “I’ll help you get back on track. And next time it’s your turn to have an emotional breakdown, all right?”

Sir Pentious

He laughs softly, and reaches over to take Alastor's hand, thumb stroking gently. "Alright, but you have to mop up after." A snicker.

Alastor

Alastor squeezed Telly’s hand. “It’s a deal.”

Sir Pentious

He hums and takes another sip of his tea, not letting go of Alastor's hand. "Is my other sandwich done?"

Alastor

Alastor glances over.

His shadow is just, sorta, standing there, awkwardly, holding a sandwich, watching this tender moment. Heyyy.

Alastor gestures. Go on, put the man’s sandwich down.

Sir Pentious

And he is devouring the sandwich, very happily. A contented snake.

Alastor

Well, for all Alastor’s flaws, at least he can help keep one snake fed—and that’s something, isn’t it? He continues eating his own sandwich. It’s a little awkward with one hand, but right now nothing could make him let go of Telly.

[loldivo]

For Once In My Life: A Blog-As-I-Go Listening

I FINALLY have the motivation to serve up a BAIGL for the newest Il Divo album. Frankly, I’ve been sorta scared about what this “celebration of Motown” could entail, like is it gonna sound like karaoke night or what? Time to find out, I guess...

Y’all know the drill: I’m gonna listen to this album for the first time and type my reactions in real time.

1. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

Okay, sounds exactly like the original so far

Um, what Urs?

I can’t get over Carlos’s fuckin’ accent

David you actually sound good singing in this style how?

You can definitely tell they went with a recorded/singalong version

I still cannot get over Carlos’s fuckin’ powerhouse voice cutting into EVERYTHING like dawg you don’t have to come off so strong.

2. For Once in My Life

Oh, thank god, operatic/ original instrumentation

Oh fuck yes, this is an Il Divo song.

Oh, Seb, your voice is cute

Yeeeees Davey boy

Hoooooo boy Urs, that’s it baby

I think this is gonna be a fuckin’ hit on tour I just know it

Okay, NOW Carlos’s powerhouse voice sounds like it belongs here.

3. The Track of My Tears

Never heard the original, but I think they added some instrumentation here?

Oh Urs, your voice suits this so well

Even Carlos’s English sounds much better suited.

I get it now, when Carlos goes powerhouse, it’s more likely to sound out of place with a featured artist...

4. My Girl

Oh well hello to YOU Sebby!

David yeeeeees

Oh, this sounds nice and smoooooooth.

Urs you sound great honey

Speaking of honey, why does that line make my nethers flutter when David sings it?

Slightly awkward “hey hey hey”s going on

Who is doing the beautiful high  “hoooooooooo” in the background I will suck their dick right now

5. I’ll Make Love to You

This song is either gonna end me or make me cum let’s see which

I’ve only listened to the first half of the original because I couldn’t handle imagining the Divos singing it

Hmm, Carlos your accent, just a smidge distracting

Seb makes it better

Urrrrrrrrrrs fuckkkkkk

David FUKUUUUUKJL

OOOOOH David and Urs make love to ME fuuckkkkk

Of course you’re gonna take off your clothes Carlos OF FUCKIN COURSE

DAT KEY CHANGE

They seem to mesh better with Boys II Men than Marvin Gaye...

6. River Deep Mountain High

Oh, hitting the ground running

Seb your voice suits this song soooooo wellllll

I’ll be a puppy for you David I MEAN WHAT

Loving the driving beats and electric guitar, it gives them a much-needed energy I’ve always imagined them harnessing.

Like let ‘em collab with Styx or something this proves they could pull off a rock album

7. I’ll Be There

Definitely an Il Divo song rite hurr

Carlos and Seb you two....

Another song I think will tour very well

David singing my name (joy) is all I ever wanted in life

Dem key changes with the timpani tho

The end chorus is classic Il Divo *sigh*

8. Reach Out I’ll Be There

Ohhhhhhhh I KNOW THIS SONG!!!

Funky Divos I can dig it

They chose a nice key for this song

Who’s saying “C’mon girl” and “Reach out for me” in the background I will suck their dick as well

FUCKKKKKK SEBBBBBBB

Not sure why they put this song right after the one with a similar title, maybe the flow from song to song is better that way?

9. Say You, Say Me

Hmmmm I always thought this song was so nice

Fuuuuuck Urs in the beginning getting me nice and wet smoothing the way

Followed by Seb yeeees

So weird hearing David sing the word “awesome”

Love the orchestration

So much smooth

OOOOH a fucking tempo and key change challenge accepted

That interlude was a ride and a half, thanks for coming back to the original and giving us time to recover

BEFORE THAT KEY CHANGE niiiiiiiiice

That last syllable was a jumpscare not gonna lie

10. My Cherie Amour

Last song, leggo!

Beautiful key and orchestration already, noice

Carlos sounds amazingly smooth

Pretty harp

The lyrics are slightly more stalkerish than I remember, but not enough to derail it

They all smooth as fuck

Even the “la la la”s work smoothly (until David sorry babe)

Would I have chosen this to be the last track? Maaaaybe not, but hey, I l always listen to my music on shuffle anyhow.

So overall? There are some really solid songs, but you can definitely tell that the pandemic had an impact on some of the choices. Were some of the songs not really cut out for the popera treatment? Maybe one or two. Does Carlos’s voice come off a bit too strong? Sometimes, but he definitely makes up for it in other songs. Did David’s voice go straight to my ladybits more times than usual? Perhaps. Am I always a slut for Urs? Absolutely. Is Seb still a DILF? Of fucking course.

It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here in terms of touring, publicity, etc., but mostly I’d love to help the Il Divo fandom here on Tumblr come out of hibernation so we can have fun again!

[ghostcatsso]

Okay I’m back for more story quests!

We still need to wait until the druids find a way for us to save Anne, and also the two missing parts of that light ceremony book, but we can at least keep an eye on the Dark Riders while we wait.

Linda will be staying in the library, studying ancient texts, looking for anything that can help us. We’ll all report back to her, since she’ll always be in the same place. The rest of us, Alex, Lisa, and I, will be basically spying on the Dark Core. We all have different posts where we’ll be keeping a look out.

My post is #42 and it’s on paddock island.

That sure is an ocean. Exciting stuff. Maybe it’ll be more interesting with binoculars?

nope, not really. just the Dark Core Oil Rig doing nothing but smoking a lot

I do hear screaming and crying tho?

I looked down at the bottom of the cliff and

Sonja what are you doing here?

Apparently, she was out for a ride when one of the many runestones scattered around jorvik lit up right next to her. It spooked her horse and she fell off as he bolted.

hmmm yeah that runestone’s glowing alright

Well, I better take Sonja to a doctor. Or a vet, since that’s all this game has. I’m sure she’ll be fine

That’s a very normal way to sit on a horse....how hard did you say you hit your head?

Here you go vet, have a probably concussed teenager, I gotta go talk to Linda

Hey Linda there’s a glowy runestone what do

She told me she doesn’t know, but Alex does stuff with the runestones for the druids all the time so I should go ask her.

But of course she doesn’t know where Alex is so I had to ask around a lot but eventually I asked James and he told me Alex is at the mall with their mom.

I then preceded to just stand here awkwardly and listen to their very private conversation. Alex mom was having some sort of meltdown about how nobody loves her anymore and she’s such a terrible mother and Alex was trying to comfort her. I am very uncomfortable myself.

Alex finally noticed me and told me she takes readings of the runestones’ power for the druids. They can use it to keep track of the boundary between jorvik and pandoria, I guess. She says she’ll teach me how but first I need a runestick.

So I asked Elizabeth for a runestick and she told me Fripp can give me one.

Fripp was talking in riddles and frankly he sounded like he was having some sort of existential crisis

lol how are you so small

Anyways I eventually got him to register I need a runestick and he made one appear in a fancy magic portal looking thing

So now I’ve got my runestick, I went back to the glowy runestone to wait for Alex

Took her a while, but she got here eventually. She explained to me how to do these runestones. I only very vaguely remember doing this on my main, but I do remember hating it. This should be fun

here i go

It went pretty smoothly, actually. Less hard than I remember it being. I think I was just bad back then lol

There’s just a circle of runes that float around the runestone and I gotta click the runes in the order that they show up on the stone. Easy.

Alex told me I did a good job and then I went back to my post watching for the Dark Riders. Gotta keep watch all night