#Being a triplet is not as fun as it may sound

[a-timely-problem]

love the fact that you can choose who your family is when you're older. Like yeah, we grew up in different countries, have no biological relation and would have never met if it weren't for the right circumstances, but that's my brother right there

[sturnsbaebackup]

Can you do something where the reader is dating Chris and goes on tour with them & at the first show she gets scared and stays backstage for most of it until the fans beg her to come on stage?

STAR OF THE SHOW - CHRIS STURNIOLO

summary: chris begs you to go on tour with him and you comply, but you get a bit of stage fright so he gets the crowd to help you overcome it.

warnings: none! just pure fluff

—

“please come tour with us, y/n! it’ll be so fun! just think about how it’ll be you, your boyfriend, and two of your best friends traveling the states going on tour together!” he pled as he gave you puppy dog eyes. you had bit your lip in an attempt to find the right words to say.

“yeah y/n! you should come with us!” nick stated from the kitchen.

you sighed, “i guess i’ll go? but the people are there for you guys, not me. i doubt they’ll want to see me,” you shrugged.

“well they’re not real fans if they aren’t excited to see you. you’ve been a major part of not only our lives but also our videos, y/n,” chris said as he pulled you closer to him. you smiled up at him, a small blush grew on your cheeks.

this was a couple weeks ago, long before you realized that maybe you were right; no one’s here to see you. they’re here for the triplets.

you currently stand on the outskirts of the stage watching from the shadows as the boys introduce themselves. the crowd is roaring with cheers and you can’t help but smile a little as you see a flood of happy expressions fill the room. chris keeps looking at you from onstage, smiling a little or even waving at you. he keeps trying to tell you to come onstage before the games begin, but you just keep shaking your head no.

“why not? cmon babe!” he mouths to you.

“no chris, it’s okay,” you mouth back, gesturing with your hands for him to pay attention to the crowd. he rolls his eyes at your stubbornness and quickly taps nicks shoulder. he whispers something quickly to the blonde haired boy. you watch as nicks eyes dart to you, and he immediately nods to chris. you feel a lump in your throat begin as you see chris running towards you.

“what the hell chris?! why aren’t you on stage?”

“i could ask you the same thing,” he says, raising an eyebrow at you.

you groan, “chris the fans aren’t here to see me. there’s no reason for me to be on stage while you guys compete in challenges. i’ll just be a distraction. they don’t want to see me, they paid to see you guys, chris. not me.”

“are you joking? you’re seriously joking right?” he asks, his voice almost sounding like he’s annoyed with you. you just nod, afraid that he may be angry with you. he chuckles to himself and kisses the top of your head before running back on stage.

“okay guys, before we start any of the games i have a question. you all know our dear friend and my girlfriend y/n, right?” he asks and your eyes widen. the crowd roars into cheers and ‘yes!’s.

“okay good. and how would you all feel if she came on stage right now?” he teases the crowd, laughing as they all burst into cheers once again.

“can you guys tell her to come on stage? she’s being a bit shy,” chris asks and nick and matt nod in agreement.

“oh my god,” you say to yourself as you shyly walk on stage. the crowd cheers once again, making a big smile form on your face. “hi guys,” you chuckle lightly into the microphone chris hands you.

“hi y/n!” “y/n we love you!” “y/n leave chris for me, please!” you hear people chant and you quickly feel less nervous. once the boys finish talking to the crowd, you step out of the way and go closer towards the back of the stage as the games begin. chris makes his way over to you and takes you under his arm as you both observe the jenga game that’s going on. chris’ partner makes a good move and you give her a high five. “yes! oh my god you’re so good at this!” you say to her and she smiles widely at you.

“oh my gosh thank you so much y/n! you know, you’re even prettier in person,” she smiles softly and you feel your heart swell. you never realized how much the fans actually love and appreciate you.

—

after seeing the fans reaction to your presence at the previous show, at the next show you feel comfortable enough to come out to observe the meet and greet. you stand closer to the exiting area, not expecting anyone to even notice you.

“y/n, can i get a photo with you?” a girl asks you and you immediately light up with a smile.

“oh my gosh of course you can!” you exclaim, getting close enough to her that you can get into frame of the selfie. as she walks off you notice chris looking at you with a huge smile. he taps his brothers to tell them about how fans are asking you for pictures, and they both turn to face you with big grins.

maybe coming on tour wasn’t so awful after all.

—

this was so rushed i’m so sorry

[twst-drabbles]

Lilia 9

Summary: Tracking down a pack of stealing faeries, General Lilia finds their path ending on a lone human being forcibly bathed.

(A reminder that I am not a spoiler-free blog. I tend to read ahead and skip around for my entertainment. That being said, time travel shenanigans with the Janitor who gets caught up in all this. Is it canon to the Janitor AU? Probably not but the thought is fun.)

Soaps. Since when has Lilia ever heard of those little faeries, those pixies sneaking into stores and flea markets for the sake of stealing soaps? It’s not unusual for them to pick and take what they like. He’s had a number of sugar cookies stolen right from his hand just as the grateful citizens stuffed them in his palm. The faeries love for sweets would rival that troublesome princess’s love for her egg.

Lilia usually isn’t one to deal with smaller problems such as these, as they resolve themselves, but pixies are unusually sensitive to scents, to the point of avoiding cities and villages alike. For them to go out of their way to steal these scented soaps tells Lilia that something was wrong. Off. While the signals are usually more subtle, often the little faeries are the first to know of incoming danger.

Lilia only hopes this wasn’t the case.

Hiding his presence among the leaves in this forested area was second nature to him. He didn’t have the hollow bones of birds, but his steps would tell one otherwise. If even the pixies can’t tell he’s tailing them, then who was he to deny the claims?

Ahead of him was a light in this dark night, and in his ears Lilia heard the rush of a river. He took a deep breath in just as the water pixie dipped out of sight with their hoard of coin-like soaps. However, rather than the crisp scent of midnight grass and river water, Lilia was hit with the sharp smell of roiling magic.

It was the likes that Lilia has only witnessed when the princess was well and truly fed up.

“Ah, that’s too hot!”

In his concentration, the blunt sound of voice nearly made Lilia’s heel slip from a branch.

“Oh, these next? Alright, hand them here. Let’s hope it gets the smell out,” landing on the nearest tree, Lilia spots an immaculate white tub with clawed feet right below the gaze of a tree house that may as well be mansion. Inside the mess of bubbles that covered everything except for the face was you, a lone human surrounded by faeries with their little arms hauling the soaps they’ve stole.

A human? Here? You’d basically be a sitting duck in this location, and yet here you are, unmarked, cursed by no one, and actually being bathed by them?

The water pixie Lilia was tailing dropped the silver soap into the tub. Another surge of bubbles came forth and overflowed the tub, blue in color. A triplet of wood faeries carried a brown bucket over your head before dumping water to rinse you off.

You wiped the water from your eyes with a sigh, “Nope. I still stink of magic. Let’s try the next one.”

The water faerie jingled out their tune of frustration, a quick and harsh number. You picked up a handful of bubbles before blowing them at their feet.

“I’m sure I’ll get back to smell like my old self eventually. It was a crazy reaction of spells that interacted, so it is going to take some time.”

The water faerie landed on your palm, sneezed and flew right back to the branches, only to come face to face with Lilia in his mask. The poor little thing screamed.

It’s easy to come to the belief that the smaller the fae, the less powerful they are. To the ignorant, it’s the truth, but for people such as Lilia, with their small size comes a certain amount of finesse that not even the princess would be able to replicate. It’s why they can combine their forces so well to make the forest yawn open to expose his location and manipulate the river current to aim right at him.

Too bad Lilia’s dealt with his fair share of angered pixies. With a leap, soared over the water and landed the tips of his toes on the edge of your tub.

“Never would I see the day,” Lilia leaned down to your stiff face, “that a human would receive the favor of the faeries. How did you do that, Human?”

Perhaps this was trick, or a mistake of some kind. Humans would have to resort to such things, of that Lilia wouldn’t be shocked by. Creatures with lives as short as yours are often so protective of their own flesh, so, one would have to forgive Lilia for being caught off guard when you kicked his feet and had him land face first into the water.

“At least let me get a towel first,” you grumbled out as you reached over a pulled it off the grass, “I don’t need anymore stress. Things are already tiresome and confusing as they are.”

It seems that General Lilia has found himself in the company of rather interesting human.

[gamerbearmira]

heya

so.

i may have tried something? HASIFUHASF it was something i had thought about while going about my day today, so i wanted to try writing it

hope it makes sense and i got a grasp of the voices and characters right LMAO

but anyway yes here you go

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

Camilo quietly breathed out as Mirabel’s question hanged over them all in that moment.

…are we too late for a miracle?

All six of them just stood in silence, in the middle of the common area of their shared bedroom—or more accurately, the nursery. 

He grimaced. They were all still in the nursery, even after so many years had passed. Not that it was bad. It was actually fun to be with his hermana, hermanito, and primas in the same room. They were all together, supporting one another. They were never alone with each other.

But they couldn’t deny that they were lucky that the nursery kept expanding as they all grew older. Camilo didn’t know what would have happened if the nursery stayed the same size and space it had been before. He could only imagine what it was like for his hermana and primas back then. 

They were lucky with this, since they were already unlucky enough in all other aspects of their lives.

Camilo bit the inside of his cheek, looking up to see everyone looking at each other. He met each of their eyes himself, seeing a glint in all of them—one that he intimately knew was reflected in his own—and understood instantly.

This was one of the perks of rooming together for years, of being each others’ main encouragement and support system everyday, of just being together through it all.

A single glance could hold an entire conversation.

They all want to get away.

No words needed to be said.

Camilo nodded at the same time as everyone else did, watching all his primas and hermana start shuffling towards a certain wall, and was about to do the same himself, when he found his hermanito reaching out and gently tugging Luisa’s skirt.

His prima mayor looked down at Antonio, who was biting his lips. “Toñito? What’s wrong?” She tenderly placed a hand on top of his own.

Antonio looked up at her, allowing Luisa to take his hand into her own. “Wouldn’t Mama, Papa, Tia, and Tios come looking for us?” he asked quietly, as if to make sure nobody else but them could hear his question, even when the party noise outside was already drowning everything else out. 

Camilo couldn’t stop the snort that escaped him at his hermanito’s question. “Don’t think we have to worry about that, Toñio.” He sounded a bit too dismissive, maybe, but…well. A quick glance at the rest told him what they thought too.

Luisa kept staring at her youngest primo, an awkward smile slowly forming on her face as her eye twitched once. Dolores made a surprised, quiet but high pitched ‘Hm’ sound. Mirabel just winced, subconsciously rubbing her arm.

All of them already knew the answer to the question.

Isabela had snorted too, shaking her head as she placed a hand on the youngest’s head to gently ruffle it. “Milo’s right. They’ll be too busy entertaining the guests right now.”

Dolores nodded, stepping forward to stand next to her older prima, smiling at him gently as she took his other hand. “It’ll likely be a while before they try to find us.”

If they even would, Camilo found himself thinking, before blinking rapidly. Hey, no. No. No bad thoughts, stop thinking that, Milo. 

Camilo swallowed. Everyone in the 3rd generation knew that their padres loved them. They always tried their best. They cared. They always cared.

It was just…their Mama and Tia and Tio were always seen, always perfect, always in the spotlight, rarely able to step away—if they ever stepped away at all.

Even Papa and Tio Agustin were seen in the light, despite them not having gifts themselves.

It was always how it was ever since then.

The Perfect Magical Triplets. Always seen. Always shining. Always perfect.

How could they step away from the light they’ve known every day to follow after the kids who had always been standing on the side, shrouded in darkness all their lives?

Camilo shook his head. Not something he wanted to think about right now.

He watched Antonio stare at them all for a moment longer, before slowly nodding at their words. 

"Don't worry, Toñito. We'll be fine." Mirabel sent a gentle smile at her primo, the smile brightening a little when he gave a small, subdued smile back. Isabela went to ruffle his hair again as Luisa and Dolores chuckled quietly, both keeping a gentle but firm grip on his hands.

Camilo watched them, wanting to commit this moment to his memories forever.

Mirabel stared at them softly for another moment as well, before breathing out, her smile dropping slightly. She stepped right next to Camilo, bumping shoulders with him and gesturing towards a certain painting in the room. “To the den?”

Camilo chuckled wearily, lightly bumping her shoulder back. He looked at the rest of his primas and hermana and hermanito for a moment, all of them looking at the painting with tired and resigned eyes. 

He turned back to the painting too, a quiet sigh escaping his lips. “To the den.”

Away from the light.

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

asked my friend to choose a grandkid randomly and he had chosen camilo, so...camilo pov! WOOOO AHSFUAHf genuinely hope this is alright hehe

also, its not really clear, but the painting on the wall is still in the nursery, and behind said painting is the entrance to the walls, since i was thinking it might be hard for the kids to sneak to the painting past all the people there if it was outside and the party was still going on, plus easy access to the den yknow HAHAHA

but we can also still keep the painting entrance to the walls right next to dolores' room (or at least...where dolores' room should have been HASFUASUF) if you want hehe

but anyway yes, hope you enjoy AAAAAAAA <333

Away from the light NOOO COME BACK <\\\333

Not but. Mic coming in clutch with the peak writing as always??? Love this so much, no matter how sad it is <33

It does make me feel bad for the kids. I mean it's Antonio's literal birthday, but since he didn't get a gift (not that anyone was expecting him to at this point), he's not even the center of attention. The triplets are. And they know that, so they know they'll be fine in the walls just to get away. And how Antonio has to accept that fact 😭😭

AND? The fact that they know that no one will look for them for a hot minute and the fact that they can go to one of their many hiding places. Like bro 😭😭 someone give these guys a piece of cake and hug 💀💀 at least the dads are there for them. Most of the time ＼(;´□｀)/

Julieta meant so well, but in the end they still ended up unhappy in some way. And it's cause she never really got rid of the root of the problem: Alma's mentality

[vintagepresley]

The Doctor Will See You Now.. Part Three

Pairing: John Carpenter x Reader

Word Count: 2,712 words

Warnings: SMUTSMUTSMUT18+ Breeding kink, pregnancy kink, breastfeeding kink, nursing, fingering, some nipple play, tiny bit of dirty talk, implied age gap, naive reader, some fluff.

Author's Notes: Well, here it is guys, the last part of the Dr. Carpenter fic. I hope you've all enjoyed this! It wouldn't of been possible with all my little horny anons. This may not be for everyone because of the breastfeeding part, lol. So fair warning, it is a good portion of it. Anyway, this was a ton of fun writing these three parts. Maybe down the line I'll write some more John Carpenter stories, if anyone wants it. Enjoy! Possible spelling errors because I'm too lazy to fix it.

"I'm just warmin' ya up, baby.."

After a few more scheduled visits with Dr. Carpenter the both of you had discovered that you were finally pregnant. He was completely overjoyed to find out the news and surprisingly you were pretty excited as well. Once you had started to show that was when things became difficult, there was a lot of talk and rumors floating around the town. People were starting to think a little differently about the good doctor not wanting their daughters and wives to be alone with him. Things for you seemed to be even worse because your parents disapproved immensely and because you had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. John tried speaking with them and even saying he had planned to marry you, but that wasn’t good enough for them. The sinful act was already done. They had kicked you out but John took you in and moved you into his place where the two of you would raise your children together. He didn’t care about the talk that went around the town. You were going to be a family now with your new bundle of joy, the first of many. He liked to remind you that you would carry more of his children as soon as you were cleared to have more after giving birth. He didn’t give you a choice when it came to being a mother and now a little housewife for him. But you didn’t mind it one bit. John made you feel special, something you had never felt before and all you wanted to do was please him and take care of him. 

You were six months pregnant by this point and everything hurt. Your belly was so big and swollen, your hips wider and your breasts bigger than before. From the looks of you, it appeared you could’ve been pregnant with twins. That was John’s observation at first and it wasn’t until you felt more than one baby kicking that you both soon realized that you were in fact pregnant with twins. This pleased John because that’s exactly what he wanted. He grew smug about getting you knocked up with twins even gloating about it and wanting to try for triplets next time. You’d just smile and playfully roll your eyes as he spoke. You felt drastically more pregnant than usual and it was so uncomfortable, but what made things worse were your hormones. You were so horny almost all the time and if you weren’t horny you were crying over every little thing. As much as you wanted to have sex you just couldn’t bring yourself to actually do it because of how tired your body felt. You felt bad because you didn’t want to deprive John of having sex especially seeing how in love he was with the changes of your body and how much it turned him on. But he was clever enough to come up with some ways to give you some relief while getting what he wanted as well. You sat up in bed reading one of your fashion magazines in your maternity babydoll nightgown when John had come out of the bathroom from his shower after a long day of work. You peered over your magazine over at him as you watched as he got dressed and you giggled softly, capturing your bottom lip between your teeth. 

He raised an eyebrow and smirked at the sound of your giggle. “What?” he said softly as he slipped on his pajamas. 

“Nothing..” you said innocently with another giggle slipping past your lips. 

“Mhm.. Honey?” he hummed. 

“Yes?” you responded with a smile. 

“You up for practicin’ some more of those breathing exercises I taught ya?” he smiled as he sat down on the bed beside you. You raised an eyebrow at his words because you didn’t think there was more to it. You knew that while giving birth that you had to breathe in and out. What more could he have to teach you? But you weren’t one to argue with him, he was a doctor after all. So, if he felt you needed to practice some more you were going to do just that. You nodded at his words with a smile. 

“Sure honey.” you hummed. 

He smirked and climbed further onto the bed and you set your magazine down and scooted up a bit into the position and he moved to sit behind you and you leaned against him as his legs wrapped around yours and his arms slipped around your waist while his hands rested on your swollen belly and his fingertips brushed lightly against it. He kissed along your cheek slowly as his lips brushed up against your right ear. You giggled softly as you placed your hands over his and you tilted your head up a bit to look up at him with a smirk playing on your lips as he placed light kisses along your ear. “This isn’t part of the breathing exercise..” you mumbled softly as you leaned further into him and into his touch. 

“I’m just warmin’ ya up, baby..” he whispered. 

You bit down on your bottom lip and a soft sensual noise escaped your lips from his little kisses. He smirked at the delightful sound and his lips hovered near your ear that the feeling of his breathing sent a shiver down your spine. He raised a hand up to cup your face lovingly “Now take slow deep breaths for me, honey. Then exhale slowly through your mouth..” he whispered softly as he ran the pad of his thumb against your soft lips and you could feel yourself getting turned on by this that you almost took his thumb into your mouth before he instructed you on what to do. You swallowed harshly and nodded at his words as you slowly began to breathe deep and then exhaled sharply and you did this over and over again. The pad of his thumb continued to trace over your lips and then down along your neck and collarbone which caused your breathing to increase and a soft moan slipped from your lips as you felt his wandering hand rub against your sensitive breasts and then gilded its way down toward your stomach. “Good girl.. Keep your breathing up..” he uttered softly into your ear. Your eyes fluttered shut as you continued to breathe for him and your body nearly jolted when you felt his hand move along your right thigh and you shifted your body ever so slightly. As you exhaled your breath came out shakily as you felt his hand creeping closer to the heat between your legs and your body tensing up at the anticipation of it all. 

“J-John.. This-This isn’t part of the exercise..” you said between each breath. 

A smirk formed on his lips and his teeth grazed your right ear. “Who’s the doctor here? Hm? Do as you’re told..” he whispered. You swallowed harshly as you inhaled deeply and then let out a sharply and long exhale as you felt all the hairs on your neck stand up from his demanding words. 

“Y-Yes sir..” you responded obediently as you continued to breathe in and out deeply and loudly. You gasped when you felt his fingertips moving against your clothed pussy and he smirked when he felt how wet your panties were already. He tucked your panties to the side and his fingers buried between your velvety wet folds causing you practically melt into him as your body relaxed and you let out the most embarrassing moan emitting from your lips. The pad of his index and middle finger rubbing against your sensitive clit and you whimpered between your exhales trying to keep your breathing just like he wanted, but he was making it hard. You reached up and placed your hand against the back of his neck and tugged at the dark strands of his hair. Your toes curled when felt his fingers push inside of you causing your slick to drip down his fingers as he forced his fingers knuckle deep and you cried out his name as soft moans escaped you. His fingers pumped inside of you slowly causing you to become even wetter and by this point you had forgotten all about your breathing and your hand tugged harder on his hair and he let out a low groan and he pumped his fingers faster, using his thumb to stimulate your clit at the same time. Your eyes rolled back as your breathing became heavy. 

“Oh fuck, baby..” you whimpered softly as his fingers penetrated you. His thumb pressed up against your clit and rubbed against it in circular motions as his fingers continued to stretch open your pussy. He brought his hand up to squeeze your breasts in his tight grasp and you let out a soft groan because they were so tender and sensitive to the touch and the harder he squeezed it that’s when milk began to leak from your nipples and stain your nightgown. You felt the front of your nightgown become damp and you glance down confused. “I-I think something is wrong, baby.” you said softly. John felt how wet the fabric he was squeezing became and he raised an eyebrow when he noticed you were lactating, which stopped him from fingering you and slipped his fingers out of you. A soft chuckle escaping his lips because he forgot to mention that you’d start lactating during your pregnancy. 

“Nothin’ is wrong, honey. Your breasts are just full of milk. But I can help you with that.. It’ll make them less sore. You trust me, don't ya?” he hummed. You nodded at his words with a smile. 

“Of course I do, doctor.” you giggled. 

“Good girl.. No point in wastin’ perfectly good milk, right?” he said with a grin. 

You nodded with a smile. “Right.” you hummed. 

John smirked and kissed along the side of your neck slowly as he slipped your nightgown off. “Turn around, baby.” he muttered. You carefully and slowly turned around and he helped you as he placed you on top of him having your thighs resting on either side of him. You felt a bit self-conscious about how your body looked but he soon made all those feelings go away from the way he looked at you like you were the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. He licked over his lips at the sight of your leaking breasts and he cupped them in his hands which made a soft groan escape your lips because they were so full and he caused more milk to squirt out. His fingers pinched and tugged at your sensitive nipples only causing more milk to squirt out and making a mess over the two of you, you bit down your bottom lip trying to suppress your whimpers as he played with your nipples making everything so stimulating that you could feel yourself get even wetter. He was so turned on by the very sight of your breasts leaking all ove him.

“Mm.. I’m gonna make you feel so much better..” he mumbled. 

You captured your bottom lip between your teeth, slipping your arms around his shoulders and slowly rocked your hips against him feeling how hard he was for you. He reached down taking his cock into his hands and slowly guided himself into you and then slammed you down onto his cock which caused a loud gasp to escape your slightly parted lips. “John.. Fuck..” you mewled quietly. He rocked your hips in a slow motion as you gradually rode him soft whimpers escaping you as you watched him kiss along your left breast as his hand kneaded and played with your right one pinching your nipple between his fingers and milk dripped down his hand. You inhaled sharply the moment he latched onto your left nipple and your eyes rolled back as you groaned from the slight pain as he began to suck slowly, nursing from you. Your hands tangled into his hair as you tilted your head back moaning softly as you rocked your hips faster, slightly bouncing on his cock and he groaned lowly but it coming out muffled around your nipple. He grazed his teeth around the senstive bud and flicked it between his tongue before he began to suck faster. You could feel your breasts being relieved from the pressure of them being so full. 

Being pregnant and dealing with your hormones made everything more sensitive for you that the pleasure of him fucking you and nursing from you made everything feel so much better. There was something sensual about you breastfeeding him that turned you on even more. That made the pleasure even more stimulating for the both of you. Your hands tugged and pulled at his raven colored hair as you swiftly moved faster on his cock causing the both of you to moan together; though his sounds came out muffled. His hands tightened around your widen hips, squeezing tight and slapping his hand against your ass as he slightly began to thrust his cock inside of you, the two of you moving together at the same pace as he switched over to your right breast suckling from it and gulping down your milk. You were pushing one another closer toward your climax and it seemed like the harder he sucked the more it pushed your orgasm to build in the pit of your stomach. His big hands grabbed your ass tight and slammed you down onto his cock causing louder moans and whimpers to escape you and your eyes rolled shut as the pressure was building within you until you couldn’t hold on any longer anymore. You felt your body tense up and it felt like your whole world was spinning as you came hard all over his cock and you could feel him pulsing inside of you as his hips bucked and he let out a loud groan as he started to cum, filling you up with his warm seed. 

He kept his cock inside of you when he finished, feeling your walls tighten around him as his cock throbbed for you. You whimpered cutely as your face buried into his soft hair. He released your nipple and looked up at you with lips covered in your milk as he smirked. He completely drained your breasts that droplets leaked from your breasts. “From now on I’ll nurse from ya, because we don’t want to waste any of that perfectly good milk of yours, honey” he said softly. He grabbed a hold of your face in his hand to make you look at him and you looked at him innocently with a smile as you wiggled your hips against him as his cock stayed snug inside of you. He smirked, staring at you silently for a moment. “Y’know I’m goin’ to keep ya knocked up any chance I get, right baby?” he said softly. You let out a soft giggle and nodded at his words as your fingers twirled around strands of his hair. You didn’t mind one bit because he worshiped your pregnant body. You loved every bit of the attention he gave to you. You cupped his face in your hands and gave his lips a soft loving kiss. “I’m gonna take care of ya and our children, honey. I promise.” he whispered. 

“I know and I’ll give you as many babies as you want, baby.” you hummed against his soft lips. He smiled at your words and giving you another kiss before he reached down to slip his cock out of you and he carefully lifted you up and laid you down beside him and tugged the the blankets over the two of you and slipped his arms around you, pulling you into his embrace as he placed soft kisses along your shoulder as his face buried between your breasts. You snuggled right into him and smiled happily as you ran your fingers through his hair. Despite how your relationship may have started and all the judgment the two of you have received; you were in love with him  and he was in love with you. There was no doubt in your mind that John Carpenter was the man for you.

*

Tagging: @generoustreemystic @arianatheangel-girl @kendralavon7 @18lkpeters @be-my-ally @prompted-wordsmith @mrspresleybutler3591 @jfkkenndy @samfangirls @vintageshanny @airyx0x0 @astralheart21 @galaxygirl453 @prayerstopresley @iloveelvis @marriedtopresley @kingdomforapony @peaceloveelvis @elvispedro @flwrs4aust @honey6578 @aliengoth3 @eddiesgorlie @literally-just-elvis-fics

[moralesmilesanhour]

spidey gang music headcanons no one asked for

the mutual @vhstown rbd smth that inspired me to think abt what I think a music group with the four main spidey kids would look like so HIIIII

Hobie:

Our frontman! Since his origins are in (black) 70s punk, I think his style of singing would be similar to the band 'Death'. Or something like this

I know the general consensus is that he cannot sing and may or may not be disappointed by this but my city now. I personally hc that Hobie is not interested in his voice sounding "beautiful", only that it conveys the text of the song 😁

Gets all the bass-y/growl-y parts

Will give you a mean 3-minute electric guitar solo

Miles:

Sub-vocalist and rapper extraordinaire!

Tends to lead on the more melodic songs

I think his signature rapping style (once he finds one 🥴) would lean more towards alternative rap with the occasional rapid-fire verse if the song requires that

Can't produce beats for shit but has a good ear and knows what he likes

Think 'DYSBF!' or 'FUNKFEST'; both by 'grouptherapy'

Sometimes will go back and forth with Hobie on a verse and it's very fun

When he starts rapping in triplets it's over

Hobie also taught him to play bass so that they could like...have a bassist

Pavitr:

Sub-vocalist #2

Harmonizes with Miles occasionally

I'm gonna assign him as the keyboard guy as well for funsies

Good with words and language in general so he helps Hobie write songs

Directs their music videos because he's also a film nerd (why? Because I said so)

Gwen

Your friendly neighborhood drummer yktv!!

Part-time screamer if the song requires

Learns songs by ear most of the time but can read sheet music

Does fancy tricks with her drumsticks

The only one aside from Hobie who knows how to fix drums

Other/misc:

Sometimes they get Margo to work together with Miles for tech/production stuff

She keeps begging them to become their social media manager

Once they explain to Hobie what social media is, he is squarely against it. Something about being "beholden to the whims of corporations and advertisers".

The band runs an account secretly anyway. Don't tell Hobie.

[savebatsfromscratch]

Hockey Watching - Palletshipping Week 1 (Roommates)

Summary:

Gary and Ash watch a hockey game together. (Au notes in final note in ao3 version, I put them at the top in this one.)

Notes:

Prompt: Roommates Note: The first thing I went to was watching a Hockey game together. …for some reason. I kinda made up my own Pokemon world teams, but feel free to imagine your favorite team I guess. (Though if it’s not the Sabers I don’t want you here. /light hearted) Also, for the record, they’re kind of American coded in this one. Whoops. I apologize for this look into my mind. Cws: Surprise kiss, sort of nonsensical writing Words: 1,791

End Notes:

…dude this is such a mess. (<- did not even try to edit it.)   Here’s a fun secret, I headcannon Blake (from Pokemon Adventures) as a Hockey player, and I made his number his dexholder number! :D I also headcannon Jun (from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure) as a Hockey player, and I made his number “3” because he has three total pokemon lol. I also put Hareta (from the same series) on his team and made him number “1” because that’s the number of my favorite Sabers goalie. :3 I also Headcannon Barry and Jun as triplets (the third being Pearl from Pokemon Adventures.) I also had to make up a last name for both Jun and Blake. For Jun I gave him “Aemilius,” because I went the roman route and it “was originally derived from the Latin word aemulus, which referred to equal or rival.” (iGENEA) And I gave Blake Rasmussen because it starts with an “r” sound and so does his Japanese name AND Rasmussen would look SICK on a Hockey jersey.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54803911

Prompts from here: @/shigerussato

Fic under the cut!

Gary plopped down on the couch in front of the already flickering TV, one hand clutched around a large can of some gross thing that Delia had bought them, and the other clinging desperately to an overfilled bowl of chicken wings. Already on the couch, Ash laughed and turned up the volume on the TV with the remote that he had apparently located. (Last time Gary had checked in, the two of them had been pretty sure that that thing was gone for good.)

“Is the game on yet?” He asked, setting the huge cup down on the coffee table (and releasing a short prayer that it wouldn’t spill) as he looked up at the current rush of ads across the television screen, “Who’s winning?”

Ash giggled and got halfway through a, “Not yet Oak,” before stopping and realizing that something was still missing from their Hockey watching spree. “Um, you did get us napkins, right?”

Gary looked around himself, and though he saw Ash’s fingerless glove clad hand already covered in Buffalo sauce, hovering unsurely about the rest of the chicken wings, he saw no napkins. “Oh dang it,” He let out an exasperated cry and smacked a hand to his forehead, “I forgot them in the other room, here, I’ll get them-,”

He went to stand, but all of a sudden the announcer sprang to life before them.

“Welcome to today’s game of Hockey,” he was saying, voice strong and accented like an old radio star, and speaking just as fast, “We’ve got a very interesting match up today,”

The second announcer interrupted, sounding just as excited as the first, “Thankfully for the Snowpoint Legends, it seems that number 3, Jun Aemilius, is back on the ice, after his injury on Wednesday we were getting worried that he might not be able to make it to the next game, but it seems the medics came through!”

“And based on today’s lineup for the Icirrus Truths, the Legends may have really needed the return. I mean, ever since number 16, Blake Rasmussen, was traded into the team from the Castelia Ideals, the Truths have been rising in power across the league,”

“However, the new goalie for the Legends, number 1, Hareta Rowan, might be able to match Rasmussen’s intensity,”

“Do you know who they’re talking about?” Gary whispered to Ash, who seemed to have given up on napkins and was instead licking his fingers clean. (Seeing this, he quickly flushed red and looked back to the screen, pretending to be looking for clues there, though he hoped Ash would not guess the true reason for his newfound focus. …though it wouldn’t have been a problem if he had known.)

“Number three for the Legends is triplets with one of my rivals from when I was in Sinnoh,” Ash commented, watching as the camera tracked after a very attractive blond offensive player as if it was a totally normal comment to make to his current rival.

Gary suddenly reached for a can on the table, suddenly realizing that his throat felt dry. 

“None of that,” Ash waved his hands back and forth, flinging a speck or two of leftover sauce into Gary’s face, “I still love you the most,” he looked down at the cans, “Plus, those are non-alcoholic,”

Gary put his head in his hands, laughing. Had Ash assumed he had been trying to get drunk? “I’m just thirsty Ash,” he said, “and you reminded me of what your mom bought us,”

Ash made a face, studying the cans critically, “I wouldn’t suggest trying those, they’re probably flavored, like, pumpkin pie or crayons or something,”

Gary studied the can in the brightness of the ice from the screen. “The first one,” he told Ash, making a face, “Pumpkin pie seltzer, are you kidding me? Where does she even get them?”

“The Viridian Pokemart I think,” Ash said, snuggling a bit closer to Gary under the guise of checking out the ingredients of the strange drink.

“Why would she go all the way to Viridian to get-,” Gary cut himself off as the game suddenly kicked into action on the screen in front of them. Ash too sat up, suddenly on the edge of his seat as the puck rushed from player to player, currently held by the Truths. Gary glanced over at Ash’s face, noticing that he didn’t look super happy about that fact. 

“Soo…” Gary tried, now his turn to scoot closer, “Are we rooting for the Legends?”

“Would you want to root for a team from Unova?”

“Fair point,”

The two sat together, watching as the action moved from player to player, occasional crashes and shrieks coming up from the players as they crashed together and into various metal walls. Gary found himself leaning forward and hissing in anticipation as the puck shot towards the goal on their side, but joined Ash in whooping when the (apparently not-so-rookie) goalie expertly blocked the shot, catching it under his glove and sending up cheers among the crowd on his side of the stadium.

Ash grabbed Gary’s arm and shook him, as if Gary had watched more than a couple of games before to understand quite what that meant for his team. “Did you see that?!” He asked, sounding almost as excited as he always had before their battles, “That was so cool!”

The fact that Gary didn’t quite understand the game did not stop him from sharing Ash’s excitement. (Though he suspected that was more due to the fact that his rival was all but climbing into his lap in nervous joy about the game.)

“Yeah,” Gary said, watching somewhat in awe as the players sped from side to side in the advertisement lined rink.

They continued to watch like that, whooping as number three on their team managed a goal and hissing as 16, Blake, on the other side finally managed one of his own. At one point, their hands met in the chicken wing bowl, and of course Ash couldn’t help but joke that it was the most affectionate they’d been since getting back to Pallet together. (Gary shoved him off his shoulder and laughed it off, but the entire next period passed before he was done blushing about it.)

Advertisements passed as Gary left to refill the snacks, and he found himself grinning with the draw to watch the game as he saw it starting up again.

“You have to admit that this is just as interesting as watching a Pokemon battle,” Ash said, between bites of chicken wing, looking expectantly up at Gary.

“And nowhere near as irritating,” Gary added, breaking off in the middle of his sentence to take a large sip of pumpkin pie seltzer. (Which was honestly even more interesting than Delia had advertised it as being.) “I’m not there picking through every mistake they make,”

They both cringed as, number three, the forward on the team they had decided to root for just barely missed an easy shot.

“For the most part anyway,” Gary corrected

“For the most part anyway,” Ash laughed, agreeing with him.

They looked forward, and the game went back into that comfortable blur as the announcers led the cheers (or boos) as players entered and left the ice. (Though Gary found himself realizing that the two rivals were getting oddly close again as the final period began to wrap up. Even if the “close together” in question was more like, “just about falling off the couch with how focused they were on the flashing screen,”)

They cheered as their goalie blocked yet another would-have-been goal, and then cheered even louder as their team managed to actually complete a goal of their own. They were back in the lead by one, and with only a couple of seconds remaining on the clock, and a major player of the Truths out for misconduct earlier in the match, it was looking good.

“Comeon comeon,” Ash muttered, his fingers digging into Gary’s shoulders as he leaned even further forward, “Just hold the goal for one more-,”

“No!” They both shrieked, watching as their goalie, the one named like his region’s professor, was knocked to the ground by an opposing player, allowing the puck to sail cleanly into the net behind him.

Making the game tied, and sending it into overtime as Ash jolted to his feet, taking two large steps forward and echoing the announcer as he yelped. “How was that not an illegal move!”

Gary stood and walked to meet him, but found his eyes similarly glued to the screen as the teams reset for the tie breaking move. In his still lacking understanding of the game, he couldn’t quite tell what was happening, but the energy in the crowd (and in Ash), was enough to tell him that, whatever it was, it was seriously interesting.

He squinted at the glowing ice, and then found himself jumping up and down as he spotted number three dragging the puck forward and towards the opposing goal. He was moving like lightning, skirting around nearly every other player as he raced for the win.

Ash and Gary watched in slow motion as 16, Blake, from the other team fought to catch up with Jun, and cheered as he crashed into a defenseman from his own team, clearly still at least a little shaken up from his apparent injury on Wednesday as the two skidded across the ice together, their balance lost.

It happened so fast that Gary almost missed it, but the puck banged against the net and the stadium exploded. Even with the TV on low volume, Gary truly felt like he was among the screaming fans as Ash jumped up and down beside him. Clapping his hands together and shivering in excitement. To Gary, the sight was almost funny, but as he opened his mouth to say something about it, he found himself the one taken aback as Ash jumped up and kissed him.

They hung that way for a moment, Gary feeling like he was floating in sudden joy as Ash’s arms wrapped briefly around his shoulders, only to be dragged back away again as his friend suddenly pulled back, face bright red.

“Oh I-,” he tried to explain himself, “I didn’t mean to-,”

Gary’s face was definitely bright red, but he didn’t care. “Well,” he said, grabbing Ash’s hands and leaning forward, “Do it again and I might think about coming back for the next game,” 

He smirked as Ash stuttered out a sudden, “I love you,” right before Gary pulled them back into a kiss as the cheers of the crowd echoed through the dark room. 

(Even if their mouths tasted like buffalo chicken wings and pumpkin pie seltzer.)

[relicsongmel]

sure tell me about pokemon music! my favourite is the lake cavern theme from platinum with the piano intro!

Ohhhh that’s a good one!!! I love all the music associated with the Lake Guardians—it’s got fun modal mixture stuff which (to make a long and very nerdy explanation short) does some really interesting things with colors in my head :3 so I suppose I will respond in kind by telling you a few of my overall favorites! (I say “overall” because singling out one is virtually impossible. Pro-tip: NEVER ask a musician for their one singular favorite piece—some of them may have an answer for you but the vast majority of them will cry. Me included.)

Alola Region Theme ~ Pokemon Sun and Moon

I have a ridiculous amount of nostalgia for this theme despite Gen 7 only being two generations ago. I love the chanting in the intro and the melody is beautiful and memorable—it’s a leitmotif that gets reused in other parts of the soundtrack like the player’s home, the summit of Mount Lanakila (which houses the Pokemon League) and the end credits. It also ALWAYS takes me back to Sun and Moon hype season—I have very vivid memories of waking up to new trailers on Pokemon’s official YouTube channel and getting immeasurably excited, and they often used this theme which played a big part in that. Despite being a certified Music Bitch I’m not really the type of person who cries while listening to music that much, but this is one of those themes that CAN make me cry if I hear it at the right time. A bit odd considering this theme is nothing if not joyous but it is what it is.

Cynthia’s Theme ~ Pokemon Diamond and Pearl

This theme has been memed to hell and back because of Cynthia’s uncanny ability to strike fear into the hearts of children and adults alike with piano alone, but other than the initial jumpscare that those sixteenth-note triplet octaves in the bassline sometimes give me in the intro, I unironically think it’s a beautiful piece of music. To me it sounds like it could be a piece on the program of a piano student’s senior recital—I don’t know if I can ever hope to learn how to play it myself with how fast it is (not to mention my teeny tiny hands that can’t even reliably reach 9ths ;_;), but goddamn if I don’t want to try. Also obligatory shoutout to Volo’s battle theme from Legends Arceus because this is what it’s based on and it is excellent as well :3

Route 10 ~ Pokemon Black and White

This is my favorite route theme in the entire Pokemon franchise, no questions asked. It plays on the very last route you visit before challenging the Pokemon League and it’s got a bittersweet tone that complements that feeling perfectly. Unfortunately in Black and White 2 this route got destroyed in a landslide—but this theme is still accessible via talking to a post-game NPC (but only during the winter months in-game, sadly). There’s also a bit of musical symbolism insofar as this game’s Route 1 theme is in C major whereas this one is in the parallel C minor. I love this because it fits with the circumstances of your journey at that point being a bit darker than your standard Pokemon fare—you’re challenging the Pokemon League not for personal ambition, but out of necessity because Team Plasma will take over if you don’t. The key difference is a testament to your Trainer’s growth and I love it so so much.

Slumbering Weald ~ Pokemon Sword and Shield

I wasn’t as big a fan of Sword and Shield’s music as much of the rest of the community seemed to be—to my ears at least, the soundfont of these games sounds a lot thinner and weaker than that of previous generations and there weren’t a lot of tracks that really hooked me right off the bat (though this only applies to base SwSh—the DLC music redeemed the soundtrack in my eyes because there’s a LOT of good stuff in there). This piece, however, was one of the exceptions to that—one of my FAVORITE musical ideas is any melody that makes heavy use of the leading tone (the 7th scale degree, which is the last one before the tonal center and it has a very sensitive, sometimes bittersweet quality to it because of this), specifically the note sequence 7 -> 1 -> 5 (in solfege this would be ti -> do -> sol; or G# -> A -> E in A major which is the key this piece is in) and this track straight up repeats that sequence over and over in that starting melody which turns into a background ostinato as the strings take over. The rest of the track holds up too—the synths mesh well with the strings and gentle percussion and even the howls work well melodically—I’m also a big fan of the diminished harmonies underneath them in what I’d call the B section of the piece; those elements along with the muted choral chanting really adds to the mysterious vibe of the winding forest this track is meant to represent.

Again, this is not at ALL an exhaustive list of my fave pieces (my favorites playlist on my phone is currently housing a whopping 435 tracks I’ll have you know) but I hope you enjoyed this peek into my musical tastes regardless!

[marlenafortuna]

Podcast Punishing - C.S

Warnings‼️ public teasing, spanking, blowjob

A/n: this is my first time writing anything in general haha. Let me know how I did

Summary: You decide to tease Chris, your boyfriend, a little during your featuring in the triplets podcast.

……………

I think the amount of times I asked my amazing boyfriend, Chris, to be in him and his brothers podcast, is uncountable.

The problem was though, me and Chris weren’t public the first 7 months of our relationship. Crazy, right?

Well Chris was very known to be scared of relationships and commitment, and suddenly announcing he was committed and in a relationship was somewhat difficult for us.

Well, the day has finally come, me and Chris made our relationship official about 3 months ago. And honestly, I don’t know how the fans have taken it.

From what I’ve heard from Chris the fans took it very well, atleast that’s what he told me.

I don’t know nor do I care.

Anyway, it’s 3 months after we made it public, and now I’m sitting in the studio ready to film the podcast.

The problem was tho, both me and Chris woke up extremely horny this morning. But I don’t know if it’s gonna be a problem.

The podcast started, they asked me a couple questions about life, Chris, and some other things.

But I start getting bored and I notice Chris like.. adjusting himself??

Did I really make Chris hard just from talking?

Seeing as I was sitting next to Chris, I decided to tease him a little, by palming him through his pants, which seemed to work.

Chris was fighting for his life not to moan or to make it any obvious that I was teasing them. But I was done with him being so stubborn.

So, I pulled down his pants and started jerking him off. I know it may sound weird, and it was, not gonna lie. But it was fun

TIMESKIP

Chris was angry, and it was obvious. Jaw clenched and muscles tense by the time we walked out of the podcast studio.

“Chris what the fuck is up?!” Nick asks, clearly confused by his brothers behavior.

“Nothing I’m fine.” responds a very clearly mad Chris. “Let’s go to my room, love” he says to me.

I know I’m gonna get punished for this, and I’m so looking forward to it.

We walk down to his room, and when I shut the door, he immediately slams me up towards it and pins my hands over my head.

“Do you really think you can just sit and tease me during a podcast and expect me to not react to it? Get on the bed, your clothes better be gone by the time I’m back” Chris demands through gritted teeth. I say nothing. I walk over to me and Chris’ shared bed and start stripping, slightly turned on by this situation.

……..

“I’m back, love.” Chris says as I’m laying on the bed. Head on the headboard with my right leg tucked up, naked. “Kinda expected to come back to you touching yourself”

I say nothing, because he rambles on.

“You’ve been bad. What do bad girls get in return?” Chris asks me, a smirk on his face.

“T-they get punished, right?” I ask, uncertainty in my voice, but I’m still confident I’m right.

“Mhm that’s right love, you’re so smart. Do you remember your safe word baby?” He grins

“Mhm” I nod.

Slap.

Chris slapped my left cheek.

“I need words baby, I thought you knew this”

“Now what is your safe word” he demands me to tell him.

“Red. My safe word is red.” I reply, getting impatient.

“That’s good ma” he smiles.

Why did he make me go over our safe word? What the hell does he have planned?

He flips me over and ties my hands to the headboard with his belt.

“Alright, I did some thinking, and I think your punishment should be spanking. 25 on each cheek. How’s that sound ma?” He suggests, not wanting to make it too much for me.

“Mhm, sounds good Chris.” I reply, genuinely okay with it.

“Alright ma, I do have one request tho. You’re gonna count them all, and you’re not fucking cumming. Understood?”

I agree, with words this time.

Slap. “1” I gasp, slightly surprised.

Slap. “2” a little harder this time.

Slap. “3” ouch.

……..

“50” I count, my ass stinging and burning from how harsh Chris’ slaps were. I cant say i didn’t enjoy it though.

“That’s my good girl, ma, now get on your knees for me.” He unties the belt while saying.

I get on my knees in front of his crotch, his pants slightly falling down from the removed belt he used for my hands.

I start pulling down his pants, palming him over his boxers.

“Stop fucking teasing me and get to work” he grunts, not liking my teasing.

I pull down his boxers along with the rest of his pants, and he steps out of them while I start slowly stroking his cock.

“Mmmmmh fuck” he moans out in relief, I understand that though, his cock was as angry red at the tip, throbbing and leaking precum. He looked almost in pain.

I start putting my tongue flat on the base of his shaft, slowly moving upwards and putting his tip in my mouth and sucking on it.

The noises he was making had me dripping everywhere on the floor. His noises were a mix of whimpers and moans, I LOVED it.

I start bopping my head on his cock, going up and down in a fast pace.

“Oh fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck so good ma.” He moans out. That has to be my favorite sound ever.

After a minute or two he pulls my head away, I look up at him in confusion.

“Sorry love, wanted to spare my cum for that pretty pussy instead” he says with a slight smirk, his eyes dark of lust and need.

“Get on the bed” he demands, and I oblige.

I lie down, legs spread, my arousal dripping just for him. He look at my glistening folds for a moment.

“So wet just for me ma? Damn I’m gonna destroy you.”

_____________

Part 2 will maybe occur.

[jules-has-notes]

2013 Napa Valley A Cappella Extravaganza — VoicePlay live performances

In January 2013, VoicePlay were the professional headliners to a roster of collegiate and high school a cappella groups at the 8th annual Napa Valley A Cappella Extravaganza. The event is a yearly fundraiser for Napa High School's choral program, hosted by their Vocal Music Workshop a cappella ensemble. These audience-view videos give a taste of the live concert experience.

.

As indicated by the "Hello!" screen, this song is often their opening number for live shows. It's a great, energetic introduction to their playful sound, but doesn't get too far into the shenanigans that might startle the uninitiated.

Details:

title: Don't Stop Me Now

original performers: Queen

written by: Freddie Mercury

arranged by: VoicePlay

My favorite bits:

the slow build that gently eases you into things

Their choreography's not elaborate, but they do it well, and it allows for a bit of individuality to shine through.

the breakdown section culminating with ♫ "Any tiiii-IIIIME" ♫

the driving triplets in the ♫ "No one can stop me" ♫ section

Earl's soaring riffs

That big finish!

Trivia:

This song was the closing section of VoicePlay's Queen in 5 Minutes medley almost six years later.

.

As much as mainstream pop culture might turn up its collective noses at boy bands when they're at their height of popularity among tween girls, there's no denying that a lot of beloved oldies have their origins there. And no wonder. Pop music is darn catchy and fun by design. VoicePlay makes these selections even moreso with their antics.

Details:

title: boy band medley

original songs / performers: "ABC" by The Jackson 5; [0:50] "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles; [1:30] "My Girl" by The Temptations; [2:18] "Sherry" by The Four Seasons; [3:16] "YMCA" by The Village People; [3:50] "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by New Kids on the Block; [4:12] "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys; [4:52] "Bye Bye Bye" by *NSYNC; [5:23] "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction

written by: "ABC" by Berry Gordy, Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, & Deke Richards; "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by John Lennon & Paul McCartney; "My Girl" by Smokey Robinson & Ronald White; "Sherry" by Bob Gaudio; "YMCA" by Jacques Morali & Victor Willis; "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by Maurice Starr; "I Want It That Way" by Andreas Carlsson & Max Martin; "Bye Bye Bye" by Kristian Lundin, Jake Schulze, & Andreas Carlsson; "What Makes You Beautiful" by Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub, & Carl Falk

arranged by: VoicePlay

My favorite bits:

thirty-something Earl being able to recreate the sound of preteen Michael Jackson, holy heck

the way the choreography gets more complex as they move through the eras of music

making hand gestures to signify members of the Village People during YMCA

"I hate you guys." :(

the ♫ "wah-wah-wah-wah" ♫ harmonies transitioning from NKOTB to BSB

hamming up their roles in the "Boy Band 101" section

🎉 Party poppers!!! 🎉 (Which they got in trouble for a year later.)

Trivia:

Having this medley in their repertoire may have given them an advantage when "Bye Bye Bye" was chosen as the battle song for their first episode of The Sing-Off.

Tony was, in fact, the first one from this configuration of VoicePlay to leave. Not to go solo, though. He wanted to be home with his family and focus on growing PattyCake.

The guys updated this medley and filmed a full music video for it as the result of a Patreon poll in 2019.

.

What happens when you take a country music classic, kick up the tempo a bit, and infuse your performance with an air of competition between bandmates? You get this, a favorite among VoicePlay fans.

Details:

title: Elvira

original performers: The Oak Ridge Boys

written by: Dallas Frazier

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

My favorite bits:

the opening harmonies from the trio

Eli nudging Earl to take the lead, resulting in Geoff going to pout next to Layne

Layne pointedly staying out of whatever's happening, but still keeping an eye on things

everyone's feigned surprise for the "Earl can sing low, too" gag, especially Geoff giving his best dramatic chipmunk

Earl's breath control on that long note and the ensuing huff to refill his lungs

Geoff's wide stance and shoulder wiggle to prepare for his high notes

those lush ending chords

Trivia:

Home Free liked this version of the song so much that they asked Geoff to help create an arrangement for them to record with The Oak Ridge Boys.

.

You'd think a cappella fans might be sick of this song, given how frequently it was used on Glee. But, as usual, VoicePlay bring their own talented twists to this classic rock song and make it something fresh. This recording is missing the first verse, but it still has most of the best parts.

Details:

title: Don't Stop Believing

original songs / performers: "Don't Stop Believin'"; [0:54] "Open Arms"; and [1:02] "Any Way You Want It" by Journey; [0:46] "Oh Sherrie" by Steve Perry

written by: all songs written by Steve Perry in collaboration – "Don't Stop Believin'" with Jonathan Cain & Neal Schon; "Oh Sherrie" with Randy Goodrum, Craig Krampf, & Bill Cuomo; "Open Arms" with Jonathan Cain; "Any Way You Want It" with Neal Schon

arranged by: Layne Stein & Geoff Castellucci

My favorite bits:

the gradual layering in the polyphony section, using other Journey / Steve Perry songs to fit inside the rhythmic gaps…

…culminating in that huge chord (Are we sure there are only five of them?)

their use of silence during the unison section

the camera panning around to take in the well-deserved standing ovation

Trivia:

VoicePlay filmed a full video for "Don't Stop Believin'" a few years later when they were the featured guests at Camp A Cappella 2016.

They later did a full version of "Any Way You Want It" as part of the second round of their Partwork series.

For a couple years, Eli also sang with a Journey cover band called Raised On Radio in between VoicePlay gigs.

[thetldrplace]

Inferno: Cantos 15-21

Canto XV  As virgil and Dante are walking along the banks of the river, there is a mist that shades them from the fire flakes falling over the hot sand. Dante notes that the banks shield them like the Dutch building dikes to shield them from the ocean's tidal incursion into the Netherlands, and as the citizens of Padova built up levees to protect them from the overflow of the Brenta river. 

The second triplet contains the line: "Quali Fiamminghi tra Guizzante e Bruggia"; the Fiamminghi are the Flemish, (or Dutch at that time), Guizzante and Bruggia are the Italian names for the cities of Wissant and Bruges, but the names are reminiscent of Italian words related to fire: 

Fiamminghi- fiamma or flame  Guizzante- darting  Bruggia- burning 

So that this geological description which translated is: "As the Flemish, between Wissant and Bruges"; 

But it also sounds like: as the flames between darting and burning. Just great wordplay by Dante the poet. 

Anyway, as they move on, they see a group of people walking. That would mean these are among the sodomites. Several of the commentaries mention that Dante doesn't describe what exactly he means by "sodomy", and in fact, he doesn’t ever even call them out as sodomites. So what exactly the sin is, is somewhat up for grabs here. Sodomy has historically been the sin of homosexuality. But if I recall correctly, in the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, he was arrested for sodomy with a woman, which would mean, excuse the bluntness: anal sex. If this was illegal, then it would be that even among heterosexual couples, this behavior was considered sinful. Maybe that fits as being "against nature" in the sense that sex was seen as procreative, not recreation, so engaging in sodomy was a way to avoid the consequences of sex. I dunno, I'm just speculating here. The unsure attitude about what exactly sodomy would have meant to Dante is also due to the fact that there are homosexuals included in purgatory. But it may also be that some of the modern commentary is an attempt to avoid condemnation of homosexuality, since that's considered homophobic today. But Dante lived under no such constraint. My guess is he meant these as sodomites, or homosexuals, and was not afraid to condemn them. That said, his treatment is much more progressive than many of the depictions of the day, which showed highly sexualized tortures as the just punishment for their perversion.  

They see Virgil and Dante and look hard at them when one notices Dante and says: Qual maraviglia! What a marvel! 

Dante says he recognizes him as an old tutor, Ser Brunetto Latini, and Dante is astounded he is found here. Dante offers to sit with him for a bit, but Brunetto says that if he stops walking, he will have to lie for 100 years without the ability to shield himself from the burning flakes, so, ya know... best to keep moving! Brunetto asks how he has journeyed there, and Dante tells him how he had lost his way before mid-way through his life. The Italian phrase was weird for me: avanti che 'l età mia fosse piena. That looks to me like: before my age was full, which I'd understood as "before the end of my life".  But what it actually means is 'before I reached the fullest part of my life', which would be considered around 35, when he would have been established, but still in full health. Anyway, Dante says Virgil saved him and is leading him home, but through this path. 

Brunetto says he'll do well and not fail to find his glorious port, his fame and glory. He also says he would have helped Dante in his work had he still been alive. But.... "those malicious ingrates" (The leaders of Florence), and here it gets fun: "who descended long ago from Fiesole" (a town in the mountains outside Florence that was attacked by the Romans, driving the inhabitants to live as uncivilized rustics outside the city) who still retain the manners of the mountain and boulders... basically, they're still uncultured hillbillies at heart.... will make you their enemy just because you try to do right. 

Brunetto encourages Dante to stay away from them to keep himself clean. Both the white and black Guelphs will hunger for Dante's life, but may the grass be far away from the mouth: ma lungi fia dal becco l'erba. That sounds like a proverb that I believe would mean something like: may the goats (the evil Florentine leaders) not be able to get at the grass (Dante) to eat it (kill him). 

Brunetto continues saying those beasts from Fiesole can get their own straw to eat, and leave the native plants (if any would grow in their shit that litters the ground), among which lives again the holy seed of those Romans that remained even after their nest of malice was created. Clearly, Brunetto harbors some bitter feelings against the Florentines... 

Dante notes that he wishes with all his heart that Brunetto had not died, but that to know he had touched Dante deeply with his fatherly care. Dante would acknowledge Brunetto and also what Brunetto told him. He accepts what has been revealed and before they move on, Dante asks who else of note and rank is there. Brunetto gives him a few names: Priscian and Francesco d'Accorso.  

Priscian refers to a well-known Latin teacher from the sixth century. There was a traditional Medieval association of boys' teachers with sodomites. 

Francesco d'Accorso was a famous Florentine teacher of law at the universities of Bologna and Oxford. 

But of the rest, Brunetto says he has no more time and must turn back to return to his group. 

Dante finishes the canto by saying Brunetto left running after his group as one who wins a race, not as one who loses. 

Canto XVI  The first lines of this canto concern the rumbling of water that will get progressively louder as they go. It's first mentioned as being "similar to the rumble made at a beehive". 

But right away, Dante and Virgil see three shades break off from their traveling companions and run over towards them tell them to "Hold up, you who are dressed like, what seems to us, someone from our depraved land". They are Florentines. Dante recognizes them even through their burns and scars. Virgil says that if it weren't for the fire they are under, it might be better if Dante were to run to them, than the other way around. Then they perform this weird, almost dance, where they gather in a circle, and continually move around one way, while looking back the other way. They of course do this because if they stop moving, so we learned from the previous canto, they would have to lay on the sand for 100 years and not be able to sweep away the fire flakes falling on them. 

They call out to Dante and ask him who he is, that can pass through Hell in his living body. They ask if he is repulsed by their condition. Then they tell who they are: Guido Guerra, the grandson of lady Gualdrada is the first. The second is Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, and the speaker is Iacopo Rusticucci, who, he says by way of introducing himself, was condemned more by his fierce wife than anything else. 

Dante then says that if he could safely jump down there and hug them, he would, but fear of being cooked by the fire overruled his desire to reunite.  

He explains that he isn't repulsed by them at all, but sorrow at seeing such noble men as them subjected to such punishment. He says he knows of each of them and their honored works and names. He then says he is commissioned to go through Hell as part of escaping his mid-life crisis, mentioned in Canto I. 

The men honor Dante and ask how things are going with their city, for they have heard negative reports from the recently come Guglielmo Borsiere. We know little more about him. 

Dante then cries out, almost to heaven, saying: 

La gente nuova e i sùbiti guadagni  orgoglio e dismisura han generata,  Fiorenza, in te, sì che tu già ten piagni  Newcomers and their recent wealth  Have generated pride and excess in you  Florence, so that you already regret it. 

The three men look at each other, seemingly grasping the truth. 

They then ask a favor of Dante: if he returns to the world of the living, please tell others about them. 

Then they break off and, as Dante says, before you could say an "Amen", they were gone. 

Virgil moves on with Dante following, this time the water so loud that they were at pains to hear each other. Then Dante moves through an extended simile about a river that descends in a deafening waterfall, to paint a picture of the volume. After that we get a metaphor... of something... 

I had a cord wrapped around me, with which  I had thought a few times about capturing  the leopard with the spotted skin.  When I had completely untied it  as my guide had instructed me,  I handed it to him wound and knotted.  Then he turned to the right  and tossed it far down over the edge of that deep chasm. 

Whatever the belt is, whatever it signifies, Virgil asks him to take it off, then chucks it over the edge. The only clue he gives us is that he thought about capturing the leopard from Canto I with it. The leopard was thought to signify 'lust', so the cord would signify something that lust could be capture with. Some have offered 'temperance' as a possibility. But I don't know why Virgil would want him to take that off for the descent. As one commentor said: perhaps the point is that one shouldn't be confident in one's own ability to conquer sin generally, and particularly, to outsmart those guilty of lies and fraud in the level below.  

Then Virgil looks over and fixes his eyes on something Dante can only understand as way outside what he would be able to fathom. And sure enough, up comes something Dante tells us is a "truth that has the face of a lie". Dante swears, "by the lines of this comedy..... that I saw someone come swimming upward through that dense and dark air". 

We'll meet this monster in the next Canto.  

But Dante's message with the 'truth that has the face of a lie'; quel ver c'ha faccia di menzogna; is that his poem, the divine comedy, is essentially a truth, even though it has the face of fiction.  

Canto XVII  Canto 17 starts off with Virgil declaring something about this beast Dante saw at the end of the last Canto: "Behold the beast with the barbed tail, flying past mountains, breaking walls and armies, behold he who stinks up the world". The beast will be named Geryon, and is symbolic of fraud. In mythology, he was a giant with three bodies, who ruled as king of Spain. It was one of Hercule's labors to slay him. Anthony Esolen, in the notes of the English translation I'm using, says tradition developed in the middle ages that he was a hypocrite that kindly invited his guests in, then killed them.  

He is described by Dante as having the face of a just man, but the body of a serpent, hairy limbs with paws, and a bifurcated tail that could sting like a scorpion. Virgil says he stinks up the world, because he corrupts what separates man from beast: he uses language, reason and intelligence to deceive. 

In the description of Geryon, Dante treats us to a name that could use some explanation.  He says of the monsters colors: 

his back, chest and both sides   were colored with knots and circlets,  Neither Turks nor Tartars used more colors  in the groundwork or embroidery of their drapes,  nor was Arachne imposed with such cloths. 

Arachne was a woman in mythology that challenged Athena to a weaving contest. Athena defeated her, and then turned Arachne into a spider for her presumption. The spider still weaves incredible designs in its web- but it also is a nice symbol, writes Esolen, for the complications and plots of liars. 

Virgil tells Dante he must go speak with the beast, and in the meantime, go and see who the third group are in the third ring: those sitting in the sand. These would be the usurers. He tells Dante to be quick though and not engage them in much conversation. Dante then heads off alone. The men sit in the sand, viciously trying to chase away the burning fire flakes that land on them. He doesn't recognize the souls personally, but there are three with purses, each emblazoned with different family crests: 

The yellow purse with the blue face and posture of a lion would be the Gianfigliazzi family- Black Guelphs.  

The red purse with the white goose would be the Obriachi family crest, Florentine Ghibellines. 

The one with the white purse with the blue sow is, most believe, Reginaldo degli Scrovegni, from Padova. He was so well-known as a usurer, that he reportedly moved his son Arrigo to endow the construction of the Scrovegni chapel, with walls decorated by Giotto's frescoes. It is one of the most beautiful interior spaces in the Western world. Each of the three men sat with their purses tied around the necks and "I loro occhi si pasca", their eyes feasted on the purses. As usurers, they were so greedy for money, that their punishment here is to sit with their purses stuck near their mouths, almost like feedbags for animals. Their low manners are revealed. 

It is Reginaldo that brusquely confronts Dante, with: "Che fai tu in questa fossa? Or te ne va", similar to "what the hell are you doing here in this dump? Now beat it". 

Then he adds something along the lines of: in case you're still living and heading back up, you can tell my neighbor Vitaliano he'll be joining me here in hell! We're not sure who this is referring to. 

Then Reginaldo continues that he is from Padova, and he's stuck in among these Florentines who are constantly telling him that "the sovereign knight comes....!", probably referring to Giovanni di Buiamonte dei Becchi, an able broker that rose to an elevated position in Florence, until he was convicted of embezzlement and forced to give his possessions to the church. Then Dante says he stuck out his tongue, like an ox that licks his nose. I don't know if Reginaldo stuck out his tongue to lick his nose, or if he did it in disrespect, but quickly Dante decides he's outta there and heads back. 

By the time he returns, he finds Virgil already mounted on Geryon's back to make the descent down to the eighth level through flight. He tells Dante to get on in front of him so Geryon's tail won't sting him, and as Dante gets on, he wants to tell Virgil to hold him tightly, but he can't muster the words. Virgil however understands and holds on to him. Geryon backs up into the sky, then heads downward. 

Dante uses a few similes: of Phaeton, losing control in the sky and scorching the earth, and of Icarus fear as he falls to earth, to relate his own fear as he loses all sight of any land. 

As they approach the landing, Dante can hear loud noise from the whirlpool, and can see flames and hear cries, and they begin to come from all sides as they come nearer to landing. Finally they do land, and Virgil and Dante dismount, only to see Geryon fly off as an arrow from the bow. 

So ends Canto 17 

Canto XVIII  The eighth circle 

There is a place in hell called Malebolge. Mala is bad/evil, bolgia is a ditch. 

If you could envision a circular pit. As Dante travels deeper into hell, the diameter of the pit gets progressively smaller. Each level is comprised of a cliff on the outer diameter, and then another cliff that drops off when it gets to the inner diameter, which would look like a deep round hole.  

In this eighth circle of hell, there are a series of 10 concentric ditches, like moats, but not filled with water. They each hold a progressively worse type of fraud. There are arched bridges over each of these ditches so that Virgil and Dante can travel over them. The slope of the entire level drains towards the center, so that the top of the first ditch is higher than the top of the second, etc.  

Virgil and Dante were dropped off by Geryon at the edge of the first of the concentric ditches. 

First ditch-  

Each of the ditches has sinners that walk one way on one side, and others that walk another way on the other side. Dante describes this as when the Romans held the year of jubilee in 1300 AD, and those crossing the bridge over the Tiber at the Castel Sant'Angelo, would have to keep to one side as they were heading towards the Castle and then Saint Peter's, while on the other side would be those crossing towards the hills of Rome. I've actually been on that bridge, and gone to the Castel Sant'Angelo and then Saint Peter's, so when I read that I thought: Wow! I know exactly what he's talking about! 

The first ditch is filled with ruffiani, which translates not to "ruffians", but more like pimps; those who sell women. Dante recognizes one, who tries to hide his face, but too late. Dante calls him out as Venédico Caccianemico, and then asks him: Ma che ti mena a sì pungenti salse? Literally: "What led you into such spicy sauce?" The man responds that he doesn't want to say, but he is compelled by Dante's clear speech. He confesses that he was the one, as the sordid tale relates, that, as a politician in Bologna, compelled his sister, Ghisolabella, into a political marriage with the Marquis Obizzo d'Este, signore of Ferrara for monetary gain. 

Venedico then states that there are many other Bolognese there with him: 

anzi n’è questo loco tanto pieno,  che tante lingue non son ora apprese  a dicer ’sipa’ tra Sàvena e Reno;  In fact, this place is so full of them  that not as many have learned   to say ‘sipa’ between the Savena and the Reno; 

What this means is that 'this place' (hell) is so full of them (Bolognese) that 'not as many have learned to say 'sipa' (this is apparently the bolognese accent for saying "Si" or Yes) between the Savena river, which runs north/south about 3 miles to the west of the city, and the Reno river, which runs north/south about 3 miles to the east of the city. If not as many have learned the accent of Bologna in Bologna, then there are probably more in hell than in Bologna itself. Caccianemico himself says that Dante can find proof of this himself if he just thinks about the reputation for avarice that the city has. 

At that point, a demon whips him and tells him to get moving since there are no women for him to pimp out here.  

Dante and Virgil move on over the bridge and Virgil tells Dante to watch those that were walking along the same direction they were moving. Virgil points out one in particular, a 'great soul' that appears to not even shed a tear even in that place. He is famous in Greek mythology as leader of the Argonauts. He was married to the sorceress Medea and sought the golden fleece. 

He is among the seducers. His sin was that he seduced Hypsipyle, queen on the island of Lemnos. The women there had neglected their worship of Aphrodite, who, in revenge, made them stink to their husbands. Their husbands, then took other women from Thrace as concubines, which angered the wives enough to kill the men in revenge. Jason seduced the queen as well as many other women. 

Second ditch 

The travelers cross the bridge to see the inhabitants of the second ditch who are the flatterers. 

There the walls of the ditch are encrusted with a mold from the vapors that rise up and Dante says the stench assaults the eyes and nose. With good reason too. The people there groan weakly and are forced to pant, or breath, with difficulty, for down in the ditch is what looks like an emptied latrine- human excrement. Dante spots one that he recognizes as Alessio Interminei from Lucca.  

Alessio sees Dante asks him why he is so busy looking at him rather than anybody else? Dante responds that he had already seen him with "dry hair", which apparently is a contrast with his current condition of being soaked in shit, or, in other words, he had known him when he was alive. 

Alessio then confesses that his own flatteries sunk him down into this shit, which, while alive, his tongue never tired of metaphorically licking... what we would today call a 'brown-noser'. 

At that point, Virgil calls attention to another soul, Thais, who he labels quella sozza e scapigliata fante, "that filthy disheveled whore". One of the commentaries on this gives this recap:  "Taide is a character in Terence's Eunuch to whom Thrason sent the pimp Gnaso to give him a slave. After his collaborator had returned, the sender asked him if she was grateful for that gift, he replied: "enormously". It is supposed that Dante heard about this passage from Cicero in De Amicitia, in which the example of flattery is given since he responds differently from "very" as we have seen; however, the poet reports in the Comedy that the person pronouncing the phrase is Taides instead of the man in charge because Cicero's text does not include the names of the characters in the dialogue." 

So it seems Dante the poet may have misunderstood the text and included Thais in the group of flatterers wrongly. 

At any rate, Virgil says they've seen enough and there end the Canto. 

Canto XIX  Eighth circle: third ditch- simonists 

This third ditch on the level of Fraud is for those guilty of simony, or using the church for financial gain. 

Dante starts off with: O Simon Magus and his miserable followers.... referring to the biblical story of Simon Magus, one of the characters in the early days of the church, who, seeing the miracles performed by the apostles through the Holy Spirit, offered to pay the apostles money to have them lay hands on him, so he too could perform some of those miracles and continue his trade as a 'miracle worker'. Peter condemns him because he thought he could 'buy they gift of the Holy Spirit'. Accordingly, this sin is named after him, Simon, as 'simony'. 

The ditch is filled with holes the size of a man. Dante mentions that they were the same size as the pits used at San Giovanni church, his home parish, for baptizing converts, and that he had actually broken one not too long ago to save a boy who had fallen in and was drowning. There may be, in this story, a symbolic meaning: access to the water in the baptismal was for the clerics only. It was off-limits to the laity. The fact that Dante broke it in order to save a life may point to an argument that some of the boundaries put up by the official church may need to be broken in order to save lives.  

In each of the holes is a sinner, upside down, with his legs exposed up to mid-thigh. Their feet were on fire, and they jerked about so strongly that they would have broken woven ropes. The flames moved over the surface of the feet as if they were covered in oil. There is a symbolism in this as well: these men had gotten things upside down. They spent their time on earth, where they were supposed to be concerned with spiritual things, instead focused so much on the earth below, that now they are turned upside down for eternity.  

Dante asks Virgil about one he sees, who is squirming more than the others, and who the flame seems to devour more. Virgil says he will take him down below where he can learn of the man and his errors. 

The go down a steep edge that is pocked with holes and is narrow and difficult to move through. Virgil keeps Dante at his side until they reach the spot. Then Dante asks the man whoever you are, planted here like a stake in the ground, if possible, can you tell us who you are? 

Then Dante says he waited like a priest who hears the confessions of an assassin, who when placed like this, suddenly remembers he had more to confess, and so asks the executioners if he can go back and tell the priest more, which is all an attempt to stave off the moment of his death. Apparently, assassins in Dante's day were planted upside down this way, then buried alive.  

The man, Pope Nicholas III, screams: Are you here already, Boniface?  (VIII, the pope who followed him) The writings, or prophecy, had said you wouldn't be here for many more years! Is your greed already so sated that you are dead? You had no fear of taking the beautiful woman,  by which he means the church, the 'bride of Christ', by deceit only to tear her apart. 

Dante says he stood there flabbergasted, and assumed the soul must be mocking him, because Dante didn't understand what was being said. Virgil gets this and tells Dante: "Tell him that you aren't who he thinks you are", and Dante does so. Then Nicholas, sighing and weeping, asks him: Then what do you want from me? Are you so on fire to know who I am, that you actually came down these banks just for that? Well, I was a pope, the 'son of the bear', meaning he was of the family Orsini, or 'little bears', and he was so eager to advance his families careers in the church, that he stashed away wealth there, only to be himself stashed away here. Then Nicholas mentions that the other simonist popes were flattened down and rest under him. And when the next one comes, Boniface VIII, which he mistook Dante for, then he too will be flattened and Boniface will be upside down with his feet being burned. 

Then he mentions that after him, an even filthier pope will come from the west (France) Clement V, who will be a shepherd (of the church) without law who would deserve to cover both of them.  Nicholas declares that Clement V will be a 'new Jason', referring to the high priest of Judea, who bought the position from Antiochus Epiphanes IV. Antiochus placed the 'abomination which causes desolation ( A statue of Zeus) in the Holy of Holies in the temple at Jerusalem, and ordered prostitute priestesses to perform their rites there.  

Dante then says: I don’t know if I was being overly harsh here, but I responded to him like this: 

OK, tell me how much money Jesus demanded from Peter when he entrusted to him the keys of the kingdom? He asked Peter only to follow him. Nor did Peter and the other apostles take gold or silver from Matthias when he was chosen to replace Judas as the twelfth apostle. You SHOULD stay here so you can be punished like you deserve. Take a look at that ill-gotten cash you got that made you burn against Charles (of Anjou). Most of the popes had gotten along with France, but Nicholas changed that, and Dante accuses him here of taking money as part of the plot against Charles. 

Dante continues his attack with a statement that is only his own respect for the position that he doesn't use even stronger words to denounce Nicholas, since his avarice worsens the world, tramples good people, and raises up the depraved ones. John the Evangelist warned about such as Nicholas when he wrote in the book of Revelation about the woman who sits over the waters and whores with kings- she had seven heads and took strength from ten horns, as long as virtue pleased her husband, the pope.  

He continues the denunciation by saying these popes made money their god, and there is no difference between the old-school idolater and them, except the old idolaters prayed to one false god, while the popes appealed to hundreds that had money. He finishes by saying that the position the popes had after Constantine as heads of the official church has been turned into a great evil, particularly with the grants of land to the church. 

Virgil looks on approvingly at this, not only for its truth, but the greatness of its poetic utterance. Then they pass up to where they can see the next 'valley' or the fourth ditch. 

Canto XX  Eighth circle: fourth ditch- diviners 

The canto starts off saying new verses are needed for new punishments, to give substance to the twentieth canto of this first poem: the inferno. Dante looks and sees people in this fourth ditch moving along at the pace of a slow, religious procession, silently weeping as they go. As he looks closer, he notices that at their necks, they are each twisted around so that their heads face backwards, and they walk as they are facing, backwards. He says that he started to weep when he saw these twisted so much, che ’l pianto de li occhi le natiche bagnava per lo fesso, "their tears fell in their buttcracks". He says he had to lean against the rocks for support so he could weep. It's possible that Dante feels himself guilty of this, and that's why he has so much pity for these. He has certainly seen people in hell suffering terrible consequences, but he doesn't always show the kind of pity for them that he does here. However, Virgil reprimands him and says: "Are you like the other fools? Then Virgil makes something of a wordplay when he says: 

Qui vive la pietà quand’è ben morta 

The word 'pietà' can mean both pity and piety, so that what Virgil means is: Pity lives here when piety is dead. In other words, Virgil implies, Dante needs to conform his will to God, and understand that this is true justice. Who could be more evil than the guy who would implicate God's own justice against these sinners and feel that they deserve pity instead? Raise up your head and look at these guys!  Virgil then notes Amphiaraus, one of the seven kings who besieged Thebes. He had foreseen that he would not survive the war, and sure enough, the ground opened up and swallowed him. 

The sin of divination, as Dante sees it, is an offense against God in that it tries to know the future, which only God can and should know. And since, being placed in the eighth circle, they are guilty of fraud, clearly Dante doesn't see divination as actually capable of seeing the future, it is an attempt to defraud. And since they wanted to see so far forward, now they are twisted and only see behind them. 

Next Virgil points out Tiresias, who, in Greek mythology, beat a pair of copulating serpents, for which the gods used him to settle an argument about which sex derived more pleasure. So he was changed into a woman. Seven years later he came across another two snakes and didn't make the same mistake a second time, which turned him back into a man. The Italian says che rïavesse le maschili penne, "he had again his male feathers", but penne- feathers, sounds very close to pene- penis, so I translated it; he reacquired his masculinity.  

Then Virgil points out Aruns, from Lucan's Pharsalia, a seer who predicts civil war, but hides his prediction in ambiguities. His cave dwelling is meant to show that he didn't look at the stars to dwell among them (in the heavens), but only to better divine what would happen on earth. 

Next Virgil points out the witch Manto, who was the namesake of his hometown of Mantua. He goes through a protracted portion of the canto explaining how she left her hometown, and came to Mantua. He traces the waters in the alps to Lake Garda, then down through Peschiera to the Mincio river, where it becomes a swamp, before running by the town of Governolo before dumping into the Po river. Mantua was an uninhabited and uncultivated land where Manto sets up with her servants. Eventually the men there build a city with no other choice but Mantua for the name. 

Virgil says it used to have more people until Alberto da Casalodi was duped by Pinamonte dei Bonacolsi into exiling the other aristocratic families. Once Casalodi was alone, Pinamonte kicked him out and took power. Then Virgil ends by swearing that it's true, and if Dante hears a different story, it's a lie that would defraud him of the truth. 

Dante responds that he is fully convinced of the truth of Virgil's story. Then he asks if Virgil would point out any in the ditch that would be worthy of notice.  

Virgil further points out Eurypylus, a seer in Greece that told them when he thought the exact moment for sailing to war would be. 

He points out Michael Scot, who had made prophecies about Italy in the court of Frederick II. 

Virgil mentions Guido Bonatti, an astrologer from Forlì, but Virgil says nothing more about him.  

He also mentions Asdente, meaning "toothless", who was a shoemaker, hence one who "understood leather and twine, and now would return, but repents too late". 

He also points out women who left their work to instead try and cast evil spells with herbs and images. 

Finally, Virgil says it's time to move on, in another baffling way: 

Ma vienne omai, ché già tiene ’l confine  d’amendue li emisperi e tocca l’onda  sotto Sobilia Caino e le spine; 

This literally is translated: 

"But come now, because already it keeps the border  of both the hemispheres and touches the waves  over Seville, Cain and his thorns." 

Uh, wut? 

So apparently the "it" is the moon. The moon was also apparently represented as Cain, carrying his thorns, as part of his punishment and banishment from Eden. So putting it all together, the moon is laying where both the hemispheres meet, just over the waves, or horizon, at Seville, to the west.  

If you understand all that.... which I didn't.... it should equate to about 6am. Well, why didn't he just say that? 

Canto XXI  Eighth circle: fifth ditch- graft (public corruption, as compared to ecclesiastical corruption with simony) 

Dante leads this canto off with an almost off-handed comment that he and Virgil, as they were walking along, talked about all kinds of things, but those topics don't concern this story, so they won't be included. Why put this into the poem? It's meant to add realism to the account, and give the impression that this journey actually happened. And just like there would be moments in any journey that wouldn't really be worth recalling, there were in this one too. 

As the travelers come to the next ditch, Dante tells us that it was really dark. He uses the images of the working on a shipyard, and using tar to seal up any gaps between the planks, to describe the boiling pitch in which the sinners are tossed in this ditch. But this inclusion of the workings of the shipyard is much more detailed, and it sort of begs the question: why did he go into explaining how the Venetian shipyards worked? The answer may be to act as a counterpoint to the sin described in this ditch. The Venetian shipyard, where each is involved in a meaningful work that contributes to the whole, contrasts the corruption of graft, where individuals pervert the working order for personal gain.  

Virgil then tells Dante to look over at a certain place, while pulling Dante back out of the way. Dante is petrified and sees a winged demon carrying a sinner by the thighs by gripping him with the claws of his feet. The demon tosses the sinner into the pitch while telling his fellow demon he is one of the elders of Santa Zita, meaning the city of Lucca. The demon is both vicious and yet somewhat humorous as he tells the other demon to stow this one below while he goes back for more, since the city is plenty stocked with bribe takers, except "Bonturo". This Bonturo was apparently the greatest bribe taker of all, even though he claimed he had cleaned up the city and the corrupt practices of his predecessors. So the demon is mocking him by saying all the officials, except Bonturo, will change their answers from no to yes for a price. Dante describes the sinner being tossed into the pitch, disappearing, the bobbing back up.  The demons sarcastically mock the guy by yelling at him that the "Holy Face", that of Jesus (they are referring to the sinner's head as looking like the wooden statue of Jesus at the San Martino church because his skin is now covered in tar), has no place here in hell. Then they taunt him that he can't go swimming here like he would in the Serchio river, where the citizens of Lucca would go swimming during hot days. They threaten that he'd better not pop his head up again or they sink their hooks into him. Then they DO stab him and mock him again saying: You'd better dance (take your bribes) in secret here and grab (the cash) in hiding. Dante notes that as cooks' helpers push the meat back down into the sauce if it floats to the surface, so these demons would push the sinners back down if they tried to come up for air.  

Virgil tells Dante to hide for a moment while he negotiates with the demons, so Dante crouches behind a rock. The Virgil presents himself before the demons, who rush out at him. But he confronts them by saying: Let none of you be malicious towards me. Before anyone tries to snag me with their hook, send out a leader to talk to me. After that, take counsel if they care to proceed. 

The demons send out Malacoda, 'eviltail', while questioning what Virgil thinks he will accomplish with this parlez. Virgil launches in on Malacoda, asking him if Malacoda things that he, Virgil, would be here unless it were the will of heaven, and favored fate? Let them pass since this is God's will, so that he can show another the savage path through hell.  

Then Malacoda, pretending to be humbled, drops his hook, and tells the other demons not to harm Virgil. Virgil calls Dante out, who quickly comes to Virgil and holds as close to him as he possibly can. 

Dante notes that he once seen soldiers that had occupied the castle at Caprona, given a pass to vacate the place as part of a plea deal. They were allowed to leave unmolested, but showed themselves to be quite afraid as they left surrounded by a hostile army. Dante himself felt like this as he saw the malicious look in the faces of the demons. In fact, one of the demons says to another, "Want me to smack him on the rump?", and the others say, "Yeah, give him one!" But Malacoda, the principle demon, told him: "Scarmiglione, (Crumplehead) don't do it!" 

Then Malacoda offers passage by telling Virgil that they can't go any further since the next bridge has been demolished. He says while that bridge is busted, there is another further on. He even gives an exact date: Yesterday, five hours later than the current one of today, and 1266 years ago, the bridge was broken. This would correspond to earthquake when Jesus came down into Hell. So, Malacoda, proposes, he was going to send some of his boys over that way anyway, to check and see if any sinners were 'displaying themselves'- popping up out of the pitch- and since they were going that way, they could accompany Virgil and Dante to make sure nothing happens to them. Malacoda promises that the demons won't trouble them at all. 

Then he calls up ten different demons, the names of which mean (loosely, according to Anthony Esolen): 

Alichino- Harlequin  Calcabrina- Tramplefrost  Cagnazzo- Larddog  Barbariccia- Curlybeard  Libicocco- Stormbreath  Draghignazzo- Dragonsnout  Ciriatto- Swinetooth  Graffiacane- Dogscratcher  Farfarello- Gobgoblin  Rubicante- Redfroth 

Then Malacoda tells the demons to take a look around the pitch (for any sinners popped up), so Virgil and Dante would be safe until the ridge which crosses over. It seems safe to assume that when he tells the demons to keep Virgil and Dante safe "until" that point, he is giving the demons permission to attack them at that point. Part of the punishment of this ditch is that these demons are tricksters. There is a constant back and forth between the grafters who committed fraud, and their demonic counterparts, so that nothing can ever be trusted. Malacoda himself deceives Virgil by sandwiching a lie(that there is another bridge over the ditch further on), between two truths, the first being that the bridge is demolished, and the second so specific- the timing of the destruction of the bridge- that it makes it easy to corroborate, and therefore accept the entirety.  

Dante is not reassured at all, and begs Virgil to refuse the escort and go alone. Virgil tells him not to worry, the demons are just happy about the possibility of poking more sinners, not about attacking them. Then a humorous incident occurs to end the canto: they demons all turn towards Malacoda and put their tongues between their teeth, signaling to him, at which point, elli avea del cul fatto trombetta, he made a trumpet of his ass. 

[nathanbrannon]

Week 1 (June 20th-25th)

Action & High Intensity Music

Common Attributes – Things to do when starting.

Rhythmic activity is a central element – This is made by the key element the motor, once this is made then you can start laying things on top, this can be made in several ways:

Percussion using various beats and patterns.

Using a pulsing synth.

Using a string staccato note harmony chord, then outlined with a bass rhythm.

Time Signature typically in 4/4

Tempo is typically anyway from around 95 – 160 BPM.

Mostly uses continuous 1/8 notes, 1/16 notes or triplets making subdivisions range from 190 to 380 subdivisions per minute.

Sometimes you can have meter change, but not frequent.

Harmony

The harmony is the central role at setting the tone/mood of the scene.

Uses usually minor notes, modes, or tones.

Triads with added notes are frequent.

Frequent use of distant chord progressions.

Dissonance and clusters are welcome.

Uses string staccato note on the chord to create that motor.

Not many chords changes maybe 4 or 5 chords are common.

Melody

Mostly in minor notes, modes, or tones.

Follows closely to the harmonic material working with it, this can be done with a call and answer type of technique. 

Move motivic then thematic.

Enhance the dissonant note in the harmony.

Bass

Follows the harmony notes by accenting low notes to create rhythmical patterns that work with and contrast the harmony.

Orchestration

Fast ostinatos (Motor) are primarily performed with staccato strings or pulsing synth.

Fast continuous patterns are frequently found in the woodwinds – using dovetailing technique.

Commonly utilizes accented figures in the percussions.

Commonly utilizes sustained brass lines.

Commonly utilizes sustained chords in trombones section.

Low register is emphasized.

Step by Step

Begin by sketching the main chord/harmony – keep it simple.

Set the tempo.

Create the motor.

Then start adding other layers on top – Have fun with it.

2. Creating the motor

You may want to slow down the tempo to record the notes.

The motor can either be performed with staccato strings harmony or pulsing synth.

Create the main pulse (record 4/8 bars) 

Move the notes so they are aligned with the grid.

Start adding complexity (rhythmical & textural) to the simple main pulse.

3. Elements on top of the motor

Brass swells

Low brass long notes (or chords)

High strings fragmented short melodies.

Short brass melodies (motivic)

Strings swells or long notes (Sustains, tremolos or trills)

Call and response elements between different parts of the orchestra.

Random percussive and/or orchestral accents.

Adding of unique instruments to make it yours own like Electric guitars or more.

Add some percussion to outline some of the main elements like either the harmony, bass or melody.

Adventure/Heroic Music

The difficulty with this style is that to pin down the sound, we must keep to strict rules and have limited creative freedom. But being able to write good hero (and villain) themes is excellent training and will give you a solid understanding of the style so that you can develop your themes into adventure music that is not based on characters.

Common Attributes – Things to do when starting.

Tempo ranges from 110 – 132 BPM.

Time Signature typically in 4/4, 6/8, ¾ and 2/4.

Commonly uses dotted rhythmic figures and triplets.

Harmony

Mostly in Major mode, tone, or scales

Altered scale degrees such as b3, b6 and b7 are common.

Melody

Commonly use diatonic intervals.

Melodic contours emphasizes the use of perfect 4th, 5th, and octaves.

Mostly in major keys.

Typically built with logical 8 or 16 bar phrases.

Typically treated as a theme or leitmotiv that will be re-used multiple time in a Film, tv show or game.

Bass

Follows the harmony by emphasising low notes to produce rhythmic patterns that complement and contrast the harmony.

Orchestration

Commonly placed the melody in the high brass (Trumpets or Horns).

Requires a large instrumentation.

Frequently will move the melodic phrases between orchestral sections – moving from trumpet to strings to horns for example.

Tips & Tricks

The Hero Theme Formula

Write the theme using the first 5 notes of the key (E.g., In C Major: C D E F G)

Then try to use harmonies from a key down a 5th (F Major harmonies: F C Bb)

How to design section A & B

Think of Section A as the presentation of the hero (Grand entrance)

Section B shows us the positive consequences of the hero’s actions (tells a story)

Section A emphasizes the use of perfect 4th, 5th, and octaves. Fell more like a fanfare.

Section B emphasizes the use of 2nd and 3rd. It’s more melodic.

Section B tends to be similar harmonically.

Section B has more harmonic changes, tends to be more unstable, change keys, and inversions. In general use triadic major chords in general. Try avoiding clear cadences.

Sketch

If you get lost in your own (piano) sketch, it may be useful for you to write down on paper.

Step by Step – Creating the sketch.

The goal: having all the thematic material that we’ll be using later.

Before you start, come up with the main theme (4 bars). Remember, it must sound heroic (fanfare). We’re presenting the hero. Make it a grand entrance.

Use two legato solo horns for them (mp-mf). The second horn harmonizes the first one.

Use a tremolo Violins high pitched pedal note tonic for background.

If you can make it heroic that way, you’ve got a great starting point.

Once you get the feel move to the piano and sketch the entire theme. This is going to be the structure:

A (4+4) – grand entrance.

B (4+4) – More harmonic changes.

A (4+4) – bigger.

Ending (1 or 2).

[spicytrashthe4th]

Title: Fifth Times The Charm

Author: gothamcafe

Reader: gn

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Featuring: steven, marc, and jake

Summary: You're trying to figure out why your lovely boyfriends Marc and Steven haven't kissed you yet.

Link:

https://gothamcafe.tumblr.com/post/686532266151804929/imagine-marc-and-steven-arguing-over-who-gets-to

Title: Sleep With Me, Anytime

Author: grantspectortrash

Reader: gn

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Featuring: steven, marc, and jake

Summary: You and Steven live opposite each other and have been dating for a couple of weeks. One night you sleep at Steven’s during a storm. You get to meet Marc and Jake.

Link:

https://grantspectortrash.tumblr.com/post/686508535998300160/sleep-with-me-anytime

Title: (booty so big) lord have mercy [18+]

Author: stevengrant-my-beloved

Reader: f

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Featuring: steven, marc

Summary: steven and marc have a great ass and you’re obsessed with it. y’all have a bunch of fun, sexy times. that’s it (this fic is post ep 6 but i did take some creative liberties)

Link:

https://stevengrant-my-beloved.tumblr.com/post/683995051165089792/booty-so-big-lord-have-mercy-18

Title: I love you florally

Author: wysteria-clad

Reader: f

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Featuring: marc, jake, steven

summary: after missing your boyfriends when they are away for a mission, you decide to visit them and give them flowers.

Link:

https://wysteria-clad.tumblr.com/post/685782308747345920/i-love-you-florally

Title: identity confusion

Author: dont-feel-so-good-peter

Reader: gn

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Featuring: marc, steven, jake, the bin chicken makes an appearance

Summary: This may sound dumb, but how would a scenario play out where the reader just thought Marc, Steven, and Jake were identical triplets and has the absolute shock of their life

Link:

https://dont-feel-so-good-peter.tumblr.com/post/685807388284076032/this-may-sound-dumb-but-how-would-a-scenario-play

Title: Identity confusion: crisis part 2

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Summary: terrified, Steven has found out about Marc and Jake but he believes that you've been deceiving him all this time. In a fit of stevens terror, he tells you to get out of his apartment. But something terrible happens that leaves you and Steven feel worse than before.

Link:

https://dont-feel-so-good-peter.tumblr.com/post/686065069740654592/hi-i-your-%F0%9D%90%88%F0%9D%90%83%F0%9D%90%84%F0%9D%90%8D%F0%9D%90%93%F0%9D%90%88%F0%9D%90%93%F0%9D%90%98-%F0%9D%90%82%F0%9D%90%8E%F0%9D%90%8D%F0%9D%90%85%F0%9D%90%94%F0%9D%90%92%F0%9D%90%88%F0%9D%90%8E%F0%9D%90%8D-story-is-there-a

Title: Without You

Author: weirdshadeofgray

Reader: f

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Featuring: Marc, Jake, Steven

Summary: Marc does a whoopsie n reader leaves

Link:

https://weirdshadeofgray.tumblr.com/post/685347518748459009/without-you

Little Muffin (multi)

Title: 🌘Little muffin🌔

Author: yoursecondfirstlove

Reader: f

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Featuring: Marc, Jake, Steven

P1 summary: (Y/n) thinks Steven is just the cutest little thing leaving Steven a blushing mess and Marc and Jake seething

P2 Summary: (Y/n) decides to drop by while Jake is in control and he decides it’s time for her to blush a little despite Marc and Stevens protests

P3 summary: There truly is nothing like a sleepover to bring people together, or get them at each others throats, something (y/n) quickly learns.

P4 summary: Steven quickly realises Marc may have had a point before, (y/n) does like playing with him and he finds out just how much he likes being played with

P5 summary: Jake feeling late to the party decides to play a little catch-up, but the rest aren’t too keen on being left out either

P1 link:

https://yoursecondfirstlove.tumblr.com/post/684796759399170048/little-muffin

P2 link:

https://yoursecondfirstlove.tumblr.com/post/684817153874132992/little-muffin-p2

P3 link:

https://yoursecondfirstlove.tumblr.com/post/684990308945215489/little-muffin-p3

P4 link:

https://yoursecondfirstlove.tumblr.com/post/685098115379904512/little-muffin-p4

P5 link:

https://yoursecondfirstlove.tumblr.com/post/685373545627451392/little-muffin-p5

Title: The Best Saturday

Author: batfamily14

Reader: f

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Summary: Steven has had the worst week at work and isn't his usual self, luckily you know how to fix that.

Link:

https://batfamily14.tumblr.com/post/687216640807649280/the-best-saturday

Title: Cheater || [Marc Spector x reader]

Author: iamcalmdammit

Reader: f

| Spicy | Angst | Fluff |

Summary: When you do Marc a favor and talk to Steven about the situation he's in, you accidentally find out Marc is married. You want to end things, but Marc doesn't want to let you go.

Link:

https://iamcalmdammit.tumblr.com/post/681898554698203136/cheater-marc-spector-x-reader

[lilyclawthorne]

No Clouds Allowed In The Sky, Ch. 1

“Clear skies” had been her life’s motto, it was the only thing she had at times to keep the lid on her emotions, and keep the weather outside from becoming disastrous. Totally an effective solution to her problem with no foreseeable issues, right?

————————————————————————

5 times Pepa’s emotions cause her to lose control + 1 time she can finally let them out

Ao3 Link

Word Count: 2406

A/N: I started this as 5+1, realized I was writing way more for the first section than I usually would for a 5+1, thought I should make this just a one shot, then decided “fuck it. let’s make a multi chapter 5+1”, so each chapter will be one of each of the moments.

Also to explain why I chose the title, I kinda imagine when Félix said that line in “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” it was a way of pointing out that it wasn’t just that there weren’t any clouds in the sky, but he could see Pepa was struggling to keep them from happening because in her mind they weren’t allowed to be there even though she wouldn’t say it like that, and I feel like that’s a good way to sum up the idea behind this fic. Moments when she struggled to keep the emotions in that weren’t “allowed”.

1. Age 5

The Madrigal triplets may have only been 5 years old, but they were already no strangers to their responsibility to help out their community. (For the most part.) Ever since they had each received a gift only a month earlier, their Mama had taken them into town often to share their miracle as best as they could. At first it was mostly Pepa and Bruno trying, with Julieta tagging along behind them. They had known her power had to do with food, but it took a week or so before any of them had figured out what it was exactly.

Then one day Pepa came running back to their Casita, tears in her eyes after slipping in mud and scraping herself all up. While their Mama sat her down to clean her up and dress her wounds, her sister tried to cheer her up with one of the baked goods she had made earlier in the day. They all watched in wide-eyed amazement as every cut and bruise healed itself instantly. Pepa remembers how proudly their Mama looked at Julieta, a look she knew neither her nor her brother had yet to receive. Her sister’s gift was one that could truly help people.

It also didn’t take much practice for the older triplet to figure it out either. Once she was taught a few recipes it had been pretty straightforward from there. For Bruno and Pepa, it wasn’t so easy. Bruno struggled to figure out how to have visions at his own will, and they came sporadically and at the most inconvenient of times, often offering information that was unremarkable and sometimes even unpleasant. Their Mama thought perhaps Pepa could help with the farms, it had been so dry out and the crops were in desperate need of water if only she could just make it rain for them. But it became a bit of an unethical conundrum when they soon realized they could only get her to do so if they made her cry.

The days passed by and more often Mama is bringing Julieta to town alone, leaving Casita to watch over the other two and keep them in the home as they struggled to figure out how to control their own gifts.

One day, after they’ve all had breakfast and their Mama and sister have headed off to town, Pepa finds herself very bored, Bruno having run off somewhere in the home before she could bother him. She plans to return to her own room, but stops short at the top of the steps, sitting down and wondering whether she can get Casita to make a slide today. It’s not as much fun without her siblings though, and a slight cloud forms over her head, and more in the sky as she thinks about how much she hates being left alone.

Lost in thought, she fails to notice her own brother sneaking up right behind her. Carefully he creeps forward until he grabs her shoulders and yells behind her, eliciting a shriek from the girl, and the sounds of thunder and rain begin in her cloud.

“Brunoooooo!! You’re lucky I didn’t zap you!!” She warns him, getting up to chase after her brother who is already running away. It turns into a game as the two kids run around and play, the sounds of laughter replacing the sound of thunder. They’re running back to where they began when Pepa realizes the floor is still wet from her own personal rain cloud.The warning she tries to give her brother comes too late, as he only whips his head around, not stopping until he slides on the water and crashes forwards into a wall. Hard. Their short lived moment of sunshine gives way to more clouds as Pepa begins to panic.

“Oh no no no no!! Bruno are you okay??” She practically yells as she rushes to his side.

He groans, slowly turning around and trying not to cry, “I don’t think arms can usually bend this way.”

Pepa nearly faints at the sight of his broken limb. His ankle looks bruised and swollen as well. The clouds outside become darker, and the sight of them only makes her more nervous. She’s running her hands through her braid over and over again, an anxious habit she only recently picked up.

“This is bad, this is so bad, this is very not good,” she’s saying to herself, beginning to pace around the floor in front of her brother. Bruno briefly wishes he could grab her by the arms and make her stop. There’s no need to worry, not when their sister has a super awesome healing power and had been cooking up a storm the night before.

“Pepa.” No response. “Pepa, it's okay.” Not listening. “PEPA STOP.” She finally snaps out of it, surprised by Bruno’s yell. He apologizes for being loud, but tells her his plan. All she needs to do is go downstairs and find some of the food Julieta had made yesterday. No one would have to know. She blinks, slightly calmer, and slightly embarrassed she hadn’t thought of it herself.

Turning on her feet, she starts scrambling down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Casita has already found a towel from somewhere and dried up the rain from earlier to prevent a second accident from happening, but still has to put in a little extra work anyways to make sure the girl doesn’t trip and fall as she rushes.

Bruno waits for his sister to return, still in pain but handling it impressively well for a 5 year old. He knows his sister hates to disappoint their Mama, and definitely was scared of getting in trouble for this. So he kept a cool head, wanting to be the calm to her storm. But soon he begins to worry too. Pepa is taking much longer in the kitchen than expected, and he knows something is wrong when it really begins to storm outside. She comes running back, crying and empty handed.

“They took all of Julieta’s food to town today,” she yells. Bruno is out of ideas, and is frankly beginning to become more concerned and slightly impressed with the weather outside. He knew his sister could make it rain, but no one knew she could have this much power. She follows his eyes upwards to the sky and jumps at the sight before her, absolutely terrified at the realization that she was the one causing all of this. Everything felt unreal to her, the space around her was spinning, and she began to feel like she couldn’t breathe despite the rapid gasps of air she was already taking in.

Bruno is scared for his sister. She’s not really responding to him anymore, and he just wants to help her calm down, help her figure out how to handle her emotions, but he is just as inexperienced with this as she is, and doesn’t know how to help yet. He feels helpless as he can only sit and watch his sister suffer through her very first panic attack.

——————————————

Alma Madrigal knew something was wrong. When she and Julieta had left this morning, the weather had been nice and slightly cloudy. The sun had even fully come out for a short while in the middle of the day. There had been no signs that a storm like this would be coming, and she had a strong feeling she knew exactly what the cause was. Or rather who the cause was. Everyone around them was packing up and rushing back to the safety of their homes before the weather could get worse. Julieta herself had barely filled her basket back up when her Mama grabbed her arm and began to rush them back to Casita.

It feels like it takes forever to get back, working against the wind and the rain. Alma briefly thinks to herself, How can a 5 year old cause this much damage? , and decides to carry Julieta the rest of the way so they can get there faster. By the time they’re entering the front doors they are completely soaked.

“PEPA!” She yells for her daughter, but she doesn’t see her kids anywhere, and there’s no response from her daughter. Any irritation the woman felt quickly turned into concern. She yells her daughter’s name again

“Mama?!” she just barely hears her son cry from upstairs, “Mama please help!!”

And she runs up those stairs as fast as she possibly can, briefly taking in the scene before her. Her Bruno is sitting under the awning that covers all the doorways, cradling his arm in pain. And her Pepa, sitting in the middle of the storm, eyes red from crying, still breathing rapidly, and a look of terror across her face. Her heart aches at the sight.

She crouches down in front of her daughter, gently places a hand on the girl's arm to let her know she’s there. When Pepa looks up at her, she starts to cry more,letting out a string of “I’m sorry!”s and “I didn’t mean to!!”s. The woman tells her it’s okay, starts to rub her back in a soothing motion, until the girl leans forward and her Mama embraces her tightly, offering her the comfort she so desperately needed. In reality, everything isn’t okay, but her daughter is scared, and she needs to take care of that first.

After moments pass full of comforting whispers and rocking Pepa back and forth, Alma can hear the rain lighten up into a drizzle. She lets her daughter stay in her arms as she moves on to Bruno, wincing at the sight of his broken arm, and the state of his ankle. Pepa doesn’t miss the look on her face. Julieta hasn’t moved from the spot where her Mama left her when they got home, waiting to hear what has happened or to see if she is needed. When her name is finally called she rushes up those stairs, basket in hand and it’s clear what she needs to do.

She hands a baked good to her brother who eats it readily and relief can be seen on his face as his injuries heal in seconds. She pushes a treat towards Pepa as well, who refuses it at first, but then reluctantly takes it when she sees the pleading look in her sister’s eyes. She takes a bite. The aches in her body and her sniffles from the rain disappear, but Julieta is confused when she still sees pain across her sister’s face.

She’s unable to ask about it though. Their Mama brings them to their own bedrooms, pulling out towels and clothes so they can dry off and get changed into something warm. Then she moves on, heading downstairs to start dinner. It’s a bit early to do so, but it’s been a long day and all the triplets will be tired.

Once it’s time to eat, the table is uncomfortably silent. Pepa, who usually loved to fill meals with loud conversation and noise, wouldn’t say a single word. Bruno tried to fill the silence with jokes, and Julieta tried to talk about some of the people she helped this morning, but none of it could overcome the awkward feeling left hanging in the air.

When the meal was over, and the dishes all cleaned up, Alma dismisses her children to their rooms. Just when Pepa thought she had somehow gotten away with the day's events and was following her siblings upstairs, her Mama stops her. She told her to come with her, and her face scrunched up with worry as she realized they were going to her Mama’s room. That always meant it was something serious. She cautiously trailed behind the woman as they made their way over, Pepa being sat on her Mama’s bed when they get there. Her little hand drifts back up to her braid to tug at it while she waits for the woman to speak.

“Pepa, mija, tell me what happened today?” Alma asked, the concerned look on her face from before returning. The girl mumbled her words and looked away from her Mama, worried she was about to be a disappointment to her Mama.

“Pepa, ” the woman’s tone changed, becoming more stern, “Your storm today caused damage, and we can’t let that happen again. I need to know how to help you.”

The girl let out a huff of air and began to speak up, “Me and Bruno were playing when he fell really hard and got hurt. I got worried, and then more worried because none of Julieta’s food was here and I couldn’t help him.”

She conveniently left out the part where he slipped on her rain water. She didn’t want her Mama to think that Bruno getting hurt was all her fault too.

Pepa began to speak faster, “But then we saw my gift happening and it was really scary looking this time and I got even more scared because I couldn’t stop it and then it just made everything worse and worse and worse and then I didn’t even know what was happening anymore but it felt scary like really really scary and-“

The girl could’ve kept on rambling, but her mother quietly shushed her.

“Have you been feeling like this more often lately?” A nod from the girl. “Did it get worse with your gift?” The girl paused for a moment, worried she’d sound ungrateful if she answered. Then, another slower nod.

“Ok, it can be worked on. Anytime you start to feel like this again, feel a storm coming on, I want you to take a deep breath, and try to keep all the bad from coming up by thinking about calm clear skies, alright? Say it with me, ‘clear skies’” Pepa did as she was told and spoke with her mother.

“Now off to bed, all three of you will come out tomorrow so we can help clean up any damage the storm may have caused. You can apologize to those who were affected as well for the accident.”

Fear gripped Pepa once more and tears began to prick the corner of her eyes, “They’ll hate me.”

“They will not. They might be upset, but that is why you must apologize and help clean up the mess. It’s important you learn to take responsibility for your actions.”

Pepa nodded along, not entirely listening as she was still scared for the next day to come and what might happen when she faced everyone. She said good night to her Mama and headed to bed. Instead of falling asleep, all she could do was try and keep making herself think of clear skies all night long.

[lovesanmotion]

ateez as dilfs

💌 This is: requested 

Hongjoong: 

Not ashamed of being a single father of one son who is six years old. He loves his son more than anything and would do anything for him. His life now revolves around him and is especially happy to see and be around his boy. No greater pleasure can compare to his son. Out of his single father status, women are after Hongjoong now that he’s suddenly all attractive and single. He may be short in height, but what he lacks, is what he makes up for in the bedroom. The women in his neighborhood loves to make up stories about how hard he went with them - their pussies pulsating, dripping and aching at how the women describe the fake sexcapades. Whenever he steps out of his home, their breaths would hitch and gaze at him like a god he is. What got their panties in a knot more are fake descriptions of how hard and loud they went with him to the point that they couldn’t walk for three days and pushing the dripping cum back to their entrance with their fingers. Licking their lips and gripping on their palms, they wished their husband was Kim Hongjoong. 

Seonghwa: 

A young widowed man in his early twenties but a proud father of twin girls of the three. When his neighborhood found out that a new family would be living into one of the homes, they were all eager to welcome the family. Not knowing that once Seonghwa steps out of his car, their jaws dropped and their panties leaking. The married women couldn’t believe that someone like Seonghwa is widowed (but secretly thanked the lord as he is available in the dating market once more) and whenever they get the chance to his beautiful twin girls, they wouldn’t hesitate to approach them and give them candy, pouring loads of praises to the shy twins and treating them better than they could ever to their own children. Even the women from the neighboring streets would wait outside of his home just to get a glimpse of him. 

Yunho: 

Yunho loves his four year old son and three year old daughter more than anything. If it weren’t for them, he wouldn’t be in this world anymore. But his children gave him another purpose and will to live. Seeing them happy makes him happy and makes living on earth worth while. And while he is busy admiring his children, his neighbors gave off mixed feelings. The women loves gathering together and admiring the family, but more of admiring Yunho, while their husbands gather together and talk about what’s so special about him. Yunho is extremely playful with his children, its as if he’s a six year old again. The women laughing and admiring the scene, wishing their husbands would be just like Yunho - happy, energetic and youthful. 

Yeosang: 

The teachers at his son’s preschool were worried as to why his three year old son’s father isn’t present for father-son bonding day at school. He was the only boy whose head hung low that day. And much to their curiosity, they haven’t exactly seen his father, only taking note that they have seen you, the mother. It was already 5pm, two hours after his son’s dismissal and he is already late. When the teachers are planning to walk him home instead, a beautiful boy with black hair, doe eyes and brightly pearly skin came to school to pick him up. When asked about what his relationship is to him, they were surprised when he mentioned that he is the father. They didn’t expect someone so young looking and handsome would be a father already. And now the single female teachers are his school painfully wait everyday to get a glimpse of Yeosang once more. 

San: 

The love he has for his two year old daughter and for you cannot compare to anything the world throws at him. He loves you two so much, he’d go into great lengths to prove it and San is a very loyal and affectionate father and husband. However, the women in his neighborhood aren’t the most loyal wives to their husbands. He’s heard stories of how the women love to gossip the small family and wondering how hard he could get at night. And that formed an idea into his mind. That very night, San talked into you into getting your daughter another sibling, to which you agreed to. That night, his couldn’t sleep or bat an eyelash at how loud you two were getting into the night. The lights turned off, the sounds of skin slapping, the bed creaking with every thrust San makes into your sweetly, tight entrance. His calloused fingers circling your clit and increasing the pace while his other free hand fondled your right breast and taking joy in rubbing your nipples in his fingers. His huge cock sliding in and out of your cunt while you moan his name sweetly under your breath. 

About a month later, you were blessed with another baby. 

Mingi: 

They couldn’t believe someone like him is a father already. In their eyes, Mingi looked like a teenager whose still attending college and having fun with his mates, drinking at clubs, picking up girls and acing badly in his tests. But he was much more than that. He is already a father of one son who is already seven years old and married to a lovely wife, you. With his huge hands, they wondered what would it feel like have his hands slapping their pussies or at least cupping their pussies, slipping his fingers inside their mouths as they happily sucked his fingers, delectably twirling their tongues around the base of his finger up to his fingertips, or how he would effortlessly plunged his middle finger into their holes, imagining how fast his hand would go or how dirty would they get into riding his hand and how fast they could get into releasing into his hand. 

Wooyoung: 

Another playful father whose life revolves around his triplets. His wife didn’t want anything to do with the conceived children, and no matter how many times Woo had begged for her, she still left and only to be heard of ever again. And that was the day he swore that he would never be anything like her and would raise his children with all the love in his body. In his early twenties, he did everything his children needed, he became the parent and the playmate, simultaneously being one after the other. If you’re going to ask him, no, he never got into with anyone. He is too faithful to his children and would rather walk them down the aisle than him. The women, heartbroken, wishing and wondering if ever they still have a chance at the single bachelor in their apartment building. 

Jongho: 

When the neighborhood’s gossiping mothers caught the new family moving into their street, they were surprised to see Jongho but were more surprised to find out that he is already a father of four - one boy, one girl and twins. In their eyes, Jongho looked like he is still a high school boy whose wondering if he’ll pass his year end exams. Seeing the new family warmed their hearts, their children looking happy and fresh and his wife looking vibrant and glowing. And with that glowing said, they were once more shocked as how his wife is four months pregnant with their fifth child. 

[amoristt]

Just a Dare | Nathan Prescott x Reader

@trueloveknifefight asked, Also can I request Nathan asking you out?

here u are! i love writing convos w nathan UGH i adore his character.

as always, replies and reblogs are greatly appreciated1 i check all tags and comments <3

wanna support me for just $3? here's my ko-fi!

The lights were bright, vivid. Almost blinding. They dance LED accents into the reflection of your drink- a dull plastic cup filled to the brim with one part whiskey, zero parts mixer. The taste could bring a tear to your eye but you would be damned to water down such fine alcohol, provided by none other than Nathan Prescott himself.

Music reverberated along the pool rooms walls, laughter and hollers distantly rising with the tempos. Your foot absently tapped to the beat- you were never one for dancing. Never one for parties, either, actually, favoring drinking in the solitude of a small friend group.

If not for Nathan you wouldn't be here at all. Some would say it's a privilege to slip past those heavy doors, entering the dully lit world of the Vortex Club. You mostly just felt like it was all for show. Somehow securing a place among Nathan's friend group, and a good friend at that, it was almost duty to show up. He insisted on it.

So, here you were. Leaning against a wall in a suffocatingly warm, cramped pool room surrounded by a sea of faces you hardly recognized.

That was, until you saw Nathan's face peer through the small break in shifting bodies. You knew him all too well.

Strikingly handsome, equally strikingly pompous. Funny, crude, an absent minded party goer just as much as he was a fireball with racing, incoherent thoughts. A drinker, a druggie. Takes the edge off, he says, but you think he does it to take away his thoughts completely. You felt like his entire life was all edges, never sacred ground.

The poor bastard.

He lures your attention in as he saunters over with squared shoulders, narrowly avoiding spilling his drink when a random student cuts it a little too close. Normally Nathan would make a bigger deal, give him what for, but this time he just shoots the poor kid a menacing glare and grumbles, 'fucking watch it'. He's walking with purpose and intent, you can see it on his face. You must have a target on your forehead as he darts straight over.

When he comes to your side, his own alcohol dripping down the sides of his cup onto his wiry fingers, you raise a brow.

"Something wrong?" You ask, as he takes a spot leaning against the hard wall right next to you.

"Just wondering why you're being so fucking lame over here," He shouts over the music, taking a sip of his drink, grimacing at the taste. "We're all having a good time over at the lounge and you're over here acting like all the other wallflower nobodies."

You roll your eyes with upturning lips. "Maybe I like being a wallflower. I like people watching. I see things no one else does."

"Yeah, okay, fucking weirdo."

"I mean it," You push off the wall and grin. "Look-" You point to a student obviously wasted, drink held high over head while he lets the music take him away. "That guy is clearly trashed- he's having the time of his life. He's gotta be seeing double."

Nathan whistles at his state, taking in the guys goofy smile, half lidded eyes. "I'll bet it's the triplets. I could breathe on him too hard and he'd fall over."

"You should go try it." You tease. He shakes his head and takes another drink.

"Nah, he'll get it himself. Guarantee we'll be dragging him out by his feet by the end of the night." He shrugs. "Or, at least someone will. I sure as fuck ain't staying that long."

You snicker. "What, got a hot date?" Nathan glares at you. "Oh don't tell me," you cup your hands to whisper, a secretive gesture, "homework?"

"Fuck no," He scoffs, and you can just barely see that he's a little more than tipsy now. His pale cheeks dusted with red, the tip of his nose ruby under the harsh lighting. It's also then that you realize he's a little more tense than usual, even despite the drinking. He's standing straight upright, his right hand gripping his cup like a crutch and his left now shoved hastily into his pocket.

He hasn't looked at you dead in the eyes yet.

"So what is it then?" You ask curiously. He shrugs and stares into his cup. You frown. "Bro, are you like, good right now? Do you wanna leave?"

For the first time since he'd wandered over, Nathan looks up at you. His eyes are unreadable, but his composure seems stressed. He shrugs again. Before you can even open your mouth to ask him about his state, he sighs and downs an entire mouthful of burning whiskey. It makes you cringe just watching him.

"Fuck it," He huffs. "Look I got some stupid ass dare to come over here and put the moves on you, okay." He sounds almost annoyed, like it's a hassle for him, or maybe embarrassing. You cross your arms. "I was dared to come over here and try to get you like, to fucking, you know, leave with me, but now that I'm over here I'm starting to think maybe that was a dumbass idea."

"Leave with you?" You say incredulously, a brow already lifting. "You were dared to come over here and try to sleep with me? By our friends?"

"No, no, fuck," Nathan seems agitated now, rushing. "Like a date sorta bullshit. Ask you out." He manages to get it out in almost the worst delivery possible, meanwhile you're just trying to pick out who would put him up to this. Hayden? Victoria?

A laugh forces its way out of you. "Aren't we a little too old for that game?"

Nathan shrugs. "That's what I said but they insisted. Fucking babies. At least make the dare a little more fun than just asking some bitch out. That's like elementary level shit."

Your eyes widen, you scoff. "Excuse me?"

Nathan sputters. "You're not some bitch, I didn't mean to-... Fucks sake, I'm clearly a little drunk right now okay, if you could cut me some fucking slack that'd be awesome."

"Hey man I didn't ask to be a victim of bullying," You tease, and he can't help but laugh. You soften. "Never expected it from you, though of all people. As ironic as that sounds."

"I'm not even bullying you, come on. Don't be a bitch. I even admitted it and everything."

You grin. "Yeah. Gotta say though, I'm a little disappointed."

"Oh what, you wanted to see my moves?" Nathan hums. "You wanted some Prescott action?"

"Shut the hell up." You shove his shoulder, an action that would be a mistake to so many others, but for you, it was welcomed. "I'm disappointed that it was just a dare. I'd probably have said yes if it wasn't. But, oh well."

Nathan doesn't answer for a long moment. First, he stares into his drink, processing. Almost like he hadn't heard that right, or like you were messing with him. It's rare to see Nathan Prescott stunned into a momentary silence. He's thinking, wondering what he should say next. Suspicious that you're just playing with him, hopeful that maybe you aren't.

And, you hadn't been. Truth be told if given the chance you would allow him to take you out for the evening. Show you fancy things, try out something a little more intimate than just laughter and poking fun at classmates together. You enjoyed his presence, looked forward to it at times.

A small part of you had hoped that he felt the same, maybe. Somehow. While grateful that he respected you enough to cut the crap before it even began, you couldn't help but feel a little... Disheartened at the prank. You'd saved your pride by denying him beforehand, but, if it had been genuine...

"So if it wasn't a dare," He began, quietly, barely audible over the booming music overhead. Eyes barely visible in the sea of vibrant lights crashing like waves. "You'd have said yes."

You shrug, trying to play it casual to save your own feelings, just in case. "Probably. I mean, we're already friends. We have fun so it couldn't have been that bad." He nods along to almost every word.

"Well what if we did it anyways." He blurts.

"Did what?"

"Go out tonight. Like, you know ditch this lame ass party and have some real fun."

"You love this lame ass party, and plus," You shake your head in feigned annoyance. "I'm not sleeping with you, Nathan."

He glares at you. "Fucking duh. I'm just saying we can go and hang out somewhere else. This party happens all the fucking time so it's not like we're missing anything."

"But, wouldn't that make me the butt of our friends joke?"

He shrugs. "Fuck em. It was a dumb dare anyways."

"Now it seems like you're trying extra hard to convince me to say yes." You state, and he's frazzled, running lines through his brain to try and save the absolute failure of asking you out. You decide to spare him, take a little leap of faith for yourself. "But, alright. I'm in."

Nathan gapes at you. "You're in?"

"Yeah, why not. I'm not busy right now and if you're not either than," You smile. "Why not. You better wow me though, Prescott. I'm talking a night to remember. Fireworks, dinner by candle light, a serenade. The whole package."

Nathan's eyes light up, but he tries to hide it, rolls those beautiful blues. "Well considering I've had like no fucking time to prepare how about we instead go to the roof and chill out."

You toss the idea around in your head for show. You already knew the answer the moment he asked if you were being serious.

"I mean I guess that would work," You say. "I was looking for fireworks but I suppose that will suffice. Feel free to go tell our buddies their joke may have backfired on them."

Nathan shakes his head. "Nah, don't even bother. They're all drunk and probably don't even remember daring me in the first place."

"Alright then," You push yourself off the wall, feeling your cheeks warm. A flutter takes wing in the base of your chest, your heart picking up just a little faster. You can't stop the smile that graces you as you say, "Lead the way, Prescott."

Nathan does lead the way. He takes your hand into his own, your fingers tracing over his boney knuckles as he drags you through the sea of bodies, out to the school hall and up winding stairs.

You giggle like a child when he struggles to find the correct key on the janitors ring he'd snatched weeks ago just in case, tease him when he almost spills his drink all over himself. Nathan's hands are almost shaking, but you chalk it up to the alcohol. You chalk everything up to the alcohol- his trembling fingers, his red face, a shy, albeit goofy smile resting upon his lovely, angular face.

The night was cool and crisp, a stark contrast to the smoldering heat of the Vortex Party.

He looks amazing out under the stars, and underneath the scope of the vast, black sky dotted with trillions of perfect, twinkling lights, you feel at peace.

Looking at him, you feel like this may be the start of something you'd denied yourself the chance of ever even imagining.

Out there, alone but together, hearing the echoes of music mixed with the livelihood of crickets in the darkness...

it truly was a night to remember.

-----------

Days later, you sit atop your desk, feet tapping rhythmically on your chair, typing away at your phone.

"Love the top," A familiar voice pipes, and you glace up to find Victoria standing before you, books pressed to her chest. She takes in your shirt, a nicely fitted long sleeve with a rather low cut v-neck. "Why haven't I see that one before?"

You shrug and set your phone down. "Never got around to wearing it I guess. Not a big fan of V-necks."

"It fits you," She sets her books down at the table beside you and brushes a hand through her hair, making sure every strand is in line. "I'll have to get one myself."

"You know what, you can have it after today," You say, and she perks up in disbelief. "As a thank you for what happened at the party."

That disbelief soon turned to confusion. "...Meaning?"

"Y'know, making Nathan ask me out. He made a whole huge deal about it- said you guys were drinking and playing Truth or Dare of all things. Gotta say, I was a little surprised."

Victoria's brows knit. "We hardly drank at that party, and I wouldn't be caught dead playing Truth or Dare. That game is for kids."

It almost knocks the wind out of you.

They hadn't even been playing in the first place.

As the teacher walks into the room, the first period bell blaring annoyingly over the speakers, you climb off your desk and prepare for the day, hardly able to contain yourself. It hadn't been a dare, after all.

And, you and Nathan's official second date was merely a day away.