#Composer: KAN

[todaysdocument]

Ground north of Bois de Barricourt taken November 2, 1918 by 354th Infantry, 89th Division. Ardennes, France

Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal OfficerSeries: Photographs of American Military Activities

Subject 156497 Number E

PVT. KAILE, S.C.

Photographer

Rec'd 5-16-19 Taken 2-20-19

Description:

GROUND NORTH OF BOIS DE Barricourt taken Nov. 2, 1918, by 354th Infantry, 89th Division; originally composed of troops from Kansas; Missouri and Colorado, organized and trained at Ft. Riley, Kans. Between Barricourt and Tailly, Ardennes, France.

The photograph shows a barren landscape with a few trees.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #12 – What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

I initially meant to read this back last year when it was up for a Hugo nomination, but well – honestly I forgot my copy in an airport waiting room and it’s presumably now living a good life somewhere in a New Jersey compose heap. But a friend had a copy and said they enjoyed it, so! Stole it for a few days, and very glad I did. It’s a quick, fun shot fungal gothic, great for stormy nights.

The basic plot is, well, it’s very explicitly Fall of the House of Usher with a slight admixture of Ruritanian Romance. The Ushers are a genteely impoverished family of minor aristocracy in Ruravia, a less than impressive principality in Eastern Europe. Alex Easton, Roderick Usher’s former commanding officer in some recent war (the Gallacian Army they served in having a habit of getting into these quite habitually) receives a letter from Roderick’s sister Madeline begging company and help, as she is deathly ill. Of course by the time Easton arrives the pair of them look like they’re one stiff wind away from dying, and the estate and the lands around it are both decaying and full of unnerving strangeness. The only person who seems happy to be there is Eugenia Potter, an Englishwoman and amateur mycologist studying the great variety of mushrooms and fungus to be found in the area.

So yes this is very much aiming to be Gothic Classic, at least in aesthetics and trappings. An overgrown and decaying estate several times too large for the last remnants of the family who now occupy it. Genteel madness and disease, hidden behind polite euphemisms and high walls. A deep, atavistic horror at parasitism and the desecration of the human (especially the well-bred, young and female) body by an alien presence. There’s even a cowboy for some reason. It definitely all works for me, but then my exposure to the genre is all a bit second hand.

Speaking of parasitism – mushrooms! The book expresses decay and desecration basically entirely through the idiom of fungal infections, both in terms of metaphor and imagery in descriptions and just in the actual source of the horror here. The lights in the tarn are fungal blooms, Madeline’s disease and her reanimation are both the result of almost drowning and inhaling that fungus into her lungs, and so on. There are two really effective horror beats in the book for me – the image of an infected hare which had just had its head shot off slowly jerking back to its feet as a dozen others placidly stood there and watched it be shot, and the moment of realization that Madeline’s oddly long and wispy body hair is in fact mycelia growing out of her skin – and both play off of this pretty directly.

I very awkwardly didn’t use any pronouns for Easton when giving the plot synopsis because the book actually plays around a bit with gender and pronouns in a way I’ve always loved and wish I saw more of. Easton is Gallacian (unrelated to the actually existing Galicia, I think), and the Gallacian language has a variety of pronoun sets beyond just he and she – one for children, one for God, and one (ka/kan) particularly for soldiers. Which, due to the exigencies of early modern warefare’s manpower requirements, eventually led to both men and women being perfectly eligible to become ‘sworn soldiers’. So y’know, Enlist today! Service guarantees citizen-transition!

(But actually I enjoy the thought and at least superficial sociological plausibility/consideration of what gender means in Gallacian society a lot more than how a lot of modern spec fic just kind of assues that every culture in the world has the perspective on gender of a well-educated 21st century progressive, material conditions be damned).

Anyway yeah, overall very entertaining read. Though Goodreads tells me it’s now the first in the series, which given how cleanly this one ended is not something that fills me with an abundance of faith.

[captn-trex]

technical devotion, part twenty-one: stepping back

a/n: okayyyyy finally getting somewhere. and echo gets to be a little cocky bastard, as a treat. kinda ends a bit... hmm, but trust that the next one is gonna be good 👀

content warnings: none :)

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Kan was feeling anything but composed.

It had finally come time that she and Echo were to return to the dwelling of their extended mission together. Before long, they would be leaving the base, going ahead of the others to make sure it was secure. Kan was a little nervous to be alone with Echo after their close encounter the other day, but she would be lying to say that she wasn't also secretly thrilled by the idea.

She commed her mother as a final task before she left, someone whose profession surrounded archaeology and finding the truth in myths, wondering if she had heard of the site that the Empire had been mining from.

“I'm afraid not my darling, I haven't made it that far towards the core worlds in years” the blue display of her mother gave her an apologetic look.

“Ah that's alright, I wasn't necessarily expecting—”

“M'aira are you— oh”

Echo stumbled into the room, looking a little caught as his eyes flicked between Kan and the image of her mother.

“You must be Mrs Hynzir” he drew himself up to his full height, a charming smile on his lips.

Kan couldn’t believe that Echo remembered her last name, she was sure she’d only told him the one time.

“That's me” her mother's eyes crinkled around the edges as she gave him a warm smile, “and you are…”

“This is my friend Echo, Mother” Kan introduced him.

“It’s an pleasure to meet you Ma’am” Echo gave her a gracious bow of his head.

Kan couldn’t stop the way her eyes rolled.

“Please, call me Zinoma” her mother insisted, clearly enjoying how charismatic Echo was behaving all of a sudden.

“What a lovely name” he replied, and Kan rolled her eyes again before he continued brazenly, “I must say, I can see where M'aira gets her good looks from”

“Alright, that’s enough”

Despite the flutter in her heart and having her appearance be described favourably, she pushed Echo out of the room again, closing the door with a huff.

Her mother chuckled when she turned back to her, “do you have anything to tell me about Echo?”

“Mother, please” Kan sighed irritatedly.

“I’m just saying, he seems very charmi—”

“I didn’t call you to talk about the cute boys of the rebellion”

“Ah! So you do think he’s cute?” her mother grinned at her, a teasing edge to her voice.

“Mother” Kan held the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes in frustration, “can we get back to the task at hand?”

“Of course” she chuckled before she grew more serious, “tell me about this material they've found”

Kan blew out a breath before she began explaining, “from what I can gather from the Empire's reports on it, the material draws electrical charge naturally. It's recorded as having disturbed their equipment, which is why the location became a bit if a local legend — the people think a deity of some kind is behind it. Once the Empire started digging about, they found a repository”

“Hm” her mother stroked her chin, “do you know anything more?”

“A little. The material seems to store the electrical charge somehow, which is why they wanted it to fit to one-man fighters — to be able to disable ships that would usually outmatch them”

“How do you imagine that happening?” her mother frowned.

“Well, they wanted it in the form of a projectile. If they shot it at a ship then it wouldn't only short the circuits of it, but with this material storing electrical charge, it could possibly implode on itself and render it unfixable. Anyone aboard would be trapped on the ship, with oxygen levels dropping faster than they could have time to figure out a solution”

Her mother shook her head with a sigh, “this is outside the bounds of my knowledge I'm afraid. I'm sorry darling, I wish I could help more”

“Don't worry about it” Kan gave her a tight smile, “it was a longshot anyway”

She wrapped up the call promptly, after her mother had made sure to tell her to be safe. Kan sighed and rubbed a hand over her face as she picked up her bag, slinging it over her head and opening the door. She was surprised to be met with Echo waiting outside, leaning against the opposite side of the hall with a small smirk.

“You're unbelievable” she muttered, shaking her head as she walked along the hall towards the exit of the base.

“I think that's unfair” Echo claimed as he pushed off the wall, and Kan let out a disbelieving laugh.

“You were just flirting with my mother, in case you forgot” she glanced over at him, noting his grin.

“I didn't forget” he shrugged.

Kan gave him and incredulous look, “and you expect me to be okay with it?”

“Why? Are you jealous?” his smirk only grew with satisfaction.

Kan's cheeks burned, a darkening blush spreading across her face. She grumbled a few unintelligible words under her breath, pushing open the large door to the hangar.

“So… you think I’m ‘cute’?” he teased, catching up with her quickened steps to give her another smirk.

“Oh maker” Kan whispered to herself, blushing even further, “I’m done with this conversation”

Echo chuckled and followed her up the steps into his ship.

Standing in front of the dwelling, watching Echo unlock the door with the manual lock and key, Kan was struck by a strange feeling. She was suddenly reminded of just how much had happened since the first time she was here, how different she felt.

She followed Echo inside, and placed her bag down on the kitchen table gently, glancing around the familiar room with a fondness.

“Everything alright?” Echo asked, snapping her out of her trance.

“Yeah, yeah. Everything is fine” she replied.

Her thoughts dwelled on the man beside her, though nothing about the way she was acting betrayed that. She wished for just a moment that it could be just her and Echo here again, and under different circumstances, where they weren’t here to foil the Empire, but just to live. It was wishful thinking, in more ways than one. There was no guarantee that they would ever even see the end of the Empire, which was a horrifying thought, and it occurred to her that she may never get some of the things she wanted from life.

“M'aira” Echo called softly, and she looked over to see his slightly worried expression, “what's wrong?”

She smiled genuinely, Echo’s honey coloured eyes bringing the sense of peace that they always did, “nothing, it's just weird to be back here”

Echo looked hesitant “good weird or bad weird?”

“Good, mostly”

“Mostly?”

Kan just shrugged, “I'll go comm Rex, let him know everything is safe here”

She grabbed her bag and headed upstairs without another word, and Echo watched her go with a concerned crease forming in his brow.

Echo had spent the next few hours preparing for the arrival of the others, cleaning up any last remnants of the time that him and Kan had spent there together. Spices that had been used often enough that they didn't make it back to the cupboard, bits of frayed wire that had been discarded, dust that had collected on an assortment of curios that neither one of them had cared to move in their time there.

Something heavy rested on Echo's heart as he cleaned, washing away evidence that him and Kan had been anything more than mission partners.

He was pulled from the thoughts as he began to feel a strange sensation in his cybernetic arm. He shook it out, flexing his fingers, but something still felt off.

“M'aira?” he called from the bottom of the stairs.

He realised then that the day was drawing to a close, and she had been holed up in what had been her room since morning. Echo was beginning to worry about her, as was his nature.

“What's up?” she replied cheerily, her head poking around the door frame, glasses perched on the end of her nose.

Echo couldn’t help but smile. She had really come back to her usual self, the one he first met and the one he had become close with, the one who nudged him out of his comfort zone so gently. He was glad to see her having pushed through the suffering she endured at the hands of the Empire, and he applauded her strength. It only made him adore her even more.

“Can you take a look at my arm? Something feels off”

Kan scampered down the stairs as soon as the words left his mouth, “where does it feel off?”

Echo chuckled at how quick she was to want to help, his chest filling with the familiar warmth that she so often brought to him.

“It feels like the connection isn't as secure, I can't feel things like I usually can” he informed her.

Kan reached out her hand, almost taking his arm before she recoiled slightly, “uh, may I?”

Echo smiled, holding out his hand for her to take, “of course”

She smiled shyly and took his hand in hers, turning over his arm and inspecting the connection between her attachment and his scomp.

“I think I see the problem” she had barely mumbled out, and she was racing upstairs and back down again with a tool.

Kan retook Echo's hand and gently ran her fingers along the point where cybernetic met flesh. Echo had to supress a shiver as she flipped the tool in her hand, and began mumbling about what she was doing.

He could feel her tweaking with the connection to his arm, but any and all focus he could muster was aimed at Kan. She was being so gentle, the way she always was, and it made his heart melt and his skin flair with heat all at once.

He watched the way her lips moved as she murmured out words he couldn't hear, how her eyes narrowed and flickered every time she made a small adjustment. Her brows drew together, her hair falling over her face and casting a shadow over her features. He traced his eyes down the lines of her features, the slope of her brows, the bump on her nose bridge, the peak of her cupids bow.

“You're so beautiful”

Kan stopped moving, stopped talking, and looked up at him, her mouth hanging open.

“What?”

“I said…” he smiled, brushing her hair from her face and sweeping it behind her ear, “you're so beautiful”

Kan just stared up at him wide eyed, and he was sure he could see galaxies twinkling in their depths. He had always liked being close enough to see her eyes properly, so that he could see small fragments of gold shining back at him. His hand lingered on her cheek, and before he could do anything else, Kan surged forwards and her lips met his.

It was over before it even began, and Echo almost wasn't sure it had even happened, the feel of her lips against his not lingering enough to know. His surprise was evident, his mouth agape and staring down at her as his mind went blank for a moment. Kan immediately began to backtrack.

“I'm so sorry Echo, I don't know wha—”

She was cut off by Echo grabbing the back of her head and pulling her lips to his, and all of her with them. His lips tangled with hers, kissing her with an intense fervour, and Kan's body melted against his, her hands finding his waist and pulling him closer.

The proximity was electrifying, both of them desperate to meld together. The need to be closer was overtaking them; this was the first time they had allowed themselves to let go around each other, and it was both overwhelming and not enough at the same time. The feel of Echo pressing against her mouth was everything Kan had hoped to dream of and more. His lips were hot and heavy against hers, taking away her breath and stealing everything from within her.

Echo couldn't help himself, he pushed Kan back into the wall and deepened the kiss, devouring her lips. He couldn't get enough. The kiss was passionate, though sloppy, unprecise, as if neither one of them could keep up with the intensity of the moment. Kan slipped her hands underneath Echo's shirt, feeling the warmth of his skin and skimming her fingers along the metal attachment that ran down his spine. The action drew a unbidden groan from Echo, and he breathed uneasily against Kan’s lips. It felt so uniquely intimate, and it made his brain go hazy.

That was until he heard the din of voices outside the front door, and he shot away from Kan, just as the door opened to reveal Rex and the rest of the clones that were there for the mission. Rex looked between the two of them suspiciously, both of them looking flustered and out of breath.

“Everything… alright?” he asked.

“Mhm” Kan nodded, not daring to say any proper words for fear that they wouldn't come out right.

Rex looked at his brother, “Echo?”

“What? Yeah, everything is fine” he replied in a particularly non-committal tone.

Kan swallowed and looked over at him as the rest of the clones filed through the door, the sound drowning out the way her thoughts swirled within her head. It seemed that Echo was set on not meeting her gaze. She was partly glad for that. She had no idea how to conduct herself in that moment.

Though as the day turned to evening, and he still refused to find her eyes, a strange feeling of rejection started setting in. The kiss was perfect, it was exhilarating and passionate and everything she'd wanted from him for months. The thought gnawed at her that perhaps Echo regretted it, or even worse, that he was embarrassed to be seen with her in that way.

She tried to push it from her mind, but the longer it went on, the more she got frustrated. It was mainly aimed at herself, but she also couldn’t help but dwell on how she thought that her and Echo were past the point of avoiding each other. She did what she knew best, and she went and hid in her room, throwing herself into her work.

taglist: @darthnihila @cdblake1565 @bunny7567

[fullmetalgirl98]

30 days Hypnosis Mic challenge

DAY 9: favorite duet song

🎤 「Murder at the House of Magic (奇術館の殺人 / Kijutsu-kan no Satsujin) 」 - Gentaro & Dice (2nd duet)

(link)

Just to make it immediately clear: my obsession level is high (yes, this post is going to be super long, and yes, I apologize in advance for that). I'm not exaggerating when I say that I know every single word of this song by heart. I even made a fanart for this song. Check it out, if you're curious 👉 (link)

I became aware of the existence of this duet far too late, in April 2022, i think??, and in the saddest way possible: through the wiki while searching for only God knows now what kind of other stuff. Of course, considering that Dice and Gentaro are two of my fave characters ever, it was a scandal for me not to have known earlier about the existence of a new duet of theirs, other than Once upon a time in Shibuya, which is iconic in itself, so I went crazy, obviously, and dashed off in search of the song (with very little success, I have to say)... and when I finally found it and it started playing, I almost had a heart attack. What. the actual. hell. was. that.

I expected everything, except something of that sort.

Right from the very first notes, I knew this was gonna be BIG stuff. I mean, VERY BIG.

The vibe it gave me, initially, was something alien, the instrumental intro smelled a lot like the X-files theme song to me (link).

Then Gentaro started, in his usual calm and sexy tone, and I caught the word "satsujin jiken". But so far, let's say, nothing exceptionally new. I knew I should expect some mystery to solve... I mean, the title spoke loud ¯\(ツ)/¯

But poor little naive Anna, soon after the bomb was dropped straight to the center of an indefinite part of my brain.

A serious Dice.

A bloody serious Dice. A Dice that, instead of rapping, was literally speaking (or at least, the initial impression was seriously that). I...I've never heard Dice speaking in such a hard, deadly serious yet sexy, defiant, cocky and confident tone, like... I- ... I didn't even think he could ever speak in such a way!? Like. Dice. HELLO?! Where is my genuine idiotic cute drenched cat gone?! I'm scared?? But at the same time extremely intrigued?? WTF?! Help??!! Let's make one thing clear: when I first heard the song, I obviously had not read the translation yet. So, how shall I explain what I thought ... mhm... the impression was that he was speaking not in a good-guy-trying-to-be-cool sense, absolutely not. His tone was blatantly the tone of a thug. And a particularly dangerous one. The impact of the very first verse of his, "Danna shindanda na, zannen da" was something absurd. I swear. Something of disarming power. And then the tone used in the "tamannee na" immediately afterwards. Guys, I swear to you. I had completely lost my mind. I was totally in love with this new Dice, you have no idea. I was going crazy, I just wanted to know WHY he was talking in that absolutely crazy HOT way. I LOVE how it's clearly perceivable that Dice is speaking with a smirk on his face, that of someone who is sure that he cannot be set up. And I could go on listing word by word all the vocal proclivities that have slowly sent me further and further into the hyperuranium BUT I will refrain from doing so for your sake, because this post would probably become longer than it already is going to be. And then the refrain. Simply BRILLIANT. I mean, it's already not enough that this too, like Stella, is a song set up as a story told by Gentaro, in which he then becomes one of the characters in the plot (you can't tell I have logic behind my preferences, can you?), but a semi-occult code was also inserted?????? Who the hell came up with the idea of putting the spelling of Dice and Gentaro's names at the beginning of each verse of the chorus? WHO? Give a fucking award to the composer, I beg you: (A)Up & down, Rikou na yatsu wo, Sukkari damashite Ganchuu nai Wakattenda Dare na no ka Izure wa Subete wo raizarai;

Yurusan, Meshi toraeru, Nogasanai shi Genkei nai Takara, Rou sezu shite, Umaku moratte Say Good Bye I don't know if i'm making the point clear enough, here.

And then the whole Uh!(Ah!)Uh!Uh!(Ah!) thing. Gentaro firing off his "Ichi wa ichi, zero wa zero, hachi wa hachi" with that studied air of his who knows he has the other guy completely on the hook. And the way you can perfectly sense that the mood of the conversation is starting to turn against Dice, when he throws out that "Nani?!" and then that "Kuso!" so particularly intense (KYAAAAAHHH (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)).

OH, and I can't help but mention how the "Hachiji nijuppun" thing practically became a meme between me and @justanotherniky (fixed message in chat at 8:20 p.m.: "HACHIJI NIJUPPUN" when we don't happen to forget about it).

I swear guys, you have no idea how much I lost my mind behind this duet. Because c'mon, I don't know if you guys are realizing, but it's fucking genius. And, last but not least, how not to mention the classic "Uso desu kedo ne~" at the close. Epic.

[wonderwomanfantasy]

"work wife"

Hi Anon thank you so much for your kind words and for being so incredibly patient with me waiting for this one to come out.

Vlad King x Fem!Reader

warnings: jealousy, swearing, alcohol drinking, that's about it

word count: 1,200 (about)

summary: at a work party you meet your boyfriend's "work wife" and he proves to you (and a crowd of on-lookers) that you're the only one for him.

Usually, you liked going to work parties with your boyfriend. You liked getting dressed up, and meeting your favorite heroes. Or Second favorites, you should say, No one could replace Sekijiro as your number one. 

“It would be a lot more fun if we just stayed home,” your boyfriend mumbled against your shoulder. He was hugging you from behind, his head resting on your shoulder as you tried to get ready for the evening out. 

“Yeah? How so?” you asked teasingly. He lifted his head to kiss your neck teasingly. 

“Want me to show you?” he asked. You snorted and pushed him away teasingly. 

“Come on just a few hours of playing nice then we can go home and you can do whatever you want to me,” you promised. His dark red eyes glittered with excitement. 

“Well… I do like seeing you all pretty like this, I guess the party isn’t so bad.” with that he let you put the finishing touches on your makeup and outfit before you both left for UA, where the staff party was being held.

Even after years of being with Sekijiro and going to these kinds of parties, you still found yourself a little starstruck by everything. The Grandness of the school ballroom, the dazzling outfits everyone was wearing, and of course the fact that there were so many celebrities crammed into one room. Not just heroes, but models and actors who were dating other heroes. You were at least composed enough not to ask for anyone’s autograph, but you still grabbed your boyfriend's arm and squealed in delight, and pointed them out when you spotted them across the room. 

In fact, when you saw the tall modelesque, woman bounding towards you and your boyfriend, you were almost certain she was one of those models or celebrities, here as someone’s date, there was no way a woman that beautiful could be an unknown hero, pretty faces like she always made the charts.

“Vlad! Er- Kan! Heyyy I didn’t know if I would see you here tonight,” she called out sweetly, before practically jumping into his arms to greet him. You watched as he caught her, his big hands easily encircling her waist. It made your blood boil. 

“Kan who’s this?” you asked calmly, Kan blinked, almost like he was realizing you were still there, and dropped her. 

“This is Rika, she’s a sidekick that works at UA,” he introduced. You looked at the woman again more closely. So she was a sidekick? No wonder she wasn’t on any top ten lists. She wasn’t even a D-rank hero. You shook your head, that was mean, even if you were a little jealous that she was so close with your boyfriend that didn’t give you any right to think such cruel things about her. 

Rika smiled at you “you must be Kan’s sister, it’s so nice to meet you.”

“Girlfriend,” you corrected curtly. Her eyes went wide

“Girlfriend?” she asked “Wow I didn’t know Kan was seeing someone.” you looked at Kan trying to read on his face if that was true, had he really never mentioned you to his coworkers? That stung a little. You weren't married but still, your relationship with Kan was pretty serious, you knew that he liked to keep his work life and private life separate, but had he never even mentioned your relationship? He had been working late nights recently… had he been spending those nights with her?

“I guess that makes us pretty similar, you know I bet you and I are the two most important women in Kan’s life, you’re his girlfriend and I’m his work wife!” Rika said happily, and suddenly you didn’t feel so bad for thinking mean things about her.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling yourself that?” Kan interrupted. Rika pouted. 

“What? It’s innocent, we both know nothing is going on here it’s a harmless way to say we’re close,” she whined. Kan rolled his eyes, then turned his head to the side

“Shota’s here, that’s a surprise,” he said and nodded toward Aizawa who looked about as happy to be there as a cat in a vet’s office. Rika’s eyes lit up. 

“Oh, How special! I have to go say Hi!” Rika squealed then bounced away to go bother someone else.

Kan looked back at you and you looked back at him “...work wife huh?”

“Please don’t listen to her,” he sighed.

“No-no I get it, who wouldn’t want her as a work wife, I mean look at her-” you seethed, only half kidding. Kan wrapped his arms around your waist and hugged your back to his chest. 

“Baby please, you’re the only one I want, you know that I hate it when she calls herself my “work wife”, I hate when she touches me, You’ve got nothing to worry about,” he whispered against your ear as he held you close, it always made your knees weak when he mumbled into your ear like that. Still… you felt insecure and annoyed. 

“You never mentioned to her you had a girlfriend?” you asked. Kan leaned down and kissed your neck, really pulling out all the stops to make you feel warm and fuzzy today. 

“Mmhmm I bring it up all the time, not my fault she doesn’t listen,” he said in between neck kisses. Finally, you sighed and leaned against him, relenting and silently forgiving him. You could feel him smile as he pressed one last kiss to your skin. 

“Let’s have fun tonight,” he said, spinning you around so you could face each other. You smiled up at him, you were struck by how in love with him you were. You couldn’t imagine spending the night, let alone your life, with anyone else, and you knew that you trusted him.

“What kinda fun?” you asked, still smiling. 

“You wanna do something a little dirty to show this whole party that I belong to you?” he asked seductively. You felt your face heat up as you remembered all the dirty things you’d done with him in the past, and as you imagined all the dirty things you might do with him in the future. 

“Mmm like what? You aren’t planning on dragging me off to a hall closet are you?” you asked. Kan’s eyes dropped to your chest and he seemed to seriously consider that possibility* 

“Mm… no not this time,” he said, before you could ask what he was planning then, he reached out and plucked a flute of champagne off of a passing-by tray. With his free hand, he cupped your face and tilted your chin up. Kan took a drink from the champagne glass, instead of swallowing he held the wine in his mouth and pressed his lips to yours. You caught on quickly to what he was doing and hesitantly parted your lips so he could kiss the wine into your mouth. 

It was messy and probably inappropriate, but then you felt his tongue against yours, buzzing with champagne bubbles and your mind was too fuzzy with want to protest. you gripped his coat jacket and pulled him closer, kissing him deeply, like you were the only two people in the world, only stopping to pull away when you felt champagne dripped out of the side of your mouth down your chin.  You both laughed as you blotted your face with a napkin. 

“That was different,” you said after a minute. Kan smirked and took another drink of champagne, this time swallowing the wine for himself. 

“You liked it though,” he pointed out. 

“I did.” you agreed. 

“Good,” he said, “we have a lot of champagne left.”

[nat0rii]

ive been really sick again and havent been able to draw much but i wanted to post some practice stuff

[ofdragonsdeep]

10: Stable

Not changing or fluctuating.

In the aftermath of Thancred's soul being pulled to the First - not that he knows it yet - Ar'telan has some thoughts.

It was difficult to forget the memory.

The pain, like a wrenching in his head. The voice, with its vague and ominous proclamations. Coming to and realising that for the first time it wasn't just him who had felt the ripples, that this magic extended past the Echo.

Thancred, falling in slow motion to the floor.

He had paced in irritable slow motion as Kan-E-Senna had looked him over in a private room. He had seen Y'shtola on her linkpearl, a frown of concern on her face all the while. Watched Lyse fret in the agonising minutes of wait, practically bouncing in place from the stress.

And when the healers had returned, and given their proclamation of his condition, Ar'telan had felt entirely numb.

They were in the Rising Stones now. Krile had set Thancred up in a side room, hastily put together and entirely devoid of comforts. She had promised she would improve it in time, but Ar'telan wasn't sure it would matter to Thancred.

He was still as the grave. There was still warmth in his body when Ar'telan put a hand on his arm, but there was nothing there. Life without life. When he reached out with curative magic, there was nothing in Thancred's body to answer.

His body worked. His heart beat, his breath, though slow, was steady. But there was nothing within it.

Ar'telan was not worried. Not as worried as he should have been. A soul did not leave without somewhere to go, and the source was crystal clear - the voice that had echoed in their heads. It was simply a matter of locating the source, taking back what had been stolen, and returning it.

Simply, he thought, as if it would be simple.

But Thancred would be safe in the meanwhile. It did not precisely do a body good, to be without a soul, but it would carry on for a time. The clock ticked, yes, but Krile was an excellent healer, and he trusted the rest of the Scions to handle the rest. To find the target at which to point him, and for once he would not entirely resent the role.

"Ah, there you are." Y'shtola still had the frown of worry etched into her face, but her tone was as businesslike as ever. She strode across the room with purpose, carefully manouevering the haphazardly tossed items from a chair and pulling it over to sit across from Ar'telan, who was still sat on the bed that Thancred lay upon.

"I can't be much use anywhere else, right now," he replied, and that made her frown deepen.

"I thought I might check in. Make sure all is well," she said. "You've been remarkably composed, for watching the man you love lose his soul." Ar'telan grimaced at the frankness of it.

"I'm…" He hesitated over the words, trying to find the right signs. "It isn't that different to… to Haurchefant."

It was different, of course. Thancred's body was entirely intact, functional in absence. Haurchefant had barely breathed for those long months he had lain comatose, and the vigils in the beginning had been nigh-constant to ensure he did not slip across the threshold. He and Alphinaud trading shifts, each greeting the other with the bone-deep exhaustion of someone who had given all of the aether and all of their strength in that twelve-hour watch. He was glad, in a way, that Alphinaud was not here to witness this. The boy was strong, yes, but he was still just a boy. The world had thrown enough at his feet without this bitter mirror.

"You'll forgive me if that doesn't fill me with confidence," Y'shtola remarked, crossing one leg over the other.

"I'm hardly the only one here pretending everything's ok."

That earned a wince, slight though it was. It did not feel like a victory.

"Well, then we shall suffer together," she said. "You understand this, yes? You need not bear this burden alone." Ar'telan looked down at his knees.

"I know," he said, but his heart wasn't in the motions. "I can't… help, yet, though." Y'shtola sighed.

"This is as much help as anything else is," she said, her voice quiet. "We will find an answer. And you are part of that we."

"It… helps to hear you say it, I suppose," Ar'telan tried. Both of them knew that his usefulness would be far outweighed by the others, but it was something. "Like as not I will try to sleep and it… it will all hit me, all at once. But I'm alright for now." Y'shtola inclined her head, reaching out to touch his wrist in a gentle show of support.

"I'll be there to listen, if you need it," she said. "This isn't your fault."

"I know that," Ar'telan replied. He almost believed it, too. "I wish it made a litte more sense, but… the fact that it doesn't means that it can't have been something I did, I suppose."

"Aye, and we all heard the voice, wherever it came from," Y'shtola said. "This is aimed at all of us."

"That doesn't really make be feel better," Ar'telan said, his face tightening in anger as he formed the words. "Just… don't join him. Please."

"You can be assured I have no desire to do so," Y'shtola assured him.

He supposed it would do.

[baja-blasted]

Kan Gao, writer and composer of the To The Moon games, sometimes does musical shitposts.

Sometimes they're beautiful.

[hustledimension]

THE ROAD TO EL DORADO

In the tradition of the classic buddy movies, "The Road to El Dorado" is a comedic tale of friendship and adventure.

Tulio (Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branagh), a pair of two-bit con men, believe they have found their path to fortune and glory when they win a map to El Dorado, the legendary City of Gold. There’s only one problem—they’ve wound up locked in the brig on a ship of the Spanish explorer Cortes. After a daring escape, with the help of a clever war horse named Altivo, they manage to stumble onto El Dorado…only to find their troubles are just beginning.

The High Priest Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante) proclaims them to be gods, plotting to use their fortuitous arrival to take power from the Chief (Edward James Olmos). To sustain the ruse and get the gold, Tulio and Miguel must enlist the aid of the beautiful native Chel (Rosie Perez), who matches them con-for-con. But time is running out, and even as they fulfill their dreams of gold, their friendship—and the very fate of El Dorado—hang in the balance.

The animated adventure reunites the Oscar®-winning musical team from "The Lion King": songwriters Elton John and Tim Rice, and composer Hans Zimmer, who collaborated with John Powell on the score. The all-star voice cast includes Academy Award® winner Kevin Kline ("A Fish Called Wanda"), Oscar® nominee Kenneth Branagh ("Henry V"), Oscar® nominee Rosie Perez ("Fearless"), Emmy winner Armand Assante ("Gotti") and Oscar® nominee Edward James Olmos ("Stand and Deliver"). The film is directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul, with Bonne Radford and Brooke Breton producing from a screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio ("Aladdin").

[itsyerm]

Full credits list for Literature Girl Insane

@venus-is-thinking and @accirax's Google Doc really started me off here, so shoutout to these two. I have NEARLY (update: it's now complete!) got a complete credits list for the video.

Below the cut is the full list of credits from 3:45:

ORIGINAL LITERATURE GIRL INSANE TEAM

Don (sound engineer)

Len Kagamine (incorrectly credited–this is a Rin Kagamine song)

karasuyasabou (original uploader)

Sayaka Siduki (illustrator)

Coleena Wu (English translation)

Yoppei (vocalist)

AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)

Paul W. Chodas (The Collision of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 and Jupiter)

Agatha Christie (Murder on the Orient Express; And Then There Were None)

Osamu Dazai (The Setting Sun; The Flowers of Buffoonery; No Longer Human)

Julius Fucik (Entrance of the Gladiators)

Joseph Heller (Catch-22)

Motojiro Kaiji (Lemon)

Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country)

Yumeno Kyusaku (Dogra Magra)

Ursula K. Le Guin (The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas)

Kenji Miyazawa (Ame ni mo makezu)

Thomas More (Utopia––surname is incorrectly spelled as "Moore")

Plato (Six Great Dialogues)

Soseki Natsume (I Am a Cat)

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince)

William Shakespeare (Hamlet; Macbeth)

Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

Donald K. Yeomans (The Collision of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 and Jupiter)

TRANSLATORS

Kan-Ichi Ando (I Am a Cat)

Sam Bett (The Flowers of Buffoonery)

Alfred Birnbaum (Lemon)

Lionel Giles (The Art of War)

Benjamin Jowett (Six Great Dialogues)

Donald Keene (The Setting Sun; No Longer Human)

Edward G. Seidensticker (Snow Country)

David Sulz (Ame ni mo makezu)

[cdmagic1408]

CD's Movie Poll #1 Winner

The Road to El Dorado

* fair warning: spoilers ahead *

Kicking off the start of my movie poll/movie watching series is Dreamworks’ The Road to El Dorado!

ngl this film has been on my watchlist for quite a while, and yet I never got around to actually watching it until now! (or rather, not until the other night lol) I’d heard so many great things about it before like the memorable characters, the kind of 2D animation that you really don’t see in Dreamworks films these days, and of course, the music!

I will say that I really enjoyed all three of those things in some ways and others 🤩

Right off the bat, Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh have really great chemistry! In fact, I loved their chemistry so much that I wanted to see footage of them recording their lines. so I legit looked up something like “road to el dorado behind the scenes” on youtube as soon as I finished watching the film and found that not only did they do ALL their voice recording sessions together in the same room but they also used plastic swords and playfully had it at each other!! AHHHHHH! so good!! 😂 ⚔️

but yeah they're hilarious! both on screen and behind it. I also just love the fact that both Kevin and Kenneth come from theater backgrounds cause I think that definitely added to how well they portrayed being con men 🎭

Ofc actors aside, some of you probably know this about me already, but I’m a BIG fan of dynamic duos when it comes to media...

I loved the straight man-ness that was Tulio, and he was probably my favorite of the two. I tend to like characters that find comfort in strategy, cause I tend to be that kinda person too. I know sometimes the logical and level-headed ones aren't always funny, entertaining, or the people to root for in the slightest. But Tulio definitely isn't one of them. I found myself chuckling at a good number of things he said and did like not believing in fate simply cause he relies on loaded dice for example, plus his sarcasm, and how much he tried to compose his patience as well

Miguel was great too! It was fun how much he loved the city of El Dorado and just wanted to take it all in, and his endless optimism of course! But he definitely needed more guitar playing scenes! idk there’s something about those characters who just have an instrument to play at the ready for dramatics that’s really humorous for me, it’s almost, if not totally, breaking the fourth wall in a way 😆

I also really enjoyed the Chief, I love how it’s implied that he knew all along Miguel and Tulio were humans and not gods and yet he still liked them and let them stay anyway. that said, it's kind of a shame that the pair didn't stay in el dorado cause there genuinely were people there who adored them when clearly the people of Spain didn’t…heck they didn't seem to have a problem that they weren't actually gods!

and you have to admit, Miguel and Tulio did match the stone art of the gods quite nicely, like the resemblance there was freaky 😳

Chel was great as well, her cleverness and way of sweet talking definitely stood out to me the most about her character, and I also really loved her voice! 😌

and Altivo the horse? I wanna say he was truly Miguel’s companion when compared to Tulio earning the heart of Chel. after all, Miguel was the one who wanted to rescue him and bring him along, and I was genuinely happy when they decided to bring him on their journey cause the horse wasn’t a bad guy, like he not only gave Tulio and Miguel the keys to escape the ship, but he wasn’t spiteful to them or anything. basically what I’m trying to say is he isn’t how Maximus treated Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert initially, horse to con man

As for the villain? well…this is the first of three times I’m gonna be saying, “I got some Aladdin vibes from this movie" 😅 👉👈 which isn’t completely a bad thing by any means! 

But yeah…I immediately got Jafar vibes the minute Tzekel-Kan came on screen (also I had to look up this name cause I didn’t catch it very well while I was watching this film, I just kept calling him “Priest Guy”)

I mean…the fact that he can do sorcery, on top of serving a sweet kind-hearted ruler, tangling with not just one but two thieves, anybody picking up what I’m putting down? Yeah that’s really all I gotta say about that guy 🤷🏻‍♀️

also I swear to god that Jim Cummings is in literally everything that was 2D-animated in the 1990s-2000s! and he's always gotta play that big tough guy. Again, that also reminded me of Aladdin. but then again the conquistador didn’t really have that big of a role in this, at the very least I just hope he gave T-K what he got coming to him

I guess just to get it out of the way, I was admittedly humming "One Jump Ahead" in the beginning when Tulio and Miguel are getting chased through the city, but that’s all there is in terms of Aladdin similarities the way i see it

lastly in terms of the characters and cast, I gotta give credit to Elton John for being part of it too! I mean who doesn't love a singing narrator? and he and Tim Rice did an awesome job crafting the soundtrack for this film. every song was absolutely BEAUTIFUL 🎶 ✨

Needless to say, the animation was 👌 and the opening sequence was definitely one of my favorites throughout the whole film as well as the expressions and the solid movements of the characters, very well done no question there. oh! and how there were just gold objects of anything from butterflies to apples in el dorado! they didn’t call it the city of gold for nothing! ✨✨✨

but in the end, did it really have go the route of the overall goal is get all the gold by the end only to actually lose most, if not all, of it by the end? I just feel like that plot line is done a lot in movies. tho to be fair, this was made in the 2000s so heck, it probably began that trend. But I’ve found in recent years that when it comes to treasure hunting movies, this exact scenario happens just repeatedly and it’s nothing new. I’d say movies like The Goonies and Uncharted are two that come to mind for me that have this happen...

Now there’s no way I can conclude my thoughts here without saying how AMAZING the “It’s Tough to Be a God” sequence was! I LOVED the “It's Tough to Be a God" sequence from the singing of the two leads to the colors to the everything about it, it was all magnificent! I'd arguably say it was my favorite scene in the whole film! And I'd be lying if I said that Miguel and Tulio’s version hasn't been stuck in my head ever since I watched it, because so help me it HAS and STILL IS and why that version is not on Spotify, I have no clue, but it SHOULD be. Again, props to Elton and Tim for writing this song and the others!!

So overall, I thought El Dorado was a great movie! It was definitely worth the watch! It's not perfect by any means, I'm not even sure it's my favorite Dreamworks film, but it was still very fun and entertaining all the same and I'm really glad that I finally got to see it after all these years! 🤗

[jurjenkvanderhoek]

HOE COMPLEET TE VERDWIJNEN IN DE KUNST VAN EDWIN SMET

De kunst van Edwin Smet duiden is een hachelijke zaak. De abstracte composities geven niet meteen oorzaak en gevolg prijs. Het blijft vaag wat de reden is dat het er is. Toch doe ik een poging. Ik neem de moeite om de beelden in de zorgvuldig afgewerkte uitgave tot me te nemen en er iets in te zoeken, van te vinden. Het boekje is handmatig gebonden in een oplage van slechts 60 genummerde exemplaren. Het touwtje dat de bladen bijeen houdt is met aandacht geknoopt. Met net zoveel concentratie gevlochten als dat het werk erin opgenomen is vervaardigd. Het boekje geeft een klein inzicht in de portfolio van de kunstenaar. Dat inzicht verhaalt in beeld over de thema's precariteit en solidariteit. Onzekerheid en saamhorigheid.

Schildertape is het handelsmerk van Edwin Smet. Niet als grossier in verfmaterialen, maar in de hoedanigheid van kunstenaar. Hij gebruikt het plakband gemaakt van houtpulp en kleefstof niet waar deze oorspronkelijk voor bedoeld is. Hij plakt het niet langs de rand van een venster om het glas te behoeden voor spatten en streken wanneer het kozijn geverfd wordt. Smet is geen huisschilder, hij is kunstschilder. Met de tape beplakt hij zijn werk om het in principe waardeloze materiaal onderdeel te laten zijn van de compositie, het waardevol te maken. In zijn visie heeft het onbelangrijke materiaal betekenis. Voor de huis-, tuin- en keukenschilder is de tape afgerold enkel van waarde bij het verven, zolang maar daarna niet meer en wordt het onbruikbaar weggegooid. Zo niet bij Smet. Het overleeft de kliko nadat het geplakt is, het behoudt een functie. In onder meer het mij voorliggende boekje laat Smet zien hoe de tape door zijn handen geconserveerd is.

In coronatijd bleek het volk solidair. Stond men als homogene groep massaal op tegen het virus. Een klein aantal evenwel sloten zich heterogeen daarvoor uit en af. Want blijken er niet altijd uitzonderingen op de regel te zijn? Terwijl veel deuren gesloten bleven en er weinige nog opengingen, trok men zich schijnbaar gehoorzaam en gedwee terug in de huizen. Op enkele dwarsliggers na. Maar zonder dwarsliggers ontspoort een samenleving, zij houden de maatschappij bij de les ondanks dat ze meestal uit hun nek kletsen. Zonder bielzen onder de rails ontspoort de trein. 

Het is niet die solidariteit welke Smet voor ogen heeft in zijn werk, veronderstel ik. Hij werd geïnspireerd door gestapelde tafels en stoelen in het café om de hoek. Werkloos werden deze in de pandemie aan de kant gezet, wachtend op betere openingstijden. Niemand kon er aanschuiven, niets mocht er zijn, geen activiteit, geen plezier. Niets, deuren op slot en lichten uit. Die metafoor van saamhorigheid in de gestapelde meubelstukken was voor Smet reden deze in min of meer abstracte composities te verwerken. De tafel is inspiratie, in het beeld van Smet heeft het nog de functie van dragen en schragen. Evengoed kan ik langs de poten kijken, en als door een poort ziende ontvouwt zich het landschap daar achterliggend. Geen landschap zoals dat zich normaal gesproken voor mijn ogen uitstrekt, maar een onherbergzame omgeving waarin een onheilspellende toekomst opdoemt. Helemaal in stijl van de huidige toestand in de wereld. 

Het is zo, zoals het is. De kunstenaar schouwt zijn wereld. Overziet en overdenkt. Geeft commentaar in beelden. Niet meteen wordt het zo opgevat als dat het zich openbaart, maar wie anders kijkt en doorziet zal de boodschap ofwel het verhaal herkennen. In de achterliggende periode van covid bleek de bevolking opeens het Nederlandse volk. Kende de Nederlander geen verschil meer onderling en werden hindernissen geslecht, want het virus overkwam ons allemaal. Maar na die crisis viel alles weer weg en trokken de muren opnieuw op. Werden de oude gewoonten en manieren haastig opgepakt en nagelopen. Edwin Smet zag dit allemaal aan, bezag zijn omgeving en zette daarbij kanttekeningen en voetnoten. Verbeelden zijn schilderijen eerst het samenwerken, het ondersteunen van zwakkeren, dat hij inspireerde op dus de gestapelde tafels in de horeca. Verticale poten die een horizontale dwarsligger ondersteunen. Daarna beeldt hij de onzekere toekomst uit. Een zwart gat zuigt de omgeving naar zich toe. Want de toekomst is onzeker.

De kunstenaar heeft een voorkeur voor de boom als onderwerp in zijn schilderijen. Nadat de tafel uitgebreid is doorgezaagd, zet Smet gedreven een boom op. De tape in het beeld vormt het bos, zetten de stammen en maken de takken. Het is een lawaaiig woud, het hout staat niet netjes in het gelid. Op rijen zoals de Nederlandse bossen zijn aangeplant. Het is in de geest van Smet een wirwar aan laag houtgewas, een sprokkelbos. En veelal verzamelen de dunne stammen zich rond een open plek of een kleine plas. Zag ik tussen de tafelpoten in schemer de morgen gloren, de komende tijd opdoemen, in het bos is de dageraad ongewis. Er ligt een onheilspellende sfeer op de loer tussen de bomen. Spiegelt het hout zich in water, op andere plekken ligt het voor dood aan de voeten van stammen. Hoewel het beeld klaar en helder is, is de sfeer duister en dreigend. 

Smet weet die onzekere toekomst, het wankele kompas waarop de wereld koerst, in schimmige composities te duiden. In het acryl en de vernis op doek vergeet ik dat tape is gebruikt voor de afbeelding. Het is de zetting van de schildering, het gebruik van kleurcombinaties, die de sfeer bepalen. Daarover strekken rechte lijnen zich uit. Krommen inkt en houtskool zich in speelse strepen. In het essentiële surrealisme is een werkelijk gevoel weergegeven. De sfeerbeelden drukken onmiskenbaar de actualiteit af en uit. Het is minder een abstracte vormgeving, en meer een gelaagd opgebouwde en schematisch beschouwde realiteit. Waarin een kwetsbaar wegwerpproduct een belangrijk element is geworden. Ik kan beschutting zoeken onder de tafel, veilig beschermd door het blad wanneer de hemel naar beneden komt. Of ik kan me terugtrekken tussen het hout en me concentreren in stilte. Mij beraden op de neergang van de aarde. Filosoferen over opbouw en afbraak, over de afgrond waarnaar wij met zijn allen onderweg zijn. De kunst van Edwin Smet houdt mij dan nog even op de been. In zijn composities kan ik mentaal beschutting vinden. Het werpt een nieuw licht op de zaak wanneer hij voor mij een wereld inricht: een plek om te landen en naar de hemel te reiken. “How to disappear completely”, voor het moment van de beschouwing verdwenen in de tijd van Edwin Smet. Volkomen volledig. Dat is mijn duidng.

Precariteit / Solidariteit. Recent werk 2022-2024. Edwin Smet. Publicatie in eigen beheer uitgegeven. Gelimiteerde editie bij solo-expositie in CaroArtGallery Deventer, februari-maart 2024.

[eorzeanflowers]

Rose bud for Lily and white rose for Myste?

(Okies boo, I'll let you know more about your favorites. :3)

(red rosebud ; a flower of pureness & loveliness .. for a time my muse has felt their most lovely.)

Lily does not think of herself often. She mostly is focused on others, ever the servant to those with more power. Whatever they needed she would deliver. But that changed ever since she acquired her most recent partners (Kan-e-Senna in WoL canon, her lovely Aria in RP canon.) They let her feel as if she has worth more than just her abilities and skills.

So she feels her most loveliest when she is in the company of her beloveds, especially when they compliment her.

white rose ; a flower of silence .. for a time that silence has bound my muse, and why that is or was.

Now. I could very much cop out and say that, since Myste is a being made of Dynamis, he's had centuries of silence. But as a consciousness roaming the world, he is rarely bound to silence. He hums as he walks, sings poorly to set rhythm. He's a chatterbox to those that need his help. Very rarely is this man quiet.

He can be quiet, usually when he is used as a hostage or when he is prison. Highly stressful situations. He could continue to run his mouth, but his fear of punishment is pretty high. He may seem calm and composed, but behind the mask is a easily frightened young individual, who will shut the fuck up if it meant making things go smoothly.

[wine-dark-soup]

1 / 2 / 3 / 7 for the romance asks for eos/kan-e-senna? 👁👁

THANK YOU....................... (can you tell i Do Not Want To Work) (@/anon i swear your reply IS coming)

the ask game in question

What, specifically, was the catalyst for their physical attraction (if applicable) to the other character? In other words, what in particular had them like “Oh, they’re…hot…”

I think for Kan-E it was first when Eos came to the alliance meeting in the lotus stand to discuss the incoming garlean invasion in the shroud from gyr abania. It was the first time they saw each other in such a serious setting and the way eos was crossing her arms while listening silently, sternly and seriously to the alliance leaders, ready to intervene out of duty even if one could tell she was not having the best time, was definitely some kind of catalyst that would then go dormant for a few expansions. (won't spoil the EW tank rolequests but let's say i'm not saying this out of the blue)

For Eos it happened much later, during the EW tank rolequests and after. Without spoiling anything let's just say kan-e's determined look - a change from her usual calm and composed face - had eos go insane. And in general kan-e's actions were hot by essence. do the tank rolequests

2. Does this change over time? What things do they find “hot” about their partner after they’ve been together for some time, and have had more time to, well, notice and appreciate?

Listen. Eos loves kan-e's necklace and from there her neck and shoulders. But more generally she loves how kan-e carries herself, and the way she talks, too. It's all about being modest about your charge to the point you fuse with the woods you swore to serve and act accordingly - that's hot okay. Though it's also hot when you start dreaming of adventure Kan-E loves the way Eos dresses (concealing outfits) and her scales too. More generally life on the road makes someone look hot in her eyes. I think.

3. By contrast, what was the moment that first made their ~heart~ Soft for the other person? Not necessarily a conscious realization of “I love this person,” but a moment that had them like “Oh…I adore them…"

Hehehehe. So this one happened quite early on for eos even though she didn't make sense of it until muuuuch later. So back in heavensward merlwyb tells the wol that she and kan-e-senna didn't just *leave* the bloody banquet like that, but actually used their influence afterwards to protect our name and reputation until we were proven guilty or innocent. Eos, who was distrustful of the alliance at the time, was surprised. Then, much later, kan-e-senna travels to the churning mists to parley with the moogles - and the specific thing that stood out to eos was not her speech, but "the offering of light and wind" she makes to moglin. it is pure, it is soothing, it is peaceful and true: from this moment eos knows kan-e-senna isn't lying about her intents (which achieves to rebuild her trust in the alliance). Really a "oh... i adore her"... realization indeed. She will not dare to dwell on it for a while. You know how it is

For Kan-E this is something that happened off-screen: she mostly heard her siblings describe eos' training as a conjurer then as a white mage. On top of the whole warrior of light business, eos is very devoted to the land and a steadfast and calming presence which wasn't true at the time, eos was screaming internally at any given second, but she kept giving off this vibe. so... "i adore her" by proxy.

In both case it doesn't go further until endwalker because well they don't get to see each other a lot what with all "the war is raging and the world is dying" situation

7. Do they (or would they) pursue the other character’s affection, and if so, how? Do they tell the other character how they feel? Try to earn their admiration? Woo them with romantic gestures? Flirt with them, skillfully or otherwise?

SOOOOO this answer's gonna be a mess BUT. they chose to be penpals post-Endwalker and this decision alone was a display of affection. Eos not being very good with words she sends drawings of the places she visits to kan-e, so the elder seedseer can still have a taste of adventure. Conversely kan-e keeps her informed of what's going on in the twelveswood so eos knows her new home is safe. in general she's very keen on making eos feel safe in the woods. They're both very curious about the other's culture, even if it led to a few disagreements. Eos is still silent most of the time and the rare words she now feels comfortable enough to utter are usually for kan-e, but she'd rather show her affection through physical touch or little attentions. Once their relationship begins they try not to conceal anything from each other and they are. mostly. very soft. they don't feel the need to earn the other's admiration; they both silently respect the other and have been for some time even before they got to know the other.

[mrnnki-img]

These guys! I love them and their funky magical biology. They're kinda reverse mettalus--magic turned biological instead of biology turned magical.

Transcription/full image description under readmore.

Labeled Diagram:

[The diagram shows a catlike creature with short legs, tall earlike antennae, and a long tail with a bulb and fin at the end. The organ resembling a nose is labeled a "photosynthetic membrane." The organs resembling paw pads are labeled "podal suckers." The organ on its chest is labeled as its "core."]

Culture:

Each nebulis bears a (voluntarily adopted) ethnic mark on their cheek.

The fai [who wear a four-pointed star] are known for their communication skills and problem-solving. They often work as scientists and educators.

The sa [who wear an upside-down triangle] are known for their combat skills. They often work as laborers and entertainers.

The lenetae [who wear a circle] are known for their debate skills. They often work as philosophers, artists, and politicians.

Pronouns are assigned based on cultural group.

Example: they/them/their*/theirs*

Fai: fa/zaf/fir*/fiz* (alt: she/her)

Sa: sa/zas/shi*/shif* (alt: it/its)

Lenetae: ta/zat/tae*/taez* (alt: he/him)

Unaligned: ke/zae/kan*/kaz* (alt: they/them)

*Starred cases (possessive) are not used in the nebulisian language. They exist for use in other languages, such as English.

[The symbol for the nebulisian government, a nebulis with three arrows.]

In the past, the three groups lived apart. They were united under a single government within the last 3,000 years. This government is led by a council composed of one member from each group, known as the Fashi Klashae.

[The symbol for the Sa rebels, a nebulis with three scratchmarks in place of its face.]

Basic Physiology and Appearance:

[A nebulis glaring at the viewer, gel oozing from a cut on his cheek.]

Nebulisae are filled with a gooey gel rather than having a circulatory system. This gel is typically the color of their eyes.

[A melting nebulis with a tired expression on her face.]

A nebulis's outer shell will soften or melt if they are severely ill or injured, or if they are starving.

[A nebulis glares at the viewer, the core on its chest showing a large crack.]

A nebulis's core is their most vital organ. If it is damaged, their lifespan is reduced. Cores cannot be repaired. When a nebulis dies, their core vaporizes.

[Two very different looking nebulisae side by side.]

Nebulisae vary greatly in appearance! They can be any color, have any number of fins in any shape, and their cores can be any solid shape. They can alter any aspect of their appearance at will with the exception of their colors, cores, and size. They are approximately the size and height of a munchkin cat. One important thing to note is that they are not actually hairy/furry! They are merely covered in a light fuzz. Think of them like flocked figurines when designing them!

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Charlie Parker: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time

Charlie Parker: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time

American alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader, Charlie Parker (b. Aug. 29, 1920, Kansas City, Kan., U.S.—d. March 12, 1955, New York, N.Y.) was the principal stimulus of the modern jazz idiom known as bebop, and—together with Louis Armstrong and Ornette Coleman—was one of the great revolutionary geniuses in jazz.

Charlie Parker grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, during the great years of Kansas City jazz, and began playing alto saxophone when he was 13. At 14, he quit school and began performing with youth bands, and at 16 he was married— the first of his four marriages. The most significant of his early stylistic influences were tenor saxophone innovator Lester Young and the advanced swing-era alto saxophonist Buster Smith, in whose band Parker played in 1937. Parker recorded his first solos as a member of Jay McShann’s band, with whom he toured the eastern United States in 1940–42. It was at this time that his childhood nickname “Yardbird” was shortened to “Bird.” His growing friendship with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie led Parker to develop his new music in avant-garde jam sessions in New York’s Harlem. Bebop grew out of these experiments by Parker, Gillespie, and their adventurous colleagues; the music featured chromatic harmonies and, influenced especially by Parker, small note values and seemingly impulsive rhythms. Parker and Gillespie played in Earl Hines’s swing oriented band and Billy Eckstine’s more modern band. In 1944, they formed their own small ensemble, the first working bebop group. The next year Parker made a series of classic recordings with Red Norvo, with Gillespie’s quintet (“Salt Peanuts” and “Shaw Nuff ”), and for his own first solo recording session (“Billie’s Bounce,” “Now’s the Time,” and “Koko”). The new music he was espousing aroused controversy, but also attracted a devoted audience. By this time Parker had been addicted to drugs for several years. While working in Los Angeles with Gillespie’s group and others, Parker collapsed in the summer of 1946, suffering from heroin and alcohol addiction, and was confined to a state mental hospital. Following his release after six months, Parker formed his own quintet, which included trumpeter Miles Davis and drummer Max Roach. He performed regularly in New York City and on tours to major U.S. cities and abroad, played in a Gillespie concert at Carnegie Hall (1947), recorded with Machito’s Afro-Cuban band (1949–50), and toured with the popular Jazz at the Philharmonic troupe (1949). A Broadway nightclub, Birdland, was named after him, and he performed there on opening night in late 1949; Birdland became the most famous of 1950s jazz clubs.

The recordings Parker made for the Savoy and Dial labels in 1945–48 (including the “Koko” session, “Relaxin’ at Camarillo,” “Night in Tunisia,” “Embraceable You,” “Donna Lee,” “Ornithology,” and “Parker’s Mood”) document his greatest period. He had become the model for a generation of young saxophonists. His alto tone was hard and ideally expressive, with a crying edge to his highest tones and little vibrato. One of his most influential innovations was the establishment of eighth notes as the basic units of his phrases. The phrases themselves he broke into irregular lengths and shapes and applied asymmetrical accenting. Parker’s most popular records, recorded in 1949–50, featured popular song themes and brief improvisations accompanied by a string orchestra. These recordings came at the end of a period of years when his narcotics and alcohol addictions had a less disruptive effect on his creative life. By the early 1950s, however, he had again begun to suffer from the cumulative effects of his excesses; while hospitalized for treatment of an ulcer, he was informed that he would die if he resumed drinking. He was banned from playing in New York City nightclubs for 15 months. He missed engagements and failed to pay his accompanying musicians, and his unreliability led his booking agency to stop scheduling performances for him. Even Birdland, where he had played regularly, eventually fired him. His two year-old daughter died of pneumonia; his fourth marriage fell apart. He twice attempted suicide and again spent time in a mental hospital. If Parker’s life was chaotic in the 1950s, he nonetheless retained his creative edge. From roughly 1950 he abandoned his quintet to perform with a succession of usually small, ad hoc jazz groups; on occasion he performed with Latin American bands, big jazz bands (including Stan Kenton’s and Woody Herman’s), or string ensembles. Recording sessions with several quartets and quintets produced such pieces as “Confirmation,” “Chi-Chi,” and “Bloomdido,” easily the equals of his best 1940s sessions. Outstanding performances that were recorded at concerts and in nightclubs also attest to his vigorous creativity during this difficult period. He wanted to study with classical composer Edgard Varèse, but, before the two could collaborate, Parker’s battle with ulcers and cirrhosis of the liver got the better of him. While visiting his friend Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, he was persuaded to remain at her home because of his illness; there, a week after his last engagement, he died of a heart attack. The impact of Parker’s tone and technique has already been discussed; his concepts of harmony and melody were equally influential. Rejecting the diatonic scales common to earlier jazz, Parker improvised melodies and composed themes using chromatic scales. Often he played phrases that implied added harmonies or created passages that were only distantly related to his songs’ harmonic foundations (chord changes). Yet for all the tumultuous feelings in his solos, he created flowing melodic lines. At slow tempos as well as fast, his were intense improvisations that communicated complex, often subtle emotions. The harmonies and inflections of the blues, which he played with passion and imagination, reverberated throughout his improvisations. Altogether, Parker’s lyric art was a virtuoso music resulting from a coordination of nerve, muscle, and intellect that pressed human agility and creativity to their limits.

Jazz sheet music and transcriptions download.

Charlie Parker - The Best of Charlie Parker volume 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeM0JMgj358

Track List:

1. Cool Blues 00:00 2. No problem 3:34 3. Satan in Hight Heels 12:26 4. What’s Right for you 15:52 5. Montage 19:03 6. Shawnuff 21:15 7. You and The Night and The Music 25:42 8. Cheryl 29:02 9. Lost and Lonely 35:14 10. Sidewinder 38:51 11. Abstract Art 41:12 12. Bongo Bop 44:05 13. Easy Side Drive 48:56 14. Jazz Vendor 51:46 15. Coffee Coffee 56:37 16. Over the rainbow 1:00:06 17. Subway Inn 1:02:25 18. The Hymn 1:06:27 19. All the things you are 1:12:04 20. Communion 1:15:25 21. Lake in the woods 1:21:31 22. The Feeling of Love 1:25:01 23. Bongo Beep 1:32:14 24. From Mundy On 1:36:55 25. Pittfall 1:40:15 26. Impulse 1:43:50 27. Long Knife 1:49:16 28. Melancholy Madeline 1:51:35 29. Stop and Listen 1:54:18 30. Blues For A Stripper 1:59:05 31. Born Again 2:02:30 32. Gabriel 2:08:14 Read the full article