#I wish we knew more about it/when Simon came into the picture/etc.

[lunar-years]

I love thinking about Simon and Jamie. In my head Georgie dates a lot of like, loser guys, guys who are very clearly in it for the short term, guys who pretend to take an interest in Jamie until their fun with Georgie has run its course, and who never stick around. Plus, she gets back together with Jamie’s dad a couple times in there, which is its own special brand of terrible. Thus teenage Jamie not only very much doesn’t want a new “father figure” in his life, he’s also gotten used to not expecting there not to be one.

So when Simon comes around it’s very very startling, because he comes around and is scarily (nauseatingly, in Jamie’s opinion) nice, and then he stays. And I could totally see James making one more last ditch effort to “win Georgie back” when he sees her dating someone seriously. So Georgie’s putting her foot down and setting new boundaries with James, whilst dating a man who irks Jamie just by virtue of being there and not leaving and seemingly not planning to leave, which is very definitely not okay, whilst James is putting a lot of shit in Jamie’s head because he’s always rambling on about how Georgie should be with him and Simon is terrible. Meanwhile Simon’s taking notice of Jamie’s football posters and working overtime to bond with him over his interests. Except Jamie already thinks of football as the thing he’s got in common with his actual dad, and rejects Simon’s efforts point blank on that alone.

Anyway. I could definitely see all that occurring when Jamie is an older teen, and it being a big part of the rift that I assume grows between Georgie and Jamie at some point. I could even see moving out in anger before he’s really able to. Like, he knows the money’s coming, but he’s not quite playing for City *yet.* Still, to get out of his mum’s house that is quickly becoming mum and Simon’s house, he thinks it’s worth it to move in with dad, just for the short term and all.

The whole while Simon is still there, supporting Georgie and waiting patiently for Jamie to respond to his efforts for a relationship. I can’t imagine how thrilled Simon was when Jamie finally came home (in my head, when he leaves Richmond in s1), and clears the air with Georgie and is a little more open to him. And how quickly that grows into the type of relationship between them we see in Mom City. <333

[demivampirew]

Keep Calm and Go to London chapter 29

Previous Chapters in the masterlist

Triggers: Panic attack; anxiety; crying.

Tag list:  Here’s the incredible people who   showed me support (thank  you    so  much for that) and people who  asked  me to tag them too  ☺️   (I   think  I will write a few chapters  of  this story, if you want me to tag     you, tell me ☺️   ) @cavillanche @mary-ann84 @henry-owns-these-tatas @yespolkadotkitty @dancingwendigo   constip8merm8       penwieldingdreamer iloveyouyen  littlefreya  wondersofdreaming      alyxkbrl solariumss  sweetybuzz25 @thethirstyarchive @agniavateira   @honeyloverogers @hell1129-blog   @lunedelorient​  @michelle-1185​  @madbaddic7ed​     @summersong69​ @kaatelyyynn​

The sweet melody force Henry to wake up. The combination of an angelic voice and piano wasn't something he wanted to miss. As he approached the living room, he saw you playing the keyboards while singing some beautiful lyrics. He leaned against the wall to listen to the delightful tune without distracting you.

You're all I need my one belief the winds of time will carry me to live without dubiety don't let this ever end

We've flow afar beyond the sea to find each other finally we've waited long and patiently to build a bridge between dualities.

Shivers ran through his body, the combination of your voice, the soft instrumental and the lovely lyrics gave him chills. You were writing the final lyrics of your new song when you finally noticed him.

- Sorry, babe, did I wake you up? - you apologized. - Yep, but it doesn't matter. That's the greatest way of waking up.-he replied, grinning. His lips felt dry as he gave you a tender good morning kiss. - I have to give you a lip balm.- you said playfully and he laughed.

As you made kissing sounds and called his name, Kal appeared from the kitchen, where he was bitting  a bone- and went straight to Henry. As you did for his birthday, you put a little surprise for Henry in the doggy's collar. He kneeled on the floor and then took the tiny gift bag and inside of it, there was a silver locket that contained two photos: one was Kal and the other was a picture of you. The gift also included a little card: "Happy Father's day, daddy! Love, Kal." A huge smile appeared on his face.

- I love it, Kal, thank you!- he exclaimed while petting his furry son. Then, he lifted his head and looked at you with those gorgeous blue eyes of his, "Thanks, baby" he added. - It was Kal's idea. He's even so egocentric that he put himself as well.- you joked referring to the fact that your picture was there with the Akita. Seeing and heard him laugh was among you're favourite things on the entire world. If he was happy, you could feel the sunshine hit you no matter the time of the day, the season or the weather. As Taylor's song says " I see sparks fly whenever you smile".

Later that day, you called your dad to congratulate him on his day. Henry had his own zoom family reunion for Father's Day. It wasn't a lie that you couldn't be there because you were going to phone your old man, but there was also the anxiety of intruding in something private. It didn't matter how in love you were with each other, you felt that 4 months of dating wasn't enough time together to be part of those special moments, especially after his birthday. Due to the pandemic and the fact that his family lived far away from him, you haven't had the chance to meet them yet, at least personally, so you felt that they might felt curious and ask questions and it'd seem that you were stealing their thunder. Today was all about his dad and his brothers. Despite avoiding the Cavill online hang out, you made sure to salute them on father's day. You sent a direct message to Charlie, the only member of your boyfriend's family you had the chance to talk several times when he and Henry video-called and you had a good relationship with. You included him and the rest of them in your Father's Day post on Instagram as well as pleading Henry to deliver your best wishes. Your day couldn't be better, you felt. While you scrolled through Instagram, giving likes to your friend's post delivering sweet thankful words to their dads, partners, etc a notification let you know that Henry posted as well. After going to his account, a bright smile appeared on your face as you saw the photo he posted. It was a photo from his childhood; in it, he was standing next to his brothers and his father. He was leaning against his younger sibling with the rest standing behind them with the Cavill Senior besides his sons. Only one of the children wasn't smiling and had a "bad boy" face, it was Simon. So, except for the young man, all had happy gestures, specially Henry who looked cheerful. The picture seemed to be from a wedding or a similar event giving the fact that they all were wearing suits. Underneath said portrait, your British man dedicated a few words to his family: "In this here photo only one of the Cavill men was a father. Now.... a few years later, only one isn't! Happy Father's Day to you, my incredible father, and to you my awesome brothers! Legends to a man.Also, for those that don't know, this is how we dress in England all the time.#FathersDay" All the joy you were feeling before vanished instantly. Now anxiety had fully taken over your emotions and air couldn't get inside your body. You ran into the kitchen and grabbed a bag to breathe in. You went into the house's main bathroom to hide from Henry so he wouldn't find out that you were having a panic attack. The rolled down your eyes and you felt as if needles were being sticked to your heart. "In this here photo only one of the Cavill men was a father. Now.... a few years later, only one isn't! " "..., only one isn't! " the words kept repeating inside your mind and you could even hear his voice. When Henry told you that whatever was your decision about having kids, he wanted to remain by your side, it made you extremely happy to know that you'll never lose him, but in the same time, you felt even more anxiety than before. One thing was to know that you could lose him in the future for not wanting the same thing, but there was the upside that he'd someday make his dream come true; another thing was for you to take away the possibility of being a dad because he loved you enough to give up his longtime desire of having kids. What if someday he regretted his desition? Would he blamed you for not doing the right thing and set him free? Will breaking up with him be the right decision? There was always a chance that if you felt that couldn't have kids in the near future, that it could happen in a distant future. You could always adopt or freeze your eggs so you could find a surrogate in your body wasn't in conditions to carry a child.

-Baby, you want to watch a movie?- Henry asked you as he knocked on the bathroom's door. You had been there for almost an hour, burning your poor brain with all those existential questions. You took a deep breath as you wiped your tears. - Yeah, babe. I'll be there in a minute.- you replied making an extra effort for him not to noticed that you'd been crying. - Ok, I'll make popcorn in the meantime.- he said and left. You stood up and faced the mirror. After washing your face, you made sure there were no trails of your tears. After sitting on the couch, you tried hard to focus on choosing a movie. You ended selecting a horror movie called "The Ritual". A big bowl of popcorn rested on your boyfriend's lap as you watched the movie. As much as you tried to pay attention to the movie, you barely understood what was going on since your brain would repeat his words and the questions you made to yourself before. You took deep breaths to avoid having another panic attack and break into tears. As the movie was reaching its climax, your man paused the movie. It took you a moment to notice it and to see that he was starring at you. - Are you ok, princess? - he questioned worried. You faced him, smiling and nodding; of course you couldn't speak because otherwise the lump in your throat would give you away. He inspected your face.- Are you sure? You can tell me if something's wrong, do you know that, right?- he pointed out and you nodded again, hoping he'll quit the interrogation and play the movie.

Unfortunately, he did not give up. He knew something was going on and would not continue playing the movie until he knew what was wrong with you. - You're lying.- he reproached you.- You haven't even touched the popcorn and you love it; you haven't stopped moving your thighs from side to side, quickly and that's something you do when you're extremely anxious; you also play with your nails, that's another nervous tic you have and not to mention that you haven't made one single comment during this entire time, I've been waiting for your clever comments and jokes, but no a single sound came out from your mouth. You have been breathing deeply and shallowing saliva which is something you do when you try not to cry.

Damn it! He knew you way too well. What was the point of pretending anymore? He already caught your bullshit. Your burst into tears and after he left the bowl on the tea table, you rested your head on his lap as he caressed your hair and your face, letting you cry as much as you need it. After a while, when you felt eased, you sat again and looked at him, who was expecting an explanation of what was going on. You took as much air as you could and finally spoke:

- I saw your Instagram post. - you pointed out. - Ok.- he said, unsure of how that could have made you upset. - You said that you were the only one who wasn't a father and I know that you truly want that, and people saying in your comments how someday you're going to be a great dad and me thinking what if I can't give you that? You assured me that you wanted to be with me anyway, but I feel that'd be extremely selfish of me to take that opportunity away from you, even if my desition is not only for my best interest or yours, but also for that baby, if there's ever one, I don't want a child to be born in a world in which his mother only had him to make his dad happy. Besides that, I fear that if I don't give you children, someday you'd regret staying with me and may even hate me for not doing that or for not let you go to find someone that can give you that.- you explained while a few tears rolled down your cheeks. Henry removed them with his thumbs and then grabbed your face, forcing you to look him in the eyes. - I might enjoy to play video-games, to read fantasy books among other "childish" things, but be sure I'm a man. I'm mature enough to make my desitions and know the reasons behind them. Am I sure that I want to be with you even if you don't want kids? Absolutely. I already feel happy and complete by your side, and if someday we have kids I'd no longer be on cloud nine, but cloud infinite; especially by knowing that I'd have them with a woman who loved me enough to change her mind and with a person smart enough to know that the kid's feelings and necessities are more important than both ours. Could I be sad if I never become a father? Possibly. Would I regret my desition? No, because I know why I made that decision. Would I blame you for not giving me kids, if that happens? Hell no; I wouldn't be forced to stay, if I stay it'd be because I wanted so, and the only one to blame if I make a bad desition is me and, as I said before, I know why I want to stay with you no matter what, so I'm not even going to blame myself.- he took a short paused and continued- Look, I'd always wanted to play Alexander, the Great, did that happened? No, but I'm ok with that. I desired to play Bond for a long time and that seems like another dream that will not come true, but I'm ok with that too. At least I had the chance to play Sups and Geralt. I know might be a silly comparison, but maybe that way you understand what I'm trying to say. In that scenario, you are Superman and Geralt. You're the amazing thing that happened to me even and my life would be awesome even if I don't get Bond or Alexander.- he chuckled unsure if he was being clear. You smiled, feeling a lot better and then kissed him. His lips tasted so good. The sweetness of the popcorn left trails on them. You sat right next to him, grabbing his arm and putting your head on his shoulder. He kissed your head and was about to play the rest of the movie when you stopped him and questioned if it'd be ok with him if you play the movie from the beginning to really watch it this time. He smirked and agreed, saying that i'd be ok to see it again because there were some parts he didn't pay much attention either. Your jokes and sassy comments about some silly plot points and characters actions were all he needed to know that you felt much better.

Disclaimer: As much as I’d love to write a song, I haven’t done that, so the song reader writes actually exists and belongs to the band Epica (Twin Flames is the name of the song if you want to listen to it - is beautiful  ♥)

[monotonous-minutia]

Don Carlo Met 2010 reactions pt. 3

So this Don Carlo will always be my favorite and I can say that even though I know there’s a bunch out there I haven’t seen and it’s because it doesn’t have my favorite version of everything, it’s the production that really got me into this opera and it’s so very special to me because of the way it came into my life and then inexplicably followed me around for the next several years.

So I have a lot to say about it.

Because it’s on my mind at this time I first want to say that anyone who criticizes Marina’s Elizabetta can eff off. I don’t care if she doesn’t have “a Verdi voice.” She IS Elizabetta. I first saw her picture in an Opera News magazine and I was like Dang she looks exactly the way I pictured based on everything I knew about the character. Plus her acting is METICULOUS. In opera, especially a super long on like this, it can be hard to find something to do during the musical bits between numbers and when the other person is singing because it takes longer for them to say things (IT’S OPERA) and react along with them. SHE DOES IT. There’s never a second where she’s not in character, she’s so PRESENT, she’s always there, and she’s fantastic and also drop-dead gorgeous. Every time she does anything I Die because she’s just marvelous.

As for the meticulous acting this, that’s my only beef with Roberto, because he does that Tenor Thing where occasionally he Just Stands There. But he’s got this warm fuzzy vibe about him and he just needs hugs. I love how he’s super sweet to Eboli even as he’s rejecting her. He obviously really cares about her. His dynamic with Elizabetta is so good and his dynamic with Rodrigo is SO. GOOD.

AND RODRIGO. I have to remind myself to breathe when I watch this one because I DIE so many times and it’s mostly Simon’s fault. WHY IS HE SO GOOD???? it’s ridiculous. Like Marina he’s always Doing Something and his reactions to the others are so real and intricate and auauahgg4hwyiy3hn. And he loves Carlo so much. And gives him all the hugs. Like seriously all the hugs. I can’t get over it. And the best part of his portrayal is that even with all the sweetness he’s still kind of shady. He knows what he wants and he makes some questionable decisions in order to get there, some that he regrets. It’s like he’s battling between wanting to do what’s best for Carlo and also what’s best for Flanders and because everything is so Messed Up these can’t always go together, and he figures that out the hard way and it comes to a shattering conclusion. 

Eboli. This isn’t my favorite Eboli in the whole wide world but dang this lady. Again being the first one I saw she kind of defined the role for me. She captures all the emotions and swings from sassy to hopeful to conniving to remorseful to determined right along with the action. Her journey is so intense and Anna really digs into it and finds the facets and we can see it all on her face. She’s so expressive. And she plays off the other characters so well. It’s obvious everyone is in love with her. (Except the one she really wants to be in love with her, because that’s how it always works out, especially if you’re a mezzo.) And she teases Thibault mercilessly.

And now for my son. He loves his princess so much. He points his gun at Carlo when he jumps out of nowhere and the Look he gives the guy when they tell him he can leave them alone. He’s like “If you do anything I will CUT you, sir.” And Layla plays him so well, like he’s always up to something, be it flirting with the ladies, hanging on to Elizabetta’s every word, checking the doorways to see who’s coming, or conferring with Aremberg as they check in on their princess. And. And. And. The Veil Song. I die. He’s so adorkable. And he goes running around giving all the ladies flowers and he saves the best one for Eboli and the way they dance around with the veil is just. I can’t. It’s illegal how cute they are. And his expressions during the auto-de-fe break my heart. He just wants to follow his princess and then he gets caught up in all of this. He’s horrified. It’s so sad. Also I still am angry that everyone forgets he exists after that scene. Even Lerma gets to pop up later but my son doesn’t get so much as a mention. Anyway. If there’s an afterlife I’m gonna take that up with the librettists. First I have to learn French.

Filippo. Furlenetto IS Filippo. I still don’t get why he has a cane sometimes and not others but Hytner is weird and I blame for a lot of things including Carlo dying (NOT. HAPPY.) and Eboli being pushed to the side during the riot and Carlo not even going with her which was the whole point. Anyway. This king. He’s so expressive and like most of the others he’s always Doing Things even if said thing is pretending to read paperwork while his wife sings farewell to her lady-in-waiting (also these two are totally in love. Like most of the time Elizabetta gives Aremberg a necklace or something but Marina gives her a RING. I think after the events of the opera these two should elope. And take Thibault with them. Maybe Eboli too.) Anyway we can see the many shades to Filippo’s character and the face he makes when he signs the warrant for Carlo’s death is just heartbreaking.

The set. I love the set. Especially Fountainebleau and the monastery. Most of the set is pretty simplistic and not as rich as some others, but it still fit the story. The huge cross in some of the scenes really emphasizes the omnipresent religious undertones that pretty much flavor everything. All the red in Act 2 Scene 2 and the auto-de-fe were bold and atmospheric. The big Jesus picture was unnerving. Also another weird Hytner thing is the added dialogue during the auto-de-fe. Guy should have left well enough alone but. oh well.

I wish this production had the extended garden scene with the masquerade and Elizabetta giving Eboli her veil, because the music is so pretty and it’s like the only two minutes we get of Elizabetta and Eboli interacting as friends. But I’m okay with the shortened opening. Again, having the Woodcutter’s Chous and Elizabetta visiting them does a better job setting up for the rest of the opera and shows the devotion she has to her people which makes her decision more powerful etc. etc. But. Those horns. The fanfare. I can’t. and Elizabetta running up the hill in pursuit of the deer and she’s so WILD and happy and. Every time I hear it I remember sitting by my radio and thinking Dang, this is good, and picturing everything, and then finally getting to see it and dying.

so anyway there’s my ramblings. will probably continue to cry about this in the next few days.

[shawn-mendes-post]

Secret Relationship

A/N: Hi, I do not own anything. I just had this idea. Sorry if you don't like certain celebrities that I said. I tried to have a range so there at least would be one celeb. Also a oneshot.

Y/N being a famous actress and singer was currently getting ready for an interview with James Corden. She is hoping it would just be an interview, but with James you can never be 100% sure. She put on a sexy sequin lace mesh embroidery backless dress that left very little to imagine.

She sits in the pink room, roaming Instagram, hearting different post. She smiles as she sees a picture of her boyfriend, Shawn. They were currently dating for a year and no one had any idea. It was for the best because they didn't want to deal with media taking things out of proportion.

Y/N being an American Horror Story and being a romantic interest to Evan Peters would not be good for the relationship. She did wished they could be open about their relationship and didn't have to see fans shipping him with Camila Cabello.

Sighing, she hears her name being called. She stood in high heels, wobbling from standing so quickly, makes her way to the stage. She waves and high fives the audience members that were close. She could already picture the surprise on her boyfriend's face since he was helping James out for the week.

" Hello! I can't believe you are actually here. " James said, giving her a hug. " Well, I couldn't deny your invitation. I love your show so I immediately said yes," she replied, glancing at Shawn's shocked face. They both move to sit down, ( Y/N) smoothing out her dress.

" It's amazing that you moved to America from London when you were 16. How do you feel?"

" Homesick at times since most of my family is in London. I'm also grateful for this opportunity to work here and meet some wonderful people. I do go back to London when I'm touring. So it's been a roller coaster from being a simple girl and now going on tours or shooting in movies. It's been fun and I can't wait to see what happens in the future ."

The audience cheers as James looks at the cue cards. " Yes, I understand. We know that you have many and I mean many celebrity crushes," James said, laughing lightly as he watches her blush. " Who is your top 5?"

" Oh, that is hard. I love all of my crushes," she said, glancing at Shawn, wondering if she could say them. She knew he would get jealous at times when she rambled about one of the celebrities.

Shawn nod his head slightly, knowing he can't stop her from answering James. He didn't understand why he didn't know she was going to be on the show. 'She never said anything.'

" Harry Styles would be one because he is simply amazing. I never really listened to one direction, but when he went solo, I was falling. I actually have his album and would listen to it nonstop." Her cheeks flush as she bites her lower lip. Chuckles could be heard in the audience as they knew how that must have felt. " Emma Watson because why not? She is amazing and a role model to other little girls. I grew up with her and always wanted to meet her. "

" Ah, you a Harry Potter fan? You know Shawn is?" James asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Y/N laughs and nods her head as she admits she is a big Harry Potter fan. Shawn could feel his cheeks heat up at the mention of being a fan of Harry Potter. The two of them would always have a marathon with the movie when they both weren't so busy.

" Bill Skarsgård because he is hot. Like I love Cumberbatch, but Skarsgård has more sharp define cheeks. He has a jawline for days," she said, seductively, eyes flutter as she says the line from AHS. Cheers could be heard from the audience when they hear the familiar line. James was laughing at how she said it so wonderfully. " Wow. Amazing. "

Shawn shift as he felt a little jealous that she hasn't mentioned him. He knew that she was trying not to let anything slip about the two, but it still hurtled him listening to her talk about other guys.

" The last two? You are almost done. Then we could move on to the game we are about to play. "

" I would say Tom Holland,but I have a family member who loves him. So for respect to them I won't say him. Let me think. " She ponders, thinking about the last two people she would say. " I feel like if I say any one of my Costars it would be cheating. I do love Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, etc, but I would not count that. "

Her eyes lit up as she knew one person she didn't say. " I can't believe I didn't say his name. Nick Robinson because of Love, Simon. I would watch that movie all the time and always cry for about a good hour or 2 after the movie was done. My boyfriend always asked me why I put myself through the pain. I just love the moive and I love the message behind it," she sniffled, not really thinking about what she just said.

It was silent as Y/N tries to contain her sniffles. She looks at James as he stares at her in shock. Tilting her head, she didn't know what she said wrong. Turning to look at Shawn his face was completely white as if he saw a ghost. " Did you say boyfriend?" James asked, knowing he heard correctly.

Freezing, she stared at Shawn with big doe eyes filled with fright not knowing what to say. She then glance at her manger, Liam. He was shaking his head as if not to say anything about it. " Well, I wouldn't say boyfriend..." she started, trailing off as she didn't know what to say. " We are just really close friends who hang out a lot. Most of my friends tease me about him being my boyfriend. I just say boyfriend so it is easier to introduce him," she said with a shrug, smiling fakely at James.

" That is a load of shit. How can you say you dont have a boyfriend? Maybe, I need to hook you up with Shawn. I mean you are hot, he is hot. The two of you would be smoking together," James said, giving her a look. He turns around to face Shawn to see Shawn's face was completely red. James didn't know if it was from embarrassment or anger.

" Let's move on. " She wiggles in her seat as she tries to get away from the topic. She could already see Shawn's mad face and knew they would fight as soon as they got home. " Lastly, it's hard to pick one more. I mean I love Eddie Redmayne, Nick Kroll, Pete Davidson, Callum Turner, Dylan Minnette and more." She groans as she nibbles on her lower lip a bad habit she picked up when she is nervous. " I guess John Mulaney because he can make me laugh. There is just something about him that can make any awkward conversation into something funny. I feel like it would be amazing to hang out with him. "

James nod as he knows what she is talking about. " Well, that was more then 5. I did make a mistake telling you to only pick 5. Next we are going to play Flinch with Shawn Mendes and Y/N.

After the show Y/N stayed around taking to James because she didn't want to go home yet. James was always laughing and joking which made her feel more calm and relaxed. Her manager came saying they need to get back because she will be busy in the afternoon. The drive was silent between the two, not awkward but a comfortable silence.

" Will you be okay at home? I saw how Shawn looked. "

She turns to her manager and laughs slightly. " I'll be fine. I'll call you if I need you." She slips out as she makes her way to her flat she had. Outside, she could see the lights on and that worried her.

" Shawn?" She asked, entering the flat, dreading what is about to come. Shawn was currently on the couch, arms crossed as he watches the door. " I'm sorry. I didn't mean to slip up. I wasn't thinking. I didnt even know I was going on James's show until to late. Baby, dont give me that look. "

He looked like a kicked puppy, staring with his hazel eyes. " Why didn't you say my name? I can forgive you for slipping up. I can't believe you lied about our relationship. Just friends right?"

Grunting, she takes off her shoes, throwing them to the side. Her hands run through her hair a habit she picked up from Shawn. " I panicked. I knew you didn't want others to know about our relationship. "

" I didn't want that? No! It was you who said to keep it a secret. I want everyone to know we are together. I want to go out on dates with you. Shower you with love! Tell everyone that you are mine." Shawn yelled, getting frustrated.

" I'm sorry, I didn't want others to know. You know how the media will react. Especially, when I'm working with Evan. You could barley watch the little clips I show you. You know a lot of people ship me with Evan. As many fans ship you with Camila."

" I don't care about that. I love you and I am with you. So what. I'm the one that kisses you for real. I'm the one that makes you moan my name," Shawn spoke, moving closer towards her. He leans and captures her lips agaisnt his in a rough kiss. His hands on her hips, bring her closer towards him.

He pulls back, leaving a trail of kisses down her neck. Nibbling as to leave his mark on her. " Everyone is going to know you are with me. " She moans as he bites her sensitive spot. His hands trailing under her dress as he flicks a finger against her clit.

To be continued....

Maybe.

[perpetua47]

An artist asked if they could have all of the photos for gesture references, and y’all seem to really like some of my blurry photos, so here’s a lot more blurry ones! Enjoy! Also, i finally wrote up my impressions of the show and the meet and greet, if anyone is interested. Very light on spoilers! 

- Brian really upped the danger level in this Unraveled, it was good dramatic development and got great emotional engagement from the crowd. He’s really refining his craft. If you’re a musical theater fan, I think you gonna like this. :)   - Everyone in the audience was entirely well behaved, as far as I know. The energy was great (I was in the front row, so maybe people were doing excessive amounts of dabbing or wiggle arms or something, but no one ever shouted anything weird.)

- Brian was under the table before the show. I was genuinely looking around and wondering where he would come in from. When Allegra and Pat are talking? Brian’s under the table next to them. Those first pictures where he’s standing behind the table with his arms raised triumphantly? He had just jumped up from under a table. He claimed he was down there for 20 minutes and got pretty hot. 

- He had no notes (except the occasional slide). He memorized everything he did. He worked SO HARD and it’s SO GOOD and he didn’t give up on his dreams of being a baker! *sob* “It's the best bread I've ever had”

- There’s one bit where I genuinely couldn’t tell if Pat was trolling Brian or if it was all preplanned. Afterwards I realized it must have been planned, but at the time it felt super real to me. Brian went up to Pat’s table, acted offended, and had a really adorable huffy hop off the stage. I have video of that hop, if it doesn’t wind up in the final cut. 

- I suspect “Kevin Punt” is a fake name. :) - While the microphone was a fun prop at times, I wished he had a mic that didn’t cover his face so much. I hope the sound came out well, it was very echo-y. Fine to hear at the time, but. (I’m sure it’s fine, they are professionals, Simone had giant headphones on, I just worry.) - The jacket removal was fantastic for the crowd energy. So good. Really good management of crowd energy all around. (THE DREAM BALLET!!!) - The enforcers were stressed about the size of the room before anyone showed up. 2 hours before the show I was talking to one (Matt! You’ll meet them in the video), and they said it was added to the schedule late, everyone knew this room was too small for the crowd he’d get, etc. While we were talking about this, my spouse said “and Brian’s right over there” and I panicked and hid behind a friend - I had thought, foolishly, perhaps I was too old for that kind of reaction. Apparently not! I’ve met famous people I really respect before - I was way more chill talking 1:1 with Neil Gaiman, whose work was hugely influential to teenage me. (All the other students in my department were too intimidated to talk to him until I did.)  I’m old enough to have babysat Brian. Pokemon didn’t even come out till I was in high school. And yet, when I got to meet him afterwards, I think I was shaking a little. - They opened the queue room doors at 90m beforehand, but some people had been milling about since 2 hours before the show. (Including me, but I’d just come from a panel in that room and I wasn’t going to leave.) We were instructed to move slowly and form a line. I can easily imagine it having been a bit messy if we didn’t have several enforcers keeping us in line. I had counted the front row seats during a previous panel, and I knew I was in the first 10 people and would be fine, but I kept recounting anyway. (I really wanted to get photos!) People did get into the line who weren’t there when the doors opened, but it was full 1h10m in advance. People were mostly able to sit down, there were performers, cookies were sold for charity, the comparison to fyre festival was totally unwarranted. :) I was trying not to dwell on not having asked to get a photo with Brian when we’d been in the room so I watched Unraveled videos and tried to be chill.  - The whole show ran something like 40 minutes (I honestly hope they leave it all in the final video, it’s all golden). The song is about 9 minutes. At the end he said he couldn’t think of anything that would kill the mood as quick as a Q&A, and announced the meet and greet. (He had an hour, and we each got max 30 seconds, hugs were freely available.) I engaged in GREAT RESTRAINT in not bolting for the door immediately - but my careful maneuvering to be in the front row of the show meant I was in the first ~15 people to talk to him. I had been planning for weeks what I would say to him if I got somehow got a few seconds with him, not really thinking it would actually happen. I did not expect *thirty whole seconds*. I kept thinking of his polygon cover letter video, and talking about how polygon videos helped an anxious guy like him, and decided that yes, I should say the thing about how his music helped me get through [recent shitty personal thing], and how much I specifically love his cover of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”. If this really was his first real fan meet up, as was suggested on Tumblr, then I might have been one of the first people to get super emotional in person about how much I love his music and how much he means? I think he looks genuinely happy in the pictures with me, I hope he was.

- My spouse was taking photos the whole time. He asked my name, we hugged, I said the thing, we laughed, we took real photos, and then I turned to leave, and turned back and I darted in for a quick final hug. Then I left and sort of collapsed in happiness in the hall. Y’all, Brian gives really good hugs. I hope he had an awesome time meeting and hugging fans, and that he does lots more of these, and that *everyone* gets a chance to hug him. World Hug Tour. I’m a very emotionally open and PDAish person, and I hug a lot. I get complimented on the quality of my hugs, I know from hugs, and these were damn good hugs. I know he’s a stranger, and we had 30 seconds together, but I said an emotionally vulnerable thing, and I felt heard and like he appreciated me, and I felt safe and secure in that hug. I wish those thirty seconds less blurry in my memory, but I HAVE PHOTOS. (I also kept the SD card on my person that night, in case my camera got stolen out of my car or something. After taking pictures of my camera view screen with my phone. I’ve lost photos before - NEVER AGAIN.)

- Also I made a sappy tweet about how great he was AND HE LIKED THE TWEET.

- Of the dozen or so meetings I saw, most people said something brief and got a hug and a picture together, or asked him to record a video message (or talk to a person waiting on the phone.) While I was there, Simone was standing near him out with the crowds, and Pat was wandering back and forth on the other side of the room, occasionally crossing the barrier to be in videos.

- It’s been three days and I’m still just SO HAPPY. I almost didn’t get to go to PAX, there was a ton of complicated stress about it all, and I am, as stated above, SO HAPPY that I went. I’ve never had popular posts on tumblr before, and I know hundreds of likes and reblogs (and using the photos for memes! And Catholic sculpture comparisons!!!) means hundreds of smiles, and that’s just amazing, y’all.  I’m so glad Brian brings us all so much happiness, and that we bring it to each other. I’ve been in and out of fandom for two decades, and everything is just so nice here! I should probably delurk on that polygang discord. :)

[lgbtqhp]

Scorpius and Arthur are everyone's favorite gays, yep, gay as hell, and popular as well

Astoria and Ginny liked to set up play dates between these two, so by the time they got to Hogwarts age, they were already best friends (Dominique, Rose, Roxanne, Lorcan, and Lysander were also present during some of these playdates)

But, first, their childhood: They loved making forts & watching TV (which had recently been incorporated into the wizarding world), they loved Astoria's grilled cheese & tomato soup but hated Ginny's spaghetti and hot dogs, and they loved racing around on their miniature broomsticks

Anyways, they sat together on the train, equipped with Astoria's brownies and Molly's homemade sanwiches ("My dad said when he was a first year, your father bought the whole cart," Scorpius said; "Weird. I wonder why he would do that," Arthur said)

When they got to Hogwarts, they swore to each other that they would be in the same house. Thankfully, the sorting hat decided it was about time that a Malfoy and a Potter room together. They were both sorted into Slytherin :) (So did Dominique and Lorcan)

The first night, Scorpius got homesick for his mom and Arthur offered to cuddle with him to help him sleep. It wasn't anything that they hadn't done before. Although waking up the next day to find one of Lorcan's elaborate booby traps all around and Dominique taking pictures of them ("for her memory book") was definitely something they hadn't done before.

During their first year, they joined forces with Dominique and Lorcan to become the next generation of marauders. They loved pranking their siblings/cousins/friends and soon became the most popular kids in their year. But they didn't really care about their popularity. They just loved being together. But the greatest thing about their group was that none of them ever got caught. Well, not by teachers at least.

Second year, they became beaters on the Quidditch team, because they knew each other's every move. And if after every game, Arthur tackled Scprpius into a hug, well, then, that was just a nice bonus.

For their winter break, Scorpius joins Arthur and his family on a trip to New York and falls in love with the Dear Evan Hansen musical + soundtrack. Which led to him loving all types of muggle books and musicals, including but not limited to: Heathers: The Musical, Legally Blonde (musical), Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda & Leah On the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera, The Gentlemen's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, etc.

Arthur loved listening to Scorpius rant about whatever new obsession he had. He would just sit there and listen for hours and hours, never getting distracted by anything else. Because after Scorpius would finish, he knew that he would be able to rant about how beautiful he thought the creatures that swam through the Slytherin aquarium were and how he wished more people appreciated them.

Also in second year, Dominique decided that they should all become animagi. They started right after they got back from Winter Break and ended right before Winter Break in Third Year. Arthur was a black dog (Zeppelin), Scorpius was a ferret (Kit), Dominique was a white cat (Duchess), and Lorcan was a goat (Drove).

Third Year, Arthur went on a trip with Scorpius's family over Winter Break (it was only fair, after all) and they spent the two weeks in the Carribean, going from one island to the next. They spent most of their days tanning on the beach, but also went on "adventures" like hiking in Puerto Rico and swimming in Mosquito Bay, night diving in Aruba and Bonaire and Curacao, taking historic tours through Santa Domingo, swimming with wild pigs in the Bahamas, and tricking their way into clubs in Jamaica, surfing in Haiti, etc.

But at the end of every night, they collapsed into bed with each other, and if Scorpius curled up against Arthur a little too much for boys their age, then it didn't matter (this is totally when Scorpius's crush on Arthur really began showing)

But they came back to terrible news. Lorcan had gotten sick, too sick, over break. He had been sick for a little bit before break, but no one had worried about it. At first, it was just a fever and chills, common symptoms of the cold. Over the break, he had begun getting tired all the time and food didn't appeal to him at all. Just after New Years, he was taken to a muggle hospital and it was declared that he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a type of cancer that begins in the lymphatic system. He was immediately pulled out of school, and Dominique and Lysander didn't return for nearly a month. It was devastating to everyone, including Scorpius and Arthur, who felt like they only had each other now.

The second semester of third year was mostly spent worrying over Lorcan. Scorpius had thought about telling Arthur about his crush many times, but it never seemed right. Something much bigger was going on, and he didn't want it to seem like he was selfish or anything. And then things got even worse. Scorpius's mother was pregnant again, and his father (and the doctors) weren't sure if she, or the baby, would survive.

Arthur spent the majority of the next summer at Scorpius's house, trying to take care of Scorpius as Scorpius took care of his mother. He slowly began to realize that he was, in fact, in love with his best friend, but he could deal with it after they were sure everything would be okay. Because everything would be okay. Maybe. Hopefully.

When they went back to school, despite Scorpius's protests, Scorpius began to have even more trouble sleeping. He had nightmares so bad sometimes that he refused to sleep. Arthur would offer to lay with him or steal some sleeping draughts from the potions lab, but Scorpius would always refuse because "It's my problem, not yours Art"

So with Dominique always worrying about Lorcan (he still wasn't back in school) and Scorpius always worrying about his mom, Arthur sort of lost himself. Not that he blames them for ignoring him, he would never do that... but they were his closest friends and he doesn't know how to help them.

By the time winter break came, Scorpius was out of his wits with worry. He couldn't sleep, his arms were scratched up from anxiety ticks, and he couldn't focus on anything for more than 2 minutes. Arthur couldn't bear to part with him at the station, but Scorpius did not want him coming home with him. Not this year.

Less than an hour after Astoria's death, the Potters got the news. Teddy, James, and Lily were upset, as they had all been babysat by the Malfoys when they were younger. Harry and Ginny were upset, as they had gotten closer with Draco and Astoria over the years. But Arthur was a wreck. He had to get to Scorpius, he had to, he had to, he had to... He couldn't stop crying.

Arthur refused to go back to school when break was over, so while his parents were dropping off James and Lily at the station, he stayed at home with Teddy. When he heard the knock at the door at ten past eleven, he wasn't sure what to think. Nobody from the neighborhood they lived in really talked to them. Muggle mail rarely came, unless one of the kids had ordered something off a muggle website. He heard Teddy open the door, he heard Teddy's voice speaking and another voice replying. A voice that was barely audible, yet still distinctly the voice of his best friend.

He heard the light footsteps on the stairs, and the click of his door opening, and he rolled over from where he was laying face down in his bed. Scorpius was standing there. With a baby in his arms. Arthur, of course, had heard that Astoria's baby had survived, but he also knew that there were many health problems. She was deaf for one. And would probably have breathing problems for the rest of her life.

"Her name's Indus. She just got released from Mungos. Dad's somewhere, I don't know where. But he's not home. He left us with (Great) Aunt Andromeda. She's downstairs, I didn't just leave without telling her." Scorpius kept on talking and talking until finally Arthur said, "Scor. You don't have to explain anything."

And Scorpius wanted to just collapse onto the bed. He wanted to hug his best friend for being so supportive. He wanted to kiss him too. But he had Indus in his arms and refused to let her go. If he let her go, she could die, and it would be all his fault.

Harry and Ginny come home and are definitely surprised, but they don't show it. Ginny coaxes Scorpius to let go of Indus ("You can't protect her when you're this tired. I promise to take care of her. I promise."). Harry heads out to search for Draco (whom he found and immediately brought back, so that he could warm up in front of the fire and eat for the first time in days). Teddy offers his room to Draco ("I can take Jamie's. He doesn't need it right now anyways."). Andromeda writes her sister, who is teaching at Hogwarts and wasn't able to get out of her duties, and then goes to the kitchen and cooks for group. Scorpius and Arthur are sleeping in the same bed for the first time in months, and despite everything that's happened, neither one of them has a nightmare.

After the funeral, Scorpius and Arthur go back to school, and to make sure the nightmares don't come back, they start sleeping in Arthur's bed every night.

And one night, many weeks later, Scorpius woke up around 2 AM, having just had a dream about Arthur. He couldn't think of anything else and he couldn't go back to sleep. So, he nudged his best friend awake ("Art. Artie. Arthur. Wake up," Scorpius whispered.) and Arthur freaks out ("Did you have a nightmare? Are you okay?", Arthur whispered back in a state of panicked drowsiness.) and Scorpius blushes and shakes his head ("No. I just had a dream. About you," Scorpius replied, a blush spreading across his cheeks.)

And Arthur sees his chance ("I like you, Scor. And I know that it could be awkward, because we're best friends and we could ruin everything but I really want to try this and - " and then Scorpius cuts him off and days "I like you too Art". And Arthur is super happy, but also super tired ("Talk about this tomorrow?", "Yeah") and they go back to sleep, cuddling a bit closer now

The next day, they wake up and they're both so happy and they don't want to get out of the bed, but they're also not talking. Finally, Scorpius rolls over in bed and looks at Arthur, whose eyes are already wide open, and says "Boyfriends?" and Arthur laughs at the lack of effort putting into the asking out, but it's okay, because he doesn't really like big gestures anyways (but Scorpius does). Anyways, he says yes, of course. And they finally kiss and end up skipping breakfast.

They go on dates whenever a Hogsmeade weekend comes around, and by the time they leave for spring break, they're pretty set in their relationship except now they have to be apart for an entire week and they do NOT like that.

To be continued...

[cristinablackthornkingson]

Shadowhunter’s Short Story #31.

It was a warm spring evening in March of 2014, the sun was just beginning to set, the days becoming longer now that Spring was well and truly here. Today, March 8th, is Max-Lightwood Bane’s 5th birthday. He had of course been spoiled rotten as usual, he had a wonderful, big party in the New York Institute, attended by all his friends and family, though Max mostly stuck with his big brother, their best friend Tavvy and their little cousin Cordelia Carstairs. Max had had a ball at his birthday party, he received so many presents and was surrounded by those who loved him all day, he had been  fussed over by his grandma and Aunty Isabelle, play fought with his Uncle Jace, had piggy back rides anywhere he wanted to go, from his Uncle Simon, he drew and painted with his Aunty Clary, listened to his Uncle Jem play violin, read with his Aunty Tessa, danced with his Aunty Catarina and played pranks with his Aunty Lily. The only person missing from the celebration was his grandpa, Robert, who had died 2 years ago. Max’s memory of his grandpa was faint, as he had only been 3 when he died, but he knew he loved him very much and he missed him a lot, but his dad said he was with The Angel now and looking out for their family, which made Max very happy. 

Magnus and Alec could hardly believe their baby was 5, it felt like just yesterday they had found him on the steps of The Academy, he was growing up far too fast for their liking, as was Rafe, who had the nerve to turn 7 at the end of last year. 

Currently, Magnus and Alec were standing in the doorway to their sons’ room, watching them sleep peacefully, snuggled up under the covers, warm and cozy, something Rafe had never had before he was adopted. 

“I wish they would stop growing up so fast.” Alec softly says, leaning against the door frame. 

“So do I, before we know it they’ll be teenagers.” Magnus lightly says, resting a hand on the small of Alec’s back. 

“Oh God, that will be fun.” Alec says in a sarcastic tone. Rafe and Max were a handful now at just 5 and 7, he dreaded to think how they would be when they were teenagers, especially if they were anything like their Uncle Jace and Aunt Isabelle. 

“Hey now, with The Consul as their dad, do you think they’re going to get up to much trouble?” Magnus lightly says. 

“Yes, they’ll probably get into more trouble knowing I can’t stay mad at them.” Alec says in an amused tone. 

“Especially if Rafe grows up to be like his namesake.” Magnus says, his mouth turning up into a smile. 

“Oh lord, Ragnor would love that.” Alec says, laughing lightly. 

“And Lily, she would be thrilled.” Magnus says. Alec sighs softly and slips his arms around Magnus’ waist. 

“I want another one.” He quietly says. 

“What, another Lily? Dear God why?” Magnus says in an exasperated tone. Alec laughs lightly and says 

“No, I mean I want another baby.” He had been wanting another baby for a while now, little Cordelia was giving him serious baby fever, and has been for the last two years since she was born, but he thought it would go away, but it hasn’t and he wants another baby more than anything. 

“Really?” Magnus quietly asks. He had secretly been wanting another child too, being a father was the best thing he had ever done and he adored it, Rafe and Max were his greatest achievements in life and what he was most proud of, he didn’t care that he helped Henry create the portal or that he was the one to find the demon who had ‘cursed’ Will and get it out of the demon that he hadn’t really cursed him at all, no he cared that he raised these two beautiful little boys and got the privilege of being their papa and loving them, that’s what he wants to be remembered for. 

“Yeah really, and this time... well... I-I’d quiet like to have a biological baby, don’t get me wrong, adoption is wonderful and beautiful and adopting Rafe and Max was the best thing I have ever done, they are mine no matter what anyone says, they’re mine, but I would love to have a biological child too, I would love to see myself in our child, I think it would so amazing, but I would be more than happy to adopt again.” Alec explains. Just a few months ago, Clary and Jace had had a baby boy who they named Stephen Lucian Herondale, after both his grandfathers and seeing his little nephew and seeing how much he looked like Jace, made Alec really want to have a biological child. 

“Alexander I think that would be a lovely idea, I would love to look at our child and see you in them, I think it would beautiful to be able to bond with our child before they are born, and be there to witness their birth, we don’t know anything about the boys’ births or medical history, Max came out of a horrible situation, we know that, but apart from that we know nothing, it’s unlikely but they could be predisposed to some horrible illnesses later in life, especially Max, this time we would know all that before the baby is even conceived, and the boys, they would be such wonderful big brothers.” Magnus softly says. 

“So you want to do it? You want to have another baby?” Alec asks in an excited tone. 

“Absolutely.” Magnus softly says, pulling Alec down for a kiss. 

________________________________________________________________

The day after Max’s 5th birthday, Magnus got in touch with Catarina and asked if anyone Shadowhunters had approached her or anyone in her hospital about becoming a surrogate. When he first became Consul, Alec passed a law that allowed Shadowhunters to seek mundane medical treatment for certain things, including HRT, surgery and anything else needed for someone to transition into their true gender (Diana helped with this one in particular and had offered to speak to other Shadowhunters wishing to transition, to talk about her experience and be there for them as someone to relate to, she was certainly not the only transgender Shadowhunter but she was one of the few who were out) treatment for things such as cancer, medication and/or therapy for mental illnesses, (Jocelyn was a huge advocate for this, having suffered severe post partum depression with both Jonathon and Clary) and Fertility Treatment, for anyone who needed it, no mater their gender, sexuality, family size, etc, if you wanted a child and were a fit and capable parent, and needed medical assistance, then you had every right to seek mundane medical treatment. 

Catarina told Magnus that she had in fact been approached buy a number of Shadowhunter women who wanted to help others have a child. She told him she would call around with the surrogates profiles (which included their picture, medical history, name, age, and everything you could possibly need to know) that evening after she finished work. That had been 4 hours ago, and now it was getting close to 1 A.M. Rafe and Max were sound asleep, but Magnus and Alec were wide awake, pouring over the 6 profiles Catarina had given them. They all seemed like amazing candidates, but for some reason, Magnus and Alec were continually drawn back to the profile of a young woman named Prija  Charoensuk. She’s the same age as Alec, 25, she’s tall with long black hair, and light brown skin. She’s originally from Thailand but moved to America when she was 18. 

Magnus and Alec decide to not make any decisions this early and agree to come back to it in the morning. 

A week after being presented with the surrogate profiles, Magnus and Alec had their hearts set on Prija Charoensuk carrying their baby. One morning, a week after Max’s birthday, Magnus had called Catarina and asked her to arrange a meeting between he, Alec and Prija. She agreed and got back to him a few hours later with the information that Prija was happy to meet them in two days time, at their home. They immediately began rushing around cleaning and tidying the apartment, begging Max and Rafe to stop making a mess. They asked Maryse to look after the boys for a few hours while they met with Prija, which she was more than happy to do. 

Today was the day they would meet the potential mother of their child, and neither of them had ever been so nervous. Prija was due to arrive in about 10 minutes. Alec had dropped the boys off with his mother about an hour ago, and arranged to pick them up that evening. The boys were delighted to be spending time with their grandma and didn’t ask any questions as to why they were staying with her for a while. 

When there’s a sharp rap at the door at 4:00 p.m on the dot, Alec practically jumps out of his skin.

“I’ll get it dear, you try and calm yourself.” Magnus calmly says, patting his husband’s arm before making his way to the front door. Upon opening it, he is greeted by Prija, who he instantly recognizes from her picture. 

“Magnus Bane?” Prija calmly asks. Magnus smiles at her and holds out his hand 

“Yes, pleasure to meet you, please come in.” He says, holding the door open and gesturing for her to step in. 

“Oh wow! This place is beautiful! You have wonderful taste!” Prija says, looking around her in awe. Magnus grins broadly and says

“Well I’m glad someone thinks so! It could be even better but with two little boys running around, I decided to keep it minimal, until they’re a bit older and can appreciate their papa’s style.” Prija laughs and says

“Yes, Catarina told me you had two sons, Max and Rafael, right?” 

“That’s right! Come this way and I’ll introduce you to my husband.” Magnus says, gesturing for her to follow him through to the sitting room where Alec was nervously waiting. 

“Prija, this is my husband, Alexander Lightwood-Bane, we’ve been together for 7 years.” Magnus says in a fond tone, once they enter the living room. 

Alec immediately stands up and shakes Prija’s hand. 

“Y-you’re The Consul.” Prija stutters her jaw dropping in disbelief. She had recognized his name of course, but she thought there was no way The Consul would want her to carry his child, she thought it was another couple playing a joke, she had agreed to come here to give them a piece of her mind about messing with such a serious issue, but hadn’t realized it really was The Consul and Magnus Bane until just now.

“I am, but please, don’t feel intimidated or anything, I am no better than you or any other Shadowhunter, and please, call me Alec, all my friends and family do, and I would like it if we became friends.” He gently says. He hadn’t thought about the fact that he is Consul may intimidate and frighten people off.

“It feels rather disrespectful.” Prija wearily says. 

“I don’t feel like it is, please, I want you to see me as just Alec Lightwood-Bane, dad and husband, not The Consul, we can compromise on Alexander, if you like.” Alec lightly says. Prija smiles wearily and says

“Alright, nice to meet you... Alexander.” 

“Nice to meet you too Prija, or would you rather I call you Miss Charoensuk?” He politely asks. 

“No, no of course you may call me Prija.” She says.

“Please, take a seat, would you like something to drink or eat?” Magnus asks. 

“No I’m fine thank you.” Prija says, sitting in an armchair facing Magnus and Alec on the sofa across from her. 

“So you’re interested in being a surrogate”? Magnus calmly asks. 

“Yes I am! I do not wish to have children of my own, I’ve known I don’t want kids since I was a teenager, but I always felt a little bit guilty, because there are so many people out there, like you, who desperately want a child but can’t have one, and I could probably easily carry a baby, but I don’t want kids. When I was about 22 I realized I could be a surrogate, I met Catarina shortly after I moved here and spoke to her about it and when you passed the new law, Alexander, she helped me build a profile that people having a child through surrogacy could look at it and decide whether they liked me or not. I haven’t carried before, no one has ever chosen me, so this would be my first pregnancy.” Prija explains. 

The three of them spend the next hour chatting and getting to know one-another and by the time they’ve talked everything through, Magnus and Alec are even more desperate for Prija to be their surrogate, she is a perfect match for them, no history of poor health, she’s fit and healthy, she’s a good person, not one The Cohort’s followers, and she’s great with kids, so Max and Rafe will love her. 

“Look, I’ve always said I’d take a week or so to think my final answer through, but I don’t need to, I would be more than happy to be your surrogate.” Prija tells Magnus and Alec. She never thought she would simply click with a couple so fast, but she has, has never met two kinder people more deserving of a child.

“Really?” Alec asks in a tone of disbelief. Prija grins broadly and nods.

“Yes, absolutely.” 

________________________________________________________________

It had been about 5 months since Magnus and Alec meet Prija, and decided to have another child. The first round of IUI happened about 3 weeks after they met Prija, but unfortunately it didn’t work, nor did the second, or the third, they were now on their fourth attempt and Alec was beginning to lose hope, the odds weren’t looking good and he and Magnus couldn’t afford more than another 2 rounds of IUI, they both had a lot of money, being The Consul paid well as did being The High Warlock of Brooklyn, but they couldn’t spend every penny they had on fertility treatment. 

It had been two weeks since the last round of IUI and Prija was coming over later today to take a pregnancy test. Magnus and Alec made it extremely clear that she absolutely did not have to come over to their place to take a pregnancy test, but she insisted and said she wanted to and that they should be there when they find out the result, especially if it’s positive. 

They had introduced Max and Rafe to Prija about a month ago, they didn’t tell them she might be having their brother or sister yet, instead they told them she was a friend of daddy’s from work who was going to around a lot for a while because she had to help their daddy with something for work. The boys accepted this no problem and instantly took to Prija, they adored her and she adored them, whenever she came over she was always playing with them, reading them stories, watching movies with them, taking them to the park, anything they wanted.

They all agreed that Prija would be a part of the baby’s life, and the baby would be brought up knowing they were born via surrogacy and that Prija is their birth mom and Alec is their biological dad. Prija wouldn’t be raising the baby or be called ‘mom’ by the baby or anything, she would be more like an aunt to the baby, which worked out well as Max and Rafe had started calling her Aunty. 

A  few hours later, Prija arrived to take a pregnancy test. She played and cuddled with the boys for a bit first, then excused herself to the bathroom to take the test. Magnus and Alec had herded the boys into their room so they wouldn’t have to know what was going on, and persuaded them to stay in there for a while by putting on a movie for them and letting them have chocolate and other candy, they would regret it when the boys didn’t sleep that night, but at the time it seemed worth it. 

Magnus and Alec were currently nervously waiting in the living room for Prija, as they always did. 

A few minutes after she had gone to the bathroom, Prija comes out with a completely neutral look on her face. 

“Well?” Alec nervously asks, jumping up from his seat. Prija breaks out into a huge smile and holds out the pregnancy test up for he and Magnus to see. 

“I’m pregnant.” she softly says, just as Alec realizes that the two lines on that test means positive. 

“Oh my god.” Alec quietly says clasping a hand to his mouth. 

“A-are you sure?” Magnus quietly asks, not knowing what else to say. 

“Yes, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to get your hopes up, but I have been feeling a bit odd lately, a couple of days ago I had some spotting like Catarina said I would, it’s still really early, but yeah, I’m definitely pregnant.” Prija softly says. 

Alec rushes to her side and hugs her tightly, tears of joy rolling down his face. 

“Thank you, thank you so much.” He says in a tight tone. 

“You don’t have to thank me, I want to do this, you deserve to be parents.” 

The rest of Prija’s pregnancy went extremely smoothly, she had no serious pain or vomiting or anything, no bleeding at all, and according to The Silent Brothers, the baby was always healthy. 

Max and Rafe were beyond excited to be big brothers, they loved touching Prija’s bump and feeling the baby move and kick, they loved talking to their sibling too, Max always talked about pirates and books and everything he would teach his sibling, while Rafe loved to sing the baby Spanish lullabies. 

When Prija was two months pregnant, they found out from Brother Enoch that they were expecting a baby girl. Magnus and Alec were thrilled, they had both always wanted a daughter, they felt a little girl would complete their beautiful family, but would have been overjoyed with another baby boy too. 

They decided they wanted the baby’s first name to be Thai and her second name to be after someone close to her fathers. After a few weeks of discussing names, Magnus and Alec settled on the name Madee Teresa Lightwood-Bane, Teresa after Tessa, who was one of Magnus’ dearest friends, she was also extremely kind to Alec and his family, she had delivered Jace and Clary’s son, who was Magnus and Alec’s godson. 

Rafe and Max loved helping their daddy and papa decorate the nursery, though Madee would be sleeping in a bassinet beside Magnus and Alec’s bed for the first few months. One evening, while Alec was out, Magnus used his magic to assemble the crib, he told the boys not to tell their dad, but of course they squealed on their papa, but Alec didn’t mind, he was just glad the damn thing was built. 

Prija was currently nine months pregnant, only a few days from her due date, and everyone was eagerly awaiting the arrival of baby Madee. Prija had decided to give birth in the NY Institute, in the infirmary, with a Silent Brother present to witness the birth as was tradition, and a Clave midwife there to deliver the baby. She only lived about twenty minutes from The Institute and therefore not far from Magnus and Alec, so she didn’t feel the need to stay with them or in The Institute as her due date approached. 

Today was a rare quiet day for Magnus and Alec, which meant they could stay home and be with their boys. Right now, Max is watching videos on Alec’s phone, and Rafe is helping Magnus organize his wardrobe, which really meant he was putting on shirts Magnus had discarded, jelled up his hair and ran around exclaiming that he was papa. 

“Daddy!” Max says, running up to Alec and holding the phone out to him. Alec sees Prija’s number on the screen, her call having paused Max’s videos. Alec was glad hadn’t hung up and resumed his videos. 

“Thanks buddy.” Alec says, taking the phone and ruffling his son’s hair. 

“Hey Prija, is everything okay?” Alec casually answers the phone, as Max plops himself down on Alec’s foot, wrapping his arms around his leg. Alec was use to walking through the apartment with Max hanging off his leg, at this stage, it hardly phased him at all anymore. 

“You’re gonna need to come to the Institute.” Prija says in what sounded like a strained voice. 

“Is everything okay? Is the baby okay?” Alec asks in a panicked tone. 

“Everything’s fine, I just... my water broke.” Prija says. Alec almost drops the phone in shock, he had not been expecting her to say that.

“We’ll be right there.” He says, before hanging up and shoving the phone in his pocket. 

“Max, can you get off please? I need to talk to papa.” Alec gently asks his son. Max shakes his head and says 

“Nu uh! I never letting you go again, daddy!” 

“What if I carry you instead?” Alec tries to compromise. 

“Okay!” Max exclaims, reaching up. Alec easily swings him up into his arms and makes his way to his and Magnus’ room. 

“Magnus.” He calls, just before stepping into the room. 

“Everything alright, Alexander?” He calmly asks, hanging one of his shirt up. 

“I just got a call from Prija, the baby’s coming.” 

________________________________________________________________

Prija had a very quick labor, only lasting four hours in total. Magnus and Alec never once left her side, Max and Rafe were with Clary and Jace, fussing over baby Stephen. 

After Prija had given birth and snuggled and bonded with Madee a bit, the midwife suggested Alec and Magnus take the baby and bond with her while she helped Prija clean up. So they were currently in Alec’s old room, and had yet to really properly see their daughter. 

“Here Alexander, you hold her first.” Magnus softly says, holding the baby out to his husband. Alec carefully takes the baby into his arms and pulls her blankets back to get a proper look at her. She had beautiful brown skin like Prija, and thick, curling black hair like Alec, she had Alec’s eye color too, and his eye shape, mouth shape and nose shape, she had Prija’s pallor and bone structure. She was absolutely perfect. 

As Alec gazes at his daughter, he can’t help the tears that well up in his eyes and roll down his face, he had never held a baby and met a baby knowing they were his, when he held Max and met Rafe he instantly wanted to bring them home but didn’t know if Magnus would want that, so couldn’t for sure say they were his boys, but he could for sure say this sweet little girl was his, his beautiful baby daughter. 

“Alexander, what is it? What’s wrong?” Magnus softly asks, putting an arm around his husband’s shoulder. 

“Nothing, nothing at all, she’s just so beautiful and perfect, and I can’t believe she’s really ours.” Alec says in a tight tone of voice. 

“She is rather perfect.” Magnus softly says, gently stroking his daughter’s cheek, with the back of his finger. Madee reaches out and grabs his finger, bringing Magnus close to tears too. 

“I never thought we’d have this, a marriage, two beautiful little boys and a beautiful little girl, I never thought I would get to have any of this, not happily anyway, I thought I would have to marry a girl and have children with her, and I never wanted that, I have always wanted to be a dad but I didn’t want to have kids with someone I didn’t love,.” Alec says in a remorseful tone, wiping at his tears. 

“I never thought I would have children either, I always knew I would like to have kids, but nobody ever wanted to adopt with me, and I knew I couldn’t be a single parent, I always settled for being the fun uncle, but when I saw Tessa with her children, I knew I wanted that for myself someday, I just never thought it would happen, our three babies are blessings for me, I’m not a religious person, you know that, but our little ones are a blessing and I know that, they’re our miracles.” Magnus softly explains, gazing down at his beautiful daughter. 

Finally, after centuries, Magnus feels truly happy and complete. 

Keep an eye out for part two where Madee meets her brothers and the rest of her family, coming soon!

[c2bend]

My SamCait Theories:

marking summer 2017. Sorry this is so long.

Some background on my fandom experience first.

When this show was advertising on Starz I knew I really wanted to watch it.  My husband did too.  It looked interesting and right up our ‘alley’.  So we showed up for the first episode, I know I’m going to continue watching a show when the first episode of any show ends and you just want it to keep going, I was hooked.  I didn’t even know it was based on books until the 4th episode when I actually read the credits, ok cool.  By the 8th episode I HAD TO KNOW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, so I downloaded all the books on my Kindle and read them – not sure how far I got before the S2 premiere. This was good and bad, now I had something to compare the film version to the book version – sometimes I wish I hadn’t read the books, since I love the film version so much.  Anyhow, I digress.

While watching this amazing show I became enthralled with Caitriona Balfe. (I love actors – really good actors – I wanted to be a casting director when I was younger and I appreciate talent when I see it) And Caitriona Balfe had a ton of it.  So like any obsessed fan I started digging into google to find out more about her, her past works, ok maybe a bit of her personal life, etc..  My initial reaction to what I found was how genuine she was, how she was with her friends on social media, her normalcy – she had not been celebrityized yet (yes I just made that word up ;) ) and I fell in love with her.  This was late 2014 early 2015, I hadn’t gotten into the interviews and the buzz publicity stuff yet – I had not followed an actor/celebrity since I was 12 yrs old (1970s) and back then all we had were magazines – so all this was actually rather new to me.  Though once I started finding these things online I notice her and Mr. Sam Heughan, and I was like hmmm?  So I looked to see if either of them had significant others in their lives.  I found some stuff on Caitriona that she maybe had a boyfriend, but very little info at the time.  I started stalking (erm looking at all the beautiful pictures) on her and her friends’ instagram and found a photo at Thanksgiving 2014 with her friends at her and Simon’s house in West Hollywood and there was a guy that was sitting next to her, but she just didn’t look very happy at all and I couldn’t tell if this was the infamous boyfriend or not.  To this day I have not seen this guy surface in her orbit and do not know who he is/was.  So because I was a naive celebrity follower and after reading trash articles that said she had a boyfriend already and seeing that Sam was apparently living it up in Los Angeles I figured okay they’re just friends, and enjoyed the cuteness of them anyways. (btw – I hadn’t seen Paley yet, it was off my radar).  Oh and somewhere in there I saw mention of Tony McGill and the Christmas video and other photos of him being within her circle of friends and was a bit disappointed that I COULDN’T FIND SHIT ON HIM and that their chemistry was so hohum.  So to keep enjoying the SamCaitness I started finding fanvideos of them and I was a shipper before I knew what a fucking shipper was – and all by myself – or so I thought!  

So by now it’s late Spring early Summer and I am one OBSESSED Sassenanch, for the show and SamCait!  Ahh – SDCC 2015 – sometimes it seems like it was ages ago and sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday.  That was my “who the fuck do these fuckers think they’re kidding, they are not only fucking they are seriously together and I’m squeeing like a school girl lovin’ it!” moment.  And I start scouring the internet while at the same time signed up for twitter, signed up on instagram, somehow came across tumblr and was like hell yeah I AM NOT ALONE! And signed up there too.  So now that I was no longer alone and there was all kinds of speculation, love of these two goobers and discussions galore you kind of end up in a herd mentality to some degree, especially the more you are on tumblr, like every fucking day – my new obsession to go along with my Outlander and SamCait obsession!  Who AM I?  I don’t care I am having fun and have found my peeps.  

Being on tumblr opened my eyes to so much more that I hadn’t seen, interviews, articles, friends of theirs, other interactions that I hadn’t seen yet.  And speculations and theories, antis – what?.  So as this little/big tumblr of SamCait shippers are going along we are getting rewarded with some incredible SamCait cuteness to the max.  There was a squee at least every fucking week for weeks.  The speculations were out of control – no seriously, looking back it was a frenzied hot mess, they’re married, she’s pregnant, she’s not pregnant, she already had a baby, omg look at them, ooh rings we see rings, ooh everything they tweet is double entendres, every photo posted on instagram has some sort of meaning to it. Every obscure photo we were analyzing to death. Omg they’re going to reveal at People Choice Awards or some other event. I mean seriously looking back we were pretty cray cray!  Then the IFH happened and our Ship took on some heavy artillery and almost sunk.  We were stupefied, how could they do this to us, how could we be so wrong, how how how…. What the Fuck just happened?

Personally, after I recovered the initial blow, it allowed me to step back and see how the frenzied atmosphere that we all perpetuated is what caused us to feel so hurt.  It allowed me to ship without being so emotionally invested yet still enjoy them (although will admit with all the peripheral fuckery going on it sometimes is a challenge).  So here we are today and things just keep getting weirder and weirder in SamCait land – why?  

The question of the decade – why did Shitner happen, why did Mackenzie Mauzy happen and continues to, why did the IFH happen, why was Kristin Dos Santos suddenly re-assigned, why the newest failed attempt of denying even though no one is asking, why do SamCait still give us cuteness yet don’t, why is ALL OF THIS STILL GOING ON?  With all these questions we need to step back and ask this one - Who is seeing this?  The average/normal fan – no.  The obsessed fans – whether a shipper or not – yes!  Newly acquired obsessed fans as the show moves forward – yes and no!  So again we have to ask why?

Who is creating this obscure Sam + Mac relationship – SamCait, The Powers That Be, Publicists?  Someone is orchestrating this narrative we are in, if we can figure out why, we may be able to make sense of it.  What is attempting to be achieved?  For whatever reason someone/s do not want fans thinking/believing that SamCait are together in real life.  So these things keep happening – we see it in real time because we are always watching (the obsessed fan/s).  But what happens is the trash articles are published all over the internet and I think about when I first started stalking erm I mean looking for more information on these two, I would read trash articles and not know any better that they are just that.  I was like oh okay, must be true – yeah I know naive as hell.  But then the question comes up again WHY do they – whoever they may be – want the fans/public to believe these two gorgeous people who are leads of a very romantic show not together? Why is it so fucking important that this narrative be pushed?  What does someone/s have to gain by having fans – current and future – believe this story?  And why is this ‘gain’ so important that they would go to these lengths – side note, here’s the thing, these efforts probably seem extreme to us for a couple of reasons – 1. we’re very aware of it all as it is happening and 2. we are not the entity who is orchestrating this and probably incapable of thinking like them, hence our confusion.  So if we can just figure out a why they want this narrative to be believed then we would be able to understand it – maybe.

So let us go through a few scenarios to see if one of them jives.

SamCait want us to believe they are not together – first question would be why? (always with the why!)  So back at the end of 2015 when the shippers were in a frenzy and then SamCait got back to Los Angeles where the IFH happened, some theories were expressed that one or both of them had been threatened regarding their ‘togetherness’ and they had to do something to diffuse this threat – IFH happened. So let us assume this is what happened, but going forward them being who they are, the ‘cuteness’ came back albeit not as intense as it was before and again threats were made.  So perhaps looking for assistance with this problem (this part I truly can’t fathom except they didn’t realize how bad it would go) they or their PR enlisted Shitner – he starts on his rampage against shippers and it leaves nothing but carnage and kind of backfires big time.  So time to bring out the ‘big guns’ enter stage left MM.  Next question that arises is who recruited her into this?  First photo of her and Sam is on a facebook page, there is a low on the totem pole Starz employee who ‘took’ the photo or was in the photo – HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS PHOTO.  Redflags are going off in the fandom.  Still assuming we are dealing with someone threatening our ‘babies’ did Starz get involved to help push the narrative forward?  Possibly.  So here’s where I start having a problem with this scenario – every fucking time SamCait are NOT in California especially and are in Europe or even South Africa, their ‘cuteness’ is on overdrive.  As soon as this starts happening OR they show up in the States, Shitner goes off, and MM is trotted out in either staged photos with Sam or innuendo photos from her or Sam.  Is there really a crazy person out there that goes off every time their ‘cuteness’ is shown? After a year and a half how come no one is able to catch this crazy fucker if the threat is real?  And if it is real how sad for everyone involved!!! Except Shitner the only sad thing about him is he’s a sad excuse for a human being.

Next up Publicists – if this is true I have no idea why and they should fire their sorry asses, nuf said on this.

The almighty powerful TPTB.  Alrighty then, what drives TPTB?  That is an easy one MONEY MONEY MONEY and POWER POWER POWER!  If ya’ll will remember SamCait missed the People’s Choice Awards because they got stuck in Costa Rica from the bad weather (I truly believe they were both there TOGETHER).   Now the PCAs for their category isn’t huge BUT it is publicity for them and THE SHOW! And lo’ and behold the stars of the show cancel at the last minute.  Big ass No No!  And now someone is in trouble!  What if TPTB did not know SamCait are together at this time, now the ‘cat’ is out of the bag and they don’t like it one bit.  They decide this needs to be ‘fixed’ NOW (POWER). So they force SamCaits’ hand and basically tell them in no uncertain terms – you see this ‘clause’ right here in your contracts? Being together in real life is not allowed and THIS is what you are going to do moving forward.  First deny that you are a couple, here’s your script SELL IT!  Well we all know how that went down.  At this point Shitner – is he just a loose cannon or did TPTB request his assistance in this ‘plan’ or was he just an unexpected benefit? Who the fuck knows and at this point it doesn’t really matter cos’ that asswipe happened.  Again SamCait being who they are they can’t control their ‘cuteness’ soooo TPTB ramp it up and bring in MM, puts her on the payroll to do what she’s been doing ever since she first appeared on the ‘scene’.

Okay, okay – we’ve heard this theory before but we can not fathom the why of it completely.  What if it is simply this, in their skewed perception of fandom and their belief that two leads of a romantic show should not be seen in real life as being together as it will somehow diminish and affect the bottom line (MONEY) –meaning their pockets.  Perhaps it is as simple as that and they will go to great lengths (POWER) to attempt to create this narrative for now and the future – as in future fans.  We as Shippers really do not matter, we are a fraction of this obsessed fandom and by having Shitner and the fucking twat Lynette Rice declare us as crazy anything we put out there to the contrary narrative will just be ignored (in their hopes).  I mean they can’t fire the leads, but they can enforce and make them ‘go along’ with this for now.  Of course, as we’ve seen time and time again SamCait just cannot contain their CUTENESS, as long as they keep showing it, TPTB will keep trying to manipulate the truth to satisfy their own ‘needs/wants/egos’…

So which theory is truth? I don’t know, I/we may never know, but it doesn't really matter because:

Always remember and never forget – IT IS NOT ABOUT US!  We are here for the SamCait CUTENESS.  That is all. 

[songbay]

The Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

New Ways Songbay is Supporting Lyricists in 2020

Lyrics turned into songs. Have your lyrics turned into original songs 

Since launching Songbay ten tears ago, we’ve been helping songwriters and lyricists meet their goals and grow their careers. We’ve developed innovative ways to support them on this journey.

In this article, we will be discussing the new features just added to Songbay in 2020, such as our ‘Lyric-to-Music’ service and the ‘Lyric-Improvement’ service. We’ll be sharing the results of last year’s Songbay Lyric Writing competition, talking to our winners and revealing everything you need to know about the benefits of these features to Songbay lyricists and songwriters.

The Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

The competition opened in August 2019 with the closing date the 1st October 2019, giving participants six weeks to compose their lyrics. To enter, our lyricists were challenged to write (and upload to Songbay) a lyric based on this image:

  Photograph by Ira R (IG: @eklektikum), sourced via Unsplash (IG: @unsplash)

  The lyric could be written in any genre but had to use structures based on typical song formats, for example, verse, bridge, chorus, intros, outros, etc.

We were impressed by the standard of all the entries and will be sharing our favourites throughout this article (they can all be purchased on Songbay).

The winners of the competition were awarded the top prize of having their lyrics set to music by our professional songwriting team.

One of the biggest challenges facing aspiring lyricists is finding composers and musicians ready to turn their lyrics into completed songs. Most publishers do not accept ‘lyric-only’ submissions without a high-quality music demo. This makes it tough for lyricists to get into the industry.

  Bob Love, Winner of the 2019 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

      Lyricists Bob Love was our first winner with his lyric ‘The Dark Road Leads To Light’

        Verse: Bed sheets loose and crumpled In my dreams I had stumbled To a dark forest, like a tunnel of trees A road ahead, sun bursts through the leaves

Confused for a time I felt fear Startled to find someone else near A silhouette of a man, tired and aged He somehow knew, I’d lost my way

Chorus: He said..The dark road leads to light It’s gonna be such a beautiful sight A whole new world is waiting for you if you push on through

   View the full lyric here >>

  We were looking for lyrics that conveyed emotion and imagination, that could also work as a song. Our team of judges quickly shortlisted Bob Love’s lyric as a winning contender. We all found his narrative and message of hope quite compelling. Bob Love is a US-based lyricist with an impressive portfolio of lyrics to his name. Bob told us, “I enjoyed the challenge of the lyric contest. The picture was hard to write about. I based it on some of my life experiences. The tunnel of trees that I came up with, I got that from my experience with cancer treatment a few years back. I had 38 radiation treatments. The hallway that led to the office where I got radiation was long and narrow like a tunnel. I called it the tunnel of tears because it was so hard to go down that hallway and face more treatments.”

“Like anyone who’s lived a while, I have faced trouble in my life. I went through alcoholism years ago. Someone told me that to get well, I had to go through it; I could not go around it. That stuck with me, and I put that into the song, ‘the ghostly old man smiled and nodded at me, pointed ahead through the tunnel of trees. It’s just like trouble you see, can’t go around it, it’s your fate, got to go through it, it’s the only way.’”

  See all of Bob’s lyrics available for sale at Songbay here >>

  Lyrics turned into songs-As the competition winner, we turned Bob’s winning lyric into a completed song, using our new Lyric-to-Music-Service.

The Songbay Lyric-to-Music Service

  We created two different versions, both based on the genre and stylistic elements suggested by the artist when uploading the lyric. For the first version, we used a rough sung chorus that had been provided.

How this worked

When uploading his original lyric at Songbay, Bob made use of our industry-leading audio narration feature. In addition to having lyrics beautifully displayed for sale at Songbay, lyricists can narrate their lyrics or use our supplied backing music to automatically play when a user reads their work.

Our songwriting team used Bob’s rough idea for the melody as the basis of the chorus for the newly created song.

Have a listen here (music by Chris Porter):

Before: 

https://songbay.co/songbay/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Bob-Love-Chorus.mp3

After:

https://songbay.co/songbay/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Bob-Love-completed-Chorus.mp3

 Full version of the completed song:

https://songbay.co/songbay/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-dark-Road-leads-To-Light.mp3

A completely different version using the same lyric:

https://songbay.co/songbay/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Songbay-Bob-Love-TDRLTL-FINAL-2.m4a

  Get your lyrics turned into songs with music at Songbay

‘Are you looking to have your lyrics set to music? Our team of songwriters can turn your lyrics into professionally recorded songs. Anything from a pro-quality demo to a fully mixed, radio quality master. It is an opportunity to hear your words brought to life with music and vocals. You can then use the song in whichever way you choose. 

As always with all our sales of original lyrics and songs at Songbay, you retain complete control of your lyric and can use the song however you wish, profiting from any royalties the new song may generate. It’s worth pointing out, that unless a lyric is set to music, it cannot generate any music royalties. So this is another reason for lyricists to use our new ‘Lyric-to-Music-Service’.

Bob was the first person to use this feature. He says, “The Songbay team were great working with me on the music for the song. Many thanks to Chris Porter and Gary Cubberley. We communicated by email and they matched it up just right. I was pleased. I would certainly recommend it. It’s exciting to see your song come to life.”

  Have your lyrics turned into songs here >>

  Commended Entry in the 2019 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

Dancin’ With Trees by Ric Holland  >> 

  The team behind our new services are: Gary Cubberley, Chris Porter, Valery Proletarski, Simon Graham, Olga Wells, Andrew Adigun, Andrew Hockney, Nandish Sadrani and Justine Perry.

Collectively, they have huge experience in all aspects of the music industry, including composing, songwriting, lyric writing, music production, arranging, recording, mixing, mastering, session singing and vocal coaching. They have written and recorded in session with artists such as:

Kazabian, Keane, Ellie Goulding, Ed Sheeran, Nick Cave & The BadSeeds, Patti Labelle, Jamie Cullum, West One Music, Faye Tozer, Amy Pearson, and Dagny (to name a few.) Members of our team have also been involved with prominent London West End Musicals, including Les Miserables and Billy Elliot. In the Orchestral and Opera world, with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Trinity College of Music, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Wessex Opera. Songbay’s current clients include The BBC, ITV, BBC Radio, Channel 5, BRMB, Endemol Shine, and Tiger Aspect. Corporate clients include McDonald’s, DFDs Seaways and Konica Cameras.

.

We chatted with one of the Songbay songwriters, Chris Porter, about the new service.

  What do you find most interesting when writing music for the lyrics? 

The best and most interesting thing about creating music for lyrics is the different ’shapes’ you are made to work in – because of another creative’s artistic vision. Because all lyricists have different influences, approaching other people’s lyrics will always be different from the way you approach this task with your own. This means you nearly always make music differently from the way you normally do. This, in turn, means that you often find yourself slightly outside of your comfort zone – which, as has been regularly observed, is where the magic happens! Ultimately, successful songwriting is all about synergy – the perfect coupling of music, lyrics, and atmosphere – and that’s what I always try my best to achieve. Further, under these circumstances, it is a collaborative process. And I have very often found that two heads are better than one!

What is most challenging? Combining collaboration with subjectivity. Because this process is a collaboration (and because anything creative is subjective) I’m concerned that what I make will meet the expectations of the lyricist. The more information that can be supplied in terms of style and production choice all help to head off these anxieties. As a rule of thumb, I always try to let the lyric dictate musical choices, and then try to create music that is sympathetic to the original lyric. As a writer, I might be tempted to want to edit, adjust or refine a lyric. Here, I don’t have that luxury – the lyric exists, and is to be treated as the finished article.

Any other thoughts? 

Lyrics into songs is all about communication, I find that behaviour breeds behaviour. A successful song communicates – that’s its function. And as I’m a natural enthusiast, I will always want to create something that I can get enthusiastic about. And I hope, therefore, that this is communicated in the work – be it heart-breaking ballad or angsty protest rant!

  Here’s a couple more recent examples of a Lyric-to-Music service in action:

‘Beautiful Life’ by Piper (Chorus)

What a beautiful life you led What beautiful things you left behind my friend And I know that someday We’ll meet again What a beautiful life you led

What a beautiful world

https://songbay.co/songbay/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Beautiful-life-lyric-demo-with-music-arrangement-with-sung-vocals.mp3

Music by Songbayteam member Simon GRAHAM

  The ‘Gigolo’ by J-A-Y

Verse

Another Friday night another night of interaction, beauty’s only skin deep part of attraction, she’s wearing her high heels, a see through skirt, a call designer number with a DKNY shirt. So i smoozy on over with my hat and my cane, Oscar De La Renta’s meeting macho man, they ‘play that funky music’, the DJ boosts the gain, I give her thirty minutes till she’s screaming my name.”

Chorus

“I put my Guccis on, I’m gonna put Armanis on, Gonna put my CKs on, I’m gonna put Moschinos on, She’s gonna put Versace on, She’s gonna put Givenchy on, Vivienne Westwoods’ on, She’s super sexy Ralph Lauren,

https://songbay.co/songbay/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Friday-cropped-section.mp3

Music by Songbayteam member Gary Cubberley

  Have your lyrics turned into songs here >>

  Commended Entry in the 2019 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

All The Things That Matter by Meggy

    The Lyric-Improvement-Service

“Receive professional analyses and evaluation of your lyrics. Receive detailed lyric improvement suggestions. Improve your lyric writing skills and boost your selling chances. We review and analyse your lyrics and show you how to make them stronger. We give you an independent perspective of your writing skills and the tools to become more creative!” 

We have also launched another feature for lyricists- Lyric-Improvement

You can submit your lyrics for independent professional review. Receive detailed analysis and evaluation of your new lyrics before making them available for sale at Songbay. We’ll also suggest improvements to existing lyrics from your porfolio.

We can make your lyrics work better with music, before investing time and money in composing and recording. For this reason, the Lyric Improvement Service goes hand-in-hand with our Lyric to Music service and is offered without charge when ordering the latter.

  Commended Entry in the 2019 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

‘Walking Into The Light’ by Linda Tarry

    Runners Up

The term ‘Runner up’ is not completely accurate here, since several of our judges had the following lyrics marked as their winners!

Sheree Shaw

Our competition runners-up were Sheree Shaw and Emma Chute. They are both talented lyricists, who have been on Songbay for several years. Their writing skills are often in demand for collaboration projects with other artists. Sheree is based in Scotland, UK, and Emma in Perth, Western Australia.

As part of their prizes, they received exclusive free access to our new lyric-improvement-feature.

They shared their thoughts with us on the task of writing to a given image.

Sheree’s winning lyric was: ‘Out of the Woods, Into The Light‘. She said, “When I was given the task of writing the lyric based on the picture, I looked at the picture and wrote what I thought the picture represented. I felt it showed a feeling of being lost and someone who was trying to hide from the outside but could see that there was light. I would write a lyric based on a picture again as I found it helpful for bringing new ideas.”

Emma’s winning lyric was “Ol Piney Grove“. She told us, “I actually wasn’t going to enter as my writing usually just starts and then goes on, so to write on a subject took a lot of thought. I was driving and saw a place called Piney lakes. So initially the lyric was going to be a lot darker. But then I saw the house in my head and the man and the story just came but it was very challenging. I was very surprised and did a little dance around when I found I had come as a runner up.”

Here’s what they had to say on the Lyric Improvement Service:

Emma: “The lyric appraisal was very helpful. It showed me where I can miss giving the whole story or finish too quickly.”

Sheree: “When I received my appraisal I found it helpful and will be using the advice in my future work.”

If you would like analyses, evaluation, and feedback on your lyrics from our team, you can find the service in your user area at Songbay. Just choose ‘Lyric-Improvement’ after uploading. There are two options to choose from – Standard and Advanced. The latter also includes suggestions for re-wording the structure of the lyric as well as alternative word choices and phrases. It also gives you our complimentary guide ”Revamping Clichés” with expert advice on boosting the quality of your lyrics and many other useful writing tips and tricks.

  Commended Entry in the 2019 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

The Walk of Defiance by Sheena Hope

  Chris Porter is involved closely with the new lyric improvement service. These are his thoughts:

“I do my best to bring to bear my English education in tandem with my decades of listening! Whilst there are all manner of rules concerning grammar and form, the poetry of lyric-writing is a wholly more fluid affair, and I tend to apply a perspective of ‘feel’ over the rigour of simple English appreciation. I also consider flow. The simple sounds of the words all feed into a considered appraisal. Whilst I sometimes wish it were as simple as ‘I like this’ or ‘I don’t like that’, I recognise that kind of close-minded thinking as the opposite of what creativity should be about. Ultimately, however, ‘feel’ tends to win. Does it communicate? Does it make you feel things? Does it get your intended message across? These are the kinds of things that appraisals should address. I favour a holistic approach to appraisal, therefore. And certainly not just whether it rhymes or repeats enough – though that can be important, too!”

  Commended Entry in the 2019 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

‘Find The Way Through’ by 3 Song Writers From Scotland

  So how did we choose our competition winners?

With great difficulty!

As always when auditioning original lyrics for sale at Songbay, we were looking for strong writing techniques – use of metaphor, personification, alliteration, poeticism, and emotion. Additionally, we considered how closely the lyric followed the given brief and whether we could see it working when set to music.

We all had different opinions and favourite entries…

All the judges made shortlists of favourite entries. From this, we were able to create an ‘in common pool’ of the Top 20 entries.  The winners and runners-up were finally selected after hours of deliberation.

  Commended Entry 

‘Break In The Trees’ by Zephyrhillmusic 

  List of All Prize Winners in 2019 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition

  Here is a list of winners, runners up, and commended entries from the competition:

  First Place Winners:

Bob Love  ‘The Dark Road Leads to Light’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2337184/

Maria Teresa Guzman  ‘Life Under The Woods’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2337263/

  Runners Up:

Emma Chute  ‘Ol Piney Grove’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2337161

Sheree Shaw  ‘Out of the Woods, Into the Light’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2337223

  Highly Commended:

(Not in any order of preference)

Ric Holland  ‘Dancin’ With Trees’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2337219

Meggy  ‘All The Things That Matter’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2336844

Sheena Hope  ‘The Walk of Defiance’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2336748

Zephyrhillmusic  ‘Break in the Trees’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2337224

3 Songwriters From Scotland  ‘Find The Way Through’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2337210

Linda Tarry  ‘Walking Into The Light’ – https://songbay.co/view-lyric/2336778

    We’re delighted at the success of the competition and would once again like to thank everyone who took part.  We’ve already started planning the Songbay Lyric Writing Competition 2020!

  Do you want your lyrics turned into songs? do you want to use our lyric improvement feature? Do you want your existing song improved, re-arranged with professional musicians and instrumentalists, or re-recorded and mastered? if so, don’t hesitate to get in contact with us for more details at enquiries@songbay.co

Contact Us >>

Fact: Songbay is the world’s largest original lyric library. It is a home for composers, songwriters, producers and song and lyric buyers. They are all looking to connect with each other! Songbay offers free copyright registration of all uploads and sellers keep 100% of sale fees.

  **Unfortunately, we were unable to contact one of the recipients of the winner award. We’re hoping to update on this soon.

  Features Covered in this article

  Lyrics -to-Music-Service

Lyric-Improvement-Service

        The Songbay Lyric Writing Competition was originally published on Songbay Music and Lyric Sales

[jonestowers]

‘But Doctor...I AM Boy Genius!’

For a few years now I’ve been a keen follower of the Left And To The Back blog, where Dave Bryant plucks a forgotten record from the racks and writes about it. I’m always struck by the number of entries which end with some variation on ‘…no one knows who the line up were, or how this came to be made.’

Seeing these dead ends always makes me think of the band I was in, and the record we released.

Like a lot of the records highlighted by Left And To The Back, it sank without trace and, having come out in 2003 - just pre Web 2.0 -  there’s virtually nothing about it online. This being the case, I’m writing this post so that if anyone ever picks up a copy of that single and googles the band, or song title, something will come up. Also, it came out fifteen years ago this week…

The band was called Boy Genius and the lead track on our ep was ‘As Long As The Sun Shines’. I was the keyboard player in the band, having joined two years earlier. We were called Serotonin at the time and played as a three piece (guitar/vocals, bass and keyboards, backed by a drum machine). The other members were Mark Estall (guitar, vocals and songwriting) and Matthew Denley (bass).

Of the songs on the ep, the first two (As Long As The Sun Shines and A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away) were in our set in this first incarnation.

In the second half of 2001 we recorded a demo (‘Crutches For Cripples’) and, I think, sent it out to venues in order to get gigs. We also must have sent it to Radio One because Steve Lamacq played a song from it on the Evening Session some point late in 2001 (in fact, he played half of the song in question because the second half had the word ‘fucked’ in it).

At some point in 2002 we changed names and became Boy Genius, playing lots of gigs around Camden and New Cross. By now we had sequenced backing tracks for gigs, along with some electronica-y interludes.

It was at one of these gigs, playing Nemo’s ‘The System’ night at the Water Rats on Gray’s Inn Road, that we met producer Julian Standen. We were impressed that he had produced The Lemonheads’ cover of Mrs Robinson (as well, it turns out, as a lot of other impressive credits). He gave us his card and asked us to call him. We made the call a few days later and fixed up a date to visit him at his studio, The Library in Harringey.

At this meeting (and a few subsequent ones), Julian outlined a deal to us whereby he would record a high-quality demo with us, producing it and sourcing a good session drummer, in return for a cut of the publishing on the songs.

After a lot of discussion and reading up on such matters, we agreed and contracts were drawn up. These were looked over by the Musicians’ Union (the singer was a member), some small changes were suggested and then we all signed.

As a result of this I own some unlikely-sounding percentage (16.5% or 12.3% perhaps) of the publishing on the songs on the demo.

With the demo recorded, we had a couple of hundred copies made and sent them out to an industry mailing list provided by Julian. There must be quite a few of them still out there as they keep coming up on eBay. I think I prefer the version of As Long As The Sun Shines on this demo to the final version.

One of the people (or perhaps the only person) to respond to the demo was Justin de Takats from CEC Management. He came to see us play and we had some meetings and he asked us if we felt we needed a manager. He seemed nice, and had been involved with managing people like the Boo Radleys and Kenickie (here he is  in a really depressing documentary made during the latter’s final tour).

Also, Justin had a record label; Mother Tongue. In the past this had briefly been home to My Life Story among others. In addition to managing us, he wanted to put out an ep on this label. We were naturally very pleased about this.

We signed another publishing contract with Justin, splitting the publishing on the three supporting tracks with him (that’s why on the inner cover there are different publishing details for the first song to the other three).

For reasons I can’t remember, we opted not to go with Julian Standen for the ep, opting instead for Robert King. Robert was in a band called Alternative 3, who may have been another management interest of Justin. We set dates for recording.

By now we had a drummer, whose name was John. I can’t remember (or possibly never knew) his surname. He was very good and made a living playing in a Greek wedding band.

Recording of the ep took place at Robert’s studio which was beneath a pool hall in Gunnersbury. I remember it was the same week as Sugababes’ Freak Like Me came out (22nd April 2002) as I’d just bought it and listened to it on the way to and from the sessions.

We took a week to do the bulk of recording for the ep, along with lots of half days and evenings in subsequent weeks. The harp on the fourth song was played by Linnea Malmberg, who was a friend of a friend. She recorded a harp part which ran through the whole song but only the glissandi at the opening and close were used on the final version.

The high harmonies on As Long As The Sun Shines were provided by Justin Dempsey, the singer from Robert King’s band Alternative 3.

On the last day available for recording I stayed on at the studio while Robert finished the mixing. For reasons I can’t remember I had to take the tape reels away with me and keep hold of them so they came back in a cab with me to Highgate, where I lived at the time.

I have very little memory of what happened between completion of recording and the ep coming out.

Our manager recommended Simon ‘Spud’ Beggs (as he’s credited on the back sleeve) as a very good masterer so early one Saturday morning the singer and I took a train out to…Penge or somewhere to Simon’s flat where we sat a listened while he did computer things and mastered the four songs. We were there about half an hour.

We had more meetings with Justin to talk about artwork etc. The broad outline of what would be on the cover was decided and each of us did a version of it, with a view towards choosing the best one. As my day job at the time was in Kensington, I sat under a tree in Kensington Palace Gardens with paper and crayons to do my attempt. In the end we used the one the singer had done. He also drew the picture on the back (above). The pictures on the cd itself (below)  were by Justin’s children (they’re credited on the back of the packaging).

At some point in this period we made a video for the song. After work one day I went to CEC Management’s offices in Camden and picked up a video camera. That weekend we filmed the video in and around Greenwich (where the singer and bass player lived). The man with the bottle of wine at 1:44 is our one-time guitarist Matthew Babbs. The video was shot and produced by Alfredo Velardi, who was house-sharing with the singer at the time.

It must have been around this time that we got our website up and running – its non-more-noughties Flash-laden front page is viewable on the waybackmachine.

In planning for the release there was talk of sorting out proper distribution but as far as I know this didn’t happen and the ep ended up being stocked in a couple of shops around the country; the ones I’m aware of were Rough Trade (Ladbroke Grove and Covent Garden), Rhythm Records in Camden and Piccadilly Records in Manchester (who remarkably still have it in stock, along with the only write-up of the thing I’m aware of).

The release date was set for September 25th 2003. As far as I recall we didn’t do a launch gig or anything like that. The singer, bassist, a new guitarist and myself met up in a pub somewhere in Notting Hill late afternoon that day and trooped off to Rough Trade to buy a copy each. I subsequently bought one from Rhythm Records too.

As far as I remember 350 copies were produced and I think I was told subsequently that most of them had sold.

I’m not aware of any radio play for the song; a friend said he’d heard it once on XFM but we never had any confirmation of that.

In that pre-social media age the only way to track online reaction to the ep was by googling ‘Boy Genius’ + ‘The Far Away Sunshine Is The Guiding Light Of My New Religion’. Doing so brought up one page from Portugal and one from Thailand. Both showed the ep’s lead song in a chart of some kind, although due to the language barrier, what kind of chart it was remained unclear. It can’t have been a sales chart, due to the small number produced and lack of proper distribution. Perhaps it was a playlist chart. I’ve still got printouts of both these webpages somewhere. I’ll check them one day.

Whatever the outcome, the manager must have been pleased with how things had gone as before long we were back in the same studio recording another ep, followed by lengthy sessions on an album.

It was towards the end of the album sessions that the band’s singer informed us that he would be carrying on the band without us, so that was the end of Boy Genius. Songs from those sessions were re-worked and were later released under another band name, but that’s not a story I know much about.

The Boy Genius ep remains (and likely ever will remain) the only record I’ve appeared on that came out under the traditional music industry model.

I’d wanted from the age of about seven to be in a band and have a record in the shops and, if nothing else, this release fulfilled that wish.

________________________________________________________________

When I work out a way of putting the three other songs from the ep online I’ll do a write-up of the whole thing, explaining such exciting matters as what was left out of the ‘radio edit’ of the a-side, and what’s wrong with all the keyboard parts...