#It just adds a chaotic layer to the whole piece that really pulls it together

[starscreamingg]

okay I know the amazing spiderman 2 isn't the best but why does Electro's theme FUCK

[cherrygirlystuff]

DIY Fashion: Crafting Your Own Indie Sleaze-Inspired Wardrobe 🎨

Hey babe, ready to dive into the world of DIY fashion and create a wardrobe that’s as unique and iconic as you are? 🌟 The indie sleaze aesthetic is all about embracing that effortlessly cool, slightly chaotic vibe, and the best part? You don’t need to break the bank to achieve it. With a little creativity, some thrifted gems, and a few DIY techniques, you can craft a wardrobe that screams indie sleaze while staying true to your personal style. Let’s get into it!

1. Thrift Store Treasures: The Hunt Begins

First things first, your indie sleaze wardrobe starts at the thrift store. This is where you’ll find those perfectly worn-in pieces that are essential for the look. Think vintage band tees, oversized flannels, and distressed jeans that have just the right amount of edge.

What to Look For: Keep an eye out for leather jackets, graphic tees, slip dresses, and anything with a grungy, lived-in feel. The more unique, the better! Don’t be afraid to dig through the racks—you never know what hidden gems you’ll find.

Pro Tip: Hit up thrift stores in different neighborhoods or cities for a wider variety of styles. And don’t be afraid to venture into the men’s section—you can find the best oversized flannels and jackets there!

2. DIY Distressing: Making It Yours

Once you’ve got your thrifted pieces, it’s time to make them your own with some DIY distressing. The goal is to create that perfectly imperfect look that feels authentic and a little rebellious.

How to Distress: Grab a pair of scissors, a cheese grater, or some sandpaper and go to town on your denim and tees. Focus on areas like the hems, pockets, and edges to give them that worn-in, grungy vibe.

Bleaching & Dying: For an extra edge, try bleaching or tie-dyeing your pieces to give them a custom, one-of-a-kind look. You can create cool patterns or just go for an overall faded effect that looks totally effortless.

3. Layering Like a Pro: Mix, Match, and Mismatch

Indie sleaze fashion is all about layering, so don’t be afraid to mix and match different textures, patterns, and styles. The key is to look like you just threw something on and it just happens to look amazing.

Layering Essentials: Start with a basic slip dress or a pair of skinny jeans, then add an oversized band tee or flannel. Top it off with a vintage leather jacket or a chunky cardigan, and you’re good to go.

Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to clash! Mix patterns like plaid with stripes, or pair a delicate dress with a tough leather jacket. The beauty of indie sleaze is that there are no rules—just your own unique style.

4. DIY Customization: Personalize Your Pieces

Ready to take things up a notch? DIY customization is where your personality really shines through. This is your chance to create pieces that are 100% you.

Patches & Pins: Add some flair to your jackets, bags, and jeans with DIY patches and pins. You can find these at craft stores, online, or even make your own from old fabric scraps or prints.

Embroidery & Painting: If you’re feeling extra crafty, try your hand at embroidery or fabric painting. Add some lyrics from your favorite band, a cool design, or just your initials to make your pieces truly one-of-a-kind.

Pro Tip: Use fabric markers to doodle or write on your clothes. It’s an easy way to add a personal touch without needing any special skills or equipment.

5. Accessorize the Sleaze: Final Touches

Accessories are the finishing touches that pull your whole look together. Think chunky boots, layered necklaces, and lots of rings. The goal is to look like you just threw everything on in a hurry but still look effortlessly cool.

Footwear: Go for combat boots, old-school sneakers, or worn-in ankle boots. The more scuffed up, the better—it adds to that lived-in, indie vibe.

Jewelry: Pile on the rings, bracelets, and necklaces. Mix metals, wear multiple necklaces at different lengths, and don’t be afraid to stack your rings. More is more!

Bags & Hats: Finish off your look with a slouchy beanie, a vintage hat, or a crossbody bag. These little details can really elevate your outfit and make it feel complete.

6. Confidence is Key: Rock Your Look

At the end of the day, the most important part of any outfit is confidence. Indie sleaze is all about embracing your individuality and not caring what anyone else thinks. So throw on your DIY creations, strut your stuff, and own your unique style!

Pro Tip: The best way to feel confident is to be comfortable in what you’re wearing. Make sure your DIY pieces reflect your true self, and you’ll feel amazing no matter what you put on.

Final Thoughts, Babe: You’re the Indie Sleaze Queen

And there you have it, your ultimate guide to crafting your own indie sleaze-inspired wardrobe! 🎨 From thrift store hunts to DIY customization, you’ve got all the tools you need to create outfits that are totally you. Remember, indie sleaze is all about embracing imperfection, mixing and matching, and most importantly, having fun with your fashion.

What DIY projects are you excited to try? Share your creations with me, and let’s inspire each other to keep the indie sleaze spirit alive! Happy crafting, babe! ✨

[itskyleeyo]

hadestown brain dump (songs)

SPOILERS FOR HADESTOWN/THE STORY OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE

ok so it may have been more than a few days, but what're you gonna do about it?

so i wanted to do another brain dump, and i wanted to listen to hadestown, so i'm doing a song by song brain dump as i go along. this means that my thoughts are going to be even more stream-of-consciousness style (if that's even possible.) also i'm talking specifically about the original broadway cast recording bc i haven't listened to any other version. (also this was completed across multiple months so it is even more chaotic lmao).

also i highly recommend that you listen to the musical and/or pull up the lyrics as you go along! enjoy!

road to hell. the way andre brings in the chorus is flawless please. also the way that hermes is both a narrator and a character in the story he's narrating? beautiful. "the king of the mine." he sounds so nice here for some reason. also love his self-introduction "maybe it will turn out this time" no it won't but thank you for trying. also breaking the fourth wall to acknowledge the chorus and crew is so nice, here comes reeve ;) mans sounds like an angel. you can hear amber's voice stick out of the chorus and i literally love it so much. i'd die for amber gray but we'll get to that later.

any way the wind blows. the fates literally sound so perfect together. Eva's intro throws me off every time, she sounds so pretty. dear god the harmonies with the fates hit so different. can this cast please narrate my life? there's the wind comparisons ;D the "ooos" are so good. "and it ain't because i'm kind" idk i just like how andre sounds here. oh and the funny behind "so i took him underneath my wing" because hermes has wings on his helmet and shoes.

come home with me. orpheus is so oblivious but i love it. also eurydice is literally such a mood. the wordplay with "come again". the "oh, he's crazy" is my favorite part of the whole song. also eva's voice acting is so good.

wedding song. the way she says "lover"? my ass cannot handle this. eva sounds so smug in the beginning of this song and i love it. "sing the song ;)" eurydice is so fantastic. the chorus of "la" is so pretty. eva joining in during the end is just. so perfect.

epic i. hell yeah introduce the king and queen (both literally and figuratively). reeve's falsetto <3 the way orpheus looks to hermes for approval throughout the musical. hermes narrating over orpheus singing.

livin' it up on top. HELL YES THE QUEEN HAS ARRIVED. i love amber gray so much. the gravel and the rasp. please step on me. also i love the idea of persephone being the wine aunt, especially because media usually portrays her as soft and breakable. the way she says "haaard". the way the music gets more upbeat and energetic when hermes says "the world came back to liiife!" the instrumental/dance? break is so good. please kill me with that trumpet good sir. the leadup to when amber starts singing again. orpheus really knows how to give a speech. "i will ;)" amber please step on me i am not joking.

all i've ever known (intro). thank you for the intro king. the music is so pretty. the way it picks up with the piano part <3

all i've ever known. eva sounds so pretty dear god. yay more wind references! the wordplay with "hold". and also the references to hot and cold throughout the musical. "i don't wanna ever have to let you go." lol ironic because she ends up going with hades. "i knew you before we met, and i don't even know you yet." the fucking wordplay. like holy shit. the "love at first sight" feelings. this line gets me every damn time. the wordplay from 2:10 - 2:38 is so fucking incredible. i lose it every time istg. the instrumental portion is so pretty. the wind! "we'll always be like this" i fucking love irony so much. its so underrated and adds so many layers to the story.

way down hadestown. amber gray. that's it. "you either get to hell or to hadestown, ain't no difference anymore". i fucking love this line so much. not really sure why but the delivery is perfect. also the whole thing with it being a train? i love that so much. all the allusions and comparisons they can make are fantastic. more amber gray appreciation. and ofc. the fates. more fantastic instrumental breaks. "and you better forget about your wishing well." this line is so good but so sad because its literally persephone saying that "hey, fair warning, life is shit down there" and i feel bad for her. like the way she's super sassy and shit, but just stops singing when hades gets there, you can tell that she's definitely not ok. speaking of hades, holy shit patrick page. sounds so fucking fantastic. thank you for existing good sir. eva with the breathtaking single lines. and eva's voice standing out when she sings "ground".

a gathering storm. the constant references to weather and nature throughout the whole musical. eurydice with the common sense. the wind again! "did you hear me, orpheus?" he did not, in fact, hear her.

epic ii. the different names for hades in each epic make me so happy. hades thoughts: "i think my wife might not come back cause i'm super controlling. whatever shall i do? oh, i know! be even more controlling!" lmao dumbass motherfucker. that might not work out so well. i fucking love the transition into "chant" so much.

chant. this is one of my favorite songs from the musical. the wordplay within the entire song is so fucking fantastic. hades singing about desire and then orpheus singing the "song of love" was definitely done on purpose and i'm living for it. every single one of eva's lines make me emotional. ma'am why are you good at everything?? the band! more weather references! patrick page singing "lover" hits different. orpheus singing about hades and persephone being blind and deaf. lmao irony because he's not paying attention to anything around him. the wind! weather! "the song of love" is what brought orpheus and eurydice together, but orpheus' devotion to finishing it is what drives eurydice to hades. "did you think i'd be impressed" i was right ;) it didn't work out so well.

hey, little songbird. the strings <3 patrick page is a god (lol i'm so funny). how does he manage to make manipulation sound so good? bird references! the vocal contrast! eva's voice has this kind of "innocence" to it. especially compared to patrick. not sure if that's on purpose or not, but i love it. also the low note kills me every time. the octave jumps between patrick and eva's voices is just. ugh. and also eva's entire second verse is so fucking good. the emotion she portrays in her voice is so spectacular. seriously hades with the manipulation is so interesting and its so good. (manipulation is not a good thing i just mean that its done so well in the show. do not manipulate people!)

when the chips are down (intro). "your ticket ;)" yes pls sir i'll take a ticket cause life sucks ass.

when the chips are down. i fucking love the fates dear god. gambling references! eva has literally one line and still owns my heart. the band! "shoot to kill" sounds so good like i love it so much pls. also this fucking line "cast your eyes to heaven, you get a knife in the back" is so good. i'm gonna have to get into quite a few lines throughout the musical in a different brain dump because i have so much thought.

gone, i'm gone. darling eurydice. its not your fault that you're starving stop apologizing. "talk of sin" lol she do be going to hell. that's funny. the harmonies.

wait for me (intro). the piano. heremes trying to change the subject hurts my heart. and orpheus' reaction is so sad please. "no.." just rip my fucking heart out, why don't you?

wait for me. the transition. andre coming in clutch with the narration. reeve sounds wonderful, as always. the fucking fates. just kill me already. they literally sound so good. the strings' build up between the "la"s. the chorus. the buildup at the end.

why we build the wall. the total 180 in the vibes. call and response has a special pace in my heart. mr page killing it again. god, hades is such a piece of shit and its perfect. he really is a master manipulator. fuck capitalism. the chorus sounds so good. i want to platonically smooch all of them. jesus fucking christ burn capitalism to the ground. the end is amazing. also the not-so-subtle references to slavery/forced labor.

why we build the wall (outro). i'd die for andre. "anybody want a drink?" yes ma'am. yes please. (don't drink, kids) i love you so much.

our lady of the underground. its so jazzy! jesus fucking christ. oh my fucking god. i would literally sell my soul for amber gray. what did we ever do to deserve her? god the raspiness fucking kills me. also love that she breaks the fourth wall to acknowledge the band. when she comes back in after the instrumental break? consider me dead. "what the boss don't know, the boss won't mind" she sounds so good here. also i love that she straight up doesn't give a fuck about hades here.

way down hadestown (reprise). hell yeah i love reprises. the fates. andre. the chorus. i love them all. i'm such a whore for reoccurring lyrics. the strings! fuck capitalism! eva's emotions are just so fucking good. "you've already forgot?" holy shit. this shit hurted. the "ahh ooh"s are so good.

flowers. the intro <3. eva sounds so pretty. the fucking symbolism in this song is incredible. i'm gonna get into this in another brain dump bc it's a very sensitive topic. the fact that she can't actually fully remember orpheus makes me so sad. so pretty <3

come home with me (reprise). hell yeah another reprise. the way the music is much more upbeat when orpheus shows up. their excitement! eva's vocal emotions are literally so fantastic pls.

papers (intro). "young mannn" kill me patrick. train references! hell yeah persephone. the way andre gets louder when he says "raised up his voice." eva <3. reeve just always sounds so pretty. ohmygod the laugh. kill me good sir. mans straight up admits to owning people and is like "it's cool tho cause they signed a piece of paper. def not taking advantage of people that are literally starving or anything. it's fine." fuck you hades. go step on a fucking lego. orpheus is so sad :(

papers (instrumental). yes. sounds so good. i'm imagining an epic chase scene. the transition into nothing changes <3

nothing changes. respectfully? the fates could kill me any day and i'd thank them. the weather reference! that "anyhow" is so fucking good istg.

if it's true. another one of my favorites. pop off intro. the broken "is this how the world is?" sadly, yes. "but everybody knows that walls have ears." is literally such a powerful line to me for some reason. it does a great job of bringing in the chorus. and by calling the workers "walls" it shows that hades views them as "less than." they aren't even referred to as people. "what's the use of his backbone if he never stands upright." oh my god. because they literally cannot stand upright. anais mitchell is literally a fucking genius. fuck the 1%. gambling references! the chorus backing him is just so pretty. the way orpheus looks to the chorus for advice and support. "we're standing." ugh its so good.

how long. oh my fucking god. amber fucking gray. (that's it, that's the post). the way she sounds resigned/disappointed when she says "i've had enough" makes me so sad. there are no words to describe how i feel about 0:25 - 0:41. like their relationship is strained, and super mega fucked up, but it's obvious that they still care about one another. the emotion in their voices throughout this song is fantastic. the play on light and dark. also more bird references! how they view themselves/their self importance. hades is a most importantly king. persephone is most importantly a wife. it really show that hades views power as more important than anything else. "nothing comes of the songs people sing." holy fucking shit. cause their song is the "song of love," but they can barely stand each other and their relationship has fallen apart. persephone commenting on his love of power over his love of her. amber's voice during "the earth must die" is so nice and for what? god i love her. they sound so nice together <3

chant (reprise). another favorite hehe. the strings! it's all just so pretty. when the piano comes in i die a little. the self realization coming from the chorus when they're like "oh shit, this is wrong. i don't deserve to be treated like this." is so fucking fantastic. the "young mannn" again! hades really be like "manipulate her! make her depend on you financially! i've been ding this a while kid! i know how to successfully control women!" reeve sounds so pretty pls. the way that eurydice has basically become part of the chorus (since she's just another worker now). more self realization! the different ways that hades and orpheus view the "song of love." "sing before i kill you so i can use it to manipulate my wife and make her feel like shit." patrick's voice tho.

epic iii. reeve coming in with that falsetto like nobody's business. orpheus really about to bite you in the ass with your own damn song. amber gray <3. the "ooo"s in the background. the way the music picks up when reeve gets to the "la"s. it's just so fucking good. that falsetto again. orpheus really looked at the king of hell, a literal god, and said "i want to ruin him psychologically" and it fucking worked. which is some of my favorite irony because hades wouldn't have shit if it weren't for that fact that he's a good manipulator and takes advantage of the needy. that last line <3

epic iii (instrumental). i have no words for how fucking beautiful this is. i so desperately want an extended version. like for real love this so much. if i get married, i want this to be the song for the first dance.

promises. eurydice is so proud of him for finishing. the way that eurydice realized that she cares about him more that material objects. wind and weather references! "if we can do it so can they!" she sounds so excited. :( "hand-in-hand" lol nope. not them refencing wedding song, anyway the wind blows, and then giving their "i do"s. absolutely heart wrenching.

word to the wise. the fates. pls step on me ladies. the lyrics throughout this are so fucking good. lol hades being damned. cause he's the king of hell. honestly its solid advice tho. humans are really fucking stupid.

his kiss, the riot. give us them adjectives king. " how dare people want rights! >:(" hades is really trying to make himself the good guy rn. the music! 2:15 - 3:03 is so good pls. the lyrics are just so spectacular.

wait for me (reprise) (intro). hello again andre! hermes literally says "he's trying to psych you out and manipulate you. he wants you to doubt everything" and orpheus says "are you sure tho?" and then procedes to doubt everything. the way the music changes is <3. the song transition.

wait for me (reprise). my absolute fucking favorite song in this musical. the first fucking lyric is so good. it really sets an expectation for the song and i am not disappointed. lyrics that talk about how fucked up any single person's brain is are so fucking cool to me. god i love this song. how soft the first set of "wait for me"s are. the support/pressure from the chorus. the entire exchange between hades and persephone. the way amber's voice sticks out of the chorus. the fates coming in clutch again. train references! more brain talk! amber gray please end me. eva sounds so pretty. and the final note is so good!

doubt comes in. the long intro that builds up suspense. the first time that orpheus's "la"s aren't echoed by the chorus/music. wind! weather! the fates sound so pretty like always. reeve genuinely sounds so scared. the way the music picks up and the chorus joins in when eurydice starts singing. the music is so unsettling and i love it. god i love his voice. 3:44 - 3:57 always hits so different. you realize just how much she means to him. how it all goes to shit when the music reaches the climax. the fact that the music clashes on purpose. the sadness in their voices.

road to hell (reprise). it all comes full circle. god andre sounds so sad. the way you come to really hear the lyrics because there's no upbeat music to distract you this time, "its a tragedy" lol because the actual written story is a tragedy. "i learned that from a friend of mine" poor orpheus :(. the way the chorus slowly joins in and the music slowly picks up. the "can you feel it" is literally so fucking powerful. fuck yes amber. fuck it up queen. amber and eva sound so nice together. the "its a love song, its a sad song" is so sad. the final lyric is just. ugh.

we raise our cups. yes pls amber. this song is so pretty. good night queen.

[darlingsdevil]

The Ballads of Rebirth (Arthur Morgan x Reader)

Chapter 15: Full Circle

Summary: The big day. All rejoice!

Masterlist

Tag list: @rollyjogerjones

I still can’t add a read more tab on mobile.. sorry about that :/

A/N: Sorry for my long hiatus, not been super motivated lately so I made this chapter extra long for you guys! Longer than any thing I’ve written before (!!).I promise I sort have been doing productive things.. I guess. Listening to music (Hozier, Lord Huron, Gregory Alan Isakov and the Oh Hello’s are what got this chapter done), playing fallout 76 (I know), working, schoolwork, planning other fics (I have a big announcement coming up!!!)

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: I wanted to clear some things up in terms of plot hole. My dumbass mistakenly has said that Reader has been in the gang for 15 years, not true - it’s been around 10, but a little less than John (like 3 ish months after him). I have also previously said that John and Reader joined the gang together, again, not true but I already fixed it. Reader joined the gang after John after Arthur saved her from the gang who kidnapped her. Hope this wasn’t too confusing.

As for the ending... yeah.. next chapter, and then epilogue. Not sure that many of you will stay around for the AU - which will be posted SEPARATE, after you read the actual ending >:3c Anyways, here we go.

This is all supposed to be italicized.. it’s italicized on wattpad and ao3, just tumblr decided to be a bitch and not transfer it that way and I’m too lazy to change each paragraph to italics.. so let’s just pretend it is.

•••

Shady Belle was an interesting place for a wedding, it seemed. You had been ushered away from Arthur in the morning, and carted away to Saint Denis with the rest of the women, claiming Shady Belle would be too chaotic to get ready in, which really meant they didn’t want you to get ready with the men around. They had raided your room when the sun rose, waking Arthur too. You were barely able to kiss him goodbye, they carted you out of the room that fast. You wanted to lie next to him all morning, enveloped in his warmth, but your friends had different plans.

Saint Denis was such a difference compared to Chicago, the city you grew up in. You were an orphan living in the cold streets, just barely getting by. You worked in a textile factory for as long as you could remember. You lived in a cheap, one bedroom apartment, before that you simply slept in alleyways with other orphans, huddling by fires. You were uneducated, poor, and always hungry. A man kidnapped you on your way home from work one late evening, and the next thing you knew you were in a cabin in the desert, surrounded by men with guns and a nasty look on their face. Arthur was your savior, Dutch was your teacher, John was your brother, Abigail was your sister, Hosea was your father and the Van der Linde gang was your family.

But that was a long time now. Your wedding was merely hours away.

Arthur was nervous about the whole thing, he didn’t want to make a big deal out of the wedding but Dutch decided otherwise. Dutch thought a wedding was exactly what the entire gang needed, to boost everyone’s morals he had told you. You were beyond nervous for your big day, but with Arthur by your side, the impossible became possible.

Miss Grimshaw was the head of it all, the mastermind of the party. She set everything on a strict schedule, where everyone needed to be and when. She was a godsend during this time, otherwise the wedding would no doubt end up in a shed with you wearing a white sheet as a wedding dress.

Mary Beth was absolutely bouncing off the walls at the idea of a wedding, she thought it was incredibly romantic — two outlaws falling in love. It was something out of those novels she adores.

Saint Denis was hot, humid, and made you feel sticky with sweat. It didn’t help you would be wearing a heavy dress later that day either, but you didn’t mind. Nothing could or would bring you down today.

The first stop to your magical day was the salon. You got your hair trimmed and styled, as well as some makeup, keeping it simple. A few of the other women got their hair done as well. They all looked beautiful. The women could not hide their excitement for you, even a few patrons of the salon came up and congratulated you. Their talk seemingly echoed off the walls.

Abigail put the hair clip in your styled hair, it was a beautiful piece, elegant and dazzling. It was gold with a large pearl at the top and smaller jewels surrounding it. It matched your locket perfectly. Arthur had bought the hair clip for you a few days before.

When you were ready to leave the salon, it was time for the dress store, where you had left the dress. You didn’t want Arthur to see it, and it would no doubt get soiled at Shady Belle. Some of the other women had bought new dresses for the special occasion as well.

You picked it up from the counter, and walked over to the dressing room. All the women sat down on the benches outside of the dressing room, waiting for the big reveal. A few of them had already seen it, as they had gone with you when you picked it out, but none of them had seen you in your full wedding attire.

When you slipped it on over your undergarments you felt like you were floating on a cloud. You were absolutely beautiful. You felt like you could conquer the world in the dress. It was incredibly pretty, it had a loose layered bodice, with lace woven in, long ruffled sleeves and an a-line skirt. You felt your heart strings pull at the mere sight of it, you wondered what Arthur would think of it.

You slowly pushed the door open, hearing your loud heartbeat in your ears. You heard a wave of audible gasps, and then a few squeals, you eyed your white heels nervously, hesitantly looking up at all their faces.

They were all smiling, a few covering their mouths in joy.

“You look so pretty!” Tilly shouted, the rest of the women agreed. You smiled shyly, doing a small twirl.

“I really like the dress,” You said, feeling the cloth sway with you.

“I’d be surprised if Arthur didn’t drop dead the moment he sees you,” Mary Beth said playfully.

“Do you really think so?” You questioned.

“Of course. The man will have a heart attack right there, on the altar,” Molly responded.

You giggled, “I don’t want that to happen!”

“You look so beautiful,” Mary Beth repeated. You nodded her head at her, a smile on your lips.

“I’m so nervous though,” You confessed, sitting down next to Miss Grimshaw. You gripped the edge of the wooden bench, hoping to calm your nerves.

“It’s normal to be nervous, if you aren’t, there’s something wrong.” Sadie was the only married one in the gang, you trusted her advice.

“What if something goes wrong?”

“Nothing will be going wrong today, everyone is going to make sure nothing bad happens,” Abigail reassured you.

“Are you sure? I mean what if Arthur suddenly gets cold feet? What if O’Driscolls raid our camp?”

“If the O’Driscolls try to mess up your day, they’ll have to get through me,” Sadie said rather determinedly, a strange glint in her eye. You would not want to be an O’Driscoll when Sadie Adler was around, or an O’Driscoll in general for that matter.

“Arthur would never turn his back on you. We all see the way he looks at you,” Mary Beth said, a noise of agreement was heard. Mary Beth was right, Arthur would never turn his back on you, you were sure of it.

“Arthur and you do make a handsome couple. I can tell you’re really in love,” Molly responded.

“Thank you, Molly.” You smiled at her.

“We best be getting going, we wouldn’t want her to miss her big day,” Karen reminded everyone. It was getting late after all, there were still some things to do before the ceremony, such as making sure all the men were getting ready instead of getting drunk off their asses. Luckily, most of the preparations were done the night before, but there were still some finishing touches required.

Everyone fretted for you and Arthur to simply sit back and let everyone get your wedding prepared for you. You were wary of coming off as lazy at first, but the gang assured you it was your turn to sit back and relax, after all weddings were supposed to be happy and stress free. So you let everyone pitch in, even Uncle helped.

“Let’s head back then. The bouquet still needs the ribbons in it, we need to make sure dinner is being prepared-” Miss Grimshaw already began barking orders, Karen and Tilly both groaned. Everyone began to get up, gathering all their belongings.

“And you, Miss Morgan, we need you to head inside immediately once we arrive, we can’t have your dress get dirty,” Miss Grimshaw told you as you walked through the streets to get to the wagons.

“And don’t let Arthur see you, it’s bad luck, you know,” Sadie's voice rang out from behind you.

“I know!”

•••

When the rowdy wagons finally came to a stop in front of Shady Belle, you were immediately taken up to Abigail’s room. She shielded you from the eyes of the men, rushing you up the staircase. Abigail and Sadie were not taking the superstitions lightly it seemed. She kicked John out of the room, but Jack was allowed to stay.

You walked over to the window, Abigail sat down on the rickety bed. You slowly pushed the curtains out of the way, looking down to the ground below. Dutch was giving a speech it seemed, Arthur next to him. Your breath was almost stolen from you the moment you laid eyes on him, he was so incredibly handsome. He wasn’t dressed yet, you were glad you hadn’t spotted him in his suit. He was standing proud next to Dutch, Hosea on the other side of him. You watched them for awhile, before letting the curtains fall back into place.

“Are you ever going to have a wedding with John?” You turned to Abigail as she brushed her hair on the bed.

Abigail gave you a look,“Knowing John, probably not.”

You chuckled lightly, “Well, if you ever do, I want to be there.”

“You’ll be the first invited,” She responded. You took the brush from her hands and slowly began getting rid of all the knots in her hair. You shifted behind her, making sure to not crease your dress.

“I still can’t believe you two are getting married. I remember when I caught you two kissing behind that wagon,” She laughed, remembering the awkward moment.

“He was drunk off his ass and I was too. It wasn’t much of a kiss, more like we were eating eachothers face.”

“Yeah but, it was still a kiss, right?”

“I guess it was our first kiss. But our first sweet kiss was the day after when he officially asked me out,” You sighed sweetly.

“John was horrified. I still remember the look on his face when you both arrived back in camp holding hands,” Abigail laughed.

“Hosea always knew. Dutch knew too. We were ogling each other for so long, it was kinda hard not to know.”

“You told me first though, remember?” Abigail said.

“Yeah, I do. And then the next day you went into town and bought a locket for me so I could put Arthur’s photo in it.”

You continued brushing Abigail’s locks. Abigail was the closest thing to a sister you had ever gotten. You stood up for her when the rest of the men saw her as a whore, you showed them she was more than that. You stayed by her side when John left her with a newborn. You had even helped give birth to Jack.

Arthur was closer to John for obvious reasons, but you were still John’s sister too. You were both furious at John when he left. John had betrayed you and Abigail, things were still rocky. Arthur understood what it was like to have a child, it wasn’t easy, but at least he had stayed for Eliza, you had met her twice, she was kind and respectful. Isaac was a smart boy, and looked a lot like Arthur. Arthur was distant for a while after he found out they both died.

“It took you awhile to find the right photo to put in it.”

“It did. I had to get him to take the photo in the first place. I remember I told him it was for a job!” You laughed.

“I’m sure he already suspected it.”

“Probably. I never was a good liar around Arthur,” You said.

“I’m so glad he ended up with you.. Mary and him were a troubled pair.”

“Trust me, I know.” Mary hated you and you hated her. It was the final straw when Mary began talking about you, trying to pull Arthur away from you, putting ideas into his head, and Arthur stopped putting up with it. At the time, you were no rival to Mary, you were more like his annoying little sister. His volatile little sister. You were a lot wilder in those days, no wonder Mary saw you as a threat.

“But honestly, you two are a wonderful couple. Arthur is lucky to have you,” Abigail said sincerely.

“Thank you,” You responded. You were finally done brushing her hair, you set the hairbrush down and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I’m so nervous about this wedding,” You confessed to her, setting your hands in your lap.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Abigail looked at you. You looked up at her. Her eyes shimmered with pride.

“I don’t even know why I’m worried, I just am.”

“Well I’ll be with you the entire time, you’re my sister, (Y/N). And sisters stick together.”

“Thank you, Abi.” You leaned forward and gave her a hug, your eyes welling with tears of happiness.

When she let go, she sat up from the bed, walking over to the window. She looked down at the scene below with watchful eyes.

“John looks like he just woke up. That damned fool,” Abigail muttered, she turned to Jack, who had been playing with a few pieces of yarn and wood. You nearly laughed at the pitiful sight, you would have to buy him some real toys when you went back into the city. Arthur and you had briefly discussed having children, you had practically raised Jack, with Abigail. Arthur decided once things settled down and Dutch’s plan to go to Tahiti or wherever he decided at the time finally worked, then would be the time. You prayed it would be soon, Arthur would make a wonderful father. You wanted to get away from this life so desperately, you were tired of running, you were tired of killing. All you wanted was a family with Arthur.

You had lived the life of running, fighting to stay alive, killing without second thought. All you wanted was peace.

Abigail picked up Jack, letting out a quiet groan. Jack was getting big, you remember when you first held him, those big eyes looking up at you.

“Jack, do you want to go get what you made your Aunt?” Abigail asked Jack. Jack looked at you with big doe eyes, smiling widely.

“Yes, Mama,” He said, Abigail set him down, he walked towards the drawer by the window and reached open to pull it open. He barely even reached it. His small arms grabbed a small object from inside the drawer. Abigail put her hands on her hips, smiling at her boy.

“He made it himself,” Abigail said as Jack set a flower crown in your hands. It was pretty with wildflowers he had picked. He watched you examine it, smiling brightly.

“I think Uncle Arthur will like it,” He told you.

“Oh, Jack! Thank you so much. This is beautiful.” You gave him a grin, putting the flower crown on. It really was a thoughtful gift.

“He picked a flower for Arthur too, so you would be matching,” Abigail revealed.

“Arthur likes flowers, did you know that, Jack? He’d never let any of us know, though,” You laughed, grabbing a bobby pin from a small box next to the brush, you secured the crown to your hair. Arthur was always drawing flowers in that journal, and in his old one he had kept pressed flowers. Arthur was a secret softy, there was no hiding that. Perhaps it’s why you fell for him, his secret side was so tender and loving, and when he realized he loved you too, that’s all you ever saw of him. He was nothing but kind - even when he called himself a bad man, you saw straight through that. Arthur was a kind man, kinder than any man you had ever met.

“I know,” Jack said simply, setting down next to you. He kicked his legs out in a back and forth motion.

“How do you know?” You asked him, pretending to be shocked.

“Uncle Arthur told me he likes flowers.”

Abigail held back a laugh, looking at you. You glanced at her, giving her a look.

“Uncle Arthur told you he liked flowers?” You repeated.

“He told me when we were by the water. I found a flower and gave it to him,” Jack responded.

“I see. What flower did you give him?”

“It was a purple flower. Uncle Arthur drew it in his journal.” Jack got up from the bed and went back to his yarn and wood, plopping down on the hardwood floors.

You chatted aimlessly with Abigail for a few moments as she continued getting ready. You were beyond scared to walk down that aisle and face Arthur. The longer you waited, the worse your nerves got.

People came up and down the steps, but suddenly you realized that it was John and Arthur coming upstairs. You held your breath. Even Abigail stopped to listen. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach as you heard them speak and walk further and further up the steps.

“John?” Abigail called out.

“What?” He responded, John was close to the door.

“Arthur’s not allowed in,” Abigail replied, she picked up her makeup brush and began applying blush to her face.

“I know. He’s not, he’s going to his room.” You could hear Arthur’s footsteps in the other room.

“Can I come in?” John asked after a moment of silence.

“Sure,” You said. The door opened and there was John. He still wasn’t dressed.

“You look good. I’m sure Arthur will be happy to see you.” John closed the door behind him, walking over to the dresser.

“Think so?” You asked playfully.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?” He chuckled, John pulled out a pair of black slacks and a white shirt. It looked clean enough.

“She’s nervous,” Abigail told John. John looked at you over his shoulder.

“That so? Arthur is too.”

“Did he say anything about me?” You blurted out, feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush. John walked behind the folding screen in the corner of the room.

“He’s real excited to see you,” John said from behind the screen.

“I’m sure everyone out there is,” Abigail chimed in.

“Arthur wanted me to give you something,” John said as he walked out from behind the screen in his wedding outfit. He walked towards you, outstretching his palm.

It was a chocolate bar. You smiled at it, taking it from John.

“What's up with you two and chocolate?” John asked you as he walked over to the cabinet, he leaned against it, watching Jack play with his yarn.

“It’s a long story, but he’s only supposed to give it to me when I’m injured though.”

“Maybe he just wanted to let you know he’s thinking of you,” Abigail spoke, she glared at John, you wondered what that meant.

“I don’t have anything to give him,” You sighed, staring at the chocolate bar. Arthur was always thinking ahead.

“I’m sure he knows you’re thinking of him,” Abigail replied.

“Hopefully.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to eat it, your nerves were too high. All food sounded incredibly unappetizing. You set the chocolate bar on the bedside table. Jack eyed it, his eyes nearly glowing.

“You want the candy bar?” You asked Jack.

He nodded vigorously. Abigail rolled her eyes humorously.

“You can have it,” You told him. It was a gift from Arthur but Jack would have appreciated it even more than you could, and besides, the kid loves candy.

“Thank you, Auntie (Y/N),” He said, grabbing the chocolate bar with eager hands.

“I best be getting down there now, Dutch wants to talk to Arthur and me, good luck out there by the way,” John said, buttoning the top of his collar. He opened the door and left.

Jack continued eating his chocolate, you smiled at the boy. You wanted your own son or daughter so dearly, one with Arthur’s eyes and your hair. That’s all you wanted. You wanted out. As much as you loved your family - you wanted out. You had lived that way for so long, it was all you had ever known. But now you had a chance at freedom - to create your own family with Arthur.

But Arthur would never leave Dutch. And you knew that.

Deep down you knew.

You were tired of the running — tired of the plans, tired of it all. All you wanted was Arthur, him and nothing else. No gang — no killing. Just Arthur.

You didn’t want to raise a child in the gang, that was a foolish dream. You knew how easily the child could go without a parent, you had seen it happen with Abigail and Jack, although John eventually returned.

You were coming to terms with that though. In the world of an outlaw it was to live forever as an outlaw or die trying.

•••

An hour passed - it was already almost time. A majority of the gang members had already left camp. Your nerves were skyrocketing and when Molly knocked on the door to tell you it was time you almost passed out. Abigail gently ushered you to the door. Your hands were shaking as you slowly opened it up, seeing Molly in her special dress.

The plan was to head to a small church where they held outdoor weddings behind the building, the venue backed up to a river so you would be standing by it saying your vows. It was not very far from Shady Belle. Churches were never quite Arthur’s style, so you opted for an outdoor wedding..

You walked down the staircase slowly to the carriage outside, your hands were shaking wildly. Abigail held you tightly, Jack at her hip. The carriage was waiting outside for you. The camp was deserted behind you, it was strange to see. It was almost eerie, the lack of life, but you knew later tonight it would be bustling with it.

Abigail helped you up into the carriage. Once everyone was in the driver set off. Your heart pounded in your ears, your stomach churning.

“I’m so nervous.” You clasped your gloved hands tightly in your lap, as if it would somehow stop the shaking. Every turn, every jolt, it did not help with your nerves at all.

“I know, dear,” Molly said, putting her hands over yours. Abigail watched you sympathetically, she knew this wasn’t easy.

The carriage moved closer and closer to the venue. Arthur was surely feeling the same way, hopefully not to the same extent.

You were silent for most of the ride, Abigail and Molly talked fruitlessly, but you could not focus on their words. It felt like there were a thousand thoughts in your mind but not a single one was coming to your mind clearly, they were all shrouded in nervousness.

When the carriage suddenly came to a stop your heart jumped. You looked out the window and held your breath. This was it.

You were getting married. Today. Right now.

It was suddenly almost hard to wrap your mind around it. Abigail had to lightly nudge you out of the carriage, otherwise you would have been frozen in that seat.

You stepped out of the carriage, the sun was bright and slowly setting in the sky. By the time you would all get back tonight - it would surely be night.

Charles and John were waiting outside of the church for you. Every step closer to the church felt heavier and heavier, it was beginning to be hard to stand up straight.

“You look nice,” Charles said, holding the door open for you. Sunlight seeped in from the windows of the church, it was dusty inside. Sadie, Miss Grimshaw and Mary Beth sat on one of the pews, waiting for you.

“Thank you, Charles.”

Mary Beth gave you a small wave as you walked closer to them. Molly, Abigail, Jack and John behind you. It was hot and dry inside the church, it did not help that you were wearing a heavy dress either.

You opened your mouth to say something to Sadie, but Miss Grimshaw quickly cut you off. Molly walked out the back door to the ceremony.

“Arthur’s in the room behind the altar, with Dutch and Hosea. The Processional is starting in five minutes,” Miss Grimshaw reminded everyone. You nodded slowly. Five minutes felt like nothing. Abigail clipped the veil into your hair as Miss Grimshaw spoke. The veil was long and trailed to the floor, with lots of lace that was intricately woven.

“The order goes Dutch, Miss Grimshaw, Arthur, Charles, John, me, Mary Beth, Abigail, Jack and then our bride with Hosea,” Sadie read off from a piece of paper she had been holding.

“Then I’ll get out there with them, and you, Abigail, make sure the boy doesn’t drop the rings,” Miss Grimshaw finished, she turned swiftly towards the room behind the altar. Charles and John followed suit.

You sat down on one of the pews, your heeled foot tapping tirelessly against the floors. You tried to think of something calming, but nothing came to mind. It all was scrambled, your brain desperately grasping at a comprehensible thought.

“You’ll be fine,” Sadie told you as she leaned against the pew.

“You will be,” Mary Beth agreed.

“I’m afraid I’ll mess up.”

“You won’t mess up, you’ll be fine,” Abigail beamed. The seconds ticked on, the women sticking to their own conversations after noticing the worry in your eyes.

The music began and you immediately perked up, five minutes seemingly goes fast when your mind is a jumbled mess.

Sadie, Mary Beth and Abigail got up. Jack held onto his mother’s dress tightly. Abigail turned to smile at you sweetly as they walked closer and closer to the back. You gave her a small wave of goodbye. She mouthed “you’ll do great.” as she vanished behind the door.

The church was now completely deserted, it was now you and your thoughts. About a minute passed before Abigail knocked on the door. You hesitantly walked over to the looming door. Your heart beating wildly, like it would jump out of your chest.

You opened it and took a small breath, trying to calm your screaming nerves. In a few moments, you would see Arthur, and he would see you. And you would be his, and he would be yours. Years of yearning, wishing the other would be at their side, who knew it would come to this? He would be yours and you would be his. It was as simple as that.

Hosea was waiting on the other side for you, looking handsome as ever in his suit. He was the closest thing to a father you had ever gotten, it was only fitting he would walk you down the aisle. He smiled at the sight of you, unable to hide his pride.

The small compartment behind the church was small too. The door was open leading to the altar where Arthur was waiting for you, but a path obscured by trees hid it from you.

“You look beautiful,” He whispered, resting a hand on your shoulder. You stared at the door, waiting for your turn. You smiled politely, although you were not facing him.

The summer buzz of cicadas was heard even as the Procession played, a melodic tune. You waited for the music to change into your entrance.

“You’ll do fine out there, Arthur loves you,” Hosea’s words were quiet, but you could hear them loud as day. It was entirely true of course. Hosea was always right.

The music slowly shifted into a much slower song, and you knew. This was it. Hosea slid his arm through yours, your right arm holding the bouquet. You both slowly stepped out into the bright day. You felt like you were floating on a cloud — like nothing could ever bring you down. The dirt crunched underneath your feet as the aisle slowly came into view. Hosea’s arm was steady and soothing, his steps slow and methodical.

Worries drifted away as you slowly came into view, the wedding party rising at your arrival. The music continued to play a slow, beautiful tune, the cicadas humming happily and the rush of the river drumming thunderously.

And then there was Arthur, smiling at you like you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life. You were closer now to him, every step bringing you nearer and nearer to his heart.

Arthur was handsome. He was gorgeous. And he was yours — all yours. He was sporting a dashing black suit, perfectly tailored. The flower in his chest pocket was the same as the ones in your hair.

It was like there was a beam of light radiating from him, Arthur had always been your beacon even in the darkest of times. He was love itself.

You felt the eyes of your friends and family on you, but you could only focus on Arthur.

When you finally reached the altar, your hearts felt like they were being synced, beating as one rather than two. The officiant stood behind Arthur, underneath two trees with a small arch decorated with flowers, Sadie and Mary Beth waiting for you on the left, John and Charles next to Arthur.

Hosea let go off your arm, smiling the entire time. He took his place next to Dutch in the front row, you handed Abigail your bouquet and stood next to Arthur underneath the arch, he took your hands in his. His hands were rough and strong, but they felt like home.

You looked into those eyes of endless waves, you only felt love and happiness from him. He looked like a prince, like there was supposed to be a crown sitting on top of his head, rather than the flower one you wore.

The officiant began with a welcome as the guests sat down.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Arthur and (Y/N) in matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." The officiant said. This was really it, you kept reminding yourself. You both looked towards the crowd, for a fleeting moment you wondered if anyone would speak up. Arthur wondered the same, perhaps Micah would think he was funny and say something completely out of line, but he didn’t.

Arthur thought you were a goddess in your beautiful white gown. It looked exactly like something you would wear, the dress accented your body wonderfully, he couldn’t help but admire it.

The officiant spoke some more, weddings, love, union, the beginning of your new life - but you could barely focus on it. Your only focus was Arthur. Your fiancé, your best friend, your husband in a matter of moments.

“And now the bride and the groom are to exchange vows,” The officiant proclaimed. He gave you your paper with the vows.

Tears slowly started forming in your eyes as you shakily held the paper, smiling through it all.

“I remember when you found me alone in that cabin, that day you saved me in more ways than one. You taught me to love, to laugh, to trust. You have been my best friend, my companion, my lover and now you will be my husband. You have stayed by me when I was sick, injured, drunk, crying, you were there for it all. And I shall be there for you, I will choose you every time. I devote myself to you, Arthur Morgan, in sickness and in health. For I am yours, and you are mine.” You squeezed Arthur’s hand tightly, feeling the words come out naturally, like you had been waiting to say them your entire life. His smile widened throughout your entire vow.

The officiant held the paper out to Arthur, he let go of your hand to take it. You remembered him saying writing vows was hard, saying that his words sounded like nonsense. But they weren’t nonsense, Arthur was a gifted writer, whether he knew it or not. The thoughts in his journal (which you rarely ever saw) were something precious.

“My dear (Y/N), the first day I met you I knew I would like you. And I was right, and here we are now years later. It’s been a wild last few years, reckless too, but this is our first step into our new life, and we best not waste it. You are my love, you are my light, and I love you more than anything in this world. Nothing can or will separate us from now till the end of time,” He finished, his eyes brimming with love. Nothing could have prepared you for this moment, looking into his eyes and only feeling happiness. Like it was only you and him in this entire universe.

“Arthur, do you take Y/N L/N to be your lawfully wedded wife, through sickness and health, till death do you part?” The officiant asked. Arthur looked towards the man and nodded.

“I do.”

“And do you, Y/N, take Arthur Morgan to be your lawfully wedded husband, through sickness and health, till death do you part?”

“I do,” You said to Arthur. You smiled uncontrollably, and tried to stop the tears that were threatening to spill out the corner of your eyes.

The officiant leaned down to take the rings from Jack.

“Arthur, take this ring and place it on her finger.” Arthur took the ring from the man, and you presented your left hand to him. He slipped it on effortlessly.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.”

“Y/N, take this ring and place it on his finger.” You grabbed the ring, feeling the weight of it in your hand, you slipped it on his strong hand.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you,” You rang out loud and clear. Speaking only to him. Words that would forever bind you to him.

“And remember, love is an unbreakable bond, it is gratitude, it is faithfulness, it is kindness, it is forgiveness, it is everything good in this world. Lovers will always find a way back to each other,” The officiant said with parting words.

“With the power invested in me, I now declare you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

You both leaned in, he grabbed your waist, you took his face in your hand. And you kissed him, and you kissed him. His mouth against yours, it was a rushing moment, like you were soaring above the clouds. And you felt the love between, the hearts beating as one. Arthur was secure, he was your lifeline, he was your home. Arthur was yours.

Cheers were heard as you both retreated. You took his hand in his as you made your way back down the aisle. The crowd stood up for you, clapping the whole way. You would have to get used to the new weight on your finger, it was different than the engagement ring.

Once you were back on the path, you finally spoke, unable to hide your excitement.

“Gosh, I was so nervous all day, but when I got up there it wasn’t bad at all!” You exclaimed, walking closer to the church. The forest singing a merry tune for you

“I know, John had mentioned earlier that you was nervous,” Arthur replied. Your heart was beating quickly, but this time not with nerves, with excitement, with joy.

“And thank you, for the chocolate by the way. I ended up giving it to Jack, since he was ogling it the entire time,” You laughed, speaking quickly. Arthur held the door open for you as you entered the church.

“I was wondering if you would eat it or not.”

“Jack liked it. He also said he picked you that flower,” You told Arthur as you walked towards the front of the church, out towards the carriage

“The flower crown looks nice in your hair, I think he made a good choice.” You opened the door to the carriage outside. The rest of the gang would come back to camp after you left. Arthur helped you into the carriage while the driver congratulated you two.

At 19 you expected to live the rest of your life with a gang of merciless strangers who beat and did horrible things to you, but now here you are, 10 years later - married to the man who had saved you. And he had saved you every day since then, reminding that you were worth the love he could give.

And he was yours, and you were his.

•••

The party still roared to life outside. There was a feast fit for a group of outlaws, cake, never ending drinks, a vibrant bonfire, poker, stories, toasts, talks. It was everything you hoped your wedding would be. Hosea and Dutch were like proud fathers the entire night. You even saw what looked like Miss Grimshaw wiping away some tears when Hosea gave his speech.

It was interesting to say the least — when the songs started, you knew a majority of the camp had gotten drunk. Barely anyone had retired for the night — besides Strauss, and Reverend who had already blacked out. They sang songs for you and Arthur, they sang songs about love, about sex (which made you blush and hide your face, while Arthur had a dumb smirk on his face). You had switched out of your dress after the ceremony and opted for a looser small white dress.

When the crowd began saying the ‘Ring Dang Doo’ you groaned, knowing everyone would be looking at you. Arthur laughed as he sang along, watching you the entire time. The hoops and hollers were joyous as you hid your face in Arthur’s shoulder.

When the song was finally over you let out a sigh of relief, but you remained nuzzled into your husband's side. He was warm from drinking, and he had a happy glow to him. There was not another place you would rather be than to be next to him.

Hours passed smoothly, the songs became less rowdy as the party goers quickly dropped, hopefully not too hard. It was hard to believe your wedding day was over. You remained by Arthur’s side for a majority of the night. By the time Javier and John had packed up for the night — as well as an insufferably drunk Sean who’d fallen on his face getting up, it left only you and Arthur.

The fire crackled and sputtered as the remaining embers shuddered, praying to stay lit. The night was slowly coming to end, the final waves of darkness would be over soon, and light would wash over the terrain.

You were tired, you’d been awake for nearly a full day now. Your head rested on Arthur’s shoulder as he stared meaningfully into the fire, both of your eyelids heavy. You slowly blinked, trying to stay awake, to not fall asleep in the middle of camp.

“You know we could get away from this all, Arthur,” You mentioned to him, trying to suppress a yawn that was threatening to be released from your mouth.

Arthur replied with a questioning hum.

You looked up at him, “We could get away from this life, you know, start our own family.”

“You know I want that, sweetheart. Life’s just a mess right now, not sure it’s the right time,” He sighed. You turned back to look at the dwindling fire.

“I know, Arthur, I do. I just — I want a child of our own, a house, a family.”

“We’ll have that one day.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

•••

[frogsandfries]

Making books is fun

Frustrating when you technically still "just moved" (even though you've been here over a month) and can't find any of your damn tools, but I used a push pin. Besides, punching your needle holes is only a tiny part.

I also got thirty-seven pages of script formatted. And then I made some ATC templates. I started to use these to make frames on my blank signatures--I don't want to stitch them in until all the frames are drawn onto the pages. This time around, I'm experimenting with Coptic binding and I'm actually really pleased with the result. I didn't use any fun colored thread (even though I have a ton of threads I could choose from), and I didn't do anything fun with the stitches like make them say "fuck you" or "danger", which would be fun to pull off.

However, I have this patterned scrapbook paper from Michael's, it's a white background with cotton candy, ice cream and...... something else, a lollipop? I'll take a photo when I'm done stitching this book. It's such a cute pattern, unfortunately I only get one set of covers per sheet and so much scrap. I had already coated this paper in a few coats of furniture finish mod podge and doesn't end up using it how I thought I would--I also bought some mermaid paper, and I ended up using that to display my enamel pins and acrylic charms.

I want to buy a bunch more of these sheets, a variety of colors and patterns, and coat them in mod podge a good amount of time before I want to use them so that I can just use them without waiting for them to cure.

The reason one sheet only makes one set of covers is, I thought I'd get the best oomph by pasting two layers together--a little more strength, and a bonus of having a bright, cheerful pattern just inside the book, like an end paper. So one giant sheet gives me the mileage for four pieces the size of my cover. I could even paste together different papers, if I had them--but that seems a little chaotic for me.

It could be interesting to see how well paper works for a classic cover-spine-cover cover. You'd definitely want the gauze on the spine for extra stability. Maybe you'd also add some chipboard or cardstock to the inside of the spine and maybe sandwich your end page in your cover and end paper?

I only have a whole pack of paper that I want to turn into my little sketchbooks--and whether or not an agent wants my story, I want to see this thing through. Even if I never get to the next book of the story.

[flightofaqrow]

sleep is for the simple

qrow + Morado Guerrera ( @memxntomori​ )

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

qrow typically doesn’t like talking about what goes on in his thoughts, but on this particular topic with this particular person, it comes more freely, “… just can’t turn my brain back off once it gets goin’ sometimes.”

Alright, Morado could be a teacher, even after hours. “Anything in particular making it fire off on tonight?”

“nothin’. everythin’.” qrow answers none-too-helpfully. he sighs, runs a hand through his hair before that flops behind him too. another breath. another heave. he can expel this particular pin from the grenade of his heart, he must. “classes. fightin’. bein’ civilized. grimm. alla th’stuff Headmaster Ozpin’s been havin’ us work on. it’s all one big mess, ain’t it? …things used t’be so much simpler.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Hey. Can’t sleep?”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“uh… hey,” qrow gave a slow greeting, clearly not expecting anyone and trying to adjust to the idea of company, “pretty much. sometimes wonder if you ever sleep.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“No. I avoid sleep because showing up unpredictably and looming out of dark corners adds to my aesthetic,” he replies, closing his book with one hand and leaning forward. “Also to the mythos that I’m always watching, which tends to keep all you in line.”

Qrow looks tired. Really tired, he notes with a narrowing of his eyes.

“You an insomniac or is it something else?” From what he knows, and has gathered, about Qrow and the Branwen’s he can hazard a few guesses. He’s got Ozpin’s blessing to keep an eye on them, but there’s more than that. They’ve got potential. The whole team, in fact. But the twins have the background that’s far more Morado’s speed.

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qrow has a good laugh at that one, and honestly relates. which does nothing but wake him up all the more. heh, Morado could watch all he wanted, if qrow ever misbehaved, he would do most of it right to his face. he tended to get away with too much, and even if not, some consequences were worth it.

“oh i wouldn’t call it as much as insomnia,” he muses, somber once more. he typically doesn’t like talking about what goes on in his thoughts, but on this particular topic with this particular person, it comes more freely. he has more hope of finding understanding, maybe even guidance, if there’s any to be had.

“… just can’t turn my brain back off once it gets goin’ sometimes.”

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Morado’s ears flatten back a little, wondering what it could be. Qrow’s laughter was fleeting and welcome, but obviously there was something heavy on his mind.

Alright, he could be a teacher, even after hours.

He pat the bench next to him before fishing his pack of smokes out of his pocket and plucking one from the wrinkled paper. “Anything in particular making it fire off on tonight?”

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qrow accepts the invitation. might as well. he sinks into the spot, more than sits. oozing long limbs over the edges and letting his head lull back to stare through skylights. it’s easier to talk without having to look at someone. so many less things to process from another person, when he struggles just getting his own pieces to align.

“nothin’. everythin’.” he answers none-too-helpfully. he sighs, runs a hand through his hair before that flops behind him too. another breath. another heave. he can expel this particular pin from the grenade of his heart, he must. “classes. fightin’. bein’ civilized. grimm. alla th’stuff Headmaster Ozpin’s been havin’ us work on. it’s all one big mess, ain’t it? …things used t’be so much simpler.”

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Mori’s lips twitch in a smile at the answer, but he listens patiently as he lights a cigarette. He gets it. The heaviness of it, the weight of the world. Knowing there’s even more in store for Qrow once he graduates, if STRQ agrees? Well, he can sympathize with the stress.

“Would you have it return to being simple?” he asks, tilting his head to look at Qrow. “Knowing what you know, having seen and done what you have, would that life be what you want?”

He knows what his own answer would be. No, never. Even knowing Salem’s out there doesn’t make him wish he could return to that life of bliss.

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“nah,” the answer comes surprisingly easy as he watches smoke drift up into the air. the bigger the world got, the more he wanted to see. the more he saw outside of the bandit tribe - other places, new ways of living - the further he found himself wanting to get.

not that everything had be terrible, but he likes the idea of picking and choosing what trinkets and traditions of what places to keep in his life instead of being bound to any one dogma. maybe somewhere out there in the great wide world there would be the tiniest of holes even someone like him could fit into.

and yet all that knowledge and the terrible uncertainty of hope spinning around in frantic, chaotic circles is exactly what keeps him awake.

“…i jus’ wish i knew a better way ‘a sortin’ it all.”

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“I think most of us wish they do. Not everyone has it all figured out. The trick is just making it look like you do.”

He’s not afraid to admit that, anyway, as he sprawls out a bit, arm over the back of the bench, one long leg stuck out before him, the other ankle resting on his knee.

“Talking at least helps. Having someone in the know be able to be an open ear. You’ve got your teammates. And I suppose if you look around in the shadows enough, you can find me.” Morado pauses again, taking a drag, and looks up at the green glow of Beacon tower obscuring the sight of any but the most prominent of stars. “Sometimes it helps too if you know what you’re fighting for. Makes stuff easier to put into the ‘important’ and ‘unimportant’ boxes in your head.”

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“heh,” that comment lifts his head a little, “well, i got plenty ‘a practice with that.”

qrow learned real quick and real young how to put on a strong face, and doubly so when every day he has to fight to get people, most of all himself, to believe anything he tried to build wouldn’t collapse like a bunch of pins into the gutter with one strike of a bad luck bowling ball.

he continues to stare past the tower, into the night sky. Morado’s not the first to tell him talking things out helps, but that only contradicts looking put together, doesn’t it? talking, feeling, is weakness; showing it is even worse. he sighs and wonders if there can be compromise, grinning, “talkin’ to shadows doesn’t sound so bad.”

legs stretch out before him and cross at the ankles, “so whatdya fight for, then?”

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Not a question he’s been asked for some time, and he feels somewhat uncomfortable as he considers it.

“…good question,” he jokes.

Ivoire and Tahlia were both dead. Jax was far, far away in Atlas. His sister and her family were in Vacuo. His answer wasn’t so much a who anymore, like it had been years ago.

“Guess I’m gonna go with survival. And not a ‘back against the wall’ kind. I mean… I mean what we have? It’s not bad. It’s got room for improvement,” he punctuates this with a wiggle of his ears, “but it’s not bad. And it’s getting better. So… survival. Mine. Yours. Whoever comes next. They deserve better than what’s waiting out there.”

Salem, he doesn’t say.

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qrow takes the praise, even if reality pegs the phrase as more of a platitude. he likes to think he’s good at asking questions, has a natural exploratory attitude. maybe being more curious about the world and others in it just became a nurtured extension of not finding much worth knowing about himself.

he still stares into endless nothing until the twitch of ears in the corner of his eye pulls his attention over. a lifetime hides in those words, qrow can tell. it sits in his brain like… a more personal way to swallow altruistic sentiment. interesting it’s in the form of survival, when he had been raised to believe that kind of thinking could get one killed.

he quietly taps a foot and looks down to the space between where each sits, “huh. sounds a lot like that whole ‘makin’ the world a better place’ ideal the academy totes, jus’ in more words. protectin’ the future an’ all that.”

in other words, bigger than just fighting back grimm. or other huntsfolk. yet another item tossed onto the pile of less simple things.

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“Not as simple as that, but I can’t get into the details,” Mori says in response. “If you’re in, you’ll get it then. The world’s pretty ugly when you start scratching back the layers.”

Mori sighs and stretches, the motion catlike as he yawns, then flops back against the bench.

“But unless I’m mistaken, you can handle ugly. You and your sister both.” And Summer and Tai, but he’s more invested in the Branwen’s. Chiefly the man next to him.

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“oh, of course it’s not,” qrow waves limply in the air, right back to bemoaning life tonight.

and apparently just ‘cause he said he wouldn’t go back for things not being simple, his teacher decides to give him one more reason to possibly never sleep again. his caveats sound like they have some pretty ugly layers themselves. tonight will leave qrow with more questions than answers.

“but yeah,” he confirms again with scratchy, sighed words, turning to face away and scowl at a nearby stone column. several images flash through his head in quick succession, and he talks about none of them.

“bring it on.” barely come of age, and his voice drags from his throat with the heaviness of resignation more than a youthful passion for challenge.

[mirrorstone-fr]

Lair review for Parsnips

@not-marth​

I had to start with Hau because I love how much he has going on. Spirals have so much movement to begin with, and their poses can do really unique things with apparel and color distribution, and Hau really exemplifies that. Even though he’s wearing a lot of apparel, he still has plenty of orange primary showing off, and then it subtly shifts to the orange of his cat breastplate. The oranges in his sage apparel pick it up as they shift the color tone to red (and it’s cute that he still wears so much Plague color even when your clan’s living in a different flight.) The blue in his primary and the green in his tertiary are already delightfully chaotic, but the way Saturn brings out those brightest blues, and in a swirling pattern that matches the bright green of his leaf smoke so well, adds the kind of contrast that emphasizes all the bright tones in his apparel and makes them pop. And frankly, the best part of his whole thing, the absolute cheery on top? Is definitely the toad sitting gloriously unbothered by this whirlwind of color and dadliness of the tip of his tail. 

Lovac has a really appealing color scheme emphasizing his cool earth tones. I love the way his flint spines seem almost to be a continuation of the jagged, dark grey stripes on his vipera, and the way he’s wearing apparel that covers most of him really makes the part of the pattern you’ve left uncovered stand out to dramatic effect. The shadows that the hood gives his face echoes the same cool grey tone in those stripes and spines, especially where it shadows his eyes, in addition to hiding the water color of them which might have been too blue for this color scheme. It’s a small touch, but I think the much lighter, subtler blue of the crystals in his treads are well suited to add a touch of contrast, and pull out the cool blueish tones, especially in his flint spines which are already a fairly subtle gene and need to be matched with those kind of deft touches. I also really like the layering of his vest, breeches, and mantle, since they flow together, with the white in the vest and breeches matching, and then the brown in the mantle and vest’s sleeves matching, as though they were a single piece of apparel all designed to go with each other. 

I’m a hard sell on any dragon wearing the power pack, but Zacharie has convinced me. Those mint runes are amazing on him, and if I didn’t already like cream poison so much I’d give them all the credit for making everything go together so smoothly. I’m half tempted to anyway. The hints of blue glow the runes give him, half covered by his apparel to make what does show really stand out, look amazing with the bright blue lightning in his coat and power pack, as though sparks of it have escaped from them. The effect on his face, where the powerpack adds extra white spikes right next to his own tinted and glowing natural spikes, looks really cool. And the cream poison does a great job tying everything together, since it has both that bright purple to match his secondary and that bright blue to match his tertiary and the lightning again, mixing them across the space of his primary so that his secondary and tertiary color meet and mingle there before they naturally spread across their own territory. What I’m really loving though? The bright purple claws, against the glowing blue toes his tertiary gives him. 

Aequinoc is a really handsome example of the fun things you can do with stained to make a seemingly unassuming gene really shine. I love seeing cool effects when stained is applied to a vastly different color, and it looks really nice with the way it tints his grey primary  to such a deep grey-blue. His colors remind me, fittingly enough, of the sea, grey-blue still waters and his peregrine wings representing the brighter blue waves in motion. The trident is a bulky piece of apparel that can be difficult to work with, but I think you did a great job of getting around that by being absolutely extravagant with his apparel, and making the colors and layering stand out. The red in his scarf and wing cover demand attention, and the movement of the color helps carry the eye naturally down along the line of the trident handle. I love the way that the trident and the pathfinder gear go so well together, matching each other’s blue and purple tones. The purple chestpiece on his wing cover even looks like a continuation of the strap holding his trident, since it so closely matches the color and style. 

As if you were going to get out of this without me singling out at least one tundra. I couldn’t pass over this singularly stunning specimen. Esme is just gorgeous. I love the effect of her carmine runes against the blue tones of her carmine petals. It looks like the red of her primary just cut its way sharply into the blue, or perhaps as if it’s shining through from underneath it. I really like the little bit of the bloodscale greaves next to it too, because they have red highlights that make it look like the glowing red runes are reflecting off the greaves. I’m also liking the theme of her apparel, the draped, flowing fabrics of the mantle, kilt, and wing banner, with hard armor and sharp pointy things underneath. It’s a really cool looking contrast. Although a lot of her thistle secondary is covered by the banner, I’m tickled by how much it looks like a blending of the blue and carmine in his primary, as though the colors mixed and flowed, until by the time they become visible as the tip of her wings, they’d blended into those bands of color. 

[cjostrander]

Art of Anarchy: The Madness

Hello everyone, Today i am going to take a brief break from my anniversary reviews and instead tackle a newer one that had me somewhat interested due to their addition of Scott Stapp (Creed) as the new vocalist replacing Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots/Velvet Revolver) due to his passing. I was excited to see him get back into music scene aside from his solo work. I will let you know beforehand that the music has a natural change in musical style; though is still dramatically more complicated than Creed. Scott Stapp’s voice is also a bit different due to the band’s heavy handed production style which i have noted as a bit overdone for him. On certain songs his voice (infused with heavy Autotune) will sound like a mix of Myles Kennedy (ironically Alter Bridge), Brent Smith (Shinedown), and his own unique Creed style. This seems intended for the most part so it’s a deteriorating vocal ability on Scott’s part; just a heavy production intent. Well let’s get started and see how this album does.

Echo of a Scream: The album starts off with a moderate dose of electronica and leads into a steadily melodic guitar opening that is rather soothing. Scott enters rather fluidly with a highly groovy style; which resonates nicely with the bass section underneath him. He gets his powerful delivery during the chorus segment but it still sounds rather new in direction for him. I will give the lyrics props due to the fact that they give him a very catchy rhythm during the casual verses. I do like that segment more than chorus but it is still a nice way to open up the album and answer whether or not he is a good fit for the band. The solo towards the end is full of aggressive rhythm and melodic yet chaotic guitar riffs. It takes up a nice segment of the song and helps to justify the more supportive nature of them during the prior portion of the song. Going by this song; it’s not a bad sound for the band and while it does flirt with having a generic rock sound (think Trapt’s later album Reborn); it sticks out nicely and seems to be a surprisingly smooth fit for Scott Stapp’s powerful style. It’s drastically different from that angsty style of Scott Weiland but if the band’s first album never existed i’m sure this album would get a high degree of praise overall. Look at this album as sort of being a new band in tone because their first album was remarkable and hard to beat all around. 8.5/10

1000 Degrees: This one is a personal favorite and starts off with a pumping bass riff, aggression fueling guitar riff, and marching style drum beat. Scott opens up sounding very much like Brent Smith on this song but it manages to work very well. We approach the chorus quickly and Scott bellows out an aggressive delivery that is beyond motivating and would be a perfect piece to see them doing live. The instrumentals do a stellar job of giving Scott ample lift and stick out nicely on their own when focused on. The lyrics continue to be pretty good and Scott’s soothing melodic moments help to draw extra strength from them before the chorus returns yet again to get the listener banging his head. Another solo arrives to give off a quick melodic tone reminiscent of Megadeth’s more recent material. This song is a big highlight and should be a single due to how strong it showcases the band’s strengths together as well as some of that hidden potential we all knew Scott had if he would venture into a more aggressive rock tone as opposed to the mellow artsy style of “Human Clay”. I did see Creed perform that album live and its decent but i’m still a fan of their first (My Own Prison for its grungey melodies) and Weathered (for it’s powerful ballad direction). Full Circle was another good album but did get rather sluggish towards the end. Anyways so far so good! 10/10

No Surrender: Now this song screams trademark Creed in its guitar opening. It has a soothing echo in its melody and the drums slowly ease their way in with the bass before Scott enters. His more familiar delivery is smooth and takes its time in delivering some rather decent lyrics. The chorus features more of Scott’s aggressively powerful vocals and infuses his more simplistic lyrics with enough strength to maintain interest on the listener’s part. There are some interesting strings in the background that add a little extra complexity to the mix for the listener to ponder over. The solo is less in your face this time and focuses more so on slow moving melodies that reach for a more therapeutic tone. It’s an alright but is an example of familiar Creed elements and is as a result a more generic offering than the previous few songs. 7/10

The Madness (single): This is the single with a good music video and is another of the album’s strong tracks. It begins with some motivationally energetic guitar melodies; basic drum patterns and a hidden but raw rhythm section. Scott enters with a nice delivery and utilizes his smooth voice to recite some balanced lyrics with a high degree of power. The chorus matches the song in strength and makes effective use of Scott’s power level. The instrumentals do a solid job of supporting him and as expected will offer him enough cheerful adrenaline to pick up the listener’s impression of this band and Scott’s presence as a whole. The ending makes an interesting use of layered vocal effects and it joins together to create a clever atmosphere of chaos; that is fittingly reflective of the song title and it’s lyrics.  This is another pretty good piece that was smart to choose as a lead single due to its focus on being more aggressive but balanced than expected for Scott Stapp. if they don’t pick 1000 degrees as another single i’ll be shocked but you know they are bound to pick one of the more ballad-centric songs next if they have a good enough promotion deal. 8.5/10

Won’t Let You Down: The guitars start with a nicely melodic and rhythmic opening before Scott joins in with some lively high notes on his part. The lyrics are consistently strong and the chorus brings forth more of Scott’s Creed-era ballad melodies. The instrumentals keep up a supportive nature but are still very present in the mixing overall. Their loudness can arguably smother Scott at times but it’s so close that you almost have to want it to be smothered in order to really be able to say ha ha. The solo on this one is very nice and tackles more of their softer melodies. It is a good complement to the overall nature of the song and should do a fair job of helping to turn this song into another song that is decent (may not be a standout); but isn’t hard to sit through by any means. That’ll conclude the first half of the album and onto the second. 8/10

Changed Man: This one continues the soft motivational emotion of the previous song and as a result begins with soft guitar riffs and a fast entry by Scott. He enters with a rather impressive degree of emotion in his voice that actually lifts the song in a pleasant way and reinforces the lyrics with a good degree of strength. The chorus has a high degree of blissful melody and honest pleading on Scott’s part. You could possibly relate this song to his meltdown a few years ago and in that aspect; it gives this song a nice degree of retrospect.The instrumentals are very well balanced for giving him space when needed without risking him being along; and that extra level of melodic push to make his moments of urgency pull of successfully. This will probably be the ballad single they pick for their album since it would be good live; and would provide plenty of ideas for a potential music video.  The backing harmonies towards the end are another nice touch that further reinforce this song as being one of the album’s finer moments. 9/10

A Light in Me: The one starts with an aggressive yet generic sounding rock opening. Scott enters with an angsty style which is new on this album. He has a nice rumble in his voice and gradually builds the song’s ambition once the chorus surfaces. Scott uses his powerful high notes to an effective extent and helps to keep his lyrics from being harmed by their simplistic moments. The supportive nature of the instrumentals are smart on this song and the guitar solo actually proves reminiscent of Mark Tremonti’s style and as a result is a smoother fit with Scott than expected. This would probably be another decent live piece for them too. 8/10

Somber: The guitars begin rather soft with a nice melody to them and Scott enters with a nicely clean vocal style free of over polishing. He crafts some interesting high notes during his casual verses and manages to deliver a rather complex level of substance in his lyrics. The chorus is finely balanced and features perfect spacing on Scott’s part and ideal support from the rest of the band. I could see this one being another possibility for their ballad single due to how smooth the song flows. It is the longest song on the album but passes by very pleasantly. It demonstrates a high level of compatibility between the band and Scott that Creed clearly hasn’t had in years. It actually makes me question at times whether it is better to just scrap Creed altogether. Full Circle has proved that they can put out some solid songs together but Alter Bridge right now is the strongest they’ve ever been  and this band is proving to be smart fit for Scott; even if it isn’t quite his usual style. It’s refreshing overall and is proving to be a nice feel-good album for when you are in the mood for more easygoing rock; but aren’t willing to go full generic style. 9/10

Dancing with the Devil: The guitars begin on a more old school bar rock tone and Scott uses a much more raw style than he’s perhaps ever used. It has a much more rough sound than expected but still features the band experimenting with what they can do with Scott’s voice. The drums show off a decent bash for once on this album which i did note since they were spectacular on their first album. The guitars have a nice jam element to them but are more focused in the background than normal. The backing vocals have a catchy harmony to them that would resonate rather smoothly with a live setting. The solo is pretty good and reinforces its jam nature as a result. I was actually questioning whether i would like it based on the ending; but it is actually pretty good and reminds me somewhat of Godsmack at times. I can’t quite place it but i know the backing vocals are reminiscent of Sully’s voice to a degree. 8.5/10

Afterburn: This closing track starts with an aggressive guitar rumble and a computer manipulated vocal opening from Scott that is actually interesting and resonates well with the more energetic drum patters.Scott uses a clearly polished delivery to produce some decent high notes and the guitars/drums do a solid job of providing a more technical but soothing support to ensure that the more electronic elements of this song don’t bloat it. The chorus is a bit short but infuses the song with a nice degree of climatic power; which i’m sure would be pulled up smoothly live and helps to justify this piece as a decent choice for your final experience on this album. The solo is very strong and features fast thrash style melodies, pounding drum beats, and a revd up rhythm/bass segment in the background that speeds everything up to a nice high point before Scott enters to recite the chorus one last time before closing the album. 9/10

Overall album rating: 8.6/10

Well, this came surprisingly shy of matching their first album’s score (8.7) and can perhaps be seen as a rare instance of a band reinventing itself after losing a singer and coming off strong. It’s also the highest score i have given an album that Scott Stapp has sung on; so that alone says that Scott has a very good thing going with this band. Hopefully he sticks with it and doesn’t bring forth any drama that will force him out. He’s gotta remember that it is technically a side project (Disturbed and Ron Thal’s solo work) and it isn’t going to be a major focus i assume. They are recording in a timely manner as a beginning career band would (2 years) but who knows. They are also touring finally so we shall see how they turn out. The side project issue is probably the biggest reason why Creed isn’t active this around and is why i can possibly see drama unfolding with Scott didn’t learn from his prior health scare last time. I doubt they will be performing their first album since Scott Weiland’s angtsy echo in his voice was highly important to the overall sound of the album. We shall see soon enough but be sure to check out this album. It is a nice surprise and could potentially prove to be your favorite album of the year. So far nothing else is sticking out highly unless the Linkin Park one proves to be a big surprise. Enjoy your day everyone!

*Reviewer’s Pick*

[theseventhhex]

James Interview

James

‘Living In Extraordinary Times’ follows the release of James' recent ‘Better Than That’ EP, the band’s first new music since their hugely successful 2016 album ‘Girl at the End of the World’, which debuted at number two in the UK album charts, second only to Adele – their highest debut entry in nearly twenty years. This is the band’s 15th studio album, and delivers the same vigour and urgency as its predecessors, a fusion of social commentary and personal reflection, covering everything from the current political climate in America in frustration-charged times and eternal optimism for better change. Simply put, this iconic outfit remains as important and relevant as ever. James’ knack for super-skilled musical arrangements and significant messages shows no signs of weariness… We talk to Jim Glennie about improvisation, meditation and Man City…

TSH: The remarkable consistency from James is so prolific and impressive. How does it feel for you to continue to have a unified band chemistry in the wake of yet another top release with ‘Living In Extraordinary Times’?

Jim: Everything feels fantastic. This whole recent period has felt so good for James. We’re constantly writing songs which serves as a key essence and factor that keeps us going. We love writing - it’s kind of our life blood. We’ve actually written throughout the summer and we’ve even written for the next record. It’s just what we do; just like authors writing new books - we just love writing new songs. There’s no stopping us.

TSH: There remains a hunger to still be creative and relevant rather than a heritage band?

Jim: Absolutely. The last thing we want is to get up onstage and run through rehearsed versions of the best of our material. We love expressing ourselves creatively because it signifies the cusp of where we’re at with our perspectives. We grab the spaces that we can when we’re together and we work relentlessly.

TSH: As opposed to the Scottish Highlands you found yourselves working in Sheffield this time around?

Jim: Yeah, we did the whole of this latest record in Sheffield in a studio called Yellow Arch. Everything worked out geographically for us. We were doing some festivals throughout the summer and Sheffield was sort of in between where we were at. We liked the city and the people and went there a few times and found that the place suited our purpose.

TSH: Tim’s mentioned that the process in forming these songs was ‘magical’?

Jim: Yeah, and I guess that’s because we just have a really good way of writing. We get into a room and just play. We switch on the drum machine and we record everything. We plug away for hours and hours and days and days. Along the way, we get into weird places, odd sections and strange headspaces, but the chemistry is always pleasing, and as Tim said, this time it felt magical.

TSH: Does starting with improvisation allow you all to excel?

Jim: Yes, and that’s the exciting part. Seeing the songs emerge is great. We just jam and spontaneously play - we listen to one another and things just appear - it’s really pleasing. All the songs have a life of their own and our process is never calculated. We simply piece our varied compositions into songs and journeys unfold. This way of working can be time consuming but the spontaneity of something appearing in the room that could potentially be special gives us such a buzz.

TSH: Tim’s lyrical style and overall songwriting is absolutely exceptional and so affective. As his close friend, what’s it like to see his comprehensive mastery close up?

Jim: Tim is such an amazing lyricist and he is totally underrated. For us, to come up with such great music and have Tim’s substantial, meaningful and impactful content added on top is truly incredible. It’s also great to play these songs to people live and hit home these powerful lyrical messages. Tim’s stuff can sometimes be quite obscure and he can also nail between the eyes too. It’s amazing how he layers up the lyrics and adds a unique depth and complexity to his writing. It’s wonderful.

TSH: What stands out most when you overlook a song like ‘Many Faces’?

Jim: That song feels like one of James’ journey songs. It involved a fair bit of improvisation and some chopping and changing. It’s more of a linear song and it’s going from section to section. With that one I feel like we found an area with which we hovered over and found some sweet spots. Also, it’s a song with some amazing lyrics to reflect the times of today and musically we get behind it with passion when we play it live.

TSH: I wanted to get your views on some past James hidden gems. Firstly, ‘Play Dead’ - a song that comes out of left field and displays a distinct new depth to your sound at the time...

Jim: That song is post ‘Wah Wah’ actually. When we did that record with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs it opened up a lot of new doors for James. We brought in these mad sonic shifts to our songs and what came in the wake of ‘Whiplash’ onwards was us trying to sort of implement new sonics and ideas. I think it was Dave who had the beginning jam of that song at his home studio and he did some of the mad stuff that’s on there - including the chopping up and sparseness of the beginning arrangement. When he played it to us we just thought it was brilliant. That one takes off as a more traditional James song towards the end; it becomes more lush, it sounds big and has some strings incorporated too. Looking back, it was a transition period for us in seeing how our songs could be messed up and taken away from a traditional format using technology. It was a very exciting direction to take.

TSH: Also, talk us through what you recall about the band fleshing out the excellent ‘Five-O’...

Jim: You know, I actually don’t know why we called it ‘Five-O’ - I recall it was something to do with Hawaii Five-O, and I’ve not got the foggiest beyond that. We still play that track live with Brian Eno’s vocals recorded. I remember Brian Eno layering up the backing vocals and he just has the weirdest voice; it’s very odd, thin and not that pleasant to the ear initially, haha! However, when you layer it up, it sounds great and it also cuts like nobody’s business. His vocals don’t have a deep rich resonance to them but they consist of a very frequency driven sound. His style was brilliant and worked so well on that song. I remember Brian Eno loved that song and he was steering the ship on that one in our rehearsal room in Prestwich in Manchester - it was one of the songs that pulled him in. What I love about that song is that it just comes straight out of the blocks and never eases up. It’s like everyone piles in at the beginning and we keep going - it’s like a steam train!

TSH: Does meditation help to keep you centred amidst all the bedlam in the world?

Jim: Yes. I meditate often and it stops me from going mad. I used to meditate for three hours a day and even now I still love doing it. I don’t know if it’s the same as spirituality but it does me the world of good and it’s my refuge from my ever chattering nonsensical brain. I guess the world in general feels very uncertain and chaotic but this current record is actually about a positive change that we feel is coming. It’s something we were really keen to get across. It’s not an album that reflects on the rubbish going on in the world; instead it touches on a period of change that’s coming. I don’t know what the change is or how it will manifest itself but I am hopeful we’ll unite and see the light very soon. Sometimes it feels like things have to get really bad before they get good. I guess you have to have hope that we’ll start to do things in a way which is less selfish, less destructive and less harmful. It’s about having belief that amidst all the chaos goodness will prevail.

TSH: James are renowned for their stunning live offerings. How does it feel for you to connect with audiences the world over for countless years?

Jim: Performing live for James is just the most incredible and amazing part of doing this. We simply love connecting with our fans and performing for them with dedication and devotion. Having a direct two way response with the audience feels like such an amazing achievement. Of course we like to change our set and offer some variety because performing live for us often means doing things we’ve not done before. Overall, it’s amazing to tour the world and have new fans and old fans joining us. Playing live will always allow us to feel liberated and satisfied with our craft.

TSH: Being a Man City must also leave you feeling very satisfied?

Jim: Haha! Being a Man City for the last seven years or so has been incredible and so much fun. I sometimes go to the games with my son too. I was born in Moss Side a mile from Maine Road and all my adult life I’ve suffered Man United wining everything. However, with Pep Guardiola on board and our rich owners, it really is a special time for Man City fans. I am just so pleased to see how amazing we are playing - the football is world class and there is so much quality in the team. We have some incredible players, especially in midfield. It’s a joy to watch such a beautiful style of football. Long may it reign.

TSH: For the band’s future preferences, what sort of aspects do you hope to maintain and stay true to?

Jim: You know, I feel like we’re always trying to prove something - it feels like we’re pushing ourselves to achieve something, but we‘re not sure what that is. Maybe it’s this unknown exploration that drives us in a way. Nonetheless, I am so proud of what we’ve managed to do to date and the whole band remains determined and optimistic about continuing this journey. It’s always exciting for us to get back into the studio to discover and unravel what the next step for James will be. Our next step is never a response to what we’ve done before; we don’t have a concrete plan of where we want to go. It’s normally a new connection or a reaction to something - we don’t have any control over it and we don’t consciously analyse things - we like to just let things evolve naturally. We just get into a room and something always happens. I guess the day it doesn’t click for us might mean the end for us. However, right now it feels like we’re able to get together and still do what we need to do. Ultimately, you get what you’re given. We’ve made a career of doing things with this in mind and we’ll continue to do so as we look ahead.

James - “Moving On”

James - “Born Of Frustration”

Living in Extraordinary Times