#It was beautiful and had cool versions of modern songs though

[psycrowsis]

bridgerton might be the TV show equivalent of a romance novel and it's really not my thing but they had a threesome in it and it made watching through worth it

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Bayverse Headcanon: What kind of music do they like?

Idk why I had to do this, but I just had to.

Also, one day I might make more detailed versions of these scenarios.

Warning: Long af, spelling bc I'm dyslexic.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Leonardo:

There are a few sides to the leader in blue. The part that sits in the dojo for hours, meditating in complete silence. Probably one of the few things he had to practice on - meditating with noises all around him. And then there’s the part of him that listens to music, while doing mundane things. Whether it would be cleaning his room, taking a shower, a warm up before training or just chilling in his room or on the rooftops. Leo do enjoy music a lot, he just has clear rules for when he can hear it. No modern music in the dojo! Martial arts should be honored, and to do it in other that silence would be an insult to the arts and the old masters. But outside of the dojo, it would be possible to find Leo with a pair of headphones on every once in a while.

Leo is a rock kid. Not heavy metal - no - that is just not Leo’s kind of music. But old school rock and maybe even glam rock. It was usually music with prominent guitar or bass that he often found himself listening to. It kind of fitted the way he saw himself. Th stoic leader on the rooftop, fighting with an edgy soundtrack in his head. Edgy and cool being the way he described it in his own head. It gave him a slight tingle in his stomach, when he jumped from roof to roof with his headphones on, listening to certain rock songs. He felt like a true leader, jumping high over people’s head, listening to “Zitti E Buoni” by Måneskin. When really feeling it alone in the shower, with the same song booming from his blue bluetooth speaker, he would channel his inner Damiano David, singing along to the fast part without any mistakes. Now, Leo is not usually the one to sing along to songs. He doesn't even hum that often, but when he does, it is usually in the shower. But there was this one time Raph walked past the bathroom, while Leo was screaming his heart out to a Måneskin song. Usually Raph would find a way to make fun of his brother for such a thing, but this time Raph decided not to, mainly because it didn’t sound near as bad as Raph though Leo’s singing would do.

Another artist Leo would be singing along to in the shower is Micheal Jackson. He might even do a few dance moves, but he would NEVER IN HIS LIFE, do them outside of a locked bathroom.

One of Leo’s favorite bands had to be Blur. He really liked Damon Albarn’s voice and the guitar of Graham Coxon, and would often find himself listening to them before going to bed. At one point, Leo even tried to sneak out to see all of Blur play live. Did he get in? Yes. Did he watch them from somewhere just below the roof? Yes. Did the bassist spot Leo, blink in confusion, only to look back up to find the spot Leo had been hiding in empty, with Leo having fled the scene? Yes, and that’s why Leo doesn’t do concerts anymore. But he never told his brothers. Mikey would not be happy to know that Leo had sneaked into a concert, while having told Mikey time and time again that he wasn’t allowed to.

Leo has a thing for languages when it comes to music. He grew up in New York City with English as his first language, with Japanese from Splinter following right after as his second. He decided to learn Spanish, just in case it would get useful, and since he had an Italian first name, he also learned Italien. That would probably explain some of his love for Måneskin. But Leo just really liked languages. He doesn’t have to understand the lyrics in order to enjoy it. One prime example of that is the song “Stefania” by KALUSH and Kalush orchestra, even though it is hip hop in genre. Did Leo understand any Ukrainian? Nope. But did he have a general idea of what the song was about, and found the Ukrainian language beautiful and interesting? Yes, very much. He found the courage of Ukraine inspiring, and would often use that inspiration in his training, which is why this is one of the very few songs he will actually train to outside of warm ups.

A true bedroom song for Leo is “Demoni” by Joker Out. He wouldn’t do much while listening to that. He would just lay in bed with headphones one, eyes closed while either bobbing his head or right foot to the beat. Leo isn't much of a dancer, but more a bobber. That was usually how his brothers knew if he liked a certain song; he would bob his head slightly to the beat. That only fueled Mikey’s imagination, creating a picture in his head of Leo head banging in his room to heavy metal, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Stoic Leo didn’t head bang, but he did move at least his head or foot lightly.

Now, what does Leo’s brothers like about his music taste? Well, to be honest, most of the time they weren’t too sure what kind of music Leo liked. They did know that he was into rock, and they knew very well that at this point that he liked Måneskin and Micheal Jackson. But there was this one time while driving the garbage truck, that Leo somehow got in charge of the aux. None of the guys really knew what to expect, but “Gladiator” by Jann wasn’t it. Mikey even said something along the lines of; “emo Leo doesn’t listen to My Chemical Romance”, causing Leo to remember once again, why he normally didn’t want to be in charge of the aux, and liked keeping his music to himself.

Raphael:

Raph listens to music quite often. Probably not as often as Mikey, but still at way more than Donnie and Leo. One of the main reasons why Raph listens to so much music is - you probably guessed it - training. He would often lift his weights to the beat of the music, in a way that most humans could only dream of doing. But he would also listen to music on his own, either riding his motorcycle through the streets of New York City at night, or while knitting in his room.

A favorite song of Raphael’s to ride his motorcycle to was “Would You Ever” by Skrillex and Poo Bear. Swerving in and out of traffic, causing people to yell in anger in his direction, or causing groups of girls to giggle and point at the mysterious bad boy that just rode past them. Covered in a helmet and covered in a big leather jacket and cloves, he looks like a big hunk of a man, showing off his motorcycle. But would Raph play his music out loud while riding down the street? Normally he would not. But there was this one time he just couldn’t help himself. Stopping at a red light, Raph found himself beside an open roofed car, filled with giggling human girls. Most of them were tipsy, and Raph wouldn’t be too surprised if the girl in front of the steering wheel was too. Obviously, they had something for big guys, as they started asking about his name, how old he was, where he lived, or if they could get a ride on his motorcycle. Or if he would come ride with them. Raph didn’t say anything, he just pressed a button on his motorcycle, causing the music to disconnect from his helmet, and started playing from his motorcycle speakers. He saluted them, just as the light turned green, riding away while the girls stared at him in awe. In his opinion, it was very much worth it.

Raph has quite a few songs he liked lifting weights to. One of them being “Hello” by Will.I.Am. When Raphael is lifting weights, he will do it proud and loud, playing his music on a red speaker, much to the annoyance of Leonardo, who very much wants to meditate. When it came to boxing, Raph would often listen to Eminem, hyping himself up with the music or the angry lyrics, causing Mikey to ask him what the hell Eminem had done to him, since he would get the need to hit something whenever he heard his voice.

Raph would almost always find a reason to listen to Eminem. When Raph was angry and wanted to hit something; “Kamikaze”. Should Raph ever find himself mad at a woman; “Farewell”. Was Raph ever in a good mood and just wanted to dance and have fun; “Shake that”. But somehow, when Raph was sad, he wouldn’t listen to Emniem. If he was sad and decided to box, he would listen to The Weeknd. Mikey caught on to that pretty fast, and would do his little brother duty to bring up Raph’s mood, whenever he would hear the voice of The Weeknd from Raph's room.

Like Leo, Raph would also listen to music while showering. But it was while being alone in the bathroom, that Raph would listen to much that wasn’t often associated with big angry muscle men like him. It would often be more pop than electronic or hip hop. And god, how Raph hoped none of his brothers would hear him sing along to “i don’t wanna talk about love”, by Micheal Medrano. Raphael could just shut up and shower in silence, but nope, a man got to groove in the shower. Luckily for Raph, only Donnie had heard him once. Had Donnie laughed his ass off as soon as he got to his room afterwards? Yes, oh my god yes he had. But did he tell Mikey and Leo about it? Nope, he did not. But he did tell April and you about it though, and what a laugh you guys had over the phone.

Raph would never admit it to anyone, but he did listen to Madonna, and he did enjoy it. It started with “Future” by Madonna and Quavo, and before he knew it, he was sitting in his room enjoying both “Like A Prayer” and “Like A Virgin”, which led to him singing “Hung Up” in the shower. Madonna would lead to Dua Lipa, and before Raph even realized what was happening, half of his playlist would be pop power women. Loreen, Lady Gaga, old Miley Cyrus songs. And did he know the lyrics? Oh yes he did. And one time, his brothers would catch him listening to at least one of them.

It was one of those days where each turtle seemed to be doing their own thing, which left Raph alone with his work out equipment and his speaker. As usual it started out with Eminem, Juicy J, Kanye West and others, before suddenly “Rendez Vouz” by INNA. That caught Mikey’s attention, and once he heard and saw Raph dance and sing along from his hiding spot, he went to find Leo and Donnie. And oh, how they fought to keep from laughing when Raph started feeling himself too much, working out to “Work Bitch” by Brittney Spears. After that, the phrase “get to work bitch”, was used quite often around Raph.

Donatello:

The purple scientist is very straightforward with his taste in music. If he likes it, he listens to it. He often has music playing while doing stuff in his lab. Sometimes calming lofi music in hopes that it could get him sleepy, but that usually didn’t work very often. Instead Donnie would often find himself listening to music from the indie scene, or what some people on the internet might call vibey music. Aesthetic music. What aesthetic, you might ask? Well, Donnie had no idea, and he most differently thought that the internet had no idea either. One of these so-called vibe or aesthetic pop songs was “HEAVEN AND BACK” by Chase Atlantic. Tapping away on his computer or connecting whatever hard drive, he found that the music helped him concentrate at the task in front of him.

Though Donnie didn’t seem to notice, his brothers did. Most of the songs he listened to had some not so happy lyrics. Often quite depressive, covered over with bass, keyboard, drum kit and sometimes even a saxophone. At one point Leo had brought this concern up with Donnie, causing the purple turtle shrug.

“Music is music. I listen to what I like”, he said, making another cup of coffee, before going back to work in his lab.

Those few times Donnie finally left his lab to relax in his room, he would read a book, listen to songs like “Quite Quitting” by NOT A TOY. To Donnie, music was mainly background noise, helping him to shut out his loud brothers so he could focus. What the lyrics said didn’t bother him too much. But there is one thing Donnie notices in most of the music he listens to; a smooth bass. It didn’t have to be a loud bass, often becoming part of the background with the drums, being overshadowed by smooth special effects or the singing. Donnie really like bass, but he also like smooth keyboards. There had been times where he had thought of getting a bass or keyboard, or maybe even make them himself. Mikey had his drum set, so Donnie might as well get a few instruments of his own.

Like Leo, Donnie liked to listen to music on the rooftops every once in a while. But unlike his brother, Donnie would usually stay at the same roof, remembering the names of stars, plants and constellations on the sky above him, while listening to songs like “ALIENS” by The Griswolds and Transviolet, wearing big soft headphones. Comfort over looks was important for Donnie, and being a mutant turtle hiding from the people of New York City, he didn’t give a crap about what his headphones look like. He thought they were nice, and he likes to wear them, and that was enough for him. His brothers, on the other hand, thought they were chunky and strange, to which he could only say it was good they were his headphones and not theirs. And it was at nights like those, that Donnie thought of how, maybe his brothers were right about his taste in music. He might be a little different from them, like how the alien was described in the song he was listening to. Not that he worried too much about it. He liked his head and the brain inside it, and with that came being different. That’s just how it was.

But not all the music Donnie listens to is filled with sadness and depression. Songs such as “Strange Clouds” by ufo ufo were a good morning song according to Donnie. When he woke up after finally having had a full night's sleep, he would listen to songs like that, while making breakfast or making his coffee. But then later in the day, sitting in front of the computer screen, once again not being able to sleep, he would listen to stuff like “Numb” by 8 graves. It was the lyrics from that song that had made Leo’s alarm bells ring. Mikey on the other hand wasn’t too worried. He just called Donnie’s music taste “calm edge lord, that doesn’t need to try hard”.

Now, if there was one artist Donatello had to say was his favorite, it would probably be Mystery Skulls, especially “Stronger”. A nice bass in front and center, backed up with synth all around. But Donnie also really liked Luke Black. Way different from all the other music Donnie would listen to, yet he really liked it. He would probably never admit it to his brothers, but he did listen to the lyrics of Luke Black, and he did find it more than a little interesting.

Michelangelo:

Mikey - or as he like to call himself; DJ Mikey - listens to music all the time, every day, everywhere, rarely turning down for the sake of any of his brothers, blasting it oh so loud on his orange speaker, only putting headphones on if his brothers threatened him. Or if Master Splinter asked him to.

He sang along, danced along, sometimes even to the embarrassment of others, like the many times he would scream along to “Turn It Up” by Oliver Tree, Little Big and Tommy Cash.

Mikey likes big, loud and up beat music. Something he can move his body to and be his little happy self. It could be anything from pop to hip hop, maybe even electronic or EDM. It would usually consist of him listening to the same few songs over and over again, until he is getting slightly tired of them, while his brothers are ready to rip their heads off, or maybe dig into their skulls to rip their ears out.

With Mikey being his small ADHD self, it wouldn’t be strange for him to listen to music made by people with ADHD for people with ADHD, making a big deal out of it. One of those songs being “Irresponsible” by Emei. There was this one time he almost made Donnie deaf by blasting the song into his ears while scream: "This song is made for me!"

Much to Leo’s annoyance, Mikey didn’t follow his rule of “no music in the dojo”, since Mikey often found it easier to train with music. This man can do all of his katas perfectly, if only “Hypnodancer” by Little Big is playing in the background.

If there is one thing Mikey likes, it is listening to “Pac-man” by Gorillaz, and making eating pizza into his own version of pac man, in which his brothers are the ghosts, and he has to steal pizza from them. At this point, his older brothers know to keep a good eye on their food as soon as that song starts playing... Or if he just plays Gorillaz at all.

Another thing Mikey likes when it comes to music, is when his brothers somehow enjoy what he’s playing. It had happened before, and it would most likely happen again. Mikey sat in the middle of the lair, happily dancing where he sat while reading comics, playing “Go Bananas” by Little Big. Raph didn’t growl at him from his bench press, but instead started to lift the weights on every other beat. Donnie sat at his computer, pressing the keys of his keyboard in beat with the song, probably without noticing. And Leo was bobbing his head ever so slightly while sharpening his katanas. This had Mikey over the moon, which only caused him to want to play more music for his brothers. Every once in a while they would let him do it, just to make their little brother happy. That was the main reason why Mikey is the aux guy.

When Mikey decided to skateboard, he would most often do it with old school hip hop playing. As a turtle in the sewers of New York, that only made sense to him, which is why he often would skate up and down the sewers, vibing with “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. And of course Mikey could rap the whole thing. Now, this was one of those few songs that Leo, Raph and Donnie didn’t mind Mikey playing over and over again.

But then there were those times on patrol where Mikey just would start singing out of nowhere. When he started breaking into “Sax” by Fleur East, complete with thought out dance moves in the way only Mikey could do it, Raph was ready to throw him off the roof and down to ongoing traffic.

It would be no surprise to tell you that one of Mikey’s favorite artists is Little Big, and that he also loves Gorillaz. But he would also quite often listen to the music that his brothers were playing. He very well knew that Leo loved listening to Blur, and that most of Raph’s playlist was made up of power women, and that Donnie’s secret favorite was Luke Black. And of course Mikey could sing every single word to the songs of his brothers' favorite artists, being the little attentive brother that he is. And because his music taste had room for more than theirs had.

—----------------------------------------------------------

You can tell I’m European, can’t you?

[tolkien-feels]

Here is something I've been thinking a lot about lately wrt to Nerdanel, feat a little bit of Feanor. And Gandalf and Saruman.

(More headcanon than meta tbh but I think if I tried I could make A Case for this being a possible, if not conclusive, reading)

Oh fyi this post is a mess but I've been trying to make it more logical for weeks now and my brain isn't cooperating so here it is in all its messy glory

Let me share a famous quote but highlight what I want to talk about

While still in early youth Fëanor wedded Nerdanel, a maiden of the Noldor; at which many wondered, for she was not among the fairest of her people. But she was strong, and free of mind, and filled with the desire of knowledge. In her youth she loved to wander far from the dwellings of the Noldor, either beside the long shores of the Sea or in the hills; and thus she and Fëanor had met and were companions in many journeys. Her father, Mahtan, was a great smith, and among those of the Noldor most dear to the heart of Aulë. Of Mahtan Nerdanel learned much of crafts that women of the Noldor seldom used: the making of things of metal and stone. She made images, some of the Valar in their forms visible, and many others of men and women of the Eldar, and these were so like that their friends, if they knew not her art, would speak to them; but many things she wrought also of her own thought in shapes strong and strange but beautiful.

So much is made of that first sentence, of Nerdanel not being considered beautiful enough for Feanor, but lately I have been Considering headcanoning this being the polite version of what the Noldor truly think about Nerdanel - that she's weird. Not quirky, not creative, just straight up off-puttingly strange.

Nerdanel strikes me in this paragraph as being profoundly restless of mind. She wants to know, she wants to explore, she won't be confined by the physical limits of the territory of the Noldor nor by the societal limits of gender. Insofar as that shows independence and curiosity, I don't think the Noldor would find any of this negative, or at least not extraordinarily so.... but we are shown a glimpse of Nerdanel's restless mind in this paragraph: the (abstract?) sculptures she makes are beautiful but strong and strange.

Even though apparently her ability to make realistic sculptures is outstanding, Nerdanel seems to be drawn towards expressing things that don't exist in the world, and these seem to be implied to be slightly unsettling? I mean, the Noldor are the Noldor. How weird does your artwork need to be for it to be labeled as strange? Especially strange in opposition to beautiful. Not strange as in awkwardly done. Strange as in "You clearly know what you're doing but also wtf is this sculpture?" It feels very... Modern art? It's cool. Not really the point of the post but cool.

Anyway, Nerdanel has chosen a craft unusual for her gender and then proceeded to apparently try to reach for something beyond the grasp of even the Noldor. You know when Yavanna brings up the ents and Manwe is like "Okay... That's. Weird. In the Song, but weird." and has to take a moment to understand the creation she's being called to do? That's the vibe I get from Nerdanel's sculptures

And then it's like... Of course she and Feanor are a match. Who else could be more restless? I bet Feanor looked at her strange sculptures and was immediately interested. They are both reaching towards some unknown thing they can't find in Valinor, and Nerdanel may or may not be attempting to describe this longing in physical form with her sculptures

I think in a way, Feanor and Nerdanel sharing a love of crafts and exploration is almost... set dressing for their romance. The thing actually pulling them together is that they are looking at the world around them and saying "Okay, but what else is there? This is not enough for me, I want more than this, I need to know more than this, I need to experience more than this, I need to create more than this"

The question is, of course, where that leads. Unstoppable quest for knowledge and "what else is out there?" - especially when coupled with a subcrearive drive and EXTRA especially when coupled with separating oneself from society - has always been a red flag in Tolkien, starting from Melkor. Hell, even Gollum fits this pattern. I'm not saying that's a worldview I personally subscribe to (I. Don't.) but it seems to be a clear fact of Arda metaphysics. Curiosity + creativity + self-isolation tends to = corruption.

So - is this what makes Nerdanel "the Wise"? Is she a woman who was tempted in every way every villain has ever been tempted, but she resisted and never fell?

Because I can only think of one other hero character who has all of the following: hunger for knowledge, a marked desire for solitude, a strong tendency to be considered Off-puttingly Weird by their peers, a penchant for loving subcreation, possibly immunity from temptation via wanting to understand rather than master the world:

Gandalf.

Nerdanel Istarnie has parallels to Istar extraordinaire Gandalf

Hell, Gandalf is even a fan of Feanor!

And like, that completely changes my read on Nerdanel's character. Because then, narratively speaking, she's the Gandalf to Feanor's Saruman. She is Feanor as Feanor should have been.

Which is like. Ten thousand levels of juicy. Like, you could conceivably structure an entire storyline around Nerdanel staying true to her mission as a Noldorin subcreator while Feanor goes astray. (What is that mission? Debatable. Suit yourself.)

And then, more than just an emotional scene, Nerdanel pleading with Feanor to not take away all her sons from her becomes the ultimate test of her commitment - can she stick to what she thinks is the right thing even if it costs her the loss of her beloved children, possibly the dearest of all her creations, so to speak?

Like, I could go on, but I just. Nerdanel as Feanor who never fell. Nerdanel as mentor and cheerleader, with varying levels of success. Nerdanel as Gandalf!!!!!!! I just love it so much, and I predict I'll be thinking about this for many years going forward

[pentagonieslut]

DKB REACTION UN

s/o being naked for the first time

gn!reader (except yuku is female due to scenario)

requested by 🐇 anon !!

enjoy!

dongil

so cute, he's happy that you decided to strip in front of him

..not really. he purposely walked in to watch you get naked

licking his lips like he's dehydrated

"so. since i already saw you in just skin, can i hit?"

you're so mad at him, you ignore him for a week

"baby please forgive me"

chocolates and a card that begs for sex

don't judge. him, jeongsik, and changmin will be in the stu for the next comeback so he needs something

changmin

you didn't realize he was in the shower

so you walked in ass naked

he heard the door open and looked up

smiling so mf hard, his jaw might break

"baby, i'm in here! wanna join?"

you were cold so you didn't care at this point

"sorry love, didn't know."

"don't worry, i didn't see anything"

jeongsik

HIS NECK TATTOO IN SOBER FUCK ME UGH

he was working out like usual and glanced up to see you staring into space whilst eating chips

you were in his zip up hoodie he bought since he was obsessed with oversized clothing

also thought he would be a comedian and hide only your underwear

standing in front of you, he placed a kiss on your nose

HIS CHEEKY FUCKING HAND

"oops. looks like the button is broken..let me eat you"

pushing him away in annoyed

he pushes you down and chris brown's 'take you down' plays in the background like a sitcom

get comfy on the counter; he loves your bodyline

gwang hyun

chicken eating competition

your robe was slipping off slowly

you didn't notice it until you finished both boxes

gwang hyun still had the first leg in his hand

"god you're beautiful-- i mean a beast. shit!"

has to walk away to cool down

comes back and stares at you

"your sexy level reached infinite level"

heechan

"i- sorry- go ahead"

you laughed and allowed him in

the sex fiend was so shy

"uh"

finds the stocks article interesting when he hates looking at it

sings a random ass song

"chipotle?"

"why so shy?"

sungmin

sleeping but opened one eye when he heard you get out of bed

noticed you changing quickly and his brow raised unintentionally

decides to question it when he's fully awake

thinks your ass looks good and wonders how it'll bounce

straight fucking liar

"did you leave for work? i was out cold"

lewd dreams not barbie dreamz

he'll get you by surprise though don't worry

junseo

he's technically already seen you naked

bear hugs you and whispers

"let's do it before i have to go to dance"

and so, you do it

he praises your body and coos

can't stop touching you

soft skin, his favourite

became feral and is willing to skip dance

you force him away after a while and struggle to close the door before you really can't make it to work yourself

yuku

lowkey mad you didn't tell him about the photoshoot

you both were doing sexy modern traditional kimono shoot

your kimono was showing a lot of shoulder and even a slight peek of your chest

in changing room, you changed into the other one and applied more lipstick and perfume

"please don't let anyone take more photos of your boobs except me"

defiant and lowers both sleeves of the kimono halfway down your arms

so sexy oh wow (BRAVE please let DKB do the sexiest of sexy concepts i'm begging you. like full on horny at first scene bbs, abs, muscles, backs, tongues, choreographed sex, sweating, in song moaning, so hot international bbs are the only ones able to watch the mv, i will even buy all versions of the album and only listen to just that specific album for the rest of the year, dilf core, bimbo core bbs, ass shaking, sugar daddy x sugar baby au)

harry june

bath time oishii-kunare

busts in and is ready to jump in

shrieks in slight shock

"sorry! i'll come back!"

slams door before you can even invite him

too bad

could've gotten sucked

comes back in

"let me join you"

[nadiegesabate1990]

But, before all that, I did the opposite!

In the beginning, my songs had catchy melodies, and I created a very simple sample structure and continued to record with guitar sound.

However, due to money and health problems, this guitarist Nadiege and under the influence of alcohol consumption, I matured and both my songs and instrumentation gained complexity. In fact, it was all I needed to create my classic songs.

The fusion point is to create a song and with it create another. We call them variations. Learn this technique by listening to classical music.

Shortly after, I decided that I wasn't going to give concerts. (I'm still deciding). And even though my career began with frivolous performances, I was also thinking about dance and electronic music from small nightclubs in Europe.

At that time, as the percussionist, I still had no idea that I was a percussionist, I created songs with a lot of rhythm and a great explosion of anger because sometimes the notes didn't come out perfectly or how I wanted them.

I want to pursue a solo career, I'm an individual and, although I've achieved some 'cool metal', I'm managing to repeat my success as a composer.

I stopped for a while to dedicate myself to games, and created some games, including some animations.

And I thought and began to wonder; What is the music world like?

You see many artists are acclaimed by children and young people. And when they appear, it is full of unprecedented enthusiasm, and at the same time they suffer rejection from adults.

And some say I'm a 34-year-old grown woman and I'm moving away from American singers? No! I've always listened to classical electronic dance music and if I hadn't heard it, I wouldn't have been inspired to write lyrics. But the problem is the composer.

I listened to the songs, lyrics by British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber in the voice of singer Madonna only on the first album. There's no one who can make me like Madonna. What I know about his life is, he came from a family that worked in classical music. Lloyd Weber's songs are full of feeling and the melodies are beautiful, some of which are classical music.

And we have the extraordinary international success achieved by this girl Taylor who contributed decisively to the popularization of modern pop country music. Thanks to the composers, and professional marketing, Taylor's first album has been selling and I hope it will reach more than 1 billion copies. For years she dominated the charts like no other woman in the musical world. She has succeeded so far; the top 7 places on the North American list are occupied by 6 of her songs.

And Taylor is really cool, just like Ariana Grande Iggy Azalea Miley Cyrus RITA ORA Selena Gomez.

But over time they see disenchantment. And we create a new way of experiencing life. And survivors like me Nadiege won't stop recording songs, composing for myself and making new versions of many more of my songs.

[elis-exists]

TELL ME WHY COSMO SHELDRAKE TRULY DOES GIVE OFF "KING OF THE FAES AND FOLKLORE" AS A YT COMMENT SAID AND I WANT TO LIVE IN THE WORLD THAT ALL OF HIS MUSIC RELATES TO???

y'all i'm about to go on a tangent of what this music reminds me of below vvv

This is giving me fantasy forest vibes. Okay, so imagine you're going through the woods as a traveler who came across this part of the world you're going through. You think nothing of it and then BOOM you notice magical and fantasy things happening. Things that normally wouldn't be in realistic woods (pelicans, whales, faes, faries, etc) and it's peaceful.

Each song gives me a different take on the woods which I'll be listing below (NOTE: I haven't listened to all of the songs, so I apologize if one you like isn't on here I'll get around to listening to them all I promise.)

The Moss: The Moss gives off someone telling others about fairytales from the outside world, but with their own take. It was as if they had some kind of otherworldly spin/their own version of it and compared it to how we perceive the fairytales.

Pelicans We: Pelicans We has the "obvious" vibe of pelicans being a clan of birds where they see themselves as not superior, but more like having the most going for them. Their life is simple and it's how they like it.

Axolotl: Axolotl is giving me someone describing a fantasy world in their head that came true like a less extreme Alice in Wonderland. Things don't make sense and that's the beauty in things. It's like standards and basic rules don't apply.

Bathed in Sound: Bathed in Sound reminds me of the movie Song of the Sea (if you haven't watched it I recommend it I love it) with the water theme and the idea that there's a whole other world down in the sea. It's like Seasoire (I forgot how to spell her name I'm sorry-) first had a dream and discovered the wonders of the ocean. Also gives me Jameson Jackson vibes I don't know why. Like, I can see it for some reason.

Birthday Suit: Birthday Suit has that wandering traveler vibe I described before where they come across what they think is normal woods and find that it's far more than that, holding more wonders than you can imagine.

Tardigrade Song: Tardigrade Song talks about sea bears or tardigrades. It's like someone being almost envious about how Tardigrades live, especially since they live for a long time (I think they might be immortal??).

Solar Waltz: Solar Waltz feels like fantasy creatures and beings following a personified time like how people can perceive Mother Nature. In my eyes, Time has all-white clothing and blond hair. I don't know why, but it feels like it to me.

The Fly: The Fly specifically in the beginning gives me folklore vibes (even though every song here does) but with a sort of modern twist on how it's presented. I don't understand why, but it's giving me Henrik Von Schneeplestien vibes I can't explain why.

Come Along: This totally gives me Marvin the Magnificent vibes, but if he was related to folklore and transporting to a fictional world of his own design and honestly, I'm here for it. This was the second Cosmo Sheldrake song I listened to.

The Woods: The Woods is so simple yet so cool even though it has simple and small verses. I just love it. It has that wandering traveler telling a small tale of his trips to the unknown.

Eggs and Soldiers: Cottagecore who wanders around in a slow world that revolves around time. It's like everything is in their head and somehow has INFP vibes. Like the 16Personalities female version of INFP is visiting the woods and this is what is happening in their head. You know what? This is their theme song.

Cosmo Sheldrake just gives me a "wandering traveler who befriended the woods and the beings inside and is seen as a welcome friend who tells songs and tales of the fantasy world he's found." Just his name and his brother's name (Merlin Sheldrake) are immaculate.

I might write something that has these vibes idk. Might name it "The Wonders of My Unknown" or something I'll keep y'all posted.

[marsbutterfly]

Hey ! How are you ? Can I request an imagine for Hanji x f!reader where they both get reincarnated in modern time ? They both died side by side during the rubbling and when they get reincarnated they both have memories of their past life (they were already lovers). Reader thought she was never going to see her girlfriend again but one day she finds her by chance.

Take care and have a nice day !

Note: Thank you so much for requesting this. I had fun writing it and the prompt was *chefs kiss* so I really hope you like it.

In Another Life

Summary: Reincarnation is the doctrine or belief that the soul reappears after death in another and different bodily form.

                               Wattpad Version! | AO3 Version!                                                      |◁ II ▷|

Cold sweat drips down your face as you bolt awake, digging your nails into the bedsheets. The same nightmare has been waking you up in the middle of the night since you were a child.

In your dream, you are a soldier who battles to save humanity in the fight against titans. Somehow, you always manage to kill the gigantic beings and return safely to the world inside the walls.

Always by your side is a brown-haired woman with glasses, her left eye is missing in most of the dreams. In all honesty, you have never seen anyone so beautiful before and, somehow, you remember her name.

Hanji Zoe.

One day, you stood by her side as the world you’ve once known was being left behind, turned into dust. She held your face in her hands as tears streamed down her cheeks, the feeling of her lips against yours is vivid and you can even smell the apple she had earlier.

The scream of your comrades echoes through the plane and into your brain but all you can focus on is the image of Hanji’s body catching on fire as the same flames burn down your back.

She hits the ground seconds before you do and somehow you manage to land by her side, hand touching hand as her lifeless body begins to cool down. You don’t have much time to think before a titan’s massive foot squishes your bodies at the exact same time.

That’s usually when you wake up, when your lungs and heart explode inside your chest due to the pressure of the step. When every blood vessel in your body gives in to the pressure and bursts inside you.

You grab your phone, only to realize your alarm was about to go off anyway. So instead of trying to go back to sleep, you simply push the covers aside and begin to drag yourself to the bathroom in hopes of getting your day started.

Not every dream you have is a nightmare. Some of them are about a life you don’t remember living: The combination of joy and fear after joining the Survey Corps, the warmth of Hanji’s naked body against yours, the delicious smell of freshly made apple pie coming from the kitchen in the middle of the night.

At nights where you don’t dream about that life, you miss it. You miss being around your friends, being able to move around the trees as if you were flying, you miss her. Her deep, brown eyes are all you can think about and time slips away from you.

Once your morning routine is completed, you decide to go for a run in the park behind your house. Since the sun has been out for less than an hour, it shouldn’t be too busy and you’ll be able to enjoy some quiet time.

As the armband slides up your skin, a chilling sensation travels down your spine and nearly every particle of hair in your body rises, even though you can’t understand why. So you simply shake your head and push the feeling down.

Carefully, you select your favorite playlist and check to make sure your laces are tied but before you can actually look, your phone rings loudly in your ear nearly giving you a heart attack.

Without a second thought, you decline the call without even checking to see who it is and you make your way outside.

The cold breeze welcomes you and the sweet smell of the food cart in front of your house hits your nose. Usually after a run, you reward yourself with one of their delicious crepes and that is enough motivation for you to finish your jog.

At this time, the park is the most peaceful place in the city. No crying babies in their strollers or loud business men walking around on their phone, there is only you and maybe three more people.

Your favorite song comes on and you feel the energy pumping through your veins with every beat. It’s the perfect weather for a run and you silently enjoy the calm that washes over your body.

Your mind wanders back to your nightmares and you start to remember the better part of it. The times Hanji would take you to a secret picnic after she became commander or the makeout sessions in the janitors closet.

In some ways, you could even feel her warm skin against yours, her kiss-swollen lips attached to you by a string of saliva. It nearly feels as if you had lived throughout all of it, but it couldn’t be possible.

You’re so deep into your thoughts that you don’t notice the stick on the floor and, when you do, it’s too late and you’re already halfway towards the ground so all you can do is protect your face from the concrete.

The impact itself isn’t too painful but the humiliation is what stings the most. If only you hadn’t gotten that call before leaving your house, you would’ve remembered to tie your shoelaces and therefore they wouldn’t have gotten stuck on the stick on the floor.

This isn’t the first time the woman in your dreams has caused you trouble. In a few of your memories, she would make too much noise when you sneak out and the Commander would eventually catch you.

Ever since you were young and these dreams first started, you’ve been going to a therapist after the other in hopes of understanding what all of this means and why is it happening to you but all came to the same result: inconclusive.

No matter how many doctors you see, no one can understand why you have such vivid dreams about a war nobody has ever heard anything about or creatures that have never once been proven to exist.

With your ass on the ground, you notice you used the word “memories” instead of dreams and for a second you feel as if all air has been sucked out of your lungs by a massive vacuum.

You shake your head, pushing those feelings deep down inside of you and getting on your knee, preparing to tie your laces when a familiar perfume rushes by you.

It’s faint and quick, probably carried by the wind but enough for you to snap your head backwards. A comforting feeling settles in your chest, warm and fuzzy if you could describe it. That’s exactly how the woman from your dreams smelled like.

You notice a brunette in a bright yellow sports bra turning around a bush not too far away, but you can’t see if she’s wearing glasses or if she only has one eye, like Hanji did.

“Y/N don’t be ridiculous!” You say to yourself, standing up and brushing away the dirt from your clothes, “Hanji is not a real person, she’s like an imaginary friend.”

Forgetting all about your fall, you decide to resume your run. The pain in your foot forces you to go a bit slower than you are used to but nothing too serious.

Once you are done running your laps around the park and begin to make your way back home, a few drops of rain begin to fall on your skin, forcing you to rush home.

As you are eagerly awaiting for the crepe you’ve been dreaming about for hours, the owner of the small cart has a sad expression on his face.

“I’m fresh out of batter. My husband just went to grab some more, it should take a little longer than 45 minutes, I am so sorry Y/N.” He says and you sigh, a compassionate smile on your lips and you nod.

“You will save me the first one you make when he’s back right?” You ask and the man eagerly nods.

“Of course. With banana, strawberry and chocolate, right?”

And you laugh, knowing that the only reason why he knows your order so well is because his crepes have been your breakfast each morning since you first moved into this apartment.

Once you are done with the conversation, you rush up the stairs and immediately into the shower. With a washcloth you gently brush the dirt out of your bruised knee, quietly hissing as the burning sensation takes over.

Even though you know you aren’t supposed to do so, you pour hydrogen peroxide on top of the wound and a scream leaves your throat at every step of the way.

“Today really isn’t my day.” You say to yourself as you begin to wash your hair. A few specs of dirt fall to the ground and a prolonged sigh escapes your lips. Everything just seems to be going wrong: rain, no crepe, fell during a run, what’s next? Waiting in line at the coffee shop for over an hour?

As you stand in line, you realize you should have kept your mouth shut. Even though you ordered online, the amount of people surrounding the pick up area was beyond ridiculous and you were definitely getting late for work.

Once your turn finally comes, you thank silently in hopes that you will be able to actually make it in time. So with your chest out and happiness on your face, you loudly say over the many other voices, “Order for Y/N!”

The guy behind the counter looks confused as he checks every cup individually and you watch over him as he does so. He shoots you a sadden and a little annoyed look and you realize that the “Order” button never got pushed.

Your eyes fill with tears of frustration but you brush them away and take your phone out, repeating your online order to the barista on the register and they write it down perfectly.

Your eyes are glued to your phone’s screen while you wait for a message from your boss but the same comforting sensation you felt this morning is back again. Maybe it’s the smell of coffee that reminded you of the trips to Marley or the crowds of different people around, much like eldians and marleyans.

“I have to get this shit out of my brain.” You say, shaking your head and focusing on typing out a message to your friend, complaining and hoping that you won’t get fired today. You worked too hard to get this job and if they let you go over some 20 minute wait, you’ll raise hell on Earth.

“Order for Y/N?” A familiar voice says but you can’t identify from where.

So you walk to the counter, finally putting your phone away and counting the coffees. Your eyes land on the barista’s hand, who carries your regular order. You reach for it and in a split of a second, your hands touch.

The world around you seems to stop and so does your breathing. When you look at her, you realize she is the part of you that has been missing all along. She’s a real person and not a dream. You look at her nametag, just making sure you aren’t going insane and there it is. “Hanji Zoe”

In that minimal touch, you are bombarded by the emotions of a lifetime ago. The first day you met, the first titan experiment you had done together, the first kiss, the first time you’ve had to kill a titan because she would always get too damn close to being eaten alive.

But you are also reminded of the last meal you both ate, the last nose rub, the last time her lips touched yours, the last hand holding, the last breath you both took before you woke up where you are now.

And just like that, feelings you didn’t know were possible for you to have emerged from deep within your chest as if a box that has been sitting deep inside the closet has now just been opened. It even seems like the world has just gotten a bit more colorful.

Tears shine in your eyes as the coffee you just waited so long for hits the ground. With a smile on your face, you wrap your arms around her neck and pull her over the counter. It doesn’t take her more than a second to seal your lips together.

Her breath tastes like the hot chocolate she had earlier that day but it still manages to awaken butterflies that laid dormant in your stomach throughout your entire life. It’s not until your phone rings in your pocket that you are brought back to reality.

“I’m so late for work!” You smile at her and rush out of the store, the container with the other cups in your left hand.

“Wait!!” A voice screams from just outside the coffee shop and you immediately turn around to see Hanji, her hat in her hand as she comes closer to you. “I knew something was missing my entire life and….”

“And now I realize it was you.” You two say in perfect unison and she nods.

“Why don’t we start over? This time, without any titans around.” She asks and you smile.

“Hey, I’m Y/N.” You say, extending your hand.

“I’m Hanji Zoe and I would love to take you on a date sometime.” Hanji meets you in the middle, shaking your hand.

“I really have to go.” You say and a frown appears on her face, you have to fight the will to quit your job and start a nice, little life in the woods with her. Something you’ve always talked about but sadly never got to have.

“I’ll wait for you right here then.” She says, letting go of your hand slowly and you immediately touch the back of her head and bring her in for a long kiss while still managing to keep the cups in your hand still.

This time it was not a goodbye kiss. It was simply the second first kiss you’ve ever had with Hanji and hopefully, it will not be the last.

[bored-mumma]

Sebastian Stan - Fluff Alphabet

MASTERLIST

Bucky Barnes version

A = Attractive. What do they find attractive about the other?

He loves your passion. How even little things in life can get you excited and happy. He also loves your strong will. You two being in the lime light takes a strong personality and you match that perfectly.

B = Baby. Do they want a family? Why/Why not?

He really wants kids. He likes to imagine Sunday mornings, your children waking you up and you all making breakfast before spending the day playing games and just being a close family. Nothing makes him happier than thinking of his future family.

C = Cuddle. How do they cuddle?

No matter how warm the nights get, Sebastian likes to be snuggled entirely under the blankets. Usually one of you will be spooning the other but if its too hot then just either your legs or arms are slightly tangled.

D = Dates. What are dates with them like?

Sebastian doesn’t do ‘little’ dates. He sweeps you off your feet every single time. You’ll come home from work expecting a normal evening at home to find some new fancy clothes and jewellery lying down on your bed, along with a note telling you what time to be ready by. Bang on time, Sebastian knocks on the door (you live together but why not be romantic and come pick you up like he used too) with a bouquet of your favourite flowers. Before driving to a beautiful restaurant, champagne sitting there waiting. All evening he would throw compliments at you, repeating his love. If you felt like it, you two would go for a walk along the sea front or just drive randomly and talk away.

E = Everything. You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…)

You are my light.

F = Feelings. When did they know they were falling in love?

He couldn’t really give a proper time when he knew he was falling for you. It just kind of happened! He knew he missed you when you were gone, even if you spent all day together. He knew he dreamt of waking up to your face everyday and he knew his heart skipped a beat every time you kissed him. One day he just realised ‘holy shit, i love you’.

H = Holding Hands. How do they like to hold hands?

I = Impression. First impression/s?

You two got along very well. Your personalities just clicked and the two of you became friends fast. It took a few months, but that friendship soon turned into love.

J- Joker. Are they into pulling pranks?

He loves them, a lot more than you did. Barely a day went by that Sebastian didn’t play some sort of joke on you. Usually you find it funny and playful but other days you want to slap his pretty face.

K = Kiss. How do they kiss?

Most of the time Sebastian will hold your chin with his finger and thumb, tilt your head up and kiss you deeply. Although sometimes he’ll be a little more rough and grab your waist, pulling you towards him.

L = Love. Who says ‘I love you’ first?

You do. After a particularly breath taking date and nearly six months together, you finally felt as though you were ready to say those words. When you uttered those words, Sebastian grinned at you before saying it back.

M = Memory. What’s their favourite memory together?

You two were walking home from a lovely date night a restaurant. You both had a few drinks so couldn’t drive and you were struggling to catch a taxi so decided to take a longer walk across the parks. It was a stunning night and half way home, he placed his jacket on the ground and the two of you lied down, watching the stars and resting your feet. Feeling merry anyway from the drinks flowing through you, you lied there for nearly an hour, just joking together and sharing kisses.  Going from the last letter, this was the moment you looked up at each other and said I love you for the first time. 

N = Nickel. Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?

You are so, so spoilt. Literally anything your eyes land on, Sebastian will buy it for you. Even stuff you had never seen or even heard of, if he thinks you’ll like it, he’ll buy it, Date night? He’s got you some new clothes and jewellery for it. Anniversary? You cant see the floor in your home from all the gifts. And birthdays are just insane with the amount of stuff he gets you.

O = Orange. What colour reminds them of their other half?

Sky Blue. A lovely calm, stunning colour that reminds him of summer days. Days he loved to spend with you. He would often buy you some sky blue jewellery, making a matching dress too. 

P = Petnames. What petnames do they use?

You two are cringe as hell and like to think of the most sickening names for each other as possible. Bunny, sugar-plum, precious. Just as cringy as possible to make each other laugh.

Q = Quaint. What is their favourite non-modern thing?

Sebastian's a simple man and loves the simple things. One of those things is a gentle bike ride. On a hot day with the cold breeze cooling him, he loved to just bike through the country and forget about life's trouble for a while.

R = Rainy Day

A busy man leads a busy life. Rain or shine, his days barely change. Although on the rare days you both have a day together with nothing to do and its pouring it down outside, he was known to drag you out in it. Whether to just dance in the back garden or to go for a quick run, Sebastian loved to just be out in the rain for a while with you. It felt like a reset for you both and it was those moments you treasured the most.

S = Sad. How do they cheer themselves/others up?

As most people know, Sebastian talks to his therapist often. You try not to pry too much, knowing if he wants to share his feelings with you, he will. But you can always tell when he’s feeling a bit down. It’s usually cured with a cup of tea, cuddles and you dragging your nails gently across his skin to make him feel relaxed. Sometimes he’ll talk to you about what’s bothering him, other times he just wants to feel your touch.

T = Talking. What do they like to talk about?

You two are low key conspiracy theorists. You will often find you both having deep conversations about a theory you saw online or about a new documentary. Whether it was something like aliens exist all the way to the queen is a lizard, you two would have debated on it. 

U = Unencumbered. What helps them relax?

As said above, he loves to feel your nails dragging across his skin. He felt most relaxed when lying in bed on his stomach, you lying beside him and dragging your nails along his spine. He would get Goosebumps from it and always felt like he could fall asleep right there and then.

V = Vaunt. What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?

You and your career! Sebastian was your number one fan and would brag about your acting success every chance he could. Even if he’s doing an interview about his own movie, he’ll still slip in there how proud he is of your new project. He couldn’t help it.

W = Wedding. When, how, where do they propose?

It was your two year anniversary and you two decided to take a week off of work. Nothing special planned, just a week to relax and actually get to enjoy one another's company. Sebastian watched you with admiration as you cooked dinner, watching the way you sung along to the radio and how you refused to let him help, insisting on spoiling him. As you stood at the stove, Sebastian walked to the bedroom and grabbed a little box from his bedside drawers. Going back to the kitchen, he stood behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, head resting on your shoulder.

“This wasn’t how i planned it,” He said, letting go of your slightly to open the box and show a beautiful ring. “But i couldn't wait any longer. Will you marry me?”

X = Xylophone. What’s their song?

wonderful tonight - Eric Clapton

Y = You. You are the ___ to my ___ (e.g. the cookies to my milk, the macaroni to my cheese)

You are the honey to my bee.

Z = Zebra. If they wanted a pet, what would they get?

Sebastian has always wanted a dog! You two ended up adopting a puppy together.

[twh-news]

How Loki Shapeshifted From Nordic Folklore to a Marvel Icon

by Sara Durn

There are more than 800 years between the stories of Viking god Loki first being written down and his arrival (in the superb Tom Hiddleston) in the Marvel cinematic universe in 2011’s Thor. The new Disney+ series Loki, set to be released on June 9, is primed to explore more antics of Thor’s trickster brother as he attempts to fix the timeline he helped break in Avengers: Endgame. Among his many talents, Loki has cheated death a few times in the MCU, but that amounts to child’s play for this god.

In Norse mythology, Loki causes just as much confusion as his Marvel iteration. Though there aren’t any stories of him outwitting death, there are plenty of myths where he shapeshifts, swaps genders, or tricks gods into killing other gods. In the Marvel universe, he’s quite prone to allegiance swapping. Let’s dig into this troublemaker’s journey.

What is Loki’s origin?

The legends surrounding the Norse god are first documented in writing around the 13th century, primarily in Iceland. There are two versions of these legends that enter the historical record around the same time—the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. The Poetic Edda is an anonymous collection of Old Norse poems that are mainly pulled from an Icelandic medieval manuscript known as the Codex Regius (some of the poems date back to 800 CE). The Prose Edda is an Old Norse textbook for composing poetry that was written by a single author, Snorri Sturluson, a colorful Icelandic historian, scholar, and lawspeaker.

“Within the myths, you can see Loki moving from being just mischievous to being absolutely evil. If you think of him as only being mischievous, he’s actually a creative force and often ends up getting the gods much of their magical possessions, like Thor’s Hammer, through his cunning.”

“Pretty much everything we know about Loki came from Snorri Sturluson,” Viking scholar Nancy Marie Brown, author of Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths, told io9. Brown says this was very appropriate given that “Snorri was quite a trickster figure himself.” While calling him the “Homer of the North,” Brown also acknowledges that Snorri spent a lifetime “double-crossing friends and family… scheming and plotting, blustering and fleeing”— a life that eventually led to his unheroic demise in a nightshirt where his (supposed) final words were “don’t strike!” In both Eddas, Loki is always portrayed as a cunning trickster. In the Prose Edda, Snorri describes Loki as “pleasing and handsome in appearance, evil in character, very capricious in behavior. He possessed to a greater degree than other [gods] the kind of learning that is called cunning.”

Besides appearances, Loki is always getting the gods into trouble and then cleverly extricating them from the mess he’s made. He fathers the Midgard Serpent destined to bring about Ragnarök, the end of the world in Norse mythology. He convinces the blind god Hodr to kill the beautiful and favored god Baldur. He kidnaps the goddess Idun to save his own hide from a furious giant. The mythological character is constantly switching sides—sometimes supporting the gods and sometimes their enemies, the giants. In the MCU, Loki is both hero and villain—in The Avengers he opened a wormhole in New York City releasing alien monsters and in Thor: Ragnarok he helped Thor save the Asgardians from Hela’s wrath.

Thorwald’s Cross, a fragmented runestone depicting Odin being consumed. Image: Public Domain

Loki might have begun as a Norse god of fire—fitting considering how fire can be both “helpful and destructive,” said Brown. Fire can both burn down your house and cook you dinner. It’s tricky that way—like Loki. As Brown puts it, “You can see his two sides there [reflected in fire].” Brown also explains that there was likely a transformation in Loki over the centuries. “Within the myths, you can see Loki moving from being just mischievous to being absolutely evil. If you think of him as only being mischievous, he’s actually a creative force and often ends up getting the gods much of their magical possessions, like Thor’s Hammer, through his cunning.” Again, it’s just like Marvel’s Loki, who sometimes helps the other gods out, like when he teamed up with Thor to escape the Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok.

What is Loki’s relationship with the Devil?

In the long, slow conversion of the Vikings to Christianity that took place between the 9th and 12th centuries, Loki became a parallel to the Christian Devil. The creative, positive elements of him fell away leaving only the god favored by the Father (Odin/God) before getting cast out. (It does sound a bit like Lucifer, right?) Christianity paints a world that is far more black and white, good vs. evil than the Norse pagan religion—here’s little room for a grey, ambiguous figure like Loki. As Brown puts it, “The Christian religion insists that you’re either with us or against us. Whereas in what we understand of the pagan Viking religion, there were a lot of shades of grey. There was a spectrum on which you could move back and forth. You weren’t all one thing or all the other. You weren’t all female or all male. You weren’t all good or all evil. It was more human.”

Loki always moved fluidly between those two polarities—helping Thor in one story, causing an overthrow of the gods in another. In one tale, Loki shapeshifts into a mare, becoming the mother of Odin’s great 8-legged horse, Sleipnir. In another, he fathers the wolf Fenrir. The Church couldn’t really handle all that grey area Loki liked to inhabit, and so it eventually cast him as the devil himself. “[Monks] had to sort the gods into saints and devils, and Loki by being sexually ambiguous and also morally ambiguous falls into the devil [category],” explained Brown. Though Marvel’s Loki certainly channels a bit of the devil at times, we’ve luckily yet to see him become both mother and father to world-ending, multi-legged monsters in the Marvel Universe. But, there’s still time, especially with the new Disney+ series hitting the small screen.

When was Loki’s Revival?

After the Viking conversion, the Norse myths started to fade, and Loki with them—until the 1600s, when medieval manuscripts like those containing the Prose and Poetic Edda began to be translated. “The reason [these myths] became popular was because of nationalism,” Brown told us. “In the mid to late 1800s, there was the idea that what distinguished one nation from another was its cultural heritage.” This spurred Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm—known to many simply as the Brothers Grimm—to go “collect the stories of the local people to prove that Germany was a nation, not a collection of states. You had the same thing happening in Ireland to prove that they were different from the English and you have the same thing happening in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.” This eventually gave rise to the Nazis appropriating Norse myths in their twisted pursuit of alleging Aryan supremacy.

Following the Civil War, the United States also looked to the Middle Ages to redefine the country’s fractured identity. As Chris Bishop, author of Medievalist Comics and the American Century, explained to io9, “[the Middle Ages] offered an aesthetic that was individualistic (think: the knight errant, Robin Hood, etc.), given to interpretations of exceptionalism (Camelot, the once and future king), venerable (where old equalled established and respectable), and (unlike Classicism) Christian.” The Middle Ages, or more accurately the remixing of the Middle Ages known in academia as “medievalisms,” appealed to many Americans obsessed with ideas of American exceptionalism and singularity in the 19th century. Eventually the U.S.’s obsession with the Middle Ages made its way into comic books starting with Prince Valiant in 1937, a comic strip created by Hal Foster set in and around the legends of King Arthur. Other medievalist comics followed eventually leading to the inclusion of Norse gods like Loki, Thor, and Odin.

First appearance of Loki in the 1949 Venus comics. Image: Wikicommons

When was Marvel Comics’ Loki introduced?

While Loki first appeared in the 1949 comic book Venus styled after (you guessed it) the devil, the modern-age Loki didn’t hit the comic book scene until co-writers and brothers Stan Lee and Larry Lieber adapted him in 1962’s Journey into Mystery #85. It’s in that issue where Loki “becomes Thor’s enemy/ally/brother/adopted brother/etc,” said Bishop. The mischievous personality of the Norse god remains largely the same in the Loki of the comic books and films and even retains the ability to swap genders at times.

In the comics, Loki is raised as Thor’s brother in Asgard—somewhere the Marvel stories diverge from the Norse mythology. It’s Loki and Odin who are sworn brothers in the Norse myths, not Loki and Thor. As Brown explains, “Loki and Odin are blood brothers, which means they are even closer than real brothers.” In the Viking world, two people who swore a blood oath to one another formed a bond that went beyond kin, and so went the Norse Loki and Odin’s relationship. As Bishop points out, the Loki/Thor dynamic of the comics and movies is a “classic, formulaic archetype.” Thor is the “big, hunky, handsome (but slightly dumb) hero” and Loki is “his slight, quirky but super-smart frenemy. Loki is the dark, misunderstood, vulnerable shadow that audiences can relate to, reach out to, care for. Thor is that dumb jock who everyone looked up to at school, but Loki was that cool, quiet kid who went on to found a tech-empire.”

Why is Loki called a Trickster?

What does remain consistent with Loki is that he always plays the trickster. He is the manifestation of psychologist Carl Jung’s archetype: The trickster disrupts the individual and/or society causing either growth or destruction. Social scientist Helena Bassil-Morozow points out that when it comes to Loki, “despite the fact that the narrative details between the medieval Loki stories and their contemporary versions vary, the main idea remains the same—the trickster mercilessly attacks those in power and nearly causes the end of the world.” Both in the Norse myths and in Marvel, the world needs saving from Loki. He acts as the catalyst for a whole lot of upheaval—upheaval that in the Norse myths causes Ragnarök.

Loki “functions as a locus of salvation (literally, a prodigal son).” Loki just might be a savior. He’s someone audiences can look at and think “if Loki can be redeemed, so too might I.”

Perhaps that’s where the two narratives differ the most. In the Norse tales, the end of the world at Ragnarök is inevitable. Odin and Thor will die. Everything will change. Vikings lived with the knowledge that their world would end. In the MCU, we don’t know how the story ends, plus Ragnarök took place already and yet the Asgardians live on. There’s still hope that Loki will prove to be good and that the other superheroes will save the world from whatever mayhem he’s caused, or so we can hope in the upcoming Disney+ series. As Bishop puts it, Loki “functions as a locus of salvation (literally, a prodigal son).” Loki just might be a savior. He’s someone audiences can look at and think “if Loki can be redeemed, so too might I,” explains Bishop.

While the Vikings’ Loki caused the end of the world, today’s Loki might just save it. Or maybe not. And, perhaps that’s the fun of the trickster—you never quite know what they’ll get up to.

[lov3nerdstuff]

Hi Kay!

I just wanted to take a moment and say how deeply moving (and overall comforting) I find your writing to be! I've gone through almost the entirety of your masterlist twice in the past month alone and have found myself returning more often to the pieces of literature/poems your reference sometimes. (Especially that one poem by Benedict Smith! I've read a few more by him because of you and they're just wonderfully lovely 💛 so I'm eternally thankful to you for including it.)

I may be wrong in assuming, but I believe you may have studied/are currently studying a degree involving literature. I hope this isn't too foreward of me but I was wandering if you have any other works of literature that you'd recommend? (I'd love to read anything you recommend from poems to plays 💛) I'm slightly embaressed to say but the works I've read are quite limited to a highschool level and since I'm currently studying Pharmacy, there are very few people who can recommend me such moving works. :)

I also feel like I should apologise for writing such a large ask, so please accept this apology as well hehe 💕🥺

Sincerely,

Bek 🌻

Hey there Bek 💚💕✨

First of all... I'm incredibly sorry for how long it took me to reply to this ask, I know you sent it weeks ago and I'm honestly just ashamed of myself for only replying now! I've been taking a bit of a Tumblr break again, or rather a break from literally everything, and I guess not having written anything in a while made me feel guilty whenever I opened Tumblr, so... All I can say for myself really is that I'm sorry you had to wait so long! Again, I never ever ignore anyone, I promise! It just sometimes takes a while for me to reply 😅🙈

Now, I'm so happy to hear that you've been enjoying my writing! 🥺🥰 Hearing that it's comforting and inspiring to you is honestly such a relief and indeed does make me happy more than I can say 💚 It's so cool that you're checking up on all the references I make aaahhh 🥺🥺🥺 I love it 😁 You're always more than welcome, love! I don't think I could stop including references to literature, culture, history and the science around it even if I tried 😅☺️

And yeah, I did study classics and newer literature as a minor for my undergrad degree 😄 But tbh I still work with literally a lot even now (I'm in grad school for media and cultural studies) even though it's technically not something I've been properly taught ☺️ I'm just a nerd who likes to learn on her own, and with media and culture you can pretty much delve into almost anything you want 😂😅🤷🏻‍♀️

Now, it's not forward at all to ask me for literature recommendations! 😁😃 I truly love recommending stuff!!! I have a few up my sleeve, even though you've probably heard of a few already, for obvious reasons: A lot of what I truly enjoyed reading was something Tom Hiddleston has worked on in one way or another! It's truly a magnificent guideline for picking new literature... Just look up the literary origins of his films/shows/plays and you will be in for quality literature most of the time! I don't think I've ever mentioned it on here, but me reading High-Rise (JG Ballard) because I heard Tom would be partaking in the film adaptation was actually what sparked my love and passion for literature!!! Yep, it's that good. Now on to the recommendations though 😁(This... got rather long):

Plays

Anything by Harold Pinter really, but for obvious reasons you'll find a lot of additionally fun stuff for Betrayal, which is lovely and truly funny if you're in on the kind of humour btw

Medea by Euripides (a classic, but I love it nonetheless... You can find translations in almost every language) ((and pls stay away from Seneca's Medea, because ugh... Euripides is far better AND the og story, as much as anyone can say that for Greek mythology)

La Bohème by Puccini (I know, this is technically an opera, but if you read the libretto it's honestly just like a play... And if you're up for it, the og story is in prose and written by Henri Murger... It's better than the opera, but oftentimes more difficult to find) ((this one is hilarious and basically explains an entire cultural subgroup in the 19th century)

Faust by Goethe (many people hate it, but I LOVE this one!!! It's also been translated into any and every language, and it's so interesting philosophically!!! It's also referenced SO freaking often literally everywhere, and the operas and ballets based on it are always my fave) ((there's technically Faust I and Faust II, but you're good to go just reading the first one)

Anything by Shakespeare, obviously... Though I do love me my Hamlet like every other literature enthusiast (Yes, I can do that one famous soliloquy in act 3 scene 1 by heart as well...)

Poetry

Again, anything Shakespeare for the win, but I LOVE the sonnets and keep a copy of them with me most of the time (Yes, I own multiple copies of the sonnets...) ((My faves are 116 and 91, but there's always so much truth to be found in there!!!))

A lot of the stuff William Blake wrote is amazing, though you have to pick carefully with him if certain religious motives aren't your thing... I love The Tyger, which is an individual poem, and the collection of works called Tyger, Tyger which does have many good ones and a few ones that are a little more on the mediocre side

Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas (I know this one by heart as well... It's beautiful, and there's a version of Hiddleston reading it on YouTube, which gives you even more goosebumps than the poem does anyway)

Invictus by William Ernest Henley (same for this one, also read by the one and only) ((I love to read this when I'm feeling down or powerless))

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot (This is another wow piece with many quotable lines and truths... I love it a lot and keep coming back to it! It's also a great example of how literary modernism tried to condense the complexity and passing of time and history into a single frame that had to be intrinsically poetical in nature... As in, this poem could've been a short story in any other period, but modernists loved to make everything a poem so here you go)

Der Zauberlehrling by Goethe (This one sucks in all English translations I’ve found, poetically speaking, but in German it’s such a fun piece! If you’ve ever seen the Disney ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ with Mickey Mouse or listened to the orchestral piece by Paul Dukas, then this poem proves very useful in truly understanding either! But again, the English translation should only be taken for informational value... The German one is also worded hilariously)

Prose

Short edited by Alan Ziegler (This is a collection of short prose forms that honestly is a must for me... I love this book to pieces and have had it for years now! It’s an international anthology, so you’ll find more and less famous authors from all around the world represented with short stories, prose poems, short essays and just curious and interesting snippets of writing! I draw a lot of inspiration from this book)

High-Rise by JG Ballard (As mentioned above, I owe this book part of my personality... I don’t think I would be the same person without having read it. It’s not necessarily full of wisdom, but if you’re interested in a different kind of portrayal of the human condition, then this is the read you need to take a look at)

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers (This is another piece that changed my perception of literature, even though this is a more ordinary and ‘fun’-value read... It’s one of my favourite books and it’s endlessly entertaining! So if the classics are a bit heavy for you, this one is perfect for casual readers as well! Its value really does lie more in the realisation of how fun literature can be, and the freedom you have as an author... So really, I could recommend everything by Moers, his style is amazing both in the German original and in the English translation. Yes, I’ve read both.)

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (This is comedic gold, stylistic gold and generally a bloody perfect book. Also a ‘fun’-value read, but it also does a magnificent job at showing you what you can do with literature, and how well-developed characters are supposed to be written)

The Penguin Book of the Undead (Penguin Classics) edited by Scott G. Bruce (This book is basically an education on fifteen hundred years of supernatural encounters and how culture wrote, used and perceived them. You get introductory texts for different periods and social groups, explaining how and why ghost stories were written and used, followed by passages of the prime source texts (eg. ancient necromancy shown on The Odyssey). Really, this book is just for cultural history nerds)

The Earthquake in Chile by Kleist (This isn’t necessarily one of my faves, but it has helped me understand what studying literature and culture can do for you. In case anyone remembers my insistence in Wicked Game that you gotta know what a pomegranate symbolises... this novella is such an instance where this knowledge would prove useful. Generally, it gives many opportunities to think about privilege and circumstance)

The Symposium by Plato (You’ll probably not want to read the entire collection of speeches tbh... But the concepts introduced mainly here and in some of Plato’s other work are well worth looking into! For example, the ‘double being’ introduces a concept that in modern fiction is called soulmates... Just sayin’)

[whenyoulosesmallmind]

well now i just NEED the playlist

part one | part two (you are here!)

anon, my lovely! i have a streak of bad luck when it comes to making playlists for wip projects - meaning, i’ve made playlists but never actually finished the thing i was working on - so i will refrain from making one for now in a bout of superstition.

i'll gladly share some more music, though, (more or less) related to tarn's hot girl midlife crisis - ESPECIALLY i think i'll use this new ask of yours to talk a bit about those opera pieces i mentioned in the tags of the last post, with some extra funsies thrown in.

i'm sorry, this isn't really what you asked for, but if you want to make your own unofficial midlife crisis playlist with the songs i've already mentioned (and feel free to add your own, of course!) please, go ahead! and do share if you do! :)

that said, lets-a-go!

if you've read the tags in the first post, you know i said recitar (probably better known as vesti la giubba, i think?, but as opera etiquette goes the songs are usually titled using the first line spoken by the singers, and i’m gonna follow that) was tarn’s ‘show must go on’ song - if not because i get to call him a clown (the main character (Canio) and singer of this particular aria plays a character called Pagliaccio - lit. clown)

you multiple links for this particular piece because i honestly cannot pick a favourite: Pavarotti, Domingo, Lanza and... Mina?! - while she’s not a proper opera singer, i think her re-interpretation was pretty cool and it’s fun to listen to a male role being sung by a woman for a change; she also has a beautiful voice.

favourite and most pertinent lyrics: and when Arlecchino / steals away your Colombina / laugh, Pagliaccio, and the audience will cheer

- i’ve never had the opportunity to share this thought before, so i’m gonna go off topic for a moment to say that i love that the word used in the og to evoke how the ‘Arlecchino’ has stolen ‘Pagliaccio’ ‘s partner (Colombina) is “invola” (conj. of the verb “involare”) which is, yes, very old italian, but describes a picture in which Colombina is both being seduced by Arlecchino, and hence being stolen away from her partner, but she is also flying (that ”volare” in “involare” in modern italian means literally “to fly”) away from Pagliaccio, like the dove she is named after. 

one of the first contender as the empyrean suite stand in in the human au was libiamo ne’ lieti calici (here by Diana Damrau and Juan Diego Flòrez): i thought that the airy and celebrative (of love, especially, passionate and fleeting) atmosphere of this song made for an excellent and hilarious contrast if it were to be used to cover up murder noises, but as things went on and i started to sketch out a more defined version of human tarn he grew to hate not only this particular song but the la traviata as a whole - of course, the characters and their grieves are very radicated into high society so it’s not hard to presume that tarn’s problems with the opera per se would come with it being a complete antithesis to what the decepticons stand for, and he would be very inclined to make you believe so! in truth, it’s actually a very personal matter (and he has a particular distaste for Alfredo, the male protagonist, usually interpreted by a tenor, fyi)

some other misc songs i really enjoy from la traviata: sempre libera; (by Lisette Oropesa and by Diana Damrau; if you were to listen to critics Damrau’s performance here isn’t very good, but i still enjoyed her acting and had overall fun listening to her, so here you go) lovely piece, i especially like how they have the tenor sing off stage to achieve that “overheard” effect, maybe a silly thing, but i find it really endearing, coro di zingarelle e mattadori (sic); (i don’t know where this performance is from, but it has noi siamo zingarelle (sic) and di madride noi siamo i mattadori both together so i’ll take it. trigger warning for: inappropriate language to describe romani women (the italian equivalent of the g word) and discussed bullfighting) if you can get past the 1853-ness of it it’s a very fun piece that almost always makes me want to get up and dance - honorable lyrics mentions goes to the bit where the marquis, who was gossiping about Alfredo and Violetta at the beginning of the song, gets called a slut and then to bullfighters’ bit which has them enter the scene just to say how hot and sexy they are.

about carmen, though! i mentioned votre toast, but what about other songs? in près des ramparts de seville (by Elīna Garanča, my beloved and the most Carmen ever. did you know that originally carmen flopped for being too horny of an opera? now you know) you can start to see why i called tarn a don josè; with the exception that josè at least tries to mantain some self control before becoming a disgusting simp. 

mentioning la habanera is kind of cheating so i’m just not gonna say anything about the song per se and link my two favourite performances: 1. Maria Callas; she starts singing at 2:15 if you want to skip the ouverture, but i suggest you don’t: she just is that much a pleasure to watch and listen to, her satisfaction and joy just bleed into the performance, that little pleased smile she has on is very contagious, 2. Elīna Garanča; amazing, showstopping, i have a little crush on her, etc., if you thought the près des ramparts performance was horny you will discover that this one is also very much horny (also fun note: Elīna Garanča is a mezzosoprano while Maria Callas is a soprano! it’s again the situation of of Samuel Ramey playing Escamillo, even if a little less drastic)

let’s conclude this little opera parentheses with again another song i considered as an empyrean suite stand in: va, pensiero (or, more known as the nabucco choir, here sang by the choir of il Teatro dell’Opera di Roma); again, there’s the discrepancy between the meaning of the song and its longing (for the singers’ homeland, this time) and tarn’s use of it, but what actually, imho, would’ve made it interesting as a possible empyrean suite is that as a song it did have an important place in the italian resurgence, and such as a somewhat political piece, as its composer, Giuseppe Verdi, (long story short) ‘broke containment’ and its pieces were not only widespread among the upper classes but the commoners who sang them and made them into something that unified a country in name only, otherwise physically divided.

in the end i decided against it because votre toast is objectively funnier. still, va, pensiero is a beautiful song.

(and since i’m spamming my own scribbles: BAM HUMAN TARN AND MIKA LYRICS. brings back memories...)

now! how about those FUNSIES EXTRA i mentioned forever ago? for the ‘things i actually listened to while writing/plotting’ we have notte all’opera (lit. night at the opera) because what can i say? if tarn’s living his hot girl midlife crisis i’m living my 80s italian pop one - plus, this one is a really funky one. now, to more recent times, there’s la paura del buio that has a really nice tarnsaurus break-up post deathsaurus defection (especially the first verses: i look myself in the mirror and i pretend to be at the circus / on a merry-go-round of happiness that i don’t want to get off / even if i’m not having fun anymore).

and a propos of måneskin, i wanna be your slave is a really good tarn song that fits him in every universe - eons ago i even drew a little something about it and even meant to make a sort of spiritual sequel with the lyrics: i wanna set you free / but i’m too fucking jealous / i wanna pull your strings / like you’re my telecaster / and if you want to use me i could be your puppet; but alas i never did.

first of all, if you’ve got here, i bow to you, and thank you for reading all my nonsensical rambles; but let’s on go ahead to the bonus track: someone special, i felt like i should also share something that’s incredibly warm and fuzzy and self indulgent for tarn et deathsaurus - go on, listen to it, i won’t spoil the lyrics but i promise it’s extremely fluffy.

but you know what there is an astoundingly lack of in this musical post, considering it’s me we’re talking about? if you guessed POETS OF THE FALL you’re right, if you didn’t: don’t worry, you’re about to ascend to an entire new plane of existence.

now, since they’re one of my most loved bands, where to start when picking in relation to my current and most beloved wip?

revolution roulette is probably my favourite album of them, and while i do love all its tracks i will stop to three for the wip: 1. revolution roulette itself is another good buildup to defection for deathsaurus; 2. ultimate fling is THE deathsaurus/esmeral breakup song and probably my second absolute favourite from the band (lyrics that make me absolute rabid: ashtrays filled with the fruits of our transgression / here and there sarcasm overflows / to stay I'll need this sitcom to be re-run till I get the gist of just how it goes); 3. i lied this is two :) but! to my defence, i think they both paint a good picture of what i like (and like to write) in tarn: 3.1 passion colors everything (lyrics: the face I wear behind my grin / the price I've paid for my original sin); 3.2 save me (lyrics - tw for self harm if you go listen the whole song: looking at myself in the mirror / funny I should see only headlines and ads with my name / i was told I'd see my ally / so who are these skeletons with guns taking aim?)

clearview is their second most recent album and while it’s not bad it certainly is not their best, but it also has my favourite song of all time: children of the sun that, admittedly, it’s a bit of my jolly because i always find a way to shoehorn it into my favourite things, but its good. listen to it :)))

- also: drama for life is an absolute banger and another good song for tarn (lyrics that make me eat dirt: a blueprint for life, blueprint your life / aggressively primal cultural high / this mental Versailles is much grander than the lies / you tell yourself to get through the night)

twilight theater is another favourite of mine, and the one i think i will end this post - on another double featurette and a bonus track: 1. change refers more to a tarn immediately after finding about megatron’s denunce of the cause (since i can’t put it into my own words you get lyrics: do you feel a change coming on / rolling out of the blue like a storm / and it's throwing your dollhouse world in disarray / so you can rebuild or conform [...] i too fear the change coming on / rolling out of the blue like a storm / can you hear it scream at the hurt that I knew); 2. smoke and mirrors i think fits nicely for a young tarn post autobots/early decepticons era (when the malady's no remedy / till we reach the lowest absolute / and necessity will finally force something through what's walling you)

[omniscientwreck]

Hello! For the imtimacy prompt list #30 for Shadowgast🖤💜

Hello! This was the prompt I was most hoping someone would ask me so THANK YOU for that! If anyone else would like to make a request I have one left in my inbox and am always happy to do more, especially for this list! Here is the post in question!

As a side note: welcome to the version of Caleb and Essek from my no rules no angst just right Carly Rae Jepsen song lyric inspired College!AU in a modern fantasy kinda setting. This just feels most to me like the version of Essek and Caleb that would do this and it gives you a bit of insight into the tone of my BIG work in progress right now! Enjoy!

30: doing beauty treatments, like facials or manicures, hair dying or face masks

Essek has long stopped knocking before entering Caleb, Beau and Jester’s apartment, but he still likes to call out his arrival though he knows Caleb is the only one home.

Jester and Beau have gone back home for a few days, visiting Jester’s mother in Nicodranas. Caleb elected to stay behind saying he had too much work to do, which is true. Essek finds him in his room, still as much a mess as it was the last time he was here. The small desk is completely covered in books all with several markers placed in their pages and the mess spills onto the bed. Caleb is ‘sitting’ on the chair containing most of his clothing and doesn’t appear to realize he’s come in.

He drops his levitation, trying to make noise so he doesn’t startle Caleb too badly as he approaches from behind and smooths his hands from his shoulders down to his hands. Caleb looks up as Essek’s chin presses into the top of his head, “Drogi, when is the last time you ate anything?”

Without hesitation, “Around elven, I’ll take a break soon I’m on the edge of something here.”

Essek sighs, “Darling it’s nearly six, I brought food, just take a break now with me?” He watches Caleb place a marker in the book to save his space and he finishes a few thoughts in the literature review before standing and smiling wearily at him.

“Ja, a break is probably a good idea. Thank you Schatz.” He stands and for a moment Essek lets Caleb distract him by wrapping strong arms around his waist and pulling him in for a kiss.

Essek has been looking forward to this particular date for a while and finally got the chance to suggest it, surprised when Caleb agreed with little hesitation.

It had started a few days ago when Caleb had slept over. He’d watched Essek’s skin care routine and had begun asking questions which led to the confirmation of Essek’s theory that Caleb has never so much as moisturized his face, much less done any of the other pampering that Essek considers central to his sense of well-being.

Tonight, Essek gets to show Caleb what it’s like. After they finish eating, they wind up in the bathroom. Essek pulls out a massive bag full of creams, ingredients, washes and all kinds of products. “Sit.”

“Essek, I need to see the mirror to shave.” He presses Caleb’s shoulders and sits him on the closed toilet lid shaking his head, “Caleb, you are taking a break. Let me.”

Drow are not immune to facial and body hair. Essek has never had much but Verin always has. One time when Verin was particularly injured in early adulthood Essek had to learn how to shave him during recovery. He has someone else for that now, so Essek transfers his knowledge to Caleb.

He gently spreads a soft cream across his partner’s face with the gentle touch of a brush and he pulls out a straight razor, the only possession he has from his father. Carefully and gently he shaves Caleb’s face, dragging the razor across tawny stubble while the man sits beneath him with closed eyes, completely trusting.

It doesn’t take as long as he’d thought it would and he’s able to begin gently washing his lover’s face, humming as he goes, occasionally singing in undercommon. Caleb looks more at rest than Essek has every seen him, sighing every so often as Essek exfoliates, washes and tones his skin. He steps back and instinctively Caleb goes to touch his face. Looking in the mirror the main difference is calm and peace. “Okay now this is the fun part.”

Essek mixes up two small cups of ingredients, one is his proprietary blend for his own skin, one that he thinks will suit Caleb more, “Ok now trust me. We’re going to leave these on for 15 minutes. I’ll do yours, you can do mine. As revenge.”

Caleb’s eyebrows quirk in confusion as Essek begins slathering the face mask onto his pale skin and then grimaces at the cold unfortunate texture of the mask. “Ah ja I see what you mean, this helps? In some way?”

Essek nods, “It will help tone out some of the redness and smooth out other things. I promise it will be worth it.”

“I trust you.” Essek smiles and puts a dollop on the tip of Caleb’s nose and the fake scowl that follows is delightful and adorable.

“You shouldn’t.” Essek winks and flashes fangs at the other and Caleb grabs the cup of Essek’s mask and boldly smears it over his forehead in protest. A shiver goes down his spine, he hates this part but it’s more fun with Caleb.

They go into the living room and put on one of the old movie musicals Caleb is so fond of and Essek starts on Caleb’s hands. “I won’t do anything extravagant I promise. You can just do a top coat if you’d like, but I did bring most of my collection if you’d like to look.”

Caleb opens the deceptively small case and shakes his head fondly upon the realization it’s enchanted to hold more than one would expect. “All this enchantment for nail lacquer?”

Essek scoffs, “Of course, you don’t want to know how much room this would take up if I had to lay it all out in the apartment.”

Caleb hums along to the music as Essek works, taming and shaping the nail beds that have been left to their own devices for decades and Essek finds himself distracted by romantic songs and well choreographed dance numbers occasionally. Far more distracting is the beauty of Caleb’s baritone singing along to a style of music Essek is unfamiliar with, warm and low and full of love as he looks down at Essek’s meticulous work.

He ends up with an iridescent top coat, just a little bit of flair but subtle enough most won’t notice. Midway through they pause to rid themselves of the face masks and Essek removes the mixture for Caleb and then for himself so as to not mess up his own work. He smooths on some moisturizer for Caleb, ever patiently sitting with his eyes closed. “How does that feel perełko?”

“Good, it’s very cool, my skin feels… fresh?”

“Take a look for yourself.” Essek smiles, it isn’t a miracle by any means but some of the redness of Caleb’s face is brought down just a bit, giving more prominence to the scattering of delicate freckles across the bridge of his nose and it’s smooth and fresh.

“I can see the merits of this.” he says, in slight awe, feeling this skin of his face.

“Now, let me finish your hands so I can do mine.”

He finishes Caleb’s hands with moisturizer and a good long massage, and starts to work on his own, removing the customary black polish he usually keeps there, Caleb’s arm around his shoulders, watching him work. “Is there anything I can help with?”

Essek considers, “Well I’ll shape on my own. Would you like to pick a colour for me? I’m tired of black. You can do the last step as well.” Caleb is back looking into the nail polish case and, rather quickly, presents him with a deep burgundy.

“How’s this? I just think it would look good.”

Essek presses a kiss into his forehead, “Perfect, thank you darling.” He goes back to shaping his nails to fine points and applying a base coat. As he begins to apply colour Caleb watches him intently, focus on the movie lost. “Would you like to help with his?”

He blushes a bit, “I do not think I would be very good at it and I don’t want to ruin your hard work.”

Essek laughs, “You won’t ruin anything. Here, watch me do my right hand and you can do my left. It’ll help me immensely. Any mistakes you make can be cleaned up with little effort I promise.”

Caleb is better at this than either of them expected. Only a little varnish makes its way to Essek’s skin and that’s easily enough removed, he even flips Essek’s hand as he’d done his own to apply the polish underneath. Then, when it’s dry, he rubs the stress away from Essek’s hands and they share many looks as a second musical begins playing. They pay little attention to it, instead giving in to the quiet comfort of the evening, of learning to care for another and yourself. Caleb has all but forgotten his previous state of anxiety for the evening and Essek hopes he’ll let him do this again. “Thank you for this liebling I needed this more than I could have guessed.”

Essek is pressed to his side now as they drink tea and finish up a horror movie, “I am glad my love. Thank you for letting me share this with you. If you ever want it again all you have to do is ask.” Caleb nods and over time they both fall asleep on the couch, wrapped in each other’s arms, waterlogged with the quiet, weighty bliss of love.

[cappymightwrite]

Might be crack but I think in his last memories about his half siblings, the song that Sansa sings to herself while brushing Lady's coat is Florian and Jonquil.

Hmm yeah could be! I do think it is significant that we have yet to get any lyrics from it, despite it being a heavily referenced song, particularly connected to Sansa. The closest thing we have to its narrative outline and characters is from The Hedge Knight:

"You are no knight," she was saying as the puppet's mouth moved up and down. "I know you. You are Florian the Fool."

"I am, my lady," the other puppet answered, kneeling. "As great a fool as ever lived, and as great a knight as well."

"A fool and a knight?" said Jonquil. "I have never heard of such a thing."

"Sweet lady," said Florian, "all men are fools, and all men are knights, where women are concerned."

It was a good show, sad and sweet both, with a sprightly swordfight at the end, and a nicely painted giant.

[...]

"That was good," Egg enthused. "I like how you make them move, Jonquil and the dragon and all. I saw a puppet show last year, but they moved all jerky. Yours are more smooth."

Although that might be a variant, a play version of the folktale, rather than the exact song of Florian and Jonquil. We also have the song Six Maids in a Pool connected to F+J: 

The pool from which the town took its name, where legend said that Florian the Fool had first glimpsed Jonquil bathing with her sisters, was so choked with rotting corpses that the water had turned into a murky grey-green soup.Jaime took one look and burst into song. 

"Six maids there were in a spring-fed pool..." – ASOS, Jaime III

Will the OG F+J song that Sansa loves include that famous meeting? Maybe, since hot pools/water are a recurring motif that connect Jon and Sansa quite nicely. Would be pretty cool. I think GRRM must have been influenced by this famous painting by John William Waterhouse when coming up with F+J, because that’s the image my mind immediately goes to when I think of their meeting:

(Hylas and the Nymphs, 1896)

A dark haired youth with an auburn haired beauty...*waggles eyebrows* Sounds about right, George. And maybe to a lesser extent, these three as well:

(A Naiad or Hylas with a Nymph,1893) 

(La Belle Dame sans Merci, 1893)

(Lamia, 1905)

Honestly, I’m going to have to make a separate post of all the John William Waterhouse paintings that could be Sansa/Alayne/Jonquil, because there are a lot of redheads and raven-haired ladies, not many blondes though, interestingly. But what the hell, I can’t resist including some more:

(Ophelia, 1894)

(Lamia, 1909)

(Echo and Narcissus, 1903)

(Tristan and Isolde, 1916)

A lot Waterhouses’ paintings depict tragic romances and figures from Classical mythology, as well as Shakespeare and Arthurian legend (sources that have no doubt influenced GRRM to a degree as well). People often conflate him with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, since they depict very similar subjects, but Waterhouse is more of a later follower of their principles, obviously hugely inspired by the likes of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, etc. You can actually trace a line of influence right from the Brotherhood to GRRM actually, because William Morris was a periphery member of the group, and later a big influence of Tolkien. Today, Morris is primarily known for his textiles, but he was also a HUGE medievalist and a great writer as well...honestly, big up Morris, a true renaissance man. So much of LoTR can actually be traced back to Morris and his romances (most notably The House of the Wolfings, 1889), so when people say Tolkien is the father of modern fantasy, BITCH it was my man Morris. 

But anyway, Florian and Jonquil mirrors these tragic romances that so influenced Waterhouse and the Brotherhood, since it is a story that is both “sad and sweet”. In fact we know that it is a tragic romance from Sansa’s pov:

For those who remained, a singer was brought forth to fill the hall with the sweet music of the high harp. He sang of Jonquil and Florian, of Prince Aemon the Dragonknight and his love for his brother's queen, of Nymeria's ten thousand ships. They were beautiful songs, but terribly sad. Several of the women began to weep, and Sansa felt her own eyes growing moist. – ACOK, Sansa VI

Basically, all I’m saying is...I’m pretty certain GRRM is aware of Morris, the Brotherhood and Waterhouse, if not a big fan of them. I’m also pretty sure that Jonquil was auburn haired and Florian dark-haired, coz to all of these, I’m like:

ANYWAY (got kinda off topic), I do hope we get Sansa singing Florian and Jonquil to Jon as part of his post-warg/resurrection recovery. I know @fedonciadale has talked about the importance of singing in relation to Sansa, so it would be great for that specific singing to Lady memory to include F+J, and then to have that song reoccur later in Winds. So fingers crossed we finally get to read the lyrics of this famous ditty! :)

[ziggyzagreus]

do you have a favorite piece of music from the game? what about a favorite level? (tartarus, asphodel, etc.)

OOH this is such a good one!!!

Music is really important to me, as well as one of my favorite parts of the game, so I don’t have a particular favorite, there are so many things I like about each piece. I will list the ones that actually made me stop and listen the first time I heard them, though!!

I also listen to these when I write and study 😳 I have an entire Hades-themed playlist on Spotify that includes the actual OST as well as songs I listen to that make me think of the characters...

Anyways!

The opening title, “No Escape.” The first time I heard it was when I opened the game and I almost crapped myself, it was so cool. Every time I open the game, I always have to wait till 00:08 for that first base line because that shit hits differenttttt at 2 am on weekends which is when I play this game. 10/10 good shit.

“Lament of Orpheus,” the first song we hear Orpheus actually sing... It’s so beautiful, and I’ve always personally loved the actual myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, so hearing that in such a haunting tune tugged at my heartstrings in a particular way. I’ve heard some people find Orpheus’ voice annoying???? But I really love it. It sounds like mist. It’s terrifying in such a heartbreaking way and very fitting for his character.

“From Olympus,” or better known as “that song that plays when you find Patroclus and he’s muttering about his lost husband.” I love the cadence of this piece because it’s very fitting of Patroclus’ vibes - it’s downtrodden, paced and methodical, there’s a tune to living in it, but it lacks any jarring beats that the other tracks have. I feel like it really encapsulates Patroclus’ dead inside vibes and I love that for him tbh. Very mellow, very chill, very soothing in my opinion.

“Good Riddance,” both Eurydice’s solo version as well as the duet with Orpheus. Again, the first time I heard it, I was absolutely stunned that they had like - good songs with lyrics in this game, so I just stood outside her door for 2 minutes to hear the whole thing. Every time I meet Eurydice I stay to listen to her song before going inside. If you guys can’t tell from my Icarus OC Fic, Eurydice is one of my favorite characters because of how motherly and calming she is. I feel so safe in her presence, and that’s not an exaggeration - even IRL I get a sense of peace when hearing her sing. This song is also in my Crying playlist on Spotify, as it hit me in a personal emotional spot as well as a Good OST spot.

“Final Expense” holy shit, Charon’s theme HITS DIFFERENT. It has like - a dual effect on me. On one hand, I get the same feeling from it as I do Eurydice’s song - I feel very safe and content listening to that tune, and I feel very safe in Charon’s shop. This piece is in one of my “so you’re crying about school and need to calm down and feel safe” playlists, it’s just got that wholesome effect on me. But it also makes me want to go fuck around in a Spencer’s store with my friends, or go to an arcade, and I love that too.

“Final Expense (Payback Mix)” AKA Charon Drip. That shit hits so hard. I love it so fucking much and I fucking love fighting Charon in Erebus anywaysssssss

“Hymn to Zagreus,” if you guys can’t tell, I love Orpheus’ voice so much... and I love the legend of Zagreus anyways!! This song is just so fucking cool and brings so much new edge to the story and Zagreus’ origin (as well as his connection to Dionysus like holy heck aahHHHhhhHHhhHh) i love it sooo much

“Last Words” I LOVE THANATOS SO MUCH. The first time I heard his voice I had to put down the game to process how much I loved him, and so I associate his theme very much with that experience. I love the harpsichord in it, and how the theme itself is very different compared to the other tracks - it has a lot more modern instrumentation, as well as just a generally different and more dangerous, energizing vibe to it and I love that so so so so so much.

“The King and the Bull” I don’t have much to say on this except Theseus and Asterius is my favorite boss fight so I just love this track haha

“On the Coast” I just.... I cried the first time I reached the surface and once again, I associate this tune with that experience. And the sunrise and the snow, just... wow. Just wow, you know? Also I can’t tell if that’s an oboe or an English Horn but I think it’s an english horn - either way I love double-reeded instruments. (Or if it’s a soprano sax then good on them, I have so much respect for sop sax players)

“In the Blood” is just.... so good. And Orpheus and Eurydice duetting hits me in the feelings so hard. I also love this song because it brings so much explanation to the game as a whole, like - Zagreus is the fucking life of the Underworld and that has SO many deep connotations that I have pages on pages of headcanons/thoughts written out about... it’s so cool... wow. Just wow, you know? Also that lyric “Run all you like from the place you belong...” is such a haunting line, it just - wow. Wow. WOW.

I realize I just went on a full rant about most of those pieces to the point that I just started typing “wow” to make up for not having words, but music is very very important to me so I think about it way too much... Anywaysssss.

As for your second question, I do have a favorite level!! Elysium!!

Tartarus is really fun for me because it’s not very hard, and I can just smash through all of the chambers... Asphodel is SO irritating because of the magma, and there’s this one chamber that is literally ONLY witches and it has island terrain and the witches always float out over the magma, so you can’t get to them unless you go out there and it’s just SO FRUSTRATING. I love the aesthetic of Asphodel but hate playing it.

And I hate the Temple of Styx just because of stupid poison and stupid rats. It’s just - not my bag. 

Elysium though!!! It’s bright, it’s pretty, it’s super challenging with the levels of foes you face there, and I love seeing Pat and I love fighting Theseus and Asterius!!! I love Elysium so much... ALSO I love seeing my Good Shade!!! Every time!!!! My love....

Thank you so much for the ask, this was super fun!!!!

[thatbanjobusiness]

Oh oh oh ain’t that gorgeous. That is  ❀*✧⋆♫ yummy ♫⋆✧*❀ .

My record sales browsing turned up a newly listed beauty tonight: the start of Elvis’s career and success. Here’s an E / VG graded (frankly I think they’re lowballing the grading... this is a sexy, sexy boi [yes I’m talking about the record not Elvis, though feel free to provide your own thoughts on Elvis below]) copy of the original Sun issue that started EVERYTHING.

Starting bid? Only $499 + shipping. ;)

Elvis had recorded a few acetates before, but this was the first session where Elvis’ music would be released. The first song nineteen-year-old Elvis recorded in the studio here was “That’s All Right” by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, a Black blues singer, on July 5, 1954. What started as clowning around turned into the record’s A side. Then they had to choose a B side, which took some time and also involved screwing around, until they came upon a heavily modified cover of Father of Bluegrass Bill Monroe’s waltz “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” These two songs would comprise his first singles released... the record you’re seeing here... and they were enough to be regional hits in the South.

I still need to do MUCH more reading on Elvis, ergo why I’m sticking to a short explanation in hopes it remains factual. But there’s a ton of story to how this recording session went and what the response to these songs were. 

Now, if this starting bid is too lame a number for you, don’tcha worry. There’s other copies on sale rn. There’s another 78 rpm for $1,200 on eBay that’s much more worn out. And if 78s aren’t your style, there’s several 45 rpms! And if purchasing the novelty of Elvis’s first record isn’t enough for you, never fear! You can always overachieve and buy the first PRESSING! Only $6,800, $8,500, or $8,500 (another copy) and it’s yours. Okay, like, that’s owning a gigantic-ass piece of history so I have zero surprise the price is that high, but also: yeesh. I have cancer in the United States and I haven’t even paid that much for medical costs (yet) this comment better not be jinxing it.

The seller’s explained cool stuff on how they identified it as a first pressing. I’m going to put a link here for citation purposes, though if this gets sold, of course it’ll be a broken link later. Check it out while it’s for sale! (probably a long while, I imagine... ) There’s audio samples so you can hear both sides and brag you listened to Elvis’s first release on his first pressing. Fucking rad. Just shhhh leave out the detail that you heard it second-hand digitally ;) .

Here’s what’s said about first pressing identification:

Holy Grail record and probably one of the most important records in the history of music.

Has all first pressing identifiers including the telltale pushmarks (believed to have been pressed in a limited run of a few hundred copies) and half inch spacing in the matrix runout. (72) This is the earliest version with the 209 upside down on the label.

"The three 1/4” indentations, used to hold the stampers in place by connecting with three opposing pins during pressing, are what created what are known to collectors of early Elvis records as “delta” marks. They form a triangle (or the Greek letter “delta”) of marks on the Sun labels. These marks are the tell-tale sign that a record is a “delta pressing,” pressed at the Memphis record plant. Copies pressed at other plants in Philadelphia or Los Angeles do not have these marks. The marks appear on all of Elvis’ Sun 45s except for his final release, “Mystery Train.” By the time of that release in 1955, the stamper production method had been adjusted." (Source: see below)

The mother stampers for this record were found recently with an accompanying sleeve listing the number of copies made in the initial run. Ive provided the link for more information.

Click on the link, and you’ll get good images of what the stamps look like. The seller continues:

Condition-wise the record is covered in light, superficial hairlines.  

There is light wear on the labels (see photos) in the form of circular rings .   

In terms of audio, the record plays with continuous background hiss (known as the Sun Hiss) on most modern turntables. This is due to the fact it was said to have been pressed with a 78 gauge needle and was mastered on an old Presto Disc Lathe. It is best played with a 2.7-mil stylus. I've provided audio samples below. Keep in mind I don't have the appropriate stylus.

Lemme show you the record. Here’s images where you can see the delta marks:

Notice the upside-down 209 is only on the B side with “Blue Moon of Kentucky”. Gonna zoom in again so you can really look at it.

Mmmmmm yum delicious.

That $499 starting bid’s starting to look low now, isn’t it? ;)

I may keep y’all updated and say what the final selling cost of this thing goes for, if the auction gets bites.

[saintqueer]

On Being 13

by saintqueer

Date Written: July 2019

CW: brief mention of an eating disorder

I will be posting a series of old creative nonfiction essays I wrote in 2019-20 every Friday and tagging them #a saintqueer original. Some might be a little outdated but I'm getting my feet wet in the experience of sharing my own writing again. Hope you enjoy! My inbox is always open.

Your name is Jordan. It is 2006 and you just turned 13. You are officially a teenager. Not a preteen. Nor god-forbid a tween. You’re in eighth grade at middle school in the Bay Area suburbs and you just got your first cell phone. It’s a silver LG flip phone without a camera. Modern social media has been born but is not yet widespread. Myspace and AIM are still the name of the game. And your friend’s Top 8s are literally worth crying over. You buy songs you like on iTunes for 99 cents. Songs like Far Away by Nickelback and Jesus, Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood. That is, until you wizen up and start using LimeWire in 2007. By that time, you’ll think your tastes much improved. You’ll illegally download songs like Buy U a Drank by T-Pain, Wait For You by Elliott Yamin, and everything Chris Brown puts out. Every single feeling you have is so large it’s like it has the potential to kill you. Weird shit is happening to your body. You started puberty early but it shows absolutely no sign of stopping. Things just seem to be getting weirder and more emotional. You cut your own side bangs and they look hella cool.

Ok, let’s pause there. I’m gonna go ahead and break the fourth wall here. Reader, I was planning on doing this entire piece as a kind of immersive second person experience. But. I. Just. Can’t. It’s too hard and writing about being 13 is difficult enough. I think that intro was enough to get you in the right head space of Jordan circa 2006-2007.

Over the last year, there has been more truthful explorations of the adolescent experience in media than ever before. With shows like Pen15 and Big Mouth and films like Eighth Grade, I feel like for the first time I’m starting to come to terms with my own adolescence. Being 13 is really fucking hard. And 13-year-olds get such a bad rap when, honestly, they’re just trying to do the best they can with all the shit they’ve been thrown.

I first felt compelled to write this piece when reading a section of a book from my favorite podcaster, Karen Kilgariff. Karen describes a lecture series she went to in which one of the presenters made a case in defense of 13 year olds. Karen writes that being 13 “is the hardest age you ever have to be because of all the chemicals and hormones constantly raging through your body. It’s like you’re being drugged and then woken up with speed on a daily basis. All social structure implodes and resets itself in a totally unfamiliar way. You’re simultaneously the oldest version of a child and the youngest version of an adult, so you don’t belong anywhere. You don’t get babied, and you don’t get respect.” Basically, it fucking sucks!!!

At 13, my eating disorder was already in full swing and my body-dysmorphia-riddled brain had no shortage of reasons for why my life would be so much better if I weighed 25 pounds less. They would weigh us in gym class, one by one, and assign us our BMI classification (mine was “overweight”). I was constantly dieting, with resounding approval from family and peers; starving my growing body of whole food groups and then binging. My school used to sell these pizza hot pocket things in plastic wrapping called pizza sticks (they were so DELICIOUS). One time, I found an unopened and still-warm pizza stick on the floor next to a garbage can. Wildly hungry from my meager carb-less lunch I picked it up off the floor and shoved it into my mouth, facing the wall, in as few bites as possible so no one would see. OFF THE FLOOR…OUTSIDE. I think it was on a pile of leaves and other trash (though unopened, it was slightly flattened on one side so it might have been stepped on?). This is actually the first time I’ve told anyone that I did that. Blogging is fun.

I was truly beginning to understand that my body was a commodity in society. I couldn’t take up space as a girl and to be beautiful was to be frail. My body was a sexual thing but I was not allowed to be a sexual being. Boys were the horny ones, not girls. But boy, was I! The thing was I couldn’t tell anyone, only the bathtub faucet could know. This was heightened all the more by my church and my faith. Youth group taught me the importance of dressing modestly and how we had to do everything within our power to help easily tempted boys remain sexually pure. I had so much shame that I had any kind of sexuality at all.

A majority of us wanted to fit in when we were 13. And I wanted it desperately. It’s not necessarily that I wanted to be cool, it’s more like I just wanted to belong. I wanted to have best friends. I wanted boys to have crushes on me. I wanted to be wanted. And it never happened for me. I didn’t develop deep lasting friendships until my late teens. I didn’t have my first kiss until I was 21, for god’s sake. My friends at 13 were changeable and excluding. I felt like I was constantly vying for their approval and as I entered high school in 2007, my social life became the center of my world.

Admittedly, high school felt much more enjoyable than middle school. I had established my place in the cool crowd and shirked academics. I stopped listening to Christian Rock and started listening to Lil Wayne and learning how to twerk. I cut class with a friend to straighten my hair with my hot pink straightener in Starbucks. I got in trouble with the cops for underage drinking. I got better at actually starving myself for a few days at a time instead of just dieting. I was significantly better at swearing. However, every single thing still felt like the biggest deal ever and it felt like it would always be that way.

Now, over a dozen years later, I hardly ever think about how it felt to be 13. I always forget that I “fell in love” with a boy named Alex at church summer camp who I saw from afar five times and talked to once for two minutes. It’s hard to believe now that I wrote his name in sharpie on my converse sneakers and sang I Drive Myself Crazy by *Nsync while crying and staring directly back at myself in the mirror.

This might seem unforgiving but I feel like the one redeemable thing about being 13 is that it doesn’t last forever. It ends. You grow and you change and you work through your trauma. If you’re lucky, you get better friends and you go to therapy and do some healing over ten years later by watching tv shows and movies that remind you of every painful feeling. Then you look back and laugh. You laugh at that school dance where Peter said he’d never, ever slow dance with you. You laugh at the school dance less than a year later where you grind provocatively on a dude you don’t know to Get Low by Lil Jon and the Ying Yang Twins. You laugh (hysterically, I might add) at eating that pizza stick off the floor. You laugh at smoking weed for the first time using a plastic water bottle your friend somehow turned into a shitty bong. You laugh at shoplifting your first thong from Ross. You laugh at your self-cut side bangs. You laugh and you laugh and you laugh and then you, finally, move on.