#and the last two are lines from this movie that live rent free in my head

[transformativeworks]

It's Rex Manning Day!

[blu3haw4]

Hi, hello, remember when i posted a little fic two years ago called 'loved your parting gift (dead people are my favorite)' and then last year i talked about how that world lives in my mind rent free and how I've imagine that very cathartic scene of Lexa bleeding at Clarke's place and her calling Anya to watch Lexa while she feeds from countless people because the sent of Lexa's blood makes her incredibly thirsty? Do you remember?

Well i didn't write that scene (actually i did but it's not edited and I'm not sure i want it to be precisely like that so) instead I wrote a little night months after, a little look into their abettor-ship.

I feel like in the first installment it looks a little like these two are pretty serious, but in my head this fic is a little cracky. Like sure Lexa is Commander of the 12 clans full of werewolf packs (this isn't abo btw) sure she's the most powerful alpha of her people, sure she can control other alphas as though they were her beta's. But also she's just a girl. She's practically 21yo (210 in reality (215 actually, which makes Clarke want to celebrate her sweet (2)16's) but she's a wolf so its the same) and she just really likes this very pretty girl, mysterious and possibly incredibly dangerous but also just a girl who with all her power (and years on earth) is actually just chilling.

So here's that little night

For Clextober 2024, Idea 16 (already on ao3)

The Halloween Party

“A Halloween party? Seriously?” Lexa deadpanned.

“A custom party” Clarke clarified, covered excitement in her voice.

“Yeah, I got that part”

“Don’t sound so excited” She rolled her eyes.

“Of course I’m not excited Clarke, I’ve seen enough terrible representation of my kind? Don’t you hate those of yours?”

“Why would I?” Clarke laughed “few are exaggerated versions the fictional character created about us, and most are pretty simple and very accurate representation of how we really look like... humans with fangs and blood dripping down our mouths. And, by the way, I think the latest tv shows have done a pretty good job at representing your kind”

“When was the last time you saw a werewolf?” Lexa narrowed her eyes, she can’t remember the last time she saw a werewolf custom or tv show, but they were never flattering, and the few movies she knew about weren’t great either.

“I’m standing right in front of one!”

“Before that” Lexa rolled her eyes.

“Irrelevant, trirku, I’ve seen you fully and partially wolfed out as well as human size, you’ve got to admit they’re getting it right -finally”

“Trikru is not-“

“Your last name, I know, but you don’t have one, so suck it up” Clarke interrupts, with that sweet, little flirty tone she used to mock her -and to calm the bad guys she dried to feed- “You’re the one who rejected Woods”

“Because that’s just stupid-” before Clarke could jump with some retort again, she railed the conversation back “Why is it necessary? To go to this party?”

“Because!” Clarke rolled her eyes sighing, it had been an intense few months since they met, what started as just tense avoidance quickly turned into a series of unfortunate events that landed them on a weird abettor-ship. The vampire had to get used to sharing a city with a huge clan of werewolves’ packs, all the while making sure they weren’t sniffing around where they shouldn’t, whatever that’d be other super-natural creatures’ business or outright hunter houses. She hadn’t done the best job at it from afar, hence their fragile alliance.

“You said you wanted in on the majority of non-humans around here, this is your way of mingling”

“But why a Halloween party?”

“Because it’s fun! Because we hide every day, most have a lot more covering up to do than you and I. Halloween is the perfect opportunity to hide in plain sight, is the one occasion they get to be themselves around those they call friends without any judgment”

‘Do you have friends?’ Was the question in Lexa’s mind, but she kept it there, the line between professionalism and friendship or whatever with Clarke were blurry enough already. She’s made enough mistakes the past six months that led her down dangerous paths, she owed it to her clan to stay focused, to mend those mistakes, no matter how much she just wanted to get to know Clarke.

“You sure it’s a good idea?”

“Yes! For one you’ll get to do something fun, and two, how else will you know who’s pissed that you and your clan are here and who doesn’t give a shit?”

“Isn’t that the point of our agreement?”

“I agreed to help you, not do you binding” Clarke deadpanned “Look as far as I’m aware there hasn't been a pack around for about fifty years, most witches I know don’t care about you, but there’s plenty of vampires around who love to feed into our animosity. This party is your chance to check the field, some ghouls hide perfectly and won’t care that you pissed off hunters, there’s fairies though I’m sure would love to help them, there’s a variety of chimeras that-”

“Okay. I get it. Plenty of creature, perfect night, perfect chance”

“Exactly. Efficiency” Clarke winked at her.

With a sigh Lexa stood up “Fine, I’ll be here at seven”

“You better be in a nice custom!” Clarke called after her “You don’t want people to think you’re a boring ass human!” Lexa rolled her eyes yet started to plan her outfit for the following night.

She showed up at seven sharp, in simple black jeans and a white shirt, cut and styled to look worn, her hair braided and held by a bandanna at the top of her head, her make-up was exaggerated, all meat to portray a pirate. She thought she complied to Clarke’s petition, yet her hopes for a compliment fell when the Vampire opened the door.

“You didn’t come as a were?!”

“No! I am one!” She huffed.

“That’s the point!” Clarke chuckles turning around, in her plain fitting black dress, black high heels and… a cape. Because of course she was a vampire. “Such a wasted opportunity” she rolled her eyes, cheeky grin fangs out and all, clearly pleased with her own ‘custom’. Lexa felt a little silly, knowing she spent all day crafting hers.

“I mean don’t get me wrong-” Clarke cut her train of thought, looking her up and down, still grinning, licking her left fang -it was always the left one, same side where that beauty mark sat atop her lip- not that Lexa paid attention or anything. “This fit is… damn, hot as fuck, Trikru, you really leaned into it” And okay, Lexa wasn’t expecting that, so who could blame her if she blushed a little.

“Well, you… said to make it nice”

“It is nice… very nice” Clarke nodded, looking her up and down again as she kept licking that damn fang, how was Lexa supposed to focus on the mission. And okay, it wasn’t really a mission, but she was still supposed to focus on making connections not on… well. Clarke.

They left shortly after, and Lexa was informed on the way that this Halloween party was, actually, several parties. A few different parties they would go to through the night.

And so, they spend about an hour -and a half sometimes- at each party, Lexa meets all of Clarke’s contacts -all witches- and learns to recognize the faces of few vampires who don’t seem to like her. She asks how come they don’t approach them and seem to back away from Clarke, but she deflects, says she’s not sure and bets they’re just smart enough to not mess with Lexa. But she knows it can’t be just that, she doesn’t push it though, just hopes Clarke will trust her enough one day to tell her, after all their relationship at the moment pretty much consisted of exchanging information.

By midnight Lexa had a pretty clear idea of how most creatures felt about her and her clan, she met a few chimeras that lived with packs and seemed to hope that they’d protect them from the hunters, while lone ones kept their distance from her. Ghouls and fairies alike seem all over the place, some wanted to meet her, some seem scared of her, others just outright grossed by her presence. It gave her a good feeling of what she would be dealing with for the next few years of their stay.

So, with her mission accomplished, she finally listened to Clarke and agreed to have fun. With the elixirs provided by Clarke’s witches friends, the pair was able to enjoy the nice numbing of their drinks -not that Clarke wasn’t already a little drunk and high from the few humans she fed from.

Lexa learned over the course of the first two months after her arrival that Clarke had a method of feeding that didn’t involve drinking them dry, and didn’t even leave a mark. The watching had begun with Lexa following her after their first face-to-face encounter, feeling the need to check that Clarke’s victims were in fact the predators she claimed them to be.

That’s how she found her flirting with people at bars and promising a good time, offering them a vape and saying it had weed to cover up the later dizziness, taking them a out to a more private corner and making out with them, Clarke would kiss their necks, nibbling and licking to activate the sedative from her saliva and then biting them to drink from them, they would think she was leaving a hickey when in reality she was only drinking a little of their blood -the equivalent of two exam doses, she would later learn- before licking the wound to heal it close. She’d take them back inside and leave after a while.

Lexa had memorized the pattern, Clarke would drink from four different people per night, and she would skip three nights if she drank someone dry. She wasn’t sure if Clarke was aware of it, she had an idea that Clarke could scent her every time, but she had stopped following her after the first time they spoke. Falling to the conclusion -and promptly ignoring it- that her obsession with the habit had come from wanting to be a part of the rotation of… donors.

-It meant she didn’t realize when the pattern changed, after the night she bled at Clarke’s place, the vampire started to feed every night even if she dried someone, the number of doses per night increased and even some were taken during the day. Clarke didn’t tell her, afraid to accept the reason of her newfound insatiable thirst-

And so, she found herself at the last party mildly drunk, doing everything in her power to keep Clarke’s focus on her, because her inhibition was low and her instincts her directing her more than her conscious, and Clarke kept looking for humans to woo and drink from, not because she need it -or so Lexa thought- just because she wanted to, because she was having fun and she wasn’t -technically- hurting anybody. And Lexa didn’t really want to stop her, she just… wanted her to not kiss other people.

And Clarke kept telling her that she was no fun, that she should let loose and enjoy the night, and Lexa was really trying, but she didn’t know how to without completely exposing herself. Because even her wolf wanted Clarke to bite her, her big bad alpha soul wanted to be bitten, and how was Lexa really supposed to deny that.

So, she showed her she could be fun, she drank and danced with Clarke, and she did her best at flirting, and she noticed when Clarke noticed. She noticed when Clarke stopped looking around for humans, she noticed her flirting turning up from her natural, and she noticed how she danced differently with her. She noticed the way she wouldn’t stop licking her fangs and biting her lips.

She noticed she was breathing heavily “Why are you breathing?” Lexa asked.

Clarke giggled, tilting her head to rest their foreheads together “What?” she sighed with a drunken laugh.

“You don’t need to breath” Lexa hushed, giggling a little too as they stumbled more than danced “Why are you doing it?”

“Oh… well-” and again with the fang-licking, Lexa was sure that a few more time and she wouldn’t be able to hold back the need to capture that tongue “The feeding, y’know how I get drunk because they’re drunk?” she asks, motioning vaguely with her hands and chuckling when Lexa pulls her back to her after she stumbled back.

“It happens because… I kinda… absorb a little of their life. Not like… take from… their time, just-” She tasked, and Lexa couldn’t decide if she should fixate of her mouth or her eyes, bluer than she’d ever seen them “like the blood makes me… alive, for however long it takes my body to… fully…” another giggle, another misstep “absorb it”

“Oh yeah?” Lexa nodded, unable to contain the smile on her face, she bumped her nose with Clarke “Sounds fun” she hushes, because if they stop talking, she might end up kissing her.

And okay, it was what she wanted, but she knew it was a bad idea, and she didn’t want to initiate it anyways.

“It is” Clarke nods, grinning widely “It’s why my eyes are lighter… or bluer… I guess”

“Really?” Lexa leans back, wanting to get a better look, and Clarke unconsciously leans forward, almost chasing her.

“Yep” she sighs this time when their foreheads press together again, there a slumber looks in her eyes now “You know how they’re… black, before I feed?” Lexa only hums her agreement “That’s the… monster”

“Hey, no, don’t call it that. That’s the hunger” Lexa says, and she’s had both arms around Clarke’s waits this whole time, so she lifts one up to cares the side of her neck. “You’re not -We’re not monsters” Clarke eyes her, not buying it.

And Lexa knows, she knows that this is not a worry Clarke carries every day, she knows the vampire is self-aware and has probably lived longer than Lexa is capable of wrapping her head around. She knows these are drunk insecurities that won’t be there in the morning- or in a few hours- but she needs to calm them, because she also knows that is a worry that comes from deep, deep down in her core.

“You are cable of feeding without killing. And even if you had to kill to do it, you wouldn’t be different than an animal. You wouldn’t be different than a werewolf. We’re not that much different than humans”

Clarke’s hands have moved from Lexa’s shoulder to her arms, up her neck and into her hair in a sequence since they started dancing. In the breath after Lexa finishes speaking, one hand moves back into her hair and the other stays holding her arm, a subtle tilt of her head it’s all that’s needed for the lips to connect as she pulls Lexa closer in every way.

Lexa’s breath catches in her throat as her arms instinctively wrap around Clarke and she answers the kiss eagerly. It’s slow for a second, they adjust to the press of Clarke’s fangs in a tight press of lips. Then it intensifies, there’s a brief separation before they both lean in again, stronger, deeper. They pull each other close and sigh into each other’s mouth, Lexa gasps and Clarke smirks every time her fang nibs Lexa’s tongue or lips, and they absently move out of the makeshift dance floor.

They don’t bump into anyone, their super senses kick in and helping them navigate the crowded room without even looking. Clarke sucks on Lexa’s lower lip with a softness that makes Lexa forget there’s sharp fangs behind those lips. She licks into Clarke’s mouth anyways, learning each time where to go and how to enjoy it, Clarke’s tongue guides her too, she absolutely enjoys that part the most.

Lexa is leaned against the hallway wall, the window beside them is open and the breeze is a nice contrast to the warm of their bodies pressed against each other, hands pulling and wandering as they exchange heated kisses.

Lexa gaps and turns her head away from the kiss suddenly, her reflexes kick in when Clarke leans for -a kiss to- her neck and her arm goes up to grab Clarke by the throat. She pauses, confused, still holding Lexa close, and then she hears it too, the faith distinguished howl of a wolf; Clarke can tell is a werewolf, Lexa understands the entire message.

“I need to go” she says, still looking out, eyes red now, fangs out.

“Do you need help?” Clarke sobers up, she doesn’t move though, neither of them do.

“No. You shouldn’t come” and finally Lexa pulls away, Clarke takes a step back with her and their arms drop when Lexa moves to go back into the main room “Clarke. I mean it. Don’t follow” she says, and she tries to ignore the looks on her face, tries not to read too much into the flash of darkening eyes, and leaves without looking back.

[munson-blurbs]

Three Musketeers + Lemon head + Eddie

Love, @corroded-hellfire 💚

Exes-to-lovers/Mom!Reader/Eddie Munson

My birthday gift to you, my love. Thank you for being my best friend, my soulmate, my other half. I can't believe we haven't even known each other for a full year. I love you more than Max loves Steve's chest hair.

Warnings: marital strife and separation (it ends well, I promise!)

WC: 840

Divider credit to @saradika

Your fingers hover tentatively over the phone’s number pad, the receiver heavy in your palm. 

Do it for Harmony, you silently will yourself; as if on cue, your six-year-old daughter tugs on your sleeve impatiently.

“Mommy, just call him!” she huffs, hands on her hips in a display of attitude. Six going on sixteen, you think. “I want him to see my costume!” She gives a little twirl as her tulle skirt fans out around her.

“Okay, Cinderella,” you relent with a laugh dialing the seven numbers that you hated to commit to memory. Because it means that Eddie is still living there, and not here.

Here is the home you’d bought together, pooling all your savings together to afford a two-bedroom house just outside of Hawkins. There is the apartment he’d been renting since you two had agreed on a trial separation four months ago.

It’s not that you didn’t love him; besides Harmony, you loved him more than anything in the world. But there had been too many evenings where he came home far later than promised, too many date nights canceled in favor of last-minute gigs at the Hideout, too many mornings that he’d scrambled to work without even offering you a kiss goodbye. At some point, your spark had fizzled out, and you didn’t have the energy to rekindle it. 

He picks up on the second ring with a soft, “Hello?”

“Hey, ba—Eddie, it’s me.” You catch yourself just before you can utter the pet name. 

“Is Harmony okay? Are you okay?” There’s an urgency in his voice that tugs at your heartstrings. 

“We’re fine,” you hurriedly assure him, hearing a sigh of relief from his end of the line. “She just picked out her costume and wants to show you, if you’re free.”

His eager promise to be right over forms a pit in your stomach. You know he’ll show; he wouldn’t get his daughter’s hopes up for nothing. The problem is you: seeing him makes you miss him more, and you don’t want to want him. Not if the feeling isn’t mutual. 

Sure enough, he’s at the house in fifteen minutes flat, leaning up against the frame when you open the door. “Hi.” One breathy word from his mouth already leaves you in shambles. His brown eyes flick from your lips upwards.

“Hi.” You stand, motionless, for a beat too long. “Oh, um, come in.” It’s strange and sad to have to grant him permission to enter, and while you appreciate him respecting that boundary, you almost wish he didn’t.

Harmony eases the tension, flinging herself into her father’s arms with an excited, “Daddy! I’m Cinderella!” She giggles as he peppers her face with kisses and hugs her tight. “Can you be Prince Charming? No, wait,” she scrunches her nose, “if you’re Prince Charming, then Mommy has to be Cinderella.”

You clear your throat, eager to change the subject. “Okay, Princess, go change into your pajamas and get ready for bed.”

She pouts but obeys, turning towards the staircase before swiveling around again. “Can we watch a movie?” Her hopeful eyes shine bright. “Like we used to do before Daddy moved away?”

Your heart tears in two, and you look over at Eddie. He gives an approving smile, but the time on the microwave clock requires an altered plan. “How about one episode of The PowerPuff Girls?” you suggest.

That satisfies her, and she flounces upstairs to her room. 

Eddie sighs, walking over to you with his arms crossed over his chest. “Whatever happens with us, we made the cutest kid in the world.” He opens his mouth to say more, but closes it before any words can escape. 

Curiosity tugs at you, urging you to ask him what’s on his mind, but you shove it down and press on. “We really did,” you manage, biting your lower lip. “Are…when can we talk about what’s happening with us? What the next steps are?”

“It all depends on what you want, babe.” The nickname slips out unintended, but he doesn’t take it back. “I just know that I miss you, miss us…” He rakes his fingers through his hair, fighting the desire to wrap you in a hug. “I’m so fucking sorry. I was a shitty husband, and I promise I’ll do better if I can get one more chance.” 

Your voice is small when you ask, “do you still love me?”

He doesn’t reply with words initially; his lips crash onto yours hungrily while his hand presses against the small of your back. “I love you more than I can ever explain.” He digs into his pocket and pulls out his wedding ring. “I, um, brought this…in case you want me to wear it again?” It’s a question, an inflection at the end.

You nod, taking it from him and sliding it on his fourth finger, just as you did on your wedding day. “I do,” you laugh. “Are you ready to honeymoon with Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup?”

“I couldn’t dream of anything better.”

--

[devildomditzy]

Are there any fob songs you associate with Mammon? I was on a listening spree earlier when Disloyal Order came on and "What a match, I'm half-doomed, and you're semi-sweet" feels so MC/Mammon coded.

aksjs sorry my two interests constantly intertwine, and Mammon lives in my mind rent free 👉👈

oh ho ho I should have a large sign on my back that says please talk to me about fall out boy

I’m going to just give you the list and the lyrics, but this will still be a loooong ass post

I'm sorry this post took so long anon it's been sitting in my drafts forever.

From Evening Out With Your Girlfriend

Moving Pictures

"Last night I saw a movie And I thought about many movies I've seen at your house Excuse me if I'm rude But I'd rather that we just strike from the record ones I'd see again without you Leaning on my shoulder Distracting me from the plot line

Where can I go when I want you around But I can't stand to be around you? Go home, I'll walk myself to you I'll walk myself away from here"

From Take This To Your Grave

Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy?

"You need him, I could be him I could be an accident, but I'm still trying And that's more than I can say for him"

From From Under The Cork Tree

A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me

"And you're just the girl all the boys wanna dance with And I'm just the boy who's had too many chances I'm sleepin' on your folks' porch again, dreamin' She said, she said, she said, "Why don't you just drop dead?" I don't blame you for bein' you But you can't blame me for hating it So, say, what are you waiting for, kiss her, kiss her I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late"

Of All The Gin Joints of All The World

"We're making out inside crashed cars We're sleeping through all our memories I used to waste my time dreaming of being alive (now I only waste my time dreaming of you)

Turn off the lights and turn off the shyness 'Cause all of our moves make up for the silence And oh, the way your makeup stains my pillowcase Like I'll never be the same"

Sugar We’re Goin Down

"Am I more than you bargained for yet? I've been dying to tell you Anything you wanna hear 'Cause that's just who I am this week"

From Infinity on High

Bang the Doldrums

"Best friends, ex-friends 'til the end Better off as lovers and not the other way around Racing through the city, windows down In the back of yellow checkered cars"

The Take Over, The Breaks Over

"Baby, seasons change, but people don't, and I'll always be waiting in the back room I'm boring, but overcompensate with Headlines and flash, flash, flash photography"

"Wouldn't you rather be a widow than a divorcee? Style your wake for fashion magazines Widow or a divorcee? Don't pretend, d-d-d-don't pretend"

From Folie à Deux

Disloyal Order of the Water Buffalos

"Oh, I'm a loose bolt of a complete machine What a match, I'm half-doomed, and you're semi-sweet"

Tiffany Blews

"Oh baby, you're a classic Like a little black dress You're a faded moon Stuck on a little hot mess (little hot mess) Whoa, whoa"

From Save Rock and Roll

Miss Missing You

"Making eyes at this husk around my heart I see through you when we're sitting in the dark So give me your filth, make it rough Let me, let me trash your love

I will sing to you every day If it will take away the pain Oh, and I've heard you got it, got it so bad 'Cause I am the best you'll never have"

Where Did the Party Go?

"This is the story of how they met Her picture was on the back of a pack of cigarettes And when she touched him he turned ruby red A story that they'll never forget, never forget"

From American Beauty/ American Psycho

Jet Pack Blues

"Did you ever love her? Do you know? (I remember) Or did you never want to be alone? (I remember)"

From Mania

Last of the Real Ones

"I was just an only child of the universe And then I found you, and then I found you You are the sun and I am just the planets Spinning around you, spinning around you You were too good to be true, gold plated But what's inside you? But what's inside you? I know this whole damn city thinks it needs you But not as much as I do, as much as I do, yeah"

Hold Me Tight or Don’t

"I got too high again, realized I can't not be with you Or be just your friend, I love you to death, but I just can't I just can't pretend, we were lovers first Confidants but never friends, were we ever friends?

But when your stitch comes loose, I wanna sleep on Every piece of fuzz and stuffing that comes out of you You, I took too many hits off this memory I need to come down"

From So Much For Stardust

Flu Game

"Last night I dreamt I still knew you You I carved out a place in this world for two But it's empty without you

I got all this love I've got to keep to myself All this effort to make it look effortless"

Hold Me Like a Grudge

"Hold me, hold me like a grudge The world is always spinning, and I can't keep up, woah Faster and faster, can't do it on my own Part-time soulmate, full-time problem, yeah So, hold me like a grudge"

"Call you up and demand, you have no fun without me"

From Believers Never Die Volume Two

Bob Dylan

"When they say, "You and what army?" I guess they're talking about you and me Baby, nobody will love you, nobody will love you like Like I do, I guess that's half true"

"Baby, no one ever thinks of you, no one ever thinks of you As much as I do, not, not even you"

"Cause everyone loves Bob Dylan I just want you to love me like that, yeah Would you bury me next to Johnny Cash? I'm obsessed, do you love me like that? Yeah

I'm sure there's a million more of their songs/lyrics I could correlate to him but we'd be here all day.

I could literally yap about Mammon and Fall Out Boy all day.

[misc-obeyme]

okay okay I'm back with more self indulgent poly coffee au. Last time I said Lucifer fixed up the piano, and there's definitely another scene idea there, but I'm so excited about the Horror night one that I'm skipping the piano scene aksjdj. I even re-read the horror movie night devilgrams for research. Yeahhh, research,,,,(that one line from Mammon where he comments on MC's scared face lives rent free in my head). But I learned Mammon would have nightmares, and Solomon gets really into the plot.

okay so I think it'd be nice if the three of us meet on Wednesdays before I head to the record shop. Solomon brings his homework, but never gets much done, too happy to talk to us instead. Wednesday is the only day I wake up super early, all because I'm looking forward to hanging out for longer with the two of them. It gets me out of bed, but I have shown up looking groggy as hell some days. Record shop is open 11-7:30 Monday through Friday? And 11-9 on Saturday, but closed Sunday. The only reason it closes early is because I take the bus, and that's not something that's fun taking at night. Saturday night I stay at the shop (thinking of a mini storage/break room upstairs where I've set up a sleeping bag). Coffee shop I think is also closed Sunday, but Mon-Friday it's 7-3:30, with Saturday being 7-12 so he can get errands done. And then Sol has classes Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri.

OKAY ANYWAY, WORLD BUILDING ASIDE, the three of us meeting on our usual Wednesday, and Solomon mentions this movie he wants to see. He says he has extra tickets because the people he planned on asking can't make it, it's a midnight showing on Friday. Says he understands if we can't since we both need to get up early the next day, but wanted to ask. I agree because I think it'd be nice to hang out outside of the coffee shop, and Mammon says he's not one to turn down a free outing. He can run on little sleep anyway, he's got espresso to help.

The three of us trying to figure out the logistics, Solomon saying he'll even pay for rides there and back home if needed. Mammon blurts out "Why don't y'all sleep over after?" and we both turn to look at him. He freezes and turns red, but he's already said it, he can't turn back now. "What? I-I got a car, I'll pick the two of you up, and y'all can stay at my place. T-That way, it's not too far from your shop, and your apartment, right?" "I could walk home from here, I wouldn't want to intrude-" "Yeah, I don't mind taking an uber-" "Walking at night can be dangerous, don't you know!? And you! Getting into a strangers car so late is even worse! I'll drive you both home if that's what ya want, but I don't mind having you two over." Solomon is fighting the urge to make a comment about it being like a date. I'm just happy to not have to wake up as early.

"Yo, why'd you want to go to the midnight showing anyway? Are ya that excited to see it?" "Haha, that's not the main reason. It's a horror movie! A midnight showing would be the most immersive." Cue me and Mammon freezing, giving each other terrified looks. Oh man.

Leading up to the outing date, Mammon and I are researching like crazy, only to find out it's the premiere. So there's no spoilers or ways to prepare. We're going in blind. I'm not one to watch many horror movies, the closest things being Saw, Final Destination (both of which I love), and I think a movie series called Paranormal Activity or something. But I always looked away during scary scenes during that. Yet I'm too stubborn to turn it off because I need to know the ending.

Friday comes, Mammon closes up and tries to take a nap to calm his nerves after stress cleaning to get everything neat for the sleepover. And no one planned it, but everyone has dressed up a little nicer than usual. Mammon's got a lucky watch that was gifted from Lucifer, and an open button up with the sleeves rolled up.

He gets in his car to go pick up Solomon, his heart hammering in his chest because Solomon is wearing a nice button up and maybe a sweater? And wearing cologne?? Please help Mammon, he is panicking, trying to reign it in as Solomon puts his overnight bag in the trunk. His voice cracks as he greets Solomon, and immediately begins driving to pick me up, turning up the music as a distraction.

Not sure what I'd wear, but I've got extra jewelry on because it makes me feel cool. Maybe a mesh shirt and a cardigan?? But I wear perfume, and I'm nervous without any clue why. I've got my wallet and my duffel bag, and snort when Solomon jumps out and opens the passenger door like a gentleman before climbing into the backseat. The drive is slightly tense, all of us nervous until I spot a car with a difference state plate. My friend introduced me to this game, and I instinctively bump Mammon's arm and call out the state, which breaks the tense atmosphere. The three of us fall into comfortable conversation until we reach the movie theater.

okay there's a really funny idea I have for the next part that happens during the actual movie. Solomon is going to be living his best life very soon OKAY BYEEE

- ✨ anon

AHHHH I wanna know about Solomon living his best life!! Lemme guess, he's sitting between you two and something especially scary happens so you're both clinging to him out of fear?!? LOL!

Oh man, both of you guys not liking horror is so cute! I totally get it, I'm not a horror fan at all. I can't watch horror movies because I get so freaked out, I can't sleep for months. Books seem to be no problem, but movies for some reason I can't handle lol.

ANYWAY I also love how Mammon is coming up with reasons why you should both sleep over, that is so sweet - of course he's getting all overprotective! Walking at night! Getting into a stranger's car!! You're gonna give him a conniption!

And ohh Solomon being the gentleman and opening the door for you, that's adorable, too!!

As always, I will be pleased to know what happens next, but of course no pressure & no rush! I'm just enjoying this cute lil love story~

[terapsina]

Send a Fandom: Legacies - 5, 18 / Ship: Hope/Lizzie - 20

For this ask game.

5. ...the scene from it that lives in my head rent free.

So, my mind is admittedly very one track and so yeah, the scene that's taken up place in the back of my head and built a very cozy, very permanent nest is a shippy one.

I can't believe they gave Lizzie an actual '10 Things I Hate About You' MONOLOGUE that honest to goodness culminates on an actual "And [I hate you] for making me love you, Hope Mikaelson."

There's everyday blatant shipping bait... and then there's putting Lizzie inside a 90's romcom modern adaptation of a Shakespeare play.

---

Another, less ship focused scene that has taken up permanent space in my head though might be the one with the extremely misfortunate vampire that tried vampsplaining their nature to the Mikaelson tribrid.

Hope feeling like it was a new low for her? Hilarious.

18. ...the perfect number of books/seasons/movies needed to tell this story properly.

Definitely more than 4.

They were JUST getting their sea-legs underneath them 😭.

More specifically... I think 7 or 8 seasons would have been just around perfect. It would have been just in that BtVS or Charmed sweet spot of a series that's long enough to explore the characters and their relationships properly, without losing steam and getting boring.

---

20. ...how and when they should get/should have gotten together.

I adore slow burns, I wouldn't change a thing about any of the stuff that happened between them before Hope snapped Lizzie's neck.

And I also wouldn't change most of the stuff that happened while Lizzie was sired to Hope (it was too freaking perfect). My one change here - and how I'd begin the process for them as the endgame - would probably be doing an actual acknowledgement of how Lizzie's "I love you." was absolutely meant as an "I'm in love with you.".

I'd still maintain those thirsty, frustrated Lizzie moments from whenever Hope's being all aggressively attractive and kinda mean. But maybe making them just a little bit more textual.

Or maybe by having the No Humanity!Hope taunt her about the feelings?

Wait... ooh, I know. I'd have moved around Lizzie and Jen bonding from after the Grand Road Trip Breakup, to before. And Hope would get a bird's-eye view that would have culminated in something along the lines of petty and jealousy-flavored (not-that-she'd-admit-it) "Well, don't you move on fast?"

Then I'd move everything back to how it went down in canon (including the bits where Hope and Lizzie both were decidedly not acknowledging the sire bond and its implication after Hope's humanity came back to the forefront).

Except that when MG dropped his confession I'd have had Lizzie telling him that she's in love with Hope.

The actual getting together thing in my perfect version of events would happen in season 6 (with season 5 being Hope healing from Landon's death, and coming to terms with her developing feelings for Lizzie just as Lizzie's trying to move on).

Said Actual-Getting-Together portion would include: one badly timed almost confession on Hope's part which would fly over Lizzie's head because they'd be in the middle of dealing with the latest disaster and Hope wouldn't actually be all that clear about it; and one brief span of time where Hope thinks Lizzie's dead and goes on a very Mikaelson rampage about it.

And then bada-boom-bada-bam there's a Big Damn Kiss that sweeps Lizzie off her goddamn feet.

The last season or two would be them just being the badass power-couple of the show (exactly as they've been the entire time, actually, except that they'd literally be a couple).

And THAT is how I'd get them together if it were up to me.

[kosher-martian]

Napoleon & Josephine

Spoiler warning for Napoleon.

So this weekend I had an opportunity to see Ridley Scott's Napoleon. It was weird.

The movie has some problems. I'm not going to mention the historical accuracy of the film (it takes the same liberties all other historical dramas do) nor am I going to talk about the dialogue / delivery (though I will gladly let "You think you're so great because you have boats!" live rent-free in my head for the rest of forever). I think the movie had too much material it wanted to cover in one film, but tried to cover it anyway (the exact opposite of the YA movie "Divided for Adaptation" trope that swept Hollywood ages ago). Before some (likely extensive) edits the final film was probably close to 3.5 hours long, so they cut an hour's worth of scenes from the final product resulting in the choppy mess with massive pacing issues that have divided audiences and critics alike.

Scenes play at breakneck pace one after the other, each in a different location, with different characters, and occurring at different points in history, but there was either no attempt at linking the scenes together or the majority of those bridging scenes hit the cutting room floor. As a consequence, the movie just comes across as a feature-length recap of the previous season of some prestige historical drama show. If this were a pre-existing show the scenes make sense. You vaguely remember last season and you are only watching to jog your memory before jumping into the next season. But if you are going into this without familiarity of the subject matter (or only mild interest) and expect the film to tell you a narrative about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, it's just a cluster of confusion. I had a similar experience with the Saoirse Ronan / Margot Robbie Mary Queen of Scots film. It had almost the exact same "not a film, just a series of scenes" issues. Unlike with Napoleon, I was less familiar with the historical events surrounding Mary I of Scotland and Elizabeth I of England. I ended up disliking the film and only ever watched it the one time.

So now I want to pivot to the reason I'm making this post at all. I want to posit a ludicrous and patently untrue conspiracy theory: They made two movies and then spliced them together!

To be clear, I don't actually believe this happened, this "conspiracy theory" will be more my wishful thinking than anything else.

Contrary to all evidence, I want to believe that Hollywood had planned Barbenheimer from the very beginning. Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, and other major studios saw the collapse of "cinematic universe" films on the horizon and wanted to create a new fad that would be both cheaper to produce and more easily controlled: Pick two films with markedly different audiences, market them as being in competition with each other, and use polarizing social media pushes to drive people into two constituency groups. With this model, studios could take two films that would otherwise have middling performance and turn them into blockbuster hits of then summer with marketing alone. People would go running back into the theaters to ensure their constituency's film "won" the battle. Hollywood solicited ideas for film pairings from a variety of sources. Ridley Scott got wind of this secret operation and decided he would condense the idea into an even easier exercise: Make the same movie twice for two different audiences.

Scott would direct two films with the exact same cast. One film (the "boy" film) would be an epic film covering the military triumphs of Napoleon Bonaparte, his tragic fall from power, his unlikely return, and his final defeat. This film, titled Napoleon, would feature fantastic set-piece battle scenes, tons of meme-able lines ("You think you're so great because you have boats!"), and gorgeous special effects. The "girl" film, Josephine, would depict the contentious and all-too-captivating private life of Napoleon and Josephine. It would be a more cerebral and emotional work, showing the complexities of their relationship. It would place the competing demands of Napoleon's ambition and longing for true love at center stage. Josephine might have made Empress Josephine our focal character or it may have continued to use Napoleon as entry way into the rich interior lives of the Emperor and Empress of France, but in either case the film's overall story would have been those moments when they were alone with one another or totally alone. Napoleon's story is the story that shaped the modern world, so it was more than enough to support both films. Audiences could choose which movie to support or might have found the format of "two films, one story" just too enticing to pass up seeing both.

But then something - and I'm not sure exactly what - happened. Instead of creating both films and releasing them separately, the decision was made to condense the two films down to one. Both films had nearly finished production. Two interpretations of Napoleon, one the legend and one the man, now needed to be brought together. Left with tonally dissonant films, the choice was made to just try to make the editing "choppier" and more "modern" (code for "we know flashy cuts and transitions won't save this colossal mistake, but we've got sunk cost fallacy now"). Scenes were lifted wholesale from both films and spliced together seemingly without regard for the final product. It's possible the final dirty work was handed to a trailer house, as evidenced by the trailers release earlier this year that paired action sequences from the film with modern music that not only didn't fit the film's aesthetics, but also didn't fit the scenes used.

Did this happen? No. As stated previously, Napoleon's story is too big to be contained in one film. The only film to pull it off was the 1927 silent film, which runs anywhere from 4 to 9.5 hours long depending on the cut. That's why other films focus on extensive portrayals of discrete battles (Waterloo), specific parts of his life (Eagle in a Cage) or his romantic life (Desiree, though it does show other aspects of Napoleon's life). Some artists have tried to do a broad retelling of his life, but those are always multi-part miniseries.

But go watch the movie yourself and tell me there's not a Josephine movie lurking on a hard drive somewhere in Hollywood. I know it doesn't exist, but also there's no way it doesn't exist, right? Too many scenes fit perfectly into another movie for it not to exist. Napoleon is not a cohesive film, it's a compilation of scenes from two separate movies featuring the same actors.

[clowncalvary]

Reading All of Garfield (Up Until This Point) The 1982 Post

Have you ever had too much of a good thing? Or, rather, have you seen that one scene from Matilda with the chocolate cake? If you haven't seen Matilda I think you should because it still holds up and is a really cute movie. The Chokie does live rent free in my mind though.

Anyway, this is my chocolate cake and I think everyone should join me on it. Go Read At The Garfield Archive. I started at the beginning of May reading Garfield and I will be ending May still reading Garfield.

Return of Garfield's Strange Extended Family. Also, I don't have high hopes for ever seeing Lyman again. He was last seen on 12/25 of last year, but before that he was only seen on 6/24 of last year. :( Wish him well, Lyman Fans.

He had places to be! Soon one of those places is gonna be in doggy court.

Can't believe Jon would come along and just try to limit poor Odie like that.

Grandma was the sweetest of Jon's relatives so far and honestly this is a spot on joke. Love these two, I hope we get to see her again!

To be fair this is how most cats act, they don't really have that off switch when it comes to food. I can relate with most sweets.

Garfield mounted upon a mighty steed with a hunting rifle in one hand and a burger in the other.

Always great to have Garfield shouting out the other cats in the neighborhood! On an unrelated note, I just realized that there is a green dog in the middle of all those cats and that Jon got new curtains.

THE ONLY WORTH COMMERCIAL IN MY EYES

*squints* I think we've seen this exact joke before?

Admittedly it was hard for me to pick a favorite of this entire series because they are all so good, but pure cartoon physics always gets a laugh outta me

I love that this is some fun foreshadowing since I am currently reading this in the year 2024!

Okay, but I think this is the first time I've looked at Nermal and gone "okay, that was cute"

OH SHIT!? LYMAN SPOTTED?! I HONESTLY DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE HIM!! THE KING LIVES STILL IN ANOTHER YEAR!!

It is a sad state of my classic literature knowledge when I had to look up who the heck that was.

There is a good bit after this one where he confronts the stump lurker only to figure out that it is a mouse (Floyd, I'm sure, although he hasn't yet been named by the comic)

I'm hitting my second wind and these are hitting their second funny, so this is a great combination actually!

I don't have any insightful commentary on this comic, it's just funny enough to stand on its own. A real knock-em-dead kind.

Let Garfield Have A Kitten

LYMAN HAS SPOTTED! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! HE IS THERE, BUT DEAR GOD SOMEONE GET THIS MAN A SPEAKING LINE!!

On one hand that is hilarious, but on the other hand if I reached my hand in expecting cookies and got lettuce someone is gettin' mauled.

Garfield just delivered a blow that was worse than death upon Jon. RIP Jon's Spirit and hand bones.

And that's a wrap on this year! I did get more goofs out of this year and finished reading it before my lunch hour! Maybe I could even finish catching up before Garfield's next birthday? 😘

[watmalik]

Oversharing on the internet

Thank you @ambiguouspenny​ for the tag!! <3

1. Are you named after anyone?

Ohhh yes. My first name is literally the female version of my dad and brother’s name… Patricio/Patrick. My middle name is after my Abuela (dad’s side) bc she died a couple of months before I was born.

2. When was the last time you cried?

HA! I’m actually proud of this one *clears throat* ever since the 911 Lone Star finale...for now.

3. Do you have kids?

I’m 22 almost 23, so my only child has four legs and lives in my apt rent free. I’m also undecided about having them in general (bio or adopted)? I have a autoimmune disease that makes it harder for me to have them and I also had surgery when I was 14… lets say I have 1/3 of my left ovary chopped off bc of a random health issue I had as a kid and now I have a faint smiley face on my bikini line :) talk about oversharing.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

*Takes sunglasses off* Babes, I invented sarcasm. It’s the fourth language I’m fluent in… its a culture thing.

5. What sports have you played/do you play?

Fútbol and futsal. Loved them. Stopped when I got into college but I still participated in intramural games in my sorority/club. I also played basketball in middle school for a bit, but ultimately gave it up bc there wasn't really a girl’s team in my school.

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their personality so I don't make them angry on purpose. I’m a notorious people pleaser, and I hate confrontation when it comes to myself, so I need you to like me…. LIKE ME 

7. What's your eye colour?

I have dark, brown cow eyes

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Scary movies bc I cry when movies have happy endings and I don't like tearing up at the movies. Emotions? me? pfttt

9. Any special talents?

I can meow like an actual cat, and put my feet at the back of my head, you know the usual.

10. Where were you born?

El Caribe 😎

11. What are your hobbies?

Singing, drawing, playing the ukulele

12: Do you have any pets?

My 3 year old cat, harry :)

13. How tall are you?

I’m Jennifer Love Hewitt, inches tall.

14. Favourite subject in school?

P.E and Maths. Mind you, I hate Maths with a great passion, but I was in group B (When you reached the 6th grade, they will separate the two form groups of your year group, in my school there was two class groups per year, and they will separate students in A and B group depending on how well you were doing in that specific subject). B group was always the funniest class to be in. I was usually an A group type of student but I always made sure I was in B group for at least a few of my classes and in Maths? It was inevitable. 

Anyways, I sat in the middle of the most chaotic pair of people, this dude (a twin) who had a crush on me at the time and this volleyball player who I once had a fall out with. For context, back home I went to a small British school, pre-k––12th grade, and from the 6th grade until I left on 10th grade, I always sat with them bc I will always LAUGH MY ASS OFF every damn class period. Our teacher was this 24 year old guy from Scotland and he was fine with us being together because we got good grades and did the work. I like looking back at this because, we weren't friends, we didn't hang out or talked after class much, but we always sat together because it brought us joy. 

Oddly enough I will always miss the poorly drawn dicks at the last page of my maths notebook, the stupid jokes, and the dumb noises they will make on purpose 😂

15. Dream job

 To be an immigration lawyer and help other minorities. I just graduated from college, so I’m taking a much needed year off and then law school here I come!

And my “You probs already did this, and def don't do it again if you have, but I’m still tagging you because its 2am” tag goes to: @noxsoulmate​ @itsneonbright​ @tailoredshirt​ @anchor-bird-94​ @taralaurel​ @tylerkennedys​ @catanisspicy​ and anyone else who wants to do this :)

[hello-galad]

10 Characters From 10 Fandoms

How to play: Name 10 Characters from 10 fandoms and tag people

I was tagged by the amazing @br-disaster​ , thank you!!! ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

In no particular order. Most of them I have been obsessed with ever since I was a kid. 

Nie Huaisang (CQL/MDZS) - The only reason it took me so long to do this was because I couldn’t decide between NMJ and NHS. Alas, I relate to NHS the most, he’s also an incredibly intricate character that lives in my head rent free. 

Hatake Kakashi (Naruto) - Contrary to most people, I actually watched this show/read the manga until 2020 and I've been obsessed with this tragic overpowered ninja ever since. I think he is the character I have written/drawn the most about. I relate way too much to him, which is...strange. I am in love with his story and character development through the show. 

Louis de Pointe du Lac (Interview With the Vampire) - I must confess I haven't yet read the book, but I watched the AMC show and I FELL IN LOVE. I have Ana to thank for introducing me to this amazing, complicated mess of a man. 

Thranduil (The hobbit) - When I watched all LOTR movies, I was a kid and my aunt was babysitting and obviously I started obsessing over him and the elves when I read every Tolkien book I could get my hands on. I haven't written much about him but I do have a whole AU-Canon divergence for Oropher, Thranduil and Legolas half written on AO3. My version of Thranduil, Oropher’s line and the Greenwood elves is VERY different from the hobbit movies, though.  

Ned the Pie Maker (Pushing daisies) - Tall, sensible, caring, harmless man who loves to bake and is also an accidental necromancer? YES, PLEASE.  

Yue (Sakura Card-captor) - Imagine you are this super powerful supernatural being whose world gets turned upside down when the person you considered your everything dies. Imagine you get sealed inside the back cover of a book for 100 years and then inside the body of a teenager without being asked for consent and without being able to get out to live a normal life. You are also left without much of your power for a long time, and then you are given a ridiculously short amount of time to get used to everything that is going on around you while your twin and your other brothers and sisters get months to understand and process what happened. AND THEN it turns out that the dude that you loved so much didn’t died, instead reincarnated into some annoying bitch (who is now a different person than he was in his past life so meh) because he had some cosmic realization when he turned like 800 years old because being the most powerful magician in the world makes your common sense disappear, apparently...and then this annoying brat creates a cheap copy of you and your sibling, yikes. Imagine you really want to slap everyone but you dont want to set a bad example to the nice, cute girl who you depend on now, BUT DAMMIT IF YOU COULD YOU WOULD. Yeah. He's That Bitch™ and he deserves it. I support you, Yue. 

Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender) - She is definitively the character I relate to the most, like she was 14 and learned very soon what happens if you get on your father’s bad side. She's a prodigy and what she needed in the end was some psychological help and then the throne, bye. 

Captain James T. Kirk (Star Trek) -  I want to be a Starfleet captain so bad, ISTG. He’s so much, a drama queen, the voice of reason, a disaster waiting to happen, a feminist, queer, The Captain, a nuisance, the smartest person in the room, mister daddy issues, mister “bones get that hypospray off my face”, mister I am in love with this Vulcan, mister I am in love with this doctor, “Dammit Jim!”. Yeah, him.

Crowley (Good Omens) - I read the book when I was in high school, it was the first book I read in one sitting without getting distracted. I loved those two. I love Crowley and the fact that he is always trying to cause havoc through elaborate schemes that inconvenience the human race. Ahaha, he’s the best. (Yes, I loved the TV show).

Dorian (Almost Human) - HE JUST WANTS TO BE SEEN AS SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST A MACHINE. He’s sometimes more human than all the humans he works with. I love Dorian and Kennex, you bet I have read every single fic centered on him or both of them on AO3. I’m forever sad they cancelled that show. 

I tag @pangzi and @dual-domination (only if you want to do it of course. Feel free to ignore this tag if you dont!) 

[nicotinzwei]

February

Hello, February was stressful but okay. The last months I picked a song to listen to parallel to reading but I literally didn’t listent to new songs this month.

Book

Krabat from 1971 is a short novel by Otfried Preußler based on an old sorbian story. It describes 3 years in Krabats life in which he originally wants a summer job at a mill but then accidentally does dark magic. The audio book is only 3 hours long, one for each year, and is on youtube for free. It’s narrated by the author who describes scary or fantastical moments is such a casual manner that sometimes makes me want to scream at him, but also really adds to the mood of the books and Krabats seemingly dead-end situation. After finishing I found out that they built some sort of themed area in the place the story is set. There you can find all sorts of fun attractions for kids like a haunted mill, places of deaths of the characters, a sunken carriage and a graveyard. You can also rent the location for company events or weddings so you already know what I’m gonna do.

Movie

This month I went to my first cult movie screening. I saw a very cleaned up version of Rocky Horror as a play before which was also filled with audience participation but seeing The Room in a small old Viennese theatre with drunk students for its 20th anniversary was just so much better. I love the concept of audience participation and am kind of sad so few movies got the cult status needed for it. For this movie there are a bunch of callbacks pointing out weird details, famous lines you can quote, props like spoons or footballs you can throw or you can just scream at the characters for being so fucking stupid. Some people even came in a suit. I think after like two decades of going to the cinema this was my favorite experience. In an age of Netflix I really think this is how you keep cinema and communal watching alive.

Game and Videos

A double feature category! I started playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons again. I already had like 300 hours in this game and thought I was through with it, but then I started watching the Amanda Files and she got me hooked. The first video of her I saw she visited some horror themed island and described the plot of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 in her valley girl voice and it’s the funniest thing I ever heard. She could talk about literally anything for 2 hours and I would listen to her while playing animal crossing.

Website

I didn’t know what to call the category because it’s not really about the website but more about the concept of buying second hand directly from people. The vintage fashion thing got so big over the last few years that especially in Vienna second hand stores are selling the stuff so overpriced that even if you only do it for environmental reasons you just can’t afford it anymore. But after I got two harmonicas second hand earlier this year I really started looking through willhaben religiously. This month I picked up a table only like 4 minutes away for 20€ and two days later I sold my old one for the same amount. If you live in an area where a lot of people are using it and you have a friend to carry stuff this is such a cool opportunity to basically just swap your stuff for free if you play your cards right. Now every few weeks on my lunch break I go somewhere, pick up a picture for 3€ and get in a little walk. Highly recommend it!

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Kid Millions and Sarah Bernstein

Photo by Caleb Bryant Miller

Kid Millions and Sarah Bernstein both have long CVs in experimental music, Millions as the drummer for Oneida and Man Forever and Bernstein as an avant garde composer and performer with the VEER Quartet, the avant-jazz Sarah Bernstein Quartet, and solo as Exolinger. They’ve been improvising together for roughly a decade, building mesmerizing sonic architectures out of free-form drumming, wild violin pyrotechnics and cryptic spoken word. Of their latest, Live at Forest Park, Margaret Welsh writes, “Bernstein and Colpitts weave sound together into an unsettling fever dream-like warp, growing larger and smaller. All you can do is lay back and surrender to the waves.” Here are some things that inspire the two.

Kid Millions

Billy Harper Quintet — In Europe (Soul Note)

While I admire and enjoy all of the Quintet albums I’ve heard, this particular one captures something ineffable and transcendent. The Quintet’s personnel changes throughout Harper’s career but this particular session has the tunes, the passion, the reaching and the constant surprises that make it my most listened to album in the last ten years. Fred Hersch is especially sympathetic and powerful on this too. I really want to see this group ASAP. Billy Harper is still playing!

Pete La Roca — Basra (Blue Note)

La Roca is a drummer who is unappreciated but his playing and compositions stand out. This album gets the slight nod over the legendary Turkish Women at the Bath because it was recorded well. He’s in the same league as Elvin and also wrote some incredible tunes.

George Adams & Don Pullen Quartet — City Gates (Timeless) (but any record is cool)

I’m leaning on big tenor sounds these days, and George Adams stands in the same universe as Billy Harper because he plays the range of the instrument — there are gorgeous melodies set alongside blistering free blasts. Don Pullen is incredible as well. Near the end of his life he started to write more songs with hooks, but he shreds like Cecil Taylor. I’m digging the stuff that straddles the line between songs and free these days.

Henry Threadgill with Brent Hayes Edwards — Easily Slip Into Another World (memoir)

This is a brand-new book, and I’m finding lots of inspiration and great advice within the pages. His discussion about how young musicians need to find their way within the tradition, among their peers, and on their own terms applies to all traditions, rock included. In order to really engage with the music, you have to play all the time, with other people. You have to play covers, and you have to play in front of audiences. And you need to be fired. I certainly have!

Marcus Gilmore

Such an incredible, deep, drummer. You should go see him ASAP!

Sarah Bernstein

Music/poetry films I like:

When It Rains — Charles Burnett (1995)

Charles Burnett’s work speaks to me as a whole. The films I’ve seen slip into a continuous flow of poetic story/documentary. When It Rains is a 13-minute short film that takes place on a festive New Years Day, but January’s rent needs to be paid. Musicians are among the characters and sound, and it plays like a jazz improvisation. A particular highlight is seeing instrument-maker Juno Lewis on-screen playing his double bell trumpet. The story’s ending will have vinyl collectors smiling.

The Connection — Shirley Clarke (1961)

Before discovering this movie, I knew director Shirley Clarke from her later film "Ornette: Made in America," also a must-see. The Connection is a film version of Jack Gelber’s play for the burgeoning Living Theatre. Most of the actors from the stage play, and all the musicians, are also in the film. The band is swinging: Freddie Redd composer/pianist, Jackie McLean alto sax, Michael Mattos bass, Larry Ritchie drums. The musicians also act in the story, and even the turntable — playing Charlie Parker’s Marmaduke — provides a key recurring motif in the film.

Poetry In Motion — Ron Mann (1982)

Poetry in Motion, By Ron Mann from bob stein on Vimeo.

The other movies on this list are ones I’ve seen relatively recently, but Poetry In Motion I watched in an art-house cinema as a teenager, and it had a big impact on me. The documentary shows 40 poets and performers, including Jayne Cortez, Dianne Di Prima, Helen Adam, William S. Burroughs, Amiri Baraka, Allen Ginsburg, Jim Carroll, John Cage, Robert Creeley, Miguel Algarin, to name a few! Also check out Ron Mann’s first feature film: Imagine The Sound (1981), a superb profile of Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon and Paul Bley.

Desolation Center — Stuart Swezey (2018)

The concert footage is so good. Highlights are Einsturzende Neubauten and Survival Research Labs literally blowing up the desert in Joshua Tree. Also Sonic Youth, Minute Men, Swans, all in DIY festivals and shows taking place in outdoor remote locations in 1980’s SoCal.

Amazing Grace — Alan Elliott/Sydney Pollack (2018)

Aretha Franklin and choir hold a live concert recording session of her gospel album Amazing Grace over two days in 1972. This is not a documentary with talking heads or explanation, rather the action is all in the music and spirit. Aretha Franklin’s genius and deep interaction with the listeners and choir is riveting and inspiring, even more so with repeat viewing.

[kennexara]

9 People You Want to Know Better

Thanks for the tag, @mandaloria314!!

LAST SONG: "No Glory In The West" by Orville Peck 

Tired of begging them just to compete Shoot to win can feel so bittersweet But you take what you can get 'Cause there ain't no glory in the west

Just discovered this yesterday, second line (with third line in parentheses) definitely going in my ‘list of possible titles for spyscrapper fics’ file.

CURRENTLY WATCHING:  Selfie. YES I’m nearly a decade late and YES it’s only 13 episodes but I’m watching it slowly to pace myself. Like, great writing but also John Cho AND Karen Gillan holy SHIT. I don’t watch much DW and wasn’t sold on her there but that must’ve been Moffat’s writing because I ADORE her in the Jumanji movies. . And John Cho? That #StarringJohnCho project from like 2015 still lives in my mind rent-free. Like hey Paramount now your movie cash cow Mission: Impossible is ending and you’re trying to go back to AOS Trek despite most of them being too busy, let me give you a suggestion: Sulu solo movie. make him captain of his own ship or just have him separated on an away mission i do not care just put him on my screen.

CURRENTLY READING: Also a lot of Jedi Survivor fanfic haha. Like I loved the first game already but then the second game was like. here have this absolute unit of an attractive man with a fascinating storyline, dark hair, a real nice voice, AND shoulder holsters and I was lost. something something history repeats itself *flashbacks to 2013 and Karl Urban with the shoulder holsters in Almost Human*

CURRENT OBSESSION: currently Jedi Survivor but it feels like i’m speedrunning obsessions this year. I watched 911 on a whim in March/April and was obsessed. until Jedi Survivor came out. And Mission Impossible 7 comes out next month so who knows what’ll happen then. I watched MI Fallout like. an entire year or two after it came out because no Brandt. But i’m sorta hyped for this one because they’re bringing back freaking Kittridge.

No pressure feel free to ignore tags: @tiltingheartand, @brevityis, @darkwingdukat, @spyscrapper​, @niqoole, @impishtubist, @13wyvern7, can i second tag people from og post? lol DOING IT, again feel free to ignore @paper-crane-castles, @iwishtocountthestars, also anyone who wants to be tagged consider yourself tagged. 

[lmaowh-at]

Actually no I'm not done talking about gesher ragad and it's stage because I was there yesterday again and I got seats on the opposite side of where I was sitting last time. And the way to those seats goes through the stage

Me fangirling at this fact alone aside, I was sitting in the first row. The stage is maybe 5 centimeters above the floor, so when Ros and Guil were standing on the sidelines, giving space for the events in Hamlet play out in front of them without interrupting and being part of the story, they were standing on the same floor my feet were touching. They were on the same level as me. They were watching the play the same way I was watching it. *explodes*

In general this production omits a lot of parts that are taken straight out of Hamlet, removes characters like soldiers, replaces scenes from the main play where there's actually dialogue with shortened versions that have less text and more silent, absurd depictions of them, changes the order of lines and jokes and other scenes, some would say bastardizes the original, but I like it. I really really like it. Maybe I'm biased because it was my first exposure to ragad and I've only skimmed through the original play and didn't like the movie too much (I just don't understand how you can move this play to a different medium since it's so reliant on the fact that its a play) but I legit don't care AT ALL lmao I get to choose how I engage with media and nothing's stopping me. Especially since this production IS good

Some more stuff they did thats worth noticing I think: instead of the pile of corpses coming after Guil's last words, everyone dies on stage after the Player says his "death to all!" Speech. The tragedians do perform everyone's deaths like written in Stoppards play, but they mirror the deaths of the main characters that pile up in the middle of the stage as Ros and Guil are watching. Like when the tragedian that plays Claudius dies- so does actual Claudius that walks to the stage- they mirror each other's moves. Horatio isnt there. After that Ros and Guil say their final words and leave the stage, revealing a pile of corpses and two hanged silhouettes behind the curtains on the two exists from the stage. Then the lights go out, all of the characters are gone and the Player, together with Alfred, walk in, put two signs that say "ROS" and "GUIL", sit down to rest for couple of minutes and walk out. The end

Also, while they start with the usual flipping coin shanenigans, after three or four coins Ros and Guil exit the stage, the music becomes louder and all of the characters walk through the narrow road- Polonius, Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, Hamlet himself- as if they're re-caping the events of Hamlet- showing us the main heroes- just to go back to Ros and Guil, who are now on the 85th heads.

Aaaand Ros and Guil have a fun little tune they whistle to each other and a little dance they do throughout the play and right before they walk out of the stage for the final time. They also do it when all the actors come in for the applaudisments. My heart :'))

Oh also, their Player fucking lives in my head rent free. Doron Tavory you one hell of a guy

That's all. Fuck . Watching it again knowing what's it all about and noticing how the Player is messing with them (im paraphrasing but "damn it, he knows all the exists!" "Well of course I do, I've been here before", or the insaneeee scene they made at the end of the second act when the tragedians are playing the murder of gonzago to Ros and Guil and then Guil says that it can't end abruptly like that and then he reads out the foreshadowing to the third act on the boat. Or, of course, the ending.) And how the narrative warps around them and appreciating more of Rosencrantz's slapstick moments (the actor is shorter than Guil's by like 20 cm) and generally just. Remembering how I felt back then. God what an insane play

[bowtiesnmusicals]

Here is my recap of the Showmance episode.

Reminder for the Snixxxmas live party.

This was the first episode back to filming. The first episode was shot alone and aired in May 2009. They were given a 13 episode order.

This episode was like a welcome back party.

Most of the cast had to move to LA to work on the show.

The tin shed was where they did dance rehearsals for the first two years of glee. It was very hot. It was called the tin shed because it had a tin roof.

Everyone went to fox to ask for an advance on their pay because they were all struggling to stay above water financially.

They basically lived in the tin shed for a month learning the dance routines for this episode.

This episode was about drawing lines. Establishing who hates who and who loves who. Starting with Will and Sue.

Glee club was the island of misfit toys.

Blue slushie stains the worst.

Freak Out was the last time they all recorded in the studio together.

There was an alternate Glee intro. It was animated. It was a chick hatching and jumping around. It was strange.

Jessalyn (Terri) was acting at her best in this episode. It is the most brilliant grounded comedy you will ever see. She balances being diabolically crazy but also totally grounded at the same time. She isn't a caricature. She feels like a real person.

Was Terri based on a real person?

Jennifer Aspen (Kendra) is a comedic genius. Jessalyn and Jennifer together was always funny.

Kevin has an issue with shows or movies where the protagonist is likable and they are with someone terrible. He wonders how they get together. Jessalyn's performance at the end of the episode completely answers that question.

Mr. Shue's first attempt at rapping. Trying to appeal to the kids. It would never have been done today.

Ryan was in the recording studio for this song. He got Amber and Kevin to yell. They were figuring out what people could do.

The pamphlets in Emma's office were always the best.

The scenes between Emma and Rachel were a study in mixing serious material and satire.

The scene of Emma singing in the car lives rent free in Kevin's head.

Shirtless Shue...17 minutes into the episode. We have improved from 5 minutes.

Jenna would like to take an acting class from Jessalyn.

Early Quinn is the best.

First time meeting Jacob Ben Israel. Josh Sussman is the best. Kevin didn't realize he showed up this early.

The scene where Rachel is telling everyone they need to sell sex was one of the last ones shot that day and everyone was losing their minds because Chris kept saying blood. (I think that is what they are saying.)

Cory's faces in this entire episode were the best.

They rehearsed Push It for weeks.

There was a lot of gay fear in this episode.

The reactions between Jayma and Jane during Push It are phenomenal.

There was a lot of time waiting during filming Push it and the cast would sit in a circle and get to know each other.

Jenna's favorite scene of this episode is the picnic scene.

Cory's O face is so good.

Jenna burst into tears when she saw Santana during Say A Little Prayer.

The scene at the end where Terri surprised Will is where you see glimpses of who she might have been. The Terri that Will fell in love with.

Take A Bow was added later. Jenna thinks it wasn't in the original script for the episode.

Jenna and Amber did the background vocals for Take A Bow.

Kevin and Jenna love this episode.

Tartie Takes:

Cringe moment - Gold Digger minus Kevin and Amber

Worst Dance Move: Shue trying to get Finn's leg to dance. Also Jenna's dancing.

Best Song: Say A Little Prayer

Best Line: Anything Terri says

Best Performance by a prop: Emma's pamphlets

Didn't Age Well: Gold Digger

The shit we find on tiktok. Blind item about Chris having a ghostwriter and not writing his first tlos book.

The called Chris to debunk this blind item.

No Chris is not a furry.

Kevin and Jenna saw him write the first book.

Chris said he wished he had a ghostwriter for his first book. He joked about not being able to look at his first book because he was so illiterate.

Kevin feels bad for calling Chris.

Kevin and Jenna are allowed to always bother Chris with stupid things.

The next episode episode is Acafella's. There will be some secondhand embarrassment in this episode.

[untilthestarsturncold]

Obviously Singin’ in the Rain is my favorite film of all time.

My blog name even refers to a line from the film within the film The Dancing Cavalier (iykyk), “Our love will last ‘till the stars turn cold” which has lived rent free in my head for 20+ years.

So, yes, I can quote/sing off-key/mime tap dancing in heels this 1952 masterpiece backwards and forwards.

Annoying? Yes. Impressive? Definitely.

I adore screwball comedies and Tennessee Williams adaptations, like musicals and film noirs, and tolerate any movie made post Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Some other movies I’m obsessed with include…

My Man Godfrey (1936)

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

The Awful Truth (1937)

Harvey (1950)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

The Women (1939)

Kiss Me Kate (1953)

The Lion in Winter (1968)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

His Girl Friday (1940)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

High Society (1956)

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

My Favorite Wife (1940)

Now, Voyager (1942)

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Holiday (1938)

Clearly I’m a sucker for a Hepburn/Grant team up!

FYI, I don’t f*ck with Sylvia Scarlet (1935). It’s probably worth a rewatch for all the queer aspects (supposedly they aged well) but it’s otherwise an incomprehensible mess. Katherine Hepburn had two modes: box-office poison and icon. Nonetheless, she is and will always be my favorite actress.

Acknowledgements for the one person who ever reads this…

I owe my niche film knowledge to the Turner Classic Movie Channel and my Papa. I would not be the film nerd I am without his absolute bonkers movie library or my grandfather’s desire to share his love of good films and childhood favorites. Even for an introvert, he’s pretty laconic so I admire how he finds ways to bond without saying much. I would also like to thank my ADHD for this spiraling blog post. The fact that this started out as an explanation for my handle and ended as a cinephile’s tangent-ridden listicle is only because my Adderall wore off. So now I’m crashing and wishing my Papa lived 3,000 miles closer. Thank god for FaceTime. If you stuck around for the end, call your loved ones!