#anyways ive always always thought take me to war was the most perfect song for traffic smp

[applestruda]

My piece for @cherrifire dtiys

[yostresswritinggirl]

@butterfly-mochi​ Rewrote this freaking thing thrice because it keeps getting deleted wth tumblr agjvahkfajkvk- I enjoyed writing it a lot tho and since I’m too weak to the characters I ended up writing for all of them (except for Sucrose, im sorry bb huhu, I ran out of brain power). This is my first time writing for so many of them in one go so please excuse me for any mistakes or blandness ywy thank you for letting me write for my baby Ganyu too hhhhh

Universe Reversal 2

Genshin Impact Character Reader and Modern Players with Zhongli, Childe & Ganyu (how they simp for you) (event masterlist / Part 1 / Part 3)

Zhongli the F2P

The most relatable out of the bunch because this man is still broke and can only rely on the primogems he can farm. And he had a LOT. The one thing he doesn’t have a lot on, however, is his luck.

So how did he manage to pull you?: Well after exhausting all his primogem on your banner with nothing but weapons and other characters, he has lost his resolve. But by some weird luck, there was a character bug that was fixed and in his email was the almighty consolation primogem. Enough for ONE pull. And by the Gods he FINALLY got you.

He’d nonchalantly post his screenshot of pulling you using a single acquaint fate in his friend group without any words and everyone else just loses their shit. “You got them in one pull?!” “Yeah” A riot.

This was partnered with the fact that not only is Zhongli an F2P player, but also barely has any five star characters.

He looks calm and apathetic over the news, but behind the screen he’s exhausted and relieved, silently livid.

He has no primogems left to squeeze for a constellation so you’re instead pampered with the best weapon suitable for you (because that’s all he keeps getting).

Zhongles spends most of his time farming for materials to quickly level you up, unlocking all your stories and voiceline, but he fucked up on your build (his artifacts are messy).

He follows communities, forums and videos regarding your character to know all the things he needs to perfect your build. You can barely make a dent against normal mobs, so he knew he was doing something VERY wrong.

Is the type of person to keep refreshing the page for new content, very updated.

Ask him a question about your character and he’s gonna bring you the word vomit that is his research. He’s not gonna stop- probably accidentally developed a copypasta for you.

Also follows your VA in both Tiktok and Twitter to indulge in every bit of content. He also has that screenshot of his pull saved and locked.

On his birthday, a friend of his gifted him a chibi plushie of you and he has treasured it ever since, treating and handling it like its a figurine.

“It is merely pure luck and grace from the gacha gods that I got this character, and I will make sure that they know I am very grateful for this fortune.”

Favorite Voiceline: Birthday Message

Childe The Whaler

This lucky wealthy bastard with no remorse for his money whales for EVERY character. He’s making a collection, which is to get all the characters, especially the five stars. So when your banner finally popped up, he’s gonna square up and trigger a whole ass meteor shower.

How he pulled you: Money. His luck with this games are actually not the best so he always compensates with money, he got you halfway through the first failed pity, almost giving him a heart attack that he might actually break the bank just to get you.

And then he pulls more to raise your constellation lol.

The first thing he does is look over your character info and read through it all; constellation infos, your base stats, artifact compatibility.

At the end when he’s maximized everything, he would then focus on playing around with your character *coughs climbing noises coughs*

He thought you’d just be another part of his collection but playing with your character was very enjoyable and in-line with his playstyle- oops 100 screenshots with the Kamera-

Any and all merchandise that he fancies would be his, and he’s definitely flexing it to the other sweetie nerds who call themselves simps. He’s fighting for the simping title, and he’s currently neck and neck with this fanartist in Pixiv.

Speaking of that fanartist, he definitely commissioned an expensive and detailed portrait of you, full rights and everything. No one else was allowed to use it but him.

Was also the first one with the audacity to call out your VA to create an account on Tiktok to create more content with your voice. He was successful.

His obssession also comes in the form of self-indulgent contents, and had been keeping track of the ship wars happening. During conventions, he cosplays as the character shipped with you the most (or the character he thinks should end up with you).

Silently scrutinizing those who cosplay you, only ever taking pictures with/of the best looking one, sorry haha

Definitely flaunts that you are his waifu/husbando and will fight for best girl/best boy during debates or polls. Has mobilized the community to vote for you once. He’s very persuasive.

“Hm? Why I’m just the best collector in the game, and I am more than happy to let everyone know that I am their number one fan haha, everyone who claims otherwise is definitely wrong!”

Favorite Voiceline: More About (Y/N) I-IV, (Y/N)’s Hobbies...

Ganyu the Employed

Ganyu, our dearest overworker, is one of the players in the older stage who actually has a job but still plays Genshin for their past times. The gorgeous sceneries and the music is her main focus in playing the game, not much of a try-hard but still decent in the combat mechanics.

How she pulled you: You came home within 50 pulls! And you appeared again after another 10 pull! Ganyu was so SHOOKT and so distressed because oh goodness, what does she do? She doesn’t know anything much about you!

Will rewatch your three trailers to try and understand your skills better, ended up saving the soundtracks from them because that was such a nice trailer music! Tnbee gains a new follower!

Ganyu will take a while before she can properly play or build you up because she’s so busy with work, she only ever plays when she feels fully done with her work.

During her break she plays with your character while multi-tasking on eating, earphones plugged in and sight on the phone as she farms materials and artifacts for you.

The moment she gets more help from her player friends tho, holy shit, you just ended up being so OP. She had so many good artifacts and weapons for you because she didn’t know what they were for before.

She loves how you’re so easy to use and can easily solo the enemies and even the boss fights. A huge breather, because now Ganyu can cheese the battles that takes a while, to give her more time to focus on the storyline and lores.

Since Ganyu plays for the story and aesthetic, she’ll find you almost always in her team. Still very proud of her pull, she makes the best screenshots of your fights or in the best angle through exploration.

Treasures you so much she starts talking to her phone- “Ah, no, please don’t fall.” “There’s violetgrass up there, let’s try and get it”

Blushes everytime you produce a sound when climbing, doesn’t change you anyways tho

Hums to your trailer music while working, and if permitted, would have the song on repeat while she buries herself in work. She finds it really refreshing and the time she spends in work miraculously flies by fast when she gets lost in the sound.

At one point, when she was given a day-off or if the convention was on her free time, she attends to look for cosplayers of you and take a picture. No one rejects her because she’s so adorable and cute when asking shyly.

Had brought a decent amount of merchandise, preferably the functional/practical ones like a phone cover, mug or keychain. Also has an earphones clamp with your little chibi self as the holder.

When asked, she would shyly announce that she likes your character the most.

“Their character theme and music really soothes me during work, it feels nice to have them, and I have not once regretted ever pulling for them. They are the best.”

Favorite Voicelines: Good Night/Afternoon..., About Us, Something To Share..., Interesting Things...

so enjoyable...

@moaa @zelos-simp @legionqueensav @dandelion-dreams @snackgod @rxsalinee

[hello-yue-here]

About your atla ship songs, I have a couple of questions (sorry if my phrasing comes out wrong, english isn't my first language and I worry it might across as accidentally defensive): how did you end up with the choices for zukka, jetko and yuekka (note: I haven't seen the great comet, so feel free to obsess over it, I'm intrigued now and the hype is appreciated!)? Sidenote: I think the mailee choice is HILARIOUS and the tokka one just make me sad, I didn't expect to be attacked like this😭

kdjfha;s i love you im gonna obsess SO HARD over great comet now. you may regret this

this is gonna be so long so the rest is under the cut whoops

yuekka: no one else from great comet

where do i even begin. WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN

okay so background information on this show: it's based off of a 76 oages excerpt from war and peace and its centered around a woman named natasha (and this guy pierre but he's irrelevant to this song so we wont worry about him) and natasha's bethrothed is off fighting in the war right now. she hasn't seen him in a while but she is in love with him.

every single lyrics of this song SCREAMS yuekka to me. the innocence and purity of their love. the love at first sight. and even the melancholy ending just- i go apeshit for this song. i love this song so much. and denee benton's voice??? kljsdhflwksugf please listen to this song if you haven't already. listen to the whole show. your life will be changed forever.

onto the lyrics (i stg this is ab to be the whole song whoops)

"the moon"

THOSE ARE THE FIRST WORDS ON THE SONG. natasha and andre (her bethrothed) met underneath the moonlight. Sokka and Yue first spoke to eachother at night and always met each other for their most intimate moments under the moonlight. also yue is LITERALLY the moon so like: right of the bat with those two words it's yuekka.

"and i saw your eyes / and i saw your smile / and the world opened wide"

sokka fell in love with yue the moment he saw her in the canal. she literally enchanted this motherfucker. everything about her made his heart go crazy. and 'the world opened wide' to me is from yue's perspective. Yue had never left the north pole and sokka had seen a good chuck of the world at the point. He took her on appa, he told her about his adventures. he saw the world yue wished to see and you know damn well that Sokka would have done anything to give it to her.

"oh the moon /oh the snow in the moonlight / and your childlike eyes and your distant smile / ill never be this happy again / you and i and no one else"

natasha sings fondly about the moon and the snow, seeing as it was where she fell in love with andre. yue and sokka LITERALLY fell in love in the same place: in the snowy nothern water tribe under the light of the moon. childlike eyes: THEYRE CHILDREN!!! distant smile: this is where it gets a little sad. theyre both children with way too many duties during a world that has known nothing but war for the past century. they want to be happy but yeah, theyre smiles are distant and far away because happiness seems out of reach for them most of the time. i'll never be this happy again: the moments yue and sokka shared together were probably the happiest either of them ever were. they were able to ignore the war and the world in the moments they shared together. and with no one else. no one else would be able to give each other this sense of peace and happiness and love.

"joy and life inside our souls / and no body knows just you and me / it's our secret"

Yue and Sokka had to sneak out in secret at night to go and see each other. Yue and Sokka couldn't be together for real because Yue was already engaged, but they were literally in love so she decided to see him anyways in secret. kasdjfhklasjd im losing my mind over them at this point.

"this winer sky / how can anyone sleep / there was never such a night before / i feel like putting my arms around my knees / and squeezing tight as possible / and flying away"

these are my FAVORITE lines in the entire song. yue and sokka had never felt this strongly about anyone before and that's why they are so drawn to each other. they had never experienced love before and they wanted to hold onto it for as long as they could even though they knew they couldnt. Sokka takes yue up on appa and she is wistful and wishes she could live like he does every day: ie flying away. oh my god these two deserved so much better. so much fucking better.

now for the saddes part. the saddest fucking part.

"maybe he'll come today / maybe he came already / and he's sitting in the drawing room / and i simply forgot"

natasha misses andre so intensely at this point. when i first listened to this show and heard this song i was like "wait a min... is andre like... dead?" and im sure i wasnt the only person who assumed that this was why natasha felt so sad by the end of such a beautiful song. (spoiler alert andre is fine)

but this line really exemplifies how sad natasha is, and hints at the fact that andre may never come back. it implies that their relationship is doomed (at least in my opinion) and that's all yuekka. Sokka misses yue intensely when shes gone. Yue accepted her fate almost immediately but sokka was in denial. he thought there had to be another way. but in the end it wasn't meant to be. and sokka will go on, loving yue, wishing for her back, even though it's not possible.

fuck im gonna cry.

zukka: all i've ever known- hadestown

"i was alone so long / i didn't even know that i was lonely / out in the cold so long / i didnt even know that i was cold"

sokka is from the swt so theres where the cold comes in. also in the gaang (initially) it was just him katara and aang. and katara and aang were much closer to each other than sokka was with aang and the two of them were benders so sokka was kind of an outsider with the two of them. He also represses a lot of his emotions and feels the need to do everything himself so i do see a lot of loneliness in sokka. and the fact that so many people in his life have left him (his mom, yue, his dad, suki briefly, etc...) he is known to keep people at an arms length. i see a lot of loneliness in sokka.

zuko's loneliness is a lot more obvious: he has literally been cast out and abandoned by everyone except iroh. and even then he still feels the need to be alone (remember zuko alone? thought so) these boys look after themselves and push others away and revel in their loneliness in order to keep themselves from getting hurt. at least in my opinion on canon and also some fanon because id be a liar if i said fanon didnt influence how i view ALL my ships (not just zukka)

"all ive ever known is how to hold my own / but now I wanna hold you too"

COME ONE MANNNN, they just wanna hold each other. theyre both very big protectors as well and kljhflkasdhg they wanna protect eachother like kljdhfl im gonna lose it rn.

"You take me in your arms / And suddenly there's sunlight all around me / Everything bright and warm / And shining like it never did before / And for a moment I forget / Just how dark and cold it gets"

SUNLIGHT SYMBOLISM. zuko is literally powered by the sun. i don't think i even NEED to elaborate on this one anymore lol. They find comfort in each other away from all of their trauma. when they're together nothing else matters and i personally love that for them. they both deserve love.

"I knew you before we met / And I don't even know you yet / All I know is your someone I have always known"

these two are extremely similar in canon. many parallels. older brothers overshadowed by their prodigy little sisters. longing to make their fathers proud (granted one dad is good and one is fuckin evil), both are pretty bad with emotions. both are seen protecting others before themselves (sokka protecting suki during the serpant's pass, sokka protecting toph on like multiple occassions, zuko protecting katara in the final agni kai), the list goes on. they know who the other is because they see themselves in the other person. they already know each other because they are each other (in a way, not entirely, but the similarities are strong in my opinion)

"I'm gonna hold you forever / The wind will never change on us / Long as we stay with each other / Then it will always be like this"

i just think this line is so cute and sweet (ignoring all the symbolism and foreshadowing that comes with the last line in the musical itself. im gonna pretend this is nothing but happy) and i think these boys deserve happiness so yeah. this song is zukka to me lol.

jetko: thrill of first love- falsettoes

if you've never listened to this song go an do it now. you will know INSTANTLY that it is jetko because of the dynamics alone. marvin and whizzer are pure jetko and i take no crticisms.

marvin and whizzer are both extremely stubborn, and they don't always get along, and they fight a lot, and they get mad at each other a lot, and they are both passionate as hell, and they will bring this passion into everything. they love each other that is without a doubt, but they arent perfect and they are once again stubborn and determined as fuck.

sound familiar? it's literally jetko.

the lyrics aren't what remind me of jetko, but the dynamic itself. the lyrics are too on the nose for a gay couple in 1970's america so that rlly cant apply to jetko all that much. but the way these two characters bounce off of each other and get annoyed with each other and argue with eachother reminds me of jetko. because let's be honest: these two are the most stubborn characters in the whole show. they will fight for what they believe and it will take literally everything to change their minds.

i love jetko but i think they would have petty arguments all the time and get aggravated by one another so easily. and this is even seen in canon: they work so fucking well together but they did not even HESITATE to fight one another after neither of them would give in and let the fight about whether jet was right or wrong about zuko being a firebender. like i cannot say it enough they are stubborn as fuck.

but underneath all that stubborn pettiness and bickering: marvin and whizzer still love each other. and jet and zuko would still love each other. because even though they are stubborn when it comes to arguments, they are even more stubborn and determined when it comes to each other. these two passionate motherfuckers are in love.

(now when i chose this song i decided to ignore the fact that this song literally spells out the fact that marvin and whizzer's relatinoship is doomed because they literally say passion dies. thats the difference between jetko and whizzer and marvin because i dont think passion dies. i chose this song strictly for the bickering lmao)

and i know you didnt ask about tokka but,,,,

i rlly wanna talk about the tokka one

so im going to

tokka: on my own- les mis

look. i KNOW this song is about unrequited love and i love tokka as a couple but,,, the unrequited love in this song just SCREAMS unrequited tokka to me so thats what i went with.

eponine is a girl who has neglectful parents who lives life by her own rules: toph. eponine is shown to be tough and confident and spunky to others but behind all of that she has emotions, she feels love, she hides her vulnerability so much: toph. she is in love with a guy she cant be with because he loves someone else: TOPH

eponine is toph to a t and toph is eponine to a t. this is not up for debate lmao

"without him i feel his arms around me"

toph is always seen grabbing onto someone (and its almost ALWAYS sokka) when she's somewhere where she can't use her feet to see. FEEL and ARMS cmon. look at it.

"and i know / i know that he is blind"

COME ON. IMAGINE TOPH SINGING THIS LINE. this line is already powerful enough in les mis but having toph, a blind character, sing it just makes the symbolism even deeper. toph sees the potential relationship they could have together. toph sees that sokka is oblivious to this. toph is not blind to the truth or the potention, but sokka is blind to her feelings. im about to lose my mind over this line.

"I love him / But every day I'm learning / All my life / I've only been pretending / Without me / His world will go on turning / A world that's full of happiness / That I have never known"

i need to sit down for a moment. toph grew up in a household where her parents did not understand her. she has learned to hide her true emotions and vulnerabilities from everyone. and its the fact that toph knows that she and sokka will never be together and the fact that she still loves him in spite of that is what makes this even more heartbreaking.

"but only on my own"

TOPH AND EPONINE SWEETIES I LOVE YOU

thank you for indulging my theatre kid nonsense. you are very sweet and kind and lovely and awesome and i hope you have a lovely day bestie :) <3

ask me why i think these songs go with these ships

[mcmactictac]

Always Gold by Radical Face is a c! crime boys song please let me elaborate.

First of all, Welcome home son by radical face is a c! Tommy and c! Techno song. So as an sbi enthusiast I think it’s fun to give them songs by the same artist who have very similar vibes. Radical face has a wonderful job of calmly showing intense emotion. When you listen to the words in a lot of their songs it’s very emotional, but you can also tune out and just listen to the music. I’m working my way through their discography but they just radiate fanon sbi vibes. Same energy as a piece of fanart I saw a long time ago with Tommy sleeping on Wilburs lap as techno leans against them. Just that calm and relaxed sense of love and belonging.

Anyways analysis time woo let’s crank out some lyrics. Honestly the lyrics are so perfect throughout I’m basically going to include most of the song oops.

“We were tight knit boys, Brothers in more than name. You would kill for me And knew that I'd do the same”

Already off to a good start. I mean the tight knit part is obvious, like they’re both incredibly close with each other, especially at the beginning. Brothers in more than name?? Canonically Wilbur and Tommy aren’t siblings but they still SHARE that brotherly bond they still think of each other of family after everything. “You would kill for me and knew that I’d do the same” at the start? When they’re protecting their country together?? Yeah because they’re FAMILY they care about each other so much.

“And it cut me sharp, Hearing you'd gone away. But everything goes away, Yeah everything goes away”

Do I need to explain this one. I’m taking gone away as a reference to death here, like he’s up and left Tommy, and suddenly he’s just. Gone. Also the everything goes away is a great way to show the beginning of c! Tommys trauma, how he always feels like good things are going to be taken away from him. No matter what he has, his friends, his country, his discs, it’s all going to be gone eventually. Good things never seem to last for him.

“But I'm going to be here until I'm nothing but bones in the ground. And I was there, when you grew restless”

Wilbur talking about lmanberg as “here”. He knows he’s never going to leave it, the country he built. He lived there and that’s where he’ll die. The captain always goes down with his ship. The restless line reminds me of pogtopia, like Tommy watching as Wilbur started to lose it, started to grow more and more unstable. He was there for everything, the good and the bad even as he watched his brother descend into this downwards spiral and not being able to help him.

“Left in the dead of night. And I was there, when three months later. You were standing in the door all beat and tired and I stepped aside”

Now there’s two ways we could take this one. We could take a brief tour to sbi land and make this about Tommys exile, like he left exile at night after dream blew it all up, and he ended up at technos. And when Techno finally found him there it’s still that same kid he knew before who is just tired and needing someone, and so he lets him in. OR we could make this in reference to Wilburs revival. The three months later would be a reference to the time passed before Wilbur was revived. Now I could make this soft or I could make this angsty so I provide multiple options. 1. Tommy steps aside so Wilbur can see the sunrise, see the works that he’s missed and truly enjoy it again (not canon but shh) 2. I stepped aside but it’s Tommy moving away from Wilbur. Going no, you hurt me and I’m sorry that you’re suffering but I can’t be here for you anymore. 3. Or we got that nice metaphorical door of Tommys life and tommy seeing the brother he lost and choosing to let him “inside”, back into his life despite everything.

“We were opposites at birth I was steady as a hammer, No one worried cause they knew just where I'd be. And they said you were the crooked kind, And that you'd never have no worth But you were always gold to me”

Tommy is steady! Tommy wants the same things, he wants to protect his country, his friends and his discs. Everyone always knew what Tommy wanted and he was very open about what he cared about so everyone knew what was going on with him. Referring to Wilbur as the crooked one, the one who causes problems by creating a drug van, starting a war, blowing up his country. He had no worth because he thought so little of himself that he had to replace his personality with his actions. But tommy still sees him for who he is and up to Pogtopia that’s his big brother. That’s the man he would follow anywhere and trusts his whole world with. Wilbur was always special to tommy, even when he wasn’t to others.

“And back when we were kids, We swore we knew the future. And our words would take us half way 'round the world. But I never left this town and you never saw New York”

My main focus here is on the “but I never left this town” Wilbur always stayed in L’manberg, till the very end. He could never go anywhere else, and he didn’t. This also relates back to another song on my crimeboys list, two birds by Regina Spektor. Wilbur is never going to let go of L’manberg. It’s a part of who he is and he’s never going to be able to “leave” it. The you never saw New York line could be tommy because who knows Tommys plans before l’manberg. Then he got so wrapped up in this country he built that it became his everything, and he never got a chance to do anything else because of the effect it had on him. (I know this is stretching canon bear with me I like angst)

“And we ain't ever cross the sea. But I am fine with where I am now, This home is home, and all that I need. But for you, this place is shame. But you can blame me when there's no one left to blame. Oh I don't mind”

So many thoughts I don’t even know if I can make this coherent. For you this place is shame for Wilbur ESPECIALLY. It’s a reminder of the explosion he created, the hurt he caused the people who’s lives he ruined. He wants it to stand for all it was before, but he has to think about how it’s a source of hurt for so many people and how he sees that as his fault. I don’t think I can form coherent thoughts on the rest of this, enjoy

“All my life i’ve never known where you've been. There were holes in you, The kind that I could not mend. And I heard you say Right when you left that day, Does everything go away? Yeah, everything goes away. But I'm going to be here till forever, So just call when you're around.”

Final paragraph folks!! Ive never known where you’ve been! Tommy can never get a read on Wilbur and his emotions because he internalizes and hides them! He’s never going to be able to know and understand because Wilbur won’t let him! Holes in you the kind that I could not mend? YES. Wilbur is mentally ill and tommy cannot fix that, and he shouldn’t have to be the one responsible for helping Wilbur. Right when you left that day, the 16th, the day he left for the last time. Another reminder to tommy that everything leaves, nothing is guaranteed. L’manberg is gone and so is Wilbur. If we look at this pre revival, I’m gonna be here til forever could be Wilbur at L’manberg. He died there, and that’s where he’s always going to stay. He might be gone, and L’manberg might be gone but they’ll still always be there in spirit (get it spirit. Ghost. Ghostbur building L’manberg? Anyways...)

Mhm that was longer than I meant it to be I am working on multiple more dsmp playlists and I will share once I’m done and maybe do some more of these cause I find them fun. I also did not edit this at all so sorry if this is incoherent

[mnemosyne-musing]

mine eye and heart are at a mortal war (river/ten)

Care for some Christmas shopping? X

 The Doctor stared at the message in front of him. Five words followed by a set of coordinates. A smile started to curl his lips involuntarily.

 “Well,” he said to himself, his feet already carrying him back towards the console, “I suppose a bit of Christmas shopping wouldn’t hurt.”

 Pulling down the levers as the TARDIS dematerialised and hurtled through the vortex, he allowed himself a brief glance in the mirror. Just to check his tie. And his hair. Because it wouldn’t do to look too scruffy for festive shopping. That was all.

Pushing those thoughts aside as the TARDIS landed, he idly wondered what else River would have in store for him. She didn’t quite seem like the type of person to just summon him for a spot of festive shopping. No, there must be something else happening he decided as he strode over to the door. Funny how that thought was not nearly as terrifying as it had been only so very recently.

 He pulled open the door and stepped out, looking around him. He’d landed in a snow-covered alley in what looked like a corner of an enormous open-air Christmas market. Stepping outside and shutting the door, he took a few steps, glancing around him more closely.

 He spotted her almost immediately. The first stall was a bar serving various festive concoctions by the looks of things. She was perched on a barstool at the end, sipping from a cocktail glass and flicking idly through her diary.

 Shoving his hands in his pockets, he suppressed the grin that had spread automatically over his face and sauntered forward.

 “Rivah!” he called out as he approached.

 She turned at that and he hesitated for a moment as he was sure he caught just the tiniest flash of disappointment across her face before it vanished and was replaced by a smile.

 “Doctor,” she replied, “Fancy seeing you here!”

  He shook himself mentally as he approached her. Surely, he had just imagined that. She’d always been pleased to see this version of him before. Well, apart from that first time but… No, he didn’t think about that. Not now.

 He paused a few feet away as she stood up gracefully from the barstool. She was wearing a dark blue trench coat, cinched tight across her waist with the collar turned up against the chill in the air. As she stashed her diary away in a pocket, his gaze took in the blood red high heels she was wearing. Not quite the footwear he’d expected for Christmas shopping but if anyone could browse in sky-high heels, he suspected the woman in front of him was it.

 As if sensing his train of thought, River gave a nonchalant shrug. “I’ve just come from a party,” she said by way of explanation, “Shall we?” she added, nodding to the market.

 Looking around him in more detail as they started to wander among the stalls, the Doctor took a deep sniff of the crisp air.

 “Is this…” he mumbled, before sticking his tongue out, “Is this Arctos IV?”

 “Yes, it is,” River nodded, “Biggest Christmas market this side of the galaxy. Best spot for some last-minute shopping!”

 He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. “It’s also home to the largest collection of precious jewellery in this side of the galaxy.”

 “Is it?” River asked, her face a picture of innocence.

 He paused in his stride and grasped her elbow, pulling her around to face him slightly. “River, is that why you’re here?” he asked her as she rolled her eyes at him, “These jewels are not something to be trifled with.”

 “Doctor dear,” she replied with another roll of her eyes, “I am not here to drag you into a jewel heist. Now, come along. I want to look at the tree decorations.”

 However, it appeared that someone else was on a jewel heist at that particular time. That and together with a subsequent stand-off and misunderstanding between the local constabulary and three hours later, the Doctor found himself in a small holding cell with River Song in the local jail.

 Pacing the small cell, he tugged at his collar. Unlike most jails, this one seemed particularly warm. Not that River seemed terribly affected, still bundled up in her trench coat and looking rather nonchalant despite their predicament.

 “Are you sure you didn’t have anything to do with this?” he asked her again as he futilely rattled the door which remained firmly bolted. River simply arched an eyebrow at him in response and he felt a faint thrill of irritation run through him at the gesture. Ever since he had arrived, he had struggled to shake off the slight niggly feeling at the back of his mind that he wasn’t quite the version of himself that River had had in mind when she sent the note.

 He raked his gaze over her as she leaned against the dirty prison wall, casually inspecting her nails. Well, he thought indignantly, he didn’t have to put up with this attitude. He had plenty of other things he could be doing.

 “Why did you really summon me here anyway?” he demanded, watching her closely as she flicked her gaze up towards him, “You haven’t done any Christmas shopping.”

 River looked up at him for a long moment, her head tilted slightly to one side before she finally answered. “I wanted to give you your Christmas present.”

 He perked up at that. “A present?”

 She reached into her pocket and retrieved something before chucking it to him.

 “A snow-globe?” he said, slightly nonplussed as he looked at the fairly ordinary, small orb in his hands, “Well, that’s…umm, that’s lovely.”

 “You’re welcome, sweetie,” River murmured with a faint smirk playing around her lips.

 There was something about her tone that made him pause and look at her again, his gaze dropping to her midriff as she subconsciously smoothed a hand over the fabric of her coat. Stalking towards her, he crowded her space as she looked up at him in surprise.

 “Don’t lie to me River,” he warned, his voice dropping lower as he leaned in further, “What’s really going on?”

 “Nothing, I…”

 “I don’t believe you,” he cut in as she blinked up at him, a look of irritation passing ever so briefly over her features before vanishing, “This is something to do with those jewels going missing isn’t it?”

 “No, Doctor! Now, I admit, that the timing doesn’t look great, but…”

 “You’ve stashed it under that coat, haven’t you?” he interrupted triumphantly, leaning further into her personal space, “That’s why you won’t take it off!”

 She rolled her eyes at him, this time doing little to disguise the look of annoyance on her face.

 “No!” she insisted, “I have not.”

 “Prove it!” the Doctor retorted smugly, leaning one palm on the wall next to her head. A feeling of satisfaction rose inside him as she glared outright back at him. He wasn’t quite sure who River Song was, although he had more than a sneaking suspicion, but she clearly didn’t know him quite as well as she claimed if she thought she could pull a fast one on him like this. “Take it off!”

 “No!”

 “Why not?”

 “I don’t want to!”

 “Funny that,” he glared back at her now, “You know, I don’t appreciate this, River. I don’t know what I do in the future that makes you think you can just click you fingers and I’ll appear to do your bidding but let me tell you…”

 “Fine!” she snapped suddenly, cutting off his rant just as he was building up a head of steam, “But on your own head be it and don’t you dare tell me off for this when you’re older!”

 “When I’m older?” he frowned at her in confusion as her hand moved to the belt on her coat, “Why would I tell you off when I’m…” he trailed off as she untied the belt and let her coat hang open, “Oh!”

 He felt his mouth go dry immediately as his gaze dropped. Instead of a fancy cocktail dress that he’d been expecting, she was instead dressed only in a matching ruby red, lacy bra and knickers, both adorned with a tiny bow in the shape of a sprig of holly. He swallowed heavily as his eyes traced greedily over the curves of her body and down to the high heels on her feet, his trousers starting to tighten uncomfortably. Good gods, but she was perfect. Not even his imagination on lonely nights had managed to conjure up this vision accurately.

 “Merry Christmas, sweetie,” River murmured huskily, a small grin playing around the edges of her lips as he finally dragged his gaze up to meet hers and she pulled her coat back around her, “Sorry for the spoilers. Now that we’ve cleared that up though,” she added, holding up her wrist and pulling the sleeve back to reveal a vortex manipulator, “How about we get out of here?”

 (Ten minutes or 250 years later)

 River let out a sigh as the lift door pinged to the penthouse suite. She had dropped the Doctor off at the TARDIS and had gently refused his stammering, blushing offer of a lift before telling him she had reserved the penthouse in the swankiest hotel and fully intended to make use of the jacuzzi en-suite and room service before sending him on his way.

 She knew she had been a bit reckless to do what she’d done but she couldn’t quite bring herself to fully regret it. The look on his face as he’d realised what was really under her coat was worth it alone. She was dealing with younger and younger versions of him these days and really, who could blame a girl for trying to have a little fun when she could. It certainly made the long, lonely, frustrating nights a bit more bearable.

 As she entered the suite, the hair on the back of her neck prickled. There was someone else here. Her hand automatically went to the blaster in her pocket.

 “Hi honey,” a familiar voice called out from behind her, “I’m ho- ho- home!”

 A feeling of relief and joy washed over her. Turning round slowly, River took in the sight of her husband, lounging on the sofa, a Santa hat perched jauntily on his head. “And what time do you call this?” she asked archly, biting her lip to repress the urge to beam at him.

 He leapt up from the sofa and shrugged, smirking at her. “Better late than never?” he offered with a grin as he closed the distance between them, “Now,” he said as he stopped just in front of her, “Do I finally get my Christmas present?”

 River looked up at him as he gazed at her, his eyes darkening as they flitted down her body and back up again, “Well,” she murmured, reaching out and sliding her hands slowly up his chest and looping them around his neck, “That depends.”

 The Doctor arched an eyebrow at her, his hands dropping to toy with the belt of her coat. “Depends on what?”

 “Have you been a good boy this year or not?” she whispered huskily as she leant into him.

 “Oh,” he replied with a grin as his hands worked the belt loose and her coat fell open, “I’ve been very good!”

 “Well then Doctor,” she murmured as his hands snaked around her waist and pulled her against him, “Merry Christmas!”

 ---

[robinisaghost]

animatic ideas :0 (ramble away, i would love to hear them!!)

mk thank you for enabling me, i will now be yelling

anyway

this is gonna be so obnoxiously long i am so sorry

can you add read more's on asks? eeeekkkk because this got so damn long lmao

mild dsmp spoilers obviously

this is the playlist, by the way

-im sorry boris (wilbur soot)

i think it would work really well with mmm slightly post lmanburg niki. andby slightly i mean. well when she leaves (that is the whole thing of the song gdfjkhgsdf) also side note at like 1 minute 11 on that song theres a discord notification really subtly in the background and it makes me paranoid every time i hear it. anyway god its such a nice song. even for just like. the end of lmanburg. not necesarily paired with a character, just the sense of leaving a place that was so highly populated before it got blown up twice and was like. the main part of the smp. yeah. anyway also the lines "they'll knock down the pubs before helping you...they'll let you jump under trains before helping you" yeah those four lines have big niki vibes but also i think the song could work well with exile tommy or actually even with the finale when tubbo is about to sacrifice himself? mmmmm yeah

-this is home (cavetown)

mmmm got exile tommy vibes innit. a lot of these have exile tommy vibes tbf i just like sad songs and also exile tommy. plus the song has a lot of like. the message is sort of like. changing yourself to appeal to others? like with "ill cut my hair to make you stare" but also the repeated thing of "ill figure out a way to get us out of here" which is clearly the main character of the song trying to help everyone when they are clearly not in a good way themself. yeah thats got big tommy vibes in general tbh but more like. pre finale tommy. i think he got a bit more independant after that.

-soldier poet king (the oh hellos)

ok this is self explanatory and has been done to death already but d a m n its kinda funky. anyway i had thoughts and actually started this but then lost motivation and deleted it all lmaooo. the only proof of its existance is a shitty storyboard in my draw which will hopefully never see the light of day again (unless anyone wants to see it :eyes:) anyway i had the thought of like. sbi? so soldier techno poet wilbur and king tommy. but tbf tommy and techno are kinda interchangeable with that, cos while techno is obviously the better fighter, tommy is used a lot, especially in lmanberg era and also i think he probably will be now that wilburs back

-pyjama pants (cavetown)

ok so i honestly dont remember why this is on the playlist but tbf this could go well with a bunch of characters. thinking like. phil and wilbur? or wil and tommy, or tubbo and ranboo are two that like. i know for a fact that i did not put the song on the playlist specifically for them but god thinking about it now it works so well with them

-boys will be bugs (cavetown)

OH BOY THERES A LOT OF CAVETOWN ON HERE HUH (i feel like that probably says something about me but shhhhhh we dont need to talk about that) ANYWAY

I think this could probably work really well with tommy? because of the whole like. trying really hard to come across as not caring about others, but really being like. very vunerable. but at the same time it could go really well with wilbur for the same reasons. also the song fucks ok cant deny it. to be fair i think it works better with tommy, because he's younger and also he really likes bugs (unless i am mistaken) which is just a cool coincidence but still)

-brother (kodaline)

FUCKKKKKKKKKKK THIS WORKS SO WELL WITH SO MANY CHARACTERS AND IS ALSO ***SO ANGSTY*** WHAT

anyway

i added it because of tommy and tubbo because holy shit, but also it could work very very well with wilbur and tommy, techno and wilbur, probably techno and tommy, and oh my god i just thought of this but this would work so well with phil and techno!!!! but yeah i originally thought tommy and tubbo because i thought it was a funny coincidence with exile tommy waking up underwater, and theres a line that says "if you were drowned at sea, id give you my lungs so you could breathe" and like. just thinking about the compasses especially. me gusta.

-feel better (penelope scott)

fundy. that is all.

no ok this works well with fundy but also probably karl sapnap and quackity, and also very much wilbur, like it works well with both. just mainly fundy idk why its got big fundy vibes tho. very poggers.

-as the world caves in (matt maltese)

ok but like this goes very very well with the explosions of lamberg. either of them. i think probably the first one is better, but i think it goes well with both. probably the first one, because it was way more emotional i think? cos it was the first time that their homes had been destroyed and everything, but also because it was so personal, because wilbur was the one who did it. i think that also it would work well if it was set during the explosion but also focussed on different facets? so like. one bit about wilburs perspective, one bit about tommys, one about phils, one about fundys maybe? idk just a bunch of lmaburg citizens' povs for this. its good. as the world caves in is a song that can be so gender tbh.

-do you hear the people sing? (les mis)

obvious obvious obvious...... but like..... also tbh it goes well with a bunch of things. like, mmmmm wilbur in pogtopia. the butcher army. lmaburg independance war (obviously ghdskj) but yeah. also this song just goes so hard like b r u h

-wolf in sheeps clothing (set it off, william beckett)

SO MANY OF THESE ARE LIKE. PRETTY OBVIOUS IF YOUVE HEARD THE SONG

but yeah. it would go so well with like. well any betrayal basically. so eret, from tommys pov maybe, or about wilbur from nikis pov, or wilbur from anyone pov tbf, or quackity from charlie/purpled/foolish/sams pov, or sam from tommys pov, really it works well with so many people which says a lot about the characters tbh but shhhhhhhhhhhh

-need you here (idkhow)

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD

mk mk mk mk FUNDY AND WILBUR THO

like b r u h that works so well with them

also i started this one as well but didnt like it, theres a story board in my draw as well for it because like. oh my god its such a good idea i just am shit at animating and don't have a decent enough program :')

also also

the line "daddy has to go, and that makes me sad, but daddy will always come back, he promised" fuckkkkkk that works so well with like. say for example, idk, when they're celebrating schlatts death and wilbur leaves to press the button? the sheer fucking angst of that is enough to kill any one person istg that is in fact the entire reason why i started the animatic in the first place. just that line. also all the lines sung by the child voice. fuckin angsty as hell. also ust generally a banging song, as is every idkhow song

-green (cavetown)

another cavetown song huh. ok sure.

mk so wilbur and sally and fundy. like. for a start, the imagry of a fish at the start? boom sally.

anyway the lines "you looked so good in green, i hope you're well, and you look so good with him, (schlatt ig?) and I'm proud of you still (wilburrrr and fundyyyy) i miss your perfect teeth, i was too blunt, i hope you feel happy, that's all I want"

FUCKKKK

the whole song is about missing someone you used to love and only hoping the best for them!!!! and wishing that they are happy and safe!!!!!!!!!!! and hoping they still think about you!!!!! but even if they dont its fine because all you want is for them to be happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

-achilles come down (gang of youths)

OK I THOUGHT IT COULDNT GET ANGSTIER

so like. tw suicide but thats what the entire song is about and bing bang boom i just think it works so so so so so so so well with not only exile tommy (who obviously did try to kill himself) but also wilbur in a slightly more metaphorical way? so like. his self destructive habits leading him to a point where he had no choice other than to kill himself and to take his country down with him. and its all about other characters trying to help them and persuade them not to but also near the end there is a second voice trying to persuade them to go along with it, which im thinking like. if its wilbur, either dream or maybe just himself. his own brain persuading him to continue down the path that would inevitably lead to his and his countries destruction. also it works well with schlatt for the same reasons, except he doesnt want to die. maybe (since the song is so goddamn long) like. one verse for tommy one for wilbur and one for schlatt? dead gang poggg but also like. the verses cover fairly different things which work with one character but not so much the others, for example the first verse would be tommy because its mainly about persuading the person to not kill themself (which tommy did himself but shhh) the second for schlatt because its literally about drinking and smoking away your problems, and the third for wilbur since its more of a fight between the "good" and the "bad" sides, which is obviously what wilbur was experiencing. also obviously i have a soft spot for this song because its string instruments and french, basically my favourite combination ever (also i like his voice idfk lmao)

ANYWAY THATS ALL THE SONGS ON THERE SO FAR

i literally thought of another song while i was in the shower today but i dont remember which it was but a n y w a y the playlist will most definitely be getting longer, especially since there are so many more songs that are good for this but i just havent added them yet lmao. anyway ive been writing this for like an hour gsdfjhgdhfsg but still oh my god this was fun to write

[padme-amitabha]

Is there any part in the movies u don’t like (dialogue, plot, character) n if how would u change them

You really put me on the spot there, anon. I think 1-6 are masterpieces and it’s all carefully planned and well thought out. It’s perfect the way it is but nevertheless if I was part of the planning, I might have changed a thing or two. While these are by no means what I think should have been done, it’s more like suggestions on my part. These are relatively minor changes and I understand some of these weren’t even feasible.

o   Casting in TPM – Concepts always look better on paper and in real life you have limitations. In TPM, Natalie Portman was about 17 I think so she did come across as older than 14. But George wanted that regal presence so that’s understandable too. I think it would have been perfect if she was cast when she was 14 or 15. Don’t get me wrong I adore little Jake and will always defend him but I think (from the script/novelization) while Anakin was a sweet/kind hearted little boy he also had a more serious and mature presence. Padme remarks in the novel how his serious demeanor makes him look older than he is. While I like both interpretations, that compliments his older self and I like to think slavery did have an impact on him in some way and it showed. I think though Jake was 8/9 years old he looked a little too young to play Anakin even though he did his best. Of course, it doesn’t bother me but I did like the Anakin from the script/novelization a little bit more.

o   Special Editions – Even though I love the prequels and they are my favorite films, I’m not a big fan of the special editions. It’s mostly due to the darker color palettes which makes the scenes reddish. The bright colors and visuals of the theatrical versions were truly stunning. I’m glad they added a new soundtrack and also the different planets in the end but I didn’t think Hayden’s force ghost was appropriate or fit in the ending as I explained here. And the thing that bothers me the most: Jedi Rocks. I’m sorry but that new song with CGI creatures scare me. I die from second-hand embarrassment every time those scenes come up.

o   Adding back deleted scenes – I do understand why George had to cut off some scenes but we are taking about preference here and I like to think they happened anyway. It would’ve been great if they weren’t cut due to limited time.

o   Leia – Of course we know George was making it all up as he made the films but I would have liked to see a bit more interaction between Leia and her biological father. Also, her using the force and I would have liked it if Vader found out that he had a daughter from Luke in Empire Strikes back. Perhaps, Leia training with Yoda too and dueling her father at a different time. Leia reluctantly following Luke to meet Vader and maybe even being there with Anakin when he died. The contrast in Luke and Leia’s reactions would be have been interesting.

o   Timeline – I thought everyone changed very significantly between episodes V and VI so I wish each of the movies had a significant time jump. I mean Mark Hamill was in his thirties in ROTJ so I wouldn’t mind if it was actual age. Imagine Leia and Han getting married by then and Anakin finding out he had grandchildren too. Same with episodes II and III, the clone wars could have gone on for 10 years like the Trojan war which would explain why Anakin was so eager for the war to end. Maturing the characters would also make a smoother transition into the original trilogy. All of the movies being set ten years apart (except III and IV) would have been ideal for me.

o   Padme’s outfits – Now this is not a criticism and Trisha Biggar and the team did an excellent job in creating the outfits but there were a lot of unused concept arts where Padme had white outfits. I think the scenes where she has the Leia buns, instead of the purple shawl dress it would be great if she wore more white clothes as a throwback to Princess Leia’s iconic white dress. The Mustafar outfit was great and practical too but since ROTS relies heavily on light and dark visuals, it would be great if she wore white in the mustafar scene during the confrontation. Since Anakin wore black during the course of the entire film and they were in a hellish planet, the “angel” symbolism if she wore white would work well in my opinion.

In any case, the movies are perfect the way they are and though people criticize the dialogues I think they all have double meanings so I wouldn’t change anything else.

[comradeocean]

I haven't read Arya x Gendry in like ... 6 years. I caught up a bit this week. Here are some I really like! 

[30 some fic recs after the jump]

post 8x01 Arya keeps looking for reasons to visit Gendry in the forge. - mmh post episode askbox fic

Somewhere to Begin, MissAtomicBomb (mrs_nerimon) The Stark sisters share a moment in the wake of some impactful reunions. - lmao my most frequently used GoT tag was "westeROS" (remember Ros???) followed by "Stark famly dynamics." So Stark sisters hashing things out... my kryptonite

Beautiful & Deadly Sharp, vlaurie17 Learning to fight with a sword were some of Arya's best memories. Sansa, however, was hesitant. “What do I do with it?” “Stick ‘em with the pointy end,” Arya smirked. Sansa just rolled her eyes, “Obviously." - also Stark sisters revisiting being Vengeance-made-girls together and practising to knife someone

I'll sing for you, Ravenclawpride06 Set post 8x1. Gendry wants it bad. Arya wants it worse. Was going to more explicit but I left it vague, felt it fit better in the end. All the pining! - I’m soft for the pining

This is my wish, crazychipmink "As he studied the drawing she had given him, he slowly began to let himself believe that she was real and alive and well. He had thought about Arya so many times that the memory of her was worn in his mind. Fragile and faded, like a piece of parchment that had been read too many times. To tell the truth, sometimes, he couldn’t even remember what she looked like, only that she was the only thing he ever wanted, ever wished for.” - season 8 episode companion fic series - ao3 tag: weapons design processes are long and require many iterations - “Davos assumed he was waiting to play his part in the great war to come, but in reality, Gendry was waiting for the next remarkable thing to happen to him. Perhaps if enough remarkable things happened to him, he would finally let himself believe that the most remarkable thing that had ever happened to him had happened.” wow ok

Who are you waiting for? crazychipmink [incomplete] "She had Arya’s face and Arya’s voice and even Arya’s smile. But despite all that, he felt like he had just spoken to a ghost. An unnatural ghost of Arya, pretending to be the girl he was in love with. Gendry had traveled to the end of the world to find her, but now that he finally had, she was gone." - the angst universe evil twin version of the fic above - we will take it bc we love to suffer - and also bc the author promises "fluff" and "eventual romance" ok sounds real but ok

the thing with feathers, yanak324 If anyone is capable of bringing the old Arya back, it’s this man in front of her, which is precisely why she must walk away. - a more (immediately) optimistic read of how Arya's in episode enactments of being No One might have gone

and in the end, jeeno2 [incomplete] Five times Gendry Waters is an idiot and the one time he figures things out. - Gendry being dumb is kind of a thing and I'm not always the biggest fan of how it plays out in fanon but this is sweet!

 The She-Wolves of Winterfell, vixleonard The pack survived. So has the Stark habit of keeping secrets. - 2nd generation Stark girls. Arya's daughter matter-of-factly saying "Stark women don't get married" - a whole ass mood.

Mid-Battle, Mary_West Sandor has something important to say to Gendry - if only Gendry can live long enough to hear it.

season 8 AU My Lady sanctuary_for_all Gendry and Arya find each other again. (AKA the plotline Gendry deserved in 7X07) - fic convention I am 100% here for: Arya scrabbling around Gendry's face looking for the seam. fic convention I am 100000% here for: Arya throwing off her glove in order to do so and then holding her hands against his cheek

Nights are for You (or Five Times Arya Visits Gendry in the Forge and One Time Gendry Visits Arya in the Castle) ASwornStark She hasn’t visited the forge since Jon returned home with the dragon bitch (the Stark sisters’ favored name for her) and him in tow. - reunion fic

season 7 Before We Jump, MissAtomicBomb (mrs_nerimon) Arya Stark's bastard boys bond on their way to the Wall. - anything for some good rowing references and bastard subjectivity

earlier laughing 'till our ribs get tough (that will never be enough), belasteals "Gendry took one look and laughed so hard that wine came out of his nose, until Harwin gave him a thwack alongside his ear." - A Storm of Swords, Arya IV (or, Gendry's POV on Acorn Hall) - real ones can't get enough of book canon and Acorn Hall.

Butcher, elephant_eyelash Gendry and Arya by the fire, discussing jacket potatoes and thinking murderous things. - perfect meditation on food and hunger and care

Dissimulo, Somnio, jeeno2 She is no one, now. But still the boy with the black hair haunts her dreams. - honestly the showrunners are cowards for not going there. let No One be Vagina Dentata Personified 2kwhenevertheBraavosiseasonsaired

post canon/canon divergent Charcoal, elephant_eyelash All about winter and feeling the cold. - weird how I'm obsessed with self-loathing and wintry alienation and the weight of history and ancestry but also devotion also love. super weird totally unexpected

Five Things Gendry Only Says in the Dark, jeeno2 Where no one else can hear him. - loneliness, shame, self-loathing. the important emotions. oh and spoiler alert some joy.

Like Wenda, Furious_Winter "...she could ride with Gendry and be an outlaw, like Wenda the White Fawn in the songs." - my favourite canon AUs are Arya and Gendry with the Brotherhood and my absolute favourites of those are when they are apart (who's ever heard of a marauding smith??) but have some of miserable bittersweet understanding and they glower at each other and make each other jealous and everything is unspoken but this is it this singular love they have for each other that doesn't quite work out. I've just realized that most of these recs are highkey angsty oops. anyway, this fic is like the most complete and perfect distillation of everything I want. - also this is so richly detailed and complete in itself. immensely satisfying. - yeah ok Furious_Winter is actually the master of post canon together but not Arya/Gendry love is not always enough fics. I'm just going to recommend all of them: - The Wolf's Head Helm [The Starks are back in Winterfell and Sansa is Queen in the North. One day, Arya receives a gift from an old friend... - Arya is in Sansas's queensguard.]  - A Means To An End (incomplete) [Arya Stark has returned from Essos and has been staying at the Inn at the Crossroads. Things are not nearly as simple as she sees them. - fuck this one hurts so good] - A Bastard At Heart [Arya and Gendry marry other people for the good of the kingdom 'cause they're self sacrificing like that. the last line took me outtt]

the truth is, baby you're all that I need, belasteals “You were jealous,” he laughed, almost shocked. “Arya Stark of Winterfell, jealous of a whore.” - sirens This One Is Not Angsty sirens

A Girl Meets a Boy, Hotpie A girl takes a face; a girl takes a lover. - possibly my favourite Crossroads Inn fic. love the Faceless Man stuff. love the detail of Needle having a smallest spot of rust, from Braavosi Steel Pox and Arya feeling a ways about it. love picking up the Melisandre thread.

So Easy To Love, Val_Creative She misses Gendry's complaining, too enthralled with staring. "You smell like Dennett's underarms," Arya murmurs, leaning in, going for blunt honesty. Gendry opens his mouth, beginning to laugh, turning uproarious and smiling. She's never seen anything more beautiful than this. More kissable than Gendry's mouth. - the summary makes it seem like it's all kissing when there is actually a big chunk of plot - in service of eventual kissing, yes, - but! spoiler alert! they don't even get to it in this fic! not exactly - maybe why I love it a lot??

With Bells in Her Hair, semicolonlife [incomplete] The further south they travel the more Gendry starts to wonder if he truly knows this woman who wears Arya Stark's face. As he begins to doubt himself more and more, Gendry becomes obsessed with the strange bells she wears in her hair. - ruthless slightly wonky Arya is my favourite Arya.

Wayfaring, Rainfallen An accidental series centered on the same basic headcanon of how Gendry found himself in the North and how Arya found her way back to it. - wolf girl Wolf Girl WOLF GIRL

Seen, sanctuary_for_all Being important matters less than who you're important to. - He wasn't sure what that verdict was, however, until she returned the unfinished sword to rest position with a deeply satisfied expression. "I am going to kill so many people with that sword." It was probably a bad sign for his long-term sanity that Gendry felt deeply complimented by that. "Happy to help." my useless heart: pikachu face - see! I like fluffy HEAs too

Hearts, sanctuary_for_all Arya comes home to her family. (Future flash) - look, I just think it's really important that even married and with children, Arya continues murdering people uwu

other AUs/misc I'll Run (Run To You), belasteals “You would rather marry a lowborn knight than a high lord, then?” She grinned, all bared teeth and sharp eyes. “I’d rather marry no one at all, else I'd not play at this mummer’s farce.” “What about the man who outruns you?” “Nobody outruns me.” (Greek mythology fusion: Arya as Atalanta, Gendry as Hippomenes. Arya vows only to marry the man who can outrun her in a footrace) - Atalanta, Mononoke, Arya. same energy.

[callunavulgari]

“Listen to the sound of my heart beat slow Yeah, my heart's like yours, my heart's like yours Listen to the sound, oh it feels like home When our hearts beat slow together.”

Heather’s Top 50 Songs of 2019!

dark night — philip sheppard // curse of the i-5 corridor — neko case // way down we go — kaleo // almost — hozier // dancing in a room — ezi // epic (pt ii) — anais mitchell & justin vernon // spanish sahara — foals // obstacles — syd matters // tom thumb — bitter ruin // wolves of the revolution — the arcadian wild // epic (pt iii) — anais mitchell, justin vernon // the spine — darren korb & ashley barrett // don’t think twice — hikaru utada // face my fears — hikaru utada // waves — chloe moriondo // ashes — bear mccreary // wake up, moving on — kevin penkin // paper boats — darren korb & ashley barrett // call off your ghost — dessa // power over me — dermot kennedy // a future for the krogan — christopher lennertz // mine — bazzi // bite — charlie cunningham // wait for me — andre de shields // birds — imagine dragons & elisa // crazy — patsy cline //  bury a friend — billie eilish // the seed — aurora // eleventh dimension — julian casablancas // sunflower — post malone // what’s up danger — blackway, black caviar // bad guy — billie eilish // elevate — dj khalil // must’ve been — chromeo // dark matter — les friction // lark of my heart — eliza rickman // dancing on my own — robyn //  hungover in the city of dust — autoheart // season of the witch — lana del rey // bird song — juniper vale // paradise valley — honey & the sting // my hallelujah — autoheart // furthest star — dirt poor robins // play dirty — kevin mcallister // it’s quiet uptown — kelly clarkson // pas de deux — michael abels // i got 5 on it — michael abels, luniz, mi // one day more — les mis cast // into the unknown — idina menzel, aurora // show yourself — idina menzel & evan rachel wood

short version | long version | youtube | spotify unwrapped

long version will lead you to the 165 song, 10 hour and 34 minute playlist which i’ve been slowly adding to since january. short version will lead you to what you see here. youtube will lead you to the playlist you see here but... wait for it... on youtube. mostly because i know not everyone has spotify. spotify unwrapped will lead you to a mixture of the long and the short version, which is pretty bloated with austin wintory songs because those are what i listen to when i write or read usually.

the long version is much improved in length from last year, which was 261 songs and 17 hours, but that’s mostly because august through december i was pretty bad at keeping track of the music that caught my attention. whoops.

and under the cut is me ranting about music, like usual. enjoy!

i. dark night || philip sheppard *instrumental*

This was my absolute favorite from the Detroit: Become Human soundtrack. I tended to prefer Kara’s songs most because they were gorgeous and haunting and just plain fantastic. Connor’s songs were mostly listened to while writing for the fandom, but Kara’s songs were what I kept coming back to. ii. curse of the i-5 corridor || neko case So I left home and faked my ID I fucked every man that I wanted to be

Sometime in January, I fell in love with eighteen wheels on an uphill climb, which was a 91k hank/connor wip by blackeyedblonde. Hank’s a trucker. Connor occasionally dabbles in sex work to keep himself alive and moving. But like, it’s so much more than that? Anyway, at some point the author linked to this song. I think it may have been on tumblr, but I fell in love with it and neko case.

iii. way down we go || kaleo Oh, 'cause they will run you down, down 'til the dark Yes and they will run you down, down 'til you fall And they will run you down, down 'til you go Yeah, so you can't crawl no more

Speaking of Detroit: Become Human (sensing a theme?), this fanvideo is one of my favorite things in the world. I had it and a couple other fantastic videos like it playing in the background while writing for the fandom. This video, in fact, is what finally made me go in search of the game. iv. almost (sweet music) || hozier The same kind of music haunts her bedroom I'm almost me again, she's almost you Wasteland, Baby was a thing that happened to me. Which would have already been enough to get it on this list, but I also listened to it on repeat while writing my first DBH fic. v. dancing in a room || ezi I know you notice, notice me I might be broken but it's not showing It's how I'm copin', copin' I don’t actually remember where this one came from. I know that sometime when March is still a bit cold, I listened to a playlist on spotify that I can’t find for the life of me. It had a lot of the songs that are about to come up on it, and before I started exclusively listening to audiobooks while I got ready for work in the morning, I listened to random fantastic playlists. vi. epic (pt ii) || anais mitchell & justin vernon And suddenly Hades was only a man with a taste of nectar upon his lips

Hadestown was also a thing that happened to me. This song makes me fucking weak. All of the lyrics are great, the whole song is gorgeous and haunting and so perfect it hurts, but those lyrics above are just *chefs kiss* vii. spanish sahara || foals Forget the horror here Leave it all down here It's future rust and it's future dust

Sometime during the spring, I played Life Is Strange and had a million and one feelings. I played both options for the ending and each one was gut wrenching in its own way. I think I still prefer the one where Chloe lives, but this song has literally haunted me ever since.

viii. obstacles || syd matters Someday we will foresee obstacles Through the blizzard, through the blizzard And this is the song that plays if you make the other choice. Again, SUPER TRAGIC, but also you know. You get to keep your girlfriend. ix. tom thumb || bitter ruin And I know I'll be burnt, but I can stand a flame or two to catch you

This was one of the songs that I discovered on the mysterious spotify playlist! Something I’d forgotten: I discovered Hadestown off of that playlist. Thanks, mystery playlist. You gave me all the ear worms. x. wolves of the revolution || the arcadian wild You're trapped inside of your own heart It's a spectators sport, just play your part You guessed it - from the mystery playlist. They’re all very reminiscent of the Hadestown soundtrack. Vaguely eerie, kind of haunting, a lot beautiful. Makes you feel like you’re a forest creature living on the edge of the swamp. You know: the aesthetic. xi. epic (pt iii) || anais mitchell & justin vernon Where is the treasure inside your chest? Where is your pleasure? Where is your youth? Where is the man with his hat in his hands? Who stands in the garden with nothing to lose I thought about only including this one instead of including part 2, but in the end I loved both too much to choose. Hadestown, man. I hope it comes to Ohio at some point in the near future. xii.  the spine || darren korb & ashley barrett Fingers tied themselves in knots around the heart It beats in time I see the spine of the world

I have never actually played Transistor, which is fucking tragic because I listened to basically the entire soundtrack over and over again for the entire year. There’s at least one more song from the game on this list, but it is really wonderful. Haunting vocals, perfect for writing or reading or driving.  xiii. don’t think twice || hikaru utada I'm only crying 'cause I never dreamed It'd take this long, it'd take this long Hi, I played Kingdom Hearts 3 this year. And I cried so fucking much. I had some issues with the game, namely how the ending was such a clusterfuck of boss fight after boss fight and emotional character arc resolutions so it all felt kind of rushed? But the gameplay was superb, the selfie thing was ingenious, and I did cry at least six different times while I was stressing my way through fighting boss fights with blurry eyes. xiv. face my fears || hikaru utada Oh, let me face, let me face, let me face my fears Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here Watch me cry all my tears

So like, if you care at all you’ve probably already seen it, but the opening cutscene of KH3 was to Face My Fears, and I’m gonna be real honest here - I didn’t like it at first. I moaned and groaned about Skrillex and how it was nothing like Simple and Clean or Passion/Sanctuary. But it grew on me to the point that it was actually my most listened to song this year. Watch me cry all my tears, indeed. xv. waves || chloe moriondo Make me into more than a goner Perhaps a little bit stronger Thicker skin, less needy, And maybe to not bruise so damn easily, but you can't

I don’t remember where I found this song either? Maybe mystery playlist but probably not. Either way, it’s pretty and uh, I too want to slow the world down. xvi. ashes || bear mccreary -instrumental- Man, oh man, let’s talk about how good of a game God of War was. It was so good, guys. The game play was excellent, the world was gorgeous, and the storyline was interesting. And the music went so, so hard. Between Horizon Zero Dawn and the new God of War, I have basically been ruined for all other games. Also, dad protagonists, am I right? xvii. wake up, moving on || kevin penkin -instrumental-

Did not actually realize this was part of a soundtrack to a game? But it’s very lilty. Has that French quirky romcom vibe to it and I listened to the crap out of it in early summer. xviii. paper boats || darren korb & ashley barrett The river always finds the sea So helplessly Like you find me

Another Transistor song. I really love Ashley Barrett’s voice. I should probably at some point play the game. xix. call off your ghost || dessa I hope she makes you happy It's just a lot to ask to watch your future walking past me

This song played during one of the weather segments of Welcome to Night Vale and made me remember how much I absolutely adore Dessa. Her voice is fantastic and I love the way that her songs flow. Also, this song gives me personal feels. xx. power over me || dermot kennedy I wanna be king in your story I wanna know who you are I want your heart to beat for me I have absolutely no idea where I heard this one. It might have been playing on the radio while I was driving somewhere? I played it a lot during the summer.  xxi. a future for the krogan || christopher lennertz -instrumental- It’s been a while since I played Mass Effect, but this song came up on a writing playlist and I have been listening to it ever since.

xxii. mine || bazzi Running circles 'round my mind Even when it's rainy all you ever do is shine

Shrug emoji. 

xxiii. bite || charlie cunningham Stone cold faces let you keep you poisoning your blood Cut you open then you'll see poison in your blood

Also shrug emoji? Most of the time when I’m doing these there’s fandom connatations to half the songs, but these year I wasn’t heavily invested in a whole lot of fandoms so these are mostly just songs I listened to while I was a) driving, b) in the shower, or c) while reading.

xxiv. wait for me || andre de shields Ain't no compass, brother, there ain't no map Just a telephone wire and the railroad track Keep on walking and you don't look back

And here’s the last Hadestown song on the list. It’s just... really good, okay. Really, really good. xxv. birds || imagine dragons & elisa Seasons, they will change Life will make you grow Dreams will make you cry, cry, cry

I think there’s been an Imagine Dragons song on here every year since they came out with Radioactive. This is the only song of theirs I heard this year, but pairing their voice with Elisa’s was fucking genius because this song makes me feel the chorus in my soul. xxvi. crazy || patsy cline You'd love me as long as you wanted And then some day You'd leave me for somebody new I was at a bar, and my friend has just announced that he was getting married to his girlfriend of ten years in Vegas, on a ferris wheel, by an Elvis impersonator. We started listening to Elvis songs to figure out what he’d play, and then we got distracted listening to a bunch of old love songs. This one is more heartbreak than love, but I’ve always loved Patsy’s voice. xxvii. bury a friend || billie eilish Bury a friend, try to wake up

I was really slow to the Billie Eilish train. One of my friends recommended her music and it’s just so chaotic and fantastic that I can’t believe I didn’t fall for it earlier. This song in particular was a Billy Hargrove song for a while.

xxviii. the seed || aurora Feed me sunlight, feed me air In a place where nothing matters Feed me truth and feed me prayer Aurora’s got one of those truly lovely voices. Also I like songs about how the earth should eat humanity.

xxix.  eleventh dimension || julian casablancas 'Cause no one really cares or wonders why anymore Oh, I got music, coming out of my hands and feet and kisses

Back in 2011, when I was still watching Doctor Who, someone made this video which blew my little heart away. I rediscovered this song while we were driving back to Ohio from our annual beach trip and managed to get everyone in the car hooked on it for weeks afterwards.

xxx. sunflower || post malone You're a sunflower I think your love would be too much

Into the Spiderverse! Was so! Good! 

xxxi. what’s up danger || blackway, black caviar I like it all on the edge just like you, ayy I like tall buildings so I can leap off of 'em

So like, that scene, right? The one that had everyone losing their collective shit? I saw gifs before I watched the movie, and goddamn, it lived up to every single expectation I ever had. I made Nick watch it with me, and he groaned a lot because honestly he is not the biggest fan of super hero movies, but even he admitted that it was the best damn Spiderman movie we’d ever seen. It was powerful and clever and heartwarming and funny and the music and animation were both fan-freaking-tastic.

xxxii. bad guy || billie eilish I'm the bad guy, duh Can you believe that I actually didn’t know about this video until @nijuukoo did art? I mean, I’d definitely heard it and liked it before hand, but the fucking video, man. That pic of Vanitas showering Ven in hearts is still the background of my desktop.(It would have been the one of him sitting on Ansem while he’s doing push ups, but it didn’t work with my screen)

xxxiii. elevate || dj khalil I jump off this building to save these civilians My strength and my honor is trusted by children I'm ready and willing to fight all these villains No chaos or killings, my style is so brilliant I really, really liked the music to Into the Spiderverse.

xxxiv. must’ve been || chromeo I must've been high when I met you Out of my mind when I decided to love you

There was a Harringrove fic that I read during the summer that made the connection between this song and modern AU Billy and Steve. I thought it was @lymricks but maybe not. Either way - I listened to this for like three weeks straight while reading about Billy and Steve flirting at the pool. Ha! Found it - you, through half-shut eyes by @brawlite.

xxxv. dark matter || les friction Bring me your soul, bring me your hate In my name you will create Bring me your fear, bring me your pain You will destroy in my name

There was an Outsider fanvid. I tripped over it.

xxxvi. lark of my heart || eliza rickman Lark of my heart - dance in the dark and say you love me Lark of my heart - right from the start and say you love me

This one was another that I found on a random playlist while I was reading and I just love the rhythm of the song. I sat right up and favorited that sucker before I lost it.

xxxvii. dancing on my own — robyn I'm just gonna dance all night I'm all messed up, I'm so outta line Stilettos on broken bottles I'm spinning around in circles Okay. Okay, okay, okay. So there was that tumblr post that went around a while back where a bunch of subway riders who just got back from a Robyn concert started singing while waiting for the train and I just. It makes me so fucking happy. Like, I remember the night I clicked on that video. I’d never heard the song before, but I didn’t need to because the level of fucking joy and unity in that video literally brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes, humans are fucking beautiful.

xxxviii. hungover in the city of dust || autoheart We’re hungover in the city of dust So let our minds run round in circles While we figure it all out

I really adore autoheart. They did Sailor Song, which was on my Top Songs post last year and honestly, according to the plays on spotify, probably should have still been on my list this year, but alas - this is the abridged version. Every song I’ve heard from them I’ve loved. The entire bridge makes me shiver, it’s just so wonderfully executed.

xxxix. season of the witch || lana del rey You've got to pick up every stitch, The rabbits running in the ditch, Oh no, must be the season of the witch In October I watched Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and it was super spooky and really great and probably one of the best movies I saw this year? But like, also this cover by Lana del Rey was the best damn thing about it. Someone made a witchy video that was great too but I can’t find it now. xl. bird song || juniper vale Listen to the sound of my heart beat slow Yeah, my heart's like yours, my heart's like yours Listen to the sound, oh it feels like home When our hearts beat slow together

I really like Juniper Vale. I found them last year when I stumbled across their cover of Singing In The Rain, and they churn out some really quality music.

xli. paradise valley || honey & the sting So you'll have to hold me down Could you just hold me down build the levees higher This song was always going to make it to 2019′s list too. It’s just too damn good. Thank you, Wolf 359. You’ve given me a gift that is still giving three years later.

xlii. my hallelujah || autoheart Thought I found a new religion In you who was I kidding There's nowhere to go Except for under quarantine

More Autoheart! Just listen to that melody! That flow! 

xliii. furthest star || dirt poor robins We'll find our hiding place Clear across the Milky Way Beyond the galaxy On the furthest star that we see

This song reminds me a lot of Muse back in their early days. I was half-napping on the couch listening to, you guessed it, a random playlist on spotify, and I liked this song enough to surface from the edges of slumber to favorite it so I could find it again.

xliv. play dirty || kevin mcallister Would you get the Devil this dance? Would you be a part of his plans? Now you got some blood on your hands

There was a fanvid. It was good and basically caught me up on Preacher. The song is also really catchy.

xlv. it’s quiet uptown || kelly clarkson Look at where we are Look at where we started Last year, this was on my list because of an EOS 10 playlist. This year it’s on my list because I still fucking love it. Also I saw Hamilton this year and it was really phenomenal. I cannot get over how good it was.

xlvi. pas de deux || michael abels -instrumental- I watched Us in late October/early November and this entire sequence was really lovely and eerie and just all around fantastic. I loved the mirroring throughout the movie, and it all came together in this stunning confrontation.

xlvii. i got 5 on it || michael abels, luniz, mi I got five on it

Us had a really good soundtrack.

xlviii. one day more || les mis cast One more dawn One more day One day more!

About a month ago I got to see Les Mis in theater and I cried like six or seven times. That is not an exaggeration I was a fucking mess. As much as I’ve adored every musical I have seen up until this point, I have never had a musical affect me the way this one did. It was incredibly powerful and the experience was worth every damn cent.

xlix. into the unknown || idina menzel, aurora Everyone I've ever loved is here within these walls I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls

Like, I know it’s cool to hate on Frozen because it got so popular, but Idina Menzel is a queen with the voice of an angel and I’m sorry, but the movies were good. Also, Elsa is very, very pretty and this shit was very, very gay. 

l. show yourself || idina menzel & evan rachel wood Come to me now Open your door Don't make me wait One moment more

Sorry, I don’t make the rules. Elsa gets all the best numbers. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, folks. Happy listening.

[curly-q-reviews]

ROAD TO THE OSCAR MAYER WIENER AWARDS 2K19

Black Panther, 2018 (dir. Ryan Coogler)

Nominated for: Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing

ok y’all lets get this party started with a movie i didnt get to catch in theaters (i think i ended up renting it) but people were absolutely raving about it all of last year, and for good reason i gotta say!  it was one of the better marvel films that came out last year (though in my humble opinion Infinity War takes the gold)

speaking of marvel lets talk about it for a spell!  lets have a lil sit-down chit-chat shall we!!  cause its kind of insane how much of an american media phenomenon marvel has become, they are arguably single-handedly responsible for reviving the superhero movie subgenre and now these types of movies bring hollywood more dineros than they probably know what to do with (besides make more superhero movies).  what used to be a niche market where only your most hardcore of nerdy types dared to dwell has been embraced into the mainstream wholeheartedly, and now its hard to imagine the american film industry without them. 

from a film critique standpoint, marvel movies seem to be a hit-or-miss as far as quality, however i cant really think of a particular marvel movie that i thought was a total piece of hot garbage (the first two Thor movies come close but they were more boring than anything else).  however last year was a real success for the studio, they just kept pumping out quality movies left and right and once disney managed to get its grubby lil mouse paws on Spider-man it was a done deal baby.  DC and other companies have tried again and again to recreate the success that Marvel has managed and so far they’ve failed to various degrees.  Marvel’s just got that special something with their cinematic universe, some magical combo of great actors and creative directors and an ever-expanding budget that keeps them staying at the top every time.

so whats my stance on superhero movies???  well theyre not my usual cup of tea but i gotta say they’re real damn entertaining.  i kinda view them like a high-speed ride at an amusement park, super fun and thrilling and exhilarating and just a real good time!  but thats about as far as it goes for me, and im sure thats the same for a lot of people.  to be honest its kinda refreshing to have movies that quality-wise are up to my standards that i dont have to think too hard about.  so for me the movies i typically go for are like museums, whereas superhero movies (and action movies in general) are like a carnival.  both entertaining and fun, but the latter is just all about letting loose and not wondering about the why’s and how’s.  when i think about it, this kinda mindset is for sure a factor in how these movies got so popular, because with the shitshow that is our current government and the potential imminent death of our planet people are once again looking for movies as a form of escapism, rather than a way to get deep and philosophical and ask the tough questions and see something profound. 

with that being said, despite some exceptions that have proven me wrong to my utter joy and delight (im looking at u Logan), i expect movies that are nominated for wiener awards to be more like museums than like carnivals y’know what i mean?  u catchin my drift???  u takin what im dishin out????  the academy awards have a long history of prestige, of nominating the best of the best of any given year. quite a few movies that won oscars are now considered to be timeless classics.  which is why superhero movies, at least the typical marvel types that are chocked to the brim with CGI and epic massive fight scenes and explosions, dont really strike me as anything that could eventually become a timeless classic.  the amount of computer-generated effects alone will make these movies feel really dated as soon as like five years from now with how fast technology is progressing.  i just dont see it happening.

and that brings us to the first wiener award nominee ill be talking about, Black Panther.  this isnt director Ryan Coogler’s first time at the rodeo; his first feature film Fruitvale Station received critical acclaim in 2013, and the spiritual Rocky sequel Creed actually got nominated for some oscars a few years ago.  so we’ve got a promising and talented director at the helm which is a great start!  we’ve also got a stellar cast with the likes of michael b. jordan (who has been in all of Coogler’s films so far), lupita nyong’o, angela bassett, and forest whitaker in the bunch.  it also has the astronomical financial backing of Supreme Overlord Disney so u know this is gonna be some high-quality shit.

so i’m gonna tell y’all why i think this movie got nominated for so many oscars, because in a way i do think this movie is deserving of noms from the academy.  theres no denying that it is very groundbreaking for a movie of this scale and magnitude to have a black director and a nearly all-black cast.  in fact, i think a lot of the crew members (including set and costume design) were black as well.  thats fuckin huge my guy.  and this movie was by no means a flop either; it ended up being one of the highest-grossing films of 2018 and stayed in theaters for a loooong-ass time.  and not only were the people on this project mostly black, the movie itself is a story praising and showing off the beauty of african culture without exotifying or demeaning it in any way.  like i can say 100% without a doubt that this movie deserves its best costume design nom cause holy shit the outfits in this movie are stunning, just the perfect blend of ancient/current tribal african aesthetics and a more futuristic sleek style that any fashion enthusiast can drool over.

i cant say much about best musical score or best sound mixing or anything like that cause it all seemed like typical marvel stuff to me and wasnt all that memorable.  however i can say that the production design on this movie, while it didnt impress me as much as costuming, did still impress me.  the one thing i gotta knock it on is all the fucken CGI, like whole entire towns and landscapes were digitally rendered.  i wouldve been a lot more impressed and would agree more to the production design nom if they used more practical effects and real sets/locations. 

so.  best picture.  this is where i feel the most conflicted.  cause this is where i now have to look past all the pretty fancy visuals and music and look at the actual meat of this movie, its story and characters.  usually best picture noms also get noms for things like best actress, best script, and best director, cause those are all really important elements of a good film.  ur movie can look and sound as pretty as it wants but if the storys shit and the characters are shit and the actings shit then u dont have much going for u.

and by no means am i saying that Black Panther was shitty in these aspects, it was just well.  passable.  it was ok.  but nothing to write home about

we got some good performances from newcomers letitia wright and chadwick boseman, lupita kills it as always, but then everyone else was like.  okay.  michael b. jordan didnt really do his best in this and idk if its the script’s fault or something but it was weird.  and speaking of the script it was uuuuhhhhh well.  not great.  every time i think about that “what are those” reference i die a little inside.  and the story overall wasnt really anything new when u break it down, just another “son of king struggles to take his place” narrative.  and that aspect of the story couldve actually been more developed into something interesting, i found myself really intrigued with the political scenes.  but there just wasnt enough of that cause they needed to make more room for the PEW PEW POW EXPLOSIONS

granted, movies with lots of shimmer but little substance have been nominated for best picture before (just look at James Cameron’s Avatar which is apparently getting a sequel now????????).  and its not even that this movie is completely devoid of substance cause theres some interesting things going on plot-wise, and some stand-out characters too (shuri is the boss and no one can tell me otherwise).  its just, u know, a good superhero movie.  nothing really profound about the story itself except for the cultural, historical, and social context behind it.

so lemme get back to why i think this movie got a best picture nom.  i think the academy wants to keep up their appearance of being #woke now by continuing to nominate more than one poc-heavy project each year, but they seem to be caring less and less about the actual overall quality of these movies.  and theres even some movies on the noms list that i think actually have what it takes to be a strong oscars contender, like If Beale Street Could Talk and BlacKkKlansmen.  but i think in Black Panther’s case, they were under a lot of pressure to give it top noms (or any noms at all) because of the intensely positive response this movie got, as well as the accusations of racism to people who didnt think it was as great as fans were saying. 

also i have no doubt that Supreme Overlord Disney like threw piles and piles of money at the academy like they tend to do (cause i’d bet good money thats the only fucken way Incredibles 2 got nominated for anything)

well anyway ive gone on long enough about this, lemme know what y’all think.  really the only nom im iffy about when it comes to this movie is Best Picture, but the others i think are well enough deserved, especially costume design.  so i guess the one thing i struggle with is this: does a movie becoming a pop culture phenomenon and being groundbreaking in its cast and crew count as enough for it to be nominated for the top prize of the wiener awards, despite any fallbacks in script, direction, and acting?  idk man im just hoping it doesnt get the award by default or something but then again maybe after watching all the other nominees it may turn out that the rest of them were worse than Black Panther i guess i’ll have to find out

stay tuned for my A Star Is Born review y’all stay fresh and funky eat ur vegetables stay in school u dont need drugs when ur high on life

[ravenwytchbytch]

The Beggar Princess

Ch: IV - Loyalty

Elijah was as restless to continue his evening duties in the one placed he detested the most. The high council, where all business involving the crown, the realm, and its people were discussed and as always he listened to Ser Donovan read the account for the evening. High on the priority list as every evening since he had sat in the council was the rebellion, the only minor issue that needed the attention of the council was the date of his brother’s marriage.

“If we can begin I would like to settle on a date of the union for our Crowned Prince and Duchess Forbes.” He looked at the list of dates chosen by the Eminent Eüllo. “His Eminence believes that an auspicious day would bring great blessings for the union while providing hope to those in the land.”

Kol smothered chuckle, “Why not have them marry on the day father took the crown. That was truly an auspicious day.”

 Kol’s comment earned him a disapproving look from Elijah, “What day is more auspicious than the Treath celebration.”

“As you say brother the festivities along with the celebration should lift the spirits of the people.” Kol gasped in a feign attempt of surprise, “but I had forgotten about the rebelling lords and commoners.”

“Reports from the Southeastern camps have seen a dramatic drop in rebel activity. The lords in the region report that the calm brought to the countryside has seen a return to commerce to villages and the fields harvest is on their way“, Elijah announced in a steady tone.

“Yet, Lord Elijah, in the West I have heard by my own brother’s account that the forces there have tripled in the last few days.” Lord Salvatore Damon, a raven-haired upstart that had somehow been elevated to a Lord important enough to be in the chamber.

“Who cares about the West? Nothing but bought title lords, no offense Lord Salvatore, and vineyards.” Kol said mockingly. “Moreover what do we care for a region of field peasants?”

“These are our people-”

“Who are killed by their neighbors, their countrymen.” Kol interjected, “Honestly brother, we didn’t have much issue killing them before when we were seizing the throne and kingdom, but now split hair over them liking us.”

“I hate to agree with his highness but he is right. Crush the Western lords; the longer we wait In hope that they will be pacified by the marriage the more time we give the disgruntled villagers to side with them.” Damon seemed far too pleased at his idea.

“And if we continue we ignite the tempered flames of the nobles who have settled down in other regions.” Elijah slammed his fist on the table.

Staring down the three individuals in the room Kol and Lord Damon were like vicious dogs ready to strike the first blow between one another; meanwhile, Ser Donovan was the only one who had remained silent on the matter 

“And you Ser Donovan, while do you choose to remain silent on such matters?” Elijah had a hard time containing his anger.

Ser Donovan cleared his throat pausing for a moment to stare at the three noblemen before him, “The people are not so easily distracted my lord. They certainly desire a return to normalcy but to wager it all on a royal marriage, forgive me, but it seems a foolish gambit.”

Elijah’s control was waning he was at his wit’s end; Elijah slowly rose from his seat his eyes locked on all three.

“I see we will not have any progress today gentlemen. I think we can end our conversation for today.” Elijah dismissed the three councilmen present.

He was quick to the door passing by the three and not bothering to offer his hand for courtesy, Elijah was in no mood for courtly decorum. While in the past the appearance of Niklaus was sporadic, the King’s was completely absent. As always his father, and brother, Niklaus, had left the running of the country to him, and while 10 men were to sit at the table few bothered to come insulted by the absence of their King and Crowned Prince Niklaus, but it was nothing new for Elijah

Elijah could hardly remember the softer years of his youth, a vague image of what his father remained in his mind but since the day his mother remarried Mikael Mikaelson had shown to be far more hands-off, especially when it came to him and his older brother, Finn, well-being. If it was a task that was not to his liking he would ignore it completely. In truth in his younger years, his step-father had a great distaste for him and his brother. When his younger siblings had been born he did well to push them behind. After all, Mikael was a Duke; so naturally, his children took precedent over step-children whose father had been an Earl.

Despite the effort he threw to separate his siblings Elijah had been close to each one. Niklaus had carried the years of Mikael’s pressure of perfection as well as his criticisms when he fell short of his expectations. He was good at shaming the two of them simultaneously; one for not meeting his expectation and the other for realizing his best wasn’t that. Yet when the war had started Mikael had called on him for the support of his claim. He had given Mikael control of his father’s army all in the hopes of receiving in some vain attempt at acknowledgment.

It was in those months that Mikael proved the ever masterful manipulator, praising Elijah for his genius over his tactics, but giving the credit for the victory to Niklaus. Elijah scowled at the memory of his jealousy and truthfully his desperation for fatherly affectionate.

Even in his darkest thoughts, Elijah would recognize the familiar voices of Lady Petrova whose soft voice echoed up the courtyard. Simply fashioned in a long sleeved dark emerald linen dress her hair was done in a plaited fashion, atop her dark crown of hair was a silver circlet encrusted with emeralds.

“My lady the fabrics you’ve chosen were beautiful.” Her cheerful tone was uplifting tugging a small smile to the somber lord.

“I hope Prince Niklaus approves of it.” Lady Caroline had a soft smile and a softer way of speaking.

“What a sight to behold, no Lord Elijah?” Elijah mood spoiled in an instant as he slid his glance to his side.

“Yes, I am glad that Lady Caroline is in good spirits.”

“I was more interested in the tasty little brunette.” Elijah swallowed his building rage.

“You know very well that disgracing a lady-in-waiting for her royal highness is a punishable offense.”

“I’m glad to see that Prince Kol has been spared of such punishments.” Damons eyes locked with Elijah’s, “anyway she isn’t a princess yet,” 

Lord Salvatore leaned lazily against the balcony railing his eyes always holding a mocking gleam.

“What do you need?” his patience thin with the upstart noble.

“I’m appalled by your gruffness. I only wish to admire the view.” his voice was perverse it was enough to earn him a threatening look from Lord Elijah.

The cheery laughter below was the only thing that could divert his attention from the smug face of Damon Salvatore. Spinning and leaping gracefully below, Lady Petrova’s danced for her Lady Caroline. Elijah was mesmerized by Katherine’s graceful steps and dainty movement as she seemed to lose herself to a song only she could hear.

“She has quite a skill doesn’t she?” A growing anger burned in Elijah’s stomach at Damon’s remark.

Before he could retort he spotted a familiar faced heading towards the joyful scene. 

“Sister!” Caroline called out in joy stopping in mid-step to curtsy as if remembering herself.

A look of disgust fell on his sister’s face, “Hello, Lady Caroline.”

“How is your day, your highness?” Caroline asked pushing past Katherine to grab Rebekah’s hand. 

“Dull as always.” Her eyes scanning the chipper duchess, “Would you care to take a stroll? 

“I’d be delighted.” She motioned to her ladies once more leading the way with Princess Rebekah on her arm.

He felt a mixture of feelings at the departure of Katherine Petrova but the winning feeling was relief that she was no longer within Damon Salvatore’s leering gaze.

“It’s odd, there isn’t much to see on the eastern wing, just one way to the city walls.” He could hardly hold back the amused look on his face, “Isn’t where the former Queen-” Elijah did not need to hear the rest his feet had taken off before the old snake could finish his false realization.

He ran quickly down the stairway, he could not understand his siblings’ obsession of making the girl miserable. After all, no one in his family was free of their own crimes; each had a stained hand in the bloody aftermath of the noble family. From afar he spotted the group near Aurous Keep he was stunned by his sister’s viciousness, a false smile on her face but cynical look in her eyes was enough of a confession of her intentions.

Caroline hadn’t understood why Princess Rebekah had insisted on the east wing, the battlements, the city wall, and Keep was the only thing to see there.

“I’m sure you know the full history surrounding the Aurous Keep?”

“No, unfortunately, the keep must have been built during my absence.”

Rebekah pursed her lips whether trying to hold back a laugh or smile Caroline did not enjoy not knowing.

“At your time it may have been known as the Beata Keep. Do you want to know why it was changed?”

Uneasiness seemed to pass Princess Rebekah’s ladies something was not right. At the moment she glanced for the briefest of second to Katherine as she played around the small ring on her pinky finger.

“Why yes, yes I would,” she said with a steady voice and a soft smile.

Rebekah velvety laugh did little to shake Caroline’s resolve as she followed the blonde up the steps to the city wall.

“As you may have heard my father’s army was less than a fortnight away from the city gates.” Princess Rebekah this time had linked her arm around Caroline’s arm, a chill running down Caroline’s body, “The late Queen Justine had been going mad since the departure of your uncle, late King Emil, into battle. Many in the castle were worried for her, but mostly for her children’s safety, so in her paranoia, she did the only thing she thought safe. Immurement.”

Rebekah’s fingers dug into Caroline’s arm keeping her close to her side, “She ordered the guards to seal them in Beata keep until the King’s return, but as you know my brother Nik had slain him during the Battle of Stead. Her madness seemed to quicken behind those walls, one guard recalls hearing her shouting for her mother. Once the gates were open my father was quick to locate Queen Justine but what they found,” she gave a haughty laugh and devilish smile to Caroline and the murmuring group of ladies.

Rebekah moved onto the allure of the wall the view of the kingdom and the majesty’s road was breathtaking but Caroline could hardly admire the view as Rebekah pulled her closer to her.

“They found her ghastly white her once luxurious hair of gold matted and wild. Her clothes were covered in her own filth and blood. The smell of the keep was daunting and well,” she chuckled once more, “many of seasoned soldiers could not believe the things they saw. In one corner laid the tiny body of the princess her head bashed in by her mother. In Queen Justine’s bed were the bloated bodies of the young crown princes. For such a heinous crime my father hung her from the castle-“

Rebekah head jostled from the force of the blow, there was a gasp of shock from all that were present. Caroline watched in disbelief as Katherine stood in front of the injured princess her eyes burning. Rebekah cupped her injured cheek the warm feeling of blood flowed slowly in her hands.

“How dare you!” she screeched madly staring wildly at Caroline and Katherine. “I will have your hands for daring to-“

“Rebekah!” Everyone turned to the short of breath noble. Rebekah looked frightened for the briefest of moment.

The gathered ladies knelt in unison their eyes downcast as they cleared the way for Elijah. Katherine exchanged the briefest of look at Elijah before stepping behind him. There was no hiding the fierce anger of his sister but he would not make a spectacle in front of gossiping tongues. Taking her by her forearm they walked further down the walkway.

“I want that bitch’s hands!” her words trembled out with rage as she shot a daggered look to the defiant brunette.

“What are you doing here? Why would you bring Lady Caroline?” he shook his sister with anger.

“You’re mad at me!” she pulled away from him her anger redirected to him, “I did nothing wrong that rabid bitch-“

“Enough! You brought Lady Caroline for some malicious game and you’ve paid the price for it.” He dabbed his sleeve against his sister’s wet cheek, the wound was small but her face had already begun to discolor, “have your ladies take you to my chambers. I will summon a physician to tend to this.”

“I want that girl punished.” She slapped his hand away tears of rage burning in her dark blue eyes.

“We cannot or risk upsetting her mistress.” Rebekah scowled pushing past her brother her eyes burning with unquenched anger.

Caroline stepped back as Rebekah stormed down the stone steps Caroline flashed a condemning glare to Katherine.

“Lady Caroline, I apologize for whatever my-“, Caroline rose her hand finding it harder to control her anger.

“Thank you for showing mercy, my Lord.” Caroline turned away from him making her way down and away from the accursed place.

Katherine remained behind her eyes low and her head down as Elijah stood before her, “I am deeply sorry.”

Elijah tipped her head back his eyes locking with her own eyes, he was somehow always prone to losing himself to their dark pull, her scent was intoxicating and for a moment his rage turned into frustrating control. He scanned her delicate face, her gentle eyes, her pouty lips, and her slender creamy neck that had a silver chain resting around it. An all too familiar silver chain that had once rested on his mother’s neck now adorned itself between the valley of Katherine’s breasts.

It had been her wedding gift from his step-father and it was never far from her even in her final moments she had clutched the metal in her hand as she clung onto it for some strength. Elijah pushed her away far too roughly but he felt betrayed and embarrassed. The sudden realization that the innocence he had seen in her had been all in his mind. This confused and frighten beauty was no better than any of the title seeking wretches that clung to his brother Kol’s attention.

“Excuse me.” It was all he could muster as he hurried away from Katherine.

With Elijah’s hasty departure Katherine stood by herself on the city wall steps Katherine had a terrible feeling of loneliness that she hated admitting to herself.

Katherine dragged her feet as she made her way back to her lady and for good reason; she had acted irrationally to Princess Rebekah’s taunts. Rebekah’s plan had been obvious the moment she had uttered Caroline’s family members’ name. Even with that knowledge, she had felt the rage and disgust that Rebekah had provoked from Caroline. 

 Caroline would certainly be harsh with her for the next few days but she was certain she was not hated by her. Outside her ladies chamber door, she took a deep breath to brace herself for the silent treatment Caroline would surely give her.

Katherine was wrong as she felt the palm of her lady’s hand against her face, the barrage of strikes alternated from subtle blows to head to close-fisted whacks to Katherine’s back.

“I should have you whipped!” Caroline ragged breathing made her words shake, “How could you be so foolish!”

“I do not apologize for defending-” Katherine snapped back as she stumbled away from Caroline’s assault, “-you.”

Katherine stared in stunned disbelief, the ragged breathing had not been Caroline pent up anger but that of a distraught and sobbing friend. Trails of tears came down like a waterfall on Caroline’s face as the stained her cheeks.

Caroline struggled to compose herself, struggled to turn off the anger, the hurt, the fear, that had all come out after Rebekah had been struck. The awkward silence of the on looking ladies had Katherine motioning them out. Taking Caroline in her arms she whispered gently her apology.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered softly.

Caroline’s shoulder shook violently as she let her guard down, despite it being against her better interest, she showed the weakness she had been afraid of others seeing, “I don’t- I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“I don’t think I’m strong enough to withstand such viciousness.” her words came out in a jumbled mess.

“You are Caroline. You are.” Katherine reassured as she gently guided Caroline to her bed, “I promise you, you will not break. I’ve seen you survive on nothing but on that strength.”

Easing her lady into bed Katherine spoke softly as unburden her lady of her slippers and loosened the lace on her tight bodice. Katherine stood silently by Caroline’s bedside for a few minutes until she was certain she had fallen to sleep, she could hardly blame her for the emotional exhaustion she felt. Taking a seat by the edge of the bed Katherine watched in silent vigilance of her sleeping mistress.

A/n: Hi guys I’m back with another long, unedited, chapter and I hope you guys could bear with me on these upcoming chapters and I promise that the next chapter there will be more Klaroline. Promise! I hope you guys enjoy it and again please review.

[media-valtimes]

ROUND II OF THE MINI REFUSE (HAHA THIS JOKE STILL ISN’T FUNNY)

PART I: BLACK MIRROR//SAN JUNIPERO

While I was a fan of all of the Black Mirror episodes that we covered in class, this one really stood out to me. Not because it was scary, or sad, but because it was shockingly happy and sweet. The first episode of Black Mirror that I ever saw was Shut Up and Dance, and if I’m being honest it was scary. I watched it late at night at a sleepover, and it was essentially the equivalent of watching a horror or thriller movie for me. That’s the atmosphere of most of Black Mirror’s episodes. But San Junipero has an overwhelmingly positive energy, especially compared to the others. I’m sure most of us have thought about what life would be like if we grew up in a different decade, and the technology in this reality makes that possible- sort of. I really loved this take on immortality, because it really does seem like something that could be possible in the future. I also think that this episode posed an interesting question to its audience: if you had the opportunity to live forever, would you take it? They make it look so appealing! You can live in whatever decade you want, potentially with your loved ones, in a place where you don’t have to worry about anything. When I was younger, and this is gonna get morbid for a second, I always thought that I wanted to die young. But life is unpredictable! I might meet a person that I want to be with forever tomorrow. Or maybe I already know that person. Or maybe we won’t even have a choice of whether or not we want to live forever in the future! The point is, nobody knows what tomorrow holds and that’s part of what makes this episode so cool. 

Another thing that I wanted to talk about is the 80s aesthetic throughout the episode. Throwing it back to the 80s has become increasingly popular in modern media, with Stranger Things, The Goldbergs, Freaks and Geeks, The Americans, the list goes on, and I love it. I’m one of those annoying teenagers who constantly says “man, I just belong in a different generation”, and the 80s, while not my top pick, have always been very attractive to me. Performing in The Wedding Singer  this year also opened up my eyes to how fun 80s style really is. It was really refreshing to have a Black Mirror episode take place primarily in the 80s, especially when they are usually set in the not-so-distant future. Additionally, I loved the LGBTQ representation in this episode. I also thought that Yorkie’s story was one that a lot of people would be able to relate to, especially in older generations. Many don’t act on their sexuality for their whole lives out of fear of being publicly shamed, and Yorkie’s story is a perfect example that it’s never too late to pursue what you love. Good job Black Mirror, you made me cry instead of jump, at least for one episode.

(get ready for lots of gifs, after that gif comment in class)

PART II: THE KILLING JOKE 

It’s no secret that I am not Batman’s biggest fan, but I really did enjoy this comic. Prior to this unit I was 100% team John Green on this debate. Batman doesn’t even have any powers what’s so great about him anyway?!?!

I still keep some of my opinions from BB (before Batman), for example, I still think that Batman would be nothing without his villains, especially the Joker, but I now think that I understand why people love him so much. No one person is purely good or purely evil, and that’s what Batman is all about, in my eyes anyway. I also like the way that Batman is depicted in this comic, especially compared to The Dark Knight Returns. Batman in this version is much more focused on actually helping people as opposed to “fighting his inner darkness”. The Killing Joke Batman is a Batman that I can get behind. He still has his dramatic voice overs, but they aren’t so ridiculously over the top and cheesy. I also really like the art work of The Killing Joke, and the panels are way easier to follow. AND THOSE MOVIE LIKE TRANSITIONS! For someone not too familiar with comics, the cinematic approach made reading The Killing Joke much more enjoyable for me.

I mentioned that I still believe that The Joker is the real star of Batman, and I think that this particular comic strengthens that argument. The reader gets a sense of how evil he really is, but also the extent of his sanity. He’s chosen insanity to avoid dealing with his trauma, and the reader is more sympathetic to the Joker because of this. “Ignorance is bliss”, and the Joker is really just this common saying to an extreme. He would rather not feel anything at all than feel the pain that he was subjected to in his life, and I think that everyone can understand that, regardless of whether or not they agree with his choice. I particularly love the quote “I’ve demonstrated there’s no difference between me and everyone else! All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day”. 

PART III: THE SHINING

I did see this movie before we watched it in class, and I watched it again after, but I really valued the discussion that came from our group screening. I wanted to watch The Shining because of its “classic” status, and it also helps that it’s ranked #60 on IMDb’s top rated films. In fact on IMDb, the tagline that’s posted is “a masterpiece of modern horror”. As soon as the word masterpiece is tied to something, there’s a 99% chance I’m going to want to check it out, yes I’m a pretentious snob like that. 

I think part of the reason that I love this movie is that I’m not one who’s immediately turned off by a complicated and ambiguous story line, in fact it intrigues me. The Shining was like this year’s Psycho for me. It checked off all of the things that I would want from a movie: a unique score, dedication to character, innovative shots, and a plot that makes you think. Having a recognizable score is an amazing feat in filmmaking, and I think that The Shining accomplished that. Sure, you probably wouldn’t be able to hum a few bars like you could Jaws, or Star Wars, but you know it when you hear it, and knowing it when I heard it landed me a quick chat on twitter with one of my favourite social media personalities. It’s pretty crazy to me that Jonah Green was mentioned in my very first blog post over 2 years ago, and I’m still an active supporter of him to this day. Jonah has stopped posting regular videos, but over the past few weeks he has been doing nightly livestreams where he’s been talking about some more thought provoking topics that people in the comments suggest. During one of these streams he walked through a room where someone was watching a movie, and I caught just a couple seconds of what sounded like The Shining. A couple of hours after the stream he tweeted that he would be chatting with people for a little bit while watching some horror movies, and what happened next is as follows:

(probably what my face looked like after that exchange // side note: how is Jack Nicholson’s face so simultaneously hilarious & horrifying??)

In summary I’d like to thank Kubrick, Mr. Edwards, and the Academy for this award. In all seriousness, this was cool, but really it’s a testament to the power of film! I’ve only seen this movie 3 times but I was able to recognize it from a small audio clip! That’s how you know you’re doing something right. The classic Kubrick ambiguity of this movie only makes me want to watch it again and again. The characters are so defined and fully realized that I would definitely be extremely uncomfortable around Nicholson in real life, or want to give Duvall a hug. The amount of continuous tracking shots made me so excited (I mean, Birdman is one of my favourite movies if that tells you anything). I’m not a horror movie junkie by any means, but this is a movie I know I will continue to enjoy for years. To finish off this section let’s take a listen to that bit of the score that I’ve been going on about shall we? (skip to about 3:58)

PART IV: GENGHIS KHAN

My favourite, everyone’s favourite. It’s finally made it’s return.

This is probably one of my favourite music videos of all time. When my good pal Lacy sent it to me and said “we should learn the dance”, I’m gonna be honest I wasn’t expecting too much. Little did I know that opening up that link would have such an impact on my life. 

If this weren’t sent to me, I can almost guarantee I would’ve never stumbled upon the masterpiece of Genghis Khan (the video, not the cruel emperor). Honestly though, all jokes aside, I think this is a great video for a few reasons. 

1. That dance sequence really is spectacular, 10/10 choreography 

2. It showcases a family with two dads in a normal (ish) way

3. Catchy tune 

4. The song is much more meaningful alongside the video component

5. Face jewelry??

6. Visually pleasing shots with that 80s vibe again

7. Singing and dancing guards! Especially the little penguin flap move starting at 2:32

8. The best dance move ever at 2:55

9. Edwards put it on our grade eleven exam, which made me feel so much better after having an emotional break down from being late

10. The song never got too popular, so I don’t hate it for being overplayed 

As a gift to the world, I cut a particular clip which is my favourite part of the whole video, so I hope you like it.

PART V: EDWARDS

Here we go. What a crazy journey we’ve been on together, am I right ladies? I totally copied Brynne with this one, but there’s no other way I’d rather finish off this post. Edwards, we’ve been sharin’ laughs together since ‘13, how crazy is that? Back when I was obsessed with Grey’s Anatomy and the bottoms of your jeans weren’t ripped to shreds. Man those were the days. One thing that I won’t forget from grade nine is getting an essay back after you marked it and seeing scribbles all over the front page. My first thought was “wow, that bad?” but it turned out it was just the art of your son who wanted to help you mark. To tell the truth, I think you probably added a couple chicken scratches for your own satisfaction, but that’s beside the point.

Sadly, I’ve only got two other chicken scrath- I mean yearbook signatures from you (what was grade nine &ten me thinking??) but they’re pure gold.

I don’t think I’ll ever live down this Grey’s Anatomy thing, but don’t worry, I’m not cringing as hard as Kepner is about it.  Also, you’re eating your words now huh? You WISH I didn’t take your grade 12 class, you gotta be careful what you put out into the universe!

I’m only kidding, I know I’m your favourite student, and yes, I know that you can’t reply to this post to deny it. I really just wanted to give you the shoutout that you deserve for putting up with me for 5 WHOLE YEARS. Think of all the time you could have saved only marking normal-length blog posts instead of the novels that you get from me. Think of all of that time you could’ve spent making fun of other kids instead of just me (and Brynne obviously, you are ruthless with that one). Think of all of the laughter that you’d have accumulated within you because you weren’t exposed my quick wit and hilarious jokes. I wanted to thank you for always being there to share a laugh, a new video, or a difficult conversation. You’ve done so much for so many students and I know that I will never forget the impact you’ve had on my life as not only a teacher, but a role model. I actually remember the first day of high school, I was doing a tour of the building with my link crew leaders and as we were walking through the english hallway one of them asked, “Do any of you have Mr. Edwards this year?”. I looked down at my timetable and sure enough, there you were for second period english. They then said something like “Aw he’s an awesome teacher, you’re gonna love him”, but that was such an understatement. I know that I will be added to the bottom of the never ending list of kids who comes back to visit you, but I don’t mind. You’ll be at the top of my list of teachers who inspired me to be unapologetically myself, and that’s something I can’t thank you for enough. 

Alright, we’ve made it to that part of the post where I talk about the best Viral Friday submissions and I’m very proud to say that the class actually liked my picks this year. So, since I don’t have to fight anyone, I can simply appreciate the best submissions from the whole class (my own included obviously)

[oddlymysteriousphoenix]

#74 (#2) 1:59pm July 14

-October 22 2:56pm Eh, today had been a bit better compared to other days. I realize I’ve been lazy and haven’t been writing much on here. I will promise for now on, it has been pretty rough since last Friday since my sadness hit on of it’s lowest points again. Blegh, this year I’ve lost more than what I’ve gained so far. I don’t plan to live long if the trend continues for the rest of this year and the next. I miss all my close Xbox friends, it’s my fault I’m currently avoiding them. I think they’re happier without me and their happiness is all I care about (for the most part). On the bright side, I’ve managed to get some inspiration to continue my skills on guitar, drawing and ‘’singing’’ (I can’t sing). The motivation came from a reference from an old movie which ‘’predicted’’ October 21 2015. (Back to the Future 2, 1985) The actor who played the crazy scientist recorded a video containing these words: ‘’Great Scott! If my calculations are correct, it is now precisely October 21, 2015. The future has finally arrived. Yes, it is different than we all thought. But don’t worry. It just means your future hasn’t been written yet. No one has. Your future is whatever you make it so make it a good one.’’ His last words probably hit me more than others since I love ‘’Back to the Future’’. It’s one of my favorite movies. I recently watched ‘’Bridge of Spies’’ this past weekend. I thought it was a great movie, especially for not making the Russians the ultimate bad people during the Cold War. (Movie set during the height of it). Asides from movies, I’ve managed to gear from my gf’s voice after weeks of not hearing it. It stuck me to my heart to hear how depressed she was.  Thought the call cut out, I was able to treasure the bitter sweet voice I was able to hear. Like always, she’s my everything. I just hope she can beat her illness… -3:31pm -October 27 7:32pm Today’s the day of my 33rd monthly anniversary with my gf! Plus, today is when Halo 5 is finally out after all these years. I might get it tonight or tomorrow I cant wait to play it. Aside from that I’ve been having a rough week. Ive gotten so much of tests and homework, I’m pretty sure I’m off to a bad start. My depression loves to get the best of me. Sometimes I think my life is useless and Ill never be good enough. Suicidal thoughts? Yes, plenty of them as each minute fades to the past. I’m still waiting if life really does get better, things have been pretty flat with some downs. I still feel numb from the constant bombings of my thoughts. I’m still unhappy with my life, not even improving in my hobbies. I play guitar like a child, I sing like a whale and my drawings would be great to be used as toilet paper on how crappy it is. Ugh, at least all of my friends are doing well. Sosa (basically only school friend) has been doing great since he’s been hanging out with this one girl. She sounds pretty friendly from what I’ve heard of her from him. I’m just concerned things might go wrong between them, resulting them to not to speak to each other (Im sure they wouldn’t have sex, she’s a lesbian, at least for now).  I hope the best for him. He’s a great guy for certain. I don’t know how my other friends are doing, I haven’t talked to them due to my ‘’exodus’’. I hope they’re all okay. Lastly, but for best, I THINK my doing fine. Depressed, still? Yeah. Busy? Yeah. Do I still love her? Always and eternity. Happy 33rd anniversary, my love. My everything… 8:00pm P.S. = Te amo

- November 4 7:12pm Well, this week has been alright. Anyway! I got Halo 5 and beat the campaign on the same day. My opinion for the story: It was alright, I mean, some parts were just great, yet I think the story could’ve been so much better. Cortana… Ugh, I’m speechless, I can’t believe what happened to her. She didn’t seem right when she first appeared. She changed. It pains me to know after what Master Chief tried to do to get Cortana back, he couldn’t. Cortana went off her own path on what she thought was right. Master Chief asks ‘’Where’s Cortana?’’ Spartan Locke replies ‘’She’s gone. He stares at Locke with his broken visor. Then, Cortana causes havoc. More scenes passes by, then the credits. The music plays on only to leaves us guessing what’ll happen soon. (Break) -11:16pm. Well, I forgot to continue, woops. Ill write more soon. I have a lot in mind at the moment. - November 11 6:20pm

Ah, this day had been lonesome. Monday and Tuesday has been alright. Yet, Tuesday after school I realized something. I’m worth nothing. Ugh, I’m basically depressed. On Xbox, Stori has been distant. It’s like she doesn’t like my presence anymore. She’s been hanging out with ‘’Skitz’’ and ‘’G’’ (both Xbox names just shortened) so much. I don’t understand why. I understand G is online all the time and so is Stori, but I guess G has convinced Stori to get away from me. G and I haven’t talked in weeks., he’s a horrible person. If only Stori would notice, it bothers me greatly. I know G wants me dead, he told Seeker and Stori that I should commit suicide. Ugh, he disgusts me. I don’t plan to talk to him, but Ill do it if it prevents me from losing Stori. As of now, my best friends are Seeker, Dj, and Sosa, the school friend. Skitz and G can just be gone, they’re rotten apples to me. Useless and unwanted, I despise them immensely. It’s blatant that G hates me, you can feel the vibe of it. Well, sorta, I’m just exaggerating here. My gf says just to give it time. Which I will, since I can’t be against what makes my friend happy. I just miss Stori and Dj and Seeker being around. Nowadays, it’s just me all alone. Sosa is suicidal, but ‘’his’’ girl should help out a lot. Even though she’s a lesbian, things can change. As for my Erin (GF), she’s doing just fine. I still think she’s fine without me. I still love her. All the time she. She’s my universe. Yeah, she’s happy with me, but I feel I’m not good enough. I never have felt it, I’m nothing. Hell, I haven’t done anything that adds worth to me. Everyone else is just better than me no matter how little they try. I’m invisible, I’m no one and nobody. Suicide has been constant in my mind, but I live for others. Ill keep living until (Break, mom’s here, 7:01pm) 10:43pm They’re all gone from my life and gone from their thoughts. As for now, they’re here and I should enjoy their presence while I can. They’re family. MY family, the one I always wanted… 10:46Pm P.S. I had no school today.

-November 13 6:43pm

Each day of each hour has its sweets and sours. Days and nights where they feel the same. Today is bittersweet. I’ve managed to speak to my Love on Skype. She’s perfect as always, I love her greatly. She’s still largely insecure about our love. She feels like one day Ill send her a breakup text, which will never occur no matter what situation. I love her. Before that, she was talking about her being pregnant with triplets, in her dream. Saying how it went and how our family was there, both friend and biological. She spoiled me with kisses as we  chatted, she’s just perfection. I could never ask for more, only for us to be together soon. T took some screenshots to store the memories for the near future. Yet, as of now, I’m lonely. Erin is off doing something and I’m alone on Xbox as well. A couple of minutes ago I’ve been noticed that France is under terrorist attacks. It’s so interesting to know how everything can change so easily in just one hour. I’m afraid what will happen afterwards especially the refugees. I know most Europeans will be swayed towards anti-Islam thinking gen realizing the enemy and hurting the innocent. I’ve observed many tragedies, I hope this doesn’t lead them to chaos. If it does, time will tell. The choices of the people will determine the future of a country. As for now, I guess I’ll have another lonesome Friday. As my friends have fun, as my love carries on, I’ll be here. Hoping for the best in each of us. 7:05pm

-November 17 10:52pm

Ah, Im here doing homework Ill probably sleep at 12. Quick review of this week from last Friday/ Terrorist attack on France, soon later saw ‘’Forrest Gump’’ for the first time. I loved it. Saturday, I managed to get close to Stori on Xbox. It was just her, Seeker and me. She told me how G was still angry at me from a long ago event. She’s been trying to think otherwise. Plus, she reminded me on how Im still important to her. Oh, before that Seeker and Stori got into a small brawl over her different laughter which he wasn’t used to. Though it kinda killed the party mood, it soon recovered. I just feel bad for Seeker since I’m the only one that knows him seriously. As he said, being a jokester causes people not to take him seriously. He’s a great gut, I just wish he was valued more by people. We all stayed up to around 4 A.M. . It  was great, also my GF called on Skype to 3:11-3:13 to 3:14-28 Am. She mumbled mostly through all. Sunday was all work. This week has been okay besides having a lot of work to do. My Gf and I talked again which made me very happy. She’s perfect. Well, I need to focus on my work now. I’m so sleepy… 11:10pm

-November 24 12:55am

Ah, what a pleasant week it has been Friday. Guitar playing, gaming on Xbox One, talking to my Perfect Love and best friends, as well as drawing. I, for once, feel like I’m making progress in my life. Maybe Ill start writing a song since my mom has been awfully occupied with babysitting. Yet, it leaves the place to me. I don’t mean that as a selfish way, more in a way to be able to express what I love to do. As of now, I’m listening to ‘’FoxBoro HotTubs’’ which is basically ‘’Green Day’’ under another name. As nerdy and childish it sounds, I hope to be as great as them or even more. I love their songs as most would already know. I most certainly would cherish in being in a band and becoming a songwriter along with a couple of hobbies on the side. Even though I contain no pride or self esteem, it’s still something I want to go for. If I’m not able to reach that dream, then I’m not sure what’ll become of my. I’m sure I’ll be married to the girl who I love now, Erin. Skyping her for an hour was fantastic, 11:32pm-12:33pm. She makes me feel complete and I fly with joy knowing she’s beside me at all times. She’s perfection. Aside from that, I’ll update my family. Stori has being doing great compared to her bad things. One of her best friends has come over to visit her for the week. As from latest knowledge, they went to a birthday party. Bubba has been doing just fine, nothing negative that I’ve seen. He’s still trying to get his Canadian girl named Cristina, she’s sweet and happy usually. I wish him luck, even after about one or two years chasing after her. I introduced her to Bubba way back on Xbox, first met her sister then Cristina on GTA V on the Xbox 360. Anyway, Sosa has been doing well, I think. I texted him a bit today, still with his ‘’French’’ girl. Rose is okay, I sadly haven’t talked to her much. I plan to talk to her more, I don’t want to lose her. She means too much to me, she’s part of the family. I’m doing a drawing for her to cheer her up. She’s okay, but not well. I want her to know that I’m still beside her in her hardships. We’ll that’s about it. I’m off to play some Halo 5 or Black Ops 3. I desire for days like this are soon to arrive. 1:45Am

-3:26pm