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thetransguard-archive · 4 years ago

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couldnt find the promt posts but: joenicky monster/supernatural au? i absolutely adore ur writing btw💕

you cannot hand me the word supernatural and not expect me to think of buzzfeed unsolved RGEHFBRWFHKJL im sorry this turned into a ghost hunter’s au i just don’t know how to write vampires or werewolves or whatever else constitutes supernatural

nicky does not believe in ghosts.

so why is he standing in front of a long-abandoned house, carrying several hundred dollars worth of largely useless equipment, wearing a shirt emblazoned with a big cartoon ghost? he tells himself it’s a favour being returned. his room mate, lykon, is endlessly more enthusiastic then he is, mumbling to himself as he fiddles with the camera that was paid with money that probably should’ve gone to rent.

“don’t look so worried nicky,” lykon says, as they step inside the threshold. his best friend flashes him a wide grin which is immediately contradicted by the alarming creak of the floorboard under his foot. “we’ve got holy water and everything else. we’ll just check to see if there are any ghoulies in here, they can’t hurt us.”

“you know i think this is a load of horseshit. i’m more worried about the house collapsing on our heads.”

“don’t be dramatic, dude. it’s in perfectly good shape.”

as they start setting up lights, laying out their sleeping bags for preparation of sleeping the night in this place, nicky is forced to admit there’s a sort of melancholy beauty to the place. it would have been a very nice house, once, not too ostentatious like the other houses they’ve “investigated”, with high ceilings and large windows, and stunning art covering the walls. landscapes, bowls of fruit, studies of fire and light and the night sky. but not a single person. nicky notices the same sprawling signature on all of the art, and steps closer to see if he can make out a name-

“nicky! let’s start recording.”

lykon begins unrolling the backstory of this house and the ghost allegedly haunting it, and nicky interjects throughout, punctuating the otherwise dead serious narrative with bursts of skepticism and humour, the way they’ve always done. lykon’s little ghost hunting channel is small now but getting bigger every day, and nicky can’t say he doesn’t enjoy it, verbally sparring with his best friend. lykon’s a believer and nicky isn’t, and while they’ll argue fiercely on camera they agree in pretty much every way off screen. apparently this house used to be home to an artist who’d been slowly making his way up in the art world before being murdered mysteriously. with no convictions, the story went that people were compelled to stay away from the house, wouldn’t be able to write without doodling, and smell fresh paint. also the standard doors opening and closing on their own, lights turning on and off, footsteps and the like. nicky was not exactly enthused to spend a night on the dusty floor, but hey. it beat sitting on the couch watching reruns of the same bland reality tv shows.

nicky’s halfway through a longwinded joke when lykon jolts like he’s been zapped, hand gripping nicky’s forearm, eyes darting around in sudden fear.

“what? dude, let go.” he elbows lykon in the ribs gently to get his attention back. “hello? what happened.”

“swear i heard a laugh, from upstairs, maybe,” he replies, face furrowed in concentration. he flashes a smile at the camera. “alright, i think we got all the background done. lets investigate.”

predictably, they find nothing. well, nothing of worth to nicky, but lykon insists that the room that used to be the studio feels colder then the rest of the house, they hear noises from inside the room once they leave it, and the spirit box spits up a few noises that lykon insists are words. a pretty standard investigation, then. they pack up their stuff and tuck in for the night. lykon spends half of it jumping at every little noise, but eventually drifts off as the exhaustion of the drive here finally gets to him. nicky turns over in his sleeping bag, hoping to salvage at least a few hours of rest from the night, but-

is that paint?

nicky breathes in as hard as he can, and it’s unmistakeable, that scent of chemicals that reminds him very vividly of the disaster that was year seven art class. he sits up, rubs his eyes. lykon doesn’t stir and nicky sniffs again. it’s still clear and strong, and now that his ear isnt pressed against the pillow, he can hear faint clattering, like the lid of a paint tin being wedged off. it’s coming from upstairs, where the artist’s studio would be, if he had to guess.

oh, fuck.

there’s a perfectly rational explanation for this, he reasons to himself, even as he crawls out of the sleeping bag to cram on some shoes and get a torch and a camera. he should probably wake up lykon, but something inside him is telling him, wait, to just see for himself first. maybe we disturbed the paint when we were in there earlier. an old house like this, it’s probably just settling. hell, there’s probably raccoons in the roof, or something. ghosts aren’t real.

the studio is... not how they had left it. it had been such a sad space, everything covered up in white sheets, shelves of paints covered in dust. now, the room is strangely warm, like the summer sun had spent a few hours streaming in through windows that were now uncovered, the night visible through dusty panes of glasses. there is an easel set up, with an empty, clean canvas about the size of a dinner table on it. and on the floor, a thin, fine paintbrush rocks back and forth, like it had just been dropped.

this was entirely too much weirdness for nicky’s brain to handle, but he wasn’t giving up on his hard line stance on ghosts just yet. strangely enough, he doesn’t really feel afraid at all.

“if this is a prank,” he says, deliberately loud in the empty room, as he bends to pick up the paintbrush. the tip of it is still wet, and the paint looks black on his fingertips. “if this is a joke, lykon, i swear-”

hi, nicky.

the words appear abruptly on the canvas, a rushed hand like whoever’s writing isn’t sure if they can keep it going. nicky almost drops the paintbrush he’s holding, but steps closer. the paint is still wet on the canvas, and it’s the same dark shade as the stuff on the brush. he shines his torch at it. it’s a very dark blue, not a black like he’d first assumed, the colour of a twilight sea.

“what the fuck,” he mumbles to himself, touching the canvas. it’s just fabric on wood. what the fuck.

did i scare you? i didn’t want to do that.

"i’m not scared,” he says, feeling oddly giddy. “this is a very strange dream.”

i promise it’s not a dream. tah-dah! ghosts are real. i am one of them.

as whoever it is writes, they doodle around their letters with incredible skill, little birds and flowers and suns circling their words. it’s strangely endearing. the paint smell gets stronger and nicky finds that he does not mind.

“what’s your name?” he asks, remembering that he is technically a ghost investigator and he should probably be doing some investigation. his phone is left forgotten in his pocket, though. he doesn’t know if he should be recording this or not.

joe, joseph, but it’s yusuf, really. the art world of my time was not quite ready for a name like mine, but i suppose it doesn’t matter anymore.

“you’re the artist, then.”

who else would i be? as far as i can tell i am the first, last and only death of this house.

“you were murdered.”

yes, but can we not talk about that? it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

the last full stop of yusuf’s sentence is darker then normal, like he’s pressed harder. nicky touches a finger to the canvas.

“i’m sorry. i won’t bring it up again.”

thank you.

nicky takes a step back, the room is lightening around him. he hadn’t realised it earlier, but the windows of this room all face east, which is why he supposes yusuf chose it to be his studio. on some level, a part of him is wondering why he isn’t screaming and running to get lykon right now. he really isn’t afraid, though. yusuf hasn’t meant him any harm.

“why did you choose to talk to me? we were up here earlier.”

it’s harder when more alive people are in my room. you take up so much energy. the handwriting pauses, like yusuf is considering. and most people are so afraid. i’ve tried talking to others before, but they get so scared. you didn’t seem frightened at all.

“that’s because i didn’t believe in any of this stuff.” nicky presses a finger to yusuf’s words, just to check. his finger comes away dark blue. “part of me still think i’m dreaming, though.”

well, you can’t see reflections in dreams, i’ve heard. there’s a mirror behind you.

nicky turns to see a sheet drop off a large standing mirror in an ornate frame, and sure enough, he can see his face, a pale shape in the darkness of the room. he steps closer, and skids a finger over the glass, leaving a smear of paint behind. not a dream, then.

he feels a gust of air, warm, behind him and he turns. nothing but the canvas. when he turns back, that’s when he sees him.

he’s about the same height and build of nicky, standing just behind him and to the side. handsome, a full beard and a rueful smile and curls, and eyes that are the kindest nicky has ever seen. and the most startling thing- he is opaque. his head and shoulders are more or less solid, but his torso peters out into nothing at all.

“ghosts are real,” he says, to the spectre in the mirror, dumbfounded, and yusuf’s half-smile widens to a proper grin. he does a little wave in the mirror and something in nicky’s chest swells. he smiles back.

“your friend downstairs is waking up.” a breath, barely a whisper in his ear. and sure enough, noises from below. he can almost hear the sound of his name.

“i won’t tell him about you, if you don’t want me to,” he says, and yusuf shrugs, flickering.

“i don’t mind, but i'd rather you not. the more people come in here, the harder it is to... exist.”

nicky can hear footsteps on the stairs now, and he blurts out, quickly, before this bizarre moment is over, before he is thrust back into the mundane of his normal life. “we’re leaving now. can i come back, sometime?” and the thing is, he really wants to, wants to know this strange, sad ghost with messy handwriting and beautiful art, and kind, kind eyes. he has so many questions. what’s it like, being a ghost? are you lonely in this house? and, why do you not have any paintings of people? yusuf meets his eyes in the mirror and smiles again.

“i’d like that.”

“nicky!” the door opens and nicky blinks, his hands dropping to his sides. lykon sweeps his gaze around the room looks at him with a raised eyebrow. the canvas, nicky is stunned to realise, is now as clean and blank as when he’d walked in.

“c’mon man, you know we’re not allowed to mess with this stuff.” lykon steps forwards and plucks the paintbrush out of his hand, the tip still wet with paint, and sets it on the easel. “you said it yourself, nothing in here now. we’ve gotta get going.”

“sì, of course. i was just... looking around. it’s a beautiful room.”

his room mate just gives him a look. “uh okay. whatever, man. let’s go.”

before nicky leaves, he picks the paintbrush back up again, tucks it into his pocket. says to the empty room, slowly filling with light and colour from the rising sun, “i’ll be back, yusuf, i promise.”

the faint ghost of laughter as he walks out feels, somehow, right.

#the old guard #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #lykon #kaysanova #joe x nicky #usercacau #usershan #userlyde #userkayla #tuseradriana #anonymous #ask #reply #OOF what did i just write........... i dont know <3 #maybe i have backstory for all of them. maybe. what about it #my writing #mine #the ghost au

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rodpupo2 · 4 years ago

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Research: Project Finish

Tim Sale

Tim Sale is a famous comic book artist, who had worked in several titles along with the writer Jeff Loeb, including Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, Daredevil, and many others.

Tim Sale was born in may of 1956, in New York, where he studied visual arts, spent a good time of his life in Seattle, and today he lives in California.

For some years he drew his art privately, only to please himself. When he found himself working at a fast food in his late twenties, however, he decided to try to sell some of his work. This led to an association with Thives’ World Graphics, a fantasy anthology series, where he illustrated stories.

What most marks his work is the dramatic aspect that he manages to obtain in the characterization of his characters and in the scenarios he creates, making the stories unique and immortalizing the characters.

The union of Sale’s art with Loeb’s engaging narrative has become the perfect marriage for mysterious plots.

One of the most striking characters worked by Sale was Batman, which he drew “The Long Halloween”, “Dark Victory” and “Halloween”. He was able to fully transfigure the dark aura of Gotham and his Dark Knight. He also worked with Superman in the saga “ Superman for All Seasons”.

Both of The Long Halloween and For All Seasons are what is known as “Year one” comics. These works take their heroes back in time to their earliest days of crime fighters.

His main tool is watercolor, which he uses with mastery. Sale's palette of colors is something really impressive, always drawing and painting his characters very delicately, and calmly. His style is very cartoonish, although this does not diminish his art in any way, on the contrary, his style is very unique and characteristic.

Pedro Franz

Is a Brazilian comic book artist, who was born in Santa Catarina and has a degree in design.

He has been publishing several comic books and participating in exhibitions in Brazil and abroad. As an illustrator, he has published works several magazines and books, and regularly collaborates with the Piauí magazine. As a graphic designer, he is a contributor to the Par (Ent) Esis platform. He has comics translated and published in English and Spanish, and has good international recognition, thanks to his publications.

But what is most impressive in Pedro's art, perhaps is his intensive use of colors. Mixing various shades of different colors, mixing different compositions. In addition to sometimes using characters from pop culture, with his elaborate style.

Despite liking traditional comics, he has always published and worked for national publishers, often with authorial works.

Perhaps his best known work, which was even published in the United States is the comic “Suburbia”.

Suburbia tells the story of Conceição, a girls daughter of enslaved rural workers, who flees to Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s. In the city, Conceição begins to work as a cleaner and to get involved in the world of funk, slums and poverty.

His drawings are extremely surreal, not exactly following a traditional way of making comics, with several images spread across the page, with different shapes and sizes, with extremely strong colors, mainly valuing blue, purple, yellow and red, as his main colors.

Richard Corben

Richard Corben was one of the contributors of elevating the comics to the category of Art, and of its unparalleled style of great influence among many current artists.

Richard Vance Corben was born in Missouri, United States on October 1940, in a family of farmers in the middle west ( where he started reading comics), and lived in Kansas City. There he studied Fine Arts, got married, had a girl and started working in local cinematography animation company. At the same time, he started to create and publish some underground fanzines. From the begging it was clear that he was interested in science fiction, eroticism, and total rejection of institutions ( the Army, the Church, etc), mixed with a lot of humor.

At a young age, Corben was an aficionado of bodybuilding, just like everyone who was interested in a persons aesthetics. The first character that he created, was Rowlf, a dog who took on a human form. In the beginning of the 1970s he amplified his work ( and his fame) in some underground magazines. And in 1971 he started working for the Heavy Metal publisher where he created one of his most famous characters, Den a large muscular man, who was always naked, and always after some adventure.

Corben has a very particular style, with unsettling mixture of caricatured, often satirical grotesque and intense,convincing realism. Never before had such wildly cartoonish worlds proved so convincing.

Also he can handle an exponentially higher standard because of his ability to use colour to show the effect of light on whatever he’s depicting. The way that he mixes light and colors in certain panels to differentiate those elements from each other, is something to admire.

Corben worked in a few mainstream comics, he always preferred to work with authorial works or working in specific themes like fantasy and science fiction comics and not so much on superheroes.

But probably the most famous mainstream comic that ever worked was the character Hellboy, along with writer Mike Mignola.

Hellboy is a series of comics that has a lot of mysticism, Norse mythology, horror and monsters. Something Corben certainly agreed to do, without thinking twice.

Richard Corben is one of my favorite artists, with a style that is perhaps not as realistic as an Alex Ross for example, but the humor and beauty that he puts in his characters is very unique.

Corben died on December 2, 2020, leaving a great legacy, for the world of comics and arts, with a very unique style and extremely stunning worlds.

Charlie Allard

Charlie Adlard is a British comic book artist, who have worked on the comic industry for over 25 years. He spent the majority of his time since 2003 working in The Walking Dead along side with writer Robert Kirkman , until the last issue on 2019 He started reading comics when he was very young, and he said that he was very lucky to have influences of American comics and the more high art, such as Asterix and Tin Tin. He was fascinated by European comic books artists like Moebius, Alberto Uderzo and Herge. He started his career as many British artists and writers, working on 2000 AD, with characters such as Judge Dredd, Armitage and eventually Savage. In the United States he started working with the X Files, Astronauts in trouble, and of course The Walking Dead. Adlard started in The Walking Dead from issue 7, and brought a slightly different style, from the previous artist. Adlard's art is very cartoonish, but the universe of The Walking Dead still doesn't get silly because of it. Quite the opposite, the dirt and rot that Adlerd puts on his characters and the world, only sustains what a horrible world it is to live in. Many readers complain about Adlard's style, being very simple, that his characters are very similar, and sometimes it is difficult to identify them. But I believe that although his style does not vary much, when it comes time to show a horde of zombies, a devastated city, people feeling despair, and extremely disturbing scenes, Adlard manages to excel. Adlard's main tool is ink. All The Walking Dead magazines are in black and white, and he manages to give a lot of depth to the scenarios and characters using only a few ink stains. Today Adlard is doing some comics, mainly for DC, but says that he does not intend to work with Kirkman and zombies again, because he wants to explore other themes, and to innovate his drawing skills.

Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid was one of the most important and well known figures in contemporary architecture and design. With a singular trajectory, marked by a versatile, bold and out of the box style, she was the first woman to receive Pritzker Prize for architecture and was also the only female representative honored by the Royal Institute of British Architects with a golden medal. Zaha Hadid was born in Iraq, more precisely in the city of Halloween, in Bagdá, in the year 1950. Her family was of high class, her father being an important politician and her mother an artist. Still young, she traveled and studied in other places of the world, like London and Switzerland, but it was in her native land the she got her first formation, when she graduated in mathematics. At the age of 22, in 1972, she enrolled in one of the most famous independent schools of architecture in London, and there she gave the starting point to her career by studying and creating an important connection with the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, a figure that encouraged her and opened the doors for opportunities. Later in the 1980s, Zaha Hadid decided to open her own office. This, Zaha Hadid Architects was born, which made her name and talent recognized worldwide. Known for her works with futuristic lines, clean and pure forms, as well as the fragmentation of architectural design. Her projects and discussions raise issues that put architecture and its future to the test. This is because the architect seeks in her works to interrelate design, architecture and urbanism. I knew Hadid and some of her works, but it was the recommendation of my teacher Lauren, that I should look for this architect. As my project takes place in the future, she recommended that I look at some works by Zaha Hadid to get inspiration when creating the scenario for the comic. I find it very interesting how her works have this futuristic aesthetic , because it reminds me of science fiction films like Blade Runner with those skyscrapers and buildings with different shapes and sizes that are extremely imaginative that could only exist in films. With unique works and projects, famous for their exuberance, futuristic elements, curves, non linear shapes, distortions and fragmentations, Hadid inspired and generated fascination both for her constructions around the world.

Syd Mead

Syd Mead was a designer, best known for working on films such as Aliens, Blade Runner, Tron and Star trek. Mead was born in Minnesota, United States, on July of 1933, but five years later he moved to a second house in the western of United States prior to graduating from High School in Colorado in 1951. Some years later, he did the Art Center School in Los Angeles, where he graduated with great distinction in 1959. He was immediately recruited by the Ford Motor Company. At Ford he worked in the advanced styling department, creating futuristic concept car designs. But his imagination went beyond cars and he began to imagine clothes, helmets, buildings and scenery from hyper advanced civilization. After Ford, he also worked in other big companies like Chrysler, Sony and Phillips. After that he started migrating to the concept art world of movies. Mead is really important for generation of writers of science fiction, because many of them were influenced by Mead’s colorful paintings. Mead never wrote a novel or short story. He imagined the future in his mind and turned that imagination into illustrations. In 1979 he designed the extraterrestrial spaceship for the first film “Star Trek” in the cinema. Ridley Scott called Mead to design the buildings and flying cars of the futuristic Los Angeles “Blade Runner” in 1982. In 1986 he was hired to design the space station and vehicles of the movie Aliens directed by James Cameron. Almost at the same time, the designer created the electronic world of “Tron” for Disney studios. The same ones who hired him in 2014 to design the futuristic city of “Tomorrowland”. Mead died in 2019 after three years of lymphoma, he was 86 years old. He was a great influence for many designers and science fiction writers and illustrators, due for his creative worlds and automobiles , Elon Musk quotes Mead as one of his major influences, on visions of the automotive future and design in general.

Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson

Transmetropolitan is a comic written by the British writer Warren Ellis and the American illustrator Darick Robertson, published by the Vertigo label, and falls within the cyberpunk genre, and the problems that rampant technology will cause us.

Throughout the 60 issues of Transmetropolitan, Ellis and Robertson build a chaotic and brilliantly alive future, presenting a sci-fi society with a peculiar mix of elements of cyberpunk, political dystopias, bioengineering and transhumanism, sexuality, economics and much more.

In a dystopia, in a not so distant future, the journalist Spider Jerusalem is isolated for fiver years in a hut in the forest, but he has to return to the city to earn some money.

Throughout the comic, amid a nihilistic aura that humanity has no salvation, the author- Warren Ellis - criticizes the consumerism and futility. The illustrations, of Darick Robertson, is full of excesses as the environment should be, a brand of the style of the 1990s.

The search for the truth is the central theme of this work, and in the midst of all this we found ourselves in a investigative odyssey that involves the lowest scum of that society ( thieves, murderers and rapists) until reaches the highest of the scum ( the presidency).

This background allows the work to touch on the most profound social themes, and without fear of saying what needs to be criticized, this is where Transmetropolitan shines, and provoke deep reflections on issues such as racism, the influence of media, the power of religions, the education, and many other themes.

In short, Transmetropolitan dissects and criticizes everything, it points out the flaws, the lies and the hypocrisy of each one. It’s a study about the problems of democratic society in the 21th century.

Jon Mcnaught

Jon Mcnaught was born in 1985, London, England. He work with drawing comics, and work as an illustrator, printmaker and lecturer. After spending several years on the Falkland Islands during his childhood, which will inspire his second book, Pebble island. The book pass years after the war, where he tries to recreate his childhood, with aspects of his curiosity, when he was exploring abandon bunkers, where it was just part of landscape, or somewhere where he could play. His work has essentially been landscape print-making (often situated in the city), but with quite simple intention of capturing the sense of space, light, time etc. His work is mostly about that, places that he was interested in depicting, and trying to reproduce the visual. He want the characters to feel like elements of a landscape or an environment ( he preferes to focus more on the background, than the characters itself). But usually he uses figures and postures to suggest expressions rather than close ups showing facial features. What I like about Mcnaught's work is that they are simple designs, but the colors are very vivid. The way he constructs the scenarios is very invective, because it doesn’t need to be extremely detailed, he just needs a few lines to show what he is talking about.

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wearesorcerer · 4 years ago

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[5e] 9th-Level Spells

You may be wondering why I’m starting my review of 5e spells with the highest level spells available. That’s simple: you only get one.

The 5e Sorcerer table isn’t quite like the 3.x one, but it is like the 3.5 Warlock and Psion: at any given level, you can known X spells and have Y spell level as your maximum. The table is elegant, but you have to know to level your character from first level rather than reading the table straight across if you’re making a higher level character. (I’ve made this mistake many a time. It’s why I dislike this sort of table: it looks nice but isn’t actually helpful.)

If you’re trying to have as many spells of the highest available spell level as possible, you would have from 0th to 9th 6/3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1. I find it easier to work backwards in this case, as you can say “I want to reserve X spells known for higher-level spells” and then figure out how many low-level ones you can have instead of getting to a higher level and running into a corner.

The question with 9th-level spells is not “what’s good?” because they’re all good. Rather, it’s “what’s worth taking as my single most powerful class feature?” That should narrow things down a lot.

Primary List

gate · mass polymorph · meteor swarm · power word kill · psychic scream · time stop · wish

I’ve written about wish and time stop ZA WARUDO! (time crunchy noises), but not in the context of 5e. Wish has changed substantially; time stop hasn’t. You have a few options, but the majority of them are boom-boom.

Gate: you can hold open an interplanar portal for as long as you concentrate (up to a minute) at the cost of a 5,000 gp diamond; if you know the name of a specific creature, you can use the spell to summon that creature. For some odd reason, gate is both the most Warlock spell in the game besides planar binding, yet is only a Warlock spell through a UA variant. For a Sorcerer, this could be useful, but you’re making your best spell cost you money every time you cast it. Strategically speaking, this spell is situational enough (read: a Wizard spell) that if you wanted it in the first place you should take it with the Ritual Caster feat, but for some reason this most obviously ritualistic spell isn’t a ritual. There are better uses for your spell known, but this is by no means a bad spell. Save for a scroll or something.

Mass Polymorph: you polymorph (Wis negates) up to ten creatures you can see within 120 ft. for as long as you concentrate (up to one hour), just like with polymorph. It incorporates animal shapes into it. If you want animal shapes, you should find a way of getting it instead: you don’t need a 9th-level spell slot for it (so can cast it more often -- 8th + 9th level spell slots), it lasts for 24 hours, and you can affect more creatures (30 ft. area = radius = 96 squares - the one you’re in = 95 Medium creatures [more if they’re smaller and squeezing together]). I don’t care for the concentration aspect of the 5e polymorph spells. I mean, I get the rationale, I just find it odd for this particular spell -- and I’d rather not give my opponent a tactical reason to target me. Pass.

Meteor Swarm: four fireballs fall from the sky and each deal 20d6 fire + 20d6 bludgeoning (Dex half; average 140 damage), setting everything they touch ablaze. Beautiful. I love meteor-style spells, so this is high on my list even though it’s a boom-boom spell and I’m not particularly boom-boom oriented. The best part of this is that it has a range of one mile, so you can destroy enemy armies without risking getting killed! Yay! Yes.

Power Word Kill: one creature within 60 ft. of 100 HP or less drops dead (no save). 100 HP is more than the average of many high-level characters, so unless the DM gave a boss max HP you can use this to kill even major opponents reliably. An optimizer will tell you that a spell without a save is something you should always take -- and would be correct insofar as it makes you more difficult to stop. I, however, dislike that mechanic: there’s almost no reason a spell shouldn’t have a save. This one should have the choice of Wis (resisting the mental influence) and Con (staying alive despite the heart attack/stroke/whatever). A very good spell, but I’d call it OP.

Psychic Scream: 10 creatures of Int 3+ within 90 ft. take 14d6 psychic damage and are stunned (Int half [damage]/negates [stunning]); their heads explode if they die. The beauty of this one is that it goes off of Int rather than Wis (meaning Wizards are the only targets you really need to worry about) and it automatically avoids friendly fire. Yes.

Time Stop ZA WARUDO!: you get 1d4 + 1 rounds to act, but the spell ends if anything you do (including effects you create) affect other creatures or objects someone else is wearing or carrying or you move more than 1,000 ft. from where you cast the spell. The main purpose of this spell is to buff yourself a lot, run the fuck away, or stack delayed blast fireballs to deal a buttload of damage. That’s all very nice, but it’s a continuation of the 3.0 nerf to the spell: in 2nd ed, you could pull a DIO and attack people or an Over the Hedge and steal things. Now for my main quibble. 3.5′s Player’s Handbook II had the celerity line of spells, which you could cast as an immediate action (choice of reaction or bonus action). Each one dazed (incapacitated) you afterward, but gave you an extra move (lesser), action (no prefix), or round (greater) to do with as you pleased. I’m willing to guess that there are similar spells in 5e. In 3.5, there were ways of becoming immune to dazing; maybe there’s a 5e-compatible build for that. Either way, as a 9th-level spell, I should get to throw knives at people to my heart’s content before dropping heavy objects (like steam road rollers) on them. Good, but I’m going to go to my grave complaining about the restrictions.

Wish: you can do practically anything, but you have a one in three chance of losing your ability to cast your highest-level spell. IT’S A TRAP!

For very personal reasons, I’m torn between meteor swarm and time stop, but psychic scream is also up there. I think power word kill is unfair, but I cannot say that it’s a bad spell. I don’t like mass polymorph, but I think that’s more me not liking how 5e deals with durations. Wish is too big of a risk for a Sorcerer: you have the chance of losing the most powerful class feature you get and have nothing else that can compensate for that loss (unlike a Wizard); it’s better as a scroll. Gate really should be a ritual, but it isn’t, and it’s expensive, so it really depends on how badly you need to move lots and lots of creatures or summon forth an Elder God.

Divine Soul (Cleric) List

astral projection · gate · mass heal · true resurrection

I’ve already covered gate, thankfully.

Astral Projection: exactly what it says on the tin for you and eight willing creatures. I have never understood why this spell is so high-level. Mechanically, it’s riskier and more expensive than casting plane shift, which is two levels lower. Thematically, it’s a mass version of an effect which in folklore is almost always caster-only, which makes no sense, and it’s at max-level when this is fairly standard practice for shaman and shaman-like figures. (Heck, that’s what a bunch of the associated drug culture is about!) Maybe someone can explain to me why you would want to use this spell. Pass.

Mass Heal: heal 700 HP divided as you choose among any number of creatures (except constructs and undead) you can see within 60 ft.; also cures them of all diseases, blindness, and deafness. On the one hand, this seems like a great spell with a raid or during a cataclysm. On the other, you can accomplish everything this does with lower-level spells. Pretty good, but maybe hold out for...

True Resurrection: a creature you touch (or whose name you speak) is restored to life and perfect health (no wounds, no missing limbs, cured of all diseases and poisons, freed from any curses), even if there are no remains, provided the creature has been dead for no longer than 200 years and is free/willing to return. PICK THIS ONE!

Variant List (UA)

Foresight: for eight hours, a creature you touch can’t be surprised, gets advantage on most d20 checks, and causes all creatures attacking it to roll with disadvantage. This is better than the 3.5 version, which was already very good. Yes, this. Very.

Really Cool Spells It’d Be Great to Take If You Could

Or me lamenting about the limitations of the Sorcerer list

imprisonment · invulnerability · power word heal · prismatic wall · ravenous void · shapechange · storm of vengeance · time ravage · true polymorph · weird

Imprisonment: you know any of those fairy tale/folklore/mythology spells that trap someone for, like, ever? This is it. (Combines the spell of the same name, maze, and binding from 3.5.) You’ve got options if you want to seal someone away -- and it lasts until you say otherwise. Sure, it’d be nice if it were a ritual, but it ain’t; you just gotta take a minute to cast it (and throw in 500 gp. of material per HD of the target).

Invulnerability: you are immune to damage for up to 10 minutes (at the cost of “a piece of adamantine” [in D&D, that’s closer to depleted uranium than it is to diamond] of 500+ gp.). Maybe you don’t like the cost for a spell of that level, but hey, invulnerability.

Power Word Heal: target (non-construct, non-undead) regains all HP; has the charmed, frightened, paralyzed, and stunned conditions removed; and can stand up as a reaction if prone. This is a Bard spell, but it’s on the Cleric and Druid variant lists, so probably is an option for Divine Souls. I can see it being handy, but you’d think mass heal would be a better choice.

Prismatic Wall: you conjure up a rainbow wall/sphere (as prismatic spray) that’s a bitch to get rid of. You want an abjuration? This is it.

Ravenous Void: a miniature black hole that needs some errata (how many spaces do creatures and objects getting sucked in move each round?). It’s ludicrously awesome, though.

Shapechange: other than true polymorph, this is what you want out of polymorphing magic.

Storm of Vengeance: let’s say you want all of the boom-boom of meteor swarm but are more meteorologically focused. Here’s your answer. You end up dealing an average of 49 damage (of three elemental types and bludgeoning) to each creature below a storm cloud (360 ft. radius) you conjure within sight. There’s an arbitrary distance beneath the cloud included, as it doesn’t say how far up the cloud has to be.

Time Ravage: you decrepify someone with timey-wimey magic -- but it’s somehow necromancy!

True Polymorph: you can transform almost anything into almost anything else. The limits on this spell are basically to keep you from thinking you’re a literal god and overall I’d think this would work better in a skill-based magic system, but nonetheless it’s quite clearly the best polymorphing spell in the game.

Weird: this is mass phantasmal killer. It’s directly comparable to psychic scream -- Illusion rather than Enchantment, fear rather than stunning, and more potential targets in a smaller burst instead of headsplosions.

#5e #spells

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frumfrumfroo · 5 years ago

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What are your favorite movies and TV shows outside of SW? I’m looking for new things to watch since SW was so disappointing

My tastes are pretty eclectic, so I will stick to just things that are either similar to sw or are in the reylo-esque romance wheelhouse and have happy endings:

Chuck. It is a goofy, light-hearted action-adventure show with extremely endearing characters and a very prominent central romance (seriously, heavy romance and there is a lot of payoff for it, you will be FED- it's kind of slow burn but also shockingly NOT slow burn, they are deep into it pretty much immediately). The main couple is the classic Stoic Badass gradually softened by an innocent they have to protect who is a liability in battle but full of the Power of Heart. Chuck is The Heart btw. He is of that vanishingly rare male Beauty (of B&tB) type. He's incredibly generous and open, Sarah is prickly and closed-off. It is Quality. Very much a gender-swap of your typical cliche anime couple lol. I would recommend stopping at the mid-season finale in season 4, because it's downhill from there. The beginning of season 3 is very rough, but it's definitely worth it to stay for the back half, imo. There are several great endings to choose from before things go to shit, so we don't need to talk about the finale. Probably the most tonally similar to SW thing possible without being high/space fantasy. More humour, more silly, but definitely has a spiritual kinship. Has the best THE BEST 'secret revealed' scenes I have ever seen in anything. If you're into that and were hoping for that in ep IX, you need to watch Chuck.

The Shop Around the Corner. 1940 romance/drama film. You've Got Mail is a remake of it. Jimmy Stewart being profoundly adorable, Frank Morgan (aka the Wizard of Oz), various amusing side characters, and an absolutely deathless double blind 'secretly in love with the workplace nemesis' plot that can and probably has been a great reylo AU.

Mirromask. Fantasy/coming-of-age film. Touted as a 'spiritual successor' to Labyrinth by the filmmakers (one of whom is Neil Gaiman) and let me tell you, that is extremely apt. Beautiful, magical, laden with symbolism and Mask Discourse, and has a great ship. I quote it regularly.

Speaking of which, I'm sure you've seen Labyrinth? If you haven't seen Labyrinth, drop everything and watch Labyrinth.

Legend (the Ridley Scott director's cut, not the theatrical cut). Sumptuous fairy tale, runs on proper fairy tale logic, stunning to look at and overall captivating. Tim Curry. Tim Curry as a lonely tragic lord of darkness who tries to seduce the heroine and has drippingly overwrought monologues.

Howl's Moving Castle. Fairy tale adventure/romance film. Beautifully animated, has the ending you want.

The Silence of the Lambs. Thriller/drama film. Actual masterpiece. Use it as a gateway drug to read the books and rejoice that Clannibal is canon and it is spectacular. Just SotL and Hannibal, you don't need to read the other two. Stan Clarice Starling and revel in that ending. Most triumphant 'villain'/heroine ship of all time (he is not technically a villain but for shorthand's sake).

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Terry Gilliam 1988 fantasy/adventure film. THE TRIUMPH OF IDEALISM OVER CYNICS I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW HEALING IT WAS TO WATCH AFTER THE TROS BULLSHIT HIT. Jonathan Pryce's spiritual villain is basically Chris Terrio and it is cathartic to see imagination and sentiment conquer him.

Sabrina. 1995 romance film. Modern fairy tale with Harrison Ford. Rejecting what you thought you wanted all your life for the thing you actually need, growing up but still believing in magic, beautiful character development across all the leads. Could be (and is irrc) a fantastic reylo AU.

The Scarlet Pimpernel. 1934 adventure film. High romance, secret identities, play-acting, people who aren't at all what they appear to be, falling in love with your own spouse, Big Heroism, guile and wit and audacity. It makes me do little kicks like a happy baby. This is one of the 3-5 films constantly tied for my favourite film of all time. There is a good quality rip free on youtube. Watch it and fall in love with Leslie Howard (this is possibly my favourite acting performance of all time).

Oh, related note. Pygmalion 1938 or My Fair Lady. (The musical is based on this film and borrows from it heavily, including its much more romantic ending compared to the original play.)

The Mummy. 1999 action/adventure/romance film. Very tonally similar to sw. A fucking great time, A+ characters.

EVER AFTER. 1998 romance film. The flawless and perfect and best ever Cinderella adaptation. This is the most satisfying film in history, maybe, the ending is so good it is amazing it exists. Also, it has Richard O'Brien being slimy. Huge selling point. Grapples with identity and stewardship, is brilliant.

Fruits Basket. drama/romance anime. I haven't watched the new version yet, but it's following the manga so I know the story. The original anime didn't do the whole plot (because they caught up with the source material) but it's wonderful and I still recommend it. The central ship is (spoiler.........) a B&tB type where we eventually discover the main love interest both feels like a figurative monster and turns into a literal monster. He has an incredible speech about his relationship with people's fear, it makes me weep. I called the endgame from the first episode and always thought it was obvious, but there is a red herring love triangle dynamic. It's really not annoying, though, because it is a red herring. (I hate love triangles)

I am Dragon. Russian monster romance film. Beautiful, simple fable with a really great heroine.

Jane Eyre. 1943 Gothic Romance film. It's Jane Eyre, byronic hero x sensible heroine love story with much atmosphere and Gothic drama. I stan this version because I am an Orson Welles fangirl and I'm also not convinced it can be improved upon. Elizabeth Taylor's film debut btw.

Hellboy. 2004 action/adventure/romance film. Defying destiny, reconciling identity, monster romance. The complete package and a great time. Tonally similar to SW and probably thematically closest to it out of this whole list. Don't watch the sequel.

Beauty and the Beast 1987 tv series. Exactly what it says on the tin. Deals with the classic B&tB themes, but in a different way. He's not cursed and will never transform into an ordinary man. The first season is very episodic and 'case of the week', but the second season gets more into character drama. It's dated, but if you give it a chance you can get past some of the cheese factor and it's really a unique experience. Its concerns are SO atypical that it feels like something fandom would make rather than a mainstream network show. It was so massively, insanely popular with women at the time that a record of Vincent (the beast) reading poetry topped the album charts. Also Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton. Stop at season two. Point of interest: George RR Martin wrote for this show.

Stargate (the movie not the series) sci-fi fantasy about a nerdy guy who accidentally a hero.

Possession. 2009... mystery/supernatural/romance. Okay. This is a whole thing. Lee Pace and Sarah Michelle Gellar. It's based on a Korean film I've never been able to find for some reason, but being Hollywood they ruined the romanticism and nuance of the original in the theatrical cut to make a shitty punative ending. However. If you buy it on dvd and go to the alternate ending (which follows the original story) with around 20 minutes left (scene after Lee Pace's character wakes from a bad dream-go to deleted scenes and select the alternate ending), you will get a very, very interesting character study/thriller/redemption about sincerity within deception, compassion, and a major question about second chances with a positive answer. It's kind of dark and kind of astonishingly idealistic at the same time. The heroine makes a very powerful choice, twice over. It's fascinating. If you're into the conflicted and uncertain period in reylo, the part where he is most ambiguous, and you wanted more of that and much darker shades to it, you might be really into this. Also, it should be noted, there is a MASSIVE height difference and they show it off. The film is flawed (and the seams show on the Hollywood rewrite) but idk, it's fascinating. Shocking to me that they even got to shoot the original ending. It is pretty balls to the wall with its themes on forgiveness.

I would recommend getting into kdramas because there is a wealth of female-gaze tropey amazing content, but always check the ending before getting invested. My all-time fave is the 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, but it's not sw related at all lmao. It has a happy ending with all the elements you'd want, but it's not satisfying in execution, so that's it's major flaw and I find that pretty common with kdramas. One that is maybe more relevant is My Love from Another Star, which has a hero who is a little bit like Ben in personality. The heroine isn't my favourite, though. It does have a decent ending.

Oh yeah- brain fart. Kurosawa films and classic westerns were both very influential on SW. Or you can combine both and watch The Magnificent Seven.

#this somehow ended up a wall of text??? I'm so embarrassed #anyway it should be fixed now #recs #anyway 40s movies are fantastic they used to CHURN OUT rom coms and even the bad ones are entertaining #and they were not in the romance ghetto they had prestige actors and directors #I don't know what happened and why this isn't done now because that shit was profitable #another edit:#I messed up my directions on Possession bc I first saw the alt ending on YouTube from the fridge point #but actually the full thing starts way earlier and covers more of the loose ends than I remembered #so I've fixed that now as well #(because I just rewatched it after writing this rec) and serious SERIOUSLY someone watch this movie and scream about it with me #I can't stress enough how important it is you switch to the alt ending and watch that INSTEAD of the theatrical cut but but but #If you do - OMG the ending is incredible #the coded conversation the subtle optimism #it is a meeting place where we Soft Reylos and the edgier villain/heroine stans can meet in the middle

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sharonperfumes · 4 years ago

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Zen by Shiseido – E.D.P a wonderful, summery perfume, great mood elevator. Comes in a stunning bottle in two shades of yellow, just a perfect and radiant cube. Helped me get through some gloomy days. This perfume is reminiscent of Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle, especially in the first spritz.

The scent is slightly floral but does not smell like a specific scent of a flower. It dries to a deep, slightly powdery perfume. Don’t miss out on this one – get it here: Amazon The One by Dolce & Gabbana –E.D.P a sweet and warm vanilla scent, very intoxicating. Right from the start, you’ll smell the vanilla, powerful, sweet, melting into your body. This perfume is not the pinnacle of sophistication but here lies its power – it gives you exactly what you need.

We are in January, it is cold and this is just the perfume suitable to accompany me in the winter, to comfort and hug. You can buy it here- Amazon Mon Guerlain by Guerlain – E.D.P what hasn’t been saying about this perfume from Garlan? That is used lavender and therefore it is so special, that it has the scent of a woman, that it is the scent of luxury and money .. Really everything has been said before and everything is true. it is marvelous. Great as a gift for any woman, comes in a beautiful bottle, makes you want to smell yourself time and time again. Stay about 4 hours on me. Highly recommend. Buy it here- Guerlain or here – Sephora. La Belle by Jean-Paul Gaultier – E.D.P If you liked the original you will immediately recognize this perfume and I believe you will love t too because even though it is a flanker of the original it stands on its own and is original, unique, and smells great. Suitable for all ages in my eyes. Comes in the tin box like the rest of the series, a beautiful bottle to give as a gift. Buy it here- Amazon. Dylan Blue by Versace –E.D.P It is a bright, crisp, floral perfume that gives a vibe of luxury soap, full of white flowers, shiny and different. Let’s start with the bottle – perhaps the most beautiful presentation in this selection of perfumes and certainly regarding the price (such good value for money). When wearing a bright, fresh perfume you will always be the center of attention because it is simply noticeable much more than any other perfume. It is great as a gift because the bottle is excellent and beautiful, the scent can suit any woman of any age from a 16-year-old who wants to put something pleasant to school or a gymnastics class to the senior principal who wants to stand out above everyone else. You can find my full review here on my blog. You can buy it – Versace or here – Sephora. Cloud by Ariana Grande – E.D.P the surprise of the year for me! Excellent perfume. Great price. Slightly sweet and smoky. leaves a wonderful trail and have a good presence. If given as a gift it should be to someone young, perhaps a fan of the singer. See my full review here on my blog. Buy it – Ulta Girl Of Now by Elie Saab – E.D.P My biggest addiction this year. The addictive and intoxicating smell of sugar and almonds. Every time I put it on I can’t stop smelling myself.

Wonderful and pleasant, stayed on me for about five hours. Highly highly recommend it. I’m planning to repurchase very soon so I won’t be left without. Buy it here- Amazon

I would love to know if you know any of these perfumes, if you use them or if you find my list helpful – please let me know in the comments.

Visit my blog for more information

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jisssooyah · 4 years ago

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Hi you... if you were going to curate a little season of films for me, which ones would you choose and why? They don't need to be horror, I'm just curious what you would choose 🌸

I don’t know if you’ll like these movies, or if you’ve already watched them, but after i watched these films, i felt like they might need to belong to you now. i hope they make you smile, roll your eyes, and cry just as much as i did.

1. city of god (2002): this is one of the most immersive and gorgeously shot films i’ve ever seen. it’s set in rio de janeiro during the 60s and spans decades exploring the drug culture in the slums and how this can affect kids just as they are trying to figure their own selves out. the way this film is shot, feels like you were at the sea with them as the sand crunched underneath your feet. but the way that the director captures these individuals, makes you so fucking relieved that you don’t live through any of the circumstances that they go through.

2. the dreamers (2004): set in 1968, this film follows three students in Paris who come of age and explore one another and their limits during the revolution. while these students prop themselves up as individuals obsessed with sex, running underneath themselves is a current of jealousy, obsession, and blurred familial relationships that made me increasingly uncomfortable. you find yourself feeling bad for the children, and ultimately upset at their upbringing because of their parents.

3. if beale street could talk (2018): this movie is based off of james baldwin’s titular 1974 novel. in it, the director expertly and vigorously explores love: a love that feels so real that it hurts. the cast is what sold this film to me. the way they talk, laugh, cry, and smile at one another is achingly beautiful and terrifyingly sad. i wanted to transport myself back to their time period and watch the main characters fall in love because the film didn’t seem like enough.

4. the neon demon (2016): this film follows an emerging model who sacrifices herself to the demands of the industry in order to be attractive and beautiful. there are so many stunning colors in this film that it makes you dizzy, like you’re in a trance and that’s what this world is for the main character: a trance. as she oscillates between reality and fantasy, her world and the characters in it, increasingly seek out to alter her personality.

5. death becomes her (1992): a deliberately ultra-campy parody of trashy, pandering "women's pictures," soap operas and paperbacks from the '80s and '90s. The three leads all do some of their best work - it's hilarious watching Meryl Streep play a terrible actress, Goldie Hawn is particularly hilarious during her character's cat lady phase, and all around just a really fun and eccentric film.

6. princess cyd (2017): i can’t think of anything to write for this but i just wanna say that this is literally one of the most pleasant movie experiences i’ve ever had. so much light and genuine interaction in warm sun rays radiating positive energy and an openness that is far too uncommon in movies nowadays. people talk, people connect, people grow bonds and are allowed to be sexual or intimate or personal without an air of shame or judgement. just pure kind and curious human association.

7. spiderman: into the spiderverse (2018): the message of Spider-Verse is not "gentrify yourself! stop expressing your personality and just conform to what society wants you to be!" After all, what makes you different makes you Spider-Man, and Miles' final expression of himself as a superhero still retains much of his personality and individuality...they're just being used in more productive and fulfilling ways. It's the little things that drive the point home, like noticing that the title page for Miles' finished Great Expectations essay has been stylistically doodled and colored like street art. Rather than seeing his artistic gifts as an opposition to his schoolwork, Miles infuses them together to make the best of the hand he's been dealt.

8. my life as a zucchini (2016): initially heartbreaking and sad, but slowly becoming more joyful and heartwarming as the plot moves along. The film really feels like it captures the essence and child like wonder of these kids, all of them going through hardships but managing to find something to help each other out. It’s so refreshing to see the actual orphanage portrayed in a more positive light, not the usual horrid dump that a lot of lesser movies play them out as. The animation is stunning. One of the best uses of stop motion I’ve seen, everything is so colourful and detailed. There’s some moments set in snowy mountains and these look incredible. There’s clearly been so much love and care put into each and every scene here. The music too, sounds spectacular, it really works well with each scene.

9. lovesong (2016): Mindy and Sarah have that type of relationship where they don't need words because they speak in a language made out of glances and touches. This movie is about the fear of ruining a meaningful friendship and losing an important person, about love that is so complicated that one might not even try because the outcome seems to be so obvious.

10. her (2013): Heartbreak is formative: it changes you heart side out, and leaves your muscles a little stronger, your skin a little thicker, your bones easier to repair. Before this film, I’d never seen anything constructive in having your insides pulled apart by the seams by another person, but this film taught me how. Being in love and then being forced out of it is an experience that changes you fundamentally, but Her taught me its purpose – you don’t need them to leave you so that you can find someone who’s a better fit, because perhaps you never will. You need it to participate in humanity. The common denominator is being hurt, and without it, you’re barely alive.

11. shoplifters (2018): bittersweet and richly transportive, Shoplifters is a film that nonchalantly eases you into its tragic beauty in a way that doesn't punch you hard until the end. It simultaneously made me want to be part of the film's world and also very glad that I'm not. The setting the characters live in is messy and cluttered and full of dysfunction and lies, but it's also got family, and laughter, and fist-bumps, and slurping warm noodles while rain pings on the tin rooftop. So nuanced, so many tiny moments of delicate beauty and unassuming heartbreak, so many people making terrible decisions with good intentions.

12. god’s own country (2017): though it is a love story between two men, this aspect is only addressed briefly in a single scene. Rather, the film is about finding someone who makes you want to be a better person, someone who comes into your life just when you needed it most. Gheorghe helps Johnny open up and realize the beauty of the simple life. From this relationship, Johnny begins to feel comfortable with expressing himself, and his love and gratitude towards others. He also begins to appreciate life in the country, surrounded by stunning landscapes and the beauty of simplicity. Addressing the Yorkshire countryside, Gheorghe says "It is beautiful, but lonely." Johnny is presented with the notion that he doesn't have to be cold and miserable, slaving and drinking his days away. He is presented with the possibility of no longer being alone and finally finding happiness and contentment - and it is more than gratifying to see him accept it.

13. disobedience (2017): a tender star-crossed daydream. the three main character dynamics are special enough on their own, but the romance that blooms at the center is cathartically intimate and even magical: a reunion that feels so inevitable. catching glimpses of a past life, details we aren’t privy to. all the stolen kisses and whispers and promises. a bond so strong that they fall back in sync with each other like second nature, even if they try to fight against it. even if it won’t work. and yet they choose each other, even if for a few minutes.

14. raw (2016): this film is so gross and I like that. There is tons of blood and unique body horror and it all works perfectly for the tone the film is attempting to set. The use of color, specifically neons, creates a constant feeling that you are traveling through some sort of weird ghost world, which I really like. Overall, it's a very well put together film with flashes of brilliance.

15. the night is short, walk on girl (2017): what an absolutely magical adventure of a film. Essentially this is a heavily episodic look at a night in the lives of several people, centered on a woman and a man as she gleefully floats from event to event while he neurotically obsesses over how to "coincidentally" talk to her. The storytelling is incredible; while the overarching narrative is simple there are countless threads woven together to connect everyone in the story to each other. That in itself is a big theme: connections between people, how everything is interrelated, and what a large impact seemingly insignificant things people do can have an impact on everyone around them.

16. coraline (2009): Coraline is the best stop motion movie ever made in my opinion. Before the film released in 2009, I read the book and was completely blown away by its creativity and story. It’s a pretty dark tale featuring many scenes of fright that work well in both a horror setting and an animated kids setting. On surface value, this film is quite horrifying, which is something I’ve always loved about it. While it does make a few minor changes to the book, it improves upon a piece of art that was already jaw-droppingly good. Coraline feels like a real little girl with some real problems. She’s selfish but likable which is something most films cannot translate well. Of course, she has a pretty awesome arc as well which brings this movie to a perfect close for her character. The other-mother is also perfectly done. She is almost exactly how I imagined her in the book and the animation on her is spookily gorgeous. There is not one dull moment in this film. It is literally a perfect piece of cinema.

17. the third wife (2019): haven’t seen a film this visually delicate in a while. Ash Mayfair works with the looming mountain surroundings to make her characters —these women, these girls— as small as possible, as isolated as possible. Uneasiest of all is the protagonist May, so young and so weighed by responsibility, her position blurs between being one of the wives and being one of the daughters. It’s an extremely bleak tale of circumstance. An old tale, certainly, but so beautifully crafted it doesn’t matter. Mayfair holds a fearful tension throughout, and it only ever shatters in the cruelest of ways.The abundance of women and display of sisterhood begin as a comfort, but horror takes over as we realize how conditional and fragile that comfort is. Even the daughters are subconsciously aware, one of them praying to the gods to grow up and become a man, shearing her hair off in naive triumph. It’s a doomed cycle of girls performing roles which are unfortunately their best option, right up until the final scene of May with her daughter, still in their mourning clothes. She, like the older wives, finally realizes they’re the same as the cattle laying on their side for too many days.

#asks #shortcake-kaspbrak

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twentiethcenturymoviesandtv · 4 years ago

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The Wizard of Oz: Facets of Film

After the story is written and the parts are cast, only one thing remains to get to the big screen: the moviemaking itself.

Today, our focus is on something beyond the basic elements of storytelling: the finished product, the movie-specific trimmings that add to the magic of The Wizard of Oz. We’re going to be looking at everything from camera work to costuming: in short, all the elements that make a film a film, and in some cases, can make the difference between a fun movie and a blockbuster classic.

Now wait a minute, you may say. Isn’t the important thing in a movie, (and movie analysis) the story and characters? Why bother with all of this stuff?

Frankly because the production of a movie isn’t exactly removed from the story it’s trying to tell.

When a movie is made, every element is there to help tell the story, to reveal things about the plot and characters to the audience. For example, the Wicked Witch is dressed in black clothes and a pointy hat, and is accompanied by ominous music, indicating that she’s our villain. Dorothy wears a farm-girl dress with pigtails indicating innocence and ‘normalcy’, and Glinda is decked out in an otherworldly, pink, poufy gown, demonstrating her otherworldly demeanor. Kansas is shot in browns and grays and Oz in dazzling color, showing us the stark contrast between the two worlds. All of these things have one thing in common: they’re telling you things about characters and the story that the film doesn’t have to in words.

There’s no moment where anyone makes sure that it’s clear that The Wicked Witch is evil, the movie has already told us so. No one remarks on Dorothy’s naiveté. The movie doesn’t need to tell us that Glinda is magical, or that Kansas is boring and Oz is exciting, because we as viewers have already inferred that based on the clues that the filmmakers have already dropped.

The production of a movie is, in fact, directly connected to the story it’s trying to tell in the same way that wheels are connected to a car: the story and characters are the vehicle itself, but you’re not going anywhere with it until you’ve added the method of movement.

Does that make sense?

See, all of these elements, camerawork, sets, etc. are tools of visual shorthand. Their job is to tell the story in ways that the audience immediately understands without having to be told explicitly through dialogue. The quality of this shorthand not only helps make a movie more understandable, it also makes it more enjoyable.

So that leads us to our question today.

Does The Wizard of Oz use their storytelling devices well?

To be honest, yes.

It’s kind of a given.

For this movie to have held up this long, it has to have been doing something right. There’s clearly a lot of hard work put in to making sure that the movie looks and sounds good, making narrative sense and remaining coherent and consistent. Every facet fits together perfectly, and yet none of it takes up more than its place, emphasizing Dorothy and her friends without overshadowing them. Every shot, costume, set and effect works, and was chosen for a reason: to make this story clear and enjoyable to the audience.

This leads us to our next question:

How exactly does The Wizard of Oz use their storytelling devices? How do they use the tools they have available, and where?

To answer that question, we’re going to be looking at a handful of the elements that make up a movie: specifically camerawork, sets, costumes, special effects, music and performances.

For starters, let’s take a closer look at something that oftentimes we as moviegoers overlook: the importance of good cinematography.

A camera serves more of a purpose than to simply film the action. The way a director uses a camera can tell the audience a lot, using some shots to emphasize danger, some adventure, and some comfort. Filmmakers use edits and progression of shots to help tell the story, to move the audience’s vision so that it is always centered on the main action while also helping to set the mood or leave a visual impression on the audience. The camerawork in The Wizard of Oz does all of that remarkably well, with striking images of the Emerald City overlooking the poppies, the tight shots in the Haunted Forest, and the terrifying wide shot of the Twister in the opening. These images immediately evoke an emotional response from the audience in turn, helping us to identify with the emotions that the characters are experiencing.

There’s one other shot that is specific to this film that bears mentioning in this discussion: What I call the Oz shot.

You know the one.

When Dorothy steps from her Kansas house to Oz, there is a wide shot that perfectly encapsulates the transition between the browns and grays of the Kansas world to the vibrant colors and overall oddness of Oz. That shot is the turning point of the movie, demonstrating immediately the difference in tone and visual style. It’s meaningful, and more importantly, it’s memorable without taking attention away from our main character. It’s probably the best known shot in the movie, once again bringing that sense of wonder and adventure to the audience through clever use of the camera.

Other stunning and unforgettable shots are sprinkled throughout the film: the aforementioned first glimpse of the Emerald City, and the first appearance of the Wizard himself are excellent, effectively showing the scale of the City and the impressiveness of the Wizard. The shot of Dorothy and the Tin Man and Scarecrow in the forest before meeting the Lion is a good claustrophobic shot that makes the audience feel tense, but not too tense. Even early on, the house in the Twister elicits a response, a genuine feeling of awe and even fear for Dorothy’s sake, just as Dorothy singing on the tractor can inspire feelings of understanding and wistfulness in the audience. Like I said, the mark of a good filmmaker (and cameraman!) is helping the audience empathize with the characters, and to a smaller degree, feel what they are feeling.

Camerawork can only get you so far though, and it’s meaningless if there’s nothing there to shoot. The visuals of The Wizard of Oz are so well-ingrained, it’s impossible to imagine Dorothy without her ruby slippers (originally silver in the novel, changed to red to show up better on the Technicolor film). One of the strokes of genius in this film is the iconic imagery: the Yellow Brick Road, the Ruby Slippers, the Emerald City, and especially the costumes.

As I’ve mentioned previously, the costume work in The Wizard of Oz not only looks good, it brings that final element of whimsy and magic to an already magical land. The Wicked Witch is dressed to frighten, Glinda’s glittery gown is beautiful and comforting, and the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion’s makeup and costumes are absolutely essential to the characters, maintaining the level of humanity for us to relate to while also being, very clearly, a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion. The level of makeup necessary for looking ‘different’ while also allowing for the wide range of expression is impressive, and really helps them come alive as characters. The costumes of the denizens of Munchkin Land and the Emerald City stand out from each other as uniquely quirky and connected to their surroundings, and the Wizard himself appropriately looks like a cross between our world and Oz.

By contrast, Dorothy looks out of place in this magical world, and even out of place in Kansas. Her dress is something of our world, diverging at the feet with those iconic ruby slippers, coming together in an unforgettable character image. Even before Oz and the slippers, she was different. It was another stroke of brilliance that she look a little ‘shiny and new’ in Kansas, a direct dissimilarity with the careworn and grounded costumes of her aunt, uncle, and the farmhands. Even Ms. Gulch’s costume, while less distinct than her Oz counterpart’s, is dark and stern, foreshadowing her role in the story. Assisting with that transition is the musical score used for her arrival: the same music used for the appearance of The Wicked Witch.

And how about that score, right?

The music of The Wizard of Oz really speaks for itself. Somewhere Over the Rainbow has long been hailed one of the greatest movie songs of all time (for good reason), and the other tunes are extremely catchy, but even taking out the musical numbers themselves, the score of this film is outstanding, with the Witch’s theme being just one of many memorable instrumental pieces throughout the movie. Throughout the film, the music rises and falls exactly where it needs to, always fitting the mood and matching the characters’ emotions and expressions, once again helping the audience’s own responses match up to those of the characters. The score really heightens the emotion and emphasizes the grandeur of some of the visuals, especially the special effects.

Let’s talk about those for a minute.

The twister alone is one of the best special effects from Hollywood in the 1930s, the house spinning in a cyclone being not only a striking image, but also impressively done at the time, to say nothing else of the aforementioned landing and reveal of Oz itself. The Wizard’s Head is appropriately frightening and awe-inspiring, and the effects used to introduce the Witch (the fireballs and puff of smoke, and later her flying monkeys) are quite effective as well. (Yes, the broomstick flying isn’t quite as convincing, but we’ll cut them some slack.) Even when the effects aren’t quite ‘believable’, such as Glinda’s pink bubble, they all do serve a purpose: fully committing to Dorothy’s dream fairy-tale land, stoking our imaginations, and most importantly, assisting with the performances.

Ah yes, the performances. We’ll get to those in a minute. First, we need something to place those performances in.

The sets of The Wizard of Oz range from quaint to frightening, from comforting to expansive, all pretty impressive, especially considering that they were all built on a sound stage. The landscapes of Kansas, the poppy field in Oz, the Emerald City itself (bonus for having everything be green), the Haunted Forest and the Witch’s castle all manage to come with their own identity, and just like those costumes, manage to be memorable years later. The Wizard’s throne room is spacious and dark, different from the tight darkness of the Haunted Forest, and the cold unease of the Witch’s Castle. Like I’ve said previously, the dissonance between the dull browns of Dorothy’s bedroom in Kansas to the bright colors and vivid imagery of Oz is particularly well-realized.

Every setting in this film has its own uniqueness about it, something that sets it apart from the other locations. This sense of individuality, of constantly changing scenery, really helps us note the differences, and continues to do what all of these facets are meant to do: focus on the story, characters, and performances. With every scene, we instantly feel the atmosphere and pick up on everything we need to know about these places: The Witch’s Castle is scary, the Emerald City is majestic, the Wizard’s throne room is frightening and grand, and once again, we feel and react in time with the characters.

There’s more to a good, immersive movie experience than sets, costumes and music, though. We’ve got one last aspect to look at, possibly the most important one of all: performances.

When you come right down to it, the special effects, sets and costumes don’t really mean anything if the characters can’t pull it off. In the end, it’s on the actors to try to sell not only their surroundings and story, but the characters themselves, everything from the personality to the emotions. In the realm of film, a character tends to be married to the performance: you can’t have one without the other. Once again, The Wizard of Oz manages it with style.

Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale is perfect casting, managing to play a young emotional girl with spirit and strength. She’s as compassionate as she is determined, and the portrayal of the character is heartfelt and sometimes heart wrenching. (Special mention goes to Judy Garland’s signature song: Somewhere Over the Rainbow.) Dorothy is a very expressive character, and her emotions come across very clearly quite often, from shock to distress, to joy, to fear.

Of course, Dorothy isn’t the only character done well.

Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch is another standout performance. Everything from her sneer to her cackle is delightfully evil and memorably so, perfectly solidifying the character as one of the greatest baddies of all time. The switch between the understated Ms. Gulch and the Large Hamlike tendencies of the Witch is absolutely phenomenal.

The talent isn’t just the main characters, though. The supporting cast is just as unforgettable as the hero and villain. Despite acting through a layer of makeup (and goofiness), the expressions and emotions displayed by the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion all come through remarkably well. Ray Bolger’s ragdoll movements combined with his flashes of intelligence add a lot to the character, and Jack Haley brings a fantastic mildness to the man made of metal. Bert Lahr manages to make his lion costume totally non-threatening, and his line delivery has to be heard to be believed. Despite the somewhat unwieldy costumes, Dorothy’s trio comes across as perfectly realized as she herself does. Even the Wizard comes across perfectly as flustered and bumbling and Frank Morgan’s turn as miscellaneous characters in Oz are all different enough that it’s a perfect demonstration of his talent over the span of one movie.

Every character in The Wizard of Oz comes across exactly as they should: characters in a fairytale. Each performance is perfectly suited to each character and the type of movie that they are in: a fantasy story aimed at children. It’s not subtle, but it doesn’t have to be. Dorothy is clearly good, the Wicked Witch is clearly evil. The Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion are all friendly and helpful, and the Wizard, Glinda, and Dorothy’s family are all acted exactly as they are intended to be: Supporting cast in a children’s adventure, yet understandable and lovable for all ages.

No, these performances are not going to have the same level of nuance as Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. They shouldn’t be. If they did, it would go totally against the tone of the film.

The acting in The Wizard of Oz is perfectly done, matching the whimsy and magic of the rest of the film. The characters are expressive, their reactions are clear, and we, the audience, feel an immediate connection with them. That’s the job of an actor, as well as the jobs of the film-makers in general.

The filmmakers in The Wizard of Oz definitely knew what they were doing. Everything from the performances to the camerawork gets across every emotion and aspect of the story without having to explain what we should be feeling. The sets and costumes feel unreal and fairy-taleish because that’s exactly what this is. It feels like a storybook, simultaneously comforting and exciting, and the ending feels good every time.

The Wizard of Oz has long been hailed as one of, if not the greatest movies ever made, and even just looking at filmmaking alone, it’s not really exaggeration to say that. It all fits together perfectly, story, characters, genre and filmmaking, to create the legendary movie that we’ve all known and loved for eighty years.

It’s a totally genuine film, sappy, cheesy and earnest, and it really works.

Of course, no movie comes around accidently. All this work has to have come from somewhere, right?

Join me next time as we discuss the Facets of Filmmaking: the Behind the Scenes of The Wizard of Oz. Leave a message in the ask box if you have any thoughts of your own, and thanks so much for reading. I’ll see you in the next article!

#The Wizard of Oz #The Wizard of Oz 1939 #1939 #30s #Film #Movies #PG #Fantasy #Adventure #Judy Garland #Margaret Hamilton #Frank Morgan #Ray Bolger #Jack Haley #Bert Lahr #Billie Burke #Victor Fleming

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missedlcve · 4 years ago

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✍️ ( Jesse notices that she's been distant lately, and he's not always the best at making her feel better, so he asks her to lay on her stomach with nothing on and uses her back as a canvas to paint something beautiful.)

touch-starved meme / @painmade .

something sets her off. in fact, she knows exactly what it was.

a few days prior, a night when she couldn’t sleep, she had been cleaning up the house for him. stray needles, spoons, tin, bottles-- anything that was trash, and anything that wasn’t good for either of them got tossed into a white trash bag. it was trigger enough. seeing the remnants of what she used to be ; remembering the vice that brought down her brother, kept her mother from her, what’s currently destroying her little sister’s life, and what made her so ill when she was just an infant. after too long, the repetition was starting to get to her, so she moved to a different task: unpacking.

there was still a lot of shit she hadn’t taken out of her suit cases from when she returned back from virginia, and while she didn’t want to assume she could just make herself at home, like this is her permanent place of residence, she also needed some familiarity. her artwork was in one of the cases-- her pencils for sketching, her pens, as well. but what she had forgotten was the picture frame. the one delicately held in bubble wrap, as to not let it break on the bumpy ride back. she could make out her brother’s morphed face, barely, through the covering, and while she knew she shouldn’t go any farther, her fingers had already begun to pull away the tape until he was free. his face, clear as day.

and suddenly, as quick as it wasn’t there, it was ; that guilt. the images of him lying there, lifeless. her hands on his face, cupping his cheeks, screaming and crying and begging him to talk to her -- to come back. she found her fingers so tightly wound around the edges of the frame that the glass shattered. a nick at her fingertip is all that was left, but the sting and the emptiness was something that would stay and become stale for days to come.

then there’s today, now. she knows she’s been distant with him, but it’s been hard to speak. fuck, it’s been hard to even breathe ( or think, or live, or do anything that requires basic function ). she’s curled up on the couch, knees paired and tucked up to her stomach, sporting a pair of her underwear and one of his over-sized shirts ; one arm rests over her chest, as if to hope it will keep her safe from the memories, and the other is tucked under her head. she sees him in her peripheral at first, but then blurred vision focuses the closer he gets. a hand touches to her head, fingers combing through her hair, and for the first time in what feels like hours she lets out a breath. brown eyes are pleading, hoping he does something that could bring her out of this stupor.

c’mere.

at first, she doesn’t move. she can’t. it’s the tug at her arm, the hand that eventually finds her and encourages her to part from the indentation she’s made in the couch that gets her to sluggishly rise until she’s sitting upright on the couch, legs off the edge. take this off. she doesn’t know where he’s going with it, but she doesn’t have much protest. she lets him take the shirt off of her, leaving her body bare, and when he moves to the ground, he pats a spot on the carpet. suddenly curious, she obliges, getting down on her hands and knees, crawling to him. lie down. she gives him a quizzical look, hesitance evident, but ultimately she decides to follow along, lying down on her stomach ; legs stretch out behind her, arms bend at the elbows to rest beneath her cheek once she’s pulled her hair off to the side, away from her neck.

moments pass and she finds her eyes falling shut. it isn’t until there’s the cold touch of paint on a brush on her back that she takes in a quick, sharp breath. she’s a little stunned, needless to say, but her abruptly tense muscles seem to relax the longer it goes on. it’s seconds, minutes, and it bleeds into hours. he’s managed to coddle her mind, put her to sleep. a kiss on the cheek and the soft call of annie in her ear stirs her awake, and she watches as he stands up and offers a hand out to help her up. still sleepy, she follows along with his motions without question, and he leads her into the bathroom. take a look. putting her back to the bathroom mirror, she glances over her shoulder to look at the reflection in the glass ; a painting, beautiful. and while it might not make sense to some, it makes perfect sense to her. soft, inviting colors ; it tells a story, and it tranquilizes her previously racing mind. for the first time in days, she smiles. ❝ it’s beautiful, ❞ spoken soft and genuinely, she turns her head so she can look at him, arms reaching up to wrap around his neck in a hug. she pulls away only to press a gentle kiss to his lips and to speak: ❝ the only problem i have with it-- is i don’t think i can ever, with a good conscious, take it off my body. so.. i guess i’m never showering again, and you’re going to have to deal with my permanent stank. but at least you get to look at my colorful back. ❞ another idea quips, ❝ or, i could just get it tattooed. ❞ that’s probably impossible, but she’d do anything at this point just to be able to stare at it. ❝ you better get my phone and take pictures. this is my lock screen, home screen-- this is the fuckin’ christmas cards from now on. ❞

#painmade #i took the painting from his portfolio tag #i fucking love this #* anne answers.#* v. painmade.#death mention #drug mention

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arcanaapprenticecatherine · 5 years ago

Text

Julian the Hanged Man and Apprentice after Reversed Ending

(Continued from previous posts)

New energy surges through me after discovering I could manifest water and towels with ease in the Hanged Raven. Julian takes great interest, too. Not that there were many interesting things inside this contained space.

After washing our faces and emerging from the staircase, we're greeted with the same scene. Broken glass glittering on the floor, chaotic music playing without players, bottles floating in mid air pouring drinks already.

The first thing I do is zap the damn accordion. It falls to the ground, the Hanged Raven suddenly silent.

"Good riddance," Julian looks at the destroyed instrument on the ground.

His features keep growing more and more bird like. It concerns me, we saw what happened to Death Arcana after Valdemor took over his realm. Is the same happening to the Arcana Hanged Man as Julian becomes more and more like him?

I shake my head, clearing my thoughts. They immediately go to my empty stomach that decides that is the moment it's going to make noise.

"I could really go for Pumpkin Bread," I say aloud, unsure if I need to manifest it myself or if the realm will provide it. Sure enough, when I turn to the bar, a loaf of steaming hot pumpkin bread sits on a wide plate. I'm so hungry I lunge for the food, not thinking about looking for utensils.

Julian settles next to me. At his side, some tin looking thing floats, pouring hot brown liquid into a mug. Coffee? Without hesitation, he takes the mug, drinking it straight. I offer him some of the bread, I'm already halfway through the loaf. He doesn't take it, but I insist, explaining it tastes just like the bakery I was fond of. He takes only small portions. It finally dawns on me that the exterior of his body isn't the only thing that's changed, and either he doesn't need to eat or he has the appetite of a bird.

I feel my magic surging as I finish the bread. Julian is on his third cup of coffee. I'm glad he isn't drinking alcohol. I take it as a promising sign, either intentionally or unintentionally, he's changing. Instead of drowning his sorrows in a bottle, he's opted for coffee.

He sets his mug down, and cautiously put his arms around me, pulling me in. I feel his breath in my hair.

"What do you plan on doing?" He asks me. I glance around the room. I consider the potential for exercising my magical abilities. I eye the broken glass on the floor, the several empty tankards, the recently demolished accordion.

"I think, first, I'm going to clean up this place," I look up at him. He seems to think it amusing.

"Using magic? To clean?" He inquires.

"Gotta start somewhere," I shrug.

"It seems so below your capability, though. I suppose it won't hurt. Go ahead, be careful," he gives me permission to change the physical surroundings of his "haven."

I turn my attention to the broken glass glistening from the candle light. I close my eyes, envisioning it. I feel the broom and dust pan in my hands, I feel the drag of the broom sweeping away glass with the grain of the wooden floors. I imagine dumping the contents into a container, the satisfaction of a clean floor. When I open my eyes, I see the floor free of glass, just as I had imagined it. I turn my attention to the glasses and tankards still stacked on one of the tables. I close my eyes again. This time, instead of imagining the process of washing and putting them away, I invision them disappearing. I feel somewhere in my bones that it has taken place, and when I open my eyes I see it is so.

Encouraging. I've tested carrying out a task and simply making something vanish, and both worked. I turn my attention to the dead accordion. A smile plays over my mouth. This time I want to try transformation. I stand above the instrument. I imagine soft music, the feel of ivory keys beneath my fingertips, the keys gliding up and down with little effort. A well tuned piano, kept properly. The feel of brass pedals under one foot, a wooden bench to sit on, sheet music to read from. Once again, I feel in my bones that it has finished. I open my eyes and a beautiful wooden piano greets my eyes. My hands are hovering a foot above the bench. The piano invites me to play it. I settle onto the bench and begin to play, my style gentle on the keys with generous pauses. A slow, calming piece. When I move my hands from the keys, the piano continues to play in my absence, playing in my style.

I look over my shoulder at Julian, grinning from ear to ear that I accomplished all three tasks without a hitch, and the presence of a piano that plays beautifully.

"I told you it was below your abilities," he's as happy as I am. He crosses the room to me. I make room on the bench for him and he settles in next to me, his feathers brushing against my skin.

"You never told me you could play," he says to me as he flips the pages in the music sheet. He selects a more complicated piece that requires four hands instead of two. His hands hover above the keys, his talons hardly touching the ivory. He eases into it, and once he looks comfortable, I begin to play with him.

"Truth is I don't," I admit after a bit of time, and Julian abruptly stops playing and turns to me. "Not this advanced, anyway. The piano invited me to play. I did learn to play once upon a time, but only basics. I think the piano..." I look down, considering what I'm about to say," I think the piano is teaching or guiding me."

Julian looks unsettled but not entirely surprised. We are, afterall, in a realm where giant, two headed, talking leeches can ask you riddles, false moons can blink into existence, where there's periwinkle and blue moss. A piano that teaches or plays on its own is hardly shocking in comparison. But I feel more than that emitting from the piece. It almost feels... alive. Conscious. Sentience.

I ask it in my mind and it answers: "Yes, I'm alive. Please, don't shoot me again. I beg you."

Shock contorts my features, I'm conflicted by what it implies. "Sorry," I say to the piano in my mind, "I didn't know. Believe me, it won't be happening again." I sense it accept my apology as it continues to play without me or Julian, "I like this form better, thank you." I take a few moments to carefully select what I'm about to say to the man next to me.

"Julian, the piano is sentient. It... it communicated with me."

"Oh, so I wasn't imagining it." He says matter-of-factly.

That's right, he's been here so long and hasn't known who or what has been real. He even thought I was just an image conjured by the Devil when I first arrived. Feathers rustle next to me.

"What does this all mean, then?" He leans into me, an arm coming around me.

"I don't know. I do know I preformed three tasks. One was carrying out a task without moving, the second was making something disappear, and the third was transformation," I list them, each with their own implications.

"I hope those glasses weren't sentient," I say aloud.

"They weren't," the piano responds, having eavesdropped.

"That makes me feel better, thank you..." I'm thanking a piano. Well, no need to be rude.

"I need to be careful," I fully realize aloud. There's no telling what will happen. I'm suddenly painfully aware of my surroundings, of Julian's presence. I can sense everything. I can feel what he feels. I wonder if I can...

"Hey, let me try something," I say to Julian as I straddle the bench to face him. He nods.

I take his hands and close my eyes. I envision his energy and person. I imagine my own energy swirling around him like smoke, sending feelings of love and acceptance. In return I feel a desperate longing for a loved one.

"Do you feel that?" I ask him aloud, keeping my eyes shut and maintaining the vision in my mind.

"Yes," he says without hesitation, "is that you? Making me feel..." he stumbles for words, "feel warm? Like I'm being hugged?"

"More than that, Julian," I urge him to continue.

He lets out a shakey sigh, and suddenly my warmth floods him like a breaking dam. He allows it. In my vision, however, something happens without my instruction. The warmth and love I'm sending is behaving like water, and when it laps around him it takes feathers with it. Stunned I allow the vision to play out, and it continues to surround him and take feathers with it. He's eventually completely submerged, and then like a baptism, he emerges, different. His legs are no longer bent, his auburn hair has returned, his talons are gone. Even his right eye is healed.

"Julian..." I whisper, scared to disturb what's occuring.

His hands grip mine harder in response. Neither of us dare interrupt the vision or what it could be doing. Like the rising and falling of the tides, the love and warmth recedes, the feathers falling to the ground and on the bench around him, resting as if placed there by ocean waves on a shoreline. I feel something like a jolt when a ship or boat hits a sand bar. In my gut, I know it has taken place. I open my eyes to see Julian restored. The chains that bind him are still present, but everything else has washed away, and all that remains is...

He opens his eyes, and he doesn't need to look to know. He reaches his arms out to me as I lunge into his embrace. I bury my face in his neck as he rocks us comfortingly back and forth. We hold each other for a few more moments before he realizes he's completely naked.

"A warning next time, love," his voice rings as he hops up and crosses the room to where his discarded clothes lay. A perfect circle of discarded feathers lay where he was sitting.

"I didn't actually intend for that to happen," I know he was only joking about warning him next time, but he needs to know.

He looks back up at me, tugging his pants on. His face is all flushed.

"What did you intend to do then, exactly?"

"I... I didn't even know I could do this, I was just sending my feelings of love for you to you to feel and..." I cross the room to where he is, putting a hand on his arms to steady him, "and then the vision kind of took over."

He takes me up in his arms, nuzzling my neck with his nose. He starts laughing, giddy over what just occured. He sets me down on a bar stool and kisses me passionately. I feel his energy infiltrate me, feelings of longing finally being addressed. One of my hands runs up into his hair, he moans eargerly at the sensation. He tilts me back, and i'm forced to hold onto his back, but I don't break the connection. After a moment like this he impatiently hoists me up, carrying me back up the stairs. I hold on for dear life.

He throws me down on the bed towering over me. He resumes caressing my mouth with his, a hand to each of my wrists, pinning me down. I don't resist. After a bit of time like this, he eases up. When we part for breath, his forehead is against mine.

"I've missed you, missed this so much," he kisses my cheek and corner of my eyes, whispering directly into my ear. My hands no longer pinned at the wrist, I cup his cheek with my hand and he melts into the touch, leaning into it. Craving it. He takes my forearm by his face and places a kiss inside my wrist, biting and kissing up my arm. I'm still laying on the bed facing up at him, he's still leaning against the bed, hovering over me. I pull him the rest of the way onto the bed, rising so I'm above him.

"Shut up and let me love you," I resume the passionate kiss and he obliges.

#julian x reader #the arcane mc #the arcana #the arcana apprentice #the arcana app #the arcana game #the arcana julian #julian reversed ending #julian route #julian x apprentice #julian x mc

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thatsadorbsyo · 5 years ago

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∞

Woof… okay… here we go.

Landon @ Urien

If I Think They Are: Ugly || Plain || Alright || Cute || Freaking Adorable || Pretty || Beautiful || Hot || Stunning

“When I first met my lord, I found him pitiable. There was some pit in my stomach, some type of primal disgust at what and who he is. I have never been more wrong in my life, and I thank god every day that I was able to see my error in judgement. There is no one more beautiful than my lord. There is none more stunning. No one on this star could possibly compare. None can follow him. None hold a candle.”

If I Would Go On A Date With Them: Not even if we were the last two one earth || No || Maybe || Eh….Sure || Yes || WILL YOU MARRY ME

“That’s a curious thing to think about. I go everywhere with Urien. We live in the same manse. We frequently share a bed. I am often his companion to formal functions. But none of this could be called a proper date. He’s a married man, after all. I am a consort, a companion, but not a date. Never a date. That would be improper.”

If I Trust Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || With My Life

“My god is the only man who holds a greater stock in my soul than Urien does. I trust Urien with every piece of me. My heart, my mind, my body. I am his. Every part of me belongs to him, excepting what our god takes for his own.”

If I Care About Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || Deeply

“I love him. There is no other word for it.”

If I Would Sleep With Them: Not Enough Alcohol in the World || No || Maybe if I were wasted || Maybe || Eh…Sure || Yes || TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF NOW!

“Anything he wants. Any time he wants. Any way he wants it. I am his–his to use, his to share, his to command, his to pass around, his to hoard, his to covet, his to abuse, his to neglect, his to lavish, his to punish, his to reward. Anything. Everything.”

My Comfort Level With Your Muse: Keep a Distance || Okay You Can Stand There, But Don’t Touch Me || Let’s Get Coffee and Talk || Let’s Cuddle || I Can Change In Front of You || Let’s Take a Bath Together

“My lord has seen me in every light that it is possible to see another man. I have nothing to hide from him. Nothing at all, not even my bones, my guts, my beating heart.”

If I See You As: A Stranger || An Acquaintance || A Friend || A Close Friend || My Best Friend || A Crush || The Love of My Life

“He is everything to me. He is… he…” Landon’s voice trails off to nothing, a long, pregnant silence. “He will be the death of me. This wanting, this yearning that I dare not name, it will be the death of me. And I will welcome it when it comes, for I truly believe that this is why I was spared. This is why I did not die in the unforgiving Coerthan snow when that dragon opened my body like a tin. Because I… because my death… it is his. It belongs to him, as do I.”

Landon @ Elias/Crane

If I Think They Are: Ugly || Plain || Alright || Cute || Freaking Adorable || Pretty || Beautiful || Hot || Stunning

“Crane is a man fit to burst with squandered potential, and his looks are not spared in this regard. He could be so much more than he is. He could be so much better than he is. The way he shrouds himself, it’s difficult to truly see him.”

If I Would Go On A Date With Them: Not even if we were the last two on earth || No || Maybe || Eh….Sure || Yes || WILL YOU MARRY ME

“This is laughable. This is a joke. The only place I’m taking Crane is six fulms into the dirt, where an abomination like him belongs.”

If I Trust Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || With My Life

“Do you trust the plague? Do you trust a summer cold? Do you trust the diarrhea that spreads through a barracks with alarming virulence? No? Then why should I trust the Crane?”

If I Care About Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || Deeply

“We are fated. I care about him only in that he meets me, faces me, and accepts his fate.”

If I Would Sleep With Them: Not Enough Alcohol in the World || No || Maybe if I were wasted || Maybe || Eh…Sure || Yes || TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF NOW!

“Crane deserves to shatter his teeth fellating the haft of my lance. He deserves to dine on the filth that lives between the treads of my boot. He deserves the cleansing touch of fire, burning away the rot that festers inside of him. Crane knows what he deserves, and he knows exactly where to find it.”

“Crane is so inept that I have little to fear from his presence, as unpleasant as it is.”

If I See You As: A Stranger || An Acquaintance || A Friend || A Close Friend || My Best Friend || A Crush || The Love of My Life

“Have you ever met your archnemesis, the antithesis of your soul, the–what did Miss Okuni call it–the diametric opposite of everything that you are and choose to be? Have you ever met him and found him fundamentally lacking in every regard? Do you know how infuriating that is? How disappointing? My only hope is that he grows into someone worthy of this rivalry. I will not hold my breath.”

Makoto @ Elias/Crane

If I Think They Are: Ugly || Plain || Alright || Cute || Freaking Adorable || Pretty || Beautiful || Hot || Stunning

“It’s a begrudging kind of… like… you can acknowledge that a guy is attractive while still mostly loathing everything he is and says and does.”

If I Would Go On A Date With Them: Not even if we were the last two one earth || No || Maybe || Eh….Sure || Yes || WILL YOU MARRY ME

“Does he even go on dates? Is he capable of that kind of imagination? I’m trying to picture a nerd like that trying to summon the personality necessary to spark romance, and I’m coming up blank.”

If I Trust Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || With My Life

“Maybe before the whole Ink business, I would have said that I trust Elias to have my back in a fight. But now? With everything going on? I don’t know. It’s complicated, isn’t it? I trust him in some ways.”

If I Care About Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || Deeply

“Fuck, man, it’s complicated! It’s so complicated. It would be easy to say that I don’t, but then he goes and does this dumbass shit like beat himself senseless and act all pathetic in a way custom fucking designed to tug at your heartguts. He’s shown me things. Things I didn’t think anyone else could ever understand, much less relate to. That counts for something.”

If I Would Sleep With Them: Not Enough Alcohol in the World || No || Maybe if I were wasted || Maybe || Eh…Sure || Yes || TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF NOW!

“I don’t do that anymore. I don’t do that so don’t… don’t fuckin’ ask me. Don’t tempt me. There’s a part of me that regrets not making him suck my dick when I had the chance. Like, this really small part of me, yeah? But there’s a much bigger part that’s deeply fucking glad that I kept my promise to my partner about it, and I feel like that’s the important thing. That’s important. That’s the thing to focus on, not what disastrous decisions I almost fuckin’ made.”

“There are parts of me that this guy understands that I didn’t think I could ever really talk to someone else about. I can’t explain it. It’s something you have to experience… something you have to see for yourself. Elias–Crane, whoever, who the fuck ever–he saw me, and I saw him. Inconvenient as it is, this is a simple fact.”

If I See You As: A Stranger || An Acquaintance || A Friend || A Close Friend || My Best Friend || A Crush || The Love of My Life

“I feel like we owe each other something. I feel like we’re not finished with each other. He told me that I’ve got some part to play. Some thing that if he can’t do it, I’ll have to do it instead. I still don’t understand it. I don’t know what to make of it. I don’t even know if I want it, but here it is fucking is whether I want it or not.”

Maya @ Elias/Crane

If I Think They Are: Ugly || Plain || Alright || Cute || Freaking Adorable || Pretty || Beautiful || Hot || Stunning

“He has that… disheveled and wiry thing going for him. It’s a bit messy, a bit fucked up. He was plain before, but he’s only gotten better and better looking recently.”

If I Would Go On A Date With Them: Not even if we were the last two one earth || No || Maybe || Eh….Sure || Yes || WILL YOU MARRY ME

“Crane and I are… friends. We’re friends of a sort, a very curious sort, but whatever else may hold true, it remains a platonic friendship. I believe that we could have great fun on an outing, but I don’t hold my breath for the spark of romance.”

If I Trust Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || With My Life

“Crane has made promises to me, promises that I hold sacrosanct. I would not have made the sacrifices that I have–I would not have drank the ink from his own lips–if I didn’t believe with every fiber of my being that he would keep them. Crane would die for me, as he would for any of the Flock. I like to think I would do the same, if necessary.”

If I Care About Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || Deeply

“You cannot share what we have shared–what I have shared with all of the Flock–without caring for one another.”

If I Would Sleep With Them: Not Enough Alcohol in the World || No || Maybe if I were wasted || Maybe || Eh…Sure || Yes || TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF NOW!

“Our arrangement is deeply, mutually satisfying, and deeply, mutually platonic. It’s nice not to have to be alone. It’s nice not to have to sleep alone. It’s nice to know that your needs will be met, despite the turmoil in your life. I miss him. I cannot say that I need him in that regard, but nevertheless I miss him so much.”

“Crane has seen me at my very lowest, and not only has he scraped me from the grout on the floor and put me back together, but he did it with such gentle, knowing kindness. There are few that I trust on the same level.”

If I See You As: A Stranger || An Acquaintance || A Friend || A Close Friend || My Best Friend || A Crush || The Love of My Life

“The closest of friends. We are family. That is why I’m here, that is why I chose to be with Crane, why I chose to join the Flock. Lovers will leave you. Colleagues will take jobs elsewhere. Friends will grow distant. Family is forever, and that is no more and no less than exactly what Crane promised me. To be kept. Forever.”

#woof #landon bell #maya garanji #urien leusignac #elias charron #i was going to do urien for makoto and maya too but then i got very sleepy #i was going to do erden for makoto but i think everyone knows exactly how makoto feels about erden #which is to say #erdenechimeg hung the fucking stars #gorgagne-viperidae #makoto matsuoka

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pixieungerstories · 6 years ago

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Housemates - 2

(Pictures are on Patreon since Tumblr won’t let me) In which we learn many things about the guys. Including Bazur’s absentmindedness about pants.

“This is ridiculous,” Kevin declared. He was currently a shadow humanoid wearing a wooden box as shorts. “No one wants to work for us, guys. The only reason we are getting applications is that Bazur said ‘diverse’ instead of ‘monstrous’ and it only takes one of us answering the doorbell to figure that out.”

Thea shrugged, “It got better once Bazur stopped answering the door in a leather jock strap.”

Kogan laughed. “But then he has to wear pants all the time.”

Derick rolled his eyes, “Dude! Pants! It’s a thing! It should be the minimum level of clothing here anyway! I don’t want to head into the kitchen for a snack and find someone running around with their ass hanging out.” He turned to Bazur, “You just aren’t that cute.”

Bazur frowned, “This is my house! And anyway, Thea and Dren don’t have to wear pants.”

Dren looked up from the bowl of soup he was slowly absorbing. “I can wear pants. I do at work.”

Tristan considered all of this. “She can’t be any worse than the last one.”

Kevin grinned, showing off a mouthful of needle-like teeth, “The last one was really into you.”

“The last one was objectifying me.”

Kogan cleared his throat. “You know we aren’t paying enough for this to be a full time job, right? We can’t all just keep being slobs. Whoever we get will be here to help, not do all the work for us. No leaving soup out when you are done with it Dren. We just got rid of the ants.”

Dren shrugged, “I never leave my dirty dishes out.”

Bazur nodded, Dren never did. Derick never did, he couldn’t stand the smell. Kogan kept his space military level clean. No, that was a not so subtle dig at him, Thea and Kevin.

But mostly Kevin.

The tenants weren’t exactly clear what Kevin did for a living. He kept odd hours. He never talked about it, and he always paid in cash with small bills. At one point Dren and Tristan had gotten drunk and speculated on Kevin being some sort of stripper. Kogan had laughed his great booming laugh and put five dollars on Kevin being a smuggler.

It didn’t matter. No one had been able to find out.

Bazur knew, but he wasn’t talking.

In the end, they cleaned before the interview. No point in scaring her off too soon. Bazur made sure to book the interview when the boys would be out. He was dressed and ready to go an hour before she was due to show up. He spent his time pacing.

The problem was the house was huge. The maid services he had contacted had all quoted hundreds of dollars a week and that didn’t include cooking or menu planning, a task that was universally despised in the house. It hadn’t been easy to clear the junk out of the attic, but including room and board was their best chance at getting someone. Humans didn’t eat much, and the campus was mostly human.

Hell, the whole town was mostly human. Dren was the only gelatinous Bazur had ever seen in town, and he had been hired specifically to work with autistic kids. The man was practically a living stim toy.

Bazur jumped when the doorbell rang. He was shocked when he opened the door. So was she, but she recovered first. He knew that Vincensia was a fourth year biochem major at the U. He knew she had won a scholarship to pay for her tuition. He wasn’t expecting her to be beautiful. And outgoing and friendly in a way that went beyond what most people brought to the table when talking to not humans. Bazur managed to fumble through most of the house tour on auto pilot after having done it so many times before.

He was doing fine until she asked about porn.

At that point he was sure it was over.

He was shocked that she agreed to come to dinner.

Oh hell! She was coming to dinner! What were they going to feed her?

-----

That night it was pizza take out. Three pepperoni, one ham and pineapple, one vegetarian, and (because KEVIN) one pineapple and sardines.

Bazur was surprised. No one asked. Finally after this third beer, Kogan belched and asked, “Did this one even make it through the door?”

“Yeah, she did,” Derick said. “I could smell her in my room when I got home.

“She’s coming for dinner on Friday.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

The room erupted in sound. Everyone started yelling. Tristan wanted to know what she thought of the tour. Krogran wanted to know what species she was. Dren wanted to know what she looked like. Thea wanted to know if she was freaked out by his room.

Bazur waited for them to run down. “Human, gorgeous, Italian - so you know her cooking will be amazing, lives with her parents, didn’t freak out about there being a drider or a mimic, but she wants her mom’s approval before she takes the job. And I’m pretty she if we let either her or her mom sit on Kevin, all bets are off.”

They all went quiet at that.

“Um… “ Tristan started, “When you say gorgeous...”

“Long dark hair, huge dark eyes, creamy skin, Sophia Loren’s curves,” Kevin answered. “I can’t believe she’s coming back to meet us losers. She could make five bills in five minutes at a strip club.”

“She has concerns about the workload. She made a fair point, we advertised as a good job for a student, but if she needs to spend all of her out of class time cleaning up after us, she won’t have time to study. She estimated that cooking supper and washing up was a ninety minute job all on her own. I said we would organize taking care of the washing up if she needed. She was worried that-”

“Holy shit!” Kogan interrupted, “If she is planning on taking an hour to make dinner, she is cooking from scratch!”

They all stopped to consider this,

Dren nodded slowly, “It only takes 15 minutes to throw a frozen pizza in the oven.”

Thea blinked, it was impressive. “We can’t fuck this one up guys.”

They all looked at Kevin. He was currently human shaped, if humans came in wood grain and had a lock set over his groin.

“What?”

----

They cleaned the kitchen. They had twelve place settings. Each of the guys had two and using someone else’s was a hanging offense. Each of them had his own pattern on his dishes. Dren had plain white from Ikea. Thea’s were black and square. Kogan’s were beige stoneware. Derick’s were stainless steel. Tristan’s were blue enamelled and came from a camping store. Bazur’s were Belleek. The Claddagh pattern.

Kevin…. Well Kevin’s were vintage novelty plates from Las Vegas featuring pin up girls.

Everyone knew that. They had just never really considered how that would look to an outsider.

“What?” Kevin demanded. “Hey, they aren’t the ones where the girls clothes fall off when the plates get warm.”

Dren looked horrified, “Is that a thing?”

“Yes,” chorused Kevin, Tristan and Kogan.

Bazur shook his head. “She can use my other set. I guess if she moves in, I’ll buy more dishes.”

They had decided to order in take away. Derick was out collecting a car full of Chinese food. Kogan wandered over to the fridge. It was full of beer. There were also pickles, ketchup and mustard and an elderly jar of mayo. “We are going to need to get her a separate fridge for cooking.”

Dren yelled from the dining room, “Does anyone even know if the stove works?”

“It works just fine!” Bazur yelled back.

Kogan raised an eyebrow. Bazur came over and tried turning on the burners. They all lit. Both men breathed a sigh of relief. Kogan opened the drawer under the oven. It was full of dust, mouse shit and cheap tin pots from the fifties. He looked at Bazur, “You buy her a fridge and I’ll buy her new pots, mixing bowls and plates. Deal?”

Bazur nodded slowly.

“I’ll pitch in for a stand mixer,” Thea said from the ceiling, making the other two jump. Once they were looking up at him, he added, “And Kogan is getting the short end of the stick. Outfitting a kitchen costs way more than a fridge.”

“She’s here!” Dren called.

Thea ran across the ceiling and down a wall, beating them all to the door. He wrenched it open and froze.

The girl’s eyes went wide then she blinked and blushed and said, “Wow! Um, sorry! I’ve just never met a drider before. Or, you know, um seen one. Argh! I’m being rude!” She held out a hand, took a deep breath and said, “Hi! I’m Vinny!”

Thea ran up a wall, across the ceiling and up the side of the the staircase.

Vinny looked a Bazur. “Sorry. Um. I’m not exactly off to a good start. But I brought cannoli for dessert.”

Derick was walking up the walk with a huge box of dinner, “Wow! Homemade cannoli?”

“Uh, yeah, like an audition.”

“You’re hired!” he announced. “Hell, forget the job, will you marry me?”

Vinny blinked, “No. But I will have an eggroll if you brought any.”

“OK.” he said easily as he walked past her. “Clear a path, food coming through!”

Kogan and Dren headed to the dining room. Derick followed with the box of food. Vinny was still standing on the step. Bazur smiled, “Come on in. They are all really excited to meet you.”

Vinny gave him a funny look.

“What?”

“I scared off your drider and you aren’t wearing pants.”

“Oh! Shit! Um. I’ll go get pants. I’m sure Thea just went to get Tristan.”

Vinny still didn’t come in. “Is the no pants thing going to be a thing?”

“NO! Um… maybe? I’ll get better at it, I promise.”

“Uh-huh.” Now she came in. She hung her coat on the hall tree and headed into the dining room.

(Sticker promotion runs until Feb 2, 2019, see Patreon for details)

#mimic #gargoyle #orc #werewolf #slime #minotaur #drider #monster boyfriend #poly #terato #exophilia

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dreadhaus-literature · 6 years ago

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{January Collection} #18

I really just had some fun with this; it’s already late, I have to leave early for an airport run, and I can’t spend hours writing another smutty piece so I went with a more...light-hearted take on obsession. It’s not as wordy, meant to be fast-paced and sweep Monica right off her feet in the process.

Used this for inspiration.

Hometown

Friday’s Theme: Surveys

The census is boring; make up your own!

“I can’t believe how easy this is!”

Monica looked over at her full-time bestie and 24 hour on-call girlfriend, who was gesturing with one arm out in a wide arc, the other cradling a cup of coffee from their favorite shop. The shorter woman laughed good-naturedly, nodding as she switched the sheets of paper on her clipboard to a blank survey page.

“Normally I’d argue, we’re having to talk to strangers but...today hasn’t been too bad.”

Dot slung that free arm around her girlfriend’s waist. “I told you making up these ridiculous questions was the way to go. No need for us to be the only ones uncomfortable through this whole process.”

“True,” Monica adjusted her glasses, “but I don’t see how asking people about their weirdest dream is going to count as a census for our stats class.”

“The census is for nerds,” Dot took a sip of her coffee with a scowl. “This isn’t 1955, if you wanna know how many people are in the world google it. This is the heart and soul of the population! Which is way more important in my opinion.”

Monica just shook her head; she’d let her emotional half take the lead on this particular project for their mutual college class and she was only mildly worried about their project grade. When she got back to their apartment she may have to double check just what the percentage of this project counts toward their final grade...but as long as Dot as having fun, Monica wasn’t going to complain. She’d hated the idea of having to go door to door in New York City, of all places, but this professor of theirs was real old school and wanted an accurate picture of their hometown so door to door was the assigned task. The subject of the survey that students were supposed to ask about was at their own discretion--which was exactly what Dot was wanting to hear. She volunteered to put together a questionnaire that was “guaranteed to make the recipients just as uncomfortable answering the questions as we are asking them!” Monica didn’t know...how she felt about that, but in the end at least asking silly questions made up for the annoying and oftentimes ugly participants as they navigated down another street.

“How many more of these do we have?” Dot tilted her head down, watching Monica count the slips.

“Twelve, so not too bad!” She responded, almost missing Dot’s grimace.

“Seriously? We’ve been at this all damn day, I thought we’d be closer to done.”

“Weren’t you just saying how easy this is?”

Dot poked Monica’s nose with an audible, “Boop,” before continuing. “I said it was easy, not quick, which it isn’t. Gimme six of those, we can split up for the last dozen and get ‘em done faster.”

Monica raised both brows, drawing to a stop on the sidewalk. “You wanna talk to people alone?”

“It’ll make me all the more appreciative when I get to talk to you, alone,” Dot answered with a wry grin, before putting on a pout. “Come on, angel, the new issue of Super-Spider and Deadman comes out tonight and you promised you’d read it to me.”

“i still don’t get why you ask me to read it to you, it’s got pictures.”

“It also has words and your reading voice is the best.”

“I sound like R. Kelly.”

“Who is a gross bag of limp dicks but also has several platinum selling records for having a bomb ass voice so what is your argument again, sweet peach?” Dot fluttered her eyelashes, which earned her a swat to the face with her half of the surveys.

“Fine, fine. Split up and leave your girlfriend all by herself--”

“That fuss isn’t going to work on me, I know last week you got that cute barista’s number because I wasn’t sucking your face in the coffee line,” Dot snatched up the surveys, leaning down to give Monica’s Crentist face a kiss. “Which, by the way, you should text him? He’s gonna think you’re not interested since he’s already text you three times.”

“I-I’m not!”

“Not interested? Reaaaally,” Dot put on her best Kevin Hart voice as she started further down the sidewalk. “He’s Russian and broods when he’s not serving up lattes like a champ. Tell me he’s not your type with a straight face?”

“You’re going to get hit by a car walking backward and I’m not going to help you if that happens!” Monica shot after her.

Dot took a swig of her coffee, in the process of facing forward with a point. “No, you won’t, because you’re going to go--wow, you’re going to go knock on that castle’s front door.”

Monica was so distracted by the word castle she momentarily forgot the argument she was having with Dot about the barista that she...absolutely did find attractive and was too shy to text back because she saw him almost every day thanks to Dot’s coffee addiction. What if she said something lame? ...And when did their hometown get a castle? Monica adjusted her glasses with her free hand, amending her thoughts after another moment or two of staring. This place wasn’t a castle but it definitely did not fit in with the rest of New York’s ever modernizing architecture and Monica definitely did not remember this building always being here. It was stone, several stories high, and seemed like it would be better suited somewhere in Europe than on a bustling city block. Monica glanced a little up the street and saw Dot was already knocking on the door of the next building and it...really was up to her to go ring this doorbell, huh?

This was the last time Dot was in charge of a college project.

“Gonna go knock on this door and greet some ugly motherfucker with a lazy eye and droopy skin because he’s 600 years old,” Monica grumbled, tucking her clipboard closer as she started up the walkway toward what was very likely a haunted mansion. “And he’ll curse me to steal my beauty and then where will I be? Ugly, too, just like him, that’s where.”

The stone steps leading up to the intimidating double front door gave Monica enough time to rethink her decision, but her knuckles had barely tapped against the wood before the door swung open and revealed an...unfairly attractive middle-aged man who immediately locked eyes with her.

“Yes?”

Monica’s voice failed her; she’d been prepared for some frog-looking cretin but she was not prepared for handsome billionaire behind door number one. “I--A-Ah...”

Dr. Stephen Strange lifted his dark brows at the adorable little girl stammering on his front step, but he didn’t interrupt, content to listen to her flounder if only to hear her speak. How long had he been waiting? A glance at the otherwordly watch on the wrist holding the door open told him he’d been waiting nearly 6 weeks for her to arrive, but then that was what he got for using the Eye of Agamotto to peer into the future and ruin things for himself. It was just...he’d never had a fortune so intriguing before.

A beautiful, dark-haired stranger will arrive on your doorstep, asking questions you’ll struggle to answer--not because they are difficult, Strange, but because your heart will be too loud for you to hear them.

Ask her name, bind her as only you know to do, and take the gift the universe has bestowed upon the Sorcerer Supreme.

For weeks, the doorbell had Stephen’s heart racing but it had been nothing but false alarms--but surely, this had to be his stranger. She was stunning. Simply looking at her had the Sorcerer Supreme rethinking his policy on love spells--something he’d staunchly denied even existed because Tony Stark insists that’s the only way he’ll ever find a girlfriend.

Honestly, what does an idiot in a tin can know about magic? Or fashion sense, for that matter?

“I-I am...l-looking for the...A-Are you the...” Monica gripped the clipboard to steady herself, holding in front of her chest like a shield. “Is t-this your home, sir?”

“It is,” Stephen’s regal features softened and he offered Monica a smile, taking his hand off the door frame to offer to her. “Dr. Stephen Strange.”

Monica glanced down at his hand before gingerly putting hers in his. “N-Nice to meet you, Dr. Strange.”

Stephen closed his hand around hers, bending his spine to press a kiss to the back even as his gaze remained riveted to hers. It was an Old World greeting, a call to European roots, and it was a thousand percent an excuse to touch her, and he took it a step further and urged her past the threshold of the Sanctum Sanctorum. He had a better hope of keeping her if she was already inside his ever-changing magical home, after all.

“Stephen, please, my dear.” Stephen swept his free hand around the small of her back as the door closed behind her. “And you are?”

“M-Monica.”

“Monica...what a beautiful name.” Stephen’s long legs drew her deeper into the Sanctorum with a smile she couldn’t help to decode. “Tell me, dear, what are your thoughts on magicians?”

#{theme} : for monica #{collection} : january 2019 #{character} : stephen strange #{ i wanna pick this apart and keep writing because I don't know when to quit }#{ but this was supposed to be written this way }#{ it's...idk what this is }#{ a new style maybe? }#{ whatever i'm not gonna nitpick this to death }

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thetoxicgamer · 2 years ago

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Skyrim Mod Redesigns Road In Bethesda RPG

Skyrim mods can occasionally be so pleasantly ordinary that you can't help but marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship that went into creating them. A mod that demonstrates remarkable attention to the craft of upgrading one of the greatest open-world games of all time is the ideal illustration of this phenomena. Fans obviously concur because it has already established itself as one of the most well-liked mods for the Bethesda RPG since its debut. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Northern Roads mod, by creator JPSteel2, does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a glorious overhaul to the entire infrastructure of Skyrim, removing every single one of the vanilla road chunks in the game and replacing them with more diverse designs. Small villages and the wilderness will sport dusty dirt tracks, major cities get stone pathways, colder mountainous areas feature mucky, snowy trails, and so on. There’s also plenty of new features such as unique bridge designs, wooden totems, runestones and more. Things get even more exciting in the various Holds, with an emphasis placed on the cultural divide between the eastern towns, which draw from Scandinavian and Viking inspiration, and the western ones, which take from Celtic and Slavic cultures. Creator JPSteel2 says that the mod began its life as a “simple bridge replacer” but they just… kept on going until it was “something much, much bigger.” The final project has such a dramatic effect, in fact, that a separate collection of patches has been compiled to ensure most of the popular Skyrim mods will run alongside it, due to the way it alters a lot of the landscape records. You can check out the mod in action for yourself below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIwXkvZpQAs Sometimes it’s the seemingly simplest mods that can be the most intricately designed and beautiful. If you think you’re ready for this stunning infrastructure in your own version of Skyrim, you can download Northern Roads at Nexus Mods. Also highly recommended is the aforementioned Northern Roads patch collection to resolve any potential compatibility issues, if you’re someone who’s already done a fair amount of modding. Honestly, given the hell that is the Skyrim economy, we’re wondering who’s funding this complete infrastructural rebuild. Nevertheless, it’s certainly spectacular. If you’re looking for more additions, why not add an entire Skyrim mage city with over 100 NPCs to your world? Or perhaps some new Skyrim Daedric DLC in the Shivering Isles sounds more up your alley? If you fancy changing things up even more, we’ve got some of the best games like Skyrim, because there’s plenty out there beyond the world of The Elder Scrolls. Read the full article

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secretradiobrooklyn · 3 years ago

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The Singing Senator Edition | 5.22.21

Secret Radio | 5.22.21 | Hear it here.

1. Dara Puspita - “Bertamasja”

Dara Puspita was an Indonesian band, active right from the start of rock n roll — like, they jumped into it in 1964. I love how it sounds like gnarly garage rock until the lead guitar tone pulls out and reveals a super VU sound. With a surf structure! It’s just about a perfect nugget of song.

2. Yol Aularong - “Sou Slarp Kroam Kombut Srey (Rather Die Under a Woman’s Sword)”

Yol Aularong has the wildest voice, and total commitment to rock’s magic transformative power, even in a context where he was risking his life. He does things that would make Screamin’ Jay lean back and appreciate. The arrangements and his delivery just o’erbrim with life and character.

3. The Psychedelic Aliens - “We’re Laughing”

This band is like Atomic Forest in that they’re just the answer to any collector’s wildest dreams of rarity: they’re a Ghanaian band who released exactly 8 songs and were big in the Accra scene. The groove of this song, especially in headphones, is just mesmerizing, and his delivery gets gradually more and more abstract. It sounds like Marijata and what I wish WITCH sounded more like. Undeniable.

- Glenn Miller Orchestra - “Sunrise Serenade”

4. Prewar Yardsale - “Turn On (Live Peel Session)”

We got into Prewar Yardsale through Jeffrey. Because we got into this band that he introduced us to, he said he had some rarities and other tracks. That he sent our way, and this is from that.

5. Chai - “In Pink (feat. MNDSGN)”

I think first it was the New York Times, then the Guardian, then the New Yorker all writing about this band essentially in the same week — and we definitely had no idea what they sound like. This song had just debuted on YouTube 18 hours earlier. I think, especially now through repeated listens, it’s a rad track. I love the way MNDSGN winds his vocals into the song, then has his passage, then smoothly winds his way out again. It’s like meeting a really interesting person at an already cool party.

6. Waipod Phetsuphan - “Ding Ding Dong”

Siamese music — Thai music. The guitar part is so primal and the drums so bright in the fills and meanwhile it sounds like he’s casting a spell. And what a refrain.

7. Jacques Dutronc - “J’ai me un tigre dans ma guitare”

One of the greats — I have loved every song of his I’ve ever heard. This song really makes me appreciate his band, especially his drummer.

8. Orchestra Baobab - “Kelen Ati Leen”

When we started WBFFing, it was partly because we were being blown away by the indisputable proof of James Brown’s influence on, and interaction with, the entire world. I don’t think I realized JB was a lot bigger than the Beatles in huge swaths of the world. This track is fundamentally expressing a JB groove and doing their own entire thing at the same time. The lead vocals’ flavor is just off the charts and the band is SO tight.

9. Pierre Vassilou - “Qui c’est celui-là?”

What IS this song? It’s in French but it sounds like Brazil — I guess really it sounds like Os Mutantes.

10. Betti-Betti w T.P. Orchestre Poly Rythmo - “Mahana”

The abundance of T.P. Orchestre keeps on giving. This beautiful, beautiful song is from an album they did with Cameroonian star Betti-Betti, who basically expressed the pain of her country so precisely that the whole nation mourned her passing when she died young. This melody is just stunning, and the harmony

- Stunt Double - “Be My Baby”

Ace track from some of our favorite people in all of LA.

11. Bug Chaser - “Crowley’s Kids”

I don’t know if Bug Chaser is active at the moment, but some of our favorite STL shows have been watching and/or playing with Bug Chaser. We did the City Museum rooftop twice — and we split favorite VU songs at the Lou Reed Farewell show. Two drumsets, way too much information per track, and an epic live show with a lead character who knows how to lose himself in a song.

12. Eko Roosevelt - “Attends Moi”

We learned about Eko Roosevelt by glimpsing him in a movie about Betti-Betti. He’s a handsome bearded gentleman behind a piano. The first songs by him that got us were super heavy disco, but this one has its own special power. Lately Paige has been singing and playing it on guitar — I’m kind of hoping that we hear her version of “Attends Moi” in another broadcast.

13. Manzanita y Su Conjunto - “Shambar”

One of the sweetest musical gifts in our life has been the discovery of Analog Africa’s ever-growing musical jackpot. They sent their list a note recently about an upcoming record focused on Manzanita y Su Conjunto and their path through cumbia music, and there are two tracks available now counting this one. We’ll be getting this record, this shit is amazing.

Paige: “I gotta get in touch with Mrs. Link.”

14. Lizzy Mercier Descloux - “Fire”

This song is from her 1979 debut, “Press Color,” and man, what an undeniable new character on the scene! She was based in Paris, hooked up with Michel Esteban, and together they not only established a store of crucial Parisian punkness but also published a fucking MAGAZINE called “Rock News”!! While making music like this! Eventually they moved to New York in 1977 (natch) and as far as I know just continued to be the coolest humans on Earth. I can’t wait to share some of her other tracks with you — besides the brilliant first album, there’s a whole record called “Zulu Rock”!

15. Os Mutantes - “A Minha Menina”

And as always I think: What did the Beatles think of this music?! They must have known about it, they must have. To me it really brings a whole additional level that the Beatles wanted to get to but literally didn’t know how — and Os Mutantes did.

16. Suburban Lawns - “Janitor”

Sometimes I wonder why something that sounds so objectionable can be the most vital music in the world. Like, nothing about the lyrics or the way this song is sung should be appealing — and instead, this song is brilliantly undeniable. It’s even better when you see them performing it. If you don’t know what they look like, I guarantee you she will be a surprising character.

My favorite words on it ever are something someone wrote as a comment under the video of their TV performance of this song: “Spent 15 years as a janitor. Can confirm every word.”

17. Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea - “Mou Pei Na”

These two are just amazing characters in the pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodian music world. Ros Serey Sothea’s voice is totally unique, and Sisamouth has a sincere urgency that gives the whole song a surprising narrative shape.

18. Ranil - “Ángel Terrenal”

Analog Africa again — the cure for what ails you. They are truly combing the world for music that amazes. They played the length of the Amazon river and did their best to stay out of big cities after a bad experience with a record label. So they released these psychedelic jungle masterpieces on little slabs of vinyl that they sold up and down the river. Can you freaking believe that?

- Salah Ragab - I believe you are responsible for telling us about Salah Ragab, Josh Weinstein. So good.

Also, as promised, further information about glue traps and why they’re so harsh (and how to pull off a successful rescue!) can be found here.

19. Dagi D - “Beka”

I feel like I knew my musical life had changed when I started thinking of every visit to an Ethiopian restaurant as a valuable moment to learn as much about the music as possible — especially Meskerem in St. Louis, it must be said. It turns out modern Ethiopian pop music is super addictive and can easily get stuck in your head for days.

20. Raxstar - “Jaaneman”

We’re still pretty new to Kensington, our neighborhood in Brooklyn. We knew that a Muslim holiday called Eid al-Fitr was happening, and when it was happening, but we were still surprised by what a joyous holiday it was in our neighborhood. Everyone of all ages was out in their fines, which involved a whole lot of sequins and shining metallic threads. The men wore a lot of caftans and those excellent long shirts and/or jackets, most with beautiful patterns. We went for a long walk and just enjoyed seeing a holiday at full pitch — excited kids and tutting grandmas, people carrying big flower arrangements (in the shape of a crescent and star!), heavy-looking tins of food headed toward a feast, even fireworks overhead. We crossed paths with a group of dudes all dressed up in various states of celebration, from a sharp Western-style two-piece suit to an even sharper South Asian suit with a Nehru collar and snug caftan. It looked like they had just finished the parental part of the night and were deciding where and who to meet up with — exactly like, say, Thanksgiving night in your hometown. It felt like, from Coney Island to McDonald, Church to Cortelyou, it was New Year’s Eve for everyone but us.

After our walk we returned to our apartment and set up a little folding table out back to enjoy a glass of wine in the warm air. Our neighbors across the fence were still in the midst of family time, with tons of kids running around, including a teensy little girl on a tiny little pink scooter and a gaggle of beautifully awkward teens in the posture and attitude that says “stand by your cousins and let me take your picture.” As the evening wore on and the parents drifted back inside, the young adult contingent got a speaker going, and soon we were catching tracks we’d never heard before. The one that made us first pay attention was “Jaaneman,” with the vocalist’s super-charismatic delivery and priceless accent. We found ourselves Shazaming song after song, and thus started learning about Desi hip hop, a whole world of East Asian immigrant tracks that offer a lens into life in the US and UK that I haven’t really seen since watching “My Beautiful Laundrette” many years ago. Fascinating!

“Jaaneman” literally means “soul of me,” but translates to “my love” or “my darling.” Check out Raxstar — I’d love to see him play SNL and get an impression of what he’s like live. Just last month he released “Forever Jaaneman,” which updates his original smash hit and is also a very strong track.

21. Nate Smith - “Spress Theyself”

One of the last shows we got to see in St. Louis was Nate Smith at Jazz at the Bistro, and holy smokes, what a pleasure to see him do his thing up close. I love this solo album because it sounds like a practice sesh that died and went to heaven. It doesn’t have a song’s logic, but it does follow the feel of a great intuitive exploration of a beat, wandering through subdivisions and feel variations with complete ease.

22. Jefferson Airplane - “White Rabbit”

This is Paige’s call. I think it’s cool because I can hear the direct connection between this and Erkin Koray’s Anatolian psych rock style, which I previously had no idea about. This listen through, we’ve both been appreciating how overwhelming massive Grace Slick’s voice is.

23. Marie France - “Dereglée”

Another cut off the fantastic Born Bad Records comp “Paink,” and more proof that punk was happening in other languages at the same time. (Though I think they called themselves “méchant”… or denied being méchant, depending) The album art reveals that Marie France happened to look uncannily like a punk Marilyn Monroe, which only makes both MM and MF cooler.

24. Operation Ivy - “One of These Days”

I was never for one second a punk in high school, but I knew that the Op Ivy t-shirt was the essence of functional punk.

- Shin Joong Hyun - “Moon Watching”

25. Shin Joong Hyun - “Spring Rain”

This guy has an otherworldly sense of melody and performance that indie rock only starting catching up with decades later. This is the guy sometimes referred to as the “Korean godfather of rock.” He was active from the early ‘60s til 1975, when he was arrested, tortured and banned in South Korea. Eventually, the leader who had hammered down on him died, and he was able to begin piecing his life back together. These iconic, evocative, cinematic recordings would sound great in any decade.

Spoiler: it wasn’t! We walked across the bridge and it was a thoroughly magical New York evening.

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mcneelamusic · 4 years ago

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How to Play the Tin Whistle Like Mary Bergin

Legendary tin whistle player Mary Bergin is the most iconic tin whistle player of our time. She single handedly revolutionised Irish tin whistle playing and elevated the status of this humble instrument.

Without her trailblazing influence, Irish tin whistle playing would never have reached the heights it has. She has inspired countless generations of musicians. Mary Bergin is, hands down, the greatest thing to ever happen to this oft-maligned and overlooked instrument.

Mary’s playing style is iconic and her technical skill enviable. Every Irish whistle player wants to play just like her, and rightly so.

Mary Bergin, for me, is what every whistle player should aspire to – pure trad. – Joanie Madden

So I’ve put together this handy guide for any aspiring tin whistle players, to show you how you too can follow in the footsteps of this whistling master.

Contents [hide]Practice Makes Perfect Stamina & DriveBreathing Exercises The Purpose of the Breath Tasteful Ornamentation Choosing the Right InstrumentWild Irish Whistle Setanta Whistles Feel The Music ListenWhat Came Before Tin Whistle Tutorials Tin Whistle LessonsThe Ultimate Tin Whistle Course Why stop there?

Practice Makes Perfect

We all know the old adage. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!

Well, the same answer applies here. If you want to master the tin whistle and elevate your playing to the same level as Mary Bergin, then you need to practice.

We all love to marvel at the skill of great musicians, often remarking on their ‘natural talent’. The truth is however that talented musicians have worked hard to reach this level of playing. If you put in the work, you too will see the benefits. Establishing a daily practice routine will work wonders for your playing. This might sound daunting, but a daily 20 – 30 minute session is far more beneficial than one long practice session a week.

You’ll build stamina and develop muscle memory. Daily immersion will also help you commit the music to memory. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get to work.

If you need some help, why not check out my blog post on effective practice methods which may offer a little guidance on the matter.

Stamina & Drive

You might think that such a small instrument doesn’t require much stamina to play. This is a common misconception however.

If you listen to any of the great Irish tin whistle players, you’ll notice they all have one thing in common – lung power. Mary Bergin is no exception. See her in action below alongside the revolutionary tin whistle player, Michael McGoldrick:

Strong breath control is absolutely fundamental to good tin whistle playing. As an Irish whistle player, mastering your breathing is one of the most important steps toward mastering your instrument.

The breath affects not just your tone, but also the rhythm and flow of the tune.

So how do you develop lung power to rival your idol? It’s easy. Exercise!

Breathing Exercises

Simple breathing exercises are an excellent tool to help you improve your breath control and increase your lung capacity.

Incorporating tried and tested exercises into your daily practice routine will help you gain full control of your breathing, your instrument and your playing.

Of course, regular physical exercise helps too, but breathing exercises can be practiced from the comfort of your couch. What’s not to love? I’ve put together a few suggestions, to assist any flute or tin whistle players on their musical journey.

You can find them here: Exercises and Technique to Improve Your Flute and Tin Whistle Playing

The Purpose of the Breath

Mary Bergin’s breathing is actually a feature of her playing style. She uses the breath to add a pulsing drive to tunes. In her own words:

In whistle playing, what I love is the combination of the notes and the breath. It’s not just a matter of taking in air, but of using the breath to give the tune a push forward. Where other people like to use continuous flow in their playing, I like to build the phrases up with the breath – give the tune a ‘hup’ every now and again. – Mary Bergin, Irish Times

Have a listen and see if you can identify the role of the breath in her tin whistle playing:

Tasteful Ornamentation

Mary’s playing is representative of the older, more traditional style of Irish tin whistle playing. Where she differs from the older generation of whistle players however is in her masterful use of ornamentation.

Mary Bergin has an amazing command over her instrument. Her technical skill is impressive to say the least.

Tonguing, cuts, rolls, triplets, slides and bounces – her playing is filled with these perfectly executed ornaments. Yet the music never sounds cluttered or excessively decorated. Each flourish and embellishment is carefully considered and added only to enhance the tune.

Mary uses ornamentation only when appropriate, depending on the needs of the music. As a result, her performances can vary from beautifully subtle to highly decorative, depending on the context.

Brightly ornamented but uncluttered, her playing is distinctive with a crisp articulation. – Fintan Vallely

Her performance below with the iconic Joe McKenna, Alec Finn and Bríd Uí Bhraonáin is a masterclass in how and when to ornament and embellish. Her playing blends perfectly with Joe’s yet still contrasts beautifully when it needs to and, most importantly, when the music calls for it:

Choosing the Right Instrument

One of the easiest ways to replicate the sound of your favourite musicians is to try to get your hands on the same make and model of musical instrument.

This can sometimes be easier said than done however. Many professional musicians play instruments that cost thousands.

Well, if you’re looking to pick up the same instrument as Mary Bergin I have good news.

Mary plays an eclectic assortment of Generation whistles, alongside tin whistles by John Sindt, Pat O’Riordan and Michael Copeland. You can see her in action on one of her Generation whistles below:

While the latter – Sindt, O’Riordan and Copeland – produce truly beautiful whistles, their instruments are expensive investments. These tin whistles are also increasingly difficult to get hold of. Generation whistles however, cost less than €10 each. These mass produced tin whistles can be a bit hit or miss though.

Before high quality tin whistles became easily accessible, serious players would take the time to dig through a batch to find any hidden gems lying amongst them.

With the widespread availability of high quality whistles at affordable rates, this is no longer necessary.

Let me recommend two beautiful whistles that would serve you well in recreating the bright clear tone of Mary Bergin…

Wild Irish Whistle

This exciting new tin whistle is the latest addition to the McNeela family. It’s ideal for tin whistle players at any stage of playing – beginner, intermediate or advanced.

The Wild Irish Whistle is designed with ease of playing in mind. It offers amazing playability and great responsiveness. Most importantly, it doesn’t require too much huffing and puffing to produce a great sound, which makes playing and practicing a breeze.

This tin whistle offers excellent tuning between octaves and a bright, sweet tone throughout, even in the higher register. So you won’t get any unwanted shrill high notes when you play. Some whistles require a real workout when trying to achieve a clear tone in the higher octave, but the Wild Irish Whistle does the work for you.

This is a whistle that will encourage anyone to pick it up and play it as often as they can. From its playability to its beautiful tone, it will make learning to play an enjoyable experience right from your very first note. Even more exciting, it’s available as both a soprano whistle and alto whistle, in a range of keys.

See it in action below in the hands of Robert Harvey, a virtuoso whistle player following in the footsteps of Mary Bergin:

Setanta Whistles

John O’Brien crafts the beautiful Setanta Whistles right from our very own workshop here at McNeela Music.We’re honoured to share our workspace with this legend of the Irish music scene, and to learn from his musicianship and craftsmanship. John’s premium tin whistles are a labour of love which is evident any time you pick one up to play it. But what is it that makes these new whistles so special?

John is an experienced pipes and whistle player who has toured with Riverdance. He designed these whistles to cater for his needs, and the needs of others, as a professional musician.

His full range of Setanta whistles includes soprano whistles, alto whistles and a stunning selection of low whistles. Each tin whistle offers beautifully warm clear tone in all octaves, excellent responsiveness and exceptionally accurate tuning.

These beauties are a worthy investment for any whistle player. You’ll be able to hear and feel the difference a premium instrument makes to your playing.

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Feel The Music

If your only goal as a tin whistle player is to emulate your favourite player and sound exactly like her, turn back now. Individual style is just as important as matching the abilities of the greats. As is enjoyment.Why you play music is just as important as how you play it.

You could be the most technically skilled performer in the world but if you’re not connecting with the music you’re playing, if it doesn’t stir emotions and bring you joy, then what’s the point?

The other thing I value in music is, I suppose, something to do with soul… If the music is coming from your head – if you’re trying too hard with your head – it only reaches the head, and then kind of cuts off. I need someone to be playing from other space that hits another part of me. And that goes for any kind of music… if someone is using their head to try and impress me with all sorts of techniques and stuff, I actually switch off very quickly – no matter how good they are. – Mary Bergin, Irish Times

How do you develop this connection to the music? The answer is simple. Listen.

Listen

All of the greatest traditional Irish musicians have one thing in common. They each grew up on the music of their predecessors. They were immersed in traditional Irish music, surrounded themselves with it. They listened greedily to the playing of others in order to learn all they could about not just their instruments, but the music itself.

Listening to the music of legends of traditional Irish music is just as important today. Mary Bergin’s phenomenal solo albums are the perfect place to start.

Feadóga Stáin and Feadóga Stáin 2 are two of the greatest Irish tin whistle recordings ever made. They are a treasure trove of tunes and a masterclass in tin whistle playing:

If like me however, you’ve already committed these two brilliant albums to memory, then what should you listen to next?

What Came Before

Who did your musical idols learn from? Who did they listen to growing up? Find recordings of these people and listen to them. Go back to the source. Listen to a variety of traditional Irish instruments… The more the music gets into your head, the better the music will be that comes out through your fingers. – Caitlín Nic Gabhann

Mary’s playing was hugely influenced by the flute playing of Packie Duignan and the whistle playing of Willie Clancy. So why not listen to the music of these two legendary icons and see what it was about their own playing styles that inspired and influenced one of the greatest Irish tin whistle players of our time?

Sometimes when I encourage people to listen to older recordings they can be put off by a few things – the recording quality, and, sometimes, the playing itself. While older playing styles may not be immediately pleasing to unfamiliar ears, I promise, they have a wealth of knowledge to offer.

When I look back on myself as a younger musician I would have sought out a lot of the older players. They mightn’t have been technically brilliant, or had the most amazing ornamentation, but they had something special – and it’s the rhythm. That’s the thing that’s going to get the foot tapping, get the body moving.– Mary Bergin, Irish Times

Even the most technically skilled musicians still have plenty to learn from the veterans of Irish music. So listen to every recording you can get your hands on (a much easier feat in this digital age than it was back in my day) and ask yourself what these musicians are bringing to the music? What is that special something they have that remains unrivalled by technical brilliance? Soul.

Tin Whistle Tutorials

Luckily Mary herself has recognised the demand for whistle players wanting to follow in her footsteps and emulate her playing. So helpfully, she has produced a series of three tin whistle tutors.

This comprehensive tutorial spans three volumes and is the culmination of many years of performing, teaching and honing her craft. Each book caters for a different level of ability from Beginner to Professional level. Learn more here.

In a market riddled with unhelpful tin whistle tutorials, Mary’s books are a godsend. She pours her expertise into every page and track, happily sharing her insider knowledge. She is not only a gifted performer, but a wonderful teacher too.

Tin Whistle Lessons

While Mary’s tutor books offer brilliant guidance to aspiring whistle players of any level, the best way to really accelerate your playing is with tin whistle lessons.

A good tin whistle teacher will guide you on your musical journey while challenging you in fun and exciting ways. They can offer expert guidance and insight into the music and help you to develop your own style.

The Ultimate Tin Whistle Course

I know that sometimes access to high quality teachers can be difficult. That’s why McNeela Instruments now offers a complete tin whistle course with professional whistle player (and our brilliant in-house whistle maker), John O’Brien.

Our Irish tin whistle lessons will equip you with all the skills and tools you need to sound good right from your very first note. Our Beginner Course will teach you everything you need to know about the tin whistle, including basic technique and ornamentation and your first six session tunes. In fact, you’ll be session ready in just ten weeks!

These ten structured video lessons will teach you everything you need to know to be session ready. Learn basic technique, ornamentation and your very first Irish session tunes all in a fun, relaxed environment. Follow John’s expert guidance to establish a good practice routine and in just ten weeks you’ll be a competent, confident player, ready to progress to the next level.

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Why stop there?

Once you’ve completed our beginner lessons, why not move on to the intermediate and advanced courses too! Let one of the best teachers in the world guide you on your musical journey.

Whatever your goal, we want to help you be the best tin whistle player you can be. So, whether the destination is your local Irish music session or Carnegie Hall, let us help you get there.

Our Intermediate Course promises to help you unlock your inner musician. Develop your musicianship skills, unlock musical literacy, master advanced ornamentation and of course, learn the best session tunes going. After just ten short weeks, you won’t even recognise your playing!

Finally, for the truly motivated, there’s our Advanced Course. These lessons are suitable for even the most experienced whistle players – we guarantee you’ll learn something new. The final series in our tin whistle course will transform you into a master tin whistle player.

So what are you waiting for? If you want to be the next Mary Bergin then let us help you get started on your musical journey.

[Image: Féile Traidphicnic]

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