#brought about the entire how swedens looks like thing lol | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

silver-tongued-bby · 3 years ago

Text

You're Mine, Chapter 7

You’re the CEO of a groundbreaking drug company in Sweden with a work/life balance that’s more work than anything else. That is before you meet Loki, who turns your world on its head in the best of ways.

Set during the first Avengers movie. This work contains explicit content and BDSM.

Pairing: Dom!Loki x Sub!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, 18+!!!, BDSM, dirty talk, oral sex (M receiving), bondage, spanking, fingering, anal play

Word Count: 4,440

Chapter Summary: You cook Loki dinner and he stops going so easy on you.

Author's Note: Chapter 7 already???? I'm thinking of closing most of the fic out next chapter but keeping it around for a few more prologues (particular kinks lol). I'm sorry I was late with this one- but I hope it was worth the wait. As always, your feedback is valued and I hope you enjoy!!

...

By the time the two of you slipped out of the bath it was well after sunset. You felt fully relaxed and refreshed. You changed into a comfortable pair of shorts and sweater while Loki conjured himself an outfit.

You led him into the kitchen, sitting him down at one of the stools at your countertop.

“Do you like Thai food?” You asked, turning to open the fridge.

“Of course,” you could hear the apprehension in his voice.

You smiled at him then brought out some chicken thighs, scallions, an egg and some Chinese broccoli, placing them on the counter. Bringing your eyes back to his you found him curiously watching you. “Is something wrong?”

He chuckled. “No- it’s just I think I can count on one hand the number of times someone’s cooked for me who wasn’t being paid in some way. Thor once tried to make stew while we were hunting Bilgesnipes but it did not end with something edible.”

“Hm- not sure what a Bilgesnipe is but I can assure you this will be edible.” You smiled at him, grabbing the wok from the cupboard.

“Do you cook?” You asked, filling a pot of water on the stove for the rice noodles.

“I’ve dabbled since coming to Midgard. I do love a good plate of breakfast meats,” he sounded thoughtful.

You laughed. “Good to hear we have at least one leg up on Asgard. Here,” you pushed a cutting board with the vegetables in front of him. “Can you chop these? And slice the scallions? Here’s a knife,” you handed him your nakiri.

He moved the knife, testing the weight and balance of it with his fingers. He nodded, then gave it a flip and went to work, finishing in seconds.

“Oh,” your mouth was open as you looked at the finely prepared vegetables then back up to him. You were starting to rethink your first and only rule.

He smiled, chuckling. “Knives are kind of my thing.”

“I see that…” you trailed off, eyeing his dextrous fingers as he held the knife, picturing him in the armour he had on last night, knife in hand… You swallowed, bringing your eyes back to his you knew by his mischievous grin that he could tell exactly what you were thinking.

“Um- sorry, right okay.” You composed yourself then brought everything over to the stove and mixed the sauce. You quickly assembled the dish, tossing the ingredients together in the wok.

You dished out two servings and brought them to the counter and settled in the stool beside him. He had topped up your wine glass already.

“Ta-da! Pad See Ew,” you motioned to his dish, grinning.

He smiled at you, picking up the chopsticks to take a bite. His eyes grew wide, “this is delicious.”

“Thank you, thank you,” you bowed slightly towards him before turning to eat the noodles in front of you. Fuck- it was delicious.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” He asked, most of his bowl gone.

“The internet. I’m not going to lie to you- I only know three recipes. This one kept me alive in college.”

You soon fell into an easy conversation as you finished your meal.

“Well, I promise next time I’ll do the cooking,” he said, helping you clear up the dishes. “Though I did bring desert,” he said and pulled a plate full of petit fours out of thin air, placing it on the counter before you with a little wink.

“Impressive,” you mused, bringing the wine to the couch in the other room. The two of you settled side-by-side on the couch, looking out at the dark, frosty lake beyond.

“Do you miss New York?” Loki asked, stretching out on the couch, bringing his hand to lightly brush circles over your shoulder.

“Hmm, sometimes. Though Tony, my old boss, is around a lot so at times it feels like I’m still in New York working in his lab.” You decided then to let him in on the only thing you’d kept from him- your work for Stark Industries. It was only fair. If he could tell you about being an alien-god you could tell him about your postdoctoral experience.

“Are you two close?” His hand stopped its movement.

“In a working-friendship kind of way. He’s the primary shareholder of the company so he’s around often. He took me under his wing at Stark Industries.” You let the words sink in.

“You worked for Tony Stark,” he turned to you. “From what I’ve seen of the man he seems like quite the handful.” He gave you a grin.

You laughed, relieved. “Yes I’d have to agree with you there. Though he’s the one who pushed me to go to Elv. I hadn’t been out in ages.”

“I’ll have to give him my thanks,” he picked a langue de chat off the plate, popping it in his mouth.

“It would be fun to visit New York again, with you, someday,” you said gently, looking into his eyes.

“I’d love to,” he smiled at you.

“Speaking of Elv, you’ve told me what you’re not willing to try. Tell me älskling, what do you desire to explore?”

You licked your lips, growing nervous. You felt trapped by his stare, his eyes were daring you to answer. “Bondage,” you swallowed, “and discipline.”

“You want me to be harder on you, little one?” His hand moved from your shoulder to gently push your hair behind your ear.

You nodded, looking down at your hands.

He brought his hand under your chin, guiding your gaze back to his. His eyes were warm though there was a hint of mischief simmering beneath. “I can do that, my älskling. Is there anything else?”

An answer immediately came to you but you couldn’t bring yourself to say it out loud. You lightly shook your head.

“It is not wise to lie to me,” his expression darkened with his tone.

You bit your lip. “Anal,” you whispered.

He tilted his head, surveying you. “We’ll have to train you for that, little one. Have you done it before?” He gently brushed your cheek with his thumb.

You shook your head. “Never, Sir.”

“I’ll take my time with you, älskling.” He stood. “Now, let’s have you change into something lovely so we can get started.”

He led you to your bedroom and into your closet. You brought out a few options, laying them delicately on the island of the walk-in. Your heart raced as he considered each option, his gaze flickering back up to you before motioning to the white Lise Charmel set. Without another glance he strode out of your closet, leaving you alone.

You shakily pulled your sweater off, marvelling at how quickly he changed from Loki to your Sir. He demanded complete submission with the way he carried himself and spoke to you, dressing you down with just a gaze. You took a deep breath and slid off the rest of your clothes before slipping on the soft white lace.

You slid the garter up your thigh and took a look in the mirror. Fixing your hair you took one last deep breath before stepping out of the closet.

You were surprised to find the room empty. You turned around, puzzled, before you felt his firm form behind you, his warm hands firmly grasping your waist.

“Such a lovely little thing,” his breath tickled the shell of your ear and you shivered. “My lovely little thing,” he was closer now and pressed his lips against your neck, just below your ear. You breathed in a shaky breath, the feeling of his tongue against the sensitive spot making your head spin. He snaked his hands away from your waist and pulled away from you to circle you slowly, his eyes tracing your heated skin.

“What should I do with you, hm?” His tone was lush, velvety, and dripping with sin as he continued to move around you with his hands behind his back. You felt like his prey, tangled up in his very essence, entranced before he consumed you entirely.

He stopped in front of you, an eyebrow raised. “I asked you a question, älskling.” His jaw was pronounced as he reprimanded you, the look of his aristocratic face set in a scowl sent waves of heat to your core and your heartbeat hammering in your chest.

“I’m- I’m not sure, Sir. I’m sorry,” you stammered, feeling very much exposed in front of his fully clothed form.

He stepped back, his knuckle against his chin as he studied you. “On your knees. Hands behind your back.”

Your thighs clenched together before you bent down on shaky knees, resting yourself on your heels, your hands gingerly placed behind your lower back.

He circled you once more, his eyes on the floor. He stopped suddenly and moved his hand in an upward motion, materialising emerald green ropes on the ground beside you. His eyes met yours, his expression momentarily gentle as he nodded your way, as if to confirm his actions.

You gave him the tiniest of nods and his jaw set once more. He snapped his fingers and motioned with his hands, each finger curling upwards as the ropes followed suit, coiling themselves around your limbs.

You sharply inhaled as they moved around you, the soft feel of the shibari rope gentle across your sensitive skin. The ropes fastened themselves around your arms, winding several times before tightening so that your upper arms were held firmly together. They wound themselves around your chest, the green bright against the white lace of your bra, then your shoulders, fastening together at your back. Your legs were bound similarly to your arms, the rope finding its way between your thighs, though your legs were kept separate.

Once the movement stopped you looked up at Loki with wide eyes, your mouth open to accommodate you accelerated breathing. Your chest heaved under you, the ropes tightening against your skin, constricting your breathing in the slightest. The rope pressed up against the lace delivered the most delicious burn.

He continued to circle you, his eyes darkening as they traced the curvature of your skin against the cords, accented by the white of your lingerie. “I’ll ask you again. What should I do with you?”

“I don’t know, Sir.” You said, both the fabric and the ropes between your legs dampening as you trembled.

“Wrong answer, älskling.” Suddenly he gripped your arm roughly to pull you up and threw you on the bed, face down. Your legs dangled off the edge and you lost track of his position within the room, disoriented by the movement. You stayed there for a few moments, listening to the sound of your breath, straining to hear something that’d give way to his position.

After a few moments of silence you felt the glide of his fingers against your bottom, gently caressing the skin. You let out a breath, feeling your muscles relax into his open palm as he laid it against you.

Suddenly he lifted his palm and struck it against you, a sharp slap ringing out in the silence of the room. Your muscles clenched at the sensation, naturally pulling away from the strike as a whimper left your lips. His hand was in your hair, gently tugging at your roots and you felt him over you.

“Two more,” he said against your ear, forcing a shudder through you. He bit the skin of your earlobe and you cried out, your hips pushing against him.

He ran his tongue over the spot before tugging more sharply on your hair. “And don’t you fucking move.”

Your slick was hot between your thighs and your arms flexed against the soft rope as you tried to focus on your breath, willing your body to stay still.

Pulling back he ran his hand gently over the skin of your other cheek before delivering a sharp slap. Your muscles clenched ever so slightly in response, your heart falling as you realised you’d failed to obey his simple command.

He was back against you, his strong hand gripping your bound wrist. He sharply bit on the skin by your pulse and you cried out loudly, the pleasure and pain overwhelming.

“Good girls listen, don’t they?” You could feel the depth of his voice vibrating against your back as he spoke the words.

“Yes- I’m sorry, Sir.” You got out, your voice sounding small.

He bit the spot again, this time sucking against it harshly between his lips. You cried out pitifully, the ache between your legs almost painful.

“You’re still at two more,” he licked the spot. “No moving this time, älskling. Be my good girl.”

You nodded. “Yes Sir.”

He moved back off of you and quickly brought his hand down. You held your breath, willing yourself to stay still. You let out the breath slowly and felt the slick between your legs dampening more and more of the lace and rope.

“There we go. So much easier when you listen, isn’t it?” His voice was sweet in your ear, making your heart swell with pride.

“Yes Sir.”

He ran his fingers between your legs, against your wet heat. You inhaled sharply, unsure if you were allowed to move. “Poor thing,” his velvety voice was above you still.

“So wet for me. One more, älskling.” He brought his hand back over your cheek, squeezing the flesh. “Then I’ll you’ll feel so much better.”

You shivered though just your teeth knocked together, the rest of your body holding still. His hand came down to give you the hardest spank yet, the skin aching in immediate protest. You swallowed the pain but welcomed the pleasure, coming in warm waves through your core.

“Now before I turn you around,” his hand gently ran along the ties binding your arms. “Take a deep breath älskling.”

You obeyed, filling your lungs with air before gently releasing the breath. He must have dematerialised your panties since you could feel his fingers tracing the skin of your backside. His touch left you momentarily, only to come back with some sort of cool slick covering them. He moved them along your tight hole and you relaxed into his touch.

“Good girl. This may feel cold,” he replaced his fingers with a small chilly object, running it against the sensitive skin of your anus. You whimpered at the sensation, both excited and nervous at the idea of what would happen next.

As he traced the object against your backside his lips came to press kisses against your shoulder, giving you a little nip with his teeth now and then. You were drunk with lust, your breaths slow and laboured.

“Breathe out and relax,” he commanded as his warm hand came to rest on your lower back. You did as you were told, your muscles releasing with his touch. He pushed the thing within you, and it stretched your hole momentarily before your muscles took it in, the top of it stopping on the outside of your body.

“There’s my älskling.” He tapped the end of the object and you whined, the sensation shooting waves of pleasure through you. You didn’t feel uncomfortably full yet you could feel something within you, warming up as it was exposed to the heat of your body.

He kissed the shell of your ear. “So tight yet you hold that so well. My lovely girl.” He gripped your hips and helped you up before spinning you around and throwing you down on the bed, facing him as he stood at the end of the bed. He moved to climb atop of you, his body caging you in as he brought himself over you.

His eyes searched yours for a moment before he bent his head, capturing your lips with his own. He licked along your bottom lip before dipping into your mouth. You moaned as you brought your lips around his tongue. He pulled back and bit your bottom lip between his teeth, marring the flesh slightly before letting you go. He smoothed his tongue over your lip then came away to study you once more.

He slipped his hand down towards your heat, taking his time to gently brush against your skin, the rope and the lace along the way. He ran the tips of his fingers along your slit and you gasped as your muscles clenched, the thing within you moving ever so slightly.

He dipped his fingers against your folds, the wetness of your skin allowing him to easily glide his digits against you. Your back arched against him on the bed, the ropes straining against your muscles with the movement. His eyes slid down from yours, watching the swell of your breast taut against the rope.

“Does my pretty thing want to cum? Poor älskling,” he dipped to kiss you, “I can feel how much your body craves me.”

“Y-yes please Sir. Please touch me,” you panted, his teasing almost too much.

He gave you a filthy grin and dipped a finger within you, then moved to bring in another. You could feel your walls clench around him, the toy in your backside pressing ever so slightly against his knuckles when he curved them to press the spot deep within you. The sensation caused you to cry out, and you pressed your nails into your palm to hold your orgasm at bay.

“Are you going to cum, älskling?” He spoke as his hungry eyes flickered from your face to your heaving chest, the white lace covering your flesh constricting against the ropes.

“Yes Sir- I’m about to,“ you were cut off when he slipped his fingers from you. Your eyes pleaded with his as you swallowed, your arms shaking as they propped you up against the bed.

“Only good girls get to cum,” he spoke firmly. “And you have not been a good girl today.” His jaw was pronounced as he hovered over you before moving off of you, leaving you to fall back against your bound arms on the bed.

You felt like crying, or screaming, or both but settled for a deep breath to compose yourself as you stared up at the ceiling.

He chuckled. “My pretty girl, so upset.”

You smiled pitifully, biting your lip hard as you shook your head. “I’m sorry Sir.”

He grabbed you by the ropes binding your chest, pulling you up to sit on the edge of the mattress. He brought his hand to your cheek, gently brushing his thumb against your heated skin. “What am I to do with you, hm?”

You looked up at him, your eyes wide. “May I show you how sorry I am Sir?” You licked your lips while your eyes traced the outline of his erection in his dark pants.

He kept brushing your cheek as he came closer, and you gently kissed his clothed thigh, your eyes never leaving his. His eyes were warm pools of blue-green, though once you kissed directly over his clothed member his expression darkened. You proceeded to give open-mouthed kisses over his hardened length, running your tongue against the fabric.

His eyes were heavy-lidded as he watched you before he gently brought you away from his thigh, unzipping his trousers and freeing himself. You marvelled at his member, the smooth skin of it making your mouth water. You bent to press a very delicate kiss against the tip of him, the skin ever so slightly red in its current state.

You kissed him again, this time swiping your tongue across the very tip of him and he inhaled sharply. You brought your eyes back up to his then opened and took him all in, his breath hitching as you did so. His skin felt divine against your tongue, salty with the smallest hint of juniper. You kept your lips pouted as you bobbed and ran your tongue along him, moaning ever so slightly when he was farther in.

You kept your throat relaxed and took even breaths through your nose as you moved over him with your mouth. Your eyes were wide, innocent, as you observed him, willing him to grab your head and use you as he pleased. His chest was heaving while he watched you, his hand coming around to the back of your head.

You moaned and pushed back against his hand. He took the hint and brought both hands to either side of your face and began moving you over his cock. You hummed, your core dripping wet over your thighs while he took his pleasure from you.

“Do you like being used, little one?” He rasped, his pace steady. You nodded, your head moving against his movements. He clenched his jaw as he looked down at you, a thick muscle in his neck visible from your angle. “Do you like it when I fuck your mouth, älskling?”

You moaned around him in response, your eyes watering as he continued to hit a particular spot in your throat. He pulled his length from your mouth, giving you a moment to collect yourself. You quickly dipped your head and bent forward, bringing one of his testicles in your mouth and gently sucking. You wished you had a recording of the surprised, strangled groan he made in response, you were pretty sure it was the first time you’d truly caught him off guard and it had you dripping with wet. You could feel it beginning to pool around the edge of the toy still within you.

You continued to lap and suck at his testicles, chancing a look up at him you were struck with his dark, hungry gaze. His hand came to your shoulder, swiftly pushing you away from him and pulling you up before turning you around and bringing you down onto the bed so your face was against the comforter. He brought a pillow under your hips so your backside was raised off of the bed.

You felt the bed dip between your legs then the hot heat of his length against your slit as he rubbed his tip against you, gathering wetness. He tsked, “not much of a punishment when you’re this wet, is it älskling?”

You whined in response but held yourself still, praying he’d realise you were being a good girl and would let you cum this time. Your thoughts were interrupted when he slowly pressed himself within you, the toy and his length hitting similar angles and spaces within you.

He bottomed out and pulled you up against him, the new angle of his cock within you pressing up against the toy in your backside. Now it was your turn to release a strangled moan at the sensation, the feeling of it all completely overwhelming you. With one arm across your ribs, under your breasts and the other against your throat he set a steady pace as he thrust into you. His hand roughly pushed the cup of the bra down and his finger moved to your nipple. He rolled it in-between his fingers, forcing a throaty moan from your lips.

“Please Sir,” you managed to get out between thrusts, “may I cum?”

His breath was hot against your neck as he kept moving within you. “Not yet, älskling. I can feel that you’re close, your cunt is gripping me so tightly. I can feel the toy I put in you against me, within your tight little hole. Does it feel good, älskling? Do you like being filled?”

You shuddered at the sound of his velvety voice in your ear. “Yes Sir, it feels so good- I feel so… So full,” your head was spinning with the combined sensations.

“Good. Do you want to cum on this cock for your Sir, little one?” His fingers were still playing with your nipple, while the others that remained wrapped around your neck were tightening slightly.

“Yes, Sir! Please- please let me cum for you,” you begged, your fingers growing numb behind you.

“Good girl. All right my älskling, you may cum,” he pinched your nipple hard, “now.” He sucked on the spot behind your ear and you came instantly, crying out as the combined feeling of it all overpowering you. You could feel yourself moving against him as wave after wave of pleasure came, intensified when he licked and bit the same spot on your neck.

“Good girl, ride it out. There’s my good girl,” he murmured against your skin, his pace unrelenting. You came down from your high and he pulled himself from you. The ties around your arms were suddenly gone and he turned you back around, laying you on the bed so you faced him, your back propped on the same pillow as before.

He settled himself on his knees between your legs and fisted his member, his eyes taking in your form. “Touch yourself for me, älskling.” He commanded, his eyes heavy lidded as he did the same.

You licked your lips, “yes Sir,” then moved your hand down to your folds, gently playing with your clit as you watched him. You moved your hand to your uncovered nipple and rolled it between your fingers as you continued to play with yourself, the sound of your breathing filling the room.

“Do you want me to cum on your chest?” He asked, his expression sinful.

“Yes Sir, please- please cum on me. Please cover me in your cum,” you squirmed at your words, you could feel another orgasm building quickly.

“Are you going to cum again, little one? Are you going to make yourself cum with me?” He rasped, you could tell he was close and that thought excited you even more.

“Yes Sir- fuck! I’m going to cum!” You whined, your pace even with his strokes.

“Good girl. Cum now- with me,” his voice was strained as he met his finish, thick ropes of cum shooting across your chest. Upon feeling the warmth of his release against your skin, marking you, you let go, your back arching off the bed slightly as your muscles constricted.

You both panted, fully spent, slowly coming back to yourselves. You smiled at him then looked down at your chest- the green rope still tied beautifully, with thick lines of cum across the green cords, white lace, and your skin. You lay back against the pillow and brought your eyes back to his. “I think this is the prettiest I’ve ever looked.”

He nodded. “Absolutely lovely,” he gently ran his fingers along your cheekbone. His eyes fell to your chest and darkened slightly. “And all mine.”

Chapter 8 here.

End Note: Happy Loki eve!!! When you rethink on your "first and only rule" it's the no knife play from Chapter 1. Stay tuned for Chapter 8- not sure if it'll be out Saturday as I'm hoping to update Summer Wine this week too and 3 chapters is a lot for me to get through. Love you all and thank you for reading!!

Taglist (open!):

@fuck-is-going-on

@thehornytitty

#dom!loki x sub!reader #dom!loki x you #dom!loki #dom!loki x you smut #loki x you smut #loki x reader smut #loki x reader #bd/sm fic #tom Hiddleston loki #mcu loki #loki mcu #loki fic

119 notes · View notes

burningupp-replies · 4 years ago

Text

You were nervous. Of course you saw your friends all the time, and you were particularly excited to see Suki (let's face it who wouldn't be) and everyone had picked 3 kickass movies to watch - and yet, the thing you were focusing on most? Some emo boy with a scar.

Even thinking of him that way felt so wrong. First of all, he deserved to be recognized as a person, and a sweet one at that. Second, his scar was not a defining feature. Maybe at first glance, yes, but for some reason his scar seemed... Endearing. It suited him, in a weird way.

But also, yes; you definitely had some type of feelings towards your coworker. That was definitely the reason for your nerves, as much as you hated to admit it. And Sokka's constant "subtle hints" (read: blatant matchmaking) were making your nerves ramp up even more.

At 7:15 you started freaking out - everyone was there except for him. Did he change his mind? Did he decide that you weren't worth his time? Did his girlfriend-which-he-probably-had convince him to go out on a date instead?

You were going to throw up.

"I am pathetic," you told Suki, who snorted in response.

"Yeah, pretty much." when you groaned at your friend's general unhelpfulness, she sighed and turned her full attention on you. "He has never been here before, right?"

"No..."

"Uh huh. He's probably stuck looking for parking or lost or something. Stop worrying, y/n, he will be here and he will enjoy himself."

With that, Suki turned her full attention to her dumbass of a boyfriend, and you got up to go into the kitchen for a soda. Once you got one, you were headed back to the living room when the doorbell rang. Your blood turned to ice in your veins, and you suddenly forgot how to breathe.

In that moment, you felt as stupid as ever. He was just some dumb guy who just so happened to capture your attention a little. So what? People had stupid crushes all the time - sometimes it went somewhere, sometimes it didn't. You put on your big girl panties, and went to answer the door.

Only to be struck dumb once more.

Shit.

He was wearing gray sweatpants and a fitted dark red sweater. He was holding a grocery bag and a takeaway tray with a bunch of cups from the JD. He looked good, mouthwateringly so.

"Hi, y/n," he greeted.

You blinked once before scolding yourself mentally. He's a freaking person, y/n, say something!

"Hi, Zuzu!"

Nailed it.

You grinned widely and stepped aside, allowing him into yours and Sokka's apartment.

"Sorry I'm late, parking was... Difficult," he smiled, and you looked at him apologetically.

"I should have warned you. And it's fine, you're here now, so we can get started! The others are in the living room."

You guided Zuko into the living room, where greetings and hugs were shared throughout the group. He gave everyone a cup of tea - apparently Iroh had a soft spot for the gaang.

"I have some drinks and snacks with me, mind if I go into the kitchen and borrow a bowl and a glass?" he asked politely after a while.

"No problem," Sokka piped up. "y/n can show you." He then proceeded to wink very animatedly at you, and you could feel your cheeks heating up.

"That I can," you agreed with an eye roll at your roommate. "Sorry about that idiot," you sighed once you and Zuko were in the kitchen.

"No worries," he smiled as he dug around in his grocery bag. "I've known him since high school; trust me when I say I know him."

You laughed a bit at that, handing him a bowl which he accepted without a pause. It gave you a weird feeling of domesticity, and you pushed down the butterflies that were battling their way out. Instead of swooning, you grabbed a glass and poured one of his drinks for him, while he put the other ones he brought into the fridge. You couldn't help but smile to yourself.

"Alright, movie time!" you said, clapping your hands together before leading him out of the room.

In the living room, everyone were spread out everywhere. Katara and Aang were sharing a love seat, Sokka and Suki were taking up a whole-ass couch and Toph was sitting on the floor, leaving Zuko and you the other love seat as your only option. The small one, might you add. You glowered at everyone, but they all just smirked back (except for Toph, who was oblivious).

"Oh," Zuko murmured, his cheeks tinged a light pink that might just be your new favorite color.

"It's fine," you started, "I can sit on the floor."

"No, you don't have to - there's enough room for both of us," Zuko protested, and you smiled, unsure.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable," you mumbled, your cheeks heating up again.

"Oh my god, just share the damn seat. I want to listen to a movie," Toph groaned. Yep, definitely blushing now.

Everyone laughed, and you glared at them as you and Zuko sat down on the couch. Sokka started the movie - Aladdin, the remake from 2019.

~*~

"That was a good movie," Aang praised happily as the movie ended.

"It was alright," Zuko agreed as everyone began to stretch. "So, what happens now?"

You gazed at him, not that you had much choice since your brain hadn't been able to focus on anything but him throughout the entire movie. Somewhere in the middle of the movie, you had repositioned to stretch out your legs. You hadn't thought about where you put them, though, and had ended up with them partially over his lap. You started to pull away immediately, but Zuko had just grabbed your legs like it was the most natural thing in the world and draped them over his lap. Needless to say, Sokka had been smirking. Bastard.

"Now we take a fifteen minute break, talk some shit, get some drinks, go to the bathroom, and then we watch another movie. Frozen is up next, right?" Suki answered, to which you ripped your eyes away from Zuko to nod.

Zuko looked over at you and smiled, saying, "I think I'm good here."

You practically died.

TEAMWORK | part 5

A/N: Since you guys asked me to, I wrote out the whole movie night! Hope you guys enjoy it, even though my writing is kinda shit lol. This is also the last one I will post before Christmas, HOWEVER I am from Sweden, so I celebrate with family and stuff the 24th, so I will probably have the next part up on the 25th (don't quote me on that tho). I really hope you guys enjoy it! Lmk if you want to be on the taglist :) love youuuuuuu <3

Taglist:

@theblueslytherin @bakugouswh0r3 @slutforsalvatore @charlenasaxen

#aang #atla smau #atla x reader #avatar the last airbender #katara #toph #zuko #zuko smau #zuko x reader #smau #prince zuko #atla zuko #sokka #suki

111 notes · View notes

inhibited-irregularity · 3 years ago

Text

EUROVISION 2021, personal favorites:

- Russia 🇷🇺

Manizha, Russian Woman: Absolute favorite. The sheer originality of the song! Her energy and the level of absolute badassery! She can sing, she can rap,and she's a bomb of energy. The way reggae and brass and hiphop and Slavic melodies overlap and it somehow works, the transitions between fun and "I'm bitter about the sexism and I'm mocking it unapologetically and making a stand" and the anthemic, emphatic and powerful message to Russian women; I was swelling with emotion while watching her. While to an American or a Westerner it may seem like performative feminism, I'm gonna remind you that in Russia and other Slavic countries that's very much not a thing and actually a very unpopular stand to make, and in Russia, The Balkans, and Eastern Europe in general, hundreds of women face domestic and sexual abuse on the daily, and those who do come forward rarely get support and are mostly dismissed. Let's not forget that Manizha got a huge backlash from the Russian government officials, and a big part of it was for her Tajik roots. The honesty of her message is real, and she's speaking from personal experience and the experience of women around her - nothing performative about her song, and you can tell from her delivery that the fire within her is true and she leaves her heart on the stage and pours it into the song. The staging and costumes are great as well, and symbolically well thougt-through. I would really like her to win, or at least get to the top 5. Most of all, I hope her message is heard and felt. 10000/10

- Italy 🇮🇹

Måneskin, Zitti e Buoni: definitely the closest thing to my actual music taste this year, so liking them off the bat wasn't a surprise. However, they're not just your regular Franz-Ferdinand-ish young alt rock band that wants to do rock "properly" - they have IT. The X factor, the Je ne sais quoi. I've been exposed to that particular genre, and I can confidently say that the song still manages to be refreshing and original (that bridge, those riffs!) The band has a great energy and no matter how much Damiano steals the show, they are still a unit and nobody is left in the shadows. They have the spirit of great rock bands of the previous century, and yet they don't try to copy anyone (khm,Greta Van Fleet, khm). Damiano's vocals are both powerful, seductive and provoking, and I'm still admiring the sheer amount of emotion he can pack into a single line and the nuance and yet rawness behind it. I'm not gonna state the obvious lol (the obvious being yes, I'm thirsty as well, he becomes yet another unattainable rockstar for me too,and yes they all look great) Anyway, great song, and maybe the clearest and most serious candidate for the number one spot, taking both the jury and the public into consideration. 10/10

- Iceland 🇮🇸

Daði Freyr and Gagnamagnið, 10 years:

What can I say about this masterpiece that hasn't already been said? A clear fan-favorite (hi, Valentina), but with the guns to back it up. The song is contagious, fun and campy, and unlike some other songs with said qualities, actually good from a musical perspective. Daði is incredibly charismatic and his sense of humor shines through, and even though he's the star of the show, the same can be said about the other band members. The synergy Måneskin has can be applied to Gagnamagnið as well, even though the energy is entirely different. They're serving us fun, sunshine, kitties rainbows sugar spice and everything nice, and manage to do it with zero cringe factor (plus those funky keytars). I'm one of those Eurovision fans that lament the golden age's (2004-2009) campiness (We'll never forget you, Verka), and Daði managed to bring it back, but modernised, polished and still sincere. I personally preferred the epic dad joke that slightly more commercial Think About Thing was (but that's one tough act to follow), but I'm always down for a husband adoring his wife and singing praises to their relationship. Since we're on tumblr, I feel obliged to use the term "cinnamon rolls" in describing Daði and the band. 9.5/10

- France 🇫🇷

Barbara Pravi, Voilà: She brought the theatrics, she brought the drama, and she brought the 101 in "that's how you perform". Her personality leaps through, and her voice is both beautiful and full of emotion and power. I'd hire her to star in a serious and artistic movie. Despite the fact that Voilà is from its melody to the singing style to the video to the vibe and the aesthetic hands down the most French thing I've seen since Amélie (do not come for that movie), it miraculously doesn't come across as a cliché, but rather an homage, and an individualistic one at that. It's not entirely my cup of tea, since I'm usually biased to songs that may come off as snobbish (I mean, the jury is going to lap it up), and are all about being proper and technical and oh how ~artistic~, but Barbara puts the soul into the immaculate. I'm not giving her the highest mark because I'm yet to see the performance, but I'm rooting for her. If she delivers the performance, we might have a clear winner. 9/10

- Ukraine 🇺🇦

Go_A, Shum: I'm a sucker for all things ethnic and mytological, so this was a no-brainer. I want that song played at every party. I want to go to the forest in the video and chant and summon the spring with flute and hard-bass. Kateryna Pavlenko has some unexplainable power over me, and her eyes are simply hypnotizing. The vocals are great, proper Slavic ethno right there (seriously, check out Slavic folklore and traditional music), and she has a subtle punk quality too(?). Ukraine came to save the spring and make us forget about the pandemic, and minus the Maruv fiasco (justice for her!), they always deliver and I expected nothing less. On the other hand, I loved the original version much more and couldn't help but be a bit disappointed with the revamp (yes, I know they had to), and while I personally love Shum, I think some other acts are more deserving of the higher placement. Go_A are not my winner, but definitely soon to be in my playlist. 8/10

- San Marino 🇸🇲

Adrenalina, Senhit ft. Flo Rida: You know that golden age of Eurovision I mentioned? THIS. I'm Serbian, so I can't resist a banger reminiscent of our horrible turbo-folk elements (and I say that endearingly,takes me back to 18th birthday parties (boy I'm glad that's over)). Let's just crown Senhit this year's Queen of Camp. The wild factor of Flo Rida...just?? Amazing. Can't wait to see how the performance goes (EDIT- it went great, I had a grin on my face the entire time and couldn't help but dance along). A certain refreshment after Serhat and Valentina Monetta endless loop. They didn't dial down the weird, but made it catchy af, and the vocal can rival any Balkan folk diva. While I think it's definitely the most entertaining entry this year, it's far from being the most original, and it's not really my genre of preference. Will vote for Senhit and root for her to qualify. 7.5/ 10

- Sweden 🇸🇪

Tusse, A million voices: As I mentioned before, I'm the first person that starts complaining about Sweden Superiority as soon as Eurovision season begins, and I'm with you all with being tired of Sweden qualifying just because they're Sweden and usually just bringing the same brand of MTV/Calvin Harris/American pop, or a successful and not-so-subtle imitation of the performances that did well the previous year,but listen: A million voices is a solid pop song and I'm going to die on that hill. It actually embodies the essence of pop - a catchy, pleasant melody sung by a good vocalist, with a short,sweet and uplifting message. It's not the same as previous years, it's not commercial, just good pop - good pop being something you immediately like and vibe to no matter how many common elements of the genre it checks. It relies on RnB rather than electronic sounds, auto tune or various DJ effects. Tusse is charming and charismatic af, and he's a 19yo kid doing an amazing job on a global stage. You don't have to like it, but there's no need to hate on it (ask Jendrik). Imo, Tusse deserved to qualify. Not winner material yet, but I wish him a fun time and a successful career. 7 5/10

- Switzerland 🇨🇭

G'jons Tears, Tout L'Univers: I saw the video first, and I HATED IT. It came across as a Duncan Lawrence-high-art wannabe, something technically perfect, but empty of soul or meaning, another soft boy with a sad falsetto, another jury-points bait. BUT. I changed my mind entirely after seeing him perform. Hands down, it was touching and epic. Reminding me of Hamlet aside, he DELIVERED, and made me love him, and actually enjoy the song. I still think the song is less original than Tusse's voices, but I enjoy the troubadour vibes of the pre-chours. G'jon is absolutely adorable, and I'm not gonna be mad if he wins. 8/10

shout-outs&honorable mentions:

- Serbia 🇷🇸 Yes, some national bias, but I'm proud of our girls. Ever Since we placed 2nd with Željko's Lane, we had that goddamn flute e v e r y year, and the same outdated scenography with a side of extra pathos (I'm sure that ruined Sanja's chances and her otherwise great performance back in 2016.) Finally something fun and actually representative of the music popular here. They looked flawless and the energy was off the charts. Go, Hurricane!

-Finland 🇫🇮 Yes, cheesy and corny and I cut my finger accidentally from watching the video on all the edge, but I'm biased because they're bringing emo and nu-metal back, and that's the music of my early adolescence (hello, Kaulitz brothers and Andy Biersack,hello Gerard Way and Linkin Park) Call me grandma lol

- Malta 🇲🇹 DESTINY CAN SIIIIIIIIING! I wasn't impressed with the song initially, but the performance blew my mind.

- Ireland 🇮🇪 A for effort, and so nice of her to try and give us something unique! While it wasn't good enough to qualify, it was super fun and she seems so nice. Also, we all know that she was out of breath an can sing much better than that. Still wasn't bad.

- Romania 🇷🇴, for being so young and brave enough to put on a show. The nerves got the better of her, but the song itself is good and no doubt she'll do well in the future

- Lithuania 🇱🇹, thanks for the memeries

- Croatia 🇭🇷, Not my cup of tea, but Albina gave a great performance

-Norway 🇳🇴, for embodying the spirit of Eurovision

- North Macedonia 🇲🇰, for the disco chest

- The UK 🇬🇧, for putting some effort

(Might edit later)

#eurovison #eurovision 2021 #rotterdam #the netherlands #russia #malta #italy #france #iceland #sweden #serbia #esc 2021 #switzerland #san marino #ukraine

11 notes · View notes

sveasauvageon · 4 years ago

Text

HSWW ROUND I STORY

I never gave it a neat title, oops. Svea Year I + Pre-Seventh Year Midsummer Celebrations {HSWW}

─═Featured HSWW/Polyvore Era not-mein oc’s═─

Eloise Avery | @.themadmonarchist

(also mentioned Lord and Lady Avery, but they don't appear)

Syn Lothbrok | @.ghostpastey

Hvitty Lothbrok | @.ghostpastey

Entire Lothbrok Family (too many to name individually)

Damien Greaves | @.natasha-maree13

Tyler Lee | @.maybones (lol, I originally typed @minahbones)

Minah Kwon Delacroix | @.maybones

Tara Lee (I couldn't leave out Little T from this nutty dance) | @.maybones

Theo Nott | @.themadmonarchist

Moses Park Jr | @.koby

Lyra Greaves | @.natasha-maree13

Oberon Greaves | @.natasha-maree13

Henry Clark | @.lady-stoneheart

Xander Carlyle (I think I've been listing him as clark all this time, whoops) | @.lady-stoneheart

Sungjae Lee | @.chrissykinz

Loralei Expura | @.thespian-at-large

Lyrae Mino | @.skyfalll

──════𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀════──

Up in the northwest quarters of the Sauvageon Estate, Svea was braiding her young sister's hair with little bells and complex knots. Khalessi style? Yes, obviously. The show is garbage, but is visually stunning. Also the music. Back to point, as the elder heir wove in the little bells, Lili enthusiastically recounted her first year at Koldovstoretz; her classes, teachers, friends, and her first Russian Quidditch game where they play on entire uprooted trees instead of brooms (A/N: true fact, look it up on the wikia).

Her ardor and excitement made Svea nostalgic of her own first year. Her letter had arrived at the Prince Manor in Cornwall, where she had been staying for a year. The darkest year in her life she may add. The arrival of the letter was nothing special or shocking, there certainly wasn't any doubt about her having magic after she had set the manor on fire. Though, she did note a mild expression of relief on her grandfather's face, presumably he was pleased she'd be out of his house soon. And she was pleased about that too, the Prince Manor was dark, dreary, and drab, and they refused to allow Aunt Brigitta to remodel it after the fire. Svea never understood why they insisted it be restored as it was, the poor interiors were what she called "discount gothic", it was nothing like the true majesty of actual gothic architecture.

Anyway, decidedly pleased her time with the Prince's was nearing its end, Svea was positively beaming when she went to King's Cross Station on September the first. She was accompanied by her aunt and step-mother, the later of whom had apparated to London the day before, much to the displeasure of Svea's mother, who also accompanied them to King's Cross. Svea questioned her mother's instructions of walking into a wall, part of her believing that it may just be some kind of trick to humiliate the "foreigners", as she so often called Svea and her paternal family. However, the Prince simply huffed in annoyance, glaring at the odd silvery-gold colour Iliana had died the little girl's hair, before briskly walking through the wall first herself, with Svea, Iliana, and Brigitta quickly following thereafter.

Svea had barely a moment to admire the victorian vibe of the station before her mother pulled her aside. "Richelle, ensure that you're sorted into Slytherin, and try not to do anything to disgrace the Prince name." she commanded, disappearing with a loud crack before Svea could retort. Sighing to herself, she made a mental note to send a howler reminding her mother that her name is Svea Sauvageon, not Richelle Prince, before reuniting with her aunt and step-mother, who were overseeing the loading of her luggage.

She spotted Eloise Avery looking out a window on the train, but she was looking in another direction and didn't notice Svea, not that she wanted to catch her attention when her grandparents were around. If they were around that is, one short playdate and tales of admiration from her own grandfather was enough to cement a cold and unloving image in Svea's head. She shuddered at the memory, she was grateful beyond word that her grandparents were nothing like that. Well, her Sauvageon grandparents. It's a safe bet that all Grandfather Marcius aspires to be is a slightly less rich and more grumbling version of the "great and powerful" Lady Avery.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, Svea hugged Iliana and Aunt Brigitta goodbye, promising to write and look after herself, before quickly boarding the train to find an empty compartment to save for herself, Syn, and Hvitty. The Lothbroks were amongst their closest wizarding friends in Scandinavia and practically family to Svea, she was pleased beyond measure to have her best friend at this far away school too. She'd always been fairly independent, but having familiar faces at Hogwarts would be a great comfort too, and endless fun. No one knows how to enjoy things like a Lothbrok. Okay, like Syn. No one knows how to party like Syn. Even at 11, she was more fun and energetic than anyone you could think of.

She waited by the window until she spotted them getting on, before rushing to the corridor to call them over. The subsequent assault (as she would put it, they might just call it a hug) nearly took Svea's head off. Grinning at being reunited, they chatted throughout the train ride, and purchased ridiculous amounts of British Wizarding Treats when the Trolley lady stopped by. They also met some other first years as well, some of whom, Svea noted, were less than pleased to be in such a rowdy compartment.

Once they neared the school (or as Svea's alarms warned her they were), she changed into her school robes, dragging along Syn to do the same who complained that they were "nowhere near there yet". However, exactly as her alarm warned her, they were at Hogsmeade station within 30 minutes. ("hah! Told you so Tamsyn", she screamed internally and definitely not with every fibre of her being). Seperating from the others, Svea, Syn, and Hvitty disembarked from the train together, where they and the other first years were greeted by a staff member from Hogwarts who led them to a number of boats. Grabbing a boat upfront, they were joined by Henry Clark, whom they had met on the train and whom Syn had immediately given the nickname "Hank", which he seemed to vehemently dislike. Once they had all boarded, the boat seemed to propel themselves as they all sailed across the vast lake. The Black Lake, she recalled it was called. Her cousin Viggo often talked about visiting it one day.

"Vig told me that there's a colony of merpeople living in the lake." Svea excitedly mentioned to Syn and Hvitty as they crossed, gazing down into the murky water to try to spot one.

"Fishman would know." replied Syn, joining Svea to look over the edge of the boat.

"He's not a Fishman."

"As always, you're right." said Syn, nodding solemnly before adding, "He's a half-fishman."

"Well, you're not wrong there," Svea conceded.

Syn grinned triumphantly as Svea dipped her fingers into the water. It was cold, just as Vig told her it would be, but it wasn't as cold as the water in Lake Mälaren.

Despite having been raised in marble coated mansions, even Svea was awestruck when they neared Hogwarts Castle. Whilst Sauvageon Slott was certainly brighter, the large stone structure was absolutely stunning, and far more inviting than her father and family's descriptions of Durmstrang. As much as she loathed her mother's family, she was glad just this once at their persistence of doing things the "English" way. The little boats they were in soon passed through an ivy curtain and carried them along a dark tunnel, which seemed to run beneath the castle itself, and eventually docked by some rocks at what seemed to be an underground harbour of sorts.

Once all the students were out of the boats they were led to a small room (the Chamber of Reception, she later learned it was called), where they were greeted by a tall, red haired woman. She introduced herself as Professor Hester Weasley, Deputy Headmistress. She ushered them into the Great Hall and began reading their names out one by one in alphabetical order. Once called, they were to sit on a stool facing the other students and had a dingy old hat placed on their head which would announce what house they're to join after thinking about it for a bit. It might be a magic, talking, singing hat, but the whole process seemed unnecessarily drawn out and somewhat silly to Svea. She was fairly certain it was thought up by someone forest crazy (Swedish phrase, equivalent to "raging mad").

Svea's was amongst the last few names to be called. Hvitty went off to Gryffindor, and Syn to Hufflepuff. Eloise went to Slytherin, whilst Hank (*wink-wink* @.ghostpastey) went to Gryffindor. She noted that the hat had barely gotten within a foot of Damien Greaves' head before it screamed Slytherin. When the Headmistress finally said her name, Svea tottered up to the little stool, starving by that point and eager to get on with dinner and classes in the morning.

"Impatient, aren't we?" said a voice in her head once the hat was on, 'causing Svea to nearly jump out of her skin. She didn't realize it was talking during those minutes in-between the hat being worn and shouting the student's house.

"I'm hungry," she replied, well, thought, once she had brought her spikes down (Swedish phrase effectively meaning to "chill" -shrug emoji- Sweden is weird, also, awesome). "Any recommendations on what's good?"

The hat chucked in her ear, mind's ear. "Try the steak and yorkshire pudding," her mouth began watering at steak, she needed it now. "I'll try to be quick then. Swedish I see, muggle friends, oh dear, the ministry won't be happy about that breach of secrecy," the hat muttered as it rummaged through her mind.

Svea shrugged. "Not my ministry. Can you hurry it up, I don't really care, but I would prefer not Slytherin."

"Not Slytherin, eh? And why is that?"

"To infuriate my mother."

"But I see you also have the desire to be in Slytherin to outshine her and your grandfather, quite petty, no?"

"Yes, but I am only 10."

"Then would you prefer to be petty? I see great things for you in Ravenclaw, where those of wit and learning find their own kind. You have a great thirst for knowledge."

Svea shrugged again. "Whatever magic hat, isn't it your job to figure that out?"

The sorting hat sighed. "SLYTHERIN!" it shouted aloud, applause erupting on the table to her far right. The hat was barely off her head before she practically bounded over. She was so hungry and there were only a handful of students left to be sorted before she could finally eat. She ended up next to a third year and the speedily sorted boy from earlier.

"Svea," she said, introducing herself with a smile as another students sorting began.

"Damien," he gruffly replied.

"You shouldn't look so murderous, you're 11." She chided, impatiently tapping her foot whilst the last children were finally being sorted.

Damien rolled his eyes. "What if I am one?"

"Then you shouldn't be broadcasting that desire to everyone. Isn’t a killer best served if their intentions are secretive?" before he could retort, however, Svea's attention turned elsewhere. Specifically, their table. "OH YES! FINALLY FOOD! Hey, can you grab me some steak please!" she asked of the boy in front of them. "I'm Svea, by the way. You want one too Damien?"

"I can get it myself, thanks," muttered the British boy, looking quite irritated.

"Seyong Lee, but you can call me Tyler." answered the other one, placing a steak on Svea's plate as well as Damien's.

Once the feast was over (the hat was right about that Steak and Yorkshire Pudding), the Headmistress said a few words, mostly about forbidden places, Svea could feel none of those warnings making it into Syn's ears, and led the school in a rendition of the school song. She noticed some seven years really giving the song their all, and nearly toppled over with laughter. After the song finally ended, Svea and the other first year Slytherins were instructed to follow one of their House Prefects. Svea couldn't remember their name, but recalled them being one of those English Scared 28 people. They followed the prefect back out to the Entrance Hall, and through a door on the right, were led down to the dungeons. When they reached a bare stretch of stonewall, the prefect uttered a phrase and it revealed a passageway which led to the Slytherin common room. The password that month, if she recalled correctly, was "cantankerus".

Svea was less in love with the common room than most of her fellow first years, it was nice enough, but rather dark and dreary, much like the Prince Manor she noted. It had similar colourings of dark shades of green and serpentine décor everywhere (if it were up to her, she'd decorate it with dragons). She did, however, adore the large glass windows, and the water behind it, rushing up to it in excitement when a large squid went swishing by. The prefect explained that they were under the Black Lake and sometimes they saw creatures more interesting than the Giant Squid swim by the windows.

The first night would've ended without incident, but her future bestie just had to be dramatic and get into a physical fight with a seventh year.

"Well, that was dramatic," she commented once the seventh year fell to the floor. "Anyway, where's our stuff and where do we sleep?" Looking back, it was probably impressive that an 11 year old could easily defeat a 17 year old, but meh. She was tired, and she really needed her phone. How can you expect someone to sleep without the honey smooth voices of Eurovision performers?

The year went by quite quickly. Her hair only remained valyrian silver for about a month, before reverting back to her natural gold, and as expected, she ended all her classes with top marks. She enjoyed History of Magic and Potions the most in her first year. Whilst mostly a positive year, she did make some pureblood fervent enemies, but she is not going allow such idioticy to stand in her house. Slytherins are intelligent and cunning, not backwards morons. She recalled Syn dropping out of the sky at point to defend her from a pureblood's oh so hurtful words. But as they say, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words from an idiot do nothing. It was also the first year she celebrated her birthday without her biological family (not including either of the Princes'), she did, however, still have Syn and Hvitty, and a whole new bunch of friends.

Speaking of said friends, time to pull out of memory lane and jump back into the present. With Lili's hair done, and hers' also, once again, done up in Khalessi style (also dyed silver again, she would've dyed Lili's hair too, but the little Swede-Ruski said no), anyway, with their hair finally done, the two siblings went down into the courtyard. The entire Sauvageon estate was decorated in greenery as they were celebrating Midsummer, and before the traditional Sauvageon ball in the evening, they had invited a bunch of friends (mainly Svea's and some of Lili's new friends) to participate in the traditional maypole dance. The Lothbroks, of course, always came along, Norway celebrated Midsummer too, though with a bonfire instead of dancing around a maypole, so weird (that's sarcastic, Sweden is obvs the weirdo here). Minah, and Eloise, and Damien, of course, came along, well, the latter two of whom had to be somewhat dragged along, Eloise on the excuse of "observing" the activities of "lesser" beings. And where went M and E, always came T and T, aka Tyler and Theo or as Svea called the three of them, very much without their permission, zaldrīzes raqiror (translation: dragon friends). Moses and Lyrae had also come, and so had Henry, of course, what kind of awful girlfriend would forget to invite her "paramour" (as Svea preferred labelling him). Numerous adorable siblings had come along as well, Xander Carlyle (who would like to clarify he's Henry's cousin, not brother), Tara Lee, forever shipping Minah with the wrong person; it’s Minah and Tyler forever, not Minah and Sungjae (sorry buddy), whom, by the way, was also invited and showed up. Even Lyra and Oberon Greaves had come along, though they were decidedly less comfortable around Svea and Damien. Also somewhat uncomfortable was Loralei Expura, but as Svea explained, in Sweden, you just eat good food, hold hands, and dance in a circle around a weird pole for some reason.

---Post-credit scene with the zaldrīzes raqiror---

Theo: *leaning up against a tree* I'm not doing that.

Tyler: come on, it looks fun.

Theo: I don't remember asking for your opinion.

Tyler: you're lucky to have been graced with it.

Svea: *suddenly apparates to where they are* Just shut up and hold hands already, you're killing the vibe!

#hsww #writing #story #mine #contest entry #Svea Sauvageon

3 notes · View notes

hazeywrites · 6 years ago

Text

WIP Prep Tag Game

Tagged by: the amazing @delphwrites (tysm!) Rules: Answer the questions and then tag as many writers as there are questions answered (or as many as you can) to spread the positivity! Even if these questions are not explicitly brought up in the novel, they are still good to keep in mind when writing. Note: This will be for The Angel Peter.

FIRST LOOK

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch). Danish girl runs away to another country and is accompanied by a man who claims to be her guardian angel, who calls himself ‘Peter’. Her involvement with him gets her caught up in something intergalactic in scale. I’m super bad at pitching, as we can all see lol.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.) At the moment, I’ve ended it so that it can be continued in a second book. I do intend for it to be a duology.

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic? Friendship, loss, grainy photos, nights where you stay up until 3am talking, loneliness and the crippling fear that comes with it, adapting to somewhere new, love

4. What other stories inspire your novel? His Dark Materials, the Phantom of the Opera.

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel. I’m just gonna be lazy and use an old edit for this. Also it’s kind of relevant since I only ever talk about these two??? omg

MAIN CHARACTER

6. Who is your protagonist? My lovely girl Lotte. She’s a kind but fierce soul. Due to her perception of the world she feels trapped and overwhelmed in Denmark, so she decides to flee the country and pursue something she feels will free her.

7. Who is their closest ally? Honestly this is almost always a toss up between Peter and Andreas. At the end of the book especially. She is always connected to Peter and shares a link with him that cannot be broken, but at the same time, sometimes she chooses to ignore it.

8. Who is their enemy? Looool.

9. What do they want more than anything? The things that Lotte wants changes drastically throughout the novel, as she changes as a person and discovers more about herself and her limits. In the beginning, she wants to escape Denmark and study photography. Further to the end, she accepts more and more responsibilities and takes it upon herself to change things.

10. Why can’t they have it? She is able to achieve some of her desires. In the end, she finds herself within a network that welcomes her but has been established for millions of years prior to her initiation, with individuals who are far stronger and more intelligent than her. She’s outmatched in every sense, but she refuses to back down defending what she believes is right.

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves? That what happens is ‘her fault’, that her perception makes her ‘broken’ and that she needs to ‘fix’ herself. And that she’s physically strong enough to fight an angel, lool.

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description) Lol I wish I could draw.

PLOT POINTS

13. What is the internal conflict? Lotte wanted to escape and ends up doing so, to a degree she didn’t anticipate, but then she realises that escaping did not really help her, which makes her even more bitter. She wonders if she did the right thing in leaving her home and her parents, and there’s no definite answer to that. She loves Peter but always questions some of the things he did on earth (and what his race in general is doing), since the morals of angels do not match those of humans entirely.

14. What is the external conflict? This doesn’t really manifest until the end, and it’s a bit of a spoiler.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist? To be isolated and alone, even within the company of her own guardian angel.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story? That Lotte is more bitter and pissed off than we realised, lol. And that the angels have their own motivations for their actions.

17. Do you know how it ends? I do, but I’m tossing up with rewriting bits and pieces of it

BITS AND BOBS

18. What is the theme? Guardian angels is a huge underlying theme, which probably sounds obvious but there’s more to it than that. Like, if a human truly did have an angelic mirror of itself, what would that mean? How would that change a person, if at all? What if the concept wasn’t as simple as it’s made out to be? What kind of sacrifices do both parties have to make? Is it possible to be so poisoned by bitterness that one could hate their own guardian angel? I try to introduce some of the paradoxes that would manifest as a result of their existence, and there’s a historical and cultural overview of them, but it’s spread over the span of the story. idk. guardian angels.

19. What is a recurring symbol? Mm I don’t know. Photography? Quantum mechanics? Moments you wish would last forever but they can’t?

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!) It’s initially set in Denmark, then moves to Sweden, then moves to another planet.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already? I do. I need some more though, because the middle of the novel needs to be fleshed out a bit more.

22. What excited you about this story? Everything. I love writing about angels. I love writing about Denmark and Sweden, and another planet entirely. I actually love the main cast and their interactions. I love Lotte.

23. Tell us about your usual writing method! Honestly I had a fantastic method during NaNo, which is why I got so much done. Sticking to a routine helped so much. Now I’m kind of all over the place. I’m also dying over editing (already) and trying to accomplish other small writerly things, so I haven’t been making as much progress recently. My method is: sit down and do it. Once you start typing, it’s hard to stop.

Tagging: @novelistcore, @erinoddly, @mybookisbad, @carumens, @apollchiles, @angelwriteblr, @omgbrekkerkaz, @florhiver, @sancta-silje, @girlnovels, @ikilledmyocs, @atelierwriting, @hepiit, @katabasiss, @nerocael, @vellichorwrites, @nathanielbooks, @nepeinthe, @nexiliss, @mangowriter, @rosequills, @russowrites, @lefttowritee

#the angel peter #tag game #prep tag

26 notes · View notes

scribblechill · 6 years ago

Text

On Thundercats Roar, the Calarts Style, and ‘Toxic Masculinity’

Okey, I know I rarely, rarely make blog posts. If I have something to say about cartoons or the animation sphere I would probably make a video on my channel. But I believe that this matter is not a suitable topic for a potential video, and also I’m still kind of on my Youtube hiatus. Anyways...

There is a reason why Thundercats is hated so much, and it’s because of the plight of the ‘Calarts style’. A lot of people, especially those who grew up with cartoons from the 80′s and 90′s, criticised the show for repeating the art style repeated in modern 2010′s cartoons such as Steven Universe and Gravity Falls, and that the Thundercats reboot is no more than an epiphany for the ‘lazy’ style in all contemporary cartoons.

But is this true?

The modern ‘calarts’ style is constructed from drawing a circle, and drawing a bracket, representing the lower jaw, that protrudes out, as seen in this image:

As an artist who has emulated and utilised this style, I can say that this is perfectly true. But now let’s look at the other side, the 80′s- The 80′s style is primarily based on realistic human anatomy and proportions, with accurately depicted muscles.

But here’s the catch. The education process of an animator within an art school is rigourous- students are required to attend mandatory figure drawing classes, where their skills when it comes to anatomy and perspective are drilled to perfection. The artists who animate with the calarts style, and the artists who made the original Thundercats have no doubt gone through this process- with all that intense training, one could probably regurgitate a human figure as easy as...well, drawing a circle with a jaw below it.

Image credits: Reiq from Deviantart

I do agree that there is more effort that is placed into defining emotions and muscular features in the original Thundercats and many 80′s cartoons. However, the fact that they regurgitated the real life anatomy does not make them any more, or less, creative than contemporary cartoons.

Look at Lion-O for a start, he is supposed to be a human-cat-alien. However, all the character designers did is illustrate a normal, muscular person, change the eye size to match a cat, and made the skin orange. It’s practically one or two cat features stuck to a perfectly standard rendition of a male figure that the artist could have drawn a million times during anatomy class in animation school.

And hence, like how the ‘Calarts’ style is based off a regurgitated circle and a bracket, the 80′s cartoon style is based of a regurgitation of standard human anatomy that is commonly understood by all artists- including modern animators in Calarts. Anime uses a regurgitated style, so as comic books. But how about this image?

So are 80′s cartoons a pile of shit too?

No, the creator of this image has obviously nitpicked the characters from contemporary animation. But it does tell the point that the ‘repetitious, lazy style’ argument could work both ways, and it could be true with exceptions at the same time. The point is- each era of animation have a stylistic/anatomical thing that is repeated, and that’s fine! Because in the cartoon industry a lot of artists work between shows, and this result in their style being intertwined between many dominating shows within the industry. Both style has their beauty- the 80′s, muscly, realistic style is a celebration of how life-like and realistic you could make a series of moving pictures to be. And the Calart style looks fluid, lively, and well, cute.

Though the design from Thundercats Roar might have been too much of a generic copycat (ba dum tss) of the Calarts style, let’s remember there are many amazing cartoons that are animated in the same style, but are beloved and are appreciated for their artistic beauty. For a start- Wonder Over Yonder, created by Craig McCracken, who surprise, came from Calarts himself. We should appreciate each era of cartoons- past, present or future, and of course, be free to criticise it too. And we should not allow one bad fruit in the basket to ruin it all for everyone.

But there is one last thing about this whole Thundercats thing I want to address. I think this comment left by a fellow on Youtube highlights this problem I want to talk about best.

‘When I see this style (Calarts), I don’t think ‘cutesy’. I think racist bigoted, vindictive, far left authoritarian. This drawing style is a huge warning sign that you’re dealing with the someone who’s really into violence and revenge, but deluded enough to think they’re childlike and fun.’ -anon

This is one of the biggest problem with the whole issue- people politicising the Thundercats reboot and the Calarts style.

Basically the consensus is- the Calarts style and the Thundercats reboot itself is an attempt from leftists and SJW’s to stifle ‘toxic masculinity’, otherwise known as ‘the war on boys’. As we have all noticed- the original Thundercats is very masculine, while the reboot looks cutesy and non-threatening. Many people believe that this reboot is a small part of the agenda from the liberals imposing feminine standards on young boys at school, in the media they consume and in society, instead of allowing them to have rough and tumble play.

Let me get this straight first- I do believe that this is an issue with the western education system in many western countries, especially Sweden. But I’m not here to talk about politics, I’m here for animation.

The modern cartoon style portraying their characters as more cutesy instead of more masculine is not a large social engineering project, but it’s instead a mix of the change in writing style and economics.

First of all, large corporations like Cartoon Network has no intention on manipulating kids to be more feminine. They just market, greenlight, and promote what sells. It’s called business. The cutesy style is trendy nowadays- so networks today promote it. The muscle-man, masculine style is trendy back in the 80′s, so networks promoted it before. Welcome to the free market.

Second of all- the writing style. The entire Calarts style started with the ‘cartoon renaissance’ of the 2010′s- catalysed by shows like Adventure Time and Gravity Falls. These shows not only brought a new art style, but they also brought something back that has been mostly eroded in the previous decade- story and character development. The imperative part of character development is relatability, and this would mean the rejection of ‘Mary Sues’, or perfect flawless characters.

It lies in the visual narrative- a worked up person with large muscles- as portrayed in Thundercats, does not seem as ‘relatable’ as maybe a more bubbly, cutesy, character, because the fact is that the majority of us do not look, and more importantly, feel like that. But unlike the Thundercats reboot, this bubbly Calarts character design in many good contemporary cartoons juxtaposes with the character’s surrounding world, which is often illustrated to be much darker, and included more physical and emotional challenges they have to face. They are more appealing because the audience, whether they are kids are adults, realise that someone meek and not very insignificant like themselves, represented by the ‘cutesy’ style, could fight and fare along in a world that’s dark, complex, and that they can overcome the hurdles in their personal life like family relationships etc (classic examples being Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, even Gumball, OK KO and Star Vs to some extent) and that they could do so too. They are not more appealing to the audience because the audience is being brainwashed into being more feminine.

A lot of the people supporting the notion that the Calarts style is representative of the feminisation of society will point out that cartoons today do not show and encourage people to take action on their own flaws, and that the audience is shielded from reality and are replaced with rainbows and sunshine to ‘feminise’ the children, and some of them end up calling artists and animators that utilise the Calarts style as ‘cucks’, ‘soyboys’ (lol) and ‘betas’ and are obsessed with their ideologies and social engineering. When in fact, cartoons today have been promoting the idea of overcoming one’s own flaws all the time, (Maybe not in Thundercats Roar or TTG but in Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Star vs. etc) and are in fact building stronger people in real life, all thanks to the fact that the audience could actually relate increasingly to more modestly, cutely designed characters.

Img cred: Know Your Meme

And I have to say, I personally think a lot of them are completely new to the modern cartoon/animation sphere and they just popped in because they saw this Thundercats reboot, and just because of that one reboot they came up with the notion that the Calarts style and the entire cartoon industry is stifling masculinity. No offence to them at all. But like I said earlier, the cutesy style actually creates a sense of reliability and juxtaposition for the audience that a more masculine and strong illustration style like the original Thundercats might not be able to offer. It’s only that Thundercats Roar failed to create this sense of juxtaposition, but it doesn’t mean the rest of the bunch- OK KO, Steven Universe, fail to do so too.

If you are a big fan of cartoons, may I ask you, will the show lose it’s appeal, at least slightly, because...

- Star from Star vs looks more like Wonderwoman

- Dipper from Gravity Falls is an alpha with gains.

I’m well aware that this is could be different between person to person.

The point is, the fact that we are politicising a fucking art style and calling everyone who uses and endorses it as your political opponent, shows how emotionally driven this whole debate is. Fans of the former Thundercats have every right to be mad at the reboot- it is a bastardisation of the original and a disrespect towards the original creator. However, turning this nostalgic rage into political stigmatisation and blanket generalisation of the many hardworking artists and animators that just get along is childish in itself. Sure, some artists might actually believe that masculinity is toxic, whoever designed the characters in the Thundercats reboot might be lazy- but the majority of those people who use the Calarts style, or come from Calarts, want to pursue their passion, make the best animations they could, and put food on the table.

The political issues implied are very real, but using them to emotionally justify one’s rage against these artists is not right.

It takes some balls for you to voice out against social change (despite doing it in the wrong place), but it takes a real man to pursue the gruelling yet rewarding art form of animation.

#thundercats #toxic masculinity #soyboy #thundercats roar #thundercats reboot #calarts style #80's cartoons #i'm sorry

84 notes · View notes

foundcarcosa · 8 years ago

Text

that v-day fandom meme

Your favourite non-canon ship? >> A top five at random: John Reese/Harold Finch (Person of Interest), Tony Stark/James Rhodes (Marvel), Jesse Custer/Proinsias Cassidy (Preacher), Roland Deschain/Eddie Dean (The Dark Tower), Garth/Lucien Fairfax (Fable II). Oh, and Dr Manhattan/Ozymandias (Watchmen).

Is there a ship you didn’t like at first but ultimately started shipping? >> SuFin (Sweden/Finland, Hetalia). I mean, it wasn’t so much that I didn’t like the ship, it was just that I didn’t really grok that I could have multiple ships for one character without them necessarily having to be in conflict with each other or having to “choose sides” (like some Team Edward vs Team Jacob shit). And at the time, I shipped DenSu (Denmark/Sweden) so I thought I had to stick to that.

What is the rarest rare pair (that you ship)? >> I have no idea. I mean, I’m also in several super-small fandoms, so it’s difficult to even tell if anything’s popular let alone rare in those. Also, I think my understanding of rarity would be skewed depending on how much I actually interact with large numbers of fellow fans.

Name a popular ship you don’t get the appeal of. >> I don’t think that really applies to me. I understand the motivations behind most ships (especially popular ones) -- I just don’t always agree.

What is your most fluffy + happy ship? >> Garth/Sparrow, I suppose. Sorrow and loss brought them together, but they burnt those things and stubbornly built something new on top of the ashes.

What is your most angsty ship? >> Heimdall/Loki is kinda on that level, because the same force that pulls them together is going to pit them against each other at the end of the world. Knowing that is some tough shit.

A non-canon ship that should be canon? >> I feel like Reese/Finch is probably like... canon in its own way. Just not in the way us fans imagine it, lol, but definitely some level of a ship.

Your oldest ship; the one you’ve shipped for the longest time? >> Mulder/Scully.

What ship represents the kind of relationship you’d love to have? >> You know, most of my ships represent one of my favoured relationship types. I have several, you see.

Is there a ship that makes your skin crawl? >> Nah.

What is a character you can only imagine in one particular ship? >> Nobody, really. I think of characters like people -- and I don’t think any person on earth is only able to have a romantic relationship with one other person on this entire planet.

What is your favourite canon ship? >> Mulder/Scully, I guess.

Name a ship that deserved more content. >> If I really think a ship needs more content, I might as well write it myself.

Is there a ship you feel gets undeserved hate in fandom? >> I feel every ship that gets hate fits this profile. Ship hate is not something I advocate or participate in.

What is the first ship you had? >> Also Mulder/Scully.

Is there a ship that made you realise something about yourself? >> Howard Roark/Gail Wynand made me realise I didn’t care a whit about Ayn Rand’s feelings, I was gonna make Roark mine and her dead ass was just gonna have to deal with it.

Is there a type of ship you always go for? >> I don’t think I have a type. I have too many ships and permutations of ships to really put them all in one box.

Is there a ship the writers have ruined for you? >> If I ship something, I’ll ship it my way no matter what the writers do.

Is there a ship the fandom has ruined for you? >> If I ship something, I’ll ship it no matter what fandom does. If I don’t, it still doesn’t matter what fandom does. A fandom doesn’t have power over me.

Have you ever created fan created content for a ship? >> Sure, I write fic all the time.

Favourite thing you’ve ever created for a ship? >> I have a lot of ship fic that I love up on AO3.

Is there a ship you’ll never admit you have? >> Why would I bother doing that...?

Have you ever started shipping a ship because of the fans? >> Yeah, because sometimes someone brings up a ship that I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

What is one scene you want to see happen for all your ships? >> Irrelevant.

Is there a ship you wish you didn’t know existed? >> No.

Name a ship that ended like you wanted it to. >> In canon? Hannigram.

Name a ship that deserved better in the end. >> Reese/Finch. But I can work with what they got. (I STILL PREFER TO BELIEVE THAT FINCH IS ALSO DEAD--)

Is there a character you have several ships for? >> What, like... every character? Sometimes (usually) at once???

What is the ship you ignore 98% of canon for? >> I ignore 98% of canon for like, whole fandoms. (Looking at you, Dragon Age.)

Is there a ship you like but you dislike the fandom? >> I don’t think so... like, sometimes I’ll prefer not to use the fanon interpretation for a ship (I’m like that with a lot of Hetalia ships), but otherwise meh.

#surveysofsamedi

1 note · View note

rockrevoltmagazine · 7 years ago

Text

NORTHERN INVASION 2017

Review & Photos by Tom Leu

If you’ve ever attended a large multi-day music festival, you know that the weather plays a significant role in the enjoyment of the event overall. A close second to the excellence of all the music pumped out at Northern Invasion 2017, was the fact that we got lucky and enjoyed excellent… no scratch that, perfect weather both days in Somerset Wisconsin on May 13th and 14th. Day 2, Mother’s Day, was fittingly even better than Day 1 weather-wise. Sunny skies, mild temps, and thick riffs were enjoyed by the 20,000+ in attendance over the weekend.

For the third year, the Northern Invasion festival featured the finest in new and veteran heavy rock and heavy metal acts. The really impressive part about this year’s line-up was the diversity represented among the 30 acts who performed. You had hardcore metal to hard rock blues, to power pop with more than a few jagged edges cutting through. There was something for everyone, with all acts bringing their A Games, and sporting big sounds on three stages.

Highlights from the acts that were shot, seen, and heard at Northern Invasion 2017…

Day 1:

As Lions – A great new band out of the U.K. featuring lead vocalist Austin Dickinson (son of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson) brought their brand of melodic and at times, symphonic hard rock first thing on Saturday. Predicting a bright future for these guys. Rival Sons – short and sweet = these guys are f*cking awesome! Why they were slotted so early in the day will forever remain a mystery to me. Great singing, great songs, great band. Dorothy – Female fronted band from LA. Bluesy, hard rock with great vocals and good looks. Citizen Zero – Modern, yet mainstream rockers with a charm, and a sound that’s as hooky as it’s hard rocking. The Struts – this U.K. band brought an intoxicating concoction that mixes the best of the Stones and Queen. Sporting swagger, bluesy rock and roll with an attitude and flair, these guys are the real deal. It’s rock and roll the way it’s supposed to f*cking be. Of Mice and Men – Bone crunching, hardcore metal with screams that could likely be heard all the way into Minnesota I’m convinced. I Prevail – The Detroit band consists of dual lead vocalists with no shortage of angst and anger that had the kids losing their minds. Crowd surfers were as much a part of the show, as the show itself.

The Pretty Reckless

The Pretty Reckless – An excellent throwback-hard rock band of sorts fronted by the beautifully talented Taylor Momsen. Powerful vocals mixed with mysterious charisma make for an alluring and irresistible rock package. Sum 41 – I wasn’t expecting to be impressed with these guys, but I definitely was… Punk rock with a shit ton of attitude, energy, and charisma. Crowd was going apeshit over the catchy-as-hell set of songs that the band brought in spades. Bush – Of course Gavin Rossdale is the star, along with the band’s now classic rock hits that are no strangers to rock radio. I expected more of a “show” from Bush, but then again, maybe that’s just Bush. Pierce the Veil – Another band that I didn’t expect to like as much as I did. For such a young bunch of guys (relatively speaking compared to the age of this author… lol), these dudes know how to entertain and bring an infectious combination of hard rocking, emo-laden hooks, and hedonism during their set. In Flames – A crowd favorite, with an impressive back catalog of melodic metal spanning over 20 years from this veteran and pioneering band from Sweden. Godsmack – F*cking Sully always brings it. Big, badass riffs and bass guitar so loud I had to hold the camera a bit tighter than usual. The staple, dual drum solos were a highlight.

Soundgarden

Soundgarden – What tragically turned out to be the band’s third to last show… Soundgarden brought their classic sound, and now classic hits to a capacity crowd to close out Saturday night. Chris Cornell was in command as the band moved through an inspired set with the requisite amount of moody ebb and flow that you’ve come to expect from a Soundgarden show. Excellent sound; excellent performance; very sad now to think it was to be the last time I’d get to see Chris doing what he did best…

Northern Invasion Saturday, May 13, 2017

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”1053″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_pro_horizontal_filmstrip” image_crop=”0″ image_pan=”1″ show_playback_controls=”1″ show_captions=”1″ caption_class=”caption_overlay_bottom” caption_height=”70″ aspect_ratio=”1.5″ width=”100″ width_unit=”%” transition=”fade” transition_speed=”1″ slideshow_speed=”5″ border_size=”0″ border_color=”#ffffff” override_thumbnail_settings=”1″ thumbnail_width=”120″ thumbnail_height=”90″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ ngg_triggers_display=”always” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

Day 2:

Starset – Opening on Sunday, this was my first time seeing this very entertaining and intriguing band. Admittedly, I was not very familiar with their music, but I became a fan after witnessing their high energy show complete with “space jam” costumes and all the trimmings. These cats can sing and play, like, outta this world… Radkey – This 3 piece band of brothers from St Louis were easily one of my favorites new discoveries during Northern Invasion 2017. I’m not a huge “punk” fan, but these guys brought a brand punk and hard rock that was mixed with enough psychedelic attitude to make believers out of fans of both Motorhead and Cream alike. Sylar – A metal/rap outfit with big attitudes and altitude from NYC. Motionless In White -Chris Motionless and his band delivered an impressive set of theatrical hard rock with great costumes, yet very well crafted songs that kept the audience in the palm of his hand the whole time. Nothing More – Complete with copious amounts of ripped abs along with an audio assault of inventive heavy metal, Jonny Hawkins and crew from San Antonio, TX set themselves apart from the crowded hard rock crowd with the addition of interesting percussion elements into their blistering set. Attila – Metalcore from Atlanta, GA that consumed their die-hards whipping the audience into a frenzy and giving photographers copious amounts of crowd surfing to capture.

Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge -Solid and strong, tried and true, yet very modern and melodic hard rock from the veteran band consisting of the great Myles Kennedy on lead vocals. I believe it’s sometimes easy to forget just how huge Creed was back in the day, and that ¾ of Alter Bridge consists of the excellence that is the trifecta of Mark Tremonti on guitar, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips. Opeth – Another act that took me by surprise with their inventive mix of metal and psychedelic prog rock. Hailing from Sweden, the veteran band kept me there and kept me interested throughout their entire set (no easy feat for rock photographer and music journalist needing to make the rounds) with their unique blend of singing, screaming, and musical virtuosity. Fozzy – Chris Jericho and co. opened with their ripping new song “Judas” that rocks hard while hanging their good looks on good hooks to suck you in. Jericho is a very good vocalist and he knows it while literally strutting his stuff onstage and backstage. Papa Roach – Veteran hard rockers bringing their big rock to the big stage. Year after year, Papa Roach brings huge entertainment value to every performance that’s genuine and invested. The crowd was in a frenzy from the first note to the last as Jacoby Shaddix and the guys left everything on the stage, and were arguably the best act of Day 2. Amon Amarth – Lots of Nordic metal from Sweden representing and delivering the goods at Northern Invasion 2017, and Amon Amareth were no exception. If classic Sabbath, Maiden, Megadeth, and Venon-era style head banging complete with a big Viking ship stage set is your bag, then an AA set is for you. Very entertaining that surprisingly mixed a lot of smiling along with the metal. The Offspring – Since it’s been some 25 years or so since we first heard of from The Offspring, one may tend to forget just how many of their songs have infiltrated the culture with their catchy lyrics, hooks, and heavy rock anthems. Dr. Dexter Holland (a recent PhD. graduate) and band performed a tight and entertaining set that included all the requisite classics and charisma that brought them fame and fortune in the first place. Closing out the festival was none other than Kid Rock…

Kid Rock

Kid Rock – Always has been, and still is bigger than life… Kid Rock delivered an eclectic set comprised of old and new material that spanned his impressive 2o year career, mixing full blown rockers with stripped down acoustic numbers. You’re reminded of just how big a star, and cultural icon Kid Rock really is the moment he takes the stage with his excellent band behind him. He blew everyone away, and was a perfect cap to the great weekend of live music at Northern Invasion 2017.

Northern Invasion Sunday, May 14, 2017

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”1054″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_pro_horizontal_filmstrip” image_crop=”0″ image_pan=”1″ show_playback_controls=”1″ show_captions=”1″ caption_class=”caption_overlay_bottom” caption_height=”70″ aspect_ratio=”1.5″ width=”100″ width_unit=”%” transition=”fade” transition_speed=”1″ slideshow_speed=”5″ border_size=”0″ border_color=”#ffffff” override_thumbnail_settings=”1″ thumbnail_width=”120″ thumbnail_height=”90″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ ngg_triggers_display=”always” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

**More Images to be added to the Photo Galleries in the coming days**

For more about Northern Invasion >> www.NorthernInvasion.com

Photography & Writing by Tom Leu at www.16IMAGING.com

Tom Leu on Facebook: www.facebook.com/tomleu2

Tom Leu on Instagram: www.instagram.com/tomleu

NORTHERN INVASION 2017 was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

0 notes

oceansandroses · 8 years ago

Text

Paris

So Im gonna write a basic travel thoughts page per place I went starting from Paris. I’d try to recall how lapland was too in hopefully future entries but so here goes!

Paris.

The city of love and romance.

But also sadly, the city of pee.

No city smelt as bad as Paris did, each train, metro, bus and even at the Sacré-Cœur Basilique, with that amazing view, the smell of pee nvr left. Okay, I gotta try to start being more positive about things and stop looking at things from a negative point of view. But I really felt I had to get that point out.

Great amazing things about Paris: the architecture stole my heart, it just enveloped my entire being. Everything, every place and every building or house was just so unique, tasteful and just a wonder to me. Each had their own flavor, taste and vibe. Whether was it a nice, quiet restaurant with people just sitting to people watch and chill with the oh-so-wonderful weather (it was a perpetual 18 degrees there, probably just 10 in the evenings) my down jacket was rather excessive but I guess it was alright, there were plenty of tourists in Paris that were cold even in that ‘warmth’-funny how Sweden changed me so much, to tolerate the cold. So the buildings were just so beautiful, I remember taking the train out of the airport and looking out of the window only to see many landed houses with different and varying numbers of windows. differently colored and different types of bricks or materials used in its assembly. I was sold.

The weather as mentioned was great, warm and sunny, a nice warm but cooling breeze which Ale and I were really grateful for. Oh and Asian food!! On our first day there, besides having to skip going to the outlet stores because we didnt have much time to get from our airbnb to the outlets since we got pretty lost without internet (note to self to always get internet that works internationally) so we went to explore the city. Day 1 was lunch at 2/3+ before going off to see the Sacré-Cœur. The climb was alright but what made me weep tears of joy was my fav carousel right at the bottom of the basilique. The vibes of the place overall was really nice and pleasant. There were many people chilling, drinking a bottle of wine or beer or just chatting on the grass patch on the climb up the stairs to the church. Tourists were everywhere as with every tourist attraction but somehow the place didnt feel overrated. it wasnt swarmed with tourists and there was a unique and magical vibe to it. The street artists who were all around trying to earn their daily bread through caricature sketches, the nice restaurants that sold mussels and oysters in buckets at 14 euros (I was really so tempted). But there ale warned me about people who might pickpocket us, there were people who held different colored strings and she said they would hold the string out to us, the moment anyone touched it, they would ask you to pay them money or pickpocket us etc. It was kind scary but we hurried along. Oh, right at the top there was also a choo-choo train! it was pretty cool

Ale and I also bought 12 postcards at 2 euros yay! Next was the Arc de Triomphe, we managed to snap a few pictures but due to no reduced admission rates for us and to go up was 12 euros, I was pretty hesitant. Sharm did recommend us to go up but Ale said the weather was pretty cloudy and we prob could try tmr so we gave it a miss. From the Arc, we saw the Eiffel so both of us decided ourselves that it was quite near so we walked towards it. It was actually quite a walk but it felt kinda fun since we were ‘chasing the tower’ lol, always finding it amongst the buildings and its spotlight that shines throughout. The nightview of the Eiffel was really nice but there was not much magic vibes to it, maybe bcos it felt a lil overhyped. After which we got a little lost, took the wrong train from the wrong side and hopped on the dirtiest train i’ve ever been. The seats were fabric but they were so black and dirty. The red cushion seats were all blackish and they looked kinda mouldy. Much #grossness

Anyways Ale always having a great directional sense brought us back to the right path after one wrong stop, and we met Sharm at Quatre Septembre to go hunt for some Ramen that people recommended her. It was a chinese-ran restaurant that sold jap food. The gyozas were good but the ramen pretty much tasted like yellow noodles in a chinese broth. The cha siew was good thou i must admit. After that we had Grom gelato (only bcos I said it was a good brand that Robz & I tried in Italy) before sharing a jar of 50cl of white wine. Ale taught me a bit of how to drink the wine while we sat under a heater in one of the most popular and happening streets of Paris. Oh another thing thou, Deliveroo exists in Paris and the delivery guys ride bicycles! So i guess it feels weird that with SG being a much smaller place, rarely do you see people in bikes as in bicycles but rather its just bikes and cars. #thatswhyCOEhighlor the green olives they served there was really nice thou, the black ones tasted like they were soaked in water or just oil. The olive oil in the black ones were barely visible.

it was a great chill hangout before we left and rested up for the night. We started our next day early with the Lourve tour which we paid 24 euros for but ended up feeling very disappointed and cheated since he just shared some short story about how this Lourve came about (from a small tower and a wall elsewhere) to this-he hates the pyramid design so obv not much talk was given about this pyramid before leaving us to walk to the entrance and enter it ourselves. #sobz #byemoney

Inside the Lourve thou, it was a brand new story. We started off with the French sculptures and boy was it beautiful. Each sculpture felt like there was a life to it, its own story and feelings. Its lines were so beautiful, intricate and just so perfect in their own way. There were many students or people just chilling there and drawing life sketches of the sculptures. After that we kept getting lost but we saw the Napolean collection, the crazy Chandeliers around, the furniture before we attempted to see the French paintings. But bcos we kept getting lost, we ended up looking at the Egyptian collection. Much thanks to Ale for being alright to go to the Egyptian part of the museum with me. After the Lourve bcos there was free wifi, we decided to go hunt for bubble tea. We got lost and spent 1.5 hours around town before finding our Chatime! we had a crepe outside the Lourve too after getting lost half way and walking past it for like about the 3rd time.

After Chatime, we went to primark to shop for a bit. The collection was rather big but okay ish like no feels to splurge on anything. We went to Bershka too before we rushed to the nearest post office to mail our postcards. The mail lady didnt speak a word of english and boy was she inefficient. She had to flip thru her stack of stamps thrice and recount sets of 5 stamps before letting us pay and all. 10 stamps were pretty pricey and costed me 15.8 euros but oh wells. crap I just realized I forgot to write daddy a happy birthday post card:( but wait its in April okay, ive got time. phew.

It was a mad rush back home and we had to pass thru a black zone, there were so many blacks and police there, it felt like the entire atmosphere was really tense. The moment anybody made a mistake, the police were right there ready to arrest. We also saw some blacks making a living with a supermarket trolley as a bbq pit to cook kebab meats which I felt was pretty innovative and cool. I also love the buses here, uncles here stop when they see people running for the bus which doesnt really happen alot in SG. sigh. SG buses do come more frequently thou, but still that doesnt make up for bad behavior.

After dropping our things, we took a train to the concert. Broods was the opening act before Tove Lo and i didnt do much research on her so I nvr knew Tove Lo was so sexualized. Every song she was shaking and grinding her hips to it and she eventually flashed her tits at the audience too. I bought an autographed CD from her but it was weird bcos while heading back Ale was sharing with me about how Tove Lo was being pretty illuminati and Satanic and that Beyonce was the head of the illuminati. I was very thankful for her religious sharig althoug I have to admit after hearing all that i was kinda scared.

We ended the night cooking our only ‘meal’ of instant noodles before resting and heading to the airport by uber the next day. Thank god for uber for getting to our airbnb and to the airport. the public transport train ticket was far too ridiculous-10 euros for a single trip to the airport and we didnt even stay that far. Uber was just 11 euros per person-.-

Also pretty disappointed with the Paris duty free airport since the collection was so small, I couldnt get mommy’s and huijun’s clinique products. Ale and I each bought a crossaint there thou! It was really yummy

okay done for Paris its 1.45 in the morning here in LKP so im hungry and sleepy and tired and upset so i shld try to get some rest

Ciao

0 notes