#eliot x jazz

[nightblackowlbat]

Leverage x Danny Phantom (Let's go steal a ghost)

Danny is captured by the GIW, and depending on if it is a good or bad reveal AU, possibly also the Fentons. Jazz, Tucker and Sam do what they can, but they're just regular people going up against a government agency. They need... leverage.

Somehow they find out about the team, either Tucker through his hacking met Hardison online, or maybe one of Sam's parents' rich friends was a target? Either way, Jazz goes to the meeting to beg them to save her brother. Eliot does her Cassanova act and helps her dry her tears.

This is all happening after the fake psychic episode, so the Leverage team thinks the GIW is faking the paranormal activity in order to cover up kidnaping. There's your typical third-act crisis where the plan starts to fall apart because they didn't realize the GIW's tech is actually reading ecto or something. Luckily Hardison manages to pull off some hacking/Parker is able to plant some actual Ecto to get the alarms going.

All throughout Tucker is helping Hardison by filling him in on Ecto-tech, Sam is helping Sophie with the grift (look, she knows how to act like a rich girl to please her parents, she just usually chooses not to.) Jazz is beating people up with her anti-creep-stick alongside Eliot. Dani has a little thieving rivalry with Parker. (Parker says invisibility is cheating.)

At the end of the day, Danny is saved and the GIW in ruins. Sam offers to pay, but they tell her they operate on "alternative revenue streams" or whatever the saying is. So the Phantom team look at each other and nod in understanding. Danny goes into the Ghost Zone and comes back with the ghosts of Nate's son Sam and Parker's brother Nick.

The two dead little boys have become best friends in the afterlife.

[shegatsby]

Fire on Ice

Summary; Tom Hiddleston is a vicious mob boss who is looking for his father’s killer, his reputation is depending on it and he won’t give up until he finds that man, and you my sweet little Y/N is the weirdest and the best thing that happened to him all his life.

Genre; Romance, smut is here, mob, gangs, slow-burn,

Pairings; Tom Hiddleston x F!Reader

Words; 2.835K

Warnings; Oral sex, vaginal sex, wrap it before you tap it! SMUT! fingering. 

A/n; I’m a dirty slut but so are you my friend ;) Text me if i forgot to tag you. Sorry for any typos. Love you all. 

TAG LIST IS OPEN!

(gif isn’t mine)

Chapter Six

Tom out did himself with this, he found people inside to do it. Before he came to America, New York he heard that there is an old black woman who gives jazz concerts at her house on every Saturday, it was for free but donations were accepted and since the concert takes place at her house the audience numbers were limited but he got in. He always admired Harlem and its culture of jazz and he wanted to share it with his girlfriend. As you two were climbing the stairs to this woman’s apartment he was explaining the concert, ‘’ Every Sunday for more than a decade, rain or shine, with no vacations, a jazz concert has taken place in the parlor of Marjorie Eliot's home on what she calls the northern tip of Harlem. Her weekly free concerts in the living room of her apartment are legendary in Harlem and an institution for jazz lovers citywide.’’ The concert takes place between 3:30 PM and 6PM, he was so giddy and child like that you couldn’t help but smile. You loved jazz music but no one took you to a jazz concert before so you didn’t know what to wear and ended up wearing a yellow sundress and comfortable shoes, Tom also looked comfortable with his blue shirt and jeans. His hair was pushed back, he had black sunglasses, –he took them of when you guys entered the building- ‘’You said there were no tickets to pay?’’ climbing the stairs was tiring because there wasn’t any elevator in the building, ‘’Yes, it’s for free but donations are highly appreciated. I’m planning on writing a check.’’ He shortly explained guiding you to the brown door, his large hand was on the small of your back. Oh the things you wanted his hands to do to you.. ever since that passionate kiss your mind was in the gutter.

It was a small flat with colorful furniture, only 20 people were inside, it felt like you entered a friend’s house who promised to give you a show, so warm and welcoming. You smiled at everyone you met and talked, before the concert began a young man offered you drinks and you didn’t say no. Tom surprised you actually, you never thought that he would take you somewhere like this place, driving hours away from his penthouse etc. You noticed that he was silent usually and observing his environment which was a good thing but when he wasn’t looking at you or his focus was somewhere else, you saw a grim shadow in his ocean eyes, something wanted to come out but Tom was pushing it far behind. He still didn’t give a proper explanation about the phone call and the thing he said but for today you didn’t want to ruin the mood, he did something nice for you.

When the lady of the house came to give the concert you and Tom sat on the light green couch, you’re back was on his chest so you couldn’t see his face but his hand was playing with your soft hair, you were both relaxed on the comfortable couch.

This woman’s voice was divine, it made you experience your soul on a new level, it brought you to places… holy. Tom was enjoying himself too, ‘’Do you like it?’’ he whispered, ‘’I loved it.’’ You said and turned to give him a kiss, his lips met yours like a missing part of the puzzle, you could smell the ice cream you guys ate before coming here, you had to pull away before things got heated, you were in public. Tom kept playing with your hair, if you were not too caught up in the moment and that woman’s divine voice, you would have noticed Tom kissing your head or smelling your sweet shampoo.

After the marvelous show Tom didn’t forget to write a check, you were waiting for him outside of the building, it was 6:45 PM and the sun was setting slowly, printing the walls of the streets with the red and orange colors and you allowed yourself to breathe deeply, your eyes were shut and you sent a message to the universe, ‘’Thank you for today.’’ Lately you felt lucky, it wasn’t just because of Tom, you had a bestie who always backed you up, you got good tips from your job and you were saving money, things were looking up for you.. or were they?

Tom came with a smile on his lips, he put his glasses on, ‘’Tom, Thank you so much! It was an amazing concert.’’ You started to walk hand in hand, his car was a bit far away from the building, ‘’I hope I made things up for you love. Yes, the concert was perfectly splendid.’’ You were swaying your hands together as you were walking, you felt safe and loved. His presence filled you with joy. ‘’Wait.’’ He said, he pulled his hand away and looked at you, since there was a height difference you had to look up to meet his black sunglasses, he held your shoulders and pushed you to a near wall, you thought he was going to kiss you but he told you to stay put and he backed away few steps, knelt on one knee and took a picture of you, you could feel the setting sun’s warmth on your cheeks, ‘’You look divine under the sun my love.’’ He said and showed you the picture, he was right, you looked happy. ‘’T- thank you.’’

Tom was losing his reason that’s for sure, he wanted to slap his face hard. ‘’What am I doing?’’

While he was driving you were on the passenger seat looking cute and trying to decide on a song, what bothered Tom was that the same car kept following him for hours, it was a black Toyota RAV4, a regular car. First time he saw the car he didn’t think much of it but as you guys were leaving Harlem the same car was behind you. In his line of work Tom knew that this wasn’t a good sign so without letting you know anything he called one of his workers, a fine man named George.

‘’Hello George, are you close to my house?’’ before he called George he suggested that you could listen music on your air-pods, he told you that he had to make a business call and you would get bored, you did what he told you. When he was sure that you weren’t listening to him he told George that he was being followed. He gave the license plate, it was unfortunate that he couldn’t see the driver because of the setting sun. ‘’I will get back to you in a second Sir. In the mean while please choose crowded roads.’’

You noticed that something was off, Tom looked displeased and on edge, ‘’What’s wrong?’’ you asked innocently, in these moments he just felt this urge to hold you and never let go, he cleared his throat, ‘’Work problems as usual. Nothing to worry about.’’ He kept checking the mirrors of the car and you noticed it. ‘’What kind of a work problem?’’ you asked.

‘’Should we get dinner and go to my place?’’ Tom suggested so that you would stop asking, he grew tired of lying to you, ‘’I have work tomorrow and its getting late.’’ Your voice came out sad, ‘’I can drop you off to work love. We can watch a movie and relax, together.’’ He sounded tempting, you said yes because he was an interesting man to be around and you definitely wanted to see his penthouse again.

Until you reached to his house Tom was too.. how should I put it? Scared? Annoyed? You didn’t know if it was because of you or his work problems, I mean if he didn’t want you right now he would suggest that you should go home. It started to rain outside and you guys were on the living room of the first floor watching Addams Family and eating pizza. You loved the Addams family because they were a perfect family, since you didn’t get to have that you consoled yourself with movies like this. ‘’I love this scene.’’ You said, at the beginning of the movie Gomez Addams says ‘’Look at her, I would die for her, I would kill for her. Either way what bliss.’’

‘’So you like their relationship?’’ Tom asked raising an eyebrow, ‘’Yes, don’t laugh at me but I’ve always wanted a relationship like theirs. Passion and their respect for each other.. the idea of giving yourself to someone completely. Sorry-‘’ you blushed deep red, ‘’No, keep going. Please.’’ Tom encouraged you to speak, ‘’I want a soul mate, someone to share the rest of my life with and be buried side by side.’’ You spoke eyes fixed on the big TV. Tom gently touched your chin to make you look into those soft ocean eyes, without saying anything he leaned in for a kiss, just like in a romantic movie you heard a thunder and the rain got worse, hitting the tall windows. As the kiss got heated you slithered towards him and sat on his lap, his large hands went to rest on your thighs, he was unsure of what to do, he needed consent before moving forward and when he looked into your Y/E/C eyes all the promises he made to himself about you jumped out of a window, ‘’Do you want this my love?’’ he asked. ‘’Yes, Tom, God, yes!’’

You kissed him deeply, tasting each other intimately, he started to massage your ass cheeks and thighs, your body had a mind of its own and was dry-humping Tom’s crotch, you could feel yourself getting wet and his semi-hard cock. He attacked your chin and neck, biting kissing. ‘’Bed? Or here?’’ he asked between kisses. ‘’Take me to your bed.’’ It was your first time with Tom and remembered his huge mirror on the ceiling of his bedroom. He bolted to his feet and you were still on his lap, he climbed the stairs with a speed you’ve never seen before, it made you laugh.  He gently laid you on the bed and took off his shirt, his pale chest excited you, he helped you get rid of your sundress, thankfully you had dark red matching underwear. His blue eyes got wide when he saw you in your sexy panties, ‘’You look so beautiful darling.’’ He climbed on top of you, as you were kissing his thin lips your hands moved to his black belt and you managed to take it off, he pushed his pants down with his boxer, his cock was free and aching. Pre-cum made the pink tips look shiny, you wanted to taste him first, ‘’Can I-‘’ you never asked something like this before, he was standing at the edge of the bed looking at your body and his hand lazily jerking himself off, ‘’Can what darling? Use your words.’’ His attitude became more dominant and it sent shivers down your spine. ‘’I want to taste you.’’ You knelt on his bed, came to the edge of it, ‘’As you wish.’’

You first kissed the tip of his cock, teasing him with light kisses, little licks here and there, his chest was moving up and down rapidly, when you took him in your mouth the animalistic growl he gave you made you moan and you pulled out, later took him in fully, he was big and juicy. His hand came to your hair, harshly pulled and started move your head for you, before this he was imagining to fuck your pretty sassy mouth and finally he got what he wanted. Your vision was getting blurry, he never hurt you but he wasn’t gentle either. You didn’t forget to pay attention to his balls, Gods he was huge! You could feel the vein of his cock in your mouth, ‘’S-stop!’’ he said out of breath, you though you did something wrong, ‘’I want to feel you Y/N. Please, I- I can’t stand it.’’ He confessed, you get the feeling that just like you, he have been dreaming this moment to come. He knelt to give you a kiss and tasted himself in your mouth, his scent on your body almost made him cum, he growled to stop.

He removed your bra and panties and without losing a second started to suck your nipples and give you kisses, you knew that you would have bruises on your boobs the next day. His hand came to play with your wet cunt and clit, you whimpered under his magic touch, ‘’Fuck darling, you’re so wet for me. Do you want me to fill you to the brim? Do you want that?’’ while he was talking to you with his low husky voice he kept playing with your cunt, the wet sounds sent blood to your cheeks, you wanted him so bade it made you look stupid. ‘’Yes, please Tom.’’ He positioned himself between your delicious thighs and he teased your entrance with his cock, he didn’t care that he had no condom and you seemed fine with it, he slowly pushed himself into your sleek folds, making you shiver and scream a little because it had been a while since you had sex and Tom was huge. 

‘’Shh, it’s okay. I’m here.’’ He pushed a strand of hair out of your face to look into your eyes, ‘’Look at me Y/N. Watch me as I fill you up.’’

It was the sexiest scene you saw your entire life, he was slow at first, breaking you open, when he was fully in your legs were shaking with lust, he kissed you to calm you down and pulled out completely, and then pushed back in, by now you got used to it, ‘’Move harder Tom.’’ You said but he looked uncertain, ‘’Please.’’ You added.

He liked the way you begged, it was a dangerous thing because he started to like every small thing you do. His heart was pounding, cheeks red, a thin layer of sweat covering you both and the wet sounds filled the big room. You looked up to the ceiling mirror and the way his back muscles moved made your cunt shrink, Tom moaned into your ear when you did that.

He was so beautiful that it brought tears to your eyes, you were mesmerized by the way he moves on top of you, so rough yet not hurting, you could feel he was close because his movements were sloppy now, ‘’C – can I cum in you?’’ he asked because he wasn’t sure.

‘’Yes, Tom please. Please just fill me with your seed.’’ Tom couldn’t believe his ears to hearing you say stuff like that. It was enough for him to send him over the edge, he spilled his seed into your used cunt like there was no tomorrow. Tom didn’t pull out, he laid on top of you, you could feel his seed in you, hot and wet. Both of you were panting hard, you could feel his frantic heartbeat, Tom knew that you didn’t get to cum so he pulled out and used his fingers. You were about to say that it was okay, you could do it later but he shushed you by pressing his lips and his long fingers were in you. Soon you came undone, hot wave of ecstasy washing your body, he didn’t stop fingering you though, ‘’That’s it, keep it going love. I know you can.’’ With his fingers and his mouth on yours you came again.

When you fell asleep in his arms Tom was wide awake, thinking of what you guys did, was it a mistake? Should he break up with you and find your connection to his dad’s killer in different ways? He watched you sleep, you were an angle and he couldn’t bring himself to think that you had a part in his bloody business. He slowly left the bed and went downstairs to his office, his George called him to inform that the owner of that car who followed him today was a member of the Queens clan. Later he got a phone call, he wasn’t going to answer it because it was an unknown number but he thought that it could be work related.

‘’Hello?’’

‘’Hello Tom. Welcome to my city.’’ A rich tone of a woman’s voice came from the other side of the phone, ‘’I’m sorry, who is this?’’ Tom had a scotch in one hand, watching the city through the big window, it was dark and rainy, just like his home.

‘’We will meet soon, don’t worry about that. What you should worry about is that,’’ she stopped for a second maybe she wanted to choose her words carefully, ‘’If she gets hurt I’m paid to kill you, and I won’t hesitate.’’ Before Tom could reply she hung up the phone.

Chapter 7

Thank you for reading. :)

Tag List; @cynic-spirit   

@kadashipanda    

@loki-laufeyson965    

 @imagine-inc​ 

@loki-yoursaviourishere​     

 @starwarsbabe3000​ 

@marvelouslovely​ 

@fa-me​​

[godzilla-reads]

A Century of Books: 1900′s

1900′s

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum (1900)

Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington (1901)

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois (1903)

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906)

1910′s

Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie (1911)

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911)

Dubliners by James Joyce (1914)

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915)

The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence (1915)

1920′s

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (1920)

The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot (1922)

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (1922)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes (1926)

1930′s

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930)

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936)

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (1936)

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White (1939)

1940′s

Native Son by Richard Wright (1940)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943)

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (1944)

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (1947)

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)

1950′s

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)

Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor (1952)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)

1960′s

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

The Autobiography of Malclom X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X (1965)

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966)

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (1968)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1969)

1970′s

Roots by ALex Haley (1976)

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston (1976)

The Shining by Stephen King (1977)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979)

Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979)

1980′s

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984)

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde (1984)

Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988)

1990′s

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (1990)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992)

Jazz by Toni Morrison (1992)

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (1996)

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997)

Do you have a favorite literary decade?

[rubickk7]

“You're Grace Park, Margo.”  Eliot extends a hand towards her, begging her to fucking get it.

Luckily, and also because Margo’s amazing, she does. She gasps, her eye widening. “I’m Grace Park.”

 “Yeah,” Eliot says. “And we have ourselves a bit of a Gene Hackman in The Conversation.”

“I didn't see that one,” Margo says, almost shamefully.

“Yeah, right, um..” Eliot says, flipping through his mental pop culture catalog as he brushes back that stubbornly gorgeous curl that always falls over his forehead. “Someone is ‘xoxo, Gossip Girl’-ing our shit.” He gives Margo a knowing look as she turns his words over in her mind. “Remember James Marsden in X-Men, hm?” Margo raises a hand to her eyepatch, a shiver going down her spine as Eliot continues. “Your Marsden is xoxo-ing us full on that great song by The Police.”

He can practically see the rage surge within Margo as she gets it. “That Fairuza Balk in The Craft.”

“Yeah, more Cersei Lannister.”

“Hey, glad I made you read those,” Margo says, giving him a knowing look.

Eliot nods in agreement, and then says, “Well, I read the wiki.” At Margo’s disappointing look, he shrugs. “What? Those books are like a million pages long. I have a life.” Obviously.

“Okay,” Margo says with an eyeroll.

“Anyway,” Eliot says, leaning forward slightly, “whatever your Marsden would xoxo, Cersei xoxo's. So, we have to keep it very best episode of Buffy.” She’ll get this, for sure.

“Musical?” Margo asks with a smile, displaying minor jazz hands.

Dammit. “The other one.”

“Okay. How do we Lizzie Borden the shit out of this thing? 'Cause I am about ready to go full '07 Britney.” Margo leans back, giving Eliot a triumphant look.

Eliot shakes his head. “Maybe we could've back when this place was Pottered up.”

“Still,” Margo says, on a roll, “Even without a wand, Harry would figure some shit out.”

Eliot nods, raising his eyebrows in agreement, and shrugs again. “Honestly, I didn't quite finish those books either,” he confesses.

Margo huffs in frustration, leaning forward. “Our Harry, I mean.”

Eliot nods, getting it. “Oh! Him.”

[cryinginthebackseat]

i was your insomnia, i was your grief

Fandom: Bloodbound

Pairing: Gaius Augustine x MC

Words: 3,864

Summary: "Kill me, then,“ Gaius hissed through gritted teeth, without an ounce of kindness to it and it was kinda like a sucker punch to the face. “If that should satisfy you. You and I both know my soul is yours to take.” “Mine, huh? Not even God could take that luxury from me?” Amy bit off, wanting to test his reaction. Liking the way his brows furrowed further. “Aren’t you afraid of God, Gaius?” “No,” he said. A beat, then: “But I’m afraid of you.”

Warnings: SMUT, angst, swearing, all that jazz, SMUT

Author’s note: what’s up my fellow gaius stanners! so, after a careful reconsideration, mental debate and scouring through tumblr for the motivation, I finally decided to write this fic. I would like to give a massive shoutout to @theclownandtheflame​ because of their brilliant, brilliant fic Victim, Victim, Monster it inspired me to write a Gaius x MC fic too, cause fuck the haters, alright? We should all be able to ship whoever the heck we want. And that’s the tea, as our great queen Sophie Turner would say. 

Anyway, enjoy. If you like it let me know, if you don’t let me know, and if you’re a Gaius hater, what in the sweet hell are you even doing here? 

“Our emotions Are only “incidents” In the effort to keep day and night together.” ― T.S. Eliot

She’d like to think it was the exhaustion that moved it; that choreographed her limbs, that whispered the words in her head, that betrayed her instincts, that rose the river in her head, when she, as if on strings, leaned in and kissed Gaius on the cheek.

Gaius, the bane of her existence, the sole perpetrator that nearly brought the world to its knees, the man who raised a sword and killed her, thus the repercussions that altered the course of her life forever and Amy fucking kissed his cheek. Calloused against her soft lips and oh so wrong.

Yes, she would blame it on her exhaustion from all the shit blitz she’d endured a few days back, but underneath, Amy knew it was all her.

When she pulled back, she was breathless, her lips lingered there for a fleeting moment. Her cheeks a few shades darker than she expected. Gaius barely moved a muscle, sitting like a gargoyle, his jaw hung open. He looked at her lips first, then her eyes as if she was the world’s greatest enigma, as if she had stabbed him in the heart. 

“Why?”

Amy wished Gaius hadn’t asked that because she knew that he knew she had no answer to it. Or perhaps she did, but there was no point in letting him know, was it? So she looked the other way, embarrassed, indignant, frowning like a crescent moon in reverse. 

She inhaled deeply, his scent involuntarily worked its way through her nostrils. “Because I wanted to.”

“But why?” He asked again, more insistent this time. Confusion was apparent in his voice. She wished he would stop using that word.

Amy craned her head back to meet his, under the moonlight his eyes reminded her of the Arctic ocean, pale and cold, depthless. One wrong step and she would drown. 

“I don’t know, Gaius,” she murmured, honest, her fingers still clasping around his like knots. Amy thought if she held onto him a little longer, she’d wake up from whatever realm she was in and found herself tucked neatly in her bed. “I don’t know.”

What was right, what was real, those lines blurred the moment she became a vampire. And it was all his fault. Everything was his fault and she hated him for it, with every fiber of her being. God, Jax was right, they didn’t need him anymore, especially now that they had the weapon that could secure their triumph. She might as well kill him tonight and be done with it, get the revenge she’d deserved, bring her mind the peace it’s yearned.

But then she felt Gaius gently tipped her chin up, an indescribable look on his face that slightly unnerved her. His eyes once again, as if by mistake or design, found her mouth first then her eyes and she mentally berated herself for being such a fool.

“You need to be more careful where you tread, dearest one,” he said, his voice low, his thumb smoothed down the curve of her throat and her pulse immediately leapt. “Be careful, or there will be repercussions.”

“Is that a warning or a threat?”

“Once upon a time, it would have been the latter, but now…”

“But how? You don’t even know yourself anymore.”

Something dark passed Gaius’ eyes, akin to anger, hurt, betrayal, yet she held her ground. 

Eventually, he withdrew his hand from her. Amy, as fast as the lightning scrambled up to her feet. It was a mistake comforting him. Being near him was bad enough to mess up her brain and she couldn’t have that, especially during times like these. 

Yet Amy only stood there, watching as Gaius followed suit, but instead heading toward the railings and nested his elbows there, a hand running through his dark locks, an attempt to calm the storm within him. 

“Sorry,” she said quietly, not sure if he’d heard her, not sure why she apologized. Not sure if she should go and leave him to himself. “Sorry. I-” but she didn’t know what else to say.

Gaius shot her a look over his shoulder, once upon a time– he was right, once upon a time Amy would have stood stock-still at the way he gazed at her right now. But the Gaius before her was not the same man that killed her, that burned and destroyed New York with just a touch of his power. This was a different man, but with the same visage of the man who once hurt her. A different side of the coin.

“What is it that you want from me, Amy?” Gaius hissed, caustic as he unbent himself from the railings. Facing her once more. “Would it satisfy you if you were to kill me tonight, the way I did to you?” He stepped towards her. “Would it give you great joy if you could dissect my brains out like a lab rat and study what lies beneath the violence and decisions?” Another step. “Or will you, Bloodkeeper, exploit me the way she did? Mold me into something I’m not and use me for your own means?”

“No.” I’m not her, what she meant to say. But her answer somehow didn’t satisfy Gaius the slightest bit.

“Then what do you want from me? You comforted me and kissed my cheek, yet you smote me with your words. Was all the niceties just an act then? Not that I deserve any of it, but was it?” The anger had subsided, replaced by something broken, his voice cracking. He sounded so desperate and it gave Amy’s heart an unexpected twist. 

“No. No, it’s not.”

“Then why?”

“Because you confuse me!” She blurted out, her facade finally cracked and in front of him of all people, no less. “I know you, Gaius Augustine, or at least knew. You are the man who murdered me cold-blooded, who scarred me and my friends for life, who did terrible, terrible things in the past, but then…” Amy wrapped her arms around her midsection as if it was mid-December in New York. 

“Then when I got into your head, everything I knew about you somehow meant nothing. Those violence, those-those stories I’ve heard about you. Nothing. I know you, yet at the same time I don’t and I hate it. I hate it that I’m not in control-” she snapped her mouth close.

“Control of what?” Gaius asked tightly, genuinely confused. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

She shook her head. “I- I mean-” Amy grit out, closed her mouth, groaned. “It’s-” she paused, gesticulated, seeking the right word. “Nothing. Just forget it.”

Amy didn’t dare to meet his eyes as she turned her back from Gaius, cheeks ever tinged crimson. Wanting to put as many distances as she could from him. 

But he stopped her, naturally, before she could go too far. His cold hand around her arm and spun her back to face him. He was close. Closer than they’d ever been together that Amy could almost make out her own reflection in her eyes. Hip lips dangerously close to her face, their noses almost touching and the tension immediately shifted, still dangerous but not in the cut-throat, stab-you-to-death kind that she knew so well. 

“Tell me,” Gaius whispered, on the verge of pleading. He was watching her carefully now, knowing that he was crossing the line, but so help him there were already plenty of lines they’d crossed tonight. 

This time, it was her mistake to stare at his lips. “I hate you,” Amy spat, but that was just one of the lies she told.

“I am aware.”

“I wish you weren’t here.” This too.

“Kill me, then,” Gaius hissed through gritted teeth, without an ounce of kindness to it and it was kinda like a sucker punch to the face. “If that should satisfy you. You and I both know my soul is yours to take.”

“Mine, huh? Not even God could take that luxury from me?” Amy bit off, wanting to test his reaction. Liking the way his brows furrowed further. “Aren’t you afraid of God, Gaius?”

“No,” he said. A beat, then: “But I’m afraid of you.”

His answer was unexpected and her scowl did soften, if only for a moment.

Though maybe once she had settled the score with Rheya, she would do it. If that was what he wanted, what everyone wanted.

But now, Amy’s mind was racing at a hundred miles per hour because she was losing all semblance of control, and she only trusted him to witness this side of her rather than anyone else; her eyes finding his lips again.

But the less he knew the better, and she thought let him be very afraid then.

“Good.“

Then Amy leaned in and kissed him. On the mouth.

She felt Gaius’ hesitation in the kiss, but it didn’t last long. Suddenly, Amy felt his mouth moving against her, his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer; hers, wrapped around his neck.

There was no exploration, no teasing, no tenderness in their kiss. He kissed her hot-blooded and raw, like millennia of pain and lust pouring out of his mouth and she gladly swallowed them all. Amy opened her mouth first, shoved her tongue against his first and heard him groan, felt him reciprocate. Making her head dizzy that she had to remind herself to breathe. He was never the one to back down from a challenge.  

Amy let out a startled gasp when he picked her up, her legs automatically wrapped around his waist as Gaius carried her toward her chamber like she weighed nothing. Not once they broke the kiss, even as they toppled down the mattress, as he wrapped his arm under her body and moved them further up the bed.

Gaius’ mouth unlatched from hers, his fangs were on full display, an unmistakable gleam of lust flashed over his features and began his journey down her jaw, her neck. The sharpest tips grazing her tender flesh, lingering over the pulse point of her carotid before putting pressure, enough to make her whimper but not to leave his mark on her. A shudder rippled up Amy’s spine. Her fingers digging into his dark locks, wanting to hurt him, to push him away, to bring him closer, to hear him groan. 

God, her head was a fucking mess. She was a fucking mess. To stoop this low and let Gaius, the man who’d murdered her once upon a dreary night, have his way with her. 

Perhaps she had gone bat-shit crazy from everything that had been happening, perhaps there was something in the water Kano gave her, perhaps it really was exhaustion clouding her mind, but whatever was this, this felt so unapologetically good in her head.

A strained moan involuntarily left her lips when she felt his hand snuck under her top, finding her nipple and gave it an experimental pinch. 

It was then when Amy channeled her vampiric strength and flipped their position. Wrenching a surprised look from his face, his eyes popped. Looking as if he’d never been outmuscled by the opposite sex before. She swung her leg over his torso, straddled him, liking the feeling of his hard curve better between her legs like this.

Amy ground down onto him, her mouth stretched into a dangerous smile as Gaius flopped his head back to the bed, groaning gutturally and bucked up against her in response. His hands gripping her hips, hot and tight. Even through the excessive layers of clothes, she could feel him, growing hard against her. Brushing onto her clothed sex just right, she bit her lip, muffling the moan that threatened to escape. Her back arched seductively while Gaius raced a hand from her throat down over her chest.

She batted it away and pinned both his hands above his head.

“No. Tonight is about me.” Her voice was deep and authoritative, breathing a little too loud than her liking. “Everything is on my terms tonight, you get me?”

“Very well, Your Highness,” he replied, but there was no trace of malice or snide like he usually did. His pupils were blown to hell, the light color of his eyes disappeared into a sliver.

Amy eyed him down, considering her next move. 

“Strip,” she commanded, watching as his eyes glint. He was going to enjoy this. Amy almost regret agreeing to do this in the first place.

Almost.

Once Amy let go of his hands, Gaius sat up, bringing her with him as she readjusted herself on his lap. He unfastened his ridiculous cape first, hurling it across the room without the slight care in the world before moving onto his ruff and suit. The whole time, his eyes never left hers and vice versa. 

By the time he was naked to the waist, Amy couldn’t help but stare. And the bastard caught it, eagle-eyed as ever, the right corner of his mouth curling up to a smirk. Fucker. But she opted to ignore him, brought her hand over his body instead, feeling his chest hitched. 

His chiseled muscles were almost statuesque, she had to admit. The battle scars were like stories waiting to be told, explored. It was sort of oddly intimate actually, seeing him like this, touching him as a lover would. Perhaps in another life, if he wasn’t what he was, if they weren’t what they were, she would have asked Gaius to recount one of them.

But not in this life.

Amy dropped her hand from him, pretending she hadn’t just admired his body like a thirsty ass vampire she was and cleared her throat.

“Pants,” she said. And Gaius obeyed once again. Sliding from the bed to stand as he worked on his trousers. A blush had risen to her face, but she forced herself not to look away. She wouldn’t be beaten on her own game.

Gaius dropped his shorts, kicked off his boots and he was naked before her. Standing tall and proud like a soldier he was. His mouth twitched but the rest of his face remained impassive, as if saying ‘do your worst’. This time, Amy allowed herself to openly stare at him. Assessing, and again, considering her next move. 

“Touch yourself.”

Gaius did a double take. “What?”

“Get on your knees and touch yourself.”

He did. Kneeling down before her like a man asking for penance before his God, his eyes glued on hers still as he ran his hand over his cock. 

Amy sat by the bed, cross-legged, licking her lower lip as she watched the show. A low grumble erupted from his throat, his gaze kept shifting between her body and her face, her thighs and her breasts. She exhaled shakily. Suddenly, the room felt thick, it was like trying to breathe in a room full of fire. 

The wet smack of his hand around his cock was enough to send her desire climbing through the roof. Her nipples grew hard under her tank top. Her hand travelled down between her legs, wondering what his reaction would be.

“Amy,” Gaius shamelessly groaned her name this time. His hand moving faster. His face contorted, visibly fighting for control.

He was close.

“Stop.” He did, panting and sweating as he did so. “Stand up.” He stood up, his arms on his side. “Now take off mine.”

He was all but pounced to the bed like an animal. Tearing her top off, pulling her pants and underwear down her smooth legs with a violent tug, Amy nearly yelped in surprise.

She was as naked as he was now. Gaius stared at Amy for a moment, drinking her in, his gaze darting up and down the curves of her soft figure. His eyes were heavily-lidded, and Amy felt a hot rush from the lewd expression on his face. He positioned himself on top of her once again, the veil of his sun-kissed brown strands falling around his face.

“What’s next, Your Highness?” Gaius asked lowly, his mouth nibbling her ear. “I await your command.”

“I-” Amy shut her eyes, shivered violently when his hardness nudged on her wet heat. “Fuck.” And slightly ground her hips against his. Her thoughts a chaotic jumble.

Amy felt him smiling against her collarbone, before closing his mouth over her nipple, sucking hard enough to sting, letting his fangs graze over the delicate skin. “Yes?”

“Shit,” she cursed again, head drooping backwards with a drawn out moan. She pushed his body off of her. “On your back.“ 

At the command, Gaius quickly rolled to the side, obedient as ever. Amy scrambled up, pushing him further until he was lying flat on the bed and settled her weight against him. Gasping whenever his tip brushed her clit.

One hand on his pecs, the other reached down and grabbed his cock. Wasting no time, no more teasing this time around as she positioned the head beneath her opening. Feeling him assisting before finally, she lowered herself in a strangled breath and fought the urge to moan his name.

So, this is how it felt, fucking the man that once brought so much destruction to the world and her own. Others might think this was her falling for the temptation, the manipulation Gaius pulled on her, losing the battle, but this was her winning the war. This was her turning the tables around them, showing them who was in control now. That she, of all people, could have the former King of Vampires knelt down before her and jerked himself off and deprived him of that pleasure just for the thrill of it.

And she was the Bloodkeeper for fuck’s sake. Probably the world’s only hope in achieving the impossible, for what’s it worth, she could fuck whoever she wanted. Let her have her moment, this one final hurrah before the shit show awaited her.

A sly arch of her back, lips dropping into a perfect circle, hips circling on his, Amy rode Gaius senselessly, bouncing and clawing at him until they left marks on his skin. Her sighs and moans intermingled with his every time she slammed her hips into his just right. He thrust upwards in time with her movements, his hands on her thighs, her hips, her breasts, her neck. All over her body. There was no inhibition now, only pleasure that drove them.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” At the increasing pitch of her voice, Gaius pulled her head down for a hungry kiss, instantly muffling her sound.

Soon, Amy began to feel her knees weakened, her movements became less rhythmic that she had to lean helplessly on his chest. Gaius noticed this, but instead thrust even faster. 

“F-flip me ove-” Amy hadn’t finished the sentence when Gaius spun her over onto her back. His left hand gripping her messy hair, his right one holding up her hips roughly, he re-entered her in a one hard, deep thrust that filled her. So powerful that she was shaken, knocking the wind out of her.

Setting a ruthless pace, he rammed himself into her. He was out of restraints, it seemed, and Amy was out of her fucking mind. Drowned in the euphoria that she didn’t realize she pulled him for another searing kiss. Grunting into her mouth, his fingers headed down over her lower abdomen and his thumb contacted her clit. Her body clenched around his cock. Her fingers dug deep into his shoulders, though the pain seemed to fire him up even more.

Then Gaius shifted the angle of his hips.

“Oh, G-god fuck!” she cried, uncertain of whether it was an unconscious attempt at calling his name or straight up blasphemy. She felt her release bubbling inside her the depth of her stomach. Her back arched.

When Amy came, Gaius dutifully put his hand over her mouth, muffling the scream that rose up from her throat. Her release also triggered Gaius’, as he suddenly went rigid above her, his thrusts became more irregular before pulling out and spilled his seeds on her thigh.

Amy was still trying to even her breath when she noticed Gaius left the bed. Disappearing into the dark corner of the room before the next thing she knew, he came back bringing a towel with him. Which was pretty considerate of him and since Gaius didn’t strike her as the type.

Her dumbfoundedness must have been apparent because the right corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk.

“If there’s one thing I learned from this ordeal, it’s that I have to start taking care of the messes I made,” he said as he handed the towel to her, an unexpected softness in his eyes.

Amy shakily propped herself up, looking down. There were bruises on her hips and his semen was dripping from her leg, creating a damp patch on the bed. 

“Thanks,” she said, then began to clean up the mess he left on her while feeling his eyes constantly roving around her figure. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but decided otherwise. 

Gaius left the bed once more and this time, she knew he was never coming back.

“You’re leaving?” Amy asked as he redressed himself, nearly smacked herself in the head at the tinge of disappointment in her voice.

“Yes,” he answered as he buttoned up his suit. “I have my own preparations to make for the battle.” Gaius knelt down to pick up his cape, dusted off unnecessarily and wore it back around his broad shoulders.

Amy could only watch him as he turned his back on her, heading toward the door. The afterglow had worn off when it was barely there. Feeling surprisingly… hollow.

She was the one who initiated this, but the gravity of the situation, of what they had done, was starting to weigh in. Not that she regretted a single second of it, but it was because she knew from this moment, she would never look at him the same way again. Not when she knew everything about him now- physically and mentally, and probably the only living person in this world who did. 

If he died, Gaius would be nothing but a story to be passed down to another generation of vampires after them, stories of his atrocities, of his mistreatment of the human race, of his manipulations. He would be condemned, shunned. Even after his death. Eventually, the name Gaius Augustine would slowly disappear with the wind and Amy couldn’t help but wonder what could have happened if Rheya hadn’t changed him. Would he have been hailed as a hero instead? Knowing his true nature, or would he even be here in the first place?

Gaius’ footsteps ceased, his hand hovering on the doorknob. 

“If we’d met in another life…” he uttered, uncertain whether he should continue or not. Still, his back on her. “I think things could have been different.”

Still, he could not be remedied or pitied. What he’d done was beyond forgiving, he still needed to be held accountable, but beneath his sins, he was just one man. A messed up, wicked and annoyingly powerful man who lost himself along the way. Who lost everything.

“Yeah. In another life.” And immortality never tasted this bitter.

[grimgrinningghoul]

Phandom Pairing Master List

      Here it is, folks! An updated/updating list of ships from Danny Phantom!

(Updated Mar. 25, 2020)

      The purpose of this list is documentation and, more importantly, reference. Have a ship that you want to share, but don’t know what to tag it as? Well, this list is for you, so you can tag your pairings appropriately! Is there a ship out there that you despise, or are just uncomfortable about? Check this list to see if it has a name, and you can blacklist its tag!

      Here’s how it’s set up: the list is divided into 3 categories. These categories are the Humans, the Ghosts, and the Ghosts/Humans; each category goes through in alphabetical order. Every pairing is either marked with [P] or [R] to indicate platonic or romantic.

      You may notice that there are a decent handful of unnamed pairings; this is simply due to me being unable to find a pre-established name and/or coming up with one at this time. I hope to update this list over time until everything has at least one name.

      Suggestions are more than welcome! Think of a pairing you didn’t see? Got a ship name? Throw them at me, and I’ll add them to the list.

      Now, without further adieu, enjoy!

HUMANS (70)

Dani x Danny [P]: Double Trouble

Dani x Danny [R]: Sue Killer

Dani x Dash [R]: Carbon Copy Quarterback

Dani x Lancer [P]: Copy Grades

Dani x Tucker [R]: Cloned Romantic

Dani x Valerie [R]: Sweet Substitution, Vengeful Babes

Dani x Vlad [P]: Generic Brand, Oatmeal

Dani x Vlad [R]: Cream Cheese

Dani x Wes [R]: Clone Conspiracy

Danny x Dash [R]: Locker Bruise, Swagger Bishie, Teddy Ghost

Danny x Eliot [R]: Nu Goth

Danny x Jack [P]: Family Business

Danny x Jack [R]: The Wrong Sick

Danny x Jazz [P]: -

Danny x Jazz [R]: Sibling Secrets

Danny x Kwan [R]: Phantom Fumble

Danny x Lancer [P]: Assigned Care

Danny x Lancer [R]: Literature Lovers

Danny x Maddie [P]: Family Bonding, Maternal Instincts

Danny x Maddie [R]: Mama’s Boy, Motherly Love

Danny x Pamela [R]: Restrained Romance

Danny x Paulina [R]: Pink Astronaut, Shallow Sapphire

Danny x Sam [R]: Amethyst Ocean, Fake-out Make-out, Going Goth, Lovebirds, Violet Haze

Danny x Star [R]: Astro Physics, Phantom Satellite

Danny x Tucker [P]: Cyberspace

Danny x Tucker [R]: Savant Par

Danny x Valerie [R]: Gray Ghost

Danny x Vlad [P]: Badger Cereal

Danny x Vlad [R]: Endangered Species, Pompous Pep

Danny x Wes [R]: Unidentified Flying Ship (UFS)

Dash x Jazz [R]: Brain Over Brawn

Dash x Kwan [R]: Tight End

Dash x Paulina [R]: Makeup Honor

Dash x Sam [R]: Dumb Founded

Dash x Star [R]: All-Stars

Dash x Vlad [P]: College Fund

Dash x Vlad [R]: Go Packers

Eliot x Sam [R]: Gothic Ruse

Eliot x Tucker [R]: Nu Geek

Freakshow x Danny [R]: Pitched Tent, Publicity Stunt

Freakshow x Jazz [R]: Ghost Envy

Jack x Maddie [R]: Moronic Genius, Brain Cookies

Jack x Jazz [P]: -

Jack x Vlad [P]: -

Jack x Vlad [R]: Pac-Man

Jazz x Lancer [R]: Teacher’s Pet

Jazz x Paulina [P]: Miss Perfect

Jazz x Paulina [R]: Pretty Little Psycho

Jazz x Sam [R]: Kith Kin

Jazz x Tucker [R]: Techno Smarts

Jazz x Vlad [R]: Obsessive Meddler, Psycho Cereal

Kwan x Sam [P]: -

Kwan x Sam [R]: Jock Goth

Kwan x Star [R]: Sports Satellite

Kwan x Tucker [R]: Quacker

Kwan x Vlad [R]: Not So Useful Distraction

Lance Thunder x Lancer [R]: Lance Lancer

Maddie x Pamela [R]: Maternal Rivalry, Posh Scientist

Maddie x Vlad [R]: Spurned Affection

Paulina x Sam [P]: -

Paulina x Sam [R]: Evil Alliance, Fake-Up Make-Out, Goth Princess

Paulina x Star [P]: -

Paulina x Star [R]: Famous Satellite, Shallow Orbit

Paulina x Valerie [R]: Hunter’s Façade

Sam x Tucker [P]: Techno Goth

Sam x Tucker [R]: Ghost’s Absence, Veggie Burger

Sam x Valerie [R]: Hide N’ Seek

Sam x Vlad [R]: Gothic Vampire

Star x Tucker [R]: Twinkle Techno

Tucker x Valerie [R]: Hunter Silly, Tracking Device

Valerie x Vlad [R]: Misplaced Faith, Secret Disaster

__________________________________________________

GHOSTS (52)

Amorpho x Ghost Writer [R]: Tricky Pseudonym

Amorpho x Walker [P]: Undercover Cop

Amorpho x Walker [R]: Tricky Prison

Aragon x Dora [P]: -

Aragon x Dora [R]: Girl In The Tower, Royal Bloodline, Timeless Love

Aragon x Pariah Dark [R]: -

Bertrand x Spectra [R]: Melancholy Assistance

Box Ghost x Lunch Lady [R]: Packaged Food

Box Lunch x Youngblood [P]: -

Box Lunch x Youngblood [R]: Pirate Food

Clockwork x Dan [P]: - House Arrest

Clockwork x Dan [R]: Meddling Minutes

Clockwork x Ghostwriter [R]: History Books

Clockwork x Nocturne [R]: Bed Time, Dream Time

Clockwork x Pariah Dark [R]: Dark Ages

Clockwork x Walker [R]: Doing Time

Dairy King x Lunch Lady [R]: -

Dan x Ghost Writer [R]: Blood Red Ink

Dan x Nocturne [R]: Worst Nightmare

Dan x Pariah Dark [R]: Dark Dark

Desiree x Dora [R]: Royal Wishes

Desiree x Ember [R]: Hot December

Desiree x Pandora [R]: Mythical Wishes

Desiree x Skulker [R]: Traps Desired

Desiree x Spectra [R]: Painful Desires

Desiree x Technus [R]: Talkative Treacherous, Talkative Treachery

Desiree x Walker [R]: Guard Granter

Dora x Lydia [R]: Dragon Tattoo

Dora x Pandora [R]: Dora^2, Panned Doras

Dora x Poindexter [P]: -

Dora x Poindexter [R]: Retro Movie Do, Retro Movie Faire

Ember x Ghost Writer [R]: Burning Pages, Punk Poet, Written Memory

Ember x Johnny [P]: Rebel Youth

Ember x Johnny [R]: Flame’s Shadow

Ember x Kitty [P]: Girl’s Night

Ember x Kitty [R]: Pussycat Dolls

Ember x Skulker [P]: Punk Metal

Ember x Skulker [R]: Hunter’s Flame

Ember x Youngblood [P]: Pirate Sitting

Ember x Youngblood [R]: Punk Rock

Fright Knight x Pariah Dark [R]: All The King’s Men

Ghost Writer x Johnny [R]: Unlucky Author

Ghost Writer x Nocturne [R]: Goodnight Moon

Ghost Writer x Skulker [R]: Gun Magazine

Ghost Writer x Technus [R]: Science Fiction

Ghost Writer x Walker [R]: Penslammeter, Prison Journal

Johnny x Kitty [R]: Black Cat

Nocturne x Pariah Dark [R]: Delusions Of Grandeur

Skulker x Technus [P]: -

Skulker x Technus [R]: Electric Hunter, Generator, Sparks

Spectra x Walker [R]: Insane Asylum, Psyche Ward

Walker x Wulf [R]: Esperanto Code Of Conduct

__________________________________________________

GHOSTS/HUMANS (77)

Amorpho x Danny [R]: Anonymity Park

Aragon x Danny [R]: Royal Pain

Box Ghost x Danny [R]: Boxed Phantom

Clockwork x Danny [P]: Lost Time

Clockwork x Danny [R]: Temporal Trust

Clockwork x Jazz [R]: Timely Intelligence

Dairy King x Vlad [P]: Cheese Head

Dairy King x Vlad [R]: Lactose Intolerance

Dan x Dani [P]: -

Dan x Dani [R]: Young Bloodthirst

Dan x Danny [P]: New Beginnings

Dan x Danny [R]: Enslaved Exemplar, Haunted Past

Dan x Freakshow [R]: Control, Dark Side

Dan x Maddie [P]: -

Dan x Maddie [R]: Oedipus Complex

Dan x Paulina [R]: Pitiful Delusion

Dan x Sam [R]: Evil Goth

Dan x Valerie [R]: Dark Gray

Dan x Vlad [P]: The Imperfect Son

Dan x Vlad [R]: Bitterly Broken, Doubly Evil

Dani x Ember [P]: Kid’s Bop

Dani x Ember [R]: Platinum Punk

Dani x Youngblood [P]: Play Date

Dani x Youngblood [R]: Young Love

DannyF x DannyP [P]: Oreo Cookie, Phriendship, Pitch Pals

DannyF x DannyP [R]: Pitch Pearl, Photogenic Narcissus

Danny x Desiree [R]: Haunting Desire

Danny x Dora [R]: Phantom Dragon

Danny x Ember [P]: Baby Pop

Danny x Ember [R]: Phantom Rocker

Danny x Fright Knight [R]: Halloween Phantom

Danny x Frostbite [P]: -

Danny x Ghost Writer [R]: Iambic Prose

Danny x Johnny 13 [R]: Lucky Accident

Danny x Kitty [R]: Phantom Feline

Danny x Lunch Lady [R]: Ghostly Menu

Danny x Nocturne [P]: Restless Spirit

Danny x Nocturne [R]: Teenage Dream

Danny x Poindexter [P]: Locker Buddies

Danny x Poindexter [R]: Noodle Nerds

Danny x Shadow [R]: Phantom Shadows

Danny x Skulker [P]: Cat and Mouse

Danny x Skulker [R]: Callous Query

Danny x Spectra [R]: Phantom Psychology

Danny x Technus [P]: Voltaic Potential

Danny x Technus [R]: Cosmic Cyborg

Danny x Walker [P]: Space Cadet

Danny x Walker [R]: Ghostly Prisoner, Jailbait, Jailbird

Danny x Wulf [P]: Howling Moon

Danny x Wulf [R]: White Fang

Ember x Freakshow [R]: Dark Fire, The Freak Behind Blue Eyes

Ember x Paulina [R]: Perfect Pitch, Pitch Perfect

Ember x Sam [R]: Indie Rock, Somber Sear

Freakshow x Johnny 13 [R]: Hypnotic Shadows, Spaghetti And Meatballs

Freakshow x Lydia [R]: Circus Freaks

Fright Knight x Vlad [R]: New Master

Ghost Writer x Jazz [P]: Mindful Fiction

Ghost Writer x Jazz [R]: Classic Cliché

Ghost Writer x Sam [P]: Poetic Tale

Ghost Writer x Sam [R]: Purple Prose

Ghost Writer x Vlad [R]: Tireless Dedication

Jazz x Ember [R]: Hypno-Therapy

Jazz x Kitty [R]: Feline Grace

Jazz x Spectra [R]: Psycho Analysis

Jazz x Technus [R]: Techno Babble

Lancer x Spectra [R]: School Spirit

Lunch Lady x Tetslaff [R]: Butch-ers, Steak Sit-Ups

Sam x Undergrowth [P]: Gothic Garden, Green Thumb, Over Goth

Skulker x Vlad [P]: Bounty’s Reward

Skulker x Vlad [R]: Hunter’s Gains

Spectra x Vlad [R]: Misery Motivated

Technus x Tucker [P]: Tech Buddies

Technus x Tucker [R]: PDA, Techno Geeks, Technological Advancement

Technus x Vlad [R]: Mad Scientist

Vlad Masters x Vlad Plasmius [R]: Striking Fear

Vlad x Walker [P]: Tax Evasion

Vlad x Walker [R]: Bail Money

[cielrouge]

Tagged by @piyo-13, who’s hella rad: 

Top 3 Ships: Ok, well first off here’s a visual shorthand representation of my typically preferred ship dynamics:

[Aka the pure ball of sunshine x the eternal grump with a secret heart of gold!!!] 

Ahiru x Fakir/Mytho x Rue: Ok this is a tie since I wasn’t originally into them at the start of Princess Tutu, but man oh man, I was totally on board by the end rofl. The first half is my ray of sunshine duck girl and her moody, brooding knight who warms up to all the LOVEEE she has to offer and then promises to stay by her side forever!!! And for second half, well in dealing with the series’ themes of fate, free will, and all that jazz, like...just bruh. Mytho actively chooses to love her after she’s literally been told that nobody ever would for pretty much her whole life. And idk man, that’s the kind of stuff that hits me right in the feels. [Close runner-up would be Ahiru x Rue tho cuz idk man that shit is also cute AF]. 

Adam Parrish x Ronan Lynch (Pynch): I mean...don’t we all sometimes wish to be one, doe-eyed Bambi boy with a magical farmer boyfriend who’d pay our rent, serenade us with Latin poetry and dream up sentient forests that feel like home? No? Ok I guess it’s just me then. 

Lan Xichen x Nie Mingjue (Nielan): Ah, the embodiment of my two visual shorthand representations seen above. Childhood friends? Check. Battle couple? Check. Fellow sect leaders with a shared history who are also each other’s rare equals? Check. Recognize and appreciate each other’s strengths which conveniently happen to be complimentary to their complete opposite personalities? Check. Consistently being soft ONLY for the other half? Check.  Tragic canon ending which we all collectively chose to ignore to some extent since it does not spark joy? CHECK. 

Honorable mentions (in no particular order) go to: Wangxian (self-explanatory lol), Xicheng (it’s all about the healinggg), Anne Eliot x Frederick Wentworth (the OG Austen second-chance romance), Margaret Hale x John Thornton (LOOK BACK AT MEEE!!! and Bejezus, every single fucking time when Richard Armitage’s voice visibly cracks at the end of his ‘I wish to marry you because I love you’ line, I temporarily descend to another plane of existence *swoons*), Otani x Koizumi (the OG shojo height difference couple imo), Kazehaya x Sawako (popular sunshine boy helps shy, misunderstood wallflower make FRANDS!!! and falls in love with her along the way *sniffs*), Suzume x Mamura (since I think it’s literally the only incident I know of where the second love interest syndrome is DEFEATED and she. chooses. the. second. guy!!!), and Kyo x Tohru (cuz that’s where the first screencap is from rofl). 

Last Song: “Top” by Stray Kids (the OP for Tower of God/Kami no Tou). They honestly did not have to go that hard with recording the Japanese, Korean, and English versions, but they did :’)))

Last Movie: In theaters (during the “Before” time rofl) was Onward. Most recently, Advantageous on Netflix. I’m also probably gonna re-watch Ne Zha at some point, since that’s also on Netflix now?

Currently Reading: Ahhh I took a staycation but I’m back to work by this Friday. And let’s see...on my to-read list is Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn (King Arthur meets Shadowhunters set in the Deep South), Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights (a Romeo x Juliet historical fantasy retelling set in 1920s Shanghai), and Rebel Sisters by Tochi Onyebuchi (book 2 in a series that’s basically Gundam set in futuristic Nigeria). But in terms of reading for fun, I’ve started Kacen Callender’s Queen of the Conquered, a Caribbean-inspired fantasy about a ruthless young noblewoman wreaking vengeance against the royals who assassinated her family and enslaved her people. Also at any given moment, I have anywhere from 10-15+ A03 tabs open at the same time. Don’t @ me. 

Food I’m Craving: Oh God, so, SO much. I run a side food blog which I. have. not. updated. in. months ( ╬` 益 ´)!!! But honestly I would like shank a man to be able to consume any kind of Korean BBQ right now. That or maybe some Korean fried chicken, since I finished binging Crash Landing on You recently and omg BBQ Olive Chicken was featured in like other every episode lmaooo. I would also kill for a choux cream bbang from Paris Baguette *sobsss* 

People I’d Like To Get To Know Better: @fireandwonder​, @lunartokiya​, @meishallaneous​, @myanchorandyourcompass​, @skadren, @walkingshcdow, @whenquietthunders​, @yukipri, and anyone else who wants to do this! No pressure tho! 

[eurosong]

2018 vs 2019: Semi-final 1

Hey there, folks! Every year after the national final season is over, one of the first things I write about Eurovision is a comparison of the new year’s songs with those of the previous year. Often it gets folk unfollowing the blog even though it’s almost entirely posts about ESC statistics and only a relatively small amount on rating the songs here. These are just my thoughts and no offence intended to anyone who thinks otherwise. Without further ado, click below to take a look at my thoughts on semi-final one!

◯ Australia – 2019 – Last year, Oz sent “We got love” (or “We got l’œuf” as I renamed it), which was a dizzying collection of clichés, got a mediocre placement and might well have been the impetus for them finally biting the bullet and getting the punters involved in the thitherto long mooted national final. This decision might not benefit their chances of keeping up their qualification record in the long run – but it means, for once, that Australia can move outside a narrow box musically and send things that would never be picked by internal selectors. “Zero gravity” was a less astute choice than “2000 & Whatever” would have been, I feel – it sounds to be like something that people think is so Eurovision who haven’t seen it in some time. Nonetheless, homegirl has pipes, the tune is quite catchy and it’s a hell of a lot more interesting than last year’s song.

◯ Belarus – 2018 – whilst I’ll be talking about 2018 vs 2019, I have to take a quick detour almost right away to 2017. It was the first time that Belarus managed to sustain my interest and get into my personal top 10 since their début, and they did so by going authentic and finally showing some love for their national language on the ESC stage. One year later, and I certainly wasn’t enthused by a carpetbagging victory of a non-local singing a rather ordinary song in English or some approximation thereof.

And yet, “Forever” and its earnest performer grew on me, especially the strange dissonance between the hopeful lyrics and the very melancholy music. After a similar number of repeated listens, “Like it” has not sparked even the briefest flame. Musically, this starts off with an inoffensive if very 2005 Spanish guitar riff, arrives at a decent-ish bridge and then throws itself off it head first into an absolutely dreadful thumping, repetitive chorus which is reprised way too much in the rest of the song. Lyrically, they put about as much effort into the words as they did into the “screensaver with default font” they were using as a background as Zena performed. She repeats “yes, you’re gunna like it” 40 times in the space of 3 minutes – one every 4.5 seconds. Maybe she’s trying to psychologically condition us, but no, Zena, I ent gunna like it at all. In a delicious bit of irony, it’s also at time of writing the least “liked” ESC ’19 song on Youtube. Strong preference to 2018.

◯ Belgium – 2019 – It can be difficult for a country to come back after a peak moment for them with something equally good that also manages to win over the fans and juries. We’ve seen it in Latvia after “Love injected”, in Estonia after “Goodbye to yesterday” and I think we’re seeing it once again with Belgium after “City lights”. Neither this year’s song nor last’s comes anywhere near the anthemic, emotional power of Blanche’s song. Both are nice enough, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Eliot struggled much as Sennek did last year. I give it a slight preference, but both songs are really let down, I feel, by choruses that don’t pay off the drama built in the verses.

◯ Cyprus – Neither – I try to limit myself to as few “neither” choices as possible in these games because the fun is in having to choose, sometimes, between two difficult options. Nonetheless, I abhorred “Fuego” in every conceivable way and this aptly-named “replay” offers little different to those who weren’t fans of it. If I had to pick, I’d go with 2018, because at least it doesn’t have the sadness of attempting to catch lightning twice in the same jar attached to it.

◯ Czechia – 2019 – Two years, two rather uncomfortable entries from the Czechs in a row. Last year, we had a predatory “Blurred lines” light, while this year, whilst less lyrically degrading, still has weird lines about eavesdropping on people having sex through the walls(?)… but it’s enough to secure a slight preference.

◯ Estonia – 2018 – It seems like such a long time has passed since the days when I consistently found Eesti Beesti, since those days when Eesti Laul seemed experimental and had a decent number of songs in their native language. I’m no fan of popera, but at least Elina was a local talent. It’s bewildering when a country with so many great artists can’t find someone with any real association with it to sing for them. Though both are ultimately derivative, I prefer La forza to what is essentially an aviici b-side.

◯ Finland– 2018 – I have a pet peeve for national finals where you are presented with a single choice of artist. Unless said artist is very versatile (say, Frances Ruffelle, who took on dark pop, ballads and gospel-tinged anthems in her solo national final back in 1994), you are restricted to a narrow set of genres. If you don’t like that artist or their style, then you’re shit out of luck. That’s been the case for the last few years with Saara Aalto and now Darude. I didn’t really like ány of either’s songs and miss the days of a diverse choice in UMK. I pick Saara because her throwback was slightly more tolerable.

◯ Georgia– 2018 – Fair play to Georgia, who always dance to the beat of their very own peculiar drummer. You’d think that the shift to the X Factor format to pick their representative, combined with the cold reception for their “ethno-jazz” last year, would have led to them playing it safe to try to avoid three DNQs in a row. Instead they’ve gone for something downbeat, angry and almost oppressive in its ambiance, i.e. something even less accessible to the general viewer than last year. This feels like the rock song equivalent to a war crimes tribunal. I preferred last year’s effort, which was rather more uplifting, and which I felt was unfairly underrated for a genuinely well-composed piece of music steeped in tradition.

◯ Greece – 2019 – A number of people around me were raving for Oneiro mou last year. I wasn’t one of them and suspected it would fail to qualify from the get-go. Instead of “Greece returning to form”, it felt like them attempting to do so but ending up with a nationalistic pastiche instead. This year, they’ve taken their usual mould and smashed it with a hammer, going in a very different direction with a delightfully husky-voiced singer and a musically anthemic piece that manages to compensate, for me, the song’s lyrical shortcomings. I enjoy it a fair bit more.

◯ Hungary – 2018 – This is one of the hardest ones of this semi final to choose, as “Viszlát nyar” and “Az én apam” are chalk and cheese, but both highly qualitative and with meaningful lyrics. Joci’s other ESC song, Origo, beat Viszlát nyar for me, but his 2019 effort doesn’t have quite the same visceral punch to it, so I think I’m going to have to give the edge to AWS this time around.

◯ Iceland – 2019 – Another country giving us night and day, but this time, I like neither of the two choices. Last year certainly put the “cheese” in the old “chalk and cheese” saying, an unbelievably overwrought and soppy Christmas charity-esque tune that somehow ended up at ESC. This year, it’s something rather acerbic, dingy, grating and ultimately gimmicky. In these times, “hate will prevail” is the last message we need. I will take it over Ari any day though, as that was just squirmworthy.

◯ Montenegro  – 2018 – It seemed that, last year, Montenegro was back to doing what it has always done best – a haunting, beautiful Balkan ballad after a few bizarre years of experiments gone wrong. Unfortunately, Inje got slept on despite its quality and couldn’t bring about an end to CG’s DNQ streak. There were many candidates in this year’s Montevizija that could have gone one better and done just that – but instead, bewilderingly, we got this unspeakable jumble which sounds like it was a rejected b-side for a mediocre mid-90s boy band, but with the addition of Random Casio Noises® in the background. Comparing Inje to it is likening fine wine to a bottle of Panda Cola that has been left with the cap off in the sun for 2 weeks.

◯ Poland – 2019 – Last year, Poland sent a middle-aged man in a hat doing a cringey snake dance whilst a young, inexplicably Swedish guy sort of sang and the whole thing sounded like the soundtrack for a Coke advert gone wrong. This year, they’ve got some women swaying like maniacs in a forest where they probably buried their patriarch. Not much of a step up in theory, but a big step up nonetheless…

◯ Portugal– 2019 – Portugal is a country that could have peaked with their first win, or fallen into a niche in a sad attempt (*cough* Cyprus *cough*) to recapture that glory. Instead, they are challenging all the tropes and have a national final with some serious diversity. I loved “O jardim” and it deserved way better, but this year’s song, “Telemóveis”, exceeds even that. It’s a haunting but catchy as hell rumination on mortality, technology and saudade with a musical backdrop whose influences transcend continents. If it’s not in the running to win the whole thing, I will be disappointed.

◯ San Marino – 2018 – I cannot get my head around the enthusiasm for “Say na na na”, which seems to have been contracted not only by postmodern pisstakers but by many folk who genuinely like it. It makes me cringe 10x more than Jenny B’s not quite sick rap skills last year, and that’s saying something. Plus, they had robots.

◯ Serbia – 2019 – They seemed like really nice people, but I found last year’s Serbian entry itself to be a bit of a minestrone into which a dozen elements of other songs were chucked in, and thus was lacking a bit in coherence. “Kruna”, on the other hand, is perfectly-formed, poignant, beautifully orchestrated and one of the best Balkan ballads in the past few years.

◯ Slovenia – 2018 – Fair play to Slovenia for picking themselves up and dusting themselves off after a few rough years. Hvala ne was backed by almost no one to qualify but I had faith in it early on and Lea benefited from being able to make a real connection with the crowds. Sebi is a very different beast entirely. Whilst Hvala ne had a defiance and a frenetic energy, Sebi is contemplative and melancholy. Both have great lyrics, too. I am going with Slovenia at the minute as it’s stood the test of time, but really the better of the two songs is really a question of mood.

And the automatic qualifiers of this semi-final:

◯ France – 2018 – It’s a battle between two songs written by the same writers, and since I loved their 2018 work, their follow-up should have a chance of making this a closely-run thing. Shóúld. Instead, they went from writing an understated song about humanity to writing an overbearingly pompous and self-important song about ego. This is the worst French song to me since 1988.

◯ Israel – 2018 – I wonder if Israel’s broadcasters remember how their predecessor, the IBU, won on home soil in 1979. I have the feeling they might well do, and as a result ensured it wouldn’t happen again with this song. There are elements of the song I really like, but it’s let down for me by a snivelly, exaggerated voice and a rather self-indulgent chorus. I was no great fan of “Toy”, but can listen to it with more pleasure than this.

◯ Spain – 2018 – I remember when “Tu canción" came out and I was completely in love with it. The unfortunate thing about songs sung by starry-eyed young loves is that their relationships often end up star-crossed. Now, Almaia is no more, and the song has a hugely bitter aftertaste. Nonetheless, I prefer it to La venda, which is a rather empty song lyrically but which I still found the best of a bad lot in the Spanish national final.

Coming up in the next instalment, my thoughts on SF2’s songs and how they shape up to those from last year!

[bbclesmis]

The Telegraph: Dominic West: 'Colette's husband smoked and had sex three times a day – it makes our vegan times look dreary'

When Dominic West was cast opposite Keira Knightley in Colette, to play the limelight-stealing first husband of the not-yet-famous French novelist, it was during his stage run of Dangerous Liaisons at London’s Donmar, playing a wicked libertine of quite another époque.

“I tend to get villains these days,” West muses, sinking back affably in a hotel armchair. To viewers of the BBC’s new Les Misérables, the remark may seem puzzling: after all, it’s not the obsessive Javert he’s playing in that six-hour, song-free version of Victor Hugo’s novel, but Jean Valjean, one of the most unambiguous heroes in world literature.

The 49-year-old Yorkshireman admits it was a refreshing change – if probably a one-off – to be offered such a morally upstanding assignment. Willy in Colette and Valmont in Liaisons are more like bread-and-butter characters; throw in his small-screen infidelities in The Affair, which has one last season of grubby intrigue to shoot, and he’s the actor most likely to be glared at on the street as an incorrigible philanderer.

Beyond turpitude, though, he spots something else these parts have in common: we watch him outmanoeuvred by the women he assumed he could possess.

“That does seem to be a theme in my career – being matched by stronger women. Which is probably the theme of my life, too. I've got five sisters, and three daughters! I’m the go-to guy for playing the male foil, I suppose.”

When did this shift to bad guys occur, if it was even really a shift? “You reach certain waypoints in your career – well, I played lovers, and now I play villains, and dads! A while ago, I played Iago, Fred West and some other horror, all in the same year. I must have a funny look in my eye? I don't know what it is. But I suppose the Devil's always got the best lines. They're more interesting to play, really, especially if you can play against the evil.”

Colette is being marketed around Knightley, by and large. This seems eminently fair: as a writer and actress in turn-of-the-century Paris, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette spent way too much of her career living in the shadow of her ruthless, slave-driving publisher – also her husband, known to the world as “Willy” – to be co-credited on her own biopic with anyone else.

Still, it’s West who snuck his way into a BIFA nomination, for best supporting actor, while Knightley was crowded out. The film relies for nuance on his refusal to monster the character. He concedes that it’s not the most flattering role. “I had three different fat-suits and an appalling walrus moustache!” But in West’s hands, an odd sympathy emerges for Willy, despite all his terrible behaviour – locking Colette in an upstairs room to write, cheating on her incessantly, and eventually selling off the rights to her novels.

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“I thought he was obviously an exciting guy to be around,” West says. “And a total shit, and a narcissist, and an exploiter. But she was with him because he was this incredible force of nature, really, and a sort of bon viveur catalyst to quite a lot of very good writers. I did, even at the end, have a sympathy for this Salieri figure, who realised, having been so famous, that he would only ever be remembered as Colette’s former husband. Which is ironic – no one's ever heard of him now. And if they have, that's the only reason.”

First hatched as an idea 15 years ago, Wash Westmoreland’s film has been an arduous one to get made. West mentions this slow gestation to explain how tentatively the dial moves, in terms of getting stories told about women’s creative achievements. Just five years ago, Knightley was essentially playing sidekick to Alan Turing in The Imitation Game; now it’s her turn to play the genius.

West sees it as “rather serendipitous” that so much discussion about women’s agency – not to mention male abuse – started to happen as the film got made. There’s a striking parallel, I point out, with the role Glenn Close plays in The Wife – as the true brains behind the operation in another literary marriage. “I bet that’s a commonplace story,” he agrees. “Misapplied acclaim. It’s interesting that George Eliot had to change her name to a man's to get published. But then, so did JK Rowling. Doesn't change much, does it?”

 As a true-blue fan of The Wire, I couldn’t possibly interview West without touching on his lead role in that series. You could argue David Simon’s Baltimore-set, 5-season HBO epic changed everything for the actor in 2002, but you’d be wrong, because it took about five years before anyone even saw it.

West, a dabbler in Hollywood back then, was deep into his “lovers” phase – he’d been an alcoholic boyfriend to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a jazz-age lothario shot dead by Renée Zellweger in Chicago, a caddish colleague to Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile. He was usually the debonair party animal you had to get out of the way so the film could carry on.

And then a tape he’d recorded as a joke fell into Simon’s hands. “It was just an astonishing piece of luck,” he reflects, “because in spite of myself, I landed the lead part in the best TV show of all time!”. This casting fluke lets him lampoon himself so perfectly it’s hard not to laugh. “I spent an awful lot of time trying to get out of it! I was always saying, ‘Oh gawd, not another season.’ Mainly because I was away from home, from my young daughter. And also because no one seemed to be watching it.”

Jimmy McNulty, an alcoholic cop struggling with child support and unstable relationships, was the show’s weary constant. West’s crumpled humility gave the show a relatable centre, but it finally paid him back: the slow-trickle recognition of Simon’s sensational achievement has let everyone involved live in its afterglow.

“I wouldn’t have watched it, had I not been in it,” West admits. “My daughter told me the other day, ‘Yeah, I watched it, it's very dated, dad.’ I don't think it is, though! It's been the gift that keeps on giving.” Michael B. Jordan, now a superstar after the Creed films and Black Panther, got his break there as a tragic 16-year-old drug dealer called Wallace. “I directed him in the last season, now he’s the king of Hollywood,” West remembers.

And there was Idris Elba, as kingpin-cum-politician Stringer Bell. “What happened to Idris? I don't know what happened to Idris. Has anyone heard of him since?! It was perfect. I think he knew it was perfect. He came in, blazed it, and got out. The rest of us felt slightly like journeymen, supporting these celebrity cameos.”

West socks over this kind of self-deprecation with reliable verve. He gallantly assumes it was his dancing, not Knightley’s, which led to a polka sequence being cut from Colette. “She’s pretty easy to spark off,” he says of his co-star. “And she's certainly easy to fall in love with. I had one particular scene where I'm in despair because she's leaving me, and that was a piece of cake.”

Colette was just a 19-year-old Burgundian country girl when she met Willy, 14 years her senior, and was swept off her feet. When West talks about their vigorous sex life, which branched out to multiple partners in Paris – and some they shared – there’s a hint of performative envy to his routine. “Considering what he drank and ate and smoked every day, he was also having sex three times a day. I mean, people did that, in those days. They make our vegan times look so dreary!”

Meanwhile, his approach to tackling the almost dauntingly virtuous Jean Valjean was to find the weakness in the man. “He's so obviously someone overcoming his shortcomings. Which is the only chance any of us get to be heroes. Quite apart from all the acrobatic saving of kids that he does, his great thing is redeeming his flaws, or his dark past.”

It’s an effort for us both not keep calling it Les Miz. Wasn’t he at all disappointed that he never got to belt out “Two-four-six-oh-OOOOONE!!” in his beefiest Old Etonian baritone?

“I was disappointed, but I think everyone else was relieved! I wondered where the songs were, actually. I kept trying to sing and they kept stopping me.”

Les Misérables continues on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm. Colette is out in UK cinemas from January 11 (x)

[midgelenny]

get to know me tag game - Magicians edition

thanks for the tag @steverogrs! 

name: rebecca

when you started watching the Magicians: beginning of Season 3...a lot of the ouat blogs i used to follow started converting to the magicians, among others...and woops here i am a year later, fully in the trash can

favorite season (so far): SEASON 3!! because i am HERE for EPIC QUESTS though all the seasons have had their great moments

favorite female character(s): margo probably

favorite male character(s): quentin!! eliot!! penny!!

if you were a magician, what would be your discipline? (i.e. your specialty, options here) the syfy brakebills website says i would be healing, which makes sense since i’m a science nerd

which of the main characters would you best get along with? I feel like quentin? b/c we’re both nerdy and socially awkward?

which of the main characters do you relate to most? definitely eliot and quentin

favorite unlikable character/villain: the monster? am i allowed to say that? i really hate him, but at the same time his character and mannerisms are really fascinating to dissect and hale is KILLING it

favorite pairing(s): queliot obviously, penny 40 x kady, penny 23 x julia, eliot x margo friendship, that one heartbreaking scene of quentin x alice 23 g o d (also recent pairings that jumped out from nowhere: fen x margo?! that sneak peek woops sorry can’t unsee it; also lowkey excited about josh x margo pls don’t hate me y’all)

favorite episode(s): 1x06/7, 2x01, 2x07, 2x09, 3x04, 3x05, 3x09, 3x12, 3x13, 4x05 (and 4x10 will def be on the list i can feel it b/c MUSICAL)

top 3 fandoms outside magicians: well all the skam’s currently own my soul also (finally gave in and watched skam italia live a few episodes in, caught up with skam, and currently following SKAM FRANCE and to some extent druck and possibly skam nl? we’ll see). Also heavily involved in A Discovery of Witches (though hiatus right now). Otherwise, into basically all period dramas and bbc miniseries, b99, and other random stuff

dream job: a job that would pay me to travel?! but also surviving grad school and getting an academic job where i can just do research and travel to conferences and stuff would be great too (i’m boring i know)

what one thing do you wish people knew about you? i tend to be sporadic about being prompt with social tumblr interaction, even when i’m on tumblr, because tumblr is generally how i procrastinate from freaking out about psets and grad school and thesis deadlines and all that jazz...but i still love freaking out with people! so feel free to fangirl with me if you want!

if you guys feel like it: @ohmyohpioneer @civilwhere @quincycoldwater @drunknsun @thepoisonroom @tessaaaaa

[chrancecriber]

Radio NET Bulgaria (December 10, 2022)

23:55 ANDREY CHMUT - Don't Loose The Faith 23:51 2UNES - Find Your Way 23:47 CHRIS 'BIG DOG' DAVIS - Blue Light Special 23:43 SLIM MAN - Jingle Bells 23:38 DERRICK HARVIN - New Found Love 23:34 KOOL&KLEAN - Feel Again 23:29 MEZZOFORTE - Sizzle 23:25 CHILLAXONIC - Mellifluous 23:21 JASON PETERSON DELAIRE - Check Please (feat. Chris Camozzi) 23:17 PROFESSOR RJ ROSS - On This Silent Night 23:13 KEITH SLATTERY - Round and Round 23:09 MICHAEL MANSON - You Go to My Head 23:04 AMANDUS - Groove Infection (feat. Uli Brodersen) 23:00 VASSAL BENFORD - Melody Man 22:56 DARRIUS JAMAR - Missing You 22:52 INCOGNITO - Racing Through the Bends 22:48 MIKE MACARTHUR - This Christmas 22:45 SHAUN LABELLE - Drive Time 22:42 MARIEA ANTOINETTE - So Amazing 22:38 MIKAEL - Trippin Over You 22:32 CHIELI MUNICCI - Kickin' It Hard 22:27 WARREN HILL - Under the Covers 22:23 BERNIE MARTINI - Falling for You Like Snow 22:19 HERB PARTLOW - Another Interlude 22:16 TONY LINDSAY - Maybe Someday 22:10 ROBERT CHRISTA - Rise & Shine 22:04 STIX BONES - L.O.V.E. 22:00 DOCTOR X - Magneto 21:56 BOBBY LYLE - Tommy's Song 21:51 JAEE LOGAN - You Can't Love Her 21:48 TON SMITH - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (feat. Preston Smith and Oliver Scott) 21:43 SONNY EMORY - Latina 21:40 DONN BYNUM - Mercy Mercy Me (feat. Lew Laing Jr.) 21:36 STEVE WATSON - Stones Throw 21:32 EARNEST WALKER JR - Palm Avenue 21:27 GREG MANNING - I Can't Make You Love Me 21:23 ANTOINE KNIGHT - Christmas in Maputo 21:19 JAMES LLOYD - Moving Right Along 21:14 AVENUE BLUE - Atlanta Nights (feat. Jeff Golub) 21:10 CHRISTOPHE GOZE - Lazy Sunday 21:05 LAWSON ROLLINS - Quest 21:01 EJAZZ ARTISTRY - We Belong Together 20:56 HIROSHIMA - Brighter Days 20:52 ROB MALETICK - Shape Of My Heart 20:47 SONNY FAIRLEY - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 20:43 ALEX FALDIN - Comfortline 20:38 ROD TATE - I Got U 20:34 JAZZ HOLDOUTS - Morning Breeze 20:30 MARCOS ARIEL - Second Chance (feat. Lulu Joppert) 20:24 KIRK FISCHER - Reach into Your Heart 20:21 JAY PATTEN - Special Kind of Christmas (w. Crystal, Gayle) 20:17 NELSON GARCIA - East Coast Drive 20:14 RANDY MULLER BOOM CHANG BANG - Sunnyside Up 20:10 LASHAWN D. GARY - Transitions 20:06 MICHAEL BROENING - Summer In Blue 20:02 A RAY FULLER - A Coastal Breeze 19:58 WALTER DUDA - Invisible 19:54 BACH & A. KILLIAN - No Next Time 19:50 GEORGE HOWARD - The First Noel 19:45 BLUE SIX - Aquarian Angel 19:37 MARSHALL CHARLOFF - HipNautic 19:34 J3 - Hela 19:29 KHARI, CABRAL, JIVA - Show Me The Way 19:27 GILBERTO GIACONI - Jingle Bell Rock 19:21 GEORGE BENSON - Breezin' 19:18 JIM PETERIK - JIM PETERIK - Mission Possible 19:14 BILLY EVANS - Let's Save the World 19:09 RICHARD ELIOT - Chill Factor 19:03 AXIOM - Magunda 18:59 CHRIS BIG DOG DAVIS - It's All Love 18:56 DOUG CAMERON - Feliz Navidad 18:53 ELENA IOUROVA - Autumn Leaf Fall Again 18:49 RICHARD SMITH - First Kiss 18:44 ANDREW NICHOLS - I Love the Way You Love Me 18:39 KAREN DEVROOP - Sunset in Koh Samui 18:35 MISZ - Our Place 18:32 DEAN GRECH - What Do You Want This Year For Christmas 18:28 MARIUS BILLGOBENSON - Joy 18:24 K'JON - Live, Love & Laughter 18:20 CAL HARRIS JR., TED BELLEDIN - Bella Nova 18:15 TERRENCE RICHBURG - Treasures 18:11 RON KING - Cascade 18:07 XAVIER GORDON - Christmas Without You 18:02 THE BRAXTON BROTHERS - Sunset Bay 17:58 MOTOWN MOE - Shades of Funk (feat. Chris Campbell) 17:54 HAVILLA KING - Morning Soul 17:49 WOLFGANG HAFFNER - Warm Breeze 17:45 REBECCA ANGEL - Just the Two of Us 17:40 RICHARD BROWN - Stars In My Eyes 17:38 MICHAEL BUBLE - All I Want For Christmas Is You 17:34 SHARON RAE NORTH - Heart of Mine 17:29 ER - Mr Kool (feat. John Rathbone, Jack Jones, Chris Otts & Michael Cornett) 17:26 JOHNNY JAMES DR. J - Foolish Heart 17:21 JACKIE'S NEW CAR - Jackie's New Car 17:17 MARCO ALBANI - Freedom (feat. Martino Onorato, Umberto Vitiello) 17:13 CARL ANDERSON - O, Holy Night 17:08 THE V.I.P CLUB - Night Move 17:04 KONSTANTIN KLASHTORNI - Let's Fall In Love 17:00 CAL HARRIS JR., JEFF LORBER - The Neighborhood 16:56 TOM BRAXTON - Lookin' Up 16:52 GREGG KARUKAS - Green Hills 16:47 NICHOLAS COLE - Beyond the Stars (feat. Lynne Fiddmont) 16:44 MICHAEL LINGTON - A Child is Born in Bethlehem 16:39 KEN NAVARRO - Island Life 16:34 TIM BOWMAN - Light of Love 16:29 BRIAN CULBERTSON - All Through The Christmas Night 16:25 ELAN TROTMAN - Lay Back and Ride (feat. Nephrok! & Tyrone Chase Jr.) 16:21 JACOB WEBB - Another Day 16:17 DWIGHT SIRLS - The Pawn 16:13 YOLANDA RABUN - Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas 16:08 JOHN E. LAWRENCE - Step into the Night 16:04 PAUL DOZIER - Dancing by the Sea 16:00 DARREN RAHN - Our Love 15:57 BENNETT B - Groove Time 15:53 RICK BRAUN - The Color of Love 15:50 JS FLOYD - Kukumo 15:46 PEET PROJECT - Veggie Love 15:40 BRIAN LENAIR - This Christmas 15:35 THE SMOOTH JAZZ ALLEY - Midnight Groove 15:31 JULIAN VAUGHN - Initiate 15:26 GERALD ALBRIGHT - Silent Night 15:22 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - After Hours 15:19 ERIC DARIUS - Retro Forward 15:15 DEAN JAMES - To Hold You Again 15:12 CHRISTMAS CAROLS - Stille Nacht 15:08 DONALD HAYES - Anytime Anyplace 15:04 PAUL BROWN - Makes Me Feel So Good 15:00 WILL SUMNER - A Last Dance 14:57 DIDIER LABOSSIERE - Back to the Beginning 14:52 RHYTHM LOGIC - You Know I Will 14:47 DARREN RAHN - Give 'n' Take 14:43 KIMBERLY BREWER - Everyday Feels Like Christmas 14:38 NILS - Pacific Coast Highway 14:35 SOLEX - Flying High (feat. Jonathan Dubose, Jr.) 14:31 LEE RITENOUR - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 14:27 ERIC DARIUS, NORMAN BROWN - Just For The Moment 14:23 DAVE KOZ - Honey-Dipped 14:18 WAYMAN TISDALE - Shape of Your Heart (feat. Jeff Lorber) 14:14 MARCUS ANDERSON - What Child Is This 14:09 DREAMING IN COLOUR - The Dream Merchant 14:05 LOWELL HOPPER - Affection 14:00 CANDY DULFER - For the Love of You 13:54 KEITH MASON - Arisen 13:49 GARY METZ - Dreamer 13:46 SMOOTH SOUL HOLIDAY - Carol of the Bells 13:42 WALTER BEASLEY - Come On Over 13:37 CHRIS STANDRING - Mumbo Jumbo 13:34 NATE WHITE - Migration 13:30 RONNY SMITH - The Holidays Are Here 13:25 RANDY SCOTT - Serenity 13:21 VINCENT INGALA - Read Between The Lines 13:16 R.L. WALKER - Memories Kept 13:13 CAROL NETHEN - Peace 13:08 ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY - She Speaks American English 13:04 PAUL TAYLOR - Goodnight 13:00 OLI SILK - In the Thick of It (feat. Elan Trotman) 12:56 JULIAN VAUGHN - Ride Along 12:52 DARREN RAHN - What Cha' Gonna Do For Me 12:48 PHIL DENNY - Stand Together 12:43 STEVE OLIVER - Silent Night 12:39 EUGE GROOVE - Religify 12:34 GABRIEL MARK HASSELBACH - Chill@Will (Raincoast Mix) 12:31 MARION MEADOWS - A Winter Lullaby 12:25 BLAIR BRYANT - Caramel Dream 12:21 DANNY LERMAN - Summer in a Hummer 12:17 YULARA - Flyin' High 12:12 SHAKATAK - Auld Lang Syne 12:09 NORMAN BROWN - Easy Livin' 12:05 PETER WHITE - Coast Road Drive 12:00 NILS - A Walk in the Park 11:56 TIM BOWMAN - Boss 11:52 JAZMIN GHENT - Kickin It Up 11:49 JOYCE COOLING - Toast & Jam 11:45 RONNY SMITH - Chillin After Eight 11:41 SHIN GIWON CHRISTMAS CAROL COLLECTION - I'll Be Home For Christmas 11:37 THREESTYLE - Smoothies (feat. Magdalena Chovancova & Robert Fertl) 11:33 DEE LUCAS - All In (feat. George Freeman) 11:29 TONY CRADDOCK JR. - O Come All Ye Faithful 11:25 MARCUS ANDERSON - Just Like Me 11:21 NICK COLIONNE - Let's Get Serious 11:17 GARY PALMER - Lisa 11:13 DAVE KOZ - Do You Hear What I Hear (feat. Gloria Estefan) 11:09 RICHARD ELLIOT - Deep Touch 11:05 J. WHITE - Valley of the Sun 11:00 CAROL ALBERT - Magic Mirror 10:56 JAY KING - My Song 10:52 BK JACKSON - Yeh Yeah 10:48 RK R. HARRIS - Olde Skool (feat. Greg Minnick, Ignacio Nunez & Dean Rickard) 10:45 BRIAN SIMPSON - Morning Samba 10:41 NICHOLAS COLE - Let It Snow 10:38 ED CALLE - Desert Rose 10:34 PAUL TUVMAN - While My Guitar Gently Weeps 10:30 HARPER, GUS AND GOMEZ - Christmas Dream 10:26 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - Let's Do It 10:22 QUINTIN GERARD W. - Have a Safe Flight Home 10:18 JULIAN VAUGHN - Sway 10:13 CAROL NETHEN - O Holy Night 10:08 CHRIS STANDRING - Shadow Dance 10:04 VANN BURCHFIELD - Keep Pressing On 10:00 THE SMOOTH JAZZ ALLEY - Eternal 09:56 RYAN LA VALETTE - Room For 2 09:52 MARQUEAL JORDAN - Behave to Love 09:49 PAUL HARDCASTLE - Rythmn Of Life - Chill Reprise 09:45 JACOB WEBB - Dancing for You 09:41 HERB ALPERT - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 09:35 GREGG KARUKAS - Last Train 09:31 NORMAN BROWN - Ocean Breeze 09:27 PETER WHITE - The Best Part Of Christmas 09:23 SEAN U - Sunburst 09:19 KIM WATERS - Love's Melody 09:15 BRYAN LUBECK - Smoocha 09:12 LELIO LUTTAZZI - White Christmas 09:08 PEET PROJECT - Lightyears 09:05 JAZMIN GHENT - Self Love 09:00 ILYA SEROV - Ironic 08:55 DEE LUCAS - Love Saw It 08:51 MARCUS ANDERSON - Pure Love 08:46 JAZZ FUNK SOUL - Sunset Rock 08:43 RAGAN WHITESIDE - This Christmas 08:38 GARY MEEK - For a Long Time 08:34 RICHARD ELLIOT - Mango Tango 08:29 DAVID GARFIELD - O, Holy Night 08:25 CAROL ALBERT - Crashing 08:21 DAVE KOZ - Don't Give Up (feat. Burt Bacharach) 08:16 NAJEE - Isla Hermosa 08:13 DANA FIELDS - Feels Like Christmas 08:09 DAVID BENOIT - The Bones 08:05 THREESTYLE - Ready to Go 08:00 DOMINIC CAMARDELLA - Headwinds 07:56 3RD FORCE - We Should Be Together 07:51 BRIAN SIMPSON, STEVE OLIVER - The Road Never Ends 07:46 AVERY SUNSHINE - Sunshine for Christmas 07:41 TIM BOWMAN - Flyin Away 07:37 ROBERTO VAZQUEZ - Going West 07:33 STEVE OLIVER - Desert Traveler 07:28 YOLANDA RABUN - O Holy Night 07:24 GERALD ALBRIGHT - The Gospel 07:20 DARREN RAHN - Wave of the Future 07:16 DAVID PETROSYAN - Dancing with My Soul 07:12 LYNNE FIDDMONT - Spirit of Christmas 07:07 KIM SCOTT - Sizzle 07:04 BK JACKSON - Silver Lining 07:00 JOE MCBRIDE, THE TEXAS RHYTHM CLUB - Kickin' It 06:55 PETER WHITE - Wake Up Everybody 06:50 JESSY J - Manhattan (feat. Gregg Karukas) 06:46 EUGE GROOVE - Forever And A Day 06:41 DR. SAXLOVE - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear 06:37 D.A. SCOTT - We as One 06:32 JEREMY HECTOR - St Paul's 06:29 RONNY SMITH - Deck the Halls 06:24 ANDRE DELANO - Face Off 06:21 ERIC DARIUS - Back To You 06:15 MARCUS ANDERSON - Your Will 06:13 NICK DUKAS - Jingle Bell Rock 06:09 ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY - Get Up (Levantar y Bailar) 06:05 ROB TARDIK - The Right Time 06:00 EDGARDO CINTRON - Just A Little Taste of Your Love 05:56 RICHARD ELLIOT - People Make The World Go Round 05:51 MARC ANTOINE - Silk And Steel 05:47 DAVE KOZ - The Closer We Get 05:43 LISA MCCLOWRY - It Wouldn't Feel Like Christmas 05:39 TERENCE YOUNG - Without You 05:34 OLI SILK - Pen to Paper 05:31 SHAWN RAIFORD - Santa Baby 05:26 PATRICK YANDALL - Try the Blue One 05:23 TIM BOWMAN - Watchout 05:18 NAJEE - Song For The Ladies 05:14 CAROL NETHEN - What Child Is This 05:09 BLACK GOLD MASSIVE - Let It Flow (Sausalito Calling) 05:04 VINCENT INGALA - K-Jee 05:00 VANN BURCHFIELD - Friends 04:56 PAUL HARDCASTLE - Angelic Chimes Radio version 04:52 JACOB WEBB - Groovin' J 04:48 PAUL JACKSON JR. - Walkin' 04:43 CHIELI MINUCCI - Little Drummer Boy's Dream 04:39 DANNY LERMAN - South Beach Serenata 04:35 SEAN U - Magic Hour (feat. Blake Aaron) 04:30 STEVE OLIVER - White Christmas 04:26 TOM BRAXTON - What A Friend 04:21 WAKANA - SilK 04:16 AL DEGREGORIS - Times and Travels 04:11 PETER WHITE - Silent Night 04:07 GARY PALMER - Windsurfer 04:03 NILS - Malibu 04:00 MARK HARRIS II - Pocket Change (feat. Bernard Harris) 04:00 RHODA GRAHAM - Finally 03:56 SPECIAL EFX - Lavish 03:50 JAZZ FUNK SOUL - When The Time Comes 03:46 HANK BILAL - Sunny Days 03:41 ERIC DARIUS - All I Want For Christmas Is You 03:37 WALTER BEASLEY - Just Hold Me 03:34 MARCUS ANDERSON - Espresso Shot 03:30 SHARMOND SMITH - Hark The Herald Angels Sing 03:26 DEMETRIUS NABORS - Sugar Love 03:22 JIM ADKINS - Turning Point 03:18 RICHARD ELLIOT - Inside Out 03:14 GERALD ALBRIGHT - This Christmas 03:10 ROBERT HARRIS - Your Memory Lives in Me 03:05 DAVE KOZ - Only Tomorrow Knows 03:00 DANCING FANTASY - Take Five 02:56 JOEL DEL ROSARIO - Delicious Vinyl 02:53 TAKE B - Flame 02:49 SAM BASSMAN JENKINS - It Makes Me Want You 02:45 PATRICK YANDALL - Just My Luck 02:41 TIM BOWMAN - Travelin' Road 02:37 SHIN GIWON CHRISTMAS CAROL COLLECTION - Feliz Navidad 02:33 CAROL ALBERT - Sol Ipanema 02:28 KEN NAVARRO - In My Wildest Dreams 02:24 TONY CRADDOCK JR. - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 02:21 VANN BURCHFIELD - Change Is A Comin' 02:17 OLI SILK - All We Need 02:14 VINCENT INGALA - T.L.C. (Tender Lovin' Care) 02:11 SYLVIA BENNETT - The Christmas Song 02:06 SLIM GAMBILL - Up (feat. Charlton Singleton) 02:03 DAMIEN ESCOBAR - Phoenix 01:57 NICHOLAS COLE - 5th Avenue 01:53 GINO ROSARIA - Ride Along 01:48 DWIGHT SIRLS - Dimensions 01:44 DAVID GARFIELD - White Christmas 01:40 JACOB WEBB - Brazilian Moments 01:35 PETER WHITE - Autumn Day 01:32 JEFF LORBER FUSION - Back Room 01:30 NICK DUKAS - Rockin Around the Christmas Tree 01:26 NILS - Windsurfer 01:21 NORMAN BROWN - Not Like You Do 01:17 DARRON COOKIE - Calling on You 01:12 MICHAEL LINGTON - Winter Wonderland, Let It Snow 01:08 RAGAN WHITESIDE - Funktuation 01:04 BRIAN SIMPSON - Sky Watcher 01:00 MARCUS ANDERSON - Passion Blend 00:56 QUINTIN GERARD W. - Times Like These 00:52 JEANETTE HARRIS - The Ride (feat. Darrell Crooks) 00:47 DR. SAXLOVE - O Little Town Of Bethlehem 00:43 FOURPLAY - Love TKO (feat. Ruben Studdard) 00:39 RICHARD ELLIOT - Boom Town 00:35 RANDY SCOTT - T.G.I.F. 00:32 DAVE KOZ - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (feat. Kenny G) 00:27 JONATHAN FRITZEN - Hammers of Love 00:23 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - Tonight Is the Night 00:19 BRAD ALEXANDER - Straight Up (feat. Donald Hayes) 00:15 U-NAM - This Christmas 00:10 TIM BOWMAN - Columbus,Ga 00:04 BRYAN LUBECK - Nothing Can Come Between Us 00:00 H ALLAN - Rise

[funkbyfunk]

Funk by Funk Show Playlist (25/11/19)

The Norm - Von Pea

Dr Strange - Mankind

STVRS- J57 feat. Matt Stamm, Tiffany Topol & Eliot Glaser

Dreams - Billionaire Bread

Business or Art - Gang Starr feat. Talib Kweli

Live & Breathe  - Homeboy Sandman

Stormy Daniels - Theory Hazit

4 Rounds - Heem Stogied x J57

Share The Luv - Blu & Damu The Fudgemunk feat Raw Poetic

Dues Paid - Suave Ski feat. Apathy

Bang Bang - Tone Chop x Frost Gamble

Cold Grave - YK Hamilton

Human Shade Trees - Jess The Facts & AC the PD

What D'ya Need - Krash Slaughta

Listening to Axelrod (DJ Applejac Unhooked Generation Remix) - J57 feat Tenacity, Blame One, Sly5thAve, Cashus King & Exile

My Name Is Die-Rek - Die-Rek

W.O.K.E. - Lateb & Oblivious

Be With Me - Ric Chavez

So Broke - Jonny Faith

Misty - Dr Doppler

Beautiful Dreams - J57

In Time - J Swiss

Slan Lee - Calibro 35 feat. Illa J

Herbie Hemphill - Surprise Chef

Collant Denier - Junius Paul

Late - The Jazz Defenders

Black Milk (Deli Kutt Remix) Renegades Of Jazz

Let Me Be Your Fantasy - The Love Synphony Orchestra

Twelve Steps - Dego

Join Mark Ski, Monday nights at 10pm GMT on Inspiration 107.8fm UK as he joins the dots between the latest & greatest Hip-Hop, Funk, Beats, Breaks & beyond.

[if-weshadows-haveoffended]

Fixed Stars Govern a Life- Credence Barebone x Reader

A/N: Just a trigger warning for depressive tendencies and an attempted suicide, it’s nothing too graphic, but if it does make you uncomfortable, feel free to keep scrolling past. The fic will also be under the cut for convenience. Also, the Q x Reader fic and the Chekov x Reader fics should be on the way sometime in the next week. I just need a little bit more time to polish off.

Title: Fixed Stars Govern a Life (Sylvia Plath, Ariel- Words) Words:1100+ Masterlist: (x) Prompt List: (x) Mixtape Archive: (x)

Fixed Stars Govern a Life

“Nam Sybillam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum pueri illi dicerent: Στβμλλ τί Θέλεις; respondebat illa: άπσΘνειν Θελω.”

(translated) “With my own eyes I saw the Sybil of Cumae hanging in a bottle; and when the boys said to her: Sybil, what do you want?” she replied: “I want to die.”

-T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland (Epigraph, Part 1, The Burial of the Dead)

“Ma’am,” Credence’s heart was palpitating, beating a thunderous pace against his tight chest. He well and truly should not have been on that rooftop, Ma would hate him for it. But he had crept u the fire escape anyway, keeping close to the wall and hidden by shadows.

But was it a greater sin to lie and return home late, or to watch helplessly as his attention was caught by a falling pearl-drop earing, belonging to a wisp of chiffon sitting tentatively upon the edge of the fifth-storey, stark white against the grimy greys of the city.

“You dropped an earring,” Was all he had managed in the end, words strangling to get out of his throat. The elegant droplet in question had brushed past his face, falling to the sidewalk in a dull clatter of shattered glass. It was ephemeral, he guessed, all that remained was the delicate golden clasp.

And the girl still refused to turn around, and now the panic began to rise in Credence’s throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing tightly against his usual tie and shirt.

“They’re not real, it doesn’t matter,” Her voice, quavering in tears and in fright, drifted on the fast-paced breeze, whipping curls and the scent of heavy perfume. “They’re only glass, Sir.”

“But you’re not,” He noted quietly, his eyes tracing the gentle curves of billowing chiffon that from close, he could now see was streaked through with bold pieces of silver and gold. She was an angel for all the world to see.

“I may as well be,” Her voice trembled and he swore his heart stopped for a second as she turned around to face him, for she shifted ever closer to the sharp drop. Credence shuffled a little further closer to the girl, his head still somewhat bowed and his shoulders hunched. But it seemed she wasn’t moving and he could feel the intensity of her gaze upon him. She looked like an imperious screen siren, the likes of Louise Brooks and soulful eyes rimmed with kohl.

“I didn’t know I was being visited by Rudolph Valentino,” She smirked, though the teasing didn’t reach her eyes. Credence thought that if it had, she must have looked mischievously pretty.

“Who?”

“Don’t worry, it’s your bone structure,” She shook her curls before turning back to examine the sprawling skyline before her. “There’s no point in the Follies anymore, and I’m not screwin’ some big boss to get the job.”

“You’re a dancer?” Credence had other pressing questions as he stood beside her now, but he decided it may have been best to try and drag on the conversation. Just plead with her and coax her.

“Yeah. Ballet, jazz, waltzes, Charleston- the whole shebang.” She laughed a little, her breath releasing a delicate puff of fog against the cold night. Surely she was cold? The chiffon covered hardly any of her figure and her tights were already torn in several places. “I threw away my life for a dream, and it’s…”

“Beautiful?” Credence tried.

“Empty. Everything’s empty and cold and painful. And I feel numb.” She said, directly making contact with his own eyes now. And he couldn’t help but wonder at how so much brightness and clarity could produce so much sadness. She was beautiful, that was for sure, kindness written all over her features and striking him to the core.

Because as her eyes continued to linger on him, he realised that she never viewed him as a freak-

No.

“It takes one to know one,” She said quietly, as if reading his thoughts. “No, I don’t read minds.” She smiled wryly, answering his unspoken question.

“How did you know?” Credence felt that sliver of confidence slide away from his grasp.

“It’s easy to notice once you’ve lived through the signs.” She admitted quietly, her eyes turning back to the glittering skyline and the bustling people below in search of their next ‘hedonistic ritual’ as his mother would murmur. “Who hurt you?”

“My ma,” Credence decided to respond honestly, the truth almost getting caught on the tip of his tongue.

“Oh… I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have-“ She tried back-pedalling, her moon-lit eyes wide in apology.

“She’s only my adopted ma, I don’t even remember mine,” Credence responded easily, though the pain still hurt him deeply. Just as much as the things Ma would tell him about his real mother. That she was a slut, a wicked woman destined to burn in hell along with her numerous sins.

But the greater implication, he thought, was that she was most likely a witch. For Ma never spoke harshly about any of his sisters’ mothers; though he remembered toddling about a grimy alley-way filled with tired women counting out cash from a hard night’s work (and a curly-haired little girl so innocent and out of place beside her dying mother) and being dragged to a filthy tenement to take a starving infant home.

“But why haven’t you ended it all? If you don’t mind me asking,” He shook his head, wanting her to go on, just to live for all things. Even if it was for the shallow things Ma hated. “After all you’ve seen? I just want the pain to end, I just want it all to just… stop? Is it too much to ask for silence? Not another counted beat or another paper I have to turn in or another table I have to wait or another pathetic man I have to push away or-“

It broke his heart, really, to hear her beautiful voice to desperate and hurried, the tears building at the edges of her eyes and threatening to fall down and disturb the immaculately powdered face below.

Blinding, hot panic began to rise in Credence now, unsure if he was doing the right thing as his own trembling fingers crept towards hers, frozen against the concrete.

Yes, their hands were both ice-cold. And no, there was no magic about it all.

But Credence liked to think that perhaps, for once, he was doing the right thing. The thing his Ma didn’t want him to do.

And he must have been right, for the smile that graced her scarlet lips, nearly split her face in two, brightening everything in the universe.

[yasbxxgie]

If even half the stories in Rick James's new autobiography, Glow, are true, then James led one of the most epic rock lives ever. The book, written with David Ritz, was finished posthumously (James died of a heart attack in 2004, at age 56) and is out this week, alongside a digital box set of his Complete Motown Albums.

James became one of the leading lights of funk in the late Seventies and early Eighties, but across the years, the singer was equally obsessed with sex and drugs. At one point in the book, he approvingly remembers the SUNY Buffalo English major he hooked up with for a while ("She had a PhD in blow jobs," according to James) who adapted a line of T.S. Eliot's poetry for him: "In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michelangelo" became "In the room the women come and go, looking to snort Rick James's blow." Ten other stories from the master of punk-funk:

1. O Canada James dodged the Vietnam War draft by heading across the Canadian border from his hometown of Buffalo, New York. But as soon as he got into Toronto, three drunk white guys tried to beat him up for going AWOL. "A trio of three other white guys saw what was happening and came running to my aid." Two of those three: Garth Hudson and Levon Helm, then playing backup for Ronnie Hawkins, later Bob Dylan collaborators in the Band. He also became friendly with Joni Mitchell (they would stay up all night listening to jazz), and she recommended Neil Young, who joined James in a band called the Mynah Birds. They got signed to Motown and were ready to release a single — but it got shelved when the U.S. armed forces caught up with James for going AWOL and threw him in the brig. 2. The Kind of Girls You Don't Take Home to Mother Some of the women James reported liaisons with: Linda Blair (The Exorcist), Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), Catherine Bach (The Dukes of Hazzard TV show), Ola Ray (the video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller"), Iman (the supermodel), Teena Marie (his protégée), Jan Gaye (the wife of his friend and mentor, Marvin Gaye). 3. Street Songs James scuffled on the periphery of the music business for many years before breaking through, watching friends become famous, making money however he could (including drug smuggling from India and Colombia) and periodically ending up in jail. How he remembered getting busted in Toronto on an old charge of breaking and entering a clothing boutique: "A few seconds ago, my life was perfect — the perfect bitch, the perfect financier, the perfect backup band, the perfect connections to the perfect music scene in L.A. Now perfection had turned to pure shit." 4. The First-Aid Kit of the Lizard King While staying at Stephen Stills' place circa 1966, James woke up to find a young guy sitting cross-legged on the floor, "stoned as a motherfucker," watching blood drip from his wrist, "saying things like 'Isn't the blood beautiful? Isn't that the deepest red you've ever seen?'" Alarmed, James woke up Stills, who said, "Oh, fuck, he's doing it again," and bandaged the young man up. Which is how Rick James met Jim Morrison. 5. Cocaine Is a Hell of a Drug James made his national TV debut on American Bandstand. He performed his singles "You and I" and "Mary Jane" and did a long interview with Dick Clark, who he remembers as "one of the nicest cats I'd ever met." The only problem: James had done so much blow backstage, his nose started running profusely. "I started sniffing and wiping myself until it had to be obvious to Dick and a million viewers what was really going on." 6. I'm Rick James, Bitch James nursed a grudge against George Clinton, who consumed his cocaine but didn't help him get a record deal, and Prince, who stole his thunder (and, James claims, his stage moves). Bringing Prince out on tour didn't go well: "My band was a bunch of friendly down-home brothas loved by everyone. His band was a bunch of snobs who never bothered to acknowledge my guys." Years later, what gave James the push to collaborate with Eddie Murphy was that the comedian had gone in the studio with Prince but felt uncomfortable around him. "There wasn't anything I'd rather have done than write a hit for Eddie — and stick it in Prince's ear," James said. 7. The creation of "Super Freak" It was about three in the morning. We had just put the horn parts on "Give It to Me Baby" when I was sitting in front of the console with my bass. I wasn't trying to write. I was just noodling. This bass line came out of nowhere. Four descending notes. Nothing particularly striking. It was cheesy, but it was also catchy. I couldn't stop playing it. At the same time, I started singing, "She's a very kinky girl…" I was about to stop — the whole thing sounded a little dumb — when one of my cats said, "Cut it, Rick."    "You crazy?" I asked.    "No man, it's cool. It's hypnotic."    I kept playing the riff and realized that it was hypnotic. Right then and there I had the engineer hook up a mic and started singing the story as it came to me — this story of a super freak. I never wrote down a word. Made it up on the spot. 8. The Persistence of Memory James went to a dinner party in Hawaii where one of the other guests was Salvador Dali, who kept staring at him — and finally said, "Senor, I am mad about the way you look. Please allow me to sketch you." Dali spent 15 or 20 minutes drawing a portrait of James on his napkin — and then gave James the napkin. It could have been a priceless memento, except the next morning James smoked a joint and went for a swim in the shorts he had been wearing the night before, forgetting that it still held the napkin. The portrait became an inky blob. 9. Back in the Saddle Steven Tyler of Aerosmith became James's recovery buddy during various stays in rehab — he would even jump on James's back for piggy-back rides. "He's the one cat who can outtalk me and actually makes those meetings fun," James said. "Half of what he says is bullshit, but his bullshit is so brilliant I don't care if it's true or not." 10. Rick James's Inferno In his later years, James was constantly battling his addiction to freebase cocaine, and usually losing. After his mother died, he reported, "there was nothing to keep me from descending into the lowest level of hell. That meant orgies. That meant sado-masochism. That even meant bestiality." No details provided (or honestly, wanted). [x]

[funkbyfunk]

Funk by Funk Show Playlist (18/11/19)

Dreams - Billionaire BreadPaid in Full - Pistol McFly

Enriched Flow  - Zagnif Nori

STVRS- J57 feat. Matt Stamm, Tiffany Topol & Eliot Glaser

4 Rounds - Heem Stogied x J57

Share The Luv - Blu & Damu The Fudgemunk feat Raw Poetic

That Guy - Bomega Bamz

Dues Paid - Suave Ski feat. Apathy

Bang Bang - Tone Chop x Frost Gamble

Human Shade Trees - Jess The Facts & AC the PD

Listening to Axelrod (DJ Applejac Unhooked Generation Remix) - J57 feat Tenacity, Blame One, Sly5thAve, Cashus King & Exile

Hold You Down - Y.K. Hamilton

Damage Control - Paradox & Reflex The Architect feat. Von Pea & DJ Sean P

My Name Is Die-Rek - Die-Rek

Take Flight - Gang Starr feat. Big Shug & Freddie Foxxx

W.O.K.E. - Lateb & Oblivious

Satisfied - Choosey & ExileSo Broke - Jonny Faith

Tan Superman - Bonnie B feat. Bomega Bamz

Shakespeer - AC Peer

Paris - Junius Paul

Makin' Luv, Makin' Music - Jazz Not Jazz

Rocket Fuel - DJ Shadow feat. De La Soul

Twelve Steps - Dego

No Fuss, No Fight - Saul

Ascending - Jonny Faith

Join Mark Ski, Monday nights at 10pm GMT on Inspiration 107.8fm UK as he joins the dots between the latest & greatest Hip-Hop, Funk, Beats, Breaks & beyond.