#half the time i start associating songs with characters it's not even the lyrics

[potteresque-ire]

Happy 8th Debut Anniversary, Gg! Since so many of your fans have already expressed their well wishes so beautifully, I'm just going to post my celebratory dance here 😁😁😁. (What? it's not like I can replicate any other of your or Dd's dance performances!! THIS IS YOUR (AND DD'S) FAULT.) (For those who have not seen this "dark history" gem video from Gg's X-Nine days — it's a rehearsal clip for the X-Nine Variety Show Ep4, aired December 2016 — lyrics + why this performance is in my BJYX treasure chest under the cut!!)

Okay, why don't I start with what the song is about? Published in 1997 by the aboriginal Taiwanese singer Ayol Komod 張震嶽 (Chang Chen-yue), the song is about a teenager's first heart break.

It got very popular because the tune's catchy, and because it's funny! The teenager in question.... definitely isn't the at-the-cusp-of-adulthood-YA-romance-male-lead type. Ayol admitted later that he got the inspiration of the song's grammatically Japanese name, 愛的初體驗, also known as 愛之初體驗 or 愛の初體驗 (Love's First Experience; の being the Japanese character for possessive), from a porn magazine cover in a Japanese convenience store.

(Japanese porn, more commonly known as AV, was (is?) an obsession for many teenage boys in the region, as one can imagine). Now, on to the lyrics. This poor teenager, how did he tell his heartbreak story?

如果說你要離開我 請誠實點來告訴我 不要偷偷摸摸的走 像上次一樣等半年 If you're leaving me, please honestly tell me. Don't sneak your way out, make me wait half a year like last time. 如果說你真的要走 把我的相片還給我 在你身上也沒有用 我可以還給我媽媽 If you're really taking off, give me back my photo. It's not useful on you. I can return it to my mom. 什麼天長地久 只是隨便說說 你愛我那一點 你也說不出口 What is everlasting (love)? It's just talk. What do you love about me? You can't even say. 你認識了帥哥 就把我丟一旁 天氣熱的夏天 心像寒冷冬夜 So you meet a handsome guy, and dump me to the side. Hot is the summer, but my heart is cold as a winter's night. 想要買酒來澆憂愁 卻懶懶不想出去走 想要來一包長壽煙 發現我未滿十八歲 Want to buy alcohol to douse my sorrow, but feel lazy and don't want to go out. Want to buy a pack of Longlife cigarettes, and realize I'm not yet 18. 是不是我的十八歲 註定要為愛情流淚 是不是我的十八歲 註定要為愛情流淚 Is it that my 18 years old is fated to shed tears for love? Is it that my 18 years old is fated to shed tears for love?

The "give the photo back to my mom" is usually when I burst into chuckles ... and makes sure I wouldn't place this teenager, age-wise, anywhere remotely close to adulthood 😁. The lower-end teenage age was suggested in Ayol's original music video too (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4shwLyB7690), in which toys were abundant, including Barbie and Godzilla figures representing the "girlfriend" (who probably thought of the teenager as no more than a kid) and the handsome guy.

I'd place this poor kid in early high school at the oldest, perhaps? Meanwhile, this kid was imagining himself as this tragic male lead suffering a romance-novel-worthy heart break. Hence, the use of phrases and analogies common in those books (such as everlasting 天長地久; literally, "long (in length) as the skies and long (in time) as the earth") and, more importantly, calling up "mature" imageries associated with heart break, of alcohol and cigarettes. These details, ironically, simultaneously gave away just how young he was, most telling being that he was not yet 18 years old, the minimum legal age at the time to purchase both in Taiwan. This explains Gg (and PCY's) awesomely silly moves in the dance, which matched the lyrics both in meaning and in style. While the lyrics isn't included in the video I posted, here's the shot of them playing the teenager handing his photo back to his mom after a swipe of it on his pants (0:36):

... imagining himself getting drunk (~1:13):

... and smoking (1:19):

I've gone through the performances on Youtube of this song (yes, because research is absolutely necessarily on something like this), and this is the only one in which the singer(s) accurately capture(s) the ... 小學雞 Xiao Xue Ji ness of the teenage narrator (Turtles all remember Xiao Xue Ji "Primary School Chicken", right?). Other performances tend to turn the song into a showcase of singing prowess, as is common and, as some of us may be reminded of over these last few days, necessary in performances intended for mainland China's audience (here's an example by Coco Lee (RIP): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFOCMgB7UoA). While singing prowess is much appreciated, sometimes, an audience like myself just wishes for something fun. Something goofy. For a good laugh, to shout along to (I'd never call whatever escapes my voice box "singing"), to do celebratory dances with. This video delivers for me 😊. With similar sentiments, I prefer this video over the actual performance in the X-Nine Variety Show (https://youtu.be/F1jXP2R-zy4?si=N1Hg1IKwp-dRc_vM 2:10:05), which is more prepped, less casual. Gg mentioned in the show that this song is retro (the glasses were a nod to that; Ayol's MV also had retro elements), and I find the faded colors of the rehearsal video more complementing to this retro feel. Its camerawork was also much better at capturing the fake manga fight that made up so much of the heart of Xiao Xue Ji ness (a special shoutout to whoever feigned the Qi Gong reaction, who did it better than Gg's teammates in the actual show).

Hmm. What else? Oh, maybe, since I'm feeling self-indulgent (I think I say the same thing in every post?), let me share a little something personal that cements the place this performance has in my BJYX treasure chest. Some of you may have noticed the "Longlife cigarettes" (長壽煙) in the lyrics. The very ... curious brand name aside (Longlife? For cigarettes?), this is yet another element in the song in which the teenage narrator tries to create an image of maturity ... and only made him sound young. You see, in Taiwan, cigarettes had used to be sold by the government only, until 1987 when the government opened its market for foreign imports. "Longlife", a high-end cigarette line, had made its debut in the late 1950s. So the brand name, to be fair, had been created before the health effects of cigarettes were known. Regardless, the government's monopoly on cigarette sales allowed Longlife to own the vast majority (more than 3/4) of the marketshare until the foreign brands took over in the late 1980s, after which its sales plummeted.

"Longlife cigarettes" is therefore extremely well known in Taiwan — hence, its inclusion in the song, and to the point that the Taiwanese government, in the early 2000s, got caught in a dilemma + controversy of whether to rebrand the famous cigarettes, now that they were known to work against a long life. (It didn't.)

"Longlife cigarettes" is therefore also retro, the majority of its smokers being of the parents', and grandparents' generation. That our teenage hero thought of Longlife cigarettes — he had likely picked up that image from those generations above him, the "old people" — further suggested his knowledge about cigarettes wasn't from his peers (who would likely be smoking the foreign brands), because he was too young... ... Young, like me! (Hey, I * was * young in 1997!). Longlife just happened to be my grandpa's favourite cigarettes as well. It was ... at the turn of the millenium, a year or two after the release of this song, I think? When my mom told me how she used to light my grandpa's favourite cigarettes for him as a child. Predictably, the brand name made me cackle. Soon, with the Xiao Xue Ji spirit strong in me, it captured my imagination enough that the next time I visited Taiwan, I took a photo with a box of Longlife cigarettes at the airport's duty-free shop before bothering with things like Immigration and Customs. In the same ... chickenly spirit, therefore, I've already reported to my mom that Gg is / has the intention of smoking my grandpa's favourite cigarettes ... my grandpa who passed away before I was born. She has always been amused at my curious enthusiasm over that curious brand name, and she liked that it formed a curious connection between me and my grandpa. She, of course, knows about Gg and Dd, and my curious interest in them. On this happy anniversary, therefore, I may not have a photo to return to my mom, but I have this video and I'm sending it to her. * Duck Dances *

Ah, maybe along with Gg's other performances this week. He's only a superstar now, right? Right ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.

PS. Gg, seeing you so happy at the concert the other day makes me wonder: can it possibly mean there will soon be good news to share with fans? Just ... curious 😁.

[edai-crplpnk]

Torune or Kakashi (character list)

For this character ask game

I'll start with Kakashi cause he will probable be easier 😆

favorite thing about them: ... Gai? More seriously, I like their plotline of self destruction and martyrdom and being forced to overcome that, but I don't think I like it so much each individually as I like them together.

least favorite thing about them: Don't touch children's butt even in a fight, Kakashi.

favorite line: chose between "I need to protect him." in Shippuden 288 or "He's nice, isn't he?" in Konoha Shinden (he's a simp)

brOTP: Idk if that really answers the question, but I like his relationship with Team 7 when they are more grown up and he is less their teacher and superior, and more like an older friend to them. I'm soft about teens becoming adults, and I like their dynamic!

OTP: KakaGai ofc, we all know the truth

nOTP: outside of the obvious Kakashi/any Team 7? not much tbh. But there's also not really any ship I'm enthusiastic for outside of KakaGai

random headcanon: I'm not sure the man can read. He left school at 5. I think 10yo Kakashi thought if he held a book in public at all times no one would realise he's barely litterate, and by the time he realised what the content of the book was, he already had a reputation made and so he's been "the guy who reads porn in public" for the past two decades because there was no coming back. His writting is that of a 6yo kid and someone has to write all the official paper for him once he's Hokage.

unpopular opinion: He works paired with Iruka but only if you acknowledge his inherent patheticness. KakaIru sucks as long as it's "cool and strong and mysterious military man and his soft and nice teacher boyfriend". But I can get behind "overworked and tired middle school teacher has no patience left for whiny boyfriend who has forgotten how to interract decently with other human beings".

song i associate with them: I'm not very good at songs but I'm thinking maybe Veux-tu danser ? by Gris. For the lyrics much more than the song itself. "You cannot touch me because I carry the worst of infections. I spread it to the ones I love at the whim of impulsions. I never wanted to propagate this heineous bacteria. Plese forgive, I should have staid stuck in your lives. Why do I have to bear this terrible curse? And most importantly, why did you have to love me back?"

favorite picture of them: I have to give a shout out to Kishimoto's iconic double pages

The details in the eyelid and lashes? The concept of him only crying from Obito's eyes and never his own? Excellent.

Now Torune!

favorite thing about them: His sacrifice for Shino is obviously touching, but it's also pretty fucked up and sad too. It makes mewonder about his father and their relationship. Presumably Shikuro died when he was little, if he was raised alongside Shino by Shibi? I wonder how much Torune got to know him, if he's grown up at least for a while with someone who had the same type of hive as him, what their place was inside the clan and how he's been raised to come to think of himself that way.

least favorite thing about them: Too little screentime 😔 and also tbh not the greatest fashion sense of all Aburame, but he gets a pass for being naked half of the time

favorite line: He doesn't have much lines in the manga, and while he may have some nice ones in the anime episode with the flashback of his childhood with Shino, I don't have access to it and I don't know it very well.

brOTP: Shino seems like an obvious choice! We need a "Danzou doesn't exist and all is well" AU

OTP: It's gotta be Fuu. I can happily see them as friends to but if he had to be with someone it'd be him.

nOTP: I think the truth is, I never really have any big nOTP

random headcanon: I assume Torune isn't his birth name. Loosing your name when entering the Root is shown as a big thing for Sai and Yamato. I like to make myself sad thinking about Shino only knowing his birth name, and not recognising it when people who have seen him, for example at the Gokage Summit, mention him by his Root name. Maybe Shino calling him his birthname when they meet during the war and Torune hearing it for the first time in over a decade.

unpopular opinion: I don't think there's enough fandom opinion about him for any to be unpopular haha

song i associate with them: I'm not sure it makes any sense but I thought of Isara by Eluveitie

favorite picture of them: Him carrying Fuu in piggy back just makes me soft. More generally they seem to have a love of trust and affection for each other. I like it.

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

Kill the Whale

April 14, 2024 | Joe's Pub | Evening | Concept Album Release | Song Cycle | 1H 40M

Long ramble, so buckle in:

I did not like Kill the Whale. Let's start this off being very clear on that. I went in knowing nothing, and I was fully prepared to love it. I love Amber Gray, I love Grace McLean, I love weird avante garde art. This was... I did not like what was presented to me. As a song cycle, a series of solo character introductory songs that don't do much to serve the plot is certainly a choice. The performers are all vocal powerhouses, that's undeniable. And with genres like rap, hip-hop, and lots of rock & roll, I understand why every song was screltched to the high heavens. But it was borderline painful to listen to as the night wore on, partially owing to the inconsistent sound mixing and inappropriate acoustics of Joe's Pub, but mostly it's the writing. The seven(?)-person band overpowered the vocalists on any lines not belted, and the belting pitched out more than once. Would it kill some of the singers to hold the microphone a little further back when going for it? And why do contemporary songwriters all want their performers to blow out their vocal chords every night? Everyone was full throttle the whole time, and it left little room for growth or breath.

The song cycle does remarkably little to evoke more than just head-bopping beats, as if the story inspiration is only really a mood setter and not integral to any plot or story trying to be told. There are almost no duets or indeed, characters singing with each other at all. The final Chase sequence (three parts) is really just like ten parts of individual solos with different genres and beats. There's little to really tie these songs together beyond a vague association with Moby Dick. The lyrics too are more about feelings and moods than about crafting a story. Should this ever become a piece of musical theatre, I don't think it would work as presented. It was also a 100-minute show and they had to cut songs for time, so that's...long. More than half is just one character intro song after another, and they're not so much as "I Want" or "I Am" songs, so much as "here's what I'm thinking about, you don't know me, or care yet, but here I am just ruminating about life," and that's tiresome after the sixth one in a row.

Also, one character is heavily influenced by rap and hip-hop and uses a lot of AAVE in his songs. The writer is a white man. I...wonder who or what he might have worked with to craft these numbers. I also wonder why this writer wanted to write a character whose songs speak so deeply about contemporary Black struggle and oppression. Because while the body emulating this on stage is Black, the words are from a white creator who is only ever imagining what that experience is.

That being said, I'm a lesbian, and Grace McLean (though even she screlted too much for me in the end) being hot and sexy and aggressive was great. Didn't save the night, but great nonetheless.

Verdict: A Long Slog to Curtains

A Note on Ratings

Had the show only been an hour-long sampling of songs, I'd have been more positive. But this was too long to listen to the same thing time after time. As an album where I can control whether or not I want my eardrums to hurt (I was at the back of Joe's Pub, so I can't imagine how the people up front fared), maybe I'd like it more? It's not my taste, at the end of the day, and I'm sure there are many people who love it. Pass.

[kraefishh]

caleb wittogast, 5, 6, 7, 18, 22, 25

OHHHH OHOHOHO MY GOD, OKAY. CHOSE VIOLENCE, I SEE.

Caleb Widogast you make me fucking deranged.

as I did before I will answer one and then I'm putting the rest of the answers under the cut because this will perhaps be an even longer post. SOOOOOO!!!!

#5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

There is... admittedly a lot of songs that I associate with Caleb. But the 3 that I will mention are Would That I by Hozier because it makes me think about this literal masterpiece of a music video.

Then Curses by The Crane Wives. Which..... hough. The. The whole song is him, realistically. But I am not going to post the entire lyrics in this post for it. HOWEVER THE LAST CHORUS IN PARTICULAR....

Oh ashes, ashes, dust to dust Tell me I am good enough Oh, lay my curses out to rest Make a mercy out of me.

IS SO......

Heahhaghghehgh.

and the last song that I will mention is Bright by Lilli Furfaro as that is. Literally a fansong for him LMAO. But this is the one that I learned to play on guitar and mhmfmhdfhfhhfh it still gut punches me every time I sing it. I nearly cried the first time I heard it, though that is not a non-universal experience from what I'm aware by a LOT of the other people in the comments on that video hhHSDHGD--

uh regardless hit the cut if you wanna hear me scream about the tragic dirty wizard man more.

FIRST AND FOREMOST I AM HERE TO PUT MORE FUCKING FANSONGS FOR CALEB THAT MAKE ME GO INSANE!!!! INSANE!!!!!!

These three songs (each word with a different link) by Chase Noseworthy that mgmdmfhmdhmfhmdfhmdfghmfg. nagdfnhgmdfhh. I'm good. bUT MAN. THIS MAN EMBODIES CALEB'S VOICE??? ITS SO GOOD??? Honorable mention to these two (same thing) as well. He has a lot of Caleb fansongs and honestly!!! hes so valid!!!

Okay anyway.

#6. What's something you have in common with this character?

This is actually a tough question because while I relate heavily to Caleb it's.... very hard to put the why into words.

He's very determined. He is the embodiment of burnt out gifted kid (no pun intended). He shows his affection through little gifts and quality time spent. He's willing to rip the entire world in half for the sake of those he loves. He really likes cats.

I think without getting into the nitty gritty details that is a Lot of my appeal for him.

.

#7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

THE ART THAT I SEE OF HIM IS NEVER BAD. I TRULY BELIEVE THAT. NOT ONE PIECE OF MEDIA MADE FOR HIM THAT I HAVE SEEN IS ONE THAT I HAVE DISLIKED.

.

#18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

While this would be an excuse for me to talk about widomauk I am instead forcing empire kids thoughts upon ye.

Caleb and Beau from the start were compelling. And their dynamic never stopped. They're the two humans of the group. They both came from less than ideal home-lives and then had horrible experiences with a person of authority in their lives. Neither of them cared that the other was a shitty person because the other understood. The other understood why they were a shitty person.

Early campaign empire kids is especially fascinating to me from Beau's perspective. Her trying to have a heart to heart with him only to have him walk away from her because he really does not like talking about himself in front of so many people. And her only response is to??? Just passive aggressively yell "WOOOOW. FUCKING COOL, CALEB!!!" At him!!! It is so fuckin funny but also shows that they are still learning to trust each other. Only to then be followed a couple episodes by Caleb apologizing and hugging her and for her to just??? Confusedly hug him back?? That awkward hug was EVERYTHING.

Beau: *schwacks her goggles over her eyes and then turns to Caleb* How do i look!? :3c

Caleb, without missing a beat: You look like a nerd.

I SIMPLY CARE THEM!! They are so stupid together but they are simply siblings!!! They care so much about each other. Caleb is literally willing to give up the safety of shelter for himself and the better half of the group in order for Beau to go on a date with Yasha. Beau sneaks Caleb into the biggest goddamn library which also happens to be the place where everyone hates her just in order for him to get some information. Caleb holding onto Beau for security while concentrating on a spell.

I could go on-- I won't.

.

#22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

OHHH MY GOOOHHHODD

When they make him speak German!!! Especially when they make him speak German correctly!!!! It is actually very rare that I see good dialogue written for Caleb where he will slip into Zemnian (which is. just the German language but renamed for the campaign). Especially writing him where he speaks Zemnian when he's tired!! Acknowledging that he doesn't think in Common!!!!!

ALSO WHEN THEY DESCRIBE HIS SPELLS!!! There's. admittedly there's one fic in particular that I am thinking of while typing this out but I will refrain from linking it.

But describing his spellwork and his little quirks that he does and... god. He's so so complex to work with but when you get it right??? Hough.

.

#25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I think I immediately liked him hHSDHGhGHDHG.

No but seriously I think seeing enough of Caleb from clips is what made me start watching it. I knew I was going to love him from the start. And that hasn't changed. He is, i think by now, one of my top 5 characters in media?? Like I do not realistically have a defined list but I can guarantee he has a spot somewhere on top 5.

.

Yeah okay I knew this was going to be much worse when I was thinking about my answers for this but hhhhHOUHGHHFGHH. WHOOPSIES!!!!

Thank you rar for indulging me to ramble about him. He makes me feel so normal (<- I say with a dazed and far off stare on my face).

[shimmerbeasts]

MINI CHARACTER PLAYLIST Share at least five songs that remind you of your muse, or that you associate with your muse's character arc. Including lyrics is optional.

Don't Remember Me by HalaCG

Why's it so hard to breathe? Chasing down more ways to please. I'll show them all I'm stronger Not like your memories Now that I've broken free You're not someone I need Won't play nice any longer. So don't remember me.

Let's be real: Everybody who has not followed my Jinx since yesterday knew this song was going to be on my list! Back when I first started out writing this muse and looked for fan songs (as I like to do), this song just struck a chord with me. The reason, it is on my list here, is if I had to characterise my Jinx with one song, all the struggles she endured, the difficulties, she has with her sister, but also that reliance and trust she has in Silco, this would be it. Don't Remember Me is Jinx broken down in her purest form.

Start Of Something New by Ely Eira

Take a step, let our moment come We can have our escape, hey We will have all that we wanted We will be touching the sky History can no longer haunt us 'Cause right now This is the start of something new

After the end of Act Three, with Silco dead and Vi having in her mind completely abandoned her for the final time, Jinx should be at her lowest point and utterly broken. However, that is not what happens. Instead, as she blows up the Council building with the Super Mega Death Rocket, it almost seems like she is experiencing a personal moment of triumph. Even though she is grieving so many things at once (both Silco and Vi simultaneously), she also is reshaping herself in this burn-it-all-down moment. For me, Start Of Something New embodies this idea of an older and more mature Jinx. If Don't Remember Me encapsulates Jinx as a whole, then Start Of Something New is Jinx becoming the toymaker.

Shared Eyes by Blixemi

You're not who you think you are And I wish I never knew I don't want to see the irony That you hate me for being you Pushed me to walk 'neath starless skies 'Cause I'll never shine as bright As the light of your eye What good is it to even try? You'll never hear, or see, or face All the parts of you you despise Come to life Standing right 'fore your eyes in spite Reminding both of us have wished on a starless night

Strangely enough, this song in my eyes is not about Jinx and Vi - it is about Jinx and Mylo! Specifically, it is about her wrestling with whom he is post-mortem. I believe that after his death, she spent a lot of time thinking over the fact that it was his voice she could hear and him she could see. I think a lot of her earliest actions are very much motivated by proving him wrong, yet at the same time, I could easily see her feel like she has almost inherited his nature and that there is some kind of truth in his ire. At the same time, Shared Eyes also captures her regarding Mylo's love and approval as being almost unreachable. Because she cannot just purely hate him. He is still her older brother, despite the mockery, despite the insults, despite the cruelty. This contradiction of her love for her older brother with what he has done to her mental state is perfectly shown here.

Voices by Motionless In White/Bad Luck by Aviators/In My Head by NateWantsToBattle

As I walk through this valley of shadows and death I curse not the wicked, I praise not the blessed If I told you the truth you'd beg me to change If fear were a currency you'd own the bank

______

Welcome to the freak show Thought the odds were equal Roulette in my head keeps rolling on Let the bloody streets flow Nothing holds a candle To thе rapid fire of my own gun Maybe psycho Push me and you might go Ovеr in a blaze of arcane blue Stop me if I ramble I'll come take a gamble for you 'Cause you need a little bad luck baby

______

You don't know the half of it (half of it) Hands up while I take the hits (take the hits) It's something that you can't admit I fight for my life, now I'm done with your sh- Say it once, say it twice, now you're in my head Say it all a thousand times, leaving me for dead Say it once, say it twice, now you're in my head Say it at the same time, Jinx, and now you're dead

I am aware that I am cheating a bit here because I am picking three songs instead of one. However, I will count them as one as in my eyes, these songs all depict one element of Jinx extremely well: Her mania. Whereas Shared Eyes showed the complexity of what Jinx is seeing, Voices, Bad Luck and In My Head all show how these hallucinations trigger Jinx's mania and madness and what it feels like to be enraptured by this mental instability. The instrumentals of all these songs are more in the alternative rock direction and they even sound a bit disjointed and overpowering. They do not just cover how frightening living in such episodes is for Jinx, but they also capture what a danger she becomes for other people. How her mania limits her inhibitions, how it gives her an easily excitable trigger finger, how it makes her almost revel and cherish the carnage, she is causing. I have a lot more songs which capture this Jinx is dangerous when a mania episode hits vibe, but those three are probably the most crucial ones.

You're A Jinx/Everyone Else Betrays Us/Is There Anything So Endearing As a Daughter?/You're Perfect from the Arcane soundtrack

When it comes to Silco and Jinx as people, I feel like their dynamic cannot be captured in songs. Mostly because both participants are such layered and complex individuals, which creates such a convoluted dynamic that most songs, dealing with complex (read: toxic) dynamics just do not encompass it completely. Poison from Hazbin Hotel sort of fits the bill, but if we are honest, nothing captures these two better than Arcane's soundtrack, specifically the instrumentals where their leitmotifs intermingle and influence one another. The way these four instrumentals work back to back in my eyes really shows under what extraordinary circumstances, Silco found Powder and how his influence was able to anchor her, even in the most trying and difficult times. At the same time, I love how the latter two songs show that Silco did indeed love Jinx and that he loved her completely unconditionally. Again, I need to reiterate how calming Silco's leitmotif is - especially with Jinx's violin themes, which are often frantic and high-pitched. Just hearing his leitmotif weaving into hers, you can hear Jinx's madness simmer down, you can hear Silco deescalating the situation in the music! And I love how this facette appears even before tracks like Is There Anything So Undoing As A Daughter or You're Perfect. It is like the instrumental is showing that Silco had Jinx's best interest at heart even back then!

Tagged by: @piltover-sharpshooter, @ferinehuntress, @jynxd

Tagging: @moxxietude, @playgroundmonsters (Ran and Vi), @undercity-merc, @restrainedhungr, @blackrosesmatron, @demacianhcart, @weavertali, and whoever has not done this yet.

[light-lanterne]

hello !! so, a lovely anon has sent me the most wondrous ask analysing (from a byler perspective) the lyrics from an album that came out on friday night, the likes of which is by my current favourite band (and hyperfixation). unfortunately, my reply was getting ridiculously long, so i shall screenshot the different parts of this ask and add them to this post instead ~

needless to say, i'll also be connecting these beautiful lyrics to byler :O many an au idea has spawned from me listening to this album a few times over, so there's that too. if you're a byler who've never even heard of this band, i highly suggest you check them out; some of their songs are very heavy, others are not and may even be considered pop. regardless of the music, all the lyrics are wonderful and they're definitely worth a listen.

anyway, let us begin !!

— sleep token —

take me back to eden

okei, so for the "simple" question: i don't know which is my favourite new release, they're all just so good :( maybe 'ascensionism', for it's the one that's been stuck in my head all day x.x but really, they're all perfection and if these guys don't get a grammy or five i'll be very mad >:(

anyway, you said you were joking but i'm actually buzzing with excitement at the prospect of analysing the whole thing so here we go ~

first, the singles (i'll be as brief as possible):

i. chokehold: ah,,, the perfect start of the album. i think the song is mostly about vessel's devotion to sleep, but these lyrics really feel like s1 mike to me :O - - - - - - - - - - - beneath the stormy seas, above the mountain peaks, it's all the same to me, it makes no difference. i've seen my days unfold, done the impossible. i'll turn my walls to gold to bring you home again. - - - - - - - - - - - yeah,,, just the disposition to do anything and defeat all obstacles in order to literally "bring [this person] home again" really reminded me of mike :]

ii. the summoning: such an exquisite single,,, really the best song to pull people in~ needless to say, the bridge brings a really neat dynamic that would work really well in an aged-up fic, i think. - - - - - - - - - - - oh, and my love. did i mistake you for a sign from god? or are you really here to cast me off? or maybe just to turn me on? 'cause these days i would be lying if i told you that i didn't wish that i could be your man, or maybe make a good [boy] bad. - - - - - - - - - - - maybe the classic good student will/rebellious mike? something like that :D

iii. granite: this was my favourite single !! it's dark and moody and it paints a sad but somewhat beautiful picture :O from the lyrics this is about a dysfunctional relationship and codependency, so it doesn't quite fit canon byler :S an au, however,,, - - - - - - - - - - - i was more than just a body in your passenger seat, and you were more than just somebody i was destined to meet, i see you go half-blind when you're looking at me. but i am. between the second-hand smoke and the glass on the street, you gave me nothing whatsoever but a reason to leave, you say you want me, but you know i'm not what you need. but i am. - - - - - - - - - - - ,,,yeah. messy queer relationships can be fun to write and read and this one paints a very interesting scenario ~ when i first heard it, i immediately associated it with my serial killer au :D

iv. aqua regia: this one is such a vibe ~ i originally didn't care much for it, tbh, and it took me a while to get the metaphors x.x but once i got it i really started liking the song a lot more ! - - - - - - - - - - - aqua regia, (< gold refiner; vessel describes himself as gold before) oxytocin running in the ether. (< the ether would be the internet,,,) silicon ballrooms, (< silicon is a main component of electronics, so instead of social gatherings happening in an actual ballroom, they happen on the phone) subatomic interactions if it's all good. - - - - - - - - - - - so yeah, my understanding is that the main character in this song is someone who resists technology, but stops trying to fight it once they meet someone they feel something for online which is quite lovely ~ also, these lines are so cute: - - - - - - - - - - - oh, when i am done dancing to alarm bells no wonder my ears are still ringing. - - - - - - - - - - - (just imagine vessel bouncing around all excited about getting a message from this person :D ) anyway, um, modern byler au where mike is an anti-technology nerd who finally gets himself a phone just so that maybe he can talk to this really cute, semi-instagram-popular guy he likes from one of his lectures ^-^

v. vore: um,,, yeah,,, as someone who leans towards heavier music i love this song so so much !! the themes of obsession are amazing and really build on the concepts brought up in "this place will become your tomb", so that's a nice callback :O needless to say, there's not much bylering going on here but the vibe really goes well with aforementioned serial killer au, so there's that x.x

ix. dywtylm: aha, last single ! i must admit, i also didn't care for it a lot when i first heard it but, within the context of the album, it's a great break between "the apparition" and the final part of the record ~ so, i think i'd mentioned this before (?) but i can't remember,,, anyway, the lyrics scream mike at me ~ - - - - - - - - - - - and my reflection just won't smile back at me like i know it should. and i would turn into a stranger in an instant if i could. and there is something eating me alive, i don’t know what it is. maybe not that you conceal your feelings, they just don't exist. - - - - - - - - - - - also these: - - - - - - - - - - - and i've tried so hard to fix it all but nothing seems to help, but i cannot hope to give you what i cannot give myself. - - - - - - - - - - - yeah, canon mike's insecurities, guilt and confusion really reflect on those lyrics :( if i were to write something around this, it'd probably be a post m*leven break-up thing where mike is unsure if he has a chance with will, so they’re both just dancing around each other,,,

anyway, there's the singles !! now onto the new songs :D

vi. ascensionism: my absolute favourite song of the album ;-; there's something about fun genre-merging that really tickles my brain ~ i can't say i get the lyrics as much as the other songs, but from what i get it's about a relationship that's gone awry and both parts know they need to break up, but neither one wants to do it :( (there's also some stuff about a pseudo-religion called "ascensionism" and from what i get, it would imply that our main character believes they deserve this because of something they did in a previous life, so by accepting this, they will be able to ascend,,, or something like that x.x again, i don't quite get it just yet.) anyway, as much as i like this song i can't really connect it to byler ;-; maybe an exes fic, where they reflect on their fallout ? i don't do well with those, unfortunately x.x

vii. are you really okay?: this song is so pretty and sad :( i actually quite liked it !! it doesn't sound like anything from the soundtrack, i don't think, but it reminded me of my favourite film ever ("the crow") ~ the 90s vibes are delightful and it really gave me a feel of nostalgia that only added on to the emotion ;-; now, out of all the lyrics i'd say these are the most straightforward so i don't think i need to say what this is about :( and it's not quite the same, but i heard this part and had an idea for a short fic: - - - - - - - - - - - and i, i cannot fix your wounds this time. but i, i don't believe you when you tell me you are fine. please don't hurt yourself again. - - - - - - - - - - - picture this: during the confrontation about the painting, mike finds out about everything will has sacrificed to help him be happy so he tries to comfort him.

viii. the apparition: ah, this song feels so short :( it's very pretty though, all about vessel's troubled relationship with sleep ~ indeed, those lyrics you mentioned do feel very byler coded :O maybe their feelings between s3 and s4, when both of them were mourning their perceived lost connection (which they could've solved with a single phone call, but alas,,,) ? something like that ~ as for the dream stuff, i can definitely see will yelling this at vecna, once he's fed-up with the nightmares and being messed with and all that: - - - - - - - - - - - just let me go or take me with you. - - - - - - - - - - - granted, vessel's relationship with sleep is more of devotion than hatred (as reflected by the rest of the lyrics), but that particularly line gave me that visual :O i propose an alternative to the vecna interpretation, though: - - - - - - - - - - - why are you never real? whenever you appear you leave me with that grace, i am trembling with fear. but i know that you will disappear, just as i awake. whisper in my ear. - - - - - - - - - - - imagine that will's been taken by vecna (slipped into a coma or something of such nature) and he communicates with mike through his dreams :] that could be interesting, i think ~

x. rain: woo, byler-coded song !! those verses you wrote definitely feel like them, maybe once they get their stuff together and they accept that they can achieve happiness with each other ;-; i also love the references to other songs ~ part of the chorus feels a lot like "atlantic", there was a callback to "aqua regia" (something about 'saturate'), the 'game' part of the lyrics might be tied to "blood sport",,, i really like it !! the music is amazing and i can proudly inform you that listening to this as it rains around you is a wonderful experience ~ i have nothing more to add to your analysis n_n so, for a fic, i'd write about the direct moment after they defeat vecna and everything is done, with them running into each other's arms and just being happy to have each other, fully, at last.

xi. take me back to eden: the title track,,, an absolute masterpiece ;-; it's got everything musically, the most amazing breakdown, and it really is the perfect song to explain who they are :( and vessel's lyrics,,, "i dream in phosphorescence",,, who thinks of that ? x.x he's by far one of the best lyricists i know >.< the references to previous releases are so cool, too: - the ocean references are a call back to "tpwbyt" - the second verse alludes to "nazareth" (my favourite song) - the biting stuff is from "the offering" - shakespeare's "the merchant of venice" gets quoted - and of course, the first verse from "chokehold" is repeated to round the whole thing up :O ah, amazing,,, anyway, about the lyrics you shared,,,, yes. to all that ~ perfect interpretation <3 the chorus itself can be very byler, too: - - - - - - - - - - - my, my, those eyes like fire, i'm a winged insect, you're a funeral pyre. come now, bite through these wires, i'm a waking hell and the gods grow tired. reset my patient violence along both lines of a pathway higher, grow back your sharpest teeth, you know my desire. - - - - - - - - - - - from mike's pov, he knows he's attracted to will and he perceives that acting on those feelings is dangerous (he's a moth to a flame), but at some point he's tired of being miserable and wants to confront this. it also works from will's pov, with him having already (unknowingly) been hurt by mike and he's tired of hurting, but he can't seem to back away. ,,,i think it works, but you tell me ~ overall, the song really reflects a longing for an innocence lost and we all know mike, will and the entire party can resonate with that :(

xii. euclid: the perfect outro to the album (and the trilogy) !! such a gorgeous piece with one too many musical and lyrical references to other songs to list x.x with the way it ties back to "the night does not belong to god" (first song in sundowning), it really feels like closing a chapter and i can't pretend it didn't make me cry ;-; (i wonder if the song is called euclid because he was the father of geometry, and this song turns the trilogy into a circle,,,) anyway, i haven't got much more to say than what you've already mentioned,,, these lyrics have been gorgeous since the original song,,, - - - - - - - - - - - the whites of your eyes turn black in the lowlight. in turning divine we tangle endlessly, like lovers entwined. - - - - - - - - - - - and these ones (which you already mentioned but i want to repeat because they gave me chills with how pretty they are) really encapsulate byler, i think - - - - - - - - - - - do you remember me when the rain gathers? and do you still believe that nothing else matters? for me it's still the autumn leaves, these ancient canopies that we used to lay beneath. - - - - - - - - - - - yeah,,, i've got nothing more to say,,,

anyway,,, thank you for this wonderful ask and for letting me ramble about this beautiful band and these beautiful lyrics and connect it all to the other thing i love !! sorry it took me days to get through this, i needed some time to digest the whole album ;-; hope you liked my insight (?) and the fic ideas and stuff i mentioned !!

for now, i think it's about time i wrap this ridiculously long post up x.x to whoever is reading this, i really hope you're having the best day or night ever, and that you enjoyed reading my nonsense ~ i'll see about writing some of the fics i mentioned in this post, but it will (obviously) take me a bit x.x

farewell for now !! <3

[fiercynn]

Happy Birthday Deepa!!

💖 Which of your fics is your pride and joy?

🎥 Pick a fic and I'll tell you the song I imagine playing during its movie trailer.

🔮What's your favorite plot twist you've ever written?

📝 How many words do you have posted?

thank you ice!!! and awww ty for asking so many!

💖 Which of your fics is your pride and joy?

undoubtedly my bad buddy fake dating au traffic was slow for the crash years! it's the longest fic i've ever written (80k, which is long for me!) and i had so much fun writing it. i'm so proud of it that i'm currently podficcing it too 😂

🎥 Pick a fic and I'll tell you the song I imagine playing during its movie trailer.

okay so i name most of my fics after song lyrics but usually the song doesn't actually have anything to do with the fic, so even if i associate it with the fic, it wouldn't work for the trailer. but! my league of their own (2022) max/esther fic i say you're space, you say i'm time is named for a lyric from "continuum" by tanerelle and everything about the song is EXACTLY what i was going for with the fic – the sensuousness, the mood, everything. so i would pick that one!

🔮What's your favorite plot twist you've ever written?

ooooh idk if i've ever written a plot twist in fic! at least, not intentionally? in the fake dating au i mentioned, my readers were all surprised when the characters started a fwb situation in the middle of the fic while the dating was still fake (though one character knew he had feelings), but it wasn't intended to be a twist lololol it just...happened somehow

📝 How many words do you have posted?

embarrassingly i am the kind of person who tracks this very closely in a spreadsheet, so i can tell you that i have posted 427,066 words of fic since... 2006? but, wildly, more than half of that i posted just within the last two years when i got into the show bad buddy! lol

fanfic ask meme!

[astorinx-writes]

Tame Impala’s song “Elephant” Is About Tenma

Tame Impala’s second album, Lonerism, is considered by many (including myself) to be the artist’s magnum opus. But one song that became a huge breakout hit was certainly “Elephant.” A song about the various bands that existed around the time of Tame’s creation in their city of Perth, Australia- It tells the story of one person, who is likened to an Elephant, and is quite arrogant. Many people, both real (and fictional) may come to mind when you yourself try to imagine who the “Elephant” could be. For me, I’m most reminded of Tenma, and I’m here to explain why.

First, It would help if you gave the song a listen, so I will be linking it down below, give it a shot! Secondly, of course, I don’t actually think Kevin Parker wrote “Elephant” to be about Tenma, that would be foolish to think beyond measure. I do, however, think that the lyrics and themes contained within the song remind me of him, which again is what we’ll be discussing today.

To start, let’s go over the first half of the first verse’s lyrics. As stated on Genius.com, they are:

Well, he feels like an elephant Shaking his big grey trunk for the hell of it He knows that you're dreamin' about being loved by him Too bad your chances are slim And it's not like Mr. Shuck To get shy when they ask him who is on top

From what we can gather about Tenma’s portrayal in the 2003 series, we can see that at times he tends to give off quite an air of hubris. He’s never not upfront about his place in the world, and the people in his puzzle that he’s so desperately trying to put together. Likening him to an elephant, we get the impression that he’s large and in charge, “shaking his big gray trunk for the hell of it” implies that he’ll flaunt and make a big show about whatever, whenever, just to remind everyone of his importance. I’m always reminded of Astro/Tobio when it comes to the next 2 lines, “He knows that you’re dreaming about being loved by him / too bad your chances are slim” because quite literally we all know that at times they’ve both pinned after Tenma giving them the time of day. Even though, always like clockwork, he never delivers. Also likening him to the character in Art Garfunkel’s “Mr. Shuck ‘n’ Jive,” we’re reinforcing what was mentioned earlier about being pretentious. This time, though, we’re referring more to an event, so to speak. In this, he is being asked “who is on top,” and without hesitation, he is saying himself. Even if you considered the numerous times he’s brought up robot domination, you can’t deny he wouldn’t turn around and act like he was the glue that put everything together.

Next, we’ll discuss the second half of the first verse, which is as follows:

There must be something deep down in the dark down there But he's not too easily scared He's got friends but they got the fear Wouldn't care too much if he just disappeared Oh look, hey, there he is now coming down the stairs (Here he comes)

Now, we are getting deeper into our understanding of the “Elephant” (who again in this case would be Tenma). We begin with the notion that Tenma is quite fearless, though I would argue there are some caveats to that interpretation. My idea here is that instead of being fearless, he is actually scared shitless at many points, but to maintain appearances (either from others or even himself), he pretends not to be scared, thus further emphasizing his cockiness. The people he surrounds himself with, like Drake, are portrayed as only associating with Tenma because of what he brings to them. In many episodes, he is seen giving either money, or insider information to things no one else of his caliber would have. Which is great for them, but it ultimately means there probably isn’t anything genuine in their relationships. Rather, they are all purely transactional. The lyrics, “Wouldn't care too much if he just disappeared” do a fantastic job at emphasizing that point. The final 2 lines give way to the song becoming a bit more plot like, which leads us into the next part: the instrumental.

The instrumental part of this song has got to be my favorite part of the song, second to only the opening lines of the second verse. It’s a rock odyssey anthem that goes through many phases, that in my eyes are telling the story of Tenma showing up and the chaos that ensues. I mean, the first part before “(Here he comes)” in the first verse sounds exactly like walking down the stairs, and the roaring synth that comes in afterward is just so on brand.

What we’re left with now, is only the final verse, which, again, is below:

He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac (Yeah) 'Cause he doesn't like it looking like he looks back He talks like his opinion is a simple fact Somebody grabbed his collar He cried the whole way home No one remembered a thing when they saw him again That's how it is 'til the end (Yeah)

In what has to be my top 3 Tame Impala lyrics of all time, the alliteration in “He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac (Yeah) / 'Cause he doesn't like it looking like he looks back” is simply impeccable. What it does is continue where we left off before the instrumental break, where the “Elephant” was being described to us. Now, we are being told that Tenma, does not look back. So much so, that he pulled his rearview mirrors off to ensure of it. Obviously, there’s no way of knowing if he actually drives a Cadillac, or if he literally has pulled his rearview mirrors off, but what I can say is based on those lines, we’re solidifying that he views himself in a high regard, and will keep trotting forward, no matter what. The next few lines detail an event where things have gone awry, and we’re made to believe that nobody did or said anything after the fact. Though (obviously) I cannot say exactly what event this could be referring to, as it may be just hypothetical, there is no doubt in my mind, that anything that happens to Tenma just gets swept under the rug. Not even O’shay seems to say or do much regarding getting Tenma off Astro’s back, so clearly there is some forgetfulness going on here.

Overall, this was a pretty silly post to make. However, I will concede to the fact that not all things need to be serious, and sometimes you want to combine your special interests like gay barbie dolls you’ve forced to kiss. I hope, however, though, you at least left this post with a new bop to jam out to!

Here's the link to give it a listen!

[stargazer-tps]

Stargazer’s Art History: Best of the Amino Era (Portal)

Around 2017, I joined Amino! Most of what I posted was Barbie-related, but there were a lot of good posts I had there so I'll be crossposting them here individually (and slowly). However, I also had some Portal-based stuff that I was pretty proud of.

First up was this humanized GLaDOS design, based off of an earlier humanization I made of the Broken Age character Lorraine (the fork). This is basically what my design for Lorraine looked like, except in white/black/gold instead of blue/orange/white, and also a little more intense looking. She's a design I used in a sort-of-series I called "Project HuXLEY"—a Portal and Brave New World crossover. You can find that on AO3!

I also made this watercolor painting of her! I don't paint with watercolors very often, so this was a fun experiment for me.

This comic used lyrics from "The Mascot 3000" from Paul Shapera's New Albion Guide to Analogue Consciousness, which I thought would make great crossover content with Portal. I also wrote out this mess along the same lines:

[...] Anyway, without further dithering, let's get into the idea! Usually I would write this out as a fanfiction, but I have a nasty habit of writing a chapter or two and then never finishing it (R.I.P my Undertale x Phantom of the Opera, Harry Potter x Drowsy Chaperone, and Harry Potter x Dolls of New Albion AU fanfics), so this time I'm just going to write out the whole timeline/idea in bullet points and half sentences.

The Cast

Chell as Rachael: our protagonists have to stick together! Also, in the original Atompunk Opera, Rachael is the one who escapes the asylum, learns about the past, and eventually goes free in Elysium (and is really the only one who does so). It kind of fits. Chell is believed by Rattmann to be Cave Johnson’s reincarnation. She’s not, though; she’s no one’s reincarnation, at least not from this universe.

The Companion Cube as the Mascot 3000: this one has changed since the original comic, and even since I first started writing this post. Originally, I had set GLaDOS as the Mascot because of the song from Act 4, but given the differences between Mascot and GLaDOS (personality and role-wise), that didn’t really work. My next thought was to have it be Wheatley, since the Mascot is Rachael's guide throughout the opera, and Wheatley is Chell's guide (originally). But that doesn’t work great either given the second half of Portal 2. I settled on the Companion Cube because a) the Mascot 3000 is given to Rachael by Connor, who I’ve made Doug in this version, b) the Mascot yearns for companionship and people to go on adventures with, and c) Rachael and the Mascot go off together to explore at the end of the atompunk opera. Unlike the atompunk opera characters, though, they're not half-siblings. Or, uh, Chell's not the non-reincarnation of its half-sibling. Whatever. It’s confusing.

Doug Rattmann as Connor: although he may or not be old enough to fulfill this kind of role following the canon Portal timeline (which is super duper confusing anyway), I figured he was kind of perfect for this role. Connor is originally an employee of Arcadia Corp., the Voodoopunks’ science company, is against their AI experiments (for him, though, it's because they're using his toddler child), and frees Rachael from the asylum. Or helps, at least. It's unclear. He also uses the radio (through Lee's song) to communicate to Rachael, whom he assumes is Adrian's reincarnation. In this AU, Rattmann fills many of the same roles: an Aperture employee who doesn’t agree with all they do, who aids the protagonist and, while not the primary culprit behind its use, is at least somewhat associated with the radio. He helps free Chell from her confinement, sends her on her way with the Companion Cube, and is trying to rescue Caroline from Elysium, I guess. (It’s a bit ironic, though, because in order to do that, Caroline will have to be uploaded into an AI—as was the plan for Lee in the original opera—thus becoming GLaDOS.)

Caroline as Adrian: I kept going back and forth as to whether Caroline should be Lee or Adrian, but settled on this, I guess—but modified a little bit. She went through the portal into Elysium along with Cave. She was killed basically immediately, and reincarnated into… Doug, I think? However, Doug thinks that she is the one in Elysium who is still alive—not Cave—and wants to save her. He doesn’t know she’s gone.

Cave Johnson as Lee: I don’t have a very good description here. He’s the one in Elysium using the radio to communicate out with a song, but I guess unlike in the Atompunk Opera it might just be like the Still Alive instrumental thing and that’s why Doug doesn’t know it’s Cave who’s still there and not Caroline.

Aperture Science as Arcadia Corp.: a given, I suppose. Instead of working on GLaDOS as a solution to Cave's moon rock poisoning, they just kind of try to shoehorn themselves into Elysium. I mean, they do work on AI for a while (hence the existence of Wheatley), but it's kind of a complicated mess, and then they realize "ooh, portals," and try to make one into the world of the dead. IDK, maybe they think that going there will make them immortal: "This illness can't kill me if I'm already dead, dammit!"

The Plot (kind of)

Alright, I’ll level with you—I started writing this like a year ago and now I don’t remember what I was doing with this at all, but I wanted to at least post what I had written. Anyway, I do know that in my mind this AU basically just followed the plot of the New Albion Guide to Analogue Consciousness, so what I’m gonna do is summarize song by song, I guess.

New Albion 9: Don’t worry about it. It’s the expositional worldbuilding song and we don’t care about it in this context.

Rachael: Somewhere in Aperture, Chell awakens. She escapes from where she has been confined or whatever and starts trying to find her way up and out. I think the backstory here was that Portal 1 wasn’t really a thing (b/c GLaDOS doesn’t exist rn); the scientists were re-focusing their energies on Project Elysium (getting into Elysium to live there/have Cave go there/whatever) instead of the handheld portal device, but they figured they’d need test subjects at some point and put her in long-term relaxation. Since many of the scientists died in the migration (also in whatever legal action was taken against them), no one was left to reawaken her except like… Doug, but that took a little while.

Introducing the Mascot 3000: Chell runs into Rattmann, who gives her the Companion Cube to guide her. It’s a little more sentient than usual in this version, or maybe Chell is hallucinating as a result of whatever soup of chemicals they had her on in long-term relaxation. She continues on.

The Shopogopolis: Aperture is Aperture, so there’s still things out there that could kill her—whether it be rogue AI, turrets, or the stray employees left (she doesn’t want them to know she’s out b/c they might put her back into LTR)—so while she isn’t hiding in one place like Rachael, she is sneaking around, trying to figure out what to do next.

What the Trite and Banal Say: Chell and the Companion Cube follow a rogue radio signal. It leads them to the back offices, where Rattmann is waiting for them. He wants to tell/show them a little bit about what has happened over the years in Aperture, maybe the Companion Cube has the capacity to show them, maybe not.

New Albion 8: Also exposition, but basically Aperture Science is as twisted as ever, but with an extra layer—this would bring us back in time first to describe Aperture’s golden days, then the goals of Project Elysium and how things were in the company right before they actually completed that—they’re convinced it’s a great idea to go there, because if Cave is already there, then by some twisted logic he won’t be able to die or whatever. Or maybe he just wants control over the dying.

Kyrie: I don’t know, this kind of describes the plot too. Cave is really talking up the whole plan, even though it’s probably not a great idea.

Connor: Doug Rattmann gets an aria to explain his reservations, I guess. He’s not romantically involved with Caroline like Connor is with his unnamed wife, but he is just as disillusioned with the company he’s working for and their goals.

The Lovers: Idk. This would be where Cave and Caroline are having a dialogue about the whole plan but I’m not sure it would be in the same style or of the same flavor.

The Deceit: I’m cutting this one, it isn’t needed here. But Rattmann is planning on sabotaging the operation IG.

The Voodoopunks’ Ascension: Kind of the same as the original. They’re crossing over.

Ark 1: The scientists who are still in Aperture (who didn’t go over) are checking in on the groups (who are Not Doing Well); Rattmann has ratted them out to the authorities or whatever for something illegal (cause there’s a lot of potential things that they could be reported for aside from, you know, trying to cross the bridge into the land of the dead). They shut things down (on the surface level; there’s still stuff going on in the lower levels and in the relaxation centers that no one finds). Rattmann did not realize that Caroline had gone with the group into Elysium and his plan had banked on her still being around to run the company.

Elysium 1: in the opera, this is just some vague commentary. We don’t really need it here.

Postcards from Perdition Trail: the Aperture folks who went through before Doug ratted them out are stuck in Elysium now, and it’s Bad for the same reason as in the Atompunk Opera. It’s not great being Alive in the land of the dead because the creatures will kill you.

Lee: Cave sings his musings on the situation and the loss of Caroline (who was killed by the creatures and thus reincarnated into Chell IG(but not really; if we’re following the Atompunk Opera to the letter, then technically Caroline would have reincarnated into… Doug?).

Rachael Returns and The Moth: Chell and the Companion Cube arrive in Elysium. It was at this point in my writing that I switched Cave to being Lee and Caroline to being Adrian, so if there’s inconsistencies in my writing, that's why. Anyway Doug has that personal interest in saving Caroline—but she died. He did not know Caroline was killed but knows Chell is special. When Cave hears that someone is coming through, he thinks it’s Caroline reincarnate and is disappointed that it’s not her.

The Show No One Saw: Chell is bitter that this whole thing was for nothing—there was no Caroline to save (her mission) AND Cave was very dismissive and rude. She runs.

The Mascot 3000 and In This Episode: The Companion Cube gets some songs explaining its origin and drive for, well, companionship. (They ARE sentient, you know.)

The Rescue Plan, The Creatures Speak, and Lost Night’s Lullabye: Cave confronts Chell like “are you nuts?” thinking the creatures are gonna kill her. The Cube gets everyone’s attention and gives them the choice to either “go through the gate” and reincarnate OR be put into a robot body back in Aperture. If Caroline was still there, they’d have told her she HAS to upload but she’s dead. Cave is going to upload himself but gets killed. Those who want to are uploaded (minus Cave). Chell stays in Elysium with the Cube—symbolically, she’s already dead.

Connor Reprise: Doug waits indefinitely for Chell, Caroline, and the Companion Cube as the other Aperture folks upload.

New Albion 10: Narration to say goodbye.

[mediocre-daydreams]

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝: give me a character (+) and i’ll tell you what song(s) i associate them with

i'm obsessed with this. james potter!

james is such a love at first sight man. he's orange colored sky by natalie cole. he's dramatic about it too, the minute he sees you he starts tugging at sirius' arm and slapping remus' shoulder and whispering to peter and discreetly pointing to you because merlin if he lets you get away without saying hi. just look at these lyrics:

i was walking along, mindin' my business, when love came and hit me in the eye

(okay james wears glasses so technically they hit his lenses but whatever.) can you imagine him going about his day as normal, maybe headed to lunch and reviewing the lyrics to the song he wrote last night to serenade lily with in front of the entire dining hall, when he catches sight of you and just stops walking. he just freezes and everyone else keeps walking for a bit and then sirius notices he's missing and is panicking and remus just points to james who is rooted to the ground and absolutely transfixed by this girl he's seen in brief flashes before. he knows who you are, obviously; you've got some mutual friends and classes together but you never got around to properly introducing yourselves, but now you're caught in conversation and he gets to really see you for the first time and you're laughing and your uniform is a little messy from a chatoic DADA class and he knows he's done for.

i went into a spin and i started to shout, "i've been hit, this is it, this is it!"

of course the marauders bully tease him relentlessly and shamelessly about this all the way to lunch. they think you're just a temporary distraction from lily, that james will forget all about you in a few days max, but they're wrong. he's trying to fool himself, but his gaze always slips over to you in class and he can't help but notice how you whisper the answers to kids who get cold-called and give younger students advice on dealing with certain teachers. you take your studies seriously, just like lily, but you're always willing to partner up with someone struggling or take a bit of time from your own work to help someone in need. the marauders pass notes in class a lot, but at this point james is dominating half the conversation just talking about you and she's so brave, did you see how she didn't even flinch at that boggart? she's so cute even with armadillo bile on her face. is she cold? does she look cold to you? is it weird if i offer her my robe? he'd be physically swooning and pretending to faint and (sirius would let him fall) remus has to catch him and then you look over and ask if james is okay and HE'S SO EMBARASSED. but he takes it as an opportunity to start a conversation during which he can't stop fumbling with his bag and blushing and fidgeting and wondering what excuse he'll come up with next time to see you again

bonus: i also see him as everybody talks by neon trees or jump then fall by taylor swift

[outeremissary]

✏️ and ☁️ for Balthazar Forgive me if it's annoying to ask about characters I'm in a campaign with but I like learning about my imaginary character's imaginary friends lol 💓 and 🌈 for Marcus

No need to apologize at all! Honestly, it's helpful to just have random questions to start to get the feel for the character. I don't think I know Marcus very well yet- he's very unlike my usual type.

Balthazar

✏️ PENCIL - is there a particular quote / lyric that you associate with them?

Oh god. You've found a way to make me share literally anything from my playlists. I had to fish around for a while for something that felt like... succinct and also clear, I guess. So I guess upon reviewing the candidates and decreeing anything better than whipping out Katy Perry here, we get this, from Are You Satisfied by Marina and the Diamonds?

"People like to tell you what you're gonna be

It's not my problem if you don't see what I see

And I do not give a damn if you don't believe"

I'm... not very good at music stuff.

☁️ CLOUD - a soft headcanon

Any thought can be soft when you’re in love with your OC Sometimes, when he’s alone and focused on something else, Balthazar will hum or sing softly. It’s not something he’s really conscious of doing. Just random, vaguely melodic humming or songs stuck in his head that he only half knows the lyrics to. It fills the quiet up in a comforting way. He’d deny it if someone asked about it- although more than likely it wouldn’t really be a lie, it registers that little. Very, very rarely though, it happens when he’s forgotten someone is nearby. He’s seldom so comfortable with other people that he can relax so completely, but sometimes...

Marcus

💓BEATING HEART - what gets their heart racing?Well, for a not especially soft interpretation of this, the thought of disappointing his father. His father has always been a fairly strict man, but in the past few years he has become... severe. He expects a lot from Marcus and Marcus is terrified of letting him down or shaming his family. He can practically hear the voice of "How could you cause us this trouble? Are you trying to make your mother cry?" any time things are going wrong. His family expects a lot from him and it's exhausting and stressful. He'd never abandon them though- they need him. And they love him... right?

Ah, but on the gentle side I can say he's thrilled by tales of the unknown. There's something exciting about knowing out might there exist things beyond the bounds of his dreary life, things that can't be explained at all. Reading about them and imagining them brings him joy. And he loves to speculate and debate as well, even if he'd scoff and deny it.

🌈 RAINBOW - what advice would they give to their younger self?

"Pay more attention to your tutors! It's important to have practical skills. You can't just rely on your family- one day people will rely on you. So stop trying to feed your homework to the dog!"

[televinita]

Am listening to Taylor Swift music again, and have been seized by the need to talk through some of her older albums -- favorite songs, personal history, whatever comes to mind. Maybe in yet another attempt to try and figure out my overall fave / ranking of them as a set? No real order is planned for this so I thought I’d start with this one, because I realized I actually hadn’t listened to it in quite some time.

(I don't really know what this mini-project is going to be but I’ve been noodling on it for a few nights and now seems as good a time as any to share.)

Background/Overview

When it was new -- and a 2010 Christmas present for me -- it was my favorite of the three, but now I'm not sure. The thing is that it has several songs I like better than the entirety of Fearless (except for #1 fave Change), but it also has a handful I find less interesting compared to that one’s “13 track listings, stars beside them all” success, and I can’t decide how to weight that. It does absolutely have the prettiest cover and booklet, though.

Songs

Ask me my favorite song on this album and I’ll say without hesitation Long Live. I don’t think that will ever change; it’s in my all-time-faves across her whole discography. The twin/companion piece to Change, it never fails to make my heart sing. It came out after I was an adult but it still makes me nostalgic and occasionally teary as hell for high school. Bonus association: this was my mental soundtrack for the end of Glee season 3 too (”for a moment, a band of thieves in ripped-up jeans got to rule the world").

Runner-up faves are Haunted, which really lives up to its name (Wuthering Heights-haunted style, maybe... between the electric guitar tearing open the scene and the chimes, the instrumentation is epic; this may be the only song that actually loses emotional impact as an acoustic/piano version), Better Than Revenge (which is my not-even-that-guilty pleasure and I will JAM OUT to it to this day; "no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity" is SAVAGE and I love it), and The Story of Us ("looks like a lot like a tragedy now" is one of my favorite quotes to bust out in episode reviews about ‘ship destruction, or was when I still did those), which is similarly jam-out-worthy. Ooh, and Sparks Fly is one of those songs where I'm like, "WHY wasn't this a single, it's so good." I’m actually always kind of surprised that one isn’t the album opener; “my mind forgets to remind me you’re a bad idea” is my anthem for giving shows/ships/characters/episodes way more chances than they deserve. (Grey’s Anatomy. We’re mostly talking about every time I dip back into the Grey’s Anatomy waters). In slow-songs-I-like territory: Enchanted, which is frankly too pretty for the person it’s actually about (but helpfully easy to apply to anyone and relevant to every listener’s life). And Back to December, which suffers rather unjustly from my knowing that it’s about The Boring Taylor, because I used to automatically skip it about half the time, yet every time I actually listen to it I'm shocked to realize it’s way prettier than I remember. Both musically (when male vocals...enhance?? a taylor song??) and lyrically.

As far as the other singles, I kind of killed Mine for myself with overplay, but I do think it's one of the strongest singles she's ever released...and as I’m listening to it now, I think it might be back! What good music, what a sweet scenario, and how much do I love the “brace myself for the goodbye / ‘cause that’s all I’ve ever known...” part.

Mean is fun and deservedly sassy, although it too is recovering from overplay (with the added demerit of being covered in the worst, least appealing possible way on Glee and feeling tainted forever. Once upon a time this was in my top 5 for the CD). Speak Now is fun too, but also...damn, so much more juvenile and mean-spirited to me now than Better Than Revenge. You don't help a dude ditch his bride at their wedding! If he shouldn't be marrying her you talk to him BEFORE THE CEREMONY???? I have definitely lost enchantment with this one over time.

One I don’t know how to feel about: I have to be in the right mood for the song so I don’t always let it play through, but as a late bloomer homebody and perpetual looker-backer, the second half of Never Grow Up really kicked me in the heart when I first heard it. I thankfully never ended up having to experience this, but "here I am in my / new apartment in the big city / they just dropped me off / it's so much colder than I thought it would be / so I tuck myself in, and turn the nightlight on" really described all my deepest fears about graduating from college and still brings a twinge at the mere thought.

On the downturn: unpopular opinion but while Dear John is full of great lyrics, it’s just so damned slow that I skip it almost every time. I’m really hoping it gets reinvigorated by a Taylor’s Version, because whenever I give it a chance, I just end up freshly disappointed by the wasted potential.

Innocent is slightly more compelling music-wise, but still rather slow and often skipped, not least because it just...feels weird. Uneven. There are some great lines and a good idea buried in here, but with its history and context it's so patronizing even when I’m on Taylor’s side that it ends up cringe.

Meanwhile, Last Kiss doesn't even exist to me. It covers the same criminal territory as Back to December but it's EVEN SLOWER. Bonus Tracks I didn't hear them until the end of 2012 and even then only as standalones on Spotify, separate from the album associations, I absolutely love all three, more than the last 5 or 6 above in fact. Ours is the companion piece / sequel to "Mine," If This Were A Movie is sweet, and Superman is so cute and catchy.

[trevisos]

Do you have any songs or albums you associate with Xarrai and Ieriyn? It could be the lyrics of a song, the themes of an album, or just the general vibes of either, it doesn't matter why.

Bonus question: Do you have any OTP/ship songs for them and their LIs?

oooh boy do i. i’ll be real my ieriyn playlist is still such a wip that im just gonna answer this for xarrai BUT i will say. my love mine all mine is theeee gale/ieriyn song to me right now. and their ship tag is from abstract (psychopomp) by hozier. :3

combined i have about 6 hours worth of xarrai playlists (solo and xarrai/astarion) so picking like An Album or even just a couple of songs is rly hard LOL. most of them are good fits lyrics wise but some are more for vibes/feel! so i don’t spend my entire day answering this ask i’ll drop the first song i put on their playlist + the most recent song i put on there and links to both playlists :3

first song: grey veins by ls dunes

i saw dunes live right before i started playing bg3 and so had the album on repeat while i was developing xar’s character. grey veins was The First Xar Song lol

most recent song: wage wars get rich die handsome by the mountain goats

idk what to tell you those are simply their goals in life LOL. the vibe and the lyrics fit well and i just also rly fucking love this song i’ve been jamming to it like all week.

favorite song: this changes like daily but today i’m gonna say the old witch sleep and the good man grace by the amazing devil

is this The Most Xarrai Song on the playlist? maybe not. but the “i’ve been here so many times before / don’t you think i look pretty / curled up on this bathroom floor?” line followed by the “sometimes i fall to pieces / just to see which bits of me don’t fit” line Especially conjures Such a specific vignette of their earlier life for me navigating getting out of the cult/survival sex work/actually transitioning/etc. the rest of the song is also very them tho esp the second half.

fav song from the ship playlist: like real people do by hozier

i’m diseased. it’s thee xarrastarion song and the only reason it’s not their tag is bc i didn’t want a song Title as a tag and every other line in the song was too long for me to want to write it all the time. so shout out to who we are also by hozier for their ship tag ig but real xarrastarion fans know like real people do is theee song

xarrai playlist // xarrastarion playlist

[last-flight-of-dickarus]

(Apologies @ryfkah if it's weird to see someone geeking out about a story you wrote years ago, but hopefully you like or at least don't mind playlists based on your characters)

This story has settled firmly in my brain and cemented itself as a new sandbox for my silly daydreams, so I made a playlist (right before I learned there's another wonderful Suradanna playlist out there that even shares a couple of songs with this one). I've built up this world and these characters in my head so much that half the songs I associate with them wouldn't make sense to anyone else, but I tried to keep the playlist rooted in canon.

Song list and a little about why I chose each one below the cut because I'm incapable of posting anything without commentary but it got like... really long.

Hyperfixating on a short, standalone story is the book equivalent of falling in love with a side character who only appears in one episode. Something something you fill in the rest with your heart. Anyway.

Hozier - It Will Come Back: This one was irresistible. It's the longing. It's the "please don't offer what I can't accept". It's Bog Man, Honorary Lesbian Icon.

Florence + The Machine - Never Let Me Go: I mean come on. "The crashes are heaven for a sinner like me/But the arms of the ocean delivered me"? It's the imagery. It's a person as a constant and an anchor and the sea all at once. It's, again, the honorary lesbian icon.

Arctic Monkeys - Love is a Laserquest: It's the whole vibe tbh. It's that sweet sweet distant longing for something you're trying not to want. "Do you still feel younger than you thought you would by now/Or darling have you started feeling old yet?/Don't worry I'm sure that you're still breaking hearts/With the efficiency/That only youth can harness"

Arctic Monkeys - Only Ones Who Know: It's the secret shared with only one other soul in the universe with the constant awareness that that soul is far away in every sense of the phrase. "And even if somehow we could have/Shown you the place you wanted/Well, I'm sure you could've/Made it that bit better on your own"

Sea Wolf - Dear Fellow Traveller: It's the sea imagery as always. It's the shared journey of immortal wanderers. There are so many lyrics that fit them so well but I've always loved "You spoke my language and touched my limbs/It wasn't difficult to pull me from myself again/And in our travels, we found our roads/You held it like a mirror, showing me the life I chose"

Alana Henderson & Joshua Burnside - On Board: This song. The perfect sailor's love song. I've loved it forever and it's perfect for them. Every line, the way the lines are shared between both singers, the entire theme. It's just. Yes. Even just the chorus: "You should get on board/With someone whose course is steadier than mine./You should get on board/With someone whose eyes are on the horizon, and not on the skies/On board with someone/Whose anchor is heavier than mine"

The Staves - Dead & Born & Grown: It's the tragedy of immortality, this time from an old immortal to a young immortal. "I'll stay the same and stand here on my own/'Til everything is dead and born and grown/Just go at your own pace/As you slip and tumble down from grace"

The Mountain Goats - Sometimes I Still Feel the Bruise: It's "I needed you for years." It's the missing what was never yours and what you don't even really want to find again. "I'm under no illusion/As to what I meant to you/But you made an impression/And sometimes I still feel the bruise"

Lord Huron - I Will Be Back One Day: Again, it's the restless traveler who never stays long enough to get attached. Again, it's the 'I would stop running for the first time in my life. I would try to stay still long enough for you to understand me. I would do it for you.' I don't even know which one of them this song is about but it's sure as hell Them. "I remember the fateful day when I ran away/And you told me I couldn't return/You made me swear I'd never forget/I made a vow I'd see you again"

Gregory Alan Isakov - If I Go, I'm Goin: Again again, it's the wanderer who keeps a bag packed, always ready to run for fear of getting attached, but who deep down really really wants to get attached. "I got my change behind the bed/In a coffee can I throw my nickels in/Just in case I have to leave./And I will go if you ask me to/I will stay if you dare/And if I go/I'm goin' shameless"

Jason Isbell - Traveling Alone: Ok obvs I'm a sucker for this whole theme. Song does exactly what it says on the tin. "I know every town worth passing through/But what good does knowing do/With no one to show it to?/I've grown tired of travelling alone/Tired of travelling alone/I've grown tired of travelling alone/Won't you ride with me?"

Gregory Alan Isakov - That Sea, The Gambler: I'll admit, the lyrics to this one don't fit quite as well as the others, but there's something about it that perfectly hits both the restless traveler and the sea-as-a-person-and-home-and-freedom-and-fear vibes at the same time. "Cursed your captain and stow me below/Hold me amongst all your cards/Oh, we were sea bound and aimless at best/Clutching to the wheel and those charts/That sea was just a gambler at heart"

Billie Eilish - ocean eyes: Yes it's basic. No I'm not sorry. It's the longing for the gray-eyed mystery you don't want to want because they piss you off endlessly but you feel lost at sea and so so safe in those eyes every time. Also just "Careful creature made friends with time/[S]he left her lonely with a diamond mind/And those ocean eyes/No fair"

Boygenius - Cool About It: Again, basic and not sorry in the least. It's the running into your ex who you genuinely thought you were over and realizing that you still hope they think about you all the time, becuase they may not have been in a relationship but they were definitely exes lmao. "I'm trying to forget about it/Feelin' like I'm breaking a sweat about it/Wishin' you would kindly get out of my head about it/Tellin' myself one day I'll forget about it/Knowin' that it probably isn't true"

Lord Huron - At Sea: If the captain had a guitar, this is what I could see her playing. Just plucking away at the strings on a quiet night, lost in thought. "Lonely/All on my own just like I wanted to be/Lost out at sea/I might stay on my island for a couple of years/See how it feels"

Seafret - Oceans: God I've loved Seafret since their first release and look at them now, killin it. Anyway. Again with the ocean imagery and the longing. "It feels like there's oceans/Between me and you once again/We hide our emotions/Under the surface and try to pretend/But it feels like there's oceans/Between you and me"

Dar Williams - The Light And The Sea: Another based as much on vibes as lyrics, but once again it's the sea as home and the only eternal constant. "There is a light/There will always be the light and the sea/The rolling sea/The light and me/And it all comes down/Down to me/To feel the presence of my soul/Amid the torrents and the cold/Of the sea"

Seafret - To the Sea: Again again with the sea imagery and the longing. The lyrics don't exactly "fit", but I couldn't not include "Do you think of me/When you look to the sea?/I know it's hard to grow/When you're pushed to your knees"

Lord Huron - Frozen Pines: Another song for a restless, lonely wanderer who would stay if they only knew how. Also another one that could really be either of them. "I look up to the sky/And I know you're still alive/But I wonder where you are/I call your name into the dark/I wake up in the morning, oh/And I don't know where I've been/All alone on a mountainside/And I'm huddled in the wind/And it feels like I've been away for an era/But nothing has changed at all"

Mitski - Francis Forever: This one is lowkey so Suradanna. Again, it's thinking you're over your ex and then realizing that you've been hoping they've seen everything you've done. "I don't need the world to see/That I've been the best I can be/But I don't think I could stand to be/Where you don't see me"

Jack Johnson - Only The Ocean: Another one purely for the sea imagery and the captain. "After all of this time/After all of these seasons/After your one decision/To go to the water for reason/It's only the ocean and you" and like... all of the other lyrics too, tbh.

Boygenius - Not Strong Enough: Just like the first song, it's the 'please don't offer what I can't accept; I'm sorry I can't be what you need.' "I don't know why I am/The way I am/Not strong enough to be your man/I lied, I am/Just lowering your expectations/Half a mind that keeps the other second guessing"

Keaton Henson - Late To You: I fucking love Keaton Henson and so many of his songs could fit on this playlist. I didn't let myself overthink the order of the songs as much as I wanted to, but this one had to go last because it's just so perfect for that last scene on the balcony. It's the 'It took a lifetime, but I'm here now if you'll have me.' from both of them. "All these years parading/Parading my flaws/I've been slowly deflating/But baby, now I'm yours/Oh, I left it late to love you/And what is left ain't much/It took too long to trust you/I fear I'll crumble at your touch"

A novella featuring trade routes, magical fertilizer, and one girl’s centuries-long effort to impress a woman who is already in a committed relationship with a boat.

[takethistoyourstardust]

3, 9, 11, and 23!!

I WILL DO THIS FOR RORA IN THIS ASK BUT IN A DIFF TEXT POST I'LL DO ONE FOR DAISY TOO SINCE YOU ANSWERED MINE W YOUR DOCTOR WHOMST OC HEHE. UNDER THE CUT BC THIS GOT LONGER THAN INTENDED < 3

--

3) What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

Hmm... I think her main flaw is that she's very ruled by her emotions. She's quick to, well, all her emotions and can't hide them well, but spite is the dangerous one. See: her telling Emet-Selch the memory of Aumorat will die with him, and only showing Elidibus the crystals because she assumed his mind was so gone he believed his own bullshit about the ancients being real. You can... imagine how she felt when her ass landed in Elpis during Endwalker. She is aware of it, and is trying to work on it with the pixies, but change is slow when you've been doing that shit for almost 6 years of your life because you were too busy saving the world.

9) Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

it will NOT surprise you that most of these are fall out boy lyrics.

"Put on your war paint!" - the phoenix - this one should be obvious as to why HGJFHGJFHGHJGH, i've always imagined this to be the endwalker op if her msq journey was an anime :)

"'Cause you're the last of a dying breed!/Write our names in the wet concrete!/I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me?/I'm here in search of your glory/There's been a million before me/That ultra kind of love you never walk away from/You're just the last of the real ones!" - the last of the real ones - lowkey she's kinda a manic pixie dream girl and this is THEEE manic pixie dream girl anthem <3 and her "ultra kind of love" is her Friend Chip <3

"Sometimes the only payoff for having any faith/Is when it's tested again and again, every day/I'm still comparing your past to my future/They might be your wounds but they're my sutures" - immortals - THEY PUT THIS SHIT IN A DISNEY MOVIE AND NOW I'M PUTTING THIS SHIT IN MY BLORBO. for the most part she doesn't care abt the fact that she was azem (and has actively turned down learning any information about her, only knowing her real name and that she was hyth's sister bc hades and hyth respectively told her when she was caught a little off guard), but if she had to give a general feeling abt azem, it'd be the second half of the lyrics; it might be azem's soul, but it's her life. she's NOT aphrodite, she's ahrora. as for the first half. well you've played msq!! you know how it be on this bitch of an earf!!!

"So take the field, with a triumphant roar!/I won’t be swayed anymore/Even if this new power I’ve gained/Tries to test what I’m made of/Just raise your flag up high/And shout at the top of your lungs/And when I reach the next level/Then untold power will be in my hands!" - rise up your flag - HER CHARACTER SONG!!! YES I AM IN FACT STEALING FROM KAMEN RIDER <3

"Don't avert your gaze! Keep it straight/Nothing will stop us at this point/Until the magic wears off - until then,/Hold on tight to my hand, my hand!" - teo - i've always imagined this to be like. her anime ed.

at least we got ONE vocaloid song to balance it all out.

11) What is your OC's weapon of choice? Have they ever actually used it?

to answer the second question first: No Shit <3

DNC - the level 90 artifact weapon you get in endwalker, Terpsichore!

SGE - Isnae Phis, aka the sage weapons that look like Feo Ul's wings!

DWN - in-game it's the Deepshadow Claymore, in lore it's the weapon Hades uses when he tanks for you in the Elpis dungeon, since the power is inherited from him.

23) What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

She uh. Doesn't have a hard time expressing her emotions (see above), but the hardest one for her to process is fear. She started being the WoL at 16, and only became an adventurer because of the fear of not being able to control her life/being shoved into a relationship she had no desire to be in. Any time she feels fear, she pretends she doesn't. She's only admitted to being scared to G'raha, right before he sacrificed himself in Ultima Thule, finally breaking down and saying she was scared she wasn't gonna be able to return home.

[galionne-speeding]

So I'm curious, does anyone have songs they associate with or that remind them of the Deadly Six?