#i got them like half off and the sound quality on them is fantastic

[rabbithaver]

my mom let me get a pair of bluetooth earbuds as well as the wired ones i got because i found an really fantastic deal

and holy shit i am so glad she did because these whip ass. they'll be replacing my wired headphones when it comes to using my computer, i think.

[ninja-muse]

August is over! My reading month felt like it took forever even though otherwise, the month flew by. I blame this half on my top two reads of the month, which I was only reading in short snippets, and half on a number of lackluster reads and DNFs. I'm hoping to get back into my usual habits in September.

I did do better on reading off my physical TBR though! Even though one book was a "aw man, what do I read now?" and two more were, "I'm behind on my goal, quick, read something fast!" Plus the T. Kingfisher, which was graciously provided by my work, as was Running Close to the Wind. (Finally a month where I didn't spend money to add to my library!)

As for my top reads, The Salmon Shanties would be near the top of my list even if there wasn't a degree of reverse-nepotism involved. Absolutely excellent poetry collection, very layered and complex. If you're into Canadian poetry or poetry-of-place, pick it up! And Rose/House, once I got it back from the library because my Libby hold ran out, was absolutely fantastic! As was the quality of the French translation, because it sounded like Martine. So very, very glad I had the nerve (and linguistic ability) to read it. Super-creepy and I'm glad Tor's picked it up so I can hype the heck out of it next year. And then there's Jinn-Bot, which I wrote an actual review for.

On the other end of the list, sigh. I DNFed one book for feeling kind of trite, and another for being too predictable, and probably should have DNFed Voyage of the Damned for being uneven but I needed to know who the killer was. The Library Thief I'm also counting as lackluster—very good book, just wasn't for me or what I was expecting. Still deserves a 7.

Lula Dean, on the other hand, was surprisingly good! Fun and satirical and just plain entertaining. Read it in a couple days and it would likely be higher on my list except my reasons to be "glad to have read them" this month are less about quality and entertainingness than usual. I can't put "really liked this" above "finally I get to read a new book by X!", for instance. Or necessarily above "learned stuff!"

You might notice a distinct lack of any other news, and that's because there is none. September may be marginally more exciting, we'll see. (I know there'll be a bigger book haul.)

Anyway, on to September now, and in the meantime, here's my list everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

The Salmon Shanties - Harold Rhenisch

A collection of poems centered on and celebrating Cascadia in all its facets (or taking it to task, as the case may be). Out in September.

10/10

🇨🇦

warning: mentions racism, colonization, genocide

digital reading copy

Rose/House - Arkady Martine

There is a body within Rose House—two, if you count its architect, who ordered the house shuttered with his passing and left to its AI. Only one person is allowed to enter now, and she’s accounted for. And yet there is a body within Rose House….

9/10

🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: descriptions of a dead body

library ebook

The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport - Samit Basu

Lina and Bador want freedom: from surveillance, from power structures, for their city, for all bots, or just for their family. This might come from cunning, or revolution, or a lost ancient artifact, or an underground bot-battle, or swaying a visiting space hero or the Not-Prince. Much more than an Aladdin retelling.

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (multisexual, achillean), Indian-coded cast, Indian author

warning: discusses colonization and oppression, references police violence

reading copy

Unwritten, Vol. 8 - Mike Carey with Peter Gross, Dean Ormston, Yuko Shimizu

When Tommy Taylor learns that Lizzie is trapped in the land of the dead, he goes to rescue her—but he’s unprepared for his adventures there, or the wider implications.

8/10

Indigenous Australian secondary character

off my TBR

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

Paul Bäumer recounts his time serving in the German army in WWI.

7/10

warning: war, death, animal death, gore, injury

off my TBR

A Sorceress Comes to Call - T. Kingfisher

Cordelia’s terrible mother has decided to marry a squire. Cordelia knows he and his sister don’t deserve that—but how to stop her, when she can do magic?

7.5/10

warning: child abuse, torture, murder, animal cruelty and death

finished copy received through work

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 4 - Umi Sakurai

Kanda gets the courage to make a new friend and revisit an old situation.

7/10

Japanese cast, Japanese author

off my TBR

A Gentleman from Japan - Thomas Lockley

The true story of a Japanese man who was brought to the court of Elizabeth I and influenced early modern English science.

7.5/10

warning: slavery, orientalism, war and violence

library book

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books - Kirsten Miller

In Troy, Georgia, the fight for public decency is kicked off by Lula Dean, who craves attention and loves her Southern history—and her fencepost library, where someone’s put wholesome jackets over books she’s tried to ban….

7/10

ensemble cast including Black, 🏳️‍🌈 (gay, lesbian), and Indo-American POV characters

warning: Nazis, anti-Semitism, anti-Black racism, homophobia, rape, suicide

reading copy

The Library Thief - Kuchenga Shenjé

Florence talks her way into a job repairing a lord’s library, but is quickly drawn in by the mysterious death of the lady of the house. A gothic novel centering race, gender, and other marginalizations in late Victorian England.

7/10

Black British main character, Black British secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (trans woman, sapphic), Black British author

warning: racism, including slurs; rape, abuse, misogyny, queerphobia

library book

The Voyage of the Damned - Frances White

A grand state voyage is upset by murder and it’s up to the lowly, non-Blessed Ganymedes to catch the killer before they dock. Goddess help them all if he doesn’t….

5.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (multisexual), fat protagonist, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (nonbinary, ace, trans man, sapphic, achillean), Indian-, African-, and Japanese-coded secondary characters

warning: murder, injuries, blood, colonial thinking, attempted genocide, suicidal thoughts

reading copy

DNF

Remedial Magic - Melissa Marr

Safe and ordinary Ellie meets a mysterious woman in her library, and is whisked to a fantasy world where she’s probably a witch—and almost certainly in trouble.

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (sapphic), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (sapphic), 🏳️‍🌈 author

reading copy

Casket Case - Lauren Evans

Garrett stops to ask for directions at Nora’s casket shop and they hit it off. Unfortunately he works for Death…. Out in September.

African-American secondary characters

reading copy

Currently reading

A Natural History of Dragons - Marie Brennan

A memoir by Lady Trent, renowned natural philosopher and adventuress, but covering her childhood and first expedition, to the mountain highlands of Vystrana, and the troublesome dragons encountered there.

library book

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts. The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Victorian detective stories.

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 11 Yearly total: 70 Queer books: 1 Authors of colour: 3 Books by women: 6 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 1 Classics: 1 Off the TBR shelves: 4 Books hauled: 2 ARCs acquired: 3 ARCs unhauled: 6 DNFs: 2

January February March April May June July

[toodleoorblx]

**SPOILERS AHEAD BEWARE**

Agatha All Along just came out, heres what I think about it.

So, starting off with the cinematic factors of it, I loved it. it was exactly what I was expecting, nothing less. I was very surprised with the plot though. It was so so funny, I had watched it with one of my friends and she loved it as well. Props to all who were apart of Agatha all along. The references of witchy movies, like the trap door and Snow White? I loved that Easter egg, I probably sound crazy but I swear it’s there.

I loved how dramatic Agatha was, her sarcasm, her impaticnce, her wickedness, spot on, even her haterd for Wanda. Agatha has lots of emotions, as much as I can tell. She just conceals them so much. She looks conflicted and angry when she sees Rio, she seems playful and antagonizing with Jen, laid back with Lilia, dismissive with Alice, impatient with Ms. Davis, and genuinely irritated and annoyed with Teen. She seems much more open on the show, less… distant and cruel? Maybe it’s the many many fics I’ve read that’s clouding my judgement but I was surprised to say the least. But it wasn’t a bad one. I love Agatha in this, there’s so much to tell about her her life, and I’m hyped to find out what’s up.

(Side note, one of my predictions was right! Rio's magic is in fact not something that can be taken. That was one of the few predictions I had made, and I'm so glad that that little detail was right.)

And Rio?! Oh my goodness, she's just as cryptc and lore filled as I imagined her. Her harshness with an underlined gentleness is killing me! And her licking Agatha’s hand better? Oh my that had me in a chokehold, so many golden ideas portrayed beautifully. And I have reason to believe that Agatha sacrificed Nicholas. The first sign is the childhood bedroom from episode one, Agnes being upset about it, two, the jab that Jen made, and three, when Rio mentioned the Darkhold, and its darkness, theres definitely some lore there, and I think it’s something that Agatha caused. Also does anyone have any clues as to what Rio says when she makes her dramatic exits? I only know some Spanish, but I’m not fluent 😭

Anywho, let’s talk about Teen. So when I first saw him I was fairly surprised. I didn’t expect him to try and steal something, nor did I know that it was an illusion of some sort? Maybe? Whatever it was, I know that Teen is not to be underestimated. He has some powerful qualities, even if it’s not as flashy as Agatha or Wanda’s. I love his perkiness and how he’s just happy to be there, even if it is as Agatha’s ‘pet’.

My next victim is Lilia. I had originally thought that she couldn’t use her magic or, predictions freely, only when vision came. But I was happily wrong. I don’t think she can use it whenever though. I love her style as well, such a level of grace and colorfulness really brings her character together. Patti did a fantastic job of portraying someone as kooky as Lilia.

Now we have Jen. I knew that they had some history because if something Kathryn had said on an interview, but I don’t think it was a lot. But clearly something went down to make Jen have a level of hatred towards her. But besides that, I get aesthetic, the pinks, the candles, the jewelry? It’s all so beautiful, I especially loved the septum piercing. It was a cute touch. Anyways, moving on from that, Agatha had mentioned that Jennifer is magic bound because of some curse? I wonder what that’s about. Over all, I adore Jen’s personality, I love how she knows what she’s worth and that she seems to always know what to say. She’s very confident of herself which is something I live to see. And I can see how Jen’s sarcasm and Agatha’s sarcasm may clash from time to time.

Moving on, we have Alice to discuss. Now I have written a little about how I portrayed her in my fic Natural Order, and I think I got her pretty well. I surprised myself I’m gonna be honest. I was half expecting her to be the exact opposite, but that’s a happy accident I guess. Anywho, I love her style as well, I wish we got to see more if the ship she had formally worked at, it was such a cozy and spooky place, I wouldn’t mind working there myself. The designers outdid themselves truly. Alice is very dismissive, and is always one step ahead, I love that about her (so far). She seems to be pretty laid back, while also being very vigilant as well.

Lastly, but certainly not least, Ms. Davis. I find her absolutely darling, she was so sweet and I had a good laugh when she came on screen. I love her obliviousness and utter happiness to be included, similar to Teen in that way. I hope she sticks around, u trying so, there’s not a bone in my body that doesn’t like her, she’s such a good ‘temporary’ addition to the coven.

The Salem seven seem to be like… the witch police? Maybe? I’m excited to see more of them.

Honorable mention: Senor Scratchy serving as always.🫡

A little treat I took:

(Also, height difference??!!! Loved that shot.)

[tact-and-impulse]

Shinkane Week 2024 Day 6

@shinkaneweek, this first part is more suggestive than descriptive. Can be read after Three Strands or on its own!

Prompt: Lace

Akane’s fingers tightened in Kougami’s shirt, the tip of her tongue sliding against his. This time, she was the one who was late, the consequence of cumulative overtime minutes. He had pulled her into their home, barely giving her the opportunity to slide out of her skirt and shoes, before grabbing her hips and pinning her to the wall. Her head fell back, his mouth following hers. After the day’s stress, she didn’t want to think, and he was very good with his hands. That thought snapped when she heard the awful familiar sound.

The tearing of lace.

She broke off the heated kiss, protesting. “You did it again!”

His shrug was unapologetic. “My bad.”

“It’s the fifth time, and I just got this pair!” She futilely held the pale yellow edges together. Self-restraint was never his strong suit, but not even for two seconds?

“Don’t blame the quality on me. I prefer you out of them anyway.” And then, per usual, he coaxed forgiveness out of her.

***

Later, Akane laid in bed, mulling over how she could win this battle. Sure, her opponent’s biceps looked fantastic in the moment of destruction, but at this rate, her drawers would be emptied.

The style didn’t matter at all, as she quickly realized when garters failed against his relentlessness. Bra hooks were like pull tabs to him. When she attempted to trick him with a front close, it was even worse, because he ripped both sides.

“I’ll buy you more.” Kougami offered, once they caught their breath.

“It’s the principle of it. I have my favorites too, they’re irreplaceable.” She grumbled in return, burrowing deeper into their cuddle.

Now, she resorted to keeping some in storage, but it was with a twinge of regret. She liked how his eyes lit up in recognition when she wore the burgundy set from their first time, or the powder blue from a hasty quickie in a place they definitely shouldn’t have been. And she liked feeling confident, how mere white lace could make her feel desirable.

To his credit, it wasn’t all the time. If she was aiming for seduction and removing her lingerie herself, his dilated pupils showed how much he enjoyed it. But if they were playing rough or she let down her guard, she’d be down to her bare skin in an instant.

She had tried to enact revenge, purposefully ripping off his buttons. It only goaded him, because he smirked and would have left in the morning with his shirt half open, if it weren’t for her own humiliation. Wouldn’t that be a sight at work, all of the love bites and scratches on display? The undeniable proof that he was hers?

A change in tactics was needed, so she began to expand her search. She was led down a series of pages, her glazed vision skimming over the raunchy pieces. Then, her attention caught upon one. She straightened and automatically grinned.

Oh, yes. This was something he couldn’t rip apart.

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Pavement + Dirty Three - Ziggy's, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, May 11, 1995

Let's hear it for Jim White! The drummer has been having what can only be called a banner year in 2024. He got back together with the Dirty Three for the amazing Love Changes Everything; he released his first solo album, the playful/absorbing All Hits: Memories; he released a new duo record with the fantastic guitarist Marisa Anderson; he showed up on Ned Collette, Bill Callahan and Myriam Gendron's latest masterpieces. And just last week, the Hard Quartet (made up of Jim, Matt Sweeney, Stephen Malkmus and Emmett Kelly) released their excellent self-titled debut. This is all high quality stuff, people.

The HQ is the first time they've played together in an official capacity, I think, but SM and White are old friends, of course — the Dirty Three toured fairly extensively with Pavement back in the 1990s. “We enjoyed getting blown off the stage, but after seeing these guys, then subsequently playing dozens of shows with them, it became obvious that it was going to be a repetitive situation,” Bob Nastanovich told NPR Music recently. “I can honestly tell you that walking onstage after the Dirty Three is like walking on hot coals.”

So! Here's some vintage camcorder footage of Pavement and D3 back then; both bands were warming up for the legendary/infamous Lollapalooza '95 extravaganza (Pavement on the main stage, the Dirty Three on the second stage) by playing some small club dates. Not sure if they necessarily blow Malkmus and the guys off the stage, but White, Warren Ellis and Mick Turner do their damndest, bringing that ever-distinctive, oceanic sound to Winston-Salem, accompanied by Ellis' surreal, occasionally confrontational, banter. Pavement, meanwhile, play a Wowee Zowee heavy set — a bunch of tunes that you wouldn't often hear after '95. The only complaint? That the D3 aren't invited onstage to jam on "Half A Canyon."

[bromcommie]

🤩🎯

Hi, thanks for the ask! :) 🤩 What led to your interest in the fandom?

Oof, boy. So, I mean, I was a geeky little kid and grew up loving the Spiderman and X-Men comics, so my interest kind of naturally progressed with the MCU boom of 2009 or whatever. As for Cap, I have to admit I didn't like him all that much at first - I'd only seen him in The Avengers and I think like many other people I kind of just viewed him as The Square Old American Imperialist Guy (thanks, Joss Whedon😒). It was only after seeing CATWS and retroactively CATFA that the floodgates opened. The interest was kind of on and off for a while, but it definitely spiked with time and I got into the Cap, WS, Black Widow and some other comics as well after that.

Idk when exactly I got into Stucky, because I distinctly remember having a phase of "why can't guys just be really really really good friends???" (I know, I know.) but between then and CA: CW I definitely fell in love with both characters and a) kind of went through my own awakening lol, b) started rapidly developing an unrelated but helpful interest in early and mid-20th century history and c) watching a shit ton of Cap edits on YouTube because I've always liked vidding. I eventually started making some of my own vids and fanart when my brain just woke up one morning and clicked into "oh shit. oh, not only is the premise of this story compelling on several levels, but these motherfuckers are in love in love" mode, and inevitably that also led to me starting to read fanfiction.

And that was just...a fucking revelation and a half. Because suddenly here were all these people writing heartfelt, compelling stories—sometimes heavy as shit, sometimes downright hilarious and sometimes just publishing quality—about everything ranging from grief and guilt and trauma to bodily autonomy and disability and queerness and self-worth to relationships with faith and nationality and community and intersectional identity to beliefs and morality and perseverance to violence and war and systems of oppression to different kinds of love and devotion etc etc etc I could go on literally forever. All set to a sprawling love story, all in a historical context I was interested in, all with about a million different perspectives you would never actually get to see on screen or on the page. I also fell in with a bunch of very passionate, nerdy queer people in college after, all of whom loved comics characters and shared these interests and had a lot to say on the overlap of the two, and well. I never really stood a chance, after that.

I guess ultimately what really drew me to it was the potential of taking material that was (I'm sorry, but let's be real) sometimes painfully mediocre-to-plain bad but with a great premise, and then projecting and exploring some really interesting and grounded and even vulnerable topics through the very fun sandbox that the more fantastical, epic aspects of these stories present—often in a subverted way and with mouthpieces (read: Stereotypical Empowered Bulky Macho Men) that you don't get to see in that light in mainstream media. And the Cap fandom really had (and has to this day!) an abundance of talented, curious people throwing themselves into that wholeheartedly and with such wonderful passion and creativity and care. So engaging with that as a hobby can be really lovely and inspiring and cathartic. And sometimes it's just plain lighthearted fun! I think the older I get the more I can really appreciate that.

Also, not to be super sappy or make it sound more serious than it is, but stories about goddamn superheroes overcoming painful, fucked up real life situations and aspiring to do and be better were a great comfort to nerdy Little Me, and so was getting to talk to people about the things I saw in them that meant something to me. I think Steve's character and origin—and the perspectives on it I got from other people—were just a big deal to my baby teenage brain during a time when I was starting to develop a real life social and political awareness and a sense of all the ways in which the things we do and say and how we stand up for each other matter. And as a grown-ass adult today, I still cherish that. And I cherish that even though I've matured and evolved and so have my other interests, I still got to come on here in the year of our lord 2024 when this particular hyperfixation suddenly came out of its long winter slumber and indulge in a comforting, creative hobby and stretch my writing muscles, and that I still got to find people to play in that sandbox with in a way that is extremely satisfying.

So there you go, and I'm so sorry. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on this. Make of that rambling essay what you will.

🎯 Do you have a writing milestone you’re working towards?

In terms of fandom works, I really don't. I started writing fic just as a fun hobby for myself, and I never really thought of it in terms of goals like I do the original work I try to write, just because I think that'd probably take some of the fun out of it. I'm in a bit of a rut at the moment though, so I'd really like to be able to break out of it soon and post the next few chapters of orpheus I've been trying to work on, if that counts!

[scripture-digital]

Green, mean, seemingly radioactive - what a wonderful fit!

Hoo boy, okay, I admit - I go awooga hummina hummina bazoingo (etc...) when I see anything REMOTELY resembling this. Not sure why, I suppose I hold the most respect for all-out, especially when pure (this isn’t the purest I’ve seen, but damn is it beautiful).

The way similar textures interact, how they still find their own places on the limbs, the shreeded tights and the varying hues, the CYBERLOX - how wonderful. I wish I knew where she got her gas mask from, and how she did her eyeliner so nicely (I need to get on posting more makeup-spo, for my sake....), HOW she shredded her tights so nicely. It looks like black spiderweb, or like that one image I have in my computer... (posted below)

^ this thing. I don’t know what made this, but it’s really cool ain’t it?

Anyways, dream tights. I think I’ve seen her cyberlox up for sale in the cyberloxshop before (I dream of buying a pair of their cyberfalls myself, although I do have to resort to diy for multiple reasons - respect though), perhaps part of their predators? I don’t know, I haven’t actually been on the cyberloxshop in a long, long time. If these are handmade by either the model herself or someone that does not specialise in cybergothic creations full-time, respect. Her falls look absolutely FANTASTIC.

This may not be the wildest cybergoth co-ord, but if you hit the rave with this be sure that all eyes will be on you. Which reminds me, I should really work on my dancing... Haven’t in a while (she inspires me).

Sadly I don’t know who she is, or if she has more stuff like this, tineye isn’t giving much, and I got this off Pinterest of all places (half-explains the oatmeal quality all of my images have... AI upscalers have truly failed me).

I wonder how wild she had to go with her scissors to create those wonderful sleeve holes (? sounds odd LOL) - they just add so much life to an otherwise plain piece (note to self: destroy your whole wardrobe it is very benefishial). I can’t see her torso clearly, nor her skirt (I think she’s wearing a skirt), so I can’t comment on those, except...

WHERE’S HER CORSET!!!!

Okay fine cybergoth doesn’t require 24/7 corsertry practice, but it’d just bring this outfit together SO much more, especially if the lacing hoops were arranged nicely, or if the ribbon used for the lacing itself was funky - thinking acid green with splashes of black (perhaps splatter some bleach on it then go wild with the black fabric paint wherever that landed).

Either way, this is amazing. Truly incredible, even. I’d pay decently to have something like this (complete fit, etc) in my own wardrobe RIGHT NOW, but alas.

Her belt’s a bit plain as is her torso - again, el corseto bias etc... But also why not wear a graphic t-shirt instead? Wild shirts are pretty fucking cool, I’ve got like 2 of them myself and they glow NEON GREEN in the dark!! It’s really sick lol, I loves those things to bits also.

And last but not least, can I just say how much I love that neon green splatter effect filter? Very chic, probably a photoshop thing and it’s cool as hell. I love janky filters no matter what (unless they are vaporwave - I do like vaporwave but not people that like vaporwave also...).

8.5/10, would’ve been a 9 if corset present (I have a bias as a pro-corsetter, I love those things to death).

It’s as shrimple as that.

[starry-bi-sky]

they SO dance together. it's so sweet and sooo romantic. They're both just up in the clouds, lost in each other's eyes. They would be up there for hours if they lose track of time. Danny figures out how to make a speaker or his phone capable of withstanding the high altitude. they are in love your honor <3

AND yesss I agree Danny would sing that to Damian. Caleb Hyles is a good choice! I usually hc his voice sounding kinda like Hozier (w/o the Irish accent), a nice baritone range. He's very Dinner & Diatribes/Too Sweet/Nina Cried Power/Blood Upon The Snow-coded.

Danny tried so hard to keep Damian's illness a secret. Which, honestly probably wasn't the smartest idea, but he was fourteen and dealing with his own very-fresh trauma, uncontrollable powers, and injuries. So, can't really hold it against him. Fortune (if you could call it that) was on his side in that he got to skip school for the days Damian was ill.

Dames is sooo smol as Wisp. liddol babey man. He doesn't actually help in ghost fights, even at six years old. Danny absolutely forbids it, and there's very little Dames can do about it on account of his age and Time Out Time. Danny's Grabby Scarves have come WELL in handy before. He comes with him on patrols but like, if they come across any actual hostile ghosts, Wisp is instructed to hide or stay out of range of the fight.

Also since he's also a halfa, he's also a potential target for Skulker. Keyword: potential. The first time Skulker decides to go after the teenier ghost-child is also his last. Danny flew into a blind rage and completely tore his mech-suit apart into unsalvageable hunks, and then threatened to swallow Skulker whole if he ever went after Wisp again. Ghost cannibalism? its more likely than you think. It's an effective deterrent.

It's very quickly apparent to... all of the ghosts, tbh, that you don't touch the Wisp. Will'o is off limits. (Which i forgot to mention is an adorable name for Dames. Instead of green eyes, Damian's ghost eyes are will-o-wisp blue, and he can create little wisps.) Danny calls him a little firefly.

AND. I'm so here for parental Danny. I'm hella weak to that. And this reminds me of smth i thought about bringing up yesterday but forgot/thought about making its own post for my own clone^2. If Dames here is 2 when Danny is 14, then Dames could totally go to a childcare center during the day. The Fenton parents have work and the kids have school, and Damian is far too young to be on his own. So: daycare it is!

This is for me to say: Danny, as the one who actually found/acquired Damian (if we're going by clone^2 canon and saying he fell through a natural portal) makes it his responsibility to make sure Damian gets to the daycare center safely. Jazz has a car so she drives them both to the center, but Danny is the one who actually walks Damian inside, checks him into his room, and does goodbyes.

(Which he's not legally allowed to do -- legal guardians are supposed to do pick up and drop off, and siblings are meant to be over 18 and have permission for it -- but when the center director brings this up, Danny raises his eyebrow and bluntly goes: "You want my parents in here? Everyday?" and that was the end of that conversation. Danny was made the special exception so long as he like, didn't mention it to the authorities.)

Danny? Also? Best cook in the house. Hands down. Because a clone of Bruce being a fantastic cook is incredibly funny to me. Half the shit in the fridge is inedible so Danny's figured out how to either make it edible and how to use the edible stuff to his best advantage. He also found an old fridge in the garage, fixed it up, and jerry-rigged a quick disguise over it so that their parents don't start storing ectoplasm in that one too. So most of their leftovers/fridge food is in the garage fridge instead.

But back to the daycare stuff -- Danny pulls no punches when making sure Dames is getting quality childcare. Dames is enrolled in the same center that Danny and Jazz went to as kids, and Danny suffered from relentless bullying that the staff turned a blind eye to due to his connection with his parents, and he'll be damned if he lets Dames suffer the same fate. Especially since Damian is such a headstrong kid even at 2-3. They made sure he knew enough English before sending him to daycare (since he only knew Arabic at this point), but he still struggles speaking it.

Which is all to say, the first time Danny hears about Damian getting a hard time at daycare and the teacher doing nothing to correct it, he marches straight down to the director's office to complain. He also bluntly states that he'll be checking in with Damian consistently after pickup and checking his stuff -- as per center rules, his things (like his water bottle and backpack) are labelled, and Danny went the extra mile and put his name on his jacket and boots and hats, -- if anything is missing, broken, or damaged, he will be documenting it, and he wants all copies of any incident reports.

The center director says that since Danny isn't the legal guardian, they can't do that, but he pulls the parent card and for a second time, that is the end of that. Danny is pulling no punches. Damian is already having a hard enough time transitioning into his new environment, Danny fucking refuses to let him struggle any more than he already has.

you gotta tell me some of the wisp antics you have in mind. Oh lord, if Danny struggled to control his powers when he first got them, imagine what it'd be like with a two year old with powers too. So many close calls. Canon Danny was initially pr in denial about his powers up until Lunch Lady, but here I imagine he buckles down on it very quickly when he realizes that Damian has a similar powerset to him, and so long as they have these powers, they need to get control of them.

Which results in Damian and Danny developing these little "training" sessions after school which is literally just Danny trying to figure out his powers, and then translating that into a way for Damian to understand and follow along.

There are SO many learning curves, and Damian is two. Twos have like, a three minute attention span. Danny has to develop a way to keep Dames' attention on him long enough for him to learn how to do it. It's a goddamn miracle that Dames didn't reveal his powers at daycare before he understood the concept of "secret keeping" and control. A miracle.

Wisp being such an angry kitten is everything to me <33. He has little fangies and little pointed ears like Phantom, and I haven't thought too much on his ghost form but I picture him (at least at the start, it could change over time) in this little thobe with perhaps intricate, swirly-misty designs up the sides (as a callback to the will o' wisp idea). And like Danny's, his hair is all floaty like he's underwater, with the ends of his curls all wispy. He's a lil will o' wisp :]

unlike his template, who keeps his hair mostly styled up or back, Dames with messy, unkempt curls that look like they're in a good need of a trim. That kinda falls in his face and curls around his ears, but he likes it long that way because it reminds him of Danny. Any suggestion of a hair cut incites an ugly response and a very emphatic "No". He's got these little freckles that are hard to see that he'll eventually grow out of, and he speaks a lot more casually than his template.

He's known he was a clone since the moment he was able to comprehend what a "clone" was. Danny told him, because he doesn't want to do the same thing his parents did and keep something like that from Damian for so long. He also knows that Danny is technically his dad by virtue of their templates being father-and-son.

Which, that was a bit harder to explain, but they got there!

AND I am loving Wisp meeting Robin. I'm picturing it as Batman-Robin duo meeting Phantom-Wisp duo, and Robin is like, ehhh, about 13-ish. Wisp is 7-ish? Regardless, Robin is standing tall and proud beside Batman while Wisp is standing somewhat behind Phantom.

He's not exactly shy, but he's uncertain? He's got his hand curled around Phantom's pantleg, his eyes narrowed in wary uncertainty, before he finally says, somewhat put upon: "I thought you'd be taller." directly at Robin.

The air goes completely still, and then Phantom snorts abruptly, and brings a fist up to his mouth to try and stifle the sound. His shoulders shake with concealed snickering as he rests one hand down onto Wisp's shoulder and affectionately hisses out: "Dames, my boy, you can't say that."

There's laughter through the comms, and Robin looks suitably offended. Batman has this ghost of a smirk on his face. Oh how the tables turn.

Over 900 prompt

Okay I love the Danny is a clone of Batman aus but I've never seen this done.

Danny and Kon dating and Then Danny learning his parents cloned Batman thinking he is a ghost only to find out he isn't and kept Danny as their kid.

Just think of the hilarious reactions

Caue this immediately popped into my head.

Kon: *muffled screaming into Tim's couch*

Tim: ....you good?

Kon: danny is the clone of Batman

Tim: ...

Kon: I'm the clone of Superman

Tim:...

Kon: AND WE ARE DATING!

[rilshock]

Magic Christian Music - Badfinger (1970 Review)

Magic Christian Music is the 1970 debut studio album by English power pop band Badfinger. Well technically the debut as they released Maybe Tomorrow under the name The Iveys a year earlier in 1969, but that got halted outside of western countries, not to mention most of the tracks on there appear here so that’s not an essential album.  This album perfectly starts the band where the Beatles left off, even sounding exactly like them, though that could be because Paul McCartney wrote like half the the album. I love the blend of 60s Pop Rock and Baroque orchestral rock that makes up the sound of the album. The first half is home run after home run while the second half dips slightly a bit in quality. Almost perfect, but still a fantastic debut.  8.9/10 Listen to the album here

[astaroth1357]

Demon Brothers as Roommates

Intro:

So, the MC has left the Devildom and, of course, everybody is quite sad… But this time around, they have a little trick up their sleeve. With just a bit of magic (and training thanks to Solomon) the MC can now summon one of their favorite demon boys up to the human world with them! There's just, uh, one problem though… After being summoned to their side, their beloved demon now refuses to leave it.

Alright MC, enjoy your new demonic roommate!!

Lucifer

Apparently Lucifer is on sabbatical… And yes, he does appreciate that irony in that.

Lucifer actually has a surprising amount of human world money stashed away in alias accounts (because this man renting a cheap motel on business trips? Let's be real) so he uses that wealth to get them a place befitting his standards… which are high.

Spacious apartments in nice areas that would make even the upper middle-class shit their pants? Congrats, MC, that's where you're staying now!

Even with all that money, though, Lucifer CANNOT sit idle for a second. The guy is used to working all his life and just sitting around would drive him insane!

Expect him to still be running some Devildom affairs long-distance style while doing something else on the side, probably stock market stuff tbh.

Is going to want to pay for and provide everything himself but will respect the MC if they still want to work and split the bills (not to a ridiculous degree, though, like half-and-half because that would mean getting three jobs at least).

A lot of trips and vacations too, especially if the MC likes to travel. It’s a good excuse to relax while also technically doing something so he doesn’t lose his mind doing nothing in particular.

He is going to be that strict roommate who expects you not to be a slob and isn't afraid to say so. Regularly scheduled cleaning/organization days are mandatory because hygiene is important. Take some pride in yourself and wash up, MC. That kind of thing.

Also going to have short-fuse for… antics. If you want to prank him, do so at your own risk because he may prank back (and that’s not nearly as fun as it sounds, trust me.)

Mammon

Yeah so, living with Mammon is like the inverse of Lucifer. Prepare to be poooor.

Man has no human money, are you kidding me? Even if he did, he wouldn’t keep it for very long. Couples budgeting is a MUST if you’re looking to survive.

The apartment is going to be whatever the MC can more or less afford on their own with Mammon shoved in somewhere like a cheap lamp… Don’t expect a lot of room.

However, Mammon is great at the hustle. Man can work multiple jobs and actually be pretty dang good at them. For the most part, anyway. He may occasionally trip up and get himself fired, but he bounces back quick.

If the MC isn’t so moral he can also uh… “find” some extra money lying around too. Just be careful when playing with fire, right?

Even if they’re poor as shit, Mammon is still a blast to be around. The guy knows how to have fun on and off of a budget. Lots of “window shopping” (getting kicked out of stores for goofing off), nightclubs, amusement parks, and cheap fun. They’ll never be without a story to tell or a smile on their face!

He IS pretty slobbish though. He’s not going to remember to clean up after himself unless told, but he’s also not going to be bothered if they don’t do the same thing. A weekly cleaning day is going to be ideal unless they don’t mind living in a pigsty...

Prank waaaaars!! The kind of guy to get them both water guns and have a war in the middle of the apartment complex. Good luck getting any rest with Mammon around.

Leviathan 

Whelp, your room is now his room, quite literally MC. You had to pick the shut-in…

The guy isn’t exactly poor but what human money he does have is all wrapped up in his many interests… Merch interests specifically. 

Thankfully, he won’t take up too much space. Put him in a room with a desk, bed (or bathtub), TV, and computer and he’s good to go! 

He’s not going to be a complete bum, thankfully. There’s no way that they can get him to leave the apartment, but he can run small online stores (usually anime themed) or become a streamer. Probably enough to help pay the bills, but not much more.

If they don’t mind having a literally permanent housemate, then being with Levi has its own kind fun. Lots of anime marathons, movie nights, and game nights. Really, it’s just like how he was in the House, but now transported to the human world.

Is probably going to want a pet goldfish, snake ,or lizard so prepare to house Henry 3.0.

When he does leave the apartment, it’s to take the MC to conventions, concerts, or anime stores. He always manages to get just enough money for these trips, but never says where the money comes from… Best not to ask. Could be black market for they know...

… He’s a shut-in. He’s a shut-in roommate. Hygiene isn’t exactly his main concern. If they ask him to, he’ll make sure to clean up after himself, but he may need a reminder.

Can have a fun side, but just don’t mess with his stuff too much. He doesn’t need a Mammon 2.0 around too...

Satan

He's either hatching a plan for world domination or adopting 10 cats… One or the other.

About as poor as Mammon at first, but threat not. He won’t be for very long. Satan is intelligent beyond his years (or equivalent his years maybe?) so he’ll probably net himself several degrees within a couple semesters like a certified prodigy.

At that point, there really isn’t much to worry about (aside from student loans, join our pain Satan) but he can sell himself just fine and probably get some high paying job like a lawyer or doctor or whatever… I’m not jealous…

They’ll start out in a pretty modest place, but there will be upgrades fairly quickly when he starts racking it in so Satan’s a fairly decent choice as a roommate.

He does still have that nasty habit of breaking things when he’s pissed off, but that can be subverted by getting a pet! Just hold up whatever cat you own when he’s about to rampage then declare that he’s scaring/upsetting them and he’ll stop in his tracks. Works every time!

Probably going to be the most domestic out of the brothers. He enjoys cooking (and ain’t half bad at it either), shopping is a practical necessity, he’ll take care your pets like they were his own flesh and blood, etc.

There will even to be points where he’s in bed reading in the middle of the night with tea and reading glasses like some kind of grandma so take that image for what you will.

Satan is the prankster of the household, but he does his pranks more as a way to give grief to his enemies rather than for funsies. Be warned, if you poke this bear he will retaliate for sweet, sweet revenge and he has centuries worth of pranks behind him. Good luck.

Asmodeus 

It's a new party every night, sweetie, get used to it!

Asmo is the only other brother who has some amount of money to offer from his own trips to the human world, but it's just a modest amount.

Is totally willing to work to help pay for a nice place. He wants a building nice enough to host parties!

Would go back to modeling and maybe dip his toe into acting from time to time… He gets a lot of gigs (this IS the Avatar of Lust after all) so they won't be strapped for cash. Which is good, because Asmo is a very "business by day, but party every night" kind of person. 

Do know that his shopping is NOT going to slow down either. Keep an eye on the budget.

He’s also going to make friends wherever he goes so he’s going to want for them all to hang out at least somewhat regularly.

That being said, he can tone it down some if the MC so desires, just know that they can’t keep him cooped up in the apartment for too long or he’ll start getting antsy. You can’t keep this stallion locked up, MC, he needs to run free!!

Being with Asmo is going to be like having a free pass to whatever gathering the MC wants to go to, at least. He could even get them into red carpet events with just his sheer charisma, charm, and er-… “charms.” Who doesn’t want to meet their favorite actress or singer, eh?

But oh, sweetie, please don’t prank him! Life is too short to waste on silly games (he also just genuinely just doesn’t enjoy being messed with so best not do it).

Beelzebub 

Brave choice, MC, but quick question. How in the world are you going to pay your food bills???

Beel is a real sweetheart through and through but his stomach is NOT. That thing will eat them out of house and home! (Maybe even literally!!) Both of them are going to have to work and probably some pretty looong hours (cause he’s got no money either).

Honestly, Beel would be best as a personal trainer in the human world. He’s a pretty decent combination of tough but genuinely kind and motivating. (The fact that he’s pretty easy on the eyes would help out a lot too).

But the MC won’t have to worry about Beel sneaking off with someone just looking for some “quality time.” He’d take his job seriously, though he’s not particularly versed in what the human body can’t handle so only the really dedicated (or masochistic) would stick with him anyway.

“Good work last week, April! You did so well that we’re going to go from 500 pushups to a thousand! … I can see you’re worried, but I believe in you.”

But hey, he can deadlift well over 2,000 pounds without breaking a sweat so who has the balls to argue with him, anyway?

Trying out every restaurant in town would be a must. He’d even plan out vacations for them with the sole purpose of travelling the globe and tasting the different flavors. Food trips!!

He's neat enough since he used to tidy up a lot for Belphie so no need to worry about him picking up after himself (except for the occasional pile of wrappers. Toss those out unless you want ants)

I mean, you can prank Beel if you want. He'll be pretty good-natured about it as long as it stays harmless. Just don't ruin any of his food, got it?

Belphegor 

So… Belphie makes for some excellent décor! Really he is great at laying around and looking fantastic just… he’s not that great at much else...

Realistically, choosing Belphie as a roommate is kind like having a high maintenance pet. He’s good for love and cuddles, but he’s not going to be helping with the bills or anything unless they whine incessantly about it.

If the MC can make enough for the both of them, then it should be fine. They won’t get upset and he won’t be crabby but if not… Oh boy.

Regular job Belphie is a needy Belphie. He’ll come back from whatever job he’s working, likely a night shift, and demand attention or cuddles right then and there. He needs to recharge those batteries, after all...

If he isn’t working then he's at his happiest. He can even pull off being a “househusband” of sorts. He’s not going to go above and beyond the call of duty, but he can keep the place clean, get a basic meal on the table (provided someone teaches him some human recipes), and get groceries if he needs to… You know, basic domestic shit.

They’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that, at some level, Belphie just doesn’t believe in “common curtesy” or “human decency.” If some neighbors are being too noisy for his liking, he will troll them to oblivion and beyond. He may even get sued for it if he takes it too far, so the MC will have to keep an eye on him…

He’s the House’s #2 prankster, but unlike Satan he doesn’t need any malice to be a little shit. The MC will be pranked and it will be at the most unexpected times. Be warned...

Check out my Masterlist for more!

[hamsterboos]

here’s a fact. hating someone is exhausting.

Again, another one I speed wrote between finishing up homework and playing genshin lmao I really need to work on that but oh well. Seeing the prompt immediately reminded me of The Hating Game and this is kind of based on that, so do with that information what you will :D Title is also a quote from the book!

Word Count: 1495 Read on AO3 Rowaelin Month Masterlist

Day 18 of Rowaelin Month Prompt: You're my work rival and we're stuck in an elevator

~~~~~~

It was a race, and they were tied for first place.

Then again, it’s not like there were any other competitors except for the two of them.

Aelin glanced at the clock and silently cursed, realizing that there wasn't much time left until the working day was done, and she desperately needed to finish this data analysis report for her boss to be able to look over the first thing Monday morning. The only caveat to this was that Rowan Whitethorn was also there until the last possible minute finishing his analysis report on a different department’s data collection.

If he wasn’t sitting directly across from her and constantly in her direct line of sight, it wouldn’t have been such a problem, but when she looked up to see his annoyingly handsome face with his gorgeous eyes and infuriatingly beautiful tattoo creeping out of his shirt’s collar, Aelin was just pissed off that he was such a dick.

Ever since Rowan had joined the company, his insane work ethic (that rivaled hers, honestly) and the fact that he had immediately begun to compete with her for the same manager promotion had Aelin understandably frustrated, and it seems that Rowan was frustrated as well. However, Aelin was nothing but professional, so she never acted on her annoyance with him until the small passive-aggressive and sarcastic comments shared between them turned the silent feud not-so-silent, or secret. Soon enough, the entire office was aware of the fact that Aelin Ashryver Galathynius and Rowan Whitethorn hated each other and could not work together.

Of course, that just forced their boss to work together more often than not on data analysis projects, but they got their shit down. Somehow.

And now here they were, both working till the last possible second of the working day to show off their dedication to their jobs in order to somehow get the upper hand compared to the other. Everyone else had slowly begun to leave already, the office emptying out early especially with it being a Friday afternoon (even their boss had left), but this was an important report. With being promoted to a manager role, that would mean that they were the other’s boss, and Aelin wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle Rowan as her boss. He would definitely somehow make her working life hell, and she liked her job; she enjoyed working with the numbers and making graphs and analyzing these numbers.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, and with every glance at the clock and at Rowan, her fingers worked faster, slowly beginning to cramp as she desperately tried to get that last sentence in so she could proofread it over quickly.

“How are you still writing, Galanthynius?” she heard Rowan taunt, and she rolled her eyes as she finished typing out her last thought. “You seem to be losing your touch.”

“Screw off, Whitethorn,” she growled, hitting enter and then saving the document — four times but who’s counting — before turning to look at his smug face. “Maybe you finished earlier because you didn’t have nearly as much detail as I do. It’s always quality over how fast something can get done, anyway.”

“Hmm, that wouldn’t make a difference if Maeve can’t look at the document bright and early on Monday, now would it?”

“Who said anything about her not having it done by Monday morning?” she asked, her eyes scanning the document over for any typos and coherency issues.

“Such arrogance.”

“It’s called confidence, Rowan. Maybe you’d attract more girls if you had any of that,” she replied sweetly. It was a blatant lie, though. He had enough confidence in himself that she was attracted to him. Not that she’d ever, ever, make that obvious to him.

“Not like you go out on many dates, either.” Aelin saved the file yet again after another read through, and she sent it to the printer, and she stood up, moving to the printer. Rowan followed her.

“How do you know I don’t have one tonight?”

“I think you’d be bragging about it much more if you did.”

Aelin leaned against the printer as it worked, and she ran her eyes over him. It was unfair how hot he looked in a white button-up collared shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, and gray slacks, but it wasn’t like she was unaware that she looked hot today as well. It was a navy long sleeved dress with a gold belt cinching around her waist and a v-neck that went deep enough to barely be considered professional.

“I don’t need to brag about my dates,” she said, turning to pick up her papers and stapling them. “I think my clothes are enough.”

Aelin saw his eyes roam over her, lingering on the v-neck, before snapping back to her face. “I suppose so. I’ve seen you look like a nun, so this is definitely something special.”

“Aw,” she cooed. “You like it. Now, if you’d kindly get out of my way, I have something to submit before I leave.”

She walked away from him and set the report on Maeve’s desk before picking up all of her belongings and packing it away and moving to leave the office. Waiting for the elevator took a bit, and by that time Rowan had joined her, silently standing next to her. The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival, and they both got on, still in utter silence until there was a loud clanging sound as the elevator jerked. Aelin lost her balance as she let out a cry of surprise, tumbling into Rowan’s side. He grabbed onto her waist to steady her with one hand braced on the side of the elevator, and the lights within had turned off before turning to a soft blinking red.

“What’s going on?” she asked, pushing herself away from him. Rowan moved to press a button on the elevator before they both realized that the building had lost power, effectively trapping them in the elevator.

“Shit,” he cursed, “we’re stuck.”

Aelin pressed the emergency speaking button, “Hello? Is anyone there? We’re stuck in the elevator.”

The speaker crackled to life immediately afterwards, with someone asking if they were okay and how many people were in the elevator before saying that the firefighters were on their way, but it would take at least half an hour.

“Well this is fantastic,” Aelin sighed, leaning against the wall.

“Too bad you’re missing out on your date,” Rowan said.

“Yeah, well at least you get to grace yourself in my presence for a bit longer.”

“As if I need more of you in my life.”

Aelin scoffed. “People could always use more of me in their lives. You wouldn’t be having nearly as much fun at work without me.”

“WIthout you? You can’t deal with half the tech problems we get if it weren’t for me. How did you make do without me?”

“Perfectly fine, Rowan, trust me.” In their heated conversation, she hadn’t realized when she’d moved away from the wall and instead was so close to Rowan that she could feel his body heat. His hand snaked around her waist and pulled him snug against her body, and her hands landed on his firm chest.

“I don’t believe you,” he whispered.

Aelin smiled, “I don’t care.”

She wasn’t sure if she had moved first or he had, but the next thing she knew, her arms were around his neck and both his hands were on her waist as their lips moved in tandem.

He was intoxicating as his lips devoured hers, and her brain spun as her body heated up in his hold.

Holy shit, Rowan was an amazing kisser.

She leaned up on her toes to get better access to his lips, and he leaned down even further. She couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t care. Who needed air when he was kissing her like that? It wasn’t possible for her to want to keep doing this with a man she hated, but her body didn’t care about that. Her body wanted Rowan’s hands all over her. Her body wanted him to slam her against the wall, hard enough that all she could feel was his body against hers.

Fortunately (or unfortunately?), her brain restarted, and Aelin pushed away from him, her chest heaving as she took gulps of air.

As the two looked at each other in silence, there wasn’t anything for them to say. She knew Rowan felt the same as she did. This was a mistake. An insanely amazing mistake, but a mistake regardless.

“This was a one time thing,” she breathed, and he nodded, his eyes still burning into her.

Thankfully, the elevator jerked slightly yet again as the speaker turned on again. “Good news, the power’s back, so everything’s fine.

“Great, thanks,” Rowan responded, and once they had arrived at the ground floor, Aelin resisted the urge to grab him again.

That could not happen again.

[digital-dhampirs]

vnc episode 12 thoughts

The thrilling conclusion to the Vanitas no Carte anime’s first cour is out, and I have thoughts! I’m still considering doing a full season/ fill cour review, but I have a Lot of episode 12- specific opinions, so this review / breakdown / thing will focus around e12!

A warning before we begin— review will contain spoilers for events that take place in the vnc manga and not in the anime, and will most likely spoil some sections of the anime’s next cour. With that, let’s get started!

Episode 12 of the VnC anime covers chapters 19, 21, 22, and 23 of the manga.

To begin this review in a brutally honest way, this episode was… in my opinion as a manga reader… bad. It did have some ok moments, but generally devoted a lot of its time to a plotline that (while adorable) isn’t actually super important compared to what was left on the wayside. Vanitas and Noé’s fight over blood drinking is fine, I guess, but why’d we get that minute long flashback compilation and not Dante’s conversation with Dominique, or Roland and Olivier’s complete conversation, or Astolfo’s excitement to hunt vampires, or Mikhail?

I really truly wish the show had taken some of the money and time that went into the Vanitas and Noé fight from chapter 23 and put it into the arguably much more important and interesting parts of this episode. Ruthven drinking Noé’s blood, Roland’s threat, and Chloé and Astolfo’s introductions all had some very janky stills and animations. It truly irked me to see that time and effort went into making Noé’s mouth move while he’s mentally monologuing about wanting to drink Vanitas’s blood, while Roland’s fantastic threat from Chapter 22 got… this. click on image for worse quality

The episode also decided to continue E11’s habit of chopping scenes up and mashing them together. In E11 this was a very not great decision, but was ultimately somewhat forgiveable from a tone point of view. In E12, meanwhile, it’s just all out chaos as the anime tries to string five completely separate scenes into something coherent (Noé and Vanitas in the hotel, Ruthven and Jeanne in the street, Domi and Dante on the stairs, Roland and Olivier in the chasseur compound, and a flashback to complete the Ruthven and Noé encounter from E11). Suffice it to say the anime does not succeed in this endeavor.

What really irritates me about this is that the manga already provided a framework for the anime to work these scenes together into. A frantic Vanitas reunites with Noé, Ruthven meets Jeanne in the street, Roland and Olivier speak about the beast, we see a mysterious flashback of Chloé calling for Jeanne as they talk, cut to Jeanne in the present as Dante and Ruthven’s attendants simultaneously tell Ruthven and Vanitas about the beast’s return.

I really wish the anime could’ve just given us the conclusion to the Ruthven scene at the start of the episode, done the OP, and then followed this series of events to a T. But it didn’t, and the result is a bit of a mess.

The anime’s choice to omit half of Roland and Olivier’s conversation means Dante’s announcement about the beast being back has no meaning or weight; Vanitas running to the hotel before we know what actually happened to Noé at the cafe ruins the drama and irony of the scene; Noé’s lack of memory of what happened at the cafe is muddled by the weirdly placed cafe flashback right afterwards; the anime putting Olivier’s “what that man believes in isn’t god” line seconds before the reveal of Roland’s intelligent and scheming nature doesn’t give the line enough room to breathe and stew; and the transition scene with Domi and Dante just doesn’t fit. I can honestly say I would have preferred Dante just teleporting from the streets of Paris to Vani and Noé’s windowsill than have that scene smack dab in the middle of what’s already a confusing mishmash of way too many unconnected events.

Wow. That was a long, critical paragraph. one might even say it was just as chaotic and disorganized as the episode itself. I feel like I’m really living up to my fullest potential as a bitter manga simp. So! Let’s turn things around and talk about some of the good parts of this episode!!

First and foremost I want to compliment this episode’s music..! The soundtrack of VnC is just all round fantastic no matter what— whether it’s playing during a goofy scene or a fight, it’s is bound to be fantastic. I think my favorite pieces are the ones that play at quiet, ominous moments— the music during Vanitas and Dante’s conversation about the beast is excellent, adding something truly incredible to the atmosphere created by the illustrations of the beast and the eerie green light of the scene. The way the music lines up with Olivier’s “what that man believes in…” line during that one flashback is similarly awesome.

This episode also has very nice voice acting..! Despite all of its struggles in the visual and plot department, pretty much everything to do with the VnC anime’s audio is stellar. I’ve become a big fan of Jeanne, Roland, and Olivier’s voices (I can’t wait to see how Olivier’s VA works with all his screaming in the Gévaudan arc); Astolfo’s voice is perfect for him (I am similarly excited to see his clipped, polite tone take a turn for the insane as the Gévaudan arc moves forwards); and as always our protagonists’ voices are great.

My one singular problem with the voice acting this episode is Chloé. I don’t know why, but she sounds like a catgirl from a fantasy anime rather than a multiple- centuries- old vampire. I don’t know what I was expecting from her voice, but this wasn’t it. I really hope Chloé’s voice will grow on me like Roland’s did, but there’s just something about it that feels off to me.

However! That one detriment doesn’t detract from the fact that this episode does have some very beautiful moments, especially during that one last scene with Chloé at the end. Visually, Chloé is absolutely spot on— I only hope the show has the budget to keep giving her pretty, pretty scenes like this. The scene where Vanitas and Dante discuss the beast is also very very nice to look at. The monochromatic red section of Ruthven and Noé’s scene is excellent. And, while I’m still annoyed that this scene got so much love put into it and others did not, Noé’s spotlight-lit monologue is aesthetically pleasing as well.

With that, we’ve covered all of my main thoughts on the final episode of the vnc anime’s first cour! My feelings towards this episode’s plot and pacing are overwhelmingly critical, and the episode’s visuals are a toss up (leaning on the side of bad, @/ that Roland screenshot), b u t the episode’s music and voice acting are both fantastic. And honestly? That’s kinda how I feel about this whole cour of the anime.

Episode 12 might not have been “good”, but I believe it’s a very neat representation of the best and worst of what Vanitas no Carte as an anime has to offer.

Despite all my critiques I am still legally obligated to love this anime, and can’t wait to see the Gévaudan arc in the next cour!

Fun Fact

The weirdly technological background when Noé realizes he’s hungry makes absolutely no sense for an anime set in 1889, but for some reason that just makes this scene funnier to me

[dreamescapeswriting]

Midnight Adventures ~ BC [Request]

WORD COUNT:1.5K

GENRE: Fluffy, established-relationship, fluffy bang chan feels

PAIRING: Chan x GN!Reader 

A/N: I hope it’s okay I went with Chan! I was feeling really soft for him since I wasn’t feeling great when I wrote this...Nothing bad just a migraine and I was in the mood for some soft Christopher Bang Hours! I also made it GN that everyone could read it and enjoy, hope this is okay my lovely little anon

Once he was given the all-clear from Felix Chan flung himself out of the bed, changing into some sweats and a black hoodie, something baggy so that he didn't look too obvious to those around him. 

"Is Y/n ready?" Chan asked as Felix came into the room with a giant smile on his face, clearly proud of himself at the others for what they had been planning weeks in advance. This had been planned secretly by the boys, wanting to make sure you and Chan got to spend some one on one time together.

"Jeongin text them to start getting ready, the car is on its way, Jisung is covering at the studio," Felix explained to his nervous leader, it had been two months since you and Chan got to spend some quality time together and the boys were doing everything in their power to change that. Convincing their manager that Chan was sick and was staying home that night to rest when in reality he was sneaking off to go and meet you. Jisung was in charge of working in the studio to distract their manager enough and annoy him to the point where he would just stop asking about Chan. The two of you weren't supposed to be seeing one another since there was still a dating ban but that wasn't going to stop you from sneaking out and seeing one another.

"Are you sure the plan will work?" It wasn't that Chan was trying to get out of the evening that Felix had planned it was just him wanting to make sure he wasn't going to get caught and have consequences for everyone. He hated the thought of everyone getting into trouble for something that he could have prevented.

"It's foolproof, nothing can go wrong. I promise." Felix smiled weakly at Chan who still didn't look convinced on the whole thing but went along with it anyway, agreeing to get ready.

"Shower! I need to get the basket ready while Minho borrows his mum's car," Chan laughed at the thought of it, driving around in a Hyundai truck that the boys had specifically picked out for the date. It was a car that none of the paparazzi would be looking for and it was perfect for the both of you to climb into the truck part and stargaze together. The boys had planned everything out for you, putting blankets, pillows and food into the back of the truck while Chan got ready and making sure it was going to be a romantic time together. 

"I put in some torches in case it's dark, there are some battery-powered fairy lights around the bottom of the truck bed to make it more romantic," Minho explained what he had done to the truck bed to Chan while Chan nodded along, wondering when everyone else had got invested in his relationship with you.

"Guys don't you think it's too much, I mean Y/n loves it when we just hang out without all of this-" Chan stopped talking when Changbin placed his finger over his lips telling him to be quiet as he slid the keys into his hand.

"Just go, you and Y/n have fun and stay safe. We've put masks and maps in the car," Changbin began to push the leader towards the door that was parked in the garage, ignoring Chan's questions and concerns about the dorms watching him drive off. 

"Your chariot awaits," Chan spoke down the phone to you as you came out of your apartment to see him sitting in the car, your mouth fell open a little as you realised it was going to be a secret date but one of the best kinds. Secret midnight adventures were always the best, it didn't matter what you were doing as long as it was together with one another. 

"We have maps, we have food, we have everything we may need so tell me," Chan turned to look at you as you got into the passenger seat, 

"Where would you like to go?" Your mind flooded with possibilities but all you did was lean over and kiss Chan on the lips, enjoying the firey feeling you got whenever you kissed him.

"Let's just go anywhere we want, we have all night." You whispered looking back at him with loving eyes as he leant forward to kiss you again. 

"Then let's go," He started up the car again and began driving towards the motorway, turning on the radio to play songs you could both sing along to while on the drive. Changing gears together while he held your hand, never once letting go as he enjoyed the feeling of being close to you again. He never wanted to let you go again. 

"Take them off, you look too good," Chan mumbled as he handed you a different set of sunglasses. The two of you had driven to a service station with a 24/7 shopping mall, the place was practically deserted besides the workers who looked half asleep and didn't want to be there. Who could blame them? A 24/7 shopping mall off the motorway? Who was going to use it? 

"I'm not putting those on," You laughed staring at the bright orange, flashing pumpkin glasses that Chan was trying to get you to try on. Placing a pair on himself before raising his eyebrows at you, 

"They'll make us match, come on...They're cutttteeee," He said in a sing-song voice as he inched closer to you, trapping you between his body and the wall that was behind you, 

"You have no escape young one," He put on an old-gremlin like voice before placing the sunglasses on your face and smirking at you, 

"Look at that, we look fantastic." He smiled taking out his phone to snap a photo, it wasn't often that he took selfies but he took a lot with you. Wanting to remember and have memories of the times you spent together, he had a whole folder dedicated to your relationship.

"Don't you dare send that to the boys, I look like a trash-bin!" You yelled out trying to take the phone from his hands but he'd already sent it to the group chat while laughing menacingly as you slid off the sunglasses to stare at him. He suddenly felt as though he was in a library and being stared at by the librarian that had just caught him yelling too loudly.

"I can't unsend it-" He stopped speaking when his phone chimed, he looked down to see Felix sending laughing emojis. 

"They love it," He said to you as he turned his screen around to show you their reactions to the image but you continued to stare at him,

"I am going to kick your ass on the arcade games, no more going easy on you because you're my boyfriend," You scoffed as you put the glasses down and began racing towards the arcade machines that were inside of the mall. Chan racing after you with his unrealistically fast sprinting, catching up and surpassing you within seconds as he got to the machines faster than you ever could imagine.

Chan looked down at you as you stared up at the starry night, your eyes flicking over the different stars you could see. After a gaming disaster where the two of you competed with one another head to head on everything in sight, the two of you decided to go out and sit under the stars in the bed of the truck. The back was filled with the blankets and pillows the boys had given to you and you just laid there for hours, talking to one another and enjoying the company. 

"I missed you, I didn't say it before but I did miss you." You turned away from the sky to look at him and smiled, 

"I missed you too baby, I know how busy you get so it's fine," You cupped his face in your hand, running your thumb over his skin and smiling at how smooth it was. 

"I promise I'll do this more often...N-Not just every two months," You shook your head at him, you didn't want him to have to worry about sneaking out to create dates like this all of the time.

"You can come whenever you want, don't force it." You whispered snuggling your head into his neck as you got comfortable, 

"I could sleep here." You laughed softly as you relaxed in his grasp, his arm wrapped around your body as you laid there together, enjoying the sounds of traffic, bugs and people just walking around having no idea who he was. Spending quality time with one another and ignoring the rest of the world while it moved on around you. 

"I think Felix packed food..." Chan hinted thinking that you were still awake but when he got no response he turned down to look at you, finding you fast asleep in his arms, he smiled to himself leaning down to kiss your nose. 

"Sleep tight baby," He whispered as he pulled the blankets up on your body, trying to let you sleep for as long as possible before he would have to set off home again.

Tagline: @taestannie @kneel-begyourpardon​ @minholuvs​ @sw33tnight​ @acciocriativity​ @that-anxious-bisexual​ @mwitsmejk​

[sidespart]

The Fall of King Romulus Part 3

Summary: Twin Princes Remus and Romulus are cursed at birth with Honesty and Obedience. When Romulus, who cannot disobey any order, is told to kill his brother the next time he lays eyes on him, he changes his name to Roman and runs away. Roman joins up with a misfit group of adventures and plans to never return to his homeland. But the fae have other plans for him…

Warnings (for whole fic not necessarily individual chapters): Violence, mind whammying/memory altering, curse of obedience related consent issues, references to sex, references to war related injuries/PTSD, references to child abuse/neglect (YMMV on that one but just in case), antagonstic-but-not-exactly villian!Janus, Extremly-moraly-dubious-but-not-exacty-unsympathetic-Remus

Pairings: Mostly Platonic LAMP and all the found family feels. Could be read as pre-slash.

Feedback appreciated. 

NOW ON AO3 :D

Prologue     Chapter 1   Chapter 2  

Remus. Remus, Remus, Remus.

The mad Prince of Notaleveale.

Remus was coming here. Remus was coming to Steveange and if Romulus saw him-

Roman had to leave.

Which was easier said than done; when the streets were crowded with hoards of shoppers and revellers all pressing against him, blocking his path, stealing the air out of his lungs-

“Roman!”

He needed to go. He need to find Virgil and Patton in whatever rooms they’d managed to find, collect his belongings and-

No. That would take too long – he could replace the clothes and books, he already had his sword-

“Roman, what’re you-”

- but he needed his lute. To make any kind of living he had to be able to perform. It was the only thing he was good at and once he’d got away he’d be -

He could do it. He’d run away before. He survived alone, without anyone, he could do it again and-

“Roman! Stop!”

He stopped.

Logan. Heading towards him. But he hadn’t given a time frame and if Roman grit his teeth and pushed past the spike of pain he could start to move again in just a second-

“Wait!”

Dammit.

Roman waited. Fists clenched by his side, until Logan was next to him.

“Roman.”

His chest was tight. His brain wasn’t -wasn’t working right and Logan looked so odd, with his glasses askew and his face flushed – had he been running?

“I thought I saw Patton.” Roman blurted.

It was the first excuse that popped into his head and it was clearly not – not good enough. Logan was frowning at him, a pinched expression, studying him like an experiment and-

Roman hated him, suddenly.

Logan was an upstart swot with ideas above his station and a chip on his shoulder. He poked and prodded and lost them jobs with his terse words and his better than you attitude. He reminded Roman of the tutors who snap at him for his lack of understanding and bark orders for him to recite, repeat, remember, to be better, smarter, stronger: someone worthy of his title.

He reminded him most of all of Julius. His fathers closest advisor, who had been charged with unravelling the Princes’ curses. He was the one who had helped Romulus learn how to push against his curse. He would give him orders that were almost impossible to follow and watch with cold eyes as Romulus struggled to disobey. Together they’d categorised how much pain he could withstand, what orders could be navigated and misinterpreted and which ones he was truly helpless against.

Once, he’d bid Romulus to stand on one leg. And left him there until his muscles started to cramp and shake, waiting to see if gravity or the curse was stronger. Romulus had been in tears by the end. Had even wondered, briefly, about complaining to his parents. But is was such a silly, innocuous order compared to other experiments. What had truly upset him was how Julian had just stood there, not speaking, his eyes distant and cold and calculating as he noted down every twitch and whimper from the boy. Even when he circled him, Romulus could feel those eyes boring into the back of his neck like a-

“Princey.”

Roman blinked. Julius’ practice room disappeared, replaced with the sights and sound of the Steveange street. Logan was in front of him and his eyes were far from cold. When he spoke it was with the same gentle tone that Roman had heard him use when Virgil’s worries overwhelmed him or when Patton woke from a nightmare and didn’t know where he was.

“Did the cro- the woman. Did she say something to you?” Logan was holding his hand. Gently but firmly, he tugged at Romans tightly clenched fingers, encouraging them to unfurl. Roman stared uncomprehendingly at the deep crescent marks he’d made in his palm.

Slowly, Logan released his right hand and reached for his left, repeating the process.

Roman felt shame ripple through him.

Logan wasn’t Julius. Logan would never push him so far he broke.

Logan was his friend and Roman has made him worry with his silly behaviour and his slapdash lie. But he could fix it.

He forced a smiled. Flexed his fingers and straightened up his full height. Made a show of looking around him.

“I swear I saw him. Big man, big sword, big smile – he’s hard to mistake!”

Hesitantly, Logan glanced around too before quickly refocusing on Roman.

“Are you sure you –“

“Ah well, the mind plays trick I suppose – must be hunger getting to me, speaking of which…”

Roman reached forward and deftly snatched the bag from Logan's grasp, reaching in blindly and shoving the first pastry he found into his mouth.

“Mmmm so good!” He beamed at Logan with berry stained teeth, flakes of pastry flying through the air. “Aren’t you going to have one?”

Logan stared at him. Roman kept his smile sweet and his eyes clear. He held up the bag and wiggled it enticingly.

Hesitantly, Logan took the bag and selected a tart. Keeping his eyes on the bard the entire time, he ate his treat with much more refinement then Roman had shown. “Holding back?” Roman asked, teasing, “I’ve seen you eat jam before, there’s no point pretending to have table manners now.”

Logan just hmphed but his shoulders relaxed slightly and Roman decided to take that as a victory. “We should get going” Roman said and started walking, Logan easily falling into step beside him.

The streets were crowded enough that none of the sellers seemed to feel the need to call to Roman specifically, and so this time he was free to investigate the stalls he was actually interested in.

But instead he stayed by Logan's side

Logan was a good friend. For all he claimed to lack an understating of emotional nuances he was letting Roman have his space. He’d even distracted him earlier, when his biggest concern had been the a spike of homesickness after meeting their northern customer.

He was nothing like Julius.

Roman was going to miss him so much.

***

Roman kept up his performance of normality all the way back to the main square, where they had agreed to meet the others once their mission was done. The sky was beginning to turn dark by the time they got there, though it was easy enough to navigate from the sheer number of stalls still in operation, each one boasting its own selection of colourful lanterns.

“This is fantastic!” Roman gasped theoretically, spinning on one foot to take in the whole spectacle.

“It’s a fire hazard.” Logan muttered with a frown.

They found Virgil waiting for them by the central fountain. He had manged to find a seat on the fountains edge but was wedged between two young couples who had clearly taken the romantic festival atmosphere to heart. The healer’s shoulders were up by his ears and his cloak was wrapped so tightly around himself it looked constricting. When he saw them he sprang to his feet so quickly he almost knocked one of the young ladies into the water.

“Took you two long enough.”

Roman and Logan glanced at each other.

“Logan got lost-”

“Roman kept wandering off.”

“-We brought you baked goods!”

Virgil took one of the two remaining pastries with minimal grumbling and led them out of the square. They took the north east road, a path that curved its wary upwards into the higher levels of the city. Here the buildings were all built of a blush-pink marble that sparkled in the evening twilight. The streets were wide, with neatly arranged flowerbeds and street lights which had the steady glow of Arkazeii glow lamps rather than the flicker of oil. There were certainly no traders spread out on blankets. Logan looked distinctly unimpressed.

“Was this inn you found an…economical choice?”

“It was a ‘the whole town’s rammed and this was the only place with a room left’ choice.” Virgil snarked “and don’t worry – its one room for all four of us with no breakfast included, if you were worried about getting too… bourgeoisie…or whatever."

Logan raised his hands for peace.

“I’m sure you did the best you could.”

“Well …we were lucky.” Virgil told him, and then glanced over at Roman, his lip twitching.

“Apparently they give discounts to performers.”

***

The inn was certainly a cut above their normal haunts. With brightly painted walls almost obscured by well pruned climbing plants, outdoor seating, and a wrought iron gate leading to spacious stables behind the building.  Even the doors were of better quality then your typical village tavern – made of wood heavy enough to make a satisfying crash when Roman stormed in.

The room was crowded, but Patton really was hard to miss. Roman shoved his way through to the back table where the big man sat waiting. Leaving other customers cursing in his wake.

‘Hey kiddo!’ Patton greeted him with a wide smile “Did you-“

“Key.” Roman snarled.

Patron blinked and him, shock writ large on his face. “Sorry?”

“The key. To my room.  Give it.” Roman snapped. “It is mine right? Since you seem happy to pimp me out in exchange for-“

“Hey!” That would be Virgil. Roman half thought he had left both men behind in his rage after Virgil’s little announcement, but the elf at least seemed to have kept up. He’d reached the table just in time to hear the start of Roman’s rant. “What the hell is your problem Princey?”

“My problem? Oh I’m sorry, I’M not the one signing other people up to sing for their supper without permission Virgil.”

“You like singing for your – we thought you’d want to!”

“Well it would have been nice to have a choice!”

“Virgil. Roman.” That was Logan, it had taken longer for the shorter man to force his way through the crowd but he wasted no time now in inserting himself into Romans business. “whatever this is… it’s not about putting on a show.”

He turned to the other two. Virgil scowling, Patton wide eyed.

“He had an…episode in the market.”

“Excuse me?” Roman shouted.

“Roman, whatever disturbed you, you practically ran away.”

“Well perhaps I had simple grown tired of looking at your face? Had you considered that?”

He turned his back to Logan, rounding on Patton again: “Now, give me the-“

Patton already had his hand out, wrought iron key resting loosely in his palm.

“We’re on the fourth floor.” he said calmly as Roman snatched it from him. “First door once you get up the stairs.” Roman spun on his heel only to find Virgil blocking his path.

“Move.” Roman hissed.

“What is wrong with you?” Roman narrowed his eyes. Virgil looked angry. Looked one second away from telling him to sit down, shut up, stop causing a fuss. He wondered if he could get past him without using his sword.

“I’ll bring you up some food in a bit,” Roman blinked glancing back at Patton, startled. The warrior still hadn’t moved from the table - admittedly no easy task in the cramped corner- and was looking at him calmly.

“I don’t want anything” Roman muttered, sullen.

“But you might later.” Patton smiled at him. Not knowing how to respond Roman turned back to Virgil. The elf glanced between the two, chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, before sighing and stepping to the side. Not fast enough to prevent Roman from knocking his shoulder with his own as he pushed past however.

It wasn’t as satisfying as he hoped.

**

At a guess, the room was normally meant for storage not guests. Two rickety looking beds had been shoved in, so close together they might as well have been one. There was one small table forced between the end of one bed and the wall, with a basin of water perched on top. Someone,  presumably Patton, had organised their bags neatly at the end of the beds. Roman’s was at the far end, closest to the window. Then Patton, then Virgil with Logan closest to the door, next to the only built in shelf where a candle had been left for the night. Roman would be able to wake with the dawn, as he liked to do, and Logan would have light for the longest to stay up and read.

Romans lute was not on the floor with his pack.  Instead he found in had been placed on the bed itself, propped up on his pillow, away from any potential harm.

Whatever righteous anger he had been able to hang on too as he stomped upstairs dropped out of him now like a stone from a cliff. Without it, the despair he had felt in the market came rushing back. He sank down right there by the door, bringing his knees up to his chest as he’d done in the forest. As he used to do in Julius’ room.

He almost wished Julius was here – at least he would tell him not to cry.

The through was so absurd he let out a weak snotty laugh and buried his head in his arms.

He needed to leave Steveange.

He didn’t want to leave them.

But they had planned to stay for a week at least, hopefully longer.

Convince them to leave early? Except he couldn’t explain why. Find them a job out of the city? How? When the coronation and accompanying celebrations were over it would be easy enough to find a traveling group in need of a little extra protection, but for now no one was leaving.

They’d been excited to come. Virgil want to try the city baths, famed for their heated pools and soothing water. Logan had been talking about the library for half the trip. Patton was just excited to explore the city itself, meet the people and try the food. He loved when they stopped in busier towns but it was a rarity.

There was no way Roman would be able to convince them to leave just because he wanted to.

Roman did what other people wanted. It was all he knew how to do.

And even if he had a convincing reason…well, they probably didn’t want him around anymore anyway.

He scrambled up, grabbed the first pillow he could reach and buried his face in it to muffle a scream of frustration which turned into more sobs.

He was so pathetic.

Since he’d left home, he’d kept his memories, kept Romulus, buried as deep as he could. But now it was like Romulus was just under his skin. Ready to jump out If he let himself slip. With all his anger and hurt and fear.

Romulus was a liability.

Romulus was a murder. Or would be. If Roman couldn’t think.

He stepped over to his pack, still hugging the pillow to him like a teddy bear, and started to review the contents. He didn’t need to take all of this with him, surely? Half of it wasn’t even his, their belongings having become more and more intertwined the longer they travelled.

The healing salve was rightfully Virgil’s, the soft shirt he wrapped himself in during cold nights was actually Patton’s, at least one of the notebooks belonged to Logan.

He opened the nearest book to check, but instead of Logan's neat lists his own sloppy scrawl stared back at him. Song lyrics and passing thoughts and, on the next page, an unfinished sketch. It was of Virgil, hand covering his mouth but eyes betraying his laughter. The other pages, he knew contained scribbles of all three of them. He flicked back and found his favourite, the page marked with a yellowed leaf he couldn’t remember picking up.

It showed all three in one sketch. Logan, sleeping and so looking years younger, head pillowed on Virgil’s thigh. Virgil was turned towards Patton, rolling his eyes as if to say ‘can you believe this?’ but making no move to actually shift scholar off him. Patton was laughing, he was the most well rendered of the three figures, you could almost see his shoulders shaking.

Roman looked at it for a moment. Then slowly replaced the book mark and closed it. This would have to come with him.

A knock at the door startled him so badly he dropped the book, which bounced under the bed.

“Kiddo? Can I come it?”

Fuck.

Patton. He had -he had been so, so unbelievably rude to Patton.

His first instinct, which was admittedly not a good one, was to jump out of the window.

Roman took a deep breath. Focusing on the mundane task of sorting items had cleared his head somewhat. He was still a little shaky but his eyes were dry. He knew what would be expected of him now - Romulus had spent most of his life apologising.

“Come in.” he croaked and stood, squaring his shoulders.

Patton entered alone, two bowls of something that smelled delicious cradled in his arms.

Roman ignored the sudden spike of hunger – the fruit tart seemed a long time ago now- and bowed from the waist. He kept his back ramrod straight and bent low enough that it quickly became uncomfortable. It was the kind of bow Romulus would only have given his father or elder brother.

“Patton, I owe you my most humble apology I-“

“Roman I am so sorry.”

“The way I spoke to you was the height of disrespect and unprin- ungentlemanly behaviour I – wait, what?”

He straightened up and looked at Patton, confused. “Why are you sorry?”

“Roman, I – wait hold on.” Patton handed him one of the bowls and turned to close the door. “Do you mind if we sit?” he asked and Roman nodded, smiling despite himself. Patton was the politest person he had ever met.

Once they were both seated, Patton’s bad leg stretched out in front of him, Patton looked at him seriously.

“Roman you were right downstairs. We should never have promised you’d perform without asking you first - no it's true!”

But Roman was already shaking his head. “Patton you were fine, you know I love singing! I was the one acting like, like some sort of beast I-“

“I know you love singing but that doesn’t mean we get to pick and choose when-“

“But I wanted to perform as much as possible whilst we were here- I’d told you that!”

“-especially after travelling all week. We were, er, presumptuous.”

Roman stared at him.

“Unlike this soup, which is pre – scrumptious.”

Patton beamed at him. Roman groaned.

“Anyway I’m sorry for letting you stew-“ he held up the bowl again waggling his eyebrows “- up here for so long, but we needed to make things right with the landlord.”

Roman, who had been starting to relax under the force of two puns in a row, tensed again. “What things?”

Patton smiled. “We paid the difference – you don’t have to perform! Uhh unless you want to of course, but it’s your choice.” He nodded decisively whilst Roman gaped.

“b-but isn’t it expensive?”

Patton just shrugged, “Well, the last job paid well didn’t it?”

“Not that well!”

“Aw c’mon kiddo, what’s the point of having money if we don’t spend it? Right?”

Not knowing what to say. Roman shoved a spoonful of stew into his mouth without tasting it. Guilt turning the meal to ash.

“Patton…how many days did you pay for?”

“The rest of the week! And there’s still enough to have some fun at the markets, don’t worry, we can all have a – hey!” Patton put his bowl down, shuffling closer to put one warm hand on Roman’s knee.” Roman, hey kiddo, buddy what’s wrong?”

Roman found, quite to his surprise, that he was trembling. He followed Patton's example and put the bowl carefully on the floor before digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I…can’t Pat. I can’t stay here. I have to go.”

“Go?” Patton looked at him with confusion clear in his big brown eyes, “But why kiddo? You don’t like the inn?”

Roman groaned shaking his head “not the inn. The city. I’m not – I can’t – if ‘m here it- “ he let out a whine of frustration, hating his curse heavy tongue.

Never tell anyone about our conversation.

“I just-“ My brother is coming and if I see him I-

“If – “ my brother is coming and he won’t be alone. There are people who know who I really am and I –

“Okay.”

Romans head snapped up.

Patton still had a frown on his face but when he looked at Roman his eyes were as serious as Roman had ever seen them. “If you can’t tell me the details it’s fine but-“ he lent forward, “Roman, are you safe here?”

Without breathing, Roman shook his head. No.

Patton nodded and squeezed his knee. “Well then of course we’re not staying.” Hesitantly, he lifted his arm and rested one large hand on the back of Romans neck. Forcing their eyes to meet. “Whatever it is – we will help you. You know that don’t you?”

Embarrassingly, Roman felt his eyes filling with tears.

“We’ll leave in the morning.” Patton told him. Patton stood up, taking Romans congealing stew and his own empty bowl and headed to the door. He paused, one hand on the door handle. “Everything’s going to be okay kiddo.” he smiled, “We love you.”

And he was gone.

For a long moment Roman sat frozen, staring at the closed door.

“Yeah.” He agreed, eventually. “Right.”

Except. They didn’t. Not really.

They loved Roman.

Roman had screamed and insulted them and instead of kicking him out of their group like they had every right to do, they had given up what little money they had just to make Roman feel better.

And Roman was a lie.

Roman was Romulus with a bad haircut. And Romulus was everything they weren’t’ – a stupid, pampered, prince with no power or pride.

Patton might be willing to upheaval their lives just on Roman's say so, But Logan and Virgil were more practically minded. They would want explanations. Might even demand them.

Never tell anyone about your curse. Remove yourself from anyone who might ask you about it and put as much distance between you as you can.

Romulus was a liability.

One they shouldn’t have to deal with.

He strapped his lute to his back and secured his dagger in a hidden pocket that Virgil had taught him how to sow.  Everything else he left, including, after a moments hesitation, his sword. He had been training Logan to use it, on and off, and whilst the scholar was no solider he was improving. At the very least, it would be some source of protection until they could hire another swordhand for their travels.

The climbing plants he had noticed on the way in made getting down from the window much easier than he had originally anticipated. Dusting off his hands he skirted the building, taking care to avoid the large windows of the main hall, until he found the entrance to the the stables.

He wasn’t proud of it, but he had stolen before when he first left home. He would have to again now in order to put some distance between the city and himself.

It wasn’t his worst plan.

And it might even have worked, had they not already been waiting for him.

When Romulus was eleven, and had taken to following the young Marquis de Orenlla around like a love sick puppy. Even now, under the weak light of a covered lantern and with almost fifteen years distance from the memories, he still recognised him instantly.

“Good evening, your highness.” The Marquis smile was as dazzling as he remembered, although his eyes were colder.

He had no army with him, and no weapon that Roman could see. But then, why would he need one?

“Come with me.”

Roman went.

part 4

[lucienballard]

The Velvet Underground’s 30 greatest songs – ranked!

30. Ride Into the Sun (1969)The Velvets recorded two versions of Ride Into the Sun: a fabulous 1969 instrumental laden with fuzz guitar and a hushed 1970 vocal take backed by organ. Somewhere between the two lies one of their great lost songs; Lou Reed’s disappointingly flat 1972 solo version doesn’t do it justice at all.

29. Run Run Run (1967)For all the shock engendered by the lyrics of Heroin and I’m Waiting for My Man, the most malevolent-sounding track on the debut album might be Run Run Run, a powerful R&B groove lent a gripping darkness by Reed’s noisy guitar playing and the screw-you-I-take-drugs sneer of his vocals.

28. Beginning to See the Light (1969)The title suggests awakening, the melody is bright, but the lyrics are dark and bitter. They may have been directed at John Cale, who played on an initial version of the song, which was subsequently re-recorded after Reed sacked him, against the wishes of his bandmates. A ferocious 1969 live version amps up the tension.

27. Foggy Notion (1969)Reed was a lifelong doo-wop fan. His passion usually found its expression when the Velvet Underground recorded backing vocals for their ballads – as on Candy Says – but the tough, rocking Foggy Notion went a stage further, gleefully stealing a chunk of the Solitaires’ 1955 single Later for You Baby.

26. The Gift (1968)In which the band set a two-chord grind that may, or may not, have been based on their instrumental Booker T in one channel and a blackly comic Reed short story read by Cale in the other. “If you’re a mad fiend like we are, you’ll listen to them both together,” offered the producer, Tom Wilson.

25. Guess I’m Falling in Love (1967)Recorded at the White Light/White Heat sessions, but never completed, the April 1967 live recording of Guess I’m Falling in Love – taped at the Gymnasium in New York – will more than suffice. It boasts three chords, a distinct rhythm and blues influence, Reed in streetwise, so-what punk mode and explosive guitar solos somehow potentiated by the rough sound quality.

24. Temptation Inside Your Heart (1968)“It was not Mein Kampf – my struggle,” the guitarist Sterling Morrison once reflected of the Velvet Underground’s career. “It was fun.” A delightful late Cale-era outtake that inadvertently captured Morrison, Cale and Reed’s giggly backchat as they recorded the backing vocals, Temptation Inside Your Heart bears that assessment out.

23. New Age (1970)New Age comes in two varieties. Take your pick from the world-weary, small-hours rumination found on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, or the more epic studio version that the Velvets biographer Victor Bockris suggested was “an attempt to present some encouraging statements to a confused audience as the 70s began”. Both are superb.

22. After Hours (1969)The Velvets’ eponymous 1969 album ends, improbably, with the drummer, Moe Tucker, singing a song that could have dated from the pre-rock era. The twist is that her childlike voice and the cute melody conceals an almost unbearably sad song, ostensibly a celebration of small-hours boozing, but filled with longing and regret.

21. I Can’t Stand It (1969)Amid the Velvets’ songs about drugs and drag queens lurked the plaintive sound of Reed pining for his college sweetheart, Shelley Albin, the subject of Pale Blue Eyes, I Found a Reason and I Can’t Stand It. The latter’s cocky strut is disrupted by a desperate lyrical plea: “If Shelley would just come back, it’d be all right.”

20. The Black Angel’s Death Song (1967)There is something folky and vaguely Dylan-esque at the heart of The Black Angel’s Death Song, but by the time Cale had finished with it – alternately strafing it with screeching, insistent viola and hissing into the microphone in lieu of a chorus – it sounded, and still sounds, unique.

19. I Found a Reason (1970)It is one of the ironies of the Velvet Underground that the most forward-thinking, groundbreaking band of their era could occasionally sound like old-fashioned rock’n’roll revivalists. Buried on side two of Loaded was one of the loveliest of Lou Reed’s loving homages to doo-wop, complete with spoken-word section.

18. Some Kinda Love (1969)Musically straightforward, sensual in tone, Some Kinda Love is a complex business, part seduction soundtrack, part refusal to be hemmed in by standard categories of sexuality – “no kinds of love are better than others … the possibilities are endless / and for me to miss one / would seem to be groundless”. Killer line: “Between thought and expression lies a lifetime.”

17. European Son (1967)European Son isn’t a song so much as an eruption. It sounds like a band overturning the established order of rock’n’roll, almost literally: after two brief verses, it bursts into thrilling frantic chaos with a verbatim crash, like the contents of an upended table hitting the floor.

16. Rock & Roll (1970)It is hard to see Loaded’s driving, joyous hymn to music’s redemptive power – “her life was saved by rock and roll” – as anything other than disguised autobiography on the part of Reed. The suggestion that music will endure “despite all the amputations”, meanwhile, seems to look forward to his departure from the Velvet Underground.

15. Candy Says (1969)No one else in 1969 was writing songs remotely like Candy Says, a stunning, tender pen portrait of the transgender Warhol superstar Candy Darling set to a gentle doo-wop inspired backing. Its melancholy seems to presage the note Darling wrote on her deathbed in 1974: “I had no desire for life left … I am just so bored by everything.”

14. Sunday Morning (1967)Sunday Morning was written at the behest of Wilson. He wanted a single that might conceivably get on the radio; he got a haunting, melancholy sigh of a song, its battered wistfulness and undercurrent of paranoia – “watch out, the world’s behind you” – the perfect encapsulation of morning-after regret.

13. What Goes On (1969)Morrison maintained that the studio incarnation of What Goes On wasn’t a patch on the live versions the band performed with Cale on organ. Maybe, but the studio incarnation featuring Cale’s replacement, Doug Yule, is great. It prickles with nervous energy, Reed’s guitar playing is amazing, its churning coda takes up half the song and it still feels too short.

12. Femme Fatale (1967)Apparently provoked by the damaged, doomed Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick – with whom Cale had a brief affair – Femme Fatale is as beautiful and fragile as its inspiration. The story of a wary, ruined former suitor warning others off the titular anti-heroine is lent a chilly edge by Nico’s delivery.

11. I Heard Her Call My Name (1968)In the Velvets’ early days, Reed purported to be “the fastest guitarist alive”. A berserk claim, but his Ornette Coleman-inspired solos on I Heard Her Call My Name are some of the most extraordinary and viscerally exciting in rock history, frequently atonal, spiked with ear-splitting feedback and pregnant pauses.

10. Ocean (1969)The Velvet Underground recorded Ocean several times – one version is supposed to feature the return of Cale on organ – but never released it in their lifetime, which seems extraordinary. It is among the greatest of their later songs, its atmosphere beautiful, the epic ebb and flow of its sound completely immersive.

9. I’m Waiting for the Man (1967)An unvarnished lyrical depiction of scoring drugs tied to music on which Reed’s rock’n’roll smarts and Cale’s background in minimalist classical music – the pounding, one-chord piano part – meld in a kind of relentless perfection. Amusingly, there is now a pharmacy at the song’s fabled location of Lexington 125.

8. I’ll Be Your Mirror (1967)A song about Reed’s affair with Nico that could just as easily be about Andy Warhol’s approach to art, I’ll Be Your Mirror is one of those Velvet Underground tracks that makes their initial commercial failure seem baffling. How could a pop song as wonderful as this fail to attract attention? Nico and Morrison on stage at the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry annual dinner in 1966.

7. White Light/White Heat (1968)A delirious paean to amphetamine, its subject reflected in the lyrics – “I surely do love to watch that stuff tip itself in” – and the turbulent, distorted rush of its sound. The band appear to be barely in control as it careers along; the chaotic finale, where Cale finally loses his grip on the bass line, is just fantastic.

6. Heroin (1967)Heroin was the deal-breaker at early Velvets gigs, provoking a “howl of bewilderment and outrage”. The shock of its subject matter has dulled with time, but its surges from folky lament to sonic riot still sound breathtaking. Oddly sweet moment: Reed’s chuckle as Tucker loses her place amid the maelstrom and suddenly stops playing.

5. Pale Blue Eyes (1969)“High energy does not necessarily mean fast,” Reed once argued. “High energy has to do with heart.” Hushed, limpidly beautiful and almost unbearably sad, Pale Blue Eyes’ depiction of a strained, adulterous relationship proves his point. In its own vulnerable way, it is as powerful as anything the Velvet Underground recorded.

4. Sweet Jane (1970)Sweet Jane started life as a ballad – see the versions recorded live at the Matrix in San Francisco in 1969 – but, sped and toughened up, it became as succinct and perfect a rock’n’roll song as has ever been written, based around one of the greatest riffs of all time.

3. Venus in Furs (1967)For a band who inspired so much other music, the Velvet Underground’s catalogue is remarkably rich with songs that still sound like nothing else; they were as inimitable as they were influential. Venus in Furs is a case in point: umpteen artists were galvanised by its dark, austere atmosphere; none succeeded in replicating it.

2. Sister Ray (1968)A monumental journey into hitherto-uncharted musical territory, where a primitive garage-rock riff meets Hubert Selby-inspired lyrics and improvisation that sounds like a psychological drama playing out between Reed and Cale, all at skull-splitting volume. Fifty-three years later, it is without peer for white-knuckle intensity.

1. All Tomorrow’s Parties (1967)Ninety per cent of the Velvet Underground’s oeuvre consists of no-further-questions classics. The astonishingly high standard of almost everything they did makes picking their “best” song a matter of personal preference, rather than qualitative judgment. So let’s go for Warhol’s favourite, on which the sour and sweet aspects of their debut album entwine faultlessly. The melody is exquisite; the music monolithic and unrelenting, powered by Cale’s hammering piano and Tucker’s stately drums; Nico’s performance perfectly inhabits the lyrics, which turn a depiction of a woman choosing what dress to wear into a meditation on emptiness and regret. It is original and utterly masterly: the Velvet Underground in a nutshell.

source

[sanstropfremir]

episode four!! second half of the song swaps!!!

are we surprised? no! hyolyn is at the top again for the second time in a row and honestly why is anyone competing anymore. she IS the queen there is no denying it. her stage was fantastic but i was disappointed with the other two from this episode (also not surprising). it's interesting to see that some of the same problems are popping up with each of the groups, but it's subtle things that i'm not sure would be noticed by the average viewer that isn't looking specifically for them. i'll touch more on the specifics in the reviews themselves but it's making me wonder if they're systematic problems with how the groups are approaching these performances and not necessarily something that could be fixed via just the flawed voting/scoring metric of the show. anyways! personal rankings at the end as always!

viviz

costume

the traditional flamenco dress is red and black so i don't really have any complaints on that but WHY would you tear them away to reveal boring ass unsexy shorts. sexiness is not about how much skin you show it's about what you show and how you show it!! and flamenco skirts are one of THEEEE sexiest garments because they're a constant reveal/conceal and literally WHY would you actively choose not to use that in favour of trite braid appliqué shorts. i'm actually a little bit mad about that honestly.

i never though i would say this but i think everyone needs to cool it with the on-stage costume changes. i can't believe there were THREE stages this round with costume changes. it's ok you don't have rip your skirts away all the time you can just dance, it's all good.

sound

i didn't like unnatural before this and i still do not like it. i wish they had done more to encorporated the latin elements into the whole song.

lighting

i had the same problem here as i had with tbz's o sole mio stage on kingdom, there's too much red on red and it's very hard to see what's happening. i didn't actually mind the projections at all and i liked the choice to open the back screen up to show the light bars in the back. but there was definitely too much red.

staging

my favourite thing about this stage was the mirror effect with the rose petals that they used in the beginning! that was fun.

some of the choreography choices here were......strange? there was one head nod move in the first half that was quite unflattering and i'm not sure why it was included

this is probably their best staged performance so far but it still has a little bit of that same problem of excessive close ups that their first stage did. obvs i don't know how this was rehearsed or choreographed but it feels like it was a lot of small segments chunked together into a performance without a lot of care for the shape of the performance as a whole. there were relatively less wide shots and i never got a good feel of what the larger look of what the dancers were doing was and i think this stage really could have benefitted from some much bigger panache. and similar to loona's ptt stage, it feels like there's a lot of bouncing around without landing on a clear movement trajectory.

kepler

costume

i think they were trying to go for like, a combo but reverse little mermaid/alice in wonderland where the girls enter into a magic ocean themed kingdom but the concept falls off like halfway through. and the quality of their costumes is very low? and i really wish they were actually on theme, these are just vague 'cute' concept music show outfits.

the concept for pool party doesn't even have to do with water, the mv was in a roller disco! they could have very easily committed to an actual beach theme or even like, a pool/lifeguard theme like tbz's thrill ride; it would have been waayyy easier to work with and there aren't a whole lot of groups or concepts that have covered that urban summer vibe, so it would have been a much better and cleaner choice. they could have done some cute staging with throwing lifebuoys around and having pool noodle fights.

sound

why. firstly, they should NOT have remixed with rollin because this is now the third time that song has shown up and we don't need that again, and also THERE ARE MINORS IN THIS GROUP.

regardless of that, the mashup of the two songs is just not good. it feels like instead of using one song to elevate the other, they just brough the quality of both songs down.

lighting

it's...........confusing. there's two separate concepts happening here and they were not fully synthesized together, and the projections should have done a better job of being that synthesis

also i think the combination of the pink outfits and the beginning and end being predominently purple that even though i've watched the stage like five or six times at this point, all i manage to come away with is how overwhelmingly purple it is. i do like when the lighting sticks to a limited colour palette but the colours felt very oversaturated on this one.

staging

i'm struggling to find a way to put this politely but this stage was not good. there's way too many gimmicks happening and none of them really added to the performance in any tangible way. i think they could have easily paired down to just the keyhole entrance + flowers to establish the intro and maybe the ballet barres if they really felt like it, but everything else was just visual clutter and should have been cut. none of those bits had effective choreography that was necessary to the flow, it could have easily been substituted for blocking that didn't require there to be loose bubble liquid onstage and those unappealing flat shell fans. this is the second stage in a row for kepler where they have very incoherant and inexperienced performance direction and honestly, putting them into a large scale competition like this so soon after their debut is not going well for them and it wasn't particularly fair on mnet's part. this stage really exposed just how young and ill-prepared these girls are and the only reason they aren't ranking consistently last is because they probably have the biggest fanbase. in a way it's kind of the opposite problem as skz during kingdom, because at least with skz they had the ability to making good stages, they just weren't at the time and were instead being bolstered by their fans without actually improving. kepler are obviously being bolstered by their fans, but i'm kind of glad that they are in a way because they do not have the ability. if i was one of those girls and i was seeing the quality of who i was competing against i would want to crawl into a hole and die. knowing you're the youngest and weakest performers and being shown that again and again is probably so demoralizing, and i'm a little bit glad that at least they get one positive out of this.

hyolyn

costume

again i will forgive the black on black because a) it is a part of the concept and b) it's all pleather so it's reflective and we can still see everyone. i do wish she had gone a little more halle berry patent patchwork with it, but it was there on the corset so that's just a nitpick. also corsets always 10/10 choice.

sound

i'm not familiar with loona's discography so i don't know this song, but hyolyn killed it. and the addition of ptt for the dance break was soooo smart when paired with the catwoman theme, as obviously it's meant as a 'paint the town red (with blood)' villainess moment. excellent job redeeming ptt.

lighting

love love love love the moon and the 'searchlights' at the beginning (and in the middle) that all converge on her, such a great atmospheric detail. and i like that the projections are pretty sparse; there's just enough city to establish place, and the text is a nice graphic comic book nod.

staging

obviously the aerial hoop business is insane, i love that she's actually taking these rounds as challenges and learning new skills on top of doing the stages.

rather than talking that much about the physical staging (because in all honesty it's not that complicated), i think what's more impressive is how well-planned hyolyn's stages are. i talked at length about it for touch my body, but here again she shows off very meticulous attention to detail in how her performance is structured. she very consciously chose to not do a dance heavy stage even though we know she has the ability to. instead, she chose to focus on vocal performance (because she's covering a group song as a soloist) and compensate for a lack of individual choreography in a number of ways: firstly, by an absolutely spectacular opening image; secondly, by picking a theme that has very immediate visual connotations that allow the audience to do a lot of heavy lifting; and thirdly, by building very large stage pictures with her dancers. with the last round she proved that she could fill a big stage by herself and with this round she proved that she can entertain a crowd without doing insanely complex choreography. she's actively thinking about the different sides of herself that she can show as a performer and that's a lot more than anyone else on this show is doing.

---

final ranking

hyolyn

brave girls

loona

wjsn

viviz

kepler

compared to the official ranking which is:

hyolyn

loona

wjsn

viviz

kepler

brave girls

which frankly? a fucking CRIME. it is heinous that that kepler stage ranked above brave girls the quality is not even close to comparable on any aspect. we knew the fan voting was going to rear its ugly head at some point and i knew this was gonna happen because brave girls are still the underdogs but damn it's still disappointing seeing it. in general otherwise it looks like everyone else agreed with me, which i guess is nice. not super sure on what the next episode is going to be, since there were no performances in the preview, so i might not have a review next week. depends though; since i saw monika (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) in the preview, so if they do happen to do some kind of dance performance i'll probably talk about it at least a little bit!