#i have other songs that rotate in and out of being my favorites at any given time

[fiyasgideon]

🎶✨when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool) 🎶✨

1. Stunnin' by Curtis Waters, Harm Franklin

Top song, hands down. My absolute favorite and has been for the last 3 years. Last year was the first year since I found the song that it wasn't my number 1 most played song on spotify. But it was still in the top 5. I never skip this.

2. Guillotine by Jon Bellion, Travis Medez

I just love this song. It's great to sing and daydream along with. I love the melody and the lyrics. Great to fall asleep to.

3. New Bad Habit by Adam Jensen

Basically any song by Adam Jensen is a hit. Love all of their music. But this one is my current favorite of all of them.

4. EAT SPIT! by Slush Puppy, Royal & the Serpent

I just like the beat to this one. I've been listening to a lot of this genre recently because I just like listening to the loud beats. This one might be my fav so far, but Filthy by The Gentle Men and 2077 by do not resurrect are very close seconds.

5. Lady Jesus by UPSAHL

I just discovered this artist a few weeks ago and I'm loving their music. This one is my favorite of theirs, but they have a few others that I really like as well.

I'm not sure if I have 10 people to send this to that I feel comfortable bothering, but I'll try.

[catscraftsandcommentary]

So I had some time to think tonight at work (in between operating heavy machinery, swearing at the materials, and trying to keep the line running, fun times!) And I asked myself, "self, hypothetically, what might @inexplicifics Accidental Warlord AU look like in another generation or two - once people really get used to witchers being The Good Guys (TM) and helping out?"

And I was like "well, they'd probably get invited to social events - ooh! Who'd like which events best?!? What would that look like?"

Geralt, as we all know, detests anything too formal or Warlord-focused. He enjoys weddings and receptions, but his TRUE favorite is baby christenings. Seriously. Put him in a room with a tiny baby and he's happy as a clam. He'll happily growl away (or weaponize his puppy-dog eyes against) grannies, aunties, and other family members to hold the baby for as long as possible. He's also 90% of the reason that witchers are now rumored to be able to bless babies.

When Mouse and Treyse bring this new rumor to the council, everyone has to just sit. And process for a minute. Because what the ever-loving fuck?!? (Jaskier immediately writes the sweetest lullaby ever, "A Witcher's Blessing", and it is the ONLY song that Geralt ever sings in public, and only ever to babies and small children. Multiple women blame this for their immediate conceptions.)

Jaskier adores weddings and festivals of all types, and if a happy couple includes details of how they met and/or fell in love with their wedding invitation, there's at least a 50% chance that he'll show up to the wedding with a personalized love song, holy shit.

Ciri loves tourneys. Loves watching them, loves displaying in them, loves sneaking into competing in them (omg, heir, NO), loves WINNING them. She's a menace. She has various stealth coats of arms that she rotates between when she's not supposed to be competing, but her favorite is the battle goose. Obviously.

Eskel doesn't like crowds or being the center of attention, which are almost inevitable with public invitations, but he does enjoy being the +1 for his family. Several of his and their interests overlap, and even where they don't, he likes to see them enjoying themselves.

Yennifer becomes well-known as an extremely efficient - albeit terrifying - treaty negotiator. She'll talk to both sides, get a list of their must haves, deal-breakers, would-likes, and don't-wants (as well as - perhaps more importantly - the reason why each of those are on that particular list). Then she draws up a draft and viciously negotiates a compromise. She is genuinely surprised the first time that both sides thank her for her help.

Vesemir, with all his long years of teaching, loves visiting schools and seeing any sort of student performance or sporting event. Kindergarten to university, drama to music to dance recitals to track and field meets to football games to student symposiums to science contests to... He buys out bake sales and funds club field trips and donates several fortunes worth of antique knick knacks to various schools. He's invited as a guest lecturer, a commencement speaker, a competition judge, a referee.

Lambert and Aiden, at some point, discover bachelor's parties, call dibs, and never look back. People learn very quickly not to invite witchers to their stag nights unless they want the entire party to get horrifyingly drunk - but at least Lam and Aiden will make sure that everyone makes it home (or to the wedding) safely. Perhaps not soberly, or sans hangover, but definitely without major injury. (And if the bride asks nicely and the groom and friends weren't total jerks, Lambert can usually be counted on to make a hangover cure. He really is a softie at heart.)

Dragonfly and Serrit get tapped for the odd bachelorette party or ladies' birthday parties. Anything that falls under "I want to be able to drink and party with my friends without worrying about some strange guy hurting one of us." They are extremely protective and have both been drunkenly proposed to several times. (Livi finds this terribly amusing. Gweld just wants to know if he can watch.) Milena and Zofia sometimes go with them.

Milena loves going to wedding showers and baby showers, but outside Kaer Morhen, she has to stay in sight of Lambert or one of his brothers. Lambert's rule. (She got KIDNAPPED, okay? He's allowed to worry!) Usually she'll take Geralt (there might be babies! He's excellent protection!) or Eskel (he's very quiet and has excellent manners, and his signs are impossible to fight) for the more, ah, female-heavy events. If anyone asks, they're her brother-in-law and genuinely like spending time around kids. And very, very married.

[dedalvs]

I've been listening to the langtime studio chats and it's made me wonder, what are some of your favorite hard rock/heavy metal bands? What kind of genres do you tend to enjoy?

What is and is not metal has changed over the years. It's kind of like how in the 90s every single new band was "alternative", a genre designation which ended up meaning nothing. I loved (and still love) bands like Van Halen, Bon Jovi, the Scorpions, and Def Leppard, which, believe it or not, were considered metal at one time or another. I was also a huge fan of Soundgarden which was called metal on an episode of Northern Exposure I recently rewatched. But my first real metal band was Megadeth.

In 1994 Megadeth came out with an album called Youthanasia which was accompanied by a music video for the song "Train of Consequences" that ran on MTV. The same way that Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" begins with a drum solo that's reminiscent of a motorcycle engine, the guitar in the beginning of "Train of Consequences" is reminiscent of a steam train engine. Trains are something that have always fascinated me, so the video caught my attention. Soon I was looking forward to it in the regular rotation of music videos on MTV (at the time, this would've been Weezer, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Coolio, Nirvana, Liz Phair, TLC, etc. [all good stuff!]). The singer of a band can really turn me on or off, and Dave Mustaine's voice is unique. At the time, when I thought of metal, it was primarily screaming, but Dave Mustaine was singing, and I found that interesting. I bought the album, and soon had all of Megadeth's albums. I was hooked.

From Megadeth, I moved on to Metallica, when I learned that Dave Mustaine formed Megadeth after getting kicked out of Metallica. Metallica itself was an interesting story at that time. They came out with the black album, which was a mega mega hit (and controversially so, as metal fans saw it as a departure from real metal), and then they disappeared, with Nirvana and alternative taking over. Then, after years of nothing, suddenly they release a new song, "Until It Sleeps", which sounds...weird. It was followed by the album Load, which...I mean, listen to "Mama Said" and tell me that's metal. I heard "Hero of the Day" played on Coast—the adult easy listening station. Whether you could get into or not, it definitely did not sound like Metallica—or metal, as we understood it. They did accidentally invent the band Volbeat with Load, for which we must all be grateful, but still, with Megadeth getting a new lineup very album, Metallica going off the rails, Iron Maiden with Blaze Bailey, it was clear that metal was moving forward, so I needed to move backwards.

I started going back and finding any metal band from the 80s that I'd heard of to see what I liked. Guns N' Roses and Ozzy Osbourne were easy favorites. I dug everything they did. Other more glam/hair metal bands I didn't really get into as much—Poison, White Snake, Mötley Crüe, LA Guns… But then I found Queensrÿche. Queensrÿche was the favorite band of my history teacher, so I gave them a listen. They'd come out with a new album, Promised Land, and then I happened to get as my second album of theirs Rage for Order, and I lucked into what would end up being my two favorite Queensrÿche albums and two of my favorite albums of all time. The album Rage for Order is sheer perfection—and one of my name-alikes is thanked in the Special Thanks section! I mean, look at this photo:

If that isn't a fuckin' mood! Geoff Tate singing like a gothic opera singer, everything that can have a harmony being harmonized, every one of them taking every aspect of it so desperately seriously. This album is an entire genre all by itself. It was so good Stratovarius wrote, essentially, a terrible fan fiction song based on "Screaming in Digital" (with, perhaps, some influence from "NM 156" from Queensrÿche's first album The Warning). It also serendipitously to introduced me to Dalbello (a real life Robin Sparkles transformation), whom everyone should check out (seriously, check out whomanfoursays. She just laid it all out).

Queensrÿche also disappointed after Promised Land in the 90s, but I want to return to Iron Maiden. My introduction to Iron Maiden was The X Factor. This was their 1995 album, the first with former Wolfsbane singer Blaze Bayley. I didn't know that. I assumed what I was listening to was the Iron Maiden—the ones Bill and Ted waxed so eloquently about. All I could determine is that maybe they just got old...? I didn't get how the band I was listening to could have ever been popular.

Fast forward a couple years and I'm listening to the only metal show left on SoCal radio after KNAC died and I hear a song that sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. Fast-paced with a beat like galloping horses and a singer with power, range, vibrato, but also a kind of wild, undisciplined menace not found in more refined singers like Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche. Who was this band?! Clearly someone from the 80s I hadn't heard, but I thought I'd heard everything. The song finished, and then the DJ came on listing all the songs in the set, finishing up with "Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden.

Clearly I had been duped. I went back to the record store to look up Iron Maiden's old albums and, lo and behold, only the most recent album featured Blaze Bayley. Before that there were seven albums featuring lead singer Bruce Dickinson.

A few albums later, Iron Maiden was my favorite metal band. Pretty soon I'd listened to everything—including the first two with Paul DiAnno which I would come to appreciate later—and I was disappointed. There was nothing left! Iron Maiden came out with a new album with Blaze, and we were cursed with "Como Estáis Amigos?" and other disappointments, but it became clear that the Iron Maiden I'd falle in love with was a thing of the past. Imagine what I felt when I was back home from college and heard on the radio a commercial for a new Iron Maiden album with a song I'd never heard being sung by none other than Bruce Dickinson. The song was "The Wickerman", the album was Brave New World, and I would go on to see Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden in concert six times—and a seventh coming this October (with the Hu!!!!!! I'm so pumped!!!!!).

There's a lot more to tell here—like the time I visited my ex-girlfriend in Michigan after she'd moved away hoping to rekindle a relationship that I didn't realize was deader than 8-track only to be introduced to Dream Theater by her older brother, or the time the company my friend worked for was hacked with all computers playing a song that would introduce me to Finnish heavy metal, or how looking into James Ronny Dio led me to the truly baffling yet kind of sweet story of Blackmore's Night—but as this is getting long, here are some highlights that haven't yet been mentioned with one song I'll recommend (bands with an asterisk I've seen live):

European Power Metal

Nightwish* ("Bless the Child")

Sonata Arctica* ("My Selene")

Epica ("Cry for the Moon (The Embrace that Smothers, Part IV)")

Lacuna Coil* ("Our Truth")

Delain* ("Stardust")

Amberian Dawn ("I Share with You This Dream")

Helloween ("Power")

Sound-Alike Bands

Crimson Glory ("Lonely")

Autograph ("Hammerhead")

Enforcer ("From Beyond")

The Sword ("Lament for the Aurochs")

Proto-Metal

Black Sabbath* ("Sweet Leaf")

UFO ("Doctor, Doctor")

Deep Purple ("Burn")

Hawkwind ("Assault and Battery/The Golden Void")

Not Quite Metal

Faith No More ("From Out of Nowhere")

X-Japan ("Silent Jealousy")

System of a Down ("Chop Suey")

Tool* ("Sober")

Monster Magnet* ("Mastermind")

The Mars Volta ("Goliath")

Mdou Moctar ("Ilana")

All right, I put a lot of time into finding all those links, so listen to some of those songs! I could write a book on this. I've already taken two hours too long, though. Need to get back to the stuff they pay me to do! >.<

[e-dubbc11]

Good morning love! I am SO excited for this event and you're prolly gonna hate me, but I'm all in for the angst right now (damn hormones!) so let's go with song selection of Burning House by Cam, with the one and only Billy Russo.

PS: my son's birthday is Sept 29th too!! <3

Hello my love!! Thank you SO much for following me, reading my fics and being such a kind friend to me, I appreciate you! ♥️ And happy early birthday to your son as well! ♥️

So I listened to the song on repeat one morning while getting ready for work and I had to dry my eyes a few times trying to put my makeup on. You really did go for the angst for billy, didn’t you! I hope you like what I did here and did justice to your ask. I’ll link the song at the end. And you know I could never ever hate you 😘

I know the song is called Burning House but the ocean also inspired this one.

Drowning

Photos are not mine. They are courtesy of Pinterest/Google.

Pairing: Billy Russo x F! Reader

Warnings: Angst, a lot of it, crying, death (in a way)

Word Count: 1.2K-ish

Summary: Your reoccurring dream haunts you every night. Maybe you said some things you shouldn’t have and wonder if you’ve made a mistake.

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate it so much and comments, reblogs are welcome and encouraged. Don’t be shy to tell me your favorite part. 💕💕 💕

The world was silent except for the lapping of the miniature waves as they calmly knocked against your body. There was a sense of peace to it yet eerie and unknown. The lack of sound encompassed everything, there were no cries for help, no erratic splashing, and no signs of rescue or wreckage from a boat.

It was just you…all alone.

There weren’t any stars to decorate the night sky, just like on all the other nights you had this dream. It was just a blanket of navy, the sky blended seamlessly down into the ocean with a silvery claw of a moon directly above you.

It was the only light against the darkness which wasn’t much.

But there wasn’t anything for miles, in any direction. No land, no light, and not a soul in sight.

These dreams, or more accurately, nightmares, had no real beginning, all you could recall was that as soon as your eyes opened inside the dream, you couldn’t breathe, you were struggling underwater and had to quickly swim to the surface before you ran out of air.

Once you reached the surface, you inhaled sharply to catch your breath, and frantically looked around for something or someone to hold on to but there wasn’t anything or anyone. There was only a vast space with nothing on the horizon from what you could see of it.

The weight of your clothing made it difficult to keep your head above water as you did your best to rotate your legs like an eggbeater, pushing the water underneath your bottom so your head would remain on top of the water.

The lack of wind created more silence which you didn’t know was possible and that’s when the fear and panic set in. Which direction were you supposed to swim in? Toward land? You didn’t see any!

The water chilled you to the bone which made your muscles tight like thick rubber bands and afraid to use them in fear they may snap in half. And who knows what lurked beneath your feet? It could be wildlife or rip currents…you shuddered to think.

But you had to at least TRY to save yourself.

The highly flavored taste of salt was in the air, not just in the water as it splashed against your lips. Gliding on your side, you forcefully pushed the water away from you, propelling you forward and hoping you were headed in the right direction.

After swimming for awhile, you could hear a faint call for help ahead of you. Was there someone else that was stranded and trying to get to safety? Or was your hearing deceiving you?

The faded ethereal glow of the crescent moon gave you some light and in the distance you could see a figure waving his hands in the air, the white shirt he was wearing made it easier to see him.

The man looked familiar and as you swam closer, you realized why. The handsome face, short well-groomed beard, with eyes and hair that matched the late night sky…it was the man you once loved, and his name was Billy Russo.

Your on again, off again relationship with Billy had become too much for you to handle and it was you who ended it this time but you said some things to him that were out of line and that he didn’t deserve.

But you couldn’t take them back, those words were hurtful and no apology in the world could make you move on and forget about them as if nothing happened.

You did it for selfish reasons, to make yourself feel better, and convinced yourself that it was the best thing for you to do. But in the aftermath, you regretted it, wondered if there could have been a better way to handle it, and you had been lost ever since.

Lost in your dreams of a dark, wide open ocean with no direction of where to go or anyone to help you get home.

But there he was, calling out to you for help, and you thought you could make peace and apologize in your dreams by saving him. But while you were free to try and swim to shore, he was confined to stay there…forever.

His ankle was chained to a weight that went straight to the ocean floor and no matter how hard you tried, there was no way for you to get it off and free him.

“Save yourself, sweet girl.” Said Billy, calmly.

His words slipped into your heart like a piece of broken glass, the ache in your chest would be permanent, and you’d never forgive yourself for it if you left him to die alone.

Billy had been alone for his entire life. He didn’t have family or friends except for the Castle family. He would tell you all the time that he didn’t need relationships or want them. “They make you weak.” He would say.

He kept coming back to you, though.

But his constant mood swings and fits of jealousy kept giving you whiplash and you finally had enough.

“You don’t give anyone a reason to love you. You don’t love anyone except yourself and that’s why you’ll probably die alone. You have to deserve to be loved.” You had said.

You were angry and you didn’t mean it but you couldn’t take it back. His physical wounds from his childhood and from war had faded, still visible but faded.

Those awful words you had hissed cut him more deeply than any bullet ever could and they weren’t true. When bones are broken, they heal stronger than they were before but a broken heart never quite heals the same. The pieces never fit exactly as they had before.

Your dreams were a way you could be with him, make everything right, and to make sure he wouldn’t die alone. They were a way you could fix it all.

Telling him to save his strength was useless, he would use his energy to kiss you and tell you he loved you and you reciprocated, using all of your energy to do the same.

Both of you were incredibly stubborn.

“I won’t leave you, Billy.” You would tell him. “Ever again.”

You and Billy fought tirelessly to try and stay above water but eventually, your strength was going to give out, the muscles in your arms and legs burned like white hot fire and felt like they had been shredded to pieces rendering you unable to keep yourself up.

You couldn’t hold on any longer, but at least you were together when the ocean finally opened up and swallowed you whole.

That’s when you would wake up, still confused, still lost, and still not knowing what to do. It made you sob every single time.

These chilling dreams would continue night after night until you fixed what was broken. Was it possible to fix it? Or was it too late? Would he forgive you? COULD he forgive you?

There was only one way to find out.

I've been sleepwalking

Been wandering all night

Trying to take what’s lost and broken

And make it right

I've been sleepwalking

Too close to the fire

But it's the only place that I can hold you tight

In this burning house

Tag List: @wheresthesunshinesblog @idaoftheburningmind @rafaelakelley @fakehappy27 @snowkestrel @music-indie-tv @kayhi808 @munsonownsmyass @gijos @fictional-hooman @nutmeg17 @k-marzolf @vaguekayla @rosaleenablack @danzer8705 @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @mysteriouslydeafeningwerewolf @aoi-targaryen @rachlovesactors @qu1etwolf

Others that might enjoy: @itwasthereaminuteago @fluffyprettykitty @jvanilly @ittybxttykxttytxtty @imagine-a-fictional-boyfriend @mrsbillyrusso @colereads

If you’d like to be added (or removed from) my tag list(s) for the ever so handsome Billy Russo, just let me know and thank you again for reading! 💕💕💕 If I tagged you but you didn’t want to be, just let me know and I’ll never do it again.

[f1-stuff]

my kingdom for any more you’d like to share about royal harem au ❤️

Hiii - I've said it before but the title is sort of misleading lolol. But anyway, 2k words bc why the hell not?

He gathers from the words he can understand and the few who will speak around him that he is meant to be unveiled to the prince at the banquet being thrown the following week to celebrate the war’s end. 

He’s a prize, evidently - a token of the war they’ve won. A symbol of Monaco, one of their very best servants-in-training, prepared for the Monegasque sovereign, himself, yet still untouched due to the timing of the war, and so, presented on a platter to their Spanish Prince.

He feels woefully unprepared, despite how every day, he’s taken to be washed and groomed and perfumed and overfed to get him ready for the banquet. All of the weight he’d lost from the journey is quickly restored, his hair softer than ever, his skin donning a dewy glow from the constant attention.

His body is prepared, perhaps. But his mind - his spirit - is far from equipped.

In his homeland, he’d been raised from nearly the moment of birth to one day serve his sovereign. He’d been taught in all of the Prince’s favorite pastimes and poetic verses and songs. But now, he feels like a ship lost at sea - beautiful and afloat, but also in danger of never finding land to anchor.

A large part of his discomfort is their language, which wasn’t taught to him in his studies. Languages have always been a talent of his, an area where he far exceeds his fellow servants-in-training. But he would never have been taught the language of a hostile nation, despite how it might’ve been smart to do so. Certainly, knowing what their enemy is saying would give one a significant advantage.

But there had been no reason to teach a bed servant of the Prince an enemy language. No one ever thought his fate would be as a war reparation.

Despite the setback, Charles is making headway in understanding the other women in the royal retinue, and they are mostly women - Charles notes this with curiosity. The pleasure servants in his homeland had always been a mix - beauty has no gender, after all. But it seems that in this castle, perhaps in this culture, the beauty of the feminine form is more revered.

The other women are still giving Charles and his small group a wide berth, leaving them to navigate their own way, without advice or kindness. The only times they interact with Charles are during his sessions of grooming and pampering, since the women are in charge of preparing each other for an unveiling. It’s a rotating blur of unfriendly faces, but the dark-haired woman is always amongst them, watching Charles as though he’s planning something nefarious.

From what he can surmise, she’s in charge of all the women here - all the bed servants, rather. They call her, ‘La Dama,’ as she picks and chooses who amongst them attends to the masters. It would be her duty, Charles would think, to teach and prepare him for the Crown Prince. But her obvious distrust and dislike of him means she has not uttered a word of advice to him.

At first, Charles doesn’t want to reveal his hand, listening in on conversations to piece together information that would never be said in his presence if they knew he could understand. But as the day of the banquet rapidly approaches, he has questions that need answering. He knows nothing about this prince, not even his name, as no one calls him anything besides ‘His Royal Highness.’ He knows nothing of his temperament, nor his likes and dislikes. He knows absolutely nothing of how to please him.

He feels as though he’s failing before he’s even begun.

When he finally pieces together enough words to ask a small group among the women, it’s a combination of their language and Italian words that he hopes are similar enough to be recognizable. What he hopes he’s asking is ‘How shall I aim to please the prince?’ 

Whatever comes out only receives glares and cruel laughter from the group, before they continue to completely ignore him.

Charles begins to feel a bit panicked about his fate, when he’s approached by one of the women later that evening - Valeria, he thinks she’s called.

She’s beautiful - her hair is golden and silky, long enough to be styled in intricate braids each day, or else flow in shiny waves down her back, and paired with her green eyes (which are enhanced by a color of kohl Charles has never seen - green, like the sea), she stands out amongst the other women for, primarily, her kind smile. Though she’s never spoken to Charles, he’s always suspected her to be different. She sits among the others, yet stands apart.

“Charles,” she says, and he nods, unable to hide his surprise at being addressed. Her voice is soft-spoken, matching her demeanor perfectly. “I want to help you.”

If he’d been surprised before, it’s twofold as he hears her near perfect French pronunciation.

“You speak French?” he asks, his voice low so they aren’t overheard. He realizes, in his excitement, he’d spoken too quickly, her eyes squinting at him in confusion, so he repeats it slower.

“A little,” she says, smiling. “I am called Valeria.”

“I know.” She blushes, and for some reason, Charles finds himself blushing in return.

“I am in His Royal Highness’s retinue,” she says, and Charles’ eyes widen.

“Of course, you are,” he murmurs, and she blushes again. “You are the most beautiful here.”

“Thank you,” she practically whispers, her eyes dipping humbly. She appears unaccustomed to compliments, despite how many she’s surely received. Charles can already feel a kinship building between them. “But I believe you might compete with me for that honor.”

“Surely not,” he says, shaking his head. She’s kind for saying so, but Charles can’t imagine she’d be so modest to believe the words. “What do you wish to tell me?” She moves closer to him.

“His Royal Highness - he does not prefer men. Or rather, he’s not known to lay with them,” she amends. Her expression is one of regret, which Charles doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve, but is nonetheless grateful for.

“Ah, I see.” His stomach sinks with dread. If the prince does not take a liking to him, it will be much harder for Charles to maintain a position of safety here.

“But perhaps, if I share with you what I know,” she continues, laying a gentle hand on his arm. “You can capture his notice.” Charles nods, and settles in as she begins to tell him what she knows from her four years of experience in the prince’s royal retinue.

What he concludes from her initial words is that she is the prince’s particular favorite. She doesn’t say as much, but Charles can’t imagine how else she would be so knowledgeable. She lingers on the logistics at first - what the prince likes to eat, to read and discuss, what he likes in a servant.

“He likes his bed partners with skin more touched by the sun. And he seems partial to light hair,” she says, brushing a strand of his chestnut brown hair from his forehead. “But there are things we can do to help that. Your eyes, however, are perfect - he will love them.” Charles blushes, blinking nervously.

They both share a similar eye color, but what he doesn’t tell her is that his own sometimes appear as a brownish-gold, rather than green, depending on the light. In his homeland, it was a positive trait - something that set him apart from the others. But here... He wonders if that would affect her assessment - if the prince might overlook him without eyes like the sea.

“What is he like? His Royal Highness?” Charles asks at one point, careful not to interrupt, but desperate to know more of the man who he may be in service to for life. “Is he...kind?” Valeria smiles and nods, and many of Charles’ concerns melt away instantly.

“He is, and he looks for kindness in those he surrounds himself with,” she says. “Do not mistake me, he is a prince, used to getting what he wants.” She gives a small laugh, as though telling a private joke. It makes Charles giggle too, despite not knowing the full context. “But he is far more compassionate than one could expect or hope for in a prince.”

Charles nods, enraptured. This is what he needed to know, if for no other reason than to calm his nerves. He can deal with a lot, but a cruel master...

“He can be quite amusing, at times,” Valeria says, a coy smile on her lips. “And very talented...in bed.” She whispers the last part, and the two of them dissolve into giggles. 

Charles feels the familiar flutter in his stomach that he always gets when he imagines his First Night. He will have no basis for comparison, but surely it’s a relief to know that the prince has talent in this area. Nevertheless, he must first catch the prince’s eye, and then hope that his own performance does not leave the prince wanting.

“There must be something wrong with him,” Charles says, thinking this man sounds too good to be true. “Tell me, is he hideous? Or even just plain?” Valeria gets a spark in her eye, so that she hardly need speak for him to already know her answer.

“He would be the most handsome man I’ve laid eyes upon, even if he were not a prince. He is nicknamed ‘Adonis’ among the women - for not only his looks, but also his physique.” 

Charles rolls his eyes, but with a smile on his lips, an excited buzz spreading down his spine, despite his better judgment - he can’t get his hopes up. There’s a chance he may never be bedded by the prince. And he must remind himself that this man undoubtedly killed some of Charles’ fellow countrymen. He may be kind to his own people, but it doesn’t mean Charles should expect the same treatment for himself.

“But I will warn you,” Valeria says, her tone sobering. “It will never be easy around the other women. The comfort and privilege afforded to those in the prince’s retinue is not without the envy of those who would wish to be in your place.”

“Well,” Charles says, demure. “We will yet discover if I deserve the honor.”

“You do,” she says, sounding so certain despite them having only just met. “I can already see, he will like you very much.” She thumbs over his cheek affectionately, lingering near his right dimple.

Charles smiles his thanks, but he doesn’t know how she could know this. Especially after she’d listed at least two fundamental reasons why the prince might not prefer him. But he takes the compliment and doesn’t argue.

“What is his name?” he asks finally, before they part ways. Valeria looks at him with the barest hint of a frown - he’s sure she’s been trained not to emote too much for fear of wrinkles.

“You don’t know it?”

“No one has ever said.”

She gives him a sympathetic smile. Then, says, “He is His Royal Highness Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro II, Crown Prince of Spain.”

* * *

That night, Charles goes to sleep reciting the name under his breath, his tongue lingering on each syllable, until his eyes grow heavy.

It’s funny that the prince should be named ‘Carlos’ - so close to his own name. Although, he doubts he will ever call him that. 

To Charles, he will be Your Highness or My lord or Sire. 

He practices saying those, too, in every language he knows.

----

WIP ask game

Previously shared from this AU -> (1) (2)

[spookberry]

An infodump is being requested and hoped for, what random topic have you been rotating in your mind lately*?

*can be from seconds/minutes/hours/days ago

Okay well im gonna rant about high school musical some more then, specifically Sharpay

One thing of note about Sharpay Evans that I have in the past seen people get wrong, whether cuz of the setup we're used to with high-fem mean girl antagonists, or just faulty memory equating the 2nd movie's structure to the other two as well- is that Sharpay "runs the school" in some way.

Sharpay Evans has an intense personality and is insanely rich. So people know her. But shes not even really in charge of the drama department(darbus doesnt actually play favorites within the club itself, she just likes the drama kids more than the non-drama kids) Sharpay's the queen of people assuming you know what you're talking about just because you're confident when you say it.

At school shes not really friends with anyone, outside of her brother. Like she sits with other drama kids at lunch but she doesnt talk to them lol. Sharpay is considered a laughing stock by most her peers and THATS the reason she doesnt want Troy/Gabriella involved in the musical. She assumed the "meatheads" as she calls them were going to make a joke out of something she cares a lot about.(thats not to day she isnt the bad guy of the film or something, she definitely is. Just that she isnt in a place of real power over anyone) After callbacks it becomes clear Troy and Gabriella are serious and their peers arent just making fun of the drama club so shes quick to offer support and congratulate Gabriella. Like Sharpays just dramatic and likes to be the star of attention, you cant fault her for that.

Like, shes queen bee of the drama department and a schemer to boot, but when shes at East High she doesnt really have any power the way she does at Lava Springs.

Also side note can you IMAGINE how fucking awkward thatd actually be to have like half your class working at a resort your family owns. Luckily Sharpay has no shame and would boss them around even outside of this scenerio but I briefly put myself in her shoes and I felt like shriveling up and dying. Like her mother makes this comment "these are your school chums not the fuddy duddy lava springs staff" and im like "this makes everything a million times worse, ma'am your daughter already has a bad reputation amongst her classmates and now youre allowing this??" The wildcats even mention feeling weird about having to wait on sharpay to which their boss assures them they wont have to(which is a lie!!)

Fun fact tho, me and my sisters used to rewatch the first and second high school musical films so fucking much that one time we were bored and started just like, quoting the 2nd movie from start to end word for word, songs included. And then afterwards we were like that was weird... do we know the first one too? we did.

The plotline in hsm3 with rocketman and the british girl was so lame tho tbh. Sharpay would never breakdown during a performance like that. Did you see her in 2 with Troy as her partner? It was like performing with a cardboard cut out and she still nailed it.

Side tracking again to actually talk about Gabriella this time. But the way the third movie treats her makes me so annoyed. Like the whole world is against her! Her Main Thing since Day One of this franchise has been that she wants a break from being "the smart girl" and just finally embrace her chance at a normal school life. She's never lived anywhere long enough to finish out a full school year, let alone have friends, and she finally gets that at East High and what does the universe do?? Make her feel bad and like shes throwing away her future for wanting to go to prom, perform in her last musical, and graduate high school with her friends. Which is like conpletely normal and reasonable to want?? I dont blame her for not wanting to go back to East High after all of her friends basically pushed her out and lectured her for wanting to enjoy her time there. Its not like stanford was going anywhere. She still couldve left for college in the fall like all her friends were going to.

I like to imagine Gabriella turns out to be someone who wants a very stable life for her kids. She settles down and makes sure they experience all the small joys of growing up that she just never really had.

Sharpay's ending was kinda sad too tbh. Even if she didn't have any plans for higher education at the end it feels off. (Why was she and Ryan even worried about the Julliard scholarship anyways? Theyre insanely rich)

Also dont even get me started on Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure. Theres some parts to it that i think are absurdly stupid in like the way a movie about sharpay trying to get famous should be absurdly stupid. And then there are other parts that are like :/ who even is this.

[sixteenstrikes]

PLEASE talk more about DurgeWyll and Hozier, PLEASE... I am rotating the songs you posted and the vision is so good

thank you for asking me :) (the doors close sealing you in the crypt)

i joke. ok first of all i need to cite ten @bladesmitten as a resident durgewyll expert and direct you to his blog... she's written some incredible fic & analysis of the durgewyll romance and made a lot of gorgeous wyll edits and art in general, can't rec his blog enough.

i have sadly never played through the durgewyll romance & only watched it so there are undoubtedly story details i am unaware of. alas i have only played the tav version of his romance so far

some spoilers for durge beneath the cut. i tried to be vague but a warning there. also i didnt stick my oar into unreal unearth or any of the adjacent eps for that album .. sorry

all that being said here are my 2 cents

i think the main draw for picking hozier songs for durgewyll is that incredibly sexy dynamic they have of being each other's foil as well as each other's love interest. both wyll and durge are bound to an inescapable doom within the story: to pay with their body and soul for the fate of baldur's gate. durge must destroy it to please their father, wyll must save it. (wyll's saved it already, at the cost of his soul, and durge has to sacrifice their soul to destroy it as (redacted), but i wont go further on that tangent lol. its fascinating though.)

i think a core concept of wyll to focus on here as well is his faith. in his act 2 dance scene, in response to one of the dialogue options, wyll replies that he 'still keeps faith in the old tales of true love'- this is crucial. wyll is the man to whom the gods gave a cold shoulder. he has no love or faith for them. but he keeps faith in the old tales- he keeps faith, specifically, in durge.. 'his greatest adventure'.. and if durge chooses to resist their father's authority, they spurn a god for wyll's sake. there's an incredible amount of mutual devotion there.

there is also the monster hunter/monster dynamic. i haven't delved into it much here bc i am more interested in how eerily wyll and durge parallel each other as twin mirrors and exiles from the gate, the light and dark sides, sharing almost a common doom, trapped in the long shadows of their fathers.... man. but the monster dynamic should absolutely be examined and explored, it's fascinating. i think it's another compelling aspect of wyll's character. he's a man with a lot of resonant contradictions. a monster hunter who refuses to hunt the monster of baldur's gate and instead severs them from the one who made them .... a monster hunter who holds out his hand to the monster he is supposed to kill... wyll's love of the mysterious and strange and his kindness, i think, predispose him to see durge as an ally and a friend. not from naivete, but from an open heart

my hozier picks for durgewyll overall:

it will come back - i love the way the view shifts in this. one of my top durgewyll picks for the way it evokes a lot of the horror & tragedy that wyll looks into and doesnt flinch away from & the hunger durge has toward wyll extending his own lonely & friendly hand

shrike - i see this as primarily from durge's view. picked for the devotion & regret

NFWMB - applies beautifully to both of them. theeeee durgewyll song to me from andy's works... consider the lyrics from both person's perspective to feel the world open beneath your feet lol

as it was - ditto, i think it encompasses both perspectives. also one of my favorite songs he wrote so im biased lmao. i think this is another very resonant choice for the durgewyll dynamic

like real people do - feels an overly obvious pick but it could work especially well for a resist durge

no plan - could be an intriguing choice. i can't quite swing it but some of the lines in this for durgewyll... i like them...

you could definitely make a case for from eden for another from durge's view. gives me a feeling of a durge who's not resisting but idk

[mistydeyes]

HI i had such a cute idea— what about gaz with a s/o who wants to see the night sky without light pollution so they could see all the stars/galaxy clearly, so he takes them out to a dark sky site or a rural area (surprise or otherwise) and they stargaze!!! i hope this is specific enough, thanks🫶🫶

a/n ANON u have my heart! this was such a cute idea <3 I love little fluffy Gaz moments :)

a blanket of stars

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

summary: Despite never being able to fully see the stars, you still romanticized the idea. In fact, it was something that endeared Kyle to you when you first met. You would always think your fascination was silly but Kyle makes a plan to let you see the beauty the universe has to offer.

pairing: Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x gn!Reader

warnings: none :)

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

Growing up in London didn’t offer you many opportunities to see the shining night's stars. The light pollution was to thank as you often struggled to even see the North Star. If there ever was a freak blackout, the clouded atmosphere was so thick that almost no stars could pierce through. Regardless, you loved the stars and even got a tattoo of Orion’s belt on your arm.

Gaz knew of this fact and loved your amateur interest in stargazing. Miraculously, you both had been able to take a vacation to Brecon Beacons National Park. It was almost as if the stars aligned for you both. The park offered a converted stable to stay in and you enjoyed the privacy and comfort of the home. You laid on Kyle’s chest in a hammock as you stared at the porch’s wooded ceiling. The warm summer air flowed gently around you as you swung slowly. Kyle stroked your hair softly and was humming an old song. You began to drift off into sleep when you felt him tap your shoulder. You perked up and looked at him questioningly. “Hey Love, let’s take a late night hike, yeah?” he said and you couldn’t help but be a little bewildered. “Kyle that’s how people get murdered!” you exclaimed and he laughed in response. “Babe you think anyone would want to murder us when I’m a STRONG BRITISH SERGEANT,” he stated and made sure to emphasize the last part to any would-be-murders. You rolled your eyes at his antics but decided he wasn't going to be satisfied. You slowly got off the hammock and went inside to grab your hiking gear as Kyle began to lace up his boots.

Kyle effortlessly navigated you through the tall grass and dense trees as you walked in the moonlight. He said his training was to thank for his superior navigation skills. You were glad that it had built him to be strong as he carried the backpack without any complaints. Eventually, you reached a large lake. "Crai Reservoir," he said breathlessly and took off the pack to pull out a blanket. You helped him find a suitable spot as you smoothed out the warm fabric. He sat on the blanket and allowed you to sit in between his legs. "Look up, Love," he whispered and your eyes rose to the night's sky. You gasped as you saw some of the most brilliant constellations twinkling against the blanket of night. You admired how the glittering dots perfectly contrasted with the violet, pink, and dark blue colors that slowly moved as the Earth rotated. You could feel Kyle's eyes on you as your gaze moved erratically, taking in everything you were seeing. "That's 'The Plough'" he said and your gaze followed where he was pointing. You noticed the seven stars that formed Ursa Major in the night's sky. You traced it with your finger as Kyle continued to name off various other constellations. "When did you have time to learn all of this, Love?" you asked as you stared up at him. You could see his dark eyes shimmer with the sparkle of the stars. "You'd be surprised how many books you can read while deployed," he said and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead. The rest of the night, you both named the various stars and planets that laid overhead. This was one of your favorite moments and Kyle would never forget how you were the brightest star that night.

[fumifooms]

oh, sorry for so many asks, i also wanted to say too though i really agree so much with your chilchuck thoughts so far, even down to your personal headcanons about how things might go post-series. and you're absolutely right, i'll defend that little guy any day myself. you understand him so well and it's kind of relaxing to have someone else dish out this kind of analysis and already agree with all of it cus it's just so real, so thank you again for the Meal <- perhaps the perfect thing to say about dungeon meshi analysis when i think about it

i know you have playlists and stuff so i wanted to share a song i've been listening to that that reminds me of him: divine loser by clem turner

No worries, they’ve been a lot of fun! I do plan on getting back to each one btw, just gotta get through some other things first hopefully. Aaaah that’s really nice to hear 🥺 I do know the feeling haha, it’s always fun to have posts that Get It that you just nod along with 🤝 I’ve thought sooo much about Chilchuck I rotate him in my brain like rotisserie chicken more often than not, glad it all ended up being productive haha. Y’know recently my friends have been calling me a Chilchuck superfan/scholar jokingly and it actually made me have a realization moment of…

Bc I’ve always said Laios was my fave and like, he does mean everything to me idk if I’ve ever felt so seen as with Laios, I relate to him sooo much, but then. Okay alright that can be a different thing than a character being your favorite fine FINE I admit it Chilchuck’s my top blorbo. He’s so.🧍‍♂️I can’t even describe. He’s so….. He’s a clown but he’s also perfection in its best imperfect form I will not be taking further questions today. My friend called him my silly rabbit like that one meme and it makes me laugh sm

Thank you for the music rec!! I listened to it and yes agreed, sent straight to my Chil playlist. Songs are my bread and butter when I have character brainrot bc like with web weavings I feel like there are so many emotions and thoughts you can communicate about something so simply through one… (Which for anyone interested here’s my web weaving tag, got 2 about Chil). Gonna link all my dunmeshi playlists while I’m here: Dungeon Meshi, Chilchuck & his wife, marchil, Mithrun.

Ok everyone saw this coming but this ask ran away from me and I ramble about some song lyrics I associate with Chil & different facets of his life below the cut. Some people find my, ehem, heated rambles about Chil entertaining, this is your cue to get out the popcorn.

When thinking about songs for Chil I have 3 angles I take: About Chilchuck, about him and his wife, or about him & Marcille. Marchil is so engraved into me with their arcs together, that they’re like the concept of closure and letting go and letting yourself live again to me, sorry for all the non-enjoyers…

I think currently my top song for him is Jackrabbit by San Fermin, because it combines all three it makes me go wild. It’s about trepidation… Throwing yourself into it even despite the fear (working with traps, survival in poverty where you have to rush & hustle), or just staying there paralyzed(not reaching out to his wife). Flight or freeze!! Saying goodbyes and saying hellos!! Not dying alone!! The life cycle of a wild rabbit living and dying, the baton pass race of life from generation to generation!! Chil and his daughters even!!! Going through life at a frenzied pace!! It is so Chilchuck and so marchil, and the music does give that hurried and scared energy to me too, and sigh the Marcille side to it with fear of death too…

Extra fun context but the other day on the discord server we were talking about what animal each character’s fursona would be as we do and I thought of a rabbit for Chilchuck: Quick footed, ‘cowardly’, small and frail and seen as weak 🙃, athletic and slender, pulls stunts, stressed out, has very fine hearing and has good instincts, etc. And ofc that fits really well with Marcille since she’s kinda associated with dungeon rabbits hehe~ But I think while Marcille’s 100% the cute round rabbit Chil’s more like a brown hare, more wild and like, more like a jackalope if we’re still doing monsters... I do lowkey find it more fun than his associated monster being mimics because he’s crabby, because they’re clever (with where they place themselves) and because of how he has a soft shell but soft insides, lol.

OKAY so that’s my song pick with the main 3 facets sure, now I’ll share some lyrics for each 3 sides separatedly 😈 Kinda summarizing my web weavings for him thus far. If we start with Chilchuck by himself we have… Enter One by Shelby Merry and Drunk by The Living Tombstone

With his wife, we have the bad end, and the good end for if they get back together with Lost Kitten by Metric and North by Sleeping At Last… Okay okay plus Love Like Ghosts and My Heart is Buried in Venice… Little Soldier by The Crane Wives for them also RUIN me

And Marchil… Marchil oh my beloved. Another buddy also made a full analysis on discord about Soap by The Oh Hellos for them lol, but these are Not I by I Fight Dragons and My Heart is Buried in Venice again~

Okay okay two more. Boats & Birds by Gregory and The Hawk, and Tummy by Tamino.

Finishing it up with quotes from, in order, A Softer World by Joey Comeau, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Acknowledgements by Danez Smith, The Letter by Richard Paul Evans, and last but not least posts from dead tumblr account flintcoded. I keep looking around and finding MORE fitting quotes. Someone stop me- In loving me you hold a knife at my throat, in loving you I tell you exactly where to cut. Forgive me, memory is a rope around my neck. I need you to be happy, I need one of us to be happy.

Hand in unlovable hand…

In conclusion;

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Thank you for tag @searchforahero

rules: answer and tag nine people you want to get to know better and catch up with.

favorite color: Black, and I need there to be a ton of black surrounding any other color to enjoy it, but I'm also a fan of lilac and teal

last song: Uncle Sam Goddamn by Brother Ali

currently reading: Almost nothing tbh, though I am sifting through various comics off and on to try and get a handle on the characters I'm trying to write, so some 1900s Young Justice stuff, and I read a bunch of Robin Tim sorta recently.

currently watching: Helloween4545 playing Crow Country I really don't do TV shows at all these days, and my movie nights crew hasn't gotten together in a long while

currently craving: a nap with my boyfriend

coffee or tea: Tea. Specifically the kind of southern US tea that comes real cheap in gallon jugs or tea bags meant to steep a gallon of water at a time, like the red diamond kinda shit

hobby to try: Coding. The squiggly little lines that make the computer go intrigue me

current au: ooooohhh I got a million of these going at all times, here's the current crop:

Chained AU

Jason is set in front of a contract that will grant near omnipotence over every facet of reality. The catch is that it requires the person who actually gains the power to be permanently bound into the service of someone else. Afraid of what this could do in the wrong hands, Jason asks Tim to be his new Master.

This one has been on permanent rotation since I was like 16 tbh

Brothers In Blood Hive King AU

In which Jason was lying at the end of BiB and was not back to normal and is still some kind of alien tentacle monster and Jason and Tim and I get to be freaks about it

We Are One clone AU

So you know how most clone plots end up with the doppleganger trying to take over the other's life and someone has to choose the real one? What if the clone and the 'real one' decided they could share actually and were complete freaks about it?

In this one Jason dies and comes back to life as per usual, except he ALSO gets cloned by someone who doesn't want Bruce to go through the horrors of a dead son. Which then means that there is a very literal replacement Jason hanging around living the life Jason would have had if he didn't die. They fight for a while but then decide that actually, they both have equal claim to this life.

So they decide to get like insanely weird with it! They take turns carving their scars into each other and telling each other every last detail of their lives and memorizing each other's verbal ticks so that they can just... pretend they are one singular person. Forever. Every day they swap which of them is doing outside things and which is doing the indoor cooking/cleaning/resting. It's a drastic improvement in quality of life for both Jasons simply due to the fact that they now actually rest a lot, and get adequate time to heal from all their injuries. They take this as a sign that they were incomplete without each other and get Even Weirder About It.

A secondary fic would feature Dick's POV as it gets revealed that for the passed five years, his younger brother has been two different people who are continuing to insist that they are one singular person even now that they're both in the same room together, and Dick can't figure out if they're trying to gaslight him or if this is some kind of ritualistic mutual cult reinforcement thing that they've used to gaslight each other into genuinely believing it's true. They talk in unison for upwards of an hour without either flubbing anything, but there's no psychics involved so they have to have just practiced that shit which is actually a thousand times scarier than there being something supernatural about them. Also Dick's pretty sure they're gonna murder him if they realize he's taken blood samples and knows that one is a clone.

Both this one and the BiB Hive King AU originally started out as Chained chapters, with Jason from Chained having been the one to ensure Hive King Jason got to stay a tentacle monster and the one to convince clone Jason and birth Jason that they both had equal right to their life. (And that since both of them already knew who the clone was, the only thing they were really fighting over was the affection of their family - something neither of them had any control over and which neither of them was ever going to get. Might as well each focus on loving themself.) I'm def keeping the Hive King one as a Chained cameo thing, not so sure about keeping this one.

Jason marries Orcus, Demon Lord of Undeath, from D&D AU???

idk man my two special interests are Jason and Demons, it was bound to happen eventually, but this one is probably staying firmly locked up in my noggin forever tbh

Uhhhhh let's see, nine whole people...

@laufire @lazaruspiss @zeroducks-2 @deepwithintheabyss @acaffeinefiend

@cologona @kittykatninja321 @swamp-spirit @cleromancy

feel free to do this thingy if you want :3

[stargatebarbie]

Getting to Know You Meme

Tagged by @spurious 😊

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship? Yes! 7 years this November

02) What was your dream growing up? I wanted to be a psychologist for a long time but tbh glad I didn't end up doing that I am not suited to it

03) What talent do you wish you had? It'd be cool to have an idetic memory. Or even just like, a good one. My memory is shot lol

04) If someone bought you a drink what would it be? I could really use a proper coffee rn

05) Favorite vegetable? like good cherry tomatoes. the home grown kind. Or maybe potatoes

06) What was the last book you read? I'm currently reading Dungeon Meshi! I'm really enjoying the anime and decided to pick up the manga, just finished the first volume

07) What zodiac sign are you? Cancer 🦀

08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Yeah ears stretched a little, I think they're only 1cm & septum piercing. I haven't gotten around to getting any tattoos atp, shit's expensive, but I absolutely want them

09) Worst Habit? stealing all the cups and forks in the house

10) What is your favorite sport? not to be a stereotype but I don't really do sport. ig hockey?

11) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude? naturally pessimistic but i really try to like. practice optimism

12) Tell me one weird fact about you. one time I was locked in a bathroom with a goat

13) Do you have any pets? Yes! A cat named Moon :)

14) Do you think clowns are cute or scary? Scary for sure. I blame my mum she hung a clown puppet in my room as a baby

15) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? boy howdy would I love a breast reduction

16) What color eyes do you have? grey/blue

17) Ever been arrested? No but I have been detained for like. safety reasons oop

18) Bottle or can soda? Bottle i suppose? I don't really drink a lot of soft drink though

19) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? probably fund my move out of state

20) What's your favorite place to hang out at? home tbh. or the beach when it's not too crowded or cold

21) Do you believe in ghosts? No, to almost a cartoonish degree. I saw a ghost as a child & I still don't believe in them

22) Favorite thing to do in your spare time? any of my 8 million art/crafts/creative hobbies (currently mostly crochet, tatting, & drawing) & binge watching tv

23) Do you swear a lot? Ohhhh yeah. not only am I Australian, I'm from mining country

24) Biggest pet peeve? People being willfully inconsiderate of others in public spaces. trolley parked across the isle, tiktoks with no headphones on the bus, talking on the phone at the cash register, that sort of garbage

25) In one word, how would you describe yourself? um. weird?

26) Do you believe/appreciate romance? Yeah but like. I suck at it lol

27) Favourite and least favourite food? fave: potato bake & least: sausages

28) Do you believe in God? Nope lifelong athiest

29) What makes you happy: hanging out with my cat, rotating the blorbos in the brain microwave, finishing a project (in theory), and uhhh I'm replaying totk with my gf right now that's pretty great

30) Currently listening/the last thing you listened to: listening to a country & folk playlist, folsom prison blues just came on shuffle

31) Favourite place to spend time: uh yeah home

32) Favourite lyric: truly i hate to choose favourites there are so many um. okay

I'll be the jester as long as you are my queen Make a fool out of me I wanna be the source of your laughter

33) Recommend a film: I almost never watch movies uhhh. I recently forced my gf to watch the Birdcage with me bc she'd never seen it, it's so good

34) Recommend a book: Peter Darling by Austin Chant my beloved. Also I'm reading Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke rn and I'm really enjoying it if you work in an office and have slack or similar then I highly recommend especially

35) Recommend a band, a song, or album: Stick Season by Noah Kahan is just SUCH a good album

36) Recommend a TV show: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - great for lovers of musical theatre and/or the mentally ill 😌

37) Where are you from, and do you still live there? Where have you lived? I'm from Queensland and currently live in Tasmania. I've moved back and forth between QLD and TAS a few times, and plan on moving to Melbourne eventually

38) Do you have any pets or animals in your life? How did you find/get them? The aforementioned cat, I got him from a shelter & they got him from a dumpster <333

39) What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten? during a drinking game I once took a shot that included; soy sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vodka, a warhead (sour lolly), fanta, and probably some other stuff I'm not sure I was very drunk and 18 year olds should not be unsupervised with that much alcohol bc they'll invent the world's worst drinking games

40) How did you 'find' fandom? A friend of mine sat me down in front of her family computer in their bible library (not a joke, whole library of bibles & Christian religious texts) & said hey. have you heard there are people on the internet who write stories about these two guys from this one series kissing? and I was immediately hooked lol

41) Make a list of 5 things that you see without getting up. work laptop (bc I am on the clock oops), personal PC, crochet project, calcifer plush, & my cat glaring at me from my computer tower bc I wouldn't let him sit on my keyboard

42) How do you style your hair? Well it was a mullet but it's super grown out now so it's more of a shag & I mostly just chuck it in a bun or something. I desperately want to shave it but it's so cold, idk maybe I'll just make a few beanies & buzz it anyway

If you want to join in please consider yourself tagged! 💖

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #34: 1983

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: The Police, Michael Jackson, Irene Cara, Men at Work, Michael Jackson, Bonnie Tyler, Hall & Oates, Patti Austin and James Ingram, Michael Sembello, Eurythmics. End description]

More information about this blog here

Today's poll includes multiple songs off the soundtrack for the movie, Flashdance. We've seen songs from soundtracks featured on these polls, with You Light Up My Life and Evergreen coming to mind (plus songs from actual musicals). But instead of just diegetic ballads and showtunes, now we're seeing more songs marketing themselves around their connection to the films they were written for. As music videos are being shot more like movies and movies are being shot more like music videos, the meeting of these two worlds makes sense. Especially when music videos start to include actual clips from the movies, MTV was the place to get a wide audience for your music.

But not everyone could see the benefits right away. While MTV kicked off with a bang, their initial video rotation infamously featured no Black acts. The network's explanation was to insist that the exclusion wasn't based on race, but rather MTV's status as a "rock station".

1983 also marks the 25th anniversary of Motown Records and a television special (Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever) was broadcasted to mark the occasion. While the night is marked by more legends than I can list off, the notable performance for this blurb was Michael Jackson. After performing with the Jackson 5 for the first time since the 70's, Michael Jackson performed his new solo hit, Billie Jean. This number marks the public debut of the moonwalk, the musician's signature dance move that arguably cemented his status as a pop culture icon.

In hindsight, it feels ludicrous that an artist like Michael Jackson was initially unable to get on MTV. Fortunately, people at the time thought it was ludicrous as well. Both Rick James and David Bowie called out the network years before (with James being especially vocal in critiquing MTV for its exclusion of Black artists). But allegedly, Michael Jackson's record company found a way to get Billie Jean on the channel. To quote Walter Yetnikoff, the president of CBS Records at the time:

“I said to MTV, ‘I’m pulling everything we have off the air, all our product. I’m not going to give you any more videos. And I’m going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don’t want to play music by a black guy.’” (x)

Whether in response to Yetnikoff or not, Billie Jean aired on MTV March 10th, 1983, making it the first music video by a Black artist to be featured in heavy rotation on the channel. Later this year, the cinematic possibilities of the music video would be pushed further with the 13 minute video for Thriller. Michael was already a star without the push from MTV, and with how popular his videos were, it could be argued that MTV needed Michael as much if not more than he needed them. But while MTV's problems with race and representation were far from over, this moment helped pave the way for many other Black artists who will become iconic figures on the channel.

[msweebyness]

Miraculous-Some Sasha HC’s

Arguably one of my favorite OCs I’ve created-well, technically she’s not an oc because she canonically does exist according to the card game, she just doesn’t have a name, but-ANYWAY, is Sasha, Ivan’s little sister! I fell in love with this child I created, so have some cute HC’s! @artzychic27 @imsparky2002

Is it weird that that I imagine her looking like a slightly older Boo from Monsters Inc?

She actually loves Monsters, Inc for that reason and was Boo for Halloween one year. (Ivan got a Sulley cosplay sweatshirt to match her!💖)

She almost always has her hair in these cute little pigtails

She also carries one of her various stuffies with her at all times, she has eleven in rotation at the moment

Absolutely adores her big brother. Ivan always makes time to play with her, be it an impromptu tea party or just watching a Disney movie, he’s never too busy for his baby sister.

Sasha, like her brother, is not the most verbal child, she only really starts talking with people once she feels comfortable around them

Mylene absolutely loves her, thinks she’s the cutest thing in the world. She lets Sasha play with her hair when she goes over to their house

She has a bit of a crush on Marc’s brother, Kiran. Ivan and Marc both think it’s adorable.

She sings little songs to herself while she’s doing chores. It’s precious.

She’s so ridiculously adorable, oml. Whenever Ivan brings her with him to a school thing or just a meetup between any of the classes, EVERYONE wants to hug her.

That being said, if you piss her off, her angry face can put her big brother’s to shame.

She sometimes has nightmares, but Ivan will play songs with his drumsticks for her to help her calm down

This child moves impossibly silently. She scares the crap out of someone by simply appearing at least once a day.

Ivan brings her to Kitty Section rehearsals sometimes. Anarka would kill for this child, and Juleka nearly died of cuteness when she let her play a few chords on her guitar. (She gets SO many hugs from Rose)

She got akumatized after the new Hawk Moth showed up, when she was upset because some older boys were making fun of her and ripped a special stuffy her brother had given her. None of the other heroes had ever seen Minotaurox that upset.

He’s her favorite hero, and Marinette made her a plushy of him. She also has a little Polymouse hoodie

Stommp also loves her, even if he can’t interact with her. He may or may not have used his enhanced strength as the Kwami of determination to push a display shelf of magazines onto a creepy older guy who was looking at her funny once.

Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs!

[pastelroyce]

I've been tagged ages ago by @dandenbo @mtreebeardiles and @sh00kspeared on different ask memes of the sort (thank you all for tagging me) and I'm in a sharing mood so I thought it'd be fun to just...compile them together because i'm insane

3 fave ships:

Johnny/m!V, Vik/m!V, mShenko; these three are always on rotation in my head amongst all my other ships atm.

First ship:

...it...um...uh.

Sonic/Shadow. Sigh.

Favorite childhood book:

I had a very, very brief phase of being into Eragon when I was in 7th grade or something (I'm talking very brief as in I never finished the first book)

Currently reading:

Not really anything currently, but the last fanfic I read was the spoils, the spoils by kindly on ao3 (E rated Vik/m!V fair warning). As far as physical reading material the last thing I read was 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost.

Currently watching:

I don't actively watch shows/movies on my own time. I get too antsy at the idea of watching one continuous thing if I'm not like...purposefully determined to watch something (even then I need a break). The last time we used our streaming account was to watch Adventure Time, bf wanted to rewatch the show.

Fave color:

Basically everything in the circle, on the brighter/pastel side. Primarily pink tho.

Song stuck in head:

Right now it's Desperado by the Eagles

Last song listened to:

Chinatown by Jets to Brazil. Whenever i get around to making a playlist for my corpo V it's going on there.

Fave food:

Oh my god, there's so many. Tacos, good marbled brisket, hamburger.......

Spicy/sweet/savory:

Gimme it alllllllllllllllllllll

Currently craving:

Something fried and greasy and yucky because I've been stressed af all day

Last googled:

German Spitz for werewolf au purposes

Are you named after anyone?:

Yes! As a matter of fact! A book character with a name I vibed with immediately.

When was the last time you cried?:

A few weeks ago, can't even remember what it was tbh.

Do you have kids?:

I get bad baby fever from time to time, but something I came to terms with a while ago is that I'm too selfish to want children in my life. I value my privacy and alone time too much to disrupt that.

What sports do you play/have you played?:

I did karate and soccer when I was a wee lad. Neither interested me after a certain point.

Do you use sarcasm?:

Mostly when I know it'll be telegraphed as Being Funny, but I tend to do so unintentionally otherwise.

What is the first thing you notice about people?:

Hair usually, or whatever they're wearing

What's your eye color?:

Brown

Scary movies or happy endings?:

Happy endings I guess? It's been a while since I've seen a movie...

Any talents?:

I have a knack for drawing silly cartoon faces if that counts...

Where were you born?:

Island in the PNW

What are your hobbies?:

Drawing, writing and playing video games mostly. I like to daydream about having new hobbies too, if that counts.

Do you have any pets?:

BABY BOY 🫵 BABY

How tall are you?:

Like 5ft4in or something, very middle of the road.

Favorite subject in school?:

Art and history were my fave in school

Dream job?:

At this point I've given up on the idea of a specific dream job and now just want something that'll keep a roof over my head and let me get take out guilt free lol

[rawiswhore]

Various WWF Wrestlers x Fem Reader- "Hustle-r, Loyalty, Respect"

I hope this fanfiction isn't too similar to my "Beulah McGillislutty" fanfic I posted and typed last year, but I have a feeling it is.

______________________________________________________________

While the World Wrestling Federation in 1997 was in a city touring, some of their roster stopped at a strip club you were working at.

Some of those sexy wrestlers that visited this strip club included Shawn Michaels, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Rob Van Dam, Brian Pillman, and Jeff Hardy.

Those aforementioned wrestlers were circled around the runway you and other strippers perform on.

When a song began playing, you walked out of the curtain and sauntered down the catwalk.

Many of these male wrestlers as well as other men in the strip club applauded and cheered for you with smiles on their faces and whistled at you, their eyes were all on you.

You stopped walking once you stood on the end of the runway.

After stripping and undressing and these wrestlers handing you money that you stuffed in your garter belt wrapped around your thigh, you were still going to perform naked in an interesting way.

You then turned your body around until your ass was in front of these men circled around you while you stood sideways and you bent your torso in front of yourself while you stuck your ass out.

Now some men in this strip club can get a view of your vulva, which they did.

Some male wrestlers looked at your vagina with smiles on their faces, and you had no pubic hair and shaving bumps around your pussy, nor did you have any cellulite on your thighs.

After that, you grabbed an empty chair on the side next to the runway and pulled that chair on the stage, where you had a seat.

As you sat in that chair, you spread your legs wide open until you showed your vagina, where you turned your head sideways and one of your hands placed at one of your breasts while your other hand was at your twat.

Your middle finger poked inside your vaginal hole as your opposite hand stroked your breast, and you shut your eyes and breathily moaned a bit.

Some people sitting in this strip club could see that you were fingering yourself.

This really got a cheer and applause as well as some whistling, and many of these male wrestlers with smiles on their faces were handing you money.

Was it necessary for you to be doing this at a strip club?

You could've done this in a hotel room with these male wrestlers.

(I even almost set this fanfic in a hotel room).

After sitting on a chair, you then slid your ass off of the chair and sat down on the runway.

With your legs spread wide open, you slid your finger out of your vagina but your middle finger still continued rubbing up and down the middle of your pussy while your eyes stared at your vulva.

This was reminding Rob Van Dam all too much of Beulah McGillicutty's Hustler magazine photoshoot she did.

In fact, what you were doing was a replication of the things Beulah did in her Hustler magazine photoshoot.

You then rotated and turned your body over until you were laying on your stomach on top of the runway, where your hand reached behind your ass and your fingers tried to finger your pussy, your legs and thighs spread apart so everyone could see you.

You were replicating your favorite images from Beulah's Hustler photoshoot.

Your fingers even managed to spread your pussy lips apart.

You shut your eyes and moaned as you rubbed your pussy.

While these male wrestlers make lots of money, should they be handing you more money at you?

You're okay with them giving you $5 and $10, at least you're being sympathetic and empathetic in that wrestlers need to keep money too.

You then pulled yourself up until you were sitting on all fours, where your hand reached behind your ass and still continued rubbing up and down your twat.

As you rubbed your cunt, one of your elbows was resting on top of the runway with the side of your head resting on the palm of your hand.

If these wrestlers could, they'd masturbate to you.

In fact, they can, as long as they don't go to jail.

Throughout your performance, these male wrestlers were growing erections under their pants and shorts.

You sitting on all fours with your bare vagina sticking out or exposed was like an invitation for these male wrestlers to have sex with you.

[0m3g45n1p3r4lph4]

Whats the deal with Bionicle Heroes (Wii)?

Okay so everyone here knows Bionicle Heroes, probably by either the GameCube or Playstation 2 releases. Maybe even the Xbox release (of which all 3 are pretty much just ports with the input graphics changed) or the PC version (mouse and keyboard controls being the most drastic difference). It's many people's favorite (or at least most nostalgic) Bionicle game, competing with or right after Mata Nui Online Game.

The game itself is already quite repetitive - if you're the type to go for 100% completion, you're gonna be hearing the Hero Mode song A LOT. Even the DS version makes better use of unique mechanics by having Hahli use her Kanohi Elda to detect secrets, but that's a different tangent.

When I learned there was a Wii Version I was so excited to play what could very well be the Best version. To preface, I know a lot of people have a stigma against motion controls, but I've always found that the Metroid Prime Trilogy works so excellently with a Wii Remote and Nunchuck in ways that no other control scheme can match! Movement with an analog stick is more precise and comfortable than keys, and aiming with an analog stick is always wonky and imprecise. Mouse is okay, but Prime's pointer controls make those games really slick - just point where you wanna shoot, you can adjust the zones on the edges of the screen for turning your view, I really like it. I play on a close approximation of that style on Prime Remastered, but Joycons even have Gyro Drift so it doesn't always feel great.

So I go into this expecting similar - to be able to point at anywhere on screen and shoot at that. To point at an enemy and have the targeting lasers aim right at them.

Nope. Targeting is locked to the center of the screen.

Despite constantly having your pointer visible, THE ONLY INTERACTION IT HAS WITH THE GAME IS TO ROTATE THE CAMERA. You can't point at anything. Only moving the cursor towards the edges of the screen to turn your view, and whatever is closest to the center of the screen becomes your target.

You can't even adjust these zones.

Prime Trilogy showed me how WiimoteNunchuck can be one of the best control schemes, but I underestimated how it can also be one of the worst. What's the point of having a pointer if you're just gonna treat it as an analog stick????????

Not to mention it's clearly a rushed port of the GameCube release, including any prerendered cutscenes being much more compressed (though including new dialogue in the opener?) and even some missing textures revealing open skybox (luckily just minor stuff).

Like sure, I've got my gripes with every version of Heroes (the dumbing down of the most intense part of the story thus far, turning the Piraka into bumbling fools, you could at least make them intimidating in the part where BALTA TALKS ABOUT HOW INTIMIDATING THEY ARE CMON) but the control scheme makes the Wii version easily the worst. All the DS hand cramps are at least balanced out by the unique content, rahi variety (THEY HAVE FROST BEETLES), etc.

At least it's still got the good soundtrack.