#if you don't wanna watch the movie please at least listen to the soundtrack it's wonderful

[w1ld-wr1t3r]

Carlando 26 ❤️🧡

Hmm . . . okay. This is an interesting one! This song is from the soundtrack for "The Creator" (great sci-fi movie, highly recommend it) and I have, admittedly, lightly toyed with the idea of an AU based on it. I've never done anything with it because I've never been able to decide which people should fill which roles and what kind of story arc I want for everyone, but every now and then I think about it again. I'll consider this a little trial run of sorts. :)

All referenced lore comes from the movie. The only term I throw around that might not make sense without context is "simulant," which is a term in the movie for an AI individual who has a human appearance and human emotions. This scene also directly mirrors a scene from the movie.

26. A Place In The Sky by Hans Zimmer

Carlos never thought he'd be here, stuck in the middle of pro-AI territory all on his own and with probably half the military after him. He also never thought he'd willingly share company with another AI, not after the last time he was here. He had worked for the anti-AI movement his whole life. He thought he'd left this godforsaken place behind a long time ago.

But he'd just had to let himself get talked into this mission, hadn't he?

And now here he was, stuck with some simulant that for some reason was the most important bot in the whole world, tasked with getting them out of the country so that his bosses or his bosses' bosses could pick it apart and learn what kind of advantage it was supposed to have.

This bot was some sort of kid . . . somehow. It was a simulant but a kid. That wasn't supposed to be possible. And what was a kid supposed to do to turn the tide of the war? Drive the enemy crazy with incessant questions? It was already doing that to him.

Well. Okay. Maybe it was more innocent than incessant.

But he wasn't going to admit that out loud.

"If people aren't made like robots are," the child - man, he really should give it a name already - asked softly, "then how are they made?"

Carlos didn't look at the kid, watching the trees pass by outside the bus instead. But he did answer. "They're made by two people who are in love."

The kid absorbed that before asking another question. "What's it like to be in love?"

"It's like . . ." Carlos started, trying to find words that a nonhuman kid could understand. "It's finding happiness in someone else. Like finding a missing piece of yourself."

The kid looked at him innocently. "Do you love someone?"

Carlos paused, shifting his jaw. He didn't know why he was entertaining this topic. But . . . "Yes. I do. I did."

Lando. The one he'd been tasked to follow and study, all those years ago. His target. A person of interest. Connected to a key pro-AI figure. Supposed to be the enemy.

The only man he'd ever loved.

It was unprecedented for them - an AI supporter, and an AI fighter - to fall in love. But they did. They'd found the keys to each other's hearts. They'd made a life for themselves. They were going to have a family.

But then it had all been ripped away.

Their home. Their unborn child. Lando himself.

All because of a goddamn botched raid.

He would never forgive himself for lying to Lando about who he really was. Seeing the betrayal in his eyes as he caught Carlos trying in vain to call off the raid, finding out he hadn't truly abandoned the side of anti-AI. It had made Carlos want to go back in time and slap himself, scream at himself for hiding it from Lando, for not just giving up everything for him. Because before he'd lost everything anyway, he was afraid he'd lost Lando's love, too.

He would never forgive himself for that.

"Off," he finally choked out, using a term that the kid could understand. "He's . . . off."

The child absorbed this solemnly. "Where do people go when they're off?"

Carlos tried not to get choked up as he watched the scenery pass by. "Heaven," he said. "It's a peaceful place in the sky."

"Are you going to heaven, too?" the child asked.

A tear finally rolled out of his eye. "No," he whispered. "You . . . you have to be a good person to get into heaven."

The child was silent for a long time. Then they finally spoke again. "Then . . . we're the same."

Carlos finally turned to look at them in confusion, meeting the eyes that had reminded him uncannily of Lando from the very start. It was part of the reason why he didn't look at the kid any more than he had to.

The kid looked at him serenely, yet sadly. "Neither of us can go to heaven," they explained simply. They looked down at their hands. "Because you're not good. And . . . I'm not a person."

Something about the way the child said it . . . the emotion in their voice . . . it stirred something in Carlos.

Maybe the kid wasn't so inhuman after all.

Gently, he lifted his arm so that the kid could lean against his side, snuggling closer and getting comfy for the long ride they still had ahead. As they finally lapsed into silence, Carlos returned his gaze to the window, thinking about bright laughs and whispered words of fondness in a home he had once shared with the person he loved.

He didn't dare hope that they might be reunited one day. But maybe . . . maybe, he could still make Lando proud somehow.

[albonoooo]

i've been tagged by @f1-giuki, @blueballsracing and @liamlawsonlesbian to share my nine favourite albums!! thank you loves <3 and please know i spent way too much time thinking about this. i go through phases with the music i listen to so it was incredibly hard to narrow it down to nine albums and ended up being a combination of all-time and current favourites (and honourable mentions because i cannot shut up). i probably forgot at least half of the music i know while making this.

(in no particular order)

1. favourite worst nightmare by arctic monkeys

all-time favourite. my most beloved arctic monkeys album. every time fluorescent adolescent starts playing, i feel an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for something i didn't even experience. no skips on this album.

2. rush! by måneskin

current favourite. about 3/4 of the songs on this album are currently in my most played songs on spotify. idk what kind of crack they laced this with, but it is fucking good.

3. stadtaffe by peter fox

all-time favourite. these songs were played everywhere all. the. time. when i was a kid. i remember sitting on the floor in the living room in front of the radio whenever it happened, just so that i don't miss anything.

4. on the way to wonderland by sunrise avenue

all-time favourite. my first ever favourite band that i latched on to when i was around nine because i heard fairytale gone bad on the radio so often and really loved it. went to the library and borrowed this album and out of style on cd so my dad could make me illegal copies at home lol. i genuinely still find samu haber's voice one of the most soothing i've ever heard.

5. pain remains by lorna shore

recent favourite. lorna shore has quicky become one of my favourite metal bands ever since will joined them and this album was on repeat for months after it first came out. it's so good.

6. les choristes soundtrack

all-time favourite. one of my favourite movies, has made me cry many times. thanks to the three separate teachers that made my class watch this film over the course of my time at secondary school. even more so because it really scared me after the first watch when i was 11 (i think it was mostly rachin and mondain who freaked me out lol).

7. master of puppets by metallica

all-time favourite. one of the albums of all time and that's a hill i'm willing to die on. my first metal album which my dad was very happy about. this has been in every music listening rotation since i was twelve.

8. doo-wops & hooligans by bruno mars

all-time favourite. another nostalgic one. this album and unorthodox jukebox were two of the cds my mom used to keep in her car and play all the time on longer drives when i was younger. for that reason, i also associate this music with my pediatrician (whom i love and wish i could still go to lmao).

9. gold album by lukas graham

all-time favourite. first of all, why was it so hard to find a picture for this? i got this cd for my thirteenth birthday after i heard drunk in the morning on the radio and was obsessed with it. then i spent hours and hours in my room just listening to it on repeat for the next few years. i actually haven't listened to any of these songs for a while, but i still love them dearly.

honourable mentions:

(in no particular order)

1. am by arctic monkeys

their best album imo.

2. out of style by sunrise avenue

mentioned above.

3. void by the rose

could've honestly put any album of theirs.

4. unorthodox jukebox by bruno mars

mentioned above.

since this took me an eternity, i'm sure everyone and their mother has been tagged by now so. if you see this and wanna do it, consider yourself tagged :)

[beanghostprincess]

Okay first off please ignore that this is from the new chicken run movie (although I got to say the new chicken run movie is really good so if that doesn’t deter you that’s also great) but also all this Shuggyuta family talk coupled with me having this song on repeat for the last few days has done irreparable damage to my brain and I just need you to imagine a Uta growing up Montage set to this song with me:

https://youtu.be/UNjPjQdwmHc?si=m4NXRCfd2OGKuLbZ

… although now I’m also thinking about Saunst + their daughter with this and my heart is bleeding even more at the thought of Sanji just being a tiny bit overprotective of his little girl while also being aware she’s gonna grow up some day and go her own way and aaaagh! God! „I just want her by my side for my whole life. She's the brightest light and the highest high. And it's hard i know. One day she'll have to go and leave me behind But i never wanna say goodbye couse she's so sweet“ LIKE ARE YOU FUCKING ME SIDEWAYS WHAT THE FUCK

Anyways. Chicken run soundtrack, oddly feels inducing for some reason

Don't worry about this song being from Chicken Run. I am like, the least judgemental person when it comes to soundtracks and music because the things that seem the most absurd can have the best of music. Heck, I listen to the Ducktales and Animaniacs soundtracks a very not normal amount- Also the Trolls soundtrack is so fucking good?? Honestly, musicals. In general. (Ducktales isn't a musical but y'know, good music in general, and the Darkwing Duck theme song is one of my favorite songs ever?? And every time Dewey sings I cry with joy but that's because it's Ben Schwartz and I absolutely love his voice). I AM SORRY I GOT TO CARRIED AWAY- I- I used to have a very heavy hyperfixation on Ducktales I am sorry.

And I haven't watched Chicken Run, by the way, but Paloma Faith is a great singer and this song is just SO beautiful?? I can totally imagine a whole montage with Shuggy/Uta and Sanuso/Their daughter that I definitely don't have a whole OC of ahahahahaha (I am so normal I definitely don't have two twin daughters and a little guy created for these two hahahah-). It's just,, So cute.

I think both Shanks and Sanji would be the most sensitive dads ever and they'd cry just thinking about their children growing up. It makes them really emotional!!!!!

[roundhousekickingheight]

thank you for the tag mimi!!!

Tea, coffee, or soda: pretty close between tea and soda… i’m currently drinking a diet coke so we’ll go with that i guess. i don’t drink coffee at all

Dogs or cats: man that's a really hard one. i love both... i have a dog and i love her so much but i also i'm always so happy to see other people's cats when i visit

Can you play an instrument?: yeah i play clarinet! i'm not super good or anything but i've been playing for like 5 years

What's your sun sign?: sagittarius. i don't have any commentary on this one i'm not like. into astrology. so i don't know what that's supposed to say about me or anything

First song lyrics that pop into your head?: "who knows what tomorrow holds / just wanna live my life the way i want / filling up my soul with passionate / music that makes me want to sing" no more what ifs - lyn (from the persona 5 soundtrack. i've listened to nothing but that soundtrack for over a month)

Do you have any tattoos?: sure don't. i like the idea in theory but in practice i'd be too nervous i'd regret it later and i hate needles so god damn much i could never sit through the inking process

Favorite place you've traveled?: oof that's hard i'm bad at picking favorites... i visited winnipeg for a few days once and while it's arguably far from the least exciting place i've been i really enjoyed it there

What's the last movie you watched?: better off dead (1985). i have a list of movies from the 80s and 90s my mom remembers fondly and thinks i should watch and that was off that list

What languages do you speak?: other than english, i'm learning mandarin. i've also picked up a bit of japanese from the fact that every media i seem to get into is anime or a video game by a japanese company. i think if i got lost in a spanish speaking country i would be able to survive off what i know but i really don't speak much at all. i could probably say the same thing about french. probably.

Do you have any hobbies?: drawing, writing, reading, playing video games, falling down internet rabbit holes; y'know, the usual

You can hang out with one fictional character for one hour. Who do you choose?: any character i like from any media who's around my age i'm not picky i'd be happy with anyone. (though, can i give at least like half of the phantom thieves hugs? put them all on a roulette wheel and the one who gets picked gets a hug from me)

Compliment yourself: uhh i like to think i'm not too hard on myself but that doesn't mean this is easy. i guess i'd say, like... i've been getting better at establishing boundaries? i still have a long way to go but i'm proud of myself for what i've done

hmm i do not know who to tag but if you see this and want to do it then please go ahead!

thank you for the tag @padmedala !! i am so bad at these but ! i’m doing this one before i forget :^)

tea, coffee, or soda? coffee! but cherry coke zero is very important to me so it gets an honorable mention

dogs or cats? i love them both and want both someday but i’m infinitely more familiar and comfortable with dogs !! cats like me fine i’m just too intimidated to get up close rip

can you play an instrument? kind of? i played piano for nine years but haven’t touched it in like. five. and i can also play the guitar a little. (emphasis on a little.)

what’s your sun sign? aries!! i have two aries signs in my big three actually which doesn’t mean much to me but i like telling people that because they think it’s cool (?)

first song lyrics that pop into your head? i’ve been listening to this all day so: i am not my body not my mind or my brain/not my thoughts or feelings i am not my dna (banger song. powered me through an 11 hour study sesh)

do you have any tattoos? i do! i have one on my left shoulder and i want to get another soon as soon as i can remember to set up an appointment oops

favorite place you’ve traveled? i think amsterdam probably? i went a few years ago for like 3 days and genuinely loved it so much i’d love to go back for longer !! other than that i went to alaska when i was 5 and from what i remember it was insanely gorgeous so i’d love to go back there too! (core alaska memories include: feeding a reindeer, holding a husky pup, drinking mountain dew for the first time, watching the aristocats, and throwing up from drinking too much hot chocolate.)

what’s the last movie you watched? i am so bad at watching movies but i think maybe glass onion?

what languages do you speak? i was born in india actually so i’m near-fluent in kannada and tamil which are both south indian languages !! i can also understand a good amount of hindi but i just can’t speak it very well :/ n i took spanish up to ap in high school but it’s been a hot second since !! and. english obv. but you knew that.

do you have any hobbies? fic writing is the obvious answer here but i also bake furiously and hike like a fiend during the summertime !! i also enjoy crocheting (badly)

you can hang out with one fictional character for an hour. who do you choose? if we’re talking st i’d say max or robin bc i think we’d get along really well and it would be fun !! if we’re talking any media ever then probably troy and abed from community (they come as a pair. do not separate)

compliment yourself! i think i am a very hardworking person which i appreciate about myself !! also i give great hugs

tags (if you want !!): @wiseatom @andiwriteordie @bookinit02 @parkitaco @mayahawkins

[4thbrighteststar]

hello again <3

all i knew about this movie when i saw it was the bruno song because my sister spent an entire week singing it. i didn't think it would hit me like that or that the songs would have an impact on me but. Luisa's song???? that's my song. im the oldest of three sisters. i was watching the movie with them and the middle one looked at me and said okay but that's actually you. and here i thought i would actually relate to mirabel because i look like her. so yeah that song hit me like a bag of bricks. ive been listening to it for DAYS. the entire soundtrack really. as for favorite song??? how can i choose??? i love "we don't talk about bruno" (well. "no se habla de bruno" since i watched it in spanish) its so catchy and i love that everyone sings in it and it just. it gives me so much serotonin to listen to it. but also "two oruguitas"??? i cried in that scene. i wasnt strong like you and even if my family was there i couldn't help it. and yeah luisa's song for sure because i relate to it so much but honestly the whole soundtrack is incredible, it makes me very happy. what about you? i wanna hear all of it!!! very happy to have found someone to yell to about this movie!!

-monse<3

okay hi @lukemichaelcalumashton I'm so sorry this took me forever but I am HERE now let's scream about disney movies

My younger sibling is also obsessed with that song! we spent the last week singing that we don't talk about bruno/apple bottom jeans mashup.

ohh no bahahaha! I mean at least your younger sisters recognize the parallels? it's so cool that you watched it in spanish! I imagine it must have hit even harder...there were definitely some similarities between the cultures (and like. the generational trauma) in that movie and in my life, but it's not *my* culture. actually technically I don't know if it's yours either. idk maybe I'm talking nonsense. one day we will have enough representation to have more than one story per culture! hooray! "strong like you" please monse I wish I had cried and gotten it all out instead lmao. the soundtrack is awesome! it's that lmm magic. I think my favourite song is still surface pressure, I just love how intentionally it was written. my favourite character is probably the tiny little antonio! he's a sweetheart and I love him. thank you for dropping into my inbox to yell about this because it absolutely delighted me and I'm sorry it took me so long to answer <3 mwah!

[corancoranthemagicalman]

💜🌻💜🌻💜🌻💜

My grandpa also has great disdain for recent music... he doesn't like anything after the 50s. So I think its funny that he likes Shrek and he'll watch it any time its on tv. I'm not familiar with Top Gun's soundtrack. I'll have to give Take My Breath Away a listen!

My dad words at a university and he used to bring me and my siblings to the international dinners he'd host. Students would always as me what I was studying and eventually when people started talking to me I'd introduce myself by saying I was my dad's daughter and that I was in high school. I'm not sure if any of them were ever hitting on me bc I was, and still am, pretty oblivious to flirtations. It sucks that you had to tell guys you were in high school to get them to back off. Glad to hear they did, though.

I used to be a hufflepuff when I was in university! I re-took the quiz twice about a year ago and was shocked to get Slytherin both times but I've embraced it. Most of the qualities are very positive except for cunning and I don't think that describes me at all.

I totally get that. I had a similar experience meeting my best friend at university. We clicked really fast and even after graduating I still hang out with her once a week. (The teenage drama movie life thing sounds awful but in high school I was definitely also on the outside of my friend circle) It sure has been hard recently to maintain friendships but I have more good friends right now than at any other point in my life.

I'll take your word for it that I give off painting/crocheting vibes! And I agree with you on the winter v. summer thing. Summer is my least favorite season. Partly because of how humid it is in the summer here.

My group just finished a campaign a few months ago and I played a gnome cleric. They started a new campaign but I felt like I needed a break bc the sessions are long and intense even though I really enjoy it. What class do you play?

The sweater is a commission actually! In university I led a crochet for beginners group and there were a few people that just couldn't ever get the hang of it :(

Did I see that you weren't feeling well today? If so I'm so sorry to hear that! I hope tomorrow treats you better 💜 (also sorry this is an entire novel I haven't spoken to anyone all day so I guess you're getting it all)

-🐧🌻

This got SO LONG so bestie I am replying undercut to you. If anyone wants to see me slowly bromance 🐧🌻 anon then read away lol.

I am envisioning your grandpa dancing to Smash Mouth and it brings me great joy. Oh, man, Top Gun has an AMAZING soundtrack. Danger Zone is a classic, but Take My Breath Away is such a romantic song. Please let me know what you think!!!

Aw, that's sort of wholesome though. I'd get that from the older ladies at my church lol. "What are you studying?"/"Algebra, usually." Which was a LAUGH. And to be honest, I'm a flirty person by nature. I think flirting is fun. But to be crude for a moment (and apologies), most of their flirting would be staring at my breasts. :/ But it was SUCH HIGH HOPES when they backed off. Like YES you GO performing the bare minimum by not being attracted to children. Bravo. But really, I've never had a dude flirt with me who wouldn't back off after me shutting them down, minor or not. So I'm very fortunate in that way. But I too can be fairly oblivious? First time I got asked out, I thought he was asking me to hang out with the friend group. Then he was like "... like a date." After I had asked where did we all wanna meet up. Lmaooooo.

We do change as we grow. I've been taking some personality quizzes for school in regards to the PMAI (Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator) especially and it actually talks a lot about how at different times in your life you'll display different archetypes depending on what you're having to adapt to or overcome. So I think the same is true for Houses. What's peculiar to me about Houses is that when I was younger I was under the understanding that you were your House, right? But the older I got, I prescribe to the "your House is what you admire" type theology. So I might not embody a Hufflepuff in every action, but a Hufflepuff is what I aspire to be. I admire loyalty above all else. Loyalty and kindness. I might not always BE kind. I'm far too hot-headed to be the embodiment of a Hufflepuff, but I admire gentle souls the most. Ergo, Hufflepuff. I've always hated how Slytherins were associated with negative sounding modifiers. Cunning IS a negative word since by definition it's about achieving one's goals through deceit. But I dont understand why being quick-witted and clever couldn't have been the heavier association. I think Ravenclaw's are booksmart and Slytherin are streetsmart. Gryffindors are street tough, while Hufflepuff are ready to roll. Does that make sense? I think the whole cunning/silver-tongued thing was the stupidest idea, because then you are saying narratively that Slytherin IS the evil House. Why have the House at all? On a meta level, Harry begging not to be considered part of the Dark Side despite the actual Voldemort growing inside of him is symbolic in his rejection of Slytherin, but when you go on to merchandise and tell children you are a Slytherin; you're telling children they're evil. They're gonna be evil. And not in "this is the House for brats" way. In the "you either die a villain or live long enough to run away." insane. My point is they're OUR Houses now and I'm saying I think you're clever and quick-witted, and that's pretty Slytherin to me.

I'm very blessed to have her and I'm glad other people get to experience that too. I think everyone is deserving of deep connections like that. And I'm glad to hear you taking time for yourself away from dnd. Our sessions can be exhausting too, but half of my party is my literal blood family and the other half is adopted practically so we usually end up hanging out for half of the session. Makes it way less intense. That sounds like it was a fun character!! I haven't gotten the pleasure to play clerics all that much. Right now I'm in three different campaigns that alternate each week. In one I'm a druid, and that's our 5th edition campaign. I'm playing the new Wildfire from Tasha's and I haven't gotten to flex out the Wildfire Spirit yet, I am having fun. I've got a wolf who is using the sidekick mechanic in that game and he's so much fun to play too. In the other two games, those are 4th editions (the edition I grew up on and learned how to play) and in those I am a ranger and a class known as a Warden. Sort of a fighter/druid class. And the druid and the ranger are both shifters, and the warden is my half-orc. I'm always happy to talk dnd lol. Which cleric were you? Trickster Domain?

Also EWWW HUMIDITY I HATE IT. :(((

Dude, I WISH I could crochet. My fingers are so big tho, bestie. Makes it hard to do anything dexterous.

I'm already feeling much better :)) unfortunately not in time not to bomb half of my project. Whoops. But I'm blaming Glass Shark. He got me sick.

Dont apologize for the novel!! As you can see I'm capable of replying with a novel in turn lol. I hope you had a wonderful day today and that this next week treats you well!! Thank you for the well wishing 💕🌺💕🌺💕🌺💕🌺💕🌺💕