#in the zones their horns will grow in from with like a basic idea of what direction to grow out in first!

[infaernalfluffles]

homestuck still occupies my brain btw if u were curious

[makowo]

As a much longer follow up to this post, here's this... My Ideas for Two Minecraft Mods ^_^ this got really long so it's under the cut

Circle of Life: Rudimentary mod that adds a basic ecosystem, with as few mobs added as possible but enough to stand out as a bare bones animal mod.

Rather than mobs just existing independently of each other with the player as the focal point, focus in on more instances of stuff like wolves hunting sheep. Foxes hunt rabbits + rabbits are more widespread, wild cats/ocelots should spawn more plentifully and have birds and wild mice to hunt, polar bears should have seals to hunt, etc.

These prey animals can have their own niches, like eating plants and spreading their seeds (making grass/ferns/crops grow naturally and make grass more lively), seals eat fish and may be difficult to kill on your own but with the help of a polar bear, but they can be easily killed and drop seal fat that acts as coal or dried into leather.

Bears and foxes should be tamable as alternatives to wolves and cats respectively. Bears are focused on combat, as they hit harder and have more health (could be mounted as well?), as well as have a faster swim speed. However, they aren't useful in smaller areas, and you can only have two at a time or they get territorial with each other. Foxes are similar to cats in that they don't do combat but maybe could help find buried items or something, tying themselves into archeology. -

Darker Days Ahead: A larger progression mod that adds the Deep Dark as a secondary endgame zone to follow up to the End, and not a glorified treasure zone with a scary guy in it. (I know there's already kinda one of these that adds a deep dark dimension but I hate that mod bcs it's very aimless and bare bones atm)

This mod would have new structures, new types of crops that only cultivate with the aid of sculk, new items for scaring mobs away from you with the call of a Warden Horn, a new set of armor with a focus on utility, and potentially a new dimension which the sculk infection originates from. Definitely more but that's what's off the top of my head

The Ancient City is larger and has more signs of having been a city rather than just a castle sorta area. I'm imagining tying it into villager lore, so there would be decrepit but more advanced forms of villager buildings scattered around or above deep dark biomes, with the Warden hinted at being the basis of the iron golems villagers make.

The main new crop could be a fucked up form of glow berries that spread darkness instead of light, and will give darkness/wither when eaten. They could also be crafted into a 2x2 grid and made into a bundle of berries that can be thrown and make mobs in a small area around the landing point unable to lock onto you and take wither damage for a short time. They only grow on walls made of sculk-infested stone/deepslate, which is made by crafting stone/deepslate in the center of a crafting table with a sculk vein on each space directly adjacent to it. They also spawn naturally in the deep dark villages, but crumble into nothing unless mined with silk touch.

The Warden Horn isn't obtained by killing the Warden, but is crafted with a goat horn, a sculk shrieker, and an item that's dropped randomly by Wardens randomly after taking damage, maybe a part of its flesh or one of the things in its chest. It has a very limited amount of uses (repaired with experience via natural mending) but can be used as a defensive tool to temporarily scare and de-aggro any hostile/neutral mobs in a radius around the player, making them run like skeletons with wolves or creepers with cats. Doesn't work on Nether mobs as they wouldn't know about the Warden naturally.

The armor set would be primarily focused on utility, to not compromise on netherite being the endgame armor. Each piece of armor has its own ability, similar to turtle helmets. The helmet allows the wearer to highlight mobs around them and through walls when they make noise, the chestplate provides temporary Resistance 1 and a small damage boost whenever you gain experience, leggings give Speed 2, Jump Boost 1, and small attack speed boost after taking damage, and boots make you walk without making noise. Wearing the entire armor set gives you Absorption 1 in areas under light level 0 and you can get closer to aggro mobs without them spotting you, with the Warden becoming entirely passive to you unless attacked. There could be tools as well, but I don't have ideas for them right now. I think this would have stats slightly lower than diamond to balance out its strengths, since you can mix it with stronger items for certain benefits.

The new dimension is kinda a point of contention for me because I'm not sure of what it could offer. Definitely a new boss, NOT a new faction for trading, but it could relate to enchantments/magic considering experience plays such a large role here and enchants have no present origin point.

That's all I have for now. one day I will make these ideas or commission them when i get money.

[lightreader1]

LMK Lost Prince Au

Soooooo~ I’ve been stewing lately on an idea relating to RedSon and Macaque. That and the thought that MK has a million dad figures in his life. =w=  

Anyways I had a random thought that I kind’ve just wanted to express since I’ve been reading a lot of  “What if” stories about how cannon could’ve been different if some factors in the journey to the west and the cannon Monkie Kid story were slightly different and it brought me a thought that is making me kind’ve insane……..but what if both PIF and and DBK got sealed by Wukong leaving a little RedSon alone?

I mean I know it’s dumb but now I can’t stop imagining a scenario now for the Monkie kid cannon if some things were slightly different.

I mean the angst addicted reader in me just can’t stop imagining Macaque after being resurrected by LBD just passing by the to see if Wukong’s staff is actually there to seal the DBK family only to discover not only that it was true but the heart breaking sight of an obviously very young demon child who looks exactly like PIF with DBK’s hair and horns just trying to dig into the ground.

Heartbreaking thought I know but now I just can’t stop imagining a feral little RedSon just trying to set his parents free. TTwTT

To be honest I can already imagine some things happening in the story: I can imagine the area around the mountain PIF and DBK looking like a recovering war zone with gouges taken out of the earth and burn marks everywhere but also places where grass is starting to grow back. I can imagine as Macaque looks around with curiosity. He would take the time to inspect the area as a warrior would and follow the path of destruction to it's final marker. The monkie king's staff but instead of the area looking immaculate around it there are big holes everywhere, and as he looks around these holes probably thinking "WTF why?" he hears the sounds of hands gripping and digging into the hard rocks and soil coming from one of the holes. And as he looks inside he see's a small, dirty, red haired demon child. Probably not even a full century into its life (which in my opinion would be very young in context of the story), just digging and obviously has been digging for a long time. Their nails are broken and bloody as a testament for how long the child has been digging. I can imagine Macaque catching the child's attention and the possible shock for Macaque as he looks at RedSon for the first time and starts to put things together that this kid who looks exactly like PIF and DBK is probably their kid.

Long story short after technically adopting RedSon the demon bull clan/kingdom kind’ve become forgotten other then from the stories of Wukong’s Journey to the west. Later on MK thanks to Wukong disguised as a bird does accidentally unseal DBK and PIF who are understandably furious to learn that they’ve been sealed for the past 500 years. That pissed off energy gives way to thoughts of “wait.....where’s RedSon.” Which leads to the demon parents trying to regain their strength while desperately (and violently) try to find their missing child, who mind you was basically a toddler 500 years ago the last time they saw him. =w=

Anyways as the LMK story progresses Macaque hears word of how DBK and PIF got unsealed by some kid and obviously wants to go check it out. RedSon (who now goes by Red) after 500 years of being raised by Macaque honestly does not remember PIF and DBK. All he can recall is that Macaque found him when he was really little and very alone. Macaque being the smart person that he is probably understood that while Red was growing up it wouldn’t be smart to advertise that this kid was Demon bull royalty for a number of reasons. Aka: Demon politics is worse then human politics and he doesn’t want to kill every demon they come across because they want to kill little Red for territory or use him for political gain (and he does not Wukong to know that he has RedSon). So Macaque has subtly disguised Red throughout the years using glamor which Red just kind’ve adopted as a habit at this point. With ideas prompted by (https://www.tumblr.com/awarmbowlofhomemadesoup 

I imagine Red dying his hair black regularly with his usual red hair showing at the roots, his hair as per usual is long but instead of being pulled up he just kind of lets it always be down in a kind of always fluffy/wild look to him. His outfit would have some slight changes to it. He keeps his purple pants and black shirt combination, but I imagine he is wearing a cropped jacket that has Macaque’s symbol on it. I also imagine him wearing a purple skirt sometimes in combination because canonically Red doesn’t care about gender identification so why not wear a skirt or a dress once in a while (and have girl boss energy while doing it). Anyways but one of the biggest changes is that Red likes to put on face makeup that resembles Macaque’s own red mask thing on his face, I like to imagine that Red does it to feel more like Mac’s kid (since ya know he’s a demon bull hybrid and Mac is a celestial monkey/demon). 

Anyways during this time Mac is still kind of obsessed with Wukong and getting his revenge for his death (and he’s probably not gonna admit it but also for making RedSon an orphan) but he’s going to go about it in as sadistic a way as possible. AKA: he convince’s Red to try and befriend MK so a to lower his gaurd/learn about his enemy. Red is obviously not a fan about this and is worried about his Dad’s obsession with getting revenge on Wukong but still does his best to make him happy. 

From there on I can just imagine MK and Red bonding and actually becoming friends (and maybe future boyfriends because sue me I like the ship)! Red just constantly warns MK not to put trust into strangers and gives ominous/subtle warnings about his dad when they eventually meet. Meanwhile Mk........he just kind of doesn’t get it until Macaque goes full asshole. =w= 

Ahhh there is so much more I can go on about this but alas, one can only fangirl/speculate for so long~~~ =w= 

But yea these are just my thoughts so far but if anyone has any other thoughts or perhaps wants to use these ideas for their own thing then I’m all for it! I would love to read more awesome stories/fanfics in the community! :D 

[alpacaparkaseok]

The Pact - Date #3

Pairing/Genre: OT7 BTS x reader (not poly), idol!BTS, best friend BTS

Word Count: 7.7k

Premise: The truth about the pact the boys have about you has been revealed. What happens when you agree to go on a single date with each of them?

Warnings: none, BUT THE FLUFF IS COMING DOWN FULL FORCE YA’LL

a/n: don’t forget, I taking your guys’ comments/reactions into account for this series, so please let me know what your thoughts are! of course, at the end we’ll really take a deeper look at all of the dates and what stood out the most, but I would love to hear from you about this one!! love you all, enjoy!

Date #3

series masterlist ∆∆∆ join the taglist

The more time has passed, the more you fully come to realize that if you have been that affected by two dates, you are in no way prepared for the five that remain.

Nope. Not one bit.

It was Thursday when Jungkook finally texted to check that you were free around eleven. Your heart leapt, finally. A date that you wouldn’t have to spend all day moping around waiting for.

So obviously, you were ready by 9. You know, just in case.

You’d been instructed to wear casual clothes, something that you rejoiced in. Donning your sweater with the word Harvard in thick blue letters spanning the front and a pair of skinny jeans, you felt right at home.

The boys never missed a chance to tease you about your Harvard sweatshirt, and for some reason they never believed your lie that you actually went there. Of course, that might be due to the fact that they were very much aware of your current schooling situation and it was most definitely not Harvard.

But hey...attending one of the top universities in South Korea wasn’t bad, either.

Currently you were perched on the end of your bed, partly due to the fact that if you went anywhere else you would most certainly just end up staring out the window at every car that passed by. Not wanting to look like a nosy neighbor, you’d confined yourself to your room to wait out the morning.

In the hours that pass, your thoughts are completely occupied by the two boys you shared the last couple of Saturdays with.

It would be a lie to say that you don’t replay the image of Taehyung standing in your doorway every night as you tried to sleep, his hair a fluffy mess and that cable knit sweater proving to be your doom.

Your thoughts were usually interrupted as you took your bracelet off and stared at it, imagining Hobi delicately placing each individual bead it it’s place. It’s when your hand burns with the memory of his gentle kiss on your palm that you finally set the bracelet down and let out a frustrated sigh.

Yeah...Jimin was wrong when he invited you to just think of these as nice, friendly dates.

He probably knew it, too.

“Ok,” you breathe out, closing your eyes and focusing on the rise and fall of your chest. “Just...enjoy it.”

Enjoy it you shall.

That’s the thing that carries you through the waiting, still just breathing in and out and mentally preparing yourself for all that awaits you today.

You get so carried away in your attempts to calm down that the knock on your front door comes before you realize how much time has passed. Taking one more steadying breath, you get up from your bed and amble down the hallway to the door.

Pausing for a moment, you realize that you truly have no idea who might be on the other side of that door. The thought makes you smile. You’ve always loved a good mystery.

Cracking open the door, you can’t help but smile as the figure before you has their back turned to you. At the sound of your quiet giggle, they turn around, eyes a little wide.

A nervous smile in place, Namjoon leans forward ever so slightly. Almost as though he’s being pulled in by your personal gravity. “Morning,” he says almost as an afterthought, his voice low.

“Good morning,” you respond, throwing the door open the rest of the way. “So you’re lucky number three?”

“Well, you know what they say.”

You busy yourself with grabbing your bag and double checking that you have everything. “What do they say?”

Namjoon shrugs, his nervous smile growing until it’s bordering on giddiness. “Third time’s a charm.”

Indeed.

Once you’ve ascertained that you have everything you’ll need (you made sure to replenish your mint stash earlier this week), you’re stepping out into the slightly brisk air and locking the door behind you.

The sound of keys jingling near your ear has you turning to face Namjoon, who wears an oversized, dark plaid shirt that’s open to reveal his black t-shirt beneath it. The picture of casual coolness, paired with his dark wash jeans and sneakers, the look is complete with the way his dimples poke out as he holds up the keys to your eye level.

“Guess who’s driving?” He teases in a sing-song voice, making you laugh as you swipe the keys from him. As the two of you descend the stairs toward the car, you tilt your head to the side.

“How did you get here?” Then, turning to him with wide eyes, “You didn’t drive yourself, right?”

He’s quick to shake his head, pointing out a car that’s turning around at the end of your street and slowly making its way back toward you two. “The guys dropped me off.”

The thought of Namjoon in a car with some of the boys and the rest trailing after them in a separate vehicle is endearing, while also hilarious. “All of them?”

“Yep,” he confirms. “Every last one of them.”

As the car draws nearer, you see the windows roll down and someone with familiar black, fluffy hair sticks their head out. Like a dog pile, another head hovers beside them.

Taehyung and Jimin.

Oh, and there’s Jungkook somehow managing to wiggle in between them.

“We apologize in advance, jagiya,” Jimin croons loudly with a teasing smirk. “At least try to enjoy yourself.”

You snort, clicking the button to unlock the car and laughing even harder when Hobi jumps at the sound of the horn. He sits in the passenger seat beside Jin, who drives. The two merely wave before mumbling something to each other that makes them laugh.

“Where’s Yoongi?” You ask, frowning as you do a head count and not finding him anywhere. In response, a pale hand coming from what must be the very back row of the car worms its way forward to the open window. You swear you can almost hear his disgruntled greeting, but it’s drowned out as Taehyung excitedly speaks up.

“Good luck trying to beat me, hyung,” he teases, shooting Namjoon a sweet smile that’s at odds with his teasing comment.

Namjoon just shrugs, utterly unphased as he follows you around the car and opens the drivers side with smooth precision. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

This encourages a round of ooh-ing that only serves to make you laugh even as you tuck away the momentary competitive side of Namjoon. Calm, calculated, and - if you’re reading that steely look in his eyes correctly - utterly in the zone.

Oh, you’re definitely enjoying this way more than you should.

“Drive safe!” The boys shout out amidst jeering comments directed toward Namjoon and his lack of driving abilities. With a final wave, they’re speeding off down the street. Once they’ve disappeared from sight, you notice the way Namjoon’s shoulders relax. He hurries over to the passenger side, hopping in and buckling up before fiddling with his phone.

“So...where to?” You ask, buckled up and ready to go. You tap the steering wheel excitedly, already feeling hyped up from the short interaction with everyone.

You miss seeing them all together. There’s a reason why you’re friends with the entire group.

“I put the address into the car,” Namjoon explains. “It should give you directions as we go.”

Arching a brow at him, you don’t shift into drive just yet. “So I’m driving us there, but I don’t get to know what the end location is?”

Smiling softly, Namjoon nods. “Exactly. You’re so smart, have I ever told you that?”

Scowling, you press the green button that appears on the screen and a warm female voice instructs you to drive to the stop sign and turn left.

You hum, pondering the slightly sarcastic question. “I’m not sure. But that’s definitely a sign that you should tell me more often.”

“I’ll make note of that.”

With a glance at the screen, you see the estimated driving time. “We’re leaving Seoul?”

From your peripheral, you notice Namjoon’s worried expression. “Is that alright? We can find something to do around here, it’s just-”

“No,” you rush to reassure him. “I was just surprised, that’s all.” It won’t be a particularly long drive, just over an hour, but you certainly weren’t expecting that.

Something tells you that there are plenty more surprises waiting for you today.

It doesn’t take long before the two of you slip into an easy conversation, Namjoon relating his latest experiences in his efforts to add something eye-catching to his studio.

“Like what?” You ask. “I love your studio the way it is.”

Namjoon looks over at you, smiling softly. “Really? I don’t know...I just feel like something’s missing.”

“Well, we’ll keep an eye out for something today,” you promise, relaxing now that you’re on the freeway and in the flow of traffic. “Like, do you want something to hang up? Or something to go on your desk?”

He shrugs, taking a moment to roll his window down and close his eyes as it runs through his hair. “I already have a bunch of stuff on the wall, and if I put anything on my desk-”

“Right, you’ll spill on it.”

“Exactly.” You keep your eyes on the road, entirely missing the fond look he gives you.

“So basically, you don’t need anything.”

He huffs a sigh, rolling the window back up and sinking down into the seat. “No, I do, I just don’t know what.”

“Mmm.”

“Hey,” Namjoon cuts, giving you a dramatic glare. “Don’t mock me.”

Feigning innocence, you peek over at him. “I’m not!”

“Yah, just drive.”

“I am!”

Despite the bickering, you can’t fight the smile edging its way onto your features. A glance over at Namjoon shows that he’s having the same issue, his face turned away from you but failing to hide the silly grin he’s attempting to hide as his fingers curl at his lips. It’s a habit he’s had for as long as you’ve known him, one that often makes its way into many photos.

“Prepare to take exit 14,” the voice instructs, and you make your way over to the far lane, eyeing the looming sign that will announce what exit it’s for. Once the sign comes into view, you give Namjoon a puzzled look.

“We’re going to Anyang?”

It’s not that you have anything against the city, it’s just that...well, what is there in Anyang that isn’t in Seoul?

“See? Super intelligent.” It’s the only response you get from Namjoon, but it has you rolling your eyes in an effort to counter the butterflies that erupt in your stomach at the way he’s looking at you.

In a couple of minutes you’re turning onto a relatively quiet street, only a few random people mulling about, enjoying their weekend. Namjoon points out an entrance to a parking lot that you would have completely missed due to its hidden nature. Once you’re parked and dwarfed between the buildings surrounding the little lot, you jump out of the car and make a show of stretching your legs.

Namjoon mimics you, a loud yet satisfying yawn coming from him. “Hey, are you hungry now or are you good to wait a little while?”

You pause, internally wondering. “I think I’m good for a while.”

“Great.” Rubbing his hands together, he comes to stand beside you. “Let’s go, then.”

You fall into step beside him. “Woah, you still haven’t told me where- oh.”

The two of you have rounded a corner and now stand in front of a nondescript building. Its sage green paint is chipping a bit, giving it a rustic feel that is only accentuated by the gold lettering above the door.

Wanderers & Travelers

However, it’s not the homey feel or the tasteful name that has you stopping in your tracks. It’s what you see inside, through the large windows.

Without a single word, you step forward as though in a daze. The little bell above the door chimes as you walk in, announcing your arrival. And, as though the entire thing couldn’t get better, the scent hits you.

The smell of old and new books, some leather bound and some hard backed, dives into your senses and leaves you whirling.

The walls in here are painted some shade of sky blue, complementing the deep wood shelves. It’s quiet in here, the only sound being that of shuffling feet.

If you blink, you’re afraid it might all vanish.

“Oh! You’re here!”

Turning to your left, you see a woman with flecks of white in her hair, smiling warmly at you and Namjoon. If you’re being completely, honest, you’d nearly forgotten that Namjoon was there.

The woman descends the final few steps of the creaky staircase, keeping a friendly distance as she nods at the two of you. “You were right,” she remarks to Namjoon. Then, to you with a teasing smirk, “You look like you’ve never seen a bookstore before.”

You sputter for the right words. “I- yeah, but this-”

“Is no ordinary bookstore,” Namjoon finishes for you, a hand at your elbow. You can’t help but lean into his touch, momentarily forgetting the rows and rows of shelves just a few steps away as Namjoon involuntarily steps a little closer.

“Ah, right. Well, first thing’s first: I’m Choi Min-jee. And this is my bookstore,” she gestures to the endless rows of bookshelves, and you wonder for a moment how all of these can fit in the building. It looks so much smaller from the outside.

Min-jee motions for you to follow her, and she leads the two of you to the nearest bookshelf. “These books range in languages and age, you never know what you might find. This shop has been in my family for five generations now - we’ve collected our fair share of books and other antique items.” With a little wink, she steps back. “Take your time, and let me know if you have any questions. Oh, and the upstairs is open now.”

Namjoon perks up at this, looking over from where he’d pulled a book off the shelf. “Really? We’ll have to look up there!”

“Please do! I’m off to practice piano.” With that, she whisks away, leaving you to your own devices.

You stare after her in awe, mouth slightly ajar. It makes Namjoon chuckle quietly, he must know the feeling.

“I wanna be her when I grow up,” you whisper, earning a louder chuckle from the man.

“Same.” Namjoon heads deeper into the shelves, and you follow after him. He glances back at you over his shoulder. “This is my favorite place.”

“I take it you’re a regular?” You ask, eyes catching on a bright blue book with frayed binding. Pausing, you ease it from its spot. “Hm… ‘The Cottage by the Sea’.” You run my hand over the shiny inlay, a seashell glinting up at you. “Why do I feel like I just entered the world of ‘Little Women’?”

Namjoon snorts, wandering back over to you and gazing down at the book. He grabs the one that occupied the spot next to it on the shelf, the deep red absorbing in all the surrounding light. “You’re definitely Jo.”

“Really?” You ask, gently flipping through the first few pages and trying to find a publish date. “I always thought that I was more of an Amy.”

Namjoon looks appalled, tearing his eyes away from his book. “What? No. In what world are you Amy?”

“Hey! Don’t act like she’s a bad person,” You whine, bringing the book close to your chest. “She was just...trying to survive.”

Huffing loudly and obnoxiously, Namjoon heads over to the other aisle, peeking at you through the gaps in the shelf. “She got everything she ever wanted, without hardly having to ask for it. Are you telling me that you have everything you ever wanted?”

There’s a skylight above you, allowing the lazy afternoon sun to filter in and play with the lighter tones in Namjoon’s hair. He looks at you with his ferociously focused gaze, something that you had never squirmed under before but now find your cheeks burning as he doesn’t look away.

You sigh contentedly. “More or less. Look at me, I’m surrounded by books.”

Namjoon gets closer to the shelves, leaning down to be eye-level with you through the shelves. “So what’s missing?”

“Hmm?” You hum, getting a little lost as music starts up somewhere. You realize with a start that this must be what Min-jee meant by practicing piano, as the soft sound comes from somewhere hidden.

There’s a little smile on Namjoon’s face, just enough for a dimple to appear. “You said more or less. What are you missing still?”

Edging a little closer and nearly closing your eyes at the smell of leather, you’re tempted to reach through the shelf and poke at the little indent in his cheek. “Just your glasses, I think. I love it when you wear your glasses.”

The statement takes him by surprise, Namjoon’s dragon-like gaze dropping and a flush taking over his features before he steps back. “Hmph.” With that, he continues down the aisle, the red book still in his hands and the blue in yours. “I still think you would be Jo, though.”

“Why?”

The two of you match footsteps, languidly walking along the seemingly endless rows. You catch glimpses of him through the books, a soft dimpled smile on his face as he looks down at his feet. It’s enough to make your coy smile grow, and you clutch the book tighter to your chest.

Finally, Namjoon comes to a stop as another book catches his eye. You take the opportunity to round the corner and enter the aisle he stands in, feet carrying you closer to him. Just as you’re about to reach his side, he speaks.

“Jo is...well, for one, she’s a dreamer. And we both know you’ve got a lot of dreams in that head of yours.” He taps your forehead for emphasis, side-smile growing when you scowl. “But she’s a realistic dreamer. You’ve given up a lot for your dreams, but I believe that you’d leave it all behind if someone you loved was in need of you.”

You blink, unprepared for the genuine compliment.

“And,” Namjoon says breathily, sliding the book back into its place and turning on his heel to walk away. “You two share a tendency to be oblivious to others feelings for you.”

He keeps walking, leaving you to become a sputtering mess before launching yourself after him. “I- we what?!” You all but screech, wincing as you sound twice as loud in the empty shop. “I am not oblivious-”

With a triumphant smirk, Namjoon heads down a little slope that leads toward a sitting area. “Be honest with yourself. You wouldn’t have had any idea about the pact or anything if Jungkook hadn’t spilled it.”

“But that’s not my fault!” You defend, glaring defiantly at his back. “You guys had that under lock and key!”

Diving into another row, Namjoon looks contemplative. “Ok, that may be true. But tell me the truth: did you ever once suspect that...I don’t know, there might be something more going on? Even just once?”

You stand out in the main walkway still, frozen by his question. “Er…” Pausing to think, you squint down at the book still in your hands.

Of course there were moments that had your heart pumping a little faster and a blush rising to your cheeks. Movie nights always meant some form of cuddling, but you quickly just assumed that it was all part of the friendship. Good morning texts that made you sink back into your pillows with a lazy smile, or the little facts that one of the boys would remember about you always made you stop and wonder.

But you never actually entertained the idea. It all seemed too…

“Unrealistic,” you mumble aloud. When Namjoon looks at you quizzically, you walk down a few rows until something catches your eye. You delight in the fact that now he’s following you. “I guess I had little moments where I wondered, but it just seemed like wishful thinking.”

Stopping near the end of the row and looking up at the top shelf, you wiggle on your tip-toes trying to grab a book. Your fingers barely graze the spine of the book before a warm presence overshadows you and Namjoon’s fingers ghost over your own before tugging the brown book from its spot. Still pressed against your back, his light breathing makes the hair on the back of your neck tingle as he lowers the book into your waiting hands.

“Moments like this?” He whispers, hands coming to rest just above your hips.

Suddenly, you recall a moment from months before, when you’d been in a similar situation. The boys had invited you over for some breakfast on one of their rare morning’s off. You’d wanted some cereal, only to find the bowls on the very top shelf. Namjoon had come to your rescue, pulling the exact same move before awkwardly pausing and looking as though he’d wanted to say something. He hadn’t, and instead rushed out of the kitchen before you could even utter a ‘thank you’.

Turning around in his grasp, you can see that he wears a similar expression as before. This time, however, he looks determined to say whatever comes to mind.

With a quiet voice you whisper, “Who in their right mind puts bowls on the top shelf?”

Namjoon’s grip on your hips tightens as he throws his head back and laughs, the kind of laugh that sinks right into your bones. All you can do is watch him, feeling like it’s the first time you’ve ever seen him. Perhaps it’s the first time you’ve ever allowed yourself to look freely.

“Ah, so you did notice,” he whispers back. “You acted like nothing happened, so I figured I was in the clear.”

With a roll of your eyes, you’re stepping out of his grasp and taking a look down at the new book in your hand. “With you, Mr. Kim, we’re never in the clear.”

He lets out a low hiss, but lets you walk away. Not like you realize he’s not following you anymore, you’re idly wandering around while thumbing through the mystery novel. It looks like it might be an original copy from one of your favorite authors. One that passed away in the 1950’s, but still stands out among the countless authors that have come after them.

You’ve made it down to the small sitting area, where a large fireplace is crackling.

“Huh,” you smile. As if this place couldn’t get any better. Plopping down on the couch, you let out a sigh at how the cushions sink and welcome you into their warm embrace. Setting the blue book off to the side, you open up the brown one and begin to read.

You’ve nearly completed the first chapter - knees tucked to your chest as you lean against the arm of the couch - when you hear footsteps approaching.

Expecting it to be Namjoon, you glance over your shoulder with a smile. It’s Min-jee, who returns the smile with a knowing look. You listen closely and realize that her piano practice must be over. Classical music plays over the speakers in the shop instead.

“Namjoon’s gone upstairs,” she explains, coming to adjust something in the fireplace. “He said something about finding an item for his studio.”

You close the book softly, stretching before sitting up straight. “What’s upstairs? More books?”

“No, we’ve expanded our antique selection, there’s an assortment of desks and chairs up there, among other things.”

Making an ‘o’ with your mouth, you get up. “This place is amazing, by the way.” You hold up the brown book with an excited expression. “I found this - I think it’s an original! How much is it?”

Min-jee makes her way over to you, smiling softly as she recognizes the book. “You’re a fan of this author too, huh? My grandad used to read these to me back before I had to start running the shop.” She offers you a fond look. “Oh, and Namjoon told me to put whatever you like on his tab. So don’t worry about it. Take the book.”

She must notice your shock, because she places a comforting hand on your shoulder and squeezes it gently. “He also told me that you might be hesitant to get anything because of that. But honestly, get it. And ‘The Cottage by the Sea’. That’s one of my favorites, actually.” Min-jee nods at the blue book with its golden seashell.

“Ah, he knows me too well,” you sigh. “This might be silly to ask, but...do you think it’s alright? You know, to just get them?”

Min-jee, to your eternal gratitude, doesn’t laugh at your question. Instead, she sees right through you, to the worry in your heart.  The last thing you want is to take advantage of any of the boys. “It would make him happy,” she responds, watching your reaction carefully. You immediately let out a sigh of relief, nodding and picking up the books.

“Alright,” you concede. “I’ll get them, then.”

“Great! I’ll take them up front and hold them for you, if you’d like.”

“That’s perfect.”

While she whisks away your books, you follow after her until you reach the staircase. She nods encouragingly, and you head up.

Clearing the stairs, it doesn’t take long to locate Namjoon. He’s standing in front of a large wardrobe, inspecting every inch of it. The sight makes you smile, enjoying the way he’s chewing on the inside of the cheek.

“Don’t tell me that’s what you’re getting for the studio,” you drawl, making your way toward him. He looks back at you, a wide smile interrupting his cheek chewing.

“I mean...no, but look at it!” He exclaims. “It’s beautiful, isn't it? Honestly, if I moved some things around, I could probably make it fit.”

You reach the wardrobe, marveling at the expert craftsmanship. “It’s gorgeous. But what would you even put in it? It’s not like you take all of your coats to the studio. And you want your trophies to be visible, don’t you?”

This thing must weigh a ton, the wood is thick and the hinges smooth. “Hmm...no, but I can think of something else I could hide away in here.” The way Namjoon glances over at you with a sly grin makes you stumble back, red rushing to your cheeks as you suddenly become preoccupied with a very old typewriter.

“What would that be?” You venture, running your fingers over the keyboard. You’re waiting for his answer, which you’re sure will be a single word - you. However, just as he’s opening his mouth and looking like he’s garnering the courage to say it, the creaky staircase announces someone’s arrival.

At first you think nothing of it, but Min-jee’s voice is loud. Loud enough that you know she’s trying to be heard.

“I told you, we don’t sell anything BTS related in this store.” She says, and you and Namjoon share a puzzled look.

A couple of voices respond, but one in particular stands out as she raises her voice. “I swear, I saw Kim Namjoon walking around in here just a few minutes ago!”

Their footsteps are growing closer, and you suddenly realize that this is Min-jee’s way of warning you two.

Rushing over to Namjoon’s side, you look around frantically. “Is there another way out?” You whisper. Clearly the staircase is blocked at the moment. When he shakes his head, you’re about ready to suggest causing a distraction but he suddenly gasps.

Quickly and quietly, he’s swinging open the wardrobe and nudging you inside, quickly following. You raise your eyebrows, mouth opening to ask him just how this is going to help anything, but he allows the door to swing shut and presses a hand against your mouth.

Back pressed against the back of the wardrobe and Namjoon looming over you, the two of you hardly dare to breathe as you strain to listen to what’s going on outside.

“I’m pretty sure I would know if he was in my shop,” Min-jee is saying, sounding much closer now. “And right now the upstairs is off-limits, so please-”

“Look, I know I must sound crazy, but I’m absolutely positive that I saw him in here. I was just outside and he went up the stairs! And now you expect me to believe what you’re saying?”

You keep your eyes trained on the thin opening where light is streaming in, trying to see what’s going on. Namjoon, however, shuffles a little closer, hand slipping from your mouth and staring down at you. He braces his hands on either side of your head, needing to bend over a little bit due to the small space.

“For the last time,” Min-jee defends, “the upstairs portion of this shop is closed. As you can tell, nobody is up here besides us. If you wish to continue this conversation, I would simply ask that we do it downstairs.”

You bite your lip, looking up at Namjoon and about to whisper something about how Min-jee deserves a raise. The words die on your tongue, however, when you finally catch sight of him.

Namjoon is slouching a bit, and you realize that his hands are on either side of your head. His hair is slightly mussed, from what you’re unsure. However, that’s not what has your breath catching in your throat.

He’s looking down at you in a way that suddenly makes you aware of just how small the wardrobe is, and has you mentally cursing yourself for coming up here in the first place. Namjoon is looking at you, looking at you in a way that you immediately recognize.

Like it’s the first time he’s allowed himself to.

You watch the way his eyes follow the way your throat constricts as you swallow, the way they trace the slope of your nose and the dip above your lip.

The voices fade away as Namjoon’s fingers feather through your hair, light enough to make your heart melt. He does so slowly, eyes reading your own in order to see if he’s somehow crossed a line that he shouldn’t have.

You, however, are sick of all these dumb lines and boundaries that have been set. Somehow, Namjoon must see that, because he’s opening his mouth and whispering out what he’s been thinking this entire time.

“You,” he mumbles as he watches the strand of hair he tucks behind your ear. Almost as though to verify that this is real, that it’s actually happening. “I’d tuck you away in here, and nobody would find us.”

Breathing has become impossible at this point.

“No prying eyes, no invisible lines to make sure I don’t cross,” he’s tracing the line of your jaw now, and you don’t miss the slight tremor in his hand. “Would you like that as much as I would?”

His eyes land on yours, eyebrows coming together as he awaits your answer. You would smile if you could, but you find that you’ve turned to putty at his touch. Instead, you slowly nod before breathing out, “Yes.”

That’s when you realize that Namjoon is just as tired of rules as you are. Namjoon, the dedicated leader that always makes sure everything is in order. Namjoon, who constantly forgets things like his phone and wallet, but never forgets to say please and thank you.

Namjoon, who leans impossibly closer until you’re closing your eyes for fear of going cross-eyed. His breath fans across your nose, acting as your only warning before his lips find yours.

Light as a feather against your mouth, Namjoon kisses you.

As you sigh against his lips, you suddenly understand why kissing was prohibited. Because right now, all that you can think of - every breath, every heartbeat - it’s all saying the same thing.

Namjoon.

Just as your hands find their way to his chest and bunching up the fabric, he’s jumping back with a gasp and stumbling through the door of the wardrobe. You see his wide eyes, but you’re too busy standing there completely frozen and praying that nobody is up here still.

He looks around frantically, but looks at you with utter horror as the same voice as before pipes up from downstairs.

“See! I’m telling you that someone is up there-”

“Oh! Did you see that? I think I just saw him taking the emergency exit!” Min-jee retorts, and you can picture her frantically pointing out the window in an effort to distract the girls. “Hurry! He looked like he was running!”

The bell above the door chimes, excited voices fading as the group exits the shop. However, their timely exit does little to soothe the raging heartbeat pounding against your ribs.

“I- I’m not supposed to do that,” Namjoon reminds himself aloud. “Please, I’m so sorry-”

“They’re gone!” Min-jee calls out, poking her head up as she ascends the stairs. She spots you still standing in the wardrobe. “Oh, so that’s where you were hiding. Anyway, I’ve locked up the front, so we shouldn’t be having any more trouble with that.”

You can only offer her a weak smile, Namjoon still staring at you with that horrible, guilt-ridden expression, which you’re dying to erase.

“Thank you,” you say when Min-jee begins to notice the odd silence. “We’ll be down in a second, I think.”

Namjoon nods along, finally looking away to check the time. “Actually, we’ve got a reservation,” your stomach flips at the thought of sitting through an entire meal with his guilty apologies, “is there a way we can sneak out of here without being seen?”

Min-jee blinks, looking between the two of you but not saying anything. “Ok...um, yeah. The back alleyway should be clear, it’ll lead to the parking lot.”

Finally stepping out of the wardrobe, you look back at it with a glare.

“So much for Narnia,” you mumble, closing the door.

ˆˆˆˆ

Min-jee quickly places your books in a bag - Namjoon ends up getting the red one as well - and offers it to you with a smile. Automatically you reach out for it, but so does Namjoon. The second your hands meet you can’t help but jump, and the bag falls to the floor.

“Oh no,” you whimper out, feeling sorry for the old books. Before you can lean down to get them, Namjoon’s swooping them up and keeping a firm grip on the bag. He mumbles out a soft, “sorry” before following Min-jee toward the back exit.

The two of you thank her profusely for the day, and you promise that you’ll return soon. There’s no way you can leave a place like that alone for very long. Namjoon smiles for a moment, looking pleased that he picked a good place. However, once he catches your eye, he’s back to chewing on the inside of his cheek.

Slyly sneaking down down the alleyway, it’s quiet between the two of you. No matter how hard you pinch yourself, your thoughts keep zoning in on the way Namjoon’s lips felt on yours...the way he looked at you just before he leaned in...how perfect everything had been until he’d come to his senses-

You’ve made it to the car, and you click the unlock button, jumping back as it honks. Man, you’ve got to get out of your head.

Namjoon hurries to set the bag in the backseat before rushing to the driver’s side, opening the door up for you with significantly less flourish than before.

Knowing Namjoon, it’s eating him up alive. And there’s no way you’re about to let a kiss - something to celebrate, in your opinion - ruin the rest of this date.

Especially when it may very well be the only one you get.

“Namjoon,” you say, walking slowly toward him. His eyes jump up to yours, and you can already see that he’s hard at work trying to pretend like everything is fine.

“We’re going to be about an hour early for our reservation,” Namjoon admits, running a hand through his hair and immediately trying to fix it after. “I’m sorry for rushing you out of there, I wasn’t thinking straight. You can go back in, if you want. I’ll wait out here until you’re ready-”

“Namjoon.” He quits his rambling, red cheeks somehow turning redder as you stop before him. “I wanted you to kiss me.”

At this, he lets the door fall shut. “You...did?”

Wanting nothing more than to dispel the awkward tension, you laugh. “Of course I did! I’d be an idiot if I didn’t! So please...it’s nobody’s fault. So what, you broke a stupid rule-”

“And I’ve hurt the guys in the process of breaking that rule,” Namjoon explains, looking at you with clear, pained eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me regretting kissing you because- w-well, that’s not the point!” Leaning back against the car, you follow suit just as a large stormcloud blocks out the sun. It’s going to rain soon.

“Namjoon, you’ve all found ways to skirt around the rules in some way,” you confess, remember Hobi’s sweet hand kiss and Taehyung’s forehead kiss. “Sure, you actually broke the rule, but nobody is going to hate you for it. Nobody. Least of all me.”

He leans his head back, closing his eyes as he lets out a long breath. “It’s just, we all agreed to give you enough space to make a clear decision if you felt like you wanted to make one at the end of all this,” he confesses, not seeing the way your eyes widen. Oh. “And I’ve completely screwed that up.”

Sighing, you squint as a fat raindrop lands on your nose. “Well, we’re on a date, aren’t we? People sometimes kiss- I mean, honestly, we could have done a lot worse-” Namjoon chokes on his spit at that. “But if you need something to blame, please don’t blame yourself. Because I love this date, and as far as I can tell, the kiss only made it better.”

He peeks one eye open at you. “Really?”

“Really.” You shrug. “And see? I really am Amy! I always get what I want!” You don’t add the fact that that wasn’t quite true with Hoseok or Taehyung. “If anything, blame the wardrobe. Wardrobes are wacky, anyways.”

Namjoon snorts, rolling his eyes. “Blame the wardrobe? Really?”

“Yeah! Sometimes they transport you to Narnia, sometimes they mess with your common sense,” you give him a pointed look, which he avoids. “So if the boys get all upset about it, just tell them it was the wardrobe. I’ll back you up on it.”

Finally, Namjoon laughs. Like, the annoying little hyena laugh that he hates but you secretly love. And when he looks back down at you and opens up the door, he doesn’t look so upset about it.

“Be honest, would you have rather gone to Narnia or been stuck in there with me?”

You feign annoyance. “Ugh, just get in the car.”

From the way your stomachs were rumbling and the rain was pouring, the two of you decided to bag the reservation. It was for some posh outdoor restaurant in Seoul that Namjoon pretended to be excited about.

Which is exactly how you ended up going through the McDonald’s drive thru and bringing it back to your place.

“Aren’t you on a diet or something?” You ask around your fries, eyes not leaving the television screen. The two of you had decided on Gone With the Wind, completely forgetting just how long it was.

Namjoon makes a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, taking a swig of his drink. “Yeah, something like that. Today’s my cheat day, though.”

“Aw, you decided to spend your cheat day with me?” You tease. Namjoon rolls his eyes, finally deciding that maybe you really are Amy from Little Women. However, he can’t fight the feeling that he’s the Laurie to your Jo.

Not that he’ll be telling you that anytime soon. He’s certainly done enough today.

“More like our date happened to fall on my cheat day,” he bites back. “And I heard that they have really good cheesecake at that restaurant we bailed on.”

You hesitate before taking another bite of your food. “Should we have gone? They probably would’ve given us our food to go if we didn’t want to sit under the umbrellas. I feel bad, you made reservations and everything.”

Namjoon shrugs. “No, this is way better.” He holds up his McFlurry for emphasis. “They even had the cheesecake McFlurry back in season! Coincidence?”

“I think not!”

You both chuckle before falling back into the companionable silence you’d been in before. Over the course of the drive back to Seoul, you’d taken your time, stopping at a handful of little parks along the way. Namjoon had imitated the ducks before realizing how silly he looked, then hiding behind his hands for a solid five minutes before he could look you in the eyes again. Overall, it had been calm and relaxing.

As you watch Scarlett O’Hara flirting it up with different suitors on the screen, you can’t help but wonder if that’s you.

Sure, Gina told you back at the haunted house to just enjoy it. Chances are it was all just a phase, anyways. There was all of this romantic tension between you and the boys that would naturally fade away as their curiosity diminished after their dates.

At least, that’s what you assumed. However you’re quickly coming to realize that you’re a little out of depth here.

“You alright over there?” Namjoon asks, pulling you from your thoughts. “You have your thinking face on.”

You blink. “I have a thinking face?”

“Of course,” Namjoon replies as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You gonna tell me what’s got you so stressed?”

“No,” you say a little too quickly. “I’m just...thinking about the movie.” Not entirely a lie.

You know he won’t push it if you don’t want to talk about it, but you take a little bit of enjoyment in the way his lip pouts out. “Alright, if you say so.”

Only a few more minutes pass before he speaks up again, sounding a little hesitant. “You know that this is a long movie…”

“Oh, should we end it here?” You ask, a little disappointed because you were just getting to one of your favorite parts. “You don’t need to feel like you have to stay-”

“No, not that. I’m gonna finish the movie. It’s just,” he wipes his fingers off on a spare napkin before scooting a little closer to you. “Long movies call for cuddling, don’t you think?”

You nearly choke on your saliva. “You- you, as in Kim Namjoon, want to cuddle? You’re into cuddling?”

He laughs, tugging on your arm until you give in and collapse against his side. You hope that your content sigh isn’t too noticeable when he drapes an arm around your shoulder. “It just depends sometimes. But yes, I am. At the appropriate times.”

“Ah, and long movies-”

“Are the epitome of the appropriate time,” he explains, lightly pinching your arm when you let out a wry laugh.

“Hey!” You cry out, only to be shushed by him.

“Shhh, I’m trying to watch this.”

You just can’t find it in you to be annoyed.

You’re asleep before the film is over, despite the fact that the sun barely went down. Something about having a full stomach and leaning your head on Namjoon’s shoulder just lulled you right to sleep.

You stir a little when Namjoon fidgets, pulling his phone out to call someone. His voice is deep and quiet, trying not to wake you.

“Hey, can you pick me up now?”

Despite your half-asleep state, you crack a smile. It’s quiet, but you can hear a familiar voice on the other side of the phone.

“Yeah, I’m close to there right now. Be there in a couple minutes. You’re at her apartment, right?”

“Thanks. Yeah, she’s conked out on the couch.”

There’s a laugh ringing through the phone. “Cute. Make sure she rests up, she’ll need it for our date next week.”

Namjoon sighs, not quite annoyed but not exactly pleased, either. “Yah, just hurry over.” He pauses for a moment. “Do you think I should wake her up to say goodbye?”

“Your call. But I mean, it’s not like you’re gonna give her a kiss goodbye. If she’s that tired, I’d just let her sleep.”

Your cheeks involuntarily turn red, and you can only imagine the way Namjoon looks right now. It’s his silence that gives him away.

“Hyung...what-”

“Text me when you get here,” Namjoon says, and suddenly the call ends.

Oh, he’s in for it tonight.

Stretching and trying to look like you totally weren’t just eavesdropping, you crack open your eyes to see Namjoon looking down at you with an amused expression.

“I would tell you that you missed the ending, but something tells me you’ve seen it before,” he drawls.

You chuckle breathily, yawning as you stretch your arms over your head. “Yeah, a couple of times.”

“I’m about to head out,” Namjoon begins, back to chewing on the inside of his cheek. “But thank you for going out with me. I seriously...it was just the best.” He smiles softly, and you wish you could have a picture of it.

Instead, you opt for nuzzling back into his side. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one thanking you? It was great, Namjoon-ah. I’ll have to read that book you got some time.”

He hums, returning the sentiment. “Yeah, we’ll do a book swap.” His phone lights up, but before you can see who it’s from, he’s snatching it up and jumping up from the couch. “They’re here.”

It’s tempting to not resort to begging him to stay a little longer - if only for the sake of his warmth which is quickly fading as he retreats to the door. However, you only pad after him, stopping him before he reaches the door.

“Thank you,” you whisper against his chest. “Tell everyone I say hello.”

“I will.” And with a rush of cool air, he’s out the door.

Gone, leaving you to stare blankly and wonder what just happened today.

And worse yet, what’s yet to come.

main masterlist

again, I’d love to hear from you! ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THINGS ARE ESCALATING!! thoughts, what you liked, what you didn’t, what’s been your fav so far...general screaming, it’s all great. THANK YOU!!!

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[obeymeluv]

Hey ^^ may I please request something? If you won't do it then that's totally fine but could you maybe write about how the demon brothers would react if MC got kidnapped and cannot summon any of them? If you don't have time to do it that's totally fine and remember to take care ^^

Quick rundown on my headcanons for bonding with demons:

When I read this, it made me question whether bonded brothers would instinctively know if their pact mate/bonded person was in trouble? Would they be able to tell if the bonded person was unconscious instead of just...contained? I’d like to think that when demons bond to the point of making pact marks, they can kind of “tap in” or “tune in” to the bonded one to make sure things are okay. When they do, they feel what their pact mate is going through. The longer they stay connected, the more they can share.

For example: a 5 minute connection can allow the bonded pair to say a few things mentally, and would allow the demon to fully tap into their bonded one’s emotions. The telepathic capabilities only work when the two are in eye-sight; the connection grows stronger as the demon moves towards the pact mate.

Basic and superficial wounds can be felt at this point. Pulse rates sync up at about three minutes. If the pact mate is unconscious, the demons can try to push their consciousness into being awake or opening their eyes to try and see through them to figure out where they are (before the conscious mind kicks in, about 5-10 seconds). This connection will also allow them to connect to other senses but the demons will be overloaded and experience them all at once. If their human is conscious and they tap into their senses again, they can filter out senses or enhance certain ones for a short amount of time.

Being connected 10 minutes or longer allows for deeper or graver injuries to be felt, and might help with reflexes. Humans may also take on key attributes of a demon, like sharper teeth or claw-like nails. Subtle changes like being slightly more charming (if pulling from Asmo) or stronger (if pulling from Beel) would start to occur. Using this too much may cause mental or physical pains.

The effects of being connected for thirty minutes or longer are largely undocumented (despite Devildom society being 5,000+ years old) but are assumed to be dangerous for the human (pass out from mental exhaustion, borrowed magic fatigue, numbness or trouble moving limbs if reflexes are enhanced, etc.) Humans like Solomon, who are magically inclined or gifted, will not be harmed or taxed as much as a non-magical human. Connected demons hardly have any drawbacks, save for being sore depending on the extent of their bond mate’s injury if they connect to the point of being able to feel them.

I added all of that because my brain had to know how the bros would find MC. Plus, I’m stuck in chapter 20/21 and think there needs to be more lore about pact bonds/capabilities.

I couldn’t figure out how to squeeze this in anywhere above, but if the demon wants to locate a missing pact mate, they will have an internal compass of sorts. It’s a really strong compulsion to go a certain direction no matter who or what is in front of them. Their bonded one will be at the end of that feeling, and it will intensify the closer they get to each other.

Now, how they’d react:

Lucifer

He’s super pissed, obviously. You’re in trouble and he can’t just teleport to you?! What the hell did you get yourself into?!

Also worried. Did you piss off some figure (witch, etc.) that has magic capabilities or is this just a situation where you, as a human, do not feel safe to summon them?

Lucifer has been alive for 5,000+ years and is one of the strongest in the Devildom. He will use the above-mentioned brain push to get you to open your eyes and look around. He needs an idea of where you’re at (he’ll apologize about your migraines later)

I headcanon that he’s good with directions and has a strong memory, so he’d probably be able to recognize your surroundings and find you personally

When he sets out to find you, he’s a one man army. A one-man wrecking crew of death.

Considers that your captors may be magic-proficient or have some sort of anti-demon items (why else would they be stupid enough to take you?) so he packs an old fashioned, heavy-ass sword or dagger in case hand-to-hand fighting isn’t an option.

Those gloves come off, and he rarely takes his gloves off. Lucifer will make sure your captors suffer a long, slow, painful death that illustrates why he’s a demon and why they should be afraid of him

He fought bare-handed. The dagger/sword wasn’t necessary.

Mammon

WHO JUST TOOK HIS HUMAN? WHY? GET FUCKIN’ READY, BUDDY!

Stuck in an angry panic spin of ‘HUMAN IS MISSING? WHAT DO I DO? HOW DO I FIND HUMAN? GOD DAMMIT!’ until his brain kicks in

Doesn’t think to use the brain push thing. His first thought is: people will sell information

Mammon is the Avatar of Greed--he knows what people want and he knows how to manipulate them. He’s actually pretty slick in a ‘watch this hand, not this one’ kind of way

Also caught in the feels and will not hesitate to beat somebody up for that information.

If he feels asking around will waste time, he’ll teleport to one of his witch acquaintances and have them find you. It may cost him another favor, but it’s worth it. SOMETHING is keeping you from summoning him, so he has to find a way around it.

You’ll hear Mammon coming before you see him. He’ll be complaining the whole way--(”Making me come all the way out here to save you! What were you thinking?!”) but he’ll be kicking ass without breaking eye contact

Being the second-oldest of seven, he grew up fighting several brothers at once and learned how to wrestle in different ways. His reflexes are pretty on point. It’s a very efficient fighting style--hard hits or distance throws that give him time to pick multiple captors off individually

Unapologetic and threatening. Lots of demon noises

He’s pretty quiet and burnt out by the time he finds you. More of a relieved exhaustion than anything. Baby boy missed you and just wants to hold you.

A little paranoid for the next two weeks. You’re basically on lock down with your main man until he feels better about everything.

Levi

THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME IN ANIME AND MANGA AND IT DOES NOT END WELL!

Spends a solid 5-10 minutes hyperventilating BECAUSE SO MUCH COULD HAPPEN!

Has something already happened to you? What have they done?! Will he get a ransom note? A spooky encrypted video email?

WHAT WOULD HENRY DO?

That ‘admiral of Hell’s Navy’ personality kicks in and after a mild panic, he’s all business. He WILL figure out a way to find you

 He’d use that “compass” connection I described. It goes well with his one-track mind/hyperfocus he tends to get.

This is one big ass-whoopin’ quest in the making and he’s fixing to get that achievement trophy

Levi’s more of a strategist than a tank. He’s basically banking on his demon form to help rip your captors to shred.

Were you held hostage by a decent-sized body of water that connects or is fed into by other bodies of water? He’ll be coming at your captors like a Sharpedo. You’re in the splash zone.

Has a very merciless and interesting fight style. It’s kind of cheating in that Levi’s biggest tactic is ‘don’t give anyone else room to fight’, but it works.

Be prepared to see his tail used in interesting ways. Boy has a built-in long-range weapon.

Whether it’s one person or a whole group of people, he may summon Lotan just because they pissed him off. You’ll be safe, of course.

Satan

Boy is big angry

YOU WERE STOLEN? HE CAN’T JUST GO TO YOU?

Satan just wants a nice, quiet, simple life with things that don’t make him angry. This makes him angry. There will be death.

Is very suspicious by nature, and an over-thinker, so he’s probably considered this would happen at one point. Actually already had a plan.

Would use a combination of the “compass” intuition and the brain push to see what you see. Instead of having you look at your surroundings, though, he wants you to look at people.

Does he recognize any of those fuckers? Who’s on his hit-list?

If there’s no immediate sense of a threat, he’s interrogating Asmo. Between the two of them, they WILL find the person/people who took you

There’s probably at least one book in his connection that works like the mirror from Beauty in the Beast where he just has to ask it about you and it will tell him.

When Satan comes in to rescue you, it’s all demon noises. He comes in terrifying and strong and leading with magic.

Probably smells like fire and blood. Is covered in the latter and basically none of it’s his.

Big fan of using his tail like a mace.

They get the horns (literally)

Asmo

Someone stole his precious darling?! Um, no. Not okay. THE FARTHEST THING FROM OKAY, ACTUALLY!

I feel like we don’t have a lot of character depth for Asmo. I’m hoping once I get un-stuck I’ll be pleasantly surprised with Asmo content. I can’t decide if he’d panic a bit or just go into straight, hardcore bitch mode.

The definition of “looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you”. Big dick energy. Big bitch energy.

 I feel like Asmo wouldn’t be super organized because this isn’t usually a kind of stressor he deals with. What he lacks in tactical thought, he makes up for in connections

Boy would probably find you fastest out of all the bros because he can make a few posts across Devilgram, get some celebrities to do the same, and SOMEONE would find you.

Would stay mentally connected with you for as long as your body could handle it, and would be very soothing. A panicked kind of soothing, like pouring his heart out to you and just gushing, but soothing

Like “Baby, I love you so much! I’ll find you soon, I promise! We can even beat these assholes together!” ❤︎

Usually hates getting his hair or nails dirty, but he might just break off a nail in someone’s eye. Or, you know, come find you in a nice-ass pair of heels just to shove one down someone’s throat (or up someone’s ass).

He may look dainty and gorgeous but DO NOT be fooled. This boy has SATAN for an older brother and BEEL for a younger brother. He knows how to throw down.

In general, he’s just a vicious little shit. Asmo knows how to fuck people up physically. He just doesn’t like doing it.

Depending on how many captors you have, Asmo will charm them into killing each other and just watch. It’s not the most satisfying thing, but there is SOME satisfaction to it

Couple snuggles and major pampering after you’re back with him (and you’ve been checked out by medical staff). Lots of kisses.

He cries and it’s very quiet and heart-felt.

Beel

The worst thing to happen in the history of ever. Literally.

In Beel’s world there are two things YOU DO NOT DO: 1) eat his food, 2) fuck with his family

It’s hard for him to think rationally because he’s just so stressed/angry that he’s stumbling around in his demon form and he’s ruining everything.

His full strength is on display and he’s leaving cracks in walls, scratching up things--just general, accidental destruction. He’s breaking things on accident and trying to write out plans on paper that rips up and it’s starting to wear on him to the point of being genuinely destructive

Beel feels first and thinks second, which makes this a lot harder

Uses the “compass” thing. Becomes demon juggernaut.

 Likes to fly and divebomb where possible, so someone’s getting knocked THE FUCK out

When he sees you, or gets to the end of that “compass” feeling, Beel’s football training kicks in and he just demolishes anyone that’s in his way.

People just get tossed around like rag dolls. He doesn’t check to make sure they’re down and out, just clears the way.

The type to try and hold you or touch you first. Then, if anyone’s still standing, he makes sure they get put down before going back to you.

Carries you all the way back, his wings buzzing and singing happily because you’re safe and everything’s okay

Once you’re back in the House of Lamentation his stomach goes off loudly. You guys have a big feast to celebrate.

Belphie

The list of things Belphie likes in this world: 1) Sleep, 2) Beel, 3) You. Do not mess with the things Belphie likes.

Is most pissed that one of his favorite people in the whole damn world have gone missing and can’t summon him. Is side-pissed that he’s losing so much sleep to come find you. It’s not your fault, but still

Someone will die, and only Belphie will have fun

Is sleepy enough that he doesn’t panic and awake enough to think

I headcanon that Belphie in particular has a special kind of brain push due to being the Avatar of Sloth and making people sleepy. When he pushes your brain, he can also pick through what’s at the forefront of your mind or your most recent conscious moments. It’s like being able to link up to dreams, just not limited to dreams.

 Periodically uses the telepathic link as a radar of sorts Uses it in conjunction with the “compass” instinct to make sure he’s going in the right direction. Using the telepathic link once he’s in the general area just helps him find you faster

Belphegor, like Satan, has a lot of reserved anger. It will be well-used.

I bet his tail works like a real whip. It’d be demeaning as hell to get hit with it and Belphie wants to see your captor suffer. The tail will be used

Imagine the last thing you see or feel is getting hit by a demon cow tail. He’d definitely do that.

No holds bar when it comes to fighting. Your captor(s) signed their death wish when they took you.

Mostly fatal bites and deep scratches. Probably some limb tearing or pulling things out that should be kept inside the body. May definitely get a few nut shots with the tail if you have any male captors (you know, just because).

He doesn’t show up as bloody as Satan would, but there’s definitely blood on his face and under his fingernails.

Carries you out of wherever you’d been held. Gives you firm instructions not to look at anything. Just kind of gently pressed you into his chest before readjusting you and carrying out.

I hope you liked it :D

[trunkzbriefs]

Any Son and/or Briefs family headcanons? Spicy hot takes? Truths Toriyama and Toyotaro themselves can not handle? Straight up lies?

GODDAMN SORRY this took a while cause i suck at putting thoughts together. i apologize for my obvious briefs bias i have more hcs for them than the son family despite loving them both :pensive: anyway heres some random stuff

briefs hcs:

all of the briefs are pros at non-verbal communication. i hc that saiyans have their own language (and also in my own Mind Canon they still have their fuckin tails) and a lot of it is done through tail movement/body posture/grunts/etc. etc so theyve all sort of picked that up. even bulma, who doesnt have a tail, is pretty good at getting across what she means without actually speaking. they still do speak normally but it comes in handy sometimes considering that both trunks and vegeta are prone to running out of speaking energy or getting very frustrated with words, so having another way to communicate works very well for them

vegeta is fffffffffffffffffffurry. without getting too deep into my own General Saiyan hcs (thats why i made a whole ass four subspecies!!) i think that the entirety of planet vegeta tended to be very hot aside from the part where the castle was, where the temperature would drop. meaning that saiyans working in the palace would grow thicker fur around certain parts of their body, and in the royal saiyans theyd be Especially fluffy. he kept it down on earth, but he has thick patches of fur around the bottom parts of his arms and legs. kind of like snowy boots and gloves! he also has fur that grows in on his neck like a lions mane.

future trunks is an actions sponge, vegeta is a words sponge. vegeta will pick up words VERY quickly regardless if he fully understands the meaning of it or not (completely inspired by 'THATS RIGHT BOYS... MONDO COOL' in z) and future trunks will unintentionally mimic the actions of people - around people he looks up to he might take a few small mannerisms from but this extends to copying the disposition of anyone; he's just very adaptive. this is the most obvious (and funniest) when he's around vegeta bc it really shows like. yeah damn that sure is vegeta's son

vegeta & bulla have an intimidating bastard smirk naturally. their natural smiles are pretty frightening and they have to put effort into a 'normal' one. this also extends to current trunks, his default smile is the Vegeta Bastard Smirk but he learned to have a normal smile quicker than his father and sister. future trunks has a slightly unnerving natural smile (the fact that his pupils are always drawn so fucking small makes me hc that he just has a very intimidating look of 'cat thats about to pounce on an unfortunate trapped mouse' whenever he smiles) but he learned to look normal even quicker than current trunks since he's around humans a Lot and is sort of their uh, Hope. don't want to look scary to the people who depend on you!

bulma has some fighting knowledge and mildly good ki control. vegeta taught her it as a just in case so that she'd be able to defend herself against Bigger threats if he wasn't there and also so she could raise her own ki to alert someone to her if she had to.

vegeta is extremely clean and can not stand to have things disorganized for more than like... an hour before he has to tidy everything up. every time he goes down to the lab and bulma is passed out in a pile of bolts and circuit boards it kills him inside just a little bit

future trunks has little concept of power control. since his timeline was always in danger it wasn't really an important thing for him to learn. the amount of mugs he's accidentally crushed is impressive

vegeta tends to not sound like he's asking questions when he is. he doesn't add the proper infliction to the end of his questions and just sounds flat most of the time. it's confusing to people who dont know him well.

im not even gonna lie, im a BIG fan of the chill demon panchy headcanon so i love the idea that the briefs have a Lil bit of demon in them but just dont know it ghjnkm

[banging my fists on the 'hcs that not even got could take away from me' table] future trunks has OCD

vegeta doesn't really get labels but he's bisexual & "debatably a man", bulma is bisexal & bigender transfem (sometimes shes Wamen and other times its like "gender? no"), bulla is a nonbinary lesbian, current trunks is a bisexual trans man & future bulma forgot to explain the concept of gender and sexuality to future trunks so he's a little confused on that front and his gender & sexuality are "i have literally never thought abt these concepts in my life but i think men are nice. i refuse to think about gender though" (i actually have two main hcs for future trunks which are either gay trans man or more-feminine-presenting nonbinary bisexual)

son hcs:

goku is Not as fluffy as vegeta at all, but he does have fur on certain parts of his body. namely on the back of his elbows + ankles, down his back connecting to his tail, and on his shoulders. its inherented from gine!

gohan is learning saiyan language from vegeta! vegeta acts grumpy about it but he's glad to have someone to teach. when gohan learned that most of the history had been lost he basically wished shenron for a big ol book on saiyan culture and gave it to vegeta just as an act of kindness and vegeta was like [in an angry voice but very touched] "Ok. Sit down. You're learning." by extension gohan is also teaching the rest of his family!

i will take ox king being actually non-human to my grave so like, chichi has horns and a very short ox tail! gohan and goten both have horns, but they're hidden by hair. goten's horns are bigger than gohans.

goten also has a more ox-like tail, with a little puff of fur at the end. generally, gohan looks more saiyan-like and goten looks more ox/human-like.

although he keeps up his cheery demeanor very well, goku is still haunted pretty badly by like... everything that’s happened in his life. he still has frequent nightmares about cell & buu specifically.

gohan will freak out at worse, zone out at best, if he's even tapped on the neck. it reminds him of the whole 'getting his neck snapped on namek' so that area is pretty off limits to everyone

goten gets along really well with android 17. they both have a love for nature and 17s kind of like his chill uncle, so whenever he gets too stressed out or just needs a break you can find him face down on the ground outside of 17's place on monster island.

goku is really really good at remembering completely random shit. bulma uses this to her advantage whenever she's working and has him memorize random technology stuff. a week later goku can not remember what he had for breakfast that morning but as soon as bulma asks "hey do you remember what i told you last week" hes like "oh yeah sure i have no idea what it means but [blurts out three hours worth of technical garble]"

oh boy is this a headcanon that has a lot more depth to it than just a bullet on a tumblr post, but gohan has DID!

goku, like vegeta, doesnt get labels either, and does not even Try, ask him about any of it and hes like "i dont get the gender thing but i think lots of people look nice :)" gohan is gay and like vegeta, "debatably a man", goten + chichi are both bi nonbinary, & pan is a lesbian trans woman.

both:

bulla and pan are both into music! i think theyd mess around making their own stuff w/ launchpads

i have a general hc of ki mixing or shielding, essentially, if youre close enough to someone people wont be able to tell apart your ki and you can also 'shield' someone with your ki for a small amount of time. if vegeta has his energy low, his and bulma's energy are the same. same thing with goku and chichi! goten and trunks are near impossible to tell apart, and same thing with gohan and videl.

though goten and trunks are both protective over their younger siblings, gotenks is that protectiveness times a thousand. look at bulla or pan wrong for 2 seconds and you're going to have an angry gotenks in your face asking if you have any last words. i like to think that trunks and goten fused casually a lot, especially around the time where bulla and pan were young, so its basically goten and trunks own attachment to them PLUS gotenks' attachment to them as his own person combined.

i like to pretend end of z did not happen the way it did so uub, using nimbus, travels back and forth a lot. goku isn’t the only one who teaches him how to fight as goten, gohan and trunks all think of him like a little brother and love training with him!

fuck you letters to toriyama/toyotaro hot takes:

cell, as cool of a villian as he is, definitely should have had a creepier final form. or multiple- just something that really drives in the fact that he's made up of other's dna & fuckin ABSORBS people. also his first two forms should have had a different absorbtion method other than the tail thing (not the drinking thing thats fine) it just feels.   Weird. not good

it would have been far more interesting to keep the bitter attitude towards vegeta that future trunks had imo... in super trunks was going through a Lot granted but the fact tht he wasnt more confrontational to vegeta being a dick to him seemed kind of off considering his attitude in z i just.. think it would be interesting and far better if they had more of a back and forth 'family but lowkey hate each other' relationship

i dont want to rant about super so heres some super condensed takes, goku black arc specific because thats 90% of what ive seen of super:

mai is a fucking freak ass weirdo, why did they not just make another character to pair with trunks

trunks not flipping the fuck out at his timeline being erased feels... out of character. also trunks deserved the win against zamasu

future bulma did NOT need to die

trunks should have just stayed in the current timeline

please fucking let trunks and goten grow up. we SAW a version of trunks who looked 14 (history of trunks....) and the versions of goten & trunks we have r/n in super do not look 13/14 respectively what in the goddamn hell is going on in the character design department

super definitely should have taken place later down the line

supers version of bulma and videl look awful. why are they That stick like.

vegeta needs to kill frieza. just once.

fu has enough potential to be a very interesting mainline character and i am so sad he's not

i would actively enjoy a sdbh anime with more  budget that isnt just a promo anime and has a plot that makes sense... i think db should have more wild spinoffs

xenoverse deserved a better story that went FULL in on the 'what if' type of timelines- like they did in raging blast which is a FUCKING GREAT GAME

straight up lies:

dragon ball z is a good series

[sinceileftyoublog]

Gretchen Lieberum Interview: Eerie Nostalgia

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Singer-songwriter Gretchen Lieberum wanted to make an album of standards while totally subverting your preconception of what that sounded like. With This May Only Be A Dream, which came out Friday, she succeeds, in both capturing the magic of old recordings and performance styles while talking full advantage of the time-bending quality of modern production. In BAFTA-winning composer Keefus Ciancia, Lieberum picked the perfect partner. After singing over piano, she sent what were basically demos to Ciancia, who removed the piano, deconstructing and reconstructing the songs to then be rerecorded with session musicians. The result shares the ambition of something like Julia Holter’s version of “Hello Stranger” but over a whole album. Album opener “Come Rain or Come Shine”, which has been recorded by Ray Charles, Billie Holliday, and Chet Baker, combines lurking, fluttering woodwinds with reverb-laden vocals and chaotic orchestration. On “Blue Skies”, a song that you expect to build up with drums, strings, and chorus, like in a climax scene in a Hollywood epic, the strings cut in and out, toying with your perception. While there are some songs that sound familiar, like the Fiona Apple-esque percussive clatter of “Angel Eyes” or the solemn, quiet closer “While We’re Young”, the back-and-forth between subtlety and Technicolor orchestration keeps you on your toes.

A couple months ago, I spoke with Lieberum from her home in L.A. and Ciancia from his in France about how the album was constructed, their approach to recording, and how they would describe the music. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: So this seriously just started with you singing over piano, Gretchen?

Gretchen Lieberum: I have a friend who has a studio in his house. I wanted to do an album of standards for years and years. It’s just an idea I’ve had I couldn’t let go of. I wanted to do an album of these songs but interpreted in an unusual way, not acoustic bass, drums, piano, and that’s it. I’ve known Keefus for years, and he was the only guy I wanted for the job. So I waited years and years, and finally, the timing was right to start working on it. I’d just record vocals with my friend Peter at his studio playing piano, which is great because I do much better in low pressure situations. If I’m in a big fancy studio, I’m like, “Oh god, how much is this costing?” It’s hard for me to be emotional and in the moment. I was just able to go to my friend’s house and record any song that popped into my head or I was feeling. I would send them to Keefus, and he would pick his faves. I think I recorded maybe 25 songs in all, and we ended up with 10.

Keefus Ciancia: The most important part is what Gretchen said--the comfort zone that Gretchen was in where she could get to the feel and heart of the song, comfortably with Peter. He’s an amazing piano player, and they had such a good rhythm that everything I was getting made it so that it was just real. It felt right. That was always fun to be able to open these and also have total separation, pick out Peter’s stuff and start reimagining things, erasing the chords. Gretchen was on fire! She was knocking them out. A lot of great pieces I’ve never heard, too, which I really enjoyed. Maybe that was good for me, too, to not know those standards as well so I wasn’t trapped in the chords. Maybe my lameness of being a hack--I wanted to be a jazz player but I couldn’t do it! [laughs]

GL: That’s what’s so great. I didn’t want a jazz guy to produce it. That’s what ended up happening--he would choose his own chords underneath the melodies that were really interesting and cool.

SILY: Did you know he was gonna remove the piano?

GL: Oh yeah. I know Keefus’s aesthetic and how he works, so I was like, “I’m gonna send you this, have fun, go to town.” I sent him literally zero notes and never knew what I was gonna get back. There’d be a song that’s a stark ballad that would come back with a full orchestra, some of the tempo sped up, some of it slowed down. Different lines chopped up into different places. Quite a few times, I’d take the song and rerecord the vocal to go with what Keefus did, to emotionally match what he created. Sometimes not--the song “Come Rain or Come Shine” was one take I did at Peter’s house and didn’t change at all.

SILY: How did you whittle down from the initial list of 25 songs for this record?

GL: This project was so much about emotion and love and love of these songs. What songs I loved singing and what was inspiring me. I grew up in a house where jazz was constantly playing. My father wasn’t a musician but a huge fan. It was a big part of my life growing up. I was in the jazz band as a singer in high school. These are songs I’ve known my whole life. There were some that I tried that I didn’t feel that I didn’t send to Keefus.

There are a few that aren’t jazz standards, too. We do a Beach Boys song, which is also a song that I love.

SILY: They’re standards nonetheless, independent of genre.

GL: Yes.

SILY: What made you want to release “Come Rain or Come Shine” as the first single and open with it?

GL: It’s just one of my favorites. One of the ones I’m most proud of. It’s indicative of the project as a whole. It’s a standard I approach traditionally from how I’m singing it, but there are these surreal flourishes around it. Also, I mean, what an intro, that [screams] “Ahhh!”

KC: I agree.

SILY: What was the process of getting the session musicians in after Keefus worked on the songs?

KC: Basically, it was kind of known all the way through that once we got these bodies we’d get some more breath and air on it to get more of the quality Gretchen and I love from old 50′s recordings but also taking it somewhere new. That studio is now closed--Vox Studios--such an amazing place that was perfect for that record. It was the first commercial studio in Hollywood through Paramount.

GL: It was the longest continuously running studio in the world, I read.

KC: Someone will move in, I’m sure. Woody [Jackson], who owns it, there was no rebuilding the rooms because they sounded so good from how they were built in the 40′s. The room is amazing, and his engineer Michael Harris is incredible. He was the first one to get his ears on this stuff besides Gretchen and I. To be able to put it in a room, listen through a different system, warm things up for his outboard gear. We had some of our favorite musicians. It wasn’t a ton of folks, but the dream scenario where we had 5 days and a rolling, “Get moving”. The next day, Gretchen sings, then some more people come in.

GL: Jay Bellerose is so damn good. So tasty. He just goes in and does his thing.

KC: His heart breathes all the old jazz but he’s also someone who likes to keep pushing things. I think that was the trick with us--we always want to hear something new. Of course, there are some things that sound great that you should do again, but we all listen to music so much you just want something new. Sometimes, you have to make it yourself.

SILY: The album does sound new even though it has older reference points, both the songs themselves and aesthetically. A lot of older jazz tunes with woodwinds and fluttery strings have something eerie and disorienting about them. Thinking about a track like “Blue Skies”, when the sound cuts in and out. That’s not something you hear on traditional “standards” records. To what extent were you trying to achieve that eerie nostalgia?

GL: I think “eerie nostalgia”’s just our M.O., you know? [laughs]

KC: I like that, eerie nostalgia.

GL: I don’t even think we try. 

SILY: “For All We Know” starts out with quiet plucks of string but ends up a swinging jazz tune, the moment on here that’s the most “traditional.”

GL: Even on that one, it’s funny because our friend David Ralicke, who plays the horns on everything--he’s incredible and has such great taste. But this one, I was like “Keefus, I don’t know.” Keefus was like, “It’s gotta get big. It’s gotta be a party at the end, an explosion!” Ralicke, he sent a bunch of horns. When he sent them in, they were very bright and intense, and I was like, “Oh god, this is a little weird!” Keefus was like, “Don’t worry, I’m gonna make it weird and demented.” It is traditional, but something about the way it’s mixed or the added affects give it that eeriness, which I love.

One thing Keefus often did that was really surprising to me was there were songs I sent as straight ballads, like this one. If you listen to the lyrics, the first half is like, “Who knows what’s gonna happen? Life is so uncertain.” But then it’s like, “Who cares? Tomorrow may never come.” And it’s a celebration. It’s one of my favorite songs now after being most uncertain about it at first. Keefus, you sent me Frank Sinatra, Jr. singing “Black Knight” [as a reference]. It starts as a ballad and explodes, an emotional outburst.

SILY: Is there any other specific track on here you think is a standout?

KC: Each one is such a little episode, that even that was tricky to put in order for the record. It almost would have been interesting to go old school and release 45s, make each one of them a single and B-side. When you hear “Wild Is The Wind”, on my radio, I would make that a single. It’s totally different than the others. It’s not this powerhouse. But if I bought it as a single, I would think it’s a really beautiful single. Same with “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”. That’s on Keefus & Gretchen radio. [laughs]

GL: “Who Knows Where The Time Goes” was the very first song Keefus did. It was the only vocal recorded at my house, with a different friend in my dining room, with a little laptop mic set up. We used that vocal. It’s a pretty special one, and genre-defying. “Wild Is The Wind” fits comfortably in the jazz section. Or not--I don’t know. It’s a weird question. One of the things I hate more than anything is when I’m uploading my music and it asks you to pick a category. I don’t know. I hate picking a category. Nothing feels quite right, and it feels like a mixture of all of these things.

KC: Gretchen is a huge jazz fan listening for a long time, but jazz records strayed from her and my tastes as it went along. Jazz records went on a different road and started getting not such a punk rock vibe. It was a classy thing, not so underground. That was one thing we were talking about when finishing the record. We think it should be heard by all age groups and invite them to learn these pieces because they might not have the chance to learn them as often. To pick a genre can really be dangerous for all artists because there are a ton of artists that like a ton of different music and can make a ton of different music and change their records as they go. That was big, too: approaching this apart from being a jazz record and bringing in new listeners. Gretchen and I don’t know exaxctly how this works with the tagging on Spotify, but if you put “jazz” on it, does that mean other people will never listen to it?

GL: I don’t think it is a jazz album. It’s an album of standards, but I wouldn’t call it a jazz album.

KC: I like to call it torched songs instead of torch songs.

SILY: What was the overall approach to the sequencing?

GL: I really pulled my hair out. I was crying myself to sleep at night. It was hard. One thing we ended up doing, which was Keefus’s idea, was he felt like the A-side of the record leaned themselves more to samples and surreal electronic elements. Keefus was like, “Once you get sucked into the album, the vibe is very complementary, and you can take people anywhere.” So after the first 4-5 songs, “Wild is the Wind” comes, which is a stripped down ballad. From then, you’re just on the ride.

SILY: What was the inspiration behind the album title?

GL: I had this idea of taking a line from one of the songs as the album title. I went through all the songs and went through some of my favorite lines. At one point, I thought I was gonna call it “How Blue The Sky” which is from the last song, “While We’re Young.” But then I thought “This May Only Be A Dream” felt really good with the dreaminess of this music and the somewhat surreal journey it takes you on. One thing I’m really proud of about the record is it takes you on an emotional journey from start to finish. I know the kids don’t listen to albums anymore. Peter was one of the people I sent it to, and he said, “I feel like I watched a film listening to this album.” That felt right.

SILY: What’s the story behind the cover art?

GL: Keefus’s daughter Raven [Violet Ciancia-Vincent] is a really talented visual video artist. She’s the one that directed the video for “Come Rain or Come Shine.” We made a video for the song “Don’t Explain”, and that’s just a still from the video. She layers things like a collage, so there’s a video of me with fireworks on top of it. When I was trying to come up with something to make the cover, I took a bunch of stills from the video, and that one jumped out at me, especially with the title, This May Only Be A Dream. I just thought it really worked beautifully together. The font, to me, is a throwback to the Blue Note covers. I know a lot of people do Blue Note covers, so I wanted to do a little nod to it without fully going there.

SILY: Are you planning on doing any shows?

GL: When we do end up playing live again--Keefus, I should probably talk to you about what the hell you think I should do--but some of it would be laptop-tracked songs with live bass or drums on top of it. That’s possible, right, Keefus?

KC: I would dream of a full-on 10-to-12 piece orchestra. For a special show in Los Angeles, and when everything explodes, a special show in New York and Paris. I think you could get the right band, and it’s all completely playable.

GL: Maybe a keyboard player adding samples.

KC: Do you play, Jordan? Gretchen’s looking for band members.

SILY: I don’t.

GL: Show me ya stuff, kid! [laughs]

SILY: What else is next for you?

GL: My husband [filmmaker Jacob Aaron Estes] ended up doing an alternate video for “Don’t Explain” that we’re gonna release that I’m pretty excited about. The other thing that I do--which is a totally other universe--is my Prince cover band with Maya Rudolph. I hope we start playing again. That would be great. I am glad, though, that I had so much time to focus on my own music. As much as I love doing Princess, it’s not totally me. I want to really focus on this for a while.

KC: I’m doing Pringles commericals. [laughs] I’ve been working on a bunch of shows and some records and a new soundtrack for a show [Made For Love]. I’ve made a lot of music during the last year and a half. There’s some fun stuff coming up. I’ll start a new Unloved record when our band is allowed to fly over here.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading that’s caught your attention?

GL: My mind just went utterly blank. [laughs] Utterly. I’ve been reading a lot of weird dystopian future stuff to distract my anxiety about the dystopian future stuff we’re dealing with in real life. Reading it calms my nerves.

KC: I watched the Bee Gees documentary [How Can You Mend a Broken Heart] the other night on HBO. I thought it was beautiful. They just touch those places, when you hear those voices.

[peterstanslizzie]

Reacting To: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Season 2 Episode 2)

Episode Title: The Goat Cheese Prophecy

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or are able to handle spoilers.

1. The episode begins with a flashback to when Kipo was just a baby and her dad, Lio is trying to bottle-feed her. They are above the surface; So perhaps this took place at a time when there wasn’t a clover burrow? Or maybe Lio came up with Kipo to do something? Anyways, a Mega Scorpion pops up and starts chasing after him; Lio reaches a dead end and is cornered by the scorpion but cute baby Kipo reacts all of a sudden and uses her giant jaguar paw to slash its pincer. 

2. This buys Lio some time and they manage to escape and hide out somewhere in a forest. But he then hears some heavy stomping and gets charged at by a giant boar, I’m guessing. What can’t nobody catch a break on this show lol?

3. Back to the present; Our heroes arrive at a decimated Ratland. Again, I hope Amy and Brad are still alive. Looks like my prayers are answered because both rats pull up right in front of them in their van! Yay! They ask the group if they need a ride somewhere to which Kipo says that she needs to see the Chevre Sisterhood to help her control her transformation. According to Amy, they are very mysterious blind goats and she can only get them close to where they live but not exactly. 

4. They arrive at the area known as “Eyeball Woods”, which appears to be the place where Lio was attacked by that boar-thingy several years ago. After getting dropped off by the rats, they are suddenly attacked and eaten?! by 2 of the same creatures, except for Mandu (who kinda looks like it belongs to the same species as them except for the horns). I’m pretty sure that they’re just in their mouths...

5. Meanwhile, back at Scarlemagne’s Court, our main villain had just a painted a portrait of himself and he ends up hating it and tearing it apart. This guy has some major issues. Lio, who is now dressed up in court attire is taken by Scarlemagne to see the construction zone of his new city, Aurum. And the city is being built by the mind-controlled humans. Scarlemagne reveals to Lio that he’s running out of pheromones and he plans to use him to make more of them. 

6. Back to the two pigs/boars with our main characters in their mouths; They eventually spit them all out and they hear three of the Chevre goats chanting the names of 4 different cheese repeatedly, including Chevre, which I actually didn’t know it was a type of cheese made with goat’s milk. Now I know lmao. Since they’re goats, I guess my prediction about the mysterious cloaked individuals who appeared at the end of the first episode being the Chevre sisters is wrong. 

7. One of the goats whose name is Florabel realizes that they have visitors and because she and the rest of them are blind, they need to rely on the cheese to tell them that. Weird but okay. They start slobbering cheese all over the group’s mouths, which is once again, very weird. They also reveal that they use their pigs, Bornak and Webber to travel by hiding in their mouths, keeping them safe and hidden. Kipo lets them know of her plan to get them to train her to control her powers but they don’t seem to know what she’s talking about. Well, these goats seem kind of not all the way there in the head; So I’m not surprised. 

8. Scarlemagne wants Lio to reproduce his pheromones in a chemistry lab. We also get more context on the prior relationship between these two. From what I could deduce, Lio did something to Scarlemagne to make him “this way”, What does that mean? Like make him crazy or evil or what? Anyways, Lio obviously refuses to help him but it’s too late because he gets sprayed with the pheromones and has no choice but to do what he’s told. 

9. After explaining her plan even more to the goats, they seems to agree to help her but first, they want to make more cheese. I guessing the cheese is more important than I what initially thought. Kipo agrees to help them but she must do it alone, which makes Wolf feel highly suspicious of the goats. 

10. Kipo is led into a room with a bunch of stuff that is used to make the cheese. The sisters hand her a couple of herbs to put those into the mixture slowly. The recipe seems easy at first but it went from 0 to 100 real quick because they begin to speed through the instructions, which makes Kipo even more confused. To make matters worse, these crazy goats are all over the place and spilling/dropping things everywhere. They are so annoying. 

11. One of them (Bev) even accidentally tosses ghost peppers into Kipo’s eyes, which stings her face. It also seems like her transformation is starting to take place gradually at the same time because her left arm is now growing fur on it, just like her right arm. Back to the mixture; These goats are reckless AF! And Kipo is trying her best not to get stabbed or burned by them. 

12. Meanwhile, Wolf is trying to get past the two giant pigs and she manages to sting them with Stalky; Although, they end up falling asleep in front of the exit to the room Kipo is in. But with Mandu’s help, they manage to get past and reunite with Kipo, who ends up looking like this now:

13. Even though Kipo is frustrated that she isn’t a full-on jaguar yet, I’d say a lot of progress has been made. I mean, look at her! The goats then reveal to Kipo about how they met her father and her a long time ago. They tell her that Lio had just lost her mother and had to abandon the burrow Kipo was born in. I wonder why he had to abandon that burrow? Maybe it would bring a lot of painful memories for him?

14. He asked them for guidance to which they tell him that making cheese would help. We also see that whenever Kipo feels safe, she will transform herself more towards her human form and vice versa if she feels unsafe, which is pretty much whenever she’s on the surface. Basically, the goats advise Lio to keep her safe in another burrow to keep her human form as her dominant one. And when it’s time for her to be a jaguar, he can bring her back to the woods. 

15. After hearing the story about her dad, her jaguar form is starting to dissipate but only a little. They tell her to think about the safety she feels when she’s around her dad whilst doing the “herbs out” motion. And it works! All her fur is now gone!

16. So all Kipo has to do to is to feel at peace by imagining herself with Lio in order to maintain her human form and if she wants to transform into her jaguar form, she needs to do the “herbs in” motion as well as thinking about needing to use that form. So that’s why the goat sisters were acting all crazy just now. And Kipo is practically mastering this technique. But we still don’t know if she will be able to FULLY transform into a Mega Jaguar.

17. Back at the lab, Scarlemagne discovers that Kipo is actually Lio’s daughter. Hmm, I really thought he already knew given the prior relationship he and Lio had. He then tells Lio that he plans to capture Kipo and use her Jaguar form for his own benefit. 

18. We then see the Chevre sisters doing their cheese chant again in order to find out if Kipo is ready to take on Scarlemagne with her Mega Jaguar form. Their eyes start glowing blue and they reveal to them that if Kipo becomes the Mega, she won’t be able to turn back into her human form and she probably will lose all of her human essence to it. But there is still a chance for her to stop it and it’s by finding an object that can bind her to her core and guide her out of her jaguar form. 

19. Kipo figures that she could go back to the burrow she was originally from and was born into, which isn’t the clover burrow. She asks the goats if they have any idea where that burrow is or if her dad has given them any info on why he had to abandon the place to which the sisters say they don’t have the answers to those questions. So, the episode ends with a new mission at hand. 

20. Hope you all enjoyed my review of episode 2. Stay tuned tomorrow for when I will be posting my review of episode 3. Thanks for reading! Bye y’all!

[taytei]

More Ancient AU facts

Stuff that got asked and answered over on my insta that I figured I’d share here as well!

- Lance asked keith out first out loud, but Keith kinda already figured they were dating at that point already (they totally were)

- Keith’s wings are only vaguely sensitive on the webbing on the inner side. They’re actually incredibly durable and can be used practically as shields.

- Soulmates are a thing in this au now by the way

- When you meet your soulmate, it’s an instant connection, a gut feelings. The idea of being separated from them is just so viscerally upsetting, it’s almost painful. Most people meet when they’re older.

- Lance and Keith tho, met when they were babies, so you can imagine how two kids throwing monstrous temper tantrums cause they want to see each other can go sahklhkglsa

- so they didn’t actually realize that they were soulbound until they were older shakhlgsa

- they realized it because, when people get older, they get restless and feel the need to travel to find their partner. Keith and Lance never once felt that way. The closest to that was whenever they were separated from one another. And it just clicked that, “oh, yea, that makes sense” but also kind of “goddamnit, of course it’s him”

- Also, if you are an Ancient’s soulmate, but you yourself are not an ancient, once you soulbond, you basically become immortal so you can stay with them forever

- Lance and Keith intertwine their tails a lot, it’s basically like holding hands

- I just wanna clarify also, that Lance isn’t strictly a mermaid in this AU. He’s an Ocean Descendent, an Ancient one at that. He sticks mostly with the mermaid form because that’s what his parents found most comfortable, so it’s his default. He can take on the form of ANY water based mythical creature if he so wants.

- Also, don’t touch his tail. Unless you are family, a close friend, or given explicit permission, you do not touch his tail.

- Keith takes Lance flying, whether Lance asks him to or not. sometimes he’ll just scoop lance up out of the water unexpectedly

- wing hugs. Ever since they were little, keith has tried his best to wrap his wings around him and lance, even if they weren’t big enough. Once they grew to full size, he would often just cacoon the two of them in his wings whenever he was feeling vulnerable, needy, or protective

- Lance and Keith own an apartment together gsakhlsa

- but they also have their own island that they escape to whenever they feel the need to get away (it was a gift from Hunk for their wedding)

- On their first official date, Lance called in a favor from Allura and asked for a “cosmic light show that’s gonna sweet Keith off his feet and right into my arms”

- something like the northern lights with exploding stars and a metero shower happening all at once ended up being of the most nearly-life threatening but also romantic moments they could have asked for

- i say “life-threatening” but Ancients can’t actually be killed.

- they can be wounded and hurt badly enough that they go into a “resting/healing period”, which is mostly a meditative coma, but they can’t be killed by an outside source.

    - when either Lance or Keith is in their resting/healing period, they experience the same feelings as when they’re separated, only like 500x more potent. They’re restless and anxious and more protective and it’s practically impossible to pry them away from the other’s side

- they decide when they want to go out, and once they do, they join The Colony of the Cosmos, where Allura and her small group of people reside.

- Only the Ancients go to the Colony once they decide to die, everyone else on the planet just gets reincarnated over and over again.

- Lance, Keith, Hunk and Shiro’s families are all Ancients, so they all get to go to the colony when they decide its their time

- A bit about the Colony, they’re people of pure cosmic energy. Ruled by Allura and her family. (Honerva and Zarkon are happily married, and Lotor never grew up troubled, they’re perfectly happy).

- When any of the Ancients become cosmic beings, they lose their descendent-attributes (Lance would lose his ear-fins, Keith would lose his horns, etc) and they would gain the Altean-esque ears and specialized markings

- but Cosmic Beings can alter their appearance however they want, so they can always give those attributes back to themselves if they really wanted them

- Lance’s home in built into the underside of a massive island right off the main shoreline

- which Keith visits on quite a few occasions, once he’s granted the Blessed Breath (which is an enchantment that involves an Ocean Ancient tracing a magic rune along their throat that allows them to breathe under water. It’s generally permanent, if used consistently and as long as the caster doesn’t dispel the magic)

- he was only allowed to have it once he actually learned out to swim

- also, it’s impossible for Lance to ever ever drown, even if he’s in his human form

- keith’s is basically the equivalent of lava girl’s land, filled with volcanoes and lava rivers, but there ARE forests of Ash trees and they have beautiful hot springs

- It’s really hot there tho. Lance can visit and endure the heat pretty well, since he’d been visiting since he was little, but he needs to have a canteen of water at hand at all times.

- plus the kogane family had a cooling spring implemented for when lance and his family decided to visit

- Everyone has the ability to look entirely human, no scales, horns, wings, tails, etc, but it’s not really necessary, unless they enter a “Human Glamour required” zone

- Everyone is aware that Ancients exist. they just kind of assume they stay in their “pristine palaces, too good to mingle with the common folk”, not realizing the doofus that just dabbed and the boyfriend that got whacked in the face because of that are two of the most powerful beings in the world

- and being ancients, they’re KIND of famous? once people find out that they ARE ancients. Cause really, they blend pretty seamlessly among everyone else. Most people just assuming they’re common ocean/fire descendent civilians

- people are usually more like “whoa, what? really? YOU’RE an Ancient? I just watched you coke on a baby carrot for almost a solid minute”

- usually that’s followed by people asking just how old they actually are

- Lance & Keith: “it’s been a long time, lost track”     - Keith: *actually lost track of how old they are* Lance: *refuses to reveal just how old he actually is*

- Keith gives Lance gifts of gold and jewels and cool weapons that his people either find in their caves or craft from their magma

- the trident that lance has is actually a gift from Keith’s family. The metal is unable to rust or age, it’s completely unbreakable, and with an utterance of a spell, the metal will heat to the same temperature as if it was being forged (like the sun-forge elf blades from the dragon prince)

- meanwhile Lance gives keith ocean found objects, pearls, sea stones, shark teeth, weapons coated in some of the sea’s most poisonous creatures, stuff like that

- Shiro: “I uploaded my music to the cloud, look”     An actual rain cloud: *starts playing Africa by Toto*

- Shiro also CAN have normal human feet, but he actively chooses to have bird legs cause he can pick stuff up with his toes without needing to bend over

- When Lance was first learning how to walk, he first went to Allura so he could surprise everyone with how great he is at walking. Only, she taught him by basically playing QWOP with his legs. (google it if you haven’t heard of it, it’s fucking hilarious)

- Hunk is an Earth Ancient, able to shift continents and form mountains with nothing but a thought

- he popped up a statue of Keith for Lance to take to his underwater cavern where Lance keeps all the jewels and gold that Keith gives him, where he basically performs a Part of your World on a constant.

- Pidge is NOT an ancient. She’s a new Age, and gained the figurehead position at a young age because she founded a new type of magic

and FINALLY

- how Shiro lost his wing, how he met adam, and can he ever fly again???

- the accident happened back when he was still a teenager, when Lance’s and Keith’s parents were still the ruling figureheads for their territories. There was a brief moment of imbalance in their world when either Krolia or Lance’s mom was severely injured and wnt into a healing period.

- with the balance so suddenly being thrown off so early in the world’s creation, there was a power backlash throughout the Ancients.

- Shiro got zapped right out of the sky by his own lightning, his wing got fried, and it broke when he crashed landed down

- he lost his wing, since there was ... absolutely no way to salvage it.

- he went to the Forest Fae, as they were renowned healers, when his wing was still aching, and hoping maybe there was an alternative for his wing

- And that’s where he met (one) of his soulmates, adam. (eventually they meet Curtis, cause damnit, shiro deserves two soulmates, LET THE MAN BE LOVED). Adam helped with the phantom pains and worked his best to help the wing heal properly, even if it wouldn’t ever be able to grow in full again

- and as for whether shiro can fly, there IS an alternative.

- a super complicated spell called the “Spirit of the wing”, which basically gives him a spectral wing to make up for what he’s lost. but it is incredibly exhausting on the user, and tends to make his phantom pains act up more severely

- so he only uses it when he absolutely needs to

sorry that this was so long! But I thought that i would share them!

[musicandi]

Craig Knows

Prompted by kchante

A fic centering around the many moments Craig caught or almost caught Deran and Adrian giving each other heart eyes, would be so funny. Him trying to broach the topic every now and again, to let Deran know it’s cool, but not knowing how.

Warning: Swearing, Drugs, and Angst (Sorry girl, this turned out a whole lot more Angsty then it was meant to be.)

UPDATE- How rude of me, I forgot to give love to my betas @heatherofthenight and @allthehearteyes (love these girls, thank you so much)

The first time Craig meets Adrian is when Deran drags him to the beach to see his new friend from school. He remembers Deran busting into his room throwing him off from his video game, said there was this new kid who was so cool and he knew how to surf.

“Craig can you take me to the beach this Saturday? Me and Adrian want to go surfing.”

Craig bites down the urge to roll his eyes and say no because as he looks at his baby brother he sees the biggest smile on his face, one that Deran rarely shows and  he couldn’t find it in him to turn him down. 

Walking down to the beach, he sees this scrawny freckled kid waiting for them on the sand with his board, practically bouncing on his feet waiting for them. 

“Craig this is Adrian. Adrian this is my brother Craig. He’s cool.” 

Craig watches as Deran crosses his arms over his chest, trying to remain nonchalant but he knew his brother well enough to know he was nervous. He would run his hand through his hair and his eyes would go back and forth between Craig, Adrian and the ground. 

Adrian looks up at Craig and gives him a shy smile. 

“Nice to meet you. Thank you for bringing Deran.” 

Craig raises his eyebrows at the kid’s manners. It is unusual to see considering the people that make their way into the Cody boys lives but Adrian is something completely different. Adrian’s eyes move back and forth from him to Deran unsure of what to say or do. Craig looks back at Deran and catches him smiling at the other boy and wonders what has got his kid brother so happy?

 He turns back to the new boy and answers. “No big deal. Deran says you know how to surf, wanna show us what you got?”

Adrian smiles brightly and nods his head. “Yeah, let’s go.” 

Both Deran and Adrian laughs as they grab their boards, running into the water leaving Craig there standing there confused and amused. 

~*~*~*~

Since that day, Deran and Adrian are practically inseparable. Craig loves it because it drives the guys crazy. It is sort of refreshing to see the two boys together, always having fun, playing around, trying to one up each other, laughing and causing mischief to everyone around them, even Craig. Those two are thick as thieves, which is nice to know his baby brother has someone like that. Someone that he trusts that much. 

He remembers one time when he caught them in his room and the look on their faces. Adrian looked like he had seen a ghost and while Deran tried to remain cool, buffing his shoulders up and stepping between him and Adrian, he could see some fear in his eyes. It diminishes any anger he felt after that. Growing up in Smurf’s house, they learned there were many things to fear but he never wants himself to be one of them. 

Later than night he thinks back to that morning and how protective Deran was of Adrian and it made Craig realized it wasn’t the first time he was. 

He remembers there was one night Baz and Julia were bagging on Adrian after a night of drinking and smoking whatever crap Julia got that day, saying how Adrian was a pansy, how they didn’t know why Deran was hanging out with him. 

Deran shot out of his seat and screamed “Shut the fuck up Baz, don’t talk about him like that.”

“Or what? What is baby boy going to do to me?” Baz says standing up from his spot and getting into Deran’s face. That night all Craig could think was how Baz was being an idiot thinking he was a hot shot for challenging a kid but now he tried to remember how Deran acted. He remembers seeing him curling his fist, anger boiling up in him but he remained still until Smurf walked in to break it up. 

“That’s enough Baz.”

“Of course, here comes Smurf to the rescue. It’s not my fault he didn’t like what I had to say about his boyfriend.” Baz says rolling his eyes and going back to the couch. 

Craig spotted that exact moment Deran was about to charge at the older man and Craig jumped up putting his arm around his chest to drag him out of the room.

“Baz you are such an asshole.” He threw out as Deran struggled in his arms. 

He brought Deran to his room and made him sit on the bed. He watched as Deran pulled his knees up to his chest to attempt to hide his face but it was too late. Craig already saw the tears. 

Back then he just thought Deran was embarrassed but now he thinks there might have been more to it. He knows Deran cares about Adrian but now he wonders to what extent. 

The next morning he sees Deran sitting at the kitchen counter eating breakfast and sits down next to him. 

“Hey, What’s up?” he mutters around a mouth full of cereal. 

Craig stays quiet, not sure how to ask Deran about Adrian but Deran must have read it wrong because he jumps up from his seat with panic.

“Look if this is about yesterday I am sorry alright. I just wanted to show Adrian something, it was all my idea.”

“No I know that man. I am not mad.” He tries to comfort his brother, putting his hand on his shoulder and bringing him close. “Look you know I would never hurt you right?’

Deran retracts back, his eyes looking anywhere but at Craig. He nods his head but Craig could tell this was not a conversation he did not want to have with Craig. He sighs out and tries to lighten the mood by ruffling his hair. 

“Come bro lighten up. Besides you gotta get dressed if you want to make your competition.” 

Deran seems to brush away the awkward moment once surfing is mention and smiles up at Craig before moving to his room. 

“Wait, put your fucking dish away!”

~*~*~

Time passes and Craig can’t help but notice little moments between Deran and Adrian. It is mostly at the beach because these two boys were basically fish, but turns out they were fish that could really surf. They were always placing high in competitions that happened around southern California, really making a name for themselves. Craig pretty much became Deran’s designated driver but he didn’t mind. He was happy that Deran was finding something outside of the family, no matter how jealous he was deep down. There were a few times Adrian would catch a ride with them and when he does Deran would always hop in the back with him, telling him about something he watched or something he did. Later as they grew they would even bust out a joint on the way there. Deran always said it helped with the nerves.

“What do you have to be nervous about? You are gonna kill it, like always.” Adrian tells him one day looking over to the blonde boy with that innocent smile that Craig always associates with him. 

Deran smirks and gives Adrian a wink while taking a drag from the joint. Craig glances in the rearview mirror to watch the two teenagers pass the joint back and forth, noticing they would look at each other for a second before looking back out the window, how their hands would drag across the other while they pass the drug over. This was getting way out of Craig’s depth. 

“Alright, my turn. Give me some of that shit.” Craig interrupts them bringing his hand back to snatch the joint. He hears Adrian chuckling quietly behind his hand, looking out the window trying to be subtle. Deran was trying to do the same but he keeps looking over to Adrian, a smile slightly appearing before turning away. 

Later that day, the competition is going good. Deran scores pretty high on his first heat making it to the second round. Instead of sitting with the other boys up in the tent, he sits next to Craig watching Adrian surf his heat. Craig finds himself looking over to Deran as he watches Adrian surf, he lights up everytime Adrian lands his trick, or makes little comments about what Adrian has to do, taking little notes. 

“He seems to be in the zone.” Craig comments, wanting to see how Deran will react. 

“Yeah he is doing pretty good especially with that little shit, Danny, dropping in on his waves.” He comments, never taking his eyes off the water. 

“You guys are close huh?” Craig starts, keeping his focus on the sand around his feet.

“Yeah, so what’s your point?” Deran asks finally looking at Craig.

“It’s just you know Adrian he is cool and if you know you and” Craig mumbles out clearly ruining any chance of him getting this out right.

“Craig what are you trying to say?” Deran looks at him with a raised eyebrow, irritation and panic flashed in his eyes and in the end, Craig shakes his head and clears his throat. 

“Never mind, I think I am just having a bad trip.”

He can see Deran wanting to ask something but doesn’t say anything. They both hear the horn to signal the end of the heat and whatever tension that was there disappears.

“Hey I thought I saw someone who I know has a good hook up. I will catch you after alright.” Craig says, hitting Deran in the arm and standing up. He needed to clear his head for a second and he saw Renn earlier. She definitely knows how to clear his head. 

~*~*~*~

After that day on the beach, Craig tries to avoid ever bringing it up with Deran, even though he noticed the glances happen a lot more, the touching that tries to be as casual or subtle as possible. He wonders if they even notice they are doing it. 

As the next few years go by, Smurf starts putting Deran to work more. Instead of just sending him to collect rents or little side jobs, she starts giving him bigger roles during the heist. A couple of times she has him working the front end, dragging the crowd away, playing the employee role that has to explain the delays. At first he can tell Baz or Pope bites their tongues, wanting to put their two cents in on why Deran shouldn’t but with one look from Smurf they shut their mouths. 

It just made Deran fight harder to prove he was good enough for the older boys. The more he did it the more closed off he became. He noticed whenever things got bad at the house, Deran would leave for the night and when he came back the next morning he would be calmer. Although Craig has never had proof, a part of him knew he was going over to Adrian. 

It wasn’t until a few months later, he got his answer. One of the jobs had a slight problem resulting with a bloody security guard, and Deran with a headache and a split lip. Everyone was on edge after that, Deran most of all. He could tell Smurf wanted to coddle him and was confused when he would brush her off. Craig heard about a beach party down by the pier and decided to drag Deran with him. Get him out of the house and relax. When they got there, the sun was already down and the party well on it’s way.

“Hey look, there is Adrian.” Craig points out to the taller boy talking to some of their friends. He must have heard them because he turns their way. At first he throws a smile but then a second later his eyebrows scrunch down and he makes his way over.

“Hey guys, where have you been? I have been calling.” He says when he gets to them. 

“Sorry, I’ve been busy.” Deran mutters, hugging his arms around himself. 

Adrian bites his lips, wanting to say something else but instead nods his head towards Deran’s face. “What happened to you?”

Deran brings his finger up to his lip and flinches at the touch but shrugs it off. “Fucking Pope. We were playing around in the pool and he socked me out of nowhere.”

Craig could immediately tell Adrian didn’t see through the lie and decides to intervene. “Yeah and he has been a little bitch since. Do you think you can take him off my hands and cheer him up?”

Adrian, at first, stays quiet. His own arms crossed over his chest, looking like he doesn’t believe a word they are saying, but in the end, lets a soft chuckle and shakes his head. He drops his arms and grabs on to Deran’s shirt pulling him away. “Yeah sure I will see what I can do.”

After being there for a couple of hours, Craig has had endless drinks handed to him, excellent drugs to make him forget about all the shit going on and enjoys his high. It wasn’t till he wander off to find a spot to take a leak when he comes across Deran and Adrian sitting in the dark, hidden away from the crowd passing a joint back and forth between them. 

“I was worried when you didn’t come over last night.” He hears Adrian tell Deran, passing the joint and pulling his jacket closer into him. 

“Sorry about that, last night just sucked so bad. By the time I was free it was so late. I figured you would be sleeping already.” Deran says before taking a long inhale. 

“When has that ever stopped you?” Adrian shoots back. He watches as Deran and Adrian stare at each other, not saying a word but yet having a complete conversation of their own. 

“Look I know you won’t tell me, just be careful alright.” Adrian confesses. His voice so soft, laced with fear and concerns. It makes Craig wonder how many times they have had this talk. Smurf has drilled it into their heads, Family first. No outsiders. They know never to speak to anyone about what they do. 

He also knows, they are the worst kept secret in Oceanside. Everyone knows they do things although no one would admit it and no one would ask. Everyone just keeps their mouth closed and things move along. 

He looks back at the two and sees Deran now has his head on Adrian’s shoulder, both boys sitting there quietly. He watches as Adrian brings his hand to Deran’s head and brushes his hair back. Almost like how Smurf would do but yet this had a completely different feel to it. When Smurf did it, it always felt heavy and controlled. This looks light and caring. Like something they have done over and over again. 

He watches as Adrian calls out to Deran before bringing the joint up to his lips and blowing a big shot of smoke into the younger boy’s face. 

“What the fuck was that for?” Deran says laughing, his eyes watering from the smoke, but the smile never leaving his face. He goes to grab the joint when Adrian started coughing through his laugh. The same smile on his face. The weight that was there before completely gone. 

“Sorry, it just looked like you could use a smile.” he hears Adrian admit, his eyes never leaving Deran’s. He watches Deran struggle to keep his gaze before looking away. It was one thing he notices about Deran, he doesn’t like to look people in the eyes for too long. His eyes always glancing over or moving away. The stares even shorter depending on how thick the atmosphere is around him. 

“Yeah well, you are good at that.” Deran tells Adrian breaking Craig out of his thoughts. He sees Deran look up at Adrian and he thought he would see Deran embarrassed or closed off but instead he is smirking, almost challenging like. 

“Fucking right I am.” Adrian challenges back. 

This was the ‘Deran and Adrian’ Craig is used to. Completely comfortable with each, playful and relaxed but yet there was still something different, something Craig doesn’t think he is ready to get into it. 

“So what, you gonna come over tonight then?”

“Yeah.”

Craig walks away, shaking his head, trying to brush off everything he had just witnessed. He has always known how important Adrian is to his brother, even if Deran would never admit it, but watching them at the moment answered more questions then he ever thought he would need to know. 

Right now what Craig needed was a beer, a good amount of coke, and an awesome lay. 

~*~*~*~

It wasn’t until years later when Craig watches Adrian walk out, his head in his hands and Deran hot on his heels before turning away when he sees that Craig and Lena were there that he realizes he put it off for too long. 

It doesn’t take an idiot to notice that something is different. 

When Deran left for Belize and heard that Adrian was with him,he thought things were going to be different when they came back. That Deran and Adrian were actually going to be an ‘Deran and Adrian’ but instead the other boy came around less and less. Deran started getting snappier and anger all the time. 

Craig never knew how to approach the topic and ask Deran about Adrian. He always got tongue tied, it made him feel so awkward whenever he thought about it. It’s not that he can’t understand why Deran was gay or bisexual or whatever. It’s just that, he knows Adrian is important to Deran and if he is pushing him away because he thought Craig would hate him or something, that worries him.

He can’t speak for Pope or Baz. He is not even going to try for Smurf because he knows the answer to that. But all he wants is his baby brother to be happy. Adrian did that for a long time as his best friend and maybe more. All though Deran never admitted it, when Craig actually paid attention the answers were always there.  

Watching as Deran macks on some random girl after Adrian left, he thinks enough is enough. His brother is hurting his best friend and himself when he doesn’t need too and if he needs to hear Craig tell him what he probably has always been so scared to admit then he can do that for him. 

As he gets rid of the girl and all the other random people, watching Deran put up a front like he isn’t hurting, isn’t hiding, it finally made it very easy to say what needed to be said. 

“I don’t give a shit who have sex with, man.”

[deadpooly]

Iron Man Bingo 2019

4 times Tony and Clint kissed each other as a joke and the one time it was definitely a real kiss.

“Hey Birdbrain, did you make coffee?” Tony asked the archer as he walked into the room and he smelled the bitter scent of coffee. Even though coffee barley has a scent.

“Yep, used a garbage bag as a filter and made it with dirt.” Clint said as he watched Tony take a huge gulp from his mug and basically ascend into heaven.

“I could literally kiss you right now.” Tony said as he continued to finish the mug. He obviously had a rough night.

“Well I mean, nobody’s stopping you right now.” Clint shrugged. He was turned around to the grill scrambling some eggs because yes, even though he puts up a dumb act he can very much function and live. Example would be making Tony coffee for once.

So Clint stood there scrambling his eggs when he felt lips touch his cheek and he nearly burst out laughing. It was slightly wet and soft on his cheek. Of course Tony actually kissed him. If you make the man coffee you would definitely get something in return.

This was the first kiss he received from Tony Stark and since those are rare nowadays he will cherish them and keep a count.

He was at one so far.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The second time Clint actually kissed Tony while on a mission, he did it as a distraction. Nat said it works wonders, so why not give it a shot.

Steve and Nat were in the right wing of the Hydra base while Thor and Bruce where on the outside. The main mission being to get intel and the required information before they tore down the base from the inside out. So far this has proved to be faster than their regular way of taking down a Hydra base and much easier. However the only problem being Tony Stark who was wearing as much of a disguise as he could to not be recognized.

So Clint was in a disgusting Hydra uniform they snagged off of some agent and Tony is in some scientists get up and those pants should not be able to make his ass look that good, but here we are.

Clint is also pretty confident that he wont be recognized because he likes to lay low with every mission he does regardless of if its on tv or not, that's the point of being a spy for a secret organization.

So Clint and Tony silently were walking side by side when Tony’s enhanced hearing technology heard a few agents and security mumblr stuff about suspicious figures lurking around the base, and of course descriptions perfectly matched what they were wearing.

“Hm, that’s not a good sign is it?” Clint asked pointing to a few agents rounding the far corner, they were far enough that Clint could definitely form some plan.

“Yep, not looking to good. Any plans Birdbrain?” Tony asked turning around to walk the other way while Clint followed them only to see a few more agents coming from the other end of the hall.

“Alright, I have an idea but you might not like it.” Clint started and he grabbed Tony’s arms and dragged him to the side of the hall into a small corner and they stood there. “Nat says it works wonders with Hydra.”

“Well? What is it? We appear to be running out of time here.” Tony whisper shouted at Clint.

“I'm gonna kiss you right now.” Clint replied and put Tony into the corner.

“Why? Not that im against the idea.” Tony asked he just let CLint push him into the corner and followed the archers movements because he had more experience dealing with Hydra face to face than he did.

“Because public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.” Clint said before the Hydra agents got too close and he locked his lips with Tony.

Tony was shocked at first but he wasn't totally against the idea so he started kissing back, it was mild. Nothing to serious and they stayed stuck together until they were sure that the Hydra scumbags were gone.

Once Clint could hear their footsteps disappear he pulled away from Tony with a satisfied smirk and started walking down the hall to their original destination.

“Not too bad honey cakes.” Clint whistled and laughed because of Tony’s surprised face.

“Not that it wasn't nice, but did Natasha really tell you that?” Tony questioned once they got close to the main science and informations lab.

“Yep, she used it on Cap.” he answered Tony’s question as he watched Tony start to hack the door lock. 

“Hm, I bet Cap seemed to really like that tactic” Tony said with sarcasm lacing his voice.

“Oh yeah he loved it. Wanna try it again? Some Hydra asshole might be tailing us.” Clint joked the suggestion.

“Definitely wouldn't shoot down the idea, but maybe later little birdy.” Tony grinned at Clint while he blasted the door open to the lab.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The third time Tony and Clint shared a kiss it was because Tony just came in with a new upgrade idea and how else could Clint repay the genius. It wasn't totally out of character for Tony to randomly be bubbly and just have a huge invention spree so Clint didn't really mind and Tony didn't care what his teammates thought about him being happy. Honestly though, Clint never was objecting any time spent with the genius when he has his little science sparks in the lab that may need his assistance, since he seems to be the only one who would actually joke back with him and share the fun while on missions or just watching a movie on the couch.

Tony was just walking through the tower holding his stark pad and scrolling though some tech ideas and those kind of things. He saw Natasha with Steve in the gym, Bruce was in the lab and Thor just left to go visit Jane. So this leaves his favorite sniper and snark buddy to probably be somewhere either in the vents or the kitchen.

And as always, Tony was right. He found their resident archer sitting on the counter eating corn pops out of the box. Tony wanted to laugh at how childish it looked but it was also adorable so he just rolled his eyes and continued towards the bird themed hero.

“Hey birdy.” he greeted.

“My knight in shining armour.” Clint easily replied with a smooth tone.

“I just got a restock in my lab and can build a few more things and since you are my second favorite-” Tony started to talk before Clint cut him off.

“Hey, why not your first?” Clint complained.

“Because Captain America hero worship doesn't really change when you are a child no matter how hard you tried to grow out of it.” Tony stuck out his hand asking for some of the dry cereal Clint seemed to be enjoying and he pointed the box towards the billionaire and he stuck his hand in to take a few corn pops and pop them into his mouth.

“Makes sense I guess.” he shrugged and he jumped off of the counter top so he was looking over Tony’s shoulder onto his stark pad. “Woah, is that the new design for my bow?” he awed at the design on the screen.

“Yep, got a lighter frame and technology to make shots more powerful and accurate.” Tony said swiping through and typing notes on the screen. “Not that you would need that anyways right legolas?” he said and Clint rolled his eyes and squeezed Tony’s shoulders while giving him a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks for the stuff. I’ll probably come down to your cool toy zone in about an hour.” Clint grabbed a bagel from the bread basket that was sitting out and he walked out of the room.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The fourth time Tony was kind of expecting it, the joking kisses between him and Clint were fun and expected and loose with no arguments or awkwardness. They were playing games in the common room with the other avengers and it was Mario Kart so everyone was feeling super competitive currently. Tony wanted to scoff at Clint who still thought he was the best at Mario Kart. Of course to settle things they placed a bet. If Tony won, which he always does, Clint has to walk around in booty shorts that say “I love Tony Stark” across the ass and declare him as the best Mario Kart player in the world. Clint was totally joking about what he gets if he wins but he said “A big wet kiss on the lips and a custom made big golden trophy that said “Hawkeye owns Tony Stark's ass” which yes everyone knows seems immature but Tony just laughed and declared the bet to go on.

Natasha was on the floor leaning against the couch and Clint sat on the couch above her. Tony was on the other side of the long couch with his legs crossed and Steve, Thor and Bruce were scattered throughout the room sitting in random positions. 

“I swear to shit if you get the blue shell.” Tony started to threaten when he saw Clint hit a rainbow item box. Lucky for him he only got a red shell, which knocked a CPU out of his way. They were playing the rainbow bridge level and when Thor saw it he was amused and brought up the idea that they should sometimes go racing on the rainbow bridge in Asgard.

“Im gonna get a blue shell on the next one.” Clint said with determination on his face. He was in second and Tony was right in front of him but their speeds were matching and Clint needed to find a way to get in front fast. “Hey Nat, im gonna get a blue shell next right?” he asked the redhead who sat below him.

“Yep.” 

“Awesome!” Clint smirked at Tony. “Your gonna lose.” he taunted. “Everything Nat says is right.”

“Oh shit!” Tony yelled when Clint got a blue shell and launched it at Tony. Tony however had the horn and right before the shell hit him he activated the horn and it stopped the shell form hitting him. “Ha ha! Yes! You are so going to lose Katniss.” but right as he was about to cross the finish line one of the CPU’s must have gotten a blue shell because one second before Tony won his character was hit and Clint raced past him and won the game.

“YES! I'm the best!” Clint threw his arms up in the air and stuck his tongue out at Tony who only rolled his eyes with a grin and quickly moved across the couch so he was in Clint’s space.

Since Clint won the bet it was required for Tony to give him a big smooch of victory so that's exactly what he did. It was long, it was loud and it was probably much more enjoyable that Tony would have thought. So this bet was probably more of a win-win situation for him.

Tony was using the couch armrests to hold himself up and Clint just wrapped his hand around the back of Tony’s neck to keep him there. They both were laughing into the kiss and when they pulled apart their giggles turned into loud bursts of cackling.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Tony could always remember the fifth time they kissed. They were in his lab and Tony was finishing some work on the trophy and when he held it up to look at it he gave a satasfied smirk to Clint as he tossed the trophy over.

“Hm, maybe you do own my ass.” he decided to say.

“I sure would like to. Have you seen it?” Clint smiled at the trophy then at Tony and walked over. “I mean, I wouldn't mind wearing those booty shorts you planned on putting me in if I lost.” he suggested with a devious grin.

“Are you implying something Birdbrain?” Tony asked looking at him quizzically.

“Mayhaps. It’s been four smooches late hm?” Clint laughed as he leaned over and pecked Tony on the cheek. Tony totally thought that their game was going to end here and they would make it official so he was totally taken aback when Clint’s lips didn't land on his own.

“Hey! I thought you were a marksman!” Tony grabbed Clint’s arms before he could leave with the trophy.

“I never miss.” he replied with a cocky tony lacing his voice.

“Um, yeah you just did. Totally missed the only target that matters.” Tony said and his hand made its way to grasp at Clint’s shirt collar and bring him in closer.

“Impossib-” CLint was going to say before he was cut off by Tony pulling him in and laying a long kiss on his lips. Clint turned his head and started to kiss back and nip at the geniuses lips before he pulled back.

“Yep, im going to need those booty shorts.” Clint said before hoisting the trophy over his head and walking out of the lab.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z Movie 2: The World’s Strongest

Movie time again.    I made it a point to cover each movie in chronological order of when they aired.   In this case, “World’s Strongest” (also known as “The Strongest Guy in the World”) premiered on March 10, 1990, as part of that season’s Toei Cartoon Festival.  I’ve written about this before, but the short version is that Toei would produce specials and run them in movie theaters during periods when kids were off from school.   I think they did three festivals a year.   The point is, a viewer in 1990 could watch Bulma run around in her underwear in episode 39, check this movie out a few days later, and then come back to their TV to watch Bulma in her underwear again in episode 40.  So that’s kind of what I’m trying to replicate here.    It sounds kind of sad and gross when I put it that way, but it’s too late to stop now.

I mentioned this before, but in the manga, Piccolo only has four fingers on each hand, but in the anime, he’s got five, like all the humans do.   Once I noticed this, I started to become more aware of times when Piccolo’s pinky finger would be presented in very subtle ways, almost like the animators were trying to be respectful of the four-fingered design.    This opening shot is a really good example of this.    Piccolo’s pinky finger is the closest one to the viewer, but you still have to squint to find it.  

This isn’t much of a direct sequel to “Dead Zone”, or even the Saiyans Saga, which had just wrapped up before this movie premiered.   Even so, there’s little nods to what has gone before.    Like Movie 1, this one starts with Piccolo training in seclusion by blowing stuff up.   Last movie, it was boulders, but this time it’s glaciers, and it turns out these are much harder to blow up.   Piccolo even mentions that the ice here is so cold that it’s impossible to melt, and even his own awesome power can’t scratch it.  

This reminds me a lot of the filler episode near the end of Dragon Ball, where Goku went to a mountaintop that was supposed to have snow that was so cold that it could turn fire into ice.     Goku went there in short-sleeves, gathered up a big snowball of the stuff, and carried it away in his bare hands, and then it melted in the sunlight.   But it could turn the exhaust from a rocket into an icicle.   Between this and Ghiaccio in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, I’m really starting to wonder if anyone in the anime industry knows how ice works.

Meanwhile, Oolong and Gohan are in the area, looking for the Dragon Balls.   Oolong checked Bulma’s Dragon Radar earlier, and he noticed that some of the Balls were clustering together, which meant that someone else was gathering them to make a wish.   According to his flashback scene, he decided to sieze this opportunity to steal the wish for himself, so he contacted Gohan and here we are.  

Okay, so let’s talk about the continuity here.   As I mentioned when discussing “Dead Zone”, the DBZ movies sort of do their own thing.   They’re not retelling storylines from the anime, nor are they exactly side-stories that could fit in between anime episodes.   In the anime, Piccolo is dead, and Gohan is en route to Namek to find a way to bring him back to life, because the Earth’s Dragon Balls don’t work.   Oolong hasn’t even met Gohan yet, as far as I can tell.   Honestly, I’m not sure that Gohan and Oolong ever meet in DBZ, besides this scene.  

I tend to think of this movie as being set in an alternate world where Gohan and the others managed to wish Piccolo back to life without much difficulty.   In the canon, Gohan, Goku, and Piccolo won’t be reunited on Earth until much later on, so this movie just doesn’t fit into that continuity.   “World’s Strongest” doesn’t know that, and it’s not pretending that it could know that.    It’s just telling a standalone story as best it can.  

What you end up with, then, is a movie that sort of ties into the anime, but not exactly, and you run into oddities like Gohan and Oolong teaming up.  Oolong says he stole the radar while Bulma wasn’t looking, and we see her and Roshi sunbathing, as if she lives with him on his island.   That seems a little off to me, but she did spend a lot of screen-time with him during the Saiyans arc, so I can see where the writers took that for granted.   What I don’t really understand is why Oolong decided that Gohan was the only one he could count on to help him with this caper.   I think the idea is that he wanted someone strong enough to be there in case things got rough, but naive enough that he wouldn’t try to horn in on Oolong’s wish.    But how’d he find Gohan, and how did he avoid Chi-Chi?

Also, there’s a weird quirk with the Dragon Radar, where their mystery guy starts out with four Dragon Balls, an then he has the fifth, sixth, and seventh almost immediately.   It is possible to hide a Dragon Ball from Bulma’s tech, so I’m guessing the dude already had three balls in storage before Oolong noticed him collecting the other four.    What I don’t get is why Oolong didn’t pick up on this.    Oolong’s really lazy, so I’d think that if he saw someone gathering the Dragon Balls all the way up in the arctic, he’d give up immediately, because the wish would be made before he could even get there. 

And that’s exactly what happens.    While Oolong and Gohan are struggling to get up an ice hill, an old man summons Shenron and wishes to have Dr. Uiro “revived”.    I like the way “Uiro” is spelled, but I think I’ll stick to “Wheelo”, since it’s the more phoenitc version Funimation used.  

Okay, so this wish seems a bit confused.  It sounds like this guy is wishing for Dr. Wheelo to be brought back to life, but we’ll later learn that he’s been alive this whole time, but trapped under a bunch of this impenetrable ice. 

So he’s wishing for the ice to be melted, right?   Well, that’s what Shenron ends up doing for him, but that’s not really what he asked for, is it?  This is one thing I like about Shenron.   He’s not a Monkey’s Paw, twisting your wishes into ironic nightmares, or Aladdin’s Genie, trying to find ways to wiggle out of his obligations.    Shenron will tell you if he can’t do something, and he always seems to do what the wisher wants, even if it’s not quite spelled out in the text of the wish.  Dr. Cochin wants Wheelo to be “revived” in the sense that he wants him exhumed from his icy tomb.    He doesn’t want him literally resurrected, and Shenron gets that.  

Anyway, Cochin is pleased with the results, and he promises that he and Wheelo are back in business and someone’s going to pay.

And here’s a shot of Wheelo’s ice fortress thing.

And here’s the title card.

From a distance, Gohan and Oolong see all of this going on.  

Then a Saibaman shows up to eliminate any witnesses.   Gohan runs to save Oolong...

... but the Saibaman has backup, and Piccolo jumps in to save the day.   

He even kills one just like he did when the Z-Fighters fought the real Saibamen in the Saiyans Saga.   I’m pretty sure Cochin’s monsters have nothing to do with Nappa’s Saibamen, but Toei didn’t seem to mind ripping off the design.   Hell, they’re practically gloating about it by doing callbacks like this.  

Then some bigger creatures show up, and a strange beam of light enevelops Piccolo and he disappears.

Oolong and Gohan wake up in an ice... uh... hole?  I’m not sure how they got down here or why they haven’t frozen to death, but they’re basically safe.   Gohan is concerned about Piccolo, but Oolong reminds him that Gohan promised not to tell anyone they were ever here.

Gohan agrees, since he doesn’t want his mom to get mad at him.   You know, I really hate it when kids in stories get pressured into keeping secrets, or they know something important and no one wants to believe them.   Does Oolong honestly think that no one should know about this sinister-looking fortress in the middle of the Arctic?   I don’t know how old he’s supposed to be, but I’ve heard he was nine in his first appearance, which puts him around 21 here.   He’s old enough to know better, is my point.

Back at Gohan’s house, his parents discuss his recent behavior.   Chi-Chi’s worried about him, but Goku’s attitude is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”    I think this is where Goku’s parenting skills get misconstrued.    Chi-Chi works herself into a lather trying to give Gohan the best possible upbringing, and most of her worries are for nothing, because Gohan is growing up just fine.   Goku understands that--intuitively, if nothing else-- but his conclusion is that we don’t need to worry about it.   People see that attitude an mistake it for complacency or indifference.   That’s not true at all.   If Gohan was truly being a bad kid, Goku would take action.    But he’s not being a bad kid, so he doesn’t need to do anything more than he’s already doing.  

I’ve seen this sort of thing before, where if you’re not as worried about a problem as the person next to you, the person next to you thinks you’re part of the problem.

Of course, the flip side of this is that Chi-Chi rarely ever worries about Gohan getting stronger, because she figures he’s already superhumanly strong for his age anyway.   And if he ever did need to get stronger, Goku would be on top of that, so it literally is not a problem for her.   The difference is that Goku never pushes back much on this.   He complains privately to himself or his friends, but for the most part he backs off and lets Chi-Chi have her way.   I don’t know if that’s because he figures she knows better, or if he trusts Gohan to decide for himself what he wants to do when he’s older.   Again, he’s trying to be flexible for the sake of the family, and I think people misinterpret that flexibility for weakness.  

While they talk, Gohan is in his room studying.   We can hear his parents, but I’m not sure whether Gohan is supposed to be able to hear them or not.  

Then he has this whole nutty daydream, sort of like the one from “Dead Zone”, except he’s not drunk this time.

In the daydream, he casts off his usual clothes and dons the homemade Piccolo suit he debuted in Episode 38.   I always liked this moment, like he’s just so happy to put on his li’l fightin’ pants and show everybody.

Then we see him marching around the world with Piccolo.   The music playing over this scene is “Piccolo-san Daisuki”, sung by Gohan’s voice actress, Masako Nozawa. 

Then he suddenly flashes back to Piccolo sacrificing himself to save Gohan from Nappa.   Okay, so this movie definitely acknowledges the Saiyan Saga as a thing that happened recently, although this is really the only time it comes up.   

Chi-Chi wakes him up and gives him a snack.   She worries about him falling asleep while studying, because she’s always worried about something.

Back at Kame House, Oolong is being punished for breaking the Dragon Radar by being forced to cook dinner.   That seems like a weird punishment, since he’s not a very good cook.   Also, this once again implies that Bulma lives here all the time, and she can’t get dinner anywhere else.    So if Oolong’s already been caught screwing around with the Dragon Radar, why doesn’t he just come clean about what he saw up north?

Outside, a bunch of those Saibamen-knockoffs show up looking for Master Roshi.   They tell him that he’s been summoned by Dr. Wheelo, and Roshi’s never heard of him, so he says no.    When they won’t take “no” for an answer, he clobbers them all with ease.  So they’re not even as strong as real Saibamen.

Then Dr. Cochin reveals himself... well, it’s a pretty small island.    He would have had to have been standing there the whole time, but Roshi still acts surprised when he starts talking.   Cochin asks Roshi to come with him, and Roshi refuses again...

...Until he sees that the bootleg-Saibamen have captured Bulma, so he really has no choice.

This leaves Oolong all alone, and since he recognizes the off-model Saibamen, he knows where they took Roshi and Bulma.   So he finally heads over to Goku’s place to fess up.   At first, Goku isn’t worried, since Roshi is “the god of martial arts” an he “even won the Tenkaichi Tournament.”   So does this mean Goku finally figured out that Jackie Chun was Master Roshi in disguise?   I mean, this movie isn’t canon, so it may not matter, but I’m kind of interested if this is a gaffe or a deliberate thing.

Anyway, Oolong explains where he thinks they’ve gone, and how he knows, and that’s enough to get Goku out of the bath.

I guess Chi-Chi’s only mad at Gohan for fraternizing with Piccolo, which is weird because Gohan wasn’t even trying to find him.   He just showed up.   Goku doesn’t have much to say about this, because he’s more concerned with rescuing Bulma and Roshi.   I’m not sure why Oolong’s story escalates the crisis.   The only new information revealed here is that Roshi’s captor used the Dragon Balls recently, but maybe that’s enough.

So Goku’s off to save the day.   Gohan wants to go with him, but Chi-Chi ain’t having it.    This seems a little strict, but we’ve already seen Gohan wander off to the arctic, so I can understand why Chi-Chi has to be so hard on him.  

I mean look at this.   Goku just left, and Gohan’s already trying to sneak off.    What a little rascal this guy is.

Okay, so this is where the movie starts to get pretty bad.   I remember Team Four Star’s KaiserNeko just gushing about how good Movie 2 is, and I remember thinking: “Wow, Movie 2?   Really?”    I just don’t like it very much, and scenes like this are a big part of the reason why.    Bulma and Roshi are trapped in the villains’ lair.   It’s this huge, dark grey dome, and inside there’s... absolutely nothing?  If the lights are off, why are the characters so well-lit?   Did the background artists just call in sick that day?   

Here’s Dr. Cochin speaking to Roshi from a giant monitor.   It’s a little bit better as backgrounds go, but not much.   Everything in this fortress is grey on black on more grey, with maybe some dark blue for highlights.    Oh, and guess what Roshi and Bulma are wearing today.

Then Cochin releases three creatures to fight Roshi.  Kishime is a green guy who looks more like a henchman from the previous movie.   Misokatsun kind of looks like a fatter, yellow Dodoria, and he has a flexible body like Buyon from the Muscle Tower arc.   Ebifrya looks like he’d be more at home in Turles’ gang in Movie 3, so I guess that makes him look halfway innovative.  

The idea here is to test Roshi’s power by having him fight all three of these guys at once.

And they kick his ass.    Roshi started out okay, but once they triple-teamed him, it was all over.   This concerns Cochin and Wheelo, since they had been under the impression that Master Roshi was the strongest man in the world.   Bulma scoffs at this idea, since Roshi hasn’t been the world’s strongest in a long time.

Bulma finally recognizes Cochin and Wheelo’s names, but she read that both of them were killed fifty years ago, during a “sudden weather shift”, which buried their lab in ice and snow.   

Also, this area is called the “Tsurumai-tsuburi Mountains”, but Imma keep it real with you, chief, ain’t nobody got time to spell that.   Short version is: They two of them did get buried with their lab, but they didn’t die.  Cochin then presents Dr. Wheelo...

And he’s a brain in a life support system.  

Now, this is one of my other big gripes with this movie.    Wheelo’s nothing more than a friggin’ brain.    He’s literally part of the background art.  The only animation in scenes like this is the bubbles coming up from the fluid in his jar.  

This wouldn’t be such a big deal, except this franchise relies a lot on expressive, charismatic villains with big, over the top reaction shots.    Think about all the times we’ve seen King Piccolo or Commander Red or Vegeta flipping out or glaring at someone or smirking when things go their way.    Dr. Wheelo can’t do any of that.    I mean, that’s the point of Dr. Wheelo.   His plan is to transplant his brain into Master Roshi’s body, so of course he has to be a brain in a jar that can’t do anything.    But his limitations are exposed very quickly.   Basically, it’s up to Dr. Cochin to carry the load and express his emotions for him, except Cochin usually has the same goofy look on his face at all times.   

Also, a huge chunk of movie is spent explaining Cochin and Wheelo’s backstory, and yet there’s still a bunch of plot holes that never get addressed.    How did Wheelo’s brain get transferred to the jar?   Cochin did it, which means Cochin was trapped in the lab with him after it was buried in ice.    Okay, but when the movie starts, Cochin was seen outside of the lab, making his wish to Shenron.    So if he could escape, why couldn’t he figure out a way to take Wheelo with him?  

To be sure, it looks like Wheelo’s life support system is embedded in a wall, so maybe there’s ice locking up whatever mechanism would allow Cochin to remove him.   Fair enough, except Cochin wished for the ice to be melted, so Wheelo should be as free as a bird.   Except Cochin didn’t wish for the ice to be melted.   He wanted Wheelo “revived��.   He could have simply wished for Wheelo to be given a new body, one stronger than anyone else on the planet.  There may be a limit to what Shenron could create for Wheelo, but it’d still be a super strong body, and one limber enough to escape the lab through the same passage Dr. Cochin must have used.   

Also, Dr. Wheelo’s brain looks positively enormous.    Was he a normal human?   I guess he could have been one of those pig-men like Oolong.    We really don’t know.   Even so, if his big idea is to put his brain in someone else’s body, it sure doesn’t look like it would fit. 

I’m not alone on this.   When Team Four Star did their Abridged parody of this movie, they played off Cochin as the main villain, with Wheelo as an unwilling participant of his mad schemes.   In the end, Goku and the others used Shenron to give him a new body, and the punchline was that he looked utterly ridiculous.

Moving on, Cochin tells Bulma about a woodland near South City that was suddenly turned into a barren desert three days ago.

Turns out that Cochin and Wheelo were the ones who did that.   I’m not sure if this was before or after they got their lab thawed out, but it seems to me that if they have a weapon capable of this sort of thing, they could have found some other means to free themselves from the ice.    If they even needed freeing, since Cochin could apparently come and go as he pleased.

Wheelo apparently wants to take over the world and remake it in his own image, which is apparently hot pink deserts.    I guess if the whole planet looked like this, it would sort of resemble a giant brain, so maybe it makes sense.

Then Wheelo detects a powerful ki.   So Wheelo knows how to sense ki?   Or does he have a scouter built into his tank?   Kind of convenient either way.

Of course, it’s Goku, and Bulma had just explained to them that he’s the strongest person in the world nowadays.   So this works out for everyone involved.   Goku will either rescue Bulma and Roshi, or he can give up his body to Dr. Wheelo.

I’m confused how Wheelo can sense ki well enough to detect Goku at a distance, but he can’t tell that Goku is far-and-away more powerful than anyone else on Earth.    It’s like they didn’t put a lot of thought into this script.   This movie wastes a lot of time testing the powers of Roshi and Goku, whereas Raditz was able to figure a lot of this out without actually having to fight everybody.

Back at the house, Gohan has snuck off, and Chi-Chi is all worried about him becoming a delinquent.

Wait, is Gohan flying a plane?   By himself? 

Yes, that is exactly what he’s doing.  I mean, it sort of makes sense, because he’s already been to the arctic earlier in the movie, and I know Oolong can’t fly a plane, but Gohan’s five.   What kind of cram school does Chi-Chi have him in, anyway?

So Goku shows up and he’s cold.   Those coats they wore in the Super Broly movie?   That’s character development right there.

Wheelo sics... that big yellow monster on him, and then a bunch of giant balls with knives on them.   Why does he have all this crap to begin with?   Did he spend the last fifty years assembling death traps for a secret base no one could even enter?

Misokatsun gives Goku a little trouble, until Goku uses the Kaio-ken to rip through his elastic body, killing him.  

There’s sparky wires inside him, which suggests that he’s a cyborg or something

Then the other two gang up on him.    The green one has electric tentacles, while the big pink one has cold power.  

They actually seem to beat Goku, until Gohan shows up, followed by Krillin.   This feels a bit off to me, because Krillin hadn’t even been in the movie up to this point.   I guess the later movies pull the same trick, just sort of dumping character in without really introducing them, but here it seems kind of odd.  How did he even know what was going on?

The boys put up a good fight, but then they get overwhelmed...

So Goku resorts to the Kaio-ken  to break out of the ice and save them.   Why didn’t he just do that in the first place?

He clobbers the other two bio-warriors, or whatever you call ‘em, and the three heroes push further into Wheelo’s fortress.   Okay, so here you can actually see some stuff in the background, and it looks like the Endor playset I had as a kid, only with big red globes and laser lights.   Why did Wheelo build any of this?  

Wheelo observes them on the security cameras, I guess.   It’s weird because he seems really pleased when ever Goku beats his traps, but at the same time, he’s rooting for his henchmen to defeat Goku so he can take his body.   He even seemed to want Goku killed for this, and I feel like he would need Goku to be captured alive in order to do the transplant.  

Also, and this is an important point: Goku’s only winning here because of techniques that he knows.    A strong as he is, the bulk of his power depends on ki techniques that he had to learn, like the Kaio-ken and the Kamehameha.    If Wheelo puts his brain in Goku’s body, he won’t have access to those powers because he won’t know how to use them.

Goku finds Bulma, probably because she’s the only visible object in this pitch black room, but there’s force field that keeps him from saving her.

Bulma fills them all in on Dr. Wheelo, and Krillin wonders how he can still be alive like this.

So Cochin explains it again, and I don’t really think it’s that complicated.   Considering everything else they’ve done in this movie, keeping Wheelo’s brain alive seems self-evident.

Also, they spend a lot of time reminding us of how megalomanical they both are.   Cochin seems to worship Wheelo like a god, and he considers any action that furthers his agenda to be just and worthwhile, no matter the cost.    Wheelo wants a body, but not just any body, he wants the best one he can get.  This is an important aspect of their characters, sure, but I feel like the movie keeps harping on this point needlessly.    Of course they’re fanatics.   They’re mad scientists, after all.

Maybe that’s the trouble with this movie.   Villains like Garlic Junior require more setup, because Garlic Junior is literally some creep we’ve never seen before.   Wheelo, on the other hand, is a total cliche.    A bad guy saving his brain in a jar has been done in a bunch of movies and comics.    A villain who steals other people’s bodies is nothing new, and mad scientists who want to destroy the world are nothing new either.   It’s new for the Dragon Ball franchise, though, so maybe Toei thought it needed to be explained more than it did.    But I feel like Japanese audiences would have been familiar with all of this stuff too.  

Then they catch Goku in what I assume was the same energy beam they used to catch Piccolo.    Hey, whatever happened to Piccolo, anyway?

Oh, there he is.

Turns out Piccolo’s been mind-controlled.   When Goku breaks free of the force field thing, he has to fight Piccolo.   Only, that’s kind of a mismatch at this point.   The Saiyans Saga definitely happened in this movie’s continuity, and Goku was much, much stronger than Piccolo by the time it ended.    This is even demonstrated by how Goku overcomes the same traps that Piccolo couldn’t.

Maybe Goku’s holding back because he considers Piccolo a friend, but it seems like he ought to be able to knock him out a lot more easily than this.  

Gohan tries to reason with Piccolo, but he just fires an energy blast at him, so Goku has to deflect it with his own.    Cochin gloats that even the mighty King Piccolo has become another obedient servant of Dr. Wheelo’s.

That pisses Gohan off, and he starts to tap into the hidden rage power we’ve seen him use in the past.

Dr. Wheelo is... surprised?   Happy?   Bemused?   Greaaaat villain design, guys.

Cochin doesn’t realize what Gohan’s doing, so he taunts the boy, which only makes Gohan madder.   Wheelo orders him to stop, but Cochin doesn’t listen, which seems odd, considering how devoted Cochin is to the guy.

He even tells Gohan to go home and suck on his mommy’s teats.   Wooooowwwwwwwwwwww.

Then he shoots a big laser out of his cane.

Then the whole room starts to crack and Wheelo’s brain... glows?   What the hell is going on here?

Krillin takes away Cochin’s cane and demands that he free Bulma, but instead...

Cochin turns his arm into a gun.  Well, okay...

A bunch of the lab falls apart, but this section looks like it’s in good shape.   Piccolo’s mind-control crown shatters too, and I don’t know if that’s because of Gohan’s outburst, or Wheelo’s glowing, or maybe it just got damaged while he was fighting Goku.    Anyway, Piccolo’s pretty confused.

Then Wheelo laughs and he seems pleased that he’ll finally have a chance to fight.   Okay...

Cochin seems pretty upset about this, and as Wheelo does... something... more of the lab breaks apart, and Cochin falls down a hole.

There’s some giant column down here, and it glows bright yellow for some reason...

...and it fries Cochin when he falls too close to it.

This destroys his skin and clothes, revealing a robotic body underneath.   So was he always a robot, or did he put his brain in a robot body?   This movie makes no friggin’ sense.   This is probably the only truly interesting thing about Dr. Cochin, and they kill him off before they can even do anything with it.

Finally Dr. Wheelo reveals that his life support tank is part of a big robot that he can move around in.   So why was it embedded in the wall, then?   Was he stuck?   Did Gohan’s outburst damage the lab enough to release him?    Did Wheelo do this himself and he just didn’t need to do it before?  

Also, woof.    The robot design is pretty good, except it’s color scheme is just black with dark green highlights.   It never feels like we get a good look at this thing, because it’s always in shadow.

I mean, here’s a slightly better view, but ugh.

This wouldn’t be so bad, except the backgrounds are just as dark as Wheelo’s robot body, so you can barely see what he’s doing most of the time.   This shot is okay, but he’s standing still.   

Anyway, he says that if he has Goku’s body, he wouldn’t need this “ugly” one.   So is that what this is all about?    Does he just want to look handsomer?   Because if he thinks Goku is stronger than the body he has right now, then picking a fight with him is a pretty stupid idea.

Piccolo swears to avenge himself, and Wheelo is... angry?   Worried?   Tired?   This guy absolutely sucks.

Roshi, Krillin, and Goku try a triple-Kamehameha on Wheelo, but it doesn’t work.    Hey, good luck figuring out what Wheelo is doing in this shot.

Wheelo uses... some part of his body to hit Master Roshi.   Have I mentioned what a stupid idea it was to have Roshi wear all black for this movie?

Then Dr. Wheelo does...uhhhhh... Yeah, fuck this.   You’re on your own, kids.   

Gohan tries some stunt that involves the Nyoibo, and he reveals that he’s had the Nyoibo stowed under his cape the whole time, but he misses.  

So Goku picks it up and Piccolo saves Gohan.  

Fuck this movie.

Fuck this movie.

Oh, good, Piccolo shot his energy blasts at a piece of asphalt, no wait, that’s Dr. Wheelo.

Ugh...

Finally Goku stops horsing around.   I forgot the exact sequence of events, but he used the Nyoibo to trip Wheelo, probably setting him up for Piccolo to bombard him, and now he’s gonna use Kaio-ken Times Three, like he did against Vegeta.   

In the Big Green Dub, this sequence was hilariously dubbed with the lines “I WANT THE MAGIC STICK!” followed by “NOW I WANT TOTAL POWERRRRRR!”

This shot of Goku’s foot looks cooler than every frame of Dr. Wheelo in this rassum-frassum movie.

Goku charges heroically at... Is that Dr. Wheelo, or a section of the wall?

At some point he manages to tear off one of Wheelo’s lobster claws, but that’s about the only sign of damage I can pick out. 

Then he goes for a Kamehameha to finish the bastard off.

Wheelo counters with his own blast, and for a second he seems to have the upper hand until...

... Goku uses Kaio-ken times four, which jacks up his Kamehameha to the point where it blasts Wheelo into the sky.  

Krillin congratulates Goku for beating him, but Goku says it’s still not over.   “Don’t you remember the Vegeta fight, Krillin?   We’re taking cues from that, remember?   He’ll try that fake moon thing next, and you’ll need to get Yajirobe to cut off his tail.”

Wheelo decides to just blow up the whole planet, I guess using the same super-weapon Cochin was talking about earlier.    I thought he wanted to rule the world, not blow it up, but maybe he figures it’s not worth it if he can’t beat Goku.

So his big power core thing starts glowing again.    Why doesn’t Goku just blow that thing up?  

Instead, he starts setting up a Spirit Bomb, because that’s what he did against Vegeta.

Wheelo is... confused, I guess.  How does he know what Goku’s doing from the ground?

This is one of the better shots of Wheelo, and he still looks terrible.   He’s not even indoors, and Toei still insisted on the murkiest color scheme possible.

One of the artists took pity on me and snuck in this really nice sunset for me.   Toei probably fired him for it.    “This frame is completely unacceptable!   Now the audience knows where the sun is!  You’ve sucked all the mystery out of this film!”

Goku tries to first his Spirit Bomb....

But Wheelo shoots at him first.    He misses by like, several hundred yards, but this is enough to make Goku hold off anyway.  

So Piccolo, Gohan, and Krilln fly up to keep Wheelo busy so Goku can ready his attack.    They get a few decent hits in, except Krillin for some reason.

“Oh, crap!” Krillin says, “I’m in the movie ‘The World’s Strongest!’“

Finally Goku has the Spirit Bomb ready to launch.   This is kind of a big deal, because we never really got to see the technique executed as intended during the Vegeta battle, because Goku got hurt and had to hand off the power to Krillin.  So this movie is notable for showing what might have been.

It deflects Wheelo’s red death laser...

And as it passes by, Gohan and the others can sene the combined energy of all the people in the world.   I like that cocky dude in the cowboy hat.   He has no idea that Goku borrowed a bit of his energy to beat Wheelo, but he’s still confident that it’ll help kick his ass.    Also, the Black lady to the right of him may be the best rendition of a Black person in all of Dragon Ball.   I wish it wasn’t so obscure.   

I was thinking about how the Red Ribbon Army had an officer named Brown, and we never got to see that character, and I tried to imagine what Brown should look like.    I never got very far, but I thought it’d be cool if they had another lady in the RRA, and that lady looks pretty much like what I had in mind.   Haven’t settled on a rank or uniform yet.   She’s a work in progress.

Anyway, the Spirit Bomb hits Wheelo and he finally dies.    “Son Goku!” he shouts.    Remember the face Vegeta made when Goku blew him up with the Spirit Bomb?   Yeah, Wheelo can’t do that.   Good riddance.

For some reason the lab explodes too?   Well, at least it’s not all black and grey, so good.

Everyone’s pretty happy about this victory.    You’d think they’d all be freezing right now, but no one in the anime industry knows how ice works.

Goku spots Piccolo walking away, and thanks him for his help.   Piccolo just says Gohan did a good job, and Gohan’s all “He knows my name!”

The narrator threatens that a new Dr. Wheelo might show up some day, and gosh I really hope not.   At least give his robot suit a flashier paintjob.

Roshi gives Wheelo some credit.   He did say Roshi was the greatest in the world.

And Bulma’s like, “Yeah, the greatest lecher, amirite?”

Then they all laugh, and it’s a little disconcerting.   It wasn’t that funny, guys.

Bulma’s like “No, seriously, Master Roshi belongs in jail.”

And that’s the end.    Thank goodness.

I’m sorry if this was your favorite DBZ movie and I was a little too rough on it, but man, I just don’t care for this one.   The plot just doesn’t make sense, the final battle shamlessly rips off stuff from the Goku/Vegeta battle, and the main villain is barely visible for most of the action.   Wheelo and Cochin don’t add much to the lore of DBZ either.   With Garlic Junior, you got a peek into Kami’s backstory, and Turles offered a hint into what other Saiyan survivors might have been up to after Planet Vegeta was destroyed.   Wheelo’s just as mad scientist from fifty years ago who got snowed in one day.    He has all thes extremely powerful weapons at his disposal, but he blows them all on a mad scheme to beat Goku, specifically because Goku is strong enough to overpower him.    It’s one thing for the baddie to underestimate the hero, but Wheelo wants Goku to be stronger, and then he fights him anyway.

Now, to be fair, it’s got a few good things going for it.   The idea of a mad scientist giving Goku this much trouble is a good one.   At lot of Wheelo’s methods ended up being employed by Dr. Gero a few years later.   So if nothing else, Wheelo serves as a good proof-of-concept for the Androids arc.

There’s also something to be said for the villain’s goal being to exploit Goku personally.    Usually the bad guys don’t even know about Goku, or they only hate Goku and want him dead.   Wheelo sees Goku as raw material for his evil plans.  This didn’t get developed much, but it’s a smart idea.   I kind of wish Wheelo had put his brain in someone else’s body, just to demonstrate that it was possible.   Like, even if he was stuck in Bulma’s body, that’d still be a big improvement over staring at a brain in a jar.    Goku could still fight a giant robot, but at least Wheelo would have a face and hands to act with.

I also dig the idea of opening the movie with the bad guy making a wish.   Cochin’s wish seems kind of pointless in hindsight, but at the very least, he took the Dragon Balls off the board for the rest of the movie.    This way, no one else could make a wish.

This is a pretty action-heavy movie, so if you’re willing to forgive the drawbacks I mentioned earlier, you can at least enjoy all the fights.    Personally, I’d prefer one really good long fight over several smaller, less decisive ones, but diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks. 

There’s a lot of really pretty visuals in this movie.   They’re sort of ancilliary to the main story, and I’m not sure they’re necessarily better than those found in any of the other movies, but they’re worthy of recognition.    I’ll ust post a few down here to close us out with some positivity.

[twitchesandstitches]

Behold, the blood of Primus Herself, the mother goddess of all life; the machine-mother of all life, the architect of the soul, and she who devised the idea of life itself. Her blood is Energon, the most precious material in the universe, and its essence induces transformation; change, even evolution. Where her divine blood rises in its glowing crystals, there does life begin.

But, throughout the series of Transformers, Energon comes in many varieties, and basic Energon is often just a fuel. Not so in Crossthicc, where it is a very important substance indeed.

Firstly, Energon comes in many varieties! It has been filtered through her offspring, the 13 Original Primes, the first true machine-gods and personification of many universal aspects. Primus’ blood, alone, would be too much to handle, and it would undoubtedly create vast mutation across the multiverse.

But what is Energon, here? Pulling from many different incarnations, Energon appears to be an ore or mineral, growing into chrystals, but it is made of a strange light, or perhaps a fluid made solid, shimmering and shining like tiny stars or the light of the soul made solid. It is essence of life, the sheer potential of mutation, and in Her wisdom, Primus made it so that her blood is a universal fuel that regrows, promising sustainable power for Her children across all species, and its presence will cause life to bloom on dead worlds. Lifeless planets will grow an atmosphere, microscopic things will materialize from nothing, and over time, life will come, birthed by the blood of the All-Mother Primus.

Energon is not toxic here. Indeed, it will heal anything that imbibes it, machine or organic, and its mutagenic nature will induce transformations based on its character; proximity to it can grant superpowers, often to entire populations. It can also make one rather euphoric, and consuming it is an act of communion, bringing one in touch with Primus Herself. This applies to the blood of Autobots, Her noblest children.

Some common flavors of Energon, some drawn from canon sources, others made up. In general, the different colors of Energon are made from one of the 13 Primes, who filters their mother’s essence and limits it into a more... safe form. Primus’ blood is a divine relic of immense power on par with, say, an Infinity Gem or something equally powerful, and consuming it is likely to do weird things. The safer stuff, in its many varieties, is found across almost all known worlds, seeming to regrow, and has different effects.

Energon is more magical here, and may spontaneously grow in certain places that suit their character.

Transformer Blood: the actual energon of regular Transformes; not exactly Energon but it is worth pointing out. This is generally the safest, and isn’t just blood; Transformers bleed it, yes, but any of their bodily fluids (saliva, lactation analogue, and anything else) is a processed form of Energon. Anything they process as fuel becomes this as well; it’s generally a pink or blue color, changing depending on the ‘bot in question. Eating this is super nutritious and healthy for other Transformers, even a little addictive, and it can cause mild transformations, but is generally used as an ingredient in transformatives, not as a sole cause. That said, Transformers who bleed heavily into an area can seed it with more Energon based on their own body.

Primian Energon: Blue, or the ‘default’ Energon most often seen in canon. Aspected to Prima, the eldest of the 13 Primes, and the most common variety. This blue ore grows in large clusters and induces quick evolution in non-sapient species, and is the most suited towards industrial use. It also has a tendency to cause sapients to slowly grow larger over time. Often farmed in many places, and likely to grow wherever life has come to exist. At this point, it may mutate into one of the other types, as befits the area; it is often seen as a ‘baseline’ Energon the others spring from, much like how Prima herself was a leader and spiritual heart.

Beast’s Blood: Black Energon, aspected to Onyx Prime, the first beastformer. Often found deep underground and a thick, liquid substance like oil but very shiny and shimmering with faint images of unknown places, and carrying the lineage of all beings that might yet exist. Those who drink this partake of Onyx’s connection to beasts and transform into more bestial shapes, growing claws and horns or other features. Transformers may develop a beast mode, and extremely monstrous forms are common. Additionally, the imbiber will witness strange visions and odd futures, or possibilities that never were, all at once and in chaotic twists, seen as wild hallucinations or strange dreams. Combined with certain rituals, Beast’s Blood is highly valuable for oracles and seers, allowing one to speak with the spirits. To Simfurians and worshippers of Onyx Prime, this black energon is of tremendous spiritual value and is used in religious ceremonies; others make use of it to shape themselves into mighty monsters.

Known to materialize in places of intense spirituality, as if in response to prayers. Thus, the bestial mutations it grants is seen as a divine gift from Onyx Prime, a mark of their favor.

Red Energon: A blocky mass resembling metal ore growing like fungus, this substance only grows deep underground and emanates great heat. Aspected to Megatronus Prime, this substance induces powerful fighting spirit and intense strength, causing them to grow larger and develop protective alterations for a time, even become more monstrous and able to kill more easily. This was at one point a reflection of Megatronus’ role as their greatest warrior; however, due to his corruption into the Fallen, Red Energon carries his limitless hatred and will induce a terrible madness, driving the users completely berserk and attacking all around them. Some fear that users might go completely feral until it is worked out of their system.

Often appears near places of great bloodshed and terror. Has a very high chance to mutate into something far nastier: Dark Energon. (See below.)

Pink Energon/Solus Fire: Almost organic and growing in complex loops and beautiful shapes almost artistic in their beauty, this substance resembles flame shaped into solid matter. The crystals grow into a larger forest, inner layers liquid and shimmering, and whoever looks at it may recieve creative inspiration. This is aspected to Solus Prime, the most intellectual and creative powerhouse of the Primes, and one of the most beloved goddesses of all; whoever imbibes this will gain increased boosts to their ability to craft as she did, perhaps developing alterations that assist in tool use or increased intelligence over time. Growing far larger than with other Energon is also common, as she was very large. Mutations related to fire or heat are not uncommon, and grant the user a measure of her holy fire. Finally it can imbue users with something of Solus’ enormous curves, which is as close as mortals may come to taking on Primus’ own grand shape.

Often appears near places of great civilization and works of art by many different people.

There are also energon varieties related to the other Primes, and often relate to their natures: Amalgamous has ever shifting Energon with an almost gaseous nature that makes one as fluid as they are, Nexus produces a dense ore resembling massive bricks that can grant the power to fuse and combine, and so forth. These varieties are rarer, or at least harder to categorize.

There is, however, an... outlier.

Dark Energon, or so it is called. the Blood of Unicron, the destroyer and devourer herself. Once a component of Primus and a terrible sickness ravaging her, Unicron is a goddess of undeath and extinction; it is said, the first such divinity to give shape to such an awful notion. Heavily filtered samples of her blood manifest in places that have seen break outs of the walking dead, or lands of death; war zones, places of atrocity and anywhere soaked in death has a chance for these purplish crystals to form. To take them is to almost certainly die, and those who try it will have their corpses animated and become feral monsters hungry to devour the living whole. Hordes of such ravenous zombies rampage wherever enough death has come, slowly fusing together into one single uber-zombie that increasingly resembles Unicron.

the mutations it grants, or inflicts, are grotesque and bloody, twisting the body in gnarls of gore and gruesome deformation. What it does to the mind, corrupting it, is even worse. And it can do this with mere proximity; many plagues of the undead and extinguished worlds are due to this substance going undestroyed.

Those who survive gain great power, at the cost of a personal connection to Unicron. Her mind enters into yours, slowly eroding it, and bit by bit, you become less... you, and more her.

It is also heavily associated with places where the gigantic living ships that destroy worlds, the Reapers, have been spotted. They are said to bleed Dark Energon.

[coffethoughts]

Ghosts

My name is Garrison Dowe, I am 5'11", dusty brown hair, greyish blue eyes and a crooked smile. This isn't my story. This takes place years and years before my fathers father was even an idea between him and my grandmother.

This is about Calvin.

Calvin was 49 with thick horn rimmed glasses with the brownest eyes sitting behind them. He was wearing a brown plaid button up shirt with a navy blue bow tie, his golden brown hair parted to the side and loafers.  I think it's because that's what he died in, but I also think it was his favorite outfit. Although if you've worn it for how long he has, it might become yours too.    We are going back to September 3rd, 2869. Where young Calvin was about to enter the world. Little did he know there was more than one world to enjoy. 

***********************************************************************************

It wasn't your normal July afternoon

It was cold, the cold you can feel in your bones. The kind of cold that you can't cover with blankets or sweaters.

 The kind of cold that follows death. 

It was the day Calvin died.

But lets start from the beginning. Calvin had a pretty normal childhood. for example; food in his belly, clothes on his back, both parents and a modest home. He himself was the oddball out though. He never stopped dreaming, awake or asleep. He never came back down to earth once he zoned out, and he NEVER let anyone touch his brown notebook.  

Growing up and going into his first year of high school Calvin had average grades. Not because he was dumb, he was actually very intelligent but his attention level was awful. He was constantly zoned out.

Now Calvin had friends, he was the good popular. The one that everyone knew and liked, not the kind of popular that only associated with other popular kids. He always got invited to the parties and events and outings, even though his best friend was a notebook. He usually made a point to go out to these events,

Calvin was seventeen and in his last year at Mulove High school, He wasn't the most popular student, but he was loved by all because he made an effort to include everyone, he was also very funny. Sorry, he IS still very funny. (fact check, he was basically in every photo in the very full signed yearbook he showed me.) On the first day of his last year in high school, Calvin flew into the parking lot on his new Hover Bike he got for his birthday a few days earlier (new driver) and parked. When he got off his bike, he had a weird pain in his stomach, but it passed after a minute and he never gave it a second thought.

He walked in the school, book bag on both shoulders, a brown notebook and pen pinched between his ribs and arm while his left hand was in his pocket with his cellphone in his other scrolling through a list of songs that he could jam to as he headed to his first class. Calvin's mind was full of adventure, stories, funny quips, ideas and thoughts you couldn't possibly imagine. (I've seen the brown notebook) He never showed anyone, not because he was embarrassed, or he didn't think he was good enough. One of the reasons is because they were his, the things he wrote in the notebook were scary, incredible, frightening, funny, loving, envious, sad, heartbreaking, hilarious and feelings you never felt before. He had little quotes in his note book from eaves dropping on conversations, he has doodles when he was bored and procrastinating, he has diagrams of inventions for extravagant things, things you and me could never even fathom.

He found himself walking while listening to the music. He paused in front of his locker. Not sure how he ended up there as he was not thinking of his route at all. But after four years, of the same path in the same school, with the same people and same hallways, his body just new where to go and when. Calvin likes to zone out, move on to different worlds for a while, until it gets dark there and he returns to his "normal" state. (not much about Calvin is normal) He's ok with that.

(More to come later)

(later is now)

Calvin twists and turns his lock to enter his combination, he opened his locker and found a little note folded that looked like it had been pushed through the slots in the locker door. He was just about to open the note when the first bell rang for class, and he thought "shit, I'm late again". He shoved the note in his pocket, shut his locker, ran to class and forgot about the note as his mind is always in other places.

In his first period class Calvin caught himself day dreaming of the new worlds that were all over the internet and news with headlines like "WE ARE SO CLOSE!" "WE WILL BE ON MARS SOON" and so on. With nothing to go on, no pictures or videos, just speculation at this point, your imagination. Calvin wrote all his thoughts in his brown notebook, he drew sketches and jotted down ideas, all about new types of life with gorgeous, wild, undiscovered flowers, insects, animals and even "humans". Because whose to say someone on mars or another galaxy isn't a human of their planet. Calvin dreamed that he would eventually get to these planets. Later on he would learn his imagination did not disappoint.

His entire life born on this planet was based on him off it.

"CALVIN? CALVIN?!? CALVVVIIINNN?!?!?"

"Oh, uh yes, Mrs. Bonnaveve?"

"Were you just day dreaming again? We have talked about this a million times, you need to learn the String Theory, it's essential"

“I was not daydreaming Mrs. Bonnaveve, I am doing research for when we can start travelling to other places"

"We can travel now Calvin?"

"Not to Zone 37 or Area 913, I'm talking about Mars, the forgotten planet Pluto, or the Catcus Galaxy that everyone thinks might be a hoax, but I know in my gut it's real"

When he was done talking, there was a very long silent pause. Followed by everyone including the teacher, the other classrooms that could hear him through the vent and their Mothers Mothers started howling so hard that one kid fell over and broke his arm. When that was over he turned up the volume on his phone, tuned into his favorite song and continued to day dream, the teacher left him alone at that point. This didn't affect his "popularity" like it would when you were growing up. Kids never forget. No not in the year 2886.These days were different. Winter formal came and gone along with parties, movies, dates homework, exams and winter break. Calvin always showed face even though his actual face was buried in his brown notebook and his mind was on another planet. This first semester we’re nt by quickly for Calvin as he was use to day dreaming since his first day in kindergarten and didn't plan to change this year. He was happy winter break was over and he could get back to class, not that he loved school, but he loved being around people to eves drop, learn how people think, act, are for new inspiration to jot down in.

The following semester wasn't so easy. Nothing had changed at home, with his friends or at school. It's been the same day after day for Calvin. Waking up from dreams about adventure to day dreaming at school about all the things his mind thought up, and going to bed with the same dreams. None of that chanted either. The one thing that did was the headlines. Instead of reading “WE’RE ALMOST THERE” they read “WE DID IT” “SPACE TRAVEL IS HERE!!”. Calvin couldn’t contain his excitement. He has been saving every birthday dollar, every lawn mowing fee, every quarter, dime, nickle and penny to travel to space once they figured out how to, and now they have!

It was so hard for Calvin to stay in his seat, to show up to class, to focus on tests and assignments, he barley made it out of high school with a diploma. Which made it hard for him to apply for college, as he just wanted to take a year off and travel. His parents weren't on board and haven't been since it started effecting his grades more and more. They said that if he wanted to stay here for the year he would have to work with his father or head off to college. Working in city hall just didn't seem to call his name especially since his father hasn't taken a vacation in several years.  which would hurt his travelling chances.

Calvin weighed his options to stay here and save even more but push back college a year and then that would mean pushing back traveling, or he could go into college for something that would let him travel and get paid? The laptop was pulled out of his back pack once he got home and began to research schools, and programs that would let him travel while getting paid after college, or even during college as a coop assignment.

[abalonetea]

Hello. I'm sorry if writing wasn't super fun today (hoping it's gotten better since I saw that it wasnt though). For fun, would you like to tell me some of your favorite random facts about some of your OCs? For whatever project you want, of course...Or several. Or many. Because I'm a nasty enabler, but at least I'm fun. Really it's up to you, I just enjoy fun facts, and I feel like it might help lift your spirits should they need lifting.

sdfgnsufignvf you’re such a sweetheart even as you enable me to stray into the Zone of Many Projects which is dangerous for everyone around! 

(it’s gotten a touch better, though i didn’t quite get all three chapters done and have realized that there are Plans For Tomorrow that could cause the same; but at least i found a way past my block!)

okay so i’m gonna put this under a cut probably because you’ve given me too much power and i’m absolutely going to ramble at you about some oc’s from several of my projects, oops

i know that you want it so here how about we start off with A Life Out Of Order?

*cracks knuckles* 

*Skittles is only 16-17 when he first joins the band it’s a Big Deal that No One knows how to deal with*he’s in his early 20′s by the time that the whole thing falls apart*loves crop tops so much and, yes, it is partially because he likes showing off his naval piercing*has Other Piercings too and not just on his face*Skittles twin is named Asher and they have a Complicated Relationship*was kicked out of his house right before meeting Tony*lives with a friend-of-a-friend that is Not Good before Tony and the rest of the band pitch together to get Skittles his own place*has undiagnosed BPD and raging depression*struggles with drugs as a combination of the culture during that time and Tony’s bad influence*has a very twang-y voice when he’s not singing and Marcello picks on him about it relentlessly

and then just some rambling facts because? not sure if i’ve ever mentioned Marcello before but he’s actually important! in fact, Marcello is a main player in the sequel series!

basically, he’s been playing at being a guitarist in his own right for years now. has been in over 50 bands and hated them all. Marcello is the first “fan” of Vipers N Honey after Skittles joins up, bar hopping across Florida with them. 

Skittles absolutely befriends him and maybe kind of crushes on him for a while, but Marcello isn’t looking for a committed relationship. after the band breaks up, Skittles takes off and goes on a massive bender, and it’s actually Marcello’s house that he shows up at, looking for some help to get clean and back on his feet.

(also Marcello introduces Skittles to William, who is also in the sequel series but not as prevalent in this one)

and a note that just might be fun? Asher and Skittles are twins, both from a small town out in New Jersey. they grew up going to the same parties and doing the same things, but Skittles looks just like the guy that their mother had an affair with, and it basically was the First Difference between how family acted around them.

when he’s kicked out of the house, Skittles goes from one negligent and mildly abusive situation into another one, which eventually Tony and Snazzy help him get out of.

after leaving home, it’s literally almost fifteen years before Skittles and Asher see each other again in person!

my other set of band babe’s are actually in a death metal band. it follows the lead singer, who’s name is literally always changing because i can never find anything that Fits For Him and the guitarist that they kicked out a few years ago, Magnus. everyone calls him Maggie, even though he hates it.

the idea is that their music actually was channeling legitimate spirits and demons, and Maggie happened to be a very receptive host. combine that with his EPD and OCD, and it would frequently send Maggie into violent fits of rage. after a particularly nasty fight with the Lead Singer, he gets kicked out of the band.

flash forward nearly two years later, the metal band is locally famous in their state, and their music is Making Things Worse for Maggie who has not had an easy go of it. a thought gets in his head about getting revenge on the band (it’s fueled by a nasty demon trying to possess him) and he goes off to try and enact just that - only to have things Not Go His Way when he falls in awkward half-love with Lead Singer and also grows horns oopsie he’s half demon.

Bound for Providence is amazing and while the two main characters are great, maybe have some facts for Crosshair instead?

*no one knows her actual name but the captain; it’s Bethany and she’s better than that, thanks*the best shot on the whole crew. generally gets up in the masts for raids on other ships and knocks their enemies out that way*gets to be very good friends with Lucas and hates that they aren’t telling the truth*will always be loyal to Whiplash, though. he saved her life when they were little, and she considers him a brother*doesn’t understand the fascination that Lucas has with dragons. she’s seen them take out whole ships, but she’s also seen them fall into the ocean and drown. they’re just another type of animal to her.*intervenes when some of the other crew members gets too rowdy*can out drink everyone else on the ship*suffers from chronic muscle aches

she’s a strong willed character that doesn’t care what anyone thinks, with the exception of her captain. they’re like brothers - it doesn’t matter what Whiplash asks of her, Crosshair will always do it.

tons of tattoo’s on her arms, including arrows, and bright red hair. she’s got a gap toothed smile and doesn’t mind listening to Lucas talk about dragons, even if she doesn’t understand their appeal. fishes him out of the water more than a few times.

hahaha i could ramble and talk and share facts about my characters forever, tbh, and almost talked about shane or theo or tony, but i’m going to make myself stop here because i don’t want to get too wordy on you!

for real though, this was so amazing and just super sweet of you, thank you!

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 207: Pablo’s Eye

My first encounter with the music of Axel Libeert and his frequent collaborators Marie Mandi and Thierry Royo came through Music From Memory’s stunning Uneven Paths compilation, which opened with the atmospheric seaside ambiance and flowing lyricisms of Nightfall in Camp’s “Cada Dia.” And though this track was an easy stand-out from a compilation overflowing with incredible music, I had little idea to what degree its creators would come to dominate my life over the course of the next year. As it turns out, Nightfall in Camp was but a prelude to Pablo’s Eye, Axel’s longstanding esoteric sound collective that I was first introduced to through STROOM’s Spring Break compilation, specifically the track “Amb 7.” I was instantly ensnared by the sonic dreamworlds of hallucinogenic beauty and in the short time it took for STROOM to release their second Pablo’s Eye set entitled Bardo for Pablo, I had taken as deep dive into the collective’s extensive and eclectic back catalog, soaking up every piece of enigmatic and mystical sound art that I could find. It was a wonderful journey through realms of enveloping minimalist drone collages, spiritual ambient experimentations, heart-wrenching post-classical string meditations, drugged up dub rituals, 90s chill-out psychedelia, jazz fusion adventures, spoken word esoterica, and so much else besides…basically some of my favorite styles and shades of music ever all coming together in way that is spiritually kin to the early outputs of Kranky and Constellation Records. And at the start of 2019, STROOM and Pablo’s Eye finally completed their immense reissue series with the spellbinding and mysterious Dark Matter.

For these collections, label head Ziggy Devriendt relies on his sorcerous ability to sift through an artist’s history, pick idiosyncratic and often unheard gems, and weave them together into a definitive yet wholly unique tapestry and the curative work across these three compilations is among his best, with the individual releases allowing him to shine a light on distinct subspaces within the Pablo’s Eye universe. Spring Break pulls most heavily from 1991’s Barcelona (Architects Of)” and 1995’s You Love Chinese Food and thus finds the band exploring pop-leaning balearica, seaside fusion, and hypnotic trance states. Bardo for Pablo, on the other hand, features some never before released studio explorations of abstract jungle rhythms, tribal drum exotica, and dub delay madness while also bringing together two of the groups most epic club cuts, as the breakbeat majesty of “Amb 8” flows into the cosmic ecstasy of “Prepare for the Others to Follow (N.Y. Cypher Mix).” Then for Dark Matter, Ziggy mines Devotions (1992), All She Wants Grows Blue (1998), Realismo (1999), and once again, You Love Chinese Food. Given that these albums in part source Spring Break, it’s remarkable how different Dark Matter is in sound and vibe, as it sees the band journeying through shadowy cloudrealms of spectral drone and unsettling kosmische. And tying the whole collection together is Richard Skinner, the visionary writer and frequent Pablo’s Eye collaborator whose words and poetry adorn each release and provide powerful textual accompaniments to the far-out sonic dreamscapes. 

Pablo’s Eye - Spring Break (STROOM, 2018) “Blind and Quiet” is introduced by ritualistic kicks and hypnotizing loops built from cosmic sub-bass currents. Cut-up drones of liquid silver fly all around and eventually, the fried electro-fractals give way to angelic atmospheres. Heavily effected string instruments morph through delirious delays in “Double Language” and lead to blissed out passages of new age beauty. Hushed cloud movements of blurred light background otherworldly prayer calls and Marie Mandi’s narcotic voice…her spiritual intonations and enchanting incantations flowing above smeared out waveforms and rattling percussive tones bouncing thought rapid-fire echoes. The ethereal beauty of an outerspace mermaid choir is contrasted by disturbing religious samples and we eventually climax with a passage of breathtaking transcendence, as Patrick Hanappier let’s loose a funeral violin folk song over dark piano bass textures and feverish siren songs and to these ears, his playing has a deep kinship with Sophie Trudeau’s on the first GY!BE album. And after all of this, we end with a carnivalesque passage of bleary pan-pipes and backwards sliding orchestrations. “La Pedrera” follows with glassy guitar chords and dreamy harmonic arpeggiations. Spacious bass pulses join Dirk Wachtelear’s ride cymbal for a swaying jazz groove with airs of Badalamenti and Twin Peaks. Marie’s hypnotizing spoken word patterns join in as the downbeat heroin jazz vibes are accentuated by scatting trumpets and hazy synth leads and towards the end, the track evolves into a beautiful trumpet showcase wherein Gino Lattuca’s gorgeous brass webs are joined by crystalline guitar chords.

“That Night Together with Her” begins with a heartfelt violin meditation wherein bowed melodies cut the difference between hypnotic minimalism and folk Americana in a way that evokes Henry Flynt. Amorphous echo-guitars generate futuristic drone tapestries before giving way to a cut-up panorama of reversing cymbals that sound like the fluttering wings of a metallic bird. Sparse kicks and meditative bass pulses induce a spiritual jazz drift and eventually harmonious clouds of swelling guitar join in while Patrick tugs at the heartstrings with his breathtaking violin runs. And as the track ends, pastoral guitar wanderings and vaporous synths background the violin before it all gives way to beachside field recordings. Then in “Otis (Rumours of Rain),” we smash cut into a dreamworld of ambient fusion, with jamming e-piano chords riding alongside scatting synth riffs. Dirk’s rimshots and cymbals hold down a flowing pulse that’s always on the verge of exploding while Thierry’s smokey guitars vibe out with sliding licks and liquid riffs. Aquatic synths leads and bass textures float as Gino’s trumpet journeys through the sky and during a swooning coda, ghostly hazes and guitar harmonics background mournful horn flights. “El Barrio Gótico” sees noir shrouded guitar arpeggiations overlying moaning voices of desperation. Majestic and shadowy string orchestrating give way to terrifying streaks of bowed noise while the electronic hi-hats, sparse tom fills, industrial snare smashes, and stuttering kicks lock into a hypno-pulse. All the while, wild distorted leads blasts in and fry the mind…like anthemic stadium-sized 80s synths twisted into sonic fire.

“Amb 7,” starts with looping voices and spectral clouds swirling around heart-wrenching violin runs. Things change drastically as a fractured tribal rhythms flash side to side, creating a heady glide through dark dream realms where the voices of shadow spirit entrance the mind. Subaqueous bass swells sit deep in the mix while shakers give further propulsion to the mysterious sound flows and warm guitar solos encircle the mind with jazzy runs of cosmic melancholia. There’s a moment where most of the atmospheric elements vaporize into air, leaving the toms to pound away until fluttering and ecstatic violin solos enter…sounding as if beamed in from another dimension…while all around the organic grooves resume their march through a futuristic jungle. The Henry Flynt connections return once again, though it sounds as if he has been transported to a faraway realm of electro-cosmic energy as crazed violin explosions soar over the zoned out drum ceremonials before it all ends with a soft outro of pitter-patter tom play and guitars dropping from a golden sky. “A Long Standing Dream” exists in a world of harsh phasing cymbals and euphoria drone waves emanating from an ocean of light. It’s dissonant yet purifying, as strands of feedback wrap around Dirk’s percolating tom patterns and breathy cymbal pulses. Everything slowly phases and mutates while all around, psychedelic synth bubbles and sci-fi pads bounce on heatwave currents,  cascading echoes wrap around everything, gentle oscillations ride on etherwaves, and layered metal taps and hissing tambourines give the mystical rhythms further shape.

Pablo’s Eye - Bardo for Pablo (STROOM, 2018) “Amb 8” is the epic sequel to “Amb 7” and starts with choppy waves of gorgeous sonic bliss moving back and forth across four-four kicks and rattling shakers. Dial-tone sequences bathed in cosmic mist snake through the air and as dubwise snares crack in one ear, their reverb shrouded delay trails diffuse in the other. Liquid mid-bass sequences join the sci-fi dance, simultaneously tracking the dial-tone synths and playing off the echosnares while factory industrialisms intertwine with interstellar jungle mysticisms. The same hypnotizing voice loops that appear in “Amb 7” are also here floating through the air and at some point, swelling self-oscillatory chaoswaves overtake the mix as the kick recedes, leaving the militant shakers to fly above swinging exotica basslines, mesmeric toms flows, and synth sequences mimicking intergalactic cyborg breaths. Then in a moment of pure inspired magic, a mammoth breakbeat fades in, all baggy 90s glory moving through swirling metallic fogs and mind-wrapping sequences for an extended and drugged out groove. As the entrancing voices return, they bring with them overwhelming clouds of rotating sonic light that eventually wash out the breaks and reveal a haunted passage of drone built from ascendent yet ominous color pulses, streaking synth smears, and obscured voices. The rest of the track is like a dream recollection of what came before, as funky basslines, circling toms, euphoria breaks, and splattering kicks all intermingle within an alien rainforest suffused with darkness, one where neon plants glow with strange energies and distant drum rituals vibrating from unseen origins.

In 1996, Pablo’s Eye released the Prepare for the Others to Follow single containing various far-out remixes and reworks of the exotically dubbed out drum’n’bass title track, an easy stand out of which was the “Cypher NY Mix.” A sub-bass hum rings out from the center of the universe, its inky black waves of immersive sonic warmth suffused through by sparkling feedback textures…as if luminescent insects have been transmuted into sound. Heady tom-tom melodies bounce through echo caverns while harsh filter fx, ultra-crushed drum smashes, and cosmic winds move all around. Crystalline reverb fluids drop into glowing pools and the sense of floating euphoria is carried further by a drugged out beat that fades in from oceanic depths…a loved up and emotional break soaring on paradise waves. It’s easy to get lost in the swooning chill-out room hypnotics, as snares decay through infinite sheets of reverb, universal bass hums float the spirit towards realms of ecstasy, and ghosts of memory howl at the edges of the mix. The following track “Today” sees shadowy drum’n’bass rhythms charging through a panoramic world of delay madness while throbbing bass pulsations chug into the darkness. Clattering drum cascades roll endlessly as  longform panning fx hypnotize the mind and there are almost no transitions…just murky beat and bass loops repeating until the entrance snake rattles and palm-muted guitar percolations. And eventually the rhythms pull away, leaving wavering strings to blast through the sky as rattlesnake motions and metallic pings grow into walls of oscillatory chaos.

“My Only Guide Is” features hallucinatory and rattle-heavy drum storms that obscure sliding liquid melodics. Delays morph and modulate everything with occasional forays in to self-oscillating psychedelia and as the overwhelming bass clouds recede, tom-toms and hand drums merge for mystical rhythm ceremonies where bells and tambourines shake and sparkle. The rest of the track spends its time cutting back and forth between various extra-terrestrial drum rituals, with snake charmer bass fluids, charging tribal cascades, and rainforest energies overflowing with wild and rapturous magic as chimes and shakers wrap the soul in colorful sound spirals. Wild beat layers falling over themselves, anxious double-time hats, bouncing dub echoes, and marching ceremonies scrambled into alien chaosclouds…this is “Self-Abandonment.” Elsewhere, unidentifiable rattling noises flow aside cosmic chirps and satellite transmissions…the vibe militant and mind-melting, powerful and propulsive…especially as clacking snare rolls fire side to side. Motorik textures give further shape to the crazed drum adventures while also allowing them to spread even further out into realms of hysteria and as the track progresses, everything seems to filter and pan while growing increasingly fractured and kaleidoscopic. “I Have No Other Compass” closes Bardo for Pablo with sickly pads wavering in the moonlight. It’s the world as reflected through the surface of a disturbed body of liquid, with overlapping layers creating feedback resonances, bodies of ether spinning uncontrollably, and heart-throb melodies transmuting across universes.

Pablo’s Eye - Dark Matter (STROOM, 2019) In “Worship & Passion,” sinister high-frequency drones evoking classical horror film music are swarmed around by echoing voices, disorienting bass textures, mournful violin fantasias, and jeweled webs of plucked guitar harmonics. Marie intones “floating down the river…to paradise” among other softly spoken lines of poetry while synthetic choirs rush in from the depths alongside atonal acoustic string slides, sampled speech, and Patrick’s aching viol streaks. Then in “More Hesitant Than Before,” looping dronewaves of string cacophony spin through the sky alongside oscillating echoes. Long deliberate bow strokes repeat endlessly while ominous atmospheres boil underneath and the vibe is like awakening impossibly far beneath the surface of the sea…no light, no sound…just unsettling, almost malevolent currents surrounding the body and hinting at unseen intelligences and unknowable animal forms. Phasing fx and psychedelic pans lull the mind into a trance as viscous bodies of black light wash over the soul and towards the end, rumbling percussive drones enter…like the fading shadow of some ritualistic tribal ceremony. 

“Different Observers” has shades of “Prepare for the Others to Follow” as toms ping-png through a deep space corridor. Twitching reverb fx are locked into pulsating rhythms alongside sub-bass kicks and murky voices are smeared into a drug haze as they flash into and out of existence. An alien muezzin calls out from a minaret in the center of an eternal desert expanse while up above, clouds of green and blue swarm amongst the stars. The massive kicks, mutating cymbals, and percolating toms grow ever louder while the voices become increasingly shrouded in dense of fogs of reverb and towards the end, fast motion melodic drum tones rolling through outerspace echoboxes overlay gigantic reverb blasts…like a bass drum heard from miles below the surface of the earth. “She Would Stand Alone” sees deep and discordant bass notes wrapping around vibrating strings of metal…as if a piano has been gutted and transformed into some sort of ritualistic mallet instrument. And all around, droning cymbal taps like falling pebbles on infinite sheets of brass flow forwards and backwards in time.

A spiritual bath of radiant drone begins “He Closed His Eyes” before leading to a clattering and shambolic rhythm. Tin can percussion and wavering music box melodies are surrounded by glimmering streaks of audial silver and deep space atmospherics while spectacular reverb tails hover in place and vibrate with a sense of alien electricity. The barely there drum flow is accented by chain-off snare smashes and at some point, the very same looped and reversed voices from both “Amb 7” and “Amb 8” appear here as well, forming a subtle sonic thread weaving together all three parts of the Pablo’s Eye retrospective. The A-side the ends with “When You Were Asleep,” which offers a mental cleansing by way of spectral waves of new age shimmer and forms a direct contract to the preceding explorations of mystical darkness. Heavenly ambient washes are colored around the edges by narcotizing distortion smears and beneath it all, throbbing bass currents drift the spirit on a universal river of light.

“L.A. Desert” opens the B-side with Dark Matter’s first real semblance of rhythm, seeing cymbal taps, sparse kicks, and bubbling bass notes bringing more of that Badalamenti-style noir jazz. Marie glides over top with enigmatic dreamspell lyricisms while island bongos, synth blasts, and smokey fusion leads dance together. Exotic and unidentifiable voice samples drift above crystalline Rhodes chords and everything works together towards a downtempo drug sway. But as things progress, the vibe turns shadowy…almost funereal, and keeps Marie repeating “I’ve lost sense of hearing / dying couldn’t be worse”…a sentiment that is terrifying and all too relatable. Gaseous synths swell alongside diamond sound bursts as cosmic organs weave heavenly hymns and all the while, the vocals grow increasingly pleading…desperate…afraid. Thunder crashes and spring reverb flashes then begin “She Told Him The News,” while distorted voices cycle over ominous orchestrations and psychoactive drum ceremonies swirl in a vortex and sometimes recede completely into the maelstrom of droning noise.

“Tamil Nadu” features emotive contrabass soloing and fiery saxophones from Geoff Leigh…like the score of a detective movie abstracted into pure mood. Body-subsuming bass textures and spaced out electronics wash all around as massive rumbling sub-bass noises approximate thunderstorms. Elsewhere, the brass and bass scat through a nightmare land of jazz hysteria and it all ends with bowed double bass vapors drifting into pale starlight. After this, “A Pagan Use” builds on mysterious voices emanating from unknown dimensions that intertwine, merge, and create ghostly resonances. Electro-kicks bounce and mutate through cosmic echo-chains, static transmissions hover just beyond comprehension and at some point, tom-toms enter and skip across reverb coated bass pulses. Once the shadowclouds recede, they leave the drums to vibe out within heavily distorted voice broadcasts and as the ominous atmospherics swell back in, they gyrate and combust over sensual rhythmic throbs.

The dub side of Pablo’s Eye is showcased most overly on Dark Matter’s final two tracks, starting with “Out of the Corner of Her Eye.” Here, pounding and swamped out machine riddims crash through ethereal drone vapors. Globules of liquid bass rise up through viscous neon pools…their delirious patterns locking into a strange yet entrancing groove aside the swaggering rhythm boxes. Cymbals and snares fire off in a hypnotic dance while further horror film string drones wrap around the mix and voices seem to emanate from unseen corners of the mind…childlike and all the more disturbing because of it. Shuffling shaker and cymbal patterns enters, all anxious and futuristic, and the track evolves in a heady IDM ritual while terrify ambient clouds move in slow circles. Then in “Loisaida Dub,” celestial brass melodies are smeared into bodies of white light and repeated waves of mystical magic ebb and flow. Chaotic weavings of percussive psychedelia intersperse the rapturous walls of sound…these blipping laser clouds of sci-fi noise, intergalactic fx, and chittering insect laughter that contract the meditative pulses that work the mind towards transcendence. It’s a push/pull between blissful euphoria and psychoactive drone chaos…one that perfectly embodies the entire spirit of this mercurial group of artists.

(images from my personal copies)