#next it's some Hans Zimmer

[vermillionwinter]

The y'allternative girl Playlist be like

Lets rip your soul apart and male you cry- Take Me Back to Eden- Sleep Token

To

Stomp your boots and demand respect from your man- Any Man of Mine- Shania Twain

[eviesaurusrex]

Harry Styles x High School Sweetheart!Reader (x Wife!Reader)

summary: Harry and YN were high school sweethearts and are celebrating their 15th anniversary.

faceclaim: Selena Gomez

warnings: none, pure fluff, not entirely proofread because it's late over here and I wanted to finish this before bed

author’s note: My first smau in a very long time. Please bear with me ;_; Disclaimer: The used manips are not mine, and I have not created them—the credits go to the creators (the creators’ names are on some of them). The reader is a classical music composer. Enjoy!

CelebrityStoryWatcher harrystyles just uploaded a new story of him and yourinstagram cooking at their family home in London, England, before deleting it again.

2,318,991 likes | 665,001 comments

ynfan1 How can she be so stunning???

ynandharold the way he made her laugh. "you sure you don't try to feed an entire army, love? who is supposed to eat all of that??" in that over-dramatic tone of his ;_; <3

hsfangirl Who still wants to be YN even after all these years?

Liked by 362 people.

yngirlboss Exfuckingcuse me while I try to process this. I'll be forever grateful for Harry because he makes her so bloody happy

hsfan2 i'm pretty sure this video was meant for his finster :x

↳ ynfan2 oh, definitely. It was gone so fucking fast, I barely could click on it lol

harryisdaddy He's such a simp for his wife. If he could, he would spam Instagram with her pretty face, can't tell me otherwise

ynismommy i love how cozy they both are at home. you can see how comfortable they are around each other ;_;

↳ hs_fineart that just comes naturally when you've been besties since 14, a couple since 16, and married since 26 <3

styles_spotter They have their anniversary tomorrow, don't they???????

annetwist Today, we celebrate your special day. Thank you for making my son the happiest boy ever since the day you two met. Happy anniversary, my loves ♡

978,351 likes | 35,227 comments

hsfan1 not anne making me cry in the early morning hours ;_; look at these two cuties going strong for 15 years! happy anniversary mom and dad!!!!

hs_ynfandom Happy anniversary!

ynfan1 Anne shipped them from the very first day, YOU CANNOT CHANGE MY MIND

hsfan2 my single-heart cries in both happiness and envy. how does someone find their soulmate??? yn really need to write a guide for all those singles out here

harry_and_yn Power couple since day 1!

yourinstagram Thank you so much, Anne <3 It's easy when your son is a literal angel walking this earth

Liked by harrystyles, pillowpersonpp, and 12,886 others.

↳ annetwist You helped turn him into the man he is today ♡

yn_and_harry_haven The way they both started as cuties and grew into the most handsome/gorgeous people on this planet is INSANE. We, as a society, are not ready for their daughter to grow up.

gemmastyles MY FAVORITE SISTER IN LAW. I am forever thankful for having you as my sister—perhaps not by blood, but we are as close as they come. Happy anniversary, lovies! Make him treat you like a queen today

↳ harrystyles I obviously treat her like a queen every single day she walks on this earth.

↳ yourinstagram G ;_; ♡ I love you so much! And he really does <3 I love you too, H

Liked by annetwist, gemmastyles, and 5,209 others.

harrystyles_fangirl this family loves each other so much, i want what they have.

hanszimmer In our years working together, I not only had the pleasure of getting to know yourinstagram both creatively and personally, but harrystyles as well. In those years, I witnessed their love grow in the most beautiful of ways, and not just once have they been my inspiration for certain pieces. I wish you all the happiness for the next 15 years. Happy anniversary to our music power couple!

948,990 likes | 45,628 comments

ynfan1 Being besties with this century's mastermind of film music composition (because he taught you everything) is certainly a flex

yn_fandom imagine mr hans zimmer congratulates you on your anniversary because he grew so fond of you during all the years you were his protégé. AND he likes your husband. my life would be completed. happy anniversary, yn and harry!

hsfan1 Hans Zimmer likes Harry. Love that for our music king!

harrystyles Your words mean so much to me—to us. Thank you! I hope we can dive back into our discussions someday soon. I know YN would love to see you again. x H.

↳ yourinstagram I only can agree with my husband, Hans. Thank you for your wonderful and loving words—and for every moment you gave your all when it came to my training and education. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today. You're always welcome in England!

↳ hanszimmer I'll never say No to a Styles invitation x

ynismommy for everyone who doesn't know: mr zimmer is the godfather of their daughter! that's how close they are. it's insane when you think about it. this girl (and any future children) will grow up with so much music and love and talent in their genes, they'll conquer the world.

↳ harry_and_yn And their children will probably the loveliest human beings because their parents are (I once met them on a stroll through London and they were THE NICEST, I still think about their kindness)

↳ ynismommy they definitely will! and truuuue, i only met yn, but she's such an angel. harry is probably the exact same because i can't see her being with someone unkind and uncaring

Liked by harry_and_yn, ynfan3, hsfan5, and 56 others.

ludovico_einaudi No one has ever spoken truer words, my friend. Happy anniversary, YN and Harry! May the next 15 years be as wonderful as the last.

↳ yourinstagram Why is everyone trying to make me cry today? ;_; Thank you so incredibly much, Ludovico

Liked by ludovico_einaudi, hanszimmer, and 4,815 others.

harrystyles My best friend. My wife. The mother of my sunshine. My darling love. You have collected so many titles in our time together, but either way, you will be, first and foremost, the love of my life. My soulmate. My muse. The essence of my happiness. You are the light of my life, the sun around which I orbit, the center of my universe, and the guiding star I look for in the sky in moments I am lost. I will forever be grateful for every second of your attention you grant me, for every tired I love you whispered in the darkness before drifting off into sleep, for making me a father and giving me something I have always wished and hoped for.

Thank you for the past 15 years, my love. Happy anniversary. x H.

4,686,998 likes | 1,329,750 comments

hsfan1 The way I am sitting on my couch now, contemplating this post, and knowing I will cry myself to sleep tonight.

yn_stylesforever no one has won in life as much as YN LN-Styles <3

ynfan1 Uhm... A NEVER BEFORE SEEN YN PHOTO?! She looks so happy T_T <3

↳ yn_and_harry my thoughts??????? Harry is feeding us

gemmastyles You, my beloved brother, are absolutely and entirely gone for this woman (and I don't want it any other way). Happy anniversary, baby brother. You deserve nothing less.

↳ harrystyles Don't make me cry, Gemma. YN will never stop teasing me about it. I can feel her watching. x

↳ yourinstagram Oh, you mean like I never forget to mention your tears at our wedding? <33

↳ harrystyles Exactly. xx

↳ gemmastyles To be quiet honest, you weren't any better that day, YNN. And why do I only get one kiss?!

↳ yourinstagram I don't know what you mean.

↳ styles_spotter these three are literally everything ;_;

mitchrowland Congratulations, H. And YNN, of course!! A life without your love can't be imagined ♡

jefezoff Congrats to my dream couple and one true shipping! To more beautiful children and wonderful years

↳ yourinstagram Not too many and not too soon, mind you. Or do you want to babysit Darcy? She loves to keep you awake for the majority of the night :3

↳ jefezoff ... I appreciate my sleep.

↳ hsfan2 poor babies ;_; but we need more beautiful styles babies!

ynfan2 Not me sobbing over those pictures and the fact how fast little Darcy is growing T_T

yourinstagram I love you more than life itself, H.

↳ ynfansite after all this time <33

pillowpersonpp Happy anniversary to my favorite singer and favorite composer!

yourinstagram Harry. Ever since the day Mrs. Merryweather put me on the seat next to you, I knew it was destiny. I knew you'd be my best friend; I knew you'd be my love if I had the courage to act on my feelings, and I knew I'd marry you someday. I just knew. And I was right. You gave me more than I could have ever hoped for; you loved me more than I could have ever hoped for. You, my love, are the best thing that could have ever happened to me, and I thank the universe every single day for allowing me to love you—and be loved by you. Thank you for making me a mother, being the incredible father you are, and raising our children together—with love and kindness.

Happy anniversary, H. To more love, more anniversaries, more happiness ♡

2,701,632 likes | 998,582 comments

annetwist I am so proud of you both for being such wonderful parents to Darcy and always supporting each other ♡

ynfan1 Gosh, today is an emotional day.

↳ gemmastyles My thoughts exactly

↳ hsfan1 Gemma is here D:

harry_and_yn i love how much they love each other

hsfan2 Both treat us with never before seen pictures of each other and I can't handle it. Mustache!Harry still is a sight to behold lol

harrystyles Oh, my love xx

↳ yourinstagram Come upstairs as soon as that call is over. I want to kiss my husband

↳ harryisdaddy YN decided to see the internet burn

ramindjawadi_official Happy anniversary to my favorite composer! Please bring little Darcy and your husband to our next meeting

↳ yourinstagram <3 Will do!

↳ ynfan2 Everyone loves Baby Styles so much

taylorswift I hope Harry is taking over some of those night shifts! Happy anniversary, you two, and let me play auntie as soon as you both need some time alone <3

ynfan3 Seeing them kiss still makes me blush because even on pictures, you always feel their burning chemistry ;_;

harry_and_yn_fandom On the anniversary of our favorite couple, we need to have a throwback to YN's Instagram story of their road trip to Italy a few years ago.

2,681 likes | 548 comments

hsfan1 I was so freaking anxious because I didn't know who was driving holy shit

↳ hsfan2 lol same. Until I realized they were stuck in a traffic jam at the Swiss border xD

Liked by hsfan1 and 21 others.

ynfandom The way her eyes always softened when looking at him <33

hsfan3 Harry felt the playlist on that day—and YN was just happy to be in his presence :3

yn_and_harry to be honest, her story made me realize they would be together forever and ever. Until death do us part and all that

↳ harry_is_fineart Definitely. And the way he took her hand after his solo of Another One Bites The Dust and how he asked her if everything was okay and if she was happy. He's the stuff women write about in romance novels.

ynfan1 Fun fact: I met Harry at a Subway right after the Italian border because YN got hungry and craved a sub and a cookie (and he was pretty tired and wanted a coffee). He stood in line while YN snuck to the driver's seat to drive their remaining route. It was so cute seeing him stand on the driver's side, sighing with a head shake, and submitting to his woman's decisions :D

↳ hsfan4 no way! That's so cute T_T

harrystylesfangirl "You know, I always get to hear you sing without paying for concert tickets." - "I'll always sing for you, my love. Doesn't matter where and when. You're my favorite audience." - "And you are mine, H." Heart eyes ensuing. This video and their conversation lives rent free in my head :D <3

↳ ynismommy I'm sure they are each other's first listeners, even before the crew and their labels.

↳ pillowpersonpp They are. Always.

;

As always: Thank you so much for reading and enjoying my silly little writing. Please consider leaving a like, a comment, and a reblog! <3

[sphinxfeather]

For everyone out there who needs some hope....

If politics is really getting you down, and need something to help you get through whatever comes next...this speech still makes me cry every time I hear it. Please vote tomorrow if you haven't already! We can do this together <3

[dragonracer]

Musical Inspiration for the EmmRook Writers

As I sit here clacking away on my next chapter, listening to music as I always do because it inspires and fuels most all of my writing (@spinfins and a few others often getting specific tracks tossed their way, even, with a "your chapter made me think of this song!" even when it is an entirely instrumental track with no lyrics LMAO), it reminded me of a brief interview Emmrich's writer did where someone asked her about what his musical preferences might be and she had this to say:

And I feel like maybe saying "classical music" could be limiting in some ways, especially if various generations have certain stereotypes in mind. I know when I hear the term, I only think of the incredibly old classics heard in Loony Tunes cartoons - Beethoven, Mozart, and the like. And that's entirely on brand for Emmrich, I feel, certainly. 100%.

But I feel it's limiting because there is so much good modern music with that classical feel to it, too. I'll admit to not knowing what modern genre it would be ascribed to, per se, but I'm a real sucker for piano tracks and wanted to share a few artists/albums who, to me, also have an Emmrich vibe. Ones I like to pull up when working on my EmmRook fic. Sharing to help spread inspiration, perhaps, to others and it certainly wouldn't hurt my feelings any if folks wanted to reply or reblog with additions of their own! Make a fun, comprehensive, Emmrich Vibes musical thread. :)

The Theory of Everything soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson: https://youtu.be/mNsHxx_uh9Y?si=bKLx1DJJmslX_Tkw

Ludovico Einaudi: https://youtu.be/V1oZk_1saFQ?si=YeBRsgDHdpwV5Vr4

Yiruma: https://youtu.be/mSUqWTiD7V8?si=vX38iKR-fHQYA5OR

Jacob's Piano (does some amazing, slowed down covers): Ludovico covers - https://youtu.be/_dmOgDlWAkU?si=6jLl3zrb70qN7S4b Hans Zimmer covers - https://youtu.be/Os47nMrjw_Y?si=Ye-Q_dR5li-mQvfR

(And unrelated to Emmrich specifically, but related to my Rook... even though, overall, I wouldn't consider her a classical piano type in general, this specific background track absolutely goes on loop every time I'm writing a soft/vulnerable/EmmRook type moment for her, which is kinda ironic and funny and makes me chuckle in a rather esoteric way: https://youtu.be/aQwnMB6jFaA?si=6cSxwSW2Nno6QiRd)

Hope you enjoy/gain inspiration from these! Hit me with your inspirational writing go-tos. :)

[chip-does-stuff]

Things I’ve noticed and/or thoroughly enjoyed seeing from watching Megamind eight times over the course of six days

Megamind has such a crush on Roxanne before he even steals Bernard’s identity

Hal gearshifts in midair while saving Roxanne during the midnight flight

Roxanne looks like she genuinely feels bad after slamming the breaks on the way to the school house

Megamind is incredibly good at hiding giant, smoke-producing blimps in midair (invisibility cloak???)

You can see projector lines in the observatory from a brain-bot

Minion and Megamind consistently switch back and forth between older sibling and younger sibling roles

There is a brainbot with lipstick and eyelashes

The way Megamind comments on Roxanne’s hair during their date gives me actual butterflies

Hans Zimmer wrote the MOST AMAZING LOVE THEME FOR ROXANNE AND MEGAMIND AND I WILL NEVER GET OVER IT

Roxanne’s absolutely dumbfounded look when Megamind compliments Metro Man’s music

You can hear so much glass shattering every time Tighten destroys a building

Crazy Train is clearly Minion’s favorite song and I respect it entirely

The way Megamind calls Roxanne’s name when he saves her from the alligator room is weirdly sweet (maybe I just have a crush on him)

Minion has a little antenna on his back that I assume lets him control the suit

Megamind immediately steps to protect Roxanne when Tighten sees past his disguise

Is the warden a father figure for Megamind??? Like obviously he’s a crap father if that’s the case but like, is he???

Roxanne runs up behind Tighten with a street sign in hand to defend Megamind while he’s crawling to the invisible car

Megamind’s hurt look when Bernard calls the dehydration gun “cheap”

When Roxanne rejects him, Megamind winces with every accusation (and I genuinely feel so bad for both of them like ow)

I love Megamind’s and Tighten’s themes, they’re both reminiscent of lullabies, which is a fun choice for the villain characters

Roxanne has a picture of the design for the diffuser gun hanging in her apartment when she’s trying to figure out Megamind’s plan

Megamind still has his custom baby seal leather boots on during the Tighten fight

Have I mentioned the music enough? Because I’m trying to figure out some of the themes by ear on the piano and the music is decently complex. It’s not insane, but it’s tougher to figure out than a lot of music.

“Lyrical Magic” is credited as an actual song in the end credits

Megamind’s face when Roxanne admits to looking back is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen and the way the camera follows his face is really well done

The use of lighting changes for ambiance or passage of time can be really subtle, but honestly just amazing

My dad thinks I will get sick of this movie pretty soon, seeing as I’ve watched it once or twice a day whenever possible, and he is seriously underestimating just how much I am in love with Megamind. My mom has given up calling me weird. I’m also using my uncle and aunt’s peacock account to watch it over and over, and if they’ve noticed how often I watch it they haven’t said anything.

Next week I try to beat my friend’s record of watching her comfort movie twenty times in one week.

[thewitchoftheweed]

I saw your post about songs you used to characterize different characters and damn do the songs fit each of them so well (Shera and Mesar's song is so heartbreaking). Would you like to take a moment to talk about how some songs inspired or shaped different characters?

What a fun question, absolutely!

Since this AU has been going for a minute and covers a pretty large breadth of time, I associate certain songs with certain “eras” of different characters.

One of the first songs I latched onto for Hamal was Beauty of Annihilation by Elena Siegman. It struck me as someone who was both a bit unhinged and had a genuine appreciation for destruction and death. In a similar vein, IM NOT SORRY by Royal & the Serpent inspired their mental break during the Bishops’ celebration feast.

“Armor” by Iniko became my theme for Hamal about halfway through writing their origin story, largely because of these lines:

“Sky is falling, they are calling / Now the blind will see / Ground beneath us is shaking / Sheep are finally waking / Send your soldiers, send your army / Send ‘em ten by ten / Fear will never destroy me / Fear will never destroy me”

Alongside the lines “I am not son or daughter / No label, no name” which fits with the mindset Hamal adopts as the Lamb; only the people they love most are permitted to know who they truly are beyond the mantle of The Lamb.

Funnily enough, a song that helped inspire Shera and Mesar also inspired the Bishops’ nomadic lifestyle as youngsters: Prayer of The Refugee by Rise Against. I always liked the idea of the Bishops being mirrored in the Lamb’s family; once children fighting for survival, now oppressors forcing other children to do the same.

For Narinder, he’s had a few “eras” during his life. The dutiful, loving brother: Me and Mine by The Brothers Bright. The unstoppable bearer of the Red Crown: Lacrimosa by Samuel Kim. The imprisoned, maddened god: Perfect by Miracle of Sound, Karliene. And Narinder reborn: Once and Never More by Shadow Academy.

Some songs that inspired the Bishop family dynamics:

ThIngs We Lost in the Fire by Bastille. Shamura reflecting on their childhood and the loss of Narinder. The line “We were born with nothing and we sure as hell have nothing now” directly inspired the Envy chapter of Sins of the Bishops.

What Could Have Been by Sting, Ray Chen. Specifically, the dynamic between Narinder and Shamura.

Go to War by NOTHING MORE. This song fits for the whole family breakdown, but for whatever reason the anger behind it specifically reminds me of Narinder and Heket.

Brother by Madds Buckley. Narinder and Kallamar/Leshy feels.

my tears ricochet by Taylor Swift. Another Shamura and Narinder song— as Narinder said, they spent a millennia haunting each other. There are a lot of lines that I feel fit them well. I think the one that hits the hardest for me is “You had to kill me but it killed you just the same.”

What Have You Done by Within Temptation. The perfect song for breaking apart a once loving family.

And because I’ve got my playlist open and I’m on a roll, have some foreshadowing for the next few plot points in the Red Star AU:

Heavy is the Crown by Mike Shinonda, Emily Armstrong

Pompeii MMXXIII by Bastille, Hans Zimmer

Your World Will Fail by Les Friction

Hope this is interesting! I think about this AU way too much, clearly lol.

[w1ld-wr1t3r]

Can you do 59 for carlando?👀

How did you guys manage pick a song from The Creator for Carlando again. The universe is really telling me to write this AU!

This song plays at the start of the movie, and the scene ends on a less than happy note. I've taken the liberty to create a different scene here, that doesn't reflect the same scene in the movie. Also, this one splits between both Lando and Carlos' POV, so you can get a feel for what they're both thinking at the time.

59. They're Not People by Hans Zimmer

Lando laid on his back, looking out the window at the moon. Silver light drifted through the curtains, shining on him and Carlos. The world seemed peaceful outside.

If only there wasn't an international war happening at the same time.

Carlos was half asleep against his side, breath rasping slightly as he swallowed a cough every few breaths. The muppet had managed to pick up a cold halfway through their little vacation. At least it wasn't a bad one, though Carlos carried on like he was dying every night when he had to prop up two pillows to be able to breathe. Lando would probably catch it next, after spending so much time taking care of Carlos. But he didn't mind. He was more than happy to take care of him.

There was a light knock on the door, and when Lando bid them to enter, a head poked into the room, closely followed by the rest of their body. A simulant had brought them two glasses of water and the sleep medicine that Carlos found more tolerable in taste. Lando smiled kindly at the boy, who projected an air of calm serenity but seemed secretly nervous. He was a new addition to their group, so quiet and focused on his work that Lando hadn't even learned his name yet. He made a mental note to invite him on their next outing into town - the kid could stand to socialize a bit.

"Thank you," he said softly, as he accepted the drinks. He set one on the bedside table with the medicine and sipped on the other. Carlos stirred at his voice, blinking open his eyes and coughing.

"Sorry," the bot apologized, as if Carlos waking up was a crime, taking a wary step back. A few simulants, especially the newer ones, still harbored some distrust of Carlos. Admittedly, it was a bit unusual for an anti-AI fighter to willingly turn to their side. Some folks still thought Carlos was trying to con them, even though he'd been with their group for over a year with nary a sign of betrayal. Lando, for his part, trusted him wholeheartedly. He had helped them, fought by their sides, helped them find shelter, mourned with them. He treated simulants like he treated any other person - it had been tricky for him to adapt to that at first, but now, he really seemed like he believed it. Lando trusted him.

So why haven't you told him who you really are yet? his consciousness helpfully supplied.

That was . . . a question Lando couldn't really answer. Yes, he trusted Carlos. But he was literally the single most important person for the pro-AI side, their leader, practically worshipped as a god by some. There was so much riding on his shoulders, including the entire war effort. He had so many eyes on him, even if only a tiny handful of people knew his true identity. Adding one more person to that number was always a risk.

He trusted Carlos with his life. But trusting him with the fate and legacy of everyone who followed him, everyone who believed in him, thousands if not millions of people, was a whole lot bigger.

He looked down at Carlos, telling the bot it was alright and thank you again, and leaned in to kiss him after the bot left. Carlos' grumpiness at being woken up left quickly, and he held Lando tighter with a smile.

He loved moments like this with Carlos. Domestic, sweet, normal. If only they could hold onto them forever.

But with everything he was - with everything they were, and the way the world was - he was afraid they couldn't.

So he'd try to cherish them for as long as he could.

--

Carlos awoke with a displeased grunt when he heard voices. He'd finally started to get some real sleep. He couldn't wait for this cold to be over.

He looked up to see a simulant backing away from the bed. A glass of water and medicine were now on the bedside table. Right, it was probably time for his next dose. At least that would help him sleep a bit better.

"Sorry," the bot said, looking at Carlos warily. To be fair, Carlos had been told his face when he first woke up could be intimidatingly grumpy.

"It's alright, thank you," Lando said to the bot. He always spoke so kindly, to both real people and AI. He held so much compassion in his heart.

Carlos sometimes wondered if he deserved any part of that compassion.

His mission had been . . . "put on indefinite hold." He'd told his superiors that he had to wait and see if any of his leads on finding the pro-AI leader panned out, and moving on them too soon could jeopardize his success. That was at best a half-truth. He had no new leads, and even if he did, pursuing them would mean giving up his relationship with Lando. Because there was no way Lando would still want to stay with him if he knew that Carlos hadn't actually switched sides out of the pure goodness of his heart.

He might not support AI, but he loved Lando. How could he not? He was funny, kind, energetic, creative, so many things. He was a treasure.

And Carlos felt so selfish and guilty for treasuring him, when he knew he couldn't hide his secret forever.

He watched the bot go, forcing himself to smile at it. A bot that thought it had done something wrong might follow him around to try and make up for it. He didn't feel like dealing with that, some human-looking thing asking for forgiveness it was only programmed to need.

Because after all, the AI weren't human.

No matter how alive they seemed on the surface.

He knew how Lando would react if he knew Carlos still believed that. Lando had grown up with AI, saw some of them as family. He saw no difference between their "lives" and his. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that they weren't as human as him.

So Carlos hid it. He kept telling himself that maybe one day he'd believe it. Or maybe one day he'd finally come clean. Maybe because he chose to, or maybe because he could no longer keep his secret hidden. That would probably be the day that he lost Lando forever.

He tried not to think about how that second option was a lot more likely than the first.

He tried to focus on the moment now instead, where he could still hold Lando close.

If this couldn't last forever, then at least he would try to cherish every single moment.

[ardentblossomings]

Honestly, I think my biggest issue with Veilguard is that I feel lied to. Over the years, I repeatedly stated that if the next game were to be bad, I would be okay with it -- "at least I'll get more Dragon Age and see a new area". Then, they went ahead and hired Hans Zimmer (a big name), had pre-release ratings that were amazing, and had a more than solid character creator as well as gameplay.

But at the same time, the character creator is very lacking in colour options and limiting in certain areas (chest), while specializations don't feel... special anymore. Both things I can live with.

What I can't ignore, however, is how the characters were supposedly the most "romantic thus far"... and while I agree that Emmrich certainly fits among one of the best written characters in DA (honestly didn't expect him to be my favourite), I didn't even realise in my first playthrough that I was actually dating Bellara. Or rather, I wasn't sure if I was locked in, because until the very end of the game, we only flirted. Again, this is a valid type of relationship and all that, except, it didn't feel like it. Worse, the podcast made me believe that relationships would go much, much further this time around, with its ending seemingly implying adoptions being possible.

I'm not sure if that was supposed to happen, or whatever else was going on, but it's also strange to me to have two characters that basically take on the role of Rook and meet every single companion, only for the actual companions to never ever bring up that hey, what a coincidence, we all happened to meet the same guys previously. I know Dragon Age sometimes had connections between characters that seemed unlikely, but come on. Don't make these characters likeable and then throw them to the side.

"We've changed the name to The Veilguard since we want to focus on the characters". Okay, then do it. Flesh them out. I know opinions differ on who is written best and who is written worst, but every single character, including Emmrich and Solas, could do with more of... everything. Make Varric matter. I cried, yes. But I also got fed up by the way he was handled before I got to that point.

Veilguard has so many good aspects... and yet, for every good aspect, there's also something bad. We get factions back - and yet, Lords of Fortune ends up being nothing more than a fighting arena, with Isabela being an afterthought. We finally get to kiss Harding - yet she doesn't acknowledge flirting with the Inquisitor. It makes sense for her not to know about everything that went on - but the way it's written just needs... polishing.

Make Andraste matter. Make people react more to literal elven gods being the threat. Hell, don't pretend like they were "known to be evil" because if that were the case, Dalish wouldn't have their marks on their faces. And don't lie to me.

"I'm not calling you a liar Just don't lie to me" (x)

Also don't @ me about pronouns or anything. Those aren't the issue whatsoever. Yes, I personally feel like Veilguard sometimes feels like "baby's first introduction to non binary people" (I say, being x-gender myself). But if that were the only issue, Veilguard could easily be the best DA game still. Hell, Origins had Shale using it pronouns and no one thought to bash it for it (On that note, why couldn't we make our Inquisitors nonbinary in DAV?). Sure, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to let the game be led by someone who mainly worked on the Sims beforehand, but having some representation is a GOOD thing. Lying to me is not. "No DLC". Because you knew it'll underperform.

I know you had to sell the game somehow. And I maintain that it has a great story. But it's a very, very rough diamond. Surrounded by a lot of dirt that no one bothered to clean up. I yearn for Dreadwolf, in spite of thinking that not all of it would've made me happy in the next Dragon Age entry. Still, I am glad that Veilguard happened at all.

[noname30]

So, here's the thing:

First of all - Gladiator is one of my favourite movies EVER. It's the only film I've seen more than three times at the cinema and it introduced me to the genius of Hans Zimmer so I will love it forever.

Secondly - I've seen many stupid movies in my life but what I saw today was...

I'm not even sure how to describe it. Why? How? Who gave money for this crap? Who convinced all these actors to take part in this abomination?

Ugh. Before I saw it, I guess back then when I first heard that there was a plan to do it, I had many doubts, I could not believe that they could do it again. But... I did not expect telenovela and such a huge insult to the original movie.

First I thought, well, you have to respect Paul Mescal to be brave enough and try to compete with Russell Crowe but, my lord, he was no competition at all. I mean, he wasn't horrible but he was no fit for this role, I'm sorry, that is my opinion.

The two puppets, I mean Imperial Twins could not be more wooden, my teeth were in trouble every time there was a scene with these two.

And the plot. What can I say? They slaughtered original story of Maximus so badly that at one moment I wanted to cry, it wasn't funny anymore. They completely erased his life in Spain, wife and son and made him simple Roman general, who only cared for Rome. Right.

Next there is music. I have nothing against Harry Gregson-Williams. Even liked some of his works. And it was a tough job to do, following Hans Zimmer. But apart from Zimmer's parts there was nothing interesting in the music for this film. Sad.

One more thing - the movie is brutal. I didn't know how brutal it is before the screening but still I was surprised when I saw a couple with two kids that couldn't be older than 10 going for the same movie. I'm not sure if I would want to see it as a kid.

Uff, so that's that.

There was a good thing in the movie - it was Denzel Washington's role. I liked this character (although his ending was ridiculous) and he did great job acting. And Pedro Pascal was all right, even when he did not have much to work with.

I don't know what happened to Ridley Scott but this movie is a mistake. HUGE, MASSIVE MISTAKE.

Or, maybe it was supposed to be a parody of some sort? 🤔

[cellarspider]

6/30 The road to hell

(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

⛬

We return to the movie equivalent of an incompletely-assembled Ikea PAX / BERGSBO wardrobe surrounded by chips of particle board and eight thousand extra screws, Prometheus.

If that analogy made sense to anybody, congratulations! You too are succumbing to The Madness.

Content warnings for terrible archaeology, terrible chemistry, and blunt force trauma to the audience with a piece of exposition.

Increasingly extensive alt-text ramblings include the logistics of securing items in moving craft, linguistics, atmospheric science, colorblind-friendly diagram design, swearing about orology, and cursing the crew for their fictional crimes against archaeology.

Many on Tumblr are familiar with Chekhov’s Gun, a piece of writing advice that calls for economy of storytelling: if you mention a loaded gun in your story, it should go off at some point. Sergius Shchukin phrased it this way: “Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first act that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third act it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." 

So Prometheus takes the rifle down off the wall and smashes you over the head with it, just to make sure you saw it.

CH: “Wow, nice place.” D: “It's actually a separate module with its own self-contained life support. Air, food. Anything Miss Vickers would need to survive a hostile environment.” CH: “Okay, so she lives on a lifeboat.” MV: “Yes. I do. I like to minimize risk.”

Gee. I wonder if Vickers’ lifeboat living quarters will become relevant later.

Then, Chekhov’s rifle hits us with its next flurry of blows.

“Charlie, look. It's a Pauling Med-Pod. They only made a dozen of these.”

Gee. I wonder if the Pauling Med-Pod–-yes of course it’s going to be relevant later

You want a movie where a literal Chekhov’s gun gets fired off, along with Chekov’s crossword puzzle, Chekov’s ketchup packet, Chekhov’s swan, and Chekhov’s farmer’s mum, Chekhov’s everything all weaving back together again in a beautiful symphony of hilarious violence? Watch Hot Fuzz! Do it! Just watch Hot Fuzz! Not Prometheus!

I have said it before and I say it now, this movie is TERRIBLE at providing the audience with plot-relevant information. It hits you like head trauma. It bellows at you like Hans Zimmer has his entire orchestra hiding behind your chair, ready to let loose with an Inception Noise.

Vickers is here to make David mix drinks and to be a Corpo Ice Queen who demands that the team not make any direct contact with any alien life they find while they’re here. She doesn’t think they will, though. She thinks Weyland was delusional. But she’s the one in charge of the company money, so she’s the boss here.

Which begs the question of why she’s here at all, rather than back on Earth. This is actually a plot point, but because it’s not explicitly called out like the LIFEBOAT with the PAULING MED-POD, and everyone else has acted like loons anyway, it does not stand out. It just seems like another dollop of irrational behavior in the unpalatable stew of these characters.

However, Vicker’s demand that no direct contact be made? Very sensible! In fact, this was the point in the movie where I distinctly remember thinking in the theater “wait, they don’t have a first contact protocol already?” 

Like, Vickers doesn’t think that anything’s going to happen, but there’s enough of a chance that she’s giving orders not to engage. The sum total of their formal first contact attempt was yeeting a cultural message packet at the planet while in-transit to see if they got any response. The only one who appears to have been preparing was David–he basically spent the last two years learning comparative linguistics, with the aim of acting as a translator, should they get that far. That’s a sound choice, though its actual implementation is going to leave me incensed later.

But that still doesn’t answer the question of what they’re planning to do. Weyland certainly believed that they were going to meet aliens here. He’s arrogant enough to have demanded this whole project happen, and he didn’t have anything to say about what should be said if they made contact without him? 

This is, possibly, a plot point. But everything else that happens around this in the next five minutes is pure, howling madness.

Because they’re immediately descending into the atmosphere of this alien world.

This is too fast. In Alien, they landed on-planet to check out a possible distress signal, and it was a goddamn pain in their collective ass that they were only doing out of legal responsibility. In Aliens, they were a bunch of hopped-up marines ready to go shoot bugs. 

These are, again, scientists. The team leads are archaeologists! Aerial archaeology is a thriving field today that’s only going to get more useful as technology improves! There is no sense that they’ve done any scans, they don’t even know what the atmosphere is made out of, something we, right now, can already determine about exoplanets. Really! We can! 

We are explicitly told, in fact, that all this is happening within the same day as everyone waking up. The events of this movie appear to happen over two days, maybe three at the max.

And now, Spider yells at cloud. Or rather, the atmosphere.

The movie claims that if you spend two minutes on the surface without an oxygen supply, you’re dead. Why? Atmospheric CO₂ is over 3%.

Now, 3% CO₂ is not a fun time, and you will definitely experience weird physical and cognitive effects. But if you hang out in 3-5% CO₂, you’re going to be pretty okay for anywhere from four hours to over a month. 

What I've heard consistently is speculation that the movie meant carbon monoxide levels at 3%, which, yeah, that'll kill ya. In fact 2-3 breaths of 1.28% CO makes people pass out and die within under three minutes. 0.01% CO is enough to result in headaches and memory problems, as one redditor demonstrated to the internet back in 2015. 

But no. For whatever reason, the movie script says “CO₂”. Consistently.

And now, we get to the bit that had me screeching under my breath in the theater. Most people who saw Prometheus lost their sympathy for the human characters about 5-20 minutes after this point. I was ahead of the curve. I hated these characters before it was cool. Because they see a structure. They see what looks like roads.

Holloway, who I remind you all, claims to be an archaeologist, demands they set the ship down on one of those roads.

Let me tell you all a story. A few years before this movie first blighted me, I signed up for an archaeological field course. The university offering it didn’t have a dig permit lined up for the year I went, but their campus was in an area that had seen continuous human habitation for at least 15,000 years. They scouted out a bit of lawn, we cut the turf, and started digging. 

A week or two into the dig, we realized that the top layers were probably modern infill, dirt that had been trucked in from somewhere and completely jumbled. We started hacking away at it with mattocks to get down to the actual archaeology, which was delayed by a day or two when I struck 1940s asphalt. 

Like, literally struck it with my mattock. It felt like biting down on aluminum foil, but spread out over my hands to my shoulders. The professors rented a small mechanical digger to tear up the old car park, and also some of the plywood on the sides of our trench by accident. I have never seen a bunch of professors so gleeful about being turned loose on heavy machinery.

But finally, we got to what we were there for. A bunch of 13th century houses, and a Roman road.

I remember we made sure there was photo documentation that captured every fucking pebble on the medieval surface of that road, before we dug in. We were encouraged to sketch it, too. We took precise GPS coordinates of where the edge of the road started. We sifted through the road surface as we dug it up, finding dozens of tiny artifacts, because centuries of people had tossed little bits of trash onto the road, lost things out of their pockets and pouches, all the random little events that might happen on a stretch of road two minutes' walk from the parish church. 

I remember one student found the metal tag off of a horse’s bridle, that would’ve been used to identify it with its owner’s mark. Another found an 800 year old silver coin, tarnished on one side and perfectly, shiningly pristine on the other. It was beautiful.

And over and over, we were told: “A road is a find.” A road itself is history. A road is a place shaped by human hands, where humans have lived their lives. We can learn a lot from roads.

And that was what I was whispering at the screen in the theater, increasingly incensed. “A road is a find. A road is a find. A road is a find!!”

I was ready to reach through the screen and strangle that motherfucker Holloway from this moment on. The movie had lost me fully. Not because of this moment in isolation–if the rest of it had been consistently competent, I would have sighed and done my best to hold onto suspension of disbelief. But the drip feed of problem after problem had taken me from open and interested in the movie to actively spiteful in about 30 minutes or less.

So, fine. The movie seemed determined to make me watch a bunch of unprepared morons stumble to their deaths. Usually, this sort of movie doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t find much use for the kind of movie where you’re supposed to feel antipathy toward the main cast, as a free pass to watch them suffer. It’s why I still haven’t seen Alien Covenant. But I had been unexpectedly ambushed by just such a movie, and I was rooting for whatever horrors awaited them.

⛬

(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

⛬

Citations for alt text rambling:

1. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bane-vs-pink-guy--2

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions 

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulonimbus_incus 

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Mons

[darthgloris]

Our Padawan II

Pairing: Anakin Skywalker x fem!Jedi!reader

A/N: inspired by the last fic (and by my undying love of The Lion King), here comes the heartbreaking sequel! This actually started out as a scenario that I replay in my head when I'm bored and now I'm finally writing it down! Enjoy

Warnings: angst, family dynamic, platonic!Ahsoka x reader, heartbreak, sadness, death

Summary: The trio's next mission is on Anakin's home planet, Tatooine. In a moment of free time, Ahsoka is practicing her lightsaber skills on her own, while Y/N and Anakin spend some alone time together. The Padawan's training routine is interrupted by a Sith plot, and when her Masters run to rescue her again, something goes terribly wrong.

Song: Stampede - Hans Zimmer

Our Padawan // Our Padawan III

☆☆☆

"The mission is finally over," Y/N spoke, stretching her arms as she looked out at the sandy Tatooine landscape. "I'm way too tired to go back right now."

"Well, how about we take a break here?" Anakin suggested. "We could leave in a few hours."

"That sounds great," she grinned at her boyfriend, knowing exactly what he planned on doing. "Ahsoka, are you tired?"

"Nope." She quipped. Her energetic nature never seemed to falter.

Anakin chuckled, expecting the answer. "Then go practice. Maybe one day you'll actually beat me with a lightsaber."

"Show-off." Y/N muttered fondly, rolling her eyes with a small smile.

"All right." Ahsoka beamed, walking away.

"Don't wander too far away, Padawan." She called as the young girl turned around to leave.

"Okay. I'll see you guys later." She said and began to walk away.

"Hold on there, Snips. Aren't you forgetting something?" Anakin asked with a soft smile.

"Oh, yeah!" She exclaimed and ran back to hug him. He smiled down at her as she clutched onto his robes, chuckling softly.

Then she rushed over to Y/N, who was already sitting on a picnic towel. Ahsoka, who was now taller than her Master, rested her cheek on her head during the embrace.

"You run along now and go train." She smiled as the girl grabbed her lightsabers and walked away.

Anakin walked over to the towel and plopped down next to her. With a small grunt, he pulled Y/N onto his lap and laughed when she squeaked in surprise. She adjusted her position before pressing a few open-mouthed kisses to his lips. She looked into his big, blue eyes and smiled softly, her mind wandering as she lovingly traced his scar with her delicate fingertips.

"Hey," he said softly, diverting her attention back to his eyes. His sincere, sweet eyes. "She's going to be fine."

"I know. I just... can't seem to get it out of my head. I had never been so scared in my entire life." She replied sincerely.

"I get that. But she promised us she'd be careful. And I promised you a nice trip, so..." he said, pulling his hands off her waist to gesture at himself. "Here's the highlight of the day."

She laughed at his antics before giving him another kiss, this time sinking into him as they both slowly fell on the floor.

...

Ahsoka turned off her lightsabers with a huff, resting them on the ground before sitting down. She wiped the beads of sweat off her forehead and sighed, resting under a tree's shade.

The Padawan frowned when she heard a rumbling coming from the distance.

The ground began to shake and a few pebbles moved, as she looked up to the cliffs, and a gigantic herd of Banthas descended into the gorge at a speed she thought impossible.

She gasped, her body nearly frozen by fear.

Before they could trample her, she stumbled onto her feet and ran away as fast as her legs could carry her, and whimpered in fear whenever they seemed to be close enough to step on her.

She almost tripped over her feet as the sand filled her airways, delaying her fight-or-flight response.

...

Y/N laid in Anakin's arms, her head on his bare chest as she heard the commotion. She sat up and gazed at the gorge in confusion. Anakin soon followed and, with a small huff, tried to see what was going on.

"What's happening down there?" Rex wondered out loud, approaching the couple.

"I have no idea." Anakin said.

R2-D2 beeped repeatedly. There's a stampede in the gorge. Ahsoka's down there.

The Jedi Masters immediately looked at each other in horror.

"Ahsoka!"

...

The girl's heavy breath mixed with whines of worry and small sobs of fear.

Once in a while she looked back to see how close they were, and every time it looked like they were closer and closer to trampling her dead.

She caught sight of a dying tree and immediately leapt on it, clutching onto the thickest branch as if her life depended on it.

Because it did.

...

Y/N never remembered running this fast, ever. Her heart thrummed with adrenaline as Anakin dropped his robes to the ground while he ran.

Rex rushed ahead and took as much care as possible to run through the cliffs without falling, looking out that gorge for the Padawan.

"Rex, help me!"

His ears perked up as he saw the young girl struggling to hold onto the tree, her grip faltering by the second. She tried to wrap her legs around the branch but failed almost every time, only succeeding in slipping off further. "Your Masters are on the way! Hold on!"

"Hurry!" She cried.

The Jedi ran over to a ridge and fearfully inspected the area. Rex came back and pointed to a spot further away, while they craned their necks to try to find her. "There, on that tree!"

Y/N gasped as she saw her Padawan on the verge of falling off. "Hold on, Ahsoka!"

The scream she got in reply was enough. She jumped off the ridge and onto a smaller one. Anakin grasped her arm and gave her a pleading look. She got on her tiptoes and kissed his lips quickly, letting out a small "I love you" before jumping in between the Banthas.

Anakin gasped and leaned over the ridge as much as he could, supervising his girlfriend's moves. "Rex, go back to the ship! Comm Obi-Wan and report the situation!"

"Yes, General Skywalker!"

He looked back to the scene as Y/N ran past the tree, where Ahsoka was hanging desperately, using every bit of strength she had left to not let go. She then turned on her heels and, between the rumbling and the sandy clouds rapidly forming, went back in the direction of a tree.

She tripped on a small rock and dropped to the ground with a groan, then shook her head and looked up as a Bantha broke the tree, sending the girl into the air with a scream. She gasped and jumped to catch her in her arms, holding onto her tightly as she tried to beeline back to safety. She bumped into another Bantha and fell to the ground, dropping Ahsoka.

The Padawan opened her eyes and whimpered as she tried to avoid the running animals, moving and flinching whenever one ran past her. She looked back and caught sight of Y/N and felt something grab her as she closed her eyes, wishing it could all go away.

The Jedi Master avoided the Banthas and with a few hops, grabbed onto the ridge with one arm and set Ahsoka down next to Anakin with the other. She began to sigh with relief, when suddenly she was pulled back into the stampede.

"Y/N!"

"Master!"

Their fearful eyes combed through the herd, looking for their companion amidst the chaos. As after a few second passed and nothing happened, Anakin began to tremble at the thought of having lost her, while Ahsoka's eyes desperately scoured the zone.

A flash of off-white robes sprung out from the clouds of sand and grasped onto the rocky cliffs, now too tired to use the Force, and used whatever small ledge possible to climb up. Anakin felt himself relax almost entirely as he held his Padawan protectively in his arms, relieved that it was almost over.

"Come on, Snips, let's go help her up." He said and hopped on the bigger rocks, Ahsoka following suit.

With a tired grunt, Y/N clutched onto whatever rock she could, now grasping onto the edge of the precipice; her feet began to slip as she looked for any room to lean on and climb up. As a shadow approached, she looked up in relief, hoping to see Anakin.

"Dooku?" She panted, outraged. "This was- mphh - you..."

The Sith didn't answer, just stepped on her fingers, making her groan in pain. "Chancellor Palpatine sends his regards." He kicked her hands off the edge.

She screamed out as she fell through thin air.

"NO!"

[bereft-of-frogs]

disorganized best (and worst) books/films/shows of 2024

I finished 68 books, watched 105 films and 35 TV shows, and finished 3 games.

Honestly, the math might be off because it turns out this was a terrible idea. At the start of the year I was like 'oh it will be fun to do one big list!' It was not fun to do one big list. It was really hard to keep count. I already have a plan for next year, it's going to be much more organized. If you can decipher these lists feel free to ask me for a review about any entry on the list.

This isn't really going to be a top 5 or 10 or anything because I felt like it would be more fun just to kind of highlight my favorites (and least favorites) rather than forcing myself to pick a specific number. Fits the theme of disorganization like the lists above.

Onwards!

I had a really good TV year, book and film were a little more meh, not a lot is sticking out in the same way the best TV shows are:

SILO!!! (AppleTV). I'll be real honest, I started watching this because post-Dune Part II, I had a crush on Rebecca Ferguson. It had NO BUSINESS being this good for a show I was exclusively watching disrespectfully for Rebecca Ferguson wearing tank tops. That doesn't usually work out this well for me. But it is so good. There are flaws but also no there aren't, because it's made so earnestly that some of the shakier acting performances and awkward dialogue moments just don't matter to me. It's almost like the shows I used to watch on SyFy Fridays except with AppleTV money and production values. Which makes it so fun.

Severance (AppleTV). This is where I really knew I was in trouble with AppleTV. I was not going to be cancelling that free trial. This show is SO good and I cannot wait for the new season in a couple weeks.

AppleTV honestly kind of killed it this year, I also really enjoyed Dark Matter and Constellation, which both meet my criteria for multiverse shows, aka 'could these be branches of The OA's multiverse tree'. I've also been really enjoying Shrinking, even though it's not my usual genre. I'm so mad I signed up for a free trial and then got so completely hooked on the quality of their shows that I've continued to subscribe long after the trial ended. Outrageous. How dare they be making such excellent, high quality television. I'm appalled.

Giri/Haji (Netflix). It turns out that the show that keeps appearing on 'hidden gems of streaming' is good actually. WHO KNEW? The excellent characters and performances really elevated this gang war crime drama.

Scavenger's Reign (Originally HBO, but I watched it on Netflix). This show was gorgeous and so creative. I'm so sad they're not getting a second season. I cried twice. It was short but it made an impact.

Special Film Category: Films that Actually Scared Me.

Since I mainly watch horror, I significant marker of quality for me is if I actually get scared watching a movie and two movies genuinely freaked me out this year: Oddity (2024) and Pyewacket (2017). For both, there were moments where I was like 'oh no I don't want to go to bed alone tonight'. Normally I love living alone. Regretted it only after these movies. The concept of the murder in Oddity was enough to freak me out but even outside of the inciting incident, it kept delivering with the deeply unsettling scenes. Pyewacket wasn't perfect, I think Adam MacDonald is the kind of filmmaker who builds a whole film based off one scene he has in his mind and the rest of film isn't quite as strong as that one scene. But that scene is so disturbing and I haven't stopped thinking about it. (Same with his Backcountry (2017), it was fairly weak except for this ONE scene that I'll never get out of my head.)

Also Dune Part II was pretty great, super glad I saw it on IMAX and I'm pretty sure it's like half the reason Hans Zimmer ended up on my Spotify top 5 this year. (Interstellar was the other half, SO glad I finally after a decade got to see it on IMAX!)

For books, I really enjoyed The Fishermen by John Langan. It's a great meditation on death, AND had a dark ocean, which you know I love.

Silver In the Wood by Emily Tesh's only crime was how short it was! I do still have to pick up the sequel, but I was definitely down for a full length novel of this.

This was the year I also discovered I CAN listen to audiobooks, which is part of why my count is higher than ever. I'm not done with this but I've been listening to Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey and really liking it. I'm hoping to read the whole of that series in 2025.

Also, of course, while the quality of the individual books varied, my marathon of the Star Wars High Republic series was probably the most fun I've had with a series in years. Looking forward to the last couple books in 2025, though I'm sad to see it end.

worst of the year + notable DNFs under the cut so you don't have to scroll past my griping if you want to stay positive on this New Year's Dat. I'll reveal the list here in case I am saying mean things about your fave and you don't want to click the readmore: The Acolyte, Ronin by Emma Mieko Canton, City of Brass by SA Chakraborty, Aurora by David Koepp, Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

The Acolyte (Disney+). Ok first off, I don't want to downplay that the experience of watching The Acolyte was one of my top of the year. Watching and theorizing week-to-week, live reaction posting, my High Republic book marathon leading up to it, those parts were SO fun. However. The longer I think about this show, the more I just cannot ignore how bad the structural issues are. This is even setting aside my personal issues with the show -- mainly the second-half pivot toward the enemies-to-lovers romance that really didn't land for me, and the treatment of Vernestra's character, and some of the things Headland said in interviews. The two full flashback episodes with no framing devices or any content in the present is just...bad television structure. I mean the first one just dumped on us was bad enough, but the second one where the episode before looked like it was setting up a framing for the flashback, only for the finale to be like 'never mind, that's not what was happening at all', was absurd. I dream of living in the branch of the multiverse where this is properly edited. Imagine how good it could have been, if the flashbacks were properly cut into the primary story, and we had more development of all the characters? Every time I watched something this year with extensive flashbacks (The Head, Dune: Prophecy, Black Doves, Giri/Haji) I thought 'alas, what if??' I think what happened though is Headland came up with the Rashomon comparison early and didn't change when the story would have been better served by not doing the conflicting perspective Rashomon thing, and using a more normal flashback structure.

There were good things! The fight choreography was truly excellent, episode 5 was a standout, and it didn't deserve the hate it got from toxic fans, but ultimately it had more downsides for me than up and I can't say I was particularly disappointed when it wasn't renewed. Though even that wasn't really deserved because it's FAR from the only Disney+ show to have really deep structural issues. Most of their series actually just aren't very good television. This isn't even the first time I had a great experience watching something and was engaged enough to write fic for it, only to in hindsight realize how flawed it was. (Loki came first, then Obi-Wan Kenobi, though the fic inspired by The Acolyte is shaping up to be the longest -- the others really only got short oneshots, I'm looking at a beast with this fic, 40k and counting!) And unless Disney+ makes some major changes in the TV production wing...I doubt it will be the last.

Ronin by Emma Mieko Canton (DNF). Technically, I would say this book isn't bad and why I labeled this section 'notable DNFs' as well. I think it's a good example of the way that concepts work really well in some formats, and don't translate well to others. I LOVE Visions, and I love "The Duel", specifically because the studios aren't bound by Star Wars canon. The open creativity of that series is a feature, not a bug. But I didn't find it translated well to the longer format of the book. I would follow the plot for a while and then get absolutely thrown by worldbuilding or backstory I couldn't follow. I think it needed more exposition. It was kind of odd that it was written like any other licensed book that didn't need exposition, but it was so different from standard canon it was hard to follow and I ended up giving up.

City of Brass by SA Chakraborty. I tried, babes, I tried. Everything said to make it to 50% and it would get better but I just could not do it. Nahri was so deeply annoying and I wasn't engaged enough in the rest of the plot to keep going. If she 'realized' one more thing I was going to lose my entire mind. I'm sorry.

Aurora by David Koepp. This is another where, like Ronin, it's not technically bad. I just ended up getting kind of pissed off by the end. It felt like it was trying to be Station Eleven but was too cynical. And maybe just now because my parents live in an area that gets a lot of power outages, I was kind of pissed that he reduced the accomplishment of getting the power grid working again to one line towards the end. I would have been way more interested to hear about that collective effort over the 'the suburbs make a utopian commune while all those scary urban people immediately descended into chaos' thing.

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie. I feel so bad for saying this, but Craig DiLouie just wasn't intellectual enough to achieve what he was aiming for in this. Or at least he didn't put enough time or effort in to developing th? It couldn't counteract the truly stupid moments like the time when a character says he's going to shoot a ghost. But hey, it did lead to a reread of House of Leaves and further appreciation for one of my favorite underrated found footage films, As Above So Below. Because that was the crux of my problem with this book, that it wasn't well thought out enough to be House of Leaves and it didn't have enough heart to be As Above So Below.

I don't know why almost all of my least favorites this year were books, I guess I just have a lot of opinions on books. I also tend to DNF books less, so I end up having more negative thoughts about books, whereas with TV or film if I don't like it I just don't finish it or don't pay attention.

Congratulations for getting to the end. Again, feel free to ask thoughts about anything else on the list if you want (and can read it). I promise it will be more organized next year. Happy New Year! What were your favorite/least favorite things this year?

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

Fuck it, PaulChani playlist but it's updated and improved

Work Song - Hozier

And I was burning up a fever/Didn't care much how long I lived/But I swear I thought I dreamed her/She never asked me once about the wrong I did

Whatever May Come - Ramin Djawadi (from House of the Dragon)

A Time of Quiet Between the Storms - Hans ZImmer (from Dune Part 2)

Silhouettes - Of Monsters and Men

There's nothing that I'd take back/But it's hard to say there's nothing I regret No matter where I sleep/You are haunting me

Dreams - Fleetwood Mac

Now here I go again, I see the crystal vision/I keep my visions to myself/But it's only me who wants to wrap around your dreams and/Have you any dreams you'd like to sell, dreams of loneliness/Like a heartbeat, drives you mad/In the stillness of remembering what you had

Put Your Money on Me - Arcade Fire

All my presents are broken before they're open/And the promises, the second they're spoken/I know I've been different/My skin keeps shedding/My mother was crying on the day of our wedding

Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush

You don't wanna hurt me/But see how deep the bullet lies/ Unaware I'm tearing you asunder/There is thunder in our hearts/Is there so much hate for the ones we love?/Tell me we both matter, don't we?

White Blank Page - Mumford & Sons

Can you lie next to her/And give her your heart, your heart as well as your body?/And can you lie next to her/And confess your love, your love as well as your folly? Oh tell me now where was my fault, in loving you with my whole heart?

No Light, No Light - Florence & the Machine

And in the crowd I was crying out/and in your place there were a thousand other faces/I was disappearing in plain sight/Heaven help me, I need to make it right Would you leave me if I told you what I've done?/And would you leave me if I told you what I've become?/'Cause it's so easy to sing it to a crowd/But it's so hard my love, to say it to you out loud

History of Man - Maisie Peters

You didn't even falter/Didn't look back once, did you?/So Samson blamed Delilah, but given half the chance/I would've made him weaker too I've seen it, in the poems and in the sands/I've pleaded with the powers and their plans/I tried to rewrite it but I can't/it's the history, the history of man

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - Taylor Swift

Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?/Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?/Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy?/In fifty years will all this be declassified?/And you'll confess why you did it/And I'll say 'good riddance'

Elastic Heart - Sia

And I might've thought that we were one/Wanted to fight this war without weapons/And I wanted it, I wanted it bad/But there were so many red flags Now another one bites the dust/It's hard to lose a chosen one

Can't Catch Me Now - Olivia Rodrigo

There's snow falling over the city/You thought that it would wash away/The bitter taste of my fury/And all of the messes you made

No Children - The Mountain Goats

And I hope when you think of me years down the line/You can't find one good thing to say/And I hope that if I'd found the strength to walk out/You'd stay the hell out of my way

Landfill - Daughter

Throw me in the water/Don't think about the splash I will create/Leave me at the altar/Knowing all the things you just escaped Well this is torturous/Electricity between both of us/And this is dangerous/'Cause I want you so much/But I hate your guts

The Night We Met - Lord Huron

And then I can tell myself/What the hell I'm supposed to do/And then I can tell myself/Not to ride along with you I had all and then most of you/Some and now none of you/Take me back to the night we met

Send My Love (To Your New Lover) - Adele

I was too strong/You were trembling/You couldn't handle the hot heat rising/I was running/You were walking/You couldn't keep up, you were falling down Send my love to your new lover/Treat her better/We've gotta let go of all of our ghosts/We both know we ain't kids no more

For No One - The Beatles

Your day breaks/Your mind aches/There will be times when all the things she said will fill your head/You won't forget her/And in her eyes you see nothing/No sign of love behind the tears, cried for no one

The Language of Girls - Ramin Djawadi (from House of the Dragon)

Cosmic Love - Florence & the Machine

A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes/I screamed aloud as it tore through them/And now it's left me blind/The stars, the moon/They have all been blown out/You've left me in the dark

The Scientist - Coldplay

I was just guessing at numbers and figures/Pulling the puzzles apart/Questions of science, science and progress/Did not speak as loud as my heart/Oh tell me you love me, come back and haunt me Nobody said it was easy/it's such a shame for us to part/Nobody said it was easy/No one ever said it would be this hard

Shrike - Hozier

And I'd no idea on what ground I was founded/All of that goodness is going with you now/Then when I met you, my virtues uncounted/All of my goodness is going with you now Dragging along, following your form/Hung like the pelt of some prey you had worn/Remember me love, when I'm reborn/As the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn

[gloriousunderstanding]

You reblogged the song asks, nice! How about numbers 5, 9, 23?

Answering some [Music Asks]! When choosing songs, I tried to keep in mind two factors: Firstly, since I've gone on about a lot of my favorite songs on the TGG server, I wanted to pick fresh songs I hadn't referenced. And secondly, since I'm linking from YouTube, I wanted songs where I could find a video with significant visual elements, not just the song and/or lyrics. So with that in mind, here we go!

5) A song that needs to be played LOUD

I'd like to present Paula Abdul's 1990 performance of The Way That You Love Me from the American Music Awards. The video I'm linking isn't the most high-fidelity version of the audio, but Paula's performance is everything. This song is bold and assertive and meant to be LOUD, especially when accompanied with the glorious choreography.

9) A Song that makes you happy

So when I was little, we had to make the 45 minute car trip to Miami Children's Hospital pretty often because that's where my specialists were, and my dad made sure to fill the trip with all of my favorite music. I got most of my taste from him; he loved dance, disco, pop, and all the club versions of popular songs. So the entire ride there and back, he'd blast cassette tapes with all my faves. (It was lot of Madonna, unsurprisingly; she had a house in Miami at the time, and he would always point out to me when we passed her neighborhood.) The song I'm linking was not just one of my favorites, but it's been largely forgotten here in the States and it also has a pretty great music video. It's Use It Up and Wear It Out by British radio personality duo Pat & Mick. (Also, honorable mention to the runner up here, the 9 minute club mix of Fun Fun's Baila Bolero.)

23) A song that you think everybody should listen to

This was really, really hard! Like, I'm in charge of picking a song the whole world needs to hear? That's A Lot. So I narrowed it down to three, each of them very different, so here they are:

First off, Ubi Caritas as performed by the BYU Singers. I developed a love of choral music in college when I was studying medieval and renaissance history, and I think this is the loveliest rendition of this particular song I've come across. (Side note: BYU puts out some really great stuff, and they're responsible for literally the only patriotic song that can make me emotional.)

Next is Rock the Boat from Aaliyah. This was her last single before she passed, and even though it was super popular at the time, I feel like it's been largely forgotten. It was a revelation to me when it came out in 2001, when I was 16, and my horizons were rapidly expanding but I was also mired in some serious religious bs. The song is about a woman explicitly (for the time) choreographing a sexual encounter with her lover. The music is sensual, the lyrics are sensual, and the video is simply gorgeous women dancing in a beautiful location, but more for themselves rather than for some male gaze? And it's a little eerie, too, because Aaliyah (and the other 7 passengers) died in a plane crash on the way back from filming this video in the Bahamas. Such talent, and so tragic a loss. She was only like 22.

Last but not least, a shout out to my favorite ever song from a movie soundtrack. Say what you will about Da Vinci Code (I know it's about as accurate as the actual gospels themselves 😉 ), but I love a good Adventurous Treasure Hunt. The soundtrack was composed by Hans Zimmer, and Chevaliers De Sangreal is just a gorgeous piece of music. It FEELS like the joy of discovery, like that elation that comes from Figuring Something Out. I remember standing in the shower one day, when I was 17, and finally having the thought, "Oh... none of this is real, and I'm free." This song feels like that.

Thank you for these asks, and it was a pleasure to share something so intimate as music.

[pascaloverx]

Hit The Road

Chapter Ten

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Summary: You are a hunter of supernatural beings who is forced to experience a new reality: being a vampire. The only thing stronger than your thirst for blood is your thirst for revenge.

Author's note: the characters mentioned here were created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name by author L. J. Smith. They don't belong to me. That said, this fanfic will be short. This fanfic may address scenes of violence, inappropriate language and adult content. Minors should not interact with this story. Also some information here is not in the order of the series or the same way it happened in the tv series. I'm changing some things to fit the fanfic story. Hope you like it!

You decided to provoke memories, whether good or bad. Depending on yourself is not working. Whatever happened to your brain, you're having no memories, only suggestive nightmares. In the last nightmare, you were trying to kill Damon and Stefan stopped you, causing his death. In the previous one, you tried to kill Stefan and he turned you into a vampire. There was a nightmare that you even dreamed about your old hunting clan, where they banished you and threatened to kill you and anyone else that is covering up vampires or werewolves. You can no longer trust yourself, just like you can't ask anyone else what happened. So you decided to look for the cabin of your visions. 

"You shouldn't be here." You hear a female voice speaking as soon as you arrive at the place where the cabin is. Cabin that you used to have dates with the Salvatore's brothers. 

"And who are you?" You ask, feeling like you've seen that face before. The witch who helped you erase your memory.

"I'm glad you actually forgot what you needed but I think you're making serious mistakes." The witch says with a certain tone of certainty, as if warning you of your own good.

"I need to know what happened to me. Nothing else matters beyond that." You don't even know exactly what you're saying but you know you want to know who it is.

"That's what you think. Have you ever stopped to think that leaving this city and forgetting everyone was your decision?" She's absolutely right. You caused this to yourself.

"In that case, I should know more about myself. I can't go through life ignoring part of my history." You respond almost breathlessly, there's something desperate about having no idea who you truly are.

"I told you this would happen, you thought forgetting Damon and Stefan would be enough. But it wasn't. I'll tell you enough so you can decide if you really want to remember everything." The witch speaks in an enigmatic way, giving a mysterious tone to this conversation.

"I accept the consequences of knowing the truth, you can tell me." You try to appear confident but inside you are nervous.

"Your memory needed to be erased because the hunters were hunting you and the Salvatore's like crazy. They used a type of spell that tracks feelings and memories." The witch says and something inside you start to fit in.

"Were you the one who erased Stefan's and my memories?" You asked wanting to fill this gap.

"Yes, Stefan by accident; he didn't want you to erase his memory. Like the good "hero" he tried to stop it and ended up falling under the spell." No wonder he was against this joke. Suddenly his heart seems to tighten. 

"Just tell me one thing, who killed me?" You ask, hopeful that you will finally be able to put an end to this doubt.

"I think deep down you know the answer. But I understand that your mind doesn't let you see things clearly. The spell to track your feelings and memories started to drive you crazy.  Your sense of reality was ending. You almost killed Damon. And..." The witch seems to be avoiding getting to the main point.

"Stefan killed me to stop me. It makes sense." You speak as if you finally understand everything.

"He did it with great pain in his heart. You two no longer had any memory of what you felt for each other. I'm sorry for what happened." Bonnie says softly and soon after you fell to the ground. You start to remember Bonnie, the witch in front of you who helped you; and suddenly you remember everything. Unconsciously and with a bloody nose, trembling. You feel like you're dying. But in fact, you are being reborn. Your memory is with you again. What you didn't realize is that your old clan is also getting closer.

[lostfirefly]

Life Must Have It's Mysteries (Ch.1)

Nobody asked me, but the thought of sending my beloved couple on a new journey didn't let me go. Welcome to a new adventure! No idea how many chapters there will be :)

English is not my native language, errors may occur. As always, feel free to share your thoughts :) Masterlist is here.

Description: Catherine returns to Cairo after a short trip to her sister. One evening she had dinner with her childhood friend, her sister, and her boyfriend, who told her about the legend of a blue diamond hidden in the Egyptian pyramids..

Warnings: Fun, fluff.

Words: 2195

Buggy x OC from my “You’ve Got the Same Dream as Me” series.

Taglist: @gingernut1314, @operationroots (if you want to be added on the list, feel free to lmk!)

The title is taken from "Life Must Have It's Mysteries" by Hans Zimmer (OST Inferno).

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Ladies and gentlemen, the Loguetown-Cairo flight has landed at the international airport of Cairo. Thank you for choosing our airlines. 

Catherine quickly got up from her seat, picked up her bag and was about to run out the plane, but an old lady in front of her was extremely slow in getting ready to leave. 

"Excuse me, mam, maybe I can help you?" Catherine gently tapped the woman's back with her finger.

"No thank you, sweetheart, I'm used to doing everything myself." In a polite but slightly husky voice the woman replied. 

"I just really need to go. Let me help you!" She grabbed the woman's bag.

"I said I'll do it myself!"

"Fuck!" Catherine saw that the front row of passengers had already gotten off.

“Alright!” She slung her bag over her shoulder, climbed over the seat that was next to the woman and quickly rushed to the exit. “Sorry-y-y-y!”

Catherine tried to walk through the airport pavilion calmly but she was having trouble doing it. She also tried to hide her happy face and not to push everyone away with her hands. 

"God, why are you all walking so slowly!!" She muttered.

The door to the arrival hall opened and after that Catherine didn’t remember anything else. She only remembered how she threw her bag on the floor and rushed towards her beloved clown. Waving her arms happily above her head, squealing “my Buggy Be-e-a-ar”, with a big smile on her face, she jumped on him and hugged him with her legs and arms.

"Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" She pecked him on the lips several times.

"Cotton candy, you're gonna suffocate me." Buggy wrapped his hands around her waist. 

"I don't care!" Smack. Smack. Smack. “I was gone for four whole days!” Smack. Smack. Smack. “I won't go anywhere without you again.” Smack. Smack. Smack.

“I hope you missed it too. Because you're all covered with my lipstick again.” He started laughing. 

“Shit!” Catherine wiped her lips with her palm. “It's time for me to get used to this.”

She hugged him tightly, kissed his temple three times and looked into his eyes. "My silly clown..." 

"I'm listening, my Cathie-pie." 

"Take me home, please."

While they were driving home, Catherine could not calm down. Actively gesturing she told him the latest news, asked how Buggy lived without her, whether he missed her, how his circus was and what was new in Cairo.

"So what happened with your sister?" Buggy asked as he carried Catherine's bag home.

“It turned out that she just had a fight with Ethan. Honestly, I thought there was some kind of tragedy when she called me in tears. But they made up pretty quickly, so my trip to her turned out to be almost pointless.” 

Catherine walked up to Buggy and hugged him tightly. "I missed you so much, my Buggy Bear."

“No. I can't. It's still a terrible terrible nickname, my Cathie-pie.” He hugged her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. 

Catherine heard him barely say, "I missed you too."

"I still don't care. I’m not gonna change it.” Catherine pecked him in his lips and pulled his cheeks. “By the way, we spoke about you too. Everyone was curious about our relationship. But don’t be afraid, I said only good things. And my sister and I also had a girl talk about you.”

“I’m flattered by such a high assessment of my person.” He took and kissed her hand, and led Catherine into the living room.

“Jackass. Let me quickly take a shower and then I’ll cook us something to eat. You’re probably hungry.”

"Actually, I bought us Chinese food and your favorite wine."

“Wow! I’m impressed, Buggy the Clown! You're growing! You’re learning to take care of yourself.” She giggled and pressed her head against his chest. 

“Oh, screw you! I lived somehow before you. But I have to admit, you take care of me much better, you know.” 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. “I have no doubt about that. You would probably be dead without me. At least now you've learned how to wash your socks.” 

“Little shit.” 

“Did I tell you that you are my best and I love you so so much?”

"Nope. Hear it for the first time."

Catherine quickly showered and returned to the living room. Chilled wine and packages of Chinese food were already waiting for her on the table. 

“God! It's so great to be back home.” She looked at Buggy. “Why are you smiling?”

"I really missed your ass, but I also really missed your funny pajama pants. Dinosaurs? Seriously?" He pointed at her new pants.

"Oh, shut up! I liked them. By the way, I brought you a gift." 

“The gift? For me?" 

"Of course! Why are you so surprised? I couldn't leave my Buggy Bear without the gift." She ran to the bedroom and returned with some sheets, a bottle and a box in her hands. "The best whiskey from Loguetown and a box of chocolates for my sweet tooth." She gave him a few pecks on the lips and plopped down on the sofa. 

"Wow! Thanks, my cotton candy!” He kissed her cheek. “I've never gotten the present before..”

"What? This is terrible!" She knelt on the couch and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, now you have me, lucky bastard."

“What's that in your hands?" He pointed at the sheets of paper as he opened a bottle of whiskey.

“Oh, this... Yes, it’s nonsense. Or maybe it’s not nonsense. Well, we went to dinner with my sister, Ethan and one of my childhood friends. We met him suddenly.” She glanced at Buggy and noticed how his face changed.

"Friend? Male? Did you go out.. with.. him...?"

"What do you mean? A date? Yes, I did."

"Okay..." Buggy tried to appear as calm as possible.

“Once we went to an ice cream cafe and he also brought me dandelions.”

She run her hand through Buggy's hair.

"Okay..."

"Someone is jealo-o-ous!" She kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm not jealous!"

"Before you run to strangle this poor guy, I can tell you that when he asked me out we were seven years old. So, back to the sheets. My sister and I talked about our fun trip. And while we were talking that friend and Ethan mentioned a myth or rumor.. I don't actually know.. about some kind of treasure, hidden somewhere in the Egyptian pyramids. I was interested in this and the next day I went to my old job in the library and rummaged a little in the archives. I made copies but there is no direct evidence in them that anything exists at all. And.. Why are you smiling again, clown? "

“I just can’t believe it. My little Cathie-pie is rummaging through the archives and looking for information about treasures. You really liked our previous adventure, right? Admit it!”

"Go fuck yourself, asshole. I'm not telling you anything else." Catherine took the wine and turned away. 

"Come on! Come here, baby. Tell me more." Buggy put his arm around her shoulders and cuddled closer. 

"I won't, you're mocking me." 

"I'm not mocking you. I find it very sexy, by the way.” He kissed her temple. 

“I hate you. So.. I studied the copies all the way on the plane, but I can’t definitely confirm whether there’s something in these places or not.” She fiddled with the sheets of paper in her hands and put them aside on the couch. "I think maybe I'll go to the local library tomorrow. Just for fun."

"You know, I know another way to have fun and you don't have to wait until tomorrow!" Buggy stood up from the couch, grabbed Catherine in his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

“What are you doing?! Let me go!!” She slapped his hands.

“Baby, I’m going to do what I haven’t done with you for four whole days. I hope you survive until the morning.” He laughed like a maniac.

"Damn you and your chop chop abilities!"

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"You're going to make me lose the ability to walk someday, fucking clown." Catherine woke up in the morning and put her head on his chest. She took one of the strands of his hair and began to twirl it around her finger. “Do me a favor, send your hand for your t-shirt, because I can't get out from under the blanket naked."

"Who told you that? I'll be glad to see you like this." Buggy began to move his hands down to her buttocks.

"Go to hell, honestly! First, I have manners! Second, stop grabbing my ass, Buggy!” Catherine looked at her hands and shoulders. “Fuck, I need to take a shower. Because someone left red lipstick marks all over my body and even... God, I can’t even talk about it. You've completely ruined me.” 

“You didn’t complain throughout the night, cotton candy. And especially those three times when my tongue was between your..” Buggy ran his hand in circles on her back. 

“Ts!” She covered his mouth with her hand and glanced at him with squinted eyes.  

“That was re-e-a-ally good, right?” He muttered into her palm and winked.

“I hate you!”

Catherine barely fought off Buggy, who seemed to want to give her another hot round, grabbed his t-shirt and ran into the bathroom. 

After breakfast she changed into jeans and a t-shirt, grabbed her crossbody bag, accompanied Buggy to the circus, kissed him on his lips and went to the library.

Catherine sat in the library for half a day, sorting through old dusty books and papers. She asked the library employee what other materials she could read. The gray-haired woman sincerely did not understand why Catherine was interested in this story. She mentioned that she had heard something, but she assured her that it was just a myth that was invented for fools who were simply thirsty for adventure.

"Why do you need this, dear girl?" The woman asked her while Catherine was copying some notes. "You don't look like the kind of person who leaves everything behind to go somewhere far away to find something."

Catherine didn't know how not to laugh, remembering how she once left everything behind to go in search of her sister and how that search ended.

"I just love reading books. Myths, legends. All this is terribly fascinating." Catherine shrugged and smiled.

“You should get married, not read books!” The woman rasped in her voice.

"Thanks for your advice, I'll definitely use it!"

Catherine put the papers in her bag and went home. On the way, she stopped at a couple of bakeries, muttering under her breath that "it will be better if Buggy fill his mouth with donuts and fucking Cinnabons. Otherwise I'm done."

She returned home when no one was there yet. Catherine was drinking coffee when she heard the keys jingle in the keyhole.

She jumped up and ran to the front door.

"Finally, you're home! I went to the library and..."

Buggy shut Catherine up with a kiss. "First of all, hi!"

"Hi!" She kissed him on the nose and dragged him into the living room. "So, I went to the library..."

"Baby, give it back."

Catherine heard Buggy's voice behind her.

"Give.. what?" She looked at him blankly.

He pointed his finger at her hand. Catherine looked down and started laughing. She held his hand in hers.

"Damn, sorry! Take it." 

“Thank God you didn’t pull me for something else.” He laughed loudly and pointed at his pants.

"Oh my god! You're disgusting!"

Catherine led Buggy into the living room and quickly ran to the kitchen to grab whiskey, dinner and donuts.

“Anyway, I dug through the papers at the library here and found out that all this history I've been told about and written about in some of the books I looked at today lead back to the story of some blue diamond." She walked from side to side, actively gesticulating. 

Buggy moved his head after Catherine.

“It doesn’t give you superpowers, of course. But we can get good money for it. But there’s no map. Everywhere it’s indicated that it’s somewhere in a pyramid. But there are a thousand pyramids in Egypt. It would take us our whole lives to double-check them all." She sat down on the floor, crossing her legs.

“Theoretically, I know one person who can tell us the way. Or maybe even knows where we can get the map.” Buggy said, taking a sip of his whiskey and leaning back on the couch.

“Is this your gray-haired man from the desert?” She mumbled, placing her hands on her leg and her chin on her palms. "Wait. What do you mean “tell”? And what do you mean “us”?" She bulged her eyes at him.

"Well, let's try!" Buggy shrugged.

"Are you serious?" 

"Yeah. Why not?” He leaned towards Catherine while sitting on the couch.

"Just you and me?" Catherine pointed at them both.

"Just you and me."

"This means…?"

"This means, baby, that we are going to look for the blue diamond!"