#once upon a festive giving 2017

[day6source]

DAY6: Retelling the paradox

DAY6 shows what makes them special on their new album Fourever by Kim Doheon

“I’m so moved by the stage, I won’t be alone any longer / Among all of the possibilities, thank you for choosing me.” The first song on DAY6’s Fourever, “Welcome to the Show,” which marks the band’s return to full strength after taking three years off for its members to complete their military service, is an anticipatory start. Along with Young K's lyrics, which directly express the overwhelming emotions of the members who did not give up music during the long hiatus as “moved,” the song opens with a synth riff that signals a new beginning for the band, followed by a bright guitar performance with a thumping bass drum. What comes next is interesting. “The future that you’re welcoming with me might be risky. But there might also be tear-filled emotions.” After a thank you reminiscent of an idol’s fan song, Sungjin warns of an uncertain future. Wonpil then creates a twist by saying, “Even so, if you won’t let go of my hand,” and their show begins in earnest. As all members sing the main melody heard at the start, Young K affirms once more in a firm voice. “I promise you this much. I’m going to give my all.” A warm hello from the returning band moves from anxiety and chaos to great joy, becoming a beautiful anthem of promise. Before the first verse of “Welcome to the Show” is over, we can glimpse DAY6’s path traversed, their identity, and a vivid musical surface that hints at the future they will embark upon.

DAY6 is all about paradoxes. They started out by internalizing the clash of values that come with being an idol band from a powerhouse agency. Despite unabated critical views toward the idol bands in the early 2010s, their agency chose to believe in the power of paradox instead of contradiction. To overcome the negative perception, the members, who had never held an instrument before, practiced for more than 14 hours a day, spent more than 100 hours a week performing together, and set a goal of debuting with their own music. Prior to their debut, the band performed small-scale busking gigs and rock festival stages, starting with Live Club Day on July 31, 2015, to get a feel for a real-life experience. Their debut showcase was held at the West Bridge Live Hall in Hongdae area, and they followed a real indie band’s schedule, announcing performance venues on Instagram, performing on the street, and communicating with fans instead of performing for televised music shows. Since 2017, the group started improving self-sustainability by releasing two self-written songs each month with the “Every DAY6 Project,” a steady stream of creative output. Naturally, the attention given to the new band was not as widespread, but through hard work, DAY6 has been able to chart a path to the seemingly incompatible idol band ideal. But the real key is that, in the process, DAY6 has established their own creative perspective and narrative delivery. Paradoxical situations and the process of resolving them are at the center of DAY6’s musical world. They capture universal moments in everyday life from a different perspective. Their debut song “Congratulations” marks the beginning of what is often called “running while crying,” an expression that refers to the songs with lyrics that go against the feel-good beat of the song itself. The person congratulating you for being so great is an ex-lover who coldly abandoned you. “You Were Beautiful,” an iconic staple of DAY6’s discography, also looks back on the good times with a past lover, but there is a dark sense of nihilism that it’s all over. The same goes for “I Smile” from their first studio album, Sunrise. The vow to be invariably cheerful is actually an expression of perseverance to clench your fists and bite your lip to avoid ruining an awkward reunion with a long-lost lover. “I Like You” goes, “The days that go as I wish, there weren’t many.” In “Time of Our Life,” which has become a generational anthem to youth, DAY6 confesses, “I’ll be honest with you. It wasn’t that easy for this moment to come,” in contrast to the bright melody. We can understand why Sungjin chose to share their uncertainty in “Welcome to the Show.” And nowhere is this formula more evident than in “Happy,” the second song on Fourever. DAY6 desperately cries out for happiness in a bleak reality where “Algorithms only apply to successful people” and “I'm sinking. I think I'm going to cry.”

Crises and climaxes are particularly prominent in the compositional stages of DAY6. In “Zombie,” where they are at their most precarious, their nihilism is taken to extremes. That’s why it’s all the more poignant and precious when they finally get their happy ending. They repeatedly question their beliefs about happiness and love, search for answers, and then defend those answers with unwavering faith. It’s a deep sincerity that only those who have fought to achieve and protect something can bear. It’s a journey that starts in “Hurt Road,” where they sing, “You knew and I knew that this is not an easy road. It’s not that you and I didn’t know that not many flowers bloom on this road,” and ends with, “But I can push through as long as I have your love,” in “You Make Me.” “Time of Our Life” says, “I waited so long for this day to come,” and encourages us to write together “a page of our beautiful youth.” “Sweet Chaos” sings of a good love that overcomes a chaotic disorder. This also becomes the case when we encounter the upbeat synth-pop “The Power of Love” as the next song for “Happy” in this album. DAY6’s music matured as their narrative grew stronger. While in the early days, DAY6 centered on Korean indie soft rock and embraced the trendy pop and rock music of the time, they continued to make musical strides by maintaining the appeal of straightforward rock music, adding electronic sounds, and expanding into various genres such as sentimental ballad and jazz. The expansion started with “days gone by,” which took on a 1980s new wave vibe and picked up steam with The Book of Us series, yielding rich musical results like “EMERGENCY,” “365246,” “Day and Night,” and “Love Me Or Leave Me.” The Book of US : Negentropy - Chaos swallowed up in love, their last album as a complete group before enlisting in the military featured a romantic blue-eyed soul song “Only” and an honest love song, “so let’s love,” while maintaining the electronic sound texture throughout. The project that took on a stronger pop feel was DAY6 (Even of Day), a trio sub-unit of DAY6 absent of Sungjin’s guitar and vocals. Wonpil’s keyboard-heavy production brought textures reminiscent of early 2010s bands like WALK THE MOON and Neon Trees, while Young K refined his talents as a singer-songwriter.

With all four members participating in vocals since their debut, they have now found the optimal combination that conveys different sentiments within a single song using their voices. Young K, who writes lyrics, is the vocalist who can most empower DAY6’s music. The range of his voice, which is as strong and cheerful as his bass, has expanded from the raps in their early days to the choruses that now promise the team’s sureness. Having released a solo album, Letters With Notes, with the composer Hong Jisang, who has worked with DAY6 throughout their career, and written “Rose Blossom” for the girl group H1-KEY, Young K is now a fully-fledged singer-songwriter. In contrast, Sungjin, the rough-edged main vocalist, is the pillar of the band. He retains the raw emotion from DAY6’s early days and adds a touch of rock in various areas of a song, from the run-up to the takeoff. The instantly recognizable voice of Wonpil is multi-dimensional. His clear voice creates a zone of coexistence between the innocent youth, the fragile and wounded youth of today, and the youth who desperately dream of the future. Wonpil, who delivered his unique lyricism and presented “A journey” in his solo album Pilmography, is truly a member who “runs while crying.” Dowoon’s drumming is the foundation on which all of this music can be stably unfolded, a vast canvas for DAY6. FOUREVER is packed with the quartet’s inner strength. After the sing-along-inducing “Welcome to the Show” and a cry out of “Happy,” which they must have dreamed of countless times during their long hiatus, they preach the power of positivity in “The Power of Love,” fix their shoelaces and try to forget a breakup with “Get The Hell Out” and run through the track once again with “Sad Ending.” After this youthful rush, the album calmly closes with the romantic “Let Me Love You” and the DAY6 (Even of Day)-esque “didn't know,” looking back on the past and staying true to DAY6’s music. As the quartet didn’t have much time after Wonpil’s discharge last November, they chose to take a style that fans are familiar with rather than bringing big changes, a choice made possible because they had confidence and faith in their masterful work. Tickets for DAY6’s three-day concert, “Welcome to the Show,” held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium from April 12 to 14, sold out in a heartbeat. Referring to their popularity, some entertainment outlets titled their articles “An urgent need of self-grasping.” Jamsil Indoor Stadium is the largest concert venue in Seoul following the Gocheok Sky Dome, KSPO Dome, and INSPIRE Arena, as the 60,000-capacity Seoul Olympic Main Stadium is being renovated. Mobilizing more than 30,000 spectators over three days for a team that hasn't performed as a full group in three years is no small feat. It’s a testament to the public’s support for them. When the articles were trending on social media with their titles, no one doubted DAY6’s status. It wouldn’t be out of place to see them on an arena or stadium-sized stage shortly. The band’s story of overcoming paradox and singing of love and the power in their voices bring them as “one” and make them invincible as their song suggests. In an era where the dark values of mistrust and individualism are spreading, it’s beautiful to see these four men reunited to brighten the world with their music. DAY6 never fails to deliver. I believe in the band and their sincerity.

[beetlejuce]

hii!! i consider myself a independent catb fan since i got into then in 2019 and i obsessed over the songs and lyrics and stuff but never actually got to the fandom? like never knew the fan side of things just the surface level (i was the obsessed and totally into the fandom from another group so i stayed at my comfort zone haha)

with that being said!! im here to ask you kindly if you could tell what happened between them? like what the fans knows with details because i only know the facts about the show being canceled, bob, benji and bondy left and they unfollowed/blocked van but since i was looking around those days i've seen memes and stuff and a few things i missed out and i wanted to understand :(( if its too much to ask like too much work for you its okay!! but i think it would help other people who feel a little lost about everything as well :)

thank you in advance!

hello lovely, and welcome, we're glad to have you here! might i ask which band you were obsessed with instead? and i can definitely understand, i was actually the same way before i actually got involved in the fandom over the summer. c:

and yeah, I can give a quick rundown! i don’t think there’s an official post detailing what went on since lockdown, so here we have:

A (brief) Summary of CaTB’s Decline

Silence from the band once the pandemic hit. Lack of communication ever since has gotten fans quite frustrated, and remains so today. Since March 2020.

A fan noticed that Bondy, Bob, and Benji resigned on Companies House, which made the fandom wonder if the band had split. March 2021.

Catfish play Reading + Leeds Festival, collectively relieving everyone that they were there. August 2021.

However, Bob announces his departure a month after R+L on Instagram. He’s been working on his own music ever since. September 2021.

Bondy’s friend releases the Hide and Speak podcast, with him as a guest. More speculation on him leaving the band as he’d exclusively used past tense when speaking about his time in Catfish, along with a few statements he made towards the end that people interpreted as slating Van. December 2021.

Unfollowing commences. The fandom freaks out upon seeing Van’s following count go down, thinking he’s been active on IG. Chaos. Turns out, it was simply Catfish’s ex-tour manager Steve removing him as a follower. Later on, Bondy seems to unfollow Van and Larry, with rumours that he’s even gone as far as blocking both of them. Odd since Van hadn’t been on IG since 2017. Start of 2022.

^ As of today, Van follows Benji and Larry. Benji follows Van and Larry. Bondy only follows Bob. Bob only follows Bondy. Larry follows nobody.

Bondy got drunk on Tom Ungerer’s (bassist for Sam Fender) IG live, where he says he’s not fond of Van. When asked if Catfish were splitting up, he laughed, looked away, and said “I have no fucking idea, it’s got nothing to do with me.” Bondy also stated he’s working on new music, “trying to make music fun again, last time I was in Catfish and the Bottlemen, I was never allowed to make my own music.” With this live, Bondy had essentially confirmed he and Van have fallen out, and his creative freedom was limited when he was in the band. February 2022.

Larry logs onto social media for the first time in literal ages to unfollow everyone, and remove all his content. February 2022.

Catfish were supposed to open for Stereophonics in Cardiff in mid-June, but they pulled out two weeks prior due to unforeseen circumstances. June 2022.

More silence. Then, Bondy made his statement, confirming he officially left the band back in March 2021 and hasn’t had any affiliation with the band since, due to “reoccurring intolerable behaviour” within the band. This means he had stepped in as a session musician in the last 4 summer shows that Catfish had played. He also described relationships in the band as dysfunctional. Fans have taken this to be at the cause of Van, though there isn’t much clarification on whether this is true or not. Bob then came back on IG and blocked Van and Benji. June 2022.

Dave Sardy (producer for The Ride) posts photos in the studio, teasing possible new music from Van/Catfish by putting the Catfish hashtag in captions on IG. The fandom collectively exploded, again, and so we do every time he makes a post with Catfish in the caption. And every time he likes a comment asking for new music from Van. Since June 2022.

Now, to the present. Van’s disappeared off the face of the earth, the last time we saw him was 400+ days ago when Catfish played Neighbourhood Weekender 2021. Benji recently got engaged. We have snippets of Bondy and Bob (now Rob) working on new music.

in conclusion: rip catb lmfao

who knows wtf is happening with the band 😭

if i missed anything or got something wrong, feel free to add on! i have the memory of a goldfish, so thank you @icouldntfindquiet and @catb-fics for helping me put this together!

[sinceileftyoublog]

Hedvig Mollestad Interview: The Rhythm of Care

Photo by Kim Hiorthøy

BY JORDAN MAINZER

On her upcoming album Maternity Beat, Norwegian guitarist and composer Hedvig Mollestad redefines what it means to be maternal. Though she has two kids, her exploration of motherhood is not autobiographical, nor is it dependent on having children at all. Really, Mollestad boils the concept down to its essence: caring for something other than yourself.

Around the European migrant crisis of 2015/2016, Mollestad had her first child but was faced with images, whether on the news or in person, of immigrants from Syria coming to Europe to request asylum, many of whom had young children of their own. At the same time the unfortunate nativist aftereffects of the crisis arose around the world, Mollestad was beginning to feel like she needed to do something different with her music. She drafted Maternity Beat for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and pitched it to the Molde International Jazz Festival and Midtnorsk Jazzsenter. While they rejected it in 2017, they eventually accepted it for the Festival’s 60th anniversary in 2020, which, unlike so many other festivals that year, actually did go on, albeit at a much lower audience capacity. Last October, Mollestad and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra recorded Maternity Beat, which finally sees release next Friday on Rune Grammofon.

Though the recorded version of Maternity Beat is a bit shorter due to studio time and vinyl constraints, the ideas are consistent: It’s a piece about how we support each other and help each other grow. Mollestad knew pretty early that she wanted to include spoken word, or at least voice, on the record, and from the very first track, we’re presented with what’s at stake: “Is there a boat on the horizon? / With mothers and children and fathers?” Atop rolling drums and sharp guitars, and eventually woodwinds that sound somewhat hopeful, we experience the rollercoaster of emotions brought upon by these images of desperation. “Do Re Mi Ma Ma” contains improvised nonsensical vocals that sound like a baby trying to say their first words, and clattering drums that are akin to how one might play with their toys. Eventually, the band picks back up, with horn blasts and searing guitar solos, the song developing in sophistication along the way. “Her Own Shape” is comparatively subdued, inspired by parents giving their children tools they need to create, with peaceful, wordless harmonies over bendy, exploratory guitars. 

But it’s “Donna Ovis Peppa” that’s the album’s centerpiece, touching on the brunt of the record’s themes. The title itself is inspired by the phrase Dona nobis pacem (“Grant us Peace”), which comes from the Agnus Dei section of the Roman Catholic mass. “Ovis” itself is a play on Ove, the name of the father of Mollestad’s childhood best friend, who was a big supporter of her as a child and was sick with cancer at the time Mollestad was writing Maternity Beat. “I had a little contact with his family...in spring of 2020,” Mollestad told me over Zoom a couple weeks ago. “I had this urge to make something in this music for him. That’s the 5/4 pattern in the middle. It’s made only for him and his family.” He ended up passing away the day before Mollestad and the Orchestra performed for the first time. The last part of the song’s title is, yes, inspired by Peppa Pig, whose instrumental theme you can hear in the song if you listen closely enough. Mollestad’s children loved Peppa Pig, and though they’re too old for it now, I guess she wanted to nod at least once to her own motherhood.

Read my conversation with Mollestad below, edited for length and clarity, in which we talk about the album’s themes, working as a guitarist with a large orchestra, and the distinctive cover art.

Since I Left You: Last time we were talking, you mentioned Maternity Beat in context of reading Dag Hoel’s Fred er ei det beste, about ammunition production in Norway. Now, I understand the context, you thinking about the world you want your child to grow up in. As such, this album is your first time exploring gender and motherhood in relation to your music, which you were reticent to do before. Why was that, and what changed?

Hedvig Mollestad: The main reason in the beginning was as simple as I thought it was very important for there to be female instrumentalists where [people] were only talking about their instruments and their craft, the subject of their music and guitar and art. Very often, I saw female musicians being asked to comment on their gender, and of course, male musicians never were. So I was very strict on that. Gender-related stuff wasn’t my expertise. My experience with it would have been a very selective voice to the matter. If someone wanted to know something about it, they could find some good feminist research about it.

Music and art today are fighting a lot against the media. At the same time, it’s a way of reaching people, as that’s the nature of music, to be heard by others if not necessarily everyone. You want to find a way of getting into the ears of people who appreciate it. But [the media] is also problematic because it’s taking away the focus from the music itself. Very many musicians have to work with the media to be there in the right way, and you have to produce and tell people you’ve done it and present it in a way. [The media] grasping into the places where the art is made and taking over a little bit. For that reason, I was trying to focus on the music. As it’s instrumental music, I don’t have lyrics I can pull meanings and philosophies from.

Now, as I’m 40 and a mother of two, I’ve understood that as a touring musician and a composer, it’s also important for others that mothers are visible as musicians. Now, I’m sharing a little bit more for both female and male musicians. Touring as a family member is hard. It’s very good for the community to be open about it and talk about it and share our experiences. I’m also in a position to be able to work with my music as it is. 

I was playing with my much beloved Trio for many many years. I started feeling that I wanted to make music for other kind of ensembles using other kinds of instruments and expressions. [I had the idea for Maternity Beat] very early in 2017, and I drafted it for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and the Festival. They didn’t pick it up at the time, but they picked it up a couple years later for their 60th anniversary. It took some time for it to come to live. I started to work on it and was supposed to work on it at the start of 2020. The pandemic came. The festival was so big, they decided to go through with it even though the capacity would be very low and very uncertain. I got to work on this February-June of 2020. The children were not in school. I spent time with them during the day when my boyfriend was working, and when he came home, I just left the house for my rehearsing and working space. I worked the evening and the night and came back. It was very focused and so undisturbed. It was such a good place to dig into another world, thematically and in terms of deeper structures and working them out all the way.

SILY: When did you start to think about motherhood and parenthood as it relates to the various social issues you explore on the album, like the migrant crisis?

HM: The idea for this music was first and foremost musical. I wanted to write for a big orchestra, and I wanted to put the guitar in a way that could drive it without taking up too much space and without being an instrument like the saxophone and the trumpets [that are] playing lines. The title Maternity Beat was very good to work from because it suggested rhythm and something that, yes, [has to do with] motherhood, but also mother earth. I wanted to connect it to my experiences, but I was also clear to myself from the beginning that it wasn’t going to exclude anyone. It’s not about being a mother; it’s about caring. What’s happening when you’re caring for someone or something? What’s waking us up to care for others? For people that have children, it could be parenthood, but it doesn’t necessarily have to me. Many people have bad relationships with their parents [or no parents] at all. [Maternity Beat] is a way of describing how we care and what makes us care. That’s the only thing we have in common. We all come from parents, but not all of us know them or like them.

When you’re a new mother, you’re very full of hormones, and it’s very overwhelming. Suddenly, another life is relying on you and your presence so much. That was very shocking for me as it is for very many new parents. There are so many parents and children around the world that have so many bigger issues than putting their kids to bed and making them go to sleep. When the migrant crisis happened in Norway in Europe in 2015/2016, that was when I had my first child. I found it very disturbing we were [having] this amazing experience at the same time there was a crisis for people in my situation. I was going around and making my baby fall asleep, but I felt like I wanted to go and help others because they really needed it. It’s a cliché, but with the loss of power you feel when a global crisis comes close, it feels meaningless to go on with your life and letting [the crisis] pass by on the side. So I didn’t want the album to be about [speaks in precious voice] my child and the beauty of life. It’s such a harsh contrast and still is.

SILY: Even though your music doesn’t usually have lyrics, this album does have passages of spoken word that allude to what you’re talking about. At what point during the creative process did you realize you wanted something more lyrical on here?

HM: I knew it quite early, because I was setting up what type of musicians I wanted to be a part of the project. I wanted to use vocalists for that purpose, not just to use their voice but to speak words that had meaning. I also knew very early I wanted the opening track to contain lyrics about the darkest part of this, to set the pace and get it over with. [laughs] For the first track, I was very inspired by Scott Walker and the opening of Tilt. It hasn’t been many years since I heard that for the first time. It made such an impression on me. The atmosphere that he creates, and the emotionlessness of the words. [sings] “Do I hear, 21, 21, 21.” There’s no metaphor. It’s very simple yet extremely powerful. I really wanted to go in that direction because the focus he managed to make there is really amazing. During the composing process, I wanted to have different theories in different parts of the music. I didn’t want it to be one big fat sausage. I wanted various things represented, both humorous and my experiences with motherhood. So I put in the words for when I thought [the music] needed it.

SILY: You really get at what you’re aiming for on “Her Own Shape”, which is about parents giving children the space and tools they need to thrive. That song is so spacious as compared to the rest of the record, almost like a canvas that demands to be filled.

HM: The words [on that song] are so very specific and filled up with serious meaning, the music cannot be as emotional as the text. It should be beautiful and easygoing, and a place for that lyric to be able to be what it is without too much disturbance.

SILY; Can you talk about the song “Do Re Mi Ma Ma”?

HM: The recorded version is a lot shorter than what we’re doing live. There’s a wonderful transition from the first part to the second. In general, [on the record], I was very specific for how the lyrics should be performed. I read them, recorded it how I wanted it to be, how short, etc. But I wanted to give [the vocalists] a task where they were a lot freer. So I thought, “Okay, what’s the [simplest] thing they could say?” It was, “ma.” So I gave them 5 minutes of improvisation. I said, “You can use 'ma,' but you have to avoid it sounding like 'mama,' at least for the first three minutes.” It was so funny and so interesting how they worked around that. I also wanted to have a bassline pattern that I could write so I could focus on the horns and trumpet section. “On The Horizon, Part 2″ has a lot of things happening with the band, very busy patterns with the guitar and the time signature changes. So I wanted to [follow it with] this very slow, bluesy bass riff where I could get the most out of the horns. That was a good thing to bring together with the vocalists.

SILY: You mentioned wanting to use the guitar in unexpected ways with this orchestra. Both of the singles, “All Flights Cancelled” and “On The Horizon, Part 2″, do that. When you think, “Guitar in a jazz orchestra,” you don’t necessarily hear the sounds of those two songs.

HM: “All Flights Cancelled” is a band song, with an A part and a B part. Rune Grammofon released that single first, but I think it’s the least orchestrated piece on the whole record because it’s only the band. I like it because it has a whole other mood than when we recorded it with the Trio. It was a good way to break everything up and bring back the focus to what I’m usually working on, which is the guitar in a band setting. [This time,] it was much more complex and involved a lot more composing. It was so hard to make it fit with the rest of the music. It had to be pointy and very audible. I’m not used to pointy and audible; I want to be broader. The tempo was quite high, and the time signature was changing. [The drummer] was really mixing the ingredients. That helped a lot with the role of the guitar, which had to be restricted.

SILY: I was also surprised by how much music from other regions of the world snuck in. “Donna Ovis Peppa” had some klezmer, and the hand percussion on “Maternity Sweep” was almost Latin. Was that intentional?

HM: I don’t think it was very intentional, but it was important for me to have percussion, other rhythmic impulses besides drums, to have another person go crazy on all these other rhythmic sounds. It’s an orchestra, and it should be in the drum section as well. The percussionist was instructed very little. He was encouraged to do what he thought would fit. Then we worked on it. We used congas and so many woodblocks! He was very free there. He’s amazing and eager and has so many ideas. He’s so vibrant and was working so hard. He was the one who left the studio the latest.

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

HM: I’ve been working with Kim [Hiorthøy] since the first record I released on Rune 11 years ago. When I signed there, cover art was one of the only things I couldn’t decide. They said, “Kim is making the covers, and he’s making them the way he wants. If you really hate it, you can tell me, and he’ll make another one, but if you just don’t like it, it’s not enough.” I was very cool with that because Kim is amazing. But I really wanted to have pictures on the covers. I talked to him about it, and he was cool about it. When we make new covers, we meet up, talk, maybe have a beer, hang around at some strange place. For the first cover, we did a lot of straight things. I showed him around my rehearsal room while he was taking photos. For the second, he came to a gig. For the third, we went to his very small studio. For the fourth, it was outside where I used to live. Then he came to the rehearsal space again. He’s into closed places.

When Maternity Beat came up, it was obvious it was something a little different, elevating on a philosophical level. I don’t know why, but I think he wanted to try another technique. He suggested we would do it in two processes. He would first take photos of me and then project it. I instantly liked that idea because it was very analog and something I could relate and connect to. He couldn’t fix it; he had to develop the film, make small [versions], and then we could meet up again. It was going to be a process that would take some time. I came back [to him] and brought my grandmother’s dress, and we tried different ways of projecting me on myself. It was another way of working with him. Of course, it took a lot more time, but it didn’t matter because it’s so nice to spend time with him. Whatever session I have with him, something extraordinary comes out of it. He has an eye for something else. He’s not looking for the face, or what the media tells us is beautiful. He’s looking for something very human, other structures in a photo. There’s so much to think about when I see all of his photos, which is so much better than having a big, fat face on the cover.

SILY: You mentioned “Do Re Mi Ma Ma” is a lot longer live. Are there any other stark differences between the recorded and live versions of these songs?

HM: Yeah. There are very many transitions that have been left out. There’s even a whole part with a lyric and an improvised piece that had to be left out because of time limitations both in the studio and on the vinyl. We haven’t performed this live more than twice, but it was a main idea to have transitions. “Do Re Mi Ma Ma” is one of them. There was a longer part in “On The Horizon, Part 1″ where Ingebjørg [Loe Bjørnstad] actually spoke in Norwegian. There was a solo bass transition at some point. For the record, I really wanted to shape and tighten things up because there was so much going on anyway. I was pleading on my knees to have a conductor. It was freaking impossible to play this piece and still get the most out of a horn section, putting them in where they were supposed to be. I was with the guitar in another room. We tried to do most of it as live as possible. But we had to move a little away from that because I couldn’t do all of those tasks. We [did get] a [conductor] who was working with the horn section--saxophone, trumpet, flute, and violin--and taking over the score. I really depended on him. He was really important in making the peaks as good as they are. I wouldn’t have managed to do that without him.

SILY: Do you have any upcoming dates playing this material?

HM: Yes, in a year. That’s because I have this big residency at a Norwegian festival in July, playing so many different shows with a lot of different projects. I’m going to have to work for 6 months. But next October, we’re going to have 5 shows in Europe. It could be that some of them have to be in Norway. It would be amazing to go to New York and play there. The Jazz Orchestra have played there. I really hope we can play this live.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, reading, or watching lately?

HM: I’ve started to only read newspapers since February. I stopped reading news online. It got to me. [But my decision] freed up a space inside of me, not worrying as much. I feel happier.

I’ve been listening a lot to Led Zeppelin lately, as well as a lot of fellow musicians in Norway.

I’ve been touring a lot.

[cozy-frog-legacy-simmer]

10th Anniversary Legacy Challenge Part 2

GENERATION THREE - 2016 All of the camping and outdoorsy activity of your childhood made you crave a life away from all that nature. Well... maybe SOME nature is okay, but not a lot. It's time for some city life. Packs: City Living, Dine Out, Movie Hangout, Romantic Garden, Kids Room, Backyard Stuff, Vintage Glamour Traits: Unflirty plus any other two traits that actually existed in 2016 *Dine Out is still hopelessly bugged and takes forever besides. If you want to include restaurant gameplay, be my guest, but I didn't require it because I find it infuriating* -Start in an apartment in San Myshuno -Choose either critic, politician, or social media career and get to the top -Go to the city festivals as often as is practical for your game, but you must go to each festival at least once -Complete the City Native aspiration -Max the singing skill and go to karaoke at least once a week -When you have the money move to a penthouse and create an outdoor space that suits your sim's aesthetic -Have at least one child to be heir GENERATION FOUR - 2017 The city is a bit too peopley for your sim. They prefer the company of animals, although family is okay as long as everyone knows that pets are family too. Packs: Cats and Dogs, Parenthood, Bowling Night, Fitness Stuff, and Toddler Stuff Traits: Cat Lover, Dog Lover, and one other of your choosing (as long as it existed in 2017) -Live in Brindleton Bay -Must own at least one cat and one dog throughout your life from the moment you move to Brindleton -Must adopt at least one stray -Must work out every day either in a home gym or at a gym location -Must purchase and run a vet clinic -Complete Friend of the Animals aspiration and Super Parent aspiration -Max vet, parenting, and pet training skills -Have at least two children -JUSTICE FOR TODDLERS! Now that toddlers are officially in the game, go for the gusto and max out their skills give them the life they always should have had -Once your kids reach the child life stage, take the family bowling every week (this can count as your "work out" for that day) GENERATION FIVE - 2018 Growing up in such a wholesome family left you with an appreciation for family life and a craving for something a bit more exciting, perhaps a little glamourous. Packs: Seasons, Get Famous, Jungle Adventure, Laundry Day, My First Pet Traits: Self Absorbed and two more of your choosing that existed in 2018 *This is the first generation where a spouse is REQUIRED* *All houses from this point on must include laundry facilities* -Live in Del Sol Valley and get married to an Actor ASAP (or just get married and have your spouse join the acting career immediately) -Your spouse complete either the Master Actor OR World Famous Celebrity aspirations (bonus points if they do both) -Your sim must enter the Gardening Career and reach the top of the Flower Arranging branch -Your sim must complete the Freelance Botanist aspiration -Have a positively HUGE garden -Go on at least one trip to Selvadorada and complete at least one Temple while there -Buy the More Views Video Station and have a weekly gardening vlog -Must celebrate all holidays -We got Butlers back in 2016 with Vintage Glamour, but they didn't make sense until now. You should have one as soon as you can afford one. -Must have at least two children -Upon the oldest child reaching the child lifestage, you must purchase and maintain a small animal (hamster, rat, etc) and the children must use them to complete homework ...to be continued...

[crazed-reviews]

Review: Spirit Untamed "Miradero Festival Lucky and Spirit" doll and horse from Mattel

Recently, I've reviewed a few dolls from DreamWorks Animation's television series Spirit Riding Free, which ran from 2017 to 2020, about a 12-year old girl from the city named Fortuna "Lucky" Prescott, who adjusts to life on the frontier, and befriends a wild stallion who she calls Spirit.

In 2021, DreamWorks released a new film, called Spirit Untamed, which was essentially a reboot of the series. It was basically a modified and extended version of the series' first episode, "Lucky and the Unbreakable Spirit". It followed Lucky as she moved from the city to Miradero, meets and befriends Spirit, and becomes friends with two girls, Abigail and Pru. It also added new elements, such as a group of thieves that steals horses from Spirit's herd, which Lucky, Pru, and Abigail bring upon themselves to save.

Overall, it was a cute watch, and I'd probably rewatch it. The animation alone was great, Lucky and Spirit's bond was sweet, and Abigail had many funny lines like she did in the series, and she wasn't as airheaded as she was in the series, which I liked.

In 2020, prior to the release of Spirit Untamed, the toy company Mattel released several dolls based off the main characters in their outfits from the movie. They've since extended their line to have playsets, as well as the characters in many other outfits.

Today, I'm taking a look at the Miradero Festival Lucky and Spirit. My sister received it for her birthday the other day, and let me review it. It retails for $24.99, but it was purchased on sale for $13.99.

Note: this review mentions spoilers for Spirit Untamed. This set alone is a bit of a spoiler, but I digress. Proceed with caution.

Here's the pair together. I think they look pretty cute together! Spirit seems to be a touch small in scale to Lucky (or maybe it's Lucky who's large compared to Spirit?), but not small enough to look weird, like many other Mattel fashion doll horses. (like how some Barbie dolls tower high over their tiny horses).

Here's Lucky as she came out of the package. She's wearing a pink dress with purple ruffles trimming the bottom and top.

I think it's a decent rendition of the dress Lucky wears to the Miradero Festival at the end of the movie. In the movie, it had once belonged to her late mother, but her aunt tweaked it to fit Lucky. The doll is wearing a simplified version of the dress, but looking at the dress, I don't feel like it's lacking.

The ruffle on the top of the blouse has pale purple flowers that match the flowers on Spirit's saddle pad. The bottom ruffle has three thin wavy lines in the same light purple as the flowers. The waist is trimmed with a purple ribbon "belt". The skirt is a touch longer in the back than the front, which is shorter to show off her boots.

Lucky also comes wearing a pair of brown boots. I'll touch on those more in a moment.

Lucky has 7 points of articulation, with movement at her:

Head

Shoulders

Hips

Knees

Her articulation reminds me of the small Just Play Spirit Riding Free dolls, except Lucky feels much sturdier and more flexible than those dolls, which was a pleasant surprise.

Here's a closeup of Lucky wearing her headband, which looks like a circlet of pink roses. It seems like an odd choice, but is still cute. In the movie, she had two flowers clipped into her hair on either side.

Lucky has tan skin, green eyes, and pinkish brown lips in a slight smirk. This particular doll's lips are printed a touch high. I'm not a huge fan of the line painted on the right corner of her mouth, it clashes with the molded intent.

Overall, I really like her face! I wasn't a fan of it at all from the stock photos I had seen of her, which made her smile seem a bit gremlin-like. I will say, her smile seems a touch wide. In the movie, Lucky's mouth was actually pretty small, she only had a wide smile like this once or twice. However, I'm giving it a pass, since I believe Mattel was going off of the promotional images, a lot of which showed her with a wide grin.

Lucky also has reddish brown hair with a center part that goes past her waist, with a slight curl to it. It's actually very soft, though quite unruly. I had to break out my spray bottle and comb to get it somewhat neat for photos. It's also incredibly thick! I haven't seen a Mattel fashion doll with such densely rooted hair in like a decade, so I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, she could probably stand to have a bit less hair!

Here's a better look at Lucky's boots, which once belonged to her late mother. They're brown, with molded heart indents and flames, which are painted red. They slip off with a slit in the backs, and stay nice and snug on Lucky's boots. They bare a great resemblance to Lucky's boots in Spirit Untamed. Unfortunately, I was unable to say the same thing about Just Play's Spirit Riding Free dolls from 2017. The small Lucky dolls had plain black boots with no painted or molded flame pattern, so these are a great step up.

The flames are much more subtle than Lucky's boots in Spirit Riding Free, which had orange, red, and yellow flames, as well as shooting stars on the sides. At first glance, they just look like swirls.

And here's Spirit! He has a (very long) rooted mane, and a molded forelock and tail. He's mostly unarticulated, but has articulation at his neck, which can look up, down, and a bit to the left and right.

I feel like he resembles Spirit from Spirit Riding Free more than Spirit from Spirit Untamed. I think it's his the combination of his "nice" eyebrows, forelock, and color that makes him resemble the series Spirit more than the movie Spirit. In the series, Spirit's quite orange, and has a shorter, neater forelock, and a generally pleasant expression. In the movie, Spirit's a more yellow buckskin color, with a longer forelock, and intense, thick eyebrows, paired with heavy... eyeliner?? Spirit needs to give me his makeup and eyebrow routine.

He has a slightly bendable clear clip attached to his back, which looks like the top of a doll stand. It's for Lucky to stay secure while sitting on him. It looks a bit unfortunate without Lucky sitting on him, just a stand protruding from his spine.

ETA 3/15/23: As it turns out, the clip IS removable! It slides in and out. Just took me two weeks to figure it out, haha.

I kind of wish it was removable, but I imagine kids would lose it quite easily, and then he'd have an unfortunate hole in his spine.

I noticed Spirit had a molded symbol on his raised hoof. It looks to be a silhouette of Spirit and Lucky in a semi-circle. I've noticed this sane symbol on other Spirit Untamed merchandise, so I assume this is the new logo used for official Spirit merchandise and stuff, rather than the galloping horse that was used for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Spirit Riding Free merchandise.

Here's Spirit wearing his wreath/necklace thing, and saddle pad? Blanket? I'm not sure.

The wreath looks like a variety of flowers, and matches Lucky's circlet. It has no closures, and is just molded in a circle, so it needs to be contorted a bit to fit over Spirit's ears. The blanket is purple, and has alternating pale purple and orangy pink flowers. It has an elastic strap that goes across his stomach to hold it in place, and a T-shaped hole to fit it over the doll stand waist clip.

Spoilers for Spirit Untamed below:

Towards the end of the movie, Lucky lets Spirit go back to his herd and be wild and free, so he didn't actually go to the Miradero Festival with her. Even if he did, I doubt he'd wear this. Maybe in the series, (in later seasons, he ended up a lot more chill, and occasionally let Lucky put a wreath on him) but in the movie, he's a lot more firm, standing his ground about not wearing tack or anything of the like.

It still makes for a super cute matching outfit with Lucky though, haha. I'm a sucker for matching rider/horse outfits and tack. Sorry, Spirit. You're just really cute in this, so you'll be wearing it.

Here you can see the hole in the blanket. It lifted a bit here, but usually lays pretty flat.

Here's Lucky sitting on him without his tack. Using the clip, she has a tendency to float a few centimeters above his back, rather than sitting flesh against it. Thankfully, her dress masks it, but I imagine it's much more noticeable on the Lucky dolls that have pants.

If you just plop her on him without adjusting her dress, it likes to ride all the way up to her hips (after all, you wouldn't typically ride a horse in a dress). It takes a bit of maneuvering, but her dress can actually lay quite nicely on Spirit's sides while she sits on him.

Lastly, here's Lucky and Spirit with all of their outfit pieces on. They're really an adorable pair, and I may have to buy myself some of the Spirit Untamed dolls (the Picnic Friends Lucky and Spirit set is tempting...)!

They feel like decent quality, and while not perfect, bare a good enough resemblance to the movie characters they represent.

I can imagine many kids (and teens such as myself, as well as adults) having lots of fun with this pair, imagining new adventures for Lucky and Spirit to go on.

I definitely recommend this pair. I do believe they're worth full retail, but are even better on sale.

[kerlonneat]

Hugs 98 source

Hugs 98 source windows#

Love" moniker, PBS lectures, and philosophy of hugs were referenced in Season 2, Episode 1 of The Americans. Afterwards, Charlie Brown explains their dog's actions to his puzzled sister: "You can always tell when he's been listening to Leo Buscaglia tapes." īuscaglia's "Dr. Snoopy gives them both warm and sincere hugs. In a Peanuts comic strip, the dog Snoopy is seen strolling towards Charlie Brown and Sally. DecemHugo 0.91.2 is the last release before Christmas DecemHugo Release Notes now gets released on GitHub Only NovemThis version fixes one bug. With its amazing speed and flexibility, Hugo makes building websites fun again. Death īuscaglia died of a heart attack on June 12, 1998, at his home in Glenbrook, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, when he was 74. Hugo is one of the most popular open-source static site generators. This national exposure, coupled with the heartfelt storytelling style of his books, helped make all his titles national bestsellers five were once on the New York Times bestsellers list simultaneously. At one point his talks, always shown during fundraising periods, were the top earners of all PBS programs. His dynamic speaking style was discovered by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and his televised lectures earned great popularity in the 1980s. This became the basis for his first book, titled simply Love. While teaching at USC, Buscaglia was moved by a student's suicide to contemplate human disconnectedness and the meaning of life, and began a noncredit class he called Love 1A. Upon retirement, Buscaglia was named Professor at Large, one of only two such designations on campus at that time. He was the first to state and promote the concept of humanity's need for hugs: 5 to survive, 8 to maintain, and 12 to thrive. Bill benefits, he entered the University of Southern California, where he earned three degrees (BA 1950, MA 1954, PhD 1963) before eventually joining the faculty. Navy during World War II he did not see combat, but he saw its aftermath in his duties in the dental section of the military hospital, helping to reconstruct shattered faces. He was a graduate of Theodore Roosevelt High School. He spent his early childhood in Aosta, Italy, before going back to the United States for education. Retrieved 2 June 2018.Felice Leonardo Buscaglia was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 1924, into a family of Italian immigrants. ^ "A MESSAGE OF HOPE: Ehsaas narrates the struggle of a girl, who loves and feels for the same sex | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis".^ "Potluck, Colours & Tons Of Games: This Queer Holi Party In Lodhi Garden Sounds Really Fun! | LBB".^ "Queer community says it with a hug".^ "India's LGBT Community Gets Some Harmless Hugs, With Delhi's First LGBT Flash Mob".^ "Secret online groups provide safe space for India's LGBTQ community".^ "Movies, drama and lots of naach-gaana at this queer pride festival".^ "LGBT community walk at Connaught Place in Delhi - Times of India".^ "2nd Delhi International Queer theatre and film festival kicks-off in New Delhi"."2016 Delhi International Theatre & Film Festival Kicks Off This Weekend". ^ "Book Review: Harmless Hugs - DU Beat"."Our Films Propagate Horrible Stereotypes about the LGBT Community: Kunal Kapoor". ^ "DIQTTF 2016: Giving a ray of hope to those still in the closet".^ "Piyush Mishra lights up DIQTFF 2016 on Day 1 - The Statesman".^ Yadav, Sidharth Yadav, Sidharth (15 December 2016).^ "This December, Visit the Delhi International Queer Theatre & Film Festival 2017 - DU Beat".^ "Dancing For Rights: Delhi Just Held Its First LGBTQ Flash Mob"."Here Is Delhi's First Ever LGBT Flash Mob. Tarang - Delhi International Queer Theater and Film Festival.The collective was founded by Vinay Kumar on 10 September 2012. Presently, the collective is managed by Aditya Bondyopadhyay, Naman Verma, Kanav Sahgal, and Rishu Kapur. A list of bugs and features is maintained here.

Hugs 98 source windows#

WinHugs should run on any version of Windows since 95, i.e. In addition to all of the Hugs features, it includes type browsers and hierarchical constraint views. Further details, including a preview download, are available here. Harmless Hugs also launched an anthology of short stories around queer lives in 2016 which was launched by Piyush Mishra. WinHugs is the Windows user interface to Hugs. Apart from this, the collective organises regular meet ups, informative sessions and plays (in collaboration with Asmita Theatre Group led by Arvind Gaur) to spread awareness about the LGBT rights in India and sensitise the society about the community. The 2016 edition had Piyush Mishra as chief guest and had support of Kunal Kapoor and Kalki. Harmless Hugs has also organised four editions of Delhi International Queer Theater and Film Festival (2015, 2016, 20). Harmless Hugs organised the first LGBT Flashmob in Delhi in 2015 and have been doing it every year since then. Harmless Hugs was started as an online secret LGBT group and took shape of a young collective which is working for LGBT rights in India.

[artistic-writer]

CS AU : The Perfect Proposal

Once Upon a Festive Giving Exchange 2017

Title: The Perfect Proposal [full res fanart] Summary: Killian Jones has an image of the perfect proposal in his head, the one way he will surely win over the woman he wants to give his heart to for the rest of his life.  But will taking Emma on a five day break to the romantic, Austrian mountains help him find the courage and perfection he so desires? Rating: T Word count: 5089 - AO3 Author/Recipient: @artistic-writer for @pearlmackie AN: Written for @pearlmackie for this years Once Upon a Festive Giving Exchange 2017 - I hope i nailed all of the things you love about CS!  This has been written for a while now, and i made the fanart first, but thought you would like two gifts, so wrote a little ficlet too!  I know, I know, 5k isn’t exactly little but it is for me lol  Have a glorious Christmas my lovely! <3  With special thanks to my lovely beta for this project, @winterbaby89 <3 <3

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Killian was ready.  He had been ready for months, simply waiting for the right time. He had been carrying the tiny, velveteen box around with him, petrified that Emma would somehow discover it if he had left it at home.  It was easy to hide really, Maine was one of those states that often lends itself to needing a coat of some kind, which means plenty of pockets and plenty of hiding places.

Only now, as he stands on top of one of the whitest snowy peaks he had ever seen, Killian was suddenly not ready.  

This holiday had been a planned getaway after they had both decided they needed to unwind, and to just celebrate them.  They had decided they needed some alone time, time to get away from everything, but as they had previously found out, it was rather difficult to ‘escape’ family.  In the gentlest way he knew how, Killian had suggested to Emma that they leave America and holiday somewhere further away.  Somewhere in Europe.

As it was Christmas, they had gone somewhere with snow.  Following a quick internet search they had decided on a small, alpine retreat where they could indulge their fondness for skiing, in Austria. They chose a huge log cabin with an open plan living space and jaw dropping panoramic views of the white capped mountains around them from the floor to ceiling glass windows and a sun soaked balcony.  Killian had never been to Austria before and the subtly placed cabin wasn’t even a distraction from the Dachstein Mountains around them.

The day they had arrived, they were both too exhausted to do anything but stoke a log fire, warm some cocoa on the stove and enjoy each other, wrapped up in a huge real fur blanket.  The cabin owners had left them a short list of instructions on how to work everything, but they figured it could wait until they were warm and toasty.  When they retired for the night, having lost the natural light of day early in the evening, Killian checked on the tiny black box he had smuggled across the ocean with a smile.

Their second day, Emma had wanted to explore the wooded area near by.  So they had piled on clothes over their thermal base layers, and fumbled with the zips on their snow gear.  The crackling fire was the only sound as Killian watched Emma pull a grey, woolen bobble hat down over her ears.

“What?” She smirked, catching him watching her.

Killian stepped towards her, closing the gap between them and pulling her into his arms.  “Just admiring the view,” he smiled down at her, pressing his hand into the small of her back.

Emma rolled her eyes and relaxed into his embrace, swaying in his arms.  “The windows are behind you,” she purred.

“I know,” Killian grinned boyishly, holding her eye contact.  Emma’s eyes were the most dazzling shade of green with tiny flecks of amber littering the inner hues and if Killian didn’t know better, he would say the sparkle behind them was only for him.

“You old romantic,” Emma arched into him, flattening her palms over his chest with a smile that melts his heart.  All of the self doubt he had previously experienced faded away the second Emma smiled up at him.

Once again, he was ready.  

Only, things didn’t go exactly as he had hoped once they were actually outside.  Emma had slipped, losing her footing on some ice and tumbled down a snow covered slope where she landed flat on her behind.  It had kind of ruined the mood, so between laughing and scooping her up into his arms to carry her back to the cabin, Killian had decided that there would be more opportunities to tell the woman he loved how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

On the third day, Killian arranged for them to try their hand at mushing.  They were both dog people, turning to blubbering messes at the sight of a puppy, so he figured that Emma would love the feel of being in control of a whole team.  It was something he had also wanted to try, and after a few quick tutorials from the musher, they had decided to take it in turns to steer.

The sled was rickety, despite being made of some very strong yet lightweight wood, but it glided over the snow like it was a feather.  The dogs pulled at their harnesses so hard that whilst she was sitting in the basket, Emma felt the front lift up, and briefly lost sight of the dogs.  Snow churned up from their paws splattered over her face but she didn't mind, too lost in the exhilaration to care.

When it was time to switch positions once more, Killian halted the dogs at the end of a designated trail.  They all stopped on his command, each dog’s tongue lolling to the side as they panted and sucked in the cold air between yelps of detest.  Killian dropped the anchor, stamping on the two pronged metal spike until it was buried under the snow, then made his way from the back of the sled.

The snow came up to back of Killian’s knees, cooling his lower limbs instantly and he sucked in a deep breath with the shock.  When he reached the side of the sled he offered an outstretched hand to Emma and pulled her to her feet.

“That was amazing,” Emma breathed, stepping over the edge of the sled and gasping at the sudden cold enveloping her feet.  Even through her boots her feet felt the chill of the snow compacting around them.

Killian brushed some speckles of unmelted snow from her face with his mitten covered hand and when he knew she was steady on her feet, rubbed his hands up and down her arms to try and put some warmth back into her.  He had noticed Emma’s chin begin to quiver as her teeth chattered together, so he pulled her tight against his chest.

“I knew you would like this,” Killian told her softly, squeezing her tightly and pressing his lips to the tip of her nose.

“OH!” Emma squeaked, pulling back.  “Your lips are cold!”  She laughed.

Killian raised an eyebrow.  “Well, I have been on the receiving end of the wind for twenty minutes,” he laughed with her.

“And now you get to warm up in the basket on the ride back,” Emma beamed, hooking her arms back under his and pulling him back to her.  Killian tucked her under his chin, the stubble on his jaw catching in the wool of her hat.

“I’m alright,” Killian told her as he watched the moon join the low sun in the sky behind her.  “It’s getting late.  If you want to ride on the sled on the way back, I don’t mind.”

“Oh no,” Emma pushed him back and shook her head.  “Stop.”

“What?” Killian chuckled, stepping after her as she walked backwards.

Emma halted him with her own mitten covered hand and narrowed her eyes.  “The ch...chivalry,” she shivered.  

“Chivalry?” Killian asked innocently.  

Emma waved her arm around, ignoring the pain in her muscles from the dropping temperature.  “You think you can just charm your way into having another turn as musher,” Emma smirked and stepped back again.

Killian mirrored her smirk.  “Seems you have caught me, love,” he said softly.

Emma smiled just before she fell backwards, having tripped on an unseen root beneath the snow.  Killian was unable to grab her in time and Emma landed in the deepest pile of snow he had ever seen with a muffled oomph.  He couldn’t help but laugh at the sounds she made as she struggled to free herself from the packed snow.

“Killian!” Emma squealed at him as he laughed, clutching his middle from the spasming pain radiating out from his diaphragm.  “Killian Jones, help me!”  She groaned in frustration, grabbing his hand tightly.

“Alright, alright,” he clutched her hand, before stepping backwards pulling her free of the snow cavern, brushing a dusting of it from her as she stood in front of him.  “Are you okay, love?”

“I’m fine,” Emma huffed.

“Are you sure?” Killian dipped his head so that he could catch her gaze, brushing hair from her forehead and pulling her hat back down over her ears when her body betrayed her words and began trembling with shivers once more. Emma looked up into his eyes, the twinkle in them outshining any star in the sky.  He loved her more than he could say; unconditionally, with honesty, and absolute certainty that she loved him back just as much.

“I’m fine,” Emma repeated, narrowing her eyes.  “And I’ll be just fine mushing these dogs back to town,” she glared at him, unable to contain her twitch of a smile.

“Oh,” Killian smiled when she had worked out his plan, well, part of it.  Killian had wanted to tuck her back into the sled basket and begin their journey back to the cabin, stopping half way as the moon rose in the sky to replace the sun.  It was then that he planned to drop to one knee, show her the ring he had been hoarding for so long, and ask her to marry him.  But if she figured he just wanted a second turn, he would let her think that to keep his secret.

“You forget, Jones, I know you better than anyone else,” Emma chided, stomping back to the waiting sled.  The dogs sensed the return of their musher, jumping at the end of their ropes, barking and squeaking at each other in anticipation.

Killian watched her with a swell of love in his heart, even if she had thwarted his plans to propose once more.  It wasn’t Emma’s fault, and she wasn’t even aware of what he was doing, but with the holiday already half way done, he was running out of time.

“Aye, love,” Killian smirked, smacking his hands together and rubbing them together furiously.  “You do.”

The fourth day had been one they decided to spend in the cabin.  After all, what good was a holiday if there was no resting involved?  Killian woke before Emma, as usual, padding barefoot to the kitchen to brew some coffee.  He knew Emma well enough to know that she wouldn’t even get out of bed without the aroma of roasted coffee filling her nostrils.

Once the kettle was filled and set atop the gas fuelled hob, the blue flame licking at the underside of the cast iron pot, Killian moved to the lounge.  He knelt down in front of the open fireplace and used one of the nearby tools to poke around at the ash that had been left from the night before.  Killian scooped it carefully into the provided ash bucket before restocking the cavity with dried logs.  Killian tutted to himself.  There were only two logs left which meant he would have to go outside and chop more, as per the owner’s instructions.

With a grunt he pushed himself to his feet, heading back to the bedroom to grab some clothes.  Peeking around the doorframe, Killian noticed Emma was still asleep, so he made sure not to make a sound as he got dressed.  The kettle began to whistle from the kitchen and with wide eyes, he almost ran from the bedroom to stop the shrill sound before it woke Emma.  Killian wrenched the knob that turned the gas off and the kettle stopped its whistle, the sound dying off and just silent steam pouring from the spout.

Shooting a glance over his shoulder, Killian froze, waiting for any indication that Emma was awake.  When he was met with silence, he moved to the couch and fell into the seat, leaning forward to pull his heavy snow boots from under the coffee table where they had been drying by the fire from the day before.  Killian pulled them on one at a time, rising to his feet and heading for the door.

Emma was pulled from the pleasantness of slumber by a dull, rhythmic thumping.  It echoed in her head, in sync with the heartbeat in her ears, and she focused on the thumping, to drown out the sound of silence.  Was she still dreaming?  Was there a woodpecker tapping on the inside of her brain?  With a foggy haze clouding her cognitive ability, Emma could only groan as she rolled over to find Killian’s side the of the bed cold and empty.

Emma peeled an eye open, pressing her face into the cool edge of the pillow with a frown.  The noise continued, and as she rubbed at her eyes, it grew louder.  The silence outside was broken by a thud and a splitting noise time and time again, and finally, Emma could take no more.  She simply had to find out what was going on and where the noise was coming from.  

Throwing back the huge, thick comforter, Emma was instantly hit with the chill of the room.  The room was cold, the usually comfortable warmth in the air missing and as soon as her feet touched the floor, Ema shivered.  Why was it so cold?  Where was Killian?  Meanwhile, the thumping continued, so Emma pushed herself to her feet and followed the sound, grabbing her jacket and throwing her arms into the sleeves along the way.

“Killian?” She called, peering around the wall that lead to the kitchen area.  He wasn’t there, but the noise was louder.  Emma noticed Killian’s snow boots were missing and that the fire was out.  That would explain why it was so cold in the cabin, and with a smirk, Emma realised what the repetitive thudding actually was and immediately headed towards the back door.

Emma wrapped her arms around herself, the jacket she was wearing rustling.  She was still in her pajamas bottoms so her jacket looked oversized, but it was keeping her warm as she approached the balcony.  What she saw warmed her instantly, setting the love in her heart afire and making her lips twitch sideways into a smile.

Killian was chopping wood, repeatedly lifting half logs onto an old tree stump and swinging a razor sharp axe until the logs split in two.  He was sweating, tiny beads littering his brow that glistened in the morning sunlight.  Tiny wisps of evaporating hotness wafted up from his hair and neck, his coat long since discarded under the heat of his exertions.  He took a breather, straightening up with a wince and exhaling a long, visible breath.

“Can’t you chop that wood faster?” Emma teased, leaning her elbows on the snow covered railing.  “It’s freezing in here.”

Killian whipped his head toward her voice, a smile erupting on his face.  He let the axe slip between his fingers until the head hit the ground beside his boot and leaned against it with a cocky grin.  “Aye? I hadn’t noticed,” Killian winked, kicking a tuft of snow in front of his foot.

Emma raised an eyebrow and felt a shiver run up her spine.  “It’s cold out here too,” she said softly, her teeth chattering.  “Come back inside.”

Killian lifted the axe again, swinging it hard until the head hit the tree stump.  He quickly gathered some of his split logs, bundling them into his arms and heading back towards the cabin.  Emma smirked as he approached, leaning over the handrail a little more with a pout, eagerly awaiting his lips on hers.

Killian walked right up to the balcony, pressed his lips to Emma’s and hummed contently against her lips.  Emma’s hands were cold on his cheeks and he gasped when she slid her chilled fingertips to the back of his hot neck, relishing the way she giggled when he made a very unmanly yelp.  “You only want my body warmth, love,” Killian smirked, his eyebrow jumping up on his face.

“Oh, you got me,” Emma rolled her eyes.

“Come on sweet,” Killian nudged his head sideways and reluctantly pulled his head from her grasp.  “Let’s get you warm.”

Once Killian had successfully stoked the fire with Emma sitting on the nearby couch in her pajamas, he pushed himself to his feet and turned to face her.  He offered her a warming smile and moved to join her, his heavy woollen socks moving silently across the floor.  Killian dropped into the seat next to her and when he lifted his arm, Emma instinctively pressed herself to him.  Killian rubbed a hand up and down her arm, pulling her tighter to him and turning his head to kiss to top of her head.

“There, that’s better,” he mumbled into her hair, inhaling her sweet scent.

“Mmmm,” Emma hummed contently, clutching harder at Killian’s sweater.

“Miss me, love?” He smiled down at her.

“Always,” Emma whispered into the fabric of his sweater.

The tightness in Killian’s chest became more apparent and he felt the prickle of nervous heat flush over his body.  He stared into the fire, watching the flames flicker and the wood pop and char.  Emma’s one word admission was like a trigger, setting Killian’s heart fluttering in his chest and suddenly reminding him that he had a very important question to ask.

“Are you okay?” Emma asked, shaking him from his daydream when she got no response.

“Aye, love,” Killian said nervously, pulling himself from her grasp.  “I’ll be right back.  I just need to use the little boy’s room,” he smiled at her, pressing his lips to her cheek for a quick kiss.  Emma looked confused for a second, but Killian assured her he would be right back, and that it was simply the cold weather bringing on the call of nature.

As soon as Killian was in the bedroom, he scrambled around in the top drawer of the bureau where he had left the ring box, grabbed it and rushed into the en suite bathroom.  Was he having a panic attack?  His breath caught in his throat and Killian clutched at his chest, flattening his palm over his heart that was thundering in his ribcage.  He gripped at the edge of the sink, his hands shaking as he stared at the box in front of him.  Taunting him.

Why was this so hard?  Killian had been in possession of the ring for so many months he was almost annoyed with himself for buying it in the first place.  Emma was not a material person.  She wouldn’t care if he had a ring or not, and all he cared about was that she was happy.  Was she happy?  Emma seemed happy, so would giving her a ring change anything?  

Killian lifted his head and stared at the reflection facing him.  “Come on, Jones,” he growled at himself.  “You can do this.  She will say yes.  Stop being such a bloody coward.”  He took a deep breath, nodding to his reflection and swiped the ring box off of the vanity.

The only sound Killian heard when he re-entered the room was the crackling of the fire.  He was gripped with fear when he couldn’t see Emma anywhere. He rushed to the couch and felt relief wash over him when he saw her blonde locks poking out from underneath the blanket that covered her.  Killian relaxed instantly, moving around to the front of the couch and kneeling down in front of Emma’s sleeping form.

She had fallen asleep, maybe from delayed jet lag, but considering they only had a few days left of their holiday, Killian decided to let her sleep.  Tomorrow they would go skiing, and when they were back at the cabin once more, Killian was sure he would find his opportunity to propose.  The perfect moment would arise, he was sure of it, but for now he would let Emma sleep.  Emma whimpered in her sleep, before sighing deeply.  The blanket had slipped from her shoulders and a few wayward strands of her hair fell over her face.

“Maybe next time,” Killian whispered so softly his voice was barely audible as he pushed Emma’s hair from her face.  He reached out and tucked the blanket back under her chin, running the back of his knuckles over the apple of her cheek and mirroring her smile when Emma’s lips twitched.

The fifth and final day of their holiday was filled with skiing, and lots of it.  Killian had never been so exhausted in all of his life, never realising how much of a tremendous effort it actually took to stay upright on skis.  They had attended a short instruction seminar earlier, but then they were free to roam the slopes as much as they liked.  And Emma liked.  A lot.

“Are you not tired, love?” Killian huffed, digging his ski poles into the snow on either side of his bright red skis.

“No!” Emma squeaked excitedly, pushing off the the snow in front of him and heading back up the incline of the hill.  “This is so much fun!”

They had found a quiet, out of the way slope and were enjoying having it all to themselves.  Emma, the more confident skier, effortlessly sailing down the white covering time and time again whilst Killian, the more cautious, took his time walking sideways and checking the density of the snow underfoot.  Emma had laughed at him, throwing her head back and giving him the open mouth smile that caused familiar palpitations in his chest.

There was something about Emma Swan that made Killian Jones want to hold onto her forever.  He was sure it was more than love, even greater than true love, but as he had never felt it before, he was both amazed and petrified by how she could make him feel.  There were so many little things that culminated into one giant burning ball of endearment that was sometimes so overwhelming, Killian simply froze.  Like now, as Emma glided over the alpine snow towards him, skidding to a stop in slow motion right before him, the sun radiating around her form like an Angel sent to guide him.

Killian was so lost in his awe of Emma that he almost missed the polarized flash of another skier as he came hurtling down the slope towards them.  The other skier was clearly inexperienced, losing his footing and almost tripping over his own skis.  He called out, digging his ski poles into the snow behind him but it was to no avail.

“Emma, watch out!” Killian screamed, pushing Emma aside and taking the full impact of the wayward skier.  The man, clad in an all white tracksuit which was ridiculous for skiing, tumbled into Killian with such a force that both men were sent hurtling further down the slope and into a safety barrier at the bottom of the hill.

“Killian!” Emma cried, sliding after them in a slow side to side descent.  Her heart pounded in her chest and the chill in the cheeks prickling with heat and panic.

Killian was in a heap, knocked out completely by the impact.  Before Emma had even got to his side, resort paramedics were by his side, taking off his one remaining ski and assessing him for injuries.  Miraculously he was mostly unhurt, the soft snow having absorbed most of the impact from the collision, but they would take him to the nearest hospital anyway.

“He is not sedated but we gave him something strong for the pain…”

“He has a lot of bruising…”

“He is a lucky man…”

The voices in Killian’s head were, as it turned out, not fake as he had first suspected.  He was just coming around from the accident, and the pounding in his temple was proof of that.  The glow of light from the room cast a dull red over the inside of his eyelids and he could feel warm fingertips on the side of his face, easing the tension in his muscles.

“Swan?” He croaked, not opening his eyes but moving his eyeballs around under his eyelids frantically.

“I’m right here,” Emma soothed and Killian felt her clutch at his hand.

“Are you alright?” He rasped, coughing a little and wincing from the pain that shot through his chest.  He finally peeled an eye open and saw Emma sitting beside his bed.  He didn’t know how he had arrived in said bed, or this room, but he recognised it unmistakably as a hospital.

Emma let out a small relieved laugh, expelling all of the pent up emotions she had been fighting to hold back.  She surged forward, planting her lips on his so hard he thought she might knock his teeth out.  Killian fought the scorching pain in his muscles as lifted his own arm, cupping Emma’s cheek and smoothing his thumb over the swell of her cheek.  Emma’s lips trembled against his, as her hot, fat tears soaked both of them.

“Are you alright?” Killian repeated when Emma finally pulled her lips from his and rested her forehead on his.

“Killian…” she sobbed.  Chastising him with one single word, his name, that told him so much all at once.  Emma rolled her forehead against his, letting the panic she had been feeling escape in the form of more tears.

“I’m alright,” Killian smiled weakly, brushing her tears away with the back of his knuckles.

“They said you could have been seriously hurt,” Emma choked out between sobs.

“But I was not,” Killian told her softly.

“Even the thought of losing you made me feel so cold and empty,” Emma continued, her sobs catching in her throat.

Killian cupped her face in both of his hands until she was forced to look him in the eyes.  The bright green hue of Emma’s eyes was watered down with the salt of her tears, dulled by her shock and fear.  It had never been like Emma to open up so freely, even in the face of losing somebody that she loved, and Killian loved her even more for it.

“I’m not going anywhere, love,” He smiled at her with a raised eyebrow.  “Do you really think you can get rid of me that easily?”

Emma laughed at his teasing, pulling from his grasp to grab a tissue from the table beside the bed.  As she did, she spotted Killian’s belonging that had been placed inside a clear, plastic ziplock bag when they had removed most of his clothing.  Emma spied a small, square box and stopped breathing.

“Yes,” She breathed quickly, looking back to Killian with wide eyes and a tear stained face.  

“Oh, well, in that case…” Killian frowned.

“No, Killian,” Emma shook her head and grabbed the bag.  She set it down on the bed and when Killian realised what she was looking at, and what “yes” meant, he paled.  Emma fished in the bag and pulled out the box, holding it between them with a gasp.  “I mean, Yes,” Emma nodded.

“Oh,” He breathed, the word nothing more than a sound on his breath.  “About that…”  Killian rubbed the back of his neck nervously, letting his finger linger behind his earlobe.

“This is what I think it is, right?” Emma gulped, lifting her gaze briefly before opening the box and looking down at the ring inside.  Killian had decided on a plain white gold band with a white diamond set on top, and when Emma saw it she snapped the box closed nervously.

“Well, yes,” Killian admitted.  “But I have been trying for months to find the right time to… you know, ask you properly.”

Emma watched Killian fidget like a scolded child that had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been.  “Months?” Emma sounded hurt.

Killian watched the spark fade from Emma’s eyes once more and he swallowed the dry lump in his throat.  “I just wanted it to be perfect,” he sighed, looking down at his lap as his top teeth  fiddled nervously with a patch of beard hair below his bottom lip.  When he looked back up to Emma, he was surprised to see she had dropped to the floor and pulled the box open once more, only now it was facing him and the glow in her emerald eyes was back.  “Emma, what are you…”

“Killian Jones, will you marry me?”

The slacked jawed expression he gave her seemed to only spur her on to continue.

“Killian Jones, you are many things.  I have never met such a handsome, talented, caring individual in all my life.  Everybody loves you.  Everyone thinks we are one of those couples that can never remember their anniversary because they simply feel like they have been together forever, so a little date is irrelevant…”

“It’s September 19th…” Killian smirked.

“Shut up,” Emma glared, trying to hide her grin.  “The truth is, we, well some of us, are just not bogged down with the unimportant things in our lives.  What is important is having somebody in your corner, someone to help you find your way…”

Killian reached out and clutched Emma’s hand when her tears began to flow once more.  Emma quickly turned her head and wiped the tears on her shoulder, the tiny box shaking when her hands began quivering.  “You are my person, Killian.  There is no right time for something like this, you just have to know when the universe is perfectly aligned for two stars to collide forever.  You are the light in my darkness, the… the…” Emma faltered.

“The peas to your carrots, love,” Killian smiled and Emma laughed.

“Stop ruining my proposal with your Britishness,” she feigned annoyance until he apologised with a bow of his head.  “What I am trying to say…”

“Yes,” Killian interrupted her quickly, squeezing her hand.  “Emma Swan, I will bloody well marry you.”

Emma launched herself into Killian’s arms, mindful of his bruises as she peppered kisses all over his face.  Killian took the box from her hand and pulled the ring free from its foam security, aligning the white gold circle with Emma’s finger and slipping it on.  When it fit, mostly intuition on his part, Killian had never felt more connected with anyone in his entire life.

“This was not how I had this planned,” he told her softly, pressing his lips to hers once more.  

“You can’t plan for perfection,” Emma beamed, stroking her fingers through his scruff.

“Aye, love,” Killian agreed, pulling her into his arms.  “That you cannot.”

[yoificfinder]

Hi! I was wondering if you would be able to find some time travel/time loop AUs where Victor and Yuuri (and other members of the YoI cast) are thrown around in time please? Thank you so much!

Hi! These are some time travel fics (mix of both canonverse and AUs) I read and enjoyed:

Previous rec of time travel fics where they meet their other self in the other timeline

a great desire to love by lily_winterwood / @omgkatsudonplease [T, 22K]

For some strange, inexplicable, fantastic reason, Yuuri Katsuki and Viktor Nikiforov are trading places. Kimi no Na wa AU.

All Our Yesterdays by @kitsunebi-uk [E, 102K]

York, England, 2120: Yuuri Katsuki is a dime-a-dozen techie, spending his days doing routine repairs at the university. He hangs out with his friend Phichit, goes for a drink, watches holograms. It’s an existence – but is it a life?

Crowood Castle, Yorkshire, 1392: As the son of a baron, Sir Victor Nikiforov makes judgements where lives hang in the balance. As a knight, he must sometimes end them. It’s what he was born to do – but what of the heavy burden on his soul? Death is all too commonplace, while life and love remain elusive.

When a brilliant scientist goes rogue, journeying to the Middle Ages with the world’s first time machine, Yuuri is stunned to be called on as the last hope of preventing her from changing history. After an abrupt departure, he lands at Crowood Castle disguised as an enemy of the Nikiforovs, Sir Justin le Savage – and will need to act the part if he is to survive. It’s a tall order for someone who can barely tell the back end of a horse from the front. But if Ailis, in her own disguise, discovers who he is, his mission will end in a blaze of laser-gun fire. He must not give his real identity away, even to the beguiling knight he’s falling in love with…

Elevators Out of Order by mtothedestiel [E, 31K] *WIP

A Kate and Leopold AU. In 1876, Victor Nikiforov is a handsome duke with an inventive imagination and a dwindling fortune. The search for a wealthy bride brings him to America, and the capital of progress, New York City. Can an encounter with a mysterious stranger offer Victor a future he never dreamed of?

Meanwhile in 2017, physicist turned paper-pusher Yuuri Katsuki is just trying to get through the day, which is tough enough without surprise phone calls from his roommate announcing he has a 19th-century aristocrat out cold on their sofa.

To top things off, it would seem every elevator in Manhattan is suddenly out of order. What a coincidence.

Here Once and Back Again by Cbear2470 [E, 77K] *WIP *Major Character Death

“What?” was all Yuuri could say as a numbness froze over his body.

Something—something wasn’t right. It was then he realized he couldn’t remember getting to the rink. He couldn’t remember even stepping on the ice to start his program.

He couldn’t remember.

He tried to remember.

*

As Yuuri is skating his free skate, he knows something is off. But, he brushes it aside, too focused on executing the program flawlessly.

It isn't until after it's all over that Yuuri comes to discover that he just skated his gold-medal winning, record-breaking program at the 2014-15 Grand Prix Final in Sochi. The very same final Yuuri had once upon a time placed last in over two years ago.

here's to the glory still to be by @foxfireflamequeen [Not Rated, 12K]

“Hi,” says Viktor, smile bright and camera-ready. His hand, when he extends it, is small and delicate. “I think you know who I am, but we haven’t met.”

His accent is very thick, very Russian in a way Yuri has never heard before. He looks from the offered hand to Viktor’s face, barely an inch higher, and tracks his hair, long and pale and spilling over his shoulders. He can’t be older than, well, Yuri.

“No,” says Yuri. “We haven’t.”

in another dimension series by @alykapediaaa [T, 8K]

Summary of first fic in the series

Entertainment >> Celebrity News

Viktor Nikiforov: Finally Found!

SOMERSET – Russian model Viktor Nikiforov, 27, who has been declared missing last May of this year was finally found earlier today. Nikiforov, known as the face of luxury brand Stammi Vicino, was vacationing at Bath, Somerset after a successful season when he suddenly disappeared, leaving all of his belongings, as well as his poodle, behind. Yakov Feltsman, Nikiforov’s manager, has yet to release a statement. Read More.

Life Unwoven by ayn2390 [M, 23K] *Indefinite Hiatus

Five-Time Consecutive Grand Prix Final Winner Katsuki Yuuri meets Five-Time Consecutive Grand Prix Final Winner Victor Nikiforov.

or,

In which things are tangled, and untangled, and tangled again. And Victor will always be there to save Yuuri.

Maelstrom by @feels-like-fire [E, 44K]

Victor Nikiforov is poised to win gold in his fifth consecutive Grand Prix Final. He has the world at his feet, is unparalleled in the sport--right up until a snowstorm blows into Sochi, and he finds himself repeating the same day over and over and over. He stumbles over Yuuri Katsuki, and everything changes.

(Or, the time loop au. Loosely based on Groundhog Day.)

On My Love by RikoJasmine [T, 73K] *WIP

For the second time, the Sochi Grand Prix Finals arrive, and with it a reborn Yuuri Katsuki. “Viktor,” Yuuri thinks over the pounding of his heart, the crowd going silent as the music begins. “I’ll show the world what you meant to me.”

Yuuri often thinks of his life as Before and After Viktor Nikiforov, the marking point being the day Viktor swept into his life and turned his world upside-down. After many years together, an accident leads to Yuuri suddenly waking up in the Before—back in Detroit, before the GPF, before he ever knew Viktor as anything other than his childhood idol.

As if it had all been just a dream.

paso doble by @cafecliche [G, 4K]

"Long before skating, or even ballet, Yuuri would hear about it at festivals, in the boiling humidity of Hasetsu summers dancing the Bon Odori in the streets. He remembered years where Mari would take him home alone, while their parents comforted lingering, distraught dancers. Sometimes, Mari had explained, they were crying because they’d seen lost loved ones. Some cried because they didn’t see who they’d hoped, but a stranger. And some cried because they hadn’t seen anyone at all.

Because it’s not just the steps. The dancers need, even for a second, to feel the exact same thing."

(Or: days before Hot Springs on Ice, Yuuri receives a visitor from another time.)

The League of the Green Carnation by @abarero [M, 62K]

There was one golden rule to being a Time Scientist: do not bring home anything that was a fixed point in history. This meant most artifacts, extinct animals and the like were permissible. Historical figures? Not so much.

But what about an author? Namely, Yuuri’s favorite author, who was murdered in 1887. Could he be saved?

Well. Yuuri was sure as hell about to find out.

Turn Back the Clock by IronScript [T, 59K] *WIP

When Yuuri and Viktor wake up over thirty years in the past, they don't know what to do. Does the other remember?

Luckily that particular question is quickly answered and they can relax slightly, but what about afterwards? Viktor was brought back to right before his first Olympics, and Yuuri isn’t even old enough to compete in Seniors’!

Then there's the fact that they're still very much in love, but a physical relationship would be illegal (and would gross them both out considering Yuuri's age), and they can't count on anyone to just trust them not to do anything age inappropriate. So maybe being long-distance (with as many in-person meetings as possible) would be better until Yuuri becomes a legal adult physically, never mind his actual age.

But it's hard to behave and act naturally when you're forced to be apart from your husband of twenty years, especially during one of the most stressful parts of anyone's life, so Yuuri and Viktor have to distract themselves somehow, right?

Right.

And if everyone around them ends up completely confused and blindsided at their sudden changes (though admittedly they seem to have changed for the better), then so be it!

[sitp-recs]

Hi darling, first off I want to say that I am completely obsessed with your blog and your recs have introduced me to some of the best fanfics I’ve ever read. So, apologies if you’ve done this already but, could you please rec hurt/comfort drarry fics? Much love x

Hi anon! What a lovely message to start my day, I’m pleased to know you’ve been finding good content here! And thanks for the ask - I suggest you check these 3 reclists I did a while back: angst, comfort and h/c low stakes slow burn. I hadn’t done an official h/c list yet, so this time I decided to go for fics that give us both at once, that have an inherently sad premise but aren’t 99% angst with a happy ending. I tried to find a good balance between physical and emotional whump, so I hope these work for you! :)

Case File #742 by potterwatch (2019, M, 6k)

When Draco is thrown into the cell, he’s furious. When Potter gets thrown in behind him, he’s pissed.

My Hands Are Of Your Colour by @ohdrarry (2020, E, 8k)

Sometimes spilled blood lingers on guilty hands. Draco sees red and Harry washes it clean.

Slow Hands by @tinyhistory (2008, T, 10k)

Blood, shadows, and paper hearts. The Shadow hunts students, but Draco Malfoy most of all.

Solve Us Like a Mystery by tryslora (2013, T, 11k) - Mpreg

When Harry stops in at the bookstore where Draco works, they find a surprising shared interest in mysteries. Draco doesn't expect to see Harry again, and he definitely doesn't expect to become the subject of unexpected investigation that may endanger the life of his unborn child, and at the same time, may bring him the kind of happiness he never thought he'd have after the war.

Kissed by @potteresque-ire (2015, M, 12k)

Draco Malfoy was attacked by a rogue Dementor on the night of his Azkaban release. He self-exiled to Muggle London and opened a late-night chocolate shop called Kissed.

Between Myth and Man by @slytherco (2020, E, 16k)

Draco, lost and a little broken, navigates post-war reality convinced that people like him should not be allowed to make their own choices. To solve the problem of his self-sabotaging tendencies, he starts taking a few drops of Veritaserum every morning. A story about the complexity of choices, repressed desires that come to the surface when we least expect them, and the utter hopelessness of truths built on a foundation of lies.

Can't Fight The Moonlight by sunsetmog (2020, M, 16k) - Mpreg

Or: the one where Harry accidentally gets Draco pregnant, both of them fail to talk about their feelings, and in the end, there's a baby.

Vale Sanare by RurouniHime (2011, M, 23k)

Draco’s world gains a new component just when he thought he’d sorted everything out.

In Your Arms, Rests My World by @l0vegl0wsinthedark (2016, E, 24k)

Harry presses his mouth to Malfoy's forehead; he wants to tell him that he’ll never leave, that he wouldn’t dream of it.

“You make me feel safe, Potter” Malfoy whispers. “You keep me safe.”

Stain of Silence by brummell (2013, E, 28k)

After the war, Draco serves out his sentence in Harry Potter's house.

Strange Bedfellows by orphan_account, @ravenclawsquill (2016, E, 30k)

When Harry encounters a frail and fidgety Draco Malfoy at the Ministry, he just knows something is wrong and he’s determined to get to the bottom of it. A story about Deadly Nightshade, crippling insomnia, excellent wine … and finding what you need in the strangest of circumstances.

On One's Knees by pir8fancier (2008, E, 33k)

The war is over and to the victors go the spoils. If you are triggered by infidelity, this is not the fic for you.

Inside Your Mind by @lazywonderlvnd (2020, E, 36k)

Goyle's taken it upon himself to act as Malfoy's personal, one-man guard and Harry can't help but feel like it's only making the bullying worse.

(Un)wanted by @aibidil (2020, E, 36k)

Ginny's pregnant, then she's not and Harry's single. Harry, again with no family, doesn't know what to do with this turn of events, or how to find a new life—post-war, post-Ginny, post-abortion—in which he belongs. He doesn't expect that life to include dancing to the Backstreet Boys with Hermione and Draco Malfoy. A story of finding belonging in the unexpected.

Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) by @icmezzo (2013, M, 37k)

The Room of Requirement was severely damaged in the war, but not so much that it could not provide for one lost student and another young hero—especially when they needed each other most of all.

As Souls From Bodies Steal by @femmequixotic (2012, E, 40k)

Hope may be found in the oddest of places, even in the bleakness of winter.

(We'll Call This Fixer-Upper) Home by @phd-mama (2018, E, 52k)

Draco Malfoy hasn’t set foot on English soil in ten years. After the war, he fled to America, where he found himself in a community, and healed himself through following his heart into music. He’s now the lead singer and songwriter for an internationally known band, who have come back to headline the Wiltshire Music Festival. But as Draco is about to learn, his past isn’t as far away as he might have believed, and his future may hold more than he ever could have dreamed.

Balance, Imperfect by @bixgirl1 (2017, E, 91k)

When Harry sustains an injury in the line of work, he no longer knows how to navigate the life he loved, and finds help and solace from the most unexpected source.

Away Childish Things by @letteredlettered (2018, T, 153k)

Harry gets de-aged. Malfoy has to help him.

There Is Always the Moon by @firethesound (2016, T, 159k)

Draco's life after the war is everything he wanted it to be: it's simple, and quiet, and predictable, and safe. But when a mysterious curse shatters the peace he'd worked so hard to build, there's only one person he can trust to help him. After all, Harry Potter has saved his life before. Now Draco has to believe that Potter will be able to do it one more time. (A remix of If the Sun Goes Black by pasdexcuses)

[7spaceace7]

Ego Holiday Headcanons

Haven’t decided if I’ll make more after this, but here’s some festive headcanons for the Septic boys! (tagging as Yuletube for my submission for the past two missed days, hope that’s alright!)

Henrik Von Schneeplestein

-The host of the Septic Ego Holiday Celebration (est. 2017)

-STRESSED

-If he wasn’t stressed enough by being a doctor (and parent lmao), HE IS NOW

-Getting all the egos together for the holidays and making sure they DON’T kill each other?? Someone give this man an award

-Everyone keeping their limbs would be his only Christmas wish

-He does not get said Christmas wish (see: Robbie)

-Switches up his black coffee for coffee with peppermint creamer

-Chase eventually hooks him on peppermint tea instead, he knows the Doc needs sleep

-Can be found humming along to the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy as he cooks holiday dinner

-Definitely has a “kiss the cook” apron

-Chase crossed out the “the” on it with “zhe” in sharpie

-Day 5, Schneep still hasn’t noticed

-Loves it, but still wears his doctor coat on top of it

-Gets very cold easily, so the fire is always burning

-Has a nutcracker collection

-It’s getting out of hand

Chase Brody

-Holidays are,,, hard for him

-Still sends his kids cards and presents, never actually knowing if they get them or not

-They do, I promise

-Wasn’t originally keen on celebrating with everyone, he has a tendency to self-isolate

-But once he gets there, he’s glad he did

-IMMEDIATELY tackled in a hug from Jackie

-”YOU’RE HERE!! Couldn’t start without you, dude!”

-Everyone else smiles and gives the appropriate hug

-(Anti does not, but no eye roll this time at least)

-Absolutely loves warm apple cider and has a good recipe to make his own

-Favorite Christmas movie is Elf, no I do not take criticism

-Has a soft spot for Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas though because of his kids

-Holiday puns, you CANNOT get this man to shut up with the puns

- “Where’s Anti?” “Up to SNOW good! There’s SNOW way we can REIN him in now!”

-Once it snows, this boy is sledding down every hill in SIGHT

-Teaches Robbie how to catch snowflakes on his tongue

-Marvin makes him a “World’s Best Dad” sweater

-He totally cries and does not take it off the rest of the season

Jackieboy Man

-Christmas is his favorite holiday

-Good luck getting him to sit still around this time

-Has super strength, so he doesn’t quite have the same “don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself” factor that everyone else does??

-Nearly giving Henrik a heart attack everytime he moves, but make it Festive™

-”Guys it’s snowing!!” “JACKIE GET ZHE FAHK OFF ZHE RAILING”

-Slides down the stairs anyway

-Marvin made him a whole ass “ugly supersuit” instead of just a sweater

-It is a w f u l, but on purpose

-Ofc Jackie adores the shit out of it

-Loves snowball fights!

-Always gets targeted by Anti tho

-Eventually it turns into a snowball war

-Pulls Chase over to tag team him, then discovers Marvin has an alliance with Anti

-They will be here a while

-Time to break out the reindeer-themed boxers

-They go along perfectly with his red and blue sweater-suit

-Eventually able to settle down when it gets dark out, bonus points if there’s hot chocolate involved (courtesy of JJ)

-Don’t forget the marshmallows

-Wants to help everybody out with their plans, always does his best

-Even if his best includes falling off a roof

Marvin the Magnificent

-Made everyone sweaters, even Anti

-Spent too much time on the design parts to make em perfect, so he had to rush getting them all sewn

-Uses his magic to sew like three at once

-December 1st, 12:00am is when the Christmas music starts

-Mariah Carey impressions that slowly get higher as the month goes on

-Performs a “Let It Go” rendition that could rival Idina’s during christmas karaoke night

-Switches his regular mask for his holiday one with snowflakes instead of card suits on it

-The decorating master, with JJ as his apprentice

-Favorite part is designing for the lights outside

-Learned a spell to make it look like it’s snowing inside

-Forgot to learn the spell to make it stop snowing inside

-Ended up just sticking with those paper snowflakes dangling on the ceiling

-Asks Jackie for help with the lights on the roof, not because he can’t easily do it himself, he just knows that Jackie likes to help and this is the one thing he knows he can’t break

-Did not expect Jackie to break himself by falling off the roof instead

-Ends up finishing the lights with his magic anyway (after he untangles his boyfriend from the lights, that is)

-Can and will destroy Jackie during snowball fights just because he can

Jameson Jackson

-THIS BOY oh this boy

-Brings out the classic holiday music and sets it up on the gramophone

-LOVES making up dances to the music

-May be a classic boy, but his guilty pleasure is Michael Buble

-(Robbie calls him bubbles whenever he comes on)

-Goes ALL OUT with the holiday baking

-Cookies of all kinds, homemade gingerbread for the houses, so many pies, even learns how to bake his own bread

-Everyone agrees that his pumpkin bread is the best

-Anti especially loves the cherry pie for “aesthetic purposes”

-Has a whole “Twas the Night Before Christmas” puppet show routine

-His job is making the decorations while Marvin sets them all up, it’s a great dynamic

-Definitely makes those traditional popcorn garlands for the tree

-for some reason puts an orange in his stocking?? The others are confused, but he’s so excited so they just let him do his thing

-Now everyone has oranges in their stockings

-They still don’t know what it means

Antisepticeye

-Die Hard is a Christmas movie, dammit!

- “Grinch Bitch” is what his sweater from Marvin says

-Secretly likes it, but fuck off

-Wears it to sleep every night in Winter

-You know that thing where cats get under Christmas trees and swat at the ornaments? Yeah that’s him

-Loves the white elephant gift game

-Ends up getting a present and it’s a turtle

-His name is knives

-KING OF SNOWBALL FIGHTS

-Fills his snowballs with fake blood so they explode on people

- (at least we hope its fake)

-If it doesn’t snow enough, he is the bitch who throws water balloons instead

-Henrik still has work leading up to Christmas, so Anti listens to him rant when he gets home

-Christmas patients are fuckin crazy and he loves it

-One time fell asleep and woke up with a red nose and antlers

-Chase was never safe after that

-Kept the antlers though, they jingle

-Saved them all from Chase’s puns that day

- “Where’s Anti?” *distant, staticky jingling* “Ah there he is”

Robbie the Zombie

-LIGHTS...pretty lights…

-He loves the lights, and will try to eat them if you’re not careful

-Says they’re static candy

-Doesn’t get cold because he can’t feel it, so he often wanders around in the snow

-One time he came home without his left foot and Schneep nearly had a heart attack

-Turns out it froze in the snow and snapped off his leg

-The Great Foot Search Party of 2020

-Please don’t forget to bundle this boy up before going out

-Anti has knitted him a hat and scarf for just this reason

-Henrik was the Proudest Dad that day

-Totally gets to put the star on the Christmas tree every year

-Marvin levitates him high enough

-Favorite holiday movie is The Polar Express

-One time JJ came out with his signature hot cocoa during the movie scene and Robbie was THRILLED

-Talking almost knocked him over thrilled

-Tries to sing along to holiday music, the lyrics don’t work out much

-Really good at keeping a beat though

-Marvin made him a sweater with bells on it

-Adores the bells, flaps the too long sleeves to make them jingle

Shawn Flynn

-Likes Christmas, but like lowkey

-He’s a toymaker!!! He makes adorable toys for all the egos as their presents from him!!

-Didn’t really have a family to go back to in his days at Joey Drew Studios, so he was used to spending Christmas alone, usually working

-NOT ANYMORE!

-Now he has Too Much Family (but in the good way)

-Absolutely gets nicknamed Scrooge at first, probably because he really likes A Christmas Carol and he’s a grump

-Often can be found being pulled off to dance by the gramophone with JJ

-He’s got two left feet, but JJ doesn’t really care

-If anyone still believes in Santa, even just a little bit, it’s because of him

-Has a giant red sack that he fills up with toys he’s made and/or the ones no one could sell back at the studios and donates them to orphanages

-Usually sticks to his old timey clothes, but when he does wear modern Christmas attire like the sweaters, he has,,,no idea how to match things

-It’s ‘cause he’s red/green colorblind

-once asked why Marvin had “yellow” hair

-JJ makes sure that his decorations have lots of blues so it’s not so much strain on his eyes

[faunusrights]

WIP TITLES ASK GAME

Rules: Share the titles of each of your current WIPs, and, if your followers ask, share a preview of the one that sounds the most interesting. Send this on to mutuals who you are curious what they’re working on.

tagged by @texanredrose who probably dislikes me personally for this HGDFSGHJSDF. tbh i often don't title like ANYYYYY of my WIPs until i have to input them onto AO3, so uh. i am going to have to bullshit some names. also i'm gonna do tex's thing and add a little synopsis if i TRULY cannot think of a title lmao.

note: i am NOT counting WIPs that have at least one chapter posted because otherwise we will be here FOREVER AND EVER so uh yeah. this is just stuff trapped in my gdocs. also it's just RWBY for the sake of keeping it simple, stupid,

anyway uh am tagging @edarzhar (bitch) and @flawedvictori too!!! perish,

(this got long so here's a cut)

Bunfeed Bunsolved: The Valley Walk -- YES this is still happening just very slowly. this is the first cinder/velvet fic of the series and i am SO excited because it gets Weird out there. also it's mostly all about how much cinder likes hiking until she's actually doing it. inspired by the horror movie The Ritual (2017) if you MUST have context,

Ode to Stray Dogs -- it's that guard dog!Weiss/Cinder AU i posted the entire plot for a week or so ago! i love love love this AU and it WILL happen and it IS happening i'm just very slow about it sdhjfghjsgdfk anyway weiss becomes cinder's guard dog. that's the fic. also it's very kinky.

Untitled Velvet/Cinder Fic I -- it's untitled and it's a fic! this one is about, erm... a high-class restaurant/bar/whatever that also doubles as a kinky hook-up joint because you can pay for the servers to let you get freaky with them??? im SO sorry this au legit was so spur-of-the-moment but anyway velvet is there being very hot and cinder, emerald and neo are there like 👀s about it sfdhjsgdfgk

Untitled Velvet/Cinder Fic II -- HAH THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!!! this one is also just a stupid dumb kinky idea but anyway it's about... um... well... it's... [makes vague gestures] i feel like if i try and explain this one people are going to be like 'really' at me BUT IT'S REALLY HOT OKAY I'M JUST!!!!!!!!!!! look if i say it has excessive cum and involves like all the girls of rwby can we just agree to leave it there,

Pâte à Choux -- velvet/every girl. they have sex. every girl. and velvet. i TRULY need to say no more,

Untitled Cinder/Neo Fic -- okay this one is good. cinder and neo gatecrash a mistrali wedding in which cinder talks to everyone to gather just enough knowledge to pretend to be a very distant relative whilst neo demolishes the buffet. they are both dressed terribly and get really drunk and whilst the groom is very suspicious of these two two nonbinary lesbians cinder gives the wife a really expensive gift and so she's like 'do not fucking kick them out MICHAEL' and it's very stupid and dumb. anyway they do this once a week,

Untitled Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, Neo, Roman Fic -- chatlog! been poking at this one for a bit... it's just the CRME + Neo groupchat and it's a disaster also it's cinder/velvet again I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW SHUT UP I KNOW

Untitled GWS!Weiss/canon!Weiss fic -- you know the one. very horny. also very sad???

The Grimmification of Ruby Rose -- here's the bitch!!! this is happening albeit very slowly. in this AU, grimm are actually infected people (THIS WAS BEFORE CANON MADE IT COOL) who turn into grimm over a period of weeks/months! ruby gets infected when she's 15 and decides to kill salem before salem can kill her. currently tinkering with the idea of making it ruby/velvet but don't quote me,

Untitled Faunus AU (aka The Academy of Menagerie) -- a modified version of my Everyone Is A Faunus AU, in which all the cast are faunus and attend the academy of menagerie, which has been invited to participate in the vytal Festival for the first time in its 25 year history. naturally, teams RWBYJNPRCFVY etc show up and wreck shop.

The Misadventures of Blake Belladonna's Silicone Dick -- THIS IS HAPPENING I SWEAR TO CHRIST it's SO funny i have to finish this eventually!!! anyway this is about a non-binary transmasc blake (aka my regular blake) who uses a packer!!! people find out and things get ridiculous. namely it somehow ends up on the roof at some point,

Untitled Snowboarding AU -- this one is one of those horny ones that isn't horny on the surface but is getting there. anyway ruby wins tickets for an all-expenses-paid trip to one of the schnee resorts up in solitas and gives them to blake and velvet who end up there in her stead. they meet weiss schnee, professional snowboarder, and it turns out that when weiss is amped on adrenaline sahe is absolutely 100% down 2 clown... so yeah it's weiss/blake/velvet fhgjsfdj

Untitled Dishonored AU Spinoff -- for Tex!!! the person who inflicted this upon me. it's a little story set in the dishonored au in which we focus on velvet--in charge of the vale rebellion--and cinder, who is a Crime Lady looking to help the rebellion out if only so she can get back to doing crimes all the damn time. its also about velvet strategically avoiding all of rubys text messages as she runs around like a clown. people die!

My Summer Car/RWBY Crossover -- this is another one i'm gonna get to EVENTUALLY. in which taiyang and summer leave for vacation in mistral and yang goes and hangs out in vale for the summer, leaving ruby in the house alone with nothing but a shitty old car for company. probably ruby/velvet. shenanigans ensue.

Sims Medieval/RWBY Crossover -- i've been working on this one FOREVERRRRRRRRRR and it Will happen. it will. ruby is the bardic hero of the kingdom of vale in service to her majesty glynda goodwitch! along with nine other heroes, ruby has to help save vale from an untimely end... but the old queen salem still lingers in the shadows, and threatens to consume all the kingdoms in her great maw. can ruby, armed with little more than a lute and her wits, help save vale? probably not but she CAN play a banging ballad,

Untitled Taffeta/Sienna/Sherveen Fic -- dicks out for milfs that is all

Untitled Ash/Ghira/Taffeta/Kali Fic -- dicks out for dilfs that is all

not as many as tex but then again if we counted all the motherfuckers still in progress................. yikes. anyway here's that. i've probably forgotten a few/ignored ones that are similar concepts to these just in their own little branches (the aufeis fic has like a BILLION snippets in my files i just count em all as the same thing sdhjgf) but whatever. anyway. pass the curse along.

[jwillgoose]

The record is finished... what now?

We finished our fourth album last week, so I thought it might be interesting (spoiler alert: it probably isn’t) to do a quick post about what happens once a record is ‘finished’ these days, and why it can seem to take so long between an album being completed and actually being released.

Before I stumbled upon a career in making music, my attitude would’ve been similar to that of many fans, I imagine - why not just put the record out as soon as possible? It’s done, you spent (presumably) ages on it, surely you just want people to hear it and shower you with praise and damning reviews? After all, that’s what Radiohead and Beyoncé seem to do, and they don’t mind if the vinyl follows several months later.

Well, Radiohead are Radiohead and Beyoncé is Beyoncé, and both of those artists (and only a handful more) releasing records is Big News in and of itself. Smaller bands and artists need to use their new record as something to build around, to try and fight desperately for attention in a very competitive industry, to route tours around, even simply to remind people that you still exist (often, admittedly, to their distress). Otherwise it’s all too easy to put something out only to see it burn out very quickly, for it to fall to the bottom of people’s ‘recently played’ streaming algorithms and swiftly fall out of the public consciousness pretty much altogether. 

That's why it’s better for 99% of bands and artists to wait until everything is ready and to try to go for one big, focused ‘bang’ (often still a whimper, admittedly), rather than trying to hit the front page of Pitchfork with a near-instantaneous release. And the main thing we’re all waiting for these days, especially with its continued resurgence and importance to artists, labels and fans, is vinyl.

Vinyl lead times pre-pandemic were already a bit ridiculously long because a large number of the pressing plants from back in the day went under or severely reduced their capacity, so we’ve been left with a relative handful of potential suppliers and an awful lot of demand from all corners of the music industry. I think The Race For Space (released Feb 2015) was mastered at the end of October 2014, so made it out there in just over 3-and-a-bit months, and that was with two test pressings after the first failed. By the time Every Valley rolled around (released July 2017) we were already at four-months-and-counting, and don’t even get me started on the White Star Liner EP (tail end of 2018, and the vinyl was late because of test pressing issues).

Anyway, you get the picture, and that’s all pre-COVID, which obviously has done precious little to improve any aspect of the economy, besides enhancing Jeff Bezos’ already undignified / obscene wealth. We were initially quoted 7 months for this album but have managed to get it down a bit from there - still, you’ll no doubt have noticed a lot of delayed releases recently and I am taking nothing for granted, on any level, with this record.

We might seem like a modestly successful band but we are also still very much a small team of people. The sheer amount of work it is to get everything ready, besides ‘just’ the music itself, necessitates a bit of a delay between completion and release. Even now, the artwork, liner notes, credits, administrative aspects (PPL IDs and so on) are queueing up for attention; that’s to say nothing of band photos, press releases, updated bios, pitches for various media features (often with ridiculously long lead times of their own), music videos, remixes, instrumentals... in short, a lot.

Then for a band like us there’s the whole tricky chicanery of designing, building, programming and rehearsing a quite fiendishly complicated live set, all while navigating the risks and uncertainties of doing so during what we hope is the tail-end of a pandemic. It normally takes me about 2-3 months to get an album ready to play live, and that’s just the music side of it - then I need to edit videos to run concurrently, give various assets to Mr B so that he can have more to play with than just an on-rails video, then all get together in a room to see what works (hint: not much) and what needs more work (hint: nearly everything). Mr B also needs a lot of time - justly so - to put together his fiendish set creations as well as creating a lot of original video output himself. Popping up on the radio to do a quick session somewhat belies the amount of work it takes to get new material ready for that stage (should it arrive - we certainly don’t assume it will).

But the main thing, still, is to try to garner as much attention, wake as many people as possible up to the fact that yes, you still exist and yes, you’re still flogging the dead horse that is your band and creative output in a perhaps vain attempt to try to prolong an unlikely career and yes, you can order the Amazing New Record soon in at least 5 different colours to ensure its safe arrival in your homes at the very second of its official release. Hello! We’re still here! Hello! We have a new record! Er.. anyone?

Anyway, that’s just a few items from the very long list of things preoccupying me and the other denizens of PSB Towers between now and release. Hopefully everything will run smoothly, the record will come out when we say it will come out and we can even entertain modest hopes of another reasonably-well-charting album. On that note, a brief aside - chart positions are still incredibly important, if only within the record industry itself. A high chart position makes a lot of people sit up and take notice - bookers, agents, festival promoters and so on - which is another reason why it’s important for those of us who aren’t in Mr Yorke’s merry gang to try to get everything out all at once (in its right place, if you will) rather than staggering digital / vinyl release dates.

Hopefully you found this mildly diverting. It’s mostly served as a nudge in the ribs for me to remind me how much I still need to get on with, so without further ado, off I will go, and on with I will get.

Yours pre-releasedly,

J. Willgoose, Esq.

(PS I’d like to make it clear I love Radiohead, and none of this is even a mild dig at them. They are one of the most wonderful musical outfits ever, and they also have the rare privilege of being able to do what they want, when they want to, which really must be lovely.)

[actuallybarb]

The Aftermath ~ Part 3

Summary: y/n learns how much of a dick mysterio is and gets hit in the head because of it

Pairing: peter parker x reader

Warnings: swearing, angst, fluff, mysterio being a dick, trauma, it’s marvel what did you expect

Word Count: 2017, the year i honest to god don’t remember, like at all

A/N: okay we’re starting to get rolling and i’m excited! i don’t remember how far i got last time but i’m really glad i’m finishing this time

                                                        //////////

If Harrington thought I was going to the opera his head was farther up his ass than I thought. We all groaned as he made the announcement and turned back upstairs to get changed. But I didn’t go back downstairs.

“Come on, Y/N.” I didn’t peg MJ as one to plead, but here she was, making puppy dog eyes at me. But if I could resist Peter’s, I could resist anyone’s.

“Remember how I said I was trying to prove Peter wrong? That’s way more entertaining than some stupid opera.”

I could feel her losing patience with me. Hell, I was losing patience with me. I wasn’t really helping myself become more integrated in my class, but Quentin Beck was all I could think about. I had to solve this mystery, for Peter and for myself.

MJ scoffed before slamming the door on her way out of the room. I paid no mind to it and got to typing.

It felt disrespectful to break into the servers of a company who’s namesake had just died, but I tried to convince myself this is what Tony Stark would’ve wanted. Yeah, sure, Y/N. I know, I’m pathetic, let’s move on.

It only took me an hour and a half to break in, and ten minutes after that to find Beck’s file.

It wasn’t pretty.

“Contract terminated due to unstable behavior.”

“Upon further psychoanalysis Quentin Beck has shown sociopathic tendencies and is a danger to himself and others.”

“Before removal from Stark Industries, Beck manipulated company drones to create illusions, disturbing many employees, including Tony Stark himself.”

Oh.

Fuck.

The stupid metal thing in the water, it was part of a drone. A drone used to make the Elemental.

I have to tell Peter.

I pulled on my sneakers and started running through the streets of Prague to the Opera House, but I ran into MJ, literally, as she was leaving.

“Where are you going?”

“Why are you running?”

“I asked you first.”

“I’m following Peter.”

“I’m looking for Peter.”

“Did you figure it out?”

“Yeah. And if we don’t get to him soon he’ll do something really stupid.”

I let MJ lead the way as we ran in the direction of the light festival. But before we could get too close, I pulled her aside.

“Listen, shit is about to hit the fan. As much as you’ll want to look for Peter and help, promise me you’ll stay back. Okay?”

“What are you gon—“

“Just promise me, MJ. I need to protect my friends.”

She gulped. “Okay, yeah, I promise.”

I exhaled in relief. “Good. Now let’s find Peter before this all goes to hell.”

It wasn’t that hard to find him. He was the one webbing the fire monster up, or at least trying to. But MJ didn’t know that. MJ couldn’t know that.

“Remember when I told you to stay back? That’s the smart thing to do right now.” MJ nodded and moved to a side street, still with an ample view of the festival.

I knew it was an illusion. But I couldn’t figure out how it was so real. What had Peter said? It grows stronger with metal? That’s something I could work with.

Of course, the big metal scaffolding was right where the fire monster was headed. But something distracted me first.

“Help! Help!” Betty and Ned were trapped in the ferris wheel, and the Elemental was getting closer and closer.

“What the hell are you guys doing here?”

Betty looked down at me and visibly sighed. “Thank god, Y/N, can you get someone to help us? We can’t get down.”

“Yeah, just—just hold on.” I could easily help them. But did I want my secret getting out to any more people?

Another swipe from the Elemental that was a little too close for comfort made my decision for me. I hovered myself up beside their door and manipulated the gears in the lock, letting it swing open as wide as their mouths were.

“Y/N, what the—“

I lifted some rock beneath the cobblestone and made a sturdy platform for them to stand on. “You might wanna hold onto something.” Then I shot them back down the thirty feet to the ground. “Now get the hell out of here.”

“We’re talking about this later!” Ned shouted as he and Betty ran for cover. I just rolled my eyes as I landed on the ground again.

In the time it took to get them to safety, though, Quentin showed up and was putting on a fantastic show. And I still had no idea how it worked. But I was determined to foil it.

One of the perks of being able to conjure fire: if I concentrate hard enough, I can become fireproof. So I could easily get in the middle of the fiery bastard and see how he did it. But I couldn’t be seen. Or, I could douse him up and hope he hardens, like lava.

The cat’s out of the bag, Dani, just finish the stupid thing.

Yeah, yeah, okay, whatever.

I felt a pull in my gut, my abs tightened, and I could hear the rush of water in my ears. With all of the strength I had left, I directed the water shooting out of the fire hydrant straight in the Elemental’s face. It was working, too, he wasn’t going anywhere.

Then something hard and heavy hit the back of my head, and I went out like a light.

//////////

“Shit, shit, shit! C’mon, wake up, wake up!”

It felt like my skull was caved in. I knew it wasn’t, considering I could actually feel how bad my headache was, but that didn’t change the fact that it still hurt like a bitch. The person kept shaking me to get up, but all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep for five days. Note to self, sleep deprivation is never the solution.

One more good shake and I was groaning and wincing and barely opening my eyes. “God, I’m up, calm the hell down.”

Peter Parker was looking down at me, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. I tried to sit up and he put an arm around my waist, helping me. “Are you okay?”

I squinted my eyes at him. It looked like Peter. It sounded like Peter. And yet, it didn’t feel like Peter. You pay attention to how people walk long enough, you start to recognize their patterns of movement. And this was all wrong. “Really? I just got hit in the head with a brick and you’re seriously asking if I’m okay?”

A light smile crossed his lips. “Yeah, that was a stupid question.”

I moved to stand up completely but Peter stood first and extended a hand to me. He felt wrong. I nearly toppled over when I stood, and Peter took a step to catch me, and I couldn’t feel him. Like, sure, I felt arms around my waist, but they weren’t Peter’s. The step wasn’t Peter’s. “You ask those a lot.”

What the hell was going on?

Another laugh from Not-Peter and it was a little unsettling to hear his voice so perfectly and yet know it wasn’t him. “I’ll probably keep asking them. C’mon, let’s get back to the hotel.”

My head felt like it was going to split in half, my ears were ringing, and I couldn’t even stand up straight without falling over. But I refused to take another step. “You’re not Peter.”

He made the exact face I imagined Peter would make. “What are you talking about, of course I’m Peter. You must’ve hit your head really hard.” His hand reached up to touch my forehead but I grabbed his wrist and let my hand get hot. Really hot. He looked like he was in pain, then he finally grimaced, and there was a small flicker by his ear. I was right.

“Where. The hell. Is Peter.”

Beneath the ringing in my ears I heard a low whir. Almost imperceptible. But definitely there. Without breaking eye contact I shifted my feet and shot a shard of earth at the noise. A crash resulted that rattled my brain and almost made me flinch, but it definitely made part of Not-Peter’s facade glitch.

Shit.

“You’re smart, kid, I’ll give you that.”

It was still Peter’s face, Peter’s voice. But the world around us started crumbling and I was suddenly falling and no amount of manipulation to the air currents was going to stop me from hitting the ground full force. Concussion number 2, anyone?

“Where’s Peter?”

“You really shouldn’t be so worried about him when you have other friends to think about.”

Suddenly I was looking up at our hotel and MJ was thrown from the top. Then Ned. Then Flash.

And I couldn’t save any of them.

More and more classmates were piled on top of each other, none of them alive. None of them saved by me.

I knew it wasn’t real. I did all of that research, I lost days of sleep over it, I knew. But all I could look at was MJ’s lifeless eyes and think that they looked so real.

“What the hell do you want?” I wanted to sound dignified. Like I was in control of myself. Like I wasn’t absolutely terrified. But I was. I didn’t know whether I was feeling the truth or not, and that scared me the most.

“To watch you squirm.”

I was thrown to the side and my surroundings changed again. I was twelve once more, and I walked into my house just in time to see my parents turn to ash. I turned to run out the door and I was suddenly in Jess’s apartment when her husband reappeared and the gut-wrenching feeling of rejection hit me all over again. One more turn and I was back at school with hundreds of kids pushing past me; completely forgotten, completely alone.

I collapsed to my knees and sobbed. I had buried everything so deeply just so I could function as close to a normal teenager as possible. And now they were thrown back in my face all at once.

Wait. Midtown Tech had tiled floors. These were wood.

Liar.

My sobs turned to sniffles, but I kept my head down. There it was, the whirring. I lightly tapped the ground, and sure enough, it was earth. I slapped the ground and drones started dropping left and right with pieces of rock sticking out of the metal. Midtown Tech was crumbling before my eyes and I smiled.

Of course, it didn’t last very long.

“You bitch.” A remaining drone fired at me but I dropped down and let the bullet fly over my head. Not-Peter’s facade faded and Quentin Beck stood there instead. He grabbed my hair and forced me to look at him. “Let’s make this simple: you can come quietly, or you can come in a body bag.”

A part of me thought he was bluffing. A part of me knew he wasn’t.

“What the hell do you want?”

“You’re going to help me put on one more show.” Before I could move there was a needle in my neck and my vision went black.

/////////////

I was crashing. I had gone too long without sleeping, I had too much adrenaline, and now I was crashing. Karma’s a bitch. You know who else is a bitch? Quentin Beck. And guess who was staring me in the face as I came to.

“Not you again.”

“This is how this is going to work,” he started. “You’re going to make a real Elemental, and then I am going to defeat you.”

“Hell no.”

Beck’s fist connected with my jaw and I swear I got whiplash. “Let’s try that again. You will do this, or I’ll have the drones in New York kill every person you’ve ever loved.”

Fucking bastard. I just got them back, I’m not losing them again.

“What do you need me to do?”

tags: @eridanuswave​ @vampirestrawberries​

[entertainment]

Entertainment Spotlight: Minhal Baig, Hala

Writer and director Minhal Baig recently released a feature-length film, Hala, about a Pakistani-American teenager that uncovers a secret that threatens to unravel her family, which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. She previously served as a story editor on Bojack Horseman (Netflix) and staff writer on Ramy (Hulu). In 2017, she was chosen to participate in Ryan Murphy's Half Foundation Directing Mentorship. Minhal took some time out of her busy schedule to answer some of our questions:

Without any spoilers, what scene, moment, or line from Hala are you most excited for audiences to see?

The scene between Hala and Eram in the shopping mall parking lot was a turning point in the writing process for me. Their relationship is fraught and because the story is being told from Hala’s perspective, we’re more aligned with her than we are with her mother. But in this scene, the perspective opens up a little bit. Eram makes some valuable points, albeit in a harsh way. She chastises Hala for marginalizing her and even asks her, rather bluntly, whether she looks down on her. This was a difficult scene to write because it came from such a personal place. I reflected on my own experience of treating my mother this way, and how differently I look back at those interactions now.

The story of Hala is one that will resonate with many people grappling with similar issues in their own lives. What do you hope that audiences take away from the film?

I hope that viewers can take away that we are more similar—in complicated family dynamics and coming-of-age—than we are different. Hala came from a very specific place, drawn from my lived experience. It’s not autobiographical, but there was emotional truth in Hala’s search for self. It’s not a search defined by her ties to her culture, faith or even her sexuality; it’s all of these things at once. I want people to be moved, to extend compassion, to be feel less alone.

What inspired you to write Hala?

Hala came out of a place of processing a pain that I experienced in my own adolescence. I was wrestling with my own identity as a teenager and my relationship with my family. It was a difficult time in my own life when I chose to leave home for college. I don’t think my parents were ready for that, but I also wasn’t quite ready, either. I was forced to learn a lot on my own and much of that is reflected in Hala’s own journey. While the film drew upon my personal life, it eventually became her story and needed to be true to the character.

If you could give any character from the film a piece of advice, who would you speak to and what advice would you give?

I think about how much pain and anguish could have been avoided had I been more open with my family. There was so much that I hid and continue to hide, not necessarily out of a sense of self-preservation anymore but because I didn’t want to burden them with the reality that I was not living up to their expectations. If I could talk to Hala, I would let her know that she’s not alone in her experiences and that vocalizing her feelings to her family, while difficult, might be what brings them closer together.

What’s the first thing that you remember being a fan of?

I remember seeing Jurassic Park and Hum Aapke Hain Koun with my family in a theatre. They were early cinematic experiences that I’ll never forget. For a little while, we could forget everything and just live in the world of a movie. It was everything.

Do you have any interesting facts about the filming of Hala that viewers would be surprised to know?

The high school that we filmed at, Northside College Prep—is where I went to school in Chicago. It was a very surreal experience to shoot in a classroom that I’d been in ten years ago as a teenager.

Who are your biggest influences?

Andrea Arnold, Lynne Ramsay, Celine Sciamma, Asghar Farhadi, Ruben Ostlund, Claire Denis, Maren Ade, Kelly Reichardt, Sofia Coppola, Debra Grafik, Abbas Kiarostami, Paul Thomas Anderson, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Xavier Dolan.

The biggest film influences on Hala were 35 Shots of Rum, Fish Tank and A Separation.

Can you take us through a typical day on set?

Every day is different depending on what I’m scheduled to shoot that day. If it’s an early call time, I head to set early with the cinematographer and go over our shots. We walk through everything together and then include the assistant director in our conversation. Then, I check in with my actors—to make sure they feel comfortable with what we’re shooting. Once I’ve done all of that, we read through the scene, block it, and the actors go away to get dressed while the various departments work to bring the scene to life. When the actors return, I usually do a rehearsal and once I feel that it’s ready, we shoot. I like to keep things moving and reset instead of calling cut, or do a few takes in a row so that the actors’ momentum isn’t lost. We finish a shot and if it’s good with everyone, I move on. The usual day on Hala required us to shoot five or six pages a day with multiple location moves, so imagine doing all of this at a relentless pace all day. Once we hit twelve hours, we call it a day.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a film that centers the live of children, and specifically, the friendship between two nine-year old boys. It’s set in 1992. I’ve spent the last two years, on-and-off, taking a very journalistic approach to this story, spending a lot of time with people whose lived experiences I’m hoping to reflect in the final film. It’s a labor of love while I work a day job writing television.

Thanks for taking the time, Minhal! Hala is now available on Apple TV+. 

[does-this-look-logicality-to-you]

3 and 17 for the fluffy prompts with prinxiety maybe? I love them too much for my own good lol -King anon from your other blog

hello king anon! i’m still not completely convinced you’re not kat, who loves prinxiety probably more than she loves me, but regardless i hope you like this! i’m sorry it’s been so long since you sent this, i

words: 1455 universe: human au characters: Virgil, Roman; mentions of Patton pairings: romantic prinxiety; mentions of platonic moxiety warnings: kissing, otherwise nothing prompts: “i’m here for my daily fix of hugs and kisses.” and “a fairytale with a happy ending always brings a smile to my face.”

“Virgil. Virgil, it’s time to wake up.”

Virgil rolled over, covering his head with a pillow. “Gimme ten more minutes, Patt. It’s the weekend.”

“Who said anything about Patt?” Virgil took the pillow off his head and sat up. Sitting there beside him was no other than Roman, wearing a wide grin.

“Bah! Roman!” Virgil threw his pillow at him, alarmed. “Nobody’s allowed to see me without my eyeshadow!”

Roman caught the pillow easily. “I think you look absolutely lovely without it.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t.” He got out of bed, rubbing his eyes.

Roman pointed at the sweatshirt Virgil had on. “Oh, that’s where my favorite hoodie went!”

Virgil felt his face go red. He’d taken it from Roman’s apartment a few months ago, and had been using it as a pajama shirt ever since. It was comfortable, and it smelled like him. “Sorry…”

“No, it’s fine! You can keep it.”

“But it’s your favorite.”

“I can always get a new one. Besides, it looks good on you.”

“Whatever. Can you let me change, please?”

“Go ahead.”

“I mean alone.”

“It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.”

“Roman, I swear to God.”

“Okay, okay! I’m going! Sheesh, you’re so mean!” Roman pouted, but Virgil just rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

“Sorry, darling, it’s my job.”

“Just go.”

“Fine.” Roman stood up dramatically, making Virgil snicker, and left the room.

Alone at last, Virgil started getting ready. He slipped out of his pajamas and headed toward his dresser, taking out his favorite t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. He grabbed his usual black-and-purple hoodie before heading into his and Patton’s shared bathroom. Falling into his daily routine, Virgil turned on the faucet to heat the water as he ran a comb through his hair. When the water was hot, he doused a washcloth and washed his face, then dried it with the towel that hung on his side. He decided to go for a simple makeup look today, complete with his signature black eyeshadow on the lower lid. Satisfied, he ran his hand through his hair a few times before leaving the bathroom and heading into the kitchen.

Roman was waiting for him there, leaning against the counter and sipping a cup of coffee. He had already poured Virgil his own mug. Upon taking a sip, he saw that Roman had prepared it exactly how he liked it, with the perfect amount of milk and sugar. He sat on the counter next to his boyfriend. “Okay, Princey, this time you’re off the hook.”

“Was I ever on the hook?”

“I’d say breaking into my house while I’m asleep definitely puts you on the hook.”

“Patton gave me the spare key months ago!”

“Yeah, but you at least could have waited until I was awake.”

“I couldn’t wait that long.”

“Why are you even here?”

“I’m here for my daily fix of hugs and kisses.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Of course you are. Why couldn’t you have at least waited for a more reasonable time?” He used the phrase “reasonable time” loosely, as he normally woke up around noon on the weekends.

“Because I missed you, of course.”

“Roman, I saw you yesterday.”

“Yes, but it had been so long since then!”

Virgil shook his head, finishing off his coffee. “My God, you’re such a drama queen.”

“I won’t deny it. Now, may I have my hugs and kisses, please?” He turned to look at Virgil with his best attempt at puppy-dog eyes.

He feigned exasperation. “Okay, fine.”

Roman pumped his fist in victory

“You didn’t need the puppy-dog eyes, though,” Virgil told him. “Patton’s the only one who can make that work.”

“Oh, you love it.”

“Whatever. C’mon, follow me.” He hopped off the counter, put his mug down by the sink, and headed over to the living room, motioning for Roman to follow. As the other came over to him, Virgil pulled a thick blanket from a trunk by the couch. When Roman reached him, he patted the cushion beside him. His boyfriend beamed and sat next to him, cuddling up to him. Virgil grabbed the remote from the arm of the couch before draping the blanket over them. “What do you wanna watch?”

“I think you know my answer.”

“Yeah, I think I do. Just making sure.” He switched the TV to Disney+, and Roman cheered. “Which movie?”

“Princess and the Frog, of course! I know that’s your favorite.”

“My favorite’s Nightmare Before Christmas, dumbass.”

“It isn’t technically a Disney movie. It was originally released by Touchstone Pictures, because Disney didn’t think it’d do well, and they only bought it out once it succeeded. Besides, we aren’t going to watch a Christmas movie in the middle of February.”

“It’s March. Besides, it’s a Halloween movie!”

“No, it isn’t. It has ‘Christmas’ in the name!”

“So?”

“So it’s a Christmas movie!”

“No the Hell it is not!”

“Prove it!”

“Where does Jack Skellington live?”

“Halloweentown, but-”

“There you go.”

“That isn’t nearly enough proof.”

“Oh yeah?” Virgil whipped his phone out of his pocket. “Let’s settle this.” He opened Google and typed the words “is nightmare before christmas a halloween movie”. “Ah-ha!” He began reading off the first result. “‘In 2017, director Selick definitively declared “it's a Halloween movie” during a Q&A at Colorado's Telluride Horror Show film festival, while two years later composer Danny Elfman told USA Today, “It's obviously about Christmas, but for me, it's a Halloween movie.”’ Boom. I win. Who’s the Disney buff now?”

“Fine, I’ll give you that. It still isn’t Disney, though.”

“Neither are Pixar movies.”

“Are we going to keep arguing about this, or are we going to watch Princess and the Frog?”

Virgil laughed, giving a sigh of mock-indignation. Roman had been right before; he did love Princess and the Frog, often claiming it to be where Disney reached its peak. “Fine.” He opened the “search” tab and typed in simply “the princ”. As he’d expected, the movie they’d been looking for was one of the first results. He clicked on it and clicked play, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and pulling the blanket tighter around them.

__

The two of them hardly let go of one another for the entire movie. They entertained themselves by making commentary poking fun at the plot and characters— all in good fun, of course. During the more stressful and nerve-wracking scenes, Roman distracted him by peppering his face with kisses. In contrast, when the more romantic scenes came on, the two of them held one another close as if their lives depended on it. It was nice, spending time together in a casual setting like this.

The movie soon reached the end. “A fairytale with a happy ending always brings a smile to my face,” Roman said happily as they watched the montage of Tiana and Naveen build their new lives set to Tiana’s interpretation of “Down In New Orleans”.

“Too bad most fairytales don’t have happy endings, and most of the ones that do were changed to be more suitable for kids.”

Roman gently elbowed him in the ribs. “Oh, don’t ruin this for me.”

“That’s kinda my job. Ruining things, I mean.”

“Oh, don’t be silly.”

“I’m not. That’s your department.”

He gasped in mock-offense. “Excuse you! I am not silly! Dramatic, yes, but never silly.”

“Whatever you say,” Virgil replied, giving him a smirk.

“Oh, you stop that!” Roman took his boyfriend by the front of his shirt and kissed him firmly, softening it when Virgil returned it and moved his hand up to tangle it in the other’s hair. Roman started to move into his lap, only to be shoved off.

Virgil broke the kiss. “Not a chance,” he said, gesturing to his legs. “There’s no way these tiny thighs can handle your weight.”

Roman just shook his head and kissed him again, this time pulling Virgil onto his own lap. “That’s better,” he mumbled into the kiss.

When they finally pulled away, Roman reached for the remote. “Do you want to watch another movie?”

“Only if it’s Nightmare Before Christmas.”

“We already discussed this, My Chemical Romantic Interest. That’s a Halloween movie.”

“My Chemical Romantic Interest?”

“What?”

“That’s the dumbest nickname so far. And anyway, time is a social construct. We don’t have to wait until October to watch a Halloween movie, especially not when it’s the best Halloween movie out of all of them.”

“Hmm... you have a point. Fine, I guess I can’t argue with you. So, are we gonna watch Nightmare Before Christmas?”

“We are.”

“Good answer.” He pulled up the movie and, snuggling close to his boyfriend, watched the movie in a comfortable silence.

[spaceschool]

🎄That’s right! It’s time to start getting ready for Space School’s 7th annual 12 DAYS OF GUESTMAS! 🎄

It’s that time of year again! Time to start getting ready for this year’s Spacemas!

BASIC INFO:

I need to fill about 10 guest comic slots.

Comics should be at least 1 single page. (Max 4 pages)

Comics should be in full color.

Comics need to be X-mas/Winter themed!

I also accept illustrations, but they must have a clear narrative or dialogue!

Tone can be humorous, serious, anything like that. As long as it’s Space School and X-mas/Winter themed all at once.

DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 13TH FOR ALL FINISHED ART!

HOW TO APPLY:

DON’T send me any completed art, instead just send your idea/pitch for what you’d like to do for said comic.

Link or attach example of your art or portfolio!

Send all of this to my e-mail colinxzain@hotmail.com

Label e-mail “Space School Guest Comic Pitch”

And  that’s about it! It’s pretty flexible and this is all in good fun! I  would be honored if some of you applied to make a guest comic this year!(If you applied last year, feel free to apply again this year if you’re feeling up to it. I loved all the artists I worked with last year and would love to work with ya’ll again.)

This full post on Tumblr has more info about Space School and Christmas/Guestmas in general in case you're curious!

Below is more info about Guestmas and Christmas time in Space School:

Space School Christmas Illustrations by year:

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016 (PART 2)

2017

2018

2019

Original 12 Days of Spacemas announcement image

12 DAYS OF GUESTMAS 2014

12 DAYS OF GUESTMAS 2015

12 DAYS OF GUESTMAS 2016

12 DAYS OF GUESTMAS 2017

12 DAYS OF GUESTMAS 2018

12 DAYS OF GUESTMAS 2019

I would love to see some of these past outfits re-created in any comics but new ones or just general winter themed outfits are fine too. Zeggy should most always be Santa though, unless joke calls for otherwise. BUT! Jokes trump everything– if it’s funny, I want it.

SPACE SCHOOL AND THE HOLIDAYS:

Because Winter-time has always been a time of hoilday-stuffs for lots of places and planets (especially those who were colonized by Earth or Nubia) Space School most often gives the whole school lots of time off in December from school-life.

All holidays are accepted to celebrated within the walls as long as everyone is being respectful of each other– as with most things in Space School. The School decorates mostly with lights and tries to stay away from leaning one way or the other. Students are allowed to decorate inside their dorms as they please, obviously.

Most students leave home to their respective planets for the holidays but some students and teachers stay at the school thru the whole month– sometimes celebrating together!

It’s an exciting and peaceful time for everyone~

Alkaline, Zeggy, and Toggy usually go home for the holidays (sometimes together) and Joe stays at the school. Sometimes Joe joins Toggy, Terrago, and Omnivera at their homes.

Dude, Maleena, and Vava either see their separate families alone or all stay together in their home near the school.

Dennis and Booker spend the holiday cooped up alone at Booker’s apartment avoiding everyone but each other.

ZEGGY AND HIS PLANET’S CULTURE:

Zeggy is canonically the most all about Christmas out of the whole group.

X-mas was an adopted holiday by Ollce when Earth colonized the planet and as such, it resembles Christmas as we known it with some key differences.

As far as the tree goes, it starts out as a sculpted pile of dirt resembling a tree or other X-mas object that is watered thru the month with various glowing mushrooms and other fun alien-glowy-bits appearing as it’s watered– so by the time Christmas rolls around the tree will have grown it’s own ornaments to light up the room!

You buy bags of seed/spores each year for the tree, these bags make great gifts and are often put in stockings!!!

Otherwise, a lot of the traditions are the same with either having different looking aesthetics. They do stockings, presents under the tree, and Santa– who instead of having a sleigh– instead rides a single giant mole (which is a creature from purple planet, I can provide reference for) and is of course, purple himself. He rides this mole– who is named Rudolf, around all the underground cities of Ollce delivering presents to all the kids.

Zeggy gets into the holiday spirit way too early and way too fast. He decorates his whole dorm room as well as wearing as much X-mas accessories as he’s allowed over his school uniform.

He’s the type of person to put everything non-Christmas away and replace it with Christmas themed things.

He absolutely spoils Alkaline with tons and tons and way too many gifts– all of which are extremely personalized.

Otherwise, he only buys presents for his parents/grandparents, Joe, Toggy, and gives cards to his teachers. Most of his efforts go towards Alkaline.

He eats a billion food, sings a billion songs, and is fucking obnoxious. It’s beautiful.

ALKALINE AND HIS TRADITIONS:

Alkaline likes Christmas just as much as everyone else and is definitely not as hype as Zeggy because who could match Zeggy’s energy, honestly. But, he definitely gets into the spirits! Enjoys the food, drink, songs, presents– etc.

Christmas on Earth is very similar to what we think of it now which some differences– many of which haven’t totally been decided upon so feel free to have some fun interpretations.

Christmas has most definitely become a non-religious holiday in most all senses on Earth. It’s more just about the aesthetics and being with family members, buying fits, eating food, etc.

Alkaline is either with Zeggy in his home on Ollce or has Zeggy over on Earth. He stays with his Mom and Sister, visiting extended family on Christmas Day for dinner.

Alkaline buys everyone he knows presents– even if it’s just something small!

I usually draw Alkaline as a reindeer because Alkaline with antlers is super cute.

JOE’S ‘CHRISTMAS’:

Christmas isn’t celebrated where Joe is from– they have other traditions. However; Christmas Day is actually Joe’s birthday– which he usually chooses to spend alone or with Dennis or Lorna (his girlfriend)– depending on the age.

As such, Joe doesn’t care too much about Christmas and see’s it more of just as “his birthday” but starts to appreciate the holiday more when Zeggy’s festive spirit invades him. And, he likes the presents.

I’m sure Zeggy and Joe have some special X-mas moments together with Zeggy trying to show Joe all about “The Christmas Spirit”!

TOGGY’S TRADITIONS:

On Nubia, they don’t really have a Christmas but rather a big celebration of a New Year like holiday where they begin the new calendar year.  Like Christmas, it’s a time to celebrate with family and loved ones.  

Typically people travel long distances to spend the two days reunited with family, and everything shuts down.  The most important part of the festivities is to tell stories about the year–letting out stress or frustration while also reliving good moments and bonding with family members.  

This is always accompanied by large amounts of alcoholic beverages, which are enjoyed by all ages.  

Oftentimes everyone gets really smashed the first day and then sleeps it off the next.   Food varies from region to region but typically includes mostly unprocessed foods such as berries and vegetables, or dried lizard or fish jerky. As the festivities mark the beginning of the new year, many Nubians will dye their hair to a different color or get a new piercing around this time. Presents aren’t really a thing on Nubia, though it is common for parents and grandparents to give their children small sums of money to encourage them to have new adventures in the new year.  

Toggy’s family is a bit more accustomed to Earth traditions though, and so he tries to buy his close friends gifts for “Christ-mass” but they are always strange and often food.

DUDE, MALEENA, VAVA:

The 3’s traditions are similar to Alkaline’s since they’re all from Earth– so not much to say there.

Dude spends a lot of time in an apron baking cookies, cakes, etc as presents for everyone he knows and Vava and Maleena definitely gain some weight this time of year.

They all get drunk a lot and laugh a lot and just have a good time together BEING A LIL FAMILY.

Dude always makes sure to exchange presents with students he’s helped thru the year; since he often takes troubled students under his wing.

DENNIS AND BOOKER:

Booker nicely decorates his apartment and spends a lot of time with Dennis on the couch eating food and talking. They frick a lot too.

It’s chill.

OMNIVERA AND TERRAGO:

As the resident “gays into roleplays”, Omnivera and Terrago do a lot of dressing up for X-mas.

There’s a lot of time Terrago will be with Toggy’s family with them– and so I’m sure Omnivera is there sometimes as well. In a billion, expensive outfits.

The two of them absolutely spoil each other and nobody else in presents– except for Toggy who they buy something for– OF COURSE.

NOTE ABOUT REX: Due to some wild stuff happening with the creator of Rex, Rex will no longer be appearing in Space School and therefore should not be appearing in any Guest Comics! Sorry!

AND PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO ADD NEW HEAD-CANONS OR INTERPRETATIONS FOR FUTURE HOLIDAYS!! REALLY, THIS STUFF IS JUST HERE TO GET YOU STARTED SO GO HAVE LOTS AND LOTS OF FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!