#regular human eriks you will always be famous

[nihil-ghost]

my favorite random guy

[flutiebear]

what’s in a name?

The Dragon Quest games are well-known for their awesome localizations—voice acting, translation choices, cross-cultural puns, etc. Consistently it's always pretty top notch. But last night I played through Erik's new side story in DQXI S, which has a naming choice that's particularly inspired. I explain below the break.

WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW:

In the new content, Erik wakes up in a prison cell in a fortress of monsters, where he meets a mysterious healslime named "Healijah." (Which is an absolutely adorable name and perfect for one of those little blue cuddlybuddies, SO CUTE)

Anyway, over the course of the short story, you learn that Healijah is actually the Seer, the mysterious figure whose prophecies put Erik on the necessary path to meet the Luminary in the Heliodor dungeon (they also later on guide the Luminary, when he is in a time of great need). In turn, The Seer is actually Morcant's remaining goodness, taken Spirit form; as such, the Seer is a powerful magic user who can change form at will and appear/vanish at any time.

Back to Healijah. The name "Elijah" has deep significance in Judaism. (Christianity and Islam, too, but I only really know about the Jewish side of things.) Elijah is one of the best-known prophets of the Talmud; during his lifetime, he performed several whizzbang miracles, inspired a ton of people to seek out God—and, interestingly—ascended to Heaven while still alive. His prophecies were, quite literally, the stuff of legend. (Also he really liked sticking it to The Man. Like, a lot. He spent most of his life on the run from one king or another.)

A miracle-worker and prophet who became a spirit while still alive… sound familiar?

But Elijah is more to us than just some super-smart guy who likes to thumb his nose at kings. You can think of Elijah like a guiding spirit, sort of; or maybe more like a friendly uncle who loves to crash your parties. Supposedly, he's there at every bris (the ritual of circumcision, which symbolizes the covenant between God and God's chosen people). You also set a place and a cup of wine for Elijah at Passover, one of the biggest holidays of the year, in the hopes that he'll stop by—and, in fact, if a stranger should come to your house during the Seder, it is HIGHLY IMPLIED that that stranger is Elijah and you should welcome him to your table.

Elijah might be kinda-sorta-not-really-dead, but he also just can't seem to stay away from Earth. He loves to pitch in and offer his fellow Jews guidance, especially in their darkest hour. He also has vast knowledge of holy things. From Chabad.org:

According to tradition, Elijah frequently comes down to earth to help Jews in distress or reveal secrets of the Torah to our great scholars.

Yet Elijah is sort of a slippery dude. He goes where God wills him to go, so it's tough to actually recognize him when you see him. Nobody really knows what he looks like. He could look like anybody, really.

A person who takes many forms and likes to guide people in their darkest hour…. You see what I'm getting at, don't you?

There's more to it than that, of course. Elijah was said to have "a still small voice"; in one famous story, he's depicted as hanging out in a cave. He's said to have a banging beard. Really, I could draw parallels between Elijah and the Seer all day.

Also, Elijah had a disciple named Elisha, who took up his mantle when he ascended to heaven. Elisha was just a regular guy, but he immediately took to Elijah; when Elijah called, Elisha answered without hesitation. And as a doer of God's Will, Elisha ended up being a lot like Elijah; mostly, his role in the Talmud is mostly to finish Elijah's unfinished business.

Elisha's past before he hooks up with Elijah is something of a mystery. One thing's clear, though: Elisha also liked to stick it to The Man, just as much as his mentor. He often found himself on the wrong side of the law, and once had an entire army on his heels, with orders to kill him on sight.

Elisha wasn't as much of a flash-bang miracleworker as Elijah, though. His acts tended to be "smaller wonders": still miraculous, but more… human? He fixed some poisoned water holes; he gave a widow some bottomless pots of oil, so she had a means of providing for her and her kids. Generally, he didn't topple armies or do battle with demons. He was just kind. He traveled the ancient world being compassionate to people who needed it, when they needed it most.

There was one other thing that separated Elisha from his mentor. Whereas Elijah tended to be a bit of a loner, Elisha preferred to travel in the company of others. In fact, he often traveled in the company of princes—and at one point, the reigning king of Judah.

No matter how prickly Elisha sometimes was, he didn't set himself apart. No, he seemed to crave company; he spent his life journeying from place to place, always surrounded by other people. Elisha was a man of great loyalty – not just to God, but also to his fellow man.

I’m sure stuff I missed and more parallels that can be drawn, but all this is enough to convince me that the name “Healijah” was very much not just about whichever name was cutest, but also a conscious name selection as thoughtful and story-relevant as the Japanese developers originally naming Erik “Camus”.

[fairycastlesintheair]

Pluie/Noir Studiocast 01 "Erik Sature"

Sound Mixed and Performed by Vadim Svoboda Visual Interpretation by Max Binski

Soundcloud Link: soon

Pluie/Noir teams up with Make Sense's Vadim Svoboda for a new series featuring artists exploring their favourite musical gear through improvisation.

Vadim's session is particularly educational. As a true connoisseur of Elektron's Machinedrum and a lover of classical music, Vadim decided to focus on the ROM feature of Elektron's infamous first drum machine and deconstruct Erik Satie's music on the fly. 

Used in the video: 

Elektron Machinedrum SPS1UW+ mkII 

Strymon Deco 

Zoom H6 

YouTube (sampling source)

Cleymoore interviews Vadim Svoboda:

Hi Vadim, such a pleasure to have you at P/N finally, especially having you bring a new format to the series. How are you, all things considered, amidst this global chaos?

Hello Bruno! Thank you, the pleasure is mutual! Been a long time we met each other and I’m glad to participate in Pluie/Noir's very subtly sharp universe. Regarding my physical being, I’m safe and sound. Thankfully, isolated in the countryside of France with people I love, so I feel lucky! I guess music producers are somehow trained for social distancing, but this is a serious threat to humanity, so it has to be taken very seriously. I wish we will learn lessons from it.

We’ve met a while ago, back when I was living in Paris. Makesense was on its 3rd release and you were still resident at the Sundae parties in Paris. How did the scene change after all these years?

I guess Paris became a bigger target for booking agents and famous DJs, but those « headliner » performances in big events didn’t necessarily help build our scene further. On the other hand, the reaction it provoked was good, and I see more and more promoters having the guts to do something special, and focusing more on the local talent, with 100% original music. This is, in my opinion, the best way to build a strong french scene. Booking one big name from the ’90s won’t really push our scene further, whereas booking 100 locals actually might.

After a long hiatus period, Makesense returned in 2018 with your own album 'Hasard Ordinaire'. A total shift in style for the label, it presented a side of you a lot of people didn’t know: bold, experimental and tremendously deep. Is this the direction you want to explore?

Yes, I’ve planned to explore different musical styles with Makesense from the start. Makesense has always placed a focus on emerging talents and promoting forward-thinking music. That’s what we pride on, and that’s what drives us. This year will feature at least two new releases. The first one from a very close friend of mine, someone I consider to be one of the most innovative french producers around, and the second one will be the first release of a Japanese Machinedrum master; glitchy, breaky and yet, so romantic. I have goosebumps while typing this, and I can't wait to show it all to you. We are back and for good. 

There’s a lot of sound manipulation of Pianos in Hasard Ordinaire. Is Piano is a big part of your creative life? 

I’ve been playing the piano since a very young age, so it plays an enormous part in my creative life. Throughout my life, I've used it mainly for advertisements and soundtracks. When I was about 18yo I’ve fallen in love with step sequencers, which lead me to the discovery of Elektron's Machinedrum. Because it's so simple to play, sequence and perform, almost like a piano, I've decided to perform live with it. I’m now trying to mix both of these worlds, and both creation processes: acoustic, grid-free, and synthetic pattern sequences. 'Hasard Ordinaire' is a gathering of several tracks I composed between 2009 and 2018: a compilation of musical drafts, or test tracks, that for some reason I’ve always hesitated to share.

When we met, you already had a deep love for the Elektron machines. I remember seeing you perform live with 2 Machinedrum, and carefully observing you flow with them in a very peculiar way. Is the Machinedrum currently your drum machine of choice? 

Yes, even though I've tried to take my distance from it many times. But it became an expansion of my soul, and most certainly a big part of my trademark sound. After 3 years of abstinence, I’m very excited to be back to this machine. I’m now separating outputs, applying external audio processing, reverbs, and compression, in order to improve it's sound while facing new challenges at the same time.

Do you record your samples always through the same mediums? 

The samples I use in my regular productions are always transferred to the ROM machine of the Machinedrum, and those can come from anywhere, including internet samples banks, vinyl records, youtube, iPhone recordings, etc. Those sources are converted by the Machinedrum into a 12-bit lo-fi sound that I like and are never left untouched. I like to create the groove from A to Z, so I use the timber of the sample to create texture, and sequence it upside down. I like to put a sample in the centre of special projects, like in "Erik Sature".

This session seems like an educational experiment. What did you intend to reach? 

Every couple of days someone asks me something about this machine. I love it. I’ve never met anyone at Elektron but I feel like I'm probably one of their earliest Machinedrum owners. I bought my first SPS1-UW in 2005, and I've spent a minimum of 4 hours per day, every day, for more than a decade, on this machine. It just took me a long time to find the best way I could share my knowledge. I wanted it to be fun to do (hence the improvisation), fun to listen to (like a normal live performance/mix) and yet, still educative (like a tutorial). I’m ultra-passionate about the Machinedrum, and I feel a special connection with the people that feel the same about it.

Why Erik Satie? 

In my opinion, the best sample is the one you can't recognize. Satie brings a lot of emotion with very few notes, so it’s somehow easy to grab the texture of a certain piece, or its central mood while transforming it and creating a whole new melody on the fly, with very little effort. I think minimalist piano players are fun and easy to sample. You can quickly appropriate yourself of their sound. Chopin or Rachmaninov, on the other hand, would need more slicing precision, and I guess the podcast wouldn’t have this « easy-listening » touch. I wanted the first one to be simple, and clear. 

What can we expect from you in the near (or not so near) future?

I almost finished a piano album that took me 2 years of practice and re-organising of my entire studio. I hope to be able to perform this album in small intimate venues (if we survive this virus!). Playing keys in a concert has nothing to do with playing keys in a recording studio. Then I'll get back to clubs, which I’ve missed very much.

Links:

http://www.makesenserecords.com http://vadimsvoboda.bandcamp.com http://www.maxbinski.com http://pluienoir.tumblr.com https://www.elektron.se/legacy-products/

Web: http://www.ringsofneptune.com / info (at) pluienoir (dot) com

[sandriinehebert]

INTRODUCTION & CONNECTIONS:

ALESSANDRA “SANDRINE” SERAFINA LOMBARDI

attention people, a (maple flavored — yes those exist and they are delicious) cinnamon roll has entered the chat! for more information about her, you can read her full biography by clicking right here! for more information or specific questions, or to plot anything with her, please, IM me! i’m open to everything! howeveeeeer, i made a quick little descriptive list of head canons & plots/connections that can help the both of us out! you’ll find that under the read more! again, don’t hesitate to hit me up for anything. in the great words of marina diamandis, living la dolce vita, life [could get more sweeter with those connections added to her storyline]... well that got off beat.

PLOT IDEAS

for a beauty convention, she had to travel in a different city. she knew all too well it was supposed to be a business trip, but she’s had one too many drinks at a bar and ended up sleeping with a total stranger. you know, the all-night-cloud-nine-10/10-would-bang-again type of sleeping with a stranger? things like that happen, they’re harmless when you’re more single than a pringle, right? forgive and forget, it’s not like she was going to see them ever again. OH WON’T YOU LOOK AT THAT they live in devinstone now. hi, instant physical attraction? yes, sandrine would love to cancel her subscription thank you. oh she can’t because she gets attached to people too fast? and i oop.

so it is mentioned that every year, her family would go to boston/massachussetts and visit relatives, right? what during a specific vacation she met someone and they sort of hit it off right away? they became long-distance friends, waiting for her next vacation and every time their connection would get more intense, but they cut ties with each other for some angsty reason and now they’re both living in the same town and oh boy, prepare your marshmallows, because they’re gonna get roasted. could be friendship or romantic!

^ this but make it a long lasting summer love???? young teenagers living the stereotypical summer love and being each other’s first everything and living far away but still promising to wait for each other except after what? 10 years? one of them gave up and they reconnect and dig deep in their feelings.  

so her brother is a relatively famous hockey player, he probably gets to hang out with all the cool people around. and maybe he invited her to a party or an event a few times over the five years she’s spent in devinstone and she is introduced to some random stranger with whom she gets along surprisingly well. among all the jocks and girls with heart eyes, and people with big wallets, she found friendship/relationship/acquaintance material! not too bad for someone who was literally dragged outside of her house by her big bro. but said big bro doesn’t approve. and said big bro didn’t want sandrine and stranger to spend time together. so said big gro spread bad rumors about stranger to sandrine and to stranger about sandrine and they stopped talking. TAKEN by erik apsley.

another big brother story where he got an injury of some sort and she was the only one taking care of him at the hospital for days. and she met someone there, could be a doctor, another patient, a nurse, whatever, they’d be like “gurl just go shower you stink” and she’d be like “and leave you alone with my brother? he’ll give you reasons to jump off the window and run away if i’m not here to tell him to be human”. and they chat and hang out until her brother has recovered and their lives go back to normal. 

CONNECTIONS

someone who makes her turn the sugar into salt. the type of people she just can’t standdddd (at least that’s why she convinces herself of). someone who most likely sees right through her sweetness and calls her out for lying to herself and wanting to be everyone’s friend just because she’s a lonely little needy puppy. and she hates to be told she’s not faultless. she hates to be told she’s not always genuine. she hates this person. but she needs that person, for self growth or whatever. TAKEN BY giovanna morrison.

love interest. this is fairly vague, but just someone who can give her the attention she’s craving for would be perfect for that.

maybe a rich friend???? sort of like a temporary sugar daddy/mommy/buddy that she connected with when she went to boston before moving in devinstone. someone with lots of money who believed in her project and helped her pay the things she needed to open her business. they hooked up a few time in exchange, had their fun and she’s thriving now until they show up at her salon.

a regular client! someone who lets her ramble about all kinds of promos, someone she gives free samples to always, someone who gets the first pick during busy hours, they’re basically each other’s confident inside of the booth, but they’ve never really talked outside of the salon. until now! so we can build that friendship! TAKEN by jamie desai. could be open to one more!

friends friends friends friends. pls just give her friends she needs them.

[iamrheaspeaks]

per·i·pe·tei·a 2

Erik x OC! (Morrigan)

Word Count: 1.9k

Bold text: Erik

Regular text: Morrigan

Warnings: None

A/N: Idk why my crazy self just had to include DTG knowing I hate it but here’s a reminder DDHHMM(Z)MON meaning (day, 24 time, local, month). Here’s Part 1 if you need a refresher. As always lightly proofread/ edited 💋

The Beginning:

150847UMAR

Target: Morrigan James

28yo 61.23kg

Identifiable Marks:

•Raised lateral scar/ left shoulder above armpit

•Roman soldier’s uniform shoulder pad tattoo/ left shoulder cap

•Emperor’s Crown tattoo/ behind right ear

•Tiny cat silhouette tattoo/ inner right wrist

Occupation: Case Manager/ Human Services

Mission: Deep Cover Surveillance

Morrigan flies out of her apartment to a used Mitsubishi Galant. It’s black on black minus the silver tire rims and front grill. She’s supposed to report to work at 0930. Morrigan stops at the coffee shop five blocks up the road while I hang back outside. The windows of the coffee shop are large enough for me to see everything from inside the Standard Issue Saab Truck they gave me. When she finally emerges Morrigan is balancing 6 cups of coffee and large brown paper bag. After finally maneuvering everything into the car she finishes her trek to work. She’s definitely something.

March 15 9:35am

Target: Erik Stevens/ N’Jadaka Udaku

30yo 225lbs

Identifiable Marks:

Keloid scars/ Range unknown

Occupation: Special Ops / Deep Cover

Erik arrived in town late last night. Judging by the looks of it he’d spent most of the night staking out my apartment instead of sleeping. A man determined. Something told me when his file hit my desk that Laila wouldn’t be the right one for the job. She is lethal and a hard-ass however, Laila can’t control her switches when angry or cornered. She’d blow the mission in an instant and this has to be long term. Erik won’t open up if the trust isn’t there. Plus, judging by the way Laila keeps staring out the window I made the right decision sending him after me instead. It’s 9:45am when Erik finally pulls off down the street, no doubt headed to his cover job. ‘Have a good first day Professor Stevens.’

151936UMAR

Morrigan and two female coworkers are having drinks at a Mediterranean Wine Bar named Porto. It houses a lot of culture-based décor. Antique knick-knacks and brightly colored, hand-painted tiles could be seen all around.  Not wanting to draw too much attention to myself it took awhile to scope out a good seat. The bartender serving the back of the house must’ve been new. She kept over pouring portions and confusing drinks. If it wasn’t for her being so personable I doubt anyone would come back to Taylor. I could see all the exits and most of the patrons from where I sat. Morrigan seems normal. Most of my surveillance of her so far just yielded information I already knew. Basic job, raised in a two-parent household, doesn’t appear to be living above her means. Definitely not a threat. ‘Why are you so important?’

March 15 7:40pm

Laila, Claire and I try not to let on that we see Erik keeping a watchful eye from across the bar. We discuss where best to take the residents on their day out after the weekly house meeting. Like most teens they liked the mall except Landon, he hated everything about the place and would often decline going all together. Which left one of us stuck at the residence with him watching the same bad comedy movies till our ears bled from the sound of his shrill laughter. Lately I didn’t mind because it gave me time to brush up on Erik before his arrival but one could only take so much.

 Present:

071725UJUN | June 7 5:25pm

“I don’t know what you think you know bu–”

“Erik Stevens. Born in the ghettos of Oakland, CA. Mother died in prison and father murdered.” She paused noticing Erik’s demeanor shift slightly. If she didn’t have his attention before Morrigan certainly had it now. “Got bounced around after that but, for the most part stayed on the straight and narrow. Immediately shipping off to Basic Training in the Navy and later graduated M.I.T. with a PhD in Engineering. Am I right so far?

“All common knowledge baby girl.”

“You’re right, allow me to share with you what else I know. And I knew before I found your box. Good hiding place by the way.” Morrigan giggled at the last part. It may have been underneath the floorboards but the box was literally in plain sight. Undetected until just the right moment. “You’re the lost Prince of Wakanda. N’Jadaka Udaku. The abandoned child that wants to burn the village to feel its warmth.”

Erik’s jaw and fists tighten. It’s one thing to relinquish control, it’s another entirely to question if it was ever his to give. “But you forget, I know who you are too.”

“That’s where you’re wrong my love. You know what I needed you to know, let me properly introduce myself. Morrigan Ebert. Born in the small town of Cromwell, CT. I was raised by The Major, the only thing I know about my real parents is they died in a car wreck.”

“The Major? Nabs kids and turns em into Sleeper Soldiers right?  What does The Major want with me?”

“Sleeper Soldier? That’s a first” Morrigan scoffed. “And nothing, he’s merely apart of my backstory.”

“You really tryin my patience.”

“Stop interrupting me and maybe you’d learn something!” Morrigan could tell Erik was surprised by her tone. Never having had that voice of authority used on him by her. “I thought this would be more fun but now I’m kinda bored. Look. Everything I told you is true. But maybe you’ll be more willing to believe it if I tell you my other name. The Djinn.”

Erik shifted in his seat after that. Either this chick was fucking crazy or she was who she said, which would mean that he’s been the one at a disadvantage. Erik was more comfortable believing the first one. He knew Morrigan. She’d look for her phone while she was talking on it. Climbed on the fucking counter tops to get shit from the top shelf. Morrigan coddles adult children for work. There’s no way this is the person he’d been secretly searching for. The person that could get Erik that much closer to his goal. How could he be sleeping with the likes of one of the most sought after, dark wish granters and not know it?! He sat in silence and waited for Morrigan to continue her monologue.

“Before you, the only person to know my identity as the Djinn was The Major. I don’t actually meet the people whose wishes I grant. It’s best if people don’t know who I am. But I knew as much as they fiend for the opportunity, none of my charges would truly be up to that task that was Erik Stevens. And I was right. That flash drive–” pausing to point at the piece of metal and plastic still plotted in the crevice of his jeans “holds all the details of your revenge. Your fantasy. And as much as I would love to help you overthrow the Wakandan government I don’t believe that’s what you deeply desire.”

“You really expect me to believe that shit? ANY of that shit? After you JUST told me you one of the kids Major made? That you had me from jump? Nah! Now I know you reaching. You don’t know shit about what I want!”

“First of all, I have no doubt that revenge is what you want. What I said was it’s not what you deeply desire. Those are the types of fantasies that I grant. Your confidence in the old ‘too good to be true’ mentality is what makes you a victim of it. Everything I just told you made me The Djinn. What better person than someone who was raised to be anyone and blend in everywhere? Or do you feel that because you know The Djinn’s track record that it couldn’t possibly have been orchestrated by the frail woman that curls up to your side in bed at night? Like I said before. Everyone has their weaknesses.”

Morrigan allowed Erik to sit there with his thoughts for a moment. She was analytical. And calculated in a completely different way than him. It wasn’t enough to know what a person’s next move was. Morrigan wanted to know why they did it. The root cause behind it. And if that was the case then what the hell had she gathered about him? If revenge wasn’t what Erik deeply desired then what was?

“I really can’t see ya little ass doing shit I’ve heard about the Djinn but putting that aside for a moment” sitting up placing elbows on knees he looked at Morrigan with piercing eyes, “Tell me. What is it that I deeply desire?”

Morrigan licked at her bottom lip while holding Erik’s gaze. “You want the same thing as every other black boy from the hood Erik. A way up and out of the pit. Just on grandeur scale because you know you were made to be more. However death and destruction has taken you as far as it can with that task. You just don’t see it yet. If you really want to expose the truth and prove your birthright you need to try a different approach. That is a wish I’d grant.”

“Mmhmm. So what you get out of this?”

“You in my bed of course. Although. I’d understand if you wanna sleep down here tonight.”

“No grand fantasy of your own you chasing after, Djinn?”

“I was the Djinn before you got your famous moniker. You don’t think the first wish I granted was my own?” Morrigan challenged with quirked eyebrow. “Despite what I said to you the first night I invited you in, I fell long before you showed up with that brooding face of yours.”

~ ~ ~

Morrigan was staring down into the most captivating pools of chocolate brown as they stared back up at her while she balanced on one foot. She wore a smile on her face thanks to the victory of taming the beast in her bedroom. Even if it were only for a moment. Morrigan ran her hand down her frame before breaking away at the hip of the leg that rested on his shoulder. Using her thumb to stroke his jawline tenderly before gripping Erik’s chin. Slowly rubbing her index finger over his Adam’s apple coaxing a groan of appreciation out of him as his nails dug into her thighs at the scent of her essence getting stronger.

~ ~ ~

“I would fall from grace just to touch your face.” Erik hummed silently under his breathe in time with the memory of that night. “Convince me. Prove to me that you’re the Djinn.”

“Alexis. Your Teacher’s Assistant. She’s one of mine.”

“The girl that damn near took me down running out my office when I shut the light off on her?”

“Her mom used to lock her in the closet for extended amounts of time to keep her from tainting her brother’s innocence. The older her brother got, the more intense her punishment.”

“Wait? The Closet Slaughter. That was you?! The Djinn isn’t even credited for that.”

“Yes, that was me. And it wasn’t done for credit.”

“I see...Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

Morrigan couldn’t help but chuckle before correcting, “Actually Erik, in Corinthians, the devil wasn’t transformed into an angel of light. He was disguised as one. But thanks for the compliment.”

“Well as helpful as this encounter has been I’m still seeking vengeance baby girl.”

“Then leave. Find someone who has no problem serving up the vengeance and death you seek. Wishes are for the living.”

Tags: @savagesensitivity @cancerianprincess @another-imaginesblog @loosewindmill @bidibidibombaclaat @muse-of-mbaku @chaneajoyyy @itsangeludaku @eriknutinthispoosy @im5ftbutmythroat66 @theunsweetenedtruth @blackpinup22 @fonville-designs @wawakanda-btch @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @nickidub718 @dabluestsky

[orderoftheavengers]

Transformed Chivalry

 Summary: Superpowered panther Animagus, from an all-wizarding nation

House: Gryffindor

Species: Human, super-powered Animagus

Blood Status: Pureblood

Wand: African Blackwood, 16 inches, kneezle whisker

Broom: Custom made by his sister Princess Shuri

Familiar: A whole bunch of black cats that leave fur all over the Gryffindor commonroom

Patronus: Black panther (duh)

Feline Form: Not just a typical animagus, when in panther form he has superhuman/superfeline strength, and his claws and teeth are Vibranium, a material otherwise found only in the body of the Vibranium Chrometooth dragon.

Specialties: Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts 

A Wizarding Nation

Magically concealed in the jungles of Africa is the all-wizarding nation of Wakanda. Per tradition, the king always becomes an Animagus upon coronation, and always a black panther. The most advanced sorcerers in the world, the Wakandans have made their ruler far more than a mere shape-shifter. The Black Panther has strength, speed and reflexes to match those of the superwizard’s, and his claws are molded from the teeth of the same rare dragon species whose scales were melted to create Steve Rogers’ shield (the Vibranium Chrometooth).

An ancient spell causes all Wakandans to be automatically born with glowing blue ruins on the inside of their lower lips, as proof of their citizenship and blood status. Unfortunately, for most of its history, Wakanda was so dedicated to protecting its blood purity and culture that only full-blooded Wakandan wizards were allowed into the nation; half-bloods and half-Wakandans were unwelcomed outcasts. However, the new king has made some changes.

The most advanced magical community on the planet, Wakanda’s magic is hardly limited to its one-fo-a-kind animagus rulers. Wakandans wear enchanted beaded bracelets that can stabilize serious wounds, and project a magic flame to create a miniature version of the Floo Network Communication (where the rest of the world needs a fireplace to do so). The brilliant Princess Shuri has also invented brooms that can be flowing from a distance with the same beads, and the Wakandans can heal injuries that would be a death sentence in any ordinary wizarding healing house.

Late Addition:

The young king is a late addition to the Order of the Avengers. Since Wakanda has its own (extremely advanced) wizarding school, T’Challa was not a regular student at Hogwarts. But as the crown prince, he was expected to study abroad in various countries that were allied with his own. Sadly, he had just begun his semester at Hogwarts when his father was murdered, along with several other people, during the Halloween feats by a kamikaze pumpkin.

T’Challa then agreed to partake in an illegal Quidditch match between the Avengers, purely so he could kill Team Cap’s seeker Bucky Barnes, as the vampire was currently believed to be the culprit behind the pumpkin bombing. The real murderer—Helmut Zemo—had spiked all of the refreshments at the Halloween party with the strongest magical booze and Hobbit weed, in order to make the law and T’Challa more gullible and impulsive when he framed Bucky. Zemo then served more spiked refreshments at the Quidditch match, where he also jinxed the balls into literal Idiot Balls. And Bucky Barnes can attest to how scary it is to have a blazed animagus who turns into a literal black panther with vibranium claws pouncing from its broom at you, thinking you’re the Scar to his Mufassa.

But there was one ball Zemo didn’t count on; a hairball. Near the end of the Quidditch match turned drunken brawl, T’Challa had to excuse himself to cough up a particularly large hairball. Up with the fur and saliva came most of the Firewhisky and Hobbit Hemp the young king had been ingesting all day, and he was now a good distance away from the Quidditch Idiot Balls. With a clear mind, T’Challa tracked down Zemo and caught him under the bleachers, where Steve, Bucky and Tony were in the midst of a violent brawl. While Steve tried to pacify a violently broken Tony with heroic clichés and no visible empathy, T’Challa calmly listened to his father’s murderer’s side of the story, before declaring he was done letting revenge consume him, stopped Zemo from killing himself, and personally delivered the scum to Azkaban.

T’Challa then offered amnesty in his home country to everyone on Team Cap, who—due to opposing the Potter Accords (a controversial new law that would limit the number of dangerous mysteries teenagers could solve unsupervised), were expelled from Hogwarts. He was particularly protective of Bucky Barnes, feeling guilty for trying to murder the vampire for a crime he didn’t commit, and ordered a new glass coffin for him to sleep in.

Transformed Chivalry: That following summer, T’Challa met and battled his long-lost cousin, Erik Killmonger. T'Challa was horrified to learn that his own father had abandoned his orphaned cousin in the muggle world, because the boy was a half-blood, and only pure Wakandan wizards were allowed in their concealed country. Erik tragically grew up to be an Obscurial, hellbent on killing T'Challa and taking over Wakanda. He almost succeeded, but fortunately Harry Potter ain't the only one capable of coming back from the dead after a quick chat with dead relatives in the afterlife. Also involved in the adventure were a couple of white guys, both on the short side, and with weird feet. They looked lost, like they’d stumbled in from another fantasy series. Bucky dubbed them "the Tolkien white guys.” Steve Rogers declared that he “understood that reference,” but otherwise did not partake in the events, as he was busy growing his first beard (after having no facial hair for 90+ years, this was a big deal for Steve, and he had to make sure it was "just right"). His experiences both in the illegal Quidditch match and with his Obscurial cousin made the young Gryffindor king seriously reevaluate his idea of "chivalry." Being a hero, T'Challa decided, was not about beating the crap out of people while bellowing dramatic lines. After dispatching his evil cousin in the most pacifist way possible, T'Challa decided to make some major changes to Wakanda. Namely, revealing their magical advances to the rest of the wizarding world, and allowing half-bloods and squibs into the country.   After that was solved, T’Challa let Steve Rogers and his rogue friends study at his nation’s wizarding school for a semester. That lasted until a magic-practicing giant resembling a grape Bruce Willis threatened the world with a finger snap…

Sorting:

It’s true that T’Challa didn’t choose to be a hero; he inherited the role. But he takes that tole extremely seriously, and goes above and beyond, violating tradition to do what he sees as right and shamelessly calling out all of the past kings of Wakanda for turning their backs on the world.

More important, T’Challa, of all the Avengers, comes the closest to representing the qualities of Gryffindor in the purest form. Unlike Thor and Steve Rogers, T’Challa has never gone looking for a fight. He took far less time than either one to learn that violence is not the same as heroics—while being significantly younger and less famous than either one. (In fairness, Steve Rogers at his absolute worst was an unfair victim of a bad-writing spell that a villainous wizard cast on him; but the violent caricature of himself that Steve temporarily became during the Civil War Quidditch Match did still stem from his usual, if less extreme, flaws.) On the polar opposite end of the Gryffindor spectrum is T’Challa’s extremist, prideful, anger-driven cousin Erik Killmonger. In the end, T’Challa’s version of Gryffindor chivalry won the battle.

Though sometimes quick to anger, T’Challa instantly backs down when he’s reminded of his duty.  He fights when necessary, but doesn’t go looking for an excuse to start a brawl; he admits to being tempted towards the more showing heroic look, but puts theatrics aside in favor of the mission; and he his strong enough and chivalrous enough to have empathy for complete strangers, whose ancestors enslaved and massacred his own, and even has the stomach to hear out the murderers of his family and friends before dishing out justice—not vengeance, but justice.

T’Challa’s main personality flaw is being quick to anger—a common Gryffindor trait—which he conquers far more quickly than most with this trait. Hellbent on avenging his father for a few days, he sees the error of his ways when he learns the truth about who really killed his father and why, and decides to stop letting revenge consume him. Afterwards, T’Challa still is clearly prone to anger, but is making a massive effort to keep it under control. The few times he does lose it, it takes only a quick reminder of his duties for him to immediately back down. The one other classic Gryffindor flaw he possesses to is pride, admitting that he’s tempted by the showy Black Panther look, but shelves the theatrics in favor of his duties (“Tempting…but the point is not to be noticed.”)

Best of all, his influence appears to have had a massive, positive impact on Captain America of all people. Rogers has a larger reputation as a “hero,” but for most of his career as one has been prone to rashness and getting caught up in the feel of being a “hero” to the point of being counterproductive. But come the Infinity War, Steve—who has spent some time with T’Challa now—is calm and focused, acts with responsible clarity, and only delivers a heroic one-liner to someone who really deserves it (Thaddeus Ross). And T’Challa doesn’t rub any of this in Steve’s face; instead, he shows that Steve has earned his respect, declaring, “And someone get this man a shield.”

It’s no surprise that all of the Avengers, including Steve, quickly agreed to let this king lead the defense of Earth against Thanos, during the Infinity War.

This description has been pretty much re-written, as will most of the others. I'm trying to make this whole series a bit more organized. Anyway.... My frustration with Captain America's characterization (in the MCU, never read the comics) has made me really appreciate little things in T'Challa and Thor, who are similar traditional heroes, but unlike Steve, are actually forced to rethink what heroism actually means. Steve was written to be far more genuinely heroic, and less hypocritical, in "Infinity War," and I like to head-canon that T'Challa had something to do with that.

[pluienoir]

Pluie/Noir Studiocast 01 “Erik Sature”

Sound Mixed and Performed by Vadim Svoboda Visual Interpretation by Max Binski Video by Vadim Svoboda

Soundcloud Link: soon

Pluie/Noir teams up with Make Sense’s Vadim Svoboda for a new series featuring artists exploring their favourite musical gear through improvisation.

Vadim’s session is particularly educational. As a true connoisseur of Elektron’s Machinedrum and a lover of classical music, Vadim decided to focus on the ROM feature of Elektron’s infamous first drum machine and deconstruct Erik Satie’s music on the fly.

Used in the video:

Elektron Machinedrum SPS1UW+ mkII

Strymon Deco

Zoom H6

YouTube (sampling source)

—

Cleymoore interviews Vadim Svoboda:

Hi Vadim, such a pleasure to have you at P/N finally, especially having you bring a new format to the series. How are you, all things considered, amidst this global chaos?

Hello Bruno! Thank you, the pleasure is mutual! Been a long time we met each other and I’m glad to participate in Pluie/Noir’s very subtly sharp universe. Regarding my physical being, I’m safe and sound. Thankfully, isolated in the countryside of France with people I love, so I feel lucky! I guess music producers are somehow trained for social distancing, but this is a serious threat to humanity, so it has to be taken very seriously. I wish we will learn lessons from it.

We’ve met a while ago, back when I was living in Paris. Makesense was on its 3rd release and you were still resident at the Sundae parties in Paris. How did the scene change after all these years?

I guess Paris became a bigger target for booking agents and famous DJs, but those « headliner » performances in big events didn’t necessarily help build our scene further. On the other hand, the reaction it provoked was good, and I see more and more promoters having the guts to do something special, and focusing more on the local talent, with 100% original music. This is, in my opinion, the best way to build a strong french scene. Booking one big name from the ’90s won’t really push our scene further, whereas booking 100 locals actually might.

After a long hiatus period, Makesense returned in 2018 with your own album ‘Hasard Ordinaire’. A total shift in style for the label, it presented a side of you a lot of people didn’t know: bold, experimental and tremendously deep. Is this the direction you want to explore?

Yes, I’ve planned to explore different musical styles with Makesense from the start. Makesense has always placed a focus on emerging talents and promoting forward-thinking music. That’s what we pride on, and that’s what drives us. This year will feature at least two new releases. The first one from a very close friend of mine, someone I consider to be one of the most innovative french producers around, and the second one will be the first release of a Japanese Machinedrum master; glitchy, breaky and yet, so romantic. I have goosebumps while typing this, and I can’t wait to show it all to you. We are back and for good.

There’s a lot of sound manipulation of Pianos in Hasard Ordinaire. Is Piano is a big part of your creative life?

I’ve been playing the piano since a very young age, so it plays an enormous part in my creative life. Throughout my life, I’ve used it mainly for advertisements and soundtracks. When I was about 18yo I’ve fallen in love with step sequencers, which lead me to the discovery of Elektron’s Machinedrum. Because it’s so simple to play, sequence and perform, almost like a piano, I’ve decided to perform live with it. I’m now trying to mix both of these worlds, and both creation processes: acoustic, grid-free, and synthetic pattern sequences. 'Hasard Ordinaire’ is a gathering of several tracks I composed between 2009 and 2018: a compilation of musical drafts, or test tracks, that for some reason I’ve always hesitated to share.

When we met, you already had a deep love for the Elektron machines. I remember seeing you perform live with 2 Machinedrum, and carefully observing you flow with them in a very peculiar way. Is the Machinedrum currently your drum machine of choice?

Yes, even though I’ve tried to take my distance from it many times. But it became an expansion of my soul, and most certainly a big part of my trademark sound. After 3 years of abstinence, I’m very excited to be back to this machine. I’m now separating outputs, applying external audio processing, reverbs, and compression, in order to improve it’s sound while facing new challenges at the same time.

Do you record your samples always through the same mediums?

The samples I use in my regular productions are always transferred to the ROM machine of the Machinedrum, and those can come from anywhere, including internet samples banks, vinyl records, youtube, iPhone recordings, etc. Those sources are converted by the Machinedrum into a 12-bit lo-fi sound that I like and are never left untouched. I like to create the groove from A to Z, so I use the timber of the sample to create texture, and sequence it upside down. I like to put a sample in the centre of special projects, like in “Erik Sature”.

This session seems like an educational experiment. What did you intend to reach?

Every couple of days someone asks me something about this machine. I love it. I’ve never met anyone at Elektron but I feel like I’m probably one of their earliest Machinedrum owners. I bought my first SPS1-UW in 2005, and I’ve spent a minimum of 4 hours per day, every day, for more than a decade, on this machine. It just took me a long time to find the best way I could share my knowledge. I wanted it to be fun to do (hence the improvisation), fun to listen to (like a normal live performance/mix) and yet, still educative (like a tutorial). I’m ultra-passionate about the Machinedrum, and I feel a special connection with the people that feel the same about it.

Why Erik Satie?

In my opinion, the best sample is the one you can’t recognize. Satie brings a lot of emotion with very few notes, so it’s somehow easy to grab the texture of a certain piece, or its central mood while transforming it and creating a whole new melody on the fly, with very little effort. I think minimalist piano players are fun and easy to sample. You can quickly appropriate yourself of their sound. Chopin or Rachmaninov, on the other hand, would need more slicing precision, and I guess the podcast wouldn’t have this « easy-listening » touch. I wanted the first one to be simple, and clear.

What can we expect from you in the near (or not so near) future?

I almost finished a piano album that took me 2 years of practice and re-organising of my entire studio. I hope to be able to perform this album in small intimate venues (if we survive this virus!). Playing keys in a concert has nothing to do with playing keys in a recording studio. Then I’ll get back to clubs, which I’ve missed very much.

—

Links:

http://www.makesenserecords.com http://vadimsvoboda.bandcamp.com http://www.maxbinski.com http://pluienoir.tumblr.com https://www.elektron.se/legacy-products/

[thebibliothecar]

“There were four saved images and a video file. He stared at them a moment. He tried to come to terms with what he was seeing, tried to arrange the world in such a way that would accommodate his own mundane life, the daily maintenance of his ordinary existence, along with what he saw arrayed before him in neat little squares, like snapshots of Hell.”

For a brief slice of time, I tended bar. Oh, not in a down and dirty dive like the setting of Nathan Ballingrud‘s fantastic novella, The Visible Filth, where fights broke out at the drop of a hat and cockroaches ride the beer taps like carnival slides. No, I tended bar for the always rich and sometimes famous (that party is a story for another time) at a swank conference and retreat center with prohibition-era hidden liquor cabinets in the walls and a crown molding that was the actual inspiration for Joe Camel. But, if there’s one thing all bartenders have in common it’s the fact that they’ve seen some shit. Heard a fair amount of it, too. So, when I heard about this bartender story from the good folks at This is Horror, I knew I had to check it out. Though the original publication, a solo novella, is out of print, it has been reprinted in this new collection by Mr. Ballingrud titled “Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell” dropping soon on April 9, 2019 from Simon & Schuster.

Ballingrud, though born in Massachusetts, has deep ties to the South where he’s put in some hard hours. When his first collection, “North American Lake Monsters,” hit the shelves it was an instant classic of the weird and disturbing and won the Shirley Jackson Award for best debut collection.  But it wasn’t until The Visible Filth that he fully utilized his bartending experience as the seedbed for a story. And be glad that he did, because this is a tale that will hold you close, settling you down like that first drink in a long night, but won’t let go until who knows how many drinks later when the room is spinning and people are talking without words. Then, when you finally manage to stumble free, blood diluting the alcohol in your veins, you’ll look around and not recognize your surroundings. You’ll ask yourself, did that really just happen, but not until after you’ve crawled your way back to consciousness.

Meet Will. Thirty-something bartender at Rosie’s, a dive tucked back off the main drag in uptown New Orleans. He’s on a first name basis with all the regulars, from the local bad boy to the off duty cop. His best friend, Alicia (who Will wishes he was fucking but isn’t), drops by pretty frequently, too, her newest boyfriend in tow. And back at his low-rent apartment, Carrie, his college-hottie girlfriend is bent over her books. Life isn’t exactly all peaches and cream for Will, but he does alright by a certain standard, and he’s content. Mostly. On a week night (pick one, they all run together), Erik the Bad Boy comes in to shoot pool with a couple of punks, but that devolves quickly into a fist fight. It turns dirty when Erik’s opponent smashes a beer bottle and swings the cut glass like a scythe across Erik’s cheek, harvesting a noticeable chunk of cheek. Lots of people jump in then and it’s over almost as soon as it started, only the room’s more decorated in blood splatter than before. Hours later, when the dust clears and Will is about to go home, he notices a cell phone amid the wreckage. Thinking it belongs to one of the college kids who popped in just before the fight broke out, he pockets it and heads home. He’ll give it back tomorrow when they come looking for it.

Violence has already spattered these pages, but it’s not until Will gets home that the weird breaks in. The phone he picked up begins beeping with incoming text messages and it sounds like someone’s in trouble. “I think something is in here with me. I’m scared.” As he interacts with the texts they get weirder and more aggressive until some picture files and a video come through. Through four sequential pictures he and Carrie witness a beheading and then, something even entirely more out of the ordinary. “The head shifted slightly, as if it heard something and had to turn a fraction to listen more closely.” There’s much more to this quote but I’m not going to share it because it’s so good and so weird that I want you to experience it for yourself in all it’s gory context and body horror glory.

Will and Carrie investigate, following up on a clue from one of the horrific pictures. A book’s spine is visible near the beheading scene, betraying the intriguing title “The Second Translation of Wounds.” Can we just take a minute to admire the inclusion of the word “second” in that title? I mean, holy hell. (That’s what separates Ballingrud’s writing from the rest of the pack here, little details like that.) As they look into the matter, Carrie gets drawn in deeper and deeper in decidedly creepy and unhealthy ways. Will makes a series of poor decisions, or you might say continues to make them, but somewhat redeems himself by keeping an eye on Erik, the cut up brawler.

At the end of a downward spiral into insanity lies an ending that leaves the reader stunned and feeling in desperate need of a shower and perhaps a prayer. The action that takes place in the end was somewhat inevitable, but I thought a different character would be more involved, so it definitely kept me on my toes. My only regret was that it wasn’t longer. I wanted more. I wanted to know more about who these people were and why they were doing what they were doing. But this is always my struggle with novellas.

Let’s talk about the quality of the writing for a moment. You’ve glimpsed it already. There’s a gritty authenticity to his descriptions and a bitter sorrow in his dialogue. He’s got his finger on the pulse of so many types of people (as perhaps only bartenders, barbers, and clergy can) which gives him the ability to weave a realistic tapestry of character, time, and place. Like here, towards the beginning, when the college kids try to buy a beer, “The kid showed him his ID, sighing with the patience of a beleaguered saint. Legal less than a month.” Every bartender has seen that look. Or here, once the fight has taken place, “The escalation of violence shifted the room’s atmosphere. It almost seemed that another presence had crept in: some curious, blood-streaked thing.” Oh, it had, too, though they knew it not. Or here, my favorite metaphor in the whole story, so perfect for the character and atmosphere, “By the time he arrived back home, the sun was bruising the sky in the east.” Brilliant. When last shift workers head home the sun does not rise. It bruises the sky. Like I said, finger on the pulse of humanity.

I haven’t said much about a Lovecraftian connection for this one because frankly, there’s not much of a direct one. It does share a theme of leaving-well-enough-the-fuck-alone as in From Beyond, The Statement of Randolph Carter, The Rats in the Walls, Pickman’s Model, and countless other Lovecraftian stories. But beyond that, there isn’t much of the old gent in this one friends. It’s just a good story, and given what happens at the end, and how, I suspect it will appeal to HPL devotees nonetheless, as it did to me.

When all is said and done, aside from all the weird and the horror and the gore, there’s a melancholic fatalism that bleeds through these pages. Will hates his job, but is going no where else. He’s punching above his weight in his romance, but even so, he loves another. His only swat at changing his stars there is a pitiful, sophomoric attempt that’d be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. But even given all that, what gets him deeper and deeper into trouble here is his care and concern, even love, for others. For Carrie. For Erik. For Alicia. Anybody who’s ever even been halfway around the block knows that love can make us do strange things and can take us down some dark roads. That’s really the beautiful thing at the scarred and beating heart of this marvelous story. You should seriously pick it. You should do so quickly even, as there’s a film coming out soon directed by Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow) and starring Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson.  You know what they say about books and movies and which is better. Now that I’ve read it, I can’t wait to see what a director like Anvari will do with it.

The rest of the collection looks pretty amazing too. I had a chance to read only one other story, The Atlas of Hell, which was weird and awesome and terrifying in a whole different way. Know though that these tales are connected more than just by being gathered together in the same collection. They share themes and explorations, dark words and cruel intents. Shaken, of course, not stirred.

This review was composed while listening to the Spotify playlist “New Orleans Jazzfest 2019” complied by user Peter Blair.

Until next time, I remain yours in the Black Litany of Nug and Yeb, ~The Bibliothecar

  The Visible Filth, by Nathan Ballingrud "There were four saved images and a video file. He stared at them a moment. He tried to come to terms with what he was seeing, tried to arrange the world in such a way that would accommodate his own mundane life, the daily maintenance of his ordinary existence, along with what he saw arrayed before him in neat little squares, like snapshots of Hell."