#solo: mixed blessings

[firelise]

mixers i am linking arms with you my fellow soldiers, look at where we are, look at all we've accomplished. brick by brick. through blood sweat and tears we've made our way to the kingdom of heaven

[mistfallengw2]

GW2 OC Questions: Combat Edition ⚔️✨

General Combat

1. How good are they in combat? Can they handle themselves in most fights? Is there anything that hinders them or acts as an exploitable weakness?

2. Do they like to fight? Is it something they only do when necessary, or are they always looking for a fight? Is fighting an important part of their life or something they actively try to avoid?

3. Are they good at hand-to-hand combat or do they prefer to keep their distance? Can they handle both situations? If not, what happens if they're forced to fight from an inconvenient distance or too up close for comfort?

4. How do they fight? Do they tend to stick to a strategy or just improvise? Do they prefer to win fast and hard, or to let their enemy tire themselves out before striking them down? Do they favor brute force and resistance, speed and dexterity, or something else? Do they fight fairly or is winning the only important thing? Elaborate!

5. Are they good at fighting alongside allies or are they better fighting solo? Are they better at taking orders or leading? Is there anyone (friends, pets, summons, etc) they synergize particularly well with?

6. What combat situation are they better suited for? Can they handle a 1v1 fight or do they prefer to have someone always on their side? How do they deal with larger-scale combat and what's their role in it (frontlines/leading the charge, backline/support, as far from it as possible, etc)? What happens if they are ambushed or outnumbered? Is there any situation that stressed them particularly?

7. How much have they trained to get where they are? Were they a prodigy/naturally talented, or did they have to struggle a lot to reach their current skill level? Did anyone teach them or are they self-taught? Have they ever had a regular sparring partner? Do they still train regularly?

8. Do they have any visible scarring or lasting injuries from previous combat experiences? How did they get them? How do they feel about them?

9. Are they also a healer/medic? What can they do if someone is hurt and needs assistance? Can they heal themselves? Do they have a plan for when they're injured?

Weapons and Magic

10. What weapons do they generally use? Are they particularly proficient with anything specific or have a preference of any kind?

11. Are there weapons they can't use to save their life? Why?

12. They have no access to their usual weapons of choice. What other weapons do they pick? How do they fare?

13. Can they use magic? If yes, what kind? If not, is there a specific reason?

14. Is there any particular quirk to their magic? Is there something they can't do with their magic that others usually can? Is there something they can do particularly well?

15. How powerful is their magic compared to their peers? How do they feel about it? Is it their limit?

16. Is there any unique way in which they mix their magic and weapons? Can they do it at all?

17. Do they have any fears or traumas tied to their own weapons/magic? (ie: sharp weapons user afraid cutting themselves, elementalist afraid of fire/deep water, necromancer afraid of death, etc)

18. Can they handle themselves in a fight without using weapons? And without using magic? What would they do if they were in a fight and disarmed/unable to use magic?

19. Are their skills augmented by anything? (ie. enchanted armor, prosthetics/physical augmentations, blessings from powerful beings, rituals, experimentation, etc)

In-game Questions

20. What's their profession/class? Is it by the book or is there anything unique? If not one of the playable professions, what's the closest one/the one you use for them in-game?

21. What are their usual builds/roles? Is there any they can't do for lore reasons? (can be specific builds or just the general role)

22. What trait lines/specializations do they use? Is there any they can't use for lore reasons?

23. What utility skills do they tend to use? Is there any they can't use for lore reasons?

24. What weapon skins do they use? Is there a skin that has a lot of meaning to them? Do they stick to specific sets or not? Why?

25. Do they use a weapon or magic unique to them/that's not present in-game? If so, how does it work?

[that-one-enby-ranger]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROGER TAYLOR

It is Roger Meddows Taylor's birthday today so of course I have to make it all of yours problems and yap about it.

We've gotta start off with how talented this man is. He is the KING of drummers in my eyes and will always be. Watched a full concert today to celebrate, and I was just focusing on how fast he could move, and he wasnt always looking at the drums. And his little solo in the Montreal concert and I was staring at him and oh my gosh he can move fast. He looked tired afterwards. And his voice is amazing in its own unique way. I love it. I love listening to live songs and looking out for his baking vocals. I died everytime. My favourite song to hear live is Crazy Little Thing Called Love just because of Roger's rEaDy FreDdIe 🤠. I die every single time I hear and go insane you don't even know. His backing vocals are just *mwah* CHEF'S kiss 🤌.

And his high pitched screaming in In the Lap of the Gods is amazing. Theres a video of Roger Taylor blessing your ears for an hour and a half and it's just him screaming in that song and it really does bless your ears.

Plus he's got solo albums. And unless I'm horribly wrong, he has the most solo albums out of the entire band. I don't have a favourite album but a couple of my fav songs are The Key, Man on Fire and Strange Frontier.

He's written lots of hits and great songs including Radio Gaga, A Kind of Magic, One Vision, These are the Days of Our Lives, The Invisible Man and of course, I'm in Love With My Car.

Then there's the underrated songs that I love like Drowse, Action This Day, Ride the Wild Wind and others that I forgot and I cant be bothered to look up.

He also studied dentistry in uni. I don't know if he would have actually ended up being a dentist if he hadn't joined. But just think if he did.

THIS MAN RIGHT HERE COULD HAVE BEEN YOUR DENTIST SHOVING HIS HANDS IN YOUR MOUTH.

I just watched a video while writing this called the genius of Roger Taylor and they talked about how good he is on drums and used drum talk that even though I play drums, I haven't been playing long enough to understand, so they go into more depth on how talented he is on the drums. Its called The Genius Of Roger Taylor by Drumeo.

And you've gotta talk about his heart warming lyrics.

"With my hand on my grease gun,

Ooooo it's like a disease son."

Magical.

And what makes that even better is that sometimes during concert he would mix the lyrics around, whether on accident or purpose, I don't know, but he would say "with YOUR hand on MY grease gun." Life changing.

But seriously you wanna know some good lyrics listen to the whole of These Are The Days of Our Lives. And then try not to cry.

Moving on from talent, we gotta talk about some more amazing things about him.

He's a funny little boy. Watch some clips of him and you'll see what I mean. I don't care if you don't agree with me, I know he's a funny little boy.

"He threw my best fucking pair of maracas. Great sounding maracas, took me HOURS to steal them, and he just..." I can't write the next part without it seeming like it's a roleplay because it's a motion he makes of throwing stuff away in the air.

Anyways, it was his idea to dress up in drag for the I Want to Break Free video and that was one of his best ideas ever. Rogerina looked amazing.

What a goddess. And when I Want to Break Free got canceled in America, he would help stand up for the video and wouldnt feel ashamed that they did it and said they had a great time and it was fun.

And somewhat similarly, but more importantly, after Freddie died, and the press were being homophobic perverts and saying stuff like Freddie had it coming, or he lived a promiscuous life style, Roger (and Brian) would go on TV and stand up for Freddie and would be like "thats not true at all, you fucking pricks." That's not what they actually said. And he would then go on about how the press were massive dicks to Freddie while trying to get into his private life especially towards the end.

Hes adorable. Sweetie. My love.

"I'd like to make it.. naked 😏, and raw."

"1 and 3/7ths sugars please." "No one and 3/7ths 😠"

"I've just written this new one, WHICH IM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT"

"ITS PERFECT"

Just some quotes there.

Also, APPARENTLY, my sources are shit, I've only heard this once, has not been backed up, but I'm including it anyways, but apparently when Roger wasn't allowed to have Stone lions out the front of his house, he thought outside the box and put up hundreds of glow and the dark gnomes.

He also apparently had to legally fight his neighbour to keep his giant statue of Freddie Mercury he had in his backyard because the neighbour APPARENTLY thought that it was "rUiNinG tHe laNdScApe"

He kissed Brian when he was drunk.

He was called sex on legs.

Grew a beard because people kept mistaking him as a girl.

His eyes.

"There was lots of sex and drugs. Actually there wasn't that much sex and ... Well there wasn't much drugs"

There's also some lovely sad stories with him. Mainly the 300 yards and I don't feel like crying again so I'm not gonna write it out.

I'm gonna stop this here because my finger feels weird from having a plaster on it for three days and I wanna focus on more Roger videos that I've been watching in the background for about an hour now. I'm just gonna say he is shemxy.

And then you've got this:

Love him. Appreciate him. I'm gonna marry him one day, mark my words.

There is a lot more on him. This is all I've got. For now.

[enigmasong]

Got hit hard with the shipper reflex last night; like a mallet to the knee.

So, like, one of the main reasons Laios loves monsters is because he fears people and monsters kill people (like, I'm sure he hates that about himself, but he can't run away from it now that the Demon's drawn out that that feeling's still there).

And Kabru, bless his lil' heart, is still a mass fuckin' murderer with a kill count at least decently high in the double digits, who happily kills people who fail to meet his moral standings with grace and elegance.

Kabru would easily solo the first merc squad that tries to gank Laios before anybody outside his party could even understand what Kabru's doing. And with Laios' mixed up feelings on people who hurt him being brutally killed, maybe, I can imagine seeing Kabru doing just that doing things to him.

[mjanelupinblack]

starving creatures | chapter one 🖤

pairing: xu minghao x reader // jun x reader (mainly lol)

description: starving creatures have arrived at your homeland in forks. little do you know, they not only intend to drain the blood out of you... they'll also to break your heart in two.

genres: slowburn (please bare with me), fluff, angst, vampire!au

warnings: blood drinking, lot of blood related themes, repressed emotions, family issues, miscommunication, kinda toxic friendship with cheol? blood and smut will be mixed. emotionally and physically starved vampires oops. did i mentioned blood?

minors dni!!!

fic playlist 🖤

w/c: 3.2k

a/n: like i said, slowburn as f*ck. you'll have to wait to have fun with jun and hao but it'll be worth it if you bare with me. also i am having so much fun writing this omg ^_^ english isn't my first language and i don't have beta readers so kind feedback is welcome <3

CHAPTER 1

Joshua Hong had been the first for many things in his life: the firstborn, the first brother to complete his education, the first student among his classmates to perform a solo surgery, and one of the first doctors to try chloroform for his medical procedures, as anesthesia wasn't nearly as developed as it is now.

He was also the first one to be turned.

No other outcome could have been expected. People like him - young, enthusiastic, seemingly blessed by the gods - had to have some divine punishment waiting for them. Josh's penance would be to live forever with his luck... and to have it slowly fade into misfortune.

As a doctor, he never thought life could be eternal. He had witnessed all types of miracles at Paris Salpêtrière, but no soul had ever gotten to escape the sweet lullabies of death. At first, he felt terrible about it. Doctor Pierre had told him to get used to it, as God only gives special treatment to his friends. Little did he know, Pierre was a close friend of Him. He didn't notice it until he found himself digging a blade into his tutor's jugular vein.

No pulse could be found, but Pierre's breaths were still steady.

"Let's go, Josh! Everything's packed!" Vernon shouted as he got into the driver's seat.

"Do we really have to go through this again?" Jun complained, as if it would change anything. For the last time, he stared at the California house that had been their home for the past ten years.

He always got too attached.

"C'mon, man, you know it's better this way," Vernon replied.

From the passenger seat, Joshua looked at them. Minghao rubbed his brother's back and gently pushed him into the car despite his deep and frustrated sighs. This might be the worst part. But upon reflection, the worst part might also involve the one where locals started noticing their lack of aging, leading him to search for a new town.

"Jun, you can't be mad..." Vernon tried.

"Hum, yes, I can be mad," Jun countered. "And I can't believe you all think it's possible to move from California to this nowhere town."

"This 'nowhere town' is called Forks, alright? And it's your new home, so you better get used to it."

Nowhere Town. That's a good name, as it reflected all the peace Joshua had been praying for since Junhui and Minghao joined his and Vernon's odd nomadic, supernatural-like lifestyle.

"It's always cloudy there. You'll get to hang out more often with your friends."

"Sorry, what friends?" Jun asked sarcastically.

"You'll make friends eventually, Jun. Stop whining," Minghao said.

You didn't believe Forks was the best town in the world either. The landscape, always covered by mist and the ground sticky wet from the most recent storm, looked exactly as it did when you were born. You finished cleaning the house an hour before the awaited arrival. The large windows were all cleaned, not a single stain preventing passersby from catching a glimpse inside.

The house was empty for now, as it had been since the heartbreaking death of the previous inhabitants. You sat by the porch, trying to catch your breath and wondering what the new family looked like. Were they old? Were they nice? Certainly, they wouldn't want anyone to disturb them, otherwise, they would have chosen to live closer to the town center.

Surrounded by trees and animals, your aunt's house was known for attracting people who appreciated solitude.

That's the first thing you learned about Minghao.

There is a van approaching from a distance. The new renters arrived half an hour earlier than you planned. You stand up quickly, shaking the dirt off your pants when, for the first time, you see his face.

You won’t be able to forget that face.

"Y/N, right? We talked on the phone yesterday," one of the guys says. There are four of them now. By his introduction, you supposed you are talking to Mr. Chwe.

"Yes! It's so nice to meet you all, Mr. Chwe."

You shake his hand, surprised to find Mr. Chwe, a doctor, looks more like a student who just pulled an all-nighter.

He also has the temperature of an old man.

"Just Vernon, please," he said.

You had a speech planned, but right now you're having trouble remembering what you were going to say. There's a man behind Vernon who looks at you with tender and compassionate eyes. You assume he's Joshua, the one who responded to your emails.

"I'm so sorry my aunt couldn't make it today. As I told you, she's been sick. It would be difficult for her to climb all the way up here. I'll give you the tour, if you're comfortable with it."

Vernon shows his understanding. The same goes for Joshua, who breaks into a sincere smile and thanks you for being so attentive. It's almost as if they're acting like parents. And then, there are the kids...

"Actually, I'm tired. I'm sure we can figure out the house ourselves."

"I could really use some sleep."

"We've stayed in bigger houses anyway."

"Jun, Hao... Enough of that."

Jun and Hao; you're not sure which one takes your breath away more. With their silky, white, shoulder-length hair, they stand in the woods like fairies in a fairytale.

But you imagined fairies to be... more polite, perhaps.

"It's okay. It must have been a long ride for them. I'll leave you to rest." You tranquillize Mr. Chwe with a smile, but think, Morons, in your head.

Almost as if he heard what you said, Jun's face contorts in a gesture that appears both surprised and offended.

"Do you all see that little house right there?" you ask, pointing down into the distance past the trees. "That's where I live. Just call me if you need anything. We're the only neighbors you have around, besides the Boo Family. Oh, and I almost forgot. They asked me to leave you a present since they won't be able to come and say hello today. I left it inside."

"A present?" Minghao asks, his forehead furrowed and a fucked up temper. It's as if you'd just left a bomb or something in their kitchen.

You feel small under his gaze.

"Yes... it's just a beautiful mirror."

•••

Vernon was the second one to get turned.

He graduated from uni, having already killed a man. He tasted his blood, vomited to stop feeling sick, but then got the imperious need to drink from him again.

“Who the hell is this Boo Family?” Jun asks once they get to the house. The mirror is still covered in the living room. There’s no use in unwrapping it as they can’t use it anyways.

“Some old friends.” Vernon answers, face paler than usual.

He made a vow to never to steal a life again. No matter how hungry he was, no matter how weak he could get, he had a strong set of values he planned to spend the rest of his non-desired eternity with, even if people told him it wasn’t the natural thing to do.

“Explain yourself.”

“No explanation needed… Just go to your room, Jun.”

“Are you grounding me or something? I thought we were over with all this weird family shit.”

“I could be your grandfather, how is that weird to…”

“Boo Seungkwan is the man who brought Vernon into this life, okay?” Joshua explains.

Josh had been his mentor. Studying hard for his degree, Vernon was only seven years younger than him and had a mind full of dreams. One of them was to become a doctor as brilliant as Joshua, which, after a lot of sacrifice, he did. But he never thought his desire to be like Joshua would put him into a world so dark and twisted. When he said he wanted to be like Joshua, he never imagined… this.

“There’s your answer.” Vernon says.

He wouldn’t have endured sane this long without Joshua as a friend.

“Don’t worry, mate, we are leaving this place.”

The house is big. Of course, they lived in much larger houses than your auntie’s, as Jun said. But this house… There is wood covering the walls and enormous trees blocking the sunlight from the windows.

Vernon asks himself, is it always going to be like this?

Will Josh and he finally be able to take daytime shifts? Will they be able to walk around town without having to worry about deadly eruptions on their skins?

Sunglasses and long sleeves, then they are ready to go. The offer is tempting.

“There’s no need.”

“What do you mean?” Joshua asks in disbelief.

“I mean… We already paid the girl.”

“And she can keep the money. We’re leaving.”

Jun seems thrilled. What will their new location be? Bahamas? Maybe France? Oh, he loves pain au chocolat! Now it is gonna be great.

“I want to give it a try, Josh,” Vernon says, much to Jun’s disgrace. “Yejin is dead. And there’s no other reason for the Boo family to attack me again.”

“Yejin? Like your ex-friend Yejin?” Minghao asks.

“More like the maniac, out-of-her-mind-obsessed-with-Vernon, Yejin.” Joshua corrects.

“How did you know about her, Hao?”

“I might have stumbled upon your diaries once. But then we moved, and I don’t know where you hide them anymore. So I’m kinda stuck in the middle of the tale.

“Well, well, well… Looks like we know very little of each other to be part of the same family, Mr. Chew. Or should I call you Doctor?”

Jun disappears from the room, not caring for Joshua, who wants to say something to him. Even if he couldn’t move at this dazzling speed, he would’ve been able to escape the situation with equal grace.

That’s the way he is.

“Welcome to Forks, then.”

•••

“So… the new renters are a piece of shit.” your friend Cheol says. It's nice to catch up after a whole summer apart, not seeing or hearing anything from him.

Your ankles ache from the cold wind that bites as you walk the last stretch to school.

“That’s not what I said,” you explain. “The doctors were very nice to me. But the young ones… This guy Jun was in a terrible mood and treated everyone like shit. The other brother was…”

Threatening? But gut-wrenchingly beautiful? Eyes so deep like sinking ships after crashing with an iceberg?

“…a bit serious, I don’t know. When the doctors asked me if there was a highschool nearby, I thought I'd get to make some friends.”

“Are you saying I’m not enough of a friend?”

Okay, that was a low blow and you need to respond to it.

“The whole summer you went missing. So yes, at some point your friendship felt short for me.”

Many years of friendship taught you that you can open up with Cheol whenever you feel sad or lonely. You arrive at school and identify some of the friends he spent the whole summer with. A sight escapes your mouth. You love the guys, but you kinda wish your alone time with Cheol would have lasted longer.

And he notices.

“We can hang out later. Just you and me,” he promises, grabbing both of your hands. “We can sneak and spy on this jackasses’ house. Then you’ll watch them nose-picking and realize they’re not that big of a deal.”

“Voyeurism? That 's the date?”

Cheol pinches your nose in between his fingers and smiles playfully. Same old smile. Same old gesture that makes you feel safe. Even after a whole summer of not knowing what the hell is going on in his head.

“I know you. Don’t act like you don’t like to get into other people’s lives.”

Touché. You admit there’s a certain rush of adrenaline growing in your veins whenever you think about getting into your new renters’ intimacy. There's a certain power that comes with knowing about other people's secrets. Even when you don’t plan to use any of those against them.

“I’ll think about it.”

“I take it as a yes.”

“Take it as a maybe I'd rather go grab some coffee and not do such creepy things!”

You hit your friend in the arm playfully. When they see you coming, the gang welcomes you with a hug and some cheering. Hoshi tells you about how your best friend drank his blood’s weight in beer and none of the parties were near as entertaining as when you are there to join them.

You don’t believe him. You know he’s only saying this to make you feel better. But you have nothing against white lies when they serve their purpose.

“Maybe invite me next time?” you say, knowing that you are asking for the impossible.

Soonyoung looks at Dino, who answers without saying a word. Cheol pulls you closer to him. Silent and almost surrounding you with his arms.

“I really don’t think you’d like it,” Soonyoung says. “Plus you’ve been busy training, from what I heard.”

Of course. Training. You are not sure what Soonyoung must have heard about it, or who he must have heard it from. But this summer, you have been leaving your house at five in the morning everyday with the intention of running your sacred five miles before seven a.m—or whatever number of miles you could do before starting to feel like you’re about to pass out. It has been awesome; wind whipping your skin and not a single thought crossing your head. Just a pleasant sensation of hurt that would leave your legs shaking and your mind blank.

After that, you’d return home just in time to give your auntie her meds.

And then you’d like to run away again.

“Are you getting into a competition or something?” Dino asks.

“Nah. I was just doing it to clear my mind. But who knows… I’m fast.”

“Maybe I could help your train then”

Around the corners, or maybe even a couple of blocks away, there’s a soul with the extramundane ability of hearing your thoughts and sayings with just the gaze of your silhouette.

“Hum… who the hell are you?” Seungcheol asks him.

He wasn't there just minutes ago. You must have been too lost in your own thoughts as the sight of your neighbor makes your heart skip a beat.

Maybe he wants you to introduce him?

“Guys, this is Jun. My auntie rented the house to his family, so he and his brother are new here.”

“Great way to introduce yourself, mate. You’re an asshole, from what I heard?”

You step over your friend’s foot, hoping to subtly silent him. Damn, Seungcheol has a big mouth.

“Actually, I’m here to apologize,” Jun says, much to your surprise. And then he looks at you like no one else is there. “My manners weren’t the best. We had a long trip from California so I’m sure you’ll understand.”

“California? You’re a ghost, man.”

Ignoring Soonyoung’s comment, your neighbor continues trying to apologize.

“I just wanted to let you know that whatever neighborly thing you need, you can count on my family and me.”

Just by the way they’re silent, analyzing every bit of him but actually finding nothing, you can tell that the guys already hate Jun without even knowing him.

And for that, you feel relieved.

“Thank you, Jun. I really appreciate it.”

“My pleasure.”

•••

You live in a place so different than Mr. Chwe and Mr Hong’s new house. It only has a few rooms; none of them fancy and only spacious enough for you to sleep and change in there. The little wooden cabin remains hidden in between the trees, all of them prominent enough to prevent your house from being in plain sight. Rain has to make an effort to fall in between thick leaves. And if it wasn’t because of the oscillating movement of your auntie’s chair, Joshua would´t have found it.

He has always been a good neighbor. It’s a signature part of the made up story he tells about himself every time his life changes. So there he is, standing on the porch of your house with a basket of freshly baked cookies in hand. He expects to find you there and maybe ask you a couple of questions about the Boo family and your relationship with them.

“You didn’t have to” you say, receiving the basket in your hands with guilt wrinkling your eyebrows. “Really. I feel terrible. I don’t have anything to give you in return.”

“You’ve given more than enough. This is just a thank you. To you and your aunt.”

Some persistent raindrops have started to pierce through the trees.

“Come in, I insist” you say, opening the door fully even though it’s kinda messy inside. You haven’t found the time to clean up and embarrassment shows in the crimson red of your plumpy cheeks. “You won’t make it to the lodge before the rain. And I was about to make some coffee to warm up anyways.”

Joshua knows perfectly that he will be able to reach the lodge even before the next drop of rain. Despite that, he decides to enter your house and take a seat at your table, waiting for the cloudburst to stop, like any normal person. In front of him, there’s a cup of coffee. He asked for it without sugar or milk because he wouldn’t be able to enjoy those flavors if you put them in there anyways. Of course, the story he tells is different. It’s easier to explain he’s grown accustomed to preparing his coffee bitter in the rush of his night guards.

“So, California…”

Your friend Hoshi’s observation over Jun had been rude but sharp. California’s sun had rejected Joshua’s family in an inexplicable way.

“Yes, we stayed there for a short time,” he answers. For him, that is not a lie. Ten years really is a short time. “We have a condition. It makes us sensitive to the sun. So long term wasn’t an option.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry for that...”

“It's okay. We just have to be careful. Forks seems like the perfect place for that.”

“Trust me. Forks can give you a lot of trouble but sunny days won’t be one.”

Joshua takes a sip of his coffee. It doesn’t taste like anything, but it’s reassuring to see you enjoy the cookies he baked but can’t taste.

“A lot of trouble?” He asks, eyes full of curiosity. “What do you mean by that?”

Coming from California and —from what Vernon told you— previously New York, you imagine your neighbor has no idea of the consequences of living in a place like Forks.

“Well, a small town can be a vast hell if you don’t keep things to yourself,” you explain. “Forks is amazing. But there’s only a few habitants and they all get bored easily, so rumors fly.”

Joshua’s well aware of how deadly rumors can be. Especially when truth revolves around them.

“Do you have secrets to entertain us with, Mr. Hong?” you mock him, feeling a little more comfortable around your neighbor who’s not only a kind person but also a great baker.

His eyes get all wrinkly when he smiles.

“I’m afraid we’re gonna bore you all,” he answers “And please don’t call me Mr. Hong.”

“Fair enough.” You say, while cleaning leftover cookies from the corner of your mouth.

“What about you, do you have secrets?”

You laugh at the question. Maybe it’s because you know the answer damn well.

“Of course. We all do.”

masterlist | next chapter

[valenshawke]

6 albums I’ve been listening to a lot lately! Plus one track from each that I’m especially fond of.

I was tagged by @captainhunnicutt. Thank you!

The Mandrake Project - Bruce Dickinson - "Many Doors to Hell"

I waited 18 god damn years for this album. And while Iron Maiden has released four albums in that time period, I'm actually a bigger fan of Bruce's solo material. This song in particular does hit on a lot of things I liked to write about around the time his last solo album was released. A vampire who wants to be human again. Not quite, but I did (and do I guess) like to explore the blessing and the curse of being a vampire.

Vessels - Starset - "Telepathic" & "Telepathic (Acoustic Version)"

Starset was the band @telekinetic-issue recommended to me after I recommended Ghost. So the great music exchange of 2022 led to, what is currently, my favorite Starset album. This song hit very close to me I listened to it obsessively as it very much captured my feelings towards my former best friend, before I finally managed to let that friendship go finally even though we hadn't really spoken since 2015.

72 Seasons - Metallica - "Lux Æterna"

Probably the first Metallica album since, uh, forever where I truly feel like they band tried to put out a quality song every track (don't argue with me about Load & ReLoad, there was ONE solid album if they made better track selections and had a bit tighter arrangement). As for "Lux Æterna," it's one of those pick-me-up songs that motivates me to try to get my life together.

Infestissumam - Ghost - "Year Zero"

In terms of album, it was this for Prequelle, Meliora, Impera. Impera, burned out listening to and absolutely hate one song on that album. Meliora benefits by having the Popestar EP on it, and thus having "Square Hammer." Prequelle has "Faith" and "Miasma"/"Dance Macabre" (you really need to listen to these two tracks back-to-back), and "Witch Image."

Infestissumam I listen to the most and regularly since it has my all-time favorite Ghost song, "Year Zero" and the "band" at this time was more focused on using religious imagery in such a dark way that hits the bitter ex-Catholic heart of mine in such a way that no other band can.

Once - Nightwish - "Planet Hell"

Tarja's last album with the band. Probably their last great album (no disrespect to Anette Olzon, Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum were good albums). But a song about the contradictory nature of humanity and the notion that hell is really simply planet Earth? Yeah, that's a song for me.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST + - Yoko Kanno - "Lithium Flower"

Yes, I'm trash. I know this. I'm Tumblr. I came to Tumblr because of anime and manga. But this song is just 1. Amazing. 2. And based solely on one line, it's like the character song for my blorbo. But Yoko Kanno is one of those composers where, once you hear her work, you just bow to her brilliance. Her mixing of styles and finding singers to fit whatever vision she has is nothing short of amazing. But this song is one of those that when it comes on, just don't bother me because I will ignore everything to listen to the song in full.

And I'm no-pressure-tagging: @beardedladyqueen, @spoczkot, @anisaanisa, @albatrossisland, @connie-rubirosa, @byronicbi, @transgalvantula plus anyone else that wants to do this!

[itmeansiris]

The Solar System Legacy Challenge: Saying Goodbye Gen 1 pt.50

“Grown from the humble roots off the coast of Shih Sea, Tomarang is lively with local fare, community chaos, and legends of lore. Known for its tight-knit communities and sun-filled shared spaces, Tomarang is a lush landscape of possibilities. Come cozy up with nature or fish around for neighborly niceties and whim-simsical secrets. Whether you're flying solo or raising generations, the region offers a warm welcome to any multi-living lifestyle! Sul Sul De-Kah!”

The town Spirit and Jorden grew up, fell in love and raised 2 children. The town they sent their children to school and grew a business. Where they grew old and hung pictures of their grandchildren. The town where they ate at the local fare and sold produce on the weekend.

To Mercury, Tomarang was a small village littered with color and wonder. A village that had helped her learn to be kind and confident, giving, loving and nurturing. All the things the village had given to her parents before her. Now she had returned to say goodbye to what anchored her there.

When they arrive at the Tomarang funeral home & cemetery, M is immediately drawn to the new headstone that was already placed in the designated place for Jorden on the Medley Family plot. As she approaches she notices the hoard of cameras and fans standing beyond the fenced area. Word of her father’s death and her return to Tomarang had circulated quickly but she had begged for privacy. Seems she wouldn’t get her wish. The crowd did nothing to quiet her emotions. She couldn’t handle it anymore, she’d spent all morning trying to keep herself poised and in check, but seeing her Fathers name engraved across the shiny new headstone had broken her resolve. She set down Zohreh and released a gut-wrenching sob.

Kason joins her silently supporting her but understanding her need to get it out. He stands between her and the gathering crowd trying to shield her as his own emotions begin to rise. Jorden had welcomed Kason from the moment they’d met during Family day weekend all those years ago. He had deemed Kason, Mercurys moon* after they started dating and had even given him permission to ask for M’s hand in marriage. He gave him advice on raising the triplets and had even helped to name Zohreh. No one had ever needed to say it aloud, but Jorden was the backbone of their mixed families and everyone from the Gratz to the Medleys and all of Tomarang had lost a friend, a mentor, a husband or a father.

As they gathered themselves to head inside they notice Zohreh pulling himself toward his grandfathers headstone. He’d been practicing for weeks and had chosen this moment to complete his creep milestone.

Kason: M did you see him?

He asked as he wiped the tears from his eyes. M smiled with a fresh batch of tears coating her already red rimmed eyes.

M: I did. Maybe he knows. Maybe…he did it for his grandpa..

Kason: It’s a beautiful thought M, hold on to it. Let’s head inside.

The pews were filled with tenants, friends, neighbors and employees a like. In the front rows sat Winter and Peyton with their now 3 kids, along side Beckett, Spirit and the triplets.

The service commences and M tasked with giving the eulogy takes her place at the podium eventually. The casket a beautiful white with intricate gold detailing a daunting backdrop. She takes a deep breath and begins.

M: My delightful, quirky & remarkable father, Jorden Medley has passed and left our beautiful village hollow. My mother, brother and I are beyond heartbroken. We know how blessed & lucky we were to be loved by him. Now it’s up to the watcher to take care of him, and I know he’s earned his right to a peaceful rest. You can’t be called a daddy’s girl without the perfect father. Mine burned breakfast every morning, and took the training wheels off my brothers bike to soon. My father couldn’t sing and had two left feet. He lived for a decent cup of coffee he couldn’t make himself and often didn’t have a serious bone in his body. He taught me to keep my head in the clouds and to search or create things that no one could take from me.

She’s pauses. Takes a deep breath and continues

M: When we were kids my father built us a treehouse and then spent all his time teaching me about astronomy. Being named after the Planet Mercury at my great grandmothers request my father learned all he could about the planet and then passed it all down to me. One day he promised me a moon. At the time I didn’t understand, I thought all planets had their own moon and we just shared the sun. Until my father explained that because of Mercury’s small form and its proximity to the sun it doesn’t have enough gravitational pull to create a moon all its own. But he assured me everyday that I would be stronger than my small form and I would find my moon. Jorden Medley kept his promise and I was blessed with a moon, my husband Kason and a number of tiny stars that could one days be suns, my children. But what my father didn’t know is he was the strength in my orbit. He made it possible for me to keep the people around. My father taught me that I was stronger than the cosmos, and I could outshine the sun and have my own galaxy even if the world didn’t have it planned for me. My father spent his life teaching me to build a galaxy and now he is the brightest star in my orbit. For a moonless planet I was bless with the prefect star. We…will miss you daddy….

After the service the family gathers outside at the headstone after greeting friends and thanking them for coming. Outside the crowd of vultures hadn’t diminished. The family gathered around to say their final goodbyes.

They head back to Spirits house. It’d been a while since M had been to her childhood home. She’d seen her family often but normally they traveled to her considering she had the most space and the hardest travel with the kids. It felt like a bittersweet moment to be back. Once inside Kason starts to get the kids ready for bed with Spirits help. As they rally the kids Spirit notices M head for her bedroom. She watches her open the door painfully slow and then she steps in and closes the door behind her.

Inside M stops and takes a moment to gather herself. Stunned by how comfort she felt being in her father’s space. She could recall sneaking into bed with her parents at night. The familiar picture of her father sits on the nightstand on her mother’s side of the bed. She stares back at her father’s kind eyes. She never takes her eyes off the photo as she moves around to her father’s side of the bed (the same for years). She lays down on his pillow and stares at his photo until she’s eventually overcome with exhaustion as drifts off to sleep

*The planet Mercury IRL does not have a moon. Mercury has no moons. The planet's close proximity to the Sun makes having moons impossible, as the star's strong gravitational pull would likely pull them out of the planet's orbit.

PREV

NEXT

[hana-no-seiiki]

Okay, it may sound weird, but what if the manager is also an artist, like daft punk/Banksy? They are famous but also anonymous, and are just working for the idol/rockstar? They got popular during their time as a manager and they cannot quit because it would be too suspicious and so sudden, like they are waiting for the right moment to quit, hut until then, the are just going to be 'the manager' in public.

YAN! POP IDOL [EVE] x MANAGER/ARTIST! READER (ft. YAN! ROCKSTAR [FEROZE])

AAAA I ACTUALLY HAD THIS IDEA BUT WAS LIKE- WHAT IF GENIE’S READERS HATE ME FOR CHANGING THE MANAGER TOO MUCH- but bAH fuck it! HAVE THIS!! THE THREESOME SMUT WILL HAVE TO WAIT-

@moyazaika tagging you just so you’re informed and can add more on Feroze’s side if you’re free:

Anyways if you manage to be both an artist and manager at the same time, props to you for your god-like time management cause that’s honestly fucken commendable. Like manager-nim you’re actually a god at this point.

I imagined reader to be completely out of the genre FerozEve (are we surprised by who the top is at this point) in order for the double trouble makers not to find out immediately.

I don’t know how wide Feroze’s music tastes are but for Eve he practically listens to every genre. As a teen his favorite were the rockstar and ofc pop. He got into Hip-Hop/Trap through the main rapper from his group, and Kpop has a ton of genres mixed into it including but not limited to EDM, R&B and Punk Rock. Soon enough, he hears of this underground DJ who’s known for not only making fire music but being their own choreographer and VJ. Talk about being blessed by the gods.

You (and his bae Khan ofc) inspired him to create his own music and eventually go solo. He went undercover sometimes to send you tracks. You thought he was just a kid/teen since his early ones were kinda . . . not it, but was impressed by the amount of passion he put into improving.

Years later, your activity died down due to working on Feroze’s career more. Those exclusive interviews and world concert arrangements don’t do themselves yknow!

Eve was saddened by your lack of releases and performances but understood. Besides he had your manager persona in mind to obsess over.

The collab happens and you joined Eve to look over the tracks in the album. From the amount of iced americanos he’d down, you could tell he was super out of it and really needed rest BUT HE WOULDN’T GODDAMN LISTEN TO YOU-

*ahem*

So you decided to help him instead.

You gave minor pointers here and there really. Nothing much in your opinion.

But to Eve he was just in utter shock and awe. How come he didn’t think of that?? The synth really elevated that section of the chorus?? Why were you hiding this genius from him??

You explained that you wanted to be a producer for the company but since it ended up reducing your passion for music so you otped for a managerial position instead.

Eve isn’t even listening at this point. He just has heart eyes. Like he didn’t know he could fall further in love with you. Boy is whipped.

Overall Eve kinda do be dumb and dense so he wouldn’t figure it out. But I’d imagine the revelation to happen sort of like this:

You were helping out Eve with vocal arrangement one day, assisting with adlibs and what not when . . .

“I think it’d be better if you put this here, and double it.”

“Woah that sounds fire.” Eve’s eyes were glued at your focused face. You looked so adorable all focused like that. He was so close to jumping out the recording booth just to give you a big ol smooch.

At his approval you continued, “We could build it up more. I’ll punch you in here and you could do a lower note? Like this.” You played a section of the song, perfectly harmonizing with his voice like it was nothing, before turning to him for approval.

He was silent. Mouth slightly agape.

“Eve?”

“. . .”

Holy shit. You’re one of his favorite artists-

[deluweil]

Would love to hear ur take on all this buddie Oliver Ryan press???

Lmao, I have resolved myself to not watch any of the press circuits done, by anyone.

I read here and there from the corner of my eye.

But from what I've seen, you can't really match what's being said to what is happening on the show.

On one hand, you have diplomatic responses from both Oliver and Ryan of things like vulnerable male friendships and shit like that. I say shit like that because I have watched so many best friends pairs on several different TV shows where there is trust and vulnerability and love and sharing of apartments and kids in the mix, and none of those look as gay as Buck and Eddie and whatever the hell they do.

And on the other hand, we have the unfiltered God bless him, Ryan responses, where he loves both Buck and Oliver to the core, and "this goes beyond friendship".

In my opinion, Ryan is the only one being honest about how this thing looks like, he's been married, he has kids and lot of close friends,he can be objective and tell the difference.

I buy more into Ryan's solo interviews, than whatever was said in the show oriented PR tour.

The fact that they finally put Ryan and Oliver together tells me that Buck and Eddie will get even more, if that is possible, close this season.

Where it leads, is unclear, because the interviews may not say much, but the show itself just seems like it's gravitating to a buddie endgame conclusion.

It helps that the entire cast, low key, are buddie shippers since S3, led enthusiastically by Ryan and JLH.

So I don't know, but I wouldn't look too closely at the interviews, they never reflect the on screen interaction.

Since I didn't watch the Ryan and Oliver interview, if I missed something or got it wrong correct me, but looks like the bottom line of the gifs I saw is they're married but not sleeping together vibe lol

[lizzienoodles]

What's Gail and Erica's deal?

this is the correct question to ask me!!!!!!!!! 😃😃😃😃

Erica and Gail are twin sisters who share a superpower. When they were young they were part of the Fledge Fighters team (my old webcomic.) Now that they've grown up with me I play around with them in a big Marvel AU sandbox of my own adaption.

the personalities

Erica is bright and energetic and has so much unmedicated ADHD, loves fashion, makes friends wherever she goes, and would go to great lengths to help others, which is what makes her a great superhero but also keeps her overcommitted and overextended.

Gail is the opposite in most ways- subdued, introverted thinker, a bit of a slob, and not blessed with much (if any) natural empathy. But she's brilliant and widely knowledgeable, which you'll find out if you manage to actually get her to talk to you. She's also narcoleptic, so basically sleep deprived all the time no matter how many naps she gets.

Gail basically spent her life up to her mid-twenties doing whatever Erica wanted, and Erica put more work in fostering Gail's non-existent social life than was healthy. The two couldn't think of life without the other, and found it difficult to separate their individual needs.

the big trauma

Then they went through a catastrophic world-ending event where they got portaled through spacetime to another universe and for the first time in their life, were separated (by a few hundred miles and about six months.) Instead of having each other for balance, they both veered harder into their opposite demeanors to the point that when they meet again after spending three years apart, they're unsure if they can ever be as close as they were when they were younger.

Erica had a bit of a crisis when she realized her sister was not anywhere on the new earth, dated Thor briefly, then ran off to join the Guardians of the Galaxy, so she was off-planet by the time Gail showed up.

When Gail found herself alone, she immediately quit the superhero thing, and became a morally-grey (at best) security specialist who works for whoever pays best or provides an interesting challenge, and gets involved with a crime boss named Valentine, who she's working for when she gets mixed up with Loki.

the powers

When they were teen superheroes together, they thought that they just had the same powers with different specialties, but separated they also realized that it was more like they each had half of a power.

Erica can create huge air currents where none exist and control them in broad strokes. Most of the generative power comes from her. She prefers to work big, even getting to the point where she can create hurricanes. She can also fly on her own.

Gail's air manipulation comes down to directing its flow, and it takes a lot for her to actually build up a wind that could rival a large fan. She also lost the ability to fly. However she can precisely tune into the molecules and pressure, so she uses her powers to do quiet, subtle things like building up pressure in a room or redirecting an existing airflow.

It's like you can see Gail's villain arc beginning in this moment.

Together they can create AND precisely control extremely powerful winds, but they've gotten pretty good at their solo acts by now. The whole thing with Gail becoming a villain has put a big damper on their relationship, but in the end, they're still sisters and love each other dearly.

[grox]

Mixed drink I invented "God bless"

1 can Ranch water (Gulp taken out of it)

100% Cranberry (To top line of red solo)

[saturnskyline]

hi. so i saw this gifset on the dash, and it's entirely too late for me to be awake doing this but i am now spiraling over kim's outfits. so anyway here goes nothing 👍

(below the cut is my descent into madness. you have been warned)

now when i saw these gifs i began musing in the tags, as one does, so here they are for context:

(feels truly unhinged to screenshot my own tags but oh well)

so once i started thinking i found it impossible to stop (as often is the case with this gay mafia business) and i decided to go through and look at each of kim's outfits. for science

now i know the fandom has looked at wardrobe stuff before, so it's very possible that someone has gone through this already. BUT! i'm already in way too deep here so i'm just gonna go ahead with this dfsdhgjsdf

kim's wardrobe is, to me at least, very interesting. you get a mix of things, depending on how he is presenting himself. for example:

(here we have wik, kim, and what seems to be something in between)

it's hard to differentiate between these styles at times, and i think that's purposeful bc kim appears to dart between personas: beloved singer, distant son, solo detective... the list goes on

so first things first! i was largely right about the jacket thing! in most every one of his outfits, he has some kind of jacket on. however, the first time we actually see him without a jacket is actually in this scene where he gifts chay with the guitar:

(hasty screenshot to prove my point and yet jeff is still doing the jeff thing. bless)

okay so i was wrong about that. i think the jacketless look is definitely intentional on his part – to help him seem unguarded, especially since he is giving a gift – but the first instance is still not the scene i thought it was. however!!! there is one thing i'm really excited about, and it's about the next thought i had in the tags...

every time kim wears white it relates to chay.

now you may be thinking, wren. is that really the case, or is this claim a bit of a stretch? and now i answer.... *gestures helplessly* some of this may be a stretch! but i can explain, and i will!

let's look at the instances of kim in white then, shall we?

#1

this, to me, is a quintessential wik look. far more approachable than the full black leather, and even his typical sleuthing fits (although a lot of it is in his mannerisms tbh, remember that withering look he gave big?). now this one miiiight be a stretch... but to me it still fits my thesis bc i feel like kim dressed this way for chay on purpose so he would look more like one of his peers. just my two cents

#2

first sleuthing scene where white is involved. here, kim is investigating porsche's (and therefore, chay's) parents, and he gets a call from chay, which he ignores. everything and nothing in this scene is about chay; he's not in it but he actually is. (now if you're thinking, wren, that doesn't make any sense... you are not the only one. idk what i'm talking about. let's carry on)

#3

our boy in songwriting mode! worth noting that, with the combination of the shirt and the pants, there is more white going on here than usual. here, instead of avoiding chay, he actively remembers him and even looks a little.. fond? *gasp*

#4

the confession scene :') this one is particularly interesting bc it's the same jacket kim wears when he's in full dark mafia mode (more on that later). like most instances of kim in white, it's a dark jacket with white peeking through, and this scene might be the best instance of that. he reaches back when chay offers his feelings, and opens the door to.. a relationship? idk but something with emotions

#5

(jeffrey, sweetie, i'm so sorry about the screenshot quality. consider it retribution for your gender crimes?)

NOW. here is the look that made me start this deranged analysis in the first place. not only is it sans mafia jacket, but it is a full white shirt! he cuddles chay on the couch! they talk (?) about their feelings (?) ... well i mean, he's clearly having a hard time being vulnerable, but at least there is progress being made :)

#6

(bad screenshot, bad moment. they r matching)

would you believe the next white-wearing instance is THIS MISERABLE SCENE. the jacket's back on, he's desperately trying to put up his guard again, and he blatantly lets chay think that he never had feelings for him (lies lies and more lies... we all hate it here :D)

#7

look. i'm aware this is the biggest stretch yet bahaha. i mean my man is dressed for SCHOOL. however. the focus of this scene is him learning that chay didn't show for his audition, so it still fits in my book!! idc idc

#8

(if you look at chay's hair here, this scene also has bisexual lighti- *gets shot*)

pretty self-explanatory, he shows up to the bar to fight chay's friends and confront chay. about as chay-related as you can get

#9

finally! the Human Shirt™ !! about as on-the-nose as you can get, really. while wearing a white shirt that reads "human" and no jacket, kim has, demonstrably, his most human moment in the show: he breaks down crying over chay. cue jeff acting his heart out while his own song plays in the background (why don't you stayyyy~)

#10

it's a flashback scene, but we see kim watching chay in the studio. he's mostly guarded, but a little white comes through. good stuff

#11

putting these together bc they are two different moments but the same outfit. 1) kim learns that porsche and chay have disappeared, and 2) he contemplates the state of things after korn's "death". i put the family moment here too especially bc of what he tells kinn: "you don't have time to think about other stuff anymore", basically "eyes on the prize". now perhaps this only applies to his older brother, but in the case that we apply it to him.. we can't really be sure whether he is sticking to his personal main goal or breaking from his own advice. i suspect the former bc at this point, he seems to see chay as his main priority, despite his family's situation (again idk if this makes sense, but just. go with it. lol)

#12

dare i say? the sexiest example?? no mafia jacket, full white shirt, and yet, unlike the other white shirt instances, this one isn't about his emotional vulnerability with chay. no no, here he takes out six guys without much difficulty, in an attempt to protect chay (and then he leaves the bodies, but still! the love is there!)

(a gif for fun! worth pointing out that kim also acts to protect chay the first time he wears that white shirt... :0)

in conclusion... idk what i am talking about, and frankly, if you are still reading this post i am very impressed lol. but yay kim's clothes and motifs, fashion as a disarming tactic, and white as a color of vulnerability!

[msviolacea]

There's a lot of "oh, Baldur's Gate, isn't that game all about sex?" out there - I've seen it on the internet and heard it in conversation - which is fair, that's what the mainstream articles have been about, and let's not lie, most of us around here are all about the sexytimes with pretty people. (Me included, 100000%. And my "romance doesn't make an experience less interesting or serious" rant will be saved for another day.) But anyway ... it's Monday, and I'm avoiding work, so I figured I'd list as many things as I can think of right now that make the game amazing that have nothing to do with actually having sex with someone.

GINORMOUS areas to explore.

There are lore books literally everywhere. If you like reading random bits of in-universe texts, you'll be spoiled.

Have you ever played D&D and wished certain spells had more utility - like Grease, or Sleep, or Create/Destroy Water? You're in luck here! Anything that can either create a ground effect or temporarily distract/take enemies out is OP!

Animated, voiced cut scenes with nearly every single NPC you run across.

At the same time, most of them are not required. Some will give you interesting side quests, extra approval/disapproval from your companions, or interesting information that will give you more options in a future quest, but you don't have to spend hours talking to people unless that's your jam.

In character creation, you don't pick male/female as a gender. You pick from four body types (two small, two large, two with breasts/more slender, two more broad/slightly larger), three sets of pronouns (he/she/they), and several different sets of genitals - mix and match all three categories to your hearts' content. I'm sure there are other things they could have done, but it's the most inclusive character creator I've seen in a major game for sure.

The turn-based combat is a blessing for anyone who struggles with real time combat. Take your time, consider your options, look at things from all angles, sort through your spells and attacks to find the right one.

Or you can remember you picked up that barrel of smoke powder three rooms back, climb up into the rafters of the room, and chuck it into the fire pit in the middle of the room for maximum effect. I cannot overstate how fucking satisfying that is.

Big fucking tiefling horns. Of a variety of shapes!

Your female companions are the tanks/hearty warriors. Your male companions are all delicate fucking flowers, at least until you get Druid Daddy who can turn into a bear.

While optimizing your 4-person party to bring the usual configuration - one tank, one healer, a couple of DPS - is useful, it isn't always necessary. There are some fights where bringing four ranged options is a great idea, as long as you give them some survivability spells or plenty of potions. Sometimes bringing four people who can just barrel their way into a pile of ogres is satisfying. Mix it up!

Okay every companion thus far (I'm still only through act 1 yet, listen I have two games and my partner didn't feel well enough to continue the game where we're the farthest this weekend so I spent my time catching my solo game up) is absolute gold, no duds in the bunch, and the next few bullets will be one awesome thing about each one of them that has nothing to do with romance.

Astarion with the Thief subclass at level 3 literally cannot fail most lockpicking or trap disarming checks unless he rolls a nat 1. He is invisible when stealthed. He can one-shot most low level goblins with sneak attack arrows from range. He is a very bitchy fancy-lad Super Rogue.

Wyll is the Goodest Boy - the speed with which he goes from "I am oathbound to kill you demon!" to "well shit you're just a tiefling guess I'll deliberately fuck up my very dangerous warlock oath for you" is wonderful. He's noble and impetuous and wants to be more than a rich boy and gives nearly everyone the benefit of the doubt. I would die for him.

Karlach does the ADHD idle dance of "I could not stand still if you paid me all the gold in Baldur's Gate" and has the best puppy dog eyes. Also the story tie-in to her rage mechanics is really great and excellent storytelling.

Lae'zel is nigh unkillable if you give her the right stuff. Speccing her as Battlemaster is amazing for controlling the most powerful combatants on the field. Trip Attack has saved my ass so many times, you have no idea.

On paper, Gale should be absolutely insufferable. But somehow the writing and voice acting managed to hit just the right notes of humor and good nature and wizard geek. I'm very impressed.

Shadowheart is a very interesting combination of amoral/self-involved but also compassionate and I find myself fascinated by it. She clearly contains multitudes, and thus far the story is doing a good job of doling out pieces of her at a satisfying pace.

And speaking of interesting moral dichotomies, I absolutely adore that Halsin is both the good influence authority figure and also utterly ruthless when things run afoul of his strongly held belief system. Also thicc, broad-shouldered elf supremacy.

The tieflings you meet in Emerald Grove are directly tied to the D&D adventure "Descent Into Avernus" - as is Wyll! (And I'm sure it has a lot of context for Karlach's story as well, I haven't finished reading it yet.) I'm sure there's more when you get to the actual city of Baldur's Gate, but I'm not there yet. It's just fun to have that as an option to read for backstory about some of the game's characters and situations if you want. It's not required reading, though - cough, Bioware/Dragon Age, cough - everything that happens with them is perfectly understandable without any additional context!

The "Balanced" combat difficulty is a really good mix of fights that take a LOT of strategy and ones that can be easily cheesed.

Have you ever wanted to shove someone off a cliff even though you have like 8 strength? Listen, a 30% chance is STILL A CHANCE, and you have limited bonus action choices. TAKE YOUR SHOT.

... feel free to add your own. I'm still pretty early in the game and can't wait to get to more.

(edited for some slightly better phrasing about the character creation gender options, hopefully)

[dmysterioblog]

Chapter IX ✦ White Lies

Paring: Rhea Ripley x Dominik Mysterio, Rhea Ripley x Roman Reigns

Summary: More secrets are coming to light.

Warnings; bit of angst

Word Count: 4.1k

Playlist

Masterlist

A/n: There is a new ship in this fic and I promise it makes sense. I’ll explain if necessary 😭 (I’m also still adding people in the taglist)

The next morning, both Rhea and Dom were dressing up after they took a quick shower, getting ready to head downstairs for breakfast as she was still pondering over what happened last night. As she did, she looked at the time in her watch. It was 9 AM. At 12 PM, she was to meet up with Nia at the cafeteria to confront her, see what Roman told the irresistible force, as well as to warn Nia that she’s not to be messed with.

“Oh crap—“ She heard Dom say as she perked up and turned to him. He was already ready as he was waiting for her while looking at his phone. “I need to meet up with Shawn today to sign the contract.”

“Oh yeah, you’re defending your title tomorrow against Frazer or whatever his name is, right?” Rhea asked as she grabbed her own shoes and put them on while Dom nodded.

“Yeah, It’s tomorrow. I’m gonna go train for a bit too after I go and sign the contract before we head to the stadium.” He told her as he kept his phone inside his pocket. “Plus, Jimmy has been insisting on helping me train, so I can’t say no to him.”

At that, Rhea chuckled and shook her head. The unification of both the Bloodline and the Judgement Day has been both a blessing and a curse. More so as a blessing due to how well they perform together in the ring as well as in general. Jimmy was one of the many people out of the two groups willing to help and “go by the play” as he always said. His bond with her boys has also been something positive as well, compared with JD McDonaugh who was nothing but a distraction to them. There was also Solo; and while he wasn’t that talkative with the others, he still had their backs regardless.

And then, well, there was Roman.

Before the whole “thing” between her and the Tribal Chief was uncovered, many people addressed them as the top leaders of their factions, as well as the ones who will “soon gain absolute control of the agency in the future”- which was an exaggeration of course, but somehow a compliment. Especially after how they both performed in that mix tag match against Bianca and Bobby.

Had it not been because she decided to sleep with him the first time, everything would’ve been absolutely fine between them, and she was sure that they would’ve been good friends and allies. But now…

The two eventually left the room after they got ready as Dom was carrying a small carry-on bag while wearing his gym attire. He stopped by the entrance to face her as he held her hand.

“Well, I gotta run.” He told her. “I’ll text you and the others when I start to head back so we can leave to the stadium together, okay?”

She smiled and pecked his lips. “Alright. I’ll see you in a bit, Dom Dom.” The two bid farewell as Rhea watched him go outside and jog towards Jimmy’s direction, who waved at him from his car as he went with the Samoan male and left.

After she saw him leave, Rhea sighed as she looked at her watch, figuring that she might as well start getting her breakfast now before she could prepare herself for her confrontation with Nia. She went to the cafeteria, wondering if Priest, Finn, or even Raquel were around here somewhere. However, she only spotted Damian and Raquel at the buffet getting their breakfast together while chatting while Finn already sat with Solo as they ate.

However, no signs of Roman.

She decided not to inquire about his whereabouts as she simply took a plate and went to serve her own food. When she reached to grab her entrée, that’s when Priest and Raquel noticed her as she went to their side.

“Hey! We were gonna text you, but we figured you woke up already.”

“Yeah, no worries, I was already up.” Rhea told them. “I had to get up still since Dom was getting ready to train with Jimmy today anyways.”

“Yeah, he has a match against Ricochet today and tomorrow against Nathan.”

“Well, he better win, or else I’ll be laughing the entire time.” Raquel stated as she snorted while Rhea gave her a look.

“Oh no worries, I’ll wipe that smirk off your face the second he wins both and the second I retain this Saturday, Chiquita.” Rhea smirked while Damian couldn’t help but laugh as Raquel rolled her eyes.

“Raq, she cooked you real good, you best be prepared this Saturday.”

“Look—“ Raquel suddenly heard her phone ring as she perked up and took it out from her pocket. When she looked at who was calling, her expression changed, which was noticed by Rhea and Damian.

“You okay, Raquel? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Rhea arched an eyebrow. It only took a few seconds until Raquel composed herself as she gave her plate to Damian.

“Sorry, I need to take this- can you both find a seat in the meantime for me please?” She quickly told them as she suddenly rushed out to answer the phone call.

“Well… that was something.” Damian mumbled as they both watched her go to the lobby to answer the call.

“Didn’t even ask you if you finished serving your food…”

“Oh no, no, I’m done. Just took me off guard for a sec though.” The two went to find a seat near Solo and Finn as they sat down, all the while Damian placed Raquel’s plate on the table as well as his own.

“So, I spoke with Roman.”

At Damian’s comment, Rhea paused when she was about to unfold her silverware from the red napkin as she looked up at him. “… excuse me?”

“About the tag titles, obviously.” Damian simply replied as he took out his fork from the napkin. “Said he was gonna speak with Nick and Pearce and that there might be a meeting about it.” He took a bite out of his eggs before he faced her. “He didn’t tell you anything?”

“… About the meeting? No, he didn’t.”

“Well, you seemed a bit taken back when I told you I spoke with him, so what’s up?”

“Nothing.” She quickly responded as she took a sip from her orange juice.

“Okay, then, that means you don’t mind if I asked him if anything happened between you two during those five days at SC.”

“Priest, are you out of your damn mind?” She almost said a bit too loudly as she glared at him. At that, Damian paused and looked at her before she calmed down and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Priest, tell me why you’re still on with that when I clearly told you that I’m trying to fix things with Dom?” She asked him.

“I’m only checking, because lately, Reigns has been staring at you.”

“And? People stare, Priest. It’s nothing new.”

“Do you even realize how the hell he looks at you whenever you’re alone or with Dom? Hell, even Solo knows, for crying out loud. Ask him.”

“First of all, Solo is probably seeing things.” Rhea immediately blurted out. “Second of all, I can guarantee you that nothing is going on between me and Roman. We ended all of that when the second Dom found out.”

“Rhea,” Damian began as he looked at her sternly. “If whatever you’re saying is true, then I hope so. Because I’ll be damned if I find out that you’re still seeing him. I’m asking you to be truthful not for yourself, but for Dom.”

Rhea stared at him at the last sentence. For a moment, her expression changed as she looked down at her food, with Damian noticing a small hint of hesitation in her body language as she was pondering before she suddenly spoke. “Actually I–“

“Sorry about that, got an emergency call,” Raquel’s voice interrupted them as she returned to them and sat down.

“Everything okay? You looked spooked for a sec.” Damian asked her as Raquel waved her hand dismissively.

“Yeah- I’m cool. Now come on, let’s eat.” She urged the two. Without a word, the three began to eat their breakfast when Rhea felt her phone vibrate. She looked down at it momentarily, seeing that it was a text from Nia.

‘Remember, 12 PM today. Don’t be late.’

Frowning slightly at the text, Rhea placed her phone back inside her pocket before she continued eating. Damian had noticed but decided not to say a word of it as he continued eating, while Raquel still seemed to look a bit shaken up- possibly because of that call she received.

It was already 11:55 AM as Rhea returned from the gym that was within the hotel on the second floor and went back to the cafeteria after making sure no one was watching nor following her. She decided to go for a small workout before her confrontation with Nia. Thankfully the cafeteria was not too crowded and the kitchen staff was only starting to get lunch ready, which only started at 1 PM and ended at 4 PM. She only sat down after getting herself some water as she waited, looking at her phone as she decided to shoot a text to Nia to let her know that she was already there.

However, before she did, she heard footsteps as she looked up at Nia approaching her table, taking a seat right across her as she had a pair of sunglasses on. Rhea watched her, even through her soul, as the irresistible force placed the glasses on the table before she looked at her with a sarcastic smile.

“Glad you could make it here.”

“Well, if it wasn’t for you blackmailing me, I wouldn’t be here. But here we are now.” Rhea said as she placed she crossed her arms. “Now talk. I don’t have all day.”

“Hm, wouldn’t you want to ask me who sent that video to me though?” Nia asked in a mocking manner.

“Who did it?”

“An old friend of mine. But I paid him a good amount of money so he wouldn’t leak this to the paparazzi. You’re welcome, by the way.” She explained to her while she looked at her nails. “And I specifically asked him to do so because when your names were announced back at that meeting to go to South Carolina and I saw your reactions, I knew something was going on… so, like the caring cousin I am, I had to do my own investigations… especially after what Flair told me.”

“Hm. So she told you as well. Gotcha.” Rhea mumbled underneath her breath, wanting to laugh as she started to look impatient while Nia gave her a look.

“I do wonder though, what impact would this have on you if everyone finds out? What would it do to your… Latino Heat if he finds out? And your career? Hm? What about Roman’s?”

“I’m going to say this to you in the clearest way possible.” Rhea suddenly leaned slightly to her direction as he faced her. “If this is all to just take my championship away… you have another thing coming. I’ve already made it clear that I’m not losing my championship to you or anyone else. And if you even dare to say or utter a word about this at any point… get ready to be sent to rehab. And when that happens, well… tell Liv I said hi.” She concluded with a smirk.

At this, Nia’s expression began to shift as she looked down at her. Her smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown before she decided to speak her mind. “Alright then… you don’t want this to be exposed. I see where you’re going with this. But I do have a few questions for you, because if I remember correctly, this is my blood who we are talking about.”

“Yeah, yeah, cut to the chase, Nia. I fucked your cousin, and he fucked me, it was all mistake back then that won’t happen again, so what?”

“If you’re doing this to gain some sort of power, privilege, or high ground, let me tell you that you look miserable doing so. Especially when you have a boyfriend.” Nia immediately told her as Rhea scoffed.

“Power? Privilege? High ground? Nia, you make me laugh.” Rhea couldn’t help but chuckle this time. “I don’t need anyone to give me power on a silver platter. I make that power, I gain that power on my own, and whether you like it or not, I will always have it.” She then looked at her straight in the eye as she spoke. “If you dare to utter a word or even breathe about any of this… I will make sure that you don’t even get to be able to fly to Saudi this Saturday. Am I clear?”

“… it’s your downfall anyways, girl. Not mine.” Was the only thing that Now simply said as she stood up. “But good luck keeping that secret under wraps. You know how anyone in this company can find out shit easily.”

“Oh don’t worry.” Rhea simply replied, almost and nearly sounding confident. “I know who I place my trust in well.” With that, Rhea also stood as she walked past Nia and left the cafeteria.

Two hours had passed since their encounter as Rhea decided to take a small jog outside, waiting until it was time for them to leave the hotel to head to Monday Night Raw. She had texted Dom as he was now with Jimmy and Solo buying something after they finished their training, letting him know to call her once he was finished. In the meantime, she decided to take a small jog to warm up.

When she decided to finish, she jogged back to the hotel, deciding to take a quick shower and grab something to eat afterwards as she went inside. However, when she did, her eyes shifted to the lobby as she saw none other than Roman speaking to Nia.

At the sight, Rhea almost paused, wondering what the hell they were talking about this time. For one, she was annoyed, assuming that Nia was no longer going to be messing around with her anymore, but at the same time, they were probably talking about some family matter, seeing as though they are related.

Nevertheless, she didn’t care much what they were talking about. So, she decided to act like she didn’t see them as she pulled up her phone, deciding to scroll through her socials as she was walking up to the elevator. Everything was fine, everything was under control.

At least that’s what she would think if only Roman suddenly didn’t stand up, interrupting his conversation with his cousin, before he went to follow Rhea.

Rhea pressed the button of the elevator as it opened, allowing her to walk in before she suddenly looked up and to her surprise, she realized Roman was following her all this time as he too went inside.

“Oh my fucking- what are you doing here? No one can see us together, you idiot!”

“What? I’m just using the elevator like any other person,” Roman said while the doors closed.

“Whatever,” Rhea crossed her arms and sighed in annoyance.

“So, how was your make up sex with Dom?” Roman asked with jealousy in his tone.

“How do you know that?” Rhea frowned while turning to face him.

“That’s besides the point. Was he half as good as me?” he asked while backing her up against the wall.

“Hah, please-” In that moment the elevator doors opened to reveal Damian. When Damian looked up and saw the scene displayed in front of him he scoffed.

“I can’t believe this,” he shook his head and began to walk away.

“Damian, wait! It’s not what it looks like!” Rhea chased after him, Roman close behind.

“No? Then what was that, huh?” Damian turned to look at her.

“I-”

“Dominik is putting his trust in you and this is how you repay him? He deserves to know the truth.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh yes I would,” and with that he began to walk away. Rhea just stood there, watching him walk away while running her hands through her hair.

“I’m sorry, this is all my fault,” Roman said from behind her. Rhea turned towards him and shook her head.

“I’ll figure something out, right now we need to focus on Nia and make sure she keeps her mouth shut.”

“Yeah about that, she was the one who told me about you and Dom.”

“She WHAT?!”

“She has a recording of it-”

“Oh she’s gonna get it!” Rhea was about to walk away until Roman stopped her.

“Rhea, wait until Crown Jewel. I managed to keep her quiet for now.”

“Fine.” She then huffed as she looked at the time. “I need to get ready. Dom’s gonna text me any minute and we need to leave for Monday Night Raw.”

“My cousins and I are gonna be there tonight as well. We’re gonna go ahead and talk to Pearce about the tag titles.”

“Better get going then.” Was the only thing Rhea said before she began to walk away and rush to her room. Feeling both stressed and pissed. Not only did she still have to deal with Nia, but now she needed to find a way to talk to Priest and convince him not to speak to Dom.

But the question was, how?

She finished up her hair as well as making the final touches on her own makeup before she grabbed her carry-on bag, as well as her own belt, before making sure that she looked okay as she left her room. It was already 4 PM, and the boys were supposed to meet up with her downstairs at the lobby by 4:30 PM just in time for them to leave. The plan was due to the Bloodline arriving at Monday Night Raw to speak to Pearce, they would still have to wait for them so they could all leave and follow each other in their rental cars.

So far, she texted Finn and Dom. Thankfully both of them had answered, with Finn saying that he was finishing getting ready while Dom said that he was already waiting downstairs. Today, he had a non-title match against Ricochet, so they needed to all make sure that Dom was ready to win this match. Thankfully, Jimmy has been training with him more often, which meant that him winning this match would be a breeze.

However, she left multiple texts to Damian, and so far, no responses from him.

Sighing, she decided to leave her stuff with Finn as soon as she arrived at the lobby.

“Finn, have you seen Priest?” She asked the male Irish as she went up to him while he perked up and looked from his phone.

“I’ve been textin’ him, but he hasn’t replied.” He told her while she placed her bag on the couch. “You think he took a nap and overslept or…?”

“Maybe, I’ll check on him. Can you watch my stuff for me please?”

“Sure thing, sis.” 1

“Thanks.” Rhea then went back, quick on her feet as she went to the elevator once again, making her way to the third floor where Damian’s room was. As she waited for the elevator to stop, she texted him once again.

‘Come on Priest, don’t do anything stupid.’

The elevator doors opened and immediately, Rhea rushed out as she chose to call Damian instead as she approached his room, which was almost at the very end of the east side of the hallway.

As she kept walking, his phone only rang five times, before it went straight to voicemail. At that, Rhea grew annoyed as she hung up before she finally arrived at his room and knocked on his door loudly.

“Priest, I don’t have time for you being pissed and disappointed at me, we either settle this whole thing right now before we leave or I’m dragging you out.” She immediately said, almost tapping her foot impatiently.

She didn’t hear a response for a few seconds, until she began to hear some shuffling. “Priest, I know you’re in there—“

“Wait a sec— I’m getting dressed!” She heard him say. Huffing, she crossed her arms.

“Well hurry up!”

“Fine! Fine, hold on wait—“ A few seconds later he finally opened the door and let her in.

“Damian, we need to talk. I can’t have you tell-” she stopped mid sentence when she saw a pair of panties laying on the bed.

“Did- did you have someone here?” Rhea asked while turning to look at him.

“Pft no…” then he looked in the direction of the bed and sighed in defeat. “Fuck”

“Have you been seeing someone- actually don’t answer that, is the person still in here?” Before Damian could answer, Rhea went to check the bathroom but there was no one but when she turned that’s when she realized where Damian was standing.

In front of the closet doors.

“Damian, move out the way,”

“No.”

“Damian-”

“Fine!” Damian hesitantly opened the closet doors to reveal a woman in a bathrobe. That woman was none other than Iyo Sky.

“Iyo!?”

“Uh hi,” Iyo waved with a nervous smile. Rhea just looked back and forth between them in shock.

“...I can’t believe this. You are such a hypocrite!” Rhea yelled.

“I think I should leave,” said Iyo looking at who was rubbing the bridge of his nose Damian.

“I think so too. I’ll text you later, corazón.” With that he leaned down, gave her a kiss, and walked her to the door. Once she was gone, he closed the door and sighed.

“Rhea let me explain-”

“Explain what? That you had a one night stand with Iyo?”

“About that…”

“This wasn’t the first time was it?”

“...No,” Rhea scoffed and ran her hand through her hair, “Look, I was planning to tell at some point-”

“Yeah but you didn’t and you know what the worst part is? You were gonna snitch on me to Dom for the same thing you are doing right now. How would you feel if I told Bayley? I could do that right now,” Rhea said, pulling out her phone to call her.

“You wouldn’t,” Damian said, not believing her. Rhea raised her eyebrow and pressed the call button. Damian snatched the phone from her hand and hung up the phone.

“Okay, okay fine. You don’t tell Bayley about me and Iyo and I won’t tell Dom about you and Roman, deal?”

“Deal. Now let’s go, we have places to be.”

They were only two minutes away from arriving at the show as all the superstars who were scheduled to attend Monday Night Raw decided to ride the van this time instead of using their rental cars. They all sat around and chatted, with the exception of Raquel who was relentlessly typing on her phone as she was messaging a certain someone.

‘I know you’re medically cleared, but you have to wait until after Crown Jewel. Right now it’s not a good time for you to make your return all because you want to confront her. Stay out and I’ll tell you when you can come back.’ She then sent the message, all the while she looked up momentarily from her phone to see that no one noticed the look of stress in her face (thankfully). After a minute, she suddenly saw her message being replied as she looked at her phone once again.

‘One, you’re supposed to be my friend and on my side on this, Raquel. Two, who are you to tell me what to do? I’m coming to Saudi without anyone knowing whether you like it or not.’

At the response, Raquel could only lower down her phone on her lap as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

This was fucked.

Everything’s was fucked.

And not only that; Rhea was going to be screwed this Saturday. Whether she retains her championship or not.

She looked into Rhea’s direction as she sat with her boys a few rows away from her. She looked fine for now, but when Saturday arrived… there was going to be no way for her to stop what was bound to happen that day.

Little did she know that more was going to happen to Rhea that same day.

Taglist:

@sassginaswanmills @riptideripley @tonuitekan

[mftm1987]

all-time dream peche show/set

some of y'all bless n keep u are weird enough to want this information and because i am quite literally an information professional (librarian) i spent too much time and thought on this. at least a lot of it was on the clock lmao putting this under a cut bc it goes off

a lil note

i tried to choose songs i know them to perform, which i suppose in some ways defeats the purpose of something like this lol i guess the dream part is in the production/performance. and alan still being in the band and it somehow being 1987 but they also have access to their entire back catalog. anyway! i reference a lot of mixes throughout and i don't necessarily mean they perform it exactly like that as opposed to the originally released version, more.. thats the vibe i'd want the arrangement to channel

set list

instrumental intro - painkiller (w bc/cta industrial samples. basically would love to see alan get his grubby rat claws on this one)

first quarter: classic pechay mold - walking in my shoes (anandamidic mix) - policy of truth (think the way dave’s busting this out on mm tour is maybe its platonic ideal) - stripped (highland mix + 101 rlly going off with the giant sound pads)

second quarter: we r grooving - halo (no notes whatsoever. a setlist with express purpose of GROOVE and i could take lessons) - mercy in you (devotional. the way it’s a gospel disco hit in 1996..if you come up w a better way to arrange this lmk) - in your room (album version obv + apex mix as the outro which litr samples judas/leads into)

martin songs: wanna see that man suffering and healed - judas (grooving outro fucking required this is my huge and glaring shade on devotional lol) - home (alan could have fun w this one i think) - strangelove (starts w mm tour acoustic mart + finishes with full backing n shared lead)

third quarter: let’s have some fun! - shake the disease (a vault classic that i’d love to see them do something weird with) - nothing (101 guitar moment w the caveat i have heard rumors of a ‘devotionalised’ version that didnt end up on the setlist and if it truly fucks like i hope it would, then that) - john the revelator (influence of the unkle reconstruction aka that twinkling far out grungy thing. feel like mart on guitar and alan sparkling along the keys would be mmmmmmmm)

mart n dave duet interlude - sweetest perfection/condition mix (alright ive seen no one discuss this but these 2 share more than similar names!! i can hear it!!! and to get an a. wilder layered sonic journey..i wouldnt know how to act)

fourth quarter: we R grooving redux (R for haRd) - it’s no good (influence of hardfloor mix) - enjoy the silence (devotional/onip aka mart get nasty with that solo and dave be gay about it)(alright this is gonna be controversial for this blog but i think it’s gotta be the paris version for this show. it’s such a filthy solo and also imagine alan on the drums for it)(whos playing the keys bitch this is a fantasy) - nlmda (aggro mix intro + split mix Yes at least 10 mins of this song)

encore: oh y’all wanted to dance huh - personal jesus (funnily enough with how Much™ i want everything else to be, playing this one straight might be the highest camp experience it can give) - master and servant (101 sound pads and outro breakdown) - just can’t get enough (live in hamburg where they just fuck UP that 12”)

2nd encore: peche mode is a sad band, but the best band in the world - a question of lust (flood mix) - black celebration (101 w all its extra interesting lil sounds is a fav but i’d be SO open to a new alan take on this one) - everything counts (the graph/on the wall/the hand shake versions only. everyone else need not apply)(yes that means u devotional)

setting and era (musically/aesthetically)

as for the musical era, here’s the thing: if alan is present (and as it’s my dream dm show he is) i trust him to unify All This under some kind of cohesive performance. these are but humble suggestions of my fav arrangements. i’d say the underlying theme of my choices is High on the groove scale, but also very much wanting old school peche banging with hammers

outdoor on the lawn venue. ideally june 1, so it’s alans bday n dave hopefully won’t shut up abt it. looks-wise mftm/101 w shades of violator dark summer sexy. in high fantasyland: alan’s got that bisexual denim on leather look of drumming personal jesus in 89. mart’s tits are slipping out of that super low cut tank of 90 with the armband on. fletch is in his cunty mock turtleneck. dave’s in leather pants, a red tank n shirt and The Jacket that he gradually strips out of of (feels sacrilegious to not have him in a crop top in the late 80s so let’s just say his tank rides up a lil hehe)

mostly devotional visuals tho colorized less blue/purple lol, the big sans-serif Ms of memento mori were also giving for me. always love a dual-level setup for a dm show, but only if dave can traipse about both levels and flirt with whomsoever he chooses (which he will)

[iamthecomet]

Got this video on the brain today. Thanking the Gods of fucked up sound mixing and camera location for blessing us with a video where Per is the loudest member of the entire band. And then of course, the little solo at the end and Jonas going "Sodomizer!" just warms my cold dead heart.