#the piano version

[natasha-in-space]

Pondering the idea of Suit Saeran being severely touchstarved. I know we all love to explore that particular aspect in Ray specifically, but... I can't help but think about Suit in this as well. He's so very averse to physical contact. All he ever gets is probably just a quick pat on the head or a brief squeeze of his shoulder from Rika. A tiny bit of praise she feeds him to nurture his ever growing bitterness with the world that ultimately helps her achieve her goals. He doesn't know the feeling of a genuinely loving and tender touch on his skin, and a part of me thinks that he can't even imagine it.

Not until you come into the picture.

Furthermore, he is probably directly instructed not to seek out physical affection from others. Or any sort of love, for that matter. It's weak. It's a sign of his dependence. A display of imperfection that cannot be tolerated. After all, he is the ultimate tool. His Savior's sword and shield. In a way, he doesn't even see himself as a human at all. Despite his adamant commitment to being the 'real' Saeran. Deep inside, he can only see himself as a weapon. And, in a way, it's comforting. Because it gives him the confidence to feel strong and imposing.

But, in the end, he remains a human being. The feeling of warmth and belonging that all humans need is something he longs for. Even if those feelings are buried under a mountain of denial and anger. Like a constant taunt of his weaknesses he wishes so desperately to destroy. He tends to write them off onto Ray. Even when those are his feelings and emotions, he is so terrified of admitting his own humanity, that he writes it all off onto Ray.

And, in an ironic way, it only makes him feel even worse. Because he tricks himself into believing that he is incapable of being emotional or caring. When that is not the case. But he's so sure of these feelings not being his, that he can't see any other explanation.

You are constantly being touched by him. In some form or another. Grabbing at your arm to pull you up. Not letting go, even though you are now where he wants you to be, and there is no logical need for him to keep his hand around your wrist or bicep. Brushing his hand over your neck and shoulder as he taunts you. Not even doing anything with it, just... touching you. Playing with your hair while cold and cruel words tumble from his lips. It always seems like he's just about to grab at your hair and pull in a way that would cause you pain, but... he doesn't. Always standing close enough where you'd feel the warmth radiating from his body. While he admits to seemingly being grossed out by being near you, he still makes the conscious choice to press up against you. And if you make a comment about it, he will only double down on it.

To put it simply, it leaves you feeling confused. You're unaware that he's 10 times as confused and frustrated as you are.

He is so incredibly irritated by it. It drives him nuts.

Especially as he sits in his cold Intelligence Room, his mind starting to wander instead of focusing on work. Unwanted thoughts of how it would feel for you to be the one to initiate contact with him. How would your hands feel around his own? Are they warm? Cold? Soft? Or is it possible that they're rough, like his are? How would he describe how your fingers fit around his his own? Ray's hands were always covered by those gross gloves of his... So, that would be something you do with him only, not Ray.

He only snaps out of it when he notices his hands clasping together instead of continuing to drum away at his keyboard. Almost like he's trying to imitate what his mind had painted for him. Imagining that it's your hand that is resting in his own, your thumb swiping over the cold skin of his wrist. He shivers. But not from the cold.

And the way his heart thunders in his chest when he thinks of it makes him sick.

His thoughts become worse as he lies on the cold tiled floor, exhausted and weak from hours of expelling the elixir that was left in his system, his body rejecting the acidic substance violently. He's too drained to fight off those thoughts now. Too crumpled to do anything now.

So, he indulges in them, closing his eyes and letting out a long, raspy breath into the deafening silence. Not like anything matters to him anymore. He has no dignity to lose.

At least that's what he thinks.

He thinks of you cradling his head onto your lap, your voice being distant and muffled, but filled with that worried babbling that was so bothersome to him. He imagines the warmth of your soft thighs beneath his cheek, which is a great contrast to the cold and hard floor he was sprawled out on. He thinks of your scent surrounding him and chasing away that cursed acidic stench that still made his stomach twist and turn, despite it being totally empty by this point. He thinks of your fingers brushing through his sweaty and dry hair, in a way that only Ray was privy to. He no longer felt angered by the thought. It only made the ache in his chest increase. Not from the physical pain, but an emotional one. Like loose strings weaving around his heart and squeezing it tighter and tighter.

He fails to notice the silent tears coursing down his cheeks until he hears his phone ringing, which prompts him to run his hand over his face and try to put himself back together from the shattered pieces you left behind.

He is aware that it is you.

Probably worrying about him.

God knows why.

He contemplates declining, but the selfish yearning to hear your voice is more intense.

You shatter everything he thought he knew about this world, plunging his pure existence into sheer chaos, yet... Maybe, you can put him back together again. Or, in other words, aid him in rexognizing these ugly broken pieces as something else. Something worth attemting to put back together. In order for him to finally recognize the reflection he sees looking back at him when he looks in the mirror.

[gilliandersons]

i'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you

[socallmedaisy]

absolutely obsessed with the implications of the different versions of the ballad now we have the full picture. it really is a masterclass in songwriting.

we start with nicky's version. the road is a metaphor for death, but it's about acceptance ("tame your fears, a door appears, the time has come to go"). it resolves musically, we end on the note we began on. it's in a major key, it sounds happy. it's a fun little tune.

agatha takes this and twists it in the version that plays over the montage of her killing covens. some of the chords are the same (A and D in the chorus) but they're minor versions now. it sounds dark and sad. agatha is grieving. when the other witches join in the harmonies are sinister, adding notes from the minor key. this becomes canonised in the sacred chant version: for 260 years agatha has been stuck grieving nicky.

enter lorna wu. her version is in a different key (p sure it's E flat major at the start). there are still some minor chords but the overall effect isn't the same, it's a major key. partly this is a trick of the instruments and the rock/pop vibe but we know there's a still a mother's grief about not being able to save her child (and herself?) in there, but she's more positive about this than agatha was: she accepts her own death, and she will protect alice if she can, but ultimately the road is still a metaphor about death and everyone walks it, but this time lorna changes the lyrics (the door doesn't appear to death in this version, it appears "to love that never dies" the people we love stay with us after death). and then the bridge. now a bridge musically takes us somewhere new, quite often it signals a key change, a turning point in the lyrics, something shifting. here I think the function is to show us that lorna is not accepting of agatha's static version of the ballad that has stayed the same (unable to move past her grief). the key modulates to a minor one (I think it's A minor), it's sad as lorna tells alice that though lorna will die, she'll always be with her: "if I can't reach you... if I can't hold you, remember what I told you". I think it's significant the last chorus is "we" go down, down, down the road. everyone walks the road to death. it's part of life. agatha can't accept this, but lorna does. she'll see alice at the end.

[sketchquill]

My Sweet Piano Gijinka! ໒꒰ྀི ˶• ༝ •˶ ꒱ྀི১ 🌸🎹 ♬⋆.˚ ✧˖°.

[ahappyphjl]

everything's fine - acoustic

[hope-ur-ok]

no one tell 7 year old Rachel who is deciding to put only the piano version of forever & always on her shitty mp3 player what she will one day lose

[rocketbirdie]

Cloud Strife

1 in 3 chance for each played 7 to create a Planet card when scored.

[onebizarrekai]

♪ blue's theme - ALL OF THEM (mostly)

mr. character development's tangible rehab from a stupidly evil power hungry bastard who has committed treason against every country to an idiot pacifist with a zebra print fedora, a moped and a license to teach yoga

( note: the 'mostly' comes from two things; one, the very very first version of this song sucked, and two, there are versions that are mostly identical )

[jennying-my-thebes]

i don't think you guys understand just how much this recording of against pollution means to me

[cappycino]

♬ Mr. S at the end of the line, I’ll make you mine! ♬

Colored by Blue!  💙  

[ladyloveandjustice]

I cannot deal with Bishonen Joker with his chest bearing shirt and constantly over the top seductive, super deep voice in the new Suicide Squad isekai anime y'all.

[melit0n]

Kindly asking Vessel to bring the piano only version of Sugar back

Credits: @/jaymw93 on tiktok

[beatrixshifts]

i lied, put your clothes back on. i'm going to explain how 'i want to break free' by queen is falling in love with your s/o and being frustrated that you haven't shifted yet so you can't decide between continuing your shifting journey or abandoning it because you lost hope

[brokenxmachine]

TORI AMOS performing "Past The Mission" live on Taratata, FR (08.03.1994)

[red-wop]

Man, Howard Goodall really put his everything into making the Observation Dome background music the most beautiful, romantic, wistful sounding piece of music ever didn't he

[exasperatedoctopus]

You know, in hindsight it’s really funny that Jadzia almost got executed for Curson’s singular crime when she’s just out and about with an Entire Serial Killer kicking around in her worm brain