#the violin intro?? still not over it

[the-travelling-witch]

U need blade u need blade u need blade

nooo don‘t!!! i need kafka more!! ㅠㅠ

[aakaneeee]

Round 7 was.. definetly intense and I have many thoughts about it, so I did a whole analysis.. yes it's finally here!

Time to start :3 (I will mostly try to make this coherent and chronologically correct, I might fail though! because we know how freaky i can get when it comes to Luka)

without further ado, let's get into it!

tws: drug use, violence, blood, overall quite gore-ish;

I. ROUND 7

Round 7 starts with a low intro, sung first by Till, Luka following. Till has his energy back, or atleast part of it. Luka, as always, has his perfect voice, but he seems to be a little more expressive this time, as if he's enjoying the performance, just like the lyrics suggest. Everything goes seemingly smooth, and they receive holographic instruments that almost seem to parallel eachother: Till, an electric guitar, and Luka, a violin. And yet, as the second pre-chorus emerges, Luka approaches Till, putting his hands around his neck, a cruel reminder of Ivan. He is... dizzy, to say the least, even getting a nosebleed, but he doesn't stop singing until the very end, even though images of the one he's been taunted with appear on the screen behind them. His eyes seem to light up when he sees a familiar figure in the crowd, Mizi, somehow remembering her even with her hair completely different, veiled, and between millions of aliens. He reaches out, and Luka is obviously at least annoyed at this, either mad that his trick didn't work, or that Till destroyed a perfect performance. Even so, it's too late for Till: Right before getting a hold of Mizi's hand, he is shot in the neck, falling down. Mizi is.. devastated. A flashback of them as kids plays, with a xylophone instrumental. Then, the camera cuts back, from a happy, smiling Mizi, to one crying over Till's soon-to-be corpse. In his last moments, she takes his hair out of his face and cups it. He tries to caress her hand, and then his arm falls next to him as the light fades from his eyes, destined to look into the distance forever. The text "LUKA WIN" flashes on the screen, but even the double-winner is too distracted to care, as in a safe distance, yet right in front of him, is an injured Hyuna, crouched forward, without her usual, characteristic confidence. They stare blankly at eachother as the screen shows new text: SPECIAL GUESTS, paired with photos of a grieving Mizi and a shocked, in pain Hyuna. We are shown Luka advancing as the winner, the last one left, supposedly, and everything goes black.

II. LUKA

(I will have a lot to say for the both of them, unsurprisingly, but I feel like Luka is still a little bit in the lead... again. who is surprised)

From the first frames we see him in, his clothes are obviously more revealing that in previous rounds (using plural since we have seen part of his Round 4 outfit in the intro of ROMH), using not only the usual open back, but also a huge v-cut showing his chest, and his hip open, specifically where his branding is. I imagine Heperu would've chosen this to show off that it's his pet. Not only that, but his surgery scars are also shown off. I suppose it might be something to brag about here? Maintaining a pet human is probably already really expensive, so it's a differentiation of class if they also afford to have surgeries? I see it as probable. When he begins singing, we see something new. He's a lot more expressive, and it carries through the whole round. Not only that, but when his first high note reaches, he almost crouches down forward, as if he was struggling with it (even though he had more difficult notes in round 5.) Personally, for me, I don't think he was going to use his 'technique' from the start. Some may argue that it's his usual, but he got the biggest score in Alien Stage history in round 4 (I may be mistaken) against Durian, and Durian had no dead loved one that Luka could've used against... him? (I'm still confused about Durian, Acorn and.. Tortilla.😭) So he's obviously insanely talented and only uses it when he feels a threat. Most of Luka's actions in Round 7 felt risky, unplanned, and decided on the moment, which really is unlike him. This feels, like one of my previous posts say, like he was drugged, just like Till. In his daze, maybe he considered that Till would stop singing, or maybe, not even sing at all, and that he'll have an easy opponent. But no, Till proved strong, and then, it came to the next possible way he could 100% win: disorienting him. A thing others have pointed out.. Luka's fingers are probably very cold, and it mightve reminded Till that Ivan is a corpse now. One of the most cruel frames of an already very cruel series was, atleast for me, shown in this video: Luka holding in his laugh after his 'plan' (since, as i already said, i dont think it was actually planned) works. For me, it's another piece of proof that he wasn't in his right mind, the carefully built facade of his wouldn't have just broken by his own will. But, even though he could swear it worked, Till doesn't stop singing. Sure, he's dizzy, dazed, but he still is singing. Shock only comes again when Till sees Mizi in the crowd, and anger, or atleast annoyance, is easily readable on Luka's face. He even pauses singing, looking at Till reaching out for his God, always unattainable, now in the reach of his fingers, in a position I could describe as hesitant, confused. Even so, he gets a win as Till gets shot in the neck. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to revel in the victory, as he watches in shock, as 'the love of his life' appears in front of him, yet at a safe distance, injured. They stare at eachother, but it's different, it wasn't a blank gaze like in Round 5, it feels a lot more vulnerable.

I love how we've been shown past Luka's empty shell this round. Seeing him actually expressing himself, seemingly taking immense pleasure, almost in an euphoric, naive way, in the round around him. There is no way he genuinely enjoys it, or would've enjoyed it without.. exterior measures. We've seen him reacting to cameras around him in Sweet Dream. We can only imagine that was his truly 'sober' state. As I said, it's really amazing how we can see a more candid version of him.

III. TILL

From the start, it seems like Till has regained his spirit back. He's definetly more energetic than in Round 6, his hair is slightly messy again. His outfit, just like Luka's, is more revealing, but his branding has always been visible, unlike his opponent's. He is doing surprisingly well, not going down without a fight, maybe not going down at all! (I love being cruel) He's singing his heart out, every lyric he says showing desperation. And even though he was going so well, everything has an end. Because his declining mental state goes even more downhill as Luka acts like the freshly deceased Ivan, who left him with so many questions and dillemas. It feels like everything is crowding up on him, the huge stage feeling like a small box. His nose starts bleeding, and just as he was about to faint... He sees the love of his life, Mizi, in the crowd. She's reaching out to him. She's there to save him. He reaches towards her in happiness... Except he gets shot right before it. Mizi is finally reaching to him, right how he imagined when he felt like dying, after singing in that damned club. But just as you can't touch your own imagination, you can't touch a God.

Mizi is, and always will be unattainable. The moment he tried to touch her, the Universe is against him, once again. When he wanted to approach her, a powerful light engulfed him. When he died, it was back to pitch dark. In the flashback, it's implied that Till tried to escape, or atleast went against the rules, togheter with Mizi. They seem to be very close, as Mizi trusts him enough to hide, and bury her head into him. It feels affectionate, familiar, something Till holds onto, because he probably considers it one of his best memories. But nothing lasts. From a smiling, happy Mizi, it pans to the new her, now crying over Till, who was taking his last breaths. She gently brushes his hair out of his face, her hand holding it. In his last moments, atleast, he got what he wanted: Mizi's gaze on him, only on him, and just as always, he can't say anything to her. He just lightly chuckles, as his eyes lose light, and his arm falls next to him.

IV. IVAN

His intention was to make Till hate him. That's why he kissed him. He wanted to be forgotten. He already thought Till didn't care that much about him, so surely his actions would make him hate him? Wrong. Ivan was never Till's ray of hope. He was aware of it: Till only had eyes for Mizi. And yet, his death wasn't forgettable, like he thought. He used to mock Sua for her plan, saying that she'll only become trauma, and ironically, he did the exact same thing. Till sees Mizi as pure light, a goddess. Yet, he remembers Ivan in a shaky manner, a dark red veil over the flashback of the kiss. Mizi was his hope, and Ivan was his misery. Unfortunately, Ivan didn't realize this, considering himself to not be grief, but rather, nothing for Till. Oh, how wrong he was.

V. HYUNA

I really like the idea that the Patreon gave us. Its good to be confirmed that Hyuna, just like the others, is truly human, and by that I mean, flawed. Maybe I am interpreting it wrong, but from what my brain cooked up, she was.. somewhat willing to sacrifice a life (either Till or Luka) for the sake of humanity. (again, I might be wrong) We see another side to her in Round 7. She grabs Mizi and looks at her in a pleading way. She knows she's asking of her to see another of her friends die. Even so, she thinks it's better. I'm really curious about what she was doing on stage. Did she go after Mizi, because she saw she might've gotten caught again? Maybe.. she thought that Mizi was actually going to get Till, and she wanted to save Luka, too? You can never know.

VI. MIZI

First of all, she is still naive, which is so on brand for her. She went into a rescue mission, alone, with no weapons except for a smoke grenade. She still doesn't know what she has to do, and it's obvious. It seems like she took another route from Hyuna, who came up on the stage, while Mizi mixed with the crowd. Even so, I'm grateful that in his last moments, Mizi let Till rest. It was such an honest scene and I adored it. What I didn't adore was the parallels between her leaning over Tills body in Round 7, and her leaning over Sua's body in Round 1.

VII. PARALLELS

1. Till reaching towards Mizi, both in his hallucinations, and right before his death, where she still remains untouchable.

2. "The dark crimson air embraces us" -> "In your place, there's only blood and cold air left" (Black Sorrow) + "Lost in forever's embrace" (CURE)

3. Mizi leaning over Sua's body (Round 1) and Mizi leaning over Till's body (Round 7)

4. "In a blink gone!", sang by Till, in this, the visuals parallel his Birthday reveal art.

5. Luka raising his hands to his face, parallels Ivan tracing his hands up his microphone (they even have the same timing from what I've seen).

6. Mizi looking at Till from her capsule in Round 2, with Mizi looking at Till through the screen during Round 7.

7. Mizi throwing the grenade and Till breaking Freddie in Round 2.

8. Luka's hands on Till's neck are a 'gentler' version of Ivan choking Till, so aliens wouldn't consider it as violence.

9. Luka and Hyuna looking at eachother in Round 5 and Luka and Hyuna looking at eachother at the end of Round 7.

10. The way Luka pulls Till's lip down reminds me of that one freaky Luka image..

VIII. LYRIC ANALYSIS

Blink Gone works for all characters, in my opinion. Every one of them lost something, in just a blink.

"The clock goes tick-tock, tick-tock" I can only imagine this referring to the fact that Till's life is soon to coming to an end.

Till sings the more pessimistic lyrics, while Luka sings the ones about forgetting what's in the past and enjoying the moment. As much as he could be taunting Till, he is, in a way, also reassuring himself. To forget everything: perhaps Hyuna. Hyunwoo's death. And not only these, but the experiments, surgeries, punishments he's been through. On this specific stage, he feels like he's truly alive.

As I've mentioned before: "The dark crimson air embraces us" -> "In your place, there's only blood and cold air left" (Black Sorrow) + "Lost in forever's embrace" (CURE).

IX. DISPELLING SOME THEORIES.

1. Till's microphone was closed.

Personally, when I first saw this... I was a bit.. yeah... I know this sounds rude, but I was a little bit startled when I saw how many people agreed😭 The light on Till's microphone is a heartbeat tracker, proven to be right by the fact it turned green when he saw Mizi. Even if it was closed, a microphone doesn't make you sound better. He wouldn't have been heard, which he was, so obviously, it wasn't closed.

2. The competition was rigged in Luka's favor.

I dont personally agree with this, especially considering the aliens' nature. They don't care about humans. I don't imagine them wanting the same winner twice. Personally, I find it more like them to rig it in Till's favor. Imagine: he won his first two round by external factors, a rookie, yet a musical genius, defeating a past winner. Doesn't that sound more like something they could market? This is my opinion, but I can't think about them rigging it in Luka's favor. (yes I made a whole rubric just for 2 theories that kind of..somewhat. annoy me)

X. MY THEORIES (This is MOSTLY incoherent)

First of all, I am sure that something BIG will happen next. They said Round 6 is only the half of ALIEN STAGE, so, without counting Sweet Dream, there should be 6 more videos. Minus round 7, five. Hyuna vs Mizi and then whoever wins versus Luka are only two, so there's no way that's everything thats going to happen. I find it really interesting that were going to have 5 videos with only 3 (SUPPOSEDLY) alive characters. I'm not sure about the theory of "they are still alive", since Vivimeng aren't really.. known for that. I'm quite 50/50 on it. I can't believe we went from "only Sua will die" to "Everyone will die"😭 Thats what I call development. Anyways, I'm just as excited as ever for what's next!

XI. CONCLUSION + MY OPINION

Honestly, I ADORED Round 7. It was so beautiful and gorgeous and deep and I simply love it. Im going to sound like a gatekeeper, or rude, but I'm quite dissapointed in the people that genuinely are starting to harass Luka fans, to say they hated Round 7, to hate on Vivimeng for the decision they made, saying that they destroyed it and that there's no satisfactory ending to it now.. MAYBE I'm just lucky and my favourite character is Luka, so I haven't felt the grief of losing my favourite yet, but even if I did, I wouldn't start blaming the AMAZING creators that work so hard. If you're curious, yes, as a Luka fan, I've been told off, I've been told I'm a horrible person, and it's only been 2 days, which is insane to me. There is just so much more about him than "ooh he's a manipulator!" again, I'm gonna sound extremely rude... I love that there are a lot of fans that came during Round 6, but I feel like the people 'leaving' the fandom right now are those same fans. maybe that's just me and I'm just angry at what's happening right now😭

I don't want to offend anyone, these are just my opinions, please take everything I said with a grain of salt!

( @cherry-blossom-sword80 here it is!! tagging some other people I'd like to see this :3 @verdantlights @sotogalmo @rockwgooglyeyes )

[porceline]

Hope u get well soon :D

Request for our human boi Orion

Could we have a scenario of trying to reach Orion how do dance? Like slow ballroom ish, dancing to a slow Sinatra song or something oldish

Thank u and take care of:)

Sway with me

Pairing:

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax X gn!reader

Summary:

You had offered to teach Orion a traditional human dance. He accepted immediately.

Word count: 479 (wow that's not a lot)

A/N: i didn't know which universe you wanted this in so I left it anonymous, but this idea was too cute to ignore so I wrote it as fast as I could!! Enjoy<3

Psstt, here's the link to the song they're dancing to!

The record player produces static for a few moments, before settling into a gentle tune.

It starts with a gentle guitar, the steady melody is then joined by a sweet violin. They play together for the intro, complimenting eachother perfectly. Then, the singer joins in. A strong masculine voice, yet dialed down to be sweet and romantic.

After adjusting the dials, you step away from the brass horn. The romantic song bounces off the thick walls of your living room.

Behind you stands your dance partner. Orion.

He's shifting from foot to foot, nervous about this, 'dancing' thing you had invited him to join you in.

"Never danced before?" You ask, holding your hand out. His eyes shift from your face to your outstretched palm.

"Ah, no. I have not. There was dancing on cybertron, but.. I never quite participated."

You smile gently, taking both his hands in your own. "I'll lead. Just follow me."

Orion stumbles as you pull him to his feet, hands twitching nervously while you settle one of his hands on your hip, holding onto the other with your dominant hand.

You guide him into a slow waltz, stepping to the side, then back. He follows you, movements reluctant while mimicking you.

The two of you follow a box shape, matching the beat of the music while your socked feet rub against the vintage carpet.

Orion slowly yet surely becomes accustomed to the movement, falling into a smooth rhythm with you. Your dancing gets more intense as the song goes on, moving faster and more fluidly with the rhythm of the song.

He lets go of your hip, using the hand still holding onto you to spin you around slowly. When he tugs you closer to him, you both stumble from the force of your body bumping against his own.

"Ah, I am so sorry!" Orion tightens his arms around your back, catching you before you fall on the ground.

He leans over you, huffing out quick breaths. The two of you are stuck in a dip position, the back of your left hand lays against the rug while right your leg hangs folded in the air.

Both your chests heave up and down, energy spent from your dancing.

The record scratches as the song ends, the needle removes itself from the disc, feedback rings from the brass horn.

"We, got a little carried away there, didn't we?"

You huff out a laugh, grunting quietly as Orion hoists you to your feet.

"We did. Thank you, though. For dancing with me." He smiles bashfully, squeezing your hand thankfully.

You return the smile. "Don't mention it. That was just a waltz. Wait until I show you ballroom dancing." You tease, your hand slipping from his as you take the record off the recorder.

Orion smiles, leaning against the wall to catch his breath.

"I'll be waiting."

[starschu]

Long intro guys but bear with me 😭 I need someone to tell me if I’m going crazy or if there’s actually something here

The song “What Have They Done to Us” by Mako and Grey plays in episode 5 as Vander/Warwick is able to snap out of his bloodlust and remember who he is—who Vi is—and the three of them are able to finally reunite after all these years. It’s such a gorgeous song to listen to, with a beautiful piano accompaniment and violin backing, and I’ve ended up replaying it a lot as I study for finals this week. Which brings me to an (again, maybe crazy) idea…

…it kind of sounds like “Vow” feat Ray Chen, right? Y’know, the song that plays when Jayce shoots Viktor in episode 6? That one

It’s in the same key, and starts with around the same tempo before speeding up as Viktor starts to come out of his catatonic state and Jayce struggles to aim and fire. Both songs are shockingly similar in mood and atmosphere. And in both the scenes they’re each used in, the characters are confronted with the decision of whether or not they believe there’s any hope that the person they love is still in there

So I couldn’t help but compare what we’re seeing in the Episode 6 commune scene to the lyrics, and BOY that was a mistake! Just gonna leave this here with y’all while I go cry 🥲:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“All this hatred in your heart, yet”

“I mourn the most for all the things I never said”

“Don’t make me go through this again”

“You’re not real and I can’t pretend”

“This story is over, I ripped out the end”

“Tell me, who you are, then?

“What have they done to us?”

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [Jeong Yunho] - Masterlist

By: noonaishere (main blog: symphonyofmars)

Fic type: social media au / traditional

Pairing: Yunho x fem!reader

Genre: music industry setting, musician/producer, enemies to lovers, mutual pining, running from the past

Warnings: overbearing parents, verbal abuse, sexual harassment

Status: completed!

Synchronously posted with Online/Offline (any asterisked (*) chapters means they’re shared between both fics)

[intro post explaining y/n and t/n]

SYNOPSIS:

T/n has always loved music, though her experience of it wasn’t always the greatest. Forced by her parents to learn the violin - almost purely to climb the socio-economic ladder - she’s since forged her own path. She auditions at Wonderland Entertainment and becomes one of their studio musicians, but how will she deal with seeing her ex-best friend who also happens to be contracted under the company?

Also, how does t/n’s existence connect to y/n, someone she’s never met?

🎵 main cast

Chapters:

🎵 Prologue | a long time ago… in a town far, far away…

🎵 one | “local celebrity”

🎵 two | mahler

🎵 three | emperor nero

🎵 four | come meet the kids

🎵 five | duck and cover

🎵 six | his feefees were a little hurt

🎵 seven | homework

🎵 eight | give her my number

🎵 nine | canard et couverture parte deux

🎵 ten | a date?

🎵 eleven | the fight scene at the end of the count of monte cristo

🎵 twelve | we never talk

🎵 thirteen | youtube recommendations

🎵 fourteen | calendar man

🎵 fifteen | a ✨godsend✨

🎵 sixteen | no ducking nor covering

🎵 seventeen | he’s got pipes

🎵 eighteen | thinking about hats

🎵 nineteen | it is still apples

🎵 twenty | i know exactly who you are

🎵 twenty-one | busking

🎵 twenty-two | he got an audition or something

🎵 twenty-three | best friend

🎵 twenty-four | garage band

🎵 twenty-five | it’ll be worth it

🎵 twenty-six | more like “drone strike parenting”

🎵 twenty-seven | interrogation

🎵 twenty-eight | it’s over

🎵 twenty-nine | more like constipated

🎵 thirty | maybe

🎵 thirty-one | JUPiTER

🎵 thirty-two | no horses in space

🎵 thirty-three | Crom3r

🎵 thirty-four | punk rock

🎵 thirty-five | what a feeling

🎵 thirty-six | do we need a hot air balloon?

🎵 thirty-seven | gotta let the fans know

🎵 thirty-eight | i’ll bring the wine

🎵 thirty-nine | girl’s night

🎵 forty | that’s a no on the hot air balloon

🎵 forty-one | new kids

🎵 forty-two | splash fight

🎵 forty-three | a recluse and a traitor

🎵 forty-four | merch drop

🎵 forty-five | lol i’m screencapping

🎵 forty-six | do you know how to do cubes?

🎵 forty-seven | surprise modu girip baksu

🎵 forty-eight | sometimes the kickball inspires music

🎵 forty-nine | but what can you do

🎵 fifty | no need for sunglasses

🎵 fifty-one | need for sunglasses

🎵 fifty-two | D-Day

🎵 fifty-three | best friends forever

🎵 fifty-four | mission update

🎵 fifty-five | miss me?

🎵 fifty-six | that was really weird and I hated it

🎵 fifty-seven | good point

🎵 fifty-eight | the great outdoors

🎵 fifty-nine | please don’t use memes of yourself

🎵 sixty | ballad mashup with choi jongho!

🎵 sixty-one | scandal??

🎵 sixty-two | two giants

🎵 sixty-three | you really *are* a capitalist

🎵 sixty-four | benevolence and beef

🎵 sixty-five | lyrical content

🎵 sixty-six | principles

🎵 sixty-seven | well?

🎵 sixty-eight | can’t sleep

🎵 sixty-nine | what’d you say?

🎵 seventy | looking for an Ans:wer

🎵 seventy-one | whirlwind

🎵 seventy-two | she’s a me

🎵 seventy-three | solving problems

🎵 seventy-four | the great (less confined) indoors

🎵 seventy-five | pedagogy

🎵 seventy-six | going for a walk

🎵 seventy-seven* | WHAT?

🎵 seventy-eight | misc

🎵 seventy-nine | where the hell are you

🎵 eighty | chauffeur

🎵 eighty-one | public breakup

🎵 eighty-two | somewhere nice

🎵 eighty-three | the start of an apology

🎵 eighty-four | meeting ONiiX

🎵 eighty-five | sting operation

🎵 eighty-six | hack behavior

🎵 eighty-seven | doubleho7 reporting in

🎵 eighty-eight | being kind is punk

🎵 eighty-nine | listening to it for the background noise

🎵 ninety | Devious Deviants Devianting Deviously

🎵 ninety-one | it’s not gossiping, it’s ✨helping✨

🎵 ninety-two | lessons and small dogs

🎵 ninety-three | *distressed memeing*

🎵 ninety-four | fifteen minutes late with no starbucks

🎵 ninety-five | Game Day!

🎵 ninety-six | it’s a metaphor

🎵 ninety-seven* | suspicious group chat

🎵 ninety-eight* | more boba, less ice

🎵 ninety-nine* | ensemble transition (1/3)

🎵 ninety-nine* | ensemble transition (2/3)

🎵 ninety-nine* | ensemble transition (3/3)

🎵 one hundred* | an even more suspicious group chat

🎵 one hundred and one* | we’re both here now

🎵 one hundred and two | time off

🎵 one hundred and three | what’s it like having normal parents?

🎵 one hundred and four | kiddo

🎵 one hundred and five | cake and conversation

🎵 one hundred and six | confessions

🎵 one hundred and seven | the biggest idiot

🎵 one hundred and eight | ego death

🎵 one hundred and nine | what are you feeling?

🎵 one hundred and ten | take your time/get your shit together

🎵 one hundred and eleven* | pocket square

🎵 one hundred and twelve* | +2000% to self-respect

🎵 one hundred and thirteen | stupid teenaged yunho

🎵 one hundred and fourteen* | like a thunder

🎵 one hundred and fifteen* | apologies

🎵 one hundred and sixteen | *nods*

🎵 one hundred and seventeen* | true singularity

Epilogue 1

Epilogue 2

Epilogue 3

Epilogue 4

Epilogue 5

Epilogue 6

Epilogue 7

🎵🎵   [MAIN MASTERLIST]  🎵🎵

[nobodyfearspercy]

Okay so it’s been a few days since the new infinity nikki update dropped and I have Thoughts™️

There’s a lot of good and bad here to cover! Starting with the good, co op! Co op is really fun! Everybody I’ve interacted with has been super sweet, we’ve put on little fashion shows for each other, it’s great! If you see a Nikki playing violin by the color book that could be me! The new map is very beautiful as well.

We also have sapphic mermaids and phoenix ladies! And a beautiful goddess that refers to us as her pink star! That’s very neat!! I like her and I’m completely normal

But also there are some BIG issues. Big big big problems and the worst one in my opinion is that the intro to the game got changed. Entire lore has been overturned for… why?? Where does Ena fit in? What of the main quest even matters, especially for older players who experienced the original beginning of the game? To me this is a HUGE breach in trust between game devs and players, idk. Feels a bit like the rug was swept out from under our feet.

Also the game is. Very broken. I understand this is the first time that Infold has dropped multiplayer co op at this level but MAN. The other night I rage quit the game because it was so laggy and I don’t even have it that bad compared to other players! I saw people having problems with the entire screen being blurred, the game not even opening, and other things that just render the game unplayable. For me I had quests soft lock the game, constant crashing, and other things.

I also saw a lot of people upset over the new gacha outfits having 11 pieces to pull each, and like- yeah. That’s upsetting. I’m f2p and go into most banners knowing that I probably am not going to complete an outfit. I don’t have a single completed limited 5 star outfit, the only way I’m going to be ABLE to complete one in the future is when Blooming Dreams is getting a re run. So with the new 11 piece outfits and my luck- yeah um. I’m not going to try my luck. I grabbed the long mermaid train and left it at that. I hear that whales are super upset though- and if a gacha game has WHALES upset, then you KNOW you’ve done something wrong

Despite this criticism I still love the game. I love playing it and I love collecting outfits and making friends with other players. I’m excited to see most of the issues fixed.

Also INFOLD. DO NOT FUCK UP ANY MORE THAN THIS. I CAN AND HAVE DROPPED GACHA GAMES (HOYOVERSE) FOR NOT LISTENING TO THEIR AUDIENCE. DO NOT TEST ME.

[desmorotu]

lasko’s playlist ⭐️ (a glimpse)

˚ ༘✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ for @morgansplace !!!

☆ lovesong - adele (lasko, despite already having a partner and is able to express how he feels freely to them, is still a hopeless romantic. he often feels a pit in his stomach when thinking about love, and this song conveys precisely how he can feel. he enjoys humming the melody and tapping his foot to the beat + has cried to this song just because 💀)

☆ i’m not okay - JVKE (he loves the piano!! he is a sucker for a good, heart aching melody that can bring goosebumps to his skin. he doesn’t particularly relate to the song per se, but he does agree with the message that it is okay to not be okay.)

☆ life eternal - ghost (he thinks about his partner when this song plays :p. he really enjoys the choral elements to it! damien’s been introducing him to different kinds of music and lasko is experimenting with ghost currently. he bobs his head to the beat and enjoys dramatically staring out the window when it’s nighttime. he’s witnessed damien screaming these lyrics at the top of his lungs.)

☆ closer - nine inch nails (gavin showed him this song LMAO. despite being shy about the lyrics when listening around other people, when he is alone he is definitely jammin’. he actually enjoys the suggestive lyrics a lot, but he will never admit it to the others. he lip syncs and looks in the mirror while he does it to make sure he looks “attractive enough.” not even his partner knows he does this yet.)

☆ singularity - bts (after having looked up the english translation, he feels a deeper ache when listening to it. he relates deeply to these lyrics, acknowledging that he oftentimes puts others way before himself and, just as in the song, “buries his voice” in fear of rejection. he loves taehyung’s deep vocals and prefers listening while driving because he seeks the vibration of the bass.)

☆ like crazy - jimin (lasko may or may not have gone down a bts rabbit hole at some point—but this song hits him to his core. it’s in a way that he can’t explain, but goosebumps take over his skin and he has to stop whatever he’s doing at the moment to listen and appreciate in its entirety. he was very happy when his partner told him that it was on their playlist after listening to it with them :3)

☆ sure know something - kiss (lasko’s an avid kiss enjoyer—i won’t be hearing any protests. he likes listening to this one with his partner and breaking out of his shell for a moment to dance along with them :). he likes the bass and paul stanley’s voice could “bring a grown man—yes, that grown man is me—to his knees.”)

☆ you know me too well - nothing but thieves (he heard this from another person’s car radio while stopped in traffic and he shazamed that shit. he loves the sensual vibe and, if he ever decides to make a sex playlist, will probably be putting this song on there.)

☆ sway - michael bublé (he fuckin LOVES the entirety of this song. he dances with his partner to it and often enjoys watching them dance to it by themselves. his mouth is always agape, eyes wide and looking desperately in awe. he loves spinning them around and seeing the mischievous glint in their eye. he regrets not ever picking up an instrument, but he would pick up a trombone or violin in a heartbeat if given the chance.)

☆ dancing queen - ABBA (this motherfucker IS the dancing queen even though he is no longer seventeen. he always smiles his biggest when he recognizes the familiar melody and lets himself dance to it even if there are people around. even in the most subtle of ways like walking to the beat or swaying his body, he cannot stay still with this song on. his partner likes to play it when they’re walking through the doorway as an “intro song.”)

refer to lasko’s playlist cover at the bottom!!

˚ ༘✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷

okay omg i hope you like it 💔 more songs from my playlist that give lasko vibes this time. these are just my opinions + headcanons ! i tried really hard with this but sometimes i’m really bad at words so i’m sorry if the descriptions are repetitive :(. again, if you want to see more, let me know!! i personally love content like this and i’ve was actually really inspired by morgan’s OC icon post :3 it was SO COOL

k bye 💟

[sasster]

holds hands out, can I get a run down on Cylion and his deal, I like that guy.

Oh! He’s one of the new ones. He was made along with two other characters over on Roes blog as the prophet of a church that finds divinity in dreams.

He and his siblings were raised by their father (Favion, who is a whole other story) for specific roles within the church. So Cylion, as the prophet and head of the church, was tasked with running things. Making sure the people that Somnia was able to wrangle up would buy into their ideology and, y’know, become true followers of the Divine Dreamer (Nymira)

Our last arc, Dream Sequence, was basically Nymira learning her entire life was a lie and that she’s not actually a goddess and that Cylion is always lying to her and all that fun good stuff.  All of that leads directly into Apotheosis which is our current arc and . Fun!

Some things?

-He can enter and manipulate other people’s dreams, that’s his power! Yay. A drawback of the ability, though, is that he cannot have his own. Also if the person whose dream he is manipulating wakes up while he’s still in the process of doing that, he is stunned for a little bit in the waking world as his consciousness snaps back to him.

-Because he was raised to be an oneirocritic, he is very good at interpreting dreams. Getting to see them for himself is a huge plus, but  he could go based off of descriptions too.

-He is heavily mutated (Okay, maybe not heavily, but he does have a set of face wings and back wings, so he’s pretty mutated), as such his father did not treat him very kindly in his upbringing. Often making faces or even remarks about how he felt about the way Cylion looked — Cylion seems to be very vain about his wings, takes pride in them.. But he’s also pretty sensitive about them. He even goes so far as to get rid of them when he’s forcing himself into other peoples dreams. (Curious that he has made no attempt to cut them off in the real world, hm?)

-Cylion plays the violin, if you care.

-He struggles with relinquishing control. He spent his entire life being told what to do by his father but also he’s in charge but also, actually, Nymira’s supposed to be god. Even outside of the walls of his church is frustrating for him, he is a mutated yellow blood so he doesn’t have much social sway. He takes great issue with anyone forcing in and taking away what little power he Actually has. That shit pisses him off.

-Speaking of pissing him off. He. Has. A. Temper. He has trashed his kitchen, his bedroom, his dad’s face. He hates when things aren’t in his control, but what he hates most of all is that he isn’t even under his own control. He gets so mad so fast omg.

-He loves his siblings, he’s just so bad at showing it. Because of all of the abuse and neglect and stuff.

-He does not deserve your sympathy or empathy. He’s a bad guy. He knows this about himself.

Uhhh.. I think that’s a good intro to Cylion maybe..

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Note: I edited this when there was actual thunder outside and my heart is full.

This is part 3 of the Halloween fic, direct follow up to part 2.

part 1 - part 2

Warnings: horror/fluff. mentions of fright, spirits, demons, ghosts, violence, bruises, blood. also briefly suggestive.

pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f)

Summary: Sihtric took you out on a spooky date, it just didn't go as planned.

Word count: 5,7k��

Masterlist

'Sihtric? Are you a fraudulent member of the Catholic church?'

Sihtric: good morning, my darkness. I won't tell you what we're going to do, but, despite the sun, dress warm and wear comfortable shoes x

You: guess I'll change out of my catwoman costume then???? x

Sihtric: no wait

Sihtric: on my way ;)

You: always a funny guy huh? ;)

Sihtric: no, really coming over early 

Sihtric: if that's okay? :) 

You: sure, I'm ready to go anyway :) 

Sihtric wolf whistled and took his sunglasses off when you opened the door. You instantly became a trembling and shy mess when you realised how truly good looking he was, now that you saw him in clear daylight. You smiled when you saw he had his hair slightly pushed back and not hiding his scars anymore, at least, not for you. He was wearing a plain black hoodie with a leather jacket on top, black fingerless gloves, dark grey slim fitted jeans and black Doctor Martens underneath.

Sihtric stepped closer, leaned in to kiss your cheek and circled one arm around your waist as he did.

'Well, hi,' he smiled and took a step back, holding your hands, 'you look to die for.'

You felt flustered as you were simply dressed in black jeans and a grey Dracula hoodie, which Sihtric said he liked and asked where you got it from, but you didn't remember.

'Are you ready to go?' 

'I think so,' you smiled a little nervously, still not knowing what the plan was, 'we're going for a hike?'

'Something like that,' Sihtric winked.

The drive to wherever he was taking you would take about 30 minutes, he said. As soon as Sihtric started the car and his phone connected to his radio, you were shocked to hear the familiar sound and lyrics of one of your favourite songs blasting through his speakers:

"Death-magic and forbidden sorcery

Into the occult and science became necromancy

A pact with Mephistopheles

My stirring in the dark-"

'Oops,' Sihtric grimaced when he saw your big eyes and turned the volume down, 'I'm sorry.'

'No, no! I mean… Carach Angren?' you blinked rapidly.

'Wait,' Sihtric turned to you, 'you know them?'

You scoffed, 'I love them!'

Sihtric stared at you, his mismatched eyes piercing as a smile appeared on his face, 'Ain't no way. I have never met anyone who knows them, let alone like them.'

'I'm serious!'

'Okay, name three songs,' Sihtric taunted, knowing that was such a stupid thing some people always ask when someone says they're a fan of something "obscure".

'That is such a dick move,' you laughed, 'but I like The Necromancer. And the violins in Der Vampir Von Nürnberg are absolutely insane! But my favourite is In De Naam Van De Duivel, I mean the instrumentals near the end?' you sighed.

'Well, shit,' Sihtric smiled, 'you really are to die for.' 

He took out his phone and switched on your favourite song, and you both smiled at the intro riffs as Sihtric pulled off your driveway. You shouted the first lyric together at the same time, 'Once upon a time, back when the Devil had a temper!' and you were both surprised at each other and started to laugh.

'I love the storytelling in their songs,' Sihtric smiled.

'Me too. It's like a horror fairy tale in each song, and we need more of those.'

'We do.'

'But,' you looked at Sihtric, 'will you finally tell me where we are going?'

'Nope,' he smiled and carefully placed his hand on your knee, 'you mind this?'

'No,' you smiled and felt yourself blush. 

You felt silly for feeling so flustered, seeing the things you already did with this man the evening before, but today was so different. It was only the two of you now, both showing your authentic selves without any interruption or having to hide your personality. You knew you both still had a lot to find out about each other, but you were off to a good start. And Sihtric was already over the moon by finding out you liked the same music as him. You enjoyed his presence and felt comfortable around him, but you couldn't lie, you felt a little nervous when Sihtric got off the main road and pulled into a seemingly hidden forest track, and drove deep into the forest.

'Where are we going?' you asked after about a minute.

You hoped you didn't sound nervous all of the sudden, but you clearly did, because Sihtric noticed it and stopped the car.

'Hey,' Sihtric turned to you and spoke softly, 'did you tell anyone you're with me today?'

'Well, Uhtred and Finan know I was seeing you today…'

'You want to send your location or anything?'

You hesitated. You didn't want to make him feel like you didn't trust him, but you just didn't know him well enough to understand his motives or his thoughts. Sihtric had been very considerate the short time you've spent together, so you didn't think he was going to do something weird, but still…

'It's okay,' Sihtric chuckled lightly, 'I understand it, really, I don't take any offence.'

You apologised with a shy smile and took out your phone. Since Uhtred was the main link between you and Sihtric, you shared your live location with him, and you also trusted your life with Uhtred if you were honest.

You: hey, just wanting to share where I am right now…

Uhtred: you're with Sihtric?

You: yeah. All is well, but he's taking us somewhere in a forest now

Uhtred: yeah I know where you are

Uhtred: I'll keep an eye on your location, but don't worry. Sihtric knows that forest like the back of his hand.

You: exactly my worry? There seems to be no one else around??

Uhtred: yeah that is why he likes going there. Trust me, I know his plan already. You may love it or run away screaming, either way, you will soon find out if you're a match ;)

That didn't really ease you, but you smiled at Sihtric.

'You okay?' he asked, 'I can take you back home if you-'

'No, it's okay,' you said, really wanting to know what his plan was, and well… if he was a weirdo, then maybe there would be a Netflix documentary about you years from now, showing the world how you were interested in true crime, yet still fell for a trap set by a handsome Dane.

'You can trust me. I won't let anything happen to you, babe,' Sihtric said and squeezed your hand, 'you have my word.'

You smiled at him and kissed his cheek. Then you saw Uhtred had texted you again.

Uhtred: oh…. and if you let him stay the night

Uhtred: make sure he doesn't bite you ;)

You frowned at your phone as Uhtred sent you another text: the vampire emoji and the blood drop emoji. You had no idea what he was on about, but you'd ask Sihtric later.

'What the hell,' you mumbled when, out of nowhere, a huge old castle appeared from behind the autumn coloured trees, 'what is this place?'

'This,' Sihtric said, as he parked in front of the impressive but neglected building, 'is an abandoned castle with a rich history of bloodshed and horror,' he smiled at you.

'Oh?'

'Have you ever heard of the Old Willow hauntings?'

'Not that I recall, no.'

'This place belonged to a wealthy family, the Willows. They were brutally murdered some hundred years ago, but no killer was ever caught nor was there ever any evidence that someone had been inside the castle that day, except for the family.'

'So one of the family members snapped, took everyone out and then took their own life?'

'That's what you'd think,' Sihtric smirked, 'but suicide was ruled out for every victim.'

'Really?' you frowned and looked up at the castle, 'so what do they think happened?'

'No one knows, there is no explanation.' 

Sihtric brought your attention back to him by tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, and you found him smiling softly at you. Suddenly it all clicked for you, and you grinned.

'So what do you think happened?'

'I think there was another presence inside,' Sihtric said and cupped your cheek, softly caressing your skin with his thumb, 'and I think it might still be here.'

'You mean ghosts? Wait, you're taking me to go ghost hunting?' you chuckled.

'Too weird for you?' Sihtric suddenly looked shy and a little insecure, and he took his hand off your cheek.

'No,' you said quickly and took his hand, 'I'm just surprised you're taking me here during the day and not at night.'

'No, it's too risky at night, sweet thing.'

You smiled and squinted your eyes a little as you looked at him. 'Why's that?'

'If there is some kind of spirit present, and let's say it's an evil one,' Sihtric licked his lips, 'then the chances of getting into trouble at night are higher than during the day.'

'I know,' you smiled wider.

'What do you know?' Sihtric smiled playfully and interested.

I know,' you said and cleared your throat, 'that demoniacal phenomena often begins after sunset and ends before sunrise.'

'Hm,' Sihtric hummed, impressed, and tried to suppress his smile, 'that is why I brought you here during the day.'

'But,' you continued, 'I also know that those activities usually happen when there is no natural light. Meaning they can still happen during the day in places where there is an absence of natural light, say, a basement or an attic without windows. So you, Sihtric Kjartansson,' you poked his chest, 'may still get us in some trouble with inhuman spirits, even during the day.'

Sihtric stared at you, his jaw had slightly dropped as you were speaking and he forgot how to breathe.

'What?' you chuckled when he seemed to have frozen.

'Marry me?' he blurted out.

'I, eh…' you mumbled before you both started to laugh, and Sihtric pulled you in for a kiss. 

This time it was a sweet and gentle kiss, not sloppy like the ones he gave you last night, which had just been as nice. Sihtric pulled back and bit down on his lip as he looked at you.

'Let's go?' he smiled.

You both got out of the car and Sihtric opened the trunk. He took out a black backpack and swung it over his shoulder before he locked his car. He held out his hand to you and smiled,and you took his hand with a shy smile and walked over to the castle entrance.

'You've been here before?' you asked.

'Partly, yes. I've been in the whole left part of the building a few months ago. Today I wanted to scout the right side.'

'You ever found anything?'

'I, eh,' Sihtric chuckled, 'yeah.'

'Really?' you asked, 'how? Like EMF or EVP or something else?'

'Both,' Sihtric stopped as he smiled and looked at you, 'how much more do you know about this? Because I have a feeling there's a lot you're not telling me.'

You couldn't help but smile shyly again when he pulled you closer and snuck his arms around your waist.

'I know some stuff,' you said and looked up at him as you played with the zipper of his leather jacket, 'I read a lot.'

'And what do you read, my dark princess?'

'Mainly stuff from the Warrens.'

'But then you probably know a lot about ghost hunting?'

'Yes and no. I know the basics about ghost hunting, but my knowledge is more focused on how these energies work. Like… finding out if it's a ghost or a spirit and if it's good or bad so to say. I'm interested in its motives and I …' you stopped talking when you felt you were about to say something that could scare him off.

'And you what?' Sihtric smiled and nuzzled your nose softly, 'tell me, little bat.'

'I… sort of communicate.'

'Communicate?' Sihtric tilted his head slightly, 'Ouija?'

'No, well, kind of,' you chuckled, 'I use a pendulum. You know how ouija boards have a planchette? I don't use that or a board, I use a cloth which is similar to an ouija board, but made for pendulums and is mainly focused on asking yes or no questions. So the pendulum swings, which is done by whatever energy you are communicating with at that moment, and it answers by swinging towards yes or towards no. It's been very effective for me. So there's that, and, well I pick up on energies quite fast. I can feel when something is off, you know? Like when there is an energy that is not friendly, I sense it. But, yeah, anyway… you are mainly focused on capturing ghosts then or?'

'Yes and no,' Sihtric smiled and traced his thumb over your lips, 'I don't capture them like a ghostbuster or something,' he laughed softly, 'I try to capture them by recording audio and with equipment which is triggered by movements, even those not visible to us. But,' Sihtric said and paused as he looked in your eyes, terribly in love and in awe, 'the way you try to communicate and try to understand whatever is out there... then I guess I can admit that I know how to… you know… despite not being Catholic, I know Latin, I can perform an exorcism.'

'Have you ever done that?' you asked with big eyes.

'Luckily, I never had to. But I've held up a fair amount of crosses in my life when I just knew something was off.'

'But wait,' you shook your head lightly, 'you're not an official member of the church, right? So would an exorcism work then? I thought you need to be acknowledged by the church and all that to be able to perform them with success?'

'I don't consider myself a member of the church,' Sihtric smirked and pecked your lips, 'but the church doesn't know that.'

'What?' you gasped softly and laughed, 'Sihtric? Are you a fraudulent member of the Catholic church?'

'What's the fun in being a good altar boy?' Sihtric winked and brought his lips back to yours. Kissing you deep and passionate, and you felt he gradually started to kiss you sloppier again, just like at the fair, and he pulled you flush against his body as his tongue filled your mouth while you curled your fingers around the neck of his hoodie, holding him close.

'But,' you broke the kiss, not because you wanted him to stop, but because you were so intrigued, 'your tattoo? A Norse knot. And your Thor pendant? How?'

'I hide my pendant whenever I really have to step in a church,' he scoffed, 'and they believe I am a Pagan turned Christian, which is what they love, so they don't even look at the tattoo.'

'But if you don't believe in their god, how effective is that exorcism?'

'I may not believe in their god, but I believe in energy. I believe there are spirits of both good nature and bad, and I believe the bad natured ones fear the word of god, and therefore it definitely holds power.'

'Damn,' you smiled, 'so, what is the plan here? Summon a demon and do an exorcism?'

'Oh, you know better than that, lady,' Sihtric laughed and pecked your lips again, 'we're absolutely not doing that. But… you could use a necklace as a pendulum too, right?'

'Yeah, anyone can.'

'Maybe you could try to communicate and we can set up my stuff? Try to record voices or movements?'

'Ah… I don't work like that,' you said hesitantly, 'I need some stuff to… you know, protect myself with before I attempt communication. I'd love to do that with you one day, but I won't do it now, not without my own tools. I- I won't risk anything.'

'So you're the brains,' Sihtric smiled, 'and I'm the muscle.'

'You surely got the muscles,' you smiled as you squeezed his arms, 'but you definitely got the brain too. But, yeah, I think we could be a good team, if that's what you mean.' 

You pushed yourself up your tiptoes and kissed his cheek, which he gladly accepted, before he pulled you in for another passionate kiss.

'You never told me what you found here,' you suddenly remembered as you walked through a huge, empty hallway inside the abandoned castle.

You looked at the EMF meter in your hand, which Sihtric had given you after you asked if you could try it out. Sihtric held a flashlight which was switched on, despite there being enough broken windows to allow in daylight. He simply wanted to see what was in front of him, or behind him, at all times if he'd accidentally ended up in a dark hallway or room, especially with you there now.

'I've picked up voices and movements,' Sihtric said as he held your hand with his free one, 'I can show you that, if you'd like to come over at my place sometime?'

'Yeah, I'd love to see what you found here,' you smiled at him and carefully looked around the gloomy place. There was definitely some kind of energy in this building, but you weren't sure yet just what it was. 'Will you set up any equipment today?'

'Hm,' Sihtric hummed, 'I would if I was on my own. But it can be very boring. I usually just sit in one spot for hours, so I think it's more fun for you if we just stroll around, see if we can pick up on anything without using any tools, except for the EMF meter. If you're fine with that?'

'Yeah, that sounds like fun.'

You smiled at Sihtric when he looked at you. He stopped walking and let go of your hand, only to cup your cheek as he leaned in, 'Where have you been all my life?' he asked, brushing his lips softly against yours.

'At home, reading books I guess.'

You smiled against his lips and pulled him closer by tugging at his jacket. You pressed your lips against his and Sihtric moved his hand to the back of your neck, deepening the kiss as much as he could.

'You're so fucking perfect,' Sihtric whispered under his breath before he brought his lips back to yours, and then let his backpack slip off his shoulder and dropped the flashlight at the same time, which spooked you.

'Sorry. It's just me, baby,' Sihtric said in between kisses while he slowly pushed you backwards, through an open door, into a darker room and towards a large old oaken cabinet. While he kissed you slowly, and sloppy, he took the EMF meter out of your hand and shoved it in his back pocket, allowing you to move both your hands to his neck and up in his hair, softly pulling his dark mane as you felt his hands on your waist, keeping you close as he kissed you so gentle, so slow and yet so incredibly arousing.

'I- I love the way you kiss me, Sihtric,' you whispered when you needed some air, your breath already heavy and your voice hoarse.

'Yeah?' Sihtric smiled out of breath. But he didn't care that he needed air, he just needed to feel you close again and pushed you up against the cabinet, 'I've been thinking all night about you, babe,' he husked in between kisses, 'the way you came with my fingers inside you,' he flicked his tongue against your lips and you moaned softly when he kissed you again. 'And the way you made me feel so nice,' he smiled and gently sucked your lower lip.

'I've been thinking about you as well,' you said, breathing heavily, 'and about that big cock of yours,' you chuckled.

'I told you I didn't make things up when I spelled out my name for you,' he laughed and took your hand, sliding it slowly down to his groin as he left open mouthed kisses on your neck. You cupped his hardness through his jeans, massaging firmly and you kissed his lips again.

Sihtric moaned with a smile, 'Hmm, my queen of darkness, I'd take you right here-'

You were both suddenly startled by the loud noise the EMF meter made from his back pocket. And where you had first pulled Sihtric close because you wanted his tongue in your mouth, you now pulled him close because you suddenly felt unwell and almost fell down, as if something pulled your leg.

'S-Sihtric, I… I feel dizzy, something's here,' you grabbed onto his jacket as your knees gave out underneath you.

The EMF meter continued to spike and the temperature in the room suddenly dropped, making you see your own breath as the flashlight lit up the room from the hallway. Sihtric was quick to pull you tightly against his chest as he knew this was wrong, very wrong.

'Hey, I'm here, sweet thing. It's okay,' Sihtric said, calmly, 'take it easy. We're leaving, okay? I'm taking you home. We've had enough fun here.'

He pulled your arm around his neck and moved his arm around your waist, supporting you as he walked back to the door, which suddenly slammed shut, locking you in a cold and dark room.

'Sihtric?' you whispered and clung onto him, 'has… has that happened to you here before?'

You heard Sihtric's hard but calm breathing in the dark, 'No,' he said, 'nothing like this happened to me here before.'

He pulled you even closer and grabbed the door handle in an attempt to open it, but the door wouldn't budge.

'What the fuck,' Sihtric mumbled in the pitch black room. 'You okay, lady?' he asked while he tried to feel for some kind of lock on the door with his fingertips, not wanting to alarm you further when he sensed this was all bad news.

'I… I'm not sure,' you whispered and pressed your face against his chest, 'Sihtric?'

'Yeah?' Sihtric couldn't find a lock, and no matter how much he rattled the doorknob, nothing happened.

'I… I'm scared,' you whispered, 'I know temperature drops aren't a good sign.'

'They're not,' he confessed, 'but I won't let anything happen to you, okay? I just can't get the door to open.'

Sihtric knew a way to open the door, but he also knew he could not explain it to you later without the risk of you probably being scared to death or thinking he was stark raving mad. So he tried to kick the door open, but to no avail.

'Sihtric?' you suddenly sounded panicked, as a feeling of dread crawled over your skin and soaked into your bones.

'What? What's wrong?' 

His arms were around you but his voice seemed really far.

'S-something,' your voice trembled, 'something's t-touching my l-leg.'

'What?' Sihtric asked, suddenly sounding close again, while you felt him close to you all the same.

'Something is touching my leg right now,' you whimpered.

Sihtric didn't know what to say, he just tried to understand what you meant, because it wasn't him. He had his arms around you this whole time, except for when he tried to open the door, but that was moments ago already. And he heard nothing else in the room, except for his own and your breathing.

'Sihtric!' you suddenly yelled, 'make it stop!'

'What! What is it?!' Sihtric yelled as he felt you being pulled out of his arms. 

He had no idea what on earth was happening. And neither did you, all you knew was that something was pulling your leg, as if dragging you away, and it was with such force you could barely hold onto Sihtric, and you were in pain. 

'Sihtric, it hurts! It's hurting me!'

Sihtric pulled you back against his chest with a loud groan, using all his strength against the invisible force that tried to steal you away from him in the dark.

'Fuck this!' he grunted, 'in the name of Michael, open and let us pass! Into the light I command thee, or I will send you straight back to hell, you piece of shit!'

Sihtric kicked the door again and it flung open. You were blinded by the sudden flickering of the flashlight outside the room as Sihtric pulled you out with him. And as soon as you both stepped out of the room, everything became quiet and it seemed as if nothing ever happened. 

The EMF meter stopped spiking, the flashlight shone brightly and your breath wasn't visible anymore. You both fell down to your knees, out of breath, and Sihtric immediately pulled you close against his chest and cradled you in his arms.

'I'm sorry, baby,' Sihtric whispered, 'you're safe, I promise. It's over.'

You and Sihtric were quiet the whole drive back home. He held your hand in his whenever he didn't have to shift gears, often bringing the back of your hand up to his lips, pressing soft and comforting kisses to your skin. Despite everything, you were both okay and calm, just silently trying to understand what had happened. It had startled you both, but you knew the risks all too well before you stepped inside that building together.

'You still want to come in and watch a movie?' you asked once Sihtric pulled up your driveway.

'You still want me around after everything?'

'Now more than ever, Sihtric,' you chuckled lightly.

Beside being a little spooked still, you just really wanted him to be with you a little longer, hoping he would take your mind fully of everything eventually. 

He kissed your hand again and followed your lead, you took him inside your house and switched on some lights and lit a few candles while you waited for the tea to brew. Sihtric curiously walked around your living room, smiling as he inspected some of the curiosities you owned. He chuckled at your insane amount of candles and he looked at the pendulum you had told him about. He whistled when he saw your huge book cabinet and told you that you both owned quite a lot of the same titles. Sihtric was sweet and gentle, as you had expected, and he moved closer to you when you sat down next to him and handed him his tea.

'You okay, sweet thing?' he asked again, and you had lost count of how many times he had asked already.

'Yeah,' you smiled and took his hand, 'I am, thanks. But have you ever had something like that happen before?'

Sihtric shook his head lightly, 'No, never. I… I don't understand it. It's like whatever was there just wanted to drag you away from me. I've never had encounters like this with ghosts or spirits.'

'Well one thing we can rule out is that it was a ghost,' you scoffed lightly, 'ghosts are usually harmless and they just leave after they've scared you. And ghosts don't need darkness to manifest.'

'True,' Sihtric said, 'whatever this was, it clearly fed on fear. It only seemed to become stronger. And, you said it hurt you, right?'

'It did,' you remembered, and you quickly rolled up your pants, exposing your ankle.

'Gods,' Sihtric whispered as he saw the large, hand shaped bruise on your ankle, 'does it still hurt? It looks insane.'

'No, I don't feel anything now,' you rubbed your hand over the bruise, 'it clearly shows fingers. Are you… Are you sure there was no other person in there? Some homeless guy or something?'

'Not that I was aware of,' Sihtric said as he traced his fingertips across your bruise, 'I didn't hear a third presence. And there was no way one person could have slammed that door shut while holding onto you.'

'That is a valid point,' you sighed, 'I also…' you stopped and looked conflicted, 'at one point it seemed like you were really far away from me.'

'What do you mean?' Sihtric furrowed his brow, 'I had you in my arms the entire time, baby. You don't think I left your side, do you?' he asked concerned.

'I don't, no, that is why it's so confusing. I felt your body against mine, but… your voice sounded like it came from another corner. But only once.'

'A person can't do that.'

'I know,' you looked at your ankle, 'and I know that inhuman spirits can cause injury.'

'And they usually smell horrible, but that entire place was rotten,' Sihtric chuckled.

'Yeah, we shouldn't add smell to the list,' you smiled, 'but everything else really makes it look like…'

'A demon,' Sihtric agreed and sipped his tea. 'Would you dare to go back?'

'To investigate further?'

Sihtric nodded.

'Maybe,' you said, 'but not yet. I'd like to know more about what you found there last time, and learn more about the history of that place.'

'No, we definitely shouldn't go back right away. We need some time.'

'And I will wait until Halloween is far over.'

Sihtric frowned, 'Why is that?'

'Really?' you smiled, 'you don't know? About the veil?'

'What?'

'You know of Samhain?'

'Yeah, vaguely. It's what Halloween is based on, right?'

'More or less, yes. Samhain was like the Celtic new year. The day we now celebrate Halloween was the day the Celts celebrated the end of summer and the beginning of winter. The end of the harvest and all that. And because it was the time when harvest was over, meaning the lands basically… died, they associated winter with death. And therefore they believed that the veil between the spirit world and the human world was thin during this time of year. It is said that it allows the dead to visit the living in a much easier way than the rest of the year.'

'Wait,' Sihtric groaned, 'I have heard of that. But I thought that was just a Wicca thing.'

'Oh, no. Yes, it's a sabbat celebrated by Wiccans, but also by other pagans. Samhain was a Celtic pagan celebration.'

'I realise I need to gain more knowledge about the Celts,' Sihtric chuckled.

'Well you have me now,' you smiled, 'you don't need to read whole books about it anymore. I already did that.'

'I have you?' Sihtric grinned as he leaned in.

'Maybe… something like that,' you felt your cheeks heat up and you quickly took his cup and set it on the table with yours.

'But I haven't really claimed you yet,' Sihtric smiled and bit down on his lip, 'at least, not the way I should.'

'Well… maybe if you stay the night,' you said cheekily, 'you could claim me the way you should?'

'I will claim you, little bat.' Sihtric pulled you closer and kissed your lips.

'Yes,' you broke the kiss, 'but first we have to watch a movie.'

'I guess we do,' Sihtric smiled and he looked at your Dracula sweater, 'how about Dracula?'

'I love that movie, how did you guess?'

'Lucky guess,' Sihtric winked.

'Wait,' you giggled, 'speaking about vampires,' you took your phone and showed Sihtric the text Uhtred had sent, 'why did he send me the vampire and blood emoji and told me to make sure you don't bite me?'

'Oh,' Sihtric snorted and raked his fingers through his hair, 'eh,' he cleared his throat, 'I, eh… may or may not like to, you know,' he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

'Sihtric, just say it,' you chuckled.

'I have this weird thing, okay,' he smiled shyly, 'I like to… to draw a little blood when I have sex.'

'Wait, what?' you laughed, 'what does that even mean?'

Sihtric groaned softly and shifted uncomfortably, 'It's like… it's a blood kink, I guess. But nothing fucking crazy, okay, I don't get off from hurting someone, not at all. It's not like that.' He looked worried and nervous.

'Hey,' you took his hands, 'it's okay,' you smiled, 'just… just tell me about it. I'm not familiar with it. Explain it to me? What do you do and why?'

Sihtric looked at you for a short moment, almost brooding, and then he cleared his throat.

'So… like… my kink is quite mild, I think,' Sihtric said, 'I personally really enjoy it when I draw a little blood by, let's say, biting your lip a little harder than usual… or... by making a really small cut in your fingertip for example, just a few drops, you know?'

'Okay,' you nodded slowly with a shy smile, 'so… then what? You … drink it?'

'Well it's nowhere near the amount to drink it,' he chuckled, 'but, yeah, I… I like to lick it and,' he sighed and rubbed his eyes, 'and I also really enjoy it when I draw my own blood and have… in this case, you, for example, to…you know…'

'...Lick your blood?'

'...Yeah.'

'Okay…'

'I'm sorry, I know this is probably really fucking weird. I don't want to scare you off. It's totally fine if you're not into that, really.'

'Well, I mean… I don't know. I've never tried it,' you smiled, 'but… I guess I can understand that it's quite arousing, because it's something very intimate.'

'Yeah,' Sihtric sounded relieved, 'that's exactly what it is. I don't… I don't just do that with random hook ups or something. And also I swear my blood is clean.'

'Good to know. My blood is also clean,' you chuckled and cupped his cheeks, 'but you've done that before then, right?'

'Yeah, well, tried it like twice… with my… you know, ex,' he mumbled and took your hands, 'but she hated it, and it didn't even feel right for me either with her, so, yeah,' he shrugged, 'I only want to do it with someone I really have feelings for, or feel a connection with that I can't explain. It's something very personal, I guess. Something… oddly romantic, to love someone so deeply, you want to share blood at your most intimate moment.'

'And… let's say you get lucky tonight,' you grinned, 'would you…?'

'Only if you're open to it,' Sihtric smiled, 'only if you trust me enough and are willing to try it, then, yeah… I'd love to do that with you.'

'I… I think I'd like to try it, yeah,' you said shyly.

'After the movie maybe?'

'Or… now?'

Sihtric pulled you in for a soft kiss. 'Now is fine with me,' he smiled sweetly, 'but… Okay, I like to set the mood, you know? And I see you have plenty of candles, so, if you will allow me?'

You smiled and pecked his lips again, then took his hand and guided him upstairs, where you sat on your bed as you told him to look in your spare room for whatever candles and things he may need. And you remembered you had some black lace lingerie somewhere, hidden far away in a drawer.

[DM to be added to/removed from taglist! & don’t be shy to like, reblog & comment!🖤]

[calypso707]

Astarion x Fem!Tav bard : Fruit of The Poisonned Tree

Intro : Every day, she longed for his touch, his lips against her skin, his voice in her ears, his whole being.

Tags : 3rd pov for this one because i'm more comfortable with it, few chapters comings, this story will be mainly romance I guess, risk of spoilers about Astarion, ascendant form coming..

I hope you’ll like this first chapter, enjoy ! ~

Chapter 1 -

She missed her home at Baldur's Gate deeply. Although the majority of the inhabitants were humans, she had always felt at home there, with the river Chiontar within easy reach. For a bard, she had risen quite successfully and was well liked by the populace and the local lords, often performing at balls and other festivities. What she missed was practising her music on the riverbank, singing to the Blushing Mermaid from morning till night without her vocal chords weakening. She missed the simplicity and comfort of her past life. Quite simple. And in just a few days, it was all gone.

She had been kidnapped by mindflayers, had an illithid larvae inserted behind her eye, survived the crash of their ship,had fought gnolls, goblins and other creatures and now she was sleeping under the stars surrounded by odd companions. A few details aside, that was all. Normal people would have spread this over several months. She was still trying to figure out how she had managed to survive this far.

She looked towards her companions who were surrounding the campfire a few metres away. She had isolated herself, as she like to do, to be alone with her thoughts. Her eyes passed over each of her companions, starting with Lae'zel, a gith she had met aboard the nautiloid. However grumpy her nature was, she had shown unfailing loyalty and was a great ally. She had also crossed paths with a cleric and disciple of Shar by the name of Shadowheart. Then she met Gayle, a magician, in the funniest possible way. Wyll, nicknamed the Blade of Frontiers, son of the Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate who had made a strange pact with a devil, Karlach, a tiefling with a fiery temper and, finally, him.

Astarion.

Tav finally focused her gaze on him, comfortably seated on a wooden chair by the fire, his feet resting on a log. In his right hand he was holding a steel cup, and she could easily guess that the inside was some old brandy, the liquor he enjoyed the most. In his other hand, he was holding a book, he seemed to be absorbed by his reading. From time to time, Karlach teased him to include him in the conversation with the others. The bard tilted her head slightly and squinted her eyes to read the title engraved in gold on the cover of the book, "The Curse of The Vampyr". She held back a smile at the irony of the situation and wondered about the veracity of the tale. Did he see himself in what he was reading? She was curious to know exactly what the manuscript was about - was there anything new she did not already knew?

Her gaze followed the curve of the vampire's arm to focus on his face. His perfect face lit by the dancing light of the fire in front of him. She caught a glimpse at his fangs as he silently read parts of the book, her eyes detailing his perfectly shaped nose before finally coming to rest on his eyes. It was as red as the blood itself, and it pierced her soul every time he looked at her. She felt her heart skip a beat - she had never imagined herself becoming allied and close to such a creature. She had never seen anyone like him. He was dangerously charming and eloquent beyond compare. He was quick-witted, mischievous, teasing and delighted in the misfortune of others. He had a penchant for manipulation, lies, expensive alcohol, art and poetry. And she cursed herself for being drawn to him. Because she knew the influence he could have on her. He was the devil on her shoulder who drove her to commit terrible sins.

It took all her strength to stop staring at him like that, and she returned her attention to the violin at her feet, her fingers brushing the strings. Music was her magic, but it was so much more: it was also a sign of power. A power that could keep battles alive, make heroes eternal, but also shatter reputations and turn cities to pieces. She took a deep breath, as if to restore her own self-confidence, and picked up her musical instrument to return to the others. As she approached the campfire, she realised that everyone had already gone back to their occupations, except Astarion. The vampire looked up from his book to examine the young woman for a few seconds; she could not tell if it was the firelight that was having that effect, but a strange glint shone in his eyes. He stopped reading completely as he closed the book and locked his hands against his chest, still looking at her as she awkwardly sat down at the opposite of him.

"Interesting book? Did you learn anything new?" asked Tav, grabbing a half-full cup from the ground at her feet. Bringing the cup to her lips, she took a big gulp and immediately regretted it, repressing the urge to wince. From the strong aroma of the alcohol, she guessed that it was Chultan Fireswill.

"Surprisingly, no," he sighed. "I was expecting to learn something unusual, so I must admit I am a little disappointed," said Astarion, shrugging his shoulders.

She smiled at his answer, her eyes glued to the flames waving in front of her. The fire was blocking her view of Astarion and it was no bad thing, given how easily she lost her composure when she was alone with him and he liked to take advantage of that. She was glad there was this barrier between them.

"Now, darling, are you trying to run away from me?" asked Astarion. She was able to guess the mischievous smile on his lips. She barely had time to reply when she saw him rise from his chair, walk around the fire and come to her side. He held out his right hand, the other resting casually on his hip.

"All this brandy and small talk whetted my appetite. Shall we ?"

Tav lost herself in his crimson eyes for a few seconds before finally grabbing his hand to get up, leaving her violin on the bare ground. The vampire quietly led her to his tent, which she entered. It was not the first time she had entered it, but the smell wafting through the small space made her heart throb every time. Brandy, rosemary and bergamot. She looked over her shoulder at Astarion, who was closing the entrance to the tent with his agile fingers before returning to her. His fingertips grazed the crook of her neck, a shiver running through her body. He gently wrapped the long braid around his arm as he positioned himself behind her, applying gentle pressure to tilt her head back.

"I have waited for this moment with great patience," he said hoarsely.

Tav tried to calm her breathing, excitement and apprehension gradually taking over her body. She hated as much as she enjoyed the effect he had on her. Astarion tugged gently once more on the braid to tilt her head to the right, exposing her neck completely. He lowered his head, inhaling the scent she gave off before placing a chaste kiss on her sensitive skin. He slidded his other hand up her stomach before touching her breasts, grasping the lace of her corsage with his fingertips and pulling it with a calculated, disconcerting slowness to reveal the birth of her breasts. She half-opened her mouth, her breathing getting heavier and heavier.

"Stop playing that little game," she said. "Be very, very quiet, darling. You do not want to wake up the others" he answered, teasingly.

He then began to place another kiss behind her pointed ear, before placing another one against her neck. She felt something cold brush her skin, she guessed it was his fangs. This was followed by a stabbing pain that radiated throughout her neck. It was not the first time he had fed on her, but each time the ache surprised her. She leaned her back against his chest and placed her hand on Astarion's, which was resting on her breasts, intertwining her fingers with his. She listened to him feed, closing her eyes. Each of his sips, each of his breaths sounded like a melody to her ears. For her, this kind of moment was just as sensual and intimate, it brought them closer in a different way and that was what she enjoyed. Every day, she longed for his touch, his lips against her skin, his voice in her ears, his whole being.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

thank you so much for reading this first chapter, i hope you liked it! I've published the rest on Ao3 : Fruit of the Poisonned Tree. I'll mainly be posting my OS on Tumblr!

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Find the word

Thanks @winterandwords here, @museandquill here, and @aziz-reads here!

Rules: post excerpts from your WIP with the given words

My words: fast, slow, still, backwards, track, praised, question, reappeared, unwieldy, cabbage, adjoining, design

Your words: peace, head, test, blank

Tagging @authorcoledipalo @authorlaurawinter @chauceryfairytales @tabswrites @mk-writes-stuff

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet

Keep reading for:

Ash gets help

Power control with Carla

Kelsey should not put on more adult responsibilities!!

Lexi and Ash find the portal

Robbie's eyes are like black holes

Shh...older draft of Part Three...

A bit from an older work

Carla looks for her mom

Ash out of breath

Fast - from The Secret Portal Part One (Ash POV)

“Really?!” I said, pushing myself off of the tree—a little too fast, so I almost fell over. “Um, where exactly, uh, do I go?”

Slow - from The Secret Portal Part One (Ash POV)

“You’ll be fine,” Carla comforted, not seeming to notice I wasn't nervous. “Don’t be afraid of your powers. But you must know how to control them, which is why we’re going slow.”

Still - from The Secret Portal Part One (Kelsey POV)

Still—wasn’t satisfied. I worried that Aunt Kamryn would forget that Roni would want to read a book aloud before brushing her teeth. She usually practiced her reading with me. Hopefully Mom or Aunt Kamryn were a good replacement.

Backwards - from The Secret Portal Part One (Lexi POV)

“It seems weird,” I said, almost walking backwards to keep an eye on her as I turned around the corner of the school. “Like—ah!” My boot got caught on the grass, causing my feet to slip. I tumbled onto the ground and dropped my violin, the “oof!” that followed indicating Ash tripped over the sturdy case.

Track - from The Secret Portal Part One (Akash POV)

I’d lost track of how many times I’d overheard other students fawning over that attribute. I have dark eyes, too! But apparently they didn’t have a gravity that drew everything in to its death.

Questioned - from "Eternity"

Praised - from The Secret Portal Part Three (older draft)

Inside the ambulance, the doctors were astounded by the miracle of the girl, but there was no time to praise that.

“Why did you report this to the FBI?” I questioned. “This seems like just an average missing person case--no offense. Why didn’t you report this to your local police?”

Reappeared - from The Secret Portal Part One (Carla POV)

My eyes didn’t leave my pia and the other lady. Pia disappeared into the shadows. The other lady looked around for her. Behind the lady, Pia reappeared.

Unwieldy - N/A

Cabbage - N/A

Design - from The Secret Portal Part One (Ash POV)

Adjoined - N/A

I was panting hard. The spirals on the ring’s design pressed itself into my palm. A headache was starting to form in the back of my head.

[alwahyeonie]

put that cat in the bag ⋆.˚

jaemin’s friend group

only fans😨

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ . ✦

jaemin- biology major

has 3 cats luna lucy and luke, works at a pet shop just because the benefits there are great and the pay too, like to take pictures as a hobby, has been besties with jeno since high school when they had to sit beside each other and became close with each other over time, quite well know in campus for his looks

jeno- music major

he’s allergic to cat fur but still helps to look after jaemin’s cat sometimes, he knows how to play the guitar, piano and violin. always entertain jaemin’s nuisance and enjoy to go to the gym

mark- music major

also knows how to play the guitar and likes to compose songs together with jeno and donghyuck, he’s pretty well know too for his looks and great personality, he’s closest with donghyuck as they have been friends since childhood and have a love hate relationship with each other

donghyuck or haechan- music major

loves to annoy mark and the others but is a softy inside. composes music with mark and jeno and is pretty well know in campus for always either attending party’s or throwing one in which he would drag all of his friends to attend, big social butterfly for most people know him

winter- media major

might be gay but we never know, got badly ruined over by a guy that she sweared to never date a guy ever again, some people are jealous of her as she always hanged out with the guys but she could give less of a fuck

jisung- performing arts major

emo boy who’s awkward with everyone but once you know home he’s pretty chill, most people on campus that know him likes him as he’s not the type to create drama, doesn’t really like to be know but has somewhat alot of girls chasing him

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ . ✦

notes:

i was gonna post this earlier but i accidentally deleted my draft but anywasy my phone is lagging real bad and it’s probably overheating so awsome but i might post the intro tonight or tomorrow so yeahhh

(27.12.24)

yn’s friend group | masterlist | next

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if you liked the blog, please like and reblog!! thank you!



[dustedmagazine]

Listening Post: Nick Cave

Nick Cave got his start in the punk clubs of Melbourne, as the shirtless, skeletal and incandescent front man for the Birthday Party, an outfit once dubbed “the most violent live band in the world.” That band split up in 1983, but not before, arguably, launching the goth punk genre with their single “Release the Bats.”

Cave’s next project, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds launched in 1982, bringing together a core group of collaborators — Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey, George Vjestica, Jim Schlavunos and Thomas Wydler — that continues to back him today. (As well as a couple, notably Mick Harvey and Blixa Bargeld, who no longer participate). It was with the Bad Seeds that Cave began to explore a driving blues-based psychedelia. The harder rocking Grinderman project branched off from there in 2006.

Cave’s last few albums, starting with Push the Sky Away and continuing through Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen, are very different from his work with the Birthday Party, or, indeed, early Bad Seeds. They are quieter and more uneasy. Ghosteen, produced after the tragic death of Cave’s teenage son, incorporates lavish orchestral arrangements and lacerating imagery.

In some ways, the 18th and latest Cave album, Wild God continues that trajectory, surrounding visionary lyrics with the sounds of a full orchestra and gospel choir. Yet this one, unlike the past two, again brings in the Bad Seeds, girding whipped cream heaps of violin glissandos with the muscle of bass, drums and rock guitar.

The album also marks a departure from the preceding two by focusing on joy. Despite the untimely death of two of his sons, the passing of colleagues, the pandemic and all the uncertainties of politics and climate and war, Cave fixes resolutely on the beauties of the world, like frogs jumping heaven-ward in the rain or brown horses grazing peacefully in the grass. It’s a bold stance in 2024, but a welcome one. We could all use some joy.

Intro by Jennifer Kelly

Jennifer Kelly: So, I think my very favorite thing in Wild God is the way that “Conversion” kicks into high gear about halfway through, with the gospel choir and all, and it just picks you up and takes you away. What are you all liking or not liking here?

Justin Cober-Lake: I’ve liked nearly all of Cave’s recent work, but this one is probably my favorite of the era. You mention it continuing the trajectory of the past three, which work as a sort of trilogy (ignoring Carnage). Cave’s taken the orchestral and atmospheric approach from those albums, but used it here to fill out a Bad Seeds album. This album returns him to his rock sounds, but it’s still an album that comes out of the trilogy. Though they’re fairly different, it’s hard to imagine this sound arriving without Ghosteen. It brings together a wide stretch of musical thought to create something very focused tonally. It means that forays like the gospel moments make sense even if they’re surprising.

Similarly, it mixes his older sense of storytelling with his more recent confessional sort of writing (admitting that there isn’t a clear era divide for these approaches, just that the personal, emotional sketches are more prominent since Push the Sky Away). Cave’s always been masterful, but Wild God feels like the album where all the elements of his art came together in a unified and powerful way.

Jonathan Shaw: Justin points to gospel moments on Wild God, and yes, I got two-thirds of the way through my first listen and thought, “Oh, it’s a gospel record.” Scans with all the writing and chatter about Christianity and religiosity Cave has done over the past bunch of years, but it still surprised me. I have been away from his music since the early 1990s, save for that first Grinderman record, which I found sort of charming, a return to the grime and squalor of the first few post-Birthday Party records (I still listen to From Her to Eternitysometimes). So, this is a strange place to land as a listener. I am still getting my footing, as it were, but I really like “Frogs” and I really don’t like “Joy” and “O Wow O Wow” is just sort of embarrassing.

So much seems to be in those first two tracks, which I am ambivalent about. I sort of like “Song of the Lake.” As a middle-aged dude, I can identify. But the grandness of the music feels of a piece with Cave’s characteristic grandiosities, which is what drove me away from his stuff in the first place. I’m going to keep listening.

Ian Mathers: For me, I wasn’t so much driven away by Cave’s grandiosities as kept away in the first place. I still have the Birthday Party on my (long, ever expanding) list of bands to get around to checking out one day, but his solo/Bad Seeds stuff never seemed that appealing. The most exposure I got was working in a record store where coworkers played the then-newer Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus and first Grinderman records a fair bit. I was never annoyed by those records, but they did confirm and kind of cement my perception of him as very full of himself.

I don’t mean that in a dismissive or diminishing way; I think being full of himself is kind of the key to both what I find appealing in Cave and what I find kind of risible (including his advice column, which in my experience veers between genuinely very good and frequently moving, and making me roll my eyes and sigh). It feels like Nick Cave is as Nick Cave as he can possibly be at all times, and even when I’m not enjoying that there’s something wonderful there.

That being said, Ghosteen in 2019 marked the first time something I heard from Cave really landed with me. Yes, I appreciated his writing around the death of his son (and felt for him and his family), but that alone wouldn’t have gotten me to check it out. Something about the way people were talking about it made me think I had to check it out. And it grabbed me from the first listen. I think it’s a really beautiful record with a lot to talk about... that we’re not really focused on right now. But it did make me feel like I wanted to check out whatever Cave did next.

Something about the opening “Song of the Lake” made me think this was going to be another Ghosteen for me, where I feel like I got it and liked the record right from the first listen. For better or worse the rest of Wild God (at least after my first couple of listens) doesn’t sound much like it, and didn’t land as immediately for me. I remember liking “Frogs” as well, and those two are the ones that most seem to tap into a similar vibe as the one I liked so much on the previous record (despite this being about very different things, as far as I can tell). But of course, that’s coming from someone who’s never sat down with the vast majority of the records Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have put out.

Tim Clarke: Ian’s description of his relationship with Nick Cave closely aligns with my own. I always found his self-righteous preacher persona to be annoying, and none of the music that I’ve half-heartedly tuned into over the years has piqued my interest. This changed with Skeleton Tree, which I found very moving. The music closely aligned with the intensity of emotion in the vocals, rather than just being a platform from which Cave would perform atop, if that makes sense. Skeleton Tree led me to Ghosteen, Push The Sky Away and Carnage, all of which I enjoyed.

This one is a harder sell for me. The prospect of “happy Nick Cave” doesn’t resonate with my musical taste, so a gospel-leaning record about finding joy was already going to be a slightly uncomfortable experience... There are a few moments here that I enjoyed, many of which have already been flagged by you guys, but mostly this just makes me want to listen to Mercury Rev’s Deserter’s Songs, which works with a similar musical palette, but with much greater emotional resonance.

Justin Cober-Lake: I may be on the opposite side of the Cave listening spectrum than most of us. I listen to the Birthday Party less than any of his music, and I like the grandiosity. I think he does something unique (or at least in a unique way). He’s trying to make art — which plenty of rock musicians are — but in a way that doesn’t correlate to the usual paths for that. His lyrics tend to be either smart and poetic or simply pretentious, probably depending on your starting point. The excess and bombast is part of the statement (differing from either emo or show tunes or prog or whatever, though maybe Tom Waits’ blend of stage and, well, whatever he does, is a good conceptual pairing). I don’t see him doing either advice or preaching in his music or his “Red Hand Files.” I’m not sure what it is, maybe just talking to fans. It’s the Q&A part of a reading.

My stance on all that sets up my listening to Wild God, which while ostensibly “happy Nick Cave,” only sort of is. It’s an album full of violence, death, and the acknowledgement of not just our mortality, but of our decline on the way to the end. From that ground, Cave finds places of transcendence, none of which fully hold up, but all of which get us through. There’s some kind of peace tucked into these emotional swells, a steadiness within the surges. That strained position gives the album much of its power. Freed of innocence but willing to be open allows the album to find real, earned hope and joy; and “joy” here doesn’t scan as a synonym for “happy,” but for something deeper, maybe closer to “at peace with all the destruction,” like a reed bent but always returning to its upright position, even knowing the next storm is coming.

Jonathan Shaw: I hear that, Justin. There are moments in earlier Cave that are big, emotionally and musically, that work really well. “The Carny” from Your Funeral... My Trial is a good example, and I have a long-running and passionate attachment to that whole record. When it’s an interesting musical move, I can get with opulent bombast (Klaus Nomi’s “Total Eclipse,” for instance).

I hear the reading of joy you provide in the song “Wild God” — a variety of “late style” Cave, in Edward Said’s sense of the phrase. It’s one of the stronger tracks on this record, not as good as “Song of the Lake” (lotsa bombast, and I have come to really like the tune) or “Frogs,” but good. On “Joy,” I don’t hear strain or struggle or even cussedness in the face of loss and decline. It’s too close to schmaltz, and the references to his recent grief strike the wrong tone for me. Can’t handle the part about “angry words” and “stars.” It’s true that we can’t subsist on anger alone, but exhausted metaphor ain’t gonna do the trick, either.

Jennifer Kelly: It’s interesting to me that choir music is not something that Cave discovered recently and in fact he was in the choir at his church growing up. This Ann Powers interview explores his connection with church music.

Justin Cober-Lake: My thoughts are starting to diverge with the conversation, so let me throw out points related to the last two comments and we can go whichever way it takes us.

Jonathan, I took a listen to “Joy” out of context with your thoughts in mind, and I think you make some fair points (even if I do like the song on its own). The album really works best as an album, though, and “Joy” has its slot there (notice for example how many songs include lines that reference previous songs). Even alone, though, the joy is entirely couched in an awareness of death, and teenaged death at that (assuming my reading of “giant sneakers”). I realize that doesn’t make the rest of it treacly, but it provides an essential element that keeps it from getting stupid, at least for me.

Jenny, thanks for sharing that interview, which is absolutely fascinating. I’ve long been interested in Cave’s relationship to religion. His spiritual language, even in unbelief, carries a particular potency that isn’t just shared Christian literacy. There’s an existential element to his work that really resonates, and Wild God feels like a particular manifestation of that, more openly... agnostic? Curiously agnostic? Maybe the religious work here, both in the words and in the choir, help direct the bombast and potential schmaltz into something that I find incredibly effective.

Tim Clarke: Thanks for sharing that interview, Jenny. I had no idea Dave Fridmann worked on the album. I can really hear it now. That epic, overblown, overwhelming quality that he achieved with The Flaming Lips’ The Soft Bulletin back in the late 1990s.

Bryon Hayes: I honestly thought I’d have more to say about this album since I consider myself a Cave fan and have dipped in and out of his canon over the decades. Judging by the profound discourse thus far, many of you have fairly strong feelings about Wild God, whether they be positive or not. My own response has been surprisingly muted. Cave’s albums usually stir emotions in me; I’m usually quite moved by his lyrical themes, most obviously on Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen. This album just seems to sit in my head and doesn’t really punch me in the gut. Maybe I’m turned off by “happy Nick Cave,” as Tim mentioned previously. The thing is, I keep going back to it. I enjoy listening to Wild God, I'm just not immersed in it. I do think that Dave Fridmann’s work on the album is bringing up some nostalgia for those classic Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev albums, though. His influence is one element that I find to be endearing on Wild God, and I would definitely be interested in hearing Cave and Fridmann work together more.

Christian Carey: Here’s a quote from Cave to close things out: “All my songs are written from a place of spiritual yearning, because that is the place that I permanently inhabit. To me, personally, this place feels charged, creative and full of potential.” — Nick Cave

[robloxiansurvivors]

Two Time’s Intro (Corrupt Worlds AU)

“Someone once told me, ‘as long as we’re still here, we might as well make the most of it’…”

...

Fun Fact: Chance isn’t staring at the Flower in the photo.

NotashipnotashipnotashipnotashipnotashipnotashipNOTASHIPNOTASHIP- /lhj

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(*Brace yourselves: There will be A LOT of facts… Might edit this sometimes. I’ll keep the most important ones at the top. Anything under “Misc facts”, is less important)

(*While some of this is inspired from possibly-Canon Facts, not all of this is the same as Canon Two Time! Again, this is an AU!)

-Their text appears “Like This”… Not to be confused for Chance’s dialogue, which is purple inside with uncolored-quotations.

-Two Time. Of course, goes by They/Them pronouns… Though they are quite forgiving towards those who mistake them for He/Him (still, exclusively uses They/Them) (Please forgive mod if they get the pronouns confused: Mod suffers from chronic goldfish-memory.)

-The Spawn symbol on their shirt is gone in-present. It only reappears when they enter their Second-Life…

-They permanently keep their wings outside their Second-Life, no one is sure why this happened post being-Forsakened. (Their true Second-Life looks different in this AU… And possesses *some* abilities)

-In the past, (while Forsakened) the other Survivors would often feel uncomfortable being around Two Time. Didn’t help that they did have quite the habit of sneaking up on people—on accident, usually.

-In the present they are a pretty quiet individual, they tend to keep to themself… Though, they aren’t completely isolated or lonely; they talk with Chance the most out of the other Survivors he is living with in-present.

Feelings about their Roommates:

They are neutral about Elliot. They think Noob seems the most innocent out of all of them. They have plenty of respect for Guest, even if he ‘isn’t who he thought he was’… As the Admins had said.

As for Chance?:

Even if it’s almost been a year since they were freed; the two have been through a lot together…

…They will forever be grateful he was there for them.

~Misc Facts:

Gifts they were given:

Was given a few things by Chance, including the flowers that are on their shirt in-present. And the bracelet. Though they sometimes don’t wear the bracelet, sometimes they keep it in their inventory.

Azure used to give them a lot of gifts… Though, they were all left at the place Two Time used to live.

They used to have a picture of themself and Azure, but they had scribbled over it while Forsakened… They hid it in a Journal somewhere, only Chance has a clue on where.

-They have a real name, but not even Chance knows what it is. Their Cult renamed them “Two Time” after they’d sacrificed Azure.

-Two Time is banned from cooking in the kitchen. The others feel they’re too reckless to be let near the knives OR the stove.

-Azure got them into playing the Violin, they used to practice together when they weren’t busy… Sometimes Two Time still does play the Violin, but feels a bit conflicted when they do.

-Wayyy too knowledgeable about Knives, Cults, and Murder… Tries to keep from talking too much about it, but sometimes gets lost in unnerving tangents about these things.

-The name of their former Resident-World, or Home World), is Terra. While the History of that world is pretty normal, there are many residents of it that believe many Legends of Ancient, otherworldly beings, had influenced their worlds history—Or, “gods” as some would say…

-Their Family was obsessed with the Spawn, and was part of the Cult.. oddly, they don’t like talking about them. And have made no effort to regain contact with them post-Forsaken.

-They have a lot of OCD-esque habits due to things their Old Cult taught…

-Once confessed guilt for something (related to their old Cult’s teachings) to Chance. Who knows why him specifically…??

[wasabi-beeeeatz]

Let me talk about how full of emotions ORDER and WAR are and how each song has a story.

So we all know about the two out of three Prime bosses in Ultrakill yes? And their stories? If not, let me summarize each story.

Minos -

Former Judge of Hell and former King of Lust. Gabriel sentenced him to the Lust Layer and took over the job of the judge. Minos created an utopian city in the Lust Layer to protect his people from the heavy winds only to get STRUCK down by Gabriel and get his large corpse overrun by Parasites, said corpse gets controlled by said Parasites and destroys EVERYTHING he worked hard on building. His soul gets trapped into the Flesh Prison and he becomes Minos Prime.

Sisyphus -

Was a king, cheated death twice and his punishment is to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity up until the Heavens went silent. He used this downtime to form an army and wage war on the Angels of Heaven, knowing that he'll fail in the end. His head gets sliced off by no other than Gabriel, causing the army to quiver and lose the army now that their beacon of hope got slain. He formed into a Prime soul rather quickly so the Council trapped him into the Flesh Panopticon in fear that he'll break out once he wakes up.

NOW let me talk about their themes, starting with Minos Prime and ORDER.

Minos was a pacifist and still is. He only fights V1 because of the crimes against humanity it had caused up until this point in P - 1. When confronted with Gabriel he didn't fight, he tried to reason with the Archangel only to get his body brutally broken in the end. He didn't watch over his Kingdom of Lust for the fame and glory, he watched over it to give the sinners there a peaceful afterlife as he thought the act of lust was not a sin worth getting punished for. His Prime soul reflects this by having a hole for a face. His story is solemn, depressing and hopeful AND his theme, ORDER, reflects that by having the intro to it have like a violin like instrument playing. The Requim leitmotif that plays in the middle of the track is LOUD and IN YOUR FACE but yet it still has that violin like instrument playing. The song is more quiet and melancholy than WAR, which is VERY loud but we'll get to that very soon, but it still has that anger to it. He is angry at you, V1, and he is going to give YOU judgement for the sins you have done. When defeated, he will apologize for not saving his children from this cruel, dark world that is now run by Machines. He is at fault for not being able to save his people from being thrown into disarray after getting slain by Gabriel.

Now let's talk about Mr. One must imagine aka King Sisyphus, a tyrannical king that cheated not once but twice in his life time.

Sisyphus was no pacifist. He was a tyrant who deserved his punishment. He fights V1 as if it was a game or warmup for the real deal of crushing the Heavens. He quite literally has the power of the sun as his absence of a head gets replaced by a glowing orb that resembles the bright star. He decided to wage war on the people of Heaven, fully knowing that he'll just fail but he still did it. He was frustrated, angry, FULL of RAGE that he got punished but he enjoys it. He enjoys his punishment and his theme, WAR, reflects that. WAR is loud, abrasive, and in your face, with a guitar like instrument playing in the intro. It is showing how ANGRY Sisyphus is. The Sands of Tide leitmotif in the middle of the track is LOUD and IN YOUR FACE, much like the Requim leitmotif in ORDER but it has the feeling of enraged to it. The leitmotif is NOT quiet, it is LOUD. IMPATIENT. ENRAGED. It shows how he cheated, lied, and got his way in his life time and afterlife time. He fights V1 as if the machine was just an appetizer. When defeated, he will ramble on how the times of King Sisyphus has now ended, that he never regretted a single second of it and died laughing.

TL:DR;

I love these two old men and I hope whatever the third Prime boss is gets a theme that is equal to ORDER and WAR and gets recognizable as well.

[doin-ur-mum]

intro post cause it's finally time

name- liv

asks- please send me asks i actually love responding to them

pronouns- they/them tends to be your best bet but they do occasionally change, just look in my description thingy if you're not sure

fandoms- im in so many it would actually take so long to list them all but (fandom wise) i mostly post about solitaire, 911 and the marauders with the random post about another fandoms thrown in

random stuff about me

i can't spell to save my life

i play violin and guitar

despite the fact that my room is pink (and always has been) i actually hate the color

i read a lot, like over 100 books a year a lot

i am always listening to music

somehow i always get the highest grades in my year (im still not sure how i do this)

im always cold

im bi

my favourite type of tea is chai

i like never sleep

i can never watch an entire film at once i always have to start and finish it on different days (the only exception to this is when im watching it with other people)

i speak english and spanish, i can read and write french (obviously english and spanish too) but can not speak it to save my life, im also in the process of learning italian (i am not fluent in any language but english tho)

i almost never capitalise stuff (as you can see)

i tend to ramble on about stuff

idk ive run out of stuff, ngl im not really that interesting