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90363462 · 2 years ago

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80 Best Lyrics From Taylor Swift’s Midnights For Your Instagram Captions

Oct. 21, 2022

Name one Swiftie who’s never used a Taylor Swift lyric as an Instagram caption. I’ll wait. During Swift’s 16-year career, she has delivered countless turns of phrases and relatable one-liners that fans have used as captions to encapsulate their photos and videos. On Midnights — and the album’s seven bonus tracks — Swift once again blessed us with Instagram-worthy lyrics, at one point fittingly asking on bonus track “Paris” this important question: “Did you see the photos?”

In the 11-time Grammy winner’s 20 songs on Midnights (3 a.m. edition), you’ll notice several themes — like drinking, loving, dancing, traveling, and polishing up real nice — that are prime Instagram fodder. For frequent travelers and romantic dancers, turn to “Snow on the Beach” (“My flight was awful, thanks for asking”) and “Glitch” (“That’s romance, let’s dance”).

For the partiers or solo drinkers, you can take advantage of lyrics on “Dear Reader” (“My fourth drink in my hand”); “The Great War” (“I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone”); “Question...?” (“It was one drink after another”); “Maroon” (“Your roommate’s cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that’s how”); and “Paris”(“Cheap wine, make believe it’s champagne”).

Longtime listener Zainub Amir, who runs the popular Swift-centric Twitter account @SwiftNYC, told Bustle why people gravitate toward Swift’s music when crafting their own social content: “Taylor’s words and lyrical prowess are perfect for captions because she constructs her lyrics very concisely and strategically so there are a ton of relatable, witty phrases for fans to latch onto.”

For the lovers, you can use these poetic lines from “Labyrinth” (“Uh-oh, I’m falling in love”); “Lavender Haze” (“I just need this love spiral”); “Question...?” (“Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?”); “Paris” (“I’m so in love that I might stop breathing”); and “Midnight Rain” (“My boy was a montage / A slow-motion, love potion”).

So, when you’re ready to “plant a memory garden,” as Swift puts it on “The Great War,” come back to this list of the 80 best Midnightslyrics to use for your Instagram captions.

1. “Lavender Haze”

Meet me at midnight

I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

Talk your talk and go viral / I just need this love spiral

2. “Maroon”

That’s a real f*cking legacy to leave

Your roommate’s cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that’s how

I chose you / The one I was dancing with / In New York, no shoes

The lips I used to call home / So scarlet, it was maroon

3. “Anti-Hero”

It’s me, hi I’m the problem, it’s me

I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror

When my depression works the graveyard shift / All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room

I should not be left to my own devices / They come with prices and vices / I end up in crisis

4. “Snow on the Beach”

My flight was awful, thanks for asking

Time can’t stop me quite like you did

It’s like snow at the beach / Weird, but f*cking beautiful

My smile is like I won a contest / And to hide that would be so dishonest

5. “You’re on Your Own, Kid”

I touch my phone as if it’s your face

You’re on your own, kid / You always have been

I didn’t choose this town / I dream of getting out

I search the party of better bodies / Just to learn that you never cared

6. “Midnight Rain”

He was sunshine, I was midnight rain

My boy was a montage / A slow-motion, love potion

I never think of him / Except on midnights like this

It came like a postcard / Picture perfect shiny family / Holiday peppermint candy

7. “Question...?”

Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?

15 seconds later, they were clapping too?

It was one drink after another

Does it feel like everything’s just like / Second best after that meteor strike?

8. “Vigilante Shit”

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man

Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge

Ladies always rise above / Ladies know what people want

On my vigilante shit again

9. “Bejeweled”

I polish up real nice

I miss you, but I miss sparkling

By the way, I’m going out tonight

Best believe I’m still bejeweled / When I walk in the room / I can still make the whole place shimmer

10. “Labyrinth”

Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out

I thought the plane was going down / How’d you turn it right around?

Break up, break free, break through, break down

Uh-oh, I’m falling in love / Oh no, I’m falling in love again / Oh, I’m falling in love

11. “Karma”

Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend

Karma is a cat purring in my lap ’cause it loves me

Karma is the guy on the screen / Coming straight home to me

Flexing like a goddamn acrobat / Me and karma vibe like that

12. “Sweet Nothing”

You’re in the kitchen humming

I found myself a-running home to your sweet nothings

I spy with my little tired eye / Tiny as a firefly, a pebble

Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors / And smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other

13. “Mastermind”

You and I ended up in the same room at the same time

The touch of a hand lit the fuse / Of a chain reaction of countermoves / To assess the equation of you / Checkmate, I couldn’t lose

What if I told you I’m a mastermind? / And now you’re minе / It was all by design / ’Cause I’m a mastermind

I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ’cause I care

14. “The Great War”

We can plant a memory garden

It turned into something bigger

I vowed I would always be yours

I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone

15. “Bigger Than The Whole Sky”

Salt streams out my eyes and into my ears

You were bigger than the whole sky / You were more than just a short time

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

I’m never gonna meet / What could’ve been, would’ve been / What should’ve been you

16. “Paris”

Did you see the photos?

I’m so in love that I might stop breathing

Cheap wine, make believe it’s champagne

Sip quiet by my side in the shade / And not the kind that’s thrown

17. “High Infidelity”

Rain soaking, blind hoping

Put on your records and regret me

You know there’s many different ways that you can kill the one you love / The slowest way is never loving them enough

Do you really wanna know where I was April 29th?

18. “Glitch”

That’s romance, let’s dance

I was supposed to sweat you out

We were supposed to be just friends

I’m not even sorry, nights are so starry / Blood moonlit / It must be counterfeit / I think there’s been a glitch

19. “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”

I miss who I used to be

If I was some paint, did it splatter

Stained glass windows in my mind

If you never saved me from boredom I could’ve gone on as I was

20. “Dear Reader”

My fourth drink in my hand

Pick somewhere and just run

Never take advice from someone who’s falling apart

If you don’t recognize yourself / That means you did it right

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bearseokie · 4 years ago

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boyfriend! oneus

[ gender-neutral! ]

oneus m.list | navi. | nsfw! bf! oneus (M)

Ravn:

selfie game, strong! between his insane visuals and like-minded camera angles, you're never let down by his pretty selfies that he sends you throughout the day. mainly paired with his chin to his chest while he's pouting and a silly caption.

if you think his selfies are good, the way he takes couple pictures? chef's kiss. you're never low on pics to post to social media or to put on your fridge. even the embarrassing ones, but he'll whine about those later.

matching onesies or couple pajamas.

walks up to you just to rest his chin on your head or shoulder and breathe you in.

holds your hand in the way that his entire hand envelops the width of your fingers while you hold on to his thumb.

asks for you to buy him flowers more than he gets them for you. you can't help but want to see his eyes sparkle at the sight of a dozen roses, though.

is probably biting his lip unwillingly but also on purpose. it's a habit you learn to enjoy. he does it when he's focused too, so you always know if he's paying attention or not. as confident as he is, he blushes when you call him out for it.

wraps his arms all the way around your torso and picks you up in a hug just because he can.

will see something out of the corner of his eye and make a whole circle to turn towards it. usually it's a gift of a random item he thinks you'll adore, and you always do. you'll gain a little collection of things you never imagined you'd own being with him.

genuinely not used to physical contact and tends to be rougher than he means to be. he's a temperate boy that has a habit of patting your head or kissing you a little too hard because he's in love and is still learning.

talks your ears off when you're alone. if you don't pull his beanie over his face, he won't shut up.

comes across as intimidating, but is literally the most considerate person. like he will physically reel you backwards just to gently push away an eyelash from your cheek and kiss your lips.

big pant, big shirt. aka his and your big pant and big shirt. sharing is caring. he gets butterflies in his stomach watching your hand caress over the clothes hanging in his closet as you search for something to wear.

unintentional - but completely intentional - lip locking. like he'll bend over to reach across your form laying on the bed when you’re distracted and he’ll be right in your face. before you know it, you're sitting up and your lips are colliding. especially loves doing this in public because your warm face is his rapid beating heart.

will admit to others how much he loves you but will be so stubborn behind closed doors. says things like "are you sure we're talking about the same person? me, wait— me? I'm in love with you? no— no, you're right. I'm guilty."

pouty boy with big, pleading eyes all the time.

runs his fingertips over the lines of your hands. you catch him mimicking them on his own and smiling like an idiot when they match.

take his flannels. do it.

late nights where he bursts through your door while you're sleeping and shakes you awake to run a few lyrics by you. always second guesses himself, but when he sees that you're actually taken back by the words, he gets all smiley bolts back to work.

snuggles into your pillow until you lay down with him, then you're his true cuddle buddy.

Seoho:

dramatically pulls his coats off to put over your shoulders. his constant body heat can warm you up immediately.

takes you on movie dates just to sit in the very back and have heavy make outs with you. like panting, fingers laced in each other's hair, bodies fighting to get into each other’s seats — make out sessions.

his! laugh! the way you can get him to laugh is definitely one of his favorite things in the world, and his smile could light up a room. also has the tendency to laugh at you even when you're not being funny.

pushes his face into the crook of your neck to fall asleep. his breath on your skin can make you feel weird and loved at the same time, but his sound sleeps are worth it. also pushes you to lay on your back so he can curl up beside you and rub his forehead against you.

more chaotic dates where he does things you're afraid of just to show you not to be so scared. hugs you like a koala for the rest of the day.

matching outfits like crazy. even down to the accessories. loves spoiling you with new outfits even if you tell him you hate getting gifts so often.

hugs your waist and lifts you up to reach something instead of getting it down himself.

will have the same pic of you and him set as everything. his phone’s lockscreen, wallpaper, his laptop’s lockscreen, wallpaper, profile pics, it’s the only post on his social media.

so in love that it can come across as icky. blushing cheeks, sweaty palms, a bounce in his step.

mocks you like you’re already an old married couple. but his loving banter comes off as charming.

the saying 'know you like the back of my hand' had to have been written by him, himself, because he does, in fact, know you that well. he knows the different sounds of your sneezes - aka whether you have a cold or not. he knows the change of your morning voice versus the tone you have in the middle of the day. anything going through your mind, this man has down pact.

random night calls where he just goes 'I'm at the door, let me in." because his hands are too full to reach for his key. stumbles in with bags full of snacks and treats just to have you both sit on the floor eating and ranting until dawn.

the softest kisses. and I mean the softest kisses. like michael angelo adding details to his paintings, type soft. you can hardly ever feel them and barely knows he's there until he starts laughing or vibrating from the sudden eye contact you're giving him.

would rather waddle side to side in a back hug than let you go to walk somewhere alone.

has a list of everything he loves to share with you over time. movies, music, random memos in his phone.

included in those phone memos are literally so many details about you that it can make your eyes roll. he has the smallest details noted and little asterisks to remind him to write them down in a physical journal one day, but you might have to do that for him.

a lot quieter than he makes himself out to be. is basically a ghost when you're around him. the only way you really ever know where he is is if he's lugging around a bluetooth speaker with music playing.

messy! hair! he will literally refuse to brush his own hair until you do it for him. loves it more if you just use your fingers to comb his locks.

squinted eyes because he's smiling at you so hard that he'll probably bump into something in the process.

lets you hold both sides of his face in your palms. especially if he's cold. sometimes you can squish.

Leedo:

being with gunhak — it is literally a love novel.

warm eyes that sparkle when he looks at you. you notice it and keep quiet just to bask in his affection, but it’s always the first thing people mention when they talk about your relationship.

can’t help but reach his hand across the table to hold yours while you eat.

scrunches his nose when you say silly things.

the most attentive person when you’re telling a story. will sit with his chin in his palm and his eyes going between your gaze and lips as you speak. makes constant “mhm” and “ohh” sounds to let you know he’s right in the story with you. stops you to laugh at the way you say a specific word. you both spend hours sitting somewhere together just telling stories back and forth until the sun rises or sets.

can’t go a single day without throwing you over his shoulder and carrying you around.

has his hand on your lower back all day. like all day. in public, at home, in bed while you're sleeping. as long as his hand is on your back, you know he’s next to you.

his face is always a hotter temperature than the rest of his body, especially if you’ve been looking at him all day. crimson cheeks, red-tipped ears, reddened lips because he can’t stop kissing you.

sleeps with you laying in between his legs and your head on his chest. you fall asleep to the beat of his heartbeat while he plays with your fingers and listens to your breathing.

puts you in the shopping cart before any items just so he can wheel you around and listen to you laugh when he pretends he’s going to ram into something.

will pull the shirt/jacket/top he was wearing over his head and toss it to you to wear or hug if he’s leaving so you don’t miss him too much.

isn’t extremely good with speaking words to express what he wants to say, so oftentimes you find little notebook pages folded around the house with love notes written on them. him telling you how much he appreciates how much you do for him. him saying ‘i love you’ in different colored ink in different kinds of ways. sometimes a smashed flower in between the pages just for added scents. completely a cheesy romantic with love notes.

likes to let you drive so he can put his elbow against the window and stare at you from across the front of the vehicle. while you’re focused he’s grinning and giggling because it’s ‘super adorable’.

sends flowers to your work at the most inappropriate times in order to keep anyone that’s been flirting with you in their place. very subtle about being protective, and thankfully never has to make large leaps to have others understand you’re unavailable. thinks it’s the best thing in the world when someone is eyeing you and you come running to him to dramatically toss your arms around his neck and place a kiss on his lips.

enjoys having cleverly matching pieces. a pair of earrings shared between the two of you. matching bracelets. soft cotton shirts you can wear on your days off. two blankets of the same designs but different colors.

severely embraces breaking his shyness when it comes to pda. will pull you into his arms and kiss you while walking down the street. lets you sit on his lap in a busy place. carries you on his back around big stores.

works out with you around him. if he wants to do sit ups, you're holding his feet. if he wants to do push ups, you're laying under him giving him kisses every time he comes down.

forehead kisses. temple kisses. cheek kisses. literally all of the softest kisses.

terribly difficult to wake up, but the sound of your voice will draw his lids to open in an instant so he can see your smiling face.

super nervous about the entire relationship so you have to guide him at a reasonable pace. hold his hand first, kiss him first, even say 'i love you' first, but he'll return it all in a beat after you express your love.

Hwanwoong:

would be the one to have that situation where you met by running into each other at full force and had to laugh it off despite how much pain you were both in. he does something like offer to buy you a drink as an apology and then he never leaves your side.

sits with him between your legs and his back pressed into your front so you can hug him around his waist and lean on him.

smells are a huge deal to him. hoards light scented candles and renames them with comic titles or references to your relationship just to make you laugh when he calls them out in conversations.

runs his fingers through your hair as a way of showing affection on a regular basis. if you’re in public, he’ll sneak in a quick kiss just because he isn’t huge on pda.

but not liking pda doesn't mean he won't cling to you behind closed doors. he can't go very long without brushing his skin against your own, even in a subtle way.

physically capable of making meals on his own, or with you, but he's too lazy. enjoy the take out! also huge on getting snack foods to feed you in a romantic way without it being intentional.

quiet. very quiet. he enjoys silence while holding you or waking up in the midst of the night just to hear you sleeping peacefully. it's his solace.

although he gets whiny, he will let you do anything you want to him. test out makeup looks on him, play with his hair, make him dress up for you. just as long as you can reciprocate by going on sweet dates with him or let him read his favorite stories to you, he's all for it.

gets you random, very personal gifts. his attentiveness is insane, so he'll give you something like a better-formed pillow to help you sleep or a journal of your silly inside jokes to keep around when you have to be apart.

pretends he's not emotional during the day only to spill the deepest things to you at night. you're his diary and he loves you for that.

but with his distant state, you're still the one to notice things first. if he's too tired, if he's hungry - you know the tell-tale signs and can quietly get him back on his feet. you’re basically his weakness and muse all at once.

he might be the last one to wake up, but that's just because he enjoys knowing you slept by his side all night.

tilts your head to the side to kiss you because he thinks it's romantic.

doesn't care who you think you are, he will give you a piggyback ride.

does that thing where you'll be doing something important and he'll be sat next to you whispering jokes into your ear to keep you from getting stressed. also has to hold your hand the entire time or else he'll get up.

intuitive to your emotions and feelings. if you're in pain somewhere, he's in pain. if you're laughing, he's laughing.

the most pleasing, deep morning voice ever. doesn't even have to try. it's like two octaves lower than his regular voice and will always give you the shivers.

instead of big things for dates he does tasks like have all of your house chores done when you return or studies up on your school work to help you out. it's his way of showing affection and appreciation. but he does bigger things too like cover your bathroom in flower petals with a nice bath running when you get home.

has a tendency of saying your name the most when he’s sleeping.

makes choreography and dedicates them to you all the time. will tug you into the practice room to show you moves. but then he's giggling uncontrollably and starts complimenting you until you kiss him.

Keonhee:

records everything all the time. has backup storage just so he can film everything you both do or take a thousand pictures. spends literal hours printing out the pictures to make photo albums or put them on his wall so he never has to go a moment without seeing you. carries around a physical, mini album just to stare at while he’s traveling or feels lonely.

loves showering with you. will take the showerhead off of the wall and hold it over you while making lightsaber sounds.

loves the sound of you saying his name more than anything. when he's happy, upset, angry - just a call of his name can settle his emotions. and maybe a kiss too.

will sit or lay somewhere and just stare at you with a big, goofy grin on his face and loving sparkles in his eyes for no particular reason.

claps your hands together before he holds them.

makes music playlists titled with hysterical names that are more distracting than the chaos of the actual list. names them with emojis and such to see if you can code his secret love messages.

his lips are always redder than normal around you. quite literally doesn't know when or how to stop kissing you.

cannot comprehend how he could love someone more than you. it's that dumb love like he'll trip over his own two feet, say your name instead of his own when ordering something, or even intentionally get something he hates just because you like it.

changes the color of the led lights to define the mood. happy, sad, sexy time. the room is a rainbow every week.

contrary to popular belief of the cancer man, he's not clingy until you tell him to be. postpones all physical contact to the last moment when you ask why he's distant and give him consent to holding you whenever he wants. then he never lets you go.

has to be even in height with you ninety percent of the day, even if you're off by a few centimeters. helps you sit on the kitchen counter, hunches to kiss you, lifts you up by your waist.

being on opposite ends of a room while he's doing hand gestures and silently singing you the song stuck in his head.

his most genuine habit is giving away all of his emotions in his eyes. one glance and you know exactly how he feels, even if he isn't speaking about it aloud.

thinks being out in the rain is extremely romantic but will pull you back inside at the first drop because "you might get a cold".

hardly wears clothes when he starts getting seriously comfortable with you. no shirt, maybe some pajama pants, maybe some socks with random patterns on them. if he gets hot at any point, shield your eyes.

pouts without actually pouting. you'll hear a little huff from beside you instead.

put your belongings into the rips of his jeans instead of his pockets. they're 'safe'.

visibly shudders when he gets to hold your hand after a long day.

so many shoulder kisses you can't even keep up with them anymore.

you have a collection of him scrunching his nose when you're trying to get soft couple pictures because he can't take it seriously.

Xion:

if you fall asleep on him at any point during the day, he'll wrap you in his jacket or a blanket around you and carry you to bed. he'll let you rest comfortably while he lays beside you and watches you sleep while running his fingers across your face in a loving way.

sleeps holding your hand no matter what position you're both in.

dates are basically: carnivals to sit at the top of the ferris wheel and make out peacefully, picnics in the park to pick flowers and put them in your hair, going to bookstores just to shuffle through the comics and mangas.

bites you. slowly. he’s not the type to just bite into your skin randomly, more like you’ll get big puppy eyes and know he’s up to something before you feel a little nibble.

competitive in an ‘i’ll let you win if you give me a kiss’ way. guess who always wins. sike it’s him because he can use it as an excuse to make you pouty and then kiss you until you can’t even pretend to be angry anymore.

loves singing to you and only you.

hand-makes you jewelry because he finds it more endearing than buying them. plus it's sentimental.

hates blushing in front of others, but you can make him blush from a few words. loves the pet names you come up with. they sound like common conversation pieces so no one questions why you said them until they notice his face is nearly crimson.

unintentionally does romantic stuff. plays ballads over a speaker while prancing around until you take his hand and dance with him. finds a rose bush and gently clips a single flower to put in a vase for you. absentmindedly kisses your knuckles when he sees you for the first time in a while.

has the hardest time showing emotions, but does have the tendency to cry when parting or send you chain texts about how much he misses you when he's away.

random cheek kisses throughout the day.

sweater paws because you're both wearing his large hoodies and holding hands.

has more soft objects than you've ever witnessed a person own. now they're partially yours, so choose a stuffed animal.

random store dates where you go inside and find the strangest items you both fall in love with and get to put on display at home. you know when you go to someone's house and see an object that makes you question how it got there? he gets a lot of those for the two of you. 'conversation pieces', he says.

remembers cheesy quotes to tell you throughout the day to make you smile. if he wasn't in love, he'd never think twice about memorizing them.

probably thinking about kissing you every second of every day, but he uses his kisses wisely.

steals your shirts to sleep with when he's away because they smell like you.

cannot handle more than holding your hand in public at first, but he'll learn to love pda very quickly if you enjoy it.

where has all his phone's storage gone? oh, they're just pictures of you sleeping.

so adorned by you that his eyes literally sparkle, even if you're in his peripheral.

#oneus #oneus headcanon #oneus headcanons #oneus imagines #oneus scenarios #ravn #kim youngjo #seoho #lee seoho #leedo #kim gunhak #kim geonhak #hwanwoong #yeo hwanwoong #keonhee #lee keonhee #xion #son dongju #oneus.headcanon

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eurydicees · 3 years ago

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thoughts on the musicals y’all recommended!

tysm for all the recs! i had so much fun listening to them, i really appreciate it! always feel free to rec more :)

to preface, there’s no actual judging system. it’s all about the vibes. so, in the order that i listened to them:

the mad ones

i already made a post abt this one, but i have to mention it again. i’ve been listening to it on repeat. like. straight up on a loop.

i’m obsessed with this

the storyline is so put together, and you can really feel the heart of the show

the characters were well written (with the exception of the boyfriend tbh, i could have done without him), and i’m so fascinated by sam and kelly’s relationship (writers were cowards for making them not gay)

the songs felt super cohesive, and the repeated drum loop was super well integrated. the sound techie in me is fascinated by the way this show was put together, and i’d love to see it performed (like. fr. i was getting ideas for the design. which is always so much fun)

19.75/10

romeo es julia

holy shit this slaps

costumes were weird

but the music was brilliant

some of the captioned lyrics were ???? bad translation or bad lyrics??? but the sound was incredible so i don’t even care

mercutio and tybalt were spot on

the moms were GREAT. i LOVED their voices, like. could FEEL the emotions, even if i didn’t know wtf they were saying

pretty much everyone was like that, like idk what’s going on via words, but i def can feel it, which is the best kind of song

my mother didn’t like this one but whatever, she didn’t get to see the choreo that went with it so what does she know

the SET. the LIGHTS. the SOUND. the SET. the LIGHTS. the SOUND. chef’s kiss.

14/10

ordinary days

i liked “favorite places” and “beautiful” a lot, but the rest of the songs were only okay

i wasn’t super attached to the characters and the singing was just. like. okay for me. i didn’t love any of them in particular

my mother also didn’t like this one, rip. she has a lot of opinions on musicals.

6/10

venice

oh my fucking god????????

not what i expected at all. right from the first lines i was like. 😲😲😲

like. this was so good??? wtf???? hamilton meets shakespeare meets the mechanisms meets les mis meets post-9/11 politics meets dystopia. i thought it couldn’t be done, but here i am, in awe

i was going to include some favorite lines but. it’s just all of them. ALL of them.

further confirmation that i’m in love with jennifer damiano.

also angela polk?? incredible

it’s weird bc it’s so clearly Not Broadway Music, but it’s also not trying to be, which i enjoy. i can see why some critics hated it (read some really funny reviews lmao), but i really loved the sound (haven’t seen the show, though, and that’s half of a musical, so maybe gonna try and find a bootleg)

18.99/10

count of monte cristo

damn from the overture this was. Intense. like. damn. i’m a slut for any dies irae sequence, so i was a big fan of that

that being said. gonna be real. i had no idea what was happening throughout the entire musical. it’s a pretty music-light show, so that’s probably why?

maybe it would make more sense if i watched a performance rather than just listening to the soundtrack??? idk. anyone got a bootleg?

thomas borchert has a nice voice. very distinctive. googled him to see where else i can listen to him. he was rum tum tugger. anyways. mad respect for this man

sonically, it didn’t feel like a very cohesive show? like it felt like there were a lot of diff vibes going around

lots of good songs for my evil musicals playlist though

11/10

once on this island (2017 revival)

ok turns out musicals are a lot better when sung by professionals than by sixth graders who think they can belt even tho their voices are still cracking

also turns out that stories can be much more complex and interesting-- and have much deeper themes of racism and classism-- when on broadway than when in a sweaty middle school auditorium in an upper middle class white neighborhood

funny how that works, huh

i’m still a little unsure abt it, and probably wouldn’t listen to it just because i can, but i definitely don’t object to it anymore

ty for making me give it a second try

hailey kilgore is brilliant in this

the singing in general is REALLY impressive and beautiful

12.68/10

death note

i cannot express enough in words how mad i am that i actually liked this

genuinely don’t know how to feel

i do think that i would get more out of it if i watched the anime, but it was still pretty easy to follow, just knowing the premise

idk who the cast is bc i found a weird shady playlist on spotify rather than a cast recording, but the girl’s voice (idk character names) was beautiful. “i’ll only love you more” was SO good

reminded me a little of jekyll and hyde? which? huh

also i’m now getting tik tok videos with audio from this musical can my iphone stop stalking me for ONE second

fucking unfair that this is actually a good soundtrack. the desire to find a bootleg is unholy.

14.87/10

35mm

why did no one tell me that alex brightman is in this!!!!

i listened to a few songs and really enjoyed them, but didn't get through the whole album lmao

but i did really enjoy what i did listen to, and i'm gonna come back to it

9/10

ghost quartet

i wanted to like this one. SO badly. i REALLY wanted to like it.

but i couldn't really get into it?

there were a few songs that absolutely slapped, but overall, it was just kinda. eh. which sucks bc i have heard such good things about it

i LOVED "the astronomer," "the telescope," and "lights out"

but i didn't get through the entire album

i'll come back to it eventually and give it another try, i think. i might just not have been in the specific mood for it

9.8/10

#ty again!#i always appreciate recs #the mad ones #romeo es julia #35mm #venice #count of monte cristo #ghost quartet #death note musical #once on this island #elektra #ordinary days

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cxsmicmyeon · 4 years ago

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BAMBI!!!

hi there it’s 7:15 in the morning i have classes in a half hour and i just listened to bambi and oh my gosh what a stunning song and video wthatyahahah!!!

first of all, the 1920′s vibes i get from the music video are so damn strong and i fucking love it! it reminds me of this one baekhyun fic i read a while ago and aaaa!!!!

the lyrics! oh my lord thank u sm for putting english translation in captions bc omfg i love the lyrics sm! (i’m his favorite :D)

the choreo slaughtered me xoxo i died i’m a ghost writing this xoxo

BAEK’S VOCALS????? EXCUSE ME???? HIGH NOTE???? I AM NOW ALIVE AND MY SKIN CLEARED AND MY GRADES ARE PERFECT THANK U ENDLESSLY BYUN BAEKHYUN I LOVE YOU <3

i wouldn’t mind sitting in the rain with baekhyun ooh shall i write a fic on that?

in conclusion i absolutely adored everything about the song and m/v and i’m so so endlessly proud of baekhyun for breaking his pre-sale record. he snapped yet again and i am so here for it.

my ranking: go stream bambi while i bask in my tears bc this song was so damn amazing/10

#bambi baekhyun #byun baekhyun #baekhyun #stream bambi #i love u baekhyun #<3 #starry crying over music

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nobody-wants-ice-cream · 5 years ago

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Everything Wrong With The Umbrella Academy. Episode 3, Extra Ordinary.

We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals

Run Boy Run

Usual disclaimer: This is all in good fun! I wanted to do a really nitpicky re-watch of the series and found some really cool and interesting things I didn’t notice before. This is meant to have a Cinema Sins-esque tone. However, I did take off a lot more sins than Cinema Sins would have because I do genuinely like the series and the people that made it possible. So all of the good things got one sin off and all the bad things got one sin added. This is a really long post, so grab some popcorn. If there’s anything that I missed, feel free to add it!

Vanya was clearly about to sell her violin. She looked dejected and sad and was detached from her violin case. This is in character for Vanya on her pills, who must have decided that she wasn’t good enough at one point. Sin for putting Vanya through trauma. +1

The Umbrella Academy comics are priced weirdly. The one on the right is $25.00 and the one on the left is $15.00. What makes the one on the right more expensive? It even says on the cover that the one on the right was supposed to be $0.50. So why the inflation? Taking a closer look, all six heroes are on the cover, so it’s not that either of them are pre-Five leaving and therefore more expensive because Five is on both of them. Though, the one on the right does have a picture of Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Ben, and Reginald under where it says that the comic is 50 cents. To make a long rant short, the comics that Vanya looks at in the pawn shop window are confusing. +1

However, Gabriel Ba’s art. -1

The strange lack of technology means that Vanya’s book was written on a typewriter. +1

Vanya needed 6 pencils to write her book with. These are maybe supposed to symbolize Vanya’s 6 siblings, in which case, interesting detail, but still. Six pencils. As opposed to one pencil and a pencil sharpener? Why all the tools Vanya? +1

The six pencils (with two pointer up) symbolize Vanya’s six siblings, two of which turned around since the siblings they are supposed to represent (Five and Ben) are no longer around. -1

Vanya’s dying houseplant. Water that! +1

Vanya collects another houseplant and it looks relatively healthy. -1

The messy table garbage still has the same plate and same crumpled papers/napkins in the same position. Either Vanya was super lazy, or the set designer/director was. +1

Vanya replaced the dying houseplant with the fresh one. Poor houseplant. I will mourn you. +1

“Lost Woman” has some really on the nose lyrics. Playing the phrase “lonely woman” before Vanya starts narrating her book is ridiculously on the nose. +1

However, “Lost Woman” happens to be one of my favorite tracks from the series. -1

Luther should be part ape in this scene, (as it takes place five years ago, not seven), but he looks completely normal. This is a massive continuity error so I’m adding two sins. +2

“Starved for attention” is the line Vanya narrates over Allison reading it. On. The. Nose. +1

Diego is so pissed off at Vanya that he tapes her likeness to a punching bag and punches it. You know, like a rational adult. +1

Klaus is wearing birkenstocks and burgundy capris. +1

Also, Ben and Klaus work together to read a book. -1

But I have to ask, why did the rehab let Klaus read during group therapy. And shush his dead brother’s ghost. +1

Ben is pissed off by the line “and haunted by what might have been.” On the nose. +1

Five reads the harsh line “we all wanted to be loved by a man incapable of giving love” while next to Dolores, who is also incapable of giving love because she is a mannequin. Also, Five reads this book, full of vitriol and hate, as the last connection he has to his siblings, at age thirteen. +2

Reginald doesn’t read the book that his daughter wrote. As usual, Reggie is a dick to Vanya. +1

Vanya’s reaction to being late to rehearsal is so relatable. I swear I have done this a thousand times as a musician. -1

The Netflix captions (yes I watch with captions) say “Chamber music playing”. They have a conductor. +1

The conductor has the character of all conductors. Dick. +1

Vanya isn’t vibrating when the rest of the orchestra is. Late or not, you still need to follow the concertmaster, Vanya. +1

The rainy weather matching Vanya’s stormy mood. Foreshadowing. -1

Badass umbrella title screen. -1

However, why are all those people stopping in the street? It’s raining, get to where you’re going! +1

Allison and Luther watch the tape where Reggie dies over and over. This is weird, even if they are trying to figure out if Grace killed him. Who would want to watch someone die over and over? Not even I want to replay Reggie dying, and I genuinely hate him. +1

Luther says that Reggie thought people were out to get him. On the first watch, the audience can chalk this up to Reggie being a paranoid old man, however on the second watch we know that the Commission exists and that Reggie is probably not from this world. So either of those groups could have been out to get him. But who? This remains a sin until they explain it. +1

Training posters in the kitchen. The kitchen! Really, Reggie. +1

There’s this weird caterpillar thing with a face behind Grace in this scene. What the hell is that? +1

There was also a radio in the kitchen, which implies that Reggie either let them listen to tunes, or had training cassettes the same way he had training records. Either way, what the hell, Reggie? +1

There is a ridiculous amount of light sources in this one room. +1

Grace has a cactus full of toothpicks or skewers by the stove. Cute art project, whichever kid but likely Diego based on his fascination with pointy things. -1

The “your father was a great man” speech. Poor Grace. +1

Jordan Clare Robbins is an excellent actress. -1

Smiley face made of two eggs and a strip of bacon. -1

Diego doesn’t understand the chain of custody regarding evidence. Patch says that if he touches a piece of evidence, she can’t use it in her case. How many murderers have walked free because of Diego? +1

Hazel and Cha Cha use bullets from 1963. Dallas foreshadowing? Remains a sin until season two confirms the Dallas plot. +1

These bullets were found on the random local hires Five killed at Griddy’s. Why does the Commission use bullets from the early 60’s? Isn’t that a big red flag to their time organization? +1

Patch indulges Diego the Vigilante by asking for his help. You’re a police officer, you got this, Patch. Also, this foreshadows her death when she does things his way and gets killed for it. +1

Diego tells Patch to investigate Five. Oh, the irony. +1

“I do give a shit” is such a weird line to try to portray as romantic with the music, tone, and lighting, show. +1

Beeman, unprofessionally, brings up the fact that Patch and Diego used to date while at a crime scene. +1

Vanya washes her hands for two seconds and then goes to talk to Helen. Almost like that was the real reason why she was in there. +1

Vanya attempts to compliment Helen Cho, who is overall, not interested. Is this Vanya’s repressed way of flirting? Pick a better time.+1

Seriously, what is with Vanya and starting conversations at the absolute worst time. It’s like she wants to get insulted. +1

No way in hell would one professional musician to another be this bitchy, Helen Cho. +1

Helen straight up calls Vanya talentless. What an awful thing to say! +1

She softens, as if she just gave Vanya legitimate career advice, but she didn’t. She really just insulted the time and effort Vanya put into her instrument. As a musician, I can confirm that what Helen just said is the equivalent of saying something really, really nasty. Tumblr hate anons have nothing on what Helen just said. +3

Vanya takes a pill after being called talentless. Pill foreshadowing. -1

Cha Cha uses a curling iron to cauterise the wound Five gave her from the shovel. Where did the curling iron come from? +1

“The entire fate of the universe” oh Hazel. Thanks for the irony. +1

How did no one in the history of this shady motel notice the hidden panel? You would think at least one person attempting to have shower sex or someone cleaning or someone doing matinence should have noticed that, right? +1

Five stitches up his wound by himself despite the fact that multiple people are in the house that are capable. He’s going to pull a few of those based on the angle. Also, Five didn’t bother to clean the blood off his arm, so who knows if he bothered to sterilize the needle or his hands or anything. +1

The wound on Cha Cha and the wound on Five are eerily similar. However, what makes them interesting is that Cha Cha decided to cauterize where Five decided to stitch. Both are decent methods, but Cha Cha’s way is going to leave severe permanent scarring and Five’s way might heal. This could foreshadow the way they treat the end of the world. Cha Cha wants to end it, Five wants to fix it. Maybe not Cha Cha herself, but she does represent the Commission and their ideals. She is a stickler for their rules and uses her last moments to try to call them and get rescued. Point is. This is an English teacher moment full of symbolism, and I respect the show for this choice. -1

Billy the Choo Choo bandages. First of all, Five can never get away from the childishness of his current form. Second of all, Reggie let Five have “Billy the Choo Choo” licenced bandages??? +1

Or, Five chose to buy/steal these bandages. +1

Five puts a clean, white uniform shirt over blood that he still hasn’t cleaned up. At this point, that has got to be uncomfortably sticky. +1

Five didn’t bother to clean his wound until morning. “I guess I’ll go to sleep and bleed”???+1

Or, it took Five several hours to get the supplies. Bullshit. No way in hell did Reggie not have those supplies lying around. +1

Five still chooses to wear the full uniform ensemble even though he could at the very least get rid of the tie. +1

The teleporting kid gets the fire escape bedroom. It’s like Reggie was begging Five to sneak out of the house. +1

Dumpster Bagel: Do Not Eat. +1

“I’m done funding your drug habit” you never did in the first place? You didn’t pay him at all for that magnificent acting?? Unless Five did this before he left the mansion, in which case, Five funded Klaus’s drug habit. +1

Justin Min looks so incredibly creepy sitting on the dumpster. He has such a blank expression. Also, when did he move from the fire escape? +1

“I love you. Even if you can’t love yourself!” is a great line. -1

When Five drives away in the stolen van, he passes an absolutely bewildered guy. How the hell did Five function as an assassin? He can’t do subtlety. This contradicts “I know how to do everything”. +1

Was Aidan Gallagher actually driving in this scene? Because it kind of looks like the way a beginner would drive. This also contradicts “I know how to do everything” +1

There’s a lady passing Meritech that actually chose to wear a baby pink fedora. M’costume. +1

Five left his wife stuck in a bag and didn’t remember her. +1

He also left a bottle of some clear liquor on top of her. +1

“This is the place that it was made. Or will be made.” The delivery on this line was kinda bad. +1

Allison used her power on Claire. Claire was three years old. No matter which way you slice it, this is the shittiest thing Allison has ever done. She’s working on it, but the fact that it happened deserves a sin. +1

Emmy Raver-Lampman is a kick ass actress. -1

Allison has the most warranted case of impostor syndrome ever. Sin off because this is the one of the few scenes where two characters actually talk about their emotions. -1

Luther and Allison had that conversation sitting ridiculously far apart. +1

Leonard’s shop is called “Imperial Woodwares” Apparently, he delivers as well. How did Leonard get the business and woodworking skills necessary for running a relatively successful shop while in prison? +1

Leonard somehow knows that Vanya’s orchestra (which rehearses and performs in the Icarus Theatre) is far from Bricktown. At this point, he shouldn’t know that unless that is the only orchestra in the entire city. There is no way that that is the only orchestra in the entire city. +1

Leonard took up wood carving in prison. Is that allowed? +1

If a guy you just met makes a wood carving in your likeness you should run. Run like hell. Get a restraining order. That is so creepy. Obvious villain is obvious. +1

Also, I once read a fanfic (The Moon Laughs by Lady_Origami on ao3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959847/chapters/42417584) where a character is kidnaped by Leonard and tortured in this backroom where he’s showing Vanya the creepy statue. I can see where the inspiration came from. This back room has “place to keep the person I kidnaped and torture them” vibes.+1

Leonard stayed up all night to make the creepy woodcarving. He then insists that Vanya take it. And Vanya doesn’t recognize the creepy vibes. +1

And she does take it! +1

Leonard says that he made the carving for her and that she inspired him. Obvious manipulation is obvious. +1

Leonard is a dick to Vanya by using Allison’s successful career. +1

Leonard doesn’t like the Beatles. +1

Why did Allison go to Bricktown to find Vanya when that is nowhere near the theatre or Vanya’s apartment? Was she just wandering around hoping to find Vanya? +1

Allison is the Queen of actually talking out her thoughts and feelings. She just apologized to Vanya and explained why she was so angry in the last episode. Well done. I respect that. -1

Allison and Vanya sisterly bonding. -1

Five sees children playing and then immediately starts having an apocalypse flashback. This shows that Five lost his childhood as soon as he time traveled to the apocalypse. I’m sad now. +1

Aidan Gallagher plays this really well. -1

If you look closely, you can see Five/Aidan Gallagher laughing at Luther/Tom Hopper because he can’t fit in the van. I can’t tell if Five is laughing at Luther or if Aidan is laughing at Tom. Either way, that slaps. -1

However, corpsing. +1

No one has written Klaus/Dolores fanfic yet. They really hit it off in the van, y’all. +1

Five throws an empty can at Klaus for messing with Dolores. +1

Klaus’s expression after Five says “does it matter, it’s Klaus.” Sinning because Five is a dick to Klaus. +1

“Did I ever tell you about the time I tried to wax my ass with chocolate pudding. It was so painful.” I love this line. God bless Robert Sheehan. -1

Aidan Gallagher contemplates this line then starts corpsing. I don’t blame him. I’ve been trying to figure out how that would be possible too. -1

How can you use chocolate pudding to wax any hair? +1

Aidan Gallagher laughs at this line, meaning Five found this funny, but didn’t want to give Klaus the satisfaction of laughing. +1

Luther and Five are dicks to Klaus. They kicked him out of the van! Assholes. +1

Luther is sort of trying to connect with Five, but he fails miserably because it comes out really condescending. +1

“I don’t think that I’m better than you, Number One. I know I am.” Hubris much, Five? +1

Luther is already sick of Five’s “I’m better than you, I’ve done things you couldn’t comprehend” schtick and Five has only been back for three days. And we make fun of Luther’s moon thing. We get it, Five, you’re a badass. Actions speak louder than words, old man. +1

On the side of the Variety Store Klaus steals from is a billboard for Clever Crisp Cereal, which is the cereal that Reggie invented in the comics. I guess he did that here too. -1

Also, Klaus steals from the Variety Store and drops everything while running away. Why did you steal so much shit if you knew you were going to drop it all Klaus? +1

Ben’s reaction to this buffoonery must have been hilarious. Sinning the show for not showing us that. +1

“Now I’m starting to wonder if that was the wisest decision.” What? Kicking Klaus out of the van or Klaus deciding to rob the store? Because both were pretty stupid. +1

Does Agnes own Griddy’s? +1

Agnes just gave some valuable baking tips when it comes to doughnuts. Thanks, Agnes. -1

Agnes and Hazel are really cute together. -1

The Hazel and Agnes theme is my favorite instrumental piece from the whole show. -1

There are still bullet holes in the walls. Attention to detail! -1

Hazel and Cha Cha pretend to be social workers or private detectives concerned for Five’s well being. Oh, the irony. +1

“I mean who lets a kid get a tattoo” Reginald Hargreeves. That’s who. +12

Agnes is indignant about Five’s tattoo, citing his age. This whole episode has a ridiculous amount of irony. +1

Agnes draws the umbrella tattoo a bit too perfectly for someone who only saw it once and at the wrong angle. +1

Diego straight up threatens Luther at knifepoint. +1

This family meeting is a complete shitshow. +1

The monocle is likely to become a s2 plotpoint because Diego put it in a place where anyone could take it. If you’ve read the comics, you know why I think that’s important, but I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t. Either way, that was a dumb way to dispose of the monocle, Diego. +1

Diego is a dick to Vanya until she agrees with him. +1

They are legitimately talking about killing their mother. What the fuck. +1

Klaus references the van when only Luther, Five, and presumably Ben know about it. This makes no sense. +1

Votes to kill Mom: Luther, Allison, Ben +3

Klaus hisses at Ben and no one thinks this is weird. +1

Grace definitely heard Luther and Allison voting to kill her. After she made them breakfast too! Luther and Allison are dicks in this scene. (And so is Ben but Grace couldn’t hear him.) +2

Grace tries to prove her worth by making cookies. Fuck Luther, Allison, and Ben for voting to turn her off. +3

Diego and Vanya actually have a civil conversation. Well done for doing the bare minimum, Diego? -1

Vanya’s pills suggest that she was friendlier with Diego at some point. +1

Pogo for sure saw that whole thing and he saw Vanya take the pills. Dr. Complicit. +1

Reginald is a total soccer mom in Diego’s flashback scenes. This amuses me. -1

However, Reginald raised six child soldiers as “crime deterrents” so +6

Luther is casually working out in his bedroom while the mission alarm is going off. +1

“Where’s my knives” was a phrase Diego practiced. Also, Diego would never lose his knives. +1

Vanya’s room is a fucking closet. +1

“Thank you, Mother” Dante Albidone is a treasure. -1

“Boys will be boys” this is the only time that phrase is acceptable. When you’re putting out a fire your son caused for no reason. -1

“You did it! I’m so proud of you!” -1

Reginald interrupts this. +2

Diego’s flashbacks were very unorganized, which makes sense. This is probably several years worth of mission flashbacks. -1

“It’s okay if you hated him” “I would understand if you wanted to hurt him”-2

David Castaneda and Jordan Claire Robbins nailed this scene. Two kick ass actors being incredible. -1

Did Five really sit there all day with no breaks? +1

Five is arguing with Dolores and losing. She is a manifestation of his subconscious. And she is winning this argument. +1

Aidan Gallagher looked directly into the camera. We made eye contact. It was weird. +1

Lance straight up sells those illegal prosthetics where anyone could see it. Lance is an idiot. +1

Agnes’s drawing led Hazel and Cha Cha to the Academy. +1

Cha Cha left the window down in the car. +1

Would that air thing actually work? If it wouldn’t then sin on Reggie for getting cheap locks. If it would, sin on me for not getting better locks sooner. +1

Hazel and Cha Cha don’t have their masks on. What if somebody saw them? +1

The portrait of Five comes back to bite the Academy in the ass. Why haven’t they gotten rid of it? Five has been back for three days. +1

Klaus has black nail polish on his toes. -1

No way in hell is Klaus able to have his eyes open in a soapy bathtub. +1

The ghosts are creepy. Sin because Klaus is traumatized. +1

“We’re Through” by the Hollies is one of my favorite songs to play on guitar. It’s a decent coffee shop piece and I like playing it live. Thank you show, for helping me discover it. -1

Klaus is taking a bath with the door open. +1

Luther has been eating his Wheaties, Cha Cha. If you call experimental ape drugs, Wheaties. +1

Luther describing sunrise on the moon. I like this bit of writing. -1

Where were Hazel and Cha Cha keeping their guns and masks? Special pockets? +1

Diego is the only person who could possibly bring knives to a gun fight and win. Diego is a badass. -1

Hazel and Cha Cha continue to have stormtrooper aim. There are so many times when either could have shot Diego, but magically miss because Diego has plot armor. +1

Reginald’s portrait gets shot though. Right in some lethal areas. This amuses me. -1

Grace is so out of it she doesn’t notice heavy gunfire. Reggie, you suck. +1

“Who the hell are these guys?”/”Who the hell are these people?” +1

Diego, Luther and Allison just saved your ass. Less arguing, more fighting the crazy people. +1

Reggie keeps convenient weapons everywhere like they’re lamps. +1

Vanya is still in the Academy hours after the meeting, and she doesn’t think to hide during all this crazy gunfire and fighting. Sigh. +1

Seriously, it’s like she’s trying to get killed. +1

But she doesn’t because she has plot armor. +1

“Hey, asshole” goes back to Five’s “hey, assholes” from episode one. So did Luther learn that from Five, did Five learn that from Luther, or did Reggie decide that that was an acceptable phrase to teach his children? I lowkey want to write all three in a crackfic. Nice. -1

Vanya probably has a concussion. Otherwise, she would have attempted to run, right? Please tell me she isn’t that stupid. +1

You know that b99 meme where shit is going down and Gina is just chilling with her headphones. Yeah. That. Klaus, get some situational awareness, please. Also, what are these magic noise cancelling headphones that can block out the sound of gunfire and where can I buy them? +1

Allison, I understand why you don’t want to rumor anyone, but your life is literally in danger. I think you can forgive yourself if you rumor Hazel and Cha Cha into not killing you and your family. +1

“You wanna rumor this psycho?” “I don’t need to because this bitch just pissed me off” These are both horrible lines. I can’t tell if it’s because of the writers or because of the actors, but both of these lines are genuinely terrible. +1

“We just want the boy”. Nice comics reference, Cha Cha. -1

Diego doesn’t attempt to fight Cha Cha and give Allison the upper hand. He just sort of stands there. What the hell, Diego? +1

And when he does fight her, he doesn’t use any long range weapons. Diego, this is your house. I’m assuming you know where the knife drawer is? +1

Ben attempts to give Klaus privacy. In this situation. That’s a sin. I would risk seeing my brother’s naked body if it meant he wouldn’t be shot. Just sayin’, Ben. Get all up in his face. Put your ghost hands through his head. Get his attention! +1

Luther and Hazel can go hand to hand as equals and the show never addresses why. +1

Vanya really is that stupid. There are plenty of doors. And the fire escape from Five’s room. Vanya, run!+1

Luther had plenty of time to get out of the way of the chandaller. Why didn’t he shove his siblings and follow one of them? The motion would have made sense. +1

This ape reveal makes no sense. It would have worked in episode one, but it’s weird in episode 3. Why didn’t they reveal this to the audience earlier? +1

The dinosaur footprint sound effect. +1

Why didn’t Vanya and Allison hear Grace humming? Also, why didn’t anyone hear Hazel and Cha Cha breaking in. It was established in episode one that there is no soundproofing. +1

Grace is cross stitching the moon exploding. Foreshadowing. -1

She is pulling the needle through her own hand though. +1

Who gave Grace that nice bracelet? That’s so adorable. -1

Diego killed his own mother. +1

However, it is a mercy kill. Who knows what Luther or Allison would have done to her if they had found out how screwed up Grace was. I’m really conflicted about this scene. On one hand, fridging, on the other, it makes sense. Therefore, it’s a wash. -1

What is this magic cloth that Allison gives Vanya to mop up the blood and where can I get it? Seriously, it cleans up blood ridiculously well. To the point where it doesn’t look like Vanya’s been injured. +1

Diego takes out his anger/sadness/frustration on Vanya. Also, Diego would be excellent at cinema sins. Vanya could have been killed and she was stupid to stay, but there is no reason to raise your voice at her like that, Diego. +1

“She is a liability”. And you are an asshole. Diego just said that line to Allison as if Vanya wasn’t even there. As if she was just some inanimate burden. Fuck Diego for this line. +1

Allison doesn’t even attempt to defend Vanya. Even if Diego made a good point, there is no reason to let him get away with that kind of emotional abuse. +1

The show kind of addresses Luther’s body image issues, but doesn’t let him talk about it. +1

When did Vanya get Leonard’s address? +1

“I didn’t know where else to go”. Home perhaps? To your apartment? And not into the arms of creepy Leonard? +1

Hazel and Cha Cha didn’t discuss what to do if shit went sideways. No wonder Five was better than them. +1

When would Hazel have kidnaped Klaus? We don’t see it happen so we should just assume that Klaus appeared there magically? +1

Hazel and Cha Cha have FRC 891 as a licence plate. Neverending Chaos. Google FRC 891 Umbrella Academy. -1

Overall Review:

I forgot just how important episode three really is. Here we learn just how harmful Vanya’s book was, that Vanya is in an orchestra, and more about Leonard. This episode carves out who Vanya is as a character before Leonard sinks his claws into her. We can see the effects of the pills on her ability to connect with others and her ability to play the violin.

We also get a lot from the other characters. The Claire reveal is a big one for Allison. So is the ape reveal for Luther, even if it should have happened two episodes ago.

As for acting shout outs, Emmy Raver-Lampman and Jordan Claire Robbins killed it in this episode. I can’t wait to see more of Emmy in s2 and I really hope that Jordan will return.

There was some excellent use of irony in this episode. Like a lot of irony. What killed me was the Griddy’s scene. Hazel and Cha Cha pretending to care about Five’s well being so they can murder him and Agnes being indignant about someone as young as Five getting a tattoo is just amazing.

As for plot things, this was really a Vanya-centric episode. It establishes a lot of things about her, which makes the twist at the end even more obvious. This is not my first, second, or even third rewatch, so I know what’s coming, but how did I not see it before? When I first watched it I thought that Five was the main character and that Vanya was a self-insert. Looking back, I can see that Five and Vanya had pretty equal backstory and screen time given to them. You could make the argument that they are the main characters. You could even argue that they’re the primary protagonist and antagonist, but to be frank, that discussion should be saved for episode 10.

Total: 133

Sentence: Eating a dumpster bagel.

#The Umbrella Academy #all in good fun #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #Allison Hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #Grace Hargreeves #leonard peabody #hazel and cha cha

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dangerdaysdiary · 5 years ago

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From Cassie the Venomous... A Danger Days FAQ

You can find the original post on Cassie’s website here.

Frequently asked 'Danger Days...' Questions Answered!March 18, 2011Now that My Chemical Romance's Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is out, I'm finding more and more questions about it leading people to this site. I figured it would be beneficial to address some of the ones that are asked most frequently in one place for the benefit of all! I hope this helps! ORIGINAL POST: November 24, 2010 @ 11:57 P.M. UPDATED: March 18, 2011 @ 9:47 P.M. ____ The Killjoys Fun Ghoul -Corresponding MCR member: Guitarist, Frank Iero -Raygun: Green with horror-style stickers attached to it -Symbol: A smiling face with one eye crossed out and a jagged mouth -Physical Description: Wears a yellow shirt with black-striped accents over which he wears a military vest. In the video for "SING," Fun Ghoul bears a scar on the right side of his face at his mouth. -Mask: Purple and green Frankenstein mask -Additional Information: ... Jet Star -Corresponding MCR member: Guitarist, Ray Toro -Raygun: Blue with red and white details and the text "BECAUSE I SAID SO" -Symbol: Star with a face and a lightening bolt rising from its left side -Physical Description: Wears an eyepatch on his right side. His jacket displays an American flag on its back. -Mask: Black astronaut-style helmet -Additional Information: The original name for Jet Star was "Raygun Jones." Kobra Kid -Corresponding MCR member: Bassist, Mikey Way -Raygun: Red with white details and a decal that says "deluxe" (his raygun was originally named "Demon-shark Deluxe"). -Symbol: the face of a hissing cobra -Physical Description: Wears a red jacket over a yellow-and-black zebra-print shirt -Mask: Yellow helmet with blue and red eye-like details that displays the message “GOOD LUCK” on its visor -Additional Information: In addition to his raygun, Kobra Kid can also be seen using a power glove in the video for “Na Na Na…." Mikey describes Kobra Kid as a "misunderstood" character with a "short temper" who "knows Kung-Fu." Party Poison -Corresponding MCR member: Vocalist, Gerard Way -Raygun: yellow with pink details and "Give Me Money" written in Japanese on its side. -Symbol: pill with an "X" beneath it -Physical Description: Wears a blue jacket with red details, a "dead pegasus" logo on the front and his Killjoy symbol on the back -Mask: yellow domino mask with blue circular details and clown-style eyes or a decorated "mousekat" helmet. -Additional Information: Party Poison was among the Danger Days... characters active on Twitter preceding the album's release. The Killjoys' names, which Mikey Way told NME are "themed after designer drugs," started as the names of their rayguns, but later turned into character names. The band has said that their Killjoy personas are not characters they are playing, but how they picture themselves in the future. Are the Killjoys Dead? Currently, as a result of the “SING” video, the Killjoys are presumed dead. However, a picture from Gerard Way of “Party Poison” in what appears to be an unzipped body bag (left) captioned “Killjoys never die” has many fans questioning how dead they truly are. UPDATE: April 10, 2011 Dr. Death Defying tweeted: that "there are four acceptable levels of dead after posting an ode to Party Poison, whom he called "dearly departed." More information will follow if the four levels of dead are explained further. Dr. Death Defying Played by Steve Righ? of Mindless Self Indulgence, Dr. Death Defying is the smooth-talking narrator who filters in-and-out of Danger Days…. He is a D.J. for 109 F.M., WKIL, a pirate radio station that operates in the Zones. He is recognized by his “Slaughtermatic Sounds” jacket, which also says “Jackals” and “Philly,” his aviator sunglasses and the bandanna he wears tied around his head. Dr. Death Defying uses an electric wheelchair because of an apparent injury to his left leg, to which an electric brace is strapped. In an hour-long video “listening party” hosted by the D.J., the character implied that he is a veteran, possibly of the Helium Wars, which have been alluded to vaguely. Show Pony and the Girl Show Pony, the character who can be recognized by his "NOISE" half-shirt, blue-and-white polka-dot tights & helmet and rollerskates is the companion of Dr. Death Defying, the narrator of Danger Days... (played by Steve from Mindless Self Indulgence). Show Pony is played by performer Ricky "Rebel" (Twitter | Reverbnation). Rebel opened for My Chemical Romance as Show Pony at the band's Hollywood album release show. The actress who plays the Killjoy girl in the videos, whose character name has thus far only been "the Girl," goes by Grace Jeanette. She, too, is an actress and a musical performer. The Girl's role in the Danger Days world appears to be a significant one; as, she was kidnapped by Better Living Industries for a stull-unknown reason. The Zones and Battery City

The Killjoys world centers around Battery City and its surrounding concentric Zones. The map to the left shows how the Zones are laid out in relation to the city. Utopian Battery City is central, corporate, clean and the center of manufacturing. It is where Battery Towers is located. Battery City, California is the setting for My Chemical Romance's "SING" video, to give you a better perception of what it looks like. The setting for the "Na Na Na..." video is in the Zones, which are a more lawless, desert terrain in which the Killjoys live, run and fully embrace their freedom. The Zones are dirty, wild and dangerous-- the opposite of Battery City. Geographic landmarks include: Route Guano, which is the road on which Gerard has said, "the shit happens." It is where Jet Star and Kobra Kid are "ghosted" by an exterminator in the Danger Days... track "Jet-Star and The Kobra Kid/Traffic Report." "The Getaway Mile," which may be a specific location, is mentioned in the song "Bulletproof Heart." There is also a place which Dr. Death Defying on Twitter called "Wolfblood Beach." Better Living Industries Better Living Industries (Also known as BLI, BL/ind, or BL industries) is the corporation that controls Battery City. The corporation strives to bring about structure in a post-apocalyptic world. It is known for producing emotion-eliminating medications as well as every other manufactured product one can acquire in 2019. BLI crosses over from the Killjoys world and into real life. The made-up corporation has its own web site with products that you can actually purchase, a mission statement and a "Zone Report" in both Japanese and English. Also, MCR takes it a step further by having changed the name under which their music is published to "Better Living Industries Music," which you can see in the liner notes of Danger Days.... BLI also overtakes the edited version of Danger Days..., whiting out the internal album art, taking away the lyrics and putting its smiling face logo (above right) all over it. The Danger Days: California 2019 Edition box set is packaged in a BLI box and the 3-song The Mad Gear & Missile Kid E.P. that comes with it is printed on a disc made to look like a BLI brand CD-R. Check out some BL/ind commercials and "Fact News" reports. Dead Pegasus Dead Pegasus is a 2019 oil company. Korse, Draculoids and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W

Korse is an exterminator for BL/ind's SCARECROW Unit. In the videos, he is played by comic writer Grant Morrison. The "SING" video has raised speculation among fans that Korse could possibly a robot of some sort; as, he is seemingly "activated" in his chamber by the push of a button. Some also speculate, based on Gerard Way's character sketches and his indicating that Korse suffers from "Zone sickness," that he may stay in the chamber shown in the "SING" video for medical reasons. Grant Morrison revealed to MTV that Korse is "intimately connected with the Killjoys and their secret history," which has yet to be revealed. The SCARECROW Unit of BL/ind is a sort of police force. Korse leads it, and The Draculoids are the other exterminators that appear to be of lower ranking than Korse. They're a "clean-up crew" for the Zones, getting rid of the things and people who do not comply with the monochromatic standards of Better Living Industries. The Mad Gear And Missile Kid

The Mad Gear and Missile Kid is My Chemical Romance's alter-ego band for Danger Days... Mad Gear is what MCR imagined the Killjoys would listen to in 2019. Fans who ordered the California 2019 Box Set received a bonus E.P. of the three tracks MCR recorded as The Mad Gear And Missile Kid: 1. F.T.W.W.W. (acronym for "fuck this whole wide world") 2. "Mastas Of Ravenkroft" 3. "Black Dragon Fighting Society" The genesis of TMG&MK came with the writing of "Black Dragon Fighting Society," which was originally recorded for the pre-Danger Days album the band "scrapped." "F.T.W.W.W." and "Mastas of Ravenkroft" followed as songs created specifically for TMG&MK. Gerard Way told Alternative Press that the MCR is interested in creating a full album as The Mad Gear and Missile Kid and that they would like to play shows as the alter-ego band on off-days of tours in the future. EVENTS in the Zones 2012: The Great Fires 2017: The Pig Bomb ?: Helium Wars

-- If there's something about which you are confused that you would like added to this post, let me know! Consider this a perpetual draft that will update as often as you, Reader, need it to. Also, please don't hesitate to submit corrections! I have compiled the information in this post using knowledge I've gained from interviews of the band by several sources. Suggested Reading to Expand your Killjoys Knowledge: The Twitter development of the Zones presented in a linear fashion. A full interview transcript series posted by Coup De Main Magazine. XoXo c.

#cassie the venomous #external #danger days

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lonelypond · 4 years ago

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A Coffeeshop Christmas Carol, Ch. 2

Love Live, Love Live Nijigasaki, NicoMaki, NozoEli, ShizuKasu, 4.4K, 2/5?

Summary: Nico learns more about Maki and we meet some undergrads.

An Evening Out

In her three years at Tudor, Nico had never been to this part of campus. An old stone barn hidden among birch and pine trees. A small clearing, with carefully landscaped chunks of rock, a small creek running in front of it, with a simple wooden bridge, and a few pieces of modern sculpture, as well as what looked like a Rodin.

Nico took an oddly angled selfie and posted it to TWIG, with the caption, “Dropping off Nico’s perfect #AChristmasCarol script in a pretty part of campus. Where's Nico?”

There was a gargoyle styled iron door knocker and a more modern bell with “do not disturb” engraved in brass over it. Nico pressed the bell. No response for more than three minutes so Nico pushed open the door. Impeccable soundproofing. Instantly, music flooded out into the world, loud dancey music, bass and organ and drum tracks crashing. At the far end of the large open room, under a stunning multipaned window, Maki Nishikino, dressed gray sweats and black shirt more suited to a gym than a music studio, ball cap flipped to the back, bounced in front of a synth, twirling a knob above the keyboard with one hand while the rest of her was popping and locking as several tracks of “Uptown Funk” merged into a merry cacophony. It was the goofiest, sexiest thing Nico had ever seen and she hated to interrupt, but…

She pitched her voice to carry, “Nico thought you didn’t bop.”

Maki collided with the keyboard, only the stone wall keeping the keyboard and connected computer upright. Maki had no help and slid to her knee, eyes wide, then narrowing into a glare, “Why are you here?”

Nico pulled A Christmas Carol out of her bag, “Bringing you a copy of the script.” Nico stepped closer, “Need a hand?”

Maki shook her head, grabbed the pages out of Nico’s hand, and scurried back to an armchair she levered herself into. Nico watched as Maki struggled to get panicked rapid breathing under control and pull off nonchalance. It was a total fail, but Nico decided to be polite and ignore it. There was a couch catty-corner to the chair and Nico dropped into it.

“So you do bop?”

“Hell.” Maki leapt out of the chair, grabbed her phone out of a stand, and quickly slid her fingers around the screen. Nico’s script hit the ground.

That seemingly urgent task completed, Maki took off her hat, rubbed her arm across her forehead, and grabbed a waterbottle off a mini fridge, ignoring Nico the whole time. Nico examined her nails. Definitely needed a trim and a manicure. Better now before auditions when she had marginal amounts of free time. After auditions there would be no time.

Maki inhaled and squared her shoulders, then turned to face Nico. “I lost a bet with a student. They got to pick the song for my next TWIG stream.”

“Were you live?”

Maki shook her head, “Have to edit together all the parts I’m playing into one video.”

Nico nodded. “So you are thorough when losing bets.”

Maki’s lips pursed as her eyes unfocused, then she slid onto the stool near the synth, rolling the water bottle between her hands, “I am thorough with music.”

“Nico looks forward to what you do with her lyrics.” Nico pointed to the script. When Maki didn’t immediately rescue it, Nico knelt down, picked it up and offered it to Maki, who refused to make eye contact. After a minute, Nico tossed it on the chair.

“There’s not enough time.”

“Nico did most of the work. The lyrics are catchy and pretty simple. And it’s a staged reading so Nico can prioritize the must have songs for you.”

Intense amethyst eyes finally met Nico’s glance, “Don’t you have a composer you’d rather work with?”

Nico took the single armchair, “Nico did research. You haven’t done much, but everyone says you’re very promising. Nico thinks that’s a good sign. Nico believes in serendipity.”

“Serendipity?”

“Happy accidents. Things that make Nico smile. Like saving you from getting taken out by a car. There’s a reason we met.”

Maki held out her hand. Nico placed the script in it. Maki rifled through the pages.

“Nico can act it out for you.”

“I can read.” Maki put the script down, “I’ll look at it later.”

“And then call Nico.”

“I text.”

“Fine. Text. Nico’s emoticon game is the envy of sixteen year olds.”

“Is that a good thing?”

Helps teaching if I at least know the lingo.”

“Makes sense.”

“My little brother is 15. And he’s a texter too.”

“Oh.”

“It’s amazing how even in this AR world, words scrolling across a screen are still such a draw.” Nico continued to examine the large music studio. A gleaming piano behind a beautifully brush painted screen, a Nerf hoop, a dartboard, a museum quality ceramic vase with gorgeous flowers, a medicine ball, a screen with a video game console, a stack of hats, and an empty pizza box. Definitely an eclectic aesthetic. Although Nico was pretty certain it was a random series of choices, not a cleverly casual but oh so expensive decorating theme.

“AR?”

“Augmented reality. Someday, Nico’s going to use that kind of tech for the ghosts or some horror thriller play. Immersive audience experience.”

“Oh, those clunky headsets.” Maki got less interested.

“Not into hi tech?”

“Not into not touching.” Maki waved a hand through the air, then air played a piano keyboard, “I like heft and weight and resistance.”

“Nico will remember.” Nico stood up, “Are you free for dinner.”

“Huh?”

“You have to eat. It doesn’t sound like you’ve gotten around Tudor much. Nico knows a few places. I could give you a tour. What’s your favorite type of restaurant.”

“Italian.”

“Nico knows a pizza place that’s a little too expensive for the average student. Very ambient.”

“Not a word.”

“It is.”

“Not the right word.”

Nico shrugged and offered Maki a hand, “It works. And Nico won’t pitch A Christmas Carol until after dessert.”

“Deal.” Maki took Nico’s hand and let the newly declared tour guide pull her up.

###

No, of course, Shizuku Osaka hadn’t been looking for Kasumi Nakusa on her way to dinner at one of her favorite restaurants. Yes, Kasumi might have posted a “going for a late run” TWIG post and yes, the route to that restaurant might follow the tree lined path Kasumi liked to run along. But since Shizuku had been looking the other way when the bright eyed, fair haired actor called out “Shizuko!” she could credibly pull off a look of surprise.

Kasumi, who could be so put together and top tier fashionable, could also pull off a very feminine sporty look, like today. A tight fitting pink hoodie with a cute bear pattern, striped leggings, sparkly kicks, and short askew hair under a rainbow cycling cap made exercise adorable.

“Hi, Kasumi. Isn’t it cold for running?”

“Kasumin keeps warm.” She glanced at her smart watch, “Almost done, time to cool down.”

“You could walk me to Genovo’s. You must be hungry. I’ll buy you a salad.”

Kasumi frowned, then shook her head, sweat flying from her hair, and laughed, “You’ll buy pizza.”

“Okay.”

Kasumi stretched briefly. “So what brings you out from the dustiest shelves of the library?”

Shizuku shrugged. “No food allowed.”

“Send me a message; Kasumin will smuggle some in.”

“Didn’t you get kicked out of the library for being loud?”

Kasumi snorted, “I reported that library aide to the Chief Bookkeeper…”

Shizuku held back a giggle at Chief Bookkeeper. Kasumi was watching her for a reaction and Shizuku wasn’t going to give her one.

“Oh hey,” Kasumi pulled Shizuku down the path, “There’s Nico! Isn’t she the cutest. Professors shouldn’t really be that cute.”

Shizuku demurred on the question of cuteness, but watching Nico walking along, listening, next to a tall redhead, dressed in much less stylish fashion, Shizuku couldn’t help but be amused by the similar contrast to her own walk companion.

“Hey, Nico!!!” Kasumi shouted, waving.

Shizuku pulled Kasumi back, hissing, “Don’t yell.”

“But it’s…”

“Maybe she’s on a date.”

“That doesn’t look like a date.” Kasumi pointed to the two people now out of shouting distance, “She probably just ran into a friend, like you.”

Shizuku bit her lip, “C’mon, I’ll buy you coffee and sandwich instead.”

“Why...pizza sounded good. And I can ask Nico about Scrooge.”

Shizuku knew that dinner with Kasumi would involve a boasting match about who would have a better Christmas pageant audition, but she didn’t want to add the director of the pageant into the chat as well. Shizuku spun on her heel, heading back to the fringe of campus, turning Kasumi’s hold on her arm against her, “Coffee. Sandwich. And no audition talk.”

“No audition talk if you sing a duet with Kasumin while we walk.”

“Why?”

“Want to practice. Nico’s play is full of duets.” Kasumi hummed and spun, “Kasumin needs someone on her level to make it a challenge.”

On her level. That was something, Shizuku thought, a recognition that they might be...compatible on some level. Shizuku let Kasumi’s hand drop. “Fine. But I pick.”

“You know Kasumin’s range, right?”

“Of course.”

“And make it from this century.”

Shizuku feigned offense, “Never.”

Kasumi shook her head in fond exasperation, but then half bowed in front of Shizuku, hand sweeping out in a grand gesture, sakura eyes sparkling, “So what does the lovely lady wish to be serenaded with?”

Shizuku let the giggles out this time. Kasumi joined in.

###

Tall, blonde, blue eyes with hesitancy hidden deep, curves Nozomi might have calculated the probable dimensions of...and she was back. Nozomi stood up from where she was leaning on the display case and moved back to the counter, a wide smile on her face.

“Cheat day?”

Blonde and beautiful shook her head sadly, “Just wanted to get out of my dance studio. The walls are starting to talk back to me. A peppermint tea, please.” Another serious scan of the menu, “‘I’ll take a cup of your chicken and wild rice soup.”A shy smile, “Dinner. No time to go shopping.”

“What’s got ya so busy, Eli?” Nozomi noted the slight blush as she spoke the other woman’s name.

“Deciding which of my students to assign choreography to.”

“Take a seat.” Nozomi pointed to the coziest corner. “I’ll bring your food over. It’s been a quiet afternoon.”

“Thanks.” Eli glanced at the numbers on the register and slid her card through, adding a generous tip.

“You’re welcome.” Nozomi whirled off to assemble a tray, hoping to have a minute to continue to talk before more customers stopped in. Nolt was on cleaning duty for the next hour so Nozomi had solo counter duty.

Eli sat and wearily set out a stack of index cards. The first one she took a pencil to had Peanut Brittle Brigade written at the top in marker.

“Here you go.” Eli glanced up, Nozomi sat across from her, the tray in between them, and took the top index card off the pile.

“Toot Toot Tootie Toot?”

Eli sighed, “It’s also known as ‘Dance Of The Reed Pipes.”

“Who are Elsa and Jax?”

“Two of my independent study students. I have to decide which students to assign which Ellington pieces to.”

“Ellington.”

“Duke Ellington.” Eli said slowly, “Nico agreed with Nishikino about using his music for the pageant. So I have to start over.’

“Interesting.”

“Frustrating…”

“No, I meant…” After a pause, Nozomi put the card back, and slid the soup in front of Eli, “I’m sure you’ll do what’s best for your students. Actually eating usually helps with thinking.”

“Yeah.” Eli tilted her head, adjusted her ponytail and her goofy, good natured half grin was almost adorable enough to make Nozomi cancel the lurid fantasies she was going to indulge in later.

The door was pushed open and Shizuku walked through, Kasumi holding the door open as she continued a rant, “They better not be out of that really really good toasty bread Nozomi uses for her grilled cheese. I’m skipping out on pizza for you, Shizuko, but Kasumin still needs her melty melty mozzarella.”

Shizuku clucked in a soothing fashion, “I’m sure Nozomi keeps a stash just for you.”

“Of course, Kasumin is her cutest customer.”

Nozomi laughed. Eli was puzzled.

“Kasumi and Nico are going to arm wrestle for the cutest customer slot someday.” Nozomi whispered.

Eli glanced at Kasumi, “She’s tiny too. It wouldn’t be much of a fight.”

“They’re both mighty fighty.” Nozomi was amused to see Shizuku leaning into Kasumi to look at today’s specials chalked on the counter.

“And that’s cute?”

“If you ask them.”

“And if I asked you?” Eli bit the end of her pencil.

Nozomi winked before she rushed to the counter to intercept Kasumi, “I’ll tell you on cheat day, Eli-chi. Have fun.”

###

Maki, relishing their shared bruschetta appetizer with such ravenous enthusiasm that Nico had demurred after only one piece, looked around the room after cleaning the plate. Low lighting, jazz from a small combo, candles at the table. Nico was pleased with the ambiance. The live music was a bonus. She wondered if she could request ‘Satin Doll.’

“Much better than the coffeeshop.” Maki announced loudly enough to draw attention from the next table.

Nico nodded, making a mental note as Maki continued, eyes throwing amethyst sparks when they caught the candlelight, “More tomatoes, fewer candy canes.”

“Still upset about the tripping?”

“Huh?”

“When we met? You practically fell into Nico’s arms. And your score went…” Nico threw up her arms, “Couple of days ago?”

“Oh.” Maki licked her top lip. Nico wondered if a taste of tomato had lingered, “No, it’s not about that. Candy canes are a Christmas thing…” Maki ran her fingers through her hair, head turned to the side.

“And you don’t like Christmas things?”

Maki shook her head.

“Too much coal in your stocking as a young delinquent?”

That got Maki’s attention, “I was a valedictorian, not a delinquent.”

“Okay, genius. Nico heard you were a doctor.”

“Didn’t finish med school.”

“Why not?”

Maki pushed her hair back over her ear, staring behind Nico, whispering dreamily, “I confide in the piano the things that I sometimes want to say to you.”

Nico, surprised, squeaked, “To Nico?”

Maki, surprised, blushed and began to race through words, hands flailing, water glass leaning precariously until Nico rescued it. “No, no...Chopin said that, in a letter, to a friend…”

“A friend friend?” Nico guessed, smirking.

Maki grimaced, “Frederick Chopin wrote what were probably love letters to men, a boyhood friend from school, but Poland erased the...gay parts.”

“Like Poland does.” Nico rolled her eyes. Poland was not joining the rest of the EU protecting LGBTQ rights and voices. They had a long history of discrimination. Nico let anger color her voice. “Let people love. Let kids grow up and know who their heroes actually were.”

“Yes.” Maki leaned forward a little, less self conscious now that they had moved onto a less personal discussion. “You can’t just erase people’s lives and loves.”

“So many students are still so closeted, even now. They need to know people lived, people live full, fully queer lives. Nico helps whenever she can. If you’re here, come to my Friendsgiving party.”

“Friendsgiving?”

“Nico hosts a party for students and faculty who don’t go home. We eat, watch movies, play games.”

“Sounds fun.”

“It is.”

Their dinners had arrived. Nico let the conversation lull so they could eat. Maki obviously took her Italian food seriously and Nico didn’t want to lose the convivial mood. A whisper to the waiter had ‘Satin Doll’ playing. Maki looked up at that.

“Nico’s favorite. I couldn’t resist.”

Maki smiled, “Good choice.”

Nico decided to venture a question, “So was the ‘you’ a bad breakup? Over Christmas?”

Maki’s jaw set, her eyes narrowed and the sharp tightness of her mouth was mood: barbed wire barricade. She lifted another bite of Spaghetti Pomodoro to her mouth, chewing slowly, staring at her plate. “Can we talk about something else?”

So yes, the ‘you’ was a Christmas breakup. So that was part of the problem. At least A Christmas Carol wasn’t centered around Scrooge’s love of anything but money.

“Nico is planning a full slate of Victorian games, to get everyone excited about A Christmas Carol.”

“It’s not after dessert.”

“You demanded Nico change the topic so we’re skipping ahead.”

Maki’s eyes widened at Nico’s peremptory tone, but she nodded.

“I’ll read it tomorrow.”

“Start with the Scrooge-Marley duet. It’s the heart of everything.”

‘How?”

“Marley comes back to make Scrooge change his heart, so he doesn’t suffer like Marley has. And Scrooge actually listens to Marley, instead of kicking him out like everybody else.”

“So?” Maki was obviously more into pasta than Nico’s point.

“He drags his ghostly fetters off of the eternal Purgatory treadmill to tell Scrooge to get on Team Human. And sends three other spirits. That’s a lot of investment. Do you have any friends who would do that for you?” Nico thought that hit a good level of passionate persuasion.

Unimpressed, Maki tapped her fork against the plate. “My friends wouldn’t have to do that for me. People don’t scorn me on the streets. I’m not kicking orphans and widows. I’m donating to food banks and bail funds and medical research.”

“Okay, Bill Gates, you’re good. But in Dickens’ fictional universe, Jacob Marley is all Scrooge has.”

Maki knew there was somebody, a nephew, “Fred. He has Fred.”

“And he can’t stand Fred. But Marley was his friend. His sole friend. His singular person in the world. And Marley was gone. And then he’s back.”

Maki pointed an accusatory utensil. “You made it gay.”

“No. I didn’t make it gay.”

“Sounds gay.”

Nico sighed, “You have friends, right?”

Maki nodded.

“It’s not always about the gay, right?”

Maki’s expression was interesting.

“Explain that look to Nico.”

Maki shook her head, “Can’t.”

“Fine, Nico will have to meet these friends. But Scrooge and Marley...well, they didn’t talk about guys or girls….they talked about GOLD.”

Maki nodded, Nico had a point. Scrooge was definitely more into profit than pleasure. But was that deferral? Had he met Marley and then drifted from Belle?

Nico cut off Maki’s next comment. “But Nico did not make Marley coming back to save Scrooge gay. Guaranteed. No homo.”

Maki had this serious look on her face, leaning forward, chin in hand, eyes thoughtful, “I think I’d like it better if you did.”

“Urrrggghhh.” Nico ripped her napkin off the table, “Just read Nico’s play. Then this would be so much easier.”

Maki was a calm pond Nico couldn’t ripple. “But I like Dickens. The language has vigor. And I like gay.”

Nico wanted breadsticks to snap. “You’re just trolling Nico.”

Maki’s half shrug was all exasperating charm, “Did you request any other songs?”

“No.”

“Let’s go someplace else for dessert.”

Nico waved at the waiter, curious. “Okay.”

###

Nico had never walked through this part of Tudor, near the railroad tracks, lots of repurposed urban loft style architecture. Maki kept up a quick pace, obviously familiar with the sidewalks.

“Where are we going?”

Maki turned her head, “You said you wanted to meet my friends.”

“Are we taking a train?”

Maki shook her head, “Nah. I live in this neighborhood. And conveniently, Bread and Brew is right down the block.”

Nico had heard of Bread and Brew, but with her apartment on the other end of town, she never spent time in this neighborhood. It seemed grungy or steampunk, definitely not collegiate cute and quaint like the shops around Market and the Square. Nico liked collegiate cute, but as she watched Maki stride confidently ahead, Nico admitted to being intrigued.

Bread and Brew looked closed, all lights off. Nico was about to say something when Maki ducked down an alley, leaned down and knocked a quick tempo on the metal door of the cellar. It took a minute, but the door opened up and a ginger head poked up, “MAKI!” booming out.

Not much quieter was the “Who’s that?”

“Nico. Umi knows her.”

“Oh, okay. Hi, Nico, nice to meet you. Cute outfit. Come on in. We’ve got some pumpkin ale left.”

“Did you bring me to a speakeasy?” Nico whispered to Maki.

Maki grinned and headed down the stairs, Nico following, what sounded like a samba playing. The metal door slammed behind them and Nico heard a “sorry” as the ginger bounded by them and the samba suddenly had a drum rhythm as well as maracas. And then the singing started. Was that Umi Sonoda? Wow. Nico knew Umi taught violin and conducting classes, but her burnished alto was that of a vocalist with serious training.

There were a handful of tables and chairs, a couple of couches, a cuddle of loveseats, surrounding a small stage. On stage were Umi at a mic, the doorkeeper on drums, another, shorter ginger playing maracas, and a bespectacled woman with banjo, and a baby grand. A tapped keg stood on a bench with a few mugs. A fawn haired woman sat alone at the center table, dressed like she was front row at a Paris Fashion Week runway. Maki headed for that one, tapping on the wood to distract the audience from the singer, “Kotori, meet Nico; Nico, Kotori.” And then Maki hurried to the piano to join in.

“What is this place?” Nico asked.

“Oh, Umi likes to sing and Honoka…”

“Honoka?”

Kotori pointed to the drummer, “doesn’t have a liquor license yet, so we try out new batches and the musicians have jam sessions occasionally.”

It was a speakeasy.

Umi stepped back from the mic, consulting with Maki. Another samba rhythm started, and as Umi swayed, her ombre blue back swing skirt that picked up all the shades in her hair gracefully moved in time with the music.

“That’s a gorgeous dress.” Nico whispered. Umi’s usual wardrobe was exquisitely cut business suits.

A giggle. “Thanks.”

“Yours?”

“My design.”

“Do you have a boutique?”

“An atelier.”

“Why doesn’t Nico know?”

“It’s in New York. I’m back for the holidays.”

“Lucky Nico. You have to show me your latest.”

Kotori had a lovely smile, but Nico didn’t get used to it, because after a soft hum of agreement, all Kotori’s focus was back on Professor Sonoda, who was flirting with the drummer in a coy fashion that knocked Nico sideways. She noticed scrutiny and glanced toward the piano. Maki had been watching her, but glanced away as soon as Nico paid attention. The super cute maracas player kept tilting into the equally cute, seemingly shyer banjo player. This was obviously the gay speakeasy of Nico’s dreams. Well, if they played some current songs. And the bango switched to a bass. Nico thought she might have seen that woman on campus, but both gingers were new faces. Nico sat back, fascinated.

###

As Umi approached the table, Nico whistled. Umi blushed and sat next to Kotori, Nico guessed their hands were joined under the table.

“That was amazing. Nico didn’t know you had that in you.”

Umi shrugged, “Playing with friends is fun. And relaxing. The ability to experiment sharpens my skills for teaching.”

Maki was onstage, still playing samba rhythms, totally focused on the piano. All of the other musicians had drifted off, talking to friends among the small audience.

The drummer swept up with a tray of drinks, “I promised you a pumpkin ale, new friend Nico. Here you go.”

Nico took a mug. Beer wasn’t her favorite, but if that was the group’s taste, Nico was in. She wanted another invite so it was time to turn on the charm and find out more about this basement club the most conservative member of the faculty seemed to be running. Honoka pulled a chair up next to Umi, and slid her arm around in an embrace.

Nico raised her glass in salute. “This is cozy, Nico approves.”

“If you want to come back, you’ll have to give us a song.” Maki was standing behind Nico. “I’ll play.”

“Ooohh, that’s a great idea, Maki! Is Nico a professor too?” Honoka bounced in her seat.

“Nico chairs drama and performance.” Nico was proud of her job.

Honoka pulled her face into a serious mask and intoned, “To be or not to be…”

“Nico prefers musicals.”

“Oh, you’re the director Umi always talks about.” Kotori rested her head on Umi’s shoulder.

Nico turned to face Umi, “You talk about Nico?”

Umi coughed, “I have enjoyed your perspective on staging and often mention to Kotori that she should consider helping us out.”

“That would be amazing. Your dress is…” Nico chef kissed the air.

“Umi just wants Kotori to spend more time here in Tudor.” Honoka downed a mug.

Umi arched an eyebrow, “Would you complain?”

Nico felt a tap on her shoulder, Maki, impatient, a grumpy cute frown crunching her lips.

“Song.”

“Guess Nico will have to sing for her dinner.” Nico sighed with a fake dramatic flair.

“Dessert.” Maki corrected.

“Lead the way, maestra.” Nico slid her arm through Maki’s. The pianist jumped.

Maki shook Nico off and rushed to the piano.

Nico leaned over the side of the keyboard. “What do you know?”

Maki rolled her eyes, “Probably more than you. What do you know?”

Nico shrugged, letting Maki’s bravado break around her. “You like Ellington, right? Play “Tulip or Turnip.” And Nico hummed a few bars, the notes low in her throat capturing her accompanist’s entire attention.

Maki blinked, “Okay.”

And Nico owned the room. Maki barely kept up and for once, kinda wished she could look up from her keyboard, but she had offered to play for Nico and she was darn well going to do the best job her memory and ear could manage. As Nico sang “champagne or just home brew,” Honoka guffawed at something Nico did and Maki’s concentration almost broke. When the song was over and Maki finally glanced at the singer, Nico was perched on the arm of a couch, the entire room completely under her thrall.

“So” Nico stood, stretching toward the ceiling, then jumping down to the floor, “does Nico get a return ticket?”

“NICO NICO NICO” Honoka started chanting, stomping enough to shake the table, soon joined by the maracas player. Nico seemed taller...or glowier...or…

“And some love for Nico’s accompanist.” Nico clapped for Maki, skipping over to kiss her on the cheek, “Nico hasn’t had that much fun in years. Thanks!”

And then Nico spun back to the center table, sliding between Kotori and Umi to chatter at them. And before Maki could decide what to do next, Rin was there, pulling Maki back to her table, “So who’s Nico?”

“Professor. Wants me to compose for her.”

Hanayo was sipping from a mug, “Oh, the Christmas pageant. That sounds…”

Maki hadn’t realized she was growling.

“Sorry.” Hanayo squeaked.

“Maki, you have to get over it. You got over Santa…”

“Shut up, Rin.”

Rin did not shut up, “You can get over…”

Maki shoved Rin.

“C’mon, Maki. We’re your friends. You came here to spend more time with us and less time in your gloomy apartment.”

“I came here to play the piano.”

“”Cause Kayo-chin told you to.”

“Rin!” Hanayo put a hand on her wife’s arm, “Leave Maki alone. We’re having fun tonight.

Rin leaned into her wife, rubbing her cheek against Hanayo’s arm like a cat. “We are. That was awesome.” Rin sat up and pointed, “And Umi’s going do another. ‘Cause Kotori’s here. Umi’s always happy when Kotori’s here.”

Center stage again, Umi began.

Some like a night at the movies Some like a dance or a show Some are content with an evening spent Home by the radio Some like to live for the moment Some like to just reminisce But whenever I have an evening to spend Just give me one like this

“This is a lovely way to spend an evening” Sotte voce and in full agreement, Maki joined the chorus.

A/N: Well, I had been on the fence about adding in Kasumi and Shizuku and decided no, but then the Niji anime 1st season ended and I realized they were going in. So there will be another chapter, maybe two.

Also, stay safe out there for many reasons.

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #A Coffeeshop Christmas Carol #Christmas Carol #NozoEli #ShizuKasu #RinPana #kotohonoumi #sonoda umi #Minami Kotori #Kosaka Honoka #Koizumi Hanayo #Hoshizora Rin #Ousaka Shizuku #Nakasu Kasumi #Christmas #Holiday #fluff

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pupa-cinema · 4 years ago

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YM - ツイッターのリプライで来た歌詞だけで曲を作ってみた(I made a song using only Twitter replies as lyrics) - English Translation

【GUMI】ツイッターのリプライで来た歌詞だけで曲を作ってみた【オリジナル曲】

青天の霹靂 A bolt from the blue 天下一品の残された下品 A piece of junk neglected by the peace of justness 被害者のユートピア A safe haven for victims 春に塩をかけたら・夏がしおれました I sprinkled salt in the spring, only for summer to melt it all 恋愛成就出来なかった幽霊 A ghost resentful that they never got to experience a love life 金曜日 Friday 夜ばっかり眠れない I can never sleep at night 積極的に心抉ってくる In a rush to rip my heart out

突然のギターソロ A guitar solo out of nowhere 器用貧乏 Capable but unaccomplished それでも腹は減る I’m still hungry

レゾンデートル満腹 My stomach is full of raison d'etre チーバくんの舌 Chiiba-kun’s tongue ププルプルプレ Boing boing boing フルーツポンチの診察券 Fruit punch with a medical I.D. 鼻毛がいっぱいコレクション A collection of a bunch of nose hairs 終止符を打ちに来た I’ve come to put an end to this すったもんだで無職 After all’s said and done, I’m jobless 猫のしっぽ Cats’ tails ラリルレッタッタタ La lee loo la chaa-cha-cha ヴァニラフィクション Vanilla fiction

ぴぴぴぴぴえんぴえんぴえんぴ 🥺Pi-pi-pi-pi-pien pien pien pi🥺 じゃがいもの双眼鏡 Binoculars for potatoes キラふぐり Sparkly testies あ゛あ゛あ゛あ゛あ゛あ゛あ゛あ゛あ゛あ゛あ゛ AAAAAAAGHHHHHH

悪いがしばらく留守にするぜ Sorry to do this to you but I gotta ditch for a bit アドレナリン Adrenaline

覇弓レム睡眠カムバック走行 ~地中海風味~ Akantor Bow REM Sleep Come Back Dash ~Mediterranean Flavored~ たけたちかかともうひとつあとたのみます One more, I leave the rest to you 哀してるって我儘かな Is it selfish to be sad 過ぎ去った季節は愛おしく思える I long for long gone times 要するに暇 To put it simply I’m just bored 君の心にチャリで来たちゃりんちゃりん I rode a bike into your heart baby, ching ching 消えた未来・君が嫌い・例えばシイタケと同じくらい Our future is gone, I hate you, about as much as shiitake mushrooms ハマってハマってハマりすぎて I’m addicted I’m addicted I’m so addicted 幻想郷の素敵な巫女 The beloved shrine maiden from Gensokyo 不意なギャップ☆ An unexpected nuance☆ うまい棒換算された愛情 Convert love into umaibo

そう、そんな未来が来ると期待とかして Hey, all I wanted was a future 彼氏をください Please hook me up with a guy 心の底から From the bottom of my heart ぷりぷりぷりんは説明不要 Good ol’ jiggly pudding doesn’t need any explanation 思っているだけじゃ届かない Don’t just think it: say it うんちぶりぶりブリティッシュフォールド A Scottish Fold scooting poop オレンジジュース1000%くらいの何か Orange juice with about 1000% something 「とても素敵な企画！楽しみにしています」 "This is such a great song idea! I can’t wait to see it when it’s done" ｼﾞｬﾝ！！ Ta-da!!

バーミヤンでも行こう Let’s go eat at Bamiyan or somewhere 一直線上のたかし Absolution that’s just crossing the line 墓作った I dug a grave 肉じゃが Beef stew 醤油は減塩に限る Soy sauce is all about the sodium value 毎秒3ミリの歩幅で With a pace of 3 millimeters per second 金曜日はキラキラしているんだ。キンタマが。 They’re all frazzle dazzle on Friday ain’t they. Our balls are, I mean.

いつも隣にハシビロコウ A shoebill that always has your back 夢の中での心の叫び The voice of my heart appears in my dreams

Footnotes:

YM had rallied for people to reply with lyrics on Twitter using the trending hashtag. And so this song was born! At first he had only done it as Hachitarou, his Vtuber alter ego, a cat with a polka-dotted hood who is ‘capable of anything but can’t accomplish anything’. Then he polished it up more and made it into a full-blown released song!

● Video bullets: *They deleted this. *I missed this one I’m sorry.

References and memes: ● Chiba-kun is the mascot of Chiba prefecture. His shape is reflective of the geographical borders on a map - meaning his little tongue sticking out houses the location of Tokyo Disney Land Resort.

● A medical I.D. for fruit punch - Simply a contextless comment from a person who likes fruit punch and needed to visit the hospital at the time… Safe recoveries to them..

● Vanilla Fiction is a shounen manga written by Osuga Megumi.

● ‘Pien' is the onomatopoeia for the pleading emoji 🥺, which became a booming meme just recently.

● "覇弓レム睡眠カムバック走行 ~地中海風味~ 'Akantor Bow REM Sleep Come Back Dash ~Mediterranean Flavored~’" Originating from a Minecraft Let’s Play video by M.S.S. Project. The MSS member FB777 had crafted an enchanted bow and was ready to name it after the Monster Hunter weapon called the Akantor Bow… However! In JP this weapon’s name is "レラカムトルム Remu-kamu-torumu", a euphonic mouthful which he forgot at the time, so he just named it mumbo jumbo which sounded close enough… The start of an unforgettable word among fans.

● ‘We came by bike’ チャリで来た A meme originating from a snap of 4 middle school dudes in a photo booth. In which they’re seen posing all macho yet the caption is so unexpected! So the phrase took off: people in photo booths were using it themselves, people were having their own takes on it, and chaos ensued. Let it be known that one of the men in the photo took the meme antics quite harshly and felt bullied though.. So tread softly please..

● 幻想郷の素敵な巫女 None other than Hakurei Reimu from Touhou!

● うんちぶりぶりブリティッシュフォールド WTF is this a niche meme.

● Bamiyan is a family-friendly restaurant chain in Japan.

● “Frazzle dazzle dick on Friday” - A tongue twister originating from presumably TENGA’s twitter account, then gained traction from there.

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hatari-translations · 5 years ago

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RÚV interview about the flag incident - translation/commentary

So this interview is already on YouTube with English subtitles (part 1, part 2), but these subtitles are fanmade, and they’re heavily condensed and paraphrased, the English is a bit shaky, and sometimes they’re not quite accurate (there’s nothing hugely wrong, but definitely bits that are a bit off). So I’ve retranslated the whole interview as faithfully as I could here, and added some notes.

English translation

INTERVIEWER: Good evening and welcome to Kastljós. Performance art group Hatari caused a real stir at Eurovision last weekend. They got tenth place and staged a sharp protest against Israel's treatment of Palestine, and since the beginning the group has talked about a 'plan', to dismantle capitalism among other things, and to use the song contest to show solidarity with Palestinians. They have also wanted to normalize the BDSM subculture and support the struggle for LGBTQIA rights. In the past two weeks they've garnered worldwide attention, but now they're finally home. Welcome, Matthías, Einar and Klemens.

KLEMENS/EINAR: Thank you.

INTERVIEWER: How... It was a bit of a hassle getting you in for an interview today, you were a bit tired. Are you completely exhausted?

MATTHÍAS: Yeah, we thought we'd have this day off.

KLEMENS: And that the Icelandic nation might have had enough of us.

INTERVIEWER: Are you still recovering?

MATTHÍAS: Yeah.

KLEMENS: Yeah, there's been a lot of pent-up tension to recover from, for several months.

MATTHÍAS: Yeah. For the next few days we're just going to be digesting this, I think.

INTERVIEWER: I'd like to just get straight to the incident that provoked the most attention. We've all been following you throughout this process, but perhaps we haven't heard exactly how this happened, when you'd received your points from the public vote and waved the Palestinian flag. How did this come about? When did you decide to do it in this moment?

KLEMENS: Well, we always talked about how we were following a plan, and that everything was going according to plan. But really... if we're honest, we were kind of jumping off a cliff, and for most of that time we didn't know exactly where this was headed.

MATTHÍAS: We had certain ideas, saw certain possibilities, and took these banners with us to keep that possibility open. But the fact it'd happen exactly there, and exactly in that way, we couldn't really predict, because we don't know exactly when we're going to be on camera, and how, and for how long. We're kind of confined within this box.

INTERVIEWER: So you didn't have a plan for this.

MATTHÍAS/EINAR: No, but...

KLEMENS: No, well, we had a bit of a plan. And it was a hassle to get the banners - they weren't flags, they were banners, and it was a hassle to obtain them. Iceland Music News helped a lot.

MATTHÍAS: Yeah, the reporters at Iceland Music News went to Ramallah and smuggled those flags back over the border, while we were just in our Euro-bubble, I can't remember what we were doing that day.

INTERVIEWER: How were they smuggled into...?

MATTHÍAS: You kind of have to ask them about that, but they described it as a nerve-wracking experience, where they had to walk across the border in full view of soldiers, with those banners under their clothes.

KLEMENS: It was also a big hassle to obtain the banners themselves, because it was, I think, Ramadan? And no stores were open. So our Palestinian friends were very busy, calling people they knew to open - I think in the end it was a toy store that was opened for us, and got us these Palestinian banners.

INTERVIEWER: But then, when you know you're about to get your public points, and the camera is about to be on you - describe the lead-up to that. What were you thinking and how did you decide to do this?

MATTHÍAS: We'd several times had a cameraman come up to us, and that's sort of a clue that maybe soon we're going to be on camera. I had one banner on the inside of my boot, the right Hatari boot, and I was ready and had already unzipped it each time the cameraman approached. But then we saw that other participants were shown when their public points were announced, especially when there was a large gap between the jury points and the public, as it was for us. So as soon as we heard that we were getting a lot of points from the public, and a cameraman came running and even pointed at the camera - then we knew that okay, this is the moment.

KLEMENS: We were like - [wild, frantic gesturing]

MATTHÍAS: Yeah, I remember Klemens sort of nodded to me, like "It's now", and I pull my banner out of the boot, and when I relive that moment all I can think is how relieved I am that the banner was the right way up. It could easily have been upside down.

INTERVIEWER: But then you record a video of staff coming to take the banners. What actually happened there?

EINAR: Things got really unreal very quickly, as soon as we'd had those few seconds on the screen. Immediately people were booing. We were in the green room with all the other artists and delegations, and then there was a VIP section, and there were probably a lot of Israelis there. And they just immediately start booing. The mood kind of took a turn; people had been waving flags all night, and...

INTERVIEWER: You felt that people were unhappy with you.

EINAR: Um... well, really the people in the VIP section. We didn't feel that from the other participants. They were all just "Wow, they really did that." And...

KLEMENS: These were seats that people could buy, instead of being out in the crowd.

INTERVIEWER: Then, in the wake of this, this is being covered by many of the world's biggest news organizations, and we've seen on social media where you're sharing photos of the Palestinian flag, that under them you get comments where they’re just tearing into you and threatening you. How do you feel about that?

MATTHÍAS: That's nothing new, really, even if this got more attention than most other things. And we've kind of decided, or learned, from this to not put too much stock in internet comment systems.

INTERVIEWER: Well, this is a bit bigger than on the Icelandic news sites. You've just butted into one of the most heated international conflicts in modern history, and... you never know what people might do, you'd think.

MATTHÍAS: Sure, and of course we were stepping into uncertainty there at a certain point. As Einar described, the mood in the room really changed, in a palpable way, and we didn't really know... The journey from the green room - at this point we're not at all following the contest, we didn't even know the Netherlands' contestant had won until way later.

KLEMENS: Andrean, he...

MATTHÍAS: ...congratulated the Swedish contestant.

KLEMENS: On the way out.

MATTHÍAS: It was well-intentioned; he just wasn't thinking. But that was the most precarious part, the journey from the green room to our dressing room, and that... The technicians are shouting something at us, but there are also Israelis coming to cheer and support us.

EINAR: We didn't really know how much danger we were in, and that created a lot of uncertainty.

INTERVIEWER: A bit about this group. It hasn't existed very long, you start in 2015, 2016 you play your first concert, and then you decide to take part in Eurovision and have been playing a bit before that. But this ideology that you’re working with, you created a fake news website, Icelandic Music News -

KLEMENS: Iceland Music News.

INTERVIEWER: Iceland Music News, which is fake news.

MATTHÍAS: The most honest media organization in the country.

KLEMENS: In the history of Iceland.

INTERVIEWER: Then you have Svikamylla ehf., which is your holding company, and a fake sponsor, SodaDream - just to ask you yourselves, what's the message of your satire?

MATTHÍAS: I think everything you've mentioned, Iceland Music News, SodaDream and how we present ourselves in interviews, is about image, and the cultivation of an image. It's so... We live in a marketplace of personal image, with social media and so on, but then we also just revel in paradoxes, wherever they are to be found.

KLEMENS: The contradictions that we live with constantly, and are born into.

INTERVIEWER: One of those paradoxes is how, while you're out there, Iceland is going nuts for Hatari products. Hamburger buns with your logo, hotdogs, TVs, and all sorts of merchandise. Capitalism somehow took you over and swallowed you while you were out there. How do you feel about that? Is it part of the plan, or...?

[As he says this, we see examples: 40% off pizza at Domino's using the coupon code 'Hatari'; 'Hatrið mun sigra' hamburger buns; a Domino's ad saying 'Hungrið mun aldrei sigra' or 'Hunger will never prevail'; an ad for a Eurovision discount on pitas showing a gimp with the caption 'Go Iceland!'; stall selling actual branded Hatari merchandise at a mall; 'Hatrið mun sigra' written with balloons in a store window; a sign saying 'Ready for Eurovision? A bigger selection of Hatari products on the bottom floor']

MATTHÍAS: Well, what I felt - I felt a bit betrayed by Domino's Pizza, because they didn't even want to sponsor Iceland Music News, and then they use our lyrics in a commercial! Nah, not really. But obviously we're just stepping into a big commercial enterprise with Eurovision. We've been this grassroots multimedia project...

EINAR: It's weird how Hatari kind of becomes public property in the process of this.

INTERVIEWER: You go out there not just to participate in Eurovision - you go without the RÚV delegation to Hebron, and there you're talking to people and getting to know people and familiarizing yourselves with the situation there. Tell us a bit about that.

KLEMENS: We - well, our friends told us that if we wanted to see apartheid very clearly, we should go to Hebron and see the H2 area, which is in the center of the city. They went with us, and a friend of theirs lives there and showed us around what's called 'Ghost Town', which is some strategically chosen streets that have been closed off for settlers to travel between illegal settlements. There are three illegal settlements in the middle of the city, and...

MATTHÍAS: And it's all constantly monitored by soldiers, this city. The local kid who was showing us around was shocked that we were allowed in with a camera, because that never happens. And you just feel how electrified the tension is between the locals, the Palestinians who live there, on the one hand, and the soldiers and settlers on the other.

INTERVIEWER: You said before you left that you expected that going there and taking part in this would change your perspective on the situation, perhaps in a wider context. I'm not entirely clear on what context, but did this journey do that?

MATTHÍAS: Yeah...

EINAR: It's one thing to read the news and try to stay informed, and it's another thing to see the apartheid with your own eyes, talk to refugees and just hear their stories.

MATTHÍAS: In a way it confirmed - even though we see news headlines, it put them in context with the daily life there, and we heard a lot more perspectives, from both Israelis and Palestinians. It's a much more complicated reality than we perhaps believed, but the abuse of power by Israelis against the Palestinians is much clearer in our minds than ever before.

INTERVIEWER: Did you succeed in your goals with this act?

MATTHÍAS: Well... we've said that there's no one 'bomb', or whatever you call it, that justifies playing in this country, and participating in this big spectacle. But we tried to just follow our hearts and do what we could, and we hope we did that.

KLEMENS: We've received support from all over the world about what we...

INTERVIEWER: A bit about that support, since we don't have a lot of time left. You're still going, doing a small tour around Iceland. This has made you a bit of an overnight sensation, to use a cliché. Are you planning to tour abroad and become known internationally?

MATTHÍAS: We have some concerts in the pipeline, but we're starting here in Iceland.

KLEMENS: We're about to release a song with our friend and collaborator Bashar Murad. He's a Palestinian musician and we're publishing a song with him on the 23rd, on Thursday, which is our homecoming concert. Then we're going around the country - 'National Disgrace', that's our tour.

MATTHÍAS: National Disgrace, presented by Relentless Scam Inc. Tickets on tix.is. But yeah, Bashar was the main person cheering us on, informing us, putting us in contact with other Palestinian artists, so talking and collaborating with him has meant a lot for us.

INTERVIEWER: So, it's all very showy, your costumes and presentation and how you've expressed yourselves in interviews so far. Now you're here, having taken the masks off a bit. Is the performance continuing, in the form of Hatari the musical group?

MATTHÍAS: Yeah, I think right now our full-time job is shaking off the Eurovision stamp, and that's not going to be easy. And I think we're taking a break from the media after this.

INTERVIEWER: But you don't regret it?

KLEMENS/EINAR: No.

MATTHÍAS: No, I don't think so. The support and thanks we're bombarded with - you mentioned those hateful comments on social media, but they don't matter next to the messages we've received from Palestinians and others who support justice and human rights. One didn't quite realize - for us it's just a piece of cloth, and we're used to being able to wave whatever cloth we want wherever we want, but for them it was just - for many people who contacted us, talking about their friends in Betlehem or Gaza or East Jerusalem or Ramallah, wherever people were calling from - it was so important to them to tell us that everyone they knew was cheering so hard, and how deeply it touched them. One girl who contacted us said, 'I can feel now, for the first time in a long time, that I'm not alone in the world, and you gave me hope and made me proud to be Palestinian.' It had a way bigger effect on people than...

KLEMENS: ...than we could ever have imagined.

MATTHÍAS: For us it's a show of solidarity, but it's still just a cloth on TV. But that's not how a lot of other people saw it.

INTERVIEWER: We have to stop now, the producer is starting to yell at me. Time's up. Thanks a lot for coming.

Notes

This interview is from Kastljós, a show that airs after the news on RÚV and features interviews and/or in-depth coverage about things that are in the news.

When Matthías mentions the ‘bomb or whatever you call it’, he’s referencing a widely-shared opinion column from May 15th, the day after the first semifinal, titled ��Hatari, when’s the bomb coming?’ Many Icelanders who support Palestine and were in favor of boycotting the contest were annoyed with Hatari participating, and after Hatari went on stage in the first semifinal and played their song without incident, the author of the column impatiently asked when the ‘bomb’ was coming - whatever grand gesture Hatari had planned that was supposed to justify participating. He went on to encourage Hatari to withdraw from the contest and refuse to play in the final.

My personal take on the issue has always been that boycotts are only effective on a large scale, and Hatari unfortunately just never had the power to orchestrate that when it came to Eurovision. If they had pulled out before the final, alone, while every other country went on and the contest was just business as usual, most of the viewing public would never even have noticed that Iceland wasn’t there, and it would’ve made virtually no impact on anything, whereas pulling out the banners where they did made international headlines and all in all provoked a lot of discussion about Israel and Palestine. I think Matthías and I are basically on the same wavelength, as he talks about how there wasn’t really anything they could’ve done that would’ve justified their participation, but they hope they did what they could.

I think from Hatari’s comments around the incident that it’s clear they had multiple plans going on - a plan for what they’d do if they actually won (perhaps a statement on stage in their speech), and then other plans for things they could potentially go for, depending on when they had an opportunity, including those banners, and this is what they ended up getting a good chance to do. I’m sad we didn’t get to see what they had planned for victory, and I’m curious what the other plans were - but I think this one worked out pretty well.

#hatari #interview #translation #cultural context #iceland #politics

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humming-way · 3 years ago

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CONFESSION

It was Friday, 29th April, 8.30 PM, I stepped out of the office and looked at the building in the front, stared at it for a while. Then asked for my friend’s phone. He took it out of his pants pocket and handed it over to me. He’s got the latest iphone. iPhone, they say, has a good camera. Don’t ask how many megapixels, I am simply not interested in absorbing that kind of information. For me, it’s an unwanted info and is as good as a piece of candy wrapper in a trash.’’

There was something about the building, the light blaring from one of the windows and the shadow that was splattered across the wall. That scenery made me feel something and that something evoked the desire to capture it.

That night when I returned home, my friend texted. He wanted to post that picture on his social media and asked for a caption. He was an active participant of Instagram universe and always approached me for the captions. I looked at the photograph and typed this-

“That window, where the light illumes is where the underpaid ghosts of Okhla town have united. So, what is brewing in that dim light? Is it a conspiracy against the bosses who brainwash them with the hopes of making them seen or heard during the day time? Or just a discussion with how hopeless and toxic this 'animal farm’ kind of a world this Earth and its earthling breeding? Whatever it may be, these ghosts, for tonight- just tonight are united and are drinking their tears, their sweat and their despair tonight.”

Why this particular grim caption? Merely because they echoed my current feelings. Those feelings that made me feel like a sore and a wounded Achilles, who has fallen from the action and doesn’t wish to fight, despite being the best warrior.

Without wanting to make it sound dramatic, it was the end of the month, I was promised an increment and was not given one. I had lusted for a higher pay all along and now I was too tired to keep working as a cheap labour. Not being paid well for the amount of time and energy I was putting in, was only tempting me towards the road of exit. Not the exit of my young career at the world of films, but I longed to discontinue my service at the organisation I was working for. Even though I wasn’t alone in my suffering, there were more like me who were also a part of the underpaid brigade. However, I felt like it was affecting me far more than anybody else. Not getting the pennies I was worth for- played with my head, my confidence, my motivation and lately (I felt) my performance as well.

I kept my phone away, lied down on my bed and watched the fan spin. Delhi had become unbearable to live under the scorching sun and the burden of these thoughts.

Even though I was tired of being exploited, being taken advantage of, being shouted at, why couldn’t I do anything to action against it? Why was I feeble and fearful to do things I wanted to do?

I wanted to write and tell my own stories. I wanted to sing. I wanted to move to Bombay. What was I doing about any of that? Nothing. What was holding me back?

Now when I think of it, I feel why did I even venture into creative industry? I wasn’t what you’d call a ‘good’ writer. I was okay. Average, for that matter. I wrote the way most folks do. My friends and family told me I sing well but I could never believe them and then despite my disbelief there lied a dormant dream, a dream of my young teenage self who wanted to sing and play. Till date I had held on to that dream like my dear life. I had these aspirations, these notions and ideas about being an artist. Quite honestly, was I even equipped to call myself an artist? I hadn’t done anything except designing ppts, writing stories I dare not show anybody, half written lyrics to songs that weren’t even composed yet. I was just a regular, ordinary, a plain salted lemon soda. I didn’t have creative brilliance, that spark that often gets talked about. The kind of spark Akira Kurosawa would talk about in Satyajit Ray. The kind of spark I saw in Roald Dahl or Patti Smith or Virginia Woolf. The more I worked in the industry and saw how confidently and swiftly the other creatives walked their talk, the more I questioned my abilities and skills. I know I shouldn’t do that, I shouldn’t be intimidated, shouldn’t compare because we’re all different and have our own path but when you’re spiraling downwards and get into the habit of second guessing yourself, it is hard to see that you can have quirks that are inimitable.

The more I swathed in self-doubt, the more it reflected in my personality and perhaps that’s why I was given in to exploitation. This world can be a cruel place and commanders who govern its landscape sniff doubts from afar. Once they identify your weaknesses, they live off it. They master in the art of “hypnotising” and “brainwashing” and can make you believe that you’re nothing more than a cheap labour. They’re so clever that they only reveal their wickedness and trickery in the financial year and then they devise a plan to break your hopes. It all happens systematically. By first reducing your work load, then throwing tantrums of “you’re not doing anything”, then telling you “You’re not good enough”. They start seeding these thoughts so that when you do actually sit down to talk about money, your case doesn’t look solid. Then there comes a point where you start believing in their spiteful plans and give in to what they want you to give in to.

A year into the world of advertising films I had seen quite a bit. I had seen the hardworking kind, the smart workers, the money minded magicians, the gifted mavericks, the egoists, the ass lickers and so on and so forth. Then there was me. I was not only a hard worker, but also docile, could hardly muster up a NO, never took leaves, worked on weekends. I was gentle, soft and dumb. So bloody dumb. It took me a while to deal with cannibalistic, erratic and outrightly flippant kinds. Amidst this sea of shark, it was rare, rarest of rare to spot kind, thoughtful, nice and tender-hearted human being.

You see, I know I am raging. Raging with the way this world is turning out to be. The more world shows me its harsh realities the more I rage to be a better person- softer and kinder. It is sad how as society, we encourage people to hide behind the veil of toughness, how being ruthless is acknowledged over being generous. How kinder people are being exploited for just being ‘a good human.’

Every time I tried to share these feelings with people, their only advise was- You have to toughen up, be a boss lady, be a bad ass bitch, be a fighter.

I don’t know how to be a bad bitch. Nevertheless, if I am to take myself out of the character, that character might shape into some film.

I have been struggling with all this and more. When I voice my thoughts to other creatives, they tell me its natural and everyone goes through it. It’s a part of the process.

2021 was a creatively low year for me. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t write. Maybe because I thought too much about not feeling creative or maybe also because I was overworked. I would also like to acknowledge that I didn’t have the time and the energy to sit down and think. I also put an unnecessary pressure to only think best or do best.

This year, feels different. I won’t say I am brimming with ideas but there is a new zest, a strange sort of a hunger to create. And that hunger keeps luring me to an idea of writing and documenting. Although I don’t have any particular story in mind but I am sure that if I sit down to think of one, I’ll be able to crack it.

So far what am I up to? I am just practicing my writing and thinking muscle by scripting some bad rhymes. Bad rhymes because what’s wrong with being bad? Why can’t I be bad?

What good has being good given me? It only induced self-doubt? Lead me to willingly get exploited? Exploitation to an extent that I started to believe that I am not deserving.

Therefore, here I am, typing all my worries and misery into paper with a keen intent to celebrate my struggles with money, with art, with procrastinating and my identity, word by word, paragraph by paragraph.

If it’s all a part of the journey then let’s see how I row my boat through murky waters to the stillness of an ocean.

#confession #writblr #creative writing #creative industry #artists on tumblr #art world #writers on writing #writers corner #writers on life #life #creative world #words #spilled ink #spilled thoughts #truth

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corncobgreen · 6 years ago

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Tagged by @an-indecisives-choice

Rules: Tag 10 followers you want to get to know better

Tagging: @maxwells-nut / @writtenbycandy / @mythup / whoever wants to really

Name: fish

Star Sign: capricorn

Height: 5”4

What’s your middle name: elizabeth

Put your ITunes on shuffle. What are the first 4 songs that popped up?

1. please, please, please let me get what i want – the smiths 2. paradise city – guns n’ roses 3. you and me – alice cooper 4. beez in the trap – nicki minaj

Grab the book nearest to you and turn to page 23. What’s line 17?

i don’t have any books near me except for notebooks from college so here ya go

“this means that followers of hinduism will often go out of their way to look after cows and treat them well, and cows are free to roam the streets.” – me 2018

Have you ever had a song or poem written about you?

my ex wrote some shite song about me but then cheated on me with some cretin and now she claims the song is about her and always captions her photos with him with the lyrics from it. rip.

When was the last time you played air guitar?

definitely to bohemian rhapsody in a club in february 2017.

Who is your celebrity crush?

post malone, lil pump, lil uzi vert, nikki sixx, andy biersack, ghostemane, post malone, $uicideboy$, pete wentz, gerard way, mikey way, post malone.

What’s a sound you hate + a sound you love?

A sound I hate: children. laughing, crying, whatever, hate it.

A sound I love: the dog makes this sound when you pet him and he’s happy.

Do you believe in ghosts? yes

How about aliens? yes

Do you drive? nope

If so, have you ever crashed? n/a

What was the last book you read? i started pet semetary about a year ago but haven’t been motivated to read

Do you like the smell of gasoline? it’s not bad

What was the last movie you saw? jurassic world: fallen kingdom

What’s the worst injury you ever had? scraped my knee off once and the bone was visible it was grim

Do you have any obsessions right now? i don’t even have a will to live right now

Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? yeah bitch i’ve given two people second chances and they both fucked me over monumentally so bye

In a relationship: yeahhhh he’s aight

#long post #thanks for the tag!!

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dcuglybooks · 4 years ago

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A short story collection featuring stories that are either mean and ugly like that turd that thudded you in school, or sweet and cuddly as a little gloomy kitten; or puppy if you’re more of a dog person.

Stories Christians don't have to read backwards. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LGB4HGN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_UIpaGb2VC4BBX

Here’s a free short.

WAP: WEIRD ASS PHANTOM

“There’s a ghost in this house. There’s a ghost in this house.”

Linda was getting tired of the shit. Every day at exactly noon her alarm would play this shitty overdubbed version of a Cardi B song. The original song wasn’t her cup of tea to begin with, this new version that sounded like drunk karaoke was even worse. Most times she would be sitting there and the sound of a drunk sorority girl would make her jump out of her skin. She couldn’t even find the song or alarm in her phone to do anything about it.

Linda and her girlfriend, Melissa, moved into this old house last month, the rent was so damn cheap; landlord said it was because it used to be a party house so he never charged much. The logic didn’t make any sense but at $300 a month and a mile outside of town, how were they not going to sign that lease?

“I think,” spoke Melissa one night while watching her phone float around taking pictures in the air, “the reason rent is so cheap is because it’s haunted.”

“You think?” Replies Linda while snatching the phone out of the air. “I just wish this damn ghost would stop posting pictures of our bedroom to our Instagram accounts. Did you see the caption last night?”

“Oh you mean ‘Pumpkin spice is almost here. Basic bitches, rejoice!’ The comma is what set me off. Why did she put a comma in that? Why bother? It wasn’t even used correctly I don’t believe.”

“We’re being haunted by a basic bitch.”

“I think that may be offensive.”

“I hear it all the time, it just...... yeah ok maybe. I guess I shouldn’t assume this ghost is a bad stereotype, I won’t say it again.”

“True, this girl may have more going for her than just these annoying social media posts from our accounts”

“Remember the mirror though?”

Last week as the couple were eating dinner they heard a clatter and crash from the upstairs bathroom. Running full speed ahead up the stairs and around the corner Linda saw all their makeup in a pile in the empty sink. She could see a pair of red lipsticked lips floating in the air while eyeliner was seemingly drawn onto the air in a cat eye shape. She sighed and said “What now?” These types of things had been going on since the first night so at this point it was old hat.

The lipstick went to the mirror and wrote “I am finally going to kill you.” Linda took a step back prepared to flee until the lipstick wrote below it “JK LOL YOUR FACE” and then the face floated off into the wall leaving behind the makeup like some sort of painting.

The first time anything strange had happened, a pizza showed up at the front door; delivery for an Amanda Perkins. The girl who moved out recently, they took the pizza because it was already paid for and assumed the girl had made a mistake. They were sure of this as they sat and watched old re-runs of home improvement and munched away; then they noticed the slice floating over in the air above the recliner and the chewed up pile on the seat. They screamed and ran outside, Melissa forgot her phone inside and Linda’s made a ding from inside her pocket.

“Hey I know this is really weird, it’s weird AF for me too. We can make it work though, ladies. I swear I won’t bother you, I already cleaned up my mess.”

They inched inside looking around like scared toddlers and sure enough the mess was cleaned up. After that they just rolled with the weirdness.

“Are you sure Amanda left, Mr. Morris?” Linda was on the phone with the landlord.

“Yes. Positive. Why would you think she still lived there?”

“There’s been..... some things.”

“Drunk college girl, she probably stumbled home one night and forgot she went home for the summer. Its no deal. Not big or small.”

“Are you absolutely positive there is no deal? Big, small, medium, or slightly larger than medium but not quite large?”

“What do you think? I know her ex and he killed her and then buried her body in the basement so now her ghost is haunting you. This is why I charge so cheap rent! No. I don’t believe what you think. I will be going.”

He hung up without ever realizing Linda never once mentioned any of that other stuff. Linda thought, Why does he talk like that?

Turned out that’s exactly what had happened. After doing a quick google of the ghosts name they found out she never came home. After a quick Facebook search they found her ex boyfriends page. After some scrolling they found a post that said “Amanda and I broke up again and I am going to kill her.” The post had six likes and four comments.

“Get her bro!”

“Bitch ain’t appreciate you anyhow bet!”

“U need any ting lemme no”

“Fuk gr8 ass tho. Mind if I hit her up?”

These people were insane. Did not a single one of these people see the part about wanting to kill her? Actually PLANNING to kill her.

The police found it interesting enough to look into it, they found reason to arrest the guy. After a long court trial Amanda’s ex-boyfriend, Brent, was sentenced to life in prison for murder. The body was exhumed and buried at a family plot. The rent got more expensive because Mr. Morris was in prison for helping cover a murder so his aunt took over.

You win some you lose some.

Amanda did not leave though. The ghost hung out still to this day four months later. The social media posts kept going. The pizzas kept getting ordered, only now from their pockets because Amanda’s parents closed her bank account. Amanda was irritated about that, she was cut off from her parents money and stuck living with two other people.

Linda and Melissa tried to make her feel as comfy as possible, they left a pen and notebook in each room so she could communicate with them. Usually the notes were always about how bored she was being a ghost and how if she tried to leave the house it got all bright and she started floating. Amanda was “for real afraid of flying” as she wrote on a notebook.

Amanda’s behavior got strange at some point. She began doing things like drawing stick figures on the bathroom floor in shampoo, she would wrap herself in toilet paper and roll down the stairs creating the illusion of her body disappearing, the worst of it was when she would lay in bed with Linda and Melissa startling them when she pulled the blanket. It was like living with an invisible insane person. Either her mind was slipping or she was just a strange character. She would turn the TV on and watch the same episode of “King of Queens” for ten hours straight while they were at work. They wondered what would happen if they deleted it from the DVR but didn’t want to face that at all.

The alarm kept going off too; Linda had to hand out awkward smiles and apologies when it happened at work or in public. One time she had to apologize to a middle aged woman when it went off in the cereal aisle while shopping and her son started singing the lyrics to the original version as loud as his voice would allow. The mother gasped at all the words her kid knew and knocked a shelf of maple syrup over. The bottles burst all over the floor, Linda tried to help clean it up but she was shooed away by a guy with a mop bucket and a face that said he wanted her dead as shit.

They asked her multiple times what they could do to get her to move along, to which she would always write “sno-cone” on her notebook with no explanation.

Linda woke up sick on a Tuesday and didn’t go to work, she came into the bathroom and seen a note written in lipstick on the mirror that read “Baby, all my life I will be driving home to you.” She blushed, Melissa had left her a really sweet note on the mirror. When Melissa got home she surprised her with a bout of some of the best sex they had ever had, despite Linda being sick she felt overcome with love for her partner.

“Wow. What did I do to deserve that?” Asked Melissa after.

“The note.”

“Oh yes. The note, got you good with that one. So, if it was so good mind telling me what it said?”

“You know what it said!”

“Of course I do.”

She didn’t know what it said. She had no clue, but she wasn’t going to raise a stink about what just happened. No way, no how. She got up and went to use the restroom, as she sat on the toilet she looked up and saw the words on the mirror.

“LINDA!” She yelled. “I DIDNT LEAVE THAT! THATS THE GODDAMN LYRICS FROM THE THEME SONG FOR ‘THE KING OF QUEENS!’”

Linda didn’t know what to say; she shook her head and internally accepted defeat on this one. The couple didn’t talk about it again, the ends justified the means on this one they silently agreed; thanks Amanda.

The trio had carried on life like this for months, seven to be exact, when they heard a bang and a crash from the front door. Assuming this was yet again Amanda doing some goofy nonsense they ran downstairs to clean up the mess only to find a man standing their pointing a shotgun at them.

“You’re the dykes who got me locked up, aintcha?” Said a freshly broke out of prison Brent. “You know, usually I’m cool with like loving whoever and like rights and like equality and shit but tonight is not your night. Go sit.”

They were tied together on the couch while Brent sat channel flipping on the TV.

“Amanda is still here,” spoke Linda “she’s a ghost, at some point she’s going to help us and you’ll probably get hurt. She’s probably posting pictures on Instagram right now so she’s a little busy, but I promise when she finds out she’ll come running.”

“No she won’t.”

“Ok? So you think her post is going to get a ton of likes then?”

“She’s afraid of me.”

“Ugh are you generic ‘I beat my girlfriend’ guy number seventy or not?”

“Not.”

“Then why is she afraid of you?”

“I’m bigger than her…… I guess?”

“She’s a ghost.”

“I’m still bigger.”

“How can you be bigger than an incorporeal being with no mass or weight?”

“See, she doesn’t way anything.”

“You didn’t think any of this through did you?”

“Not one bit.”

“It shows. Why did you kill her?”

“Hey I’ve never been what you’d call a planner. I killed her because she broke up with me for the fiftieth time that year and all my friends were giving me a hard time about how I would just crawl back to her. I said ‘can’t crawl back to her if I kill her!’ They all thought it was funny so I did it.”

“Ah………Makes perfect sense to me.”

“A guy has to watch his reputation, right?”

They sat there watching late night infomercials in silence for another half hour. Linda nudged Melissa as she seen a phone floating around taking pictures of a floating can of soup.

Of all the ghosts in the world, why was theirs like this?

“Brent, there’s some stuff on the DVR” Linda told him.

“Good I hate infomercials. Oh yuck, ‘The King of Queens.’ I hate that show, Amanda loved it. That fat fucking heifer guy gets to make it with that babe every night. Fucking loser ass UPS guy”

They could see the phone slowly lower and start hovering towards Brent. They let him rant.

“And that Deacon guy, what a fucking idiot, he leaves his wife at one point which is silly because she’s so fucking hot.”

The can of soup hovered behind him.

“That guy that dates the ugly chick from the bowling alley, now I can’t tolerate him at all.”

The soup can shook with rage.

“He ends up living with the other guy right? Like what the fuck? Are they like a thing or not a thing? I didn’t pay enough attention. I did pretend to though to get some action every now and again, show fucking sucks though. Here I’ll do you guys a favor.”

As he deleted the episode from the DVR the can came slamming down into his head.

Again.

They heard a voice yell “MY BONES ARE GETTING WEARY! MY BACK IS GETTING TIGHT!” As the can of cream of chicken turned Brent’s head into cream of Brent’s brains.

After the violence stopped the notebook hovered in front of them and said “Sorry, I was on TikTok, I’ll clean this up tho.”

Much like the first night that’s exactly what happened. They were untied and they watched as the mess was cleaned up. Brent’s body floated over to the ground and the can of soup was laid on the table. The phone floated over to Melissa who dialed 911.

After the legal mess was cleaned up they decided that having Amanda around maybe was not such a bad idea. No one could really kill them, it was like having a built in security system. They did eventually add a third line to their cell plan and let her set up social media for herself as a reclusive twenty something who couldn’t leave the house due to a skin condition.

Her pages were ok, they didn’t get much interaction or followers but Amanda was happy. Sometimes people would say they wanted to hang out with her because they lived close, Amanda just said her skin condition was contagious AF. No one ever thought to say “Hey, what exactly IS your medical condition?” People could be so polite sometimes.

Christmas morning as they all opened gifts Linda and Melissa cried as Amanda opened the complete series collection of “The King of Queens.” The three sat on the couch together that evening and watched all of season one.

Baby all my life I will be driving home to you.

The next day they heard a familiar song. Together they both smiled and thought that yes, there was a ghost in this house.

#horror comedy #horror novels #free short story #horror books

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modern-days · 5 years ago

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~ Issue # 22 ~ Interlude: Ghosts Of Our Souls ~

PAGE 1, PANEL 1

FULL PAGE SPLASH: Overhead full shot of Solomon. He is dressed in his familiar dark grey long coat worn by the Irish Garda police force, over a scruffy dark suit and white shirt, with a constantly loose fitting neck tie. He’s calmly dragging on a cigarette. He’s stood still as the people of Camden pass all round him. It’s raining, so the overhead shot is also looking down on a sea of umbrellas passing him by.

CAPTION: London, Camden Town, Present Day.

ARTIST NOTE: The Chapter title Interlude: Ghosts Of Our Souls is written as if a head line on a nearby newspaper stand, from left to right, top to bottom.

QUOTE: In memory of you, I feel the whisper of your name upon my soul.

CAPTION: Good morning, London.

CAPTION: They say every day in this city is the same, but those who say that have never truly seen it, not really. They’ve never seen what it really is, not the way I see it.

PAGE 2, PANEL 1

Page width panel. Wide shot of London. It’s morning. It’s raining and the city is vague up through the downpour.

CAPTION: They’ve never seen its heart, felt the blood pumping through its streets.

PAGE 2, PANEL 2

Two panels on this tier. These panels are similar to those in issue # 2. ( Strangers In A Modern World. ) Full shot of Solomon sat up in bed. He’s smoking a cigarette with daylight falling onto him through a blind.

CAPTION: It passes them by. They see what they want to see. Their eyes slip past the shadows, past all the things that move in the dark.

CAPTION: But I see them.

PAGE 2, PANEL 3

Head to waist profile shot. Solomon stood in front of the bedroom window, the blind now up. He smokes the cigarette as he stares out at the London skyline.

CAPTION: It’s what I know, where I feel most comfortable, where I’m at my best.

PAGE 2, PANEL 4

Page width panel. Head to waist shot of Solomon walking along a London street, with his collar up, his hands in his coat pockets. He is in the foreground with the blurred shapes of the Camden crowds behind him.

CAPTION: I know about the dark things and the dark things know about me.

PAGE 3, PANEL 1

Panels 1 - 3 are a brief edited recap of the panels on page 7 of issue # 2 ( Strangers In A Modern World.) Page width panel. Head to waist shot of Solomon from behind in the foreground with the Devil’s Crow pub behind him.

CAPTION: And now, in this city I‘ve come to know so well, I‘m keeping a promise to a very old friend, and I guess to myself too.

PAGE 3, PANEL 2

Two panels on this tier. Overhead shot of the pub’s interior. Solomon is sat on a stool at the bar. Cob leans on a pump tap in conversation with him. Cob is wearing his usual white shirt and black braces and trousers.

CAPTION: If there’s one thing I pride myself on it’s keeping my word.

PAGE 3, PANEL 3

Head to waist shot of Solomon exiting, his hands in his coat pockets. He is in the foreground with Cob wiping a glass in the background.

CAPTION: I made a promise to Cob. Now it’s time to keep it. I’ll find him his daughter. Even if he doesn’t like what I find.

PAGE 3, PANEL 4

Half page vertical panel. Full shot of Solomon walking toward Camden Lock entrance at Chalk Farm Road. It’s a busy scene with tourists and stall holders.

CAPTION: I put a lot of feelers out a few months back, got the right people asking the right questions in the right places.

CAPTION: I’ve spent a long time going to the places other investigators won’t go, making acquaintances most won’t make.

PAGE 3, PANEL 5

Two panels on this vertical tier. Overhead shot of Solomon in a crowded walkway between stalls and buildings in the Camden Lock Market. ‘Hangin’ Round’ by Lou Reed is being sung from up ahead with its lyrics in panel.

CAPTION: It’s an old way of doing things. And I like to do things the old way. A favour for a favour or a simple exchange of information

CAPTION: Mostly it’s just a simple old fashioned business transaction. Some things never change. People always need money.

GRYF ( O. P ): ‘Harry was a rich young man, who would become a priest. He dug up his dear father, who was recently deceased …’

PAGE 3, PANEL 6

In the foreground is a head to waist profile shot of a busker, Gryf, playing his guitar. He appears to be in his mid 50’s with grey hair in a ponytail. He wears John Lennon style glasses and a red bandana. In the background Solomon is approaching.

CAPTION: There’s a lot of people I’ve got out of tight spots too. People who owe me. And now one of those might just have the information I’ve been looking for.

GRYF: ‘He did it with Tarot cards and a mystically attuned mind, and shortly therein after he did find …’

PAGE 4, PANEL 1

Half page vertical panel. Head to waist profile shot of both Solomon and Gryf. There is a look of mild surprise on Gryf’s face. They are stood in front of the pulled down shutters of a permanent stall.

GRYF: ‘Jeanie was a spoiled young brat. She thought she knew it all. She smoked mentholated cigarettes and she had sex in the hall’ … Oh, hey there Sol, didn’t expect ya this early.

PAGE 4, PANEL 2

Two panels on this vertical tier. Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of Solomon.

SOLOMON : I’ve got a feeling today is gonna be a long day. Marko came by, told me you might have something for me.

PAGE 4, PANEL 3

Head to waist profile shot of both Solomon and Gryf, who is now looking evasive.

GRYF: Yeah, well … I got something, just a rumour mind, but ya gotta promise ta leave my name outta this man. Girl got herself in with some very bad company. I’d hate for this to come back on me, y’know what I’m saying.

SOLOMON: Don’t worry about that, Gryf. You know how this works. I never reveal a source. I’ve kept your other secrets haven’t I?

PAGE 4, PANEL 4

Page width panel. Full profile shot of Solomon and Gryf facing each other on the left side of the panel. On the right side of the panel are their reflections in the window of a café. In the reflection we see Gryf isn’t human at all, but some kind of demon with horns along the side of his head.

GRYF: Yeah, I guess you have at that.

PAGE 5, PANEL 1

Insert.

Insert is in the top left of the panel 2. It’s still morning and it’s still raining. We see the front exterior of the Peppermint club, which is currently closed.

CAPTION: It turned out the ‘very bad company‘ Cob‘s daughter had got herself involved with were bad company I already knew pretty well.

HARMONY ( O.P ): Come on, Sol. You’re putting me in a tricky position here.

PAGE 5, PANEL 2

Page width panel. Full shot of Solomon and Harmony facing each other, stood outside the fire exit doors of the club. Harmony has a waist length coat on, her legs are bare and she’s wearing knee high boots.

CAPTION: She’d spent a few months here. Working as a stripper, lap dancer, and probably anything else she could make some extra money on. This isn’t a job you do just for the regular pay.

CAPTION: This is the kind of job you do for the benefits.

HARMONY: Me giving you information is one thing, but this is right on my door step. It ain’t good business to shit where I work.

SOLOMON: Harm, I don’t care what she was into with this place or with Papa Midas. I’m not looking to tread on any toes. I’ve got a deal with him, remember, and it’s a sweet deal for both of us. But I need to find her. I made a promise to an old friend. I need your help.

PAGE 5, PANEL 3

Two panels on this tier. Close up of Solomon’s hand holding a photograph of Cob’s daughter.

SOLOMON: Her name’s Carly. Carly McGuire.

HARMONY ( O.P ): Sol … I’m not sure.

PAGE 5, PANEL 4

Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of Solomon. His eyes are intense.

SOLOMON: Harm, I already know she worked here.

PAGE 5, PANEL 5

Page width panel. Head to waist profile shot of Solomon and Harmony facing each other, with him putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

SOLOMON: I just need to know if you have any idea what happened to her, if you heard or saw something that might help me find her.

HARMONY: You promise you won’t go treading on any toes.

SOLOMON: Scouts honour. I promise.

PAGE 6, PANEL 1

Two panels on this top tier. Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of Harmony as she lights up a cigarette. She is looking furtive and nervous.

HARMONY: Well, okay then. There was one thing. Not long before she left she was hanging out with some creepy guy. None of us knew her that well. She kept to herself, but it was obvious she had a habit, mystical substances far as I could tell.

PAGE 6, PANEL 2

Similar to previous panel. Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of Harmony but now she is dragging on the cigarette with smoke pluming up.

HARMONY: Spent most of her time completely spaced out. I’m pretty sure he was her dealer though. The other girls reckoned he was one of your lot.

PAGE 6, PANEL 3

Two panels on this tier. Head to waist semi - profile shot of Solomon and Harmony.

SOLOMON: An immortal?

HARMONY: Yep, they had a thing I think. I heard he moved in angelic circles too.

SOLOMON: Angels. Now that is interesting.

PAGE 6, PANEL 4

Similar to the previous panel, but now a semi - profile head to chest shot of them.

SOLOMON: He have a name, this immortal?

HARMONY: Remly, I think.

PAGE 6, PANEL 5

Two panels on this bottom tier. Full profile shot of Solomon and Harmony facing each other.

HARMONY: We square?

SOLOMON: For now, yeah. Thanks Harmony, you’re a sweetheart.

PAGE 6, PANEL 6

Full profile shot of Solomon but now Harmony is going through the fire exit door.

HARMONY: Sweethearts don’t give blow jobs like I do, Sol.

PAGE 7, PANEL 1

Two panels on this top tier. Full profile shot of Solomon facing two of the club’s bouncers. They are six foot plus and he is looking up at them.

SOLOMON: Morning, gentlemen.

BOUNCER: Not so fast, Sol. The boss wants a word with you.

PAGE 7, PANEL 2

Exterior view of the peppermint club’s top floor. Through the glass of its large window we see Papa Midas silhouetted, staring out at the pouring rain.

PAPA MIDAS: The rain has got a strange kind of beauty to it, don’t you think, Sol. There’s something so cleansing about it. Sometimes I stand here and I can almost believe it will wash away all of this city’s filth.

PAGE 7, PANEL 3

Two panels on this tier. P.O.V through the window from the outside with water running down the glass obscuring the interior. In the fore-ground on the left side of the panel is a close up head and shoulders shot of Papa Midas. In the background is a head to waist shot of Solomon.

SOLOMON: I hadn’t really thought about it.

PAPA MIDAS: A man’s got to have a vision, Sol. Mine began just across the way there. A boy from a poor family, but I always had dreams, and those dreams got me where I am today. King of a little empire perhaps, but a king nonetheless.

PAGE 7, PANEL 4

A semi - profile head to chest shot of Solomon eyeing Papa Midas guardedly.

SOLOMON: I’m pretty sure an emperor has an empire, but I get your point.

PAGE 7, PANEL 5

Page width panel. Full profile shot of Solomon and Papa Midas, who has now turned to face him. The office is all red velvet carpeting and cushions, and wood panelling. Very old fashioned. There’s a large mahogany desk between them. Papa Midas is coloured, wrestler sized, early 50’s and bald. He’s wearing a purple suit, purple tie and a black shirt.

PAPA MIDAS: Of course you do, once a king always a king.

SOLOMON: I’m not sure about that anymore.

PAPA MIDAS: But you understand. That’s enough. You know what it takes to build something like this, and the lengths we must go to protect it.

PAGE 8, PANEL 1

Page width panel. Pretty much identical to the previous panel on page 7.

SOLOMON: I’m not looking to stick my nose into your business. Harmony’s just a friend.

PAPA MIDAS: She’s your informant.

SOLOMON: Yeah, that too. I’d never let it affect our arrangement though.

PAGE 8, PANEL 2

Two panels on this tier. Close up of Papa Midas hands as he pours himself a drink from a crystal decanter. He has a distinctive ruby ring on his finger.

PAPA MIDAS: Oh, I know that, Sol. That isn’t why I had you brought up here.

PAGE 8, PANEL 3

Head to waist profile shot of Solomon and Papa Midas facing each other, the desk between them as he hands Solomon a glass.

SOLOMON: Then why?

PAPA MIDAS: Because I intend to protect what I have here. So, as part of our agreement I need a favour from you. A promise if you will.

PAGE 8, PANEL 4

Two panels on this bottom tier. Head to chest profile shot of Solomon holding the glass up to his mouth.

SOLOMON: What do you need? Name it.

PAGE 8, PANEL 5

Forehead to mouth shot of Papa Midas. The left side of his face on the right of the panel, with the shadows of the rain on the window across his face.

PAPA MIDAS: There’s a storm coming, Sol. A very big storm. I know you’ve felt it. I’ve heard a lot of rumours. Seen a lot of strange things happening. I know something big is going on with the gods and the angels. All I’m asking is when the world’s about to turn to shit you give me the head’s up.

PAGE 9, PANEL 1

Page width panel. Wide shot of a penthouse apartment at Canary Warf. It’s mostly constructed out of glass. Behind it the clouds are finally parting, and it’s stopped raining. Full shot of Solomon and Lucy leant on the balcony’s glass wall, looking out over the spread of the city.

LUCY: Keeping company with angels, she said. And so you came to me.

SOLOMON: And so I came to you.

PAGE 9, PANEL 2

Two panels on this tier. Full semi - profile shot of them leant on the balcony, with Lucy in the foreground. She is dressed in sleeping shorts, a T - shirt and a jogging top. Her hair is a mess as she drags on a cigarette.

LUCY: Not to mention Gabriel’s been doing his recluse thing since Gwen left.

SOLOMON: Yeah, that too I guess.

PAGE 9, PANEL 3

Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of Lucy with smoke pluming up.

LUCY: Have you seen him lately?

PAGE 9, PANEL 4

Page width panel. Full shot of Solomon and Lucy from behind through the glass. The view is from the interior of the sparse apartment. In the foreground Lucy’s familiar, the white owl, Delilah watches them and on the table is a book, No One Believes In The Magic Bullet Anymore by Adam North.

SOLOMON: I see him all the time.

LUCY: You mean you’ve been keeping an eye on him.

SOLOMON: Well, it’s what I’m good at.

PAGE 10, PANEL 1

Two panels on this top tier. Head to waist semi - profile shot of them leant on the balcony. Solomon is in the foreground of the panel.

SOLOMON: This place has a lot of glass.

LUCY: It reminds me of home.

PAGE 10, PANEL 2

Similar to the previous panel but now it‘s a head to chest shot of them.

SOLOMON: I thought this was home.

LUCY: I mean my real home.

SOLOMON: Ah.

PAGE 10, PANEL 3

Two panels on this tier. Full overhead shot of both Solomon and Lucy.

SOLOMON: So what do we do about Gabriel?

LUCY: Nothing.

PAGE 10, PANEL 4

Similar to the previous panel, but now they’re looking directly at each other.

SOLOMON: You sure?

LUCY: For now anyway. The only one who can figure this out is him. We’d just get in the way.

SOLOMON: Stick to the business at hand then.

LUCY: Yup.

PAGE 10, PANEL 5

Page width panel. Wide shot of the penthouse apartment with London in the background. Behind it the clouds have now clearly parted and rays of sun are peeping through. Full shot of Solomon and Lucy leant on the balcony’s glass wall, once again looking out over the spread of the city.

SOLOMON: So, where do we start?

LUCY: We go visit an old friend.

PAGE 11, PANEL 1

Insert.

Full profile shot of Lucy and Solomon. Lucy now dressed in her long black velvet coat over a black vest, with black trousers, and black boots. She is pushing open the door of a night club. Above the door is a sign that reads ‘The Twister Trap.’ The exterior is pretty much the exterior of a warehouse, perhaps a homage to ‘The Bronze’ in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’

ARTIST NOTE: Insert is positioned in the top left hand corner of panel 2

CAPTION: Soho.

SOLOMON: I’ve heard about this place. Some of the best upcoming bands in the city have been playing here. It’s gaining quite the reputation.

LUCY: Yup, I know how you like your music, Sol …

PAGE 11, PANEL 2

SPLASH: In the foreground is a head to waist shot from behind of a band on stage. It’s about half full with various musical looking types and students sat at tables. Solomon and Lucy are stood in the background by the doorway. The interior is very much a converted warehouse. On the left of the panel is a long, circular modern bar with high stools. There are also steps that lead up to a viewing gantry. Perhaps another homage to ‘The Bronze’ in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ The band is playing a version of one of my own songs, ’Love is Blind.’

FEMALE SINGER: ‘Love is grace, love is hope, love is fragile, impossible to hold. Love is blind inside me. Love is breath. Love is heat. Love is blood. Impossible to steal. Love is numb inside me.’

LUCY: … So I figured this might be just your kind of place.

PAGE 11, PANEL 3

Insert.

Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of the singer. All leather and red hair.

ARTIST NOTE: Insert is positioned in the bottom right hand corner of panel 2

FEMALE SINGER: ‘So alone, and I guess no one has a thought for you. Maybe darling in the cold of this night I’ll find you.’

PAGE 11, PANEL 4

Half page vertical panel. Full shot of Ellie, the transvestite angel, introduced in issue # 2 ( Strangers In A Modern World.) Though still clearly dressed as a female, it’s now in a more restrained fashion, classier, a black and gold dress, black eye shadow, his hair classic Marilyn Monroe.

ELLIE: Well, well, if it isn’t Lucy Lou, ‘bout time you visited, honey pie.

PAGE 11, PANEL 5

Two panels on this vertical tier. Full profile shot of Solomon and Lucy on the left, Ellie on the right, indicating with her thumb toward the bar.

LUCY: I heard you’d set this place up. I was surprised you even had the time.

ELLIE: Well, yeah, I have to admit this new job takes up the hours of the day, but Mercy here keeps the place ticking over so it kinda works well.

LUCY: So how is the new job?

PAGE 11, PANEL 6

Head to chest shot of Ellie, pushing his hair up in an exaggerated fashion.

ELLIE: The pay sucks, but hey, I get to chose my own hours, so it ain’t all bad. I still think someone screwed up royally though. Making me the angel of death.

PAGE 12, PANEL 1

Three panels on this top tier. This is a head and shoulders shot of Lucy.

LUCY: Well, you’re good with people, that’s gotta be a requirement.

PAGE 12, PANEL 2

Head and shoulders shot of Ellie giving an exaggerated shrugging gesture.

ELLIE: Yeah, but not exactly traditional though, am I.

PAGE 12, PANEL 3

Head and shoulders semi- profile shot of Lucy. Her face mostly in shadow.

LUCY: Nope, you were never that. Anyway, traditional is overrated.

PAGE 12, PANEL 4

Page width panel. Head to waist profile shot of Solomon and Ellie facing each other. Ellie has stepped up close to Solomon and is adjusting his collar. For his part Solomon is looking very uncomfortable.

ELLIE: And hello Michael Solomon. You two a team now?

SOLOMON: Hey Ellie, ahem … long time no see.

ELLIE: Late sixties if I remember right, honey.

SOLOMON: Yeah, somewhere about then.

PAGE 12, PANEL 5

Two panels on this bottom tier. Head to waist shot of Ellie, suddenly looking serious.

ELLIE: I heard about what happened to your family…

PAGE 12, PANEL 6

Head to chest semi - profile shot of Solomon, suddenly looking grim and troubled. Ellie has obviously mentioned something he doesn’t want to discuss.

SOLOMON: Yeah, so did everyone else. Old news now.

PAGE 13, PANEL 1

Page width panel. Full profile shot of Solomon and Lucy facing Ellie, with the band on stage behind them, filling the background of the panel.

ELLIE: What about Adam and Amy, our little Soul Watchers, you hear from them lately?

LUCY: Not for a while, but they know what they’re doing now. They don’t need us. We’ll see them again when the job’s done I guess.

ELLIE: And you’ll finally get that redemption you’ve been waiting on, right.

LUCY: Maybe, not exactly holding my breath though.

PAGE 13, PANEL 2

Page width panel. Similar to the previous panel apart from the band being in different positions.

ELLIE: So, what’s up? I’m assuming this isn’t just your everyday social call.

LUCY: No, sorry, it never is with me, is it.

ELLIE: No need to apologise. It is what it is, kiddo. Beside’s we only got each other, right?

LUCY: Right.

PAGE 13, PANEL 3

Page width panel. P.O.V perspective shot from the bottom left of the panel of the club’s circular bar. Mercy, all pink hair and white vest top is behind the bar, stacking bottles. Full profile shot of Solomon, Lucy and Ellie sat on stools along the bar. Ellie is in the foreground of the shot.

LUCY: So, if there’s anything you can tell us about this Remly creep, it’d really help.

ELLIE: Oh, I can tell you plenty Lucy Lou, I’m afraid there ain’t any of it that’s good though.

SOLOMON: We weren’t really expecting it to be. Just tell us what you’ve got.

PAGE 13, PANEL 4

Two panels on this bottom tier. Head to chest shot of Ellie’s reflection in the bar mirror. He’s staring down at the bar, shadows now fallen over his face.

ELLIE: Well, I’ve never met him personally, but from what I’ve heard he’s bad news, Sol, very bad news. If Cob’s gal has got herself involved with him, then she’s already on the wrong side of her life not ending well. He’s into some heavy duty stuff. Dark Magic, the Occult. If it’s bad, then he’s into it. From what I hear the girls that hook up with him tend to disappear real fast.

PAGE 13, PANEL 5

A forehead to chin semi- profile shot of Ellie, his face still half in shadow.

ELLIE: Whatever he does with them, it ain’t good. So whatever you’re doing, you better do it fast.

PAGE 14, PANEL 1

SPLASH: Evening. Full profile shot of Solomon and Lucy stood in front of an antiques gallery, looking up at the two floors above. It’s a typical Portobello Road teraced building. The first floor is a typical shop front with gold lettering above the window, wood surrounding, with the entrance to the shop on the right and the door to the stairs on the left.

CAPTION: Portobello Road. I’ve pretty much lost count the amount of times I’d been here. There always seems to be something that brings me back. Hell, the first time I was here it wasn’t even called Portobello Road, it was Green Lane.

LUCY: Well, this is it.

SOLOMON: Looks pretty deserted. No one’s been here for weeks. Maybe Ellie got the address wrong.

LUCY: Well, if he did, it’d be a first.

PAGE 14, PANEL 2

Two panels on this vertical tier. Head to waist profile shot of Solomon and Lucy. Lucy is pushing open the door, which is surprisingly unlocked.

S.F.X; Creak.

LUCY: Well, that’s not reassuring.

PAGE 14, PANEL 3

Head to waist profile shot of Solomon going through the doorway, with Lucy following.

SOLOMON: Maybe I should go first.

LUCY: Be my guest.

PAGE 14, PANEL 4

Half page vertical panel. Full shot of them from behind, going up a flight of old wooden stairs.

SOLOMON: Not that I think you can’t handle yourself, but …

PAGE 15, PANEL 1

FULL PAGE SPLASH: In the centre of the page is a full shot of a startled Solomon. The background is a white void, with winds howling about him. In each corner are borderless images to be read left to right, each depicting Remly and his activities in the house over the last century or so.

SOLOMON: What the hell? …

IMAGE 1:

Top left hand corner of the page. Head to waist shot of Remly in a late 19th century suit and appropriate hairstyle of the period. He has sliced his hand with a knife and is letting it bleed over the pages of an old book.

IMAGE 2:

Top right hand corner of the page. Head to waist shot of Remly in a 1930’s style shirt and braces. He is holding his hands aloft in front of burning candles which are placed on an altar and pluming up smoke.

IMAGE 3:

Bottom left hand corner of the page. Head to waist shot of Remly in the 1960’s. Very much Timothy Leary in style. He is stood over a naked woman with long hair, who is laying on an altar of some sort. A dagger held tightly in his hands as he prepares to plunge it down into her chest.

IMAGE 4:

Bottom right hand corner of the page. Head to waist shot of a modern suited Remly stood behind a young woman as he slits her throat with the same dagger.

PAGE 16, PANEL 1

Page width panel. Head to waist profile shot of Solomon and Lucy at the top of the stairs. Lucy is looking concerned, with her hand on Solomon’s shoulder.

LUCY: Jesus, Sol. You okay? What happened?

SOLOMON: You didn’t see anything?

LUCY: Nope, nada.

PAGE 16, PANEL 2

Two panels on this tier. Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of Solomon.

SOLOMON: I think we just stepped through some kind of psychic barrier. I saw everything, everything that sick sonavabitch has done in this house, for years.

PAGE 16, PANEL 3

Forehead to chin shot of Lucy. Her face now in shadow, her eyes glistening.

LUCY: How long?

PAGE 16, PANEL 4

Two panels on this bottom tier. Forehead to chin shot of Solomon. His face in shadow.

SOLOMON: Too long.

PAGE 16, PANEL 5

In the foreground is a head to chest shot of Solomon moving forward, framed in a doorway, with a head to waist shot of Lucy in the background.

SOLOMON: Wait a minute. What the hell is that smell … Damn …

PAGE 17, PANEL 1

SPLASH: Interior of one of the upstairs room. In the foreground of the panel is the burnt twisted body of Remly. In the background is a full shot of Solomon and Lucy stood in the doorway, looking on in horror.

LUCY: What … the … flying fuck is that?

SOLOMON: I’m pretty sure that’s Remly.

PAGE 17, PANEL 2

Page width panel. Full semi- profile shot of them standing over Remly’s charred corpse. The room is wrecked. Papers all over the floor. A lamp is knocked over, the glass of a cabinet smashed, half melted incense candles are strewn all over the place, a wooden chair is broken into pieces and on the stark exposed floorboards is a dagger, and a painted pentagram.

LUCY: But how could he? …

SOLOMON: I don’t know. If we if look through this mess we might find something that‘ll give us the remotest clue.

PAGE 17, PANEL 3

INSERT.

Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of Solomon putting his hand to his head in pain.

ARTIST NOTE: Insert is positioned in the bottom right hand corner of panel 2.

SOLOMON: … Arrghh!

PAGE 17, PANEL 4

Two panels on this bottom tier. Head to waist shot of Carly strapped to the wooden chair. Remly is stood behind her, putting the dagger to her throat.

PAGE 17, PANEL 5

Similar to the previous panel, but now Carly has thrown her head backward, white light is pouring out from her. Remly is staggering back in shock.

PAGE 18, PANEL 1

Two panels on this top tier. Solomon’s P.O.V of Lucy leaning in very close.

LUCY: You okay? What happened?

PAGE 18, PANEL 2

This is a low angled shot looking up at a head to waist shot of Solomon, his expression sad as he realises what has happened to Carly.

SOLOMON: Another psychic flash. That one really hurt. I saw her die. I saw Carly die. We’re too late. Weeks too late.

PAGE 18, PANEL 3

Two panels on this tier. Head to waist profile shot of Solomon and Lucy facing each other.

LUCY: At least you know what happened. That’s something.

SOLOMON: But not enough. She took him out with her though. He hadn’t bargained on her habit. All those mystical substances floating around in her system. Whatever he was doing it went wrong big time.

PAGE 18, PANEL 4

Similar to the previous panel, but Solomon is holding his hand to his head again.

LUCY: Sol?

PAGE 18, PANEL 5

Two panels on this bottom tier. Head and shoulders shot of Solomon.

SOLOMON: I can hear her. How the hell can I hear her?

PAGE 18, PANEL 6

Head and shoulders semi -profile shot of Lucy as the awful truth dawns on her.

LUCY: Oh … oh, holy fuck.

PAGE 19, PANEL 1

Two panels on this top tier. Head to chest semi - profile shot of Solomon leaning toward Lucy. Now clearly needing some answers.

SOLOMON: What? What is it?

PAGE 19, PANEL 2

On the left of the panel is a full face on shot of Lucy. On the right of the panel is the exterior of the building, the two halves merging together.

LUCY: Something I heard once, that if a house is left alone for long enough, or if terrible things are done inside it for too long, it eventually goes mad. It grasps for anything tangible, any kind of reality. It begins collecting things.

LUCY: Memories, souls, trapping them.

PAGE 19, PANEL 3

Two panels on this tier. On the left of the panel is a full face on shot of Lucy. On the right of the panel is Carly sat with her back arched as she floats above the chair, white light pouring out, the two halves merging together.

LUCY: This one collected her. It took its opportunity. She’s part of it now. It must have happened in the moment she died.

PAGE 19, PANEL 4

Exterior shot of the upstairs window of the building with white light pouring out.

PAGE 19, PANEL 5

Two panels on this bottom tier. In the foreground is a full shot of Solomon, he’s crouched with the dagger now in his hand as he examines it closely. In the background Lucy is stood near the doorway.

SOLOMON: I’ve seen some strange things in this job, Lucy, but is that even possible?

PAGE 19, PANEL 6

Head and shoulders semi - profile shot of Lucy. Unearthly, eyes glistening.

LUCY: Anything’s possible. If I’ve learnt anything I’ve learnt that much.

PAGE 20, PANEL 1

Two panels on this top tier. Head to waist semi- profile shot of Solomon pulling a cigarette from a packet, his forehead creased with troubled thoughts.

SOLOMON: So what the hell do I do? She wants me to free her. She’s begging me.

PAGE 20, PANEL 2

Forehead to mouth shot of Lucy. Her eyes still glistening. The left side of her face is on the far right of the panel and mostly in shadow.

LUCY: You do what she wants. You set her free.

PAGE 20, PANEL 3

Two panels on this tier. Head to waist semi - profile shot of Solomon lighting the cigarette, which he’s also now holding to his mouth.

SOLOMON: That’s not our decision to make.

PAGE 20, PANEL 4

Head to chest shot of Lucy staring determinedly at Solomon from his P.O.V.

LUCY: Do you really want Cob to have to make it?

PAGE 20, PANEL 5

Two panels on this bottom tier. In the foreground is the broken wooden chair and papers. In the background is a full shot of Solomon looking at them.

PAGE 20, PANEL 6

Head to chest profile shot of him staring down, the cigarette hanging, smoke pluming up, his expression troubled.

SOLOMON: No, I guess I don’t.

PAGE 21, PANEL 1

Three panels on this top tier. Close up of Solomon’s hand holding the cigarette.

PAGE 21, PANEL 2

Close up of his hand opening as he drops the cigarette to the floor.

CAPTION: Lucy was right. It wasn’t a decision Cob could ever live with. Some things a parent shouldn’t ever have to do.

PAGE 21, PANEL 3

Close up of the cigarette on the floor as the papers strewn across the floor begin to smoke.

CAPTION: Did we have the right to take that choice away from him. Truth be told, I don’t know, pretty sure I never will.

PAGE 21, PANEL 4

SPLASH: Night. Head to waist shot of Solomon and Lucy walking away to the other side of the street. In the background the building is a raging inferno.

CAPTION: But it felt the right thing to do, and sometimes that’s all you can do.

PAGE 22, PANEL 1

Page width panel. Full profile shot of Solomon and Lucy watching the house, their faces partly in shadow, partly lit by the red hue of the flames.

CAPTION: I’m not sure what I expected to see in those flames, but I stayed until the place was nothing but a pyre.

CAPTION: And something happened while I watched. Not sure if I’ll ever know what it was, but afterwards I knew her soul was gone.

CAPTION: She was free.

PAGE 22, PANEL 2

INSERT.

Night. Exterior shot of the Devil’s Crow pub. It’s raining heavily once again.

PAGE 22, PANEL 3

Page width panel. Similar to page 3, panel 2. Overhead shot of the pub’s interior, Solomon sat on a stool at the bar, Cob leant on a pump tap.

CAPTION: I told Cob I hadn’t been able to find her, but that I was sure she was still out there somewhere, which, of course, in a strange way was pretty much close to the truth.

PAGE 22, PANEL 4

Two panels on this bottom tier. Head to waist profile shot of Solomon and Cob. Cob is shaking Solomon’s hand with a sad but warm smile on his face.

CAPTION: Worst part was, he thanked me for even trying.

PAGE 22, PANEL 5

In the foreground is a head and shoulders shot of Solomon leaving, head slightly bowed, eyes closed, the collar of his coat pulled up and cigarette hanging from his mouth. In the background is a full shot of Cob.

CAPTION: Like I said, sometimes you can only do what feels right.

( Taken from Volume Three: Mortal Lives )

0 notes

brian-enthusiast · 7 years ago

Text

and it’s enough just to make you go crazy.

the title of this fic is a lana del rey lyric because it’s my fic fuck you. here’s around 2000 words of dadsona being in denial about being in love with brian.

contains an angery twink named harper and a soft boy named brian being in love with eachother.

1. everything he does is endearing.

Harper doesn’t think he’s ever really going to fall in love with Brian. It’ll be more of a slow dip into those familiar waters. Love is a term that was very much reserved for Alex―and therefore, a little bit of a bittersweet thing to return to.

So he figures it’ll be a bit like going to the pool when the water is too cool―only the brave and foolish jump straight in, so Harper figures he’ll dip a toe in before slowly submerging himself in the water. Except instead of water it’s romantic commitment and love, or something like that.

Or, maybe he’ll just be grateful that he’s finally back in the dating game and stop coming up with dumb metaphors to explain to himself why he’s so hesitant to use the word “love” in situations where it might be fitting. Whatever, he’s happy with Brian, and as far as he knows, Brian is happy with him. It’s a symbiotic relationship, though Harper supposes all romantic relationships should be.

Harper snaps out of his thoughts when he comes across a post on Dadbook. There’s a picture of Daisy receiving a badge from an older, sinewy girl, supposedly her scout troop leader. In the caption, Brian has written sentence upon sentence about how proud he is of her. A smile crosses Harper’s face as he reads through it.

“What’s got you all happy?” Amanda is standing in front of Harper, and he comes to realize that he’s kind of just been sitting on the couch, scrolling through his phone with a dopey expression while an episode of Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers played in the background. “You’ve been smiling at your phone for, like, a full minute.”

“Nothing.” Harper presses the power button on the side of his phone, “Daisy got a new Girl Scout badge, and I was reading the post Brian made about it.” Simple question, simple explanation.

“I thought you hated it when Brian bragged about Daisy.” Amanda says, raising an eyebrow, “Something about him being your mortal enemy and a reminder that you aren’t as great a dad, despite the fact that you’re both great dads?”

Harper waves a dismissive hand. “Amanda! That was the me of the past. Now, after our time at the carnival, inevitable team-up for the benefit of our children, and my overwhelming guilt for being a competitive asshole, Brian and I are unlikely friends.” And unlikely people who are dating, but whatever.

“Uh-huh. Well, you have me and Daisy to thank for that.” She says, a sly smile on her face, like she knows something. “And Brian the Goldfish. May he rest in peace.”

“Why did we go through all that trouble for a carnival goldfish, anyway?” Harper asks, “Just so we could be that much more attached when we inevitably flushed him?”

“That, and because we’re ridiculous and over the top.” Amanda shrugs, taking a seat beside Harper. “I’m glad you could get over your petty rivalry, though. And, as an unexpected bonus, you got over your fear of rollercoasters.”

“‘Got over’ is a strong way to put it. I’m still horrified of roller coasters, and now I have that memory to prove to myself that they are just as horrifying as I thought they were.” Just thinking about heights, and dropping down from heights, and dropping down from heights at a fast speed is making him a bit queasy.

“Still, progress.” Amanda says.

Harper rolls his eyes and turns on his phone again, immediately being greeted by another Dadbook post with a picture of Maxwell wearing a trucker hat, and if that wasn’t adorable enough, Harper remembers being in the mall when Brian bought that stupid hat, and he smiles fondly upon thinking about it.

Then he scrolls down and sees another picture from Brian, one where standing by his car, smiling brightly at the camera and celebrating his new proud parent of an honors student bumper sticker.

Okay, maybe Harper’s just a little bit in love with Brian. Just a touch in love.

2. you see him in everything.

Lately, Harper’s been exhibiting worrisome behavior for someone who’s just a little bit in love.

It’s just little things. Recognizing things like “oh, this is Brian’s favorite song!” when a certain Jimmy Buffett song plays over the radio or, “this picture of a dog is so cute! I should send it to Brian!” when faced with… really any picture of any dog. Damien’s Dadbook page is full of pictures of dogs.

It’s starting to get bad when it becomes subconscious, because Harper is sure that he’s never heard what Brian’s usual Coffee Spoon order is, but he definitely knew it when he was standing at the counter, asking for an Iced T with extra sweetener by default.

(“How’d you know I love these?” Brian said when presented with the sweetened ice tea, “You’re so sweet. Kind of like this tea.” At that point he was laughing and Harper was laughing and everything was fine―except that Harper was internally panicking because how did he know Brian loved those.)

Of course, none of that is a really big deal. Harper is a chronic overreactor and has a tendency to exaggerate problems in order to fit his own narrative, but he’s still kind of panicking because even his friends are starting to pick up on his infatuated behavior.

He’d been hanging out with Robert and Mary a few weeks ago. The usual stuff, a couple drinks before Harper inevitably went home to cuddle with his pillow and have dreams about his life with far more money and far less back pain.

“I’ll get a whiskey.” Robert said, and Neil turned to Harper.

“Oh. Uh. I’ll just get a beer, thanks.” To be honest, whenever Harper hangs out with Robert and Mary he feels severely outclassed. He’s not exactly a lightweight―ok, that’s a lie, he’s the lightest weight. The last time he got drunk he was found crying about how the Skammunist Manifesto was never as appreciated as it should have been―but Robert and Mary literally bring glasses of whiskey and wine almost everywhere. And they’re also much more attractive and much better friends than Harper could hope to be, and hanging out with them sort of digs up some deeply repressed inferiority issues that Harper struggles with on a daily basis, but whatever. One time he got drunk and explained this to them and they gave him a pat on the shoulder and told him that if they didn’t like him they wouldn’t hang out with him.

“So.” Harper said, swirling the beer in his cup. “You know, I was―”

“Hanging out with Brian?” Robert said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

“Uh… yes, actually. How did you know?”

“Wild guess. Also you talk about him a lot.” Robert shrugged, “Not that that’s a bad thing. He is the closest you’ll get to dating Mario Batali, after all―”

“Ok, one, when did I tell you about my celebrity crush on Mario Batali?”

“Same day you told me about your repressed issues with your dad, and your repressed memories of killing a man in cold blood.” Robert waited a few seconds before adding, “Kidding, of course.”

“And two, I don’t talk about Brian a lot. I talk about him a reasonable amount. Because we’re friends.” Harper said.

“Friends who have sex with each other?” Robert raised an eyebrow. “Not to say I’m against that kind of arrangement, though I have to say Brian isn’t exactly the friends with benefits type. I don’t really know him well enough to say that, but you know. I just kinda see it in his face. Kinda like I see the empty eyes of a killer in yours, you know?”

“Every time you make these jokes about me being a murderer I get more and more convinced that I am, you know that? Anyway,” Harper said, “Okay, so Brian and I are dating, but I’m not always talking about him or anything.”

“Of course not. I’d say Brian takes up a good eighty percent of subjects that you talk about, the other twenty percent being your own emotional issues and talks you’ve had with your daughter about how cool she is.” Robert said, “But it’s fine, no one’s blaming you. You’re practically in love with the guy, so―”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that―” Harper interjected, before Mary walked up from behind them, draping her arms over their shoulders.

“You guys talking about Brian?”

So, yeah, Harper’s a little on edge about… everything. He still doesn’t think he talks about Brian that much, but sometimes in idle moments he thinks about Brian’s stupid smile and it’s kind of a really nice thought so it is a topic that’s often on the brain.

He considers all of this while walking down the street, and then he sees a colorful Hawaiian shirt in the window of a store that he knows Brian would love, and he doesn’t really think about how he’s doing it again until after he buys the shirt for him.

(For the record, Brian does love the shirt. Harper is fucking reeling at how absolutely transparent he is even to himself, and also at how nice Brian looks in that shirt.)

3. you’re in denial about it. sweet, sweet denial.

It’s hard to convince himself he isn’t in love when he looks at Brian.

Because there’s just so many feelings―there’s giddiness and admiration and something very genuine that Harper can’t quite put a finger on―that it’s hard to pinpoint all of them, and he’s not sure love is a part of any of them.

(Because love is complicated and love is weird and love is so far away from him at this point that the idea of being faced with it now is kind of scary.

But it’s hard to deny that looking at Brian now―at his smiling face while he regales Harper with some story about fishing for rainbow trout or some shit―makes Harper feel a certain lightness in his chest.

“What’re you smiling about?” Brian says, “I know I’m not that entertaining.”

“Nothin.” Harper is still smiling dreamily, like he’s in fucking love, but he isn’t. Not yet. “Just listening to you talk.” Listening to him talk and thinking about how cute he is and being just steps away from falling in love with him.

“You’re adorable.” Brian says, and then he continues. And Harper listens, and maybe (just maybe) gets a little more comfortable with the idea of being in love with Brian. “I love you.” Brian says.

Oh, shit.

4. you accept it.

Harper doesn’t say I love you to Brian that night―but he does stand on his toes to press a kiss to Brian’s lips when they’re standing by the front door of his house.

Harper doesn’t say I love you to Brian that night―but he giggles like a child when they make their way to Brian’s room. He doesn’t say I love you―but he feels giddy beyond belief when tangled in Brian’s sheets.

Harper doesn’t say I love you to Brian that night―but in the morning, when he’s looking at Brian through sleepy eyes, he has a sort of lopsided smile on his face and this feeling like his heart is caught in his throat.

“Okay, fuck it.” He says, to a Brian who is clearly still unconscious on this fine morning. This’ll be a practice round, he supposes. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Brian says, eyes still closed, and Harper realizes with little uncertainty that he professed his aggressively denied feelings to a Brian who was pretending to be asleep, and he’s not sure if the red on his face is from embarrassment or frustration.

“Aw, babe. ‘S nothing to be embarrassed about. I love you, too.” Brian says, and Harper squints.

“I said it first.” He says.

“Actually, I said it first. About a day before you did, so.” Brian stretches and yawns. “But nice try.” He grins, playfully.

“Goddamit. Okay. You win this time, I guess.” Harper rolls his eyes, “But listen, I think we can both agree that I―” Harper loses track of what he was arguing about when he catches sight of Brian and his stupid, soft, adorable face. “Oh, fuck it. I love you.”

They kiss and normally Harper would have a billion gripes about their morning breath, but this is a nice moment and he doesn’t wanna ruin it.

Okay. He’s in love with Brian. And that’s fine, and good, and fun, and Harper doesn’t exactly know what that means for them or the future, but he’s willing to find out.

#brian harding #ddadds fanfiction #harper is an angery twink who has difficulty expressing his emotions but thats ok because he's obvious as FUCK

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