#Treble Tinker

[veinsfullofstars]

Meet the Families: Gear Dee, Eva, & Treble Dee

You guys might’ve heard me talk about Bow’s extremely cool moms before (and maybe mention her sullen older brother once or twice), and now I finally get to introduce you to them! Check below the cut for more deets and fun facts!

(OC info updated as of 05/28/25.)

Started 04/22/25, finished 05/06/25. | Childhood Friends AU Masterpost

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Some fun facts about Gear Dee:

-Raised in a certain city off-world, Gear grew up deep in the heart of Air Ride culture, surrounded by roughnecks and gearheads who absolutely adored her and always treated her like one for the family. Her father, a trophy-winning racer, taught her all the tools of the trade - mechanics, vehicle operation, pyrotechnics, etc. - and fostered in her a love of fast starships and thrilling races. (He maaaay have also let her test out the machines before she was old enough to drive one, but the authorities never found out, so who’s to say how true that is?)

-Once she was old enough to enter, Gear quickly made a name for herself in local Air Ride competitions, living mostly for the thrill and the speed rather than victory. Her vehicles of choice tend to be either the Turbo Star and the Formula Star.

-Her first relationship was… a messy one. During her early days running in the city trials, she fell head-over-heels for an awkward but charming Waddle Dee who always showed up for her races, taken in by gifts, pretty words, and - though she didn’t know at the time - empty promises. Her father and friends never approved of him, but Gear has never been one to follow any path but her own, moving in to his grungy apartment partly out of stubbornness and partly upon learning they had a kid on the way. She’d tried her damnedest to make it work, even as their love started to sour, as her career prospects flagged, as his debts and gambling problems became known, as the shouting matches grew more and more frequent. It wasn’t until the birth of their second child that she’d had enough, packing her bags and ignoring his protests and pleas as she left with the kids, moving in with a certain seamstress friend of hers across town.

-Things improved a bit during her stay with Eva. She didn’t have much time for races anymore thanks to the kids but found enough fulfillment in ancillary mechanics work to make up for it. Her friendship with Eva quickly blossomed into something more, the transition near-seamless given how close they’d grown in the years prior. She saw Eva’s meek demeanor open into something bright and personable, the pressure of city life easing off as she found her footing. It warmed Gear’s heart to hear her talk about patterns and textiles and fabric quality with a fervor that only came when she was at her happiest.

-When the phone calls came, Gear blocked his number. When the letters arrived, she tore them up. When he appeared on Eva’s doorstep - teary-eyed with his pockets turned out, offering the same empty apologies and poor excuses as before - she slammed the door in his face. Almost one year since she left, she once again decided she’d had enough and packed up her things for a second time, now with Eva at her side. They said their goodbyes to their families and friends with promises to keep in touch (and to not tell him where they were going) and boarded the next starship out of the city, making their home in a little middle-of-nowhere village on Gear’s birth planet, Popstar.

-It’d taken some time to get used to more rural living, but Gear settled in well enough. Popstar - for all its peace and quiet - is not without its own avenues of entertainment and thrill. And there’s always need for a handywoman around, whether it’s to fix a busted toaster or build a new fence or see what’s wrong with the family warp star (spoiler - it's probably the result of Para's overcurious tinkering). It’s fulfilling, in its own way (plus, with some help from the Poppy Bros. family, she also gets to be in charge of fireworks on holidays, so there’s that). She does miss the city sometimes, though, especially the races. She hopes she can visit again someday… though, not right now.

-Gear isn’t entirely sure what happened between her and Treble. He used to be such a sweet boy before… well, all that. She’s tried to talk with him about it, but he never wants to hear it, either brushing her off or starting another shouting match. It reminds her a lot of herself at that age. Maybe that's why it strains her patience with him to its limit so often. (That, or seeing his father in those blue eyes...)

-Raising Bow was a journey that Gear wasn’t entirely prepared for - nothing in those stupid parenting books about atypical Copy Abilities. If it hadn’t been for Eva’s help, she has no idea how she would’ve managed. Even now, Bow’s still a handful, but she’s also Gear’s little firecracker, a tiny spark of excitement and energy who loves fun and danger just as much as she does. She can’t wait to take her to the city someday - Bow would love the races, she just knows it.

-Gear will never stop talking about how cool her wife is.

Some fun facts about Eva:

-Eva doesn’t talk about her life before the city. Full stop. For all she cares, her life didn’t begin until she hitched a ride on a passing starship and stepped out into the blinding lights of that sprawling metropolis. The city was hardly kind to her in those early years, forcing her to run with some tough crowds and make some tougher choices in order to survive, but she did survive, finding home and friends and purpose in those grimy, noisy streets. Compared to the nest she’d clawed her way out of, it might as well have been paradise.

-While working in a laundromat to pay for her meager apartment, Eva bumped into a very punk-rock Waddle Dee who introduced herself as one of the many Air Ride racers that populate the city. They got to chatting and hit it off right away, becoming fast friends in a handful of weeks. She learned all about Gear and her life in the city, her interests, her goals, the sound of her boisterous laughter. Eva could feel her heart reaching even then and found herself feeling brave enough to share bits of herself, her own experiences - good and bad - carving out a life in the city. She learned of Gear’s kids and the disintegrating state of her relationship, saw the frustration and misery in her warm eyes, and - though trying to remain respectful - did try to act as a voice of reason regarding Gear’s flaky partner, perhaps the one that finally convinced her to leave him.

-Though Gear and her kids moving in came rather suddenly, it proved to be some of the happiest days of Eva’s life (before coming to Popstar, anyway). It was far from easy, but they shared the weight as evenly as they could, supporting each other and talking through what needed talking through. She watched the life return to Gear’s eyes, her drive returning in earnest as she pursued her passions once again (even if they had to be tweaked a bit). It was Gear who took her to get her first piercing. It was Gear who took her to the Garden in the Sky and showed her the stars high above the city. It was Gear who used her connections to help Eva land a job with an esteemed boutique, a dream she’d had since coming to the city. After all that, how could she not fall in love?

-They’d discussed leaving the city long before the calls and letters. Eva might have come there seeking a fresh start, and learned so much in her time living there, but she never quite took to urban life as readily as Gear did, despite her efforts. Gear was understanding… if a bit hesitant, at first. After all, she had a life here already, family and friends and a potential career. Obviously, Eva didn’t want to tear her away from that, only wanted Gear and her kids to be happy, but she couldn’t help but wonder if there might be a better home for them all elsewhere… It was only when Gear’s ex started coming by that the prospect seemed a lot more inviting.

-Within a year of moving in together, they’d found a new home far away from the city, in a quiet little village full of kind folks that took them in readily. Eva quickly found that the countryside suited her much better than the city, enamored with the clean air and vast blue skies unblemished by skyscrapers and smog. She’d been so used to the roar of vehicles and commuters that she’d almost forgotten the sounds of nature, animals and leaves and wind and silence. She’s never felt so… at home than she has here.

-Though she still takes commissions for custom outfits and accessories, Eva has mostly relegated her clothing passions to the comfort of a beloved hobby. She spends most of her time these days working as a community organizer, helping folks like Dedede's mama and Para's dad with holiday setup and event planning for the village (a far cry from the nervous wallflower she'd been during her first year in the city). That said, she’s still the first on call when someone needs fashion advice or a rip repaired, and she’s knitted at least one sweater for almost everyone in the neighborhood. 

-If Gear had been unprepared for a sulky teenager and a hydrokinetic baby, then Eva even less so. She loves Bow and Treble dearly, of course, cares for them as if they were her own children… but, stars, they can be a handful sometimes. It’s so hard to keep up with Bow’s energy, and Treble looks at her like she’s personally responsible for every bad thing in his life… It’s fine, though. If her time in the city has left her with anything, it’s the ability to adapt to whatever life throws at her. She can be patient. She can be strong. She can be a good mother to these kids who deserve the world.

-Eva likes to call Gear her wife despite the fact that they never officially got married.

Some fun facts about Treble Dee:

-Unlike Bow, who was too young to remember her brief time in the city, Treble has no trouble recalling his early childhood. He remembers their tiny apartment, with its faded wallpaper and water damage stains that looked like animals if he squinted. He remembers his dad carrying him on his back out by the wharf, telling him stories and showing him the lighthouse and buying him the best ice cream he’d ever had. He remember his mom coming home smelling like motor oil and letting him play with toy spaceships she brought back from the races. He remembers having friends and going to school and hearing music on the street all the time. He remembers being happy there.

-He remembers his dad being gone a lot, while his mom paced and fumed over the bills on the tiny kitchen table. He remembers hearing them argue a lot through the walls when he was supposed to be asleep. He remembers peering down into the crib with the tiny Waddle Dee inside, feeling crowded despite how small she was.

-Once, his dad bought him a ukulele for his birthday. His mom taught him how to play it, promising to teach him how to play her guitar when he got bigger. He loved that little uke and played it all the time, making up silly little songs that made his dad laugh and tell him he was going to be a star one day. He forgot to pack it up when his mom said they had to leave. He wonders if it’s still there.

-He didn’t like Eva’s apartment. It smelled weird, and the water stains in the ceiling looked like faces laughing at him. He had to share a room with Bow. She cried a lot, so much that she broke one of the pipes in the kitchen. He had a nightmare the first night there, hearing his dad calling out to his mom and begging her to come back. Eva found him crying and tried to hold him until he calmed down. He pulled away. He never got to say goodbye.

-He didn’t cry when they left the city. Just sat with his cheek pressed against the window of the starship, watching the only home he’d ever known fade behind the clouds, and then the stars. He kept his headphones on so he couldn’t hear Bow crying or his mom talking to Eva.

-Treble learned to play bass on his own. Mostly out of spite, if we’re being honest. (Gear’s too proud of him to see it that way, though.) Yes, he’s aware of the irony of being named Treble and playing the bass - stop bringing it up. Also, he's in a band with his friends. Called the Mellow Dees. They're gonna make it big one day, you'll see.

-He wishes his mom didn’t push her interests onto him all the time. Yeah, it’s cool that she taught him how to write music and dye his hair and stuff, but then she wants him to listen to all her weird old-people music or go skateboarding with her and Bow or some other dumb thing he doesn’t care about. Then she gets on his case for staying inside all day and not spending time with people. He is spending time with people, just not her. He has a life, y’know? Friends his own age who actually like the things he likes. He’s not gonna hang out with his parents all the time. That’s so lame.

-He wishes Eva wasn’t so nosy. It doesn’t matter that she’s nice or whatever, she’s such a starsdamn busybody. Always asking what he’s doing and what he’s working on and does he want a snack and ugh, stars, just take a hint already. Does she think he’s still a baby or something? Just leave him alone. He doesn’t want to talk to her. He never wants to talk to her.

-He thinks his baby sister is annoying and wishes she’d stop bothering him when he’d busy doing his own thing. Her friends are just as bad, the little brats. Stars, he hates it here.

-Well… okay, maybe he doesn’t hate it here, living in the village. It’s… fine, he guesses. The weather’s always nice. Food’s good. He even made some new friends who are actually pretty cool. He just… misses the city sometimes, is all. The lights, the music, the tall buildings, the crowds of people, even the smell of the alleyways. He doesn’t miss the races, though. Not even a little bit.

-He does miss his dad sometimes.

[ninjastar107]

more misc megaman AU stuff, same AU as the last post:

For both Both Rock and Roll, Light did not fully leave the learning to his new memory structures. He injected a decent chunk of prior data from his latest attempt so that they both wouldn't take long to catch onto new things. - Blues learned everything from the ground up, from walking to gravity to visual and mathematical processes. It was this basic data set that he injected into his second and third kid. - There is an oversight in that memory data transplants often have leftover memory pieces that transfer over. Rock starts piecing it together after encountering Protoman, where he winds up asking Light about it. Roll puts it together as well, saying that she's talked to him before (much to the surprise of the other two).

Dr. Light does not know what to make of Blues' return. on one hand he is very happy and relieved to see his son is okay and functioning, but on the other he doesn't feel very good about Wily arming him and making modifications. - Blues comments that the Sniper Joe model is basically Light's version of that anyway, to which Light sadly agrees. - Blues also makes comment how it seemed inevitable that someone would change him and that it was probably really dumb to push against that notion, much to the surprise and concern of Light (and two eavesdropping kid-robots).

The other Robot masters drop by from time to time! Gutsman and Cutman often are accompanying Iceman for moral support when he's getting tuned up. Iceman tells fun stories of his time in the arctic. - Iceman has several different coats to wear thanks to Roll. - Sometimes Tempo gets assigned to arctic duty and she accompanies Iceman with retrieving glacial cores.

Speaking of Robot masters, Dr. Cossack did a good amount of studying under Light after Wily left. He was sort of an intern for the time being and picked up a lot about how to build them and tinker with AI. They are good friends, and it is only when Cossack visits with Kalinka that Light thinks about building another kid again.

Blues experiences some form of temporal displacement for a period of time after reactivation. He experiences it again upon seeing Light, and when he goes to places that don't exist anymore. In the grand timeline of things, Wily found and repaired him relatively recently. - Light was probably like, mid 30s when he finished and activated Blues. Light finished and activated Rock and Roll about 20ish years later. - Blues only functioned out on his own for about a year before he ceased. Wily only found him by completely accident when one of his construction robots found him in the area Wily Castle was being built, and he was quite weathered.

BASS. Bass is built for speed, and has little jets on his feet and back that allow him to dash forward very quickly. - The heels of his feet are wheels, again for faster mobility. - He, like Blues, has only one default state, being his usual fully armored look. His helmet is attached and does not come off. - Wily programmed him with high confidence and gave him a lot of prior data from various robot masters. Due to this, he's highly skilled in combat, but lacks a lot of soft skills. Treble accompanies him everywhere, and he becomes aloof when Treble isn't around.

[cyborg-lucariosart]

MM AU: Mega Man and Bass

I have been tinkering with my own Mega Man AU, just haven't posted any of the concept art I did here since I wanted to write fown what I got in regards to the characters and setting. In the country of Arcadia, a war was happening as a huge army of robots were taking control and persecuting any humans and robots not on their side. That was until a blue robot called Mega Man came and single handedly defeated the army and brought peace to not just Arcadia but to the world as a whole. Many years later in the neighbouring country of Walland, two farmer siblings named Rock and Roll grew up with the stories of Mega Man, motivating them to be better individuals while working at their family farm, the Light Farm, that has been passed through generations. However, Rock wasn’t ready for the day he found an abandoned lab deep under the farm and the programming for him to become the next Mega Man. He did eventually have to accept him being the next Mega Man as outlaw gangs were causing problems in Walland, even threatening his farm. Will Rock succeed being the new Mega Man? Was the original Mega Man related to the Light family somehow? In some ruins, a group consisting of remnants of the army that the original Mega Man defeated, the Gospel Gang, lead by Treble Gospel found a lab with a dark clad robot boy in a pod. By starting up the pod, they found out by a recorded message that the boy is named Forte Bass and was meant to be the most powerful weapon there was but that he had to be sealed away because he was unable to be controlled and would ruin the plans of this inventor to take over the world. Bass woke up after that message to attack everyone, shouting “What year is it? Who’s the strongest in the world?” Treble, who was the one to finally stop him with his might said, “That would be Mega Man, the only one to have single handedly defeated the biggest army the world had ever seen.” This made Bass interested and decided to join the Gospel Gang due to its leader proving himself strong and worthy enough while said leader declared he would adopt Bass as his own son. And while Bass does clash with the new Mega Man a lot, he never attacks anyone else for no reason and prefers to play by his own rules unless Treble has anything to say about it.

Posted using PostyBirb

[internetfriend-movedmoved]

my self inserts n ocs as animals:

prince shiloh the great (bg3): mid content wolfdog (mixed with golden retriever)

amalthea amelaea: unicorn (tinker horse stallion specifically)

montero & rah: black backed jackal

shyloh (off self insert): australian magpie

shiloh sweeney (poto self insert): kiwi bird

billie bucanan (rdr2): melanistic grey wolf

judas harlemshire (rdr2): albino oriental longhair cat

treble sinclair: giant beetle

juno: pacific parrotlet (blue mutation)

[mariacallous]

Forty years ago, the BBC broadcast its adaptation of the John Le Carré novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for the first time. Starring Sir Alec Guinness as George Smiley, the master spy hunting down a Soviet mole in the British intelligence services, it provoked controversy. Largely over whether it made any sense or not.

While Nancy Banks-Smith, in her review for the Guardian, called Tinker Tailor “the very best caviar”, Clive James in the Observer was of a different mind. “The first instalment,” he wrote, “fully lived up to the standard set by the original novel. Though not quite as incomprehensible, it was equally turgid.”

You get the feeling, from the way James begrudgingly warmed to the drama as it ran its course (“Anything can improve,” he wrote, “even Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, of which the latest episode was a good deal less wearisome than the previous three”), that some of the invective was for effect. But he was not alone in finding the material challenging. Working out whether you had a clue what was going on in Tinker Tailor became something of a national pastime. Larry Grayson even joked about it in the Generation Game.

In 2019, it is not just the bluffs and double bluffs (and treble and quadruple bluffs) that viewers might find baffling. It is the world in which the drama is set, the way its inhabitants behave and what – if anything – they believe in. Tinker Tailor very much remains TV caviar. But it is also, from today’s vantage point, a remarkable insight into a different time, one that itself offered a window on to another, dying world.

Tinker Tailor’s director, John Irvin, now 79, is one of the few people still alive who was involved in the production. His understanding of what the story required, he says, was filtered through values born of empire. “What we wanted to reveal dramatically was the complexity of the secret state,” he says. “The contradictions, the betrayals of loyalty. The aspect that I latched on to, I think, the one I felt personally, was the idea of service. Christian service and service to country. How that sense of Christian service could be corrupted into the most mendacious and reckless behaviour was something I was preoccupied with throughout the telling of the story.”

While we are still living in a Britain ruled by public school elites, this aristocratic concept of service would appear long gone. In 2019, it is a struggle to find anyone articulating a case for “doing good”, even disingenuously. Tinker Tailor may be a story about betrayal, the hunt for a mole at the heart of MI6, but it occurs in a world defined by rules and procedures. In the modern era, with all its disruption and executive action, that seems odd. A final jarring dissonance between Smiley’s world and ours is the aesthetic of it all, the drab locations and sallow flesh. It depicts a country wearing its decline on its sleeve. Our contemporary age would never admit to as much (and indeed it did not in the 2011 film version, where everything was carefully stylised and in the colour scheme of a 70s sitcom).

Watching Tinker Tailor today, you feel teleported: you get the thrill of watching something that is complex, that you can’t quite make sense of but desperately wish to. (In 1979, the debate over Tinker Tailor’s complexity continued into the Guardian’s letters pages, with the counterpoint to the Larry Grayson position being articulated by a Dr Graham Nicholls, who made the case that “People love being mystified”.)

You also get to watch something that is slow and often silent, and all the more powerful for that. “Arthur [Hopcraft] in his dialogue left a lot of space for silence,” says Irvin of the celebrated Guardian journalist who went on to a brief but glittering career as a screenwriter. “It wasn’t like working with Pinter, where it was deliberate, but it gave a chance to see what’s going on behind the mask. A spy story is a succession of masks. It’s poker – the silence is when you are trying to read the other’s mind. If people talk a lot, they’re not going to be very good spies. The trick was in timing the silence so that you don’t overdo it and it becomes tedious, but leaving it long enough that it became tantalising.”

Those moments worked as Irvin hoped, and form the centre of Tinker, Tailor. They are like the extended interrogations in Line of Duty, except the tension is more drawn out and there are more gaps the viewer is encouraged to fill. Those interrogations would not have been remotely as effective, however, had they not featured one of the greatest acting performances ever delivered on the small screen.

Sir Alec Guinness, it was suggested at the time, was able to play Smiley because he was rolling in Star Wars money. His reluctance to take the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi had led him to ask for 2% of the film’s box office takings. That turned out to be a smart move and allowed Guinness some latitude in selecting his next roles. According to Irvin, however, that did not mean he leapt at the prospect of Tinker, Tailor. “He needed three lunches with me and certainly a lunch with David [Cornwell, AKA John Le Carré] and the head of MI6 to be convinced that he would commit.”

Eventually he did commit, and Guinness set about fully engaging with a character he described to the Guardian at the time as being “a vulnerable man who … is capable of taking unexpectedly swift and rather harsh action”.

For Irvin, working with Guinness was “a deep, creative partnership”, but it had its strengths and weaknesses. Guinness’s pull meant that the supporting cast – from Ian Richardson to Beryl Reid – were easy to acquire. Requiring more time and patience, however, was Guinness himself.

“Like a lot of great artists, there were moments of great insecurity,” Irvin says. “He rang me at four o’clock in the morning on a Sunday before a shoot, saying that he hadn’t really found George Smiley and that it would be much better if we just recast. He also said that he couldn’t put on any more weight, he didn’t feel right.

“I don’t know whether it was a provocation or not, but this made me quite angry. I said: ‘It’s not about the size of George Smiley’s tummy; it’s about the size of his massive brain, for heaven’s sake.’ We were about to shoot in two hours, so I said: ‘Let’s go back to sleep, we’ve got to get some rest.’ A little later I arrive at Primrose Hill and he’s standing entirely alone in an overcoat and bowler hat, ready to shoot the scene. Any hint of that insecurity had entirely gone.”

Guinness’s insecurity existed alongside the confidence to insist the UK’s chief spy dine with him before he accepted the job. And the same stark contrast is at work in Smiley, too. A paunchy, aged cuckold who looks too frail even to leave his chair, he is capable of plumbing the depths of the human psyche and confronting them.

The contradiction within Smiley served as a reminder that human beings are complicated things, and this complexity is the heart of what makes Tinker Tailor one of the best dramas of the TV age. A lot has changed in the years since it was made, but not that.

[annegirl13]

[salty-stories]

"Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous; that ocean is not silent."

- H. P. Lovecraft, The White Ship

It's been a long time coming but she's finally ready! I'm excited to share this new project with y'all!! Like Love and Friendship, Stygian is made with Twine and, unlike LaF, has a completely different tone!

Content Warnings: Styg is a slice-of-life story with heavy horror and supernatural themes. Please take care of yourself and note that this story is for 16+ readers only.

You just landed a sweet job as a lighthouse keeper--no rent, no utility bills, no food costs. Sounds too good to be true, yes? Perhaps the only slightly homicidal eldritch roommate might change your tune. Oh! and if keeping the emotions of alternate dimensional being isn't time-consuming enough, strange happenings--missing townies, creeping shadows, & b҈҇͜l̸͜͡o̷͢͡o̵̡͝d̴͢͡y̸̢͝ t҉̨͡r҈̨͠a̸̢͝ç̴҇k̶̡͝s̵̨̕-you know your average Tuesday--seem to assail your new home.

Anyways, have fun fetching groceries, tinkering with the beacon, hanging with the locals, & fighting for your life:)

Play as the Lighthouse's newest Keeper; choose your gender, appearance, sexuality, and personality

Battle your own inner demons while learning to fit into a new community: make enemies or friends or even fall in love with the locals

Explore the small, but quaint town of Natoma and discover its not-so-spotless past

Learn about the secret world of Eldritch beings on Earth and the shady supernatural organization that hired you

New UI features: light/dark mode, font style and size options, togglable choice labels, and content warning alerts!

Treble K. Left [nb] ~ The Merged Mechanic

Friendly, almost to a fault, Treble finds themself surrounded by folks at every function...if they ever manage to attend them. The mechanic spends most of their time tinkering or traveling to the city to complete orders. They never seem to have both feet on the ground nor their mind fully in the present. A strange gap that makes you wonder what they're hiding behind that light demeanor, easy smile, and fun-colored sunglasses.

Damian Vargas [m] ~ The Retired Private Eye

While the gruff, stoic exterior did the major heavy lifting during his hay-day, Darmian has softened in his "early retirement", letting himself ease into domestic bliss, complete with houseplants and almond milk. Instincts do die hard and he can't seem to drop the drive to keep people safe. But when not patrolling the town for strange happenings or escorting drunk patrons to their homes, he can be found painting away his retirement fund.

Marci Cruz [f] ~ The Rocker-turned-Barkeep

Despite her age, most folks in Natoma look up to Marci for reassurance and community guidance. Her bar, On The Rocks, is the defacto heart of Natoma, its bar and tables packed with residents enjoying the good drinks and even better music. Though happy to take on responsibility now, Marci doesn't hide the tattoos and piercings that mark her rebellious past. She's the first to offer a helping hand and the first to show newcomers a good time!

Eden Witt [selectable] ~ The Bewitching Biologist

Aside from you, Dr. Witt is Natoma's newest resident and a rather good-looking one at that. Before your arrival, the good doctor is the sole subject of the town resident's fascination and while Dr. Witt claims otherwise, they did revel in it. Now it's your turn under the microscope and Eden seizes the opportunity to test their teasing, while respecting your boundaries, of course. Their sudden shifts from intellectual curiosity to earnest flirting can be jarring but the passion in all they do is undeniable.

Beacon [agender] ~ Your Eldritch Roomie

Sarcastic with a penchant for biting quips over actual dialogue, Beacon isn't the easiest to room with but there's something comforting in how freely they display their sharp edges. They may be an Eldritch being from a different dimension, bound to the lighthouse by the so-called Bedrock Society but it's clear their threats of destroying the coast along with you are a fiction. Though you live together, the being is rather tight-lipped about themself and instead, the burden of conversation falls squarely on your shoulders. Only time will tell if this new roommate situation will succeed or have you running for the hills.

DEMO TBA || THE ROs || OTHER WORKS

[beca-mitchell]

Pitch Perfect HC, Beca’s actually a closet snuggle monster and Chloe lives for it. But only because she’s the only one that is privy to that side of Beca and it makes her feel special and secure in her relationship cause it’s usually when Beca opens up and let’s Chloe see inside her vulnerable side.

And years later when they’re married and Beca is pregnant with the second child, she snuggles with her pregnancy pillow when she’s alone in bed, but as soon as Chloe comes home, she kicks it away in favour of snuggling with her wife.

The first time Beca cuddles into Chloe's side, they both react to it viscerally. Beca, for her part, doesn't immediately register just what she's doing by leaning into Chloe's side during an impromptu brainstorm-turned-movie night. Chloe, for her part, immediately stiffens and feels her ears grow hot because proximity to Beca has been, well. Hard lately. Difficult. Grappling with the intensity of her feelings for her very taken friend. Very much verging on best friend.

Beca senses the way Chloe stiffens, which is really something that Chloe will forever kick herself over, and quickly sits straight up, yawning and stretching as if that was all she had been doing.

It kind of sticks in Chloe's throat, the assurances and kind words that she's so used to doling out for Beca and to Beca. Physical intimacy is just. It's a lot. Especially for Chloe because it's really one of the most important things. She just never expects it from Beca. Not like this, at least. Not now.

So Chloe doesn't say anything and their night continues.

*

The second time it happens, it's kind of impromptu as well. Near the holidays of Chloe's third consecutive super senior year, they both end up opting to stay on campus. Beca manages to get into Amy's stash of international alcohol and they throw themselves a pity Thanksgiving in Chloe's spacious (and lonely) room. It feels even more empty given that the house is devoid of Bellas and song.

It's much chillier now at the end of November, nearing into December. The low 20s and high 10s of the temperature around them means that Chloe gets to wear all her favourite cardigans and stolen hoodies. Beca seems to just put on more layers - more layered shirts, jackets, some sweaters. Chloe makes a note to get Beca into a holiday sweater as soon as possible.

"What are you looking at?" Beca grumbles, returning from where she's done tinkering with her record player.

"I think we should get the Bellas matching ugly Christmas sweaters this year. I can't believe we haven't done it yet."

Beca's mouth twitches like she isn't sure if she wants to instinctively insult Chloe's fashion choices or immediately give in. A common theme these days as Chloe unlocks more and more of Beca's incredibly soft side. She sighs loudly.

Chloe stifles a grin. "Matching, Bec."

"You know I don't do that. Not even. Well. Whatever. It's kind of lame."

Chloe holds her tongue. Right. Jesse. She's sure Jesse has long come up with ideas to having every conceivable kind of matching couple's outfit. The most Chloe has ever seen Beca wear that has a remote Jesse influence is a red sweater that kind of looks like a Treble sweater, but Chloe hasn't seen it since the very first time she saw Beca wear it.

"Maybe," Beca finally concedes, climbing onto the bed. "Pick a good movie and we'll see."

Chloe grins and presses against Beca's side immediately, pulling her laptop from her. "Christmas movie," she declares.

"It's November," Beca complains.

Chloe wins anyway and she doesn't even recall watching the movie because Beca ends up falling asleep halfway through. Chloe kind of just watches it happen because there is something incredibly relaxing and beautiful about watching the way Beca's brow relaxes all at once and her features smooth out making her look years younger. Like all the tension and stress eases from her the more sleepy she becomes.

This time, when Beca leans into her side, Chloe's ready. It hadn't really happened again since that first time, but God, the way Beca just fits into her side. The way Beca kind of curls a hand loosely over her forearm with the gentlest of tugs. Chloe slowly pulls her arm away, this time putting it around Beca's shoulders. The action itself makes a huge lump stick in her throat—a lump that very much feels like her heart as it threatens to leave her body imminently.

Beca inhales, a short little sound, and Chloe stops. "Sorry," she whispers immediately. "I shouldn't—"

"It's okay," Beca whispers back, voice muted and muffled. "S'comfy."

Friends do this. It's okay.

*

Chloe thinks Beca looks beautiful always, but especially now.

"You can see the bump," Beca says absentmindedly, lifting her shirt in front of the mirror. Their trip to the doctor was exciting. The knowledge that this is really happening for them; finally happening for them—Chloe could cry.

"You're showing," Chloe echoes, standing from the bed. She wants to reach out and touch Beca, but she isn't even sure where to start.

"I didn't even realize until the doctor pointed it out today."

"Neither did I," Chloe admits quietly, wondering if it makes her a bad wife. Not noticing that the love of her life had been undergoing some serious bodily changes to begin welcoming the newest member of their family into their lives. She finally moves to stand behind Beca, hooking her chin over her shoulder, smiling when their eyes catch in the mirror. "You look so pretty."

"You have to say that, we're married. What happens when I look like a whale?"

"You'll always look beautiful to me," Chloe declares, kissing Beca's cheek repeatedly when Beca frowns at Chloe's response.

Beca moves Chloe's hand to rest more firmly against her belly. "What if you can't hold me like this later?"

Chloe hums. "Nothing would stop me from cuddling with you."

"But what if your arms can't even come around me," Beca complains, a hint of a whine seeping into her voice. "And then you grow tired of trying to hug a balloon."

"You'll have to figure out a way to pry me off you over these next months. Trust me." Chloe makes sure to kiss a spot on Beca's neck that she knows drives her crazy. "I'm going to be all over you. In more ways than one." Another kiss. She catches the blush on Beca's cheeks. "I always knew you liked my cuddles."

Beca sniffs haughtily. "And?"

She hasn't quite brought it up to Beca, even after all their years together, but it still delights Chloe to no end that Beca chose this with her. That Beca chooses her every day. That Beca trusted her all those years ago, even when they hadn't really been anything.

"And nothing," Chloe finally says. "I just love you the way you are."

*

In all their years together, Chloe can't recall Beca ever choosing to cuddle with somebody over her. She hadn't even really contemplated it because it had quickly become their thing.

She knows that Beca doesn't do it with just anybody. In fact, Chloe's about 99% sure that Beca has never cuddled or snuggled with anybody else in her life.

But this—

Chloe doesn't even say anything at first because her heart catches in her throat. Beca's cheek rests ever so slightly on top of their son's fuzzy little head, her eyes half-closed, but still alert enough to ensure she doesn't loosen her hold or drop him. She hums ever so slightly, her movements slight and gentle as to not wake him.

Chloe kind of doesn't want to say anything—wants to let this night continue just like this. The sheer tranquillity and safety around them because of all the love she feels for her wife and her son—it's irreplaceable.

Beca's eyes lift then, catching hers from where she stands in the doorway. "C'mere," Beca murmurs, brow furrowing when Chloe hovers in the bed. "Bed feels empty without you."

Chloe doesn't hesitate then, only wanting to enjoy a mid-evening snuggle with her family knowing there must be many more to come.

[natromanxoff]

My phone call interview with ‘Queen’ bass player John Deacon in July 1998:

John was a very nice fellow to talk to and gave his account about finding the Deacy Amp circuit board and then what happened with putting the amp together and using it as a practice amp, and then taking the amp to band practice with Freddie, Brian and Roger.

By the way, John Deacon did not tell me that he changed the Deacy Amp’s front end – this came from something that Brian had told me during 1998 at Allerton Hill when we began pulling apart and examining the Deacy Amp. Brian said that he thought they had changed something in the amp to help it cope better with the signal coming in from the treble booster. We do not know whether this happened or not, and when I asked Brian again about this in 2007 he laughed and told me that he couldn’t remember. In the piece I wrote for Brian’s website www.brianmay.com about the Deacy Amp, I included this information based on what Brian had previously said, but I suspect now that nothing may have been  changed in the front end input stage.

In the phone call with John I asked him if he had ever made Brian a treble booster in those early days of Queen, because for many years it has been reported that he had. John told me that he had not made a treble booster for Brian.

From my notes on the phone call with John Deacon 22nd July 1998:

John said that he found the amplifier section in the back of a skip which was sitting on the side of the street in London, and that he noticed the wires dangling over the edge of the skip and picked it up before it was thrown out. John said that he was studying for a degree in Electronics at the time and was always tinkering with electronic bits and pieces, and that the circuit board looked interesting to him when he first saw it. He thought that the transistor amplifier might have come from a cassette player or a radio. John thought at the time that he might possibly use it as a small practice amplifier – he played guitar as well as bass. John thought that this had happened in about 1972 and that he was already playing with Brian at this time.

John said he already owned the hi-fi bookshelf speaker box which he then modified so that it housed the amplifier circuit board inside with no controls at all on the outside of the box. John liked the simplicity of only having a jack socket to plug into with the amp’s volume set internally at full, although he said that initially he probably had a volume control hanging on the outside somewhere. The amp had a warm and pleasant sound although John said that it was always partly distorted and would never sound clean.

John told me that through some chance he showed the amp one day to Brian when he  brought the amp along to band practice, and said Brian was immediately interested in the amp’s possibilities especially when he used his Red Special guitar and treble booster with it. John said that with the Red Special and treble booster, the little amp offered a pleasant pretty type of saturated distortion which was utterly unique and very different to the ‘cutting harder sawtooth transistor distortion’ found in many effect pedals and amps of the time.

John remembered that the sound engineers who they worked with liked the way the little  amp behaved in the recording studio where it would produce a ‘consistent response’ as he termed it, whereas the engineers found it more difficult to capture on tape the excitement and dynamic live sound of Brian’s Vox AC30 amps. However John quickly mentioned that all the work and discussions with sound engineers was never his area of interest, and therefore he was never privy to detailed information in this area.

When I asked John about whether he had made a treble booster for Brian at this time in the early/mid 1970s, he told me that he had not.

- Greg Fryer

[blazehedgehog]

As someone who has tinkered around with youtube video stuff on a very amateur level, I would absolutely love to hear some details on what you do to your audio to neutralize sibilants. I've tried many things to clean up my audio — and I'll flatter myself to say that I believe I've largely succeeded — but those S sounds stubbornly stay stable.

I would say it's nothing special, but it's also something I have dialed in slowly over the course of the last ten years. I go back and listen to some of my earlier videos and they sound absolutely dreadful, and 80% of the time that's down to the EQ work on my voice.

And not to throw shade or anything, but I even listen to guys like Super Eyepatch Wolf and think "jeeze, dude, turn down your EQ knobs a little." Dude seems to crank the bass and the treble as high as they'll go.

For that reason, I've tried to keep my process simple. So here's the current version of the plugin chain I use in FL Studio:

First, I run it through something called the "Soundgoodizer", which is a general collection of EQ presents you can turn up and down. I leave it fairly low as to not overpower the audio (which would give me the Eyepatch Wolf effect). Mostly this fills out the bass and balances the audio a little.

In the EQ bar there in the middle, I also drop out the highest frequencies. Just completely zero them out. This is the biggest component of the sibilants. It greatly reduces the sharp sounds that come with the S and C words.

That's FX channel 1, which then feeds in to the main FX channel, where the rest of my plugins are. So everything I just said was step 1, and now these are step 2:

First up is a Multiband Compressor. These are a lot of scary knobs but I just use the "Mastering 2.4db" preset. This also levels the audio to make sure nothing is too loud or too quiet. It also does some of its own EQ work, but mostly its to make sure everything stays in balance.

Next I run it through a Low Pass filter at 16000hz (again, another preset). Dropping out the high frequencies in FX Channel 1 does a lot of legwork in cutting down the sharp sounds and this finishes the job. However, if you look at the full size image, the mixing knob for this one isn't at 100%. That's because at 100% mix, I find it makes my audio feel a little muffled, since I'm basically doing a low pass (FX1) on top of a low pass. Turning the mix down to 75% helps retain some clarity while making sure you aren't being stabbed in the ears.

The Parametric EQ plugin is the only plugin where I'm not just using a preset. The EQ profile you see on the left is something I looked up on a guide somewhere once years ago for how to attain the so-called "radio voice" EQ ratio. I've modified it a bit here to be less aggressive than the guide showed, because I'm looking for a light touch, since over-EQing your audio is easy to do.

Down at the bottom is a Fruity Limiter plugin, which is always there every time you start a fresh project in FL Studio. It's kind of just another kind of compressor, and I never think about it or look at it or mess with it. I don't actually know what it even does to the audio. Like I said, it's just there on every fresh project by default. It might not be doing anything at all.

After all of that, this is the end result:

Not dramatically different, and some would even say the raw audio from the microphone is good enough, but again, it's all about having a light touch on the enhancements while catching and limiting the problems. You'll notice that on the sibilants (the S sounds), they still exist, but they're a lot less sharp.

(Bottom is before EQ, top is after)

If worst comes to worst and there's something I just can't get rid of, Vegas also has an audio plugin called "Multiband Dynamics" that has a de-esser setting, but I find that can sometimes make my audio sound a little strange, so I use it as a last resort.

I don't know if any of this means anything to anyone but me, but maybe it did! And I hope it helps.

[cycwrites]

A Mitchsen Teaser.

Be gentle, it’s unbeta’d and I haven’t tinkered with it since I wrote it, but I’d love your thoughts.

Editing to add it’s a standalone AU that I’m using to get back to writing as I haven’t since March.

———

Beca crouched down behind the planter, feeling all kinds of stupid as she did so, and looked around the yard like one of the Trebles was going to jump out at her.

“Guess I should’ve asked what my story is if they find me like this,” she muttered as Aubrey slowly made her way around the corner. After a minute she lowered herself to her knees, deciding she didn’t need her legs cramping from crouching so damn low. She tried not to think about how the fact that this meant so much to Aubrey offset her own sense of awkwardness as she peeked over the edge of the planter and through the flowers every few seconds.

Despite their completely rocky beginning at the Activities Fair, Beca had always thought Aubrey was beautiful. She and Chloe were a perfectly matched gorgeous pair that had drawn her to the booth in the first place. But a capella was lame and she wasn’t quite that desperate to fit in at the school she didn’t even want to be in. Her beauty hadn’t diminished once Beca had joined, but it did take a backseat to all the constant knocks she gave against Beca’s clothes and “ear monstrosities” and her refusal to hear Beca out.

It wasn’t until after spring break, when all hell broke loose, that Beca had been able to realize that she’d been pushing where she hadn’t earned the right. She started to see things from Aubrey’s perspective and the two of them had spent a long time talking that night after the breakthrough in the pool. Apologies came easily to both of them and it only took a few days of awkwardness for them to put the past behind them and focus on the now and beating the Trebles at the ICCA’s.

What she hadn’t expected was just how much she liked the woman behind the pitch pipe.

All year she had known that Chloe had been interested in her. Had even returned some of it. But something had constantly held her back from committing to anything and it wasn’t just her fear of letting people into her heart. Sure, that fear of being hurt and left behind loomed large and with Chloe and Aubrey set to graduate - at least until they found out Chloe failed Russian Lit and she’d be staying behind – she was bound and determined not to start anything when the future was so uncertain.

What she was coming to realize, slowly and against her will, was that it hadn’t been fear that had kept her from Chloe. It was her attraction to another Captain entirely.

An attraction that was just as stupid as the fact that she was hiding in the neighbor’s back yard while said Captain scouted the place for prime prank locations.

Nothing had changed there. Aubrey was still graduating, though she was taking a year off before going to law school. She was still leaving Barden, Beca had decided she was staying and she didn’t know if she could do a long distance thing.

The more time they spent together, however, the more she wondered if she shouldn’t maybe figure that out because she wasn’t quite ready to walk away from Aubrey Posen.

Running footsteps from the direction Aubrey was supposed to emerge from jerked her upright though still kneeling. She felt her mouth drop when Aubrey came running full speed around the corner. The second she saw Beca, she started gesturing at her and at the back of her mind Beca thought she was going to have another talk with Aubrey about how no one understood her weird military shorthand.

Aubrey threw herself to her knees beside Beca when she reached the planter and before Beca could ask anything, Aubrey threw an arm out across her chest as she pulled both of them to the ground.

[bransles]

@magioffire​​​ said : put on jewelry    //    PAMPER PROMPTS : accepting.

a surprise gift,  was it?  valeriu had sharply commanded him not to look  —  keep his eyes forward,  do not dare to look to down.  do not glance over at him while he was unveiling the gift either;  back to valeriu,  attention elsewhere!  oh,  the anticipation could eat him alive.  his ears,  however,  did pick up on the familiar,  quiet tinker of metal on metal  —  jewelry.  it was impossible for octavo to not figure it out.  though,  he was sure valeriu had expected him to realize as much.  the cool touch of what was undeniably a necklace against the thin skin there and the feeling of valeriu’s hands trying to move his hair to clip it  —  octavo hummed,  the lilt of a giggle hidden in his breath.

once the necklace was hooked,  able to dangle freely down his collarbones,  octavo had began to move,  reach his hand over to grab the mirror and admire what valeriu had picked out for him  —  until there was the soft grab of his ear signaling he had not yet been done.  removing the earring already poking through his skin,  gently pushing a different one in;  hands warm and gentle,  his long nails just barely grazing his earlobe,  and how octavo’s blood shamefully rushed to the surface of his skin beneath every touch.  he felt oddly bashful right then,  his expression still holding a smile,  but turning to one more coy than cheeky.  a set!  how thoughtful.

the same was repeated to his other ear,  no less sensitive and oh - so receptive to valeriu’s touch than its counterpart.  how funny of him to reap any amount of bodily pleasure from another putting jewelry on him.  his hair was gently put back into place and finally,  with anticipation burning beneath his skin,  octavo reached for the small mirror.

gold,  which was unsurprising.  octavo decidedly had a preference for it over silver metals.  a small,  dainty chain with a red jewel as the pendant  —  ah,  but cradling the gem was gold in the shape of a treble clef  —  how cute!  the earrings were small studs,  gemstones of the same flaming red.

they were lovely.

“ well,  look at that.  i always look stunning,  but these certainly suit me nicely,  don’t they? ”    despite what his words would have suggested,  his voice was soft  —  enamored,  really.

“ you do have amazing taste,  though.  so no surprise there. ”

oh,  he could have been sparkling.  octavo tossed the mirror aside,  perhaps a little too eager to get it out of his hands  ( fortunately it managed not to crack on its impact with the floor ),  and turned his body to face valeriu.  he had practically thrown himself at him then,  arms wrapping and squeezing tightly around his shoulders,  pressing their faces cheek - to - cheek,  nuzzling the stubbly warmth there before allowing them to part just enough for octavo to press a quick,  yet certainly not lacking,  kiss to his lips.

“ thank you  —  a very sweet gift.  ah,  you spoil me,  you know! ”

not that octavo minded being spoiled.

[manjuhitorie]

Bass Magazine 2019 December Issue - ygarshy did a mini lesson for Ayuni D (Of BiSH/PEDRO) in the her most recent article

No shame here..

Senpai, I’m counting on you to help me! I’m trying my hand at Hitorie’s bass lines!

While being a member of BiSH ‘The punk band without instruments’, Ayuni D also started the solo project PEDRO, where she handles the vocals and bass. Now she’s off to learn the secrets of bass from various bass masters. This month she must learn techniques used in actual songs, so she’s counting on ygarshy to help her out!

ygarshy is the bassist of Hitorie who debuted into the major scene in 2014, and released 4 original albums since. On November 4th they released a DVD of their live concert footage “HITORIE LIVE TOUR UNKNOWN 2018 “Loveless” - 2017 IKI”.

Knowing When to Rest is the Key to Success

Ayuni: The bass lines stand out so much in Hitorie’s music it makes me want to try and play them myself. So today I will be learning Social Clock (Sheet music part 1) and Eve Stepper (Sheet music part 2).

ygarshy: The Social Clock phrase itself is simple, but the tempo is fast and it starts on a rest note, which makes it important not to start late. There’s a lot more rests throughout so understanding the right time to play is really vital. You don’t want to just suddenly cut out when you rest either, so stay conscious of the upcoming rests once you reach the 8th bar.

Ayuni: Let me try this out… (plays part 1 of the sheet music).

ygarshy: You seem to be pushing a little too hard in places. If you’re having difficulty getting a sense of the note value, strumming the air at the start of the phrase during the rest makes it easier to distinguish when to come in.

Ayuni: So move my hand along with the rhythm to figure out the timing.

ygarshy: Finger maneuvers are also important. With this phrase, I press the first note with my index finger. Then when I play the next note on 3rd string 6th fret, I don’t press with my pinkie I press with my index finger. That makes the upcoming note on the 2nd string 8th fret even easier for my pinkie to hit.

Ayuni: So don’t just play with the fingers that feel the easiest to use, consider the phrase as a whole and decide which to use.

ygarshy: Everybody feels comfortable doing different maneuvers, so there’s probably people who would prefer to use the 1st string and anchor their hand in one position but, it’s more comfortable for me to move around.

Ayuni: Why is that?

ygarshy: One reason is that changing strings can cause the texture of the sound to change with it, but also, people who were inspired by Seiji Kameda tend to move up and down, it gives us peace of mind (laughs).

Ayuni: I see (laughs). Next I want to hear about Eve Stepper…

ygarshy: Social Clock I play with a pick but Eve Stepper I play with my fingers, and tune down a half-step. This song is in the key of F#m and it essentially sticks to 3 positions. It’d be best to first familiarize yourself with the F# minor scale of each of these notes: the 4th string 2nd fret note, 3rd string 9th fret note, 4th string 14 fret note. Or even just remembering these main notes makes for less room for error. You have to swap positions a lot but both the part in the 3rd bar that’s played high and the low note part at the beginning of the phrase, are actually not that different.

Ayuni: Is that so…

ygarshy: It’s a phrase with a lot of rests also, so similar to Social Clock it helps to cover the rests with muted notes and proceed from there. Eve Stepper plays in 16th notes.

Ayuni: Let me try this out… (plays part 2 of the sheet music).

ygarshy: This phrase mixes both 8th rests and 16th rests so ensure you’re leaving the right amount of space with the 8th rests. On the 3rd beat in the first measure, there’s a 16th note right after an 8th rest which is easy to overhit so be careful with that one. The notes played there are even 16th and you have to mute immediately after so it’s vital to have a strong understanding of each note value. Until you get familiar with it, you can trying playing two muted notes before the 16th notes to keep yourself in time. It will have a “ da - da da - da da -” type rhythm (if I say it in 2 beats), which might help you to better wrap your head around it. 

Ayuni: This is hard but I’ll do it!

I can't show it so boom, I've painfully blurred the sheet music.. If you're interested in playing the bass part, or seeing photos of yga in a bun, please consider buying this issue of bass magazine.. It's available online or maybe found at your local store if it supplies JP books. Plus it's a magazine so it's fairly cheap..  https://www.rittor-music.co.jp/magazine/detail/3119118008/  Go go go charge!

Also.. pedal maker Kaz Kawamura posted ygarshy's pedalboard from the Hitori-Escape finale, so here's a slight rundown of it.

ygarshy plugs his bass in on the bottom right, where it goes to the Microtubes and the Bass Liner, which are primarily for fine-tuning. The Bass Liner seems to have a switch specifically tagged MUTE, which is why it connects up to his Turbo Tuner. Most bass pedals have two plugins, because bassists like to access two different line setups but, ygarshy only uses his second to connect up to the tuner. The tuner normally mutes a line when it gets turned on, however with this setup he can leave it on constantly to always be checking up on him! Pre-song when he needs to tune up or down a half-step etc., the mute is just a step away too. The line continues on and it passes through the X-Blender, where it then reaches the Alpha Omega, Deep Impact and Rusty Box. Those are the prominent sound changers, but pedals when they fuzz or distort etc. tend to eliminate the bass/heaviness of the sound, and bassists may want to regain that. So from there it circles back into the X-Blender. The knobs on the X-Blender allow for elaborate tinkering! He can choose to have any desired % of the effects, change the bass and the treble of them, so many mix-and-match options. Then it goes up into his TDC, that looks formatted for fine-tuning a fretless. This assumingely only gets turned on when he uses his white fretless VanZandt. Finally it goes out to the amp and the mixer, the end of the line where it gets manipulated once more before becoming the sound we hear live..! 

[mikaumusik]

@mireilletan / @misericoletea Present for you. ^.^ 

This is from Day Four of flute playing.

Mireille’s been obsessively tinkering with her recording of Scarborough Fair, and she jokingly (I’m sure) asked if I wanted to add some flute. (Ha!)

So, I, easily goaded into things as I am, of course, looked up some sheet music online and just recorded the first little bit.

I believe this is in D? I’m sorry I couldn’t find a version in your nonexistent key of A/Ab-ish, Mireille. :P (Joking, Love.)

I’ve been struggling lately (read as: the three times total that I’ve picked up a flute this month) with C# and G (the ones on the treble staff, G4 and C#5). My C# has been sounding...too sharp, I think. Kind of just like a shrill shriek instead of a musical note. I think it sounds good here, though. As for the G, it hasn’t been coming out right. I mean, when I was practicing this, I’d try to go from F# to G, and...nothing would happen. The note just wasn’t coming out. It was just air. I had that problem sometimes on the Ave Maria too. I fiddled around with my flute’s head joint and my mouth placement, and that seems to have done the trick.

This actually doesn’t sound bad. I like this range for flute. uwu

Enjoy!

[annegirl13]

[salty-stories]

Treble K. Left -- The Merged Mechanic

appearance

29. Non-binary. White. They have a light tan from growing up in a coastal town and a smattering of moles and freckles all over. Short, wavy auburn hair, often twisted into a bun. They’re fairly lean like they would be agile in a sprint. Before the m҉e��r̵g҉i̸n̴g̷, their eyes were a pale blue-grey. Now they’re so gray it’s hard to see where their irises begin against the white of their eyes. They wear colored circle sunglasses, regardless of the weather, even indoors…

description

As the town’s only mechanic, Treble is often found running from place to place on one errand or another. And when not tending to the malfunctions of the machines, they tinker away in their shop in the town’s center. Generally easy-going and sociable, Treble is very popular among other townsfolk, a fact Marci loves to tease them about. Though your interaction with the mechanic is brief, the sad yearning look they adopt when no one is looking intrigues you.

Damian Vargas -- The “Retired” Private Eye

appearance

39. Male. Hispanic. Light brown skin weathered and marred by a long career of dangerous work, Damian bears his scars proudly, though the most prominent is the jagged gash across the bridge of his nose. He keeps his jet black hair long enough to comb and slick back. Though the scruff on his face gets less care and does as it pleases. His eyes are the kind of dark brown that glow in the sunshine and crinkle with his smile.

description

Well-known for his affinity for finding missing persons, Damian gave up his investigative career after the missing eldest Moondeer child’s trail ran cold. A string of other missing persons cases also led to Natoma–and all of them now remain unsolved. While his retirement was less than voluntary, Damian has settled into Natoma rather well. Unlike Treble and Marci, Damian can fall into the trap of taking things too seriously but time off has tempered some of his sharper edges. His concern for your wellbeing is touching but you do wonder if he knows more about the danger surrounding Natoma than he lets on.

Marci Cruz -- The Rocker-turned-Barkeep

appearance

34. Female. Filipino. Olive-toned skin when not covered in ink, Marci has tattoos crawling down her neck, arms, and chest. To complete the alternative aesthetic, Marci wears a lot of liner around her black eyes and has several piercings, a septum, a few on her right brow, to name a few. Her hair is short-cropped with black roots and the tips dyed a different color every other month.

description

Marci owns Natoma’s only bar, On The Rocks, a bustling establishment with good drinks and even better music. It’s punk rock aesthetic seems at odds with the rest of the sleepy town but there’s always more customers than seats to fill. Though a responsible business owner and mother to her son, Marci still knows her way into a good time. Maybe you’ll be even lucky enough to catch her playing music. While she has no problem with you, Marci harbors a strong resentment towards your employer and even stranger a deep distrust of the lighthouse.

Eden Witt -- The Bewitching Biologist

appearance

31. Gender determined in game. Black. Eden has a pretty solid jawline with high-cheekbones and a wide smile, the kind that creates laugh lines. They have shoulder-length braids, that are usually tied back into a ponytail or bun. Though they spend most of their time indoors working, Dr. Witt is fairly toned and muscular from their time working on a research vessel. They tend to wear thick and funky block-shaped glasses when reading and writing.  

description

A non-native to Natoma, Dr. Witt came to the town on a marine biology grant to study an anomalous algae bloom. Though their work keeps them confined to their make-shift lab in the town’s library, Eden is rather popular among the single town residents.  And though they respond in kind, none of their flirting or fascination ever lasts long. Personal curiosity aside, the biologist’s interest in Natoma’s coast, the Lighthouse, and the ecosystem surrounding it may pose a problem for the creature it houses and that you must protect.

Beacon -- Your Eldritch Roomie

appearance

Unknown age. Agender. Eldritch being of unknown origin. When in the lighthouse, Beacon appears to you as…well, a shadow, a dark outline of where a shape might be. But isn’t. There exists a physical component to Beacon’s shadow, a form adapted to life beneath the sea, housed somewhere underneath the Lighthouse itself. Beacon refuses to speak on the subject. Though they’ve never managed to manifest a humanoid form–thanks to the Lighthouse’s strange restrictions, it’s unclear how much control over its appearance they would have.

description

Your Keeper guide materials say little about the being you’re meant to be “keeping” in the Lighthouse. Aside from some basic descriptions of their appearance and expected behaviors, you really have no idea what you’re dealing with here. And though they love to threaten “flattening the coast” with their other-worldly powers(of course, no one ever explains what those are…), the threats begin to feel hollow as you settle into your new cohabitation. Being from another dimension doesn’t make them any less annoying or petty as your human roommates, from being slightly passive-aggressive to a lack of personal space, rooming with an Eldritch being is going to take some adjustment for the both of you.

DEMO TBA.