#I mean I could add some swirly affects

[whatsorryiwasntlistening]

I did some little drawings of Plug and the Cannon from Rolling with Difficulty (a dnd podcast you should definitely check out). I just love these little guys. I’m gonna do more.

@incorrectrwdquotes @comicaurora

[itsbeaconhillsbaby]

twenty-five and over || tom holland x reader

a/n: what is my work if not slightly belated! happy birthday tom, here’s a little something for you all to celebrate. I am trying to get round to reading and sharing some of the fics that I really love, try to create more love between creators and their work - hit me up with some of your favourite tom writers who I should check out! would love to hear from you! as always, stay safe and big love to you all xo 

word count: 1213 warnings: fluff fluff fluff unless you’re also having a quarter life crisis then this could be triggering (but all very playful) summary: your boyfriend, Tom, is stressed at the very idea of turning 25 and what this next stage of life means

“I’m old.”

You looked up blearily from the kitchen island where you were leaning, scrolling on your phone. It was early morning and you were still half asleep, the surprising warmth of the UK weather having kept you up all night.

“Tom, you’re not old.”

“I’m old.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes I am. Y’know they didn’t even ID me last night...I always get ID’d.” He mumbled into the couch cushions.

“You hate it when they ID you! Plus, you always forget your ID anyway.”

Your boyfriend was lying on his front, sprawled out on the sofa. His curly hair only just visible in amongst the cushions.

“That’s not the point, it’s the principle of it!” You could hear the deep sigh coming from the couch and put a hand over your mouth to stop from laughing. He’d been at this for the past 20 minutes or so.

“Y’know I now have to tick the ‘twenty-five and over’ box when I sign up to things? Like as if I didn’t feel bad about it already, now I get regular reminders?!”

“I mean, on the bright side...at least you’re not the ‘over’ just yet - because then we really would have a problem.”

You swiftly dodge a rogue cushion that was thrown in your direction, and watch as it hit the fridge before falling to the floor with a light thud.

“So what? You agree? You think I’m old too!”

He lifted his head briefly to scowl at you, before planting it face down into the cushions again.

You abandoned your phone on the counter, padding across the wooden floors in your socks and one of Tom’s oversized t-shirts. You kneel on the rug in front of the sofa and rest your chin on the edge.

“Oi, movie star.”

You talk softly, knowing that Tom was sporting a killer headache, his hangover being the very thing that had started this whole conversation.

He moved his head to the side to look at you, pouting.

“What?”

You reached out a hand, tangling your fingers through his soft brown curls placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“You’re being silly. You’re not old. But you are the birthday boy, who I might add, is in very high demand today.”

He sighs again, shifting around to lie on his back.

“Can’t I just stay with you?” He drawled out dramatically.

You laugh, as he moved up giving you space to sit on the edge of the sofa. You shake your head, hair falling out of the messy bun you’d put it in last night.

“Nope. You’ve gotta visit your parents before they leave for Scotland, plus Paddy will want to see you. And then you have golf booked with the boys. You love golf.”

“I don’t want to go. I’ll cancel and rearrange.”

He slid his arms around your torso, squeezing him into your side as he pulled you down to him. You laughed. You adored this side of Tom. He wasn’t so willing to show it off publicly, keeping your relationship away from prying eyes as much as possible but in private he was a massive soft touch, constantly craving affection and attention from you.

“No you won’t, you’ll love it when you’re there. You just have to survive without me until three.”

He mumbled his reluctant acceptance into your hair, his nose sliding down the side of your face as he nestled into you. Delicate kisses littered your eyebrow, then your cheek until he made it to your mouth.

“What was that for?”

“Because it’s my birthday, and I love you.”

“I love you too.”

You take a moment to just lie there, tangled together. You let yourself enjoy the clenched sun kissed muscles that were wrapped around you, as soft warm breaths exhaled against your cheek. If it were possible to stay like this all day you would. The curtains billowed in the tiny breeze that blew in, the large bay windows glistening with fragments of golden sunlight as the world slowly woke up.

You kept a hand playing with a coiled lock of his hair, twisting it through your fingers, watching Tom’s eyelashes flutter with sleep.

“C’mon Tom, before you fall asleep on me.”

You placed your own kisses on either side of his temples, then his forehead and along his slightly crooked nosed before regretfully sliding yourself out from his embrace.

He groaned at the loss of you. He covered his eyes with one arm, blocking out the bright sun and held the other out to you.

“I’m old, remember? Help me up?”

You laughed.

“Nice try hot shot, up you get.”

Closing his eyes and giving a deep sigh, he rolled dramatically off the sofa and to his feet.

“See,” you said cheerily, “an old person wouldn’t be able to do that as gracefully as you just did. And with a hangover too!”

You heard him mumbling to himself as he shuffled his way through the apartment, bedroom door shutting with a thud behind him.

////

“ - happy birthday dear Tom, happy birthday to you.”

You sung sweetly, placing the homemade cake with purple frosting on the table in front of Tom. He grinned up at you, tapping his knee and threading his fingers between yours as he pulled you into his lap.

“When did you make this?!”

He nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck, counting out the 25 flickering candles and admiring your handiwork as he traced patterns on your bare thigh. You’d just been for a romantic birthday dinner at one of Tom’s favourite Japanese restaurants in the city before coming back to yours for dessert.

You’d spent your afternoon manning your work phone whilst simultaneously baking a surprise birthday cake for Tom, piping out the happy birthday message in swirly blue icing.

“I love it. Thank you.” Tom went to blow out his candles when you quickly interrupted.

“Wait! You gotta make a wish.”

“What?”

“You have to close your eyes and make a wish.”

You watch as he closes his eyes, pauses for a couple moments and then leans forwards slightly, tightening his hands around your waist.

Opening his eyes, he blew out the candles, each one dancing above the melting wax before disappearing with an exhale.

“Do you wanna know what I wished for?”

He caresses your cheek with his hand, brushing a thumb across the light pink blush dancing across your cheekbones.

“If you tell me it won’t come true. How about I share something with you instead?

He gently tucked your hair behind your ear, tilting his head and brought his ear to your lips so you could whisper into it. Your eyes connected with each other instantly, stares intense.

“Oh really?” He questions, as your blush deepens.

Before you had a chance to realise what was happening, Tom stood up from the chair, scooping you up bridal-style as you clung to his shoulders and neck. You let out a slight squeal at the sudden movement before letting out peals of laughter.

“Where are we going exactly?” You ask, running a finger over some of the perfect buttery frosting, dolloping a smidge onto the end of his nose.

Nudging doors open with his hip, still cradling you to his chest, he made his way over to the bedroom, lightly depositing you into the middle of the king sized mattress.

“I’m going to show you what 25 really looks like.”

[fanfalc-616]

(Master of Emotion) Can you write a day off for ninjas and Nya (add both Pixal and Skylor) after hard work and it can help the ninja get to know each other better,especially Kai ( maybe spa day)?

Sorry this took so long, I wrote much more than I expected.

((I’m gonna place this after s7, bc I haven’t seen the end of the whole Oni thing. So I can’t put Pixal here like requested, sorry about that))

(((Watch me spend thirty minutes doing research so I can put in a minor character that’s technically canon.)))

Kai rolls his eyes as Jay starts complaining again. “I really don’t wanna go to the spa, I’m so close to finishing this invention-“

Cole shoves him playfully. “We’re already here, Sparky. I’m not exactly fond of the idea either, but I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

“Skylor should be meeting us here...” Nya mutters, looking at her phone, starting to type something- likely a text message.

The six of them stand outside the Ninjago City Spa, and Kai feels himself internally dreading seeing Skylor. He had flirted with her in the past, but they never really went official- how could they have? Kai had realized he was in love with someone else, and now they haven’t really found closure from their kinda-relationship.

“Is everything alright?” Zane prompts, speaking in a low tone to avoid drawing more attention to them.

Kai internally groans as he realizes his clothes turned purple. Great.

“Everything’s fine.” He bites out. His clothes have started to shift more towards magenta, which is only a slight relief- it’s still obvious he’s worked up over something.

“Skylor!” Lloyd greets. He waves as the crimson-haired girl walks up. “Glad you could make it.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you all!” Kai doesn’t miss how she’s looking at him when she speaks, and he internally complains about everything as he realizes his clothes are turning a darker shade of purple.

The others have started to notice the color change, and he can tell that Lloyd’s about to ask, so he speaks up first. “Let’s do this! Spa day!” He flashes a smile that probably would’ve been convincing if his actual emotions weren’t plastered all over him.

… sometimes Kai hates his powers. 

Without waiting for someone to call him out on his bullshit, he heads into the spa, walking up to the reception desk. 

The woman behind it stares, wide-eyed as she recognizes him. Which Kai probably should’ve been expecting, they all are pretty famous.

He flashes a charming grin. “Hi, I’ve got a reservation for…” He trails off, frowning. Glancing back at the others, who have now stepped inside, he gives a nervous laugh. “Who was the reservation under again?”

Zane walks up to the counter, and Kai internally curses, backing away. Of course it’s Zane. Of course it is.

He doesn’t have the mental energy to deal with his stupid emotions. Warily, he looks down at his outfit to make sure it’s not pink.

Oh, thank the First Spinjitzu Master. He knows that he’ll have to tell him eventually, but today is not that day.

“The reservation should be under Lloyd Garmadon.” The nindroid explains to the receptionist. 

Still clearly in shock, the woman- er, Cathy, as her name tag says- types something into the computer. 

“Uh, yes, you seven can sit down in the waiting room, you’ll be taken back shortly.” Cathy informs them.

“Thank you.” Zane smiles. 

So they all go back to the waiting room, and Kai makes sure to sit as far away from Skylor as possible.

And since he was so focused on being away from Skylor, he completely missed who he was actually sitting next to: Zane.

Look, it’s not that he’s avoiding him or anything, he’s just… uh… 

Yeah, okay, he’s avoiding him.

Quiet conversations start, the ninja all chatting with each other, and much to Kai’s chagrin, Zane tries to speak with him again.

“Are you sure everything is alright? You seem very tens-“

“I said I’m fine, okay?!” 

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he wishes he could take them back. He shouldn’t have snapped at Zane, he didn’t mean it!

He barely notices when his clothes start to turn shiny- but really, he should’ve paid more attention, because that’s the first sign of his embarrassment, and- 

And now he’s invisible. There’s surprise on everyone’s faces as he suddenly vanishes from sight, and he quietly groans.

Today’s spa day is off to a great start.

—————————

They all realize it as soon as they’re about to be led back into the actual spa.

Zane smiles. “It’s quite alright, I don’t mind. I can just wait out here-“

Nya shakes her head. “No! Zane, you need to come with us-“

“A spa day would not be as beneficial for me; I am not an organic life form. I can wait outside for your return.” 

What annoys Kai the most is how little Zane seems to be bothered by it. He just doesn’t seem to care that he can’t enjoy things like they can.

Kai narrows his eyes, cutting off Cole mid-sentence by stepping into Zane’s personal space and grabbing his arm.

“You can still feel things, right?”

Zane frowns. “Yes, but I don’t have skin or nails that would be affected the same way a human’s would-“

“Not what I’m asking.” Kai interjects. “You can feel things. Would the spa treatments feel nice?”

Zane seems uneasy. “I- I suppose, they most likely would be at least somewhat enjoyable to my sensors-“

“Good. You’re coming in with us.”

“But there is no purpose-“

“Yes there is! You’re always concerned about other people, take a damn break and let other people take care of you for once! You’re just as much a member of the team as the rest of us, and I shouldn’t have to tell you that!”

The room goes silent. Zane stares at him with wide eyes, and while Kai is aware that everyone else probably is too, he doesn’t care about them at the moment. 

Kai let’s go of Zane’s arm and takes a step back, closer to the actual entrance of the spa. “Well?” He demands.

The nindroid gives a small smile and nods.

Kai smiles back. 

And then he’s drawn back to reality by the woman taking them back to the spa. They all start chatting again, although a bit softer this time.

Jay tugs on his sleeve. “Hey, uh, Kai?” He speaks in a low tone. 

“What.” He really doesn’t want to listen to whatever rambles Jay has at the moment.

“You’re pink.”

Kai blinks and looks down at his outfit. Pink?! He’s fucking pink?!

Okay, okay, hopefully they’ll think it’s platonic, it can just be platonic, it’s fine-

He turns invisible again. 

God damn it.

—————————

Kai has to admit, maybe the spa thing wasn’t such a bad idea. 

The aloe vera face mask is pretty nice, and when it’s taken off, he thinks he looks pretty good. 

He also gets a sugar scrub, and then heads into the sauna. Luckily, it’s the seven of them- and just them, so there’s not any strangers.

“So Zane, how have you been doing?” Cole prompts.

Zane hesitates a moment, and then sighs. “They attempted to give me a deep tissue massage.” 

There’s a beat of silence. 

Then everyone starts laughing. 

“But you’re a nindroid! You don’t have muscles to be massaged!” Jay giggles.

“FSM, how long before they figured it out?” Lloyd snorts. 

Zane shifts some, and Kai glares at the others. How are they not realizing that it’s making him uncomfortable?!

“It took a few minutes.” The nindroid admits. “It was frustrating for the both of us.” His smile is strained, and it’s obvious that he’s covering up his emotions.

Obvious to Kai anyway.

Thankfully, the topic changes soon enough.

“Jay, what’s up with your nails?” Nya frowns.

The lightning master gives a nervous chuckle. “I liked the shade of blue.”

“They’re sparkly.” Cole adds with a mischievous grin.

Lloyd shakes his head with a smile. “I got mine done too.” He holds out his hands to show off the dark green with a swirly gold pattern. 

“Ooh, those are pretty.” Jay nods. “I thought about getting a lighter blue design on top.”

“To look like lightning? That would’ve been pretty cool. Why’d you decide against it?” Cole frowns.

So caught up in everything, Kai doesn’t notice Skylor coming over to sit next to him.

Shit.

“Kai, we need to talk.” Her voice is soft, clearly trying to avoid drawing attention to them.

“I’d rather not.” Kai chuckles nervously, the robe he’s wearing flickering over to a dark purple.

She shakes her head with a sad smile. “It’s Zane, isn’t it?”

Kai freezes, his eyes wide. Then he sighs, running a hand down his face. “That obvious, huh?”

Skylor laughs. “To everyone except for him.” She confirms.

A quiet groan escapes him. “I hate everything.”

She pauses a moment, and then sighs. “I wish you would’ve told me.”

“At that point, I was still figuring it out myself.” Kai admits sheepishly. 

“Even if our relationship was kind of complicated, I think we could still be friends.” Skylor smiles.

Kai smiles back. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Much to his surprise, his outfit is now a light yellow. Happy. Huh.

While it started a little rocky, this spa day seems to have gone pretty well.

Kai looks back over to the others, and finds Zane watching him with a pained expression. But as soon as he turns around, the nindroid looks away and rejoins the others’ conversation.

Though he’s confused at that, Kai decides to join the chatter, and Skylor does too. 

By the time they leave the spa, Kai’s clothes are bright yellow. 

Today went well… 

But who knows what tomorrow will bring?

[compendiumhistoria]

🌹🍂🥀💫 for the 2 characters you're vibing with rn!

It’s gonna be Merit, my son that I miss dearly, and Bastian, the latest bastard!

[soft OC asks!]

🌹 Where in the world does your OC feel most at home? Is there any reason why? If it’s not the place they were born, where were they born? Is there a certain somebody that makes them feel at home where ever they may be? What does home mean to them?

Merit: It is still probably his dryadic family’s forest, the Rosewood Thickets. Even after Merit’s party made an... unfortunate deal with his mother Stellaria, and even when she’s been overbearing and mercurial, there’s a deepset bond in Merit’s bones to those woods, and the knowledge that his mother does love and protect him so makes the forest a sanctuary for him alone, at least for the most part.

Bastian: For the longest time, it was on the road with his mentors/adopted family, one of the few ways he had of living safe as an orphan. On the move is still maybe the safest he feels, but if only since every other place in his life is burned, untrustworthy while he doesn’t know who killed his family or if they know he’s still alive.

🍂 Does your OC enjoy hugs? What do they do as a show of affection for: their friends, their family, their significant other(s) or for strangers? Over all what are they like with receiving affection from others?

Merit: Yes!!! Merit is so very tactile, often placing a comforting hand on a stranger’s shoulder, holding his friends’ hands, pressing a kiss to a lover’s cheek! Please give him affection, he loves it, though he’d be surprised to have it from people he doesn’t know very well or pegged as non-tactile people (which he respects as well, or tries to) 

Bastian: Bastian Hugs and physical affections are very good but VERY rare because he’s honestly usually touch-adverse unless you’re a friend, in which case he’ll deal w/you initiating (and hesitate to let go bc boy is also. Touch-Starved.) With family and S/Os he’s more comfortable but usually just shoulder pats or nudging his shoulder to theirs as a if-you-need-me gesture. Also sometimes head nudges, like a cat.

🥀 How would your OC decorate a notebook or journal? What kind of things are written in there? Could you give an example of a nice entry?

Merit: “The Brightwoods exist, more than in my vague memory of my father’s words years ago. Exciting! Terrifying! And my uncle, my father’s brother, lives a day’s journey from Monalta. I’m a bit we’re running on quite a tight schedule though, so I won’t ask that we delay any longer. Corrin also knows about this, which... I’m not what to think of, honestly. I don’t know what our Lord would do with this information though.” ----Merit’s journal would be personal entries and perhaps a mix of notes, varying from poetic insights to useless thirst scribblings, maybe some aimless swirly designs around writings. In between the pages would definitely be flowers and leaves pressed into place.

Bastian: “Crast, Kett, Atell all gone in hiding. Why? Bigger conspiracy?” [below this are drawings of various symbols such as a knife, a bird with an circle clutched in its talons and a red ink blot. The next page is filled with a jumble of Common and some other languages] ----Bastian would have a notebook, but one so rife with shorthand, iconography and mix of the languages he knows that it’d be hard to discern any real information at a glance. A mix of habit, paranoia, and just Bastian preferring to write quickly than take his time to be eloquent. There would be plenty of sketches and scribbles amidst the pages that add as decoration at least, that only tangentially relate to what he’s actually writing about sometimes.

💫 What is your favourite fact about this character and why?

Merit: I have a lot of Merit Facts and I don’t know which is my favorite, but I did recently get emotional that his favorite color and flower are blue Forget-Me-Nots, and how he loves them so much they have often bloomed in his hair 🥺 And the fact such flowers symbolize memory and loyalty when Merit’s desperate to be loved, to understand his father’s disappearance, to prove loyalty to his Court 🥺🥺🥺

Bastian: Bastian is still in that New Place where every fact I have is 1) my favorite and 2) not that deep/not already known. I WILL say I laugh at myself because Bastian was made thanks to inspiration from very specific performance of a very specific character, and that’s even where he gets Bastian’s voice from, but I’m embarrassed and also refuse to give out spoilers to what that direct inspiration is. So I sit alone and laugh and suffer.

[dontlookdown]

Nick’s Favourite Music of 2017

I’ve always been someone that tries to accentuate the positive, so let me get this bold take out of the way:

2017 was bad, and best summed up by the phrase “Further complications”.

...But the music, films, TV and games of the past twelve months have been (on the whole) great, so we just about made it through.

If anything, there might have been too much good stuff. This is the first year in a while where I’ve not only struggled to pick out my favourites from earlier months, but have also had to navigate a massive backlog of acclaimed music that I’d missed. The scheduling of certain releases didn’t help. I have four bands in my life that hold a drop-everything status when they release a new record (LCD, War on Drugs, The National, QOTSA), and they all unleashed new albums within a week of each other. It gets exhausting!

As always, I’ve waited until the year is truly over before finalising my top 20 tracks of the year, because you never know when something extraordinary might suddenly pop out in the middle of December (and it frequently does). I’ll be posting about one song each day. Previous entries can be found easily using the tag “best-of-20xx”, going all the way back to 2010 (I always surprise myself every year by being reminded that this blog is that old).

First, though, some honorable mentions for tracks and albums that didn’t quite make the cut, but still mean a lot to me:

Cloud Nothings – “Modern Act”

ME: Oop! There’s a new Cloud Nothings album. Time to check in and see if Dylan Baldi has come up with a third entry in the ‘Choruses That Nick Relates to Way Too Much’ series, following “I need time to stop moving” and “I’m not you, you’re a part of me”.

DYLAN: “I want a life, that's all I need lately. I am alive but all alone”

ME: *sobbing uncontrollably* …Nice.

Coldplay – “All I Can Think About Is You”

This is a strange one that I rediscovered towards the end of the year, and haven’t been able to stop thinking about. It’s the sound of Coldplay making a conscious effort to return to the quieter, less-poppy style of their early work, but remembering that those records still had a sense of fun that was lacking in Ghost Stories.

Craig Finn – “God in Chicago”

Craig Finn (also of The Hold Steady) has always presented himself as more of a storyteller than a songwriter (although, as the incredible Boys and Girls in America proves, he’s brilliant at both), and his most recent solo album really pushed further into that territory. “God in Chicago” in particular is a stark contrast to the boisterous bar anthems that Craig’s other band is famous for, but still shows him operating at the peak of his powers.

Frank Ocean – “Chanel”

It took some time to adjust to the idea that, since returning after four years of silence, Frank Ocean doesn’t seem to be retreating out of the spotlight again. That’s fine by me. I’d listen to this guy sing the phonebook. Frank seems happy to be publicly experimenting with his sound right now, releasing new songs every few months via his radio show. “Chanel” was the first of these, and was a refreshing, almost stream-of-consciousness change of pace when compared to the precise songwriting that we heard on blonde. It also just happens to be the best song Drake’s never made.

Vince Staples – “BagBak”

Googles: "big fish theory" yeezus “About 18,200 results”

I’ve got nothing to add, really. “BagBak” bangs. I’m happy to hear Vince trying out new shit.

King Krule – The OOZ

I really struggled to formulate any solid thoughts about The OOZ, other than it is very good. What do you even call this type of music? Doom jazz? Extreme chillout? The album is like the sonic equivalent of a heavy night spent consuming every depressant imaginable, or a Morphine record that melted. …And, in writing that, I might have cracked it. It sounds like how we’ve all been writing about 2017 for the last few months! Time will be very kind to it, I suspect.

Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me

Absolutely brilliant and almost impossible to recommend, A Crow Looked at Me is an earnest document of the passing of Phil Elverum’s wife, Geneviève, and an unflinching portrait of how death really affects the people someone’s absence leaves behind. Musically, it’s a stripped-down as a record can possibly be, and requires an empathetic frame of mind from the listener. But it’s incredibly rewarding for those that take the time to engage with it.

Slowdive – Slowdive

Very few things in this world make me happier than bands reuniting after long breaks and releasing an album that stands up with their very best work. I’ll be talking about this in more detail later on in the month, but it’s worth bringing up in relation to the already-legendary shoegaze band Slowdive. Twenty. Two. Years. And it didn’t dull their senses one iota.

Alec Holowka – “Home Again”

Night in the Woods is the game I wish I’d had when I was 18. At its core, it’s a game that stresses the importance of talking to and learning about the people in your life, and considering how we all bump into each other throughout our long-ass lives. In between hanging out with old friends, it perfectly captures that intangible sense of malaise you get when you’re forced to take stock of your life so far and end up wondering just what the fuck you even want to achieve now. This dissonance is present in the game’s soundtrack too, composed by developer Alec Holowka. “Home Again”, as the title suggests, plays while your character is back in her childhood home, returning abruptly from college. It’s got a very warm sound, hazy and swirly in a way that provokes a mental image of familiar dusty furniture being bathed in a sunbeam through your window. And then, after two bars at around :30, a minor chord is introduced, giving the progression a sad, almost disappointed feel. You’re back…but why? Is everything okay? It’s equal parts comforting and concerned, the lone piano shifting into a more confident melody at 1:30 while the moody synths hold back briefly. It’s the sound of a worried parent calmly asking you some tough questions.

Dan Salvato – “I Still Love You”

I’ve previously gone on-the-record about how Doki Doki Literature Club completely wrecked my shit, as have many people who’ve played it, but I think the game deserves some recognition for being as much a loving tribute to dating sim games as it is savage deconstruction. This is something that’s highlighted by the game’s soundtrack (composed by writer/designer/way-too-talented person Dan Salvato), full of bright, breezy pieces that would sound right at home in any number of these games, on-the-nose emotionally and completely earnest in presentation (bum notes and all). And then, as you might be aware, things get weird. But, crucially, the music does not. Rather than composing new pieces to supplement the new tone, we simply hear the old ones again (albeit ever-so-slightly warped in places). This adds to that false sense of security. “Everything’s fine”, the game tells us, lying through its teeth. By the time the façade drops completely, the music is gone, replaced by an atmospheric soundscape. “I Still Love You”, which plays over the climactic scene, is a blend of the two extremes we’ve heard so far: the emptiness of the soundscape morphing itself into an actual melody, accompanied by a lone piano still hitting the perky beats from the earlier tracks. It’s a perfect representation of everything the game does so well when it comes to managing tone and player expectation, and a great and relaxing piece in its own right.

John Williams – “Canto Bight”

In which John Williams finally composes a proper follow-up to “Cantina Band”. I joked last week that you could make a playlist consisting of nothing but this track repeated hundreds of times, and end up with the perfect soundtrack for any party. It’s funny because it’s true. In less than three minutes, Williams segues from traditional film score bombast to an exciting cocktail of Dixieland jazz, Cuban salsa and 12-bar blues. Separated from the scene it soundtracks, it’s a piece that constantly keeps you on your toes, and a perfect example of why the general weirdness of The Last Jedi was one of the most exciting things about it.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow we’ll start with the list proper. Until then!

[jewishtango]

apple&honey macaron for a sweet new year

l’shana tova everyone!! i started making these last year and they were a big hit so i thought i’d share the recipe for you all, which is really a combination of recipes adapted from different sources. i’m going to start with the fillings, bc i always make them in advance. i make two fillings for this particular recipe, but if you want to try to combine them, that’s up to you. this is long so bear with me

the first is apple butter. this is adapted from cooks illustrated, who bless their hearts made some p glaring errors imo

1lb macintosh apples 1lb fuji apples 1/2 liquid cup apple cider 1/4 liquid cup calvados/applejack/some other apple alcohol 1/4 liquid cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar reasonable splash of lemon juice (approx 1.5 tablespoons) sprinkling of salt spices!

1. cut up your apples into little chunks KEEPING THE PEELS ON. put em in a big ol dutch oven with the other ingredients and stir a bit to get the apples coated in em. the original recipe doesn’t call for spices, claiming it takes away from the apple flavor, but theyre clearly idiots so go wild. i throw in a single star anice, generous cinnamon cloves and nutmeg, and a little dried lemon peel bc why the hell not 

2. put the pot on the stove over medium heat and bring the liquid to boil, stirring occasionally. 

3. turn the heat down to medium low, cover the pot, and leave that fucker for half an hour. in the wise words of my grandma, DON’T PEAK

4. i used a food mill to process the contents of the pot but i guess a strainer could work too. in any case, get rid of those skins and chunky bits, put it all in a smaller pot.

5. on the lowest of heat and stirring constantly, reduce what is now essentially applesauce down into jam. this is going to take a while, so make sure youve got everything u need first or someone to take over if you’ve gotta leave the pot alone. the jam should darken and once you’ve got it down so it sorta glops down from the spoon in masses rather than pouring off of it, get that shit in a jar. let it cool on the counter until its about room temp, then get a lid on it and refrigerate. you’re done!

the honey buttercream is from my dear rose beranbaum’s cake bible, which is a title i’ve always found sort of ironic considering she’s jewish, but that’s beside the point

3 egg yolks (if you can, use the ones left over from the macaron recipe!) 1 cup butter, cut into chunks and softened 1/6 cup (approx) clover honey

1. using an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks until they’ve lightened

2. get a glass heat-proof container ready. in a small saucepan, heat the honey up, stirring constantly, until it gets to a roiling boil (what’s a roiling boil? the entire surface will get bubbly and frothy. its kinda hard to miss when it happens i promise) QUICK. take it off the heat and transfer immediately to the glass measure to keep it from cooking further

3. asap, start mixing the eggs while slowly pouring in the honey. this’ll cook the eggs so don’t go worrying about salmonella. keeping whisking til the mixture cools completely.

4. add the butter in chunks as you keep mixing, whisk until smooth. voila! put it in the fridge to cool a bit.

finally are the macarons. i use notsohumblepie’s macaron recipe which i’ve fiddled with to make work better for my oven, which is always at least five degrees too cold and takes longer to bake things. i like this one in particular bc it gets into some of science, why you don’t tend to flavor the shells, and the maturation process which is EXTREMELY important. here are some notes from my experience w the process

the recipe calls for aging your egg whites, which means measuring them out ahead of time and sticking them in the fridge for a couple days lightly covered to get rid of any additional moisture. make sure the bowl you use is ABSOLUTELY clean and dry, which i usually accomplish by taking a paper towel slightly dampened with vinegar and wiping the inside with that. also keep in mind that things like humidity WILL affect your macarons, which tend to like drier environments—my dishwasher is by the stove and everyone else in the house knows not to open it while macarons are in progress. 

i use bob’s red mill almond flour, but i also find it helpful to grind the almond flour further in a food processor. i sift and measure out 125 grams of almond flour and powdered sugar and process for longer than i think i should, then sift and measure out the other 100 grams of powdered sugar, add that, and then process again for awhile. then i sift the entire contents one last time.

the recipe says to beat the eggs until foamy before adding the sugar/egg white powder mix, which is sort of vague. i interpret this to mean “foamy like a cappuccino” if that helps you at all

it also says to add the food coloring (GEL. ALWAYS GEL) before the macaronage/folding process, which i usually follow. in this particular case, fold in the almond flour mixture a third at a time first, then separate the batter into somewhere between 1/3 & 2/3 and 1/2 &1/2 and add red food dye to the larger portion and green/yellow to the smaller. individually finish the folding process with each until you can do the figure-eight test and the batter resembles lava. put some of the green and some of the red into your pastry-bag-thingy and pipe ‘em out, you should get a cool swirly thing if you do it right, which is to say the green and red are on diff sides, not on top of each other.

assembly!!

make a little circle of buttercream, and place a dab of apple butter in the center for each lil macaron sandwich. 

feel free to hmu with any questions or problems!!

[skyphile]

Happy V(b)day!

GIFTS

a pair of whirlwind like piercings, a silver, smaller set like this, for his cheek dimples

matching fish toys for him and bongwater, this one for the cat, a Way bigger version for the… larger cat /:

a cardbox built castle shaped like a bong - for bongwater (google failed me here… )

non sweet chocolate pastries - using the alternian chocolate to make sea-salt based sauce and savory churro dough for the pastry

his reinterpretations (piano and softer) of the entire écailles de lune album - the og album here

this dumb vday card

a pair of luvdisc plushies like this, with magnets on the tip of their mouth

a whole nest! - from the same verse he’s taken daven to. john’s found an entire network of underwater tunnels made from some definitely alien tech, that serve as an observatorium of the sea life right there. the tunnels are mostly metallic, but they have several entryways into the sea, protected by nothing but a barrier you can phase through, but still keeps the liquid perfectly outside. there’s several rest points too, which john’s littered with cushions and other comforts, and one of them even has a kitchen area with a teleporter especially made to receive john’s fridge-like sylladex cards. john knows nothing of the civilization thats made these - if it even still exists - but figures fucker will enjoy the mystery. he knows very little of the marine life of this verse too, except it’s Very different, but also gets it if fucker wants to go out and explore too. the kitchen has a PLEaSE FEED ME button, that sends a signal to john whenevers pressed and he can respond to.

LETTER

In plain white paper, in pretty blue swirly cursive,

happy birthday, and merry heart day double whammy, fucker!!

ordinarily i write a very tender one of these any time an important birth event comes, but i figure it’s only fair i up my game for you - the big perk of landing the one day that should be about showing love and not be shy of it, to remind your important people why their place in your life matters.

so here it is…..

looking back at our first conversations now, it makes me so surprised to see how far we’ve come, from the the nervous back and forth of few words to…. the straight up sin that comes with the… pokemon fucking… topic. but, um. anyway!

for the longest time i honestly believed that i was? annoying to you, some sort of a loud factor that you had to take in small doses, and i didn’t want to give cause to make that worse or put pressure on you at all, so i guess that’s why i never really tried to talk much… i hope this doesn’t sound accusatory, because i don’t mean it to be!! it’s perfectly normal for people to be compatible with different ones in different moments of their lives. and i still got to secondhand see you and sbw work together, and the nice impact that had, and that made me very, very happy too.

now i realize that. we’re actually pretty similar in our origins here, the trouble that comes with opening up for the first time, to sow the seeds for something better, and i recognize that and i’m!! so proud of you for getting this far and, it’s very very nice to share this boat of recovery with you. i couldn’t ask for better company!

and also… i’m just… very happy that the veil of insecurity was drawn away and, well… we happened too!

because from day one i’ve seen you as someone grand and whose opinions i admired, someone who kind of? ressonated with me even if in subtle ways, someone who could shift my mood like five tiers better just by saying something nice, by giving me even the smallest compliment.

your insight has always been! really valuable to me, and to feel like we shared some key ideas on life and stuff has always felt very empowering.

seeing you talk of me with such honest kindness, to learn that!! the way that i am - which i struggle with on the regular because it’s… so easy to feel like anything that falls outside the norm is bad and bound to fail - is something you admire and even strive to achieve in your own terms, i can’t!! begin to describe how wonderful it felt, to have that kind of validation from someone i hold in such high esteem, for something i do without even thinking. so thank you, so much…

but it isn’t just that.

that opened the door to!! so much more. from then on, it kind of clicked on me that i’d been!! dumb and wrong all along, and that my paranoid feels of immediate rejection were. so silly to begin with… and as you helped me strip off that, everything else fell into place and! i found my way to be with you. and how wonderful that is!!

i adore that you carved your way into my home, and i love every second you spend here - i love laying back and feeling its heart beat, and knowing that the cadence of your own bloodstream is entwined in it. i love it when sbw gets teary over the new baby and thanks you under his breath, i love it when daven touches something up in the mirror and goes about how right you were over something you’ve mentioned about color combos, i love holding up sord to slice through veggies and they start humming something i’ve heard you hum before. you’ll always have a place here - you’re already embedded in the walls! 

no matter where life takes you, you’ll have a haven here.

and then i love it so much, the ease with which you’ve set camp in my own heart too.

from distant admiration through to mutual support of our out-of-the-norm, amazing ventures, it’s so natural to want you close, to love you with the friendly purity and joy of a child, to see you flourish, to tend to you in ways that’ll help you get there better.

i know this is because you’re so tiny (:P), but it makes me smile to feel how cosy you fit in my arms, and it makes me melt just! how tenderly you react to even the gentlest shows of affection, just how!! fucking adorable you are, and how nice cuddling you is… i hope it’s just as good to you, and please know that you deserve these and more, given regularly and by people who know how, and i’ll be on my toes to volunteer my tribute every time - i am!! that smitten, yes!! to see you soothed down and relaxed, breathing easy and at peace, is such a thing to treasure.

from then on there’s just!! a series of many other tiny ways you make me smile, that you fill up my heart with, you’ve made my life brighter…

you’re gorgeous, skin deep and every layer below that, in either form, in every shade of action i’ve seen you in, and i’ll fight you if you ever disagree with any of it (with more hugs and face kisses, i mean. i am kind of shit when it comes to aggression, although i guess sparring would be fun too?? I DIGRESS…). some of the events that happened to!! help break the ice between us were unorthodox as heck, to say the least, and very… flustering still to look back on and remember, but in the best way possible. ://)

i can count literally in one hand, the people i feel comfortable sharing that more!! intimate, sexual side of myself, and there’s an undefined bond now, because you got to feel as i feel, and more than that, you’ve?? treated it with such respect, described it in a way that? has really made me tear up like a dweeb, because gosh, you?? get it, you understand the amount of love i endlessly pour into them, and if anything that’s made me feel like i’ve made the right choice, however impulsive, when i dragged you to all that…

like you’re a comfortable presence there too.

i don’t know if anything similar will happen again, but i know now that i’d really love to, to even have!! a more active role in it, because! i feel as comfortable with you there as i am with them, and that’s. a rare, special thing for me. even if i’ll!! always need daven to be near to Want to put any of it into action….

to get to kiss you, to get to make you feel good in added other ways?? (gay peter pan voice) would be an awfully great adventure…

but then at the same time i realize how complex your relationship with sex is by now, and more than anything i want you to know that!!! my epitome of happiness already happens through looking after you, through feeding you and holding you close, and despite the attraction still DEFINITELY being there, the best way i can be with you is the way where you’re just as happy as me, and. yeah…

in many ways, this weird, unique intense mix of different ways i’m drawn to you, fits the qpp Experience™ for sure. because it’s its own thing, it’s still pretty wild to get used to it, and a big exciting adventure to figure out as well!! the languages i’m comfy talking you in, and again, i don’t want this to put any pressure on you either way, or for you to feel like you need to?? indulge in any of these things for me to be happy with you in my life, for me to want you to stay.

because i want you for you! no matter what!

if anything i figured!! baring open my full feelings for you here would be fitting for the day and would be… a good way to show you just how much of a positive, growing impact you’ve had on me, and how my happiness has weaved to yours in ways i don’t want to untangle.

how much i!! want to be the same to you.

i hope you can remember this, even when things get rough, but i will never be too far that i won’t want to remind you either!

finally it’s just. infinitely precious that we get to build on all these broad and diverse and wonderful scenarios where dirk and you and i are together, tackling the odds and creating a family based on love and trust and support, and i love getting to spend time with both of you almost like kids, sprawled belly down on the floor with lots of paper and crayons, drawing up our castles and treehouses, our effigies holding hands. it’s been!! such a blessing to get to love you both, and thinking about our verses helps add sugar to this one and… honestly, i hope that our friendship translates just the same, in our own safe ways.

and then i… wanted to say, just how obvious it is, how much you’ve grown, just how awesome the path you’ve taken is, and how?? happy i am to see you here and now, rid of things that had you down, and surrounded by others that get your eyes twinkling and your fingertips typing for miles, on love and devotion, cherishing and respect, happiness.

love and happiness look so good on you, you are!! infinitely lovely when you delve in subjects that instill either and both in you, and i hope i always get to hear you talk about your boyfriend and the people you coexist with, your projects that keep you pumped, all the little quirks and things that make you yourself - because all that is so good…

so!!! here’s to all this… to keep this going and see where it leads, like a bottled message in the current, all those fish that migrate far into the sea, only to always be led back home. i am really excited to keep loving you, and i hope these tokens and these words always help.

stay well, fucker! i love you!!

~ john

[kiaronna]

Soulmate AU Suggestion Master List!

a flower/bouquet blooms somewhere on your body when going through puberty. It will be completely unique, except for your soulmate, who'll have it in exactly the same place. HOWEVER, it will be in black-and-white until the first time you first see/meet your soulmate, and then it slowly begins gaining colour. The colours don't even have to be natural. Maybe the flower(s) have an associated meaning? (Phoenix Lumen, FFN)

everyone were born with "marks" on different colors and shapes and whenever your soulmate came closer the mark grew. (With mark I mean colorful swirly things. Not picture-like marks of flowers or stuff...) (Kirei Ao Tori, FFN) Another is when the the Soulmate-pair meet in dreams. It could potentially be pretty great if neither if the pair could speak to the other in human language and they both were in the shape of an animal("spirit-animal"?) in the dreams. It could actually work since no one knows what animal other people are. Bonus COULD be that you only understand what the other said if you had heard their voice in real life and NOT through a TV-screen. (I kind of came up with this now wile writing... -_-') (Un-relevant(kind of relevant?) side-thing, what if people could somehow project their "spirit-animals" like a patrons? (Kirei Ao Tori, FFN)

 Idea 1: until you meet your soulmate, you're physically incapable of feeling Idea 2: you don't age past puberty until you meet your soulmate or, conversely, you age rapidly without them.  Idea 3: you're ADD until your soulmate comes along- they bring focus to life.  Idea 4: you share your soulmate's heartrate/heartbeat. Yuri has panic attacks, Victor is an athlete, they go back and forth.  Idea 5: you feel your soulmate's fears.  Idea 6: you don't feel your own injuries; your soulmate does. There's a precarious culture surrounding soulmate's because of the potential for abuse.  Idea 7: when you eat and sleep and drink, your soulmate is affected as well. Yuri's eating habits and Victor's stress come into play.  Idea 8: you share ideas, but not information. I.e. shared procedural memory and imagination.

(Laura, FFN)

 you can't feel pain/be injured when you're around your soulmate (booopsboops, FFN)

 a world where, the day you meet your soulmate, you both suddenly become allergic to something (the same thing). So like say you're eating ice cream with this cool new person you just met and you suddenly find yourself with puffy eyes and a sore throat, and you're never able to eat ice cream again, and you're chatting with them one day and they casually mention how torturous it is to watch others enjoy ice cream while they have to sit on the sidelines because of their damn allergies, and it's too bad because they really used to like the stuff, and you just think to yourself, "Oh. OH." (Unconscious Again, FFN)

Siulmate AU where, when you first meet your soulmate, you burst into song. It isn't necessarily loud or long, it could just be a line or two of something, but it's your soulmate's favourite song at the moment. So, say your soulmate was a closet Broadway geek, you might end up singing a verse of "Memory" from Cats and breaking your vocal chords because the key is so damn high.  (Unconscious Again, FFN)

au where wenever you wright something on yourself it also appears on your soulmate. (TDIHP, FFN)

story wherein the soulmates feel each other's emotions when their eyes meet. Or where soulmates hear the songs their soulmate is hearing in their mind. (principessa luna fiorella, FFN)

1.   You have a tattoo that illustrates something about the moment that you fall in love with a person. Examples: fall in love at the beach? Seagull. Realize you love your best friend at their bday party? Party hat. 2. You occasionally have incredibly vivid dreams about the person, but aren't given details as to what they look like(I like this one cuz your soulmate is literally the person of your dreams, but you don't love them simply based on looks) 3. You are born with a streak in your hair that's the color of your soulmate's eyes or hair or both (I can see issues coming up with this one where it isn't really definitive, especially in cultures that doesn't have much diversity appearance-wise)  4. You can do a perfect impression of your soulmate's favorite animal (strange, I know, but the image of yuri perfectly imitating makkachin and victor thinking 'that was so cute' popped into my head) (drkm2000, FFN)

soulmates could feel each other's emotions (LiannaAila, FFN)

 a world where whatever soulmates write on themselves shows up on the other's skin? Sometimes people use this for any mark too, like bruises etc. (booopsboops, FFN)

Every time your soulmate gets a surface wound (bruises, hickey, scrapes, cuts, stuff like that) it appears on your skin, in a color that represents their soul, for as long as it takes for the injury to heal. It can happen from the moment you are born so I think it would work for your fic because of the age difference. I read about this and think that it is utterly adorable. (Stuffs-and-zzzzs, FFN)

 they swap bodies for 24 hours and have to figure out who the other person is and how to contact them (BookdragonBeth, FFN)

you constantly dream about yours and your soulmate's wedding day ceremony. But, the dream ends abruptly, ending right before the priest says their full names towards the end right before they kiss. With Victor and Yuuri already being in their 20's, they've had this dream enough times that they could recite their own and each other's vows. In their vows (LeMinaChan, FFN)

what if you could turn into your soulmate's favorite animal? With some kind of discerning feature. Like an animagus in Harry Potter. (It feels like I'm referencing Harry Potter a lot.) It would be hilarious if small children ran around in different shapes of animals especially since kids change favorite animals all the time. One day you change into a cat and the next into a bear or something. (Poor, poor parents...) I'm thinking the animal would have to be something specific so people couldn't just go up to someone and claim to be their soulmate. Or just have a shared specific feature. (Kirei Ao Tori, FFN)

veryone is born with a blank outlined design on their body. While the outlining design is a prefect copy of their soulmate the color schemes that make up the rest of the design are different. The colors show the different emotions and trials that their soulmate has went through. The mark fills in a little each year until the soulmates finally met. The size of the mark depends on the great things that your destiny has in store for you. Normally a persons mark is small, just enough to fit on the back of someones hand... But for Victor and Yuuri it was different. Almost their entire bodies were canvasses. (guest on FFN)

where one doesn't age until they meet their soulmate (The Blood Cloak, FFN)

 your greatest accomplishment or, as they called them, Deeds appeared on your soulmate's skin.  (The Blood Cloak, FFN)