#I'm not playing because I am not in a brass band

[synthesis-music]

National brass band championships happening.

Two whole days of band nerdery. It is grand.

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

Here’s a request for Abraham as I only just found out who he is and I already would let him spit on me. He’s in the pub where he sees a girl with big boobs and a cheeky grin, he follows her out. Maybe she leads him to the stables? And he fucks her good and hard against the hay. However, just as he’s about to pull his pants up. He falls on the ground due to reader and she rides him like a pony. Maybe some dirty talk and against the hay he chokes her but while she’s riding him she chokes him. You decide how to interpret this and where it goes from there. Hope you have fun writing!

Hello! First off I'd like to thank you for your patience - I'm sorry it's taken me over two months to fulfil this request, I am slow and I have a lot to work through. Secondly, this request is absolutely bonkers, but I've done my best to fulfil it in my own style. I hope that you enjoy it.

Warnings: Infidelity, choking, fingering, smut. Word count: ~2.6k

It’s a bright and sunny July afternoon on Grantchester Village Green. The sounds of a brass band playing and children’s laughter float on the breeze, yet she is bored. It’s the Village’s annual church fête and every Grantchester resident has turned up to take part and lend a hand. Mr. Ruskin has lent a donkey from his farm to give rides to the children, there’s a tombola offering up various prizes of assorted chocolates and cuddly toys, and games of boules and cornholing have been laid out across the Green, under reams of brightly coloured bunting. She feels like she could scream from the civility of it all.

“Fetch you some more squash?” Robbie asks with a soft smile, gesturing towards her with his empty paper cup.

“No. I’m alright, thanks, love.” She replies, stiffening uncomfortably as he places a chaste kiss to her cheek before heading off in the direction of the refreshment stand.

It’s all so bland. She can’t stomach another cup of tea, another orange squash, another egg and cress sandwich. Worst of all, she’s not sure how much more of Robbie she can stand. They have been courting for almost a year - the perfect match in every sense - he is the Vicar’s son, polite, gentle, and inoffensive. She is the daughter of the head of the Village committee; pretty, well mannered and kind.

Truthfully, she finds Robbie painfully dull. He isn’t bad looking and doesn’t treat her unkindly, he is just unambitious and set in his ways. She had agreed to go steady with him because it was what was expected of her. He’d taken her by surprise when he’d expressed the desire to sleep with her three months into their relationship, and for the first time in all the years they’d known each other she’d actually found herself excited by him. That was until they did the deed and he’d rutted atop her with all the enthusiasm of a captain going down with his ship.

She’s heard the murmurs around the Village, the rumours that he plans to propose. Robbie hasn’t exactly been subtle about it either, the way he gawks in the window of the jewellers makes dread sink in her stomach like a stone, not just at the idea of him asking her to marry him, but the fact that she knows she’ll say yes. It’s what her father wants for her, and living somewhere so small, where everyone knows everyone and all their business, she doesn’t want the reputation of the girl that broke a good Christian boy’s heart.

A future as Mrs. Robert Chambers, wife of the vicar’s son, Village postmistress, daughter of the head of the Village committee. Boring, boring, boring.

Life in Grantchester had suddenly become more interesting when he had rolled into the village; part of the Romani settlement that had taken refuge in one of Mr. Ruskin’s fields. The locals had treated them with suspicion and hostility, such was the attitude to newcomers, especially travellers. However, something about him intrigued her; his slicked back hair, dazzling blue eyes and cocky smirk made her heart race, worsened by the fact that whenever she’d seen him around he always managed to catch her eye and send her reeling with a wink. 

She’d never dared to speak to him, yet she feels her breath hitch as she notices him and five of the other Romani men approaching the Green.

“Here comes trouble.” She hears her father sigh as he steps forward to approach them.

She gently grabs his arm. “Dad, leave it,” She pleads. “They haven’t done anything.”

“Not yet anyway.” Robbie says as he returns from the refreshment stand with a refilled drink.

“They’ve as much right to be here as anyone else.” She fires back, watching as the group sit themselves on nearby picnic benches.

“I’d like to see what sort of contribution they’ve made to the Church or Village.” Her father mutters darkly.

As if on cue, the eldest of the group stands from the picnic bench and walks over to Mr. Chambers, depositing a handful of coins into the money box he holds. 

“There’s fifty pence from each of us there.” He tells the Vicar.

“Very generous of you, thank you.” Mr. Chambers responds with a bow of his head.

“See?” She says to her father. “Just leave them.”

As the afternoon progresses, the group is rowdier than anyone else at the fête. The sounds of their jeering and raucous laughing drowns out the tuba and trumpets of the band, earning them glares from everyone else in attendance. However, they keep to themselves, doing nothing more scandalous than using the picnic benches to arm wrestle one another.

She’s taking a walk around by herself, watching a group of children toss bean bags at each other with squeals and shrieks when she spots him, leaning against an outbuilding and swigging from a labeless brown glass bottle.

He winks at her when he sees her and she feels her cheeks heat up.

“Having fun?” He asks with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Not really.” She says with a soft laugh.

“Tea and sarnies not your thing then?” He smirks at her and it sets off a fluttering in her lower belly.

“I can’t imagine it’s yours either.” She says with a shrug. “What’s your lot doing here?”

He sniffs, taking another swig from his bottle and offering it to her. Tentatively she takes it from him, a shiver running through her as their fingers brush for the briefest of moments.

“We’re moving on tomorrow. Figured we’d come pay our respects before we push off.”

She is unable to mask her disappointment at this revelation, her eyes widening as her heart sinks. “Tomorrow?! You’re leaving..?”

He leans in, his blue eyes locking with hers. “You gonna miss us?”

She takes a long drink from the bottle in order to avoid having to answer the question, spluttering around the acrid burn of the liquid in her throat.

He chuckles, taking it back from her as she coughs and wipes her mouth. “Pal’s home brew. Put hairs on your chest, that will.”

She whips around when she hears Robbie calling out for her.

“Go on then, run back to your little boyfriend.” She has to suppress a gasp as she feels the hotness of his breath against the shell of her ear, how closely he’s moved behind her in order to lean down and whisper to her.

She swallows thickly, walking away before turning back to him. “I didn’t catch your name…”

“Abraham.” He tells her, with a mock two fingered salute.

“Nice to meet you, Abraham. I’m-”

“-oh I know who you are. Seen you around.” He interrupts, eyes roving over her form appreciatively.

She bites her lip, feeling the heat return to her cheeks and turns back to rejoin Robbie and her father.

The next hour passes uneventfully, until she hears raised voices coming from the area where the donkey rides are being given. Curious, she moves closer to see what’s happening. She’s surprised when she sees Abraham squaring up to Mr. Ruskin.

“It’s my animal, I think I know best how to look after it.” The farmer says angrily.

“And all I’m saying is that if you’re gonna have the poor fucker carting kids back and forth all day, the least you can do is give it a drink!” Abraham spits back.

The two men stare each other down, until eventually Abraham turns around and walks away. She thinks he has left and is bitterly dismayed that she hasn’t had the opportunity to speak to him more, when fifteen minutes later he turns with a bucket of water, setting it down near the donkey’s hay bales.

Mr. Ruskin grumbles at this, telling Abraham to clear off, but makes no moves to take the water away. She smiles at this, she knows nothing about this mysterious man, yet it’s endearing to see how he cares for animals.

She doesn’t see him again for the rest of the day and it’s only as things start to get packed down for the evening that she realises his group has left. The bucket remains where Abraham left it and she decides she’ll return it to him, emptying the water out onto the grass before turning to let her father and Robbie know what she intends to do.

She thinks better of it as she sees the two of them grappling with the hinges of a long folding table, struggling to collapse it. Probably for the best that they don’t know where she’s going. She takes the bucket, heading off in the direction of the farm.

Abraham isn’t hard to find. He stands in a stall of the stable, running a brush along the back of a chestnut coloured thoroughbred. He is bathed in the orange glow of early summer evening, the dying sunlight plays upon the sharpness of his features, making him appear ethereal.

“He’s beautiful.” She says, making sure it’s the horse she nods towards as she approaches.

Abraham grins when he sees her, continuing to brush out the horse’s coat. “He’s alright. Still needs a bit of work, but he’s fast. Should be fit for racing soon.”

“Mr. Ruskin doesn’t mind you keeping your horses in his stables?” 

He laughs drily, tossing the brush to one side and stepping out of the stall. “He told us to. Pitched a fit when he saw the state they were making of his field.”

She nods in understanding, watching as he brushes his hands off on his trousers.

“So what brings you to me?” He asks, leaning against the door of an empty stall and eyeing her closely.

“Oh,” She steps forward, holding out the bucket. “You left this. Thought you might want it back.”

He takes it from her with a smirk. “Right, because Ruskin couldn’t have brought this with him when he brought the donkey back…”

She feels herself grow hot again, opening and closing her mouth as she struggles to formulate a response.

“Why are you really here?” He closes the gap between them, a predatory glint in his eye.

“I don’t know what you mean.” She whispers, feeling arousal seep between her legs, warm and sticky, as he grips her lightly by the tops of her arms, turning her and backing her into the empty stall.

“I think you do.” He says lowly, fingertips tracing her jawline, the pad of his thumb passes slowly across her bottom lip, pulling slightly. “See, I think that little boyfriend of yours isn’t fucking you the way you’d like him to, so you thought you’d come see if I could do a better job.”

“N-no!” She stammers, fighting to keep her composure, as her stomach feels as though it’s doing somersaults.

“Oh?” He cocks his head, the hand not cupping her jaw moves, pushing the skirt of her dress up her thighs. “You a good girl then? Tell me to stop.”

She knows she should, but what she should do and what she wants to do are at direct odds with each other, so she says nothing, her chest rising and falling quickly with the rapidity of her breathing.

“That’s what I thought,” He utters, inhaling sharply as his fingers come to stroke over her clothed centre, feeling the dampness there. “Good girls don’t soak through their knickers like this for boys like me.”

It’s then that he finally presses forward to capture her lips with his own. It’s like no other kiss she’s ever experienced before, as his mouth moves with firmness against her own, parting to slip his tongue alongside hers, it feels like he is staking claim to her. She clings desperately to his shoulders, whimpering as she feels him push her underwear to the side and slowly sink a long finger inside of her.

“So tight…” He mumbles between kisses, moving his mouth to neck to suckle at her pulse point as his digit curls and pumps within her heat.

She allows her head to fall back with a soft thump against the wood of the stall’s wall as he adds a second, the repetitive strokes across a particular spot deep within her cause her muscles to tense as she bucks against his hand, feeling her belly tighten.

“Gonna come for me?” He asks cockily, sounding pleased with himself. His thumb begins to stroke at her pearl in tandem with the push and pull of his middle and forefingers.

The motion causes the tautness in her to finally give way, a wave of warmth rushes over her body from head to toe, and she lets out a strangled cry as she tightens and spasms around him.

She whines, her knees buckling as Abraham slowly retracts his fingers, but he’s quick to hold her in place by her waist. “S’alright, I’ve got you.” He reassures, keeping her steady until her breathing returns to normal.

The haze from her climax lifts slightly when she hears the metallic sound of his belt buckle unfastening, anticipation causing her breath to come in shallow puffs when it has only just recovered.

“You gonna let me inside, pretty girl?” He questions.

It almost makes her want to laugh, after what he’s just done to her, now he’s asking for permission. She nods feebly, her eyes heavy lidded as they take in the sight of his length as he fists it, long and thick. For a brief moment she wonders how he’ll fit.

“Use your words,” He urges. “Tell me what you want.”

“You,” She whispers shakily, “Want you inside of me.”

He smirks, pressing into her with a satisfied groan and she mewls pathetically as he stretches her open, his grip on her thigh as he holds her open to him is sure to leave bruises.

“Fuckin’ hell.” He grits out, once he’s finally sheathed within her.

He smells faintly of sweat, musky and intoxicating as she holds him close to her. She has never felt so full before, and the roughness of the wood against her back through the thin cotton of her dress, combined with the press of Abraham against her is almost overwhelming. 

Her head lolls to the side and she gasps once he finally starts to snap his hips against hers. He places a hand around her throat, giving the sides a gentle squeeze. “Look at me,” He orders. “Look at me when I fuck you.”

She finds that once she meets his eyes, she couldn’t look away even if she wanted to. There’s a hunger that burns within those baby blues, commanding and insatiable, that keeps her trapped like an animal beneath the intensity of his gaze.

His pace is relentless. The slap of skin against skin mixed with the cadence of the wanton sounds that fall from her lips is lewd, utterly obscene, yet she is too far gone to care or feel embarrassed.

She knows that Abraham is close when his pace falters. He pulls out with a grunt, stroking himself furiously until ropes of his pearlescent spend coat her thighs and lower belly.

He falls forward, keeping a hand pressed to the wall beside her head to stop himself putting too much of his weight onto her, and rests his forehead against hers.

“Fuck,” He breathes. “We should do that more often.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow.” She says quietly, hoping her voice doesn’t betray the sadness she feels.

“So? Come with me.” He says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, brushing the tip of his nose softly against her cheek.

“I can’t do that!” She huffs incredulously.

“Why?” He asks, stepping away, looking for something to help clean them both up. “What’s stopping you?”

She pauses, her brow furrowing as she struggles to think of an answer. Really, what is stopping her? She grins, her future suddenly seeming much less dull.

[bomberqueen17]

Big Easy

I am on vacation this week in New Orleans. There are many reasons for this but mostly they're not about me. I'm just here for the ride. Hilariously the one thing I found on on my own that I was like "oh i gotta do that while we're here" is also the thing that has been recommended to me by literally everyone i've spoken to including the Lyft driver from the airport, which is the WWII Museum, and conversely the more people recommend it the more I'm like :/ I might not enjoy this that much. WWII history was a childhood hyperfixation of mine but I've found the shit I was into about it is not the stuff other people like about it. This museum features a movie narrated by Tom Hanks so I feel like it's going to mm emphasize the bits I don't care about a lot. BUT I am going to go and I am probably going to devote a whole day. The upside of this is that probably Dude will not be deadly bored by it. He does tend to have the issue of not being into what I'm into sometimes... but this will probably be fine.

My hip is doing okay, the one I've been physically therapizing for ages? But what's popped up is that as the bad hip heals, the "good" hip starts giving me trouble-- I have prettty bad sciatic nerve problems on that side, and I didn't notice them so much because the cartilage tear on the bad side hurt enough to distract me. But lately it's like-- a little electric current of Badness inside the back of my right knee. No fun. But I've been doing physical therapy exercises for about fifteen weeks now (I just counted), three times a week, so I'd damn well better have seen some improvement LOL.

But mostly I can walk around, and I have a better idea earlier on whether walking is going to be good for me or not, so idk it's progress.

So far I have had a few bites of a shrimp po'boy (in the Atlanta airport, where we ordered something else and the waitress didn't hear us and just brought better food, no regrets on our part), some amazing gumbo, a bit of really good crawfish etouffe, and a really good Hurricane cocktail, and have seen the steamboat Natchez going up the MIssissippi with a brass band playing on it. Oh yeah there was a live band at the baggage claim? Apparently there were Many Doings in the French Quarter last night because of Cinco de Mayo, our Lyft driver was explaining they'd barricaded a bunch of the streets and she was delighted they'd moved one barricade because otherwise she could not have dropped us at our hotel. But by the later evening when we were out and about it wasn't quite so crowded but there were police cars and sirens and apparently some kind of disturbance a couple blocks away from our hotel. We kept walking because whatever it was was Not Our Business.

I'm mostly here for the food. I brought mostly me-made clothes. I was wearing a nice button-up shirt to fly in, and i sat at the gate during our layover and hand-bound two of the last three buttonholes on it (I'd cut and overcasted them at home but ran out of time). Relaxing and chill, honestly.

There are a couple of fabric stores I want to visit but apart from that I have zero agenda. Maybe Dude came up with something. I think he's mostly been researching restaurants.

I did not expect this, though: I know the names of so many of the places here from the news coverage of Katrina, and when I saw the Superdome in person i started crying, and had to explain to the driver that I'd been an airport bartender during that time and so had been stuck in front of huge TVs with 24h live coverage, and I'd had a bunch of online friends living there and I didn't realize until this moment how much it scarred me, so I could only imagine for the people here, and she talked about how she'd been a cleaner in an apartment complex at the time (I'd sussed that she was my age or older so I figured she'd remember it as well as I do, because to my shock that was 20 years ago now) and how many people had just left and never come back, had abandoned their possessions and just never came back for them because the power didn't come back on for two or three months.

She said "Now I know, when they tell you to evacuate, you get the hell out."

She also complained that nobody knows how to act, because it's all tourists. Which, fair.

... Anyway, anyone with recs for New Orleans feel free to tell them to me, I'm just here for the food and the vibes.

[blysse-and-blunder]

in lieu of a rainy day

10pm, sunday, nov 26, 2023

went to a gig for a friend's band last night, but otherwise it's been an extremely lowkey and indoor weekend. living that housecat lifestyle. aside from the sunday scaries (but, like, for the semester....for the year....) all in all the past week+ has been Okay. whoever is in charge of my calendar (which is me) made a pretty big gamble booking three-four medical-esque appointments back-to-back-to-back this week, but it paid off, we got through it, and the decks are cleared (so to speak) for writing between now and the holidays.

reading i got briefly very into freya marske's books a marvellous light and now a restless truth, though i will admit to having calmed (slowed) down a lot in reading the sequel, after tearing through the first one like there was a deadline. the world building and magic system are very fun, i am a big fan of the aesthetic; they're extremely sexy but not at the expense of plot or dialogue or characters' having their own real personalities, flaws and hobbies and all. excited to read the third one.

listening a quick skim of the previous few ilcb entries (have there really only been three all fall, dear me) to check i hadn't already posted this, and it doesn't seem like it? so, gregory alan isakov with the colorado symphony. the additional strings, the additional brass, it adds such a gorgeous dimension to this already pretty good song; the way things build from 1:20 on or so, to burst into full color and light from 1:59 to 2:14.... i've turned a few afternoons around lately just leaning into that orchestra swell in my headphones. wish it lasted a full 10 minutes, wish it had multiple movements.

watching more burrow's end; finished arcane season 1 with @hematiterings and began watching the first season of stranger things since she's never seen it; the nostalgia and affection i feel! the real satisfaction in how good season 1 is, how young they all are!! also started season 2 of slings and arrows with the housemates, which is new territory for me and which is similarly filling me with affection for characters i've known a long time, and fascination at seeing them doing new things and making new bad decisions. also started the second season of wheel of time on my own, as background while doing some unpaid graphic design/newsletter prep; my gratitude for this show making something so rich and visually interesting and real out of the books is unabated, even though i'm not feeling anyone's storyline very intensely at the moment. rand meeting logain was cool; perrin has been captured and that's bad; mat is now traveling with min, which is also cool because it's probably a set-up; i'm sorry that nynaeve had such a hard time in the arches but her romance subplot with lan has always left me extremely cold; moiraine is being frustrating! the show has a nice way of showing us other characters, minor characters, too-- moiraine's sister, for one, and starting that encounter by showing us her sister's morning routine, clarifying the difference in their ages where one is aes sedai and aging very, very differently. egwene and the daughter heir are in a magical boarding school subplot which is surprisingly delightful.

playing dnd campaign a had a session for the first time in aaaaages not too long ago, and it was good. spoke to the gods briefly, got started trying to appease them with sports as opposed to human sacrifice, and ended the night beta testing a phone-based game a friend of the dm's wanted us to try which involved a lot of bluffing and bs and laughter. campaign b, meanwhile, is in combat with some were creatures; @dimir-charmer's character has maintained this whole time that she is Not a Werewolf but circumstances may be, in fact, conspiring against her...... worrying!

making not a whole lot. i bought a box of cards since the closest thing i've come to a hobby recently has been sending a few cards (well, one and a half); i feel the pull of stickers and sealing wax and stamps.... wandered through an art supply store only a little while ago and came so close to buying the vinyl stamp making kit, but the only paint i could find to go with vinyl stamps was metallic so i decided to wait. contemplating making potato stamps, like i do every year around this time, but again the ink or paint or whatever is the limiting factor there.

working on taught my second and final guest lecture of the semester! read back through the written feedback on my conference paper! have started to look at integrating said paper back into the chapter whence it came, and had to have a little lie-down, but that's the big project remaining. at the same time, the running commentary at the back of my brain is about lecture prep for the course i'm teaching in the spring, specifically, what i'll say to situate/contextualize/prepare students to handle the material, how i'll thread various needles, which texts i'm going to ultimately assign, and on and on. i've started trying to turn this background noise into brainstorming/writing/limited, focused bursts of work on said course, in the hopes that getting a little of it out of the way will let me brain settle back in to other projects afterwards. i've also realized i've started doing the Discretionary stuff first, i.e. the reading extra articles, the looking at post docs or awards or things to apply for, the stuff that won't happen if i don't allow myself 15 min to look into it, because the Actual Work will be enforced, it will have to happen eventually, and the discretionary stuff won't. jury's very much out as to whether this will pay off, especially when it's not discretionary work at all, but discretionary attending-a-lecture time, or -coffee-with-a-friend time, or discretionary-at-the-gym time. time spent with the cat, of course, is non-discretionary.

[sandwichboiscum]

Alright listen up peoples

I am hopped up on two energy drinks and I have like no caffeine tolerance and I'm in marching band so here's some head canons about how the TF2 mercs might go about being in a marching band + the instrument they would play. Also, keep in mind this is only my first year in marching band so take this crap with a huge grain of salt

Scout: Snare drum. Literally one of his taunts is just him pulling out a bucket of chicken and drumming on it. He would play the music quite well, but I feel like he would suck at marching, especially the slower songs because he's just used to going super fast.

Soldier: Trumpet, you know why. I think he would be at least decent at marching (literally what do soldiers do) but he would struggle with directional changes because I struggle with directional changes and it's funny to project.

Pyro: Bass drum because he can't really play a woodwind or brass instrument for obvious reasons. He has NO clue what tf s going on because he sees everyone else as little floating babies so it's hard to march. Also, like come on, it's Pyro.

Demo: Clarinet because I said so. Also he'd just be too drunk to march most of the time, but when he's sober he'd be really good at it.

Heavy: He seems like a flute kinda guy because it's funny to think of the biggest man in TF2 playing one of the smallest instruments in marching band. But if we're being serious, bass drum because it's the only one he wouldn't completely crush. He'd probably be ok at marching, but he'd also probably struggle with directional changes, especially going backwards.

Engie: Trumpet. Idk why, but it just feels like he'd do trumpet. He'd probably be amazing at forwards marching but the second he had to do hip shifts and backwards marching he'd quit.

Medic: He seems like a saxophone. (Help my brain hurts) He'd also probably be very good at marching because it's very repetitive a lot of the time and he seems like a person who likes repetitive motions like marching (or in some cases stabbing someone because he got hit in the head by a trombone. No, I'm not saying this because it happened. Not the stabbing part I mean).

Sniper: Also saxophone. Obviously. He'd be ok at marching, but he'd also be very focused on everything he's doing right he forgets to check what he's doing wrong and then develops bad habits like stepping off with the wrong foot.

Spy: Flute, idk why but it just makes sense. He'd probably be pretty good at marching, but he would hate it especially it he has to march in someplace that's really dusty because even if he's wearing a marching uniform and not his regular suit he'd still be really picky about making sure that it doesn't get dirty, so he'd always find some way to sit out whenever he's marching in a parade or something.

(Notice I didn't put trombones as a head canon for any of them. That's because the trombones suck. Jk, I love y'all but I have been hit in the head with a slide one too many times.)

Just wanna also say, when I say hip shifts, I mean feet face either the left or right of the audience but the chest is still facing the audience. I hate them, they are uncomfy (especially going backwards) and make me want to die and this year my halftime performance is like nothing but hip shifts.

Thank you for reading my caffeine fueled post and have a lovely day. If you don't have a good day I will force you to have a good damn day

[totallynotthedarkreunion]

Death Note in a Marching Band‼️

Ik I already did death note and instruments but THIS IS DIFFERENT. I present this to you in honor of football season

Light - insists on being first trumpet. Probably joined later and then quit after two years to pursue murder law school. Literally a marching beast but probably runs out of steam a bit faster than others bc he doesn't really do lengthy periods of physical activity

L - I want to make him sousaphone bc he's already got back issues and it can't get any worse, but he'd probably suck at marching. Maybe he'd be a good drum major after playing mallets the first couple years. When he played mallets he'd definitely flex by holding four at once, even if he didn't need all of them

Near - tambourine or triangle. The essentials

Misa - color guard!!! She prefers swing flags over any other equipment, and loves the outfits. Takada tried to get her to play flute so she could show she's better than Misa but Misa thinks the regular band uniforms are ugly af.

Takada - flute. Idrk why

Mello - the most aggressive snare of all time. He played bass drum first and then switched to snare. He likes quints too but snare is probably his favorite because hitty thingy make loud noise hurt ears. He's got the best posture in the entirety of the band too, but he likes to speed up, which can be annoying when he's the one ticking while the band marks time.

Matt: also pit because he didn't feel like marching but still joined because Mello. Probably switches between concert bass drum, gong, and timpanis when necessary.

Mikami: clarinet (I am totally not biased). Also assistant drum major, but he's a lot stiffer than the aforementioned drum major.

I'm so sorry for leaving out the entire sax and low brass family but idk who would play that. I love you all I swear

[dokukoi]

Now that I've got my first ask to you, the idol au idea!!

But basically seeing as you wanted to include friends in the au so I decided to base a lot of this off my actual experience preforming lol.

Doing this in bullet points cause I can't make these thoughts into a few paragraphs for the life of me. Starting with vocal, then instrument, then interacting as a preformer

•Wide vocal range, with consistent training to continue to widen this range

•Able to sing in a group extremely well, even when doing complex parts. Typical vocal technique tends to blend well with others

•Willing to and capable of solos, doesn't usually do them unless it's a stupid high part that is unsure others can do

•Grew up playing trumpet in an Orchestra setting, second generation of trumpet/brass players, (fun fact: my irl trumpet is literally as old as my parents who are approaching 50 in next couple years. It is soon to be passed down to my younger cousins)

•Self taught guitar player, not confident in it due to being self taught

•Prefers to have practiced the etiquette required at an event with others as much as the music itself

•Will stand there confused and awkward for a moment if something unexpected happens, before finally figuring out "Oh shit time to improv"

•Usually looks to others and builds on/imitates what they're doing while in "improv mode"(?)

•"Improv mode" is a wild thing. If familiar with another preformer, can get their thing down pretty well. Does not know the person they're building off of? Looks like a robot

•Can and will follow another preformer around like a lost puppy before/after performances (I got teased by several directors for this habit lol)

•And building on introduction to the band that i did in tags, I'm just gonna say this person is probably easy to trick into things like auditions for different parts

•Perhaps a friend trying to prank them or build up audition confidence recommended the idol auditions and both were stunned when accepted into the band?

•Either way, based on current stuff, likely would get along with idol!noe. Definitely be confused by them, but admires thier style

•Probably just confused in general tho

•I'm good with Woof and any pronoun being used to refer to this au creature (no idea how to refer to them bfdj)

Anyways this is much bigger than I thought, hopefully I word vomited it in a way that makes sense/you can work with. I'm flexible on most things, so feel free to pick out what you wanna use/leave for this, or add to it— especially when it comes to idol culture. As I've said in the other ask, I'm very surface level rn

slightly off-topic sidenote: you sound like a joy to perform alongside of! i would've loved having someone like you in my ensemble 💕

honestly, as an idol, i can see woof being really well-liked with some really dedicated fans! i think naturally woof would probably be the vocalist... but the temptation of having a trumpet... jazz idols?!?

woof sounds like a really silly person tbh :3 i mean that very positively!! i agree that he would get along with noe, i think noe would be confused ("why are they trying to mimic what im doing, does she not know that i don't even know what im doing") but happily go along with it!! woof and noe would probably just go on some really funny hijinks because apparently i am the hijinks creature now and honestly it's kinda funny to give that to all of my s/is. They Are In Situations

anyways puts him in my pocket the show will go on!!! yay we have a vocalist/trumpetist... trumpeter...??? trumpetee...??? (can you tell ive only been in percussion ensembles?) to go along with the pianist, bassist, and drummer! surely nothing will go wrong™ :3

thank you so much for indulging in my silly thoughts ghsnfksmdms it's very heartwarming that people actually want to be included in fun ideas like this!

[johannestevans]

Bunch of new pieces this week!

Good evening!

Apologies for the lack of email last week, and the lack of bonus erotica episode too - I'm traveling back and forth at the moment as I try to sort out flat stuff, and unfortunately my asthma is kicking my ass at the moment and making it really hard to sit and record audio even when I have the time. I'm hoping after some rest my chest will chill out a bit and I'll be able to record by next week, but unfortunately it's not predictable.

I had a great time at Bristol Pride and met some of you guys, so if that was you, thanks so much for saying hello!

I will be at Leeds Pride in August, too, so looking forward to that.

Before I get to media recommendations and my new works published in the past two weeks, just your reminder that I am now running a trans erotica publication on Medium!

I'm reccing a favourite in my Media Recs section below, but since starting off, there's 20 new erotic pieces there to peruse, and I'm so, so excited to see a broad swathe of authors and works as time goes on and the publication reaches more people.

Trans Erotica on Medium

Please don't feel that you have to be transmasc or MLM to submit just because I am, by the way, I'd love to see more transfem and trans woman authors, as well as lesbians and WLW, submitting too!

Here are the Submission Guidelines, and here's a basic guide to Medium to get you started if you're new to the platform. Want a prompt to get you started? Here's the July 2023 prompt set.

Media Recs

Fashioning a Fop by Damien Locke- Short fiction. An 18th century tale of a trans man discovering himself through dressing in men’s clothing for the first time. This piece is fucking spectacular, so gorgeously written and with such wonderful 1700s-style prose, very hot, very fun!

What's in the Tea? by Achilles King - Short fiction. 18+ Erotica. Cis M/M and Cis M/Trans M. This is a gorgeous little piece playing with massage and the drugging effects of a particular tea, and I love the power play in this one.

The Music Man (1962, dir. Morton DaCosta) - A musical! I've been in the mood for musicals the past few days, and I enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected - a lot of the music has really stuck with me, I love the brass band stuff and the rapid patter pace of the show, especially because I love a conman. With that said, Marian Paroo is a ridiculous name for a woman - the librarian love interest should be a man. I also watched and enjoyed Sweet Charity (1969, dir. Bob Fosse), and I never realised Big Spender was from this show! So that was fun.

I had a gay movie marathon with my boyfriend, Lewis, so first we watched A League Of Their Own (1992, dir. Penny Marshall) and Thelma and Louise (1991, dir. Ridley Scott). These are both great films, obviously - A League of Their Own is a semi-biographical story about the first female baseball league in the USA during the war, and the second is a crime drama with two besties/lovers stuck in an escalating spiral after one of them shoots an attempted rapist. Lewis was surprised that Thelma and Louise is actually gay, so just FYI, it really is actually gay! It's not a happy ending and it's not uncomplicated, but Thelma and Louise are such great characters, and I love them a lot.

We also watched a favourite of mine, which is Gods and Monsters (1998, dir. Bill Condon), starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser. If you love sexy manipulative old gay men fucking with the heads of younger mostly straight men who don't know how to deal with being the object of a man's desire, who are terrified of queerness on so many levels, but are also drawn to the novel and new? Yeah, baby. This is the flick for you.

Goetia (2016) - This is a point-and-click videogame that I played on PS4, although I also have it on PC, and I just finished it today. If you're interested in demonology and you love a 20th century haunted house, this is a short game with some great character writing and a really engaging mystery - a lot of it is pretty fucking creepy, and while the ending didn't entirely land for me, I enjoyed the game enough that I do want to recommend it. This is fucking difficult as a puzzle game, though, so definitely keep a notepad and pen handy.

We also caught the Super Mario Bros. (2023, dir. Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath) movie, and it was grand - it was honestly very well-paced, funny, and they did a lot of creative stuff with the source material, plus I'm obviously disgustingly horny for Bowser at all times, so it was good food for my libido.

With that said, it was a bit too aggressive with the heterosexuality, and the racial politics of the whole thing are... Fucking bad. Like, there's a lot to unpack there that I'd need a whole essay to pick apart, and as a white dude I really don't know that it's my place - there's always been some racism in the franchise, like the British studio's addition of a lot of anti-Black coding in making Donkey Kong 64, but just the whole vibe of the Mushroom Kingdom's worship of Princess Peach is like... Weird.

And lastly, I watched and loved The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy), and I have an extensive review below.

New Works Published

June's Top Short Story: Agony and Ecstasy

June's most popular short story of mine was Agony and Ecstasy!

Erotic short. An abbot takes a stranded sailor on for… personal duties.

6k, M/M, rated E! Age difference, virginity kink, some naivety, some oral and anal, first time enthusiasm.

On Medium / / On Patreon

TweetFic: Notes of Lavender

A secretary bonding and connecting with the only male secretary at work. 1960s. Featuring lavender marriages and LESBIANS.

On Twitter

New Podcast: A Stranger's Visit: The Story, Episode 4

Fantasy short. A priest of Freyr receives a strange visitation.

3.6k, rated T. MB. Originally published May 29th, 2021. A little bit of Norse godliness versus Norse priestliness. Featuring Esben. Adapted from a TweetFic.

RSS Feed / / On Spotify / / On Google Podcasts / / On YouTube

New Podcast: Temple Service: The Story, Episode 5

Romance short. A servant at the temple to Hephaestus lusts after an olive-tender.

Rated M, 2.2k, cis M/M, some ancient Greeks! Originally publiushed June 3rd, 2022. A temple servant and a grove-worker, lots of teasing and banter and flirting.

RSS Feed / / On Spotify / / On Google Podcasts / / On YouTube

Romance Short: Sickbed Trade

One sailor tends to another in his sickbed.

Just a little M/M piece with some love and intimacy. 500w.

On Medium / / On Patreon

Film Review: The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy)’s Spit in the Face of Cops and Colonialism

Exploring The Wicker Man’s themes of authority and control on its 50th anniversary.

On Medium / / On Patreon / / On Tumblr

Erotic Short: Intensive Care

A paediatric nurse takes some time after work with the Head of Psychiatry.

3.4k, cis M/M. Some fucky power play between coworkers, both of them very aware of each other’s character flaws, featuring age difference, size difference, riding, oral, anal, lots of physical intimacy and affection, with a hint of overstim at the end.

CW for mentions of past trauma, implied rape and sexual abuse, and incest. None of these things are explicit or present-day, and they’re discussed in the context of unpacking a trigger and some invasive thoughts.

On Medium / / On Patreon

Essay: The Relief of a Queer Audience as a Fruity Stand-Up Comic

Explaining one's existence takes time.

I’m a stand-up comedian.

Last week, I did some comedy at a queer-run, queer-centred open mic — suddenly, a twelve-minute set fit into six, because I was in a room full of queer people who knew exactly what I was talking about...

On Medium / / On Patreon

Erotic Short: Public Performance

A vampire shows off his toy for a club.

1k, cis M/trans M. A vampire fucks his trans boyfriend in a crowded nightclub as people dance below them.

Featuring some chem sex with the drugging effects of a vampire belt, public sex, fingering and vaginal sex, overstimulation, and implications of a fevered gangbang in the aftermath.

On Medium / / On Patreon

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2023-08-21

If we're being honest, the first show I go to in Europe being a South African band is probably the only way I was going to get the ball rolling.

Listening: Ruff Majik is doing their Europe tour so I dragged a friend along. If I had a nickel for every psychedelic surf rock fantasy themed band from Pretoria I'd have two nickels. The two accompanying acts were Rocky and his Bootlegs, and Olaf Olafsonn and the Big Bad Trip.

Rocky was apparently doing their first show, solid performance although they did make the decision to spend five minutes in the middle of a song doing sonic landscape bullshit on their pedalboards and then come back in with a dubious closer. That's what we go to live shows for though so I can't complain. Literally cannot find hide nor hair of these guys online, which is a shame because I liked some of their stuff.

Olaf Olafsonn and the Big Bad Trip is a metalish themed psychedelic rock band who performed in some really good masks. Do you like really stupid loud guitar and a synth in there for some reason? This is for you. I do not yet speak Czech so I did not catch the names of any of these songs. Here's something I picked at random.

And Ruff Majik, I'm finally going to link their song "She's Still A Goth" which they are so so proud of. It is incredibly self indulgent. It is not by any means their best song.

Reading: Finished up The Will to Battle, moving on to Perhaps The Stars. The Will to Battle went in broad strokes as I expected, it's the build up, but it is of course still weird as hell. I enjoy the closer look at the despair that surrounds the Utopians, and the reveal that Mycroft has been hallucinating a cast of corpses at all times really makes me wonder what was fictitiously cut from the earlier books by 9A.

I'm sure that Palmer has at least a good chunk of the pre-edit version of those histories written out somewhere. I am much less clear in my vision of what Perhaps the Stars might be like.

Watching: I will link this video of a guy building a nightmare capacitor bank and popping a 500A fuse.

Dudes Rock

Making: 3D printing on hold until I get a sealed bag to store the filament I bought, because my house is so extremely humid all the time and I don't want to ruin a kilogram of filament. I'll invest in a dryer at some point but for now just having sealed dry storage is a must. I've been sketching a lot of designs out though, direct air coolers for my laptop, mounts for taps, filter holders and other camera stuff, etc.

I also started writing a program to help me generate components for building frames out of rod stock and 3D printed mounts. I found a hobby shop within easy reach that stocks steel, aluminium, carbon fibre and brass rod and tube stock which is so extremely handy.

Playing: Breath of the Wild- Yuzu handles emulation admirably. I suspect that being less good at the controls is helping me enjoy the cooking system more. If I was good at this I could probably Dark Souls a lot of these fights, the parry mechanic is pretty robust. Instead, I floundered at the face of the Moderate Test of Strength and, instead of Dark Soulsing it, I went away and decided it'd be more fun to hone my skills elsewhere and come back with better gear, more control, and some extra hearts.

I set up gpu-screen-recorder to do replays which has so far yielded these two.

Tools and Equipment: Ikea Bags are pretty handy. They're the biggest bags that fold flat that you can probably easily get. I use one now to handle shuttling laundry from my washing machine to the line, which is way more convenient than the old collapsible bucket I used to use, while also being smaller.

I also used an Ikea bag to haul my 3D printer home from the post office when the courier couldn't find my address for some reason. It's less than a kilometer but it would have been miserable to heft 10kg of box with no handles.

[gimblegamble]

Gonna do another write up about a project I planned that never really went anywhere.

Welcome, friends, to the BTM band AU post

What is it?

Band AUs are definitely considered classics when it comes to fandom alternate universes and this one's... definitely a band AU i guess.

BTM is a band consisting of Grian (or Griande) on vocals, Impulse on drums, Pearlo on the keyboard, and Scar on guitar. There are a couple more stragglers sometimes but we'll get to that. As for their style it... varies?

Well, it depends. if its 'Grian' on the mic, they can range from the usual pop-punk or emo, maybe even rock if the mood calls for it-- but if its 'Griande' they usually go for ska or funk. This is when they get a couple more peeps to fill in the sound.

They get a brass section! Tango and Zedaph from Impulse's old college marching band "The Moonlighters" and they round it out with Gem, one of Pearl's old housemates when they tried living in one of those content houses with the Empires collective (they still collab tho). They play the trombone, the trumpet, and the saxophone (small stature, big lungs).

The band meets Mumbo after a gig. They were winding down in their favourite bar/cafe "The Hermit" when Scar very loudly and unabashedly asked who the "eye candy" was to the owner, Xisuma. Turns out, dude was just fired from his job and Xisuma took him in as a part-time bartender/barista, he wasn't the best at it but at least he stopped breaking Xisuma's fancy martini glasses a couple days in.

They asked if he was looking for a full-time job and he said yes. He asked if he knew anything about management and he said 'eeeeeeeeh' which they took as a kind of yes and hired him on the spot. With BTM's popularity growing, they needed a proper manager and not just rely on Grian (whose biggest problem would be his impulsiveness) and Impulse (who'd probably work himself to death if the mood was right).

So whats the plot?

It was supposed to be an ask blog first and foremost. Half of the information up there (and more) was supposed to be slowly drawn out by ask box questions. The format was supposed to look like members of the band being interviewed by the person asking, kind of like the latter half on that one mumriande gif I made (which is one of the stuff I made with this AU in mind lol)

There was supposed to be a mystery to uncover, then solve. There was supposed to be some drama and angst. Some moving pictures and animation memes, animatics even. I even have a playlist sorted!

So what happened?

Nothing really. It was nice thinking about making it but at the end of the day I am but a tired, easily distracted human being. I just made this post because there's a lot of nice details in this that I wanted to share, like the Hermitland post ages ago.

And not like I'm not gonna make things in the AU anymore but the ask blog's probably never going to see the light of day.

Some Fun Stuff

The fans never know what genre of songs they're going to walk in on, at least until they see if it's Grian or Griande holding the mic, but even then they sometimes do a double whammy and have Grian sing funk songs and Griande pop it up.

They're rivals with this experimental metal/electronic/acoustic fusion duo called Octagon. They play it up a lot on stage, but this one time someone from BTM really misunderstood something that made a good angsty bit.

There's this couple who met at a concert. One of em was really hoping for a night of funk while the other wanted some throwback alt rock. They talked before BTM's set started and really hit it off! They didn't even mind whoever came out to sing that night.

There was a group of fans who made a banner that said "We love you _____" and just had velcro patches with 'Grian' and 'Griande' embroidered on them.

There was supposed to be another, more secret ask blog for other more secret (👀) asks.

Conclusion

So yeah, band AU, that is all.

Thank you for reading!

[sugarfluffandallthatgoodstuff]

HMBAU Chapter 1: Spring Band Camp

this is part of my haikyuu marching band AU (acronym HMBAU) and the rest of it is on AO3, but I’m just gonna publish it here too. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Spring Band Camp

“1ST, 2ND AND 3RD YEARS WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER GREAT BAND CAMP!!” our head Drum Major Daichi said to us through the megaphone  and I guess decided to speak to us normally (finally)

“For you 1st years who may not know, my name is Daichi Sawamura. I'm a 3rd year and  our band’s head drum major. Standing beside me are my fellow drum majors 3rd years Shinsuke Kita and Kiyoko Shimizu as well as 2nd year Keiji Akaashi. Now may all section leaders and captains step forward so you can introduce yourselves”

Wow. Why didn’t someone have Daichi do the talking last year?!? I remember being bored as piss when our head drum major last year took forever with his speech and made it all sappy and shit.

And oddly Kyotani was the first to step up (probably just wanted to get it over with tbh)

“Kentaro Kyotani snare section leader” “Kozume Kenma Bari Sax section leader” and kenma didn’t even look up from his psp while doing this. 

“Tetsuro Kuroo, tuba section leader”, “Kotaro Bokuto, assistant tuba section leader”, “Wakatoshi Ushijima, trumpet section leader”, “Satori Tendou tenor sax section leader ;)”, “Osamu Miya, flute section leader”

Right after Osamu introduced himself stupid Atsumu had to lose any shred of chill he had and just scream:

“ATSUMU FUCKING MIYA BEST ASSISTANT TRUMPET SECTION LEADER AND MIYA TWIN”

Only for Iwaizumi to step in and hit the bastard in the back of the head

“Iwaizumi Hajime, brass captain”

Honestly after iwaizumi introduced himself I kinda may have gotten distracted by his sleeveless arms and how awesome his handling of the idiot blond was and missed like more than half of the section leader intros untill:

“Tooru Oikawa, woodwind captain. Feel free to ask me for help anytime”

And he was looking straight at me 

Apparently Oikawa was the last one to introduce himself because Daichi immediately started talking again

“Alrighty I know that kind of took a while because there are a lot of us leaders, but I want everyone to have a good first rehearsal!”

And then I heard Suga yell “Alrighty flutes make a circle! We’re going to introduce ourselves to each other! Akaashi, would you like to join us?”

“Sure” 

“Great! This is how we’re going to do it: first and last name, what year you are, what’s your birthday, your favorite food, your favorite color, a hobby or yours, and a fun fact about yourself! After we go we’ll point to someone or say their name. I’ll start. Koshi Sugawara, I’m a 3rd year, December 31st, super spicy maro tofu, black and orange, volleyball, and I am aspiring to be an elementary teacher! I pick Osamu next!”

“Osamu Miya, 2nd year, October 16th, black and white, onigiri, cooking, and I have an idiot twin brother named atsumu. I pick Akaashi next”

Are all the leaders just picking on each other today?!

“Keiji Akaashi, 2nd year,December 5th , nanohana with karashi, blue and gold, drawing/writing, and I’m fluent in 4 languages. I choose Oikawa to go next”

“Hi there! My name is Tooru Oikawa, I’m a 3rd year, my birthday is July 20th, my favorite fodd is milkbread, my favorite colors are white and teal, I love playing volleyball, and a fun fact about myself is I actually am the starting setter for our school’s volleyball team! Hmm…maybe I shoukd pick one of you shy girls how abooouuut…Y/N!”

I froze

“Uh m-maybe n-not m-me I-I’m not that interesting”

I looked over at Osamu to help me out a bit but he betrayed me and said “come on Y/N everyone’s gotta do it, and besides you aren’t gonna get away from it this year. I know you are shy but you need to come out of your shell a bit”

“F-fine you win. I’ll try” and I not liking this shit spoke even softer than before: “My n-name is Y/N L/N, I’m a 2nd year, my-”

And Suga cut in with “I’m sorry for interrupting you Y/N but I’m having a really hard time hearing you, can you please speak up a little?”

“Uh s-sure.” I took in a deep breath and started again

“My name is Y/N L/N, I’m a 2nd year, my birthdays on April 7th,my favorite food is F/F, my favorite colors are aqua, dark heliotrope, and black, so basically all the colors from the aurora borealis, I d-don’t r-really have any hobbies, and I’m not that interesting of a person so I don’t have any fun facts I’m sorry”

All the 2nd and 3rd years were shocked because this was the most they’ve ever heard me say. And Suga basically being the mom of the section decided to say more about me because apparently he wasn’t satisfied with my answers

“What our dear Y/N forgot to mention was that she's captain of the dance team, top of her class, in our school’s top choir, and most impressive of all is she knows 9 languages fluently! And despite being so reclusive she’s very very sweet and loves helping people” he smiled softly at me knowing what he just did

He just focused everyone’s attention onto me 

I looked around frantically for who could take the attention off of me and I caught the eye of Daishou’s ex-girlfriend Mika and blurted out “U-uh M-Mika-san a-are you ok with going next?”

“Sure! I don’t mind! Honestly thought I would never get picked this early so thank you!” she smiled at me and began her schpeal and I couldn’t be more grateful 

What I hadn’t noticed was I had stood up and ran to the bathroom without saying anything

Hopefully Oikawa wasn’t gonna do a surprise jug check today

And then another thought hit me 

The flute leaders and a drum major now knew my birthday

Oh fuck

LE TIMEYSKIIIIIP

Fuck it was cold out here and it was already 10 in the morning

But hey we’ll all get hot quickly despite it being 56° outside 

“Alrighty everyone one lap around the field!”

And with that we were off for the first lap of spring band camp

[inkofamethyst]

March 5, 2024

This was the week I entered the Slog, officially, I think. I'm tired, science is against me, I have so much due, I don't want to do any of it. And the longer I procrastinate, the later I stay up, the more miserable I am in the morning. Repeat ad infinitum or whatever.

I think I might go through The Crane Wives’ discography again when I learn bass lol (I promise I’m going to let this mini-fixation fade eventually (for now), it’s just that I’m antsy).  There’s a range of simple to intermediate bass lines that I can appreciate by ear even now.  From what I can hear, I think Upstate might use an upright bass to fit with their more acoustic sound (not that I’d be against playing grooving along, it’s just that it wouldn’t sound quite the same). (I'm gonna stay strong lol; it is literally not even possible with the current budget to push up the timeline.)

Also sticking to a four-year cycle may not actually be feasible because that'd put my next instrument at the end of my sixth year which is when I'm meant to graduate... An optimal time for a gifted new instrument, yes. Not optimal for learning one especially if I'm moving after graduation. Maybe I'll go three years before the next instead of four? Or dedicate more time to just improving on the ones I already know (/taking lessons)? Even still, I have no idea what I'd go for next, anyway. Sense would indicate a brass instrument, but ughhh I'm just so not a brass girl. Maybe bari or euph? but certainly not trumpet or tuba and lord knows I haven't the temperament to learn the french horn. If I was going for a one-woman band situation, drums would make sense, but I don't think I have a drummer's.. dexterity (also all my life I've been told to not touch percussion so I think I'm gonna keep it that way).

Anyway I'm going to have to figure out if/when I can bring my other instruments up here. Def after I move out of this apartment.

Finally finished Kim Possible, excellent show, 10/10, no notes. Watched Batman: Mask of the Phantasm because I wanted a bit more time to veg out today, and it was in the style of s1/2 btam which was a fun throwback (esp with the music style). Also finished The Fifth Wave trilogy. The subsequent books weren't as good as the first, pacing-wise, I don't think, but the ending was appropriate and the character arcs were circular which I love. Cassie started out as my fav but I adore Ben's arc. Marika's and Evan's were not as compelling for me what whatevs.

God I really don't want to do my hw. Time to pack my lunch then, ig.

Today I'm thankful for occasional conversations with the second-year in my lab. What a lovely person to talk to and share ideas with.

[that-irrelevant-ricecakeaddict]

French (📯/💋)?

seungmin x fem!reader (past/current French horn player)

!!!NOT ENTIRELY PROOFREAD!!!!

Writer's note:

so I myself am a French horn player (band kid of 5 coming 6 years), and just today I learnt a VERYYY interesting fact about fh players (and I think basically all brass players/band members);

apparently we're known to be good kissers 👀

then I remembered jeongin's cover in The Sound's album cover where he was holding a french horn (wrongly, may I add😭), and I started thinking; what if seungmin had a partner that was or is a fh player, and he found out about the kissing thing? (I spent the rest of the day daydreaming about this oddly specific concept)

!!no particular reason for choosing seungmin!! I just thought he might tease this kind of thing :'))

ADDITIONALLY! This is like my first ever fanfic so please bear with my crappy writing ;')

content upcming below the cut: established rs w idolseungmin, bestie jeongin for like a minute, fluff, mentions of making out, slight sexual tensions???

You were lounging on the couch of your boyfriend's shared apartment with his friends when you heard the door open. Lazily twisting your neck around to glance at the entrance, your eyes lit up when seungmin's figure approached the shoe cabinet next to the doorway. You padded over in excitement and saw his friend Jeongin had arrived home as well.

"Seung, you're back¬"

You pulled him into a hug and he laughed while leaning over to give you a kiss on the cheek. Jeongin rolled his eyes and muttered something between the lines of "get a room" and "seungmin you're stepping on my shoes". You looked behind the two boys, and saw no other members, so you assumed they had stayed out to do extra work.

The three of you entered the living room together, seungmin and jeongin collapsing on the couch the moment they did. It wasn't odd for them to be so burnt out, especially after they spent an entire day out being idols. You knew how mentally and emotionally taxing the workload could be, so who could blame your boyfriend and your bestie for their fatigue? You slid onto the couch next to the 2 exhausted idols.

"You guys seem especially tired. What was on your schedule today?"

"Album cover photoshoot for our newest album...We had to pose with actual instruments."

Jeongin replied, still showing no signs of getting up from the beige couch anytime soon. Seungmin rolled his eyes at him.

"Yeah, i.n. here got into an argument because of his prop...something about holding it the wrong way."

"Really? What instrument was it?"

"It was a french horn I think? i.n. was really confused by it."

"Y/N, didn't you play it last time? I swear I heard you mention it before."

Your eyebrows raised at jeongin's question. He was right. Having been in your primary and secondary school's band, you had played the french horn for 8 years, and had even played a little every now and then in university. And, not to brag, but you were pretty good at it too.

Seungmin turned to you, a look of surprise on his face.

"Really? You did? Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"

"Its just an instrument! Not really relevant information in my opinion."

Seungmin grumbled and tackled you into the couch, earning a yelp from you.

"It is to me¬ I wanna know everything about you, sweetheart."

You playfully fought back as jeongin slowly started backing away from the two of you, a look of disgust plastered on his usually smiling face.

A few days passed by after that conversation, and you had honestly thought nothing about it, until seungmin entered your shared room one night.

You were reading a novel when he entered the room, fresh out of a shower. His short brown locks were sopping wet, droplets of water dripping and leaving dark stains on his grey sweater; obviously seungmin hadn't made an effort to dry this hair. He plopped into bed next to you, silently screwing up his nose in annoyance when you didn't immediately pull him in for cuddles. You looked away from your book to see him sulking next to you, and smiled.

"What?"

"You're ignoring me."

"Well, fun fact; your girlfriend doesn't exactly enjoy cuddling with soaking-wet puppies."

Hearing this, he playfully punched your shoulder, continuing to scooch closer to you. There was a mischievous look on his face, and you discreetly pulled over a pillow with your free hand, your past experience with that expression anticipating you for a surprise pillow fight.

"Well...let me tell YOU a fun fact too."

He sat up and slid his arms around your waist, pulling your back into his warm chest. You rolled your eyes and tossed the book to one side, giving in to him. "And what would that be?"

"After our conversation with i.n. a few days ago, I happened to do some research on french horn players, and I found some very interesting facts¬"

"Yeah?? Out with it already, the suspense is killing me."

"Mm, say please?"

"Seungmin!! You need to stop watching chan's streams!"

He chuckled, the low sound vibrating in his chest and against your back.

"So apparently...experienced french horn players, or basically any brass players, are known to be especially good at kissing."

You blinked a few times at him. What the hell? Actually, that would've made a lot of sense. Based on what you've learned from your 8 years of experience, brass instrument players had to have VERY good lip and tongue control. And since french horn is one of the few brass instruments that require a relatively smaller mouthpiece, your mouth control was particularly well-trained. It had to be.

You grinned like a loon and swiftly turned around to pin seungmin to the bed's headboard. He widened his eyes in pleasant surprise.

"Really? Care to help me test that theory?"

Hearing this, seungmin's lips spread into a cheeky smirk. He extended a hand and caressed your jawline.

"Gladly."

WHABSGUDGAG I SWEAR THIS CONCEPT CAME OUT BETTER IN MY HEAD 😭😭😭😭😭

hopefully this story's decent enough for my fellow seungmin stans and/or fh players,,,it would be really awkward if it wasn't (crying rn)

also to any Stay thats a brass instrument player (current or past), is the kissing thing actually true? My aroace ass has like zero exp with that kinda thing T.T

[trenchcoatsbi]

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE I WAS JUST POKING AROUND AND SAW THAT MOD PHIL LISTENS TO BUG HUNTER? man us philza kins all share a musical braincell i guess because holy fuck i don’t think i’ve ever run into anyone else who listens to his stuff! i’m gonna have to politely ask you to hand over more recommendations for music because you’ve got TASTE. -🌾🪶

ARNJS i am staring at you soo hard I know like two other bug hunter fans and theyre fans because I commandeered the music bot and insisted on playing all of his songs during a music vc night... Anyway we are slaying so hard rn. us phils just have the best music taste 😎

OKAY anyway this took forever cause I tried to narrow down my list but ajfanfdk I listen to a lot of stuff. god there's so much music i enjoy that I could go on forever about random songs and stuff so uh yeah... I banished my bs to under a cut for the sake of not making a post that is annoying to scroll past. enjoy whatevr i did -za

Mickey Darling!! RAHGjsA a lot of his songs are like about breakups but they're all very upbeat and fun despite the lyrics. Honestly its so funny to me I literally found him because of a fanfic that used lyrics from say that you miss me (which like god yeah the author got me... it was extremely right for the character they used it for i know cause they're literally me). you were perfect & im so sorry is vry good and also I've had somewhere else stuck in my head since it came out...

Jukebox the Ghost. okay okay they just never miss! i adore like everything they've made but uhmmm I think the cheers album is my favorite still right now like dont get me wrong i love everything they've made but ajldnf how can I not like cheers. Brass Band and I Got A Girl are so good. I will say uh shout out to It's No Secret cause its inspired several pieces of self indulgent ship art I've made.

Streetlight Manifesto... The Hands that Thieve got me out of one of my weirdest music eras. I mean it's ska punk it's not too far from the uh protest songs I was listening too, but ska was more palatable than most of the shit that I was really into for a bit. Anyway listen to If Only For Memories too its good.

LyreLeTemps! god okay so i like electroswing a lot and ashutjak just fuck man Time Train is extremely mecore when it comes to a specific kin. A lot of the music i listen to gets shifted around depending to my shifts lol. Also listen to Nanana it's a close second for my favorite song by them other than Time Train

Groundbreaking, god i've listened to this guy for so long... I think all his music is great but the Anarchy I & II are my little guys I listen to them all the time still. They practically got me through quarantine... Uhm if I had to recommend a specific songs instead of just saying listen to the Anarchy Albums maybe VIP and Beautiful people. Those two were my favorites but jsut to get somthing from anarchy listed too uhm anarchy or media star

The Wrecks god another band I listened to a lot during quarantine... Fvck Somebody and Panic Vertigo are my #1s forever but I really like their new music too. Unrequited and Sonder came out at such a good time for me, unfortunately that means I have like four writings wips that have titles that are just the lyrics of those songs...

Air Traffic Controller is another band that made quarantine bearable for me god why have the last three just been quarantine time killers. Anyway I listen to Creature of the Night a lot because I love being thematic with my music when I pull all nighters. Uhhhh other than that Anybody got a light has quickly become one of my favorites from them too

Atarashii Gakko!! This is the only non english band I'm actively a fan of rn. My friends are like big into like Kpop and I'm more of a cpop or jpop guy but like even then I almost never find a band and get super invested. but raghg the choreography and vocals just everything really scratches my brain. I really like watching their dance practices idk its just so fascinating to me. uhm okay uh Fantastico and NAINAINAI yeah those i recommend them :]

AND because I cant help myself here's some things I wanted to talk about but uh 90% of it would just be me keyboard slamming cause I cannot articulate my enjoyment of them

Circa Waves: Your Ghost & Golden Days

Good Kid: Mimi's Delivery Service

Saint Motel: Sweet Talk & Slow Dance

Rare Americans: Walking N Talkin

Burn the Ballroom: Calm Down & Crazy

Bear Ghost: Haunt the Cartoon Heart & Sirens

Andie Schoen: the prophet (you love me) & loitering

The Happy Fits: In the Lobby & So Alright, Cool, Whatever

Hobo Johnson: Peach Scone & February 15th

[swanconcerto]

I've seen your classical music au for redacted and I really want to participate in the conversation safely behind the anonymous blanket

I used to play in a brass band with no knowledge of music! No one taught us anything. We were a small band and bad at playing (except for the big kids who all left) and my opinions on brass intsruments are based purely on the personalities of my bandmates and my distorted and probably wrong understanding of all of this.

You said you see Damien as a cellist, but as I was designing him I realised that he started looking more and more like my friend who played baritone horn and I couldn't get the idea of him playing in a brass band out of my head.

This might be long and I'm sorry about that, but here are two brass instruments I think Damien would play:

Baritone! This started, like I said, because he looks like my friend. But I think it would actually fit him! Baritone is slightly deep (and I'm gonna talk more about that later) and I can just see him playing very comfortably in that range. The second thing, which I was a bit unsure about is that (in my experience) the baritone horns don't usually play the melody, but help keep the rhythm. I feel like Damien would be really dedicated to music and the band and maybe not be super happy about not getting to sit in the foreground of the piece, but at the same time I can totally see him being completely content playing the foundation and even being proud of it if that makes sense.

Cornet. Purely because they played all the solos which I think he would enjoy. Otherwise, I have more points against this than for it. I think it's too high-pitched and flashy for him, and I've mostly seen it used as a beginner's instrument (a gateway drug, if you will) which if he ever played, I don't think he would stick with. I convinced myself more that he'd play the baritone while writing this to be honest.

I'd love to hear your opinions about this! I might also pester you with the Shaw Pack as a brass band in the future. Thank you for reading this, I'm sorry, and I might draw Damien playing the baritone now.

ANON IMAGINE I AM DELIGHTETEDLY SPINNING YOU AROUND IN A CIRCLE thank you for this wonderful and well-thought out ask. it’s especially brilliant to hear from a brass player because it’s definitely the section i know the least about! also because we don’t really have “brass bands” where i’m from, at least not in my music circles.

i can so see damien as either baritone or cornet!

1.) baritone i so agree with i actually have him down as a baritone in the choir section of the au. like you said something about that range is just SO damien. and 🤝🤝🤝 to damien keeping the rhythm together i know that man counts his rests

2.) i can see cornet as well! at the very least i think he’s prefer the warmer sound to that of a trumpet, and i definitely think damien is someone who prefers to show off in solo/melodic parts rather than work as part of a group (at least until his character development 🤩)

also you may have just guessed correctly about the shaw pack lol i have AT LEAST milo, asher, david (somewhat?) and christian down as brass players. something about the shaw pack just SCREAMS brass!!!

[onett64]

my long awaited what matters most review that i wrote a week before the album actually came out

But wait there's more:

I like this one, I love how the sound of the exhausting lover bridge transcends the entire album. I love the lyric “did we really think we’d go back to normal” . It's like this album is a post covid more deep way to normal. It's a great song that questions our morals and their changes over the past years. I LOOVE the brass. I'm so happy he's using it more in this album.

Clouds with ellipses:

Idk man this one just reminds me of a church hymn but they all sound the same, it's kinda like this album's version of gone from rockin the suburbs. The emphasis on his voice in this one is really nice. He has a very good voice but I'm neutral about this one, I'm sure it'll grow on me cuz right now I think it's kinda silly. Oh wait it kinda reminds me of Gracie but not as good  lol!

Exhausting lover:

Probably my least favorite single but damn it's still so good. I like the keyboard and the big band sound that comes in, the bridge OH MY GOD THE BRIDGE is so fucking good. Anyway the weird lyrics and story is fun but i already had my autism moment  over it. Also the music video is a 10/10 so it has that going for it.

Fragile:

Sounds like me learning scales on the piano at 5 years old. I REALLY like this one its so good lyrically

Kristine from the 7th grade:

So this one has already been played live quite a few times so it's not my first time hearing. But damn this one is good. I fucking love it. The lyrics are so true and relatable fr. the strings. This one sounds like it's out of a musical or something so ben i wouldn't mind if you quit writing pop and made a musical i'll eat that shit up. I just realized this basically sounds like erase me but about ur conspiracy theory facebook aunt. PROBABLY ONE OF MY FAVES just you know what song is my fave. You know what this sounds like? The cover of creep in the book of life. Don't question me idk what im saying either

Back to anonymous (ben folds fucked my wife 4chan thread):

Best song on the album. Maybe tied with winslow gardens. It's basically everything I love from silverman songs and it's better. The harmonica?? Also whatevers at the end sounds so good too. God. best song ever made.

Winslow gardens:

Also the best song on the album. It makes me so happy honestly, it's just a really sweet song with a nice story and I like the time signature because it's the one I can never play. I have a few ben songs that just put me in a good mood and are a blessing to my ears regardless of what they are about (fair, kate, break up at a food court, fired, phone in a pool, hiro's song, bruised, etc) and this is def one of them 

Paddleboard breakup:

Boats are cool ngl. I really like this one! Wonder what gf this is about

What matters most:

I have high expectations for this being a title track. Tbh it sounds like long way to go from so there lol. It's good. I don't KNOW Ben, why don't you tell me what do YOU think matters most??

Moments:

Does every song on this freakin album sound like jesusland in a way or am i crazy??/ anyway the violin viola whatever at the end is pretty, Ben whens the drum n bass song coming out

Happy clapper (bonus track:

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs hollie said this was straight out of 2009 AND I LIKE THAT! Meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow I LOVE THIS ONEEEE WHY IS THIS A BONUS TRACK IT'S EXACTLY WHAT I NEED AND LOVE ABOUT BEN :-D THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVE SONG AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Kinda reminds me of michael praytor (or maybe the word bumming is just forever tied to “bumming out on the the ninety FIVE”)

Why did you tell me everything:

Eh. it'll grow on me

A million years or so :

Basically this albums the luckiest. It's cute :-)

THOUGHTS AFTER 1st LISTEN:

This is definitely one of the ben albums that grows on you and then you can fully appreciate it, like silverman or reinhold. I think it's good! There are some great songs and I love the inclusion of more brass and string instruments, a nice change from his usual piano bass and drums. 

He said this was an album that he couldn't have made at any other time in his career and i agree, it's a nice mix of elements from silverman, so there, and a newish sound that i can't really describe. I feel bad because I'm like 3 months deep in the hardcore ben folds obsession (thanks neurodivergent brain) and i'm not like, losing my shit over every song on the album unlike his other albums like bf5 self titled, whatever and ever amen, and rockin the suburbs. But i know i'll grow to appreciate it and this is a pretty good closure to ben's career as a pop song writer, who knows maybe he will write the next hamilton and take the world by storm after this.