#My dear friends new mans has the same real name as piano man

[catgirlwarrior]

KSTSSJSGXGDUXGNVUSVHXIB

[hermette-historian]

The Scientist Behind the Historian

It is another lovely evening, dear friends, and why is this one so wonderful?

Well, simply because this evening four hundred of you have decided to join me on this little journey through the dust-laden history of everyone's favorite SMP. Our hermits of old might be a bit shocked at how many young people just popped into existence in the middle of their spawn jail.

I think perhaps it is time that I reintroduce myself to you, explain a bit about why I've decided to undertake this project, and talk about how I intend to keep it moving forward.

And then in return you all can tell me why it is four hundred of you found my work so interesting, gee whiz.

First,

Who is the Hermette Historian?

A pleasure to meet you all! My name is Wynett Lapour, and contrary to popular belief that is not, ah, by any means my real name or anything close to it. I've received some concerned messages about that, and rest assured it's completely fake (just catchy).

I am a second-year University student studying Physics and Chemistry, with minors in Music and Asian Studies. As you can imagine, that is....a lot of work. I may or may not be putting off quantum physics homework dangerously close to the deadline in order to write this post. Such is my life. COVID-19 sent me home to my parents' house for the past two and a half semesters, though I've had my vaccine and have set up my housing for the fall semester to go back to campus...here's hoping with all my might.

When I'm not writing schoolwork, doing Hermitcraft-related things, or working weekends as a grocery delivery driver for some pocket money, I'm off riding my horse, loving on the dog, or pissing off the aforementioned dog with the sound of a violin or piano or guitar or just my very annoying singing.

This is the dog (big dog):

And this is the really big dog horse (feat. me, hi me!):

The not-so-big dog likes to lay across my lap when I'm watching Hermitcraft, and has developed a particular affinity for Keralis' voice.

So How Does Hermitcraft Fit In?

Believe me, I ask the same question every single day. I've been watching Hermitcraft since my senior year of high school, got obsessed with it because of COVID-induced boredom and lack of social interaction (life sucks when all of the friends you just made at University are now out of state) Oh yes, I should probably mention that I'm American by the way as that seems to be a popular point of confusion for god-only-knows what reason. Why do you all seem to think I'm British? I started this journey out of curiosity four months ago and continued it out of sheer stubbornness, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. The pattern of taking on all of the things because what is time? Time is fake and I am above that nonsense should be pretty apparent by now, but why deal with that on an introspective level when funny block man and funnier block woman go brrr?

That should pretty much sum up what's going on here. My daily routine consists of Is a Hermit or hermit-adjacent person streaming? If yes, keep stream in background and do school work. Phone off, no food, remain focused until stream ends. When stream ends, walk the dog, eat a thing, get some water, and find another stream. Repeat until no streams, then in this liminal period watch as many historical episodes as you can possibly squeeze in. Watch time may vary, and make posts as inspired.

Of course, this is relatively flexible depending on all of the above factors plus I do have friends that I call and speak to regularly I promise. It's only possible because of COVID restrictions, however, so once my life resumes as normal things are gonna be a little (lottle) bit upended. But we'll figure that out when we get there!

I do plan to get as far through the history of Hermitcraft as I possibly can, and not to end when I finish S1. However at the end of season 1, I'm planning to put out a fair few special things and documents that I've been keeping track of since the beginning! This includes the extremely long, detailed, roundabout server tour that I've been hinting at coming to a YouTube channel near you, Hermit Superlatives! As what will likely be my next long form post, and a document for your viewing and writing pleasure of all of every single on-screen death that I had the pleasure of encountering.

We've got a long way to go, dear friends, so I hope you brought your walking shoes! or movement equipment of the like. I welcome all of your feedback (remember, I'm still very new to this platform!) and I wish each one of you the most pleasant of Saturday evenings.

To many more!

-Wynnie

[onegayastronaut]

A New Beginning (Rosalie Cullen x Reader)

Requested by anon: Would you be okay with writing an imagine for Twilight/Harry Potter, where the reader's a Muggleborn Witch who moves to Forks to try and escape Death Eaters during the war and is found to be Rosalie's mate?

Word count: 2701

After the initial fight with Voldemort, the group that you were with decided that it would be best to spread out and go into hiding. There were heavy casualties on both sides, but the fact remained that there were far more Death Eaters than you could handle. It would be wise to live to fight another day than to die right then and there. All of you got the same magical brand on your arm so you could signal each other if you wanted to gather together as a group. However, now all of you had to Dissaparate as quickly as possible before the Death Eaters found your group.

After leaving, you decided that moving to the United States would be the wisest way to go. Europe was crawling with Death Eaters, with the number joining their ranks growing by the day. You reasoned that it would be smarter to live and fight another day than to die without leaving anyone else to continue the fight. After promising to keep in touch with what few members of the Order were left, you apparated to the state of Washington with a suitcase of money. Even though it would have been smarter to go to a large city where you could easily get lost in the crowd, the fact of the matter was that there was a bigger chance that Voldemort’s poison might have found its way to the larger cities in the US. At least here in the small city of Forks, you were sure there weren’t any Death Eaters who would bother to stop here. Sure, being the latest stranger in town meant that you’d get your fair share of stares from the locals, but getting stared at was better than having anyone trying to kill you.

As soon as you landed in Forks, you noticed that the weather was almost as gloomy as winter weather in England. You rummaged in your pocket and managed to find a few American bills in your pocket. You also found a few pounds and Galleons which you could not use now you were in the United States and headed towards the closest restaurant you could find.

To say that Americans liked to stare was an understatement. It seemed as if everyone at Forks came here during the breakfast rush, and you could feel all eyes glued to you as you stepped in. Everything about you seemed to be different – from your overcoat to your polished leather shoes. You cleared your throat awkwardly as you sat down in the seat closest to the door. After a moment of awkward silence, everyone shifted back to their regular conversations.

“How can I help you, dear?” A nice looking lady came over with a coffee pot in her hand.

“I wanted to know if you had any lodging here for newcomers. I’d also like some coffee.”

“Of course, dear. We have a motel for people who are new here, and I’m sure there are residents here who are willing to share or rent their houses to new people like yourself.”

“That would be great. Could you point me in the direction of the motel?” The lady pointed down the street, and you could manage to see the faint sign of what seemed to be the only motel in town. The waitress had already given you your coffee, and you stood up to go.

America was almost like England, but everything seemed more…plain for some reason. You sighed and continued walking. England will always be home, but you couldn’t think of that now. All that could be done was to regroup and hope that one day you would be able to go back home. As you focused your attention back on the street, you noticed two people standing in front of you, though it seemed strange to call them people. It was a man and woman, with the woman having a girlish quality to her while the man looked like he was sizing you up as you walked toward them. There was something different about the way they looked: there was the beautiful, graceful way they stood there with their golden eyes watching you. Even though it was very cold outside, they seemed to be dressed in very light clothing.

“Hey guys, I’m looking for the motel here.”

“Look, Jasper, this is the lady that I saw in my vision. Even her voice is how I imagined it.” The shorter woman looked excited to see you.

“We can’t trust her. She’s new here to Forks. If we interact with her now, it might expose us to the surrounding neighborhood, and we can’t have that. We’ve always been very careful about who we let in, there’s no reason to change that now. We must talk to Carlisle about her before we bring her along with us.”

“Look, I have no idea who or what you’re talking about. I’m just here for the motel, not to bother anyone.” You reached under your coat and gripped your wand. Has Voldemort already reached the United States? It seemed improbable that his reach could have reached across the pond so quickly, but you couldn’t be too careful.

“You can take your hand out from your pocket you know.” The short lady skipped over to you and put her arm over your shoulders. “My name is Alice, and this is my mate, Jasper. We live here in Forks, and we are –”

“Alice, no.” Jasper’s jaw clenched, and he seemed upset at whatever Alice was about to say.

“You are what?” At this point, you couldn’t tell if they were both crazy or if there was something else going on in this little town you picked.

“We’re vampires. I had a vision of you joining us in the very near future, which is why I was waiting for you here. I just dragged Jasper along with me today because I got bored standing here all by myself.” Alice talked very fast, and after she was done it seemed as if she had lifted a weight off from her back.

After a period of silence, you let out a bark of laughter and started heading off towards the motel. “You really expect me to believe all of that? There’s no such thing as vampires. You’re out of your mind, lady.”

“One can also argue that there’s no such thing as wizards or witches either.” Alice’s statement stopped you in your tracks, and you spun around.

“What do you know about that?”

“Not much until I had my vision about you. It all made sense afterward, since I suspect you kept your presence a secret for many of the same reasons as we allowed humans to think that vampires and werewolves are just myths.”

“Do you mean to tell me that there are werewolves here too?”

“There’s a pack of them just on the outskirts of town.” Jasper finally spoke, and he moved to stand next to Alice. “We have an understanding with them. They don’t come into our territory, and we stay out of theirs.”

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

“Try a spell on me.” Alice moved to the center of the sidewalk and looked at you. “Don’t worry, no one is coming by for the next three and a half minutes.”

You looked around to confirm that the street was empty and took out your wand. After a second of hesitation, you raised and prepared to stun her. “Stupefy!” You saw the spell hit Alice, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on her. This was like nothing you had experienced before, and you tried again. The spell hit Alice square in the chest but she didn’t even flinch.

“Okay, my turn.” You didn’t even see Alice move but in less than a second, she had snatched your wand from your hand and returned to her original place. “What was the spell again? Stupefy?” The wand let out the spell and knocked out a power line. Alice hurriedly returned the wand to you, and you returned the wand back into your pocket. “So, do you believe us now?”

“I do, but that doesn’t give me a reason to trust you.”

“You’re running from something. You’re scared and don’t know who to trust.” Jasper tilted his head and looked away from you. “I believe Alice and I know exactly how that feels. Our family knows what it means to live under the radar and not be noticed.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Let’s just say that knowing how people feel is my specialty.”

“How about you come with us and see how things go? If you don’t like it with us, you’re free to leave.

The house that the Cullens lived in was surprisingly modern considering the fact that Forks was not a modern town. Literally having all the time in the world meant that there were no limitations when it came to earning money.

When you walked through the door, the first person to welcome you was a motherly looking woman. “(Y/N), we are so happy to meet you. I’m Esme.”

“Not to be rude, but how do you know my name?”

“Alice has told us that there would be someone new joining us soon. She didn’t tell us much of anything else about you.”

A man with golden hair came up behind Esme. “My name is Carlisle, and this is my family. Welcome to our home.” He gestured at four other members of his family. “I see you’ve already met Alice and Jasper.”

“Yes, I did. It’s so strange to know that vampires are real.”

“I would argue that all myths have a basis in reality. As a witch, I suspect that you would have your own perspective on how human society, in general, portrays the magical world.”

As Carlisle was talking, the other vampires had come down the stairs and came to introduce themselves. There was Edward, Bella, Emmett and Rosalie in addition to Alice and Jasper. You noticed that Rosalie was hanging back from everyone else and refused to look at you. She seemed to give off a cold air towards you, but you didn’t know why. Shrugging it off, you reasoned that maybe that was just the way she was. You were here to lay low and regroup, not to make friends.

--

As weeks turned into months, you felt like you finally got the hang of living in Forks. Emmett was by far the most fun person to hang out with in your opinion, and Edward was working on teaching you how to play the piano. Being the only person to eat food could be awkward at times, but Carlisle reassured you that you gave them a reason to use the kitchen and act like a normal family by going out to get groceries. The threat of Voldemort still hung over your head, but being with the Cullen family made you feel almost normal. You’ve talked to Carlisle about the real reason why you ended up in Forks, and he agreed to bring this issue to the attention of the Denali coven and figure out a solution. The only person that you didn’t have that much contact with was Rosalie. You still didn’t understand what her deal was since you had done nothing to offend her.

One of the best things that came out of meeting the Cullens was that you could now say you played the piano. Edward was very satisfied with your progress and told you that you were ready for harder pieces. “Edward, why does Rosalie hate me so much?”

“She doesn’t hate you, (Y/N).”

“Then why is she the only one in your family that avoids me?”

“Go talk to her. I know that you want answers, but I believe that it would be best for her to tell you herself.”

“Can’t you read people’s minds? Just tell me why she doesn’t like me.”

“It’s not for me to say. Just tell her, she’s nicer than you think.”

--

Even though everyone lived in the same house, it was still hard to get ahold of someone who seemed to be actively avoiding you. The house was bigger than it looked from the street, and it seemed as if Rosalie was hiding out in the very back in an effort to avoid talking to you.

“Hey Rosalie.”

“Hi.”

“I wanted to talk to you about what’s been going on between us.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Yes, there is. I just don’t know why you’ve been so cold towards me but get jealous when I say I went out on a date with someone. For whatever reason, you’ve decided to dislike me from the moment I got here, and I don’t even know why!”

Rosalie finally turned around to look at you, and she actually seemed embarrassed for some reason. “I’ve been avoiding you because you’re my mate, and I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you! I know that humans wouldn’t truly understand what it means to be a vampire’s mate. That’s why I’ve been distant from you.”

“Is that your way of saying you like me?”

“It’s more than that. I don’t know how much you know about mating when it comes to vampires, but I would do anything for you.”

“Is it like the werewolf imprinting thing? Jacob was explaining that to me the other day.”

“Don’t compare us to that species of dog. Vampires are more refined than that. But yes, it’s similar in the sense that we know who we’re meant to be with as soon as we see them. It’s a bond that lasts forever.”

“Oh.” You didn’t know what else to say, but that one word you managed to get out sounded so lame that you immediately felt the heat of embarrassment rise to your face.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, and it’s fine if you need some time to think about it.”

“I don’t think I’ll mind if we started to date, you know. It definitely helps that you’re really good looking.”

“Oh wow, is that all you’ve gotten for me in the last few months?”

“No, no! I didn’t mean that. You’re a really interesting person, you know.”

“Hmm, I’m sure.” Rosalie came close to you faster than you could react and kissed you on the cheek. “If that’s the case, I’m taking you out on a date tomorrow night. Dress up because we’re going somewhere nice.” She left you standing in the middle of the room with your mouth hanging open.

Before you could gather your senses, you heard a slow clapping come from behind you. Emmett came into view with a devilish smirk. “It looks like the newest member of the Cullen family is finally about to get some action.”

“Oh, stop it, Emmett.” Alice skipped in glaring at Emmett. “We’re going to be busy getting you ready for your first date tomorrow.”

“Wait, did you see this happening before?”

“Yes, I did. Why do you think Jasper and I were waiting for you months ago? I knew you were going to be joining our family right before you came here.”

“Well, before we get to that, there’s the issue of why I came here. Voldemort is still a threat, and I’m concerned he’s going to bring his influence here to the United States.”

“Don’t worry about that, (Y/N).” Alice’s voice was muffled by the stack of clothes she already had in her arms. “Carlisle is already at the Denali’s talking about your issue, and besides, you already know many of your spells have little to no effect on us vampires. Of course, we don’t know how the forbidden curses might affect us, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I have no doubt that the Denali coven will agree to help us fight against this Voldemort. Now try on these clothes, I need to see if you look good in them.”

You sighed in resignation as you moved to take the clothes from Alice. It seems even the talk of Voldemort couldn’t distract Alice from having her way when it came to new clothes.

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY vs TIME

June 22, 1973

The publicity photos, from the movie set of Mame were unrecognizable. Unrecognizable! Why, they were unbelievable. Either somebody had shot them through six layers of soft-focus gauze - or a time machine. 

Who was this frisky redhead hoofer kicking up her heels on the distant reaches of some resplendent soundstage, cannily avoiding a camera close-up?

Who was this svelte eyed lady fluttering from beneath a fringed rug of false lashes, not a wrinkle, sag or bag, not to mention even an expression line, sporting her famous face?

Well, clearly the lady was a star. And as star of Warner Brothers' new $8 million musical version of Mame, Lucille Ball had veto rights over all still photographs.

The trouble was that obviously nobody had had the nerve to tell her that if she could order reality rubbed out of a picture with a wave of the retoucher's brush, she couldn't pull the gauze over the eyes of an interviewer ushered into the Mame set to confront the living flesh, unretouched. 

Time has not been unkind to Lucille Ball. No, beneath a billowing wine velvet and cream satin lounge suit, the svelte one-time chorus-girl's curves are still obvious. Despite a badly broken right leg from a skiing accident that had left the shooting of Mame stalled and the star in a cast for nearly a year, the shapely former showgirl's gams had now already carried her through a dozen dance routines up on top of pianos and down banisters that would have taxed a tap-dancer half her age. 

At 61, Lucille Ball could pass for a dozen years younger. But only a dozen years. 

The outrageous, outsize eyelashes now stick like pine spikes out of a swamp of tucks, puckers and bags etched around her shrewd big baby-blues. Her plastic face is a relief map of over-made-up wrinkles, the big bright red Cupid's-bow mouth lipsticked in a smile outside her own spidery upline. 

But you don't survive 22 years on TV in the top ratings, get renewed once again this season when all about Bridgets and Bernies and Dean Martins (1) are falling to the network's chop, practically bear a baby and outlast a broken real-life marriage on the TV tube, take over a foundering corporation and build it into the single most powerful independent TV production house, without it showing in your face. 

One look at Lucille Ball's face and you don't doubt it for a minute when Hal, her make-up man for 32 years, says she used to limp on to the Mame set in excruciating pain. Then, the minute the cameras clicked on, burst into a dazzling and seemingly effortless song-and-dance. 

Not that the lady would admit it for a minute. "It was excruciating pain," she dismisses the subject airily. 

But then these days she's not admitting much. It was a lesson learned the hard way. One recent fateful February day, over perhaps one too many Pouilly-Fuisses on the rocks, she was admitting so much so freely to the New York Times that the story read like a Hedda Hopper monologue. 

On Desi Arnaz Sr., the Cuban bongo (2) player-bandleader she met and married out of a chorus line in 1940 and divorced 22 years later after a marriage that was even stormier off -screen than on: "He drank too much and he couldn't stand success."

On Desi Arnaz Jr., their 20-year-old son and his much-publicized romance with actress Patty Duke: "I had my doubts if the baby was Desi's at all. I said to him, "You feel responsible? Boy, you're all of 16 1/2 years old and you want to spend the rest of your life with this neurotic person?'" 

On Liza Minnelli, then Desi's current fiancée: "They took her for over a million and a quarter more than her mother's debt. Just for beginners..." 

One mention of the story now is enough to send sparks flying. "Why, that man should be..." she sputters over the reporter, "...spanked!" 

It's a first burst of spontaneity from a lady who, once burned, is now so careful that she sounds at times as if he's dictating to the Library of Congress. 

"I never thought I'd get this far, do so much, have such beautiful children," she says, chain-smoking in her dressing-room, all the wide-eyed telephone lineman's daughter from upstate New York. She knocks on wood. 

"All I ever wanted was to get to vaudeville and I never made it." 

When she hit New York to take acting classes at 16, the school sent back her mother's money, saying. "No talent." And now, refund in hand, 81-year-old DeeDee Ball, as the whole family calls her, sits in a front-row seat for every “Here's Lucy” show, just as she has done non-stop for the last 22 years. 

Still it wasn't till 1951, when the Amazes dreamed up the “I Love Lucy” show, patterned after their own lives, as a way of keeping their marriage together and bandleader Desi home from the road, that success came. 

But when it came, it was she who stole the show. 

By two years later, 68 per cent of TV viewers in America were tuned in to see her show-by-show birth to Desi Arnaz Jr., whose arrival vied with the U.S. presidential election results for front-page space under the headline, "Lucy's $50 million baby." 

Everybody, it seemed, loved Lucy except perhaps Desi Arnaz. Despite her insistence that "the series was happy there was no fighting. It was the greatest time of my life," she admits, "the trouble came much later. Only the last five years were hard." 

Which means that the greatest time of her life lasted only a scant six years. When their marriage broke up officially in 1962 (3), friends introduced her to a stand-up comic named Gary Morton, now her producer, vice-president of Lucille Ball Productions, Inc., official show warm-up man and for 11 years now, Mr. Lucille Ball. 

As her daughter Lucie, 22, and still a performer on the show, puts it. "She may be the king of stage 12, but at home she's queen Gary's the king!" 

She indulges his passion for golf and a garage full of classic cars, but with the warning: "If he ever looks at another woman, I'll kill him."

She says she never makes a business move without him, but when she was left to head up the giant Desilu Corporation after her marriage break-up, it was she who was known as the woman shrewd enough to snap up “Mannix”, “Mission Impossible” and “Star Trek” when they were apparently doomed pilots, a comedienne who was not so comical in the executive suite. 

But as for her much-vaunted business acumen, she is all denials and femininity. 

"Me? No way. Desi did the whole thing. He was a fantastic businessman. I only took it over to build it up and sell it. I mean, there was a certain amount of building up to do." 

When she took it over from Arnaz in 1961, Desilu had lost over $600,000. When she sold it seven years later, for $17 million in Gulf and Western stock, making her the conglomerate's largest stockholder and, some say, the wealthiest woman in Hollywood, the company had grossed $30-million and made a profit of ever $800,000. 

"But everyone in the know knew I wasn't tough," she says. "No, the men I surrounded myself with were." 

Still there a flinty glint behind the false lashes, a shrewd imperious purse to the painted lips, a ring to the wise-cracking whisky voice that's used to being heard. She moves around the Mame soundstage in queenly command, dispensing Norman Vincent Peal-doms, part star, part super-mother. 

When it comes time for a scene featuring co-star Bea Arthur, she practically takes over directing from Gene Saks, Miss Arthur's husband. "Now did you tell her what side of the camera to be on?" she asks Saks, who looks like he might explode. "Now honey, toe your mark," she fusses over Bea, who grows quiet, explaining later: 

"Lucy's really a dear. But sometimes it can get a little overpowering." 

She doesn't talk to people without picking lint off their clothes, and straightening their collars, a habit that comes naturally enough to a woman who has her whole retinue, hairdresser, secretary, make-up man and driver of the last two decades - even her little picket-fenced French-provincial dressing-room trailer, with its false shutters and plastic ivy - picked up and transplanted wherever she strays from Lucy Lane where she presides at Universal Studios, year after year.

With her kids, she was, as daughter Lucie says, "Strict - and you want to believe it. We were the only kids we knew who had to work around the house for whatever money we'd get." Lucie still gets paid only scale for her mother's show. 

But Desi Jr. wasn't exactly a natural. "He'd be asleep on the sidelines and I'd be ready to smack him," Lucy says, "When he said he was interested in serious acting, I said, 'Oh, really?' But he got out and worked. He surprised me. He surprised everybody. He even surprised himself." 

Still, for all her talk about the joys of getting away to her Colorado ski lodge where she does "the cooking, the washing, the socks, the things I miss - not to mention the leg breaking - there's not much chance that Lucille Ball is going to be sitting the next round out, wallowing in domesticity, In the old rocking chair. 

#   #   #

FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

(1) “Bridget Loves Bernie” was a 1972 sitcom about a mixed marriage between a Jewish man and a Catholic woman. Like Lucy and Desi, stars Meredith Baxter and David Birney were also married in real life.  Despite excellent ratings (it was the highest-rated new show of the 1972-73 season) the show was cancelled after only one season. The official reason for its cancellation was that it was scheduled between two mega-hits, “All in the Family” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, and its ratings weren't strong enough considering its choice position in the line-up.  

Also, that same season, the long-running “The Dean Martin Show” (1965-1974) was cancelled. Lucille Ball had made three appearances on the show, and he also appeared on hers.  

(2) Conga drums, not bongos. It is slightly dismissive to call Desi Arnaz a bongo player. 

(3) The editor makes the error of assuming that Lucy divorced Desi and Married Gary Morton the same year. She divorced Desi in April 1960, and married Gary in November 1961, a year and a half later. 

This article was published in the Leisure section of The Vancouver (BC) Sun on June 22, 1973.  The article was written by Marci McDonald and illustrated by David Annesley. 

[rotten-white-rose]

Well well, I will introduce the protagonist of this blog.

Name: Melody Gheata

Age: Apparently 19 (she really is millennia old although she is younger than Karl Heinz)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Birthday: December 29

Zodiac: Capricorn

Nicknames: Mesubuta (by Yuma), Yuki-onna (by Laito), Watermelon (by Ayato), Lilith-san (by Azusa).

Blood type: -A

Status: Dead / Alive

Race: Demon (Succubus) / Vampiress

Height: 1'80 cm

Weight: 60 kg

Eye color: Garnet

Hair Color: White

Body type: Voluptuous

Occupation: 3rd year High School Student, Queen of Hell

Appearance: Melody's style ranges from casual to gothic. What she uses the most are dark colors, such as black, gray, maroon or dark purple. You will never see her in pastel colors or white, since for her, wearing white is wearing a funeral dress. She almost always wears cleavage. Also as an accessory, she wears a special necklace for her that is only removed from her when she goes to sleep, where she leaves safely.

Personality: She is an arrogant and broken woman. She has great pride and always boasts of her benefits. She is flirtatious, she likes to play with fire but she knows the limits and she never gets to the point of burning. Although she flirts more to make the person nervous than to get something. Despite covering herself with an arrogant, frivolous and immature attitude, she hides a woman who wants to be loved just as she is. She always hides her true intentions and feelings.

Hobbies: Studying constellations, reading and playing the piano.

Favorite food: Sarmale (Romanian food)

Relatives:

Father: Lucifer (deceased)

Mother: Rosemary (deceased)

Twin sister: Kuroko (deceased)

Good traits:

Loyal

Charismatic

Compassionate

Kind

Bad traits:

Arrogant

Proud

Immature

Liar

Powers:

Immortality: She cannot die, not even if she wishes it with all her soul.

Self-regeneration: If she receives a fatal wound, she will regenerate, regardless of how long it takes.

Power and custody over two dragons: She ended up ruling hell and with it, by her unwanted power from her, she received the blessing and loyalty of two dragons who rule life and death.

Change in shape or appearance: She can turn into a wolf or change her appearance to hers at a different age.

Clone invocation: She can summon a clone of herself, but said clone is a shell that will only repeat what she wants it to say. Pretty useful if she doesn't feel like doing something.

Story:

In a cold winter, on a night where the moon was bathed in blood, two twins were born who were to be immortal human beings, pure and immaculate beings, all according to the plan devised by Lucifer. However, the older twin was born still alive, with no heartbeat or temperature. A being that was not human, if not a monster corrupted by the demonic and vampiric blood of her progenitors. The younger twin, on the other hand, was born everything as Lucifer had planned, an immortal human. It can be assumed that the monarch of hell was not at all happy with the outcome of it. A plan that ended in disaster, all because of "that thing".

Despite everything, both girls were given love and affection, at least, by her mother, who loved her little and adored Melody with all her soul. From the moment she saw her huge maroon eyes watching her, she fell in love with her tenderness. She was sorry that her husband hated her eldest daughter so much, but she was calm when she saw that she paid attention to her youngest.

"Since Kuroko receives affection from my husband, I will give all my affection to my precious and sweet Melody." Those were her thoughts. However, the demonic blood that ran through the veins of the little one of hers did not take long to blossom, unleashing and corrupting her with only 3 millennia. With an incessant thirst for blood, she slaughtered the army guarding hell and this gave Lucifer the perfect excuse to imprison her. Melody spent 12 millennia imprisoned and tortured. She couldn't die, because her body ended up regenerating even if she didn't want to. She wanted the light, she wanted freedom and wanted with all her soul, her death. But not even that was allowed.

At 15 millennia, she got enough strength to be able to escape from her prison, ending the life of the one who had locked her up and getting the power of hell. Unfortunately, her mother had lost her sanity, due to her guilt and sadness at not being able to rescue her from such an ordeal. Melody fulfilled her mother's request and ended her life in the smoothest possible way. As for Kuroko, the relationship of both sisters was always complex. They hated, envied and at the same time, admired each other. They had a confrontation and the winner was the oldest, although it was not by her own hand. To this day, Melody regrets both the death of her mother and that of her younger sister, she regrets not having been able to do anything. As for her powers, she had become so strong that she ended up gaining the loyalty of the two dragons that today channel her powers. Said dragons were the guardians of life and death: Vitae, the blue-eyed white dragon that hated humans and Mortem, the red-eyed black dragon that, unlike its companion, loved humans.

She decided to stay in hell so she could take over both the kingdom and to investigate her father's writings. She was able to understand the objective that she had set herself to achieve and the reason for those visits with that man who called himself Karl Heinz. That plan ... without a doubt, "that man" had no qualms about using anyone to carry it out. She also found "plan B" and was surprised to see that she was precisely the main target of that plan. She burned the papers after reading them and decided that she would live as a human. It was what she wanted. Freedom and light. She wanted to feel humanity in her own flesh, to feel the warmth and to be able to live among humans. She wouldn't be Lilith… she wouldn't allow herself to be part of a stupid experiment.

Years passed when she had come to the human world and settled in a Transylvanian town. That town was the home of her mother when she was human. Melody achieved a few years of happiness, where she had fallen in love and committed to a human. Just on her wedding day, when she was 17 millennia, she learned secretly that her future husband was only going to marry her to get her fortune and status. She could see that he was with another woman. It was then that she understood that humans were selfish, cruel, capricious, and lying beings. She was carried away by her anger and sadness, letting her emotions speak for her. That is why her snow-white wedding ended up being covered in crimson.

"If my feelings cause this ... if my feelings cause me so much pain ... I don't need a heart!"

She decided to return to hell, where she got a coffin full of white roses. Those flowers were her late mother's favorites and they were her favorites too. She lay down among the roses and decided to sleep for two millennia ... until someone woke her up, for her to continue her reign and receive a visit. Apparently her father's great friend, Karl Heinz, had decided to talk to her about business.

"So, will you accept the proposal, dear?"

“Yes, after all, my life is already boring. Living again between humans and vampires ... fufu, I wonder if your children can really bear it ... I'll make you see that both the plan of "that man" and yours, are not going to bear fruit. Just as my birth was a mistake, the plan to get Lilith and Eve to find two Adam and start a new race… will end in error. "

"We will see if it really is as you say. Until then, I will be a spectator. I hope you don't disappoint me. "

Curiosities:

She has died in every possible way.

She is right-handed.

She has two bodies. The first is the real one, without self-regeneration and the second is the regenerated. Her real body is a decomposing corpse, but due to the self-regeneration that her body unconsciously exerts, she always has a young and immaculate body.

She loves cold temperatures as they make her feel "alive".

She hates and adores winter.

Her fangs are much longer, sharper, and larger than those of an ordinary vampire.

Although she doesn't admit it, she fears loneliness.

She has a great knowledge of the constellations and loves to see the starry sky.

Her hair is extremely long, as she reaches above her ankles.

She is lazy and loves to sleep.

She may feel pain, but she's so used to it that she doesn't notice it anymore.

She tends to woo cute girls, even though she's just kidding.

 When there is a red moon, her powers are increased, while in an eclipse she feels completely weak.

She always wears a necklace that her mother gave her before she died. It consists of a silver cross with five diamond-shaped garnet gems. Behind the cross, there is an inscription in Romanian that says: “You are my light. You are my life. Please live and be happy. " Melody feels extremely attached to that necklace and if it were to break, she would end up devastated, since it is the only memory she has of her mother.

[girlsbtrs]

Me, Taylor, and The Search for Musical Legitimacy

Written by Lila Danielsen-Wong. Graphic by James Nida Grey.

As a child, whenever I took art classes, they were full of girls. I took group piano lessons with four other girls from my neighborhood. Any theatre I was involved in casted regardless of gender because there were never enough boys to fit a show. My middle school orchestra was about three quarters girls. 

It came as a shock that when I started getting involved in any songwriting I could do, I was suddenly in the minority. The few all-ages open mics I could go to were set up by dad-types and primarily populated by their friends of the same demographic. Teenage rock band-type boys dominated the non-classical learning spaces. 

However, this isn’t about them, this is about me, Lila Danielsen-Wong, a girl you’ve probably never heard of, and a girl you probably have heard of. Her name is Taylor Swift.

In 2010, I was a sixth-grade latchkey kid who spent a whole lot of time watching music videos on YouTube. Taylor Swift had just released her third studio album, Speak Now. Although many girls my age had been enchanted by Fearless, I was a pretentious and precocious preteen who was resistant to popular things, and was much more interested in niche Boston folk singer-songwriters like Antje Duvekot and Lori McKenna. 

However, niche Boston folk singer-songwriters don’t really make lots of YouTube content geared at middle schoolers, so the YouTube recommendations led me from my folk corner, to The Band Perry, to a song called White Horse. 

This snowballed into me listening to every Taylor Swift song on Youtube, to learning to play the piano chords to each of them, to writing complete songs of my own. Although I’d been writing simple piano melodies for years, songwriting now occupied every corner of my brain in nearly every free moment. When I learned Dear John, I decided it didn’t sound as good on piano, so I decided I needed to play it on guitar. I snuck into my mother’s room and learned to play an E chord. Soon, all I did was practice guitar and write songs. I wanted to write like she did, to articulate my feelings as well as she did, so precisely that everyone who listened understood not only me, but themselves better. However, I was not ready to publicly be someone who listened to Taylor Swift. Occasionally a YouTube comment would remove me from Taylor world and remind me “All of her fans are teenage girls.” At eleven I didn’t have the words or the context to understand why that so briskly discredited her. I knew it was an insult, and I knew it was an insult that worked. 

Flash forward two years, I was one of the youngest writers at a summer songwriter lab geared toward teens that one of the local theatres held yearly. Remember the rock boys I was talking about? This is when we became acquainted. We had just come back from writing songs in our randomly assigned groups. I had a hard time contributing, being a not-quite-high-schooler who’d never tried co-writing. One of the older girls was talking to the rock boys and I remember the conversation word for word. One of the rock boys asked her how the session went. She responded “eh, it was all girls,” to which the boy said “mine too, a lot of just-singer girls, you know cause of like, Taylor Swift.” They laughed and went on to complain about the younger songwriter girls who “don’t even know what they were doing.”

The conversation they were having, “Taylor Swift, a frivolous girly artist, is encouraging frivolous girls to come into our serious artist spaces and making them frivolous,” stuck with me through my teen years, and it wasn’t until recently that I started to understand. Taylor Swift found success because she could connect with girls like me, and I found my absolute favorite thing, my life calling, because of Taylor Swift; but Taylor Swift was being discredited because of me, and I was being discredited because of Taylor Swift. 

In older interviews, Taylor talks about how after the first time she went to Nashville to pitch herself to labels, she heard nothing. So she decided she needed to be different, and that’s when she started writing songs. At that moment, I realized that I was going to have to be (crucify me) “not like other girls” if I wanted to be taken seriously or have my ideas heard. The next day I came back to the young songwriters lab with my viola instead of my guitar, and managed to finesse my way into playing on nearly half the songs in the showcase. 

I don’t need a list of MLA cited sources to explain that art geared to girls and young women is dismissed. It is not a hot take to say that art created by young women is often instantly devalued. Taylor Swift wrote music about girls and young women for girls and young women, and she didn’t have much interest in being a sex symbol. Not that there’s anything wrong with female artists who use their sexuality, but Taylor Swift gave the men who gate-keep musical legitimacy nothing they wanted from her. Still, she wrote Speak Now with no co-writers before she was old enough to legally drink. She followed it up with Red, a diverse transition album that showed off her songwriting range. 1989 broke records, started an 80’s pop revival and seamlessly transitioned her into pop. Taylor Swift was everywhere, and yet I heard the same things echo. 

“She isn’t a real artist because she only writes about relationships.” 

“Her audience is just rabid fans who don’t know anything about real music.”

“She’s just a pop star who won’t stand the test of time.”

I spent the tail end of 2015 writing songs that emulated the rhythmic lyrics of 1989, but if anyone asked who my musical influences were, I’d often omit her and stick with niche Boston folk singer-songwriters. Me and my music were not going to get pegged as a naive and shallow fangirl.

It was my freshman year of college. I was at my local state school because I couldn’t really afford to go to any of the music programs I wanted to go to, when I ran into a friend who I knew from the songwriting labs. She invited me to the guitar club that she ran, and of course I went. Although the rock boys weren’t the majority numbers wise, they dominated the room. They asked about my beat up Guild guitar. Impressed with how I inherited it from a rocker guy my dad works with, they encouraged me to play a song. I pulled out my most meticulously crafted coming-of-age ballad, and let them hear my line, “we’re all cynics and romantics, it’s semiotics and semantics,” to which they responded “cute song.” 

With the release of Folklore and Evermore, there’s been a shift. After teaming up with Aaron Desner of the National and Bon Iver, Taylor got a bit of that male approval that she never really needed. Pitchfork commented, with surprise, that Folklore showed “some real signs of maturity.” Each album that an artist releases should probably be more mature than the last. Surprise at lyrical maturity from a 30-year-old songwriter who penned lines like “you come away with a great little story of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you” as a teen, comes across a little underhanded. 

Much of the next generation of musicians have been influenced by Taylor. Conan Grey’s TikTok hit Heather was based on Last Kiss. Rising it-girl Olivia Rodrigo is a hardcore fan. Even Phoebe Bridgers, who has been memed as “Taylor Swift for girls with crumbs in their beds” or “Taylor Swift for people whose parents still love each other” lists Taylor Swift as an influence. Although this new shift is one for Taylor Swift and not a change in the ingrained biases against women and their art, I wonder if it’s going to trickle down to the artists she influenced. 

My favorite line in Evermore, Swift’s latest studio album ft. sad dad rock, comes in the second verse of Coney Island. In this song, Matt Berninger of The National slides in and out, singing lines in less predictable blocks than in other Swift collaborations. Together, Swift and Berninger coo “do you miss the rogue who coaxed you into paradise and left you there/will you forgive my soul when you’re too wise to trust me and too old to care.” It’s funny to hear one of the world’s biggest superstars share a line so monumental to the album. I wonder if it’s because she knows how much louder it will be when a man is holding up the low ends. 

[natromanxoff]

Freddie Mercury and the Wade Deacon/Halewood Connection (by Mike Royden)

...Freddie lived for music, and in August 1969 he seized upon the opportunity he’d been waiting for – to sing in a band. Too impatient to form one of his own, he did the next best thing and found himself a ready-made outfit. His quarry was Ibex, a Merseyside-base trio comprising Mike Bersin (guitar and vocals.) and John ‘Tupp’ Taylor (bass and vocals) and a drummer by the name of Mike ‘Miffer’ Smith.

...“We met the members of Smile at a pub called the Kensington,” recalls ‘Tupp’ Taylor. “We saw them play a couple of times and they were really good. They had a great vocal-harmony thing going. Tim Staffell, their bass player, was a really good singer, and Freddie was a mate of theirs. We’d all sit around and have amazing vocal sessions singing Bee Gees, Beach Boys and Beatles songs. We could do great harmonies because there was three of them in Smile, myself, Mike Bersin, who’d chip in, and Freddie, of course.”

At this point, it was common knowledge among the Smile crowd that Freddie was desperate to get into Brian and Roger’s band. Perhaps joining Ibex might be a way in.

“Freddie hadn’t quite persuaded Smile to take him on as a vocalist,” confirms Mike Bersin. “They thought they were doing OK as they were. So, he said, “You know what you guys need, and that’s a vocalist.’ He was right, too, as John Taylor recalls: “I wasn’t the world’s greatest singer by any stretch of the imagination.” And as Ken Testi reveals “Mike had never been confident about his singing, but had been pushed into it.”

Freddie first met Ibex on 13th August 1969. Such was his enthusiasm, that just ten days later, he’d learned the bands’ set, brought in a few new songs, and had travelled up to Bolton, Lancashire, for a gig with them – his debut public performance. The date was 23rd August, and the occasion was one of Bolton’s regular afternoon ‘Bluesology’ sessions, held at the town’s Octagon theatre. For Ibex and friends, it was the event of the summer. No fewer than 15 bodies, including Freddie, Ken Testi, and the band’s other roadie Geoff Higgins, Paul Humberstone, assorted friends and girlfriends, plus Ibex’s instruments were squeezed into a transit van borrowed from Richard Thompson, a mate of Freddie’s who’d previously drummed in ‘1984’ with Brian May and Tim Staffell.

...The following day, Ibex appeared in the first ‘Bluesology pop-in’, an open-air event on the bandstand in Bolton’s Queen’s Park. On the bill were local band Back, another called Birth, Spyrogyra, Gum Boot Smith, The White Myth, Stuart Butterworth, Phil Renwick and, of course, Ibex. In a report published the day before the Bolton Evening News wrote ‘The last -named act make a journey from London especially for the concert. The climax of the whole affair will be a supergroup, in which all the performers will play together. If the weather is fine the noise should be terrific”.

Remarkably, for such a relatively inauspicious event, Freddie’s first-ever public performance was extremely well documented. There were at least three photographers present, and the proceedings were covered in Bolton’s Evening News for the second time on 25th August. This even featured an uncredited photograph of Freddie, with the caption: ‘One of the performers gets into his stride’ If Freddie wanted to be a star, he was going about it the right way.” 

“Freddie really loved going up to Bolton to play with Ibex,” remembers Paul Humberstone. “He was really on form. The band was very basic, but good. They did very reasonable cover versions, and were very loud. That was his very first outing with the band, but Fred struck his pose. Remember him doing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’? He was like that only without the eye makeup.”

“Freddie was shy offstage,” recalls Ken Testi, “but he knew how to front a show. It was his way of expressing that side of his personality. Everything on stage later in Queen, he was doing with Ibex at his first gig: marching from one end of the stage to another, from left to right and back again. Stomping about. He brought dynamics, freshness and presentation to the band that had been completely lacking previously.”

Mike Bersin agrees: “As a three piece, we’d thought it was sufficient to play fairly basic music and not worry too much about stage craft. Freddie was much better at putting on a show and entertaining people. That was pretty radical for us. I thought that’s what the light show was for, you know, we make the music and the audience can watch the pretty coloured bubbles behind us, but Freddie was different. He was so wonderfully camp in that beautifully English foppish way. With hindsight, I recognise the determination to succeed that he had in spades. He demanded to be treated as a star before he was one. His talent and ambition made people react in very different ways, but it wasn't an unpleasant thing.

As the rest of us would wear jeans and trench coats, he was the fur-and-satin man and all the moves and poses he had with Queen, were already there with Ibex, he never imitated anybody, Freddie was Freddie from day one, he was entirely his own creation and a culture shock. He worked extremely hard to be something worth to look at and to listen to. He only had one pair of boots, one t-shirt, one pair of trousers, one belt and one jacket. Still he remained immaculate. We had some gigs in Bolton which were very significant to the band. While we were getting ready, Freddie had been backcombing his long hair to make it stand out more and twitching himself in the mirror for ages. I eventually yelled at him: 'For God's sake, stop messing with your hair, Freddie!', to which he responded: 'But I'm a star, dear boy!'. There is not a lot you can say to that. In many ways, you felt Freddie almost wasn't real.”

“I don’t think Freddie developed,” reckons John ‘Tupp’ Taylor. “The first day he stood in front of that crowd, he had it all going. It seemed as if he’d been practicing for years to be ready. We’d only ever sang together as mates before that. We’d never done anything by way of trying it out. He was going to be in the band and everyone was happy with that. Once Freddie was in, we changed in loads of different directions. We began to play ‘Jailhouse Rock’, for a start! I think that was the first thing we did with him on stage.”

Back in London, a revitalised Ibex began to make plans. “Freddie and the band very quickly became inseparable,” remembers Ken Testi. “They were spending large parts of their time together, working out a new set which included different covers and some original stuff.”

Mike Bersin: “Freddie was the most musical of all of us. He was trained on the piano, and he could write on the black notes. He said ‘We’re never going to get anywhere playing all this three-chord blues crap, we’ll have to write some songs.’ A couple of things came out of it, but they’ve all vanished now. I can’t imagine they would be very satisfactory anyway – largely because he was working with me, and my understanding of music was incredibly rudimentary. We used to argue about whether we should put in key changes. I’d say ‘What do you want a key change for?’ And he’d say that it made a song more interesting, it gave it a lift. I’d think ‘Why has he got this thing about gratuitous key changes?’ The idea of changing the key of a song just because it made it more interesting to listen to was really alien to me.That said, Geoff Higgins remembers at least one decent Bulsara-Bersin tune: “ They did a great song called ‘Lover; the lyrics used to go, ‘Lover, you never believe me’ and Fred later turned it into ‘Liar, you never believe me’ It was almost the same tune, but not quite. In fact, it was similar to ‘Communication Breakdown’, they used to rip off Led Zeppelin a lot.”

That said, Geoff Higgins remembers at least one decent Bulsara-Bersin tune: “ They did a great song called ‘Lover; the lyrics used to go, ‘Lover, you never believe me’ and Fred later turned it into ‘Liar, you never believe me’ It was almost the same tune, but not quite. In fact, it was similar to ‘Communication Breakdown’, they used to rip off Led Zeppelin a lot.”

Before they knew it, however, the summer was over and it was September. Mike Bersin returned to Liverpool to begin his pre-diploma years at the local art college, at what is now John Moores University. With nothing better to celebrate than the new term, the pre-dip freshers threw a party, and who better to provide the entertainment than Mike’s band, Ibex? Subsequently Ibex’s third and final gig took place on 9th September 1969 at the Sink Club in Liverpool, a former soul-blue hang out in the basement of the Rumbling Tum – a place Ken Testi remembers as a “pretty dodgy, post beatnik café”.

...Geoff has a further revelation, which called to mind Paul McCartney’s presence in the audience at the first-ever recording of John Lennon with the Quarry Men back in 1957. “Smile were in Liverpool that night… playing another club, possibly the Green Door. And because we were at the Sink, they came down to see us.” The rest of the story is almost too good to be true. Brimming with encouragement for their flamboyant friend Brian May and Roger Taylor wasted no time in joining Freddie on stage (or as near as they could get.) They probably bashed out a few Smile numbers and this occasion marked the first time the three of them played together in front of an audience. “We virtually had Queen in there,” remarks Ken Testi, “although of course we didn’t know it then.” However, here’s the sting: although Geoff Higgins’ tape recorder was still only yards away at the time, the tape ran out before the three musicians had the chance to play a note together.

Wreckage

Sometime between 9th September and the end of October 1969, probably while Freddie was staying with Geoff Higgins in Liverpool, [flat above Dovedale Towers, Penny Lane], Ibex underwent a mini upheaval – at Freddie’s instigation. “I recall him canvassing the idea of calling the band Wreckage, but nobody was enthusiastic,” reveals Mike Bersin. “Then he phoned me one night and said, ‘the others don’t mind. How do you feel?’ I said. ‘If they agree then fine’. So, we went along to the next rehearsal and all the gear had been sprayed ‘Wreckage’. When I spoke to the others about it, Freddie had phoned them all up and had the same conversation”. 

The name-change went hand-in-hand with the departure of drummer Mike ‘Miffer’ Smith as Freddie documented in a letter to Celine Daley. Dated 26th October the letter bears the address 40, Ferry Road, Barnes SW13 – another flat rented that summer by members of Ibex, Smile and various associates.

‘Miffer’ is not with us anymore,” wrote Freddie, “cause the bastard just got up and left one morning saying he was going to be a milkman back in Widnes. (he meant it too).” He goes on to boast that Roger and he go ‘poncing and ultrablagging just about everywhere,” which led to the pair “being termed as a couple of queens.” Interestingly, this word doesn’t seem to imply any of its more modern connotations. There was another term for that, as Ibex’s former drummer was well aware. “Miffer, the sod,” wrote Freddie, “went and told everyone down here that I had seriously turned into a fully-fledged queer.” 

“You can see he was exploring the concept there, can’t you?” interjects Mike Bersin, “to see how many people felt about it and how comfortable he was with it. He was always very camp, but when I knew him, he was living with Mary Austin, and I certainly knew at least one other girlfriend he knew at the time. So, he was kind of straight then, but if he hadn’t come out of the closet, he was certainly looking through the keyhole.” 

Crucially, as far as Queen’s pre-history is concerned, Freddie pinpoints the date when Ibex became Wreckage: “Our first booking as Wreckage is on Friday, 31st October at Ealing College,” he wrote. He also names Richard Thompson, the former drummer in Brian May’s 1984, as Miffer’s replacement. 

“I’d known Freddie for years,” Richard recalls. “I first met him in 1966. I used to go round his house to listen to Beatles records. Then we’d go and watch Smile play, before he joined Ibex. I knew all of Ibex’s songs, as I’d watch them perform, so there was no point auditioning anyone else.” 

With Wreckage’s first (and Freddie’s forth) concert appearance just five days away, the band set about rehearsing a new set. “Mike came down today,” wrote Freddie to Celine, “for a five-hour live marathon practise. Richard collapsed halfway through and I’ve really gone and lost my voice (no kidding). It hurts just to breathe. Hope I’m OK for this Friday, ‘cause I’m going to out-ponce everybody in sight. (it shall be easy.)” Freddie ended the letter with this hitherto unpublished information: “We’ve written a few new numbers: 1) ‘Green’; 2) ‘Without You’, 3) ‘Blag-a-blues’, 4) ‘Cancer on My Mind’ (originally called ‘Priestess’.) 

“Freddie always had very unusual titles at that stage.” Recalls Mike Bersin. “I can’t remember what ‘Green’ was about. It might be the one with the intro which went, E, A, D, G, D, A, E, A, D, G, D, A in guitar chords”. As neither Ibex nor Wreckage went within striking distance of a recording studio, none of these songs was ever recorded officially. Miraculously, however one of them has survived – and it’s the one that stuck in Mike Bersin’s mind, ‘Green’.

...“We also played somewhere in Richmond, at a rugby club,” recalls John Taylor. “A friend of Brian May’s arranged it, and Brian came along. He thought our image was ‘savage’. He thought we were really good. ‘Oh Savage’ he said.”

[elliemarchetti]

Red Queen Pride and Prejudice AU (Part 2)

Part 1

Masterlist

Tag list (if you want to be tagged in all my work or only a specific fandom/fic dm me or write an ask): @lilyharvord

Words: 2164

That Miss Skonos and Miss Barrow should meet to talk about the party was perfectly obvious, but the attentive invitation Wren received from Miss Samos and Lady Haven was a real surprise: her gentle manner increased the two's goodwill towards her, and although her mother was considered unbearable and some of her friendships, including Gisa and Tramy, not even worthy of mention, the feeling of wanting to get to know better both her and Mare was openly expressed. Wren received this attention with great pleasure, but Mare still saw arrogance in their behavior towards everyone, barely mitigated in the presence of the homeowner, whose admiration for Wren, reciprocated, was more than evident, although the younger had noticed with pleasure that it wasn’t likely to become public knowledge, since Wren combined a great intensity of the feelings with a composed temperament and a uniform cordiality in the manner, which protected her from impertinent suspicions. Mare talked about it with a dear friend, Miss Farley, the daughter of a colonel discharged after a bad wound that had practically made him blind in one eye.

"Maybe in this case it can be positive", Diana replied, "to be able to hide it from other people, but sometimes to be so wary has its drawbacks. If a woman hides her own affection with the same skill to the one who is the object of it, she can lose the opportunity to conquer him, and it’ll be a very poor consolation to think that the world is equally unaware. We’re all free to start a slight preference, is more than natural, but very few of us have such feelings that they really fall in love without being encouraged. Nine times out of ten, a woman would do better to show more affection than she feels. It’s indisputable that Samos likes Wren, but he may never express more than that if she doesn't help him do so.”

“But she’s helping him!” exclaimed Mare.

"Remember he doesn't know her the way you do, therefore he may not understand it," the other wisely suggested. Although Diana wasn’t married, she always had good advice, whether it was sentimental, about family or neighborhood disputes, and the suggestions she was giving her, if it hadn’t been the romantic Wren she was talking about, would’ve been really good; although closer in age, Mare's two closest friends were very distant in terms of social class, and couldn’t be more different in character, which made the idea of organizing a cognitive meeting that wasn’t a social event of extended dimensions, a folly.

"Well," Diana said, "I wish Wren with all my heart to be successful, but if she married him tomorrow, I believe that she would be as likely to be happy as she would be studying his character for a year. Happiness in marriage is just a matter of luck: as much as two people can know each other thoroughly previously, or have similar characters, that won’t affect their happiness in the slightest, as they will always find something later that will divide them. Maybe it's better to know as little as possible the defects of the person with whom

you’ll spend the rest of your life, or we’re all destined to die alone.”

Both girls burst out laughing, and in the hilarity of the moment, it was far from Mare's mind to be in someone else's thoughts; General Calore had barely admitted at first that she was pretty, and at the ball he had looked at her without any admiration, as it had happened in their subsequent meetings, where he had done nothing but criticize her with his friends. But as soon as he convinced himself  that her face barely had any nice features, he began to find that her intelligent dark eyes were able to render her expression beautiful, and although his critical eye spotted more than one symmetry flaw in her physique’s proportions, he was forced to acknowledge that she had a lean and pleasant body, and those discoveries had only been followed by others, equally embarrassing. Of all this, she was completely unaware; for her he was only a man who made himself unpleasant everywhere and didn't think she was beautiful enough to invite her to dance. Yet he began to want to know her better, and as a first step towards a direct conversation, he paid attention to her exchanges with others. This way of doing caught the girl's attention, and while they were at the Skonos’ house, where a large group had gathered, she spoke to her friend about it.

"Why was General Calore listening to my conversation with Colonel Farley?"

"It's a question that only he can answer," replied the other, "but if he does it again, let him know you're noticing his strange behavior."

Mare took her friend literally, and the girl soon found herself forced to distract her from teasing the poor young man, who seemed incredibly uncomfortable, inviting her to play and sing for the little gathering. Following her performance, it was her sister who took her place on the stool in front of the piano, and though the youngest of the Barrows had neither genius nor inspiration, vanity had provided her with determination and a pedantic and presumptuous way of doing things  that made her get everything she wanted. Mare had been listened to with much more pleasure, although her voice didn't sound so good, but Gisa, at the

end of a long concert, was still pleased to obtain praise and gratitude from everyone, except for the General, who had remained in indignant silence for that way of passing the evening, which completely excluded conversation, and was too busy with his own thoughts to notice having the owner of the house next to him until he started talking.

"What an enchanting pastime for young people!" the man exclaimed, looking at the couples, including his daughter and Mr. Samos, who had started dancing. "On the other hand there is nothing like dancing; I consider it as one of the main refinements of civil society. "

"Of course, sir; and it also has the added bonus of being in vogue among the least civilized societies in the world. Any savage can dance. "

The man just smiled, as if he had realized something that was obscure to Cal, an attitude that annoyed him immensely, but never as much as his attempt to make him dance with Miss Mare, who seemed to have no intention of giving him the honor, despite his good disposition. Her reluctance, however, hadn't hurt her in the eyes of the gentleman, who was thinking of her with a certain satisfaction when he was approached by Miss Samos.

"Can I guess the subject of your reverie?" she asked, turning her gaze to the room and covering her thin, pale lips with a glass.

"I would say not," he replied, sardonically.

"Let me try: you are considering how unbearable it would be to pass many evenings like this, in such company, and I absolutely agree with you. I was never bored that much! The nonsense, plus the noise; the nullity and the importance that all these people give themselves! What would I give to hear your comments on them! "

"Your hypothesis is totally wrong, I assure you. My mind was engaged in more pleasant things: I was meditating on the great pleasure that two beautiful eyes can give. "

Miss Samos immediately stared into his face, and asked him to tell her who was the lady who had the merit of inspiring such a reflection. Cal replied intrepidly, mentioning Mare's name, but had to quickly placate his friend's sarcasm and remind her that he hadn't forgotten their agreement, if only not to attract too much attention. Unfortunately, the General couldn’t suspect that he had been overheard by the young Gisa, who, returning home, reported everything to her sister just for the sake of hearing the malice that her mother would’ve expressed towards that man so cold that he hadn't even bothered to compliment her performance.

"From the way I hear you talk, you must be the silliest girl in the neighborhood," her father retorted. "I had suspected it several times, but now I'm convinced. "

Gisa was so disconcerted that she almost began to cry, and it was only her mother's intervention, and the subsequent quarrel between her and her husband, that allowed her to reach her room undisturbed. As for Mare, she listened, since her father's opinions were always well thought out, and certainly more reliable than those of her mother or even her brothers.

"From what you say, those two have been friends all their lives, and even their parents were friends before them, so it wouldn't surprise me if they secretly agreed to get married, if they were left without a partner for too long,” Mr. Barrow decreed, putting an end to the discussion, at least aloud, as his words reverberated for days in his daughter's mind, until the importance of the news was outclassed by a letter that came directly from the Hall of the Sun: Wren had gone on horseback to a lunch with Miss Samos and Lady Haven, but she had been surprised by a thunderstorm and now remained a guest of the Samos until her indisposition, which consisted of a severe sore throat and a pounding headache that had barely allowed her to write that note, had passed. Seriously worried about the matter, and despite her father arguing that she was going to be fine, Mare had decided to visit her, even though, with the ground made extremely muddy by the rain, making the carriage completely unusable,  and given her ineptness as a horseman, she was forced to go by foot.

"How can you be so foolish?"asked her mother, rhetorically, " You won’t be presentable once you get there!”

"I'll definitely be presentable to see Wren, which is all I want," she replied, and Gisa's objections were to no avail since she was even supported by Shade and Tramy, who were willing to visit the Farleys, who lived right off the street. It was just dawn when the trio left the house and took the road to the Hall of the Sun, but as soon as she separated from her younger brothers, Mare continued along the shortcuts she remembered from when she was a child, walking briskly through field after field, climbing over fences and leaping puddles with agile impatience, eventually founding herself in sight of the house with sore ankles,

muddy socks and a face that shone, warmed by the exercise. She was ushered into the breakfast room, where all the residents, except for Wren and Mr. Lucas, were gathered and where her appearance caused a huge surprise; that she had walked three miles so early in the morning, in all that mud, and alone, was almost unbelievable to the two young ladies, and Mare realized they despised her for it, yet they welcomed her with great courtesy, as opposed to General Calore, who spoke very little, and the owner of the house, who didn’t said a word, probably upset by her unannounced arrival, or feeling as if she was questioning whether her friend was being properly cared for. The answers she received regarding that specific issue weren’t particularly encouraging: Miss Skonos had slept badly due to the high fever and she wasn’t feeling strong enough to leave her room.  Mare was pleased to be immediately led to her, and Wren, who had refrained from expressing in her note how much she desired such a visit only for fear of creating alarm and disturbing, was very happy to see her come in, although she couldn’t have much conversation, and once Miss Samos had left them alone, the two merely had breakfast in silence. Once they finished eating, they were joined by their hosts, and Mare began to like them more when she saw how much love and care they showed for Wren. The pharmacist arrived, and after examining the patient he said, unsurprisingly, that she had caught a severe cold, and that there wasn't much to worry about; he advised her to go back to bed, and promised to get her some medicine. The advice was promptly followed, as the fever had risen and the headache had worsened. Mare didn’t leave the room even for a moment and the other ladies weren’t away for long either, but since the gentlemen were out, in fact they had nothing else to do. When the clock struck three times, Mare realized she had to go, and she said it very reluctantly. Miss Samos offered her the carriage but Wren seemed so anxious about parting with her that Miss Samos was forced to turn the carriage offer into an invitation to stay for the time being at the Hall of the Sun. Mare accepted gratefully, and a servant was sent to warn the family and to bring back a supply of clothes.

[mnthpprt]

Chapter 34: Heads Will Roll

I wake up sitting on a chair with my hands tied behind me. My head is pounding, and my throat and lungs burn with every breath I struggle to take through the rough fabric tightly knotted around my face, wet with spit. Dizzy, I look around what looks like an empty theatre, and come to realize I have been placed on the first row. Not only am I gagged and have my hands bound, I am also tied to the chair.

There are two pianos on the stage, facing each other. Between them stands a man. Antonio. I squeal for help through the gag in my mouth, and he comes closer. Though he stops at a distance short enough to reach me, he makes no attempt to free me. He must be the one that brought me here.

“I am terribly sorry, Anaïs,” he tells me, his voice filled with shame. I simply glare at him. No amount of regret will make me forgive him for this. “I am only doing this because I have to. Do you think Wolfgang will have noticed you’re missing by now?”

He knows Mozart’s real name. Who the fuck is this man, really? I shrug, unable to curse him out, and he turns away, heading back to the stage. As he sits by one of the pianos and begins to play, I remember something. I wiggle and twist, uncomfortably contorting my arms around the back of my waist to reach the glass I hid in my dress. It takes me a while to grasp it, but I manage to pull it out and hide it behind my back without Antonio noticing. I carefully use it to cut the ropes around my wrists. My pace grows more frantic as I start feeling nauseous, making my hand slip and slice into my arm, but I don’t care. The chloroform’s side effects are quickly becoming too much to handle.

I finally cut all the ropes binding me to my seat and rip the fabric off my mouth just in time to bend over and vomit all over the floor. The ironically jaunty melody stops, getting replaced by Antonio’s footsteps.

“What do you want from me?” I manage to ask, wiping my mouth. It is then that I notice my mask is missing. I can’t see it anywhere near me, so he must have left it behind in the ballroom when he kidnapped me. “Am I just bait?” I understand. “What do you want with Mozart? Why-” I am suddenly interrupted by a coughing fit. This is definitely my least favorite chemical. “Why are you doing this?”

He takes a step closer, and I scramble away, pointing the sharp glass at him. If he dares to touch me, I can and will stab him. I still don’t know whether he is a vampire or not, but they don’t exactly enjoy getting stabbed either.

“I had to, Anaïs,” he says, putting his hands up. “I need to see him, to talk to him. After the night we met, I realized you were my best chance of luring him out.”

Of course. I suddenly understand how everything I said that night could be misunderstood. My reddened cheeks from the alcohol, my giggle, Bernadette’s comment. He thinks Mozart and I are lovers. I let out a bitter laugh.

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but even I don’t know if he will come,” I tell him. “You got everything wrong. He’s not in love with me, you know?,” I chuckle. “And I have no feelings for him either. We’re nothing more than friends, and barely even that.” 

I untie the lavender ribbon around my neck, baring the bite marks and scar from the night Jean fed from me. I already have difficulty breathing as it is, and though the choker is not tight, I feel oppressed by it.

“You’re lying,” he shakes his head in disbelief. “You have to be. You’re lying to protect him.”

“If it’s this you’re talking about, he didn’t do it,” I roll my eyes, pointing at my neck. “The only reason he’s being so nice to me is because I helped someone he actually cares about. Oh, don’t get any ideas,” I chuckle at Antonio’s thoughtful expression, my arm still firmly pointing the glass at him. “You wouldn’t wanna kidnap this one, he’d tear you apart before you even know it,” I say, referring to the seasoned warrior that Jean is.

“But the other night...” Antonio stammers. “You were blushing and giggling like a schoolgirl when talking about him.”

“Correction: I was drunk and he just happened to be the topic of conversation.”

“And you said you lived together-”

“Convenience,” I simply shrug. “I am a guest in his house. I never said I was his guest.” I see the doubt in his eyes. His plan is crumbling apart with every word that comes out of my mouth. “Are you going to tell me who you are now? What do you want with Mozart?”

Antonio takes a deep breath, but before he can answer my question, Mozart barges in through the back door.

“Salieri,” he pants. Huh, so that’s who he is. I remember the complicated history between those two: they were thought to be enemies, but some historians believed they were actually close friends. And well, Antonio might have played a part in Mozart’s death, but that is just a conspiracy theory. “Leave her alone, she has nothing to do with me.”

He’s not wrong, but I can’t help but smile at the fact that he came regardless. He does care.

“Wolfgang, old friend,” Salieri smiles. It is not a friendly smile like his words would suggest. There is something menacing, even unhinged about it. Nothing new here, I mean, he went to the extreme of kidnapping me just to get to Mozart. “Please, join me on the stage. I want us to play together one more time.”

“What happened to you, Antonio?” Mozart whispers, shaking his head. He seems surprised by his old rival’s new demeanor. I guess they really were friends, back in the day. Still, he obliges, taking a seat at one of the piano benches. Salieri does the same.

“I would like to challenge you to a duel, my dear friend,” he begins from his side of the stage. “The best pianist gets to kill the loser.” He laughs playfully when he says that, to Mozart’s horror, as if it was a completely normal thing to suggest.

“Why are you doing this?” The white haired composer is completely horrified, but he looks relieved that I have been left alone. I have now put my makeshift weapon down and observe from the edge of the stage.

“You’re not going to agree to this, are you?” I ask him, worried.

“I have to. I...” Shit, so he’s actually doing it, playing along to this psychopath’s delusions. “I heard the rumours. Did you really poison me, Antonio?”

“No!” the other is quick to yell. “Of course not! I could never betray you like that, Wolfgang. I respected you too much. I still do.”

“Then why are you doing this?” Mozart repeats.

“I have to, he’s making me-”

His sentence is interrupted by another of my coughing fits. Both musicians watch me from above until I recover. Alright, here’s what I know: Salieri knew Mozart was still alive, just as himself. Neither of them should be, they died a century ago. He did not seem surprised by the marks on my neck, either. He’s a vampire. The fact that no one in the mansion knew about him tells me that le Comte wasn’t the one who turned him. I know there are more purebloods out there, Leonardo himself is proof of that. But who turned him? And why? Is his sire, whoever that is, making him kill Mozart? Is he being controlled in some way?

“No one is killing anybody.” My voice echoes through the empty theatre as I climb onto the stage. “Wolf, he said he didn’t poison you. Do you believe him?” Mozart nods quietly. “Great, so do I. I think he’s being controlled by someone. Maybe he’s some sort of aberrant, I don’t know. Either way, quit your bullshit. I’m not letting you die over this. Understood?” My tone leaves no space for arguments. He nods again, and I turn to Salieri, satisfied. “And you-” I start coughing again, then point the shard of glass at him. “You have some things to explain. We’re two against one, you’re the hostage now, so you better start talking. Capisci?”

Salieri looks down at his hands, hovering over the piano keys, and takes a deep breath.

“Alright. But not here. He’s watching,” he whispers. I desperately want to know who he is, but it looks like I’ll have to wait. If there is another pureblood wreaking havoc around here, I need to tell le Comte. 

Antonio guides us into the wings and down some stairs. Under the stage, there is a door, and he opens it. It leads to a tunnel. Mozart and I exchange a meaningful look and hesitantly follow the new vampire into the dark. We walk in silence for what feels like fifteen minutes, and eventually the tunnel grows wider. The little wind passing trough it carries a disgusting smell with it. The sewers. I pause and lean against the wall to retch again, still not recovered from the nausea caused by my exposure to chloroform. Antonio stops walking and looks back at me, a worried expression on his face.

“Oh, fuck off,” I complain, wiping my mouth with a glove before discarding it on the floor. “You did this to me.” His gaze falls to the floor, embarrassed. I take of the other glove, the one that remains clean, and hold it over my face to mask the odour from the sewers. I can feel Antonio’s eyes on me, seeing my tattoos for the first time, but he does not comment on them.

“We’re here,” he announces. I look at Mozart once again and let him be the one to ask questions.

“Why did you become a vampire? How?” His voice comes out soft, worried, even. I can tell they were close at some point. Salieri clears his throat before answering.

“I blamed myself for your death, you know? I thought... I thought I didn’t push you hard enough to get better,” he chokes on his words, his voice breaking a little. “Do you remember the last thing I ever said to you, Wolfgang? About your Requiem?”

“You said it wasn’t good yet,” Mozart nods, understanding. “You weren’t taunting me, were you?” Salieri shakes his head, a sad smile on his lips.

“I thought if I convinced you to improve it, you would push through your illness to finish it,” he mutters. “I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

“I already did, long ago. But who is making you do this now?” Mozart asks. “Is it the vampire who turned you?” Salieri nods, silently. “Who turned you, Antonio?”

“I can’t... I can’t say!” Salieri cries out, violently shaking his head. Whoever is doing this to him is clearly affecting his mental state. “He’ll kill me, I-”

“If you tell me, I can help you,” Mozart cuts him off gently. “Please, old friend. Let me help you...”

I tune out their back and forth pleading, convinced that I saw something further down the tunnel. I narrow my eyes and walk around the two composers, trying to get a better look, but the silver glimmer I saw has disappeared. I return to my spot beside Salieri just in time to hear him sigh deeply, finally giving in, although  my eyes remain fixed in the darkness of the sewers.

“H-his name...” he starts, hesitantly. “His name is-”

“Watch out!”

In the span of half a second, stretched out into what feels like an eternity, I see the strange glimmer again. A long, metallic tube, too far for me to tell what it is in the darkness, but the noise is what gives it away. Two loud clicks echo through the tunnel as instinct takes over my body, remembering the sound from some movie I watched long ago. A gun. I jump in front of Salieri as a loud bang rips through the air. Before my feet touch the ground again, I feel a sharp pain pierce through my back and come out right above the neckline of my dress, at the very top of my left breast. My arm cracks as I fall onto it, bending it uncomfortably between my body and the floor, but I don’t feel any pain. I just feel burning. In my lungs, my heart, my head, everything is burning. I cough and the coppery taste of blood fills my mouth before spilling over the edge of my lip, soiling my pure ivory dress.

“Anaïs!” Mozart rushes to help me, but there is nothing he can do besides getting blood all over his pristine lavender suit.

“H-he’s getting... away...” I struggle to say. I am not sure if the footsteps I heard were real or a pain induced hallucination.”

“I know, but I can’t leave you. God damn it, I don’t know what to do. What do I do?” he panics.

“Go,” a familiar husky voice orders from out of my increasingly narrow field of vision. “Le Comte and I will take care of her.”

“...Leonardo... How...?” I manage to breath out between coughs. My voice is muddled by the sputtering blood that tries to come out of my mouth with every word. He kneels beside me and holds my hand tight. I draw a weak smile. I missed his touch.

“Shh, cara mia, don’t speak,” he shushes me, stroking my head with his free hand. “Mozart called us when he saw you were missing. We need to take you back to the mansion, get you patched up.”

“N-no,” I cough. I won’t make it. I’m pretty sure the bullet hit my lung. Even Arthur couldn’t fix that, not with the medicine of this time. “I’m... dying...” I mumble. I am losing consciousness again, I notice. My eyelids feel awfully heavy, and I can’t keep them open any more.

“I- I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t, cara mia.” Leonardo’s distressed voice reaches me distorted, as if he was speaking from another room. Is this a nightmare? He lets go of my hand, leaving it cold and sweaty, but someone else takes his place.

“Listen, ma chérie.” Le Comte. I struggle to open my eyes so I can look at him, but they quickly roll back into my head. I’m not gonna make it. “I am going to turn you. Do you consent to that?” His voice is clear, but I can hear the slight panic in it. He needs to hurry before it’s too late. I use all the strength I have left to nod once. He does not wait to lounge forward and sink his fangs into my neck. Unlike last time with Jean, I am unconscious before the wave of pleasure hits me. I am dying. No, I am already dead.

[riotatthemovies]

Halloween sitcom specials.

When the Halloween season comes rolling in I like most people start to watch more horror movies (maybe even more than I usually do). But near Halloween the horror I watch needs to have a childish innocence to it. Memories of Halloween with candy and costumes and telling each other innocent ghosts stores around a fire to spook each other. That's what Halloween is for me, memories of how as a child monsters and ghosts were just too damn cool. So the horror films I choose are more monster based often with a folklore campfire tales twists. However I also love flashing back to the cheesiest childhood memories of tv at the time. Everyone loves the better episode of Simpsons Treehouse of horror. The VHS collecting geeks I talk to often post articles about the infamous Halloween make up tips tapes and safety PSA tapes of the 80s. 

For your retro entertainment I bring you a list of my 10 favorite sitcom and kids show Halloween episodes of my youth. I say my favorite not the best because I'm sure if I said the best I'll get a msg saying I'm wrong. Also I'm sure some kids gonna tell me of a that's so Raven episode and I'm an old so I never watched that. Also people always talk about the Rosanne Halloween episodes so I will let everyone else talk about those. Also note there was never a Golden girls Halloween special and if there was there is no doubt that would be the top of my list. So this is in no real order . . .

10: Facts of Life Season 5 episode The Halloween Show

Natalie is making a home movie and SPOILER tricks all the girls into believing their den mother is possessed by a ghost and is turning random people into sausages and feeding them to the group. Yeah seriously that's the point, I mean you don't know its Natalie tricking everyone so she can film a reality horror film until the end but you figure it out. Its completely unbelievable that the group of girls fall for this and legit believe it enough to try and fight their den mother that they have been best friends with for five seasons. The magic of a show being 25 minutes long that the characters have to jump to huge assumptions and get over it and a chuckle pretty quick too.

9: Webster Season 4 episode Witchbusters

Webster has some non Halloween oddly creepy episodes as it was pure 80s kids entertainment. Webster loved wearing Halloween masks and in season 2 he finds a creepy doll in the room of a missing girl that looks like a real person and comes off very Black Christmas/ Psycho. But I love the season 4 episode where Webster is peer pressured into sneaking into an old ladies house on Halloween because everyone thinks she is a witch. When Webster sneaks in his friend chickens out and leaves . Webster then finds one of the old ladies cats and thinks it is his friend who had been turned into the cat by the witch. Like many episodes the issue at had happens because Webster is really dumb. So of course he kidnaps the cat and takes it home because he thinks its his friend. Dumb Webster Dumb. Man I loved that stupid show.

8 .Family Matters season 8 episode STEVIL

Many people seem to remember the Halloween episode where infamous Steve Urkel brings a ventriloquist dummy to the Winslows Halloween party and as as ventriloquist dummies do , it comes to life and tries to kill everyone. Goosebumps meets Family Matters right there. I noticed its been the hip show to talk about this seaspn, probably cause this happened in the 90s.

7. Mr. Belvedere season 3 episode called Halloween

Mr Belvedere is depressed after eye surgery and the youngest kid in the family Wesley gets old Mr Belvedere in an eye patch and brings him out trick or treating which in turn sends him out on a bit of a bender. Also in the episode the daughter wants to wear a sexy maid costume to a party but her dad wont let her. So her older brother wears the maid costume to the party so they can secretly switch costumes there. Just one of many episodes where the older brother Kevin did a drag scene to show off his legs. ALSO in that episode the dad Bob Ueker is asked to join a sort of Shriners group but they end up being a crazy hooded cult. Which is extra funny cause in later episodes you find he did join the Shriner group after all and they never mention them being a cult. In fact the next time you see the cult members they are friends of the family and all go in drag with the oldest son they can go under cover to catch a purse snatcher.. but that's another episode.

6. Alf season 2 episode called Some enchanted evening.

Alf wants to go trick or treating cause well candy of course. The tanners think its too dangerous for Alf to go out even that he insists everyone will think he is just in a costume and not an actual Alien Life form. Eventually a Halloween party is held at the house and Alf meets an old cat lady. Alf loves cats... sorta. Also in the episode is an appearance of Lewis Arquette the dad of the all those wacky Arquette kids.

Seeing the costumes that appear in all these episodes makes one feel like in the 80s and 90s there was a rule that you couldn't have a Halloween party if there was not one devil, one pirate , one French maid, one little bo peep, one scarecrow and one Dracula. Like it was a rule or something.

5. KnightRider Season 3 episode called Halloween Knight

Michael Knight must investigate the visions of a confused woman. They believe she will be the next victim of a murdered in a gorilla suit. In the episode a man wears one of the silver shamrock pumpkin masks from Halloween 3. I did an whole article on this last year. Just another reason for you to go look through the riotatthemoveis archive.

4. Fall Guy season 4 episode called October 31st

Elvira guests stars as her self as she teams up with Lee Majors and the Fall guy team to break a curse and solve a possible murder in an old castle. Guest cameos of John, David and Keith Carradine. Also Lewis Arquette. Elvira would return the next season in an episode called.. wait for it.. October the 32nd... Yep.

3. Night Court season 3 episode called Halloween Too.

Every season of Night Court got a Halloween episode but this one is suiting for the humorous episode title and for Markie Post (who was in the episode of Fall Guy I just mentioned) wearing an amazingly and awkwardly hot witch costume. She shows up in this costume after Judge Stone has just broken up with his girlfriend who he discovers is an actual witch with magical powers as he believed her magic compromised his position on the bench. Guest cameo by Anne Ramsey as another witch. All the Halloween episodes are but I really like in this one when Quan Lee misunderstands the concept of Trick or Treating and thinks you need to threaten people for candy. Also I just needed an excuse to post this picture of Markie Post.

2 . Diff’rent Strokes Season 7 episode called A Haunting we will go. Arnold and his new step brother Sam (yeah that's a thing if you ever watched the last two season of Diff’rent Strokes) peer pressure them selves into sneaking in to an old haunted house. (similar to the Webster episode as poor little Gary Coleman and Emanuel Lewis would always be compared to each other). What makes this episode gold is when Arnold and Sam break into the haunted house they have detailed replica Ghostbusters costumes on, decades before Strangers Things season 2. We also get a door banging , chandelier shaking haunted house , dusty piano and everything if I remember right and then they show us how they did it. Very cool for an 80s kid like me. Also guest stars the amazing John Astin.

Last but not least...

Punky Brewster season 2 episodes Perils of Punky part one and 2. The cartoon series has an episode of the same name but no relation. This two parter is something if you know me you have heard about a lot. Punky and her pals go camping and meet a native shaman who tells them about a haunted cave, so in part 2 what do they do.. go in it of course. Then shit get surreal. Punkys friends get offed one by one by evil spirits then get turned into severed heads, one that flies and one that is stuck in the rock wall. It all ends with Punky having to battle a giant spider with shades of the original IT movie and has to hack it to death with an axe. Ending in the spirit of native girl waving goodbye in the cave that looks just like Punky as her friends magically come back to life as if it was all a dream... or was it. The episode is to be seen to be believed. My second favorite next to the episode where Punky thinks she killed a man at her restaurant but finds out he is just a narcoleptic with a broken hearing aid. COMEDY!!!!!

There are so many more, feel free to msg me and let me know old tv shows that had wild Halloween episodes that you hold dear.

I need some Count Chocula and a reason to watch some more... hmm maybe some boo berry,... oh man, anyone got an Haunted House pasta or Scarieos?

dang.

[deathvalleyqueen]

Full clear on OC asks for Sam! 💋

Thank you my dear... now lets gush about John’s first born and only son shall we???

BASICS

What’s their full name? - Samuel Joseph Seed 

What does their name mean? Why were they named that? -  Well he was going to be named Joseph, after his Uncle...The Father... but his mother was having none of that and switched out the birth certificate forms for the one she had filled out because there was no way in hell Mary Jane was about to let her precious baby boy be named after Joseph... though she allowed his middle name to be Joseph as a way to keep the peace. 

Do they have any nicknames? - SOOOO MANY! Sam - is the most common one and what most people call him. Sammie - What MJ still calls him even as an adult. Bubby - Ellie’s nickname for him as a child, Thing 1 - Sean’s nickname for him as kids. Cousin It - Finn’s nickname for him. Jesus - another Finn nickname. (because he looks like the only image of Jesus they had ever seen) Weasel - Mac gives him this as small child and sticks. 

How old are they? - At the time of New Dawn 24 almost 25 years old.

When’s their birthday? -  October 19th

What’s their zodiac sign/element/birthstone/etc.? Do they believe that holds any significance?

What’s their species/subspecies? Do they have any special/magical abilities? - He’s a Seed... does that count? He has John’s “far too blue” eyes...so like... That could be considered super powers.... 

What “class” do they belong to (for fantasy characters)? If none, what weapon do they favor? - If there was such thing as a Healer Mage class in the FC universe.. .that would probably be Sam’s class because he is exceptionally smart with a real focus in medicine and science/chemistry. If the Collapse wouldn’t have happened he would probably have gone to Med School to become a surgeon. 

APPEARANCE

What do they look like? - Same is the tallest of MJ and John’s kids standing just a hair taller than his father at 5′11. He has long dark brown hair and an impressive beard, both of which he has sported since he was 16 making him often be mistaken for much older than he is. He slight of build and looks to be in far better shape physically than he is actually is. 

Do they have a face claim? - Tom Payne - Specifically as Paul “Jesus” Rovia from TWD

What’s their style like? Clothes, hair, makeup? -  He is a pretty standard guy. He isn’t fancy, mostly because this world doesn’t allow for it. He likes t-shirts, sweaters and jeans. He will wear an old button up shirt if he can find it and has several trench coats he has acquired over the years. His hair is usually down and one the rare occasion that he puts it up, Lily always glares at him and tells him to put his hair down before their mother sees... because with his hair up.. he looks a lot like a young Joseph. 

How do they carry themselves? What’s their default expression? - Sam is a very self assured young man, bordering on the cockiness of John in his youth. He has been painfully aware that he was always one of the more intelligent people in the room from a young age and developed a bit of a superiority complex because of it. He tends to stand with his shoulders back and hands at his side or in his pockets. He is an observer, rarely the person leading the conversation but always watching and passing his judgment.

Do they have any physical ailments or disabilities? - Sam is the only one of MJ and John’s kids to have been born with health issues. He had a medium sized hole in his heart when he was born that eventually required surgery. Though since that surgery had very little issue besides a heart mummer. This however left MJ way over protective of him well into adulthood. 

PERSONALITY

What’s their alignment? Lawful Neutral 

Which one of the 16 Personality Types do they fit into? - INTP

What are their hobbies and interests? Do they have any particular “favorites” (food, books, and so on)? - Sam loves music, he plays piano and guitar. He is much more of a classical music person and as a child spent hours practicing. His favorite books are Animal Farm and Frankenstein. His favorite food as a child was pizza and pasta, as an adult he is happy with whatever he can get but still loves carbs. His favorite item from his childhood he was able to keep was a model plane that John and him made when he was 6. It’s of John’s plane. 

What are they bad at? - Dealing with intense emotions, both their own and other people’s. He never knows how to react and often seems to ‘over react’ with his own emotions. He also can not shoot to save his life. 

What kind of things do they dislike/hate? - Unnecessary cruelty. Onions, Fish and split pea soup.

Do they have any vices/addictions/mental illnesses? - Well... lets just start with he has a lot of childhood trauma... which defiantly manifests it’s self in some pretty well hidden anxiety and depression. He also comes from a long line of people who suffer with various addictions and I could see Sam having again...a very well hidden...drinking problem. Particularly post-ND events. 

What are their goals and motivations? - Their end goal is not peace, as much as an agreement that would allow everyone to function as they need to with in a certain set of rules... IE... he wants to re-establish a ruling body of government on a very small scale in Hope County that would allow for the communities to work together when needed but function independently as they wish as long as they cause no harm to the other communities. This is motivated by his study of history and his belief that because he has studied so much, he has found fault in the old systems and what he will build will be better. 

What are their manners like? Any habits? - He has an odd stillness about him, even as small child. He was the quite one, the better behaved of the twins (easily the most well behaved of all MJ and John’s children). He tends to crack his knuckles when he is nervous or clear his throat when he feels the conversation is getting off topic. 

What are they most afraid of? - Not being able to do enough. He sees what happened because of his father, his family.. his mother’s family. Sam feels (like all the kids do in some way) responsible for fixing the mess that the Seeds created in Hope County. 

BACKGROUND

Where were they born? What was their childhood like? - He was born with his sister Lilith at the birthing center in Hope County (but both he and Lily were sent to a much bigger hospital shortly after they were born because the small hospital couldn’t handle them being 8 weeks early). Their childhood before the collapse was filled with pockets of really happy times mixed with stretches of chaos. Both he and Lily vividly remember The Project at Eden’s Gate and the events of the Reaping. Both he and Lily were present for the attempted arrest of Joseph. After the collapse it was still difficult in the bunker as both his parents struggled with believed loss of Jacob, Ellie and worst of all Grace. Once they left the bunker things settled into a new normal. He is very close with Lily and Rose, as well as his Uncle Mac. He is close with both of his parents but is resentful on some level of their preoccupation with losing Grace.  

What’s their family like? - A hot mess... but the core they are very tight knit. Sam is more ready to trust a member of his immediate family than anyone else. 

What factions or organizations are they a part of? What ranks and titles do they hold? - He and Lily were called “The First of the Children of New Eden” within the Project as small children and as an adult he holds the role of the “doctor” in the community John calls “Redemption” but really Sam is main intelligence gatherer as people are very disarmed by him because of his ability to help the sick. 

How do they fit into their “story”? - Sam is Ethan’s foil for lack of a better way of putting. Ethan is grasping for power, while Sam wants nothing do with holding an position at all within New Eden. He has no desire to fulfill any of the role that The Father saw him. He is easily the one most suited to lead, but has no desire what so ever to lead anyone or be any manner of spiritual leader to people. 

Where do they currently live? What’s their place like?

How do they eventually die? - He dies of a sudden heart attack while speaking to a group of people gathered in New Eden (preaching basically) at the age of 36. He dies before both his parents and all three of his sisters. 

RELATIONSHIPS

Do they have any friends? Would they consider anyone to be their best friend? - His best friend is easily Lily, because they are twins. Their relationship is just on a different level than other peoples. They understand each other often with just glances and small changes in expression. He also becomes close with Finn, both sharing a bit of a sarcastic and witty sense of humor. 

What’s their friend group like? What role do they play in it?

What’s their love life like? (See also: ship question meme.) Do they have any kids? - Well.. not really. He spends most of his time with his sisters during the story and I never really thought of him in romantic terms...at all. I could see him having kids one day, either “adopting” or by natural means... either or. 

Who do they look up to? Who do they trust? - Really the person Sam looks up to the most is Mac. He respects Mac’s ability to pragmatic about difficult choices and always put the others before his own benefit. Mac had a big hand in raising Sam, so this really comes as no surprise. As far as people he trusts, he trusts his family... his sisters (including Grace), his uncles, Rachel/Faith, Ellie,... pretty much everyone but Joseph and Ethan that share DNA with him. 

Who do they hate? Do they have any enemies? - Joseph, mostly because he puts the full blame on what happened with the collapse and the events the happened in his life right before squarely on Joseph’s shoulders. This by proxy extends to Ethan...

Do they have any pets? - As a child he had several, Boomer and Salem even made it to the bunker with them (thank you Sean and Faith) but since then he never really kept bets.

Are they good with kids? Animals? - Yes to both.

FUN FACTS

Which tropes do they fit? Which archetypes? - The Dutiful Son , Looks Like Jesus/Hippie Jesus  (that one goes without saying right?), The Spymaster & Big Brother Instinct 

Do they play any instruments? Sports? - He plays Piano and he was never much for sports. 

What are some items they always carry?- A knife, a small black notebook and a pen.

Do they collect anything? - Books.

What position do they sleep in? - On his stomach mostly with the pillow over his head rather than under his head.

Which emoji would they use the most? - The eyes emoji

What languages do they speak? - English

What’s their favorite expletive? - Fuck

What’s their favorite candle scent? - Probably like Pine...

What songs remind you of them? - Loosing My Religion - R.E.M

Which animal would you say represents them? - The Raven

What stereotypical high school clique would they fit into? - The Weird kids that don’t fit in with any other group who is kinda metal head looking but gets straight A’s. 

What would their favorite ride at an amusement park be? - Bumper Cars (he actually gets to go once as a child)

Do they believe in aliens? Ghosts? Reincarnation or something else? - For someone who grew up in such a superstitious home, if Sam doesn’t have evidence for it... he doesn’t believe. 

Do they follow any religions/gods? Do they celebrate holidays? - Again, for someone who grew up in such an intensely religious home, he lost all connection to PEG or even conventional Christian beliefs by the time he is an adult he declares he is in Atheist. He does preach about keeping a very personal set of morals that you should adhere to but, not the belief there is an all knowing deity. 

Which Deadly Sin do they most correspond to? Which Heavenly Virtue? - Pride 

If you had to choose one tarot card to represent them, which would it be? - The Hierphant 

[twisted-nox-sidus]

(I'm bad with clear skies. I want to hide my ugliness from the light. But things lurk in the shadows cast by that light... And I'm a little interested in finding out more about them.) - Strix, narrating.

Based off nighttime and an owl, so she's not necessarily "twisted" from anything/anyone. She's actually designed around an otome MC struggling with the concept of love (because why not).

(Note: This post is super long since I put a lot of depth into this OC. There’s a lot of angst surrounding her than what’s given at face value. I even left out some details that are considered a surprise that reveals more about Strix. Some bits of her profile are rather messy and all over the place. I hope you guys love her as much as I do!)

Name: Strix Noctowl

Real Name: Secret

Nickname(s): Transfer Student, Problem Child, Newbie, etc.

Age: 16

DOB: 3/3 (Pisces)

Gender: Female

Height: 5'4.5" (164 cm)

Likes: Fluffy things, birds (particularly owls), music boxes

Dislikes: Gossip, thunder, her eyes

Hobbies: Reading, singing, piano playing

Race: Human

Affiliation: Night Raven College

Year: First

Relative(s): Unnamed mother (deceased), unnamed father (defected), unnamed grandparents, Sidney (great-grandfather)

Dorm: Unallied

Personality

A down-to-earth but curious young lady who never runs short of her sharp-tongue. She goes by Strix Noctowl in order to separately identify herself as the girl known specifically in Twisted Wonderland. Strix tends to be pessimistic and talk about pop cultural references no one in Twisted Wonderland would understand but nonetheless is determined to return home. She is more of a nocturnal person.

She is known to be “disobedient” and rebellious by the NRC. Many students admire her for her fearless, outspoken character but also keep at a distance to avoid getting roped in potential punishments with her.

Strix is not a virtuous person and can play petty if the situation compels her. She can be violent and won't hesitate to resort to a little punch to get her point across. Questions how most of the cast don't know the meaning "no" on a daily basis.

Underneath her shell, Strix is a touch-starved, naive, and utterly vulnerable girl. The absence of her parents led her to believe she is not loved and relies on her dear grandfather for almost anything she has trouble with. She is also shy about asking to fulfill her selfish desires and sometimes hides it too well that it becomes painfully evident to others.

Strix has a child-like impulse to touch things that pique her curiosity, such as trying to touch Leona's ears or Malleus' horns. The Savanaclaw dormitory is a prime victim of her "harassments".

Strix has a bad habit of falling asleep on a constant basis to the point she can sleep with her eyes open and stay still from what she was doing (ig. holding a stack of papers). This also happens arbitrarily at random places and time, such as sleeping mid-conversation. It's an impressive feat, as remarked by many of the guys. The habit was stemmed from the inner part of Strix that likes to dream (despite being a realist) and being a sound sleeper. She says this is the only time she can truly escape the cruel reality. It's a technique Strix may or may not be proud of.

About

Strix is a rare case at Night Raven College. Initially it appeared she had no powers whatsoever and was not remarkable in magic classes. Pretty disastrous, actually. She received a lot of hostility from the students who believe she doesn't deserve to be a worthy student at the prestigious magic academy, the very field she sucks at. Soon, Strix awakens her powers (explained in Abilities section) and works to control it while attending the college.

Due to Strix's insistence, she identifies herself as an "unallied" student and is taking residence at the run-down dormitory. She had complained a lot about each and every dorm and considers the NRC dorm a better place to reside in. She didn't really mind being the sole student in the rundown dorm since she was accustomed to solitude. She won't spend much time other than sleeping there anyways.

In order to repay Crowley's generosity and protection, she volunteered to work as his aid, such as helping clean up and sorting the books and documents piling up his workload. In addition, Strix works part-time across each of the seven dorms to earn herself money instead of relying on Crowley all the time. This also helps keep her busy and familiarize herself with the dorms and its students (since she has to cooperate with the uncooperative chaotic student body). (FYI, her payment is based on her performance which will be reported by the dorm leaders to determine the wage.)

Abilities

Strix has the ability to summon colorful, quirky, and adorable Dream Eater Spirits (please think of the Kingdom Hearts series because that's exactly what they will look like. I’m not capable of creating them myself so please use them as reference) that obey her heed. She surprisingly has good control of her magic (probably because she’s a dreamer and is adept with her dream magic as a result) and works on honing her abilities so she doesn't subconsciously summon the fun yet pesky creatures and start a zoo attraction. If a colorful creature is running rampant on campus, you know who is responsible for it. A common Dream Eater Spirit she summons is a curious owl dubbed Peepsta Hoo (shown below).

History

Strix was raised by her great grandfather Sidney since she was a child, whom she trusts and loves the most in her family. Sidney is a half-blind antique shop owner; a man who was born on the very day and year Disney was founded (10/16/1923). He practically grew up with Disney and shares his love with his descendants including Strix, who also adores the magic of Disney as a result. He is at least 96 years old, yet still somehow has spunk to him.

Strix's mother died from childbirth. Her father couldn't handle the sight of Strix who was slowly looking more like his dead wife every day and abandoned her to start a new life with another woman, essentially cutting ties with Strix when she was only five years old. In an outburst he said he hated Strix's eyes that were said to be devoid of light and emotion ever since she was an infant before leaving the house with luggage in hand. Strix dislikes her birthday since that marked the day her mother died and never encourages her own birthday parties or gifts.

Strix grew up resenting her eyes that were seen as a curse. Her grandparents even agreed with her former father that her mother gave birth to a "heartless, cursed monster". It was said that for the first five years Strix was born into the world, she barely expressed emotion outside of a blank slate, though Strix herself claims to not remember that. Her grandparents on her mother's side still resented her for her mother's death while the grandparents on her father's side don't want to have anything to do with her. Only Sidney was willing to raise her.

Strix is touch-starved due to the absence of her parents. As a child she had wished for them to pat her head, hug her, and hold their hands; the simple intimate things expected for family to do. She never knew her mother, and her father was aloof towards her and even treated her like the Plague by avoiding contact with her. What she had wished was for their affection, or rather the affection of a mother and/or father (which will be fulfilled by everyone’s bird dad Crowley in the future).

The only one who could meet her demands was Sidney who happily gives her attention and affection. He was the only one she could confide to and seek help.

Strix grew up believing she only needed to depend on the love of her great grandfather. She was extremely timid and nervous as a child who didn't understand how to befriend kids her age and harbored jealousy towards them who lived with happy families. This jealousy is what primarily made her keep a distance from them. As a result, she didn't make any friends, and never had up to when she was warped to Twisted Wonderland.

Strix once had a crush on a boy (dubbed "Caelum" for narrative purposes) who smiled brightly like the sun and filled her with warm giddiness. However, that was when she was six years old and the boy in high school, practically a decade year gap between them. It was more of adoration than romantic attraction, but she never met anyone else who was as nice and warm as him other than Sidney.

Caelum was her neighbor who babysat her whenever Sidney had to run errands. He played with her and spoiled her with her needs; they were like brother and sister. It was until he had graduated and moved away to dorm in a faraway college that they never saw each other again until seven years when a letter of invitation was sent for his wedding.

Strix's emotions conflicted over how she should express her romantic feelings among the platonic ones up to the day of his wedding. She froze up and fled out of fear before she could answer him. The moon was blue yet cold that night, and she discovered something like a mirror in the garden pond. She was suddenly shoved from behind and fell into the mirror. This leads to the current situation and the start of a twisted fairytale where happy endings are not as they seem.

Trivia

- Strix is a name used in various mythologies to refer to creatures who bring forth misfortune. They usually appear in the form of birds, mainly owls. "Strix" is also a genus of owls in the typical owl family (Strigidae).

- Noct in Noctowl means "night". Yes the owl is snuck in there, go figure.

- Strix's birthday falls on "I Want You to Be Happy", also known as Girl's Day.

- Strix once took care of a baby snowy owl as a child but had to say her farewell when it was released into the wild. Ever since, she likes to learn more about the beautiful feathered creatures.

- Strix's preferred type of person is someone who would wholeheartedly accept her touch-starved needs. Of course, she would do the same vice versa.

- Strix's most treasured item is the wristwatch that also plays like a music box. She never goes out without it. She also carries a gold heart lock (the one seen in her default outfit) on her out of impulse and never bothered to understand why. She says she feels safe bringing it with her.

- Strix has 2.0 eyesight. She can pinpoint a person from far away and recognize them.

- If you rub Strix's head in a particular way by running your fingers from behind her ears and massaging her scalp, she'll fall asleep. Apparently it calms her nerves and loosens the tension built up. She melts like goo on the spot and subconsciously clings to the person, purring in contentment like a completely different person (like an affectionate house cat). It's effective for silencing her, having her sleep, or just fluster her altogether. The first in the NRC to discover this embarrassing weak spot was...? That's a story for another time, though.

- Strix learned to play the piano for ten years since she was six years old, the same time when she first met Caelum. Caelum was the one who got her into the piano after expressing his love for the instrument and classical music. Initially Strix played to earn recognition from him, but over time, especially after he left, she grew fond of the piano (also because the sound works similarly to a music box) and honed her expertise in the field. She won piano competitions up to now and has a goal of becoming a pianist in her career. Her piano skills are highly praised by her peers and sought after by Azul, but even then she feels insecure. Ever since the wedding, her hands freeze up and hover over the keys as she automatically recalls the daunting memory of Caelum and her bittersweet emotions. The crowd's peer pressure wasn't helping either. (And yes, she can play the piano while asleep. What a pro.)

- Strix's love for Disney makes her prone to humming and singing to songs including but not limited to Disney as she works (of course when she knows she's alone). Sometimes she can get carried away with her singing and wind up lost in her own world as she does and would take a while to notice another presence in the room. When she gets caught, she dies on the inside and gets extremely embarrassed to the point of acting tough with a tomato red face. Apparently she is terrible at being self-aware of her surroundings when she gets into it. Then again, this is the same girl who falls asleep in the middle of corridors without realizing she was asleep.

- On that note, her singing voice is actually really nice, almost trained like a pro. Azul officially never lets her out of his sights now that she has full potential to be a full-time staff at Mostro Lounge. Her singing and piano skills are much needed at Mostro Lounge, however Strix would only willingly do the latter. She would die before singing in public. That's a big no no.

- Strix is said to have back (and neck) problems. Probably from the arbitrary times she sleeps in uncomfortable positions, or simply the stress from Night Raven College and the students' antics overall. Someone once touched her shoulder and mistook her for a statue. It's surprising how her appearance hides the stress and drowsiness well. She looks nothing like your average sluggish person.

- Strix likes antagonistic characters in storytelling. She tends to like the villains more than the main characters because she admires the good, the bad, and the ugly of their characters unbound by the laws that prevent them from their free spirits. They're flawed, but she finds relief in knowing they are not completely black like many would depict.

- Strix had a fear of brooms as a child after she watched Fantasia. She grew out of it soon, but even to this day she still looks back on the rather horrific scene with a pale face while holding the broom during flight class, much to Ashton’s confusion.

[owenshire]

Robert Muhlbock (virtually) Inducts Nine Inch Nails into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020

Nine Inch Nails. One band, and often one man, with a computer (and guitar) against the world. Oh yes, Nine Inch Nails have added members for live performances and gained members (well, a member) for studio compositions, but from this “band-like-musical-entity’s” earliest days, it was just one person—one person who combined pop-hooks with industrial whirs, and harrowing rage with uncomfortable vulnerability. And his name is Trent Reznor.  

No one should claim that Nine Inch Nails invented a genre. They didn’t. But they sure as hell popularized and perfected it. Electronic, Industrial, ‘Disco Death Metal’—whatever you want to call it, the labels don’t really matter.  In fact, I think the genre should just be called “sounds like Nine Inch Nails” which is compliment enough on its own, right?  

Nine Inch Nails are one of the most important, vital, inspirational, talented, and unique of musical artists. I love them. And now I’m going to tell you why…in a lengthy video essay, so settle in.  And if you don’t have the fandom or attention span for what I’m about to say, go back to consuming shitty tweets and dumbfuck Instagram posts because you’re not wanted here anyway.

                            _______________________________

My first introduction to NIN began like so many others: by catching the iconic video for “Head Like A Hole” on MTV—the band rocking out amidst electrical wires and magnetic tape, until it seemed like the entire writhing mess would consume them whole.  It’s an image as potent today as it was some 30 years ago.

However, my real introduction to NIN was originally steeped in urban legend. I was in grade 10 and I heard Pretty Hate Machine played on my school bus on the way home. The owner of this cassette tape, a “cool girl” who shall remain nameless, told me that the album was “out of print” and “unavailable.” In short, she assured me that I would never be able to find a copy, but, guess what, I did.

In a trade with former MMA coach Shawn Tompkins—and in my grade 10 art class no less—I swapped two ninja stars for a box of his old cassette tapes, and Pretty Hate Machine was one of them. This was my own NINJA moment, if you will—does anyone get that reference—anyway, upon witnessing said trade some random guy in my art class immediately offered me $25 for the Pretty Hate Machine cassette tape—a king’s ransom in 1990—but of course I wouldn’t sell. I knew it was valuable—and in more than one way. Instead I played the hell out of the cassette in my Walkman. I was 14 years old. “Terrible Lie” was my favourite song from the album. And it still is.

And then—poof—like that, NIN dropped out of my life. Where’d they go? Well, I guess they were making a name for themselves during Lollapalooza 1991, white chalk dust and all. Not that I knew any of this. Pre-internet I had no idea what was going on.  In fact, I wouldn’t hear any new NIN music until almost a full year later when one of my friends with a penchant for industrial music introduced me to the Broken EP. As he handed me his CD for borrowing, he warned me that it was “pretty extreme.” And he was right. The Broken EP is why album warning stickers were invented: it was a fist to the face, a kick to the face—it was even an ass to the face.

Anyway, the Broken EP was my real introduction to the seemingly bottomless rage of NIN. When I heard Broken I was just starting to get into so-called “heavy” music, but nothing could have prepared me for the lyrical and musical brutality of “Wish.” While Reznor’s litany of profanity was extreme—at least to my sheltered 16 year old ears—what truly staggered me was the song’s main riff (you know the one I mean) the one that is so distorted, so disturbing, that it sounds like a guitar being burned alive while flailing in a wind tunnel.

I’d never heard anything like it before—it wasn’t cock-rock; it wasn’t fake satanic rage done for laughs, theatre or to impress--no. Instead it was the audio embodiment of complete destruction and utter despair. And 30 years later, it’s lost none of its power.

                          __________________________________

These same sentiments must be applied to The Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nail’s career defining work that launched the band into mainstream success. Too often discussions of the record get bogged down by emphasis on “Hurt” or “Closer,” or, to some extent, “Heresy.”

Yes, “Hurt” is the perfect album closer and expression of pleading vulnerability, and, yes, “Closer” and “Heresy’s” choruses were brutally raw and shocking in 1994 (and, it should be said, still above average shocking  in 2020), but I feel the album is best presented as a whole. This was the beginning of NIN’s discovery that (to paraphrase one rock critic) just as much tension can be generated with a whisper as with a scream.

Dynamics have always been a huge part of NIN’s’ sound, and The Downward Spiral stands as a defining moment.  The album, as all of you know, begins with “Mr. Self Destruct” (well, that’s not entirely true—the album actually begins with the audio of what appears to be a man being beaten to death while submerged underwater)—but anyway, “Mr. Self Destruct” was as sonically astonishing to me as “Wish” was two years prior. As I listened to the verses of “Mr. Self Destruct” I kept asking myself “Is it supposed to sound like this? I can’t hear what he’s saying”—it was such a cacophony of meticulously detailed and layered noises, but of course not without substance or a melody: its quiet refrain of “And I control you” buried so deep in the mix, it mirrored the subconscious itself.  

“Mr. Self Destruct” gives way to “Piggy”—again a haunting track that’s almost tender and such a shock in sequence given the song that preceded it. Again. Dynamics. Surprise. Making the atypical typical in the best non-traditional way. Does that make any sense? Anyway, I felt the same way about the mini-piano solo/ lyric pairing of “now doesn’t it make you feel better” before the dramatic pause in “March Of The Pigs”—I don’t think any of us saw THAT coming. I was literally shocked when that phrasing appeared out of no where, emerging like a tiny ironic rainbow out of the whirlwind of thrashing drums, crazy guitars, and “stains like blood on your teeth” screams the preceded it.  

Speaking of screams, the title-track of The Downward Spiral still stands as a monument to vulnerability, despair, and pure abject horror. It’s the only song I’ve ever heard that I am afraid to listen to. When I listen to The Downward Spiral, I wait for the song the way a child hides behind a blanket awaiting glimpses of a film monster: I know it’s coming, and I know it’s going to be horrifying…and it always is. So why do I subject myself to it?

                                     ______________________

That’s a fair question. Let’s be frank here: Nine Inch Nails isn’t for everyone. It takes a certain personality to fully appreciate the band’s complete package of black, blue, and bleeding, “but you can dance to it!” Still, NIN is more than mere nihilism and hopelessness. Those who label the band in such ways, kind of miss the point. To me, NIN has always been—lyrically at least—about catharsis: I suppose ALL music functions as such—a tool of understanding, and a mechanism for coping. Trent Reznor once commented on the vulnerability of his lyrics, saying in an interview with NPR that his topic of choice was less about vanity than it was about delivering a performance with honesty and integrity. The only topic that mattered—his emotional struggle—was the only subject he could speak about with authority and with conviction.

However, it just so happens to be a struggle that millions of other people share. When Trent Reznor sings “Now you know/ this is what it feels like” on The Fragile’s “The Wretched,” he is inviting his audience to share in his pain. Whether he intended it this way or not, his is a gesture borne or isolation but ending in comradery: many of us certainly know what “this” “feels like.” And many, many more of us can certainly relate to the words “Dear World, I can hardly recognize you anymore.”

In short, Trent Reznor’s lyrics, as personal as they are, speak for us: his fans. He speaks for me. He still does.

Interestingly, themes consistent in NIN’s best work offer a type of almost emotional ambivalence: caring, but not caring; wanting to be helped, yet rejecting help; and most importantly, wanting to be alone, yet desperately wishing to connect with others. The songs “We’re In This Together” and “The Fragile” perfectly illustrate these sentiments.   To me, it is no coincidence they are sequenced side by side on the “some-critics-didn’t-like-it-at-the-time-but-have-since-come-to-their-senses-album” The Fragile.

                                      _________________

Musically, however, NIN is best known for three distinct styles of music: computer chaos, groovy beats, and symphonic soundscapes. I’ve touched on the first—and will return to it—but for now, let’s discuss the second. I’m not a huge fan of the term “death-disco”; however, NIN’s long list of ass-shaking beats, should not be overlooked. What began on Pretty Hate Machine with “Sin” and “The Only Time,” pleasantly resurface on “Into The Void” only to be perfected on “The Hand That Feeds,” “Only” “Capital G,” and “Discipline” not to mention a large portion of Hesitation Marks.

But back to computer chaos—or maybe just chaos in general. I can think of no better example to illustrate my point than the final coda to the song “The Great Destroyer” on the fabulous dystopian opus Year Zero—one of my favourite albums of all time: the sound of things falling apart—wires frayed, systems destroyed, screens cracked: static humming and ‘please stand by’ messages flicking forever. The Eater of Dreams. “All we ever were—just zeros and ones.”  

                                           ____________________

The final cornerstone of NIN’s musical contribution is soundscapes and instrumentals, and what a can of worms THAT is given all that’s transpired since 2011.  Anyway, when The Fragile was released in 1999, more than a few fans bemoaned its inclusion of no less than 7 instrumentals, and yet these contributions have always been a signature addition to NIN’s body of work: from “pinion,” “help me I am in hell,” “a warm place,” the deeply personal “La Mer,” to Ghosts I through VI, NIN’s experiments with sound have always been integral to their songwriting process—a willingness to experiment and a love of discovery which surprisingly, yet somewhat inevitably, lead to NIN’s work in soundtracks. Beginning somewhat inadvertently with Tony Scott’s Man On Fire (look it up), and then deliberately on the video game Quake, this creative direction eventually resulted in (as we all know) various Oscar and Emmy nominations and wins for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and yeah, while technically not “Nine Inch Nails” releases, I think we can all agree it’s hard to separate the two sometimes because as we all know, the line begins to blur, amiright?  

The point is this: Nine Inch Nails were and are no strangers to pushing boundaries musically, visually, and artistically. Some defining unconventional moments in the band’s career to me are as follows:

·  The 97 one-second tracks on the Broken EP before its final two songs; the infamous Broken film itself—a movie I found on a bootlegged VHS tape and rented for a mere 1 dollar at the time—and then proceeded to wish that I never did.

·  Moving on, there is of course the band’s seminal 1994 Woodstock performance, where the musicians arrived on stage in a foggy haze, caked head to toe in mud, and bringing the apocalypse with them;

·  Next we have the Alternate Reality Game developed around the release of Year Zero,

·  There was the free download of The Slip; and the free downloads of Ghosts V and VI some years later

·  Who could also forget about the NINREMIX website where fans were invited to remix the band’s songs and post them for all to enjoy, and copyright be damned.

·  Um, there was also that time they said “a heartfelt fuck you” to the Grammy’s.  

·   And finally we have Nine Inch Nail’s unexpected live appearance on the rather toned down Austin City Limits.

And the list goes on. Trent Reznor once explained such actions in the most self-aware terms possible: he likes pushing himself (as well as his fans) out of comfort zones, to flirt with mainstream conventions but to approach and execute them as only Nine Inch Nails can: with integrity and—to borrow Trent’s appraisal of the late David Bowie—“uncompromising vision.”      

                               _______________________________

Speaking of integrity and uncompromising vision, NIN’s humility is one of the band’s most inspiring and endearing characteristics. In Reznor’s case, we’re talking about an accomplished artist who admitted publically that he still feels he has so much to learn about his craft—that he’s barely scratched the surface regarding his mastery of sound and songwriting; a man that mocked his own starry eyed expression upon receiving an Oscar by pairing it with the caption “I see unicorns” and inviting fans to provide similar self-deprecating taglines.  A man who speaks in measured tones about his opportunities and successes in his life—and does so, repeatedly I might add, quietly, humbly, and gratefully.  

Such self-awareness is extremely rare in show-business let alone by a band that’s achieved as much as Nine Inch Nails.

And guess what? Here’s the thing. I think there’s no stopping them. With Nine Inch Nails—particularly, Trent and Atticus no matter what they call themselves and until they are inducted into the IHOR as solo artists, anything’s possible:  

·  Scoring a children’s movie? The upcoming Pixar film Soul? Why not? Let’s have some more. Give me a children’s album!

·  Creating a vintage jazz ballad (the unparalleled “The Way It Used to Be”) in a week and making it indistinguishable from other songs of the era? Of course!

·  Winning a Tony Award to become part of the EGOT club—I say sure. In fact, prediction: before the end of the world (so basically, in about 30 years) Nine Inch Nails will get an EGOT.  There. Prove me wrong.

                                       ______________________

In 1997 Spin Magazine once hailed Trent Reznor as “the most vital artist in music today,” while in that same year Trent Reznor appeared on Time Magazine’s list of the top 25 most influential Americans.

These accolades were well earned; however, I prefer a statement made by some music magazine critic whose name escapes me in their review of a Nine Inch Nails album whose name also escapes me: they said, “we can only hope something else pisses him off,” sentiments which I’m sure are echoed by many, and to which I reply…there seems to be no worry about that.

                                      ____________________          

Nine Inch Nails encompass a facet of popular art that is as necessary as it is compulsory: they remind us that the world is not pleasant; tragedy is inevitable; the game is rigged; faith is a lie; and everyone you know will abandon or disappoint you.

But guess what? If you’re lucky, the way out is through, motherfuckers.

I am honoured to induct Nine Inch Nails into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

[dailyaudiobible]

09/03/2020 DAB Transcript

Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:7, Psalms 47:1-9, Proverbs 22:16

Today is the 3rd day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is…it is a joy to be here with you today as we exhale, as I say often. Let it all go, it'll all be waiting but we need a change of atmosphere. And, so, we come around the Global Campfire and we let God's word wash over us, wash into us and then we go back with a new perspective into what we were doing into the world and what a joy it is that we can do this together. So, let's take that next step. We began the book of Ecclesiastes yesterday and we’re gonna continue that journey today. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Ecclesiastes 4, 5, and 6 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in second Corinthians today Paul is essentially talking about or unpacking the fact that there are…there are things that will never be in harmony with each other. He says, “what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? What fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?” Belial is this word that simply means, like worthlessness or maybe meaningless. “What harmony is there between Christ and that which has no value? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” We could push back on that and say, “well a believer and an unbeliever, their human beings. There's a lot in common.” But in Paul's view, those who believe are new creatures, new creations, which for Paul isn't like a reset, like a restart of humanity. It's a different kind of species, like a new humanity upon the earth, one that has been restored and made righteous before God, a different kind of thing of which Jesus was the firstborn which we've already talked about. Paul’s talking about all this in the context of not being yoked together with unbelievers. And if you have the choice you shouldn’t. I mean my two cents on that, which is probably worth about two cents is that life is a winding road and marriage is difficult enough as it is. With no faith to fall back on…O…that's very difficult. But what Paul is saying is also beyond just whether or not you should marry an unbeliever. This goes to Paul's philosophy in general. We are new creatures upon this earth part of God's divine family knit together as a body, the body of Christ. And basically trying to live with one foot in the world as a person who has already died to it while keeping one foot in this new creation that we are living into is essentially the same as God inviting His chosen people to separate themselves so that they become…can become a nation of priests to the rest of the world. And we read that story already and we saw what that mixture did. It all fell apart. So, why do we often find ourselves in a position where we did…where basically we’re wondering, “how dark…how much of the…like how much into the shade can I go, like before the actual darkness…like how far into the darkness can I go, while remaining in the light?” When Paul deals with these kinds of issues he’s basically saying, “why would you do that? Why would you do that?” And it's fair. Like why would we do that? Why do we do that? Why do I do that? Like, why are we doing this?” Because like borrowing from Solomon, it's meaningless. It's chasing the wind. And, so, Paul gives words of encouragement. And I quote Paul. “Therefore, since we have these promises dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. And, so, we find that the Scriptures have led us to consider like what is the defiling us. What are we allowing to contaminate the new creature that we have been made? What are we allowing to tell us who we are? Because if it's not our faith in God then we are chasing the wind. And, once again we find Paul saying it’s a bigger story, like “look higher. Live into this. Be righteous because you can now. You can be holy, be set apart, because you can be in union with God because you can, He’s your father, you are adopted into His family. Don’t waste this gift, don't waste your life. And the pollution that you once lived in, you don’t have to do that

Prayer:

Father, once again we find ourselves challenged, we find the Bible being a mirror and forcing us to look at ourselves and we thank You for that. It shakes us. It disrupts us. It's necessary. It's You, Fathering us. It's You, loving us and saying there's more. And, so, we reach for You and invite Your Holy Spirit to show us the ways that we’re trying to mix things up in unhealthy ways with…with things that can never be in harmony with one another. We need You. We need You alone. We need Your Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. And we trust in that promise that You will. Come Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

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And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

I’m basking in the spirit and I’m still lying in my bed the sun has not yet risen and I’m very glad that I’m not dead it’s quiet and it’s dark and it seems the world is still asleep but I feel you all around me God inside too real deep it feels just like I’m glowing and I know that can’t be true pre-dawn is my favorite time to come in prayer to you there are no real distractions no voices cars or lights no human interference no arguments or fights only me reflecting thoughts that spring from deep within thoughts now filled with gratitude that used to be about sin I come to you for power I come to you for grace I come to you my father because there really is no other place I lift you up for what you’ve done because you’ve done so much for me I praise you God for who you are and how you set me free it seems like I can’t get enough of praising you each day the closer that I get to you the more I love to pray thank you God for lifting me, for loving me, for setting free I thank you God my eyes can see a concept like eternity the suns now up and I’m still in prayer I still can feel you everywhere inside outside all around even deep below the ground because you Are truly awesome

blindtony1016@gmail.com. I’d like to give a shout out to God’s Smiles and Peter and Gentle Ben and Rebecca from Michigan. Know you are all loved and prayed for daily. And once again, Brian and the Hardin family, thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit flow. Keep it flowing y’all. All right, bye-bye.

Hello this is Duncan the Piano Man from Fredericksburg Texas this on Sunday morning August 30th. Lincoln my prayers are for you. Let me pray right now. You’re the uppermost in my mind. A number of you have had deaths in your family this week from the terrible virus that we’re all dealing with. But for people to stay together for marriages to stay together I am burdened especially today. My wife and I went through 43 years of marriage and we had a lot of stormy times. God brought us through though and it will be a year in October that she’ll have been with the Lord in eternity. So, let me pray now Father before this thing runs out. I just pray for Lincoln and his wife. Father I am just praying that You would soften her heart. Lincoln wants so much for this marriage to stay together. And Father they’re still Young at and I don’t know if they have any children, but I bring him to You Lord Jesus. Also, Father that that marriage would be mended, and that marriage would be strengthened, and they would just stay together till death do them part. And Father that they would grow together in You. Quicken that spirit Lord. Father pray for also that lady in New York who is behind financially and a lot of things and deals with mental issues and also has no work. And Lord there’s probably a lot of other things. Be merciful to them Jesus. Thank You for hearing our prayer. Father I...we love You and we leave love each other in You. Thank You, Lord. Amen.

Good morning family. Hey, I had a revelation this morning. I every morning do the Daily Prayer which you can access on the app under the navigation bar under helpful links. And I’ve been doing it…well…for almost 2 years now every morning faithfully and I can’t tell you what a difference it’s made in my life. I really recommend it. What I thought this morning and I believe the Holy Spirit gave me was this is a prayer that is so socked full of what we need to know about our relationship with God that every morning you’re reviewing it and it gives God the opportunity to speak into your heart. So, that’s what the spiritual disciplines do. They in themselves do not make you holy or righteous or anything, they just give God the opportunity to pour like a faucet into your soul. And, so, one that I really appreciate too is solitude because it allows me to just sit and muse with God all day. Anyway, I better take off now. I just wanted to share that with you. Please during this really heartbreaking time in our country it’s…it’s so important to get everything straight, get your plumb line straight with God and have a clear conscience. It’s worth everything. Okay kids. Bye.

Hi this is Kristi from Kentucky this is about the eighth time I’ve tried to record this. It’s kind of difficult. I’ve been listening for 12 years and the first time I’ve ever called in for prayer. I put this on a Prayer Wall about a year ago but I’m still…I’m still patiently or impatiently waiting sometimes. I was involved in a Christian community in Ohio where I have two children that are still there. I was involved with them for many years. I lived there for a couple years but when I moved in, I saw that they were becoming increasingly more controlling over people’s time, their money, their interactions outside of the community and who they could speak to and who they couldn’t. And I saw red flags. Anybody that leaves is deemed either a sinner in love with the world or mentally ill. And, so, out of all of the years that they’ve been in existence only like five or six people that have left are actually in any kind of relationship with the church and most people in community aren’t even allowed to talk to them, which has happened to the two of my children and me. Since I left it has been, it’s been really ugly. It took me a year of some intense biblical counseling to really recover emotionally, spiritually. But my children are still there, and they refuse to have any relationship with me or to pursue restoration of any kind. I haven’t spoken to my daughter since December…it’ll be two years in December. I’d ask you to join me in prayer for all truth to be revealed whether it’s myself or them, all the darkness be revealed, and light come into that darkness. People are set free in Jesus’ name.

Hi, my names Sam from Texas and just calling in because…express my gratitude for this community, for this…Brian and everybody that listens in. About a year ago I found this just wanting to, you know, have the word of God, you know, to hear it in my life every day and now it’s…it’s…it’s a staple of my day. You know, I start my day before I put anything else into this mind, I put this podcast in this word of God. Prayer requests. Could you all please lift up my church community in Allen Texas? We…we’re going through a…a lawsuit. And not to get into any details but just lift up my pastor, his name is Dustin and the leadership. You know, sometimes you gotta rip off the Band-Aid to heal and I know the situations gonna be handled by God and He’s gonna get the glory. Another prayer request I have is for a new believer, her name is Taylor. She’s an alcoholic. She’s just got 60 days sober yesterday by the grace of God and I…I praise him for that. You know she came to the Lord about 3, 4 weeks ago, you know, and the Lord’s really been knocking on her on her door and seeking her her whole life. And I was in a previous relationship with her but I had to make a decision to end it so that she could focus on herself and I could also focus on myself because me and God get some business to do and I’m grateful for that. You know, just lift up Taylor and her recovery that she has a spiritual experience with the Almighty God and Jesus could continue to enter her heart, softens her heart and her mind to Him. Thank you, guys. Have a blessed day.

This is my second time prayer requesting. My names Ryan Kelleher I live in Santa Barbara California and my heart’s heavy and I’ve had a long journey of…I want to say mental illness but I’m not even sure. I just thought I’d reach out and receive some…some prayer. Thanks guys.

[fairiesherefairiesthere]

There’s a light at the end of a hall (Fraxus)

It’s a soulmate au where you share dreams! (I listened to In my dreams from Anastasia on repeat while writing this). 

When Laxus opens his eyes, he knows where he is, although the room is so dark he can't look more than a foot in front of him. Long windows let some moonlight filter into the room and it catches some elements of the scene in the beam, revealing some glasses, the familiar lacquer of a piano and a chandelier. It's quiet too, not a whisper leaves the mouths of the people he knows are surrounding him. Gentlemen haven't ditched their canes to dance with their partner of choice yet. The dresses are still in pristine state, not a ruffle out of place. If he moved, he could probably touch one of the statue-like people, but he fears that they feel lifeless too. He's glad that the darkness hides them from his sight. The most important asset of this particular scene isn't here yet, so with baited breath, the room awaits him.

The familiar clicking of shoes on the tiles alerts Laxus of the other man's entrance and his arrival, breathes life into the room. As though the moonlight lit their wicks, the candles on the chandelier flicker to life and with them, the guests start to move, casting their shadows over the walls and the dancefloor. The still significantly bad lighting, combined with the masks and clothing that covers a lot of skin, makes it incredibly hard to assign distinct features to the humanlike figures moving across the ballroom.

Once in a while one of them laughs or dip another mid-dance, but their movements are too precise, too practiced to convince Laxus that any of them are real human beings. Furthermore, the room is now filled with chatter, but Laxus can't make out a single word. The more he tries, the less intellegible the conversations get, though this place tries to convince him that they are speaking his language and that he's the odd one for not knowing what's being said.

Haunting is the only term that comes to describing the high, trembling notes that the violins bring forth and Laxus wonders if they are trying to drown out some other sound he's not supposed to hear. Whenever he strains to listen past them, they seem to infiltrate his brain, screeching for him to turn elsewhere.

When a masked man stops in front of him, he turns to him. Unlike everything else in this room, his figure is clear as day and when he offers Laxus a calloused hand in a rather elegant manner, he doesn't hesitate to take it. Amidst all the cold, doll-like creations pretending to be human, the warm hand feels like a lifeline, so Laxus clutches to it with all his might.

While following the man in front of him, he lets his gaze travel over his back. Strong shoulders and a head with long green strands of hair. Should he turn around, those locks would frame his elegant facial features in the most refined of manners, granting him a presence alike to a nobleman. As though hearing his thoughts, the man turns around and bestows a little smile upon him before turning around again. The tiny interaction puts Laxus more at ease. He might be among ghosts, but at the very least he's not alone.

In a quiet corner of the grand ballroom, the man lets go of his hand before offering his own again. This time, there's another question behind it and uptill now, Laxus has always rejected. But tonight, he won't. Maybe it's because the music creeps so deep into his soul that he fears that nothing but human contact might erase it, maybe it's because tonight, the other man's features are clearer than ever and his bright blue eyes so hypnotising that Laxus wouldn't be able to deny him a thing.

He still hesitates though and he hates how his own hand twitches and trembles with nerves. In the other's eyes, he can see that he too knows exactly how nervous Laxus is about this, but mercifully, he doesn't say a thing about it. Laxus wonders if they would be able to speak in here or would their words simply vanish into thin air. Once Laxus' hand is properly resting on the other's, the other man tenderly runs his thumb over Laxus' fingers before using their joined hands to tug him close.

Not once in his life has he been a fan of dancing, but here, in this quiet corner with the other man leading him, he feels at peace. The atmosphere around them doesn't change, the puppets don't become beings of flesh and blood and the sounds brought forth by the violins doesn't change into a lilting melody. But the man in front of him radiates with a gentle, undisturbed light that draws him in, a mystery composed of sweet allure that Laxus doesn't even try to turn away from.

For all the times Laxus has danced in his life (very close to zero), he thinks he's doing pretty well. While he's keeping his eyes trained towards the floor to make sure he doesn't step on his partner's toes, the man reaches out and after letting his fingers drag over Laxus' jawline, he tilts his chin up to let their gazes meet. The eyecontact is exhilarating and after a while, they establish a pretty stable pattern of steps, turns and twists.

The man guides him into another whirl that separates the two of them for the briefest of times. Because they've done it a few times already, Laxus knows that he should finish the turn and rejoin the man by taking hold of his outstretched hand. Right before their fingertips touch, the other man drops his arm and hugs it close to his chest, looking at Laxus with wide, dazed eyes. Offering his own hand, Laxus hopes the man will take it. He does not.

Instead, he turns on his heels, making his way towards the exit. Although Laxus follows him almost immediately at the exact same pace or even faster, he can't seem to keep up with the other man's strides. As though they sensed something going on, the heads of all the mannequins snap into their direction, tilting their head at an annatural angle, to perpetuate the illusion of a curiousity they are not able to feel.

As the man throws the door open and Laxus is able to see the light at the end of a hall, the mannequins turn to him, enclosing him. Even when they're so close he can feel their cold mockeries of breaths running along his neck, he still can't make out their faces. A thing he can make out though, are the words they are whispering. "Do you enjoy dreaming?" they whisper as though rotten creatures of the night could ever be compared to a dream.

Usually he's the first one to leave the ballroom. He wonders if the other man had to deal with these creatures too, all those times he'd decided to ditch the party. He also wonders why on earth the other man would leave him to the wolves if he knew they would tear him apart.

Looking past the mannequins, he notices shadows travelling down the walls, enshrouding the room in pitchblack once more. Either these beings would get him or he'd get swallowed by the dark. Any other day, he would've laid waste to these dollike humanoids, but his fingers have no grip on them and magic dissipates into thin air. Resigned, he closes his eyes.

The colours dancing behind his closed eyelids alert him that there's a new source of light. Opening them, he sees the door being forced open and light streaming in. Without thinking, he grabs the outstretched hand and slams the door shut behind him. Once again, he follows the greenhaired man's lead, but instead of dancing, they're running for their dear life. Taking matters into his own hands, Laxus smashes a window and pulls the other man through. Finally, they leave the castle and underneath the glimmering of the stars, they both let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding.

"I didn't know soulmate dreams could be that terrifying", Laxus sighs and is surprised when he notices that he's allowed to talk. Immediately he takes the next leap and tries to tell the other his name. Unsurprisingly, it all comes jumbled and he accepts that that's one of the things he's not allowed to share.

"I knew", his partner shares with a pleasantly deep voice. Biting his lower lip and with his back hunched, he stares at his feet as though they are the most interesting thing around. "It's been like that since I got to know who you are in the realm outside this one. They try to persuade me to reveal my own identity and since I refuse to, they rip me apart in my dreams as doubt and conflicted feelings do throughout the day. It's a joyful experience, really and it follows me everywhere."

Although Laxus doesn't want to be insensitive by glossing over his story, there's also a thing he wants to know. "Then why did they aim for me right now?" His partner clicks tongue and looks at Laxus in a both very particular and familiar way. "You know why, you're a smart man, Laxus Dreyar", he chides and offers his hand. One that Laxus has pushed away before, thanks to his own cowardice and other people distracting him by being bothersome.

"Freed", he exhales and the man smiles sharply and tugs the strings of his mask loose. "Thank the heavens, this thing was getting bothersome. Now we can both wake up, stay friends and not speak with a soul about this awkward situation. I'm alright with being only friends."

"But it's not what you want", Laxus objects and Freed scoffs. "I'm not about to force you to do something you don't want to satisfy my own wants. I'm not a creep." After spitting out that last sentence, Freed gnaws on his bottom lip again, fists balled. Laxus wonders if Freed's heard the same whispers he himself had heard too (he should leave Laxus alone, he's too touchy, overly affectionate, he's bothersome. It had taken a lot of willpower to not go for the immediate kill and settling for decking them across the guildhall).

Somewhere along the line, these throwaway comments (combined with Laxus' incompetency with putting feelings into words) had chipped away at this man's pride and selfconfidence. Left bleeding by these chipped away shards, he'd decided to staunch the wounds by slapping a bandage on top of them and declaring them healed, while the blood still slipped from underneath it.

"It's not what I want either", he confesses and he continues before Freed's scepticism makes him leave. "For a long time now, I've put more attention to you than anyone else, but never where you actually wanted or needed it. I thought that if I allowed you closer to me, it would be pretty clear what my feelings towards you were without me having to say it. But that's selfish of me, isn't it? It's also damned stupid."

Freed's already wide eyes get even wider when Laxus offers him his handpalm, urging Freed to rest his hand there. While Freed does that, hand trembling with an out of character discomposure, Laxus doesn't move and provides him with a tender smile that seems to ease his nerves. Once Freed's hand is properly resting on top of his, Laxus tugs him closer, hand on the small of his back. Right atop his guildmark, Laxus presses a kiss and gets awarded with an exhale. "I love you", he confesses, directing his gaze to meet Freed's.

Those blue eyes are wide with shock and Laxus wonders if there's ever going to be a time where saying that will not be met with surprise. He decides to make a goal out of it. "Okay", Freed simply says and denies Laxus an outright answer. He doesn't really need one though, because he knows how the other man feels.

"I'm not about to say it for the first time in a simple dream of all places. I'd like to tell you in person, if you'd be willing to listen."

"I'd be just as willing to listen as I'd be to answer 'I love you too'. "

"My, aren't you quite the romantic?" A selfsatisfied grin suits Freed a thousand times better than doubt. Around them, the dream crumbles, but it's not torn apart by faceless creatures or drowned in black. The stars dissolve into a shower of light that engulfs the both of them. "Looks like we'll be going home", Freed remarks staring at the magnificent light before turning to Laxus. Pressing a kiss to his cheek, he whispers : "Good night and within a few more moments, good morning. I'll be looking forward to seeing you."

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 36

Last time: Sloth wished he had a jacket or something, our heroes found the Goth’s illegal mining operation, and M.G. Armstrong was offered immortal soldiers. Onwards!

No intro again, we’re starting with oh it’s Beard. Alright buddy, what are you up to now? Reciting names? While undressing? Who are you talking to

oh um Well this is a thing.

So… after saying a bunch of names, Beard apologized that he had to “use” them, then jammed his fingers into his chest to pour some blood onto the ground, which then swirled around and went into the earth.

Beard’s not the Big Bad, is he? It’s Uncle.

Tephi is currently sniggering at me.

Crazy Theory In Light Of New Scene Time! *deep breath*

So all this time I’ve been ranting at Beard for being the Big Bad, but what I’m guessing now is a Frankenstein situation; Beard got caught up in his research trying to expand Alchemy and create a Homunculi (with the Philosopher’s Stone? Without?), created Uncle who then decided that he was a superior being to mere humans and went on to create the Goths. Beard goes into hiding/on his endless fishing trip, is he trying to stop Uncle or has given it up as a lost cause? He also appears to have the same Philosopher’s Stone blood that Uncle has, experimenting on himself before making Uncle? Who knows! Still don’t forgive him for abandoning his family, even if he has some excuse like “I did it to protect you from the Goths.”, because we can see how well that worked out.

In any case, I think I understand all the blocks of spoiler text now, if he actually is a good guy then I apologiz- no actually I don’t apologize, dude is still sketchy as hell and abandoned his wife and kids. He’s still got a long way to go before he makes a Homura recovery on my List.

Episode 36 - “Family Portrait”

This looks like it’ll be another Beard episode like Interlude Party (which I just went back to re-read my post and I’m cringing at my anti-Beard rants), but with The Reveal I think I’d be ok with getting some more info on this guy. Just as long as we can get back to M.G. Armstrong catfishing Raven soon.

Yup, flashback episode. Baby!Ed and Baby!Al are sleeping, Beard by their bedside. Mama Elric says he can hug them if he wants, but Beard doesn’t want “the monster” to spread. So he already has his Philosopher’s Blood at this point?

[Mama Elric]: “Please. If it could spread that way, don’t you think I would have caught it a long time ago?”

I did not know I needed sassy Mama Elric until I got it but now I have a mighty need

The standard Creepy Tinkly Piano Music starts up as Beard

[Beard]: “Since I got this body-”

?! No no, I can’t stop and rewrite all my theories every other sentence or we’ll be here all night.

Beard is saying that ever since he got this body he’s seen a lot of death, tried to pass it off as the natural flow of the universe. He’s seen a lot of new things flourish over his life, accepted his body and kept on living. But then he met Mama Elric and created two sons oh ok I can see where this is going. Easy to accept death when it happens to Others, but to your Own?

...or not since he just compares himself to his aging sons, calls himself a monster. Damnit man I was giving you a noble backstory stop messing up my theories

Later, Mama Elric summons Beard from his Lair/Lab to surprise him with a photographer! Oh I get it, they’re getting that family picture (title drop-ish) that Beard took with him when he stopped by Resembool. Mama Elric passes Beard Baby!Ed, and good Leto man you’ve been a father for how many years? Not wanting to disturb them while they were sleeping was one thing but you’re acting like someone handed you another child, surely you’ve had some practice and carrying your own sons.

The Elrics pose while the photographer takes oh never mind Mama Elrics giving her “we’re taking this picture for the memories” speech even though he just asked for everyone to stand still. This is an old-timey camera lady, if you keep talking it’ll end up with everyone else ok but you with a great big blur where your mouth is.

[Mama Elric]: “He’s taking it. Smile, dear.” [Beard]: *Complete opposite of a smile*

Aw. Ok, I can understand why they crop out his head in that picture all the time now, that’s just depressing.

Huh. So that’s Beard’s motivation, then. He’s decided that immortality isn’t worth watching his loved ones age and die around him, so he’s of course researching a way to make them immortal as well nope he just wants to reverse his immortality so he can age and die with them. Ehhhhhhh ok whatever we aren’t getting back into the “is immortality good or bad” thing seeing as the only in-universe way is Stupidly Evil, let’s just focus on going back to Plain Old Human.

[Beard]: “That bastard…”

Are you talking about Uncle? Truth? Because I swear if this show goes and pulls out another Big Bad “for real this time you guys” I’m going to scream.

Aw, Beard’s fixing up the tree swing, we get an amusing moment where he falls down that let’s be real is only amusing because it’s A)in an anime so Physical Comedy is the rule, and B)he’s at least a semi-Goth so physical injuries are just a nuisance. Mama Elric comes out to check on him, and he gives the inevitable reveal that he’s going Absent Anime Father. Mama Elric is… surprisingly chill about this.

Beard’s trying to sneak out while the kids are asleep, but we know how that worked out. Mama Elric goes to distract them as Beard frowns (upset that his secret plan to sneak out secretly and avoid Familial Interaction failed?), then sees Baby!Ed looking up at him.

Way back in Episode 12

Flashback! Mama and Papa Elric are standing at the door, Baby!Ed and Baby!Al happened to be up early in the morning. Mama’s of course all over her children, but Papa Elric… just glares down at Ed, that’s the only description I can use for that look. Then he turns without a word, and walks out the door.

Context!

With both of his sons looking at him, Beard’s self-composure wavers ever slightly before he regains his glare and turns away.

Hey, it’s the campfire from the intro! Beard is looking at the family picture, before looking up to the night sky. “Just a little while longer…”

Whoa, all that was just before the intro?!

Oh come on! I was getting invested in more Beard Backstory, it’s almost a letdown to go back to Fort Briggs. Almost.

A bunch of Briggs soldiers are scouting the Goth Tunnel, seems their radio’s dead. Interference by the Military? The CO says they’ll keep going to find where all the rubble got dumped, but his horse shies and the ominous flutes start up. Who else is down there?

Black Shadows! Eyes! Teeth! Impalement!

Run Smith, run! Flee the Gate of Truth never mind he wasn’t fast enough. Sorry dude.

Ed’s listening to Raven’s “immortal soldiers” offer, and M.G. Armstrong’s baaaarely restraining herself from killing this old creep who’s all up in her personal space. She asks if the whole immortality thing would be for all her troops as well as herself, Raven says he can tell her “later”. So now she has to choose between accepting his offer and assisting his plans for Briggs (which could go very badly for the troops she commands), or refusing and getting pushed aside like General Grumman.

Before she can say anything, a mook’s knocking at the door to report that “something” has happened to the underground tunnel team- whoops, Raven overheard and is inviting himself along to go see. The eavesdroppers head out as well, after Ed Transmutes up some rope to “make it look convincing”. Right they’re still prisoners.

Whew, good thing they got the rope, they’ve run into Sideburns showing Kimblee around the fort. Ed recognizes The Crimson Alchemist, and oh yeah they’ve never actually met before, so Kimblee makes the mistake of thinking The Fullmetal Alchemist is the giant suit of armor instead of the pipsqueak everyone’s pointing to.

[irate!Ed]: “If one more person makes that mistake…”

Down in the pipe room, M.G. Armstrong’s getting the report of lost contact, aside from Smith’s horse with what they assume is his arm (man, arms just do not stay on people’s bodies in this show, do they?). M.G. Armstrong orders a rescue tea- nope shut down by Raven who claims the tunnel is too dangerous. Now, about that immortal monster she was talking about earlier?

Wow. General is straight up ordering M.G. Armstrong to grab the monster they put on ice, put him back in the tunnel and seal it up behind him. Obviously the nearby flunky balks at burying any possible survivors in the tunnel, but Raven just paraphrases the Law of the North about obeying strength and power. Now, is M.G. Armstrong going to refuse an order from her superior officer?

Mid-ep pictures of Crazy Grin Raven and steadfast Olivier Mira Armstrong.

Raven’s visiting the Elric Brothers in their cell, happy to see that they’ve been “keeping their mouths shut”. Ed’s just a little annoyed to have his friends held hostage and be locked up, but the ever-helpful General assures them that they can go soon. He then assures the boys that they don’t need to worry about the tunnel, M.G. Armstrong’s being a good little soldier and following orders.

Something that her own troops seem to be having a little trouble with now, the flunky from earlier is arguing with M.G. Armstrong about the lost team until she snaps at him to be quiet and obey. Kimblee’s watching everything from the walkways and snarks that even “The Impregnable Wall Of Briggs” bows to authority. Here’s hoping she proves you wrong soon.

Hey Sloth, how was your nap? Raven tells him to wake up and get back to work, apparently Pride explained it to him already. Now with his orders to get back to, Sloth returns to digging while Raven spouts some drivel about Sloth being a “chimera” working for Central, and since it was a top-secret mission they had to cover the hole and guard it.

[Raven]: “I’m counting on you soldiers! It’s people like you who make this country what it is!”

...wow. Ok, I’m pretty sure that M.G. Armstrong knows that the offer of immortality is intended to be at the cost of her own troops now. Way to eff things up Raven. Now if you had couched it as harvesting Drachmans to empower herself and her troops it might have been different.

Hey Marcoh, hey May! Still going over the notes?... wait, how long have you been at that hut? What have you been eating? Anyways, Marcoh says the important parts of the book are written in Ancient Ishvalan, which he can’t make heads or tails of. If only they had an Ishvalan Monk who could translate. Yeah, where is Scar?

Ooooh shoot. The Briggs snowtroopers have found the girl with the weird cat now, they draw their guns and move in when suddenly Scar! Man, good timing. Meeting up with the Doctor and the Princess, Scar confirms that they have the notes and says it’s time to move NOW HOLD ON. Did you really just take those two soldiers’ uniforms and leave them in the snow? Dude, not cool! At least move them into the hut so they don’t freeze to death.

Uh, timeskip apparently. Raven and M.G. Armstrong are overseeing the sealing of the tunnel, Raven’s confirming that the “weak” will be sacrificed to make the chosen few immortal. Man, Raven just has no redeeming qualities beyond that beard, does he? He’s just cheerfully talking about how the weak will be the foundation for the strong, completely missing the Death Glare that M.G. Armstrong’s leveling at him.

Sideburns is still having to babysit Kimblee, takes a moment to ask how the punk he was threatening in a hospital just a few days ago healed so quickly, let alone how a convicted murderer of officers got to walk free. Kimblee’s not exactly forthcoming.

Raven’s still cheerfully going on about how the country was founded with the plan to Mass Sacrifice its population, and how his generation gets to reap the rewards. He clasps her shoulder and damnit stop being a creeper you traitor-

[M.G. Armstrong]: “Hmph. There’s no need.”

Wait is she HELL YES

Screw you, you old coward! Just stand there with her sword through your arm as you feebly protest about her being a “chosen one”.

[M.G. Armstrong]: “I don’t need a new seat from you. You’re going to lose the one your moldy ass has clung to for too long! Right about now, Raven! You old TRAITOR!”

Oh hey, how convenient that there’s a fresh pool of concrete for that jerk’s corpse to be hidden in.

[Armstrong the Great]: “General, you are among the weak who will become the foundation for this country. Literally.”

Ha. Now we can get to work! Get some gloves free of traitor’s blood, find Sideburns and the other unwanted guest, and get that concrete nice and level.

Oh my Leto shut up Kimblee, stop trying to antagonize Sideburns with taunts about Ishval. Just as he starts to snap back Sideburns is called aside to hear that he doesn’t have to distract Kimblee anymore. He goes back and claims that “nobody can find General Raven”, so Kimblee… uh oh. Kimblee’s got standing orders to act as he sees fit if Raven’s not around, so they probably should give him a car to leave the fort. After all, one disappearance can be put down as bad luck. Both Raven and Kimblee? They can’t show their hand so soon.

Aw, the flunky who argued for the rescue mission is still pleading with Armstrong the Great to check the tunnel before it’s sealed. Ooh, but Ed made a second door earlier! That… may not have been such a good idea, I know that these guys haven’t seen what killed the tunnel team but still.

The mechanic stops by the Elrics’ cell to say Raven’s taking a concrete nap, then walks off. Wait, you’re still leaving those two in jail? Raven’s dead and Kimblee’s leaving, you don’t need to keep up the prisoner facade! Damnit, let the protagonists out to do their job!

Awww, hell. Kimblee’s shown up, wants to talk with the Fullmetal Alchemist. Fine whatever, just… what do you mean, “a visitor”?

CRAP. Winry! Or, is that Envy in disguise? Nah, probably Winry given how she’s yelling about Ed not getting his automail adjusted before going north. Someone from the military contacted her?

...Kimblee get your hands off her shoulders right now.

Damnit. Right as we get Armstrong the Great acting against the Military in defiance of the immortality temptation, we’ve got the Goth’s attack dog reminding them of the hostages. This is-

The end of the episode? Really? Wow, ok then. This one seemed like we got a short story on Beard (that just raised

so many new questions

) and a partial arc with Fort Briggs. What’s gonna happen next?

Wait hold on, this is one of those post-credit scene episodes. Roy’s meeting with one of the bar girls who’s reporting on Kimblee’s rapid recovery after Raven showed up. After paying her for the info a passing flower merchant teases him about just getting a “nice seeing you”... before saying she has a message from Armstrong the Great.

[Roy]: “I’ll take every flower you have in that cart.”