#Sailor & I

[cxrrodedcoffin]

Rock Me - Spencer Reid

Likes are always appreciated but reblogs and feedback keep artists going!

Summary: Spencer decides to surprise Rockstar!Reader on the road after one of her tour stops, so they fuck each other’s brains out.

Word Count: 3.8k

A/N: I made my first custom fic header! I really wanted to capture the vibe I was picturing for this so I hope y’all like it! Decided to combine my love of music with my love for Spencer Reid, I was def picturing the vibes of The Pretty Reckless and In This Moment for the kind of band reader is the frontwoman of, reader plays the bass guitar because I always wanted to play bass when I was younger lol. Very short outro cuz I felt like it was getting a little too long lol, p.s. yes the title is a one direction song, fight me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

TW: sub!spencer, mommy kink, established relationship, lots of teasing, playfully mean dom!reader, degradation, pet names, unprotected sex, penetration, afab + fem reader, slight alcohol mention, cum eating, oral sex (reader receiving), handjob, typical criminal minds level violence at the beginning.

Rating: R, 18+

——

You were a force of nature. Spencer knew that from the moment the team walked into that concert venue in search of a serial killer targeting high profile rock musicians. Your voice captivated him, strong melodies reverberating inside his mind, snaking around his every thought, he was hypnotized like a sailor drawn to your siren song.

When the unsub ran on stage and held a knife to your throat, Spencer’s heart stopped, until you used the headstock of your bass to uppercut the criminal, forcing him to drop the knife and stumble back into your bandmate’s drum set. You weren’t going to wait for someone to rescue you no matter what you were ordered to do, your fate was in no one’s hands but your own.

That was the moment Spencer knew he had to have you, and he’d do whatever it took to see you as often as possible. He spent the next six months bouncing back and forth across the country, from whatever state the latest case was in to wherever your next tour stop was. He couldn’t get enough of you.

Now, as he waited anxiously on your tour bus with a bouquet of your favorite flowers in hand ready to surprise you, he found his mind wandering back to every dirty encounter the two of you had leading up to this. He catered to your every whim, falling to his knees to eat you out whenever you asked, in your dressing room before a show, in the bathroom on the moving tour bus, even side stage right after you’d just finished performing, smelling like smoke and sweat, ripping your fishnets so he could devour your cunt on top of an amp.

What the two of you had was utterly filthy, and he loved every second of it. You hadn’t given him the pleasure of properly fucking you yet, but that’s not to say you disregarded his pleasure all together, far from it. You loved to let him put on a show for you, sitting on the bench across from him on the bus as you watched his brow furrow, his large hand fisting his cock impossibly slowly as you talked him through masturbation, reveling in the way he whimpered when you finally gave him permission to cum, shooting a massive load all over his lightly toned stomach.

He felt free with you, like he could lull the constant noise in his head for a short while and just be whatever you wanted in the moment, whether that be a loving boyfriend who’d hold you and let you bitch to your heart's content about your in-ears malfunctioning during the show, or a mere tool for your pleasure, he was content.

But right now, he was really, really hoping you’d use him like your own personal sex toy.

-

You raised your bass in the air, screaming an enthusiastic ‘goodnight!’ into your mic before running off stage, desperate to rip your clothes off and cool down after sweating your ass off under the stage lights for the last hour and a half.

You handed off your gear to the sound techs before saying congratulatory goodbyes to your band mates, making as close to an irish exit as you could, shaking off any fleeting guilt you had about it knowing you’d do the whole thing over again together in a couple days when you arrived in the next city.

You grabbed your bag from your dressing room, taking a couple snacks for the road from the basket the venue provided in accordance with your rider before heading out to the bus, ready to take a cold shower as soon as possible. You yanked open the bus door handle, climbing the short steps into the central seating area, nearly dropping your bag when you finally saw him.

“Spence!” You cheered, a little too giddy to see your boy wonder. You quickly tossed your bag aside and straddled his lap, taking his face in your hands and crashing your lips to his in an open-mouthed kiss. Your tongue danced with his, desperate to taste him after two weeks of no physical content. Spencer had sent you as many tribute videos as you’d asked for while you were apart, but it just wasn’t the same as getting to feel him.

When you pulled away, the deep red of your lipstick was smeared across his plush lips, and you would’ve giggled if the sight hadn’t turned you on so much. He really was so pretty, you absolutely understood why his teammates nicknamed him pretty boy. You kissed him one more time on the cheek, placing a perfect kiss print on his soft skin before reaching for the flowers he’d brought you. You took in the fresh floral scent, admiring the flora for a moment before thanking him and getting up to put the stems in the neck of an empty liquor bottle in lieu of a vase.

“I’ve missed you.” He sighed, wrapping his arms around your waist as he watched your handiwork over your shoulder.

“Not more than I missed you.” You challenged, setting the makeshift floral arrangement on the small countertop. You turned to face him, your platform boots putting you right at his eyeline. He may have been taller than you but that didn’t stop the hold you had over him.

“It doesn’t have to be a competition.” He laughed, pulling you closer.

“But it does Spence, do you know how many times I got off stage and wished you were there to see the killer show we put on?” You were earnest, something only he seemed to be able to pull out of your usually headstrong facade.

“Ah, every show you put on is extraordinary, watching you is transcendent, you’re otherworldly up there, even on what you consider your bad days.” He praised, showering you with his famously flowery language. You felt a special appreciation for it, because despite the messy rocker chick stereotype, you held a life-long love of literature close to your heart.

“God, you are so whipped!” You teased, lightly pushing at his chest. Despite your deflection, the blush creeping across your cheeks showed him just how much his words meant to you.

“Maybe, but I know you love it.” He called your bluff and the back and forth was starting to stir something in you that needed attention, now.

“You know what I missed the most?” You asked, unable to keep your eyes off of his mouth.

“What?” He knew where you were going with this but needed to hear the words from your perfect lips.

“Seeing you cum all over your stomach live and in person.” Your sultry tone sent blood rushing straight to his cock, eidetic memory pulling clips of your mutual masturbation to the front of his mind.

“W-what if I came somewhere else tonight?” He stumbled over his words, having a hard time maintaining eye contact as he asked the awkwardly worded question.

“Like where?” You played dumb, exaggeratingly tilting your head and twirling your hair around your finger.

“Inside you.” He whispered, gaze locked on the wall behind you.

“Hmm I didn’t quite hear that, can you repeat it for me?”

“Inside you, I want to fuck you.” He blurted out, lipstick-stained cheeks burning bright red in embarrassment. You took his chin between your fingers, forcing him to look at you as you pondered your next move.

“I have a mountain of fan mail full of guys begging for the opportunity to fuck me, what makes you think you deserve it more than any of them?” You prompted, watching the way his features contorted in reaction to your somewhat harsh question.

“You’re being mean.” Tears started to well up in his eyes, brown irises glazing over as a lump formed in his throat. Despite how sad the thought made him, it also had his bulge straining even harder against his pants than it already had been.

“I know baby, but you’ve gotta prove how badly you want this, I’m not just going to give you the privilege without earning it.”

You could see the wheels turning in his head, no doubt debating what he could do to demonstrate his worth to you. His demeanor started to shift, holding eye contact as his shoulders straightened, practically puffing out his chest.

“I think I’ve already proven myself to you, given that you’ve cum on my tongue more times than you could count.” This sudden surge of confidence from Spencer was unexpected, but something about it had you hungrier for him than ever.

“Fair, although I do think that eidetic memory of yours gives you an unjust advantage.” You teased, a small smirk forming at the corner of his mouth. You took a step forward, closing what small gap was left between the two of you before bringing your hand to graze over his bulge. He let out a breathy whimper, pupils dilating as you applied slight pressure to his almost painfully hard member.

“I’ll do whatever you want, I just need you to touch me.” He breathed, bucking into your hand. You began to undo his belt, pushing him back until he fell back onto the leather bench. You loomed over him, low cut top giving him a face full of cleavage as you worked to slide his pants down just enough to free his aching cock. You moved to straddle his lap, sitting back on his thighs to leave ample space to toy with his member.

“Can you be a good boy for me?” You purred, starting to pump your spit-covered hand up and down his shaft.

“God yes.”

“Yes, what?” You stared him down, watching his lips part with a gentle moan.

“Yes Mommy.” The groan ripped from his throat, prominent veins framing his adam's apple.

“That’s right baby, let mommy take care of you.” You kissed his cheekbone, then his jawline, admiring the way your crimson lipstick contrasted against his pale complexion as you worked your hand over his cock, feeling every curve and contour of his thick veins against your palm.

“Take off your shirt.” You ordered, your free hand skirting under his layered vest and button-up to feel his abdominal muscles flex with every shallow breath he took. He did his best to quickly undress, lifting the vest over his head before shaky hands began unbuttoning each adornment, finally shaking off the garment and exposing his bare chest.

You trailed your kisses down his neck, peppering lip prints across his chest, stopping periodically to suck and nip until dark red and purple bruises bloomed over his skin. You could tell he was holding back, front teeth biting into his bottom lip to stifle his sighs.

“Spencer, I need to hear you.” You bring your hand to a stop, waiting for him to release his lip from the bite before starting up your movements again. You brought your other hand down to cup his balls, gently massaging them as you increased your speed, rotating your wrist to maximize the stimulation against his increasingly sensitive shaft.

The moans and whimpers falling from his lips grew louder, his mind abandoning all inhibitions as his approaching orgasm clouded his judgment.

“You’re so loud, the rest of the band is in the bus right next to ours, do you want them to hear how big of a whore you’re being right now?” You teased, snapping him out of his love-drunk stupor.

“I-I thought you wanted me to-“ He stuttered out, brows furrowed in confusion.

“You’re right sweet boy, I want them to hear exactly how good I make you feel.” You cut him off, a wicked grin spread across your face as you focused your movements on the tip of his cock, your thumb smearing the pre-cum dripping from his slit all over the swollen head. His moan caught in his throat, breathing becoming increasingly labored until one final twist of your hand had him falling over the edge.

“Mommy!” He cried out, his thighs flexing as thick ropes of cum painted his stomach. You slowed your movements just slightly, milking him for all he has. You took your free hand and picked up some of his spend on your fingers before bringing them to his parted lips, prompting him to suck them clean. He does as he’s told, utterly shameless about everything he does for you.

“You’re such an obedient slut Spencer, I love it.” You praised, pulling him into another heated kiss. You pulled away, watching him catch his breath and look at you like you hung the stars in the night sky.

“I think you’re ready for me, if you’re up for it.” His eyes went wide at your proposal, his heart feeling as though it could beat right out of his chest.

“Yes, yes, I just need a minute.” He panted, his cock already semi-hard again.

“Take your time sugar, I’m gonna take a quick shower.” You patted his cheek before rising off of his lap and walking to the small bus bathroom, stripping out of your black latex mini dress and shredded fishnets to wash off the sweat and body shimmer from your time on stage tonight. You didn’t bother removing your makeup, too excited to finally have Spencer’s perfect cock inside of you to waste any time.

He didn’t need to know how badly you wanted him, the cat and mouse game the two of you played was unlike anything you’d ever had before and it beyond satisfied you to know how much power you willingly held over him, and how much pleasure you mutually received from it.

When you finished scrubbing down you made your way to your small bedroom at the back of the bus, finding Spencer ready and waiting for you on your bed. He was laying nude on top of the comforter, messy strands of hair resting against his forehead, pillow sitting in his lap as he propped himself up on his elbows to watch for you.

“You’re so beautiful.” He greeted you, watching as you rubbed body lotion over your skin. When you reached your chest, you spent a little extra time kneading the lotion into your breasts, putting on a bit of a show for him. He loved all of you, that much you were sure of, but he always had a special appreciation for your breasts.

He’d find any opportunity to lay his head on your chest while you laid in bed together on your off days, watching Doctor Who and nerding out over through lines and plot holes alike. It was days like those that had you really falling for him, your souls finding ways to both mesh with and contradict each other in a perfect harmony.

“You’re too sweet to me.” You smiled at him, rubbing the last bit of lotion into your skin before walking to the end of the bed. You reached forward, observing as his eyes went straight to your chest when you bent over to pull the pillow away from his lap. His cock stood straight up, bobbing slightly. A deep blush creeped over his cheeks, his shyness endearing, especially given that you had just had your hand wrapped around him twenty minutes ago.

“Do you want to be on top, sweetheart?” The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind, he just figured you’d be the one in control of the whole thing, but the thought of hovering over you, getting to have a perfect view of your hair all splayed out over the pillows, your face contorted in pleasure, had goosebumps rising over his skin.

“If that’s what you want.” He surrendered, always looking to please you. You nodded, climbing onto the bed to lay down, waiting for him to reposition himself between your legs. He knelt there, reaching to grab the pillow from the end of the bed, bringing it behind your thighs. You understood what he was silently requesting, lifting your hips to allow him to slide the pillow underneath.

“Where’d you learn that, wonder boy?” You giggled, propping yourself up by your elbows to watch him.

“I read that it can ease the tension on the lower back created by repeated movement during intercourse, I want you to be comfortable.” He explained, bleeding heart showing once again. You nodded, smiling at him. His fingers slid up your thigh, pausing at the apex before dipping into your folds, his digits welcomed by your warm arousal.

“Y-you’re so wet already.” The look of amazement on his face amused you, as if he was somehow completely unaware that you were, in fact, truly attracted to him.

“Spencer, believe it or not, I actually do enjoy our time together.” You teased, raising your knees to your chest to give him a better view of your cunt. His features softened, your joking easing his nerves as he prepared himself for what he was about to do.

“Can I start?” He asked, positioning his hips just above yours.

“Yes baby, go slow.” You locked eyes with him, pushing a strand of hair away from his face. He brought his cock to your cunt, rubbing the head through your folds before tapping it against your clit a few times, making absolutely positive that you were relaxed enough. He positioned his head at your entrance, slowly pushing forward until his head popped into your welcoming hole.

“Stop.” You commanded, voice firm. His eyes widened in panic, freezing his movements.

“W-what’s wrong? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” He rambled, fear in his tone.

“I’m okay Spencer, I just want you to stay like that until I say otherwise.” He could hear the amusement in your tone and although he was no longer concerned, confusion quickly replaced it.

“Why?” He questioned, apprehensively obeying your request.

“I’m just doing whatever I want, just like you asked me to. I want to see if you can resist your urges.” He was almost annoyed, knowing that this was another one of your power plays, but the shiver that ran up his spine told you he was enjoying this just as much as you were.

So he stayed there, wincing every time you clenched your pelvic muscles around his tip, trying to break him. You knew it wouldn’t work, he was the definition of obedient, but it was oh so fun to watch him squirm in anticipation. After a good five minutes you decided you’d had enough, ready to let him fill you.

“You are so deliciously pathetic.” You laughed lightly, pulling him down into a kiss. You felt him smile against your lips, his hand snaking up your stomach to grope your breast. Your nipple hardened against his palm, drawing a low moan from your throat.

“Move, Spencer.” You finally gave him permission, your hand tangling in his messy locks. He pushed further into you, his thick girth stretching your walls in a way that had you begging for more.

“So tight.” He moaned, pausing to just feel the way your pussy hugged him before pulling out and thrusting quickly back into you, his eyes shut tight in concentration.

“Look at me.” You moaned, needing to see the pleasure in his beautiful eyes. His eyelids fluttered open, catching your gaze as he found a steady rhythm inside of you. Each thrust of his hips made the filthiest sound, wet slapping skin mixing with both of your moans, his whines and whimpering music to your ears.

The pillow beneath you made for the perfect angle, allowing the veins on this cock to rub deliciously against your sweet spot. He grabbed the side of your face, his mouth practically devouring you as he swallowed your moans. When we pulled away, a string of spit connecting your lips fell to your chest, and without hesitation he dipped his head down to lick it up, repeating your earlier actions as me marked your chest, working his way to your breasts.

He increased his speed, pumping in and out of you at an animalistic pace, his mouth finding your nipple and sucking hungrily. You threw your head back into the pillows, your hands finding his back and your acrylics digging into his delicate skin. You scratched up his back, surely drawing blood and for a split second you worried you’d taken it too far, until he moaned loudly against your chest.

“I’m gonna cum.” He panted, shifting so his face was above yours again. He looked to you for permission, but you weren’t going to let him off that easily.

“No, not until you beg for it.” You told him, digging your nails into his back again. He slowed his pace just slightly, his free hand finding your clit and rubbing quickly over it, hoping it would soften your conviction just a little.

“Please let me cum, I need it.” He weakly pleaded, his actions growing increasingly desperate.

“Come on baby, I know you can do better than that.” You encouraged him, rocking your hips to meet his thrusts. He whimpered, hanging his head for a moment to center himself.

“Please Mommy!” He groaned, watching your tits bounce with every thrust.

“Do it, fill up Mommy’s cunt Spencer.” You finally allowed him to let go, getting in a few more hard thrusts before his hips stuttered, his cock twitching and coating your walls with his warm cum. The feeling of his warmth deep inside coupled with his hand on your clit sent you over the edge, every nerve in your body on fire as the tension in your core dispersed through your body, the pleasure washing over you in waves.

When you both came down from your highs, Spencer collapsed face down on the bed next to you, his head turned to face you.

“I love you.” He whispered, half hoping he’d said it low enough that you hadn’t heard.

“I love you too, Spence.” You returned the favor, any fear he had immediately dissipating with the mutual confession.

——

Tag List: @pleasantwitchgarden @lover-of-books-and-tea

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[centaurianthropology]

Oh man, I think the Circle of the Crimson Mirror might just be MY Candela circle. I enjoyed the goofy schlock horror with the Circle of the Vassal and the Veil, and really enjoyed the amping up of horror in The Circle of Needle and Thread (though the horrors of war theming was not specifically for me, it was still well done). I haven’t gotten to watch the Circle of Tide and Bone because life happened, but from what I’ve heard it was very good.

But I was laughing out loud with glee for the first episode of the Circle of the Crimson Mirror. All these characters are delightful. The setting is fascinating (starting out OUTSIDE of Newfaire and expanding the world was really fun), the theming of Irish folklore horror gives a folk horror mixed with cosmic horror vibe that I’m really excited for. And Liam is just the sort of ruthless DM that is perfect for a horror game. Because for me, keeping your players wrapped up in the horror, making them at least a little genuinely afraid (after talking through Lines and Veils of course) in a fun and contained way IS the heart of playing a horror game. It’s the same as watching a horror movie, in that you WANT to be scared, that’s part of the enjoyment, but in a horror game the fun is having it happen to you.

And both folk horror and cosmic horror are some of my favorite subgenres, so this is hitting all my favorite sorts of horror. And because it’s me, see below for my much longer thoughts about this first episode and the characters. Because I’ve never found a topic I enjoy that I can’t write an essay about.

Liam comes for everyone straight out of the gate, doesn’t he? While I found the train cold open in chapter 2 exciting, I found this even more harrowing. With NPCs we barely know constantly imperiled, all the investigators are really sketched so clearly right off the bat with their actions rather than their more open explanations later. I love that all of them lean heavily into being out of their depth, even sometimes making poor choices because of it. The players are aware they are in a horror game. The characters are not.

So let’s talk about those characters:

MALCOLM TRILLS

Imari Williams was the player at the table I had no prior experience with, and I love what he’s doing here. He puts his whole body into acting out the scene, even at the table. Even before we know he was a Sole Survivor of a massacre during the war (and I found it deeply entertaining that Imari couldn’t help but dump his backstory all over the floor. Liam’s gently encouraging everyone to hold it back for dramatic moments, and Imari is just so excited he’s like “NO! HERE IT IS!” not once but twice in the very first episode), we knew that. Because Imari is clearly dedicated to acting that out through what Malcolm chooses to do. He believes in saving others, especially after losing his entire squad. He has to do it, even (or maybe especially) for those civilians he doesn’t know. His entire point in being in Candela is saving people. So when Liam dunks two unnamed sailors in the ocean, Malcolm goes in. His friends are horrified. They love and value him, and they value him more than two randos. But to him, the randos are the point. Saving people is the point. So no matter how many disappointed dad-lectures he gets from Leo (and this is clearly not the first one he’s gotten), Malcolm is always going to be this way. He’s always going to try to play the hero in a horror setting, which is such a delicious choice for a horror player to make. Everyone at that table knows how perilous it is, but Imari is fully committed, and I love it.

We already know a lot of his background, but there are things we don’t know. We don’t know his relationship with his family, or why Leo is so disdainful of the Trills as a group. There seems to be an implication that the Trills are old money in Newfaire, perhaps, or at least a legendary family for other reasons. And apparently reckless heroism is a family trait. But what does Malcolm do in his day-to-day? He’s the one we don’t have a career or life for back in Newfaire yet, and I am interested to see who he is when he’s not playing the hero for Candela.

LEO AMICUS

I love the description of “I’m going to lie a little and say ‘early forties’” as an explanation for Leo’s age. It tells me a lot about his character right off the bat. We know he’s older (but not how much) and that he doesn’t want to admit he’s older. There’s just a touch of vanity already there, and given that he’s also a man in a dressing gown on a ship in a severe storm, who thinks that his presence is deeply inappropriate? Who asks if there’s a bar on a tramp steamer? We know so much about Leo already, and I love it all. Taliesin plays a dandy so well, his table reactions are so expressive, and it’s so clear that a setting like this is NOT where Leo shines. He shines in social situations, in parties and bars and places where his charms mean something beyond keeping a crewmember calm long enough that she can be knocked unconscious. But he’s so great in being totally overwhelmed and being useless in an action sequence.

And once the storm is over? We find out that Leo is very much the mother hen of the group (probably the oldest member). He knows Malcolm well, and treats Grimoria like a beloved niece. We haven’t gotten a lot of interactions between him and Edgar, but I’m excited to see what their relationship is like, as the two more cautious members of the group.

It was in his interactions with the other members of the circle that I realized how much like family this circle is. They are VERY close, despite ostensibly just being coworkers. There is such a deep care and concern for one another here and I love knowing how dangerous that also is in a horror game. And Leo is the one most open about his attachments here. We know he doesn’t have much blood family, and doesn’t talk to them. We know he looks at these people as his family.

And I love that, for that family, we see a REALLY different side of Leo. While he was overwhelmed and trying not to look at the blood on the boat, the second the Murphy girls (or whatever was masquerading as them) tried to murder Malcolm and the others, Leo was grabbing kitchen knives and trying to kill them. His perspective from his talk with Malcolm also remains consistent: you put your family first. When his family is threatened, meek Leo melts away and we have a man who will do whatever is necessary, kill whoever is necessary, or let anyone die to protect them. He seems to have few moral convictions, but an enormous amount of love, and that excites me for this character.

And I love that we actually know very little about him right now. We know he lives in Red Lamp (because of course he does) and that his apartment doubles as their chapterhouse. So he can be Team Dad at every meeting.

Also congrats to him for getting laid in the very first episode. Hot sailor dude propositions him, and Leo is all about that life. This Professional Man of Leisure is clearly gay catnip.

DR. EDGAR LYCORIS

I was so excited that Alex was finally going to be in a filmed Candela game (he was apparently one of the play-testers during its development, and it’s so clear he knows the rules). Dr. Lycoris is cool, calm, almost robotic in his presentation. He’s definitely a classic Alex character with his calm and his normal-guy-in-a-group-of-weirdos vibe (while secretly being very much a weirdo himself), and filled with casual competence and rudeness. But at the same time there are hints of how much he cares about this circle too. Him quietly calling Grimoria ‘Grim’ when she’s unconscious and he’s tending to her, telling her, “You can’t sleep forever, Grim,” in such a fond tone. The two of them clearly have some quiet history together, and there is a real softness between them that I’m excited to see them dig into as they get deeper into the game. There’s clearly a long-standing connection with Malcolm too, with both of them extremely aware of one another’s skills and weaknesses, working together seamlessly, especially in moments of extreme stress. I want to see more of these soft moments, these personal moments when his icy demeanor cracks, and I imagine we’re going to get plenty of them, given that THIS is how intense the first episode was.

He and Leo are the two characters we know the least about at this point. We know that Edgar is a surgeon working in the main hospital in Newfaire. We know that he is cool under pressure, and that he is both used to fighting (his immediate shift into using his scalpel as a precision weapon to go after arteries and tendons is such a nice touch for the character), but also can really be shocked by sudden violence (I love that he totally freezes after THAT happened to Declan’s mother). He states that he wears nice and fashionable clothing, but the clothing is almost wearing him rather than the other way around, like someone picked them out for him. I want to know who that other person is (is it Leo???). I want to know who he is when he’s not trying to wear what other people expect of him.

I am so excited to get to know Dr. Lycoris.

GRIMORIA

Likely a stage name, and I do wonder if we'll get her birth name, or if that even matters to her at this point. Mechanically, I am thrilled to see a Candela player try to homebrew a multiclass in this system. She’s essentially gone for a Medium/Magician hybrid. We know she works as a procurer of esoteric artifacts. She performs shows with smoke bombs, so likely is a stage magician, and that she has been able to channel spirits since she was a small child.

And we know that she’s 18. In a group in which consists of a man who is at least in his mid-forties, a man who is 32, and a man who is a surgeon (so has at least obtained advanced training, and is probably in his late twenties at minimum, and is likely in his thirties given the hints that he served as a battlefield surgeon during the war), Grimoria is YOUNG. Absurdly so. The guys care about her in a different way than they do one another. They look out for her in subtle ways, though are all very careful not to treat her as a child. The softness between her and Edgar is reflected in the overtly familial way that Leo talks to her, treating her like a very clever niece, but also the person he finds the most calming in the group. It’s fun to see that, even though he treats her as his relative, he doesn’t treat her as a child. She’s the one he goes to when he needs to clear his head. He just wants to listen to her read aloud. He finds talking with her soothing, and it’s clear why. She has a good head on her shoulders, and is rising to the occasion, so while he is caring for her, he also intrinsically understands her need to care for him as well. And Aimee really sells that in-between nature of being 18. It’s such a great portrayal of someone on the verge of being an adult, but not quite there yet. Someone her friends want to care for, but also want to treat like an adult and like any other member of the group. There is a tension in those relationships purely because of her age.

I also like that she’s the most pure investigator of the group. She’s the one who pushes for information, who has a burning desire to KNOW. And that’s a great flaw and danger for a character in a horror setting. The desire for knowledge in cosmic horror is so dangerous. Her willingness to channel spirits right off the bat is dangerous. She is, in her own quieter way, just as reckless as Malcolm and I love to see it. Aimee is throwing herself into this, playing a character who doesn’t know she has limits let, and is eager to push every boundary. I can’t wait to get to know her even more.

CONCLUSIONS

I love that we have two cautious characters and two reckless characters. I love that we have a balance, and we have a group that instantly portrays exactly how close they all are to one another. We’re not sure how these bonds were forged, but they are so well portrayed and so clear. These people love one another. They would do terrible things for one another, and I can’t wait to see what they go through together.

Count me very excited and very eager for next month’s addition to their story (and count me already sad we only get three episodes with them).

[themattress]

So I've always had a fondness and appreciation for Jadeite, the Starter Villain of Sailor Moon, but for a long time he was the least popular of the Shittenou (Four Heavenly Kings) by far. Only in recent years has he become more appreciated, matching and sometimes even passing Kunzite in many polls. For a while, I didn't quite get it: yeah, he's pretty nondescript in the manga and has a stock villainous personality in the anime lacking the nuances and dynamics with others that his colleagues have, but he's so entertaining as a villain! It's fun to see what variation on the same scheme and which thing to lure in humans he pulls, it's fun to see him dress up in disguises Team Rocket style, and it's fun to see him being such a smug asshole who ends up falling from grace and getting more and more frustrated as a result.

But now, I have finally identified the problem. His voice.

For years, the Sailor Moon fan community dealt primarily in the subbed original Japanese version of the 90s anime. And as you can hear above, Masaya Onosaka's performance is....not great. He was a fresh new voice actor at the time of casting (something not true of literally every other Dark Kingdom villains' casting) and it shows in the way he delivers Jadeite's lines. It's smug and villainous, yes, but there's no (ironically enough) ENERGY to it. There's no oomph, nothing that takes advantage of the material and elevates it into being something particularly enjoyable to hear. Fans saw Jadeite as just a bland villain because, well, he sounds like just a bland villain. Even his evil laugh sounds astonishingly half-assed!

Now, obviously Onosaka improved as a voice actor overtime. But his Jadeite sucked. Daisuke Kishio voices Jadeite in Sailor Moon Crystal, and he sounds better. He'd have to deepen his voice a little to be Jadeite from the 90s anime, but he's got the talent to do that.

The DiC dub of the 90s may be a butchery of the source material, but Tony Daniels as Jadeite...er, "Jedite", understood the assignment. He was also a fresh new voice actor but he knew that his character should sound like a campy, sneering supervillain and relish his wicked lines. He also did much better conveying a sense of desperation when faced with setbacks, defeat and ultimately execution. Those screams at the end actually sound real.

And then we have Todd Haberkorn, voicing Jadeite in the Viz dub of the 90s anime and its dub of Sailor Moon Crystal. He is, IMO, the absolute best Jadeite voice: not only does he make his performances for each version sound distinct (with the former sounding deeper, harsher and more villainous while the latter is higher pitched and more immature sounding which makes it easy to switch over to good once he's cleansed), but he is especially fantastic for 90s anime Jadeite. He sounds like Daniels if he toned down the ham while amping up the douche, making Jadeite sound like the kind of overconfident, pretentious, misogynistic jerk you want to deck in the face. And he's just as perfect at selling his anger and, in the end, his fear. He reads the same lines as Onosaka, but he gives them so much more character.

(4:12 is the best part, btw. I literally expected "Foiled again!" to follow. :P)

[boltlightning]

hey gamers. the dead man’s chest soundtrack has been rolling around my head a lot lately; the extended soundtrack from this playlist has been a godsend. specifically i want to gush about the instrumentation.

the potc soundtracks use a standard orchestra composition, focusing on strings and brass and less on woodwinds. DMC introduces the kraken and davy jones, who are associated with davy jones’ organ (of course) and — well. hans zimmer went nuts and recorded the orchestra, then piped that recording back over the music through a guitar amp. it sounds uncannily like an electric bass (and yes, a guitar now and then), so for our purposes i am going to say it sounds like electric bass with CRUNCHY reverb. it seems a little counterintuitive to associate ancient and cursed beings with more modern, experimental sounds, but altogether it creates this delightful, otherworldly, primordial rock band feel.

let’s take the track from when we first meet davy jones, dutchman arrival, for instance. it gives us a touch of that electric bass underneath jones’ theme when the sailors first show up, then pivots to normal orchestration as will is fighting. HE doesn’t know who they are, only that they’re odd — and when jones shows up finally, you get the bass holding that melody all on its own, this terrifying, growling refrain that sounds like it’s seething just under the surface. an undercurrent…a heartbeat, perhaps.

hold onto that thought. let’s move on. davy jones and his organ. jones having something as dramatic, expensive, and dominating as an organ on his ship speaks to how authoritative his character is — he’s playing his self-pitying music while his crew is breaking their backs to keep this awful ship sailing. he plays it solo, then the entire orchestra joins in, and beneath it all…the thrum of a heart. the melody of jones’ theme fits lock-and-key with the beat of a heart. here, everything is orchestral, but we’ve added the warm tones of choral voices under it all, like this is a horrible waltz that everyone aboard is doomed to keep dancing. and then it spirals into discordant chaos.

as a bonus: pipe organs have the countermelody playing with foot pedals, usually. imagine jones and his peg leg playing this kind of shit while the squid beard tickles the keys

i also L O V E the chorus humming in the back half of the whipping scene. it makes my skin crawl.

this all builds to the second kraken attack, the attack that introduces the viewer to the kraken in person. just…the constant buzz of the bass under these insane, warning low brass flourishes. the guitar-alike sound is in full force here and drapes this growly, eerie echo over the entire score. just when you hit the natural apex of the song, when you think you might reach some sort of musical resolution, it cuts out for a caesura — and bursts back in with the organ melody, huge and overwhelming over it all, as the kraken FULLY CRACKS A SHIP IN HALF. just in case you forgot who made this all happen. this is the EXACT way a heroic theme would triumphantly emerge in any classical piece of work. eat your heart out, holst.

the way jones’ theme is reprised with horns in the ship to ship score is so chilling too. it’s played in will's instrument after all! it's this teeny little bit of hope, a sign the pearl might get away — yet it’s getting lost in all the tenor voices just to really remind you how hopeless this all is. and then everything drops away and jones’ theme fully emerges in the low bass; it’s raunchy and nasty and so, so scary. god. what a score.

they do such a good job with the themes, even without visuals it’s so easy to tell who is on screen doing what in any of the tracks from the wheel of fortune section (specifically heart madness on the extended soundtrack). if there’s soaring brass and string stings, you know local romance heroes will and norrington are trying to kill each other on the wheel. if it’s quiet with a plucky little string soli, low reeds, and snare accents, you know jack is doing some shenanigans off to the side. if there’s deep and growling bass and organ swells, it’s elizabeth and pintel and ragetti racing against the crew of the dutchman for the heart.

in particular there’s this delightful bit in the track immediately preceding it, 3-way sword fight, where the melody starts and stops as all three dudes with swords are getting their footing on the various precarious places they take their fight. it builds and builds, and soon the melody is getting juggled by three different groups of instruments as elizabeth gets drawn into the fight too. talk about chaos.

on a related, but more lowkey character note: i ADORE that beckett’s associated instrument is the harpsichord. you only hear it a little bit in the track when will is bargaining with beckett. the harpsichord immediately puts you in the mind of aristocratic england; it was a household instrument back then, it’s plausibly an instrument beckett could play himself! it’s particular, but at the same time it’s subtle. it’s not dominating. he’s a new player in the game with a unique position, and damn does he know how to play the game.

and FINALLY. to compare beckett to someone ostentatious in a much different way: jack is associated with two themes, summed up perfectly in this track. this big, great, sweeping, seafaring melody we know and love, with regimented snare drum and timpani, the whole nine yards. it invokes jack’s reputation, the captain in his title…and then it fades to that stupid little soli, the gremlin trickster we all know and love.

yet compare that track with this demo of the same themes — it’s the exact same music, just with a solo piano, and it sounds so moody, even when the key and tempo pick up. THAT’S the power of instrumence baby! the texture, timbre, and context of any given melody changes the weight and impact, even if the notes are exactly the same. 

finally finally: i hope the timpani player finds a million dollars every day in the street.

ok. phew. this soundtrack makes me want to go learn cello and i needed to get that out of my system. thanks for coming to my tedtalk.

[real-life-senshi]

10 (Mostly) Spoiler-Free Reasons to Watch Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 2003 Live Action

A countdown to the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Reason 5: The captivating story!

Ultimately, I would say the live-action stayed true to the essence and intention of the original source material when concerning the Dark Kingdom arc.

I’m choosing to use the word “essence” though, because it is also factual that in multiple aspects, the story does diverge from its source material, but with the intention of further amping up the stakes and angst for drama, and possibly even pulling in elements from story arcs beyond the manga’s Dark Kingdom arc into the one season we (sadly) only have.

Sometimes those differences could be due to limitations of CGI and execution methods in real-life filming, while others could be due to updating the content to appeal to the newer generations of viewers in the early 2000s.

Regardless of what's faithful or not faithful to original source material, I think PGSM did really well striking a balance of making it a kid’s show, and also adding some complexities to appeal to viewers who were kids or teenagers that grew up reading the manga or watching the '90s anime, who would be in their late teens or adulthood or even parenthood by the time the live-action aired.

Warning: Going forward these series of posts will contain minor spoilers to introduce some live-action only elements. It will only be at the introductory level though!

Staying true and delving deeper into source materials

Personally, I can’t speak much to the ’90s anime, but I can confirm the live-action pulls many elements from the manga source material where possible. Here are just a few:

Introducing the Sailor Senshi!

The story of how Usagi and Ami discovered their Senshi power largely follows the same story, while Rei and Makoto's intro episodes heavily reference the original manga chapter and use the same theme behind the attacks that lead to them accessing their transformation. There's no magic bus to whisk victims away in Rei's case, and there's no wedding dress ghost story in Makoto's, probably due to the feasibility of recreating those scenes.

The Forbidden Love & the Past Life lore

The live-action definitely deep-dived into the 'forbidden love' concept when it came to Usagi and Mamoru, and further created a whole complexity of the storyline to justify WHY it's forbidden. In the manga/anime, it felt like the idea of their forbidden love was purely political and mostly glossed over since the past life kingdoms were dead, but in the live-action, there were actual stakes and consequences to consider even for the present.

And the ABSOLUTE MOST AMAZING THING and by far my favourite twist to the live-action storyline is they actually ventured into exploring the impact of making teenagers soldiers of war! There is actually ample screen time and dialogues AND monologues dedicated for us to see individual Senshi AND the team together grappling with the pros and cons and exploring both extreme sides of the need to follow the past life mission to avert tragedy regardless of the sacrifices made, versus the necessity of making one's choice and finding ways to live in the present in spite of the past life lore! Do they support Usagi's and Mamoru's love for each other or not???? Do they know for sure whether their love WILL cause misfortune again or not or can they trust Usagi to know what she's doing????? FASCINATING AND ANGSTY STUFF RIGHT THERE!

Rei’s Personality

More as an FYI, but Rei’s personality is much more similar to the manga Rei’s personality, instead of ‘90s anime Rei. More cool beauty and calm, less aggressively hotheaded and abrasive. And very importantly, NOT boy-crazy.

New, original dramatic elements

On the other hand, here are some live-action exclusive dramatic elements that I'd like to highlight:

Aino Minako the idol

Even many who haven't watched the series would have heard about how Minako's character is drastically changed in the live-action. Indeed, Minako is an acclaimed teenage idol and singer with best-selling songs in the show!

It's basically as if the live-action screenwriter pulled in the Outer Senshi elements from the Mugen arc into Minako's character: she's famous, experienced, and serious. Minako has full access to past life knowledge and is ultimately mission-driven like Haruka and Michiru are in the Mugen arc, which causes some of her decisions to maybe not be as morally white as we'd expect her to be (I think her costume style of white and black is a nice nod to the idea of her double life and her sense of moral).

Now, that's not to say live-action Minako is completely a new character, you can certainly see manga/anime Minako's character traits here and there if you pay attention - pun-loving, prank-loving, mischievous. For god's sake, the girl named her album Venus, and one of her most iconic songs is called C'est La Vie, which sounds exactly like "Sailor V" pronounced in Japanese. Just imagine this girl playing a vigilante life, and having a chuckle every time she sings her best-selling song that basically announces her identity to the world and no one realizes. lmao

Basically, Minako's character embodies the extreme result of what happens if a teenager is burdened with all the knowledge of the Past Life war and has the weight on her shoulders while working alone.

If you can get past Minako's changed character setting in the live-action, you'll find there are still plenty of Dark Kingdom arc manga/anime Minako elements in there, just some more exaggerated while others are more subtle. (Coz to be fair, Minako didn't start becoming Usagi's twin until after the Dark Kingdom arc.) And her relationship with Artemis is absolutely heartwarming to see in the live-action.

Who's in the wrong? Who's an ally, and who's not?

While our Senshi team is clearly the heroine, and the Dark Kingdom the villains, the live-action takes a more interesting take on what's considered "good" versus "evil", and more importantly, who's in the wrong on how things ended badly in the past life. Who is actually the person the Senshi needs to protect the world from? And that drives the story into a direction that is more complex than what you'll ever find in manga or anime, and certain characters react accordingly and act more grey than black or white - from both the heroine side and the villain side!

Shitennou & Endymion

Something we didn't really get to see as much in the manga and anime, while we know who the Shitennou are, we don't really see the Shitennou and Mamoru interacting until after they... became their name-sake rocks (okay, technically, GEMS). And we don't get many hints on what their past live relationships were, so for many years fans have taken to pen/paper/tablets/keyboard and filled the gaps with their amazing imagination and creative work instead.

In the live-action, we get a much more expansive and interesting take in seeing the Shitennou - technically still under the Dark Kingdom's influence, interact with Mamoru as they all grapple with what happened in the past life.

How would the prince's ex-guardians act seeing their master again? How would Mamoru react? Choosing to accept his responsibility for his past life or not? After all, they had such fond memories of arm-wrestling each other! (Spoiler alert: Nephrite won.) :P

I must once again emphasize that I love what they did with the Shitennou's characters and gave each of them a different story trajectory. They are written so well they pull at your heartstrings!

If you want some canon-material for writing the Shitennou in the age of Elysion Kingdom, definitely give the live-action a go!

Power up! The Senshi Needs Training

Because the live-action only gets one arc, there's no room for us to see the Senshi team (conveniently) get upgraded transformation like they do in each arc in manga or anime. Instead, the live-action takes a different, and I dare say, a more realistic approach, where the Senshi learns that their initial access to their transformation isn't the full access to their powers as they expected. They are put through some legit, and some questionable training of the body, mind and spirit, and each of them has to overcome something within themselves across the series to access their power!

This approach highlights and solidifies each Senshi's strengths AND ties in really well into the girls' character development throughout the series. As well, it makes it feel like the Senshi did have to put in work to get strong and gain access to their power, instead of relying on the plot to get them new powers at the right opportune time, seemingly out of the blue.

Remember: THEY ARE IN SCHOOL!

Yep, sometimes in the manga and in the anime, it's so easy for us to forget that the Senshi are kids in school when they are in the thick of a crisis or fighting evil. Somehow, it always seems quite clean and convenient that the Senshi could separate their school life and their heroine life, doesn't it? How the responsible adults in the world may wonder... "Gosh, where did that kid go in the middle of [insert context]????" Or for a fellow peer in school to wonder - "How the hell did this random group of girls come together like an odd band?"

The live-action takes time to make room for some reality checks in their episodic storylines to explore all the different repercussions our heroine's double (or triple) life has on their normal life, and with that ties in personable and relevant topics and themes into their episodic plots:

Family relationship

Peer relationship

Romantic relationships

Moments that remind everyone how awkward and tough it is to be a teenager.

The toll of lying through your teeth to keep a secret, etc

I cannot emphasize enough that the screenwriting is superb in the series! Not one thing is referenced only once and left out the window, everything that happened builds up into a moment of learning or lasting impact for our characters!

To people who've not watched the live-action, PLEASE GIVE IT A CHANCE! At least give it 6 episodes, and you'll probably be hooked!

You can watch the subbed versions of the series at:

Miss Dream Fansubs

Sea of Serenity Fansubs

The series is also on other online streaming sites, but be cautious to only visit them with good adware and firewall installed.

6 days till the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |

[mahou-furbies]

Once again it is time for

This year's event will be hosted by mahou Zeldas, because I've been spending a lot of time in Hyrule this year.

Mahou anime of the year:

(Futari Wa Precure Splash Star, Yes! Precure 5, Yes! Precure 5 GoGo, Smile Precure!, Mahou Tsukai Precure!, Hirogaru Sky Precure!, Otona Precure, Tokyo Mew Mew New s2, Magical Destroyers, Zettai Bouei Leviathan, Petite Princess Yucie, season movies for Splash Star, Yes5, Yes5 GoGo, Smile & Delicious Party, Crossover movie for Fresh Precure!)

Then the stuff I read:

(Saint Tail, Stellar Witch Lips, Magical Girl Tsubame, W.i.t.c.h. reboot, Smile Precure novel, Null Magical Girl, Magia Record Scene Zero)

I also keep up with what kind of designs Magia Record releases though I don't play it or otherwise follow the story.

Extremely Precure year this time around though that was not intentional, usually I only manage one backlog season per year. But I started with Smile, and then we were hit with the news that we'd have a Yes5/Splash Star sequel in autumn, and in preparation for that I had to power through some 150 episodes for the original series. And then I somehow ended up watching all of Mahou Tsukai in less than 2 weeks. And then there was Otona as well of course.

Now there's only three backlog seasons left, and they should be doable in a year if the Mahou Tsukai sprint is of any indication, though we'll see how that goes. I'd like to take a look at other similar shows too (like Doremi and Sailor Moon) but I want to clear Precure first before moving to the next thing.

The W.i.t.c.h. reboot was also a thing this year, which seems to have come and went with a thud. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to it, but... well it wasn't particularly good. I guess it can pick up of there's more to the story.

For the first time I've followed a Magia Record (game) story, with Scene Zero. The format is difficult but I am interested, so it's possible I'll look into more MagiReco stories once Scene Zero is over. The game has so many cute characters so I'd certainly like to know more about them.

This year I also took part in ArtFight and did some mostly mahou themed OC art, which was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to doing the same next year as well if they host the event again.

Now onto the awards!

Best henshin design goes to Cure Sky! Blue lead Cure aside this is a top tier magical girl design, and that is mostly thanks to the cape, especially the red inside and yellow fringe. It looks so majestic! But being a half-cape prevents her from looking too stuffy. The thin twintails also look great with the cape in action shots. And of course she is also stupidly cute.

Also a shoutout to Saint Tail's simple but very effective look with a rarely seen colour scheme.

Best team design goes to Stellar Witch Lips! Similar enough to be a team but everyone has their own take on the theme, black makes for a good base colour and the sparkly tops look amazing.

Best powerup design goes to Cure Felice's Alexandrite form! She looks so regal and powerful, truly a nature goddess!

Best civilian design goes to Cure Sky in general! I just like her practical style and the clothes look all comfy.

Best hair goes to Junia! It looks so soft and poofy and her pastel colour palette makes everything even cuter.

Best magical item goes to the tiara and amulets in Petite Princess Yucie! They aren't that special to be honest but I'm always ready for magical items that don't look like cheap plastic toys.

Best henshin scene goes to Cure Sky! A lot of dynamic animation, the tinted split screen at the end is fresh for Precure, the modulation in the middle amps up the power, the dark background makes everything a little bit cooler, and the cape flip and wings at the end just look amazing.

Best fan creation goes to ArtFight in general! It was my first time participating, and getting to draw other people's ocs on a low threshold was great, and obviously receiving a ton of art of my own ocs felt amazing.

Best relationship goes to the group in Petite Princess Yucie! I really like how the side characters have distinct relationships with each other and not just the main character, and how not everyone gets along all the time (or most of the time with Glenda and Elmina). The fact that they're also rivals makes things more interesting and everything culminates successfully in the power of friendship in the end.

Best mascot goes to Saki's cat Korone! Not exactly a traditional Precure mascot but he does become more mascot-like towards the end. Absolute unit of a cat, gets a funny deep voice and even lands a hit on the final boss, and most importantly isn't annoying.

Best supporting character goes to Kintoleski from Splash Star! He's a pretty simple character but I like villains who are honourable and polite, and he managed to be consistently funny as well.

Best visual goes to Stellar Witch Lips! The story wasn't really anything to write home about but the ultra cute and sparkly art is just magical.

Best audio goes to Updradft Shining bgm! It's surprisingly epic for such an early series attack and it'd be cool if the franchise used music like this more.

A honourable mention to Tsubasa's eagle sound effect in the Majestic Halation attack, Mabayu's (MagiReco) silly "nuwawawa" scream of pain in a decidedly serious scene, and every "Haa!" from Ha-chan.

Best scene goes to the separation and reunion scene from Mahou Tsukai Precure! Or I guess that's more like half of an episode. Really impressive how they spent so much time on pretty low-key character stuff like this.

Honourable mention to the big battle towards the end of Petite Princess Yucie.

The Innovation award is given to a magical girl work that I think does something fresh for the genre. This year it goes to Hirogaru Sky! Precure for having a boy Cure, an adult Cure and most importantly a non-pink lead Cure! Which isn't particularly notable for the genre as a whole but a gigantic achievement for this franchise. Hopefully it wasn't just a 20 year celebratory fluke and we'll see more variety in the future too.

The Golden Mana award is the prize given to one thing I didn't like.

This year it goes to the henshin forms in Otona Precure, or more specifically the way it did absolutely nothing about them. No adults-as-magical girls, no new looks as 14-year-olds, and not even a new powerup form for the final finisher. Boo! I'm not really saying that the show is required to include new forms just because I wanted it or because it's common in the genre, but that would definitely have made me a lot more forgiving of its many other flaws. And this is my list so I get to complain about my preferences.

Dishonourable mention to Nozomi's catchphrase in Yes5 and GoGo for exemplifying the selfish and pushy aspect of pink heroines like this that often goes uncriticised.

Best character goes to Cure Sky! In addition to the excellent character design she also has a fun personality, "earnest dumbass" is a great combo, and her determination is just great. I also like that she isn't super girly for once. The story of Hirogaru isn't that good so Sora too is held back from having a truly awesome story, but as a character she is still enjoyable enough.

Best work goes to Petite Princess Yucie! It has fun characters, great designs, good group dynamics, interesting world and a really strong ending. It's a shame they don't seem to do kids' anime like this nowadays?

Plans for 2024

Onwards to 2024! I swear this year I'm going to continue with MagiPro, I've been stuck at volume 7 for several years.

[opencharacters]

I just learned about this movie The Dragon Lives Again released in 1977 where Bruce Lee (not played by Bruce Lee) goes to hell and meets a bunch of characters and has to fight Dracula, James Bond, The Wicked Witch of the West, Carrie White among others despite many not even being public domain at the time.

He gets help from the one armed swordsman from the shaw brothers film and popeye the sailor

No idea if the movie is good or not but that sounds like a hoot

i found it on the internet archive

[bouncingkadachi]

Lute and Ratha1 Headcanons

Mostly cobbled together from the vibes I get from them in where I currently am in game (Geo-Fulkright), and what I hope is happening with him in the timeskip and through what's going on in MHST2.

Lute

local mountain child off the see the world (voluntarily)

His parents were craftsmen and so weren't bound to the Riders' Code of never being able to leave the village. Unfortunately, they passed away when Lute was very young, so rather than recalling the exact details of stories from the outside world that they would have surely told him, he just has a fierce longing for it that he can't quite explain properly.

Loves a good city walk whenever he gets to a new place. He wants to see all the popular spots and eat the local cuisine. His coinpurse is always a little flat from buying souvenirs to send back to his friends.

His base state of being is that of a real easy-going sort of fellow. It has somehow been amped up since living in Reverto's house in Gildegaren. This initially distressed Popola, who already has to deal with ONE Reverto, but thankfully Lute seems chronically incapable of staying home long enough to create a messy house.

Since Reverto moved to Lulucion, Lute's taken over Reverto's house in Gildegaren as his base of operations when he's in the city. You can tell when he's in town because his Velocidrome can be found at the harbor, trying to convince the sailors to slip him a treat.

"Mr. Lute can you please stable your dinosaur?" "Oh my bad, let me get on that right now." Now repeat this process multiple times a day. The Velocidrome is having a refreshing drink in the town fountain. It is what it is.

Can cook and is quite good at it!

Used to be a crybaby as a child. He doesn't cry nearly as much nowadays, but he's definitely the most open about showing when he's down when compared to Lilia and Cheval.

Lent his Viper Bite to Cheval when the latter was investigating a Nergigante in Terga. There's a decorative eye on it, see? It'll be like he's also there taking in the sights.

He does try to maintain a neater hairstyle just because he's on the go so often and it annoys him when it gets all over the place (he truly does not understand how Cheval handled it free for so long). But he's also a bit vain and didn't want to cut it all short, so he maintains a fade and lets the rest grow long enough to be tied back. Now he looks "stylishly windswept."

He looks scrawny but there's a shocking amount of weight behind his punches. Please I hope we can punch Cheval I didn't get to punch Kyle and I still feel robbed of that let me punch the rival.

Wears modified Arzuros armor if he's not dressed down in his Hakum village wear. (I am trying to see how far I can get without changing armors because I just like the look of it the best OK)

It won't be until he's older that he can freely admit that he didn't take Cheval seriously enough when the latter first started talking about leaving the village. He thought that it was in line with Lilia, who was thinking about her future options and daydreaming of the big wide world, like he did. It makes Lute uncomfortable to consider how his venture out of Hakum Village would have been like if he had been more attentive to Cheval, mostly because he's not confident that he would have looked for Cheval with any more urgency even if he had.

Ratha

The Black Blight has stunted his growth. Spending the better part of a year and a half living on his own while attempting to suppress the Blight has also upped his naturally aggressive tendencies. Fully grown, he's a small gold crown.

Always walks behind Lute's right shoulder so that Lute covers his blind side. His hearing is also a bit muffled on that side after taking Dr. Manelger's attack head on, so it's reassuring to have his Rider there.

Always curls up counter-clockwise to cover his blind side.

Occasionally plops down next to Lute when they're out camping so that he can drop his head into Lute's lap. He's making up for a year and a half's worth of lost snuggles.

Popular with the sailors at Gildegaren port, who love to rib him about that time he dropped in and caused havoc among the cargo.

Deeply distrusts Nargacuga

Enjoys making Cheval's life difficult as payback for the Incidents he'd been put through, much to Rathi's exasperated ire.

Loves a cuddle with Rathi, when circumstances permit.

[themarginalthinker]

You know, I think one of the few questions that Dracula raises that we don't get an answer for, but that is also I think non-diagetic anyway, is Lucy's sleepwalking.

Dracula came to Whitby AFTER Lucy had started sleepwalking; she'd been doing it for a while even before Dracula was ever on English soil. So like. What was up with that. Was it a natural quirk of Lucy's that he just took advantage of when he decided to stalk her, or does it have no other explanation other than Stoker wanting to amp up the growing sense of unease in the story. (Which does work, I'm not critiquing that.)

If it's his influence, why is it Lucy in particular, and how the hell is he managing it from so far away? Is he just that strong? Is stuffing himself on sailors just amplifying his Dracula radar??

[i-left-my-room-tidy]

+also can you recommend techniques or kekkei genkai i’d really appreciate it

[thanks for this ask!]

I'm assuming you're the same person who asked about the OP thing as well lmao. I'd be happy to recommend some stuff!

my own kekkei genkai in my Naruto DR are really just the sharingan and shikotsumyaku, as my father was an uchiha and my mother was a kaguya. i just looked at a list of all the canon abilities and shot for the strongest, most coveted ones.

but! if you need some ideas for a kekkei genkai of your own, here are some of the ones I've come up with, in the past!

[lmao btw i wrote this list like almost two years ago don't come for me if it sounds silly, and my apologies if it's a bit short]

≿❈≾

(1) TIME-BASED ABILITIES

i always thought it'd be interesting if there was something that allowed users to manipulate space and time, exactly like how tobirama and minato were able to utilise a space-time jutsu. why not be able to do both separately? maybe you could have an ability where you could see rifts in time, allowing you to glimpse past or future events; which is especially useful for intel and sabotage.

on that note, the inspiration for this was the sharingan's izanagi, izanami, and kamui abilities.

- - -

(2) LUMINOKINESIS

i was rewatching Arcane when this came to me. i remembered one of LoL's cinematics for Wild Rift (the one with the teams on the battlefield), and thought of Lux. then i thought of Iridessa, one of the Disney fairies, and that one Tinker Bell movie where they all accidentally switched powers. and then i thought, wouldn't light manipulation be such an OP ability?

something like prismatic refraction could allow you to create illusions, project blinding beams, or even bend light to make yourself invisible. it's ideal for stealth. but at the same time, you could even use it offensively—similar to how Superman shoots fuckin' laser beams out of his eyes, or how Usagi (Sailor Venus) creates said beams of light to attack enemies.

- - -

(3) AVATAR-INSPIRED ABILITIES

i cannot stress this one enough!!! take literally any power you could from Avatar: the Last Airbender or Avatar: the Legend of Korra—and amp it up to the max! all of my abilities in my Naruto DR have been based mostly on these two shows, with the occasional inspiration from other fandoms of course, but really these two. the elemental manipulation, along with the 'specialisations' are not only fucking cool to use—they're also incredibly useful in mundane situations (in the DR, at least). I'm pretty sure I've made posts about those shenanigans in the past lmfao.

at that, consider these, if ever: metallokinesis, plasma manipulation, astral projection, geokinesis, and atmokinesis.

- - -

(4) INSPIRATION FROM OTHER FANDOMS

the ones I've listed above are honestly just my own favourite abilities, and the ones that quickly came to mind as i was writing this. but those are just a portion of the vast majority that you could find from other sources! there are countless more to consider, abilities that might not necessarily be included in the world of Naruto itself but still something very much to consider. who doesn't love a good crossover? i know i do. hell, I've even used some of my own Naruto DR abilities in my HP/GoT DR.

i really recommend parsing through other cartoons, comics, movies, and et cetera. and if not that, then at least check their wiki pages. Fandom is always your friend. sometimes, when i browse through fanfics on FFNet or AO3, i see things that i like (powers that a character has, for example, or situations that they land themselves into)—things that stick with me, which i note down for future reference. and when the time comes, i could use it for my own experiences.

≿❈≾

much love, and happy shifting ❤️❤️❤️

[redlittlefoxari]

9 people you want to know better

Tagged by: @paganwitchisis

Three ships: Astarion X Tav (or OC), Edward X Winery (FMA), and My husband X Me. Or if that doesn't count Kia X payden (powerless series)

First ship: Tuxsedo mask X sailor moon

Last song listened to: Pink Poney club (I sing it to my dog and we get amped up)

Last movie watched: Puss’n boots and the last wish. (yes I haven't watched a movie since 2022)

Currently reading: Gild by Raven Kennedy, One Dark Window by Rachel Gilling and Pucking Around by Emily Rath. (I read many books at the same time depending on my mood)

Currently Watching: Nothing. Unless tik toks count.

Currently eating: Shepherds pie

Currently craving: Fruit.

TAG: As far as tagging people I’ll have to hop on my computer to to that since I have no idea who I want to tag and require looking at a list.

Anyway I hope this helps people get to know my better! If you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask my inbox is always open and I love responding to people :)

Here’s a photo to my dog (mochi) and cat (pancake) snuggling.

[omegaremix]

September 15 & 16, 2022.

Cold Waves X. It was a four-month wait from purchase to admission. I owed it to myself to go because goddamn it I’m a fucking industrialist. How should I even miss an opportunity to go to Brooklyn’s Warsaw and be around my type of people that are almost non-existent on Long Island? Plus, Paul Barker, Chris Connelly, and Front 242 would be there. It would be the third and final show of the year I’d attend, capping off a amazing run that started with Boy Harsher in April and continued with Sacred Bones 15th Anniversary (May).

Never had I traveled to New York City on back-to-back days. But the money spent on tickets and round-trip train fare was doubly worth it. I was met with two almost-perfect days of blue skies, white clouds, and nice leveled temperatures. Two days of driving westward on the Long Island Expressway, down Sagtikos Parkway, through Southern State to Rt. 231, and heading south to Rt. 27A to the Babylon stop to Penn Station with alphabet and number lines back and forth to boot, followed by breezy night drives down 27A and Sunrise Highway / Rt. 27 at 3AM. A sense of perfect pitch-black quiet and normalcy waited at the end as a response to two days of unforgettable acts.

No journey to Brooklyn and back wasn’t without being drenched in heavy sweat traversing through subway lines, race-walking on the broken concrete, and standing in one spot for five hours. I’d meet an older gentleman in his Seventies who, like me on Friday’s half, wore a Killing Joke shirt. His debut album to my “Turn To Red”. I’d meet some pretty interesting characters at the stations including a Tommy Conte look-a-like smootching his boyfriend, an Asian girl in a purple dress who’s thigh was bloodied and bandaged, hot wicked pale leatherettes, and a boyfriend who boarded the ‘E’ line with his girlfriend who was literally covered with deep red hickeys from neck to chest.

It was an event incomparable to the Sacred Bones’ showcase before it, or the ten-hour endurance test that was Hospital Productions’ 20th Anniversary. A double-headed victory, nonetheless. And I have the tracklist to prove it:

Male Tears: “Dealer”

Bedbug: “Songs About Ghosts”

Gauche: “Cycles”

Smash Your Enemies: “Faithless”

Courtney Love (indie): “Stripmine”

Axe Rash: “Bury Your Way Out”

Curse Mackey: “After You, Destruction”

Ducks Ltd.: “Sheets Of Grey”

Gauche: “Boom Hazard”

Nick Klein: “A Bundle And Some Speakers”

JPEGMAFIA: “The 27 Club”

Beirut: “So Slowly”

Dead Leaf Echo: “Milk.blue.kisses (Foil In Motion)”

Marine Girls: “On My Mind”

Katy & Nick: “Dinner Line”

Pom Pom Squad: “Popular”

Thanks For Coming: “Hard Drive”

Male Tears: “2AM”

Traps PS: “Prim Dancer”

7 Year Bitch: “You Smell Lonely”

Mediaslaves: “%”

Restraining Order: “Upper Class Bum”

Revolting Cocks: “Get Down” (EXT)

Old Iron: “Planetisimal”

Courtney Love: “My Last Night”

Television Personalities: “Happy Families”

Soda Lilies: “At Night” (demo)

Paper Dollhouse: “Emeralds”

Marbled Eye: “New Crease”

Male Tears: “Hit Me”

Silent Servant: “Slasher”

Siouxsie & The Banshees: “Party’s Fall”

Katy & Nick: “Sailor”

Kaputt: “Accordion”

Guerilla Toss: “Famously Alive”

Television Personalities: "Posing At The Roundhouse”

Totally Unicorn: “Dead Before A Live Audience”

Infinity Land: “Small Town Ritual Abuse”

DJ Muggs & Riggs: “Heads On The Wall”

Acumen Nation: “Gun Lover”

Mess: “F.T.W.”

JPEGMAFIA: “What’s Crackin”

Michael Berdan: “Combat Shock (Sentimental About the Taste of Gun Oil)“

Breakfast Muff: "Crocodile”

Mr. Elevator: “I Am The Moon”

Belk: “Question Of Stress”

Fight Amp: “Ex Everything”

Spike Hellis: “Rook”

Baby Strange: “Midnight”

Smirk: “Irrelevant Man”

Vandal Moon: “Young. Deadly. Beautiful”

Exek: “ID'ed”

Akitsa: “Vers La Victoire”

Happy Meals / Free Love: “May You Be The Mother”

Sunrot: “21%”

Vandal Moon: “Queen Of The Night”

[severalpossiblemusiks]

So I recently bought Mike Oldfield’s 1973 debut album, the legendary “Tubular Bells”, and listened to it, loved it, and like any normal human being, researched the album through the world’s best resource, Wikipedia.

This album is insane… so I must ramble about it.

First off, Mike Oldfield was only 19 when he went into the studio to record the album. And he only got into a studio because he had a tape recorder full of demos (which featured a crude form of overdubbing that he achieved by removing the tape eraser head) that future Virgin Group owner Richard Branson heard and went “yup I like this, I’ll finance your studio time”.

So Oldfield went into the studio, initially only for one week to record what was then called “Opus One”. Flash forward to 6 months later, Oldfield walked out with “Tubular Bells”.

What went down in the studio was something else. Oldfield had two producers, Newman and Heyworth, and between the three of them they basically had the run of the studio. The three of them would drink in pubs during the day and record at night. Oldfield requested various random instruments to be brought in so he could play them, many of which he taught himself to play while with other bands and musical projects in his teens. Oldfield had a massive amount of detailed specifications plotting out the songs’ course, and as he played almost every instrument himself, overdubbing was the key to the album: Oldfield played 15 instruments with over 270 overdubs that took Oldfield, Heyworth, Newman, and two other guys to mix, all of them on the faders at the same time, and they had to restart the entire mixing process if any of them make the smallest mistake.

Other studio trucks included Oldfield using just one guitar for the album, and simply using different amps and distortion and recording/playback speeds to achieve the different sounds. Similarly, when Branson pressured Oldfield to provide some vocals so he might be able to get a single out of the albums, Oldfield proceeded to get—quite literally—roaring drunk and then screamed into a microphone for 10 minutes, making himself hoarse for the next two weeks. The voice lines were recorded at a higher speed, so when played at “normal” speed, the vocals sounded primal, and ended up being slotted into a drum-heavy section of the album which was called “Caveman”, and the vocal lines being called “The Piltdown Man”.

Oldfield also got into contact with another guy recording in the studio at the time, Vivian Stanshall, a comedy rocker, who became the “Master of Ceremonies”, providing the spoken word introductions of the instruments around the halfway point of the album (aka near the end of Part 1). He struggled with remembering the instruments and timing his lines, so Oldfield wrote him a detailed script with names and time signatures to assist him. It was during these sessions that Oldfield named the album “Tubular Bells”, because he liked how Stanshall introduced the instrument.

As to the Tubular Bells themselves, Oldfield doesn’t quite remember how he got a hold of them, either requesting them specifically, or he saw them being used in a different musician’s session and wanted them for his. Also he couldn’t get them to ring loud enough for his liking with the hammers provided, so one of the producers found him a claw hammer, which range the bells loud enough, but also ended up cracking the bells in the process. This incident later inspired album artist Trevor Key to make the iconic “bent bell” that dominates the album cover.

Stanshall also featured in an ultimately deleted musical section, where Oldfield and Newman and Stanshall walked around the studio, playing the Sailor’s Hornpipe on guitars and mandolins while Stanshall “narrated” their tour of the studio, which was being recorded on multiple microphones placed throughout the building. It was ultimately mixed in favour of a shorter version of the Sailor’s Hornpipe. The extended narrated version features on some remasters and special editions of the album.

This album also kickstarted the now multi-national business empire of the Virgin Group, as Richard Branson, who funded Oldfield’s studio time, was having difficulty finding a label to distribute the album, as many label representatives felt the instrumental would not do well. Branson then basically said “screw it, I’m making my own record label”. The subsequent success of the album helped grow Virgin Records into the massive company it is today.

The album initially sold slowly throughout 1973, and then completely exploded due to the first few minutes becoming the main theme of “The Exorcist”, which only happened because the director scrapped the originally planned soundtrack, went to Atlantic Records (which Branson convinced to distribute the album in the States), picked a random record (you know which one) and gave it a listen, and absolutely loved it. The section you know as “The Exorcist Theme” opens the entire album, and was written in 15/8 time (Oldfield basically played it in 16/8 but just ignored the last beat), which helps contribute to the eeriness of the theme.

Also the final mix was so complex sonically that standard vinyls wouldn’t hold the fidelity, so they had to press it on extra-thick vinyl usually reserved for classical music recordings.

Also Branson wanted to promote the album with a live show, which Oldfield was hesitant against. It took Mick Jagger giving Oldfield a pep talk and Branson bribing Oldfield with a Bentley originally owned by George Harrison to get him to go forward with the live show. Although Oldfield was worried the complex studio effects wouldn’t translate well into a live setting, it worked out incredibly well and Oldfield admitted he was himself blown away by the live performance, which featured Oldfield and 20 other musicians plus a 12-person choir.

So yeah that’s Tubular Bells, one of the weirdest, yet greatest, albums of all time in my opinion.

[suckaysuamigos200]

este dibujo lo hice por el cumpleaños de la actriz de doblaje Cristina Hernandez Quién es conocida por ser la voz de Sakura Kinomoto en Sakura Card Captors, Chibiusa Tsukino / Sailor Chibi Moon en la franquicia de Sailor Moon desde 1996, Shizuka Minamoto en la franquicia de Doraemon y Gatomon en Digimon.

en el juego warioware gold hasta WarioWare: Get It Together! ella fue la voz de el niño que le encantan los videojuegos 9-volt (también fue la voz de Ashley y 13-Amp)

le deseamos un gran cumpleaños 🎂🎉.

+｡:.ﾟƁꭵɹт𝗵₫ᤂꪗ\ (•◡•) /+｡:.ﾟƁꭵɹт𝗵₫ᤂꪗ\ (•◡•) /

I made this drawing for the birthday of the voice actress Cristina Hernandez Who is known for being the voice of Sakura Kinomoto in Sakura Card Captors, Chibiusa Tsukino / Sailor Chibi Moon in the Sailor Moon franchise since 1996, Shizuka Minamoto in the franchise Doraemon and Gatomon in Digimon.

in the game warioware gold until WarioWare: Get It Together! she was the voice of the boy who loves video games 9-volt (she was also the voice of Ashley and 13-Amp)

We wish you a great birthday 🎂🎉..

[entwinedmoon]

Hi, how are you doing? I came across an article that says that some of the crew members of the Franklin Expedition are women. I was quite baffled, but what do you think?

Also here is the link to the article:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4443072/amp/Sailors-died-1845-expedition-WOMEN.html

While it's possible there were women who disguised themselves as men--or even people who today we would call transgender--on board, the "female" DNA results are probably just due to degraded DNA giving false results. This article explains it a bit more: https://www.livescience.com/58797-dna-sailors-on-1845-arctic-expedition.html

[real-life-senshi]

10 (Mostly) Spoiler-Free Reasons to Watch Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 2003 Live Action

A countdown to the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Reason 6: A more developed ✨Miracle Romance✨!

How can one ever talk about Sailor Moon without discussing the most iconic and legendary couple in history that rivals Romeo and Juliet - Usagi & Mamoru?

Had the live-action done this couple's story dirty, they might as well chuck the whole project out the window! Thankfully, they didn't screw it up, and in fact, I personally think their love story got a further glow-up!

A more well-rounded developed relationship

The live-action gave more space and time to develop Mamoru and Usagi's relationship, making it more believable, and realistic, and proving to the audience their feelings for each other are genuinely mutual! It started off with an almost antagonistic, pigtail-pulling relationship, developing into what seems to be a "one-sided" crush because they are both so oblivious, to mutual love and respect.

Like seriously - this is how Usamamo meets in Act 1 (shhhhhh, it's Act 1, barely a spoiler):

While technically this is also another spoiler, I'm going to say it anyway to highlight the difference here: Basically, Usagi falls in love with Mamoru AND comes to terms that she's in love with Mamoru and "not Tuxedo Mask" before finding out Mamoru's true identity and their shared past life. I think this is such an important, and much better narrative because it leaves no room for debate that Usagi is in love with Mamoru for the right reasons, instead of being in love with the idea of him because he's Tuxedo Mask and it's romantic. In fact, how romantic it is to consider Usagi fell in love with the same person twice without realizing it???? I think that’s romantic!

To me, there's a difference between "they are bound to fall in love with each other because it is their destiny" versus "they fell in love with each other just as it was foretold by destiny". The live-action strictly falls into the latter category. It's all a matter of choice and agency from the characters!

More dramarama!

The live-action seriously amped up the drama between the two of them, on both fronts regarding their personal lives and also their heroic lives! The additional dramatic elements (that I will NOT spoil) created a heightened "will they, won't they" tension that will make UsaMamo fans anxious to watch. There's quite a bit of mutual pining for Usamamo fans to look forward to in the live-action!

Angst is also a must in the live-action universe, and it's a treat to watch these two coming together trying to defy the odds. Even the filming angle and post-production editing go all out to amp that up!

Minimal "damsel in distress" routine, reverse or otherwise!

I know... it's a running gag in the manga and anime universe that Mamoru always gets kidnapped or brainwashed. Thankfully, the live-action took a different trajectory with their storytelling.

That's not to say there's zero kidnapping/held hostage-type situation, etc. But even in such scenarios, the Prince of Earth always is still in control and does everything he can to ultimately come to a resolution in his own way.

Personally, I don't care much for Mamoru in manga and anime verse, thinking he's just there to make Usagi look good, but I actually like Mamoru's character in the live-action. No matter as Tuxedo Kamen or Prince Endymion, he has quite a bit of involvement in battle scenes. And he is ACTUALLY competent and pairs up really well with Usagi as a couple and with Sailor Moon as a fighter. Some of their duo fight scenes are really cool!

Oh. And there's none of the "kissing you while you are asleep/unconscious" stuff. I'm not going to argue it wasn't romantic in the manga, etc. But times have changed since the original material was written/drawn, and I don't think that's something that will fly well with people in this current age and time. The live-action caught on with the time and used other techniques to make the romance pop instead, and for that I am thankful!

Opposite attracts

Mamoru is written a bit differently than manga and anime. Mamoru's more aloof, prickly, and definitely tsundere. He becomes awkward when he warms up, which is really adorable to see. Also, he wears leather jacket and rides a motorcycle, which amps up his "cool" factor by... A LOT!!!

Usagi is mostly the same as manga and anime, but less crybaby. Like I mentioned before in part 2 of this, Usagi is not exaggeratedly "stupid", just slower, and appropriately immature and innocent for someone her age who hasn't experienced much adversaries until the Senshi business. (No, butt-heading with your little brother doesn't count. lol)

So all's to say in the live-action, they really build up this whole opposite-attracts kind of deal with Usamamo, and where Usagi had to work to see through Mamoru's prickly exterior and soften him up.

Also, I think they cast Mamoru and Usagi really well. Just look at their height difference! Another thing that makes them look so good together????

You can watch the subbed versions of the series at:

Miss Dream Fansubs

Sea of Serenity Fansubs

The series is also on other online streaming sites, but be cautious to only visit them with good adware and firewall installed.

5 days till the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10