#and then there's albums like hot space or a kind of magic which have like. one song i like each. lmao | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dustedmagazine · 11 months

Text

Dust Volume Nine, Number 10 (Part Two)

Ogala Opot and his red-hot nyatiti

Well, all right then, Tumblr has decided we only get 10 audio clips per post, and audio is kind of what we do, so...two posts! (First one here.) Enjoy.

Earth — Earth 2.23 Special Lower Frequency Mix (Sub Pop)

Earth 2.23 Special Lower Frequency Mix is a collection of five remixes that accompanies Sub Pop’s anniversary reissue of Earth’s magisterial 1993 debut Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version. The personnel on Earth 2.23 includes Justin K Broaderick (Godflesh, Jesu), who you might have guessed would have an affinity for the band’s work, as well as two contributions from a previous collaborator The Bug, aka Kevin Richard Martin, but the collection also shows the reach the band’s sound has into both less and differently heavy spaces with, respectively, an appearance each by Built to Spill’s Brett Nelson and the grime artist Flowdan. While Broaderick’s melodic, crunching take on “Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine” is the highlight here, Netson’s murkier, more strictly droning version of the same song and Martin’s propulsive, Flowdan-featuring abbreviation of “Seven Angels” —here simply “Angels” — demonstrate just how far Earth’s musical lineage branches.

Alex Johnson

Angelika Niescier / Tomeka Reid / Savannah Harris — Beyond Dragons (Intakt)

With its boldly exposed structures, rough textures, and load-bearing elements, alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier’s music is like a skyscraper under construction. Nothing is covered up, and you can tell exactly how it fits together. In settings like this, there’s no hiding, so the choice of musicians is key. Niescier has chosen well. Cellist Tomeka Reid has a simpatico orientation towards forms that are complex, yet economical, and her strong classical foundation brings out the music’s chamber dynamics. Savannah Harris treats drumming as a martial art, which is to say that her playing is strategic, disciplined, and quite capable of laying you out.

Bill Meyer

Parish / Potter — On And Off (Null Zøne)

Shane Parish (Ahleuchatistas, etc.) and Michael Potter (The Electric Nature, etc.) are hardly an obvious duo. Parish is a restless explorer with fearsome chops; Potter spreads heavy sounds around like a mason distributing bricks and mortar. But they’re both guitarists, improvisers and Athens GA residents, so why not take a joint dive into the deep and see what comes up? In the case of this tape, a plausible melding of aesthetics that are allowed to churn into oneness, one track per side. While one is electric and the other acoustic, that’s not really what registers; rather, it’s the way the two musicians make stillness out of motion, stirring spidery patterns and slow magma into a rotating swirl of buzz and stutter. Turns out there’s still something in that water down there.

Bill Meyer

Soft Punch — Above Water (Bad Friend)

Soft Punch is the solo project of DC’s Rye Thomas, a one-time touring member of Pash and Tereu Tereu, laid low by illness and now unable to travel. That all sounds like a bummer, and it probably is, but the album, Above Water, is an unexpected joy, beginning in the Akron Family-esque choral surge “Let’s Begin” and going all the way through to the Maps-like wistful, but crescendoing, electronics of “Now’s the Time.” Pay special attention to “My Aim Is True,” whose hubris in name-checking Elvis Costello’s classic album pays off in perfect, tremulous lyricism. Thomas sings from inside a magic, glittering cavern, an unreal place where the world’s hurts can be contemplated without damage, and both the hurt and the solace are beautiful. “Here Comes the Chorus” is spikier and full of rhythmic spine, redolent of Wolf Parade at its indie-ruling peak, while “Still Songs” flutters baroquely, elaborately against swathes of strings, like Jeremy Enigk’s Return of the Frog Queen. These are all pretty heavy references but let them stand. This is the good stuff.

Jennifer Kelly

Various Artists — Thum Nyatiti: Recordings from Western Kenya, 1930-1970 (Dagoretti)

This new compilation gathers 16 archival cuts that feature masters of the nyatiti, an eight-string lyre found in Western Kenya. The instrument has a distinctive sharp, percussive tone to it, sounding somewhere between a marimba and a banjo as it pursues hypnotic, repetitive patterns of quick-tempo’d picking. It is played with minimal accompaniment, usually a droning, blues-adjacent vocal line, sometimes percussion, but the main element is the picking. Dr. Pete Larson, who runs Dagoretti Records, sometimes plays the nyatiti himself; his curator on this project, Michael Robertson, has selected these historic recordings with considerable knowledge and care. Two cuts come from Ogola Opot, widely considered the father of the style. He cuts through decades of static to deliver “Onyango Wasera,” a track that is somehow both sprightly and spiritual, then returns with the more subdued “Ginaa,” rhythmic but with a melancholy air. Other well-known players—Captain Oluoch, Opondo Mugoye and Okelo Mugubit—are represented as well. Captain Oluoch’s “Aduor” is rough and impassioned, the vocal more of a shout than a croon, and very powerful. As you might expect, nyatiti playing is primarily a live art, common at weddings, funerals and other celebrations about the Luo people. These recordings were made by colonizers, British and Indian entrepreneur, seeking to document a disappearing art. This collection continues their work, extending these spare and haunting songs to a still wider audience.

Jennifer Kelly

Scott Yoder — Wither on Hollywood & Vine (Cruisin’)

Glam rock isn’t as much of a thing as it used to be, but Scott Yoder is bucking the trend, decked out in eyeliner, capes and leather. His latest album Wither on Hollywood & Vine hazards big, tone-bending guitar chords, reeling melodies and a taste for the dramatic. “Sugar on Your Lips,” with its keening, 1960s-style organ surge, its slow climaxing chorus and its florid vocal style recalls all the young dudes and their low-sparking, high heeled heyday. “Silver Screen Starlet” dips into the blues, a bent brooding boogie lurching into view, while “Gold in the Hills,” maybe the disc’s best, blows out an acoustic country rock song into day-glo colors. Restraint is overrated. Bring on the excess.

Jennifer Kelly

#dusted magazine #dust #scott yoder #soft punch #dagoretti records #shane parish #michael potter #jennifer kelly #bill meyer #Angelika Niescier #tomeka reid #savannah harris #Bandcamp #earth #alex johnson

4 notes · View notes

randomvarious · 2 years

Photo

Today’s compilation:

The Chill Pill 2000 Trip Hop / Downtempo / Pop / Breakbeat / Deep House / Dub

I seriously *cannot believe* that this double-disc comp isn't on Discogs, you guys. You'd think that they'd have nearly every electronic release in the world indexed on there by now since that's been their specialty as a music database since jump, but they somehow missed this one. And it's from a label that's a subsidiary of Sony, for fuck's sake!; not some random-ass, low-budget, barely existing label no one's ever heard of! Plus, it has Portishead, David Byrne, Suede, Primal Scream, Jamiroquai, Björk, Kylie Minogue, Leftfield, and the Happy Mondays on it! Those are all huge names! I mean, how do we still not have a full accounting of someone like Björk's discography of appearances on Discogs in 2022?!? Humanity has failed us.

Anyway. Throw this one on the rather large pile of excellent big label chillout collections that came out at around the turn of the millennium. Seems like every major record company put at least one of these things out every year while trying to cash in on the chillout CD craze and this is yet another shining example of all that relaxing, loungey bliss 😌.

But don't let the Eastern-looking statue on the cover fool you; there's nothing that's really Eastern about this thing at all. What a slight majority of this is though, is a showcase of trip hop music in many of its different forms, from the magically chunky and silly electro-funky kind, courtesy of frequent Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark, to the dramatic and cinematic orchestrally dubby kind by Björk and David Arnold, to more varyingly poppy strains from Kylie Minogue's "Breathe" and Moodswings' early 90s new agey oasis, "Spiritual High," that features Chrissie Hynde on lead vocals and was partially co-written by Vangelis and Jon Anderson from Yes.

And we've also got plenty of non-trip hop stuff too, like a pair of deep house cuts from Dubtribe Sound System and The Beloved, the latter of which is a late 80s Ibiza-flavored remix by Danny Rampling; Primal Scream's "Higher Than the Sun," another Ibiza-sounding one that was produced by ambient house duo The Orb that's transcendently experimental and features on PS' 1991 landmark album, Screamadelica; back-to-back slices of acid breakbeat from Endorphin and Leftfield; and Brazil's Deodato delivering a nine-minute, early 70s jazz-funk take on Richard Strauss' late 1800s composition that was used as the theme music for 2001: A Space Odyssey, "Also sprach Zarathustra," whose abridged single version actually peaked at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 😮.

Yet another fantastic turn-of-the-millennium chillout-type comp to sink your teeth into. A little more eclectic and retrospective than most. Check out other big label chillout-type comps I've dug into over the years here, here, and here. All of them are mostly on a similar type of vibe, but there's really not much overlap in selection between them. So if you've never really taken the plunge before, consider the totality of these posts to be your little chillout starter pack 😎.

Highlights:

CD1:

Bob Marley vs. Funkstar De Luxe - "Sun Is Shining (Sand in My Shoe remix)" Morcheeba - "Blindfold" Moodswings - "Spiritual High" Portishead - "All Mine" Money Mark - "Push the Button" Dubtribe Sound System - "Loneliness in Dub" Eumir Deodato - "Also sprach Zarathustra"

CD2:

Suede - "Asbestos" Primal Scream - "Higher Than the Sun" Jamiroquai - "Destitute Illusions" Alex Gopher - "The Child" Finley Quaye - "Even After All" Björk feat. David Arnold - "Play Dead" Kylie Minogue - "Breathe" Endorphin - "Solar Flare (Disaster Area remix)" Leftfield - "Storm 3000" The Beloved - "The Sun Rising (Danny's "Love Is..." mix)"

5 notes · View notes

theswarmanthology · 2 years

Text

Summer, 20, Somewhere in Canada (not polar bear territory)

"I don't tend to talk much in fandom spaces but the people are very kind. I quietly reblogged pictures of the guys and had a Lola themed blog. Although in the My Chemical Romance fandom I only have about 2 mutuals being an MCR fan as helped me make friends in other areas. I love comic books, especially Gerard's. I liked Gerard's comics before I even considered myself a fan of the band, so talking about The Umbrella Academy, TTLOTFK, and Gerard's run of Doom Patrol. I was able to make comic friends through the My Chemical Romance fandom, and meet some pretty important comic people along the way! I was in a workshop run by comic book badass Shelly Bond. And lo, even with comic book nerds from across the world, we had My Chem fans crediting their love of the medium to Gerard! England, America, all over! And that was just online, on my first day at my new university, the amount of people I saw wearing tour merch was insane. We were like this little club all shyly waving to each other in a weird sort of camaraderie."

Fast Facts: How long have you been a fan?: 5-8 years Did you get to see MCR live before this tour?: No, this tour was my first time seeing MCR How many shows on this tour did you attend in total?: 1 Favorite album: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge Show experience out of 10: 10 Did you cry at your show?: Yes

Which date of the tour did you attend? 09/05/22, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Night 2

When did you get your tickets for your show? Was it a struggle, or were they easy to grab? Me going to see My Chem was a bit of an impulse buy. My friend group at the time were all heavy concertgoers and I had only ever been to one. I wasn't entirely sold on the idea of going to a cramped, hot arena paying large sums of money to have my ears ring for the next two weeks. (I also got Covid from one Mr. Styles' show so I was hesitant on going on that alone). But I thought of my older brother, the one who introduced me to the band, who saw them on their World Contamination tour. He described it as being pure magic, the height of his otherwise tumultuous teenagehood. After asking him for the umpteenth time what it was like to see them live I went on Ticketmaster and bought the first tickets I could get. Nosebleed seats for sure, and set me back a fair chunk of change but being an unemployed student at the time you get what you get.

Did you attend with anyone else? Solo. Well, for the subway ride to the venue and back so I could avoid any track-pushing or shanking I want with my dear friend J and his coworker V. We worked at Hot Topic- go figure. We were doing our makeup on the ride there, listening to the songs, getting excited when we saw other concert goers, and getting REALLY excited when we made it to the arena, seeing all the beautiful costumes people were wearing. There were families with kids in corpse paint, elderly folks wearing battle jackets, and in front of us were two people dressed as sexy nuns handing out crackers with a chirpy "Body of Christ?". Being the most lukewarm Catholic you can imagine I got a real kick out of this, and a snack! But for the actual show, I was alone, next to a couple who were on a date that seemed to be going piss poor. The lady sat next to me had her ears covered the whole time and the two folks in front of me were recording and were very miffed at my singing. I wasn't going to let these squares squander my fun so I broke a fire safety rule and took to the aisle to headbang and scream my little heart out.

What did you wear? A red bralette that I found behind my washing machine, my bootiest of booty shorts, and a big lolloping knock-off skeleton onesie that got VERY hot very quickly. I was able to tie the onesie around my waist once the novelty of my little homage wore off, and was actually quite comfortable! I definitely preferred wearing PJ's and my ratty old converse than wearing an outfit I couldn't move around in. It was, and still is, drenched in the smell of the venue, which sentimentality aside is not very good. At least I have a keepsake?

Where were your seats? When I first bought the tickets they were the nosiest-of-nosebleed seats, and I was fine with that! But as I passed through the gates security told me to go to Fan Check. This shocked me originally since for once I had no tricks (booze) up my sleeve for this concert. Instead of giving me a talking-to, they actually moved my tickets to be VERY close to the stage, free of charge! They said they wanted the nice seats to fill up so I can an excellent view of the band, and of one Mr. Ray Toro, who was giving our side special attention that night. I feel like a fainting, swooning old noblewoman just thinking about it.

What was your favorite song(s) from the setlist they played at your show? Cemetery Drive. I wish I had something more romantic to say about it but I worry it's too soul-bearing. I cried. The girl next to me cried. It was catharisis.

What song were you most hoping to hear? Did you get to hear it? I was hoping for Demolition Lovers (which was a long shot) but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Considering my mental state at the time before going maybe it was for the best, I think that song should be saved for snowy evenings on transit when you feel a hot ball of lead in your stomach that's somewhere between heartache and anger. I don't think the bad-date couple needed to see me like that.

What was your favorite moment from the show? Gerard calling us all hippies making the entire arena smell like weed. Now, I did not partake in the weedsmoking nor will I be a snitch on the people who were. All I can say is, isn't it impressive how someone on my side was able to sneak in a full-sized bong? Where do you even hide that thing? Also, I was waving my phone flashlight in tandem with someone across the stadium, we were making circles, waving, and doing little dances during the intermission. I go on instagram- and what do I see but an old friend of mine posting us doing it! It was him! After all these years reuniting at the My Chemical Romance tour! My heart is warm thinking about it. I've missed him- we were high school troublemakers together. Listening to My Chem while stealing shopping carts and being pushed around town to being all-grown up and seeing them live. F, if you're reading this, thank you.

What was the most unexpected moment from the show? The use of not one, but TWO bullets songs. I could practically hear J and V from across the stadium shriek with pure, Dionysian glee. Not to say that I wasn't as well.

Did you snag any merch? What pieces? I got the BoyZone tee! Unfortunately, so did half the student body at my university in which the first day was the day after the concert. I tried to lightheartedly tell someone. "One of us is going to have to change!" they did not laugh. I'm only still a little embarrassed by it.

Many fans describe seeing MCR live as feeling like coming home. Did you experience anything like that at your show? It felt strange. I haven't felt that feeling since I was a young kid. The first time I heard an MCR song was on my hand-me-down laptop given to me by the older brother I mentioned earlier. Being a little kid I only really cared about playing Animal Jam but I would to it to the tune of the only song he left for me on it. Teenagers. Explicit version. I would listen to it CONSTANTLY. I didn't know how to download music so that was all I had. That was until my very Christian father heard the naughty naughty swear words and deleted the song and replaced it with the clean version. It's a decade later, and now I can listen to songs with bad words whenever I want, DAD. My Chemical Romance will always remind me of my brother, showing me cool clothing stores and cool T.V. shows and letting me learn to skateboard in our driveway on his board. Seeing MCR, that strange feeling, was like staying up late on a school night, eating Doritos and being passed down the sacred knowledge that is cool older brother music. It was coming home to the special moments he and I had, that he made an effort despite being an angsty, always angry teen. He always had time for his sister and making sure she grew up to like good rock music. My Chemical Romance is a big brother and seeing them live is sneaking out to a show, knowing that your parents are going to kill you when you get home.

If you could change one thing about your show experience, what would it be? I came to the show with a little pouch of crystals and my rosary. I was giving out crystals to friends-of-friends but there was a girl sat next to me who was the only one dancing with me. I wanted to give her my rosary but she left before I could. I think of her now and then.

Has your perspective or opinion about the band changed since seeing them on this tour? If so, in what way? Yes. I don't mean this in a parasocial way but it was strange seeing them as PEOPLE. IN PERSON. Not that I hold celebrities to a higher regard than other people that is, in my humble opinion, cringe as hell. But the way they were smiling at people, dancing, having a good time- it definitely has a different feel than watching through a screen. Ray's hair looks even better in person, if you can believe it.

What advice would you give to people seeing My Chemical Romance in the future? Dance! Headbang! Sing! If you're too scared to dance, I was too. But I can tell you first hand that if you dance, people will dance with you! Shimmy an shriek to your hearts content. Who cares what anyone thinks? You know who's a bigger loser than being the only one dancing? Being so lame you think it's funny to laugh at people who are. And if MCR ever comes back and if you're in Toronto and you're too scared to dance, look for me, I'll dance with you!

Thanks, Summer! They can be found on Tumblr at @dandified-doe.

#story #09/05/22 #mcrtoronto2

3 notes · View notes

maddieinwonder · 4 years

Text

A Lesson In Romance #7: False Start

Spencer Reid x Fem!BAU!Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Just a lot of awkward vibes hahaha

Word Count: 1.7k

Plot: Reader keeps getting caught in rom-com situations with Spencer Reid. This time, they try to confess their feelings.

A/N: I didn’t actually manage to include the definition of a False Start in the chapter itself, so I’ll add it at the end. No spoilers for now!

Masterlist | All chapters here!

-----------

It took you 24 hours to decide that you were going to do something about your feelings for the good doctor. Pretty quick, considering you were a living, breathing rom-com cynic. But as ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, once said: "The only constant in life is change".

Specifically, change happened after you woke up in your cute co-worker and dear friend's arms and you wanted nothing more than to get back into them as fast as possible.

But by the universal laws of working in the BAU, catching a break seemed to be the hardest when you actually wanted one.

Firstly, it was like every serial killer in the country decided to cancel their vacations simultaneously, swamping the team with urgent case after case. At this point, you were more familiar with the couch on the jet than your bed at home, and everyone was feeling the strain.

Secondly, if you weren't sleeping, you were usually out in the field chasing unsubs with Derek or Rossi. You had stopped holding out hope for being paired with Spencer — on account of your areas of specialty overlapping too much, and Hotch not being the type of leader to waste his resources — and as a result:

Thirdly, getting even ten minutes alone with the genius became an impossible task, and not for lack of trying either. At the start of the month, the two of you had tried to adapt your breakfast ritual to the road, but it always got interrupted mid-coffee order or even at the ding of the lift. Not that you and Spencer stopped trying, no, but your patience was wearing thin.

So you did something you hadn't done since you submitted your application to join the BAU — you prayed for a chance.

Because every day that you didn't admit your feelings to the doctor was another day fighting the compulsion to tell somebody else about them, and god only knows what a room full of profilers (and one nosy tech analyst) would do with that kind of information.

Then, out of the blue, the door of opportunity opened.

After two weeks of straight travel, the team had earned a well-deserved one night’s rest in your own beds before dealing with a local case, bright and early tomorrow morning. And since your flight landed at 2am and all the trains had stopped by then, this gave you the perfect shot to execute your plan.

Unfortunately, you forgot to take into account the most important factor — your nerves.

It didn't help that Derek had wolf-whistled in the carpark as the two of you walked off in the same direction, nor that Spencer immediately put your favourite album into the CD player out of instinct; an overly domestic action that made your heart beat even faster.

But it was when you arrived in front of his apartment building that you felt the worst of it. As you tried to summon the right words to your lips, your heart hammered in your chest and your thoughts jumbled themselves into nonsense.

"Are you ok?" Spencer asked, snapping you out of your anxious spiral instantly. "You don't look so well."

"I-I'm fine." Your fingers twitched nervously.

"Doesn't seem like it." He looked down at your hands, and you cursed your subconscious brain for giving you away. Then, he placed a hand over yours and your heart stopped.

"You're not alright, that's for sure, but it seems like it's just sleep deprivation." He assessed, bending slightly to look at your face. "You can't drive in this state. Do you want to come in?”

Your head snapped up to meet his gaze, ready to protest, but Spencer beat you to it. "Let’s go. You wanted to talk about something, right?" He called out, already one foot out of the car.

Before you could realise what was happening, you found yourself sitting on Spencer's couch holding a warm cup of tea.

This was the first time you were in his apartment. Yet, it was exactly what you thought it'd be like. Every wall was lined with bookshelves, filled to max capacity with books of every topic imaginable from neuroscience to philosophy. Those that didn't make it to the shelves were found in random stacks around his apartment, standing out against his forest green walls.

"Did you know that chamomile tea is a natural remedy for insomnia? In fact, it is commonly regarded as a mild tranquilizer. It's calming effects may be attributed to the antioxidant apigenin, which binds to specific receptors in your brain that initiate sleep and reduce anxiety." He explained, walking over with his own mug.

"I actually did know that." You smiled. The tea seemed to work its magic because you did feel relaxed, and you must have looked it too, because the worried frown disappeared off Spencer's face.

"Didn't know you were a tea person." You commented lightly, blowing the steam from your mug.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." He replied mysteriously, and you raised your eyebrows.

Spencer's apartment was too quiet, no rumbling fridge or quiet radio playing in the background to make your awkward silence any less pronounced. It was then that you noticed he didn't have a TV. Somehow this fact didn't surprise you very much.

"You... you wanted to talk to me about something?" He broke the silence, looking down at the hot tea swirling in his mug.

Right. You were here to talk about your feelings. Your face flushed as you tried to summon your willpower, again.

"I wanted to tell you something—" You began shakily. "But before that, I just want to preface, we can ignore this entire thing if you don't agree. I mean, I really enjoy our friendship as it is, and I wouldn't want to do anything to affect tha—"

"Wait." Spencer interrupted urgently, before catching himself. "Sorry, um, before that, can I say something?"

"Um, ok, shoot." You replied meekly, trying to hide your relief behind a long sip of tea. There was a pause as he gathered his thoughts, and you might have been seeing things, but he looked almost... nervous?

"The day we met, I calculated the probability of meeting somebody that shared my exact coffee order and the result was almost one in a million.” He finally spoke, lifting his head to meet your gaze. “That probability decreased when I factored in working together, sharing the same interests, and... and how I enjoyed spending time with you more than with anybody else."

Spencer cleared his throat, a blush coming onto his cheeks.

"Ever since then... my life just started making sense. I know I’m a scientist, not a poet, and I could tell you all the statistics about relationships in the world, but when it comes to you...”

His cheeks were crimson now, as he ran his fingers through his hair. You had a feeling yours looked the same.

"I guess, what I'm trying to say, is that I think you're beautiful and smart, and I have no idea what you see in me, but I'd really—"

Suddenly, both your phones buzzed violently against his coffee table, jolting you out of the moment. You leaned over in a trained motion, only to see exactly what you expected:

Garcia: No rest for the wicked, crime fighters. Conference room in 30.

Penny: No rest for the wicked, crime fighters. Conference room in 30.

You let out a sigh you didn't realise you were holding, and Spencer looked over at you, doe-eyed and nervous.

“The case?" He asked quietly.

There was a silence filled with words unsaid. "We should go." He said finally. "If we leave now, we can still make it on time."

You only nodded in response, more out of duty than desire, and gulped down the rest of your tea. The thought of what he was about to say burned down your throat.

Driving away from Spencer’s apartment was torturous. The doctor hadn’t said anything to you since he entered the car, only fiddling with his bag as he looked out the window. It was too dark to read his expression, but you wondered if he could still hear the way he called you “beautiful”, or whether the moment had already dissolved into the space between you.

Luckily, you didn’t need to wait long for an answer, as Spencer tugged on your sleeve before you exited the carpark, his face scrunched in worry.

"I really didn't mean for that to be so... weird. Can we talk about this again after the case?" He asked softly, and despite every semblance of logic left in your brain, you couldn’t stop the hope from blooming in your chest and you smiled.

That was when Spencer did something completely uncharacteristic. (You didn't know this at the time, but it was something that you would tease him about for a long time after.)

In one fluid movement, the doctor pulled you into a tight hug that elicited a squeak from you, but it only took a second for the initial shock to wear off before you relaxed completely into his warm touch. He took that as a sign to continue, burying his head into your shoulder and letting out a content sigh.

Unlike waking up to your bodies intertwined, nothing about this was a mistake. Not the way his fingers stroked your back peacefully, nor the way his curly hair tickled your cheek. You felt the stress of the past two weeks melt away in his embrace, and so did any coherent thought, except one: normal friends didn't hug each other like this.

Later when the two of you finally entered the conference room, miraculously still on time, nobody commented on the smiles plastered on your faces but everybody could tell. They were profilers after all.

But for the first time in awhile, you were just too happy to care.

-----------

Tag List:

@blue-space-porgs @nobutalsoyes @lady-loves-a-lot @queen-flower @oops-all-ajs @spottedzebrasinpartyhats @agentcarterisgay @totalmess191 @sapphic-prentiss @mellowalieneggsknight || @averyhotchner @amesandpineapples @willowrose99

Definition of a False Start here

185 notes · View notes

scribblingfangirl · 4 years

Text

WITH LOVE, THE GHOSTS | Julie and The Phantoms - Part Two

not my gif!

.•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•.

Author’s Note: Somebody on Wattpad asked if they could get ‘a part two where she like meets them and they still do kind stuff?’ I really liked that idea, so this little part is a filler (their meeting) so that I can fullfill the request in a third and final part. Enjoy! :D

word count: ~ 1.4k

summary: You finally meet the boys. Obviously, chaos ensues.

warnings: // (english is not my first language, not beta-read)

| Part One | Part Three |

.•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•..•´¯`•.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

You knew that Julie wouldn’t judge you, not after the year she had. But honestly, after hearing that Flynn was almost going to egg her house after finding out about the Swedish hologram boys you were very inclined to just shake your head and forget about it all. Even if the note from Reggie, Alex and Thing Three had been burning a hole into your pocket.

Needless to say that it had been a very weird winter break. But you were still kind of disappointed when nothing happened on New Year.

Nevertheless, you closed your locker and turned around to look at Julie and Flynn while they approached you. “Does a flying pen called Reggie and a computer that suddenly decides to cheer me up called Alex and a third something, temporarily called Chicken Scratch, do as well?” you asked and took the note out of your pocket, hoping it would come out as comedically rather than insane.

At first, nothing happened and Julie and Flynn just stared at you. Then Julie ripped the little paper out of your hand and quickly unfolded it.

Almost afraid you smiled at them nervously when they looked back up at you, expecting everything and yet nothing at the same time. Which is why you weren’t quite sure what to make from Julie and Flynn’s reaction. Sighing they both looked at each other and whisper-shouted: “Reggie!”

“Reggie… as in the pen? You’re calling my pen?” Bewildered, you looked at your two best friends. Okay so maybe they did think you’ve lost it. ‘Retreat, retreat! Make a final joke about it and let it slide!’ “ I think you kind of forgot the magic word ‘Accio’ beforehand. Accio Reggie, you know? And don’t forget to swish and flick it guys or else it might blow up in your face,” you giggled nervously. ‘Nope, that wasn’t it.’

But instead of going into it, Julie suddenly seemed busy staring angrily at a locker just to their right and making weird eyebrow movements towards it, while Flynn just swung an arm around your shoulder and pulled you with her.

“I think it’s time that we, or rather Julie, told you something. But, first things first, you know that egging your best friends house isn’t the solution, right?”

Correction: They lost it. Not you, they! Ghosts. Forking 90s ghosts they said.

Because apparently Reggie, Alex and Luke (not Who or Thing Three - just a ghost with a very terrible handwriting, Flynn couldn’t stop giggling and said something about the Fat Ones?) were exactly that - forking 90s ghosts. You almost snorted into your cereal and inhaled the milk when Julie told you that after arriving home from school.

“Sure. Ghosts are wishing me a Merry Christmas. What’s next? Did I miss Michael Jackson wishing me a Happy New Year and will Elvis Presley be serenading me on Valentine’s Day?”

“Wait... Michael Jackson died?! When? Ah damn... I barely had time to listen to his 9nth album before we died!”

“Dude... First Star Wars, now this? What exactly are you doing when we aren’t rehearsing?”

“Not screaming in a museum, but I did say dibs on the shower… the rubber duckies are just too cute to ignore!”

“You use them in a bath Reggie, not the shower!”

Obviously, you couldn’t hear them but you did see the eye-roll Julie gave the thin air before turning back to you. “Sorry to disappoint but no. Michael and Elvis are dead.”

Silence fell upon you three six.

Ending the silence by eating your (crunchy) cereal, you swallowed and said, “Yeah fun fact, the adjective dead literally appears in the definition of ghosts. That’s kind of what makes them ghosts. Being dead. So… what makes your buddies so special?”

Silence. Again. (Well, for you. Julie was listening to two ghosts chasing each other around the kitchen ‘STOP IT REGINALD!’ while the third one was sitting by your side, face in his hands, eyeing your cereal wistfully and sighing.)

Taking a deep breath Julie pushed her hands away from her body. “We don’t know. But we would like to show you. So... Boys, Garage. Now! Girls, Garage. Please,” she said, waving her hand to the backdoor.

Opening the garage door a few moments later and gesturing at the couch and chairs Julie said, “Please sit down. The band will be with us shortly.”

“Uh!”, you said excited, clapping your hands. Might as well go along with it. Worst case scenario? All three of you will go visit Dr. Turner. Best case scenario? Well… best case scenario the boys ghosts are real and you will be sleeping with one eye open from now on. But honestly, how bad can that be? They have a good taste in Christmas music after all. “What are we going to hear? Panic! At the Disco? Taylor Swift?”

“No no no. They only do originals. Now come on, Mama needs her eye candy. Oh, and watch it. Reggie needs space to rock out,” Flynn told you as she guided you to the couch.

“Look at that! She listens and learns!” Julie giggled and sat behind the keyboard. “Let’s do it the old fashioned way. Y/N, this is Flying Solo.”

Well, they were real. Or as real as ghosts can be.

“Yeah… quick question. Why am I always the one who gets probed?” the dark-haired bassist asked after your hand passed through his shoulder.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I should have asked first.”

“Ah don’t worry. It was nice actually. Now I know that you have a kind heart.”

The shaggy-haired guitarist snorted, accidentally strumming his guitar a little too hard. “And an endless black pit as a stomach.”

“And you know that why?” Julie asked with her hands crossed in front of her chest.

“He watches her eat the sandwiches he makes for her. He finds it cute when she giggles at the Nutella faces he paints onto them," the bassist answered for the guitarist.

“You make her sandwiches… with Nutella faces?! Why don’t I get those?!” "You watch me while I eat?!" Julie and you screamed out at the same time.

“Chill out you both! You," Flynn said pointing at you, "get free food! But watch it, they did die by eating poisoned hot dogs, so don't trust them entirely. And you!" She moved over to Julie, "You get eye candy 24/7! I should be the one to complain! I don’t get anything and I am your manager!”

Blushing the brown-haired boy averted his eyes and muttered, “I don’t remember agreeing to that." (Because of course that would be the point he would focus on.) "You booked us a school dance after all!” Feeling and then seeing their indignant looks he quickly retreated. “Which we are still very, very sorry for missing out on! A… and and the band name you came up with is really great Flynn!”

Throwing her hair back and squinting her eyes, Flynn gave him a joking glare. “You pass. Barely. I’m still watching you.”

“Okaaaay so, judging by your looks and your attitude I’d say… you're Chicken Scratch, right?”

“HEY!” And then more quietly, “My name’s Luke.”

You nodded. “You deserve it. So, Luke, I guess it's nice to meet you.”

“So today is ‘Make fun of Luke’-day?”

“Oh… that’s only today? Sorry, I must’ve missed that memo. I thought that was every day.”

You giggled and turned to the drummer who had just spoken. “Alex, right?”

The blond guy nodded smirking while continuing to quietly drum.

“Then you must be Reggie!” you smiled at the bassist again. “I heard Kayla talk about you to Carrie on a few occasions.”

As he dropped his bass the last thing you saw or heard from Reggie was an excited, “Girls talk about me? Take that Alex!” Then he puffed out of existence.

“Reggie, you do realize that my ‘they can’t tip what they can’t see’ statement still applies here, right?” Alex said sighing and mouthed, “I’m sorry” in your direction, before flinching and puffing out of existence as well.

“They don’t have to tip me, Alex, they just have to like me!” Luke imitated Reggie sarcastically, shaking his head and raising his eyebrows while eyeing the thin air.

“Wow! Watch it!”

But Julie’s warning came too late. With a ‘whooosh’ and followed by a dull pain one of Alex’s drumsticks flew through the air and hit your head. “Ow!”

“Oi boys! Stop it!” And with that Luke vanished as well.

284 notes · View notes

thoughts-on-bangtan · 3 years

Note

Can you imagine losing interest in BTS and their music ever? I've seen it's a hot topic on Twitter, how some fans just lost connection and how others put it as "exiting the magic shop". I don't understand. I spent my teens listening to the Beatles, Incubus and now that I'm 30's I still love them. I suppose it could happen but I just dont like it when people say they lost interest bec BTS has already healed them. Like, you can heal and listen to them at the same time right? Your thoughts guys?

First of all, thank you for this ask because this is such an interesting topic.

Secondly, I'm fairly sure this whole thing about "being healed from BTS", as in stopping being ARMY/stanning BTS was started by "ex-ARMYs" (or people cosplaying as such) on either twt or t*kt*k (or both) as a way to feed into the narrative of how you can only possibly like Bangtan while you're "sick" but eventually you get "healed" and move on to other artists, specifically other K-Pop groups. It's also occasionally used by people who stopped "stanning" BTS to make themselves look better in the eyes of kpoppies (or suck up to them) and to get hit twts. A quick twt search showed me a twt where someone spoke about how now that they've "left the Magic Shop" they're able to "love other people" and have found themselves in (Other Group’s fandom name)-land. As in Bangtan healed them so now they can listen to/stan “better” groups.

Do I think there are also genuine people among them who credit BTS for helping them heal before moving on? Probably, but I find the phrasing and way of thinking rather weird and also something that plays into the stereotype that liking a "boy band" is just a phase that you grow out of and then move on to "real music".

Are there people who genuinely "lost" whatever connection they felt or interested they had in BTS? Probably, though sometimes I feel like people misinterpret twts where people talk about leaving ARMY twt/their sns stan accounts as them stopping being a fan which is false. Being a fan of a musician is more than just posting on your stan account, right? There are plenty of people who are ARMY yet don't engage in fandom sns.

Now circling over to your question about if we/I can imagine basically falling out of love with an artist (BTS) and, well, personally I think it depends on certain factors. Just like you in my early teens I used to listen to a band called HIM, a little later to a band called Placebo, and to this day, if someone asks me who my favorite rock band is, I still name both of them without hesitation despite not actively listening to them anymore the way I do with Bangtan, as example. Yet it doesn't change the fact that I still love their music and check out what Placebo are up to from time to time.

I think there are certain bands and artists whose music simply does something for us, this specific something that makes us connect to them in a deeper sense, in one that makes their music and artistry stick with us even far down the line when we might not listen to them daily anymore, might not check their sns every day anymore, or even at all. At this point I'm pretty sure BTS are exactly that for me as well. I can imagine that perhaps one day I might not be as invested (invested in the sense of having a stan account and blogging about them) anymore as I am now, because that's natural, but I doubt I'll ever go as far as saying "I've lost interested" or "been healed from being ARMY" or whatever else some say.

So, when I said it depends on different factors if you'll ever fall out of love/loose interest, what did I mean by that? I think a major deciding factor is why you became ARMY/a fan in the first place and what it is that keeps you interested in them.

More below the cut:

If you became a fan because you’re into shipping and your main focus is your ship and nothing else, honestly, I doubt you’ll stick around all that long. And I say that as a vminnie and namjinist myself. I imagine, if the only thing about Bangtan I would care about would be those two pairings and I would spend all my time hunting for clues and looking at gifs/pictures and discussing them and nothing else, their music only being of interest to me if I could make it about my ship? I’ll be honest, I would probably lose interest in less than a year because you can’t possibly remain invested in two people, their lives, “relationship clues” and ship fights with others for years without basically getting tired of it.

Also when I say just focusing on a ship, I literally mean just the ship aspect, not even the artistry those two people have, like their music etc, but just the bond they have and nothing else. And yes, there definitely are people like this. I’ve seen Xkookers only care about (insert song here) because they thought it was about their ship but once they realized it isn’t, they never brought up the song again, and never spoke about the song itself at all. And I don’t want to just point my finger at them, there are also people who ship other pairings who act this way as well, definitely.

At the end of the day, eventually you’ll have analyzed all there was to be analyzed, discussed every aspect and detail, seen every moment and taken it apart, and will have had every fight you could have, and then...what? There’s only so much “content” and “entertainment” you can get out of someone else’s life and bond and that’ll only be able to keep you interested for so long...and then what?

But if you got interested in Bangtan due to their music first and that is your primary focus while them as people is more of a nice “extra”, that’s “sustainable”, for a lack of better words. They release lots of music every year, have a huge discography along with side/solo projects, their lyrics are so layered and you can find so much in them, immerse yourself in their artistry. Their music can become your companion, basically. There are so many ARMY that have songs and albums that mean the world to them, that helped them heal or love themselves, that they keep coming back to, that engage in discussions about their music, old and new, and who find boundless joy in all of it while also adoring the members themselves.

If you got into them for their personalities while thinking their music is just okay, an all right extra, but you love their bonds and shows like RUN or Bon Voyage, I could imagine that being some kind of middle group but then again, why stan musicians whose music you only find okay? Would you be a fan of an actor whose personality you like but find the movies they are in and their acting ability mediocre/okay?

I’ve been around for a long time and the way I think that’s possible, and why I think I will remain ARMY for years to come as well, is because I genuinely love their music, love spending time listening to it, reading about it, talking to others about it, but also because I adore the members, their personalities and who they are, their bonds, their variety show type content and vlives, and I adore vmin and namjin. While I love talking about vmin/namjin, if I had to just focus on that (as in the ‘ship’ aspect of their bonds) all the time, I’d get exhausted and/or reach a point where everything that could be said would be said, but because I also spend a lot of time with OT7 content and in non-shipper ARMY spaces, with their music, their other content, reading their interviews and everything else, it’s a “sustainable” way to be ARMY. And I’ve seen and spoken to other ARMYs who have been around far longer than me, some even having been around since the very beginning, even before their debut, and that's how they’ve remained ARMY since, because it was this package deal that they fall in love with, the fact that they spend their time engaging in different fandom discussions and activities, instead of hyper focusing on a certain part of it exclusively, like shipping.

Of course, if you fell in love with the package deal in your twenties while in a dark place but then reached your thirties and, with the help of their music (side note: while Namjoon (inspired by Seokjin) told us to use BTS to be happy, don’t put the “responsibility” of healing you/helping you heal solely on an artist, since that’s not fair or healthy, rather if you really need help/assistance/someone to talk to, please reach out to someone, friends or family, or a professional if you can) and other (outside) factors, reached a better place and don’t feel as connected to them anymore as you did before, it’s possible you might “unstan”, but that doesn’t have to mean you’ll move away from their music completely, that you’ll make a clean cut and never look back. Especially if they helped you, chances are they will always remain with you one way or another for a long time. At the same time, I guess it’s only natural that sometimes our interests and tastes change and the band you used to love might just not “do it” anymore for you. It’s human. There are bands I used to love as teen but don’t care about anymore nowadays because their music isn’t my taste anymore, I don’t connect with it the way I used to etc. Does something like that make you a fake fan? No, it just, well, makes you human. Though, like I said, at this point I don’t foresee that happening for me with Bangtan and there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of others who will tell you the same thing. We’re in this Bangtan sh*t for life, purple blooded. Even Namjoon joked about how once you get into Bangtan there is no exit anymore. Or that no jammer joke about how once you JimIN you never JimOut.

Lastly there’s also a whole conversation to be had of what will happen once the members start enlisting, or once the daily content turns into monthly, bi-monthly, every half year and eventually only sporadicly spread out throughout the year, when their music will be all that we’ll get instead of music + additional content like sns posts or RUN. What will happen when that day comes? Shippers and those interested in their personalities will stop “being fed” and eventually their interest will dwindle away. Those who need to constantly be engaged with and fed to remain interested will likely dwindle away and move on to other content/musicians that’ll keep them fed with new things on a regular. And those who are into their music, or the package deal, they’ll likely still be fans, still love their music and come back and be active when new releases come, still occasionally return to content like watching concerts or old RUN episodes, but even they won’t stick around the same way we all do right now. This isn’t to say that when that day comes we’ll find out who “the real fans are”, because the question of what a real fan is, is a whole other discussion to be had, but rather it’ll be a natural, normal part of fandom, of a musicians career, of a human cycle.

Take AC/DC as example, after so many decades they still have fans that show up when they release a new album, but I doubt those fans have active stan accounts and engage in daily fandom stuff the way you do with a constantly active/present artist like BTS etc. And I can imagine that’ll be Bangtan and ARMY much later down the line as well.

To sum it all up, I don’t think there is a black or white answer, merely a gray one.

#BTS #discussion on loving an artist #answered ask #bangtan sonyeondan

26 notes · View notes

ollie-ollie-oxenfreee · 3 years

Text

then came the morning (aka: the post - canon cuddle fic)

The work in progress is finally done! I’ve been chipping away at it for the past couple weeks now, and it’s gone through many drafts / iterations, but I think I’m finally happy with it. :)

Title from an album by the Lone Bellow.

The first time the two of them “shared a bed” was about as awkward as one might imagine. The initiating circumstances were hardly any better.

The heating apparatus in their quarters had given out a week or so back in a spectacular fit of dust - laden wheezing. The engineering crew called in to inspect it informed them that it couldn’t be fixed until they could pick up the right parts at the nearest trading post (which was naturally thousands of klicks away on the ragged edge of nowhere). With the ambient heat from the nearby engine room seeping through the wall, the conditions were deemed “unpleasant but survivable.” They were issued two extra threadbare blankets and told in tersely formal military - speak to deal with it.

And they’d dealt with it really well for a while! They grit their teeth and carried on like a couple of champs: Harrow, having been thoroughly warned against using her magic too frequently, layering on spare cloaks and sweaters until she almost disappeared under a mountain of black fabric; Gideon curling up close to the engine room wall and wincing when the cold sent spiteful twinges shooting through her still-very-busted knee.

But then one night their grand flagship of the revolution chugged through a particularly empty sprawl of space and began to slow down. The heat from the engine room guttered like a candle flame. Frost spiderwebbed across the thin plex of their window. Harrow’s breath showed in thin wisps of vapor as she huffed, glaring down at the pages of her book like she wanted to reprimand the cold for daring to interrupt her studies.

Gideon had half a mind to encourage her to try (that glare could stop a full - fledged Lyctor in their tracks, who knew what other horrifying powers it possessed?), but thought better of it when she saw the genuine exhaustion in the other girl’s eyes.

“You doing alright over there, my vulturine vicar?” she asked. “I know it takes some time to absorb all that good bone knowledge, but you haven’t turned a page in like half an hour.”

The thunderous look on Harrow’s face darkened further as she set her book aside with an exasperated thump. “This is ridiculous. I studied in the depths of Drearburh for years without any issue, and yet here I am struggling to focus like a novice. It isn’t even that cold.” She bit her lip as a shiver ran through her at the words.

“Evidence seems to suggest otherwise, o mistress of melancholy. Do you want me to go ask that guy in the supply room for another blanket? He still owes me for his son’s fencing lesson.”

Supply room guy didn’t really owe her anything, but she knew that mentioning it would make Harrow feel better. If she could believe that the nice things Gideon did for her were actually for Totally Self - Serving, Debt - Settling reasons, she could accept them without feeling guilty.

(Guilt had haunted Harrow more than ever upon returning to her own body, making it hard to breathe on good days and leaving her shaking with sobs on bad ones.

It was one of those fun little things they had in common.)

From the way Harrow’s shoulders stiffened, though, it seemed that Gideon Nav’s patented Guilt Workaround wasn’t going to be as effective as usual. She shook her head - a stiff little gesture that made her earrings rattle - then sighed.

“No. Thank you, though, it’s kind of you to offer.”

The thank you was sincere, and that was admittedly pretty nice, but all the sincerity in the world wouldn’t change the fact that Harrow was still very obviously shivering. She looked miserable beneath her usual mask of face paint and stoicism. The dark red bead of blood-sweat trailing down her temple indicated that she'd probably tried using some kind of homeostasis theorem, but it wasn't working well enough.

There had to be a solution to this problem somewhere. Harrow's stubborn pride meant that she wouldn't accept help outright - she would sooner set her books on fire than admit what she thought of as a weakness - but if Gideon could play it just right, maybe she wouldn't have to. It would need to be done carefully - too sappy and she'd be uncomfortable, too straightforward and she'd balk. Casual, Gideon decided. Nice and casual was the way to go. It would just be a matter of execution.

"Soooo," she said at length, leaning back against the wall all cool and easy. (She folded her arms up behind her head as an afterthought, appreciating the way it made her still-atrophied-but-getting-there muscles stand out through the thin fabric of her shirt. Confidence boosts were going to be scarce and sorely needed in the conversation to come - she’d take them where she could get them.)

Naturally, Harrow did not appreciate the change in tack or the cool-and-easy-ness. She did, however, manage to muster up a look so steeped in wary disapproval that it cut through her earlier frustration like a hot knife through bone marrow. “So.”

“You sure about that blanket? Because really, it would only take me a second -”

“I’m sure. Thank you.”

“Then, um, did you want to borrow mine?”

Harrow blinked. “You need yours.”

“Yeah, I know! I meant that we could maybe - share. Pool our resources.” She patted the edge of her bunk gamely, then instantly regretted it when Harrow’s eyes narrowed even further.

“You want us to sleep together?”

"No? I mean, technically, but no. In the literal way. Not the other way.” Well maybe the other way sometime if you wanted to but that’s a whole other weird conversation that we probably shouldn't touch with a ten foot pole or we might explode.

"How exactly would that work?" The caution was still heavy in Harrow's voice, but some of the disapproval had ebbed away.

"I mean. We'd probably need to use my bed, since my sheets aren't covered in gross bone gobbets, but you could bring your blankets over and layer 'em over mine and then we'd have twice the blankets! And, you know, body heat. Which has its perks." Even Gideon's cool-and- easy-ness faltered at that, but she bravely soldiered on. "The point is, we'd both be warm."

"And it won't - make things weird?"

"Nope! Not weird. All perfectly chill, my shivering scion."

Harrow paused for a moment, worrying her lip between her teeth. "I'll get ready for bed," she said at last, clipped and decisive. "And I'll think about it."

"Take your time. I'll be here."

Moments later, after the shivering scion had swept grandly out of the room, Gideon's Thinking Brain crashed unceremoniously into her Talking Brain. Things were not, in fact, going to be perfectly chill. There were going to be some logistical problems with this arrangement. Big logistical problems.

Big logistical problems namely revolving around the mutually exclusive facts that the midnight monarch was not especially comfortable with touch, and Gideon Nav, space - bee slayer and resurrected badass, was a sleep cuddler.

Or, well, she was in theory. She didn’t have much (any) “real world” experience to go on, but she’d woken up many, many times back on the Ninth with a bundle of blankets wrapped up in her arms or nestled close to her chest. The habit had never really embarrassed her back then - she actually kind of liked it. She felt warmer and less lonely when she had something to hold, even in the frigid emptiness of her cell.

But that was back then. Things were different in the here - and - now. Harrow was in the here - and - now, and Gideon would never forgive herself if she ruined things with Harrow right when their relationship was on the upswing. They were actually talking, slowly figuring out how to work together again. The furious, tearful intensity between them in the wake of their reunion had calmed and warmed into something almost like real friendship.

After all that had happened - everything that had gone wrong over the past year and a half - they’d found a fragile sort of peace. There was no way in Hell she was going to ruin that peace now.

So while Harrow swished about getting ready for bed, Gideon leveled with herself and laid down some ground rules. Don’t make this weird, Nav. Make sure she’s comfortable, give her her space, and don’t think about cuddling with her.

...even though it would probably be warmer, and she has shitty necro circulation and essentially no body mass so she needs all the warmth she can get, and she gets that kinda soft peaceful look on her face when - no, fuck, see? You’re doing it already. Even if she did like you like that, which she absolutely doesn’t because she’s got a good old-fashioned frostbite girl back home, that’s not what you’re here for. You’re her cav. Her sworn sword. You’re here to do your job and make sure she doesn’t get her thumbs bitten off again. That’s it.

“You’re staring.”

Harrow’s voice cut sharp as a bone shard through Gideon’s nervous thought - spiral. Having apparently completed her grim evening rituals, she’d settled lightly on the far edge of the to - be - shared bed, countless dark layers poofing out around her like the feathers of a posturing crow. Her face was flecked with dots of gray from scrubbing off her paint, and her short hair stuck up in messy licks of black fluff despite her increasingly irritated attempts to smooth it flat.

It shouldn’t have been endearing. It really, really shouldn’t have.

It was.

Gideon was so screwed.

“Shit,” she muttered, scrubbing a hand over her face to ground herself. She glanced over to meet Harrow’s eyes (and wow, was that a mistake, they were as mesmerizing a swirl of black and gold as ever), then forced a smile like she wasn’t screaming internally. “Sorry. Zoned out a little. You good to go?”

The wryly exasperated glint in Harrow’s eyes made them glow even brighter in the dim light. “Yes, I’m ‘good to go,’ thank you. Are you, though? You look … troubled.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Think nice, normal thoughts. Don’t let her know. She cannot know.

“I’m always good, my chthonic countess,” she lied, smooth as could be, throwing in a roguish wink for good measure. That was distractingly stupid enough, it was bound to work.

Harrow frowned. “Why are you blinking like that?”

The roguish wink apparently had not worked.

“No reason! Just dust. In my eye. Lots of very rude dust landing right in my eye. Anyway. How are we doing this?”

A flicker of genuine, anxious concern ghosted over Harrow’s face as her frown deepened.

“Gideon,” she began, in that slow, reluctant way of hers that heralded Incoming Indignity. “I know that you were the one to suggest this, but I want to impress upon you that if you aren’t - certain about it, there is another possible solution.”

She cast around the room for a moment and reached for a massive, dusty tome at the top of a nearby stack, flipping determinedly through the pages. “I've had the idea for some time, but I only just managed to convince our commanding officer that I could use theorems 'responsibly' without their constant supervision, so I haven't been able to test it until now. Small - scale thanergetic fission reactions produce sparks of flame that, if handled extremely carefully, could give off enough heat - "

“Wait.” Gideon held up a hand, her own anxious brain jolting back online at the word flame. “Wait, wait, wait. Harrow. Seriously? The concern is sweet, don’t get me wrong, but your other solution is death - fire?”

“I said that it was a possibility,” she snapped back, that old brittle defensiveness calcifying over the vulnerability in her voice. Her posture straightened with a great rustling of robes: shoulders back, chin high, eyes gleaming with disdainful pride as the bones scattered about their room twitched to life. Looking for all the world like she had when they were ten - twelve - fourteen - sixteen, bitter and vicious and spoiling for a fight.

She seemed to realize it right when Gideon did. Her eyes widened, then closed. The bowstring tension in her shoulders slowly ebbed away as her half - formed constructs clattered to the floor. “Sorry,” she said at last, her voice a threadbare murmur. “I’m sorry. That was - uncalled for.”

“It’s a reflex. I get it.” And she did - she’d done the same thing countless times, had a hand on her sword and a barbed insult on her tongue without even thinking about it.

Another one of those fucked up things they had in common.

An uneasy silence settled between them, broken only by the rumbling hum of the engines, the thud of footsteps in the hall.

“I meant it, you know,” Harrow said, after a long moment. “About other options. It was a half - baked and immature attempt, but I wanted to give you an out if you were uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, I know, my sepulchral sage. I appreciate it. Half - baked immaturity and all.” She bumped her shoulder gently against Harrow’s, then flopped back on the bunk to stare up at the low ceiling. “Are we, like, committing to honesty hour tonight? How deep into feelings do you want to get?”

“As deep as is comfortable.”

“That’s what she said.”

“It’s a reasonable thing for her to say.”

Another hush fell over them, marginally more comfortable than the last, as Gideon worried her lip between her teeth and counted the cracks in the ceiling above her. There were nine of them in total. Go fucking figure.

A bony finger poked her in the side after a few cycles of counting. “Were you going to elaborate, or was that all just a set - up for one of your charming jokes?”

“I can’t believe it took you eighteen years to finally admit that they’re charming, but no, that’s not why I said it. I’ll lay bare my tender squishy heart for you, penumbral lady. Because you asked so nicely.”

Because I think you might already have it.

No avoiding it now. Might as well bite the bullet and dive in.

“I was on board with the cuddle thing from the beginning, but I felt like you wouldn’t be, and I panicked. You probably already knew that because you’re way more creepily observant than you have any right to be, but there it is. Out in the open.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could just run away and hide from the other girl’s piercing gaze. “I just don’t want to fuck things up with you, Harrow. I feel like we’ve got a kind of good thing going now. You haven’t called me a useless halfwit in forever, and I haven’t called you a heinous bitch in forever, and I haven’t wanted to. That’s unheard of for us. I don’t want it to go away.”

Her voice cracked, and the most damning words burst forth like flowers through concrete: “I don’t want to give you a reason to shut me out again.”

The memories of those nine months flashed in fragmented mosaic through her mind - the slick stone walls of the well, the freezing churn of the water, the burn in her muscles as she desperately thrashed up toward the surface and reached for someone who didn’t even know she was there. The gut - wrenching loneliness that defined her entire fucking life coalescing in that pit of brackish darkness. The chant rattling on loop in her mind as the water pulled her under: Harrow, what happened, what did you do, why the fuck did you leave me here, I had a purpose, I threw myself on that goddamned rail for a reason, was that not enough for you?

Was I not enough for you?

A cool, fine - boned hand laced with hers and squeezed, just once. The memories blurred.

“Gideon,” the voice that had haunted her all that time said. “You know - you have to know that isn’t why I did it.”

“Why did you, then?”

A tiny hitch of breath. A soft, almost incredulous laugh. Then:

“Because I loved you.”

The words hung heavy in the frozen air.

“You - what?”

“I loved you.” She said it so simply. Like it was something she’d come to terms with long ago. “I loved you beyond reason, and for once in my life I wanted to do right by you and keep you safe as you did me. The motivation doesn’t justify a moment of it, I won’t pretend it does, and I can’t even begin to erase the hurt it caused you. But I need you to understand that it was never because of something you did wrong. You are good, darling. Good to the core. You always have been.”

Bright spots bloomed before Gideon’s eyes as her reeling mind fought to catch up. Three thoughts sprang unbidden to the forefront:

Mmf.

And: Darling?

And:

“Loved. You said ‘loved.’ Why the past tense?”

She sat there, staring blankly up at the ceiling, half - expecting a don’t be presumptuous, Griddle or something even remotely normal, at least. What she got instead was another laugh, halting and shaky and suddenly deeply bitter. The hand in hers went rigid and drew away.

“I came to my senses. I remembered the countless awful things I’ve done. Saw myself for the leech that I am. I’ve taken and taken and taken from you, over and over again, torn away at your life like a scavenger, I can’t steal anything more - “

“Who said anything about stealing?”

For the first time since the grand awkward commencement of honesty hour Gideon felt a genuine smile bloom across her face. “Come on, Nonagesimus, give me some credit. You honestly think I would have stuck around this long if I didn’t know what I was giving you? If I wasn’t getting something out of it too?”

“What could you possibly be getting out of it?”

“You. I like you. Like, a lot. More than I ever thought I would. And I know the brain weasels are going to start yammering about how that’s impossible, and you don't deserve it, and we've still got a mountain of baggage left to work through, but I’ve thought about it a lot and I really mean it. Having you with me has made this whole shitty thing infinitely less shitty."

With a surge of sudden bravery and dizzy emotion, she reached out to take Harrow's hand again and, giving her ample time to pull away, pressed a feather - light kiss to the back. “If you want me here too, sunshine - as your cav or your friend or something else - then I'm not going anywhere."

Harrow closed her eyes, took a deep shuddering breath, and - smiled. A real one, slow and hesitantly sweet, lighting up her careworn face. "I need to think about it - we both should think about it. But I do want you here, in whatever way you want to be."

"Yeah? Cool."

"Cool."

Silence settled upon them for the third time that night, but this time it was different. It was soft and tentative, fragile and new, like budding grave - flowers reaching for the sun. First flowers, the both of them, clawing up out of the grit and finding a way to bloom.

"Should we go to sleep now?" Harrow asked at last, her rasping voice low and quiet. "It's getting late."

"We probably should. Cam and Pal are gonna kill us if we're not up by 6:00 tomorrow. Are you still up for this, though? Like, the whole 'two girls, chilling in a military bunk, zero feet apart 'cause they're freezing and also maybe like each other' thing?"

"Yes. On one condition."

"Anything."

"This might be difficult for you."

"Seriously, Harrow, just tell me. Name it and it's done."

"No sex jokes."

She heaved a sigh, mock - exasperated and so stupidly fond. "As you wish, my dearest darling death omen. As you wish."

It took a while to get comfortable - with Harrow's knobby elbows jabbing Gideon in the stomach, Gideon's clunky knee brace getting tangled in the sheets, the blankets collectively giving up and puddling on the floor at least ten times - but eventually, like everything else, they made it work. They fumbled through the sleep - cuddling confession with an admirable lack of panic on both sides, culminating in a firm agreement that they would let each other know the moment they were at all uncomfortable and an "I trust you" from Harrow so pure in its sincerity that it would be ringing through Gideon's mind for at least a myriad.

Harrow was the first to fall asleep, curled up tight in a cocoon of black fabric, the dark crown of her head just barely brushing the sunburst scar on Gideon's chest. Her shallow breaths fell into an even, steady rhythm, interspersed with whistling snores that Gideon was definitely going to tease her about when her heart was less of a melted puddle of goo.

The minutes slipped by warm and slow as drops of honey as her own eyes grew heavier, fluttering closed. She gave her necromancer - her Lyctor - her beautiful baneful bone empress one last sleepy smile, and drifted off.

(When Camilla went to shake her sparring partner awake the next morning, she found the two of them still sound asleep, wrapped up in each other's arms and looking more peaceful than she'd ever seen them. She huffed a laugh, muttered "finally," and let them be.)

#the locked tomb #tlt #locked tomb trilogy #griddlehark #angst and fluff and love confessions oh my!#the girls are trying to do right by each other and it's a bit of struggle but they're figuring it out

41 notes · View notes

ecle-c-tic · 3 years

Text

THANK YOU SO MUCH @sevenseasofyeet!!! This is super cool!!!

Who was your first favourite artist?

Either Queen or Elton John!

I think I've told this story before, but when I was small my brother had a crazy frog CD that I quickly claimed as my own to play We Are the Champions on repeat! It went 'missing' about 3 months later!!! I also remember listening to the radio and losing my absolute shit every time 'the pirate song' came on, it was Bohemian Rhapsody, but for some reason, I remember thinking the Operatic section sounded like pirates??? (yeah I have no clue either)

My Elton John CD was the first CD I ever had! But before that, my mom would play Island Girl, Bennie, Philadelphia Freedom, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Your Song, and Bad Side of the Moon for me every time we went out! 🥺

Who are your current favourite artists?

Queen, Elton, Wham!, The Clash, and their solo stuff (like George, Fred, JS + the Mescaleros, etc. etc.)

Are you into musicals? Which ones?/Why not?

fuck yeah! I think I listened to Phantom of the Opera about every day during jr high! (#fuck u raoul) I love Wicked (I sobbed literally the entire time I watched it on Broadway), Phantom, Anastasia, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (with Patrick Page and Michael Arden- holy shit!) and Chicago! (my grandmother showed me Chicago (like with Renee Zellweger when I was about 4, doesn't that explain a lot?)

I'm starting to listen to more and more Operas, their talent is truly amazing!

Are there songs you consider so special you only listen to them very rarely?

I think Queen II is so special that I'd rather not listen to the songs out of order, or while doing something else. It needs to be its own experience!

What's your preferred way of listening to music? (time of day, medium, situation)

I love my vinyl, but Spotify is so much more convenient! I'd listen to music from sun up to sun down if I could!

that being said, I really treasure my drink-coffee-car-karaoke on my way to work at 5;50 in the morning tho!!!

What would you say is the most niche music you listen to?

Hahaha! Either some of my cancon faves or Gaidhlig trad.

What's your favourite music-related movie/TV show that's not a musical?

Billy Elliot or School of Rock?

Albums or playlists?

It depends on my mood, but both is good!

Favourite albums?

Queen- Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, News of the World, Jazz, The Game, HOT SPACE, The works, A Kind of Magic, Miracle, Innuendo. (including; Mr. Bad Guy and BARCELONA)

Elton- Empty Sky, Tumbleweed Connection, Honky Chateau, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy, Rock of the Westies.

The Clash (and Joe)- Give 'Em Enough Rope, London Calling, Sandinista, Combat Rock, Rock Art and X-Ray Style, Global A Go-Go.

Wham! (and George)- Fantastic, Make It Big, Music from the Edge of Heaven, Faith, Older, Music from the Last Century. Listen Without Prejudice (Vol. 1).

Is there an artist you're trying to get into?

more Black Sabbath, some of Elton's later stuff, more T.Rex, more Stones, more Bowie, more AC/DC, more LedZep, more Chuck Berry, more Jimi + general counterculture stuff! I want to round out my 60s/70s knowledge! Also, the Eurythmics!

Whose music do you find over-hyped?

Elvis and the Beatles....😬 (solely bc Elvis sang so many covers and I really only vibe with the harder Beatles stuff)

What's an underrated song?

The Fallen Priest ~ Freddie Mercury, Montserrat Caballe

Let Me Live / Lost Opportunity / Human Body ~ Queen

What's a thing a bunch of songs do that you love every time?

I ADORE when multiple instruments have solos or when there are 'movements' in a song, like BoRhap or IWYS being smushed into one track haha!

What song is better acoustic?

JUNCO 👏 PARTNER 👏

What's the worst song of all time?

I actually don't know. I loathe I'm Gonna Be by the Proclaimers and just as a convo starter, I'm not big on Under Pressure.

Do you put individual songs on repeat? If so, for how long and how often?

Yes!!! It depends, Somebody to Love is on repeat quite often, but usually I'll play something until I learn the lyrics or like the bits (haha, idek, like the solos n shit)

Do you make your own playlists? If so, what's your most entertaining playlist title?

I cleared out my shitty 3 song playlists and I have about 5 situational ones and then 2 mega ones! My favourite one rn is "in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost(s)"

Headphones or earbuds?

When I'm stationary, headphones. Moving, earbuds.

Do you always sing the lead vocal or do you harmonize sometimes? If you harmonize, do you ever invent your own harmony?

I try to follow the lead, I match it by ear but I genuinely don't know if that's right. I just like to have fun!

A music confession

I'm sure what to put here

tagging: @brian-ur-bruh @queenies-of-the-universe @delicatelyfantasticninja @freddie-moments @wastelandell (oh my gosh, I typed your URL in wrong and thought u deactivated and almost cried!) @musiccat1971 @thislookinyoureyes @wiesel-mercury @sparkleslightlyy @trinikins @wastingawayinquarantine and anyone else who'd like to join in!! 🥺💛💛💛

#HAHAHA #This was so fun!#thank you

10 notes · View notes

siyeonjisoo · 3 years

Text

AVATAR GOING HUNTING NYC 9/3

It has finally happened, y’all! Concerts are back in my life and I am more than thrilled about it. Last night was the first concert I’ve been to since February 13, 2020 so over a year and a half when I’m used to maybe 3 months at most between concerts. Felt so SO good to be back at it and see concert fam folks again!

My comeback was with the incomparable metal band Avatar who I first saw in 2019 when they toured with Babymetal and I had no clue who they were. How things have changed since then. Now without any further ado, I give you how the day went.

I sadly had to go to work in the morning but I left at noon and made it to Irving Plaza around 1:40. I was really worried that I was going to have a horrible spot in line and thus have to hide in the back or along the walls to avoid the mosh pits but I ended up being only the 7th person in line. I had GA ticket and was the first person in line for that. Between already knowing some of the folks there and spending the next 6 hours making friends with them, I ended up being promised they would help me get as close to front row as they could get me which was AMAZING.

Doors opened actually on time and we were able to get into the venue pretty quickly! I ended up SECOND ROW for this show DEAD CENTER. An intense place to be but so very amazing.

Touring with Avatar are two other bands, Tallah and Magic Sword. Tallah performed first with about 5 songs. I’m always completely unfamiliar with the bands touring with folks so I didn’t know this group either. And they aren’t bad but not a group I will go out of my way to listen to again. Drummer kicked ass though, apparently he only joined the band as a replacement drummer 2 months ago and he killed it. The singer has the ability to do splits but that’s the only thing about him I think I like. The other members of the band were just as memorable as their songs, which is to say, not at all.

Next was Magic Sword. That group is a trio, of drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist. They were amazing, 10 out of 10. If you can get the chance to see them in concert, I beg of you to do so. That said, I can’t say I’ll be listening to their music again unless it’s live because they don’t have a vocalist and I like to be able to sing/rap along with music unless it is loud enough I can feel it in every single cell of my body, which is what Magic Sword delivered. Only bad thing to happen here was the crowd was starting to be...less than sober...and the person behind me spilled a quarter of their beer down my ass, right into the pocket where my phone was. I was less than thrilled with this person and was thankful they traded places with their friend for Avatar’s set because the second person was kinder and actually made conversation with us a little bit and apologized for how drunk they both were.

The stage was cleared after Magic Sword performed probably 6 or 7 songs? I can’t tell for sure since their songs do seem to run on the longer side so I may have split a song that is actually one into two. And then it was time for the reason I was there, the main event: AVATAR.

The roadies came out and set up the stage for them with a very different setup than ANY of us expected. There was a projector screen blocking most of our view but we could see three mic stands set up in the front middle, the usual lights and drumset in the back, and then another drumset on stageright next to the microphones.

After many attemted Avatar chants and false alarms from the crew, the band came out. They all lined up, John at the front drumset, Henrik, Johannes, Jonas, and Tim in that order filled in the microphones set up. They all stood looking dead ahead, barely blinking, for a few moments of us screaming before jumping into the first two songs of the night, Colossus and Let it Burn. They performed Colossus without moving or smiling or anything, they looked like robots so so perfectly. They held the positions for what felt like a full minute or two with Henrik trying so so hard to not smile, I could see the corner of his mouth twitching. He looked so happy to be here the whole night!

The lights went down after those 2 songs and they took off the front drumset and changed the microphones back to the usual ones that they can kick up and spread them to give them all more space. When they did, a drumstick dropped on the ground and got left behind so a friend of mine got the venue staff to pick it up and hand it to her! She got a drum stick from Tallah, too I believe.

Next came SIlence in the Age of Apes, Bloody Angel, (Johannes said he thinks of all of us as his) Child (ren), and The Eagle Has Landed. This is where things started getting a LOT more intense in the crowd. I could feel the crowd moving more behind me in Apes so I could tell that there was a mosh pit that was at least starting out by then and by Bloody Angel, people were crowd surfing. At least one person per song would come crashing over us for the rest of the show and I didn’t really love it. I was scared the whole time a foot was gonna come crashing into my head or a staff member was gonna punch me in the nose AGAIN to keep me from getting a foot in the head. which yes, the dude full-on punched me in the nose to catch a foot that swerved away from my head and into the person in front of me instead. An adventure of a moment.

Everyone went off-stage for a few minutes except for Johannes who took a moment to greet us and thank us all for coming He was in his full glory the whole night, that cocky grin glued to his face and a manic joy in his eyes that was genuine happiness to be back in front of a crowd after so long. He gave us some kind of witty (but obvious if you know song names) intro into the next set of songs and the rest of the band came back out.

(Insert quirky pun her) Paint it Red, Secret Door, Swarm, Torn Apart. This was the period of time when I could barely keep my eyes off of Tim because he looked so giddy half the time. Either making faces to tease us or just looking around himself in amazement. More moshing pushing us around and crowd surfers kicking us in the head but oh-so amazing.

Then came the grand piano being carried on stage. No, it wasn’t actually a grand piano, it was a keyboard put into a wood frame to look like a shrunken down grand piano so it looked real but was able to be lifted by three or four people and carried on stage. Johannes sat down and seranaded us with Gun and I have not hated being in an American crowd so much before in my life. Every time I would start to get into the emotions of the song, someone would shout something hardly intelligible because they were so far away or it would be someone screaming “I LOVE AVATAR!” Made me so so so annoyed but Johannes was smiling so I tried to ignore it and let it go.

The piano was taken away and the rest of the band came back to perform Going Hunting. And lemme just tell you that it was an honor to be in the third ever audience to hear that song performed live. It hits all the right feels to kick ass live and at home so I hope people are loving it.

Johannes thanked us for tuning in and making their streamed Dream concerts happen in Avataruary. He said it gave them all a chance to reflect and think about the songs they haven’t performed in years, leading them to their self-titled album, leading us Deeper Down. This song was actually one I don’t know if I’ve listened to before, I’ve kind of stuck with the 4 albums I really like and haven’t branched out much. But it slaps hard.

Next it was time for us to worship our king. Everyone but Kungen left stage and he looked at us like we were ants beneath his feet, barely worthy of being acknowleged while the roadies came and changed his guitar and gave him his royal attire. Kungen slowly started playing the intro and Tim joined him, standing back to back and both of them looking gorgeous while everyone else slowly joined them on stage to build up A Statue of the King. They followed that with zero comments jumping immediately into The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country. Both of those songs are so effing hype that when they all just walked off stage after, I was shook.

I think this was when Johannes started getting a little sappy with us in his comment. He said they’d all agreed that they wouldn’t get emotional on us but he had to take a minute and thank us all for being back here with them. And the way he knows that we’re really back together is because even though we all look so different we all *snifs armpits* smell the same. We all Smell Like a Freakshow. I don’t know if it’s just me but it felt like we were all saving up energy for this song and went absolutely feral. I used up almost all the energy I had left so I just did the bare minumum for Wormhole right after. Moved just enough to avoid getting hit in the head with someone else’s head.

Then for what I think was only the second time all night, everybody went off stage. Every other time, Johannes has stuck around and chatted while the others were gone but he left too. They did a quick little outfit change behind the scenes I think, Johannes came back on with his overalls undone so clearly he was hot. And, you know, a warm temperature as well. Yup.

And just like that, as though 3 hours hadn’t passed since the first band started, it was time for the last song of the night. It was time to Hail the Apocalypse. This song is the only song I know for sure they performed the last time I saw them live and I feel like it only gets better the more I hear it. They could make a 10 minute version of it and I would still be asking for more.

They went off-stage for a second and everyone put down their instruments and came back without anything and just let us cheer for them. They gave us a little bow and then started saying thank you and waving good bye. I saw Tim say “I love you” at the crowd and I think John and Jonas both blew kisses at us.

And then it was over. They left the stage, the lights came up in the house, we all made sure everyone was okay from all the flying feet that came at us, and the venue staff told us it was time to go home. I had friends going the same way I was so I was able to keep the magic going for a little while longer before I started my journey home alone.

These guys are all so amazing and I am so lucky I got to fall in love with them the way I did. And I am so happy to have the friends I’ve made at this show and every other show I’ve been to. It was an amazing way to get back to concerts, starting it off with a bang. I have blisters, bruises, and sore everything but I would do it all again tonight if only I could. It is now time to start counting down the days till I follow Miyavi around for a week on tour in October!

THANK YOU FOR TAKING ME HUNTING, AVATAR! Glory to Our King!

The setlist was given to my my friend. All other photographs are taken by yours truly

#avatarmetal #johannes #john #henrik #tim #jonas #kungen #concerts #going hunting #avatar going hunting #magic sword #tallah

7 notes · View notes

jessiewritesthings · 4 years

Text

Saudade - Epilogue

Prince Zuko x Reader

Here she is!! Saudade is my baby and i’m so happy and so grateful for everyone that has taken the time to read this, i love you all! thank you thank you thank you x

Part I - Part II - Part III

168 AG

Izumi smiled softly, flipping through the pages of the family album. Black and white photos dotted the pages, documenting the life you had shared with Zuko for more than seventy years. Images of you and Zuko at the helm of numerous Fire Lily Festivals, visiting Fire Nation Citizens, meeting with delegates from all over the Four Nations. The images Izumi liked the most were the ones with all your friends in them – as a child she had thought it was just the coolest thing that her parents were best friends with the Avatar.

She also particularly loved the photos you would take on your vacations to Ember Island – loved how proudly you held yourself, scar and all. Most people would take to hiding away, a scar so bad as yours was enough reason to, Izumi had figured. She knew her father struggled with it every day – no matter how many times you tried to comfort him, he always saw it as a sign of his weakness, a reminder of the cruelty that Azula and Ozai, and the rest of his predecessors had put the world through.

Your life with Zuko hadn’t always been easy, though it had definitely been worth it. Numerous assassination attempts on the both of you had plagued your first few years together, and the backlash from Zuko’s advisors as he proposed and promptly married you, crowning you his Fire Lady, hadn’t gone down particularly easy. Nonetheless, you were stronger together, and in time the Fire Nation grew to love you, just as they did Zuko.

Izumi sighed, a tear rolling down her cheek as she closed the album, placing it on the corner table before joining her father on the balcony.

“Izumi, my dear,” Zuko murmured, reaching for her hand as she placed it on his shoulder.

Izumi stood silently with her father, watching as their guest’s ships began to depart. If she squinted, she could see Katara with Tenzin and Pema, waving as Pema wrangled with Jinora and Ikki, young Meelo clinging to his father. Raising his hand to wave in return, Zuko thought about how desperately he wanted Aang, or his Uncle Iroh around – someone that could help him come to terms with the most devastating blow he’d been dealt yet.

It had been two weeks now, since Zuko had woken to find you cold, yet soft and peaceful in his arms. Your arms had still been pressed across his chest, the same groove you always found yourselves sleeping in, legs pushed together like you were two halves of a whole – which, in a way, you were. Zuko had swallowed down his fear, and his cry for help, as he looked at you, softly brushing your white hair from your face, his fingers delicately running the beads along the strands.

“Oh, my sweet y/n,” he had whispered, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead, his tears starting to fall over your face. He stayed there with you, unable and unwilling to move, as if he stayed still forever you might open your eyes and greet him. His eyes didn’t move from your form when his attendant, Mira, entered the room, a tray of hot breakfast and steaming tea in her arms.

The tray was quickly placed on the side table as Mira rushed to the bedside, gasping in shock.

“Lord Zuko,” she started, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Mira, please.” He let go of you now, gently removing himself from your bed, as if trying not to rouse you.

Mira came to his side, placing an arm on Lord Zuko’s shoulder before he smiled softly at her and pulled her into a hug. Zuko continued to cry, comforted by Mira. You had been loved and admired by all of the palace staff, and many of them had requested to follow you and Zuko when you had moved to Ember Island following Zuko’s abdication as Fire Lord.

“The Lady y/n will be remembered fiercely, Lord Zuko. The Fire Nation’s most delicate flower.”

Zuko smiled, fondly remembering the first time he had introduced you to his dragon, Druk. Zuko had the utmost confidence in the dragon, and you had been positively terrified – not because he was a giant fire-breathing dragon – you’d proven yourself more than capable of handling fire by now – but he was just so big. Nonetheless, you had mounted Druk, and shrieked in surprise as Zuko leapt off the dragon, watching as you soared into the sky, your wild hair flowing as you clutched onto Druk’s scales. Zuko was positively enamoured – he’d already spent a lifetime loving you, but seeing you ride Druk with such tenacity and grit had sent him straight into the past, flying through all your history until you were both back in the Crystal Catacombs in Ba Sing Se. Zuko was enchanted by you, and he knew he would be until his heart stopped beating.

You were beaming as Druk had landed, your hair windswept and your blue robes loose, exhilarated. Leaping off the dragon, you ran to Zuko’s arms, flinging yourself to him as your arms found their natural home, your lips pressing to his scar.

“Zuko, that was incredible,” you’d exclaimed, astounded.

“Mmm, it certainly was.” Zuko smiled – watching you ride Druk was better than being in the reigns himself.

“My Dragon Queen,” he murmured, pressing soft kisses against your neck, the spot he knew you loved the most.

_____

Zuko sat with his daughter until the sun had entirely disappeared, and then they sat together for longer, watching the night as the stars began to dapple across the sky, the moon incandescent in its beauty as it graced the sky. They sat silently, hands clasped together, tucked into a patchwork quilt you had made for Izumi’s birth – a delicate, stunning piece of work that seamlessly incorporated both sides of you and Zuko, magical swirls of red and blue speckled with gems and beads.

Izumi twirled the blue beads adorning the quilt through her fingers, recalling the countless nights that she would rouse you both from sleep, claiming to be plagued by nightmares. You never complained, always opening your arms to pull her in, letting her nestle in-between you and Zuko where she would sleep freely. Sometimes, before sleep took her, Izumi would feel your fingers drifting through her hair, and she would fall asleep in such a tranquil, safe space.

Eventually Izumi heard stories about her grandfather Ozai – horrifying stories of what he’d done to the world, his nation, his family. She’d never asked her father about his scar – in-fact it never occurred to her as a child that it deviated from malicious intent, because her mother had one too. In Izumi’s young mind, she used to imagine that the two of you being scarred was just the spirits way of making sure you found each other, as if your scars acted as magnets that would bring you together wherever you were.

“I was so lucky to have her love me, Izumi,” Zuko hummed, voice raspy. “I always knew I would love her, after we first met. Your mother, she was magic. Ethereal. It has been the greatest honour of my life to love her, and that love brought me the greatest gift: you.”

Izumi smiled fondly at her father, leaning forward to press a kiss to his forehead.

“She was lucky to have your love, too.”

Lord Zuko turned to his daughter, a soft smile gracing his face. She was an excellent Fire Lord, and he recalled the time Ursa had told him that a Fire Lord producing a nonbending child was a disgrace in Ozai’s eyes. Of course, Ozai was wrong. Izumi was not a bender, but Zuko constantly found himself in awe of his daughter’s calm demeanour, and when he abdicated his throne, he had never been prouder of Izumi as she was crowned Fire Lord.

Izumi’s birth had not been easy for you – she was a stubborn babe, and you’d been in labour for hours – days actually, as you later found out. Katara was assisting you, and Aang had taken Zuko away to keep him distracted – it was awfully improper for a husband to be present at a birth of course. Naturally, that didn’t deter you, and you constantly pleaded with Katara and your handmaiden to please, please, please get Zuko. As Zuko and Aang returned to the palace, Fire Lord Zuko was informed that your child still had not been delivered. Anxiety consumed him, and to the horror of his advisors he’d dashed to your chambers, grasping your hand and whispering sweet nothings into your ear as you finally delivered a healthy, beautiful, precious baby girl.

Zuko was enamoured with Izumi immediately, and would often be found after a particularly highly-strung meeting with his advisors sitting on the balcony in Izumi’s nursery, holding his soft, sweet girl in his arms. Before Izumi was born, Zuko had confided in you that he wasn’t sure about his ability to be a father – he wanted to be a good father so much that it overwhelmed him, and he wasn’t able to comprehend it. He’d blurted it out in the middle of a game of Pai Sho, neither of you knowing that you were in-fact already carrying the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation. You’d reached your arm across the board, hand gently caressing Zuko as you gave him a reassuring smile.

“You will be magnificent, my love. Any children we have will grow to see their father the same way I do – brave, intelligent, loving and kind.”

Zuko took your hands, pressing them to his lips as he watched you, shadows from the flames flickering across your face.

“Have I told you that I’m madly in love with you?” he replied, a cheeky grin forming. Forgetting the game of Pai Sho, you crept over to his side, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Not nearly enough,” you answered, your lips pressing together as Zuko put his hands in your hair, pulling his fingers through.

“I’m madly in love with you, y/n. Every minute of every day.”

175 AG

Lord Zuko stirred softly in his sleep, out on the balcony as usual – you had spent most of your time here curled up together, after all. He was smiling softly, thinking of you as he always did. It had been an interesting few years without you, but nothing could fill the void that was left inside Zuko after you left. He would often wake from a restless sleep, desperately clutching the sheets as if you were there, only to be disappointed every time. He played many games of Pai Sho with Mira, and she would sit with him each evening, enjoying a cup of tea on the balcony as they kept each other company. Most often, Zuko would sit on the loveseat in the balcony, your favourite blanket draped across him for comfort instead of warmth. He’d sit there with his tea, usually forgetting it as he would drift into a deep sleep, visited by you and your memories together.

“Come, Zuko. Let’s go down to the beach,” you urged.

The sun was setting on Ember Island, and you were due to return to the palace tomorrow, Fire Lord duties to be resumed. Iroh had graciously stepped in in place of Zuko to allow the pair of you to have on ‘official’ honeymoon, something you were both incredibly grateful for.

Slipping your hand into his, you’d made your way down to the beach, both barefoot and revelling in the soothing nature of the sand. You’d let go of him now, running through the waves as they crashed on the shore. Zuko couldn’t do much more than stare at you – your hair shined in the fading sun, the red hues making you look delicious and warm. Your gown wrapped around your waist, unravelled slowly, revealing your scar. Zuko grimaced, a flash of pain echoing on his face. Seeing this, you ran to his side, placing your hands in his.

“I just…,” he started, swallowing. “I just wish I could take it away, for you.”

“Don’t, my love. It is as much a part of me as yours is you. I am proud to have this scar. Proud of what it represents for us, for all that we’ve been through. I don’t want you to feel this way every time you look at me.”

Zuko smiled softly, pressing his lips to your forehead.

“I look at you, and I am alive.”

Zuko placed his hands on your waist as you wrapped yours around his neck.

“Dance with me,” you whispered. Zuko blushed – forever the one with two left feet – and the two of you danced, softly, delicately, holding each other as if all the love in the world had been given to only you both in that moment. Water rushed over your feet as you moved across the sand. A laugh escaped you as Zuko caught his foot on yours, accidentally tripping you up as you both fell into the sand, water lapping at your feet. Sighing, you ran your fingers through his hair as you rested on top of him.

“I think I loved you the moment I saw you. Even if I didn’t know it then,” you’d whispered, gazing into his eyes. Zuko had raised his head slightly, watching you carefully, almost as if he didn’t believe you. “We will be remembered, Zuko. For the right reasons.”

Pulling himself off the sand, Zuko lent back, allowing you to shuffle into his arms. You sat silently together, watching as the stars began to dot across the night sky, peaceful and content like neither of you had ever felt before.

Zuko woke slowly, the first rays of the new day dawning. You stood before him, hazy and radiant and celestial in your beauty, before reaching one hand out to him.

“Come, Zuko. There’s still so much more to see.”

Zuko’s eyes closed, a long, deep breath escaping for one final time. He was in his dreams now – dreaming his dreams with you.

_____

“Lord Zuko,” Mira called, unsurprised to find the elderly Lord had once again slept on his balcony.

Mira approached him, a gasp of shock leaving her as she realised just how peaceful he looked. In his hands he held a small, silver hair clip, adorned with white and blue gems and beads.

Ah. Together again.

_____

oddment-niwit-blubber-tweak

eridanuswave

coldlilheart

thirstyforsometea

lammello

whalerus

astroninaaa

lil-lex1

zukosvice

darkskin-buttercup

yiyibetch

#mywriting #zuko #prince zuko #zuko x reader #zuko x you #prince zuko x reader #avatar: tla #avatar imagine

179 notes · View notes

buckybarnesalways · 3 years

Note

So I'm not gonna give you the numbers for the game cause I'm on my phone and it would be pain in the ass to see which ones I didn't ask 😅

So you can answer 15 questions that you really wanna answer or pick them randomly.

Hope that's okay 💕

alright you asked for all of them, that's what you get lol.

2. Do you enjoy thrilling rides like rollercoasters?

no, I hate roller coasters. I'm terrified of heights

5. What do you find most attractive about your crush?

their personality and their eyes

6. What’s your favorite outfit?

my plaid pajamas, black t-shirt and my you define you hoodie

7. Does seeing people in love make you happy? Sad? Annoyed?

makes me happy and lonely I wish I could find someone

9. What CD did you play to death as a kid?

I have no idea lol

10. Hike to a mountain top to watch the sunrise or drive out of town to stargaze?

stargaze defiantly. I love anything to do with space and stars

11. What song has the most relatable song lyrics to you?

anything by Citizen soldier

13. Bright colors or neutral tones?

neutral all the way

15. Do you have a green thumb or a black thumb?

black thumb.

16. What’s your favorite feature of yours?

my eyes

18. What type do you tend to go for physically?

men: tall, brown hair, blue or brown eyes. woman: funny, long black hair, dark eyes

19. Power of invisibility or flight?

flight, I already feel invisible

20. Would you rather wake up with your makeup magically done or your hair?

I don't wear makeup so hair i guess

21. What’s the stupidest fight you’ve ever gotten into?

this guy assumed that because I'm a girl I didn't know anything about marvel and tried to tell me that rocket was actually named rocky and go mad when i corrected him

23. What’s your dream date?

honestly just cuddling and watching a movie is perfect for me

26. Did you enjoy high school?

nope, I was relentlessly bullied

27. Who is the craziest person in your family and why?

my uncle, he just sometimes forgets that he's an adult and not a teenager

29. Can you describe your laugh?

loud people say that they like it idk

32. What song is stuck in your head?

storm by lifehouse

33. Do you like exercising?

no, but I really need to actually do it.

34. Do you scare easily?

no, unless it's a spider or a clown

35. Who are your top 5 celebrity crushes?

1. Rafael Silva 2. Ronen Rubinstein 3. Sebastian Stan 4. Chris Evans 5. Tyler Hoechlin (not in any order lol) and a couple bonus ones Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli

38. What’s your favorite flower?

Lillys, orchids, tulips and roses

39. What non-sexual touch affects you the most?

hand on the inner thigh

40. Do you enjoy cuddling?

depends on who it's with

41. Do you like valentine’s day?

I like the candy lol

43. What would you be most likely to become famous for?

my writing maybe. do people actually it lol

45. Are you a romantic?

yes

46. Do you have any tattoos or want to get one?

I want to get so many

47. Biggest pet peeve?

loud breathing or chewing

48. Favorite personality trait about yourself?

my loyalty

49. Sum up your type in three words.

kind, tall, usually with an accent

51. What’s the longest you’ve ever stayed awake?

almost three days when I was super nervous about surgery

52. Hot or cold weather?

in between lol

53. Bouquet of flowers or box of chocolates?

either

55. What’s the best prank you’ve been witness to?

I honestly have no clue lol

57. Is there a vine or tik tok you quote often?

the one where it's like they're goanna know; how would they know. i actually follow the two men that made that sound Tyler and Todd

59. What country that you haven’t been to do you want to visit most?

Italy

61. What’s your guilty pleasure movie?

the old guard or Marvel

62. What’s your comfort movie?

the old guard

63. Is there a genre of music you don’t like?

not really

64. What’s an album that you think has no skips on it?

idk lol I don't generally skip any songs

65. What’s your favorite thing to watch on youtube?

I don't a favorite thing I have more favorite people like Alana king. emmmabooks, Tyler and Todd, Katie Colson, matt and blue, pk and mike

66. Would you make the first move to ask someone out?

nope I'm to scared

68. What are you craving right now?

eggnog

71. What genre is your favorite playlist right now and what’s it called? I don't have one I've been listening to my liked songs and it's a little bit of everything

72. Are you a sad or happy drunk? Chill or energetic drunk?

all of them lol it depends on who I'm with

73. What time of day do you like best?

nighttime

75. What top three cities do you want to travel to?

New York, Austin Texas, England

76. What’s your favorite feature about your best friend?

everything I love her.

79. Do you like surprises?

from the right people

80. What’s your favorite picture of yourself?

one my sister took of me fitting into a tiny chair

81. What books influenced you most as a child?

Harry Potter I taught myself to read by reading them

82. Do you like kids?

some of them

84. Any wild stories passed around in your family?

mainly just when my aunt was upset when my mom got her income taxes back first

86. What are you most comfortable sleeping in?

shorts and a t-shirt or pants a t-shirt and my hoodie

87. What was your childhood dream?

to be a csi

88. What’s your fictional OTP?

Tarlos, Stucky, Klaine, Destiel. Joe and Nicky, Judd and Grace, sterek

90. What has been your favorite book you’ve read in the last 5 years? Red, White and Royal blue

91. What was the first movie to make you cry?

fox and the hound I think

92. What book world would you live in if given the opportunity?

Red, White and Royal blue

93. What’s your craziest work related story?

idk don't have one

95. Worst tinder or date experience?

none I've never been on a date

97. Are you more of a planner or a spontaneous adventurer?

both lol

98. Do you think you see yourself the way other people see you?

no not at all

99. What’s the last show you binged?

rewatching 911 Lonestar and also watching Daredevil

wow that took a minute lol

#ask game #thanks for the ask!#answered #every single one #my friends

3 notes · View notes

earthstellar · 3 years

Text

The Most 80s Cartoon Theme Songs Ever: Guitars, Synth, Emotional Lead Singers, Robot Voices

Now, I know this is on my Transformers blog, and I already made a whole big post about the objectively best Transformers theme songs here.

But if you like the Transformers 80s rock/synth music, I have some classic 80s cartoon series songs that younger people out there might not even know about-- And they are absolutely the most radical 80s songs you will ever hear.

You will either love these, or you will laugh extremely hard. I don’t know how anyone under 30 years old might react to these, but I want Gen Z to experience some of the sick jams I grew up with, so here you go!

1) MASK Theme Song: If GI Joe and Transformers Were The Same Show

If you follow me for Transformers: This show is what would happen if a bunch of bots used their holoforms to do a GI Joe adventure while driving around in a bunch of weird Combiner alt-mode vehicles.

Check that out. It’s a 50s Cadillac painted like a flaming hot rod with triplicate tires and a rotating tank turret. Look at how much ass that kicks.

MASK was about being rad, using cars and trucks that had a bunch of really goofy nonsense like laser beam headlights to fight the Bad Guys, who were mostly B-list GI Joe villains. This show is fondly remembered because it was fun and silly with some pretty cool design ideas and toys, and that’s all it needed to be. MASK was pretty great!

Best Elements of the Song: The song opens with soft synth keyboard, then kicks off into guitar and a heavy synth robot voice accompanied by a super passionate dude absolutely invested in singing about “always riding hard on Venom’s trail” (you can decide if it’s gay or not, personally I remember fanfiction about this series that was actually pretty good), before an excellent guitar solo that melts into a synth duet and a last round of vocals to close out the track.

Worst Elements of the Song: The lyrics are horrendous. You will either love how much of a jam this is anyway, or you’ll laugh at it because it’s so cheesy. Either way, it is still actually a great track, so give it a listen if you’ve never heard it before!

2) Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors: You’ve Probably Never Heard of This Show Because it was Made by French Canadians

If you follow me for Transformers: This show is what happens when Whirl spikes all the drinks in Swerve’s and

There’s a space outlaws themed episode where the above character uses her bisexual mullet and shoulder pads made of steel to defend her title as the space pirate queen. Please watch this show.

This show has everything, from multiple characters with mullets, a character who is a cross between Han Solo and Bender from The Breakfast Club, a space wizard, a magical Captain Planet space magic ring, space pirates, space vehicles of all kinds, surprisingly solid animation, and overall a really fun vibe. The character designs are really interesting, and it’s a shame this show isn’t more widely known. The famous J M Straczynski (look up everything he’s worked on and have your mind blown) worked on this show as well!

Best Elements of the Song: The track opens with the opening narration from the show, and immediately kicks off: “There’s a power that comes from deep inside of you, every day you’re reachin’ towards the light! And you know there’s a long long way ahead of you, but when your wheels get you there-- Things will turn out right! ” Absolutely great vocals accompanied by synth beats and hair metal guitar which goes into a vocal chorus, ending with an emphasis on the solid vocals for impact.

Worst Elements of the Song: It’s hard to find a full length version of the track. The one I linked above is still the TV edit of the theme.

3) The Real Ghostbusters - Hometown Hero: I Really Miss Cartoons With Synth Music

Honestly, the whole album is worth a listen, this is 80s gold.

This show was one of the biggest hits of the 80s. I had an Egon Spengler blue Ghostbusting jumpsuit, and this is the show I remember most fondly.

You knew shit was real when you got the frontal proton-guns-out group pan shot.

Now, you might laugh, younger people, but The Real Ghostbusters actually had some of the best writing of any animated show at the time, and it still holds up today. (I recently re-watched it, and I was impressed at how good it still is.) It was unreal how great and how adult the first two seasons were, especially. Janine was the coolest, most stylish, fiercest lady in cartoons. (I had a crush on her for years as a kid.)

It’s also probably one of the few 80s cartoons that is entirely watchable in the current day. The dialogue is genuinely funny, and the show gets deeply emotional at times, in very effective and real-feeling ways. You will cry when things get serious. You get entirely invested in what’s going on, no matter how wild or bizarre. The creature designs were amazing, and the animation was solid. This show was above and beyond in terms of overall quality, and the music matches.

Best Elements of the Song: I do recommend you listen to the whole album, because each song is very distinct and extremely 80s. The one I linked above, Hometown Hero, was made for a specific episode in which Ray returns to his hometown to bust a ghost that a family friend has requested the Ghostbusters help out with. However, Ray is afraid that people will think his career is silly or that people might be disappointed in him not having a more traditional job, so he’s nervous. However, when they get there (after lots of encouragement from the rest of the team), they successfully deal with the situation, and Ray’s courage is back! Cue the music!

It’s a very uplifting song, and a pretty good episode, too. (There was lots of good episodes, but I recommend the first two seasons in their entirety. They’re all good episodes, no lie.)

Worst Elements of the Song: Unfortunately this track ends eventually, but there is an entire album for this series, including one of the best Halloween themed bops I’ve ever heard, which you can enjoy here.

This post is pretty long already, but if you want to hear more 80s cartoon jams, let me know and I’ll share the objectively best ones!

#the real ghostbusters #real ghostbusters #80s #retro #vintage #cartoons #ghostbusters #MASK #80s cartoons #80s shows #80s music #music #1980s #animation #jayce and the wheeled warriors

13 notes · View notes