#but i ended up giving her an italian background because i have more italian than greek friends

[evans23]

The first and last one

Pairing : Lionel Shabandar x Reader OC

Summary : For the first time, Lionel wants to really settle in with a woman. Yet, you always shy away when he wants to make love with you. You eventually find the courage to admit to him you're a virgin and Lionel is quite aroused with the information.

Tag(s)/Warning(s) : Smut, loss of virginity, blood.

A/N : Hello dear 😁 I imagined this fic after having watched a show in which the main female character was a thirty years old virgin ashamed to admit it to her partner. I had three characters in mind for this story : Sinclair, David and Lionel. I wrote for the three of them but Lionel won my preference at the end. Hope you will enjoy it.

*** Thank you to @muiitoloko who has inspired I these lines.

Sinclair's version is here - David's version is here - Also read on AO3

Your meeting with Lionel has been fortunate but totally hazardous.

Indeed, six months ago, a colleague of yours had invited you to an exhibition. The crowd was overwhelming, and you had to find a secluded place to give your mind some respite. You were sitting down in front of a painting from an Italian painter, Titian, when you heard someone walking behind you.

You pretended to not have heard the intruder who came to perturb your need of privacy but the newcomer sat down next to you oblivious of your need to be alone.

“I’m glad you like this painting. It is my favorite,” he said with a baritone voice which had send shivers through your whole body.

You had turned to meet the most beautiful hazel eyes you had ever seen. Speechless in front of the alluring man, albeit older than you were, you just nodded coyly. Yet, the true was that little did you know you were talking to Lionel Shabandar. Of course you know the man by name, but you weren’t interested at all about his business. You didn’t even know he was the lender of most of the painting displayed at the exhibition. Lionel didn’t realise how oblivious you were of who he was, thinking that everybody present at the party knew it was organised, patronised and hosted by no one else than the incredibly generous Lionel Shabandar who will serve up in preview the new ideas to extend a little bit more his company and in the same way his power overall the Brits’ media.

“Of course, nothing is better to the eyes than the real beauty of a real woman.”

You had blushed hearing his compliment but not totally gullible about his motive, you kept some distance from the man. He transpired sex and he definitely wanted to shag you. However, you had to recognise he had for him some subtlety.

He talked a bit about arts with you and, even though you weren’t really knowledgeable in that field, your mind was sharp and bright enough to give a perceptive, interesting and lightening opinion about what you were looking at. Never ever would you admit to Lionel that at the time you weren’t interested at all about his arts. You fueled the conversation because his company was quite enjoyable even if he wanted something you wouldn’t let him get so easily, even less to an unknown man, but arts wasn’t your cup of tea. You grew to appreciate it thanks to Lionel's company and your desire to take an interest in his passion when you became more than acquaintances.

Little were you conscious that Lionel knew. You couldn’t fool a real passionate and your answers to his questions were sometimes to hesitant if not off the bean, but he never mocked you or did any mean remarks because he really appreciated the fact that he meant so much to you that you took up an interest into his. Besides, you were such a smart person to talk with that it didn’t matter if you were from a less background than his.

Indeed, you were just a mere saleswoman in a well-known bakery, even though since you were official, Lionel was insisting for you letting down your job. He was even ready to hire you in his company if the idea of just being his girlfriend was so infuriating for you.

What had captured the interest of Lionel was the fact that you had resisted him. That night, at the exhibition, not only were you utterly unaware of who he was but you refused his advances, two things which had aroused him more than anything else in his life.

He was definitely engrossed with you and he thought it would only be a matter of time before putting you in his bed, but he was so wrong. You revealed yourself as a stubborn, independent and thoughtful woman who wasn’t one to open her legs for everybody.

Therefore, he tries the good old method, which means he courted you and eventually fell into his own trap by falling truly, madly, deeply in love with you. In the beginning, he was awfully terrified of these new feelings.

Of course, he had already been in love, but he was so much younger. Another problem which wasn’t a problem at all as it didn’t bother any of you was the age gap. He was from 20 years your oldest but it made no difference for you as his mind and his body were much younger than some of your acquaintances. No, the worst part was to have fallen in love so easily, yet again you were such a clever and pretty girl and his relentless pursuits couldn’t have ended up in any other ways.

After one month being undettered by the desire to conquer you, he became your friend, your confident and after another month, your companion. The fifth months he asked, almost ordered, you to move in with him in his awfully huge mansion and you had accepted. Anyway, Lionel wouldn’t have it in any other way, he wanted you by his side.

He thought he would be the beginning of something else. Something more serious. To put in a nutshell, he thought you will let you make love to you as he had dreamed to since your first meeting. He had thought that your shyness from being more intimate came from the fact that your relationship wasn’t official enough. After all, he was quite aware of his reputation, but now, you were living under the same roof, sharing the same bed and he was in the desperate need of touching you. No, he could touch you actually, but past the forlorn, you inevitably back down, shutting yourself off.

The first week of your common life, you came with the excuse you had your period. He told you it didn’t bother him at all, but the disgusted look on your face had spoken louder than yourself about your stance on it. The second weeks you had a cold, which was true, and therefore you were too tired. Then, the two others weeks, you find any possible excuse to escape what should be a sheer pleasure between two lovers.

Lionel was seriously annoyed with your avoidance and his mind had him think you were maybe with him only for his money before shaking his head from left to right, not convince at all by this assertion. After all, you didn’t know who it was during your first meeting and even during the second. Indeed, during the exhibition, when he had understood you didn’t know who he was, he had introduced himself with his second name, William, and when, between the second course and the desert of your second meeting, he was sure you were utterly oblivious of his identity, he had revealed to you the true. A smile grew on his face at the memory of your shocked look. He would never forget how you had grabbed your phone to check on the internet if he was saying the truth and how much he had laughed when you had gawked at him, totally speechless.

If you asked him, he would tell you this moment was the moment he had understood you were different and that maybe you could be just something else than another woman in his bed. You were smart, shy but with a sharp mind and more than agreeable for the eyes, even though your appearance was more normal than some of the bimbos he had hung out with in the past. But more than anything else, you never talked about his money or even his company except if he was the one starting the conversation towards those topics. No, you were genuinely interested by the man. The real man. By him, Lionel. Yet again, he thought with a frown, why after so much time to spend together were you so distant at the idea to make love with him ?!

You were sleeping together every night since you had move in, he had already seen you naked in the shower and multiple times in your underwear as you weren’t the kind modest around him, you were really touchy, always brushing your fingers through his hair, landing your hand on his back or hugging him now and then, so why when you were obviously arouse with his attention in bed did you perpetually refuse him the pleasure to make you his ?

Tonight, he thought firmly, tonight you will have to explain yourself or it will put an end to your relationship. If the idea to receiving his cock was so repulsive for you, then your motives to be his girlfriend were standing somewhere else and he didn’t like that at all.

When he arrived home this night, a severe expression on his features, well decided to go through your shenanigans to the bottom of it and discover what you were up to.

Bracing himself to be subtle and not distressing you by calling you out for maybe no reason, he entered the living room where, as usual, you were waiting to have dinner with him. His expression soften immediately at the sight of your sleepy form and his heart swelled with affection. No ! He scolded himself, you have to stay firm, don’t less this pretty face of her prevent you from digging out the true.

He brushed the tips of his fingers along your cheek and smiled when you stirred without waking up. How a man like him could have fallen so hard for a woman when he had sworn to himself after his costly divorce that never would he be trapped in a serious relationship. And here he was, with you in his mansion, head over heels for you, but also frustrated as he had never been before with a woman. Why, when he thought to have finding the real happiness again, should it be so convoluted ?!

He was definitely infuriated, frustrated and in an immense need. He wanted to ruin you in all the way possible into his bed, in his office in the Shabandar Tower, on the counter in the kitchen and on his personal gallery floor. All of it the same day. If possible right know !

But sometimes you were like a little bird, shy and ready to fly away, so his cunning man had a plan to make you admit if you were really into him or if you had wronged him and you were just one of these insipid girl who only see the £ symbol in replacement of his pupils. If it was the case, and he hoped it was not, he would be far more than disappointed. He would be devastated. And even his first wife didn’t have the honour to say she had destroy the most powerful of the UK, so it will truly be a prowess you could gloat about with your relatives.

The mere idea you could not be the one he thought you were terrified him more than anything, because Lionel wasn’t easy to mislead. He was a thoughtful, educated, intuitive and clever businessman. No one, even his worst enemy in the cruel game of the stock exchange and the media business had ever succeeded in deceiving him.

He tried chasing away those thought. If tonight was your last night together, he wanted it to start in the less painful way possible. Therefore, he leant down to plant a kiss on your temple. You opened your eyes in a light startle, but when you recognised Lionel, your heart began to beat faster and your eyes became brighter.

“Oh, I felt asleep,” you said, rubbing slightly your eyes to eliminate the remains of weariness.

“Indeed,” answered Lionel with this voice of his which was like the roar of his beloved lion and never missed sending shiver all along your spinal column.

You got up, giving him a welcome kiss before asking him about his day.

“Too much meetings, follow-up meetings, then in the afternoon more meetings. Did I talk to you about my meetings ?” He said jokingly.

“I think so,” you said with a smile.

“And you bunny ? How was your day at the bakery ?”, he asked with a frown.

He couldn’t fathom why a woman as intelligent as you was losing her time selling cupcakes in a cliché little store, all in pink and unicorn. You had told him once that not everybody could pay the fees of an expensive university and because you were from a really modest class, you had no other choice than to forget your university dreams and find a job. But you were at peace with that now and you were rather happy with your job. People were regular customers, all pleasant and smiling and your boss wasn’t really demanding as long as you did correctly your job.

“Tiring,” you answered, kissing the top of his hooked nose.

He smiles at you and you immediately recognised the predatory look on his face. You swallowed down your saliva, inwardly conscious you must tell him the true. You have been refusing him for too long and you were now afraid he could think you weren’t really interested in him which was far from the truth. In fact, you weren’t interested in Lionel. No, you were in love and yet again it was a litote. You couldn’t quantify your love because it was so humongous that sometimes it was overwhelming.

Neither your parents nor your friends approved of your relationship with Lionel. Your parents thought he was too old for you and your friends, your so-called friend, were saying behind your back you were with him for his money. Therefore, you didn’t have any friends anymore and your parents being your parents loved you anyway… but not Lionel, who they thought was taking advantage of your gullibility for his own pleasure. Nothing could have been less true but you knew the worth of your love for him.

The problem was that you were afraid to take the plunge and losing your virginity. Actually, you weren’t afraid about the action itself, but about admitting to Lionel that you were still a virgin. An almost 35 years old virgin. How the hell could you still be cursed with it, seriously.

“Bunny, are you listening to me ?” asked Lionel with a grin.

You came back to your sense, forgetting your little problem, at least for the moment.

“I was asking you if you wanted to eat pasta tonight ?” he asked again, squeezing your ass.

“Yours ?”

“Of course dear. No one can match up my Carbonara Pasta.”

You nodded happily and Lionel leaded the both of you towards the kitchen, a pride look on his face. Any other day, you would have joked, telling him it was quite a stance for a man who could only cook pasta, but not tonight. Lionel could see you had something on your mind, but he didn’t say anything. He was imagining everything, the most likely being a breakup. He was so far from the reality. You were thinking about your damn virginity and how to explain that to him. Tonight, you thought. Tonight I tell him everything. Yes, you had made up your mind.

You helped him to cook the diner, the both of you chatting happily. You listened to him talking earnestly about his company and you couldn’t prevent yourself from feeling an urge of proudness at such a hard-worker and accomplished man.

While he was having a shower, you were pacing back and forth in your sharing room, trying to figure out how to tell him your little secret. You were afraid of his reaction. Would he laugh at you ? Would he be angry ? Would he have the desire to be your first one ? After all, Lionel was such an experienced man. What would he do with such a useless girl ?

No university degrees, no money and not even a man to fuck her. You felt the tears filling your tears. You tried to conceal them when Lionel came back in the room, but it was too late.

“Bunny, what’s the matter ?”’ he asked, genuinely concerned.

“No… nothing,” you stuttered, not missing the fact he was only wearing a towel around his hips, his skins still glowing with a rest of dampness from his shower.

“Then your’re crying for nothing ? And I am the king of England,” he said sarcastically.

Your soft laugh died in your throat while he cradled your face with his large hand.

“It’s just… my insecurities… you know…”

Lionel sighed heavily, a bit tired to have to constantly reassure you. Yet, if he needed to do so every day, he would.

“Bunny, no matter what is in this pretty head of yours, nothing is true. I am happy with you and I don’t care about anything else.”

So, right now, it wasn't totally true. He desperately wanted to fuck her, make her his by ruining her. And this little demoness has too many times refused him that pleasure which she would have been obsessed with as much as he was. Tonight, he thought again. If tonight she refused again to succumb to the pleasure of the flesh, it would be the end.

Unknowingly of Lionel thought, you too were deep into the recesses of your mind, thinking tonight.

"Let me show you," growled Lionel, caressing your arms with his hands.

He leaned on to kiss you, one of his hand finding its way to your ass, squeezing it while kissing your neck with hunger. He made you back into the bed, where he pushed you softly. You felt flat on your back, your heart bumping quicker and quicker. You knew what was coming. And this time you couldn't be a coward. Either you told him, either you remained silent and did the whole thing while keeping him in the dark. After all, how could he know ?

Lionel's hand yanked down your pyjama pants, kissing your legs in the process while you shivered under his attention. He was on his way to taking off your underwear when you stopped him in spite of yourself.

Lionel sighed heavily. It was enough.

"Bunny, I need to know," he began, pulling away from you to sit in the chair in front of the bed. "Are you with me for my money ?"

"What ? No ! Lionel ! No," you panicked.

"Then why are you refusing me the pleasure of having you in my arms ? And what I really mean is why can't I fuck my girl as it please me ?" he asked bluntly.

You blushed, looking down. It was the moment you were fearing. You understood immediately by the way his eyes looked at you that you had to tell him the true.

"I thought you were in love with me. But I'm not that sure anymore and it terrifies me," admitted Lionel.

You looked up at him, surprised to hear such a confession from the so confident Lionel Shabandar. For the first time, you sax a mixture of vulnerability, sadness and anger on his beautiful face.

"I love you," you whispered, crossing your arms in front of you in a vain attempt to protect yourself from all the strong feelings which were radiating off Lionel.

"Then what is your dirty little secret ? Was it a wager ? Luring an affluent man to prove to someone you could do it with your sinful charms ? Or are you such a good actress that you had always known who I am and all you wanted was deceiving me to get my money ?"

“No, Lionel !” you said with a sob.

“Then what are your motives, woman ?” he almost shouted.

You were now crying, your heart pounding heavily. You scolded yourself, telling you it was the decisive moment, either you told him the true or you will lost him and it would break your heart, losing the only man you had ever loved just because you were ashamed of your condition as a virgin.

You muttered the truth indistinctly, yet the redness on your cheeks was a good indicator for Lionel that you were trying to confess to him your little secret.

“Bunny, I need the truth. You know you can trust me,” he said in a softer tone.

He sat down next to you on the bed, taking both of your hands in his large one. You leaned up your head and your eyes dived into his hazel one. You could read his sincere devotion towards you, a far cry from his womanizer reputation.

“Bunny, you can’t let me imagine things about you,” he insisted, letting his vulnerability showing on the surface, “I can’t stand it anymore but I don’t want our relationship to bog down.”

It was the straw that breaks the camel's back as you started to cry harder.

“I’m a virgin,” you said, hiding your face with your hands.

The silence following your revelation was deafening. You finally found the courage to look at him and saw Lionel looking at you with a mix of curiosity, softness and hunger.

“Are you angry ?” you asked coyly.

“Angry ?” repeated Lionel, shaking his head, his fingers lingering on the top of your left tigh, “angry because you are such a pure marvel ? It’s that so ? You were afraid not to tell me the true and suffering for your first time or you were afraid of me discovering it while taking you with sheer passion ?”

“Both,” you admitted, blushing even more.

“Don’t be ashamed, bunny ! Do you… do you want me to be your first ?” he asked, gulping his saliva, his other hand grazing your arm.

“I want you to be my first and last one,” you whispered, rubbing your eyes reddened by your tears.

“Bunny, what a treasure you are offering me.”***

You surveyed his face, looking for mockeries, but all you could see was his sincerity and maybe more love than before. Also, a predatory glint that promised you a night nothing short of unforgettable.

“You’re not disgusted ?”

“Disgusted about what ? Tell me ? I just don’t understand how such a beauty like you is still a virgin. Don’t tell me never a man had tried anything. I wouldn’t believe you.”

You admitted having had some flirt but nothing serious enough to raise your sexual appetite while you could satisfy yourself with your own fingers. You explained to him it was nothing to do with religion or anything of that kind. You just wanted to do it for the right reason and not because someone, one day, had declared you should get rid of it before a certain age. You had seen your friends losing their virginity with random guys, sometimes at a very young age, just to feel more “woman” and you didn’t want your first time to be a better memory just to join the club of “now I’m an experienced girl”.

“Well, [Y/N], I’m honoured. I couldn’t fathom why you were always shying away from me when I wanted to lavish you with my skills, but now that I know… Don’t worry darling,” he said with a cheeky smile, “I’ve always enjoyed a challenge and tonight you will be my more beautiful masterpiece.”***

His hungry look send shivers down your spine while his hands ran around your thigh, pulling you towards him.

“You want it ?” he asked, genuinely concern at not forcing you to do something if you weren’t ready for it.

You nodded once, catching his lips with yours. You moshed when he pulled back, looking at him with uncertainty.

“I want to hear you say the word. I won’t do anything if I don’t have your full consent.

“Yes Lionel, I want to do it with you. I told you I want to be the first and last one and I want I know.���

His features soften, hearing how much you wanted him to be the only one to treasure you as you deserved.

“Oh believe me, after that night, you will wish to have known me sooner,” he said with a smug before adding, “and I will never let you go. From today on your'e mine and only mine to love and cherish.”

With those words said, he fell on you, kissing savagely your neck where he will definitely let his marks in the form of small bruises, but you didn’t care. You wanted to wear his love marks all over you.

“Be gentle,” you bashfully asked, “I’m a bit afraid.”

Lionel promised you he will be tender. He will definitely make this night memorable for both of you. Yet, he had to be careful. It’s been a long time since he had a virgin in his bed and you weren’t just any virgin, you were you and he was decided to keep you by his side for the long run.

He trailed kisses along both of your legs until he arrived at your entrance. Slipping his fingers inside your panties, he pulled it down in a deliberate slowness, not missing one inch of your reaction, looking for any sign of discomfort. Once he discarded your underwear, he grabbed the hem of your shirt and tucked it off too, throwing it down with the rest of your clothes. To your surprise, he got up, looking at you with a mixture of desire and joy.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, more for himself.

Feeling too exposed, you tried to cover your breasts, but he stopped you with a growl, eyebrows frowned.

“Don’t hide from me ever. Enough of that now. You're mine and I want to admire what’s mine whenever I want.”

If your cheeks reddened more, you will soon look like a tomato, but it only makes Lionel chuckle with affection.

”Do you want to touch me ?” he asked, for the first time unsure of what he was doing.

Of course, you had already touched him. His torso, his legs… everything except the beast under his towel. Your hands wander from his cheek to the grey hair on his torso. You descended a bit more until your hand reached the towel around his hips. You looked at him uncertainly but he nodded to encourage you to tear it off and that’s what you did.

It wasn’t the first time you saw a penis, after all you had read really peculiar books through your life and you had traveled far enough to not be that innocent, yet you couldn’t prevent yourself to gasp when you saw the said beast.

Lionel was big. Not that you have a lot to compare with, but his member, already ready for you, was clearly above the average. Lionel observed you, attentive to your reaction, repressing a laugh when he saw you gawking at his cock.

“Don’t worry, bunny, I will take it easy on you. First, we need to prepare you, I want you to enjoy it as much as possible, but I can’t promise it won’t hurt because it will certainly.”

You nodded, shyer than before and also with a feeling of stupidity to have had so much apprehension about the reason for your distance when it came to sex. Indeed, Lionel’s reaction was far above your expectations and you felt guilty about having thought he could reject you for such a thing. A completely trivial thing as it appeared Lionel was everything, but disgusted by the revelation. Actually, he felt more aroused than ever knowing he would be your first and you could believe him, he won’t let you slip through his fingers after that.

“Did you ever touch yourself ?” he asked while caressing one of your breast, his other fingers playing with the earlobe.

“Obviously,” you answered before adding you were a virgin, not a nun, which makes him laugh genuinely.

“Oh, after this night you would not be either a virgin or a prude.” he gloated.

He began to bit your nipple, making you moaned softly.

“Don’t keep these pretty sounds, bunny. They are the proof of my talent,” he said, licking your breasts down to your navel.

“Lionel,” you moaned, eager for more.

“Patience my love, it’s your first time, I can fuck you without any foreplay. You can trust me, you’re going to have more than one orgasm tonight.”

You closed your eyes, feeling his hands moved down to your entrance. He grazed softly across the hairy area, his lips kissing your thigh. Then you felt his thumb rubbing your wet slit with a grin.

“You’re already so wet, bunny,” he said, more for himself.

You couldn’t say anything, your focus on his finger playing with your clit. Your hands reached out to grab his shoulders when he touched your sensitive clit with two others deftly fingers hidden beneath your folds.

“It’s here, isn’t it ?” he asked, continuing his slow rubbing against your flesh. Lionel continued until he felt her muscles contractions against his hand. He insisted a bit more until she moaned loudly.

“And here it’s the first,” he said proudly. “And I didn’t even put my finger inside you,” he added, intrigued to know how much pleasure he could give you just with his fingers before taking your purity forever with his cock.

He finally inserted one finger inside her, making her legs tensed to the feeling of his finger inside her fold.

"Lionel," you said with a moan.

"How does it feel ?" he asked, even though he could see just by looking at your expression how good it felt.

You were so overwhelmed by him, his love, his touch, everything that you couldn't find your words.

When Lionel put another finger, scissoring you slightly, you felt your legs tremble as well as your back while he continued his slow dance with his fingers within you while his tongue was playing wis your nipples, increasing your pleasure.

"You're so beautiful," said Lionel with his baritone voice that makes your body bristling.

"And you so handsome," you managed to say between two moans.

"Of course I am," he answered with a smirk.

He continued to pleasure you with his fingers stretching you, bringing you to the edge of your second orgasm. You eventually came when he pressed another finger against your clit, circling it at a slow pace. You threw a glance at his hard cock, not sure if you would be able to fit around it but you didn't have the time to think about it for too long as he made you come when he found your sensitive spot, making you squirmed under him while a scream of pleasure died in your throat.

You were still a bit hazy, in the midst of all the lavish pleasure Lionel was giving to you, when you felt his nose between your legs, then his tongue licking your wetness and playing with your clit. You weren't sure if you could bear another orgasm so close to the two others, but Lionel was sure you could and he certainly had his way with women. You were so wet and aroused, you couldn't prevent your hand from gently scratching the roots of Lionel's hair, who worked harder with his nose around your clit.

The sounds you were making were like a song to his ears, he knew he was pleasuring you and he took great pride in it. He knew he had a flair for make a woman cum but the feeling to make you his, make you wet and cum for him was almost overwhelming as his heart was swollen with love and joy to have find such a treasure like you.

Flicking your nipple with his callous hands, you involuntarily thrust your hips against his.

"Careful here, we don't want to rush anything, do we ?"

You let out a frustrating sound, which made Lionel laugh.

"You have been waiting until now," he said, looking up at you, "you can wait a bit longer before having me inside you no ?" he teased, pleased with himself.

He didn't wait for your answer, diving down his head between your legs, his tongue working around your entrance, kissing you there while his hooked nose was stroking your bundle of nerves aptly.

"Lionel," you said in one breath.

He smiled, licking your sex again and again, his own arousal becoming unbearable. He felt the need to be in you as his member became harder and harder. But not yet. Before, he wanted you to have another orgasm, to be as wet as possible to make you suffer the least possible.

You didn't last very long and Lionel stood up to cover you entirely with his body.

"You taste so good, bunny," he said with a smirk.

You blushed under his piercing eyes, yet he told you not to be embarrassed.

"Bunny, you're beautiful and there is no shame in doing what we are doing. You honored me by offering me your virginity and I want to lavish you as you deserve for trusting me in such a way that you abandon yourself in my favor."

You grabbed his shoulders to bring him closer. Understanding your intention, Lionel leaned towards you so that you could touch his back and his chest more easily while your lips captured his in a tender kiss.

"I love you," you said coyly.

It was not the first time you told him that, but it was the first time you said it orally. Ordinarily, you wrote it on a sheet of paper that you strewed on the kitchen counter or inside his briefcase to give him something to think of during his work.

"And I love you," answered back Lionel with a genuine expression.

He didn't say the word before and you were taken aback. You didn't think he will say it back, but you were more than happy to hear him confess his feelings for you, though you never doubt it.

"You still want to do it ?" he asked sincerely.

You nodded vigorously.

"I want to hear you say it, [Y/N]," he said firmly.

"Yes Lionel, I want you. I want you to make love with me, please," you almost begged.

With a satisfied smile, he placed his hard member in front of your entrance. You push a little bit your nails into the skin of his back, your eyes full of apprehension but also desire.

He pushed himself as slowly as he could, careful to be gentle, assessing the slightest sign of discomfort. He kissed your neck, your cheeks, your forehead and your lips while he continued to stretch your insides. When he filled you up entirely, he stopped, waiting to see your features relax. He felt a warm liquid enveloping his cock. He glimpsed down to see a small amount of blood tainted the Egyptian silk sheets and he felt a strange sort of vanity, knowing he was the one you had chosen to offer yourself to.

“Are you alright ?” he murmured in your ear.

“It’s hurt a little bit,” you admitted.

“It’s normal, bunny,” he said with a soft tone, “It will be better in a moment, I promise.”

Of course, you trusted him and he was doing his really best to be gentle when all he wanted to do was thrusting hard and fast your tight insides.

He kissed you again and again before asking you if you were ready. You weren’t able to verbally answer any of his question, but a mere glimpse at your eyes full of desire was enough to him starting to move inside you. The initial pain ebbed away while you felt a fire invading your whole body.

“You feel so good,” growled Lionel while sucking one of your nipple.

“Lionel, oh Lionel... oooh,” you moaned while your insides were throbbing with pleasure.

Soon he thrusted faster and you let out a strangled cry when he accidentally stroked your G-spot. You grabbed his shoulders, pulling him closer to kiss his neck, totally lost in your building pleasure.

“Please Lionel, faster,” you pleaded, the stretch of your walls making you feel sensations your fingers had never let you experienced before.

“Bunny, you’re so tight... aaah... so tight and only mine,” he stuttered, licking your breasts.

You felt your muscles tensed and you knew you were close.

“Lionel... I… I will…” you couldn’t think clearly, even less talking while your back was arching to let your cunt receive more of Lionel’s cock.

He tried his best to hold back, wanting to let you come first.

"Don't close your eyes, bunny, I want to see you when you will come," he ordered.

You didn't last very long. He stroked your sensitive clit with his thumb, which had for effect to make you finish. You clung to him, letting out a cry which was a mixture of his name and other nonsense, as you were totally hazy with pleasure.

Lionel thrusted into you three more times before releasing himself with a loud groan inside your clenched cunt.

Out of breath, Lionel slipped out of you cautiously. You were panting and sweaty as well as was Lionel. He looked at you with adoration, his eyes twinkling with love.

"How do you feel ?" he asked while you cuddled up, your head on his chest, trying to find solace into his arms, still basking in the afterglow of your encounter.

"I'm happy," you whispered.

"Are you sore ?" he asked with trepidation.

"A bit," you answered honestly.

"Do you want me to run you a bath ?"

"No. I just want us to snuggle in bed."

"As you wish, my love."

He planted a lingering kiss on your forehead, a fond smile on his lips while you fell asleep. He felt a surge of love for you, one he never felt before for anyone and certainly not for his first wife.

You were certainly something else, a strange pretty little thing who had miraculously fallen into his life by the chance of your stars which were made to be crossed at some point in your life.

He took a glimpse at the blood in the bed and inwardly, he felt a wave of happiness at the mere thought of you who had been waiting for such a long time to be sure to give your virginity to the right man and knowing that he was the one for you made his heart swelled with pride.

"I will never let you leave, bunny. You're mine forever," he whispered in your ear.

You stirred a bit in your sleep but didn't get awake. Lionel let out a chuckle while his hand grabbed possessively your hips. Maybe you had waited for a major party of your life to find the right one, but so did he and now, with you in his arms, he felt the relief of the certainty. The certainty that he will have someone to share the rest of his life with.

[thewormformerlyknownasletojrjr]

Sometimes self care is rewatching Dune (2021) and going on and on about ‘the symbolism of this or that’ or how ‘something here is a nod to the sequels’ or ‘look how the casting characterizes the house atreides’ or ‘the music here is phenomenal, it foreshadows gurney’s fate later on’ or ‘I think the difference in the vocalizing in the soundtrack here is deliberate’ until whoever you’re watching it with is ready to commit murder to shut you up.

But it’s just so phenomenal that you can watch it and catch new things each time, the visual and auditory storytelling in the background gives you so much! All these little things that go unnoticed until you see and want to jump out of your seat at them, let’s talk about that.

Let’s talk about how Jessica is always hooded when her scenes are associated with her Bene Gesserit powers and upbringing, how you can literally watch her out her hood down or up mid scene as she transitions from mother and concubine to an obedient disciple, how it foreshadows her struggle in the books all the way through Children of Dune.

Let’s talk about how well done the foreshadowing of the jihad is, how even this early on we can see the start of what is integral to Paul’s conflict in Messiah, how that feeling of helplessness about a destiny he doesn’t want will keep him frozen and unable to stop what’s in motion, how Messiah is such an incredible book because it ties into the dystopian trope wherein revolutionaries become like those they once revolted against, but how it’s so much more fascinating than some of the ways we see it in modern dystopias, because it’s the main characters who are following the pattern, not just watching in horror as those they fought with change for the worse, but actually experiencing it, horrified at what they’ve done and what they will continue to do, frozen and so unable or unwilling to do what needs to be done to stop it, how the movie is still in the stage where they are noble and valiant, but it makes sure to show the dread of what it coming, how it does such a good job of showing the burden of foresight that is so integral to Dune, the way that even as they see the future and can attempt to change it, they know that no matter their decisions, horrible things will come, how it shows Paul as scared hating the power he was given and blaming his mother and her aspirations, how the atreides family never wanted to be great, they wanted to be good, how Paul is coming to see that great and good cannot always coexist, how you look at this boy and you can genuinely see how he will become the man saying ‘Believers, all of them’ how Dune is such a hard story to get right because you watch someone devolve and stand by why horrible things are done without seeing him as a terrible person from the start, without the boy and the man seeming irreconcilable from one another, how the movie actually is on the right track even though the end result is unpalatable to the majority of society, how they are showing the white savior trope in a way that is thus far complaint with how it is deconstructed later on, how they have the epic notes of the beginning without going in a direction that makes the ending impossible.

Let’s talk about how they cast the Atreides family as beautiful people, but not soft, not tamed to modern standards, aristocratic in their looks in such a way that you believe they have been nobility for centuries, maybe millennia, slightly untouchable, dangerous, like those in power during the Italian Renaissance, how Paul looks young but also ethereal and formal, the balance between boy and duke and messiah in his appearance, how Leto’s hair and beard make him not only regal but worn by politics, cold and formal yet fatherly all at once, how Jessica’s ghostly pale complexion nods to her Harkonnen ancestry in the books and how she is beautiful in a way that seems not entirely human, how the other members of the Atreides house are each unique and full of character, not designed to fit a palette or aesthetic, whereas the Harkonnens have an eerie similarity that shows how little they value free will, how the Harkonnens are not dramatized to emphasize their characterization but rather understated, devoid of emotion save for rare explosive moments, how they echoed this in their design, making them blank slates, taking away rather than adding, leaving them almost human, but not quite, enough to trigger that ancient animal instinct in a person that says ‘something is wrong here, something is dangerous’ rather than making them fit in with the conventions of a time period or trend as to how to look evil.

Let’s talk about the soundtrack, how the epic music playing when House Atreides lands on Arrakis is echoed as Gurney and his men charge at the Harkonnens who so greatly outnumber them, how this not only ties you emotionally to the battle, hearing this dying cry of the Atreides, more so than the music continuing to be dark and foreboding through it all, but also how it foreshadows the survival of Gurney and the small group of men with him, living to reunite with Paul later on.

Let’s talk about how throughout the soundtrack we have women vocalizing, the emphasis on the power of the Bene Gesserit and how in Leto’s death scene we diverge from this trend, how he was so powerless against all these grand plans but he still took a stand, still ended things on his own terms.

Let’s talk about how Jessica doesn’t answer when Leto asks her to protect Paul as a Bene Gesserit. Let’s talk about the bull and the matador, the symbolism there. Let’s talk about the emphasis on medieval and renaissance headdresses on the Bene Gesserit, the significance of choosing attire from a time when the Catholic Church was in the peak of its power. Let’s talk about the nods to Gurney’s music. Just, look at all this stuff in the movie that you barely even notice, the first time. All the planning that went into it, how to fit in all these little nods, how to stay true to who the characters are in the present while also beginning to show who they will become. Let’s talk about it.

Though maybe not to the people I was watching the movie with. I don’t actually have a death wish.

[blank-house]

Omg I wasn't expecting at all their hobbies?? Mostly Jamie, I love that he reads manhwa! And Deja being a gamer girlie...💘 That's really unexpected. Now then I got even more questions!! These are more basic I guess?

Do any of them have a second language or is English not the first one? With Jamie being an exchange student and Deja speaking to herself another language or so in the demo I got curious about their backgrounds

Sorry not sorry but the haikyuu reference during the volleyball game got me dead 😭 I need to know about the besties hobbies too! Cameron's such a cool character fr

Okay maybe this is kind of spoilerish but... Have any of them had any serious relationship before? The vibes of the demo and it happening on college gives the vibes of first love kinda. Just out there trying to guess! I really am a fan of the trope

Tysm for answering! You just gave me such a detailed answer!! I didn't expect it 🥰 It really shows how much you care about little details when writing hehe

I should start on a master list of facts for everyone to quick nav on tumblr haha but I love your enthusiasm for the cast! Let's get cracking on Q2!

Languages/Background

I was also waiting for this kind of question because I thought about it-- a lot, way too much, in fact lmao. I won't go too in depth about each of their backgrounds, especially since some of it is heavily intertwined with their stories, but I'm happy to indulge the basics!

So down the entire cast, we got:

Percy - Japanese (1st Gen); he's fluent in Japanese and it is his first language but he definitely uses English the most nowadays. He only ever speaks his native tongue when he's at home. He also knows a bit of Hawaiian Pidgin. It's what he picked up from Elio when they came to know each other in high school.

Elio - Hawaiian (Dad)/Thai (Mom); English is his first language but his family makes sure to teach him Hawaiian, Hawaiian Pidgin, and Thai. He's conversational with the first two, especially since that's how his grandparents on his dad's side would choose to communicate with. However, since he doesn't get to visit his relatives in Thailand often, Thai is definitely the less practiced of the bunch. At this point, he can somewhat hold a conversation but it's more like-- he understands the language better than he can speak it.

Jamie - Swedish; Swedish is his first language but he is the biggest polyglot on the team, and I mean big. He's fluent in English and most, if not all, European languages (German, French, Italian- you name it, he can probably speak it). Korean is something he recently picked up, though- just so he won't have to wait for translations for the manhwas he likes lol. Learning languages is easy to him and if he's motivated enough he could be conversational in a couple of months.

Deja - Haitian; English is her first language but she's conversational in Haitian Creole. She only speaks it if she's with family, especially her oldest and more distant relatives, or when exasperated. Deja isn't really in the business of flexing her second tongue since it's not something people immediately close to her use a lot.

Cameron - Nicaraguan (2nd Gen); English is also their first language but they dip into Spanish with their family, especially their grandparents. In the KF world, I believe you wouldn't catch this unless you're fluent in Spanish, but Cameron would speak with Nicaraguan phonology so some of their pronunciations might be weighted with 's' sounds.

Reynah - Filipina (1st Gen); English is her second language with Tagalog as her first. However, after being in the states for so long she's not as fluent in it. It's the same case as Elio and most children who migrate at a young age- Reynah understands better than she can speak. That being said, her accent surprisingly lingers. You hear it when she's angry or speaking fast, and you hear it at the end of her sentences or at a break- that short 'ah' sound Filipinos speak with.

And that's all of them! Though it's probably too redundant for me to note, everyone doesn't have an accent except for Reynah and Jamie. Jamie keeps his Swedish accent even though he's fluent because it's too much effort to use an American accent lol

Hobbies (Deja and Cam)

Aha yeah, gotta sneak in anime references when I can and I'm glad you like Cameron too! They're very endearing to me ^^ But okay bestie hobbies! Def gotta know this since MC's best friends with them. So to start--

Deja

Deja's got a handful of hobbies. Does she have time for all of them? No, but she's got them! And they're mostly to help her unwind. For games, she tends to like the ones that relies on strategies and skill. Platformers are her go-to's as well as party games. She's not competitive in the way Elio is but she'd be damned if anyone took her spot at the top of the leaderboard.

Besides video games, she likes to tend to plants and players can see that their shared apartment is littered with them. If she miraculously got more free time, then she'll pick up a knitting/crocheting project.

However, her favorite thing to do in her pastime are her nails! At the apartment, her and MC would indulge in movie nights/marathons so that she could paint and dry her nails during the duration of the showing. The last thing you'd catch her with is a broken or chipped edge.

Cam

As you peeped, Cameron watches anime! They only watch though- they like the action compared to reading. They've been on the grind for a while so you can consider them a veteran haha. Their favorite genres to watch are Slice of Life's, Sports, Shoujos, and Dramas and Thrillers. I know, I know, that's sort of weird jump from their other favorites lol but they like being swept up into the story line like Percy. So if they start crying about a fictional relationship or jumping on the couch because of a murder mystery- then it's safe to say they're enjoying the show.

Other than that, Cameron really likes art! In fact, it could've very well had been something they majored in! They're that good. But alas, they decided on a pre-law track so painting and drawing remains as a past time.

And of course, who can forget music. They only play one instrument and it's not often, but they love listening to it- especially Kpop. If you look through their car, you might find a photo card or two tucked away somewhere. That, and their albums lying next to their seat. (I'm not supposed to be referencing actual bands but Cameron has slipped into the diamond life iykyk)

Past Relationships

Oh, first love is a good guess! But out of the entire cast, half of them have been in a serious relationship before and that is Percy, Deja, and Reynah. Everyone else either had crushes or went on a couple of dates but never went official with anyone.

I won't go into the specifics for either Percy or Reynah, but since Deja's your roommate and best friend-- conversations about her love life would have cropped up before the start of the game. So at the very least I can say that she's dated a couple of guys during her high school and freshmen college year.

She broke up with all of them pretty quick though haha I wouldn't say she was wasting her time with them- she doesn't date for the sake of it like some might. So every relationship could've been something- but she's got zero tolerance for cheaters or massive fuck ups so they ended up being nothing. C'est la vie

~*~*~*~

And that's that! Phew, these explanations are getting longer and longer so I'm sorry for the word dump but that was fun! Thank you for asking another question!

[the-chaotic-scilla-aster]

HL Scilla Aster HC

Something fun I've been wanting to do.

This is a project of sorts that anyone and everyone of the Hogwarts Legacy Fandom can join in on with their own HC.

I wanna see everyone's HC and how they differ from mine. Mine ended up seeming more like a list in the end, though.

I'm tagging @kiwiplaetzchen @legacyshenanigans and @gwendolyn-foxworth to join in on the fun

Background

Pureblood. (would never know till you ask)

Father is a squib. Mother ran away after graduating from hogwarts to marry her father.

The town she grew up in is actually a mix of wizardkind and muggles. Her childhood best friends were muggles.

her family is from Italy but has been going to Hogwarts for generations.

Mother's side of the family were Hufflepuff, fathers side of the family were Slytherin, she's a Ravenclaw.

Has a talent for baking and growing just about anything.

Wants a career with Magical Beasts, loves animals just as much as Poppy, if not more.

Warning. Do Not Piss Off (Sebastian approves of this message)

Interactions with the HL crew

In a constant state of tiredness, has been found asleep in corners with Ominis

Has an old, worn leather satchel her Nona and Mother used while at Hogwarts

Recently admitted to carrying a blanket in the satchel for when she finds Ominis asleep in halls (her housemates have yet to let her live down how red she turned when caught)

Has been seen hitting Sebastian with a potions textbook after making crude jokes and suggestive comments to the girls

"I was ignorant enough to willingly help you with your sister." her response to Sebastian calling her ignorant instead of trusting her.

Poppy and Her are often found trying to sneak in random beasts when hanging out together

Her friends and Professor Fig have heard “Don't tell my dad” more times than they can count.

Enjoys watching Garreth brew his potions on the chance it'll explode or shoot sparks.

Natty has been teaching her how to use wandless magic. Professor Ronin is excited to see them bond, but suggests it's best done outside.

Samantha Dale and her quiz each other over plants, and try to guess flowers over smell and feel while blindfolded. (Typically Ravenclaws)

Finds Amit sweet and well-meaning but tries to avoid him at all costs outside of Astrology class.

Will call fellow students “hun”, friends “sunshine” or “dumbass” and “Darling” or “Lovely” when trying to kill one of the lads. (mostly to Ominis because she loves seeing him lose his cool every so often)

School related chaos

Has already seen Headmaster Black office 3 times since starting Hogwarts. None of which were related to the Keepers.

Absolutely hates Divination and Ancient Runes, one because of headaches and one is best for nap time.

Only rivaled by Samantha In Herbology and Poppy in Beasts class.

Her Room is mostly a kitchen and Garden, Deek has developed a green thumb thanks to her.

Professor Hecat has started giving her more refined lessons on how to control her anger after that 3rd visit to see Black.

Don't let her fool you. She cried like a baby on the day she would have been sorted into her house as a first year and got teary-eyed while sitting on the stool.

Stuff that makes her…..Unique.

Everyone wants to put a bell on her. Ominis has “gifted” her one, shortly after scaring him in the hallway once.

Will start twirling a curl around her fingers at any given moment.

“Do you wanna do this the easy way? Or the muggle way?”

Can sleep standing up. (she has no idea how she started doing, so don't bother asking)

Will start speaking Italian when pissed or if she forgets how to English.

When asked for her favorite flower, she'll smile and respond with “Japanese Cedar and Magnolias”.

[sillyfriendssharingablog]

the iconic trio but if they were normal kids with normal lives, normal parents and in a normal town

this is a little peak of my modern/slice of life au that I love, it's literally one of the first things me and my bestie did when getting into mgs. it's very wholesome and cutesy, the exact opposite of its source material. I will talk about it fully later though, as I have other things planned for this month. This au is completely safe for other people to insert their OCs in. It is also set in Alaska, and most birthdates remain unchanged. But I'll give you some fun facts about this three little fucks and their normal lives as kids in my au.

Eli Sears (12 y/o)

Son of John and Eva Sears

half white American half Italian (in my head Eva is Italian stfu)

is the middle child (for a few seconds) and gets treated like it

lives in a very fucked up family (fucked up in the Family guy way)

vapes (thinking it's cool)

the vapes are stolen from uncle Venom

he despised his brother since the day they came out of their mother

acts all mean and angsty but still cries to his mama when he can't do his math homework

thinks he is the leader of the trio

cant tie his shoes

has braces

is a bit of a bully, or at least tries

is in their chuch's choir (in this AU the Sears are Catholics)

has a skateboard

Azedi Miller (14 y/o)

Adoptive daughter of Kaz Miller, that single-fathered her for most of her life

has a very deep and healthy bond with her dad, even if he is very overprotective

her race and ethnicity are the same, and she is still in touch of her culture even if she has been raised by an American man. But now she has a more southern accent, coping her dad.

at 14 she became a loving older sister of Catherine Miller was born

tomboy, and is a soccer champion

is the bodyguard of the trio (the one who protects and takes all the countabilty of their actions because she is the oldest)

tries to hold Eli from doing dumbshit most of the time, but at the end joins him

is a scout girl

has lived in the countryside in her first years.

gets herself into dangerous shit because her little ADHD brain tells her to do them

Azedi is neighboors with Quiet, that is Eli's cousin bcs in this AU she was adopted by Venom (don't ask why), and they are besties even if Az is 14 years younger than Quiet.

Tretij Rebenok (12 y/o)

lives in a foster-care home

autistic and has been nonverbal since 7th grade

knows that he is slavic, doesn't know much else of his past

trans boy, but only his friends know about it (even though, since he didn't talk, they only ever adressed him with "It")

he is the racoon of the trio (lives in a trash can and bites)

scares a lot of people just by the way he looks and is banned from most public spaces

instigates Eli into doing dumb shit

deadname is unknown. Before he asked them to call him Tretij they just called him "the other one" or "third friend"

literally eats bugs

in his foster home he is a neglected a bit, so he may often look messy and he may stink

he has a burnt scar on half of his face (I had to make up for the canon scars)

evilest fucking kid ever

just hangs in the background most of the time thankfully though

Some other fun facts about the trio in the au

Azedi and Eli have known each other since they were born, since their dads are buddies. they met Tretij when they entered primary school and became the neighborhood's terrors ever since

they raid Ocelot's house every once in a while

Eli and Azedi used to communicate with Tretij with mostly sign leanguege, that they learned with Quiet (since she is also autistic and nonverbal in this AU), when he was nonverbal, even though they also didn't really need to sign anything with Tretij bcs he understood them even without gestures (since they are that close with each other :3)

Eli and Azedi had started dating at the end of Eli's 7th grade, but the only thing that they do different from what they do with Tretij is giving each other little kisses and calling each other petnames

also Miller despises Eli, but this is in all universes

they all have matching bracelets made by Az

[imichelle-l-rigby]

Reflections: Cillian Murphy’s Limited Edition

Season 3, episode 9

✨the penultimate episode✨

———————————————————————

*I am a music prof (predominantly classical vocalist), and I LOVE listening to Cillian’s music choices! That being said, sometimes I won’t like a song simply because of a vocalist (it’s a professional hazard - sorry!) 👩‍🏫

** The following are my own observations/opinions. We may not agree, and that’s ok! That’s what makes music fun! 😊

*** I wouldn’t say I’m well-versed in Cillian’s music preferences, but I do enjoy them (for the most part). I always wind up adding to my own playlists after listening to Cillian’s recommendations.

———————————————————————

I apologize in advance for the following “tired teacher” rambling 🙃

🎵Set 1 (Westward Bound - Music for the Sun King)

Westward Bound: nice, calm, and atmospheric. This is what he should put at the *end* to help you fall asleep 😴

Saturday Sun: a little soulful, a little jazzy, and very much perfect for the weekend. 😎

Music for the Sun King: it does have a reminiscent vibe of *the* “Here Comes the Sun King” by the Beatles, and I get that with the lower instruments. I like how this continually evolves.

🎤Talking Break

How did this (penultimate Ep) happen???

“Pepper in some highly uninteresting, obtuse facts”

🎵Set 2 (Southern Man)

Southern Man: oooh - I love her voice!!!

🎤Talking Break

“A tiny, tiny little piece”

🎵Set 3 (Trees Against the Sky -

Trees Against the Sky: what a fun, polyphonic/contrapuntal song!!!!! I love it!!

Aliante giallo.pt. 2: I’m sure it’s instrumentation, but I feel like I’m on vacation on the Mediterranean. 😎

Idag: while there’s nothing too shocking in terms of construction, this is just an enjoyable song!

🎤Talking Break

Cool that there’s Swedish music 👍

Cillian… your Italian needs some work 😬

I wanna explore more of Alessandroni’s work

It kinda bothers me that he doesn’t verify these facts 😅 I’m sorry - academia has ruined me.

I promise I thought that was my phone alarm going off! 😂😂😂😂

🎵Set 4 (heat on, lips on - Blood)

Heat on, lips on: so it’s interesting how many songs make use of “noise-like sounds” - that was a whole movement back in the ‘50s, and it was certainly an acquired taste. Nice that it’s seen in more than just film music or experimental music.

Zarubezh: is it strange to say this sounds like Lo-if meets urban soundscape meets studio vocals session? 🤔

Blood: such a wide variety of timbre - you’ve got mellow to bright represented!

🎤Talking Break

Interesting how it samples politicians. Not uncommon, but always interesting.

A poem!

Sketch IV_II: definitely get why it’s a “sketch”, as well as why it’s used as atmospheric sound to the poem.

Cillian loves a good pop song - noted!

And I guess his boys do, too!

🎵Set 5 (Someday - How Do I Know)

Someday: I feel like this song is used in so many ads 😅 I can’t disconnect this song from consumerism.

How Do I Know: this is a good pop song! Which is so funny because, once again, it’s a fairly monotone vocal line. The driving rhythms in the instruments is really what sells this.

🎤Talking Break

It’s cool that he knows the producers as well. I always forget about the producers, and I definitely shouldn’t.

🎵Set 6 (Won’t Give You Up - Rocket USA)

Won’t Give You Up: this is groovy in all the best ways. 😎 fun sounds, fun harmonies. And it’s also got a sax! 😂

CORRECT. nerves are important for performance! BE NERVOUS IF YOU’RE NOT NERVOUS!!!

Rocket USA: speaking of nervous, this makes me feel anxious with this background 😳

🎤Talking Break

Cillian’s performance nerves are backwards.

“But it ain’t”

🎵Set 7 (Twist - Dollars and Cents)

Twist: the popping sound kinda hurts my ears, but I also kinda love this. It has a good bit of layering going on, and it’s well-done. All the elements have a similar timbre, so the sonic construction really works here.

Dollars and Cents: why does this have a bossa nova feel to it??? Lots of interesting instances of dissonance/failure to resolve.

🎤Talking Break

Ask a reasonable question!

I’m with Sydney - the idents need an album.

“EP of dismal sounds”

“If ident mind” - omg is this a dad joke or just a dad pun? 😂

🎵Set 8 (Put It On - Holly Holy)

Put It On: I like this!! And I don’t think I realized it before, but Cillian must like sax AND island music.

Ain’t No Love: ooh this feels more early rock, but not! And I love larger vocal groups - they are so fun!

Morning Sun: a strange transition, but this is nice. It reminds me of “House of the Rising Sun” in a way because of the melodic contour. Large leap up, then small intervals back down.

Holly Holy: this sounds like something George Harrison would like.

🎤Talking Break

There’s an album called Clint Eastwood?!

Holly Holy by Neil Diamond. This is starting to make sense.

We’ve got Yorkshire Man!

I’m glad he explained sheep counting.

🎵Set 9 (Old Molly Metcalfe)

Old Molly Metfalfe: the descending ostinatos (mimicking the song proper) are intriguing, mysterious, and annoying. 😅 I do appreciate that he’s singing a cappella, but he goes under the pitch a little bit, particularly on the descending lines. Whoops - my voice teacher is showing. 🙃

🎤Talking Break

Oohhhh Catalonia…

🎵Set 10 (Paradís - Hyperballad)

Paradís: this feels like it has some modal construction rather than straight major/minor. And polyrhythms - y’all know that’s one of my favorite things!

Hyperballad: Björk is back! Idk if I said this before, but her vocal line is almost chant-like interspersed with repeated motifs.

🎤Talking Break

Nice… archive!

I’ve never heard Kate Bush’s speaking voice, and to everyone’s shock and surprise, it’s a lot like her singing voice!

🎵Set 11 (The Big Sky -

The Big Sky: this is a “pump you up” song - definitely gets you ready for the day! This is too energetic for a nighttime playlist, Cillian! 😂😂

🎤Talking Break

“It’s a total coincidence”

Ok, voice nerd here, but I love hearing him drop into vocal fry. That being said, it is a more taxing way to speak, so please use wisely. 😊

🎵Set 12 (The Storm -

The Storm (01-16-52): OK BUT YES TO EVERYTHING I AM IN LOVE 😍😍😍 It’s big band jazz meets city blues meets cool sound effects✨fave song of the episode✨

Bad Luck and Trouble (49-50): ok, did I speak too soon??? This is country blues (different from city blues because it’s a male vocalist and more rural sounding). ✨This might tie for favorite song✨

🎤Talking Break

Interesting final selections!

Just one more 😢

“Mind yourselves”

🎵Set 13 (Journey in Satchidananda -

Journey in Satchidananda: harp and sax should play together more often, that’s all I gotta say! Also, more music needs sitar. Way to go, this is 🔥🔥🔥

Twenty Trees: orchestral, percussive, and electric. The pulsing is a little strange, but I like this.

———————————————————————

Phew! Finally got this written! One more to go - I have mixed feelings about that, but onward we must!

Tag list:

@iammrsrogers @deliciousnutcomputer @mariamoonie @brownskinsugarplum76 @look-at-the-soul @kj-davis @neverroad @teapothollow @thepurplearmyposts @possessedmarshmallow

[arcxnumvitae]

Who/What inspired my muses

I can’t believe I’m doing this oh it’s going to suck so much

Part 1 because it got long because I’m wordy

Veritas: In high school I was friends with two “the art kids”. I, meanwhile, was the bookworm/writer. We all thought it’d be fun to make a comic, them drawing and me writing the dialogue, so we all said we’d come up with characters from it. Mine ended up being an elf who wore long swishy skirts and fought with dual blades and one of them drew out the design for me. The comic, haha, never got far but when I got interested in doing Tumblr rp I looked at that initial oc idea and reworked it into Veritas. The only real remnants of that origin is, well, elf. And her two swords. But I mean, my interest in fleshing out my brand of elves led to what is what I actually consider a big part of my blog-- my elves. So a lot stemmed from that initial, silly and fun idea between three kids. I’m actually still best friends with one of those girls to this day!

Vendere: My second attempt at making a less morally pure muse after my real second-but-now-removed muse Tamashi ended up nice despite my wishes. I can’t say much of the thought process behind Ven other than his name being a continuation of a Latin theme I had started with Veritas and decided to keep going, which you will continue to see later on too. The only thing I can remember is choosing his name because it was the Latin verb for “to sell”, because info broker, and because I went, “Haha and I can call him V.en like in K.ingdom H.earts.” A lot of big brain ideas going on back when I was sixteen, of which I can’t even make jokes because I’ve done it again with muses fairly recently. In retrospect it makes no sense why his Italian parents would name him that but thus is my 16-year-old-idea oc burden to bear.

Jianhuren: My first muse who I added with the intent to have a bit of a storyline going! I also! Can’t remember why I got the idea for a form shifting person who  was an amnesiac. I’m fairly certain it was an idea that came straight out of my head. At the time, I hadn’t even intended to make a species of dragons, the Red Eyes from them. So it’s kind of why they may seem a bit different in feel or canon or themes or whatever from the other Red Eyes. We were winging it, baby!!

Somnio: Oh my gosh I can’t say I’ll do this and keep saying I don’t remember for these muses! I’m sorrrryyyy these were like a good six or so years ago! I think inspiration. I think maybe the feeling of days and friends gone/soon to be gone from Summertime Record inspired him regarding his feelings towards his dead friend? At the very least, I was listening to that song a lot when I added him and I was definitely thinking of him when I did it. The “Sayonara” part always really stuck out to me.

Amara: Me: What if I did a phoenix. Me: Oh, I see phoenixes in this sense have been pointed at from coming from either or both Greek and Egyptian myth let’s make both of those his background as a fun little easter egg. Me: what if I made a muse so tragic--

Qingshan: Here we see Red Eye lore starting to take more shape! Originally I had just said that Jianhuren was attacked by a monster or something, but I then had a thought of what if it were a betrayal and the monster story is just what was told? A lot of Qingshan’s vibes and the idea to do an evil or “bad” muse came from listening to Sacrifice from Rwby! Since I had just recently gotten into it. And I mean, the music rocks. Wait.....the lyrics never quite fit Qingshan at the time but now I’m realizing they fit Zhaohui well.... hm.

Ren: More desire to expand upon my elf lore that I had started with Veritas. And a desire to touch more on the trafficking issue that elves face. Then I just thought it’d be cool to give a muse the powerset of basically the Avatar-- with setbacks.

Kareena: You know me, I’m always going to look at a predominantly white-assumed category and go, “how can I make this more Brown(tm)? Elves are always so stereotypically white in the media I saw, and I’ve always had a desire to see myself represented in fantasy genres I love so much. Veritas was actually supposed to be brown, but she was my first oc and I couldn’t find a fc that fit what I imagined for her and had brown skin, I just changed it to match her fc. Now, I clearly don’t care, haha. Anyways, Kareena was me wanting to make a brown elf, and also a differently abled one too, and I settled on her being blind. I thought it’d be an interesting study since elves have heightened and stronger senses, and here was someone who was born without one. I will say, she wasn’t perfect representation at the time, since I unknowingly fell into a bad trap of “blind person uses super senses to get around anyways with no issue”, which is something I learned later that a lot of blind people don’t like to see in media about visually impaired people! The importance of doing research beforehand, kids. Especially if you’re writing of a culture, lifestyle, or experience you haven’t lived.

William/Thanatos: .......................ok.........I don’t...........remember, sorry. To explain a little, “Thanatos” actually existed on my blog as a man named William O’Connor! A man who had died but still lived on by some raw accidental deal made by his mom to some sort of death-like entity. I only remember that I was thinking on him back when I was in another state visiting by undergrad for like the first time? And Gen Con was going on and I had like just stuck my toe into C.ritical R.ole, but I don’t know if any of that actually influenced William. Anyways, I had no intention to actually ever state or clarify what “Death” was as I intended for It to just be some sort of amalgamation of different interpretations of Death. But later on I thought it’d open up for some more interesting opportunities if I put a name to the thing and had it able to interact and do a little more. Maybe a bit before Dawn came around, for reasons?

Lucia: I had mentioned in Ren’s backstory that he ran with a group of elves when he was a kid on the streets and I’d already established another, Aeon (who’s now a side muse) so I thought it’d be fun to pick out who their de facto leader was. And I thought it’d be funny if she seemed like the least intimidating-looking person ever, but absolutely was the leader of them all for good reason. I then picked up my “angsty backstory” hammer, and I then gave her a prompt solid whack with it.

Alexa: “Okay, so I touched on the elf trafficking, but what if I did what happened when one was successfully trafficked?” Et voila. 

Val: ‘Kristen, you just added Alexa, and sure you established she has a partner but you don’t need to full on add him as a muse-- oh no how did he get on my muse page.’ Alexa and Val are also meant to be foils in the way they deal with their servitude, with Alexa having given in and Val still being rebellious. Plus, I just love non-romantic soulmates. Mwah.

Imani: “I want a Black muse. An unambiguously Black muse. Make her an elf too while I’m at it.” I love sibling dynamics and I’m a sucker and wimp for older sibling dynamic stories too so that also came into play with her and her younger brother.

My gosh this is long, I’m doing a part 2 or something

[blazeofnight]

PotO Italy (Trieste) review - Actors and final thoughts

ACTORS

Let's get this out of the way: I am not a Ramin fan. As in, I like him fine as a singer, not so much as an actor, but I also don't resent him with the burning hatred of a thousand suns. He's NOT the main reason why I went to see this production, I went in expecting him to be perfectly serviceable but nothing more.

I think his voice has improved since the 25th-anniversary recording, and I liked his acting a bit more too. He still has some mannerisms that annoy me, but in general this Phantom was a good mix of angry and pathetic, definitely more nuanced and vulnerable. I didn't come out of the theatre converted to him as the one true Phantom or whatever, but it still was way better than what I expected.

Bradley was ok, not a Raoul I loved, and at times he was just…. there, I did love him in the more emotional/intimate moments (like AIAOY, he was great) but he could have been better when 100% emotions weren’t required. He did look very good in Raoul’s suits, so there’s that, and he was NOT a possessive/angry Raoul (which I personally dislike). A bit jealous, maybe, but nothing too strong.

I have to say this staging has some rather physical moments for both the Phantom and Raoul, good thing both Ramin and Bradley are gym rats!

The one I really LOVED (and the main reason I’ll see the show again) is Amelia Milo. You can definitely tell she needs a bit more experience, and as I said in the first post her voice can be a bit thin in her very upper range, but overall she impressed me with her portrayal of a sweet, naive girl who has to grow up and leave the past behind. I think she portrayed Christine’s growth and change beautifully, if she’ll be back in Italy in other roles I’ll definitely go see her again because I want to see how her career goes! Also, people who met her at the stage door say she’s absolutely a lovely human being, which is always nice!

Earl Carpenter and Ian Mowat as the managers were a delightful comedic duo, you can definitely see they are both experienced actors. Slapstick does suit Earl and I remember him saying he really wanted to play André because of the comedic potential, I can definitely see how he enjoyed himself in the role! His half-drunk “baleeeEEEET” will stay with me forever.

I also really liked Anna Corvino as Carlotta, if you’re familiar with the mannerisms of old Italian opera divas you can definitely see she got some inspiration from them and it was a lovely detail. She sings well, and I found her lovely to watch; she did not go overboard with the funny faces but still provided a lot of funny moments with her overly dignified countenance.

Zoe Nochi as Meg was… a mixed bag. I loved how close she and Christine are, and how intense she was during Angel of Music, BUT. She spent a lot of time screaming “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!” at the top of her lungs, looking comically over the top scared. No nuance there, which is perplexing since she showed she’s capable of that in other scenes. It’s a pity because those screeches really ruined an otherwise lovely Meg (ETA: after seeing her again in Milan, I have to say I felt this issue a lot less so maybe I just caught her on an off day! Also to be clear I really liked her Meg's performance apart from this)

I have little to say about the other actors, they were all perfectly fine, no issues there but also nothing that stood out to me.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, I’d give this production a 7.5/10. 

The cast worked well, nothing to complain about here.

The costumes had some really nice stuff + some just ok stuff + a couple of baffling choices.

The same goes for the backgrounds and props, there’s a couple of glaring issues (the title song, the whole cemetery scene), some need a bit of adjusting (the use of the rotating stage, the ending of AIAOY), and others worked well.

I have never seen another non-replica version live, but from the pictures and reviews of those who did, it looks like this is pretty much what happens with all of them. Working with smaller budgets + having to do stuff differently leads to similar issues, I believe, and each production has to choose what to sacrifice.

One thing I do love 100% without reservation, is the tone shift. The original novel was very gothic in ambience, descriptions, tone, horror. The current version of the musical I saw in London is extremely beautiful, smooth, a fantastic musical experience, but I find that the emphasis on the romance part of “gothic romance” flattens it a bit (and a big part of the fandom then brings the process even further). I do love how the Italian production shifts the tone a bit further back towards the “gothic” bit, which really explains much of the background, the use of lights (which was GREAT in many scenes btw), and especially much of the changes that outraged people when they first became known. 

It is a different point of view on the tale and its themes than the one the original production has, and as such it’s natural that some folks will like one but not the other, while others will like both. Personally, being originally a book fan, I LOVE it. And I honestly believe it can be an interesting experience for folks who really like the original, but are willing to have their idea of how this story can be told challenged a bit. Maybe there’ll be that one detail or scene that you really love and will incorporate into your own personal canon, maybe you’ll just use this experience as a springboard to analyze what you like about the original musical and confirm that yep, you like it as it is. As long as they don’t go into the theatre expecting to have the same experience as the original, I think most people will be fine when it comes to characterization and plot details changes.

As I said in part 2 of my review, I think that this is a perfectly serviceable production for folks approaching this musical for the first time and I think if fans of the original approached it with more of an open mind and less comparing it to other productions at all costs, there is some value here for them too. Yes, some stuff does not work and needs to be fixed, but it’s definitely not a disaster beyond anyone’s imagination. As I said I give it 7.5/10, which means it’s perfectly watchable and ok overall, but will need to do a bit of work in order to be truly “good”.

I will see it again tomorrow in Milan and I'm excited to see how Vinny Coyle as Raoul will change the main trio dynamic and if there are any changes made/if issues were solved. 

There's some stuff I really want to say about the current status of musical theatre in Italy, why I think the management made certain choices, and why this production is important for the Italian scene, but it's a post for another time. For now, it's all. 

[storiesofsvu]

happy thursday its l& o time

spoilers thoughts opinions and random ramblings under the cut

Okay, I know they’re undercover but OC seems to be shoving Jet & Jamie together and that gives me the ick because the actors are like, 13 years apart or something. And I get we can age up or down, but I always base of the actors ages so im uncomfortable here…. LOL.

Man… these guys are always SO obvious when they’re trailing, or like, staking someone out from a car, also, ive seen this chase scene already so I know what’s up, BUT, also ive gotta say, her little parkouring is literally just flashy, it’s not saving her ANY time than if she was just continuing to run. If she wasn’t showing off, she probably could’ve escaped.

Okay…does this case/jewelry shit have ANYTHING to do with the casino bitches?? Or are we now doing one BIG case/arc in the background for the entire season and smaller cases for each episode or two? Like the showrunners don’t know what they’re doing with OC….

Well that was some lazy explanation to cover stablers mom not being there and Eli’s in COLLEGE? Are we SURE? Is the math correct on that?

Yeah this Italian chick is annoying, I do not trust her, and she’s literally an olivia knockoff (again, no bensler shipping here…) BUT REALLY?? *sigh*

AYANNA!!!! FUCKKKK!!!! Dem HIPS girl!! I am looking *disrespectfully*

Okay…Jet clearly isn’t the same age of Ainsley if jet was married when she was 20 and it’s clearly been a while now. I don’t like that….

Is this…like..trafficked girl UC cop breaking cover to help her, has a kid back home… is this not the EXACT plot line from last season with elliot and that girl from the diner? This is lazy…just lazy…im literally only here for Ayanna and jet

Fuck AYANA is so pretty! (and also clearly divorced because no lesbian is doing their nails like that….)

Okay. I got bored during a commercial break and looked it up. Eli was born in s9 ep Paternity. That aired in 2007. It’s 2022. ELI IS FUCKIN 15 YEARS OLD AND HE LAZY WRITING/NOT CARING ABOUT SHIT LIKE THIS MEANS that he’s in college, in a different state, at 15. Not to mention… he was only 3 years old when he moved to Italy, he would’ve gone to Italian schools, he would have an Italian accent. Jfc. Why couldn’t they just say that he went to live with Kathleen??

 Okay…mothership time.

 Lets be honest, I’m not paying attention to this shit until Samantha’s on screen so I doubt I’ll have much to say LOL.

JFC there are SO many extras/guest stars that have been on a l&o show multiple times before. This is getting ridiculous. Can some more actors relocate to nyc pls?

Ugh can we stop bringing up covid please?? I know it’s all “pull from reality” but cmon…

OH MY GOD A PURPLE SUIT SAM?!?! FUCCCCCKKK ME!

Okay….okay…hear me out… if I end up writing power high femme sam x casual/bottom muncy….don’t come for me…..

“met the old fashioned way, drunk as hell in a biker bar in queens” fuck I love kate

Also there was a whole lot of shying away from terms of specific gender in that dating/partner talk…and tonights ep was directed by the person who played the og lesbian in this franchise… THAT’S SUSPICIOUS…

SAM!! NOW THE TURQUOISE!!??? DID SHE RAID RITAS CLOSET THIS WEEK OR SOMETHING?!!?! (I LOVE IT)

Okay…imma need WAY more background info on what sam’s story is… cause I just know there’s some shit that’s gone down, like I want that history…

Okay. SVU here we go!

Is amanda gonna fangirl tonight or is muncy gonna take that spot? Cause we all know molly loves sports and they do like to add/write in things of the personal actors lives…

I stand corrected… its joe… awe.. poor guy’s by himself?? You KNOW one of the girls would’ve gone with him!

What hotel did they film at? I need to know for fic reasons…wait…is this the homeland hotel…?? (s6 when they were in nyc)

Mothership ended with Sam saying she had a date, the perp in svu mentions having a date and you tell me why im expected sam to pop up over here LOL.

Yaaaasss molly coming in with the title card! A kween!  (truly did think we’d have to wait until after amanda was gone but I guess I was wrong about that)

Okay, called muncy being an American football fan, adore that they added that in there.

I LEGITIMATELY CANNOT TELL IF THESE TWO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FLIRTING OR IF THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE BROTHER/SISTER SASSY VIBES!!?!????

Octavio with the fucking *hand* thing again jesus

LOL fin… I love you… sweet talkin and bringing people food to get ahead in the case LOL

 UGH FUCKING MCGRATH CAN YOU PLEASE GO OFF A CLIFF ALREADY?!?

Muncy simply cannot be straight when she’s sitting on desks like that…. That IS A QUEER

GRACE FINALLY GOT HER CHEETOS!! YAY!

“the vending machine was out of kale” LOL also lol to joe being all health conscious…

THE BRIGHT TEAL HENLEY!! PLEASE!! JOE!! I AM WEAK

Omg grace fake fangirling, I love it

Where the fuck is carisi??

Dude…. You KNOW the cops are there..why the fuck are you now pulling a gun??

Okay so I will admit, I wasn’t paying too much attention to the case at hand, or the perp, like im literally just here to thirst over people at this point but that wasn’t a bad episode. Definitely the best out of the three for tonight. Still pissed that we don’t seem to get to go to court anymore. I also DESPERATELY miss the recurring guest stars that came along with court rooms, defence attorneys and judges and the like. *sigh* maybe next week. 2 more eps with amanda. Do we think they’ve been clowning us with those BTS pictures/videos or will that shit actually happen?

[darthmarrsgf]

💢🌌🎭🎵📎💧❄️🌪💚 (anger, milky way, masks, music note, paper clip, droplet, snowflake, tornado, green heart). Okay friend, this is for any OC(s!!) your heart desires! I know went nuts with the choices so feel free to pick your favorites 💖😬

omg omg ok ty so much for the ask and sorry it took me a second to think through everything bc i loveeee to ramble!! i picked my faves for my inquisitor/darth imperius, unayah (who btw is really slaying kotfe with the color crystal you gave me! thank you again!!):

• 🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

Not so much inspiration I guess, but part of why I gravitate toward the Inquisitor storyline so much is because I really like characters who’ve been betrayed or taken advantage of people they thought they could trust (esp people who were in a position of authority over them), and how they grow and assert their independence from that. So pretty much from the beginning, I knew that because of her background, Naya would be pretty skeptical and independent. I have a really hard time picking the mean options in video games lol so I also kind of knew all along she would end up mostly light side but I think that’s consistent with her character—she’s always been more motivated by freedom than power. The power is nice if it’s on offer but she’s not going to lose herself to attain it.

• 🎭 MASKS - do they act differently around certain people? what's different between the way they act around friends, family, strangers, etc.?

Definitely. It’s a survival mechanism, and one she takes pretty seriously, as she knows that any perceived weakness is dangerous when dealing with other Sith. I think she definitely shields the kind of impression she gives in the Force to hide her use/acceptance of the light side and doesn’t drop that for anyone (except Ashara, to gain her trust, and Lana, because she trusts her) until well after she’s escaped the Empire and established a life as a member of the Alliance. In terms of general demeanor, she definitely lets her cold and snarky side rule when she’s dealing with other Sith. Andronikos sees the softest and most thoughtful sides of her, though he quickly realizes the snark is 24/7 and not an act, which is one of the things that initially drew him to her.

• 🎵 MUSIC NOTE - what is their playlist like? their favourite artists? do you associate a particular song with them?

I didn’t expect to have such a hard time with this one!!! I’m not sure what kind of music she would be into, but I think the #1 song I associate with her is La Paura del Buio by Måneskin, especially the chorus (I don’t speak Italian and it also obvi sounds better not translated but you get the gist):

And so take me, bite me, strip me of everything I still won't be afraid of the dark When I'll be on the ground, shattered I still won't be afraid of the dark And so spit on me, tear my clothes off of me I still won't be afraid of the dark And so buy me, sell me, do everything to me You're the only one afraid of the dark Not us, not us, not me, me

• 📎 PAPERCLIP - a random fact.

She was very close to Darth Marr and was gutted by the death of someone she saw as a parental figure. She definitely felt his death in the Force when it happened. (Ok maybe I should’ve put this under angst headcanon lol)

• 💧 DROPLET - random angst headcanon

Omg ok I hate myself for this but I think about it a lot… Naya isn’t my canon Outlander but I did have an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone for a while so I wrote a little bit about it—she’d had a baby a few months before Arcann iced her so the reunion with Andronikos and her daughter would have been really fraught and emotional in that alternate, angsty universe.

• ❄️ SNOWFLAKE - do people consider them cold? if so, what made them this way?

People who don’t know her on a personal level definitely consider her cold, but not thoughtless—she’s always scrutinizing different angles to a problem to find an advantage. Those close to her know that the coldness is mostly a front, and if she does carry it into their interactions, it’s because she’s trying to cover for something that’s actually troubling her.

• 🌪️ TORNADO - what is the biggest change you've ever made to them? how have they changed from their original version?

Ooh this is so interesting. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head but I did actually stop playing through her class story for a bit to make a sorc (before the combat style changes lol) and I thought that new character was going to be Thee Inquisitor but once I switched back to finish things up with Naya, I ended up really getting attached to her!

[fanficwriter284]

Some Background Info on Chelsea because why not…

Chelsea Marianne Ray Reinhardt is her full name and she prefers the Reinhardt at the end of her name.

Her name was Chucky’s choice! He usual only chooses the middle names for his kids, but this time he chose the full name. And he settled on Chelsea, he liked the sound of the name and went with it. As for his daughters middle name, he picked it in honor of his adoptive mother. Because he loves his momma, even if he won’t admit it. Tiffany loves the name and simply adores it.

Chelsea has her fathers eyes, 100% identical. With light freckles, and dark crimson hair. She’s left handed, and when she was younger was known for having issues with doors and refrigerators. Because a all the handles are designed for right handed people.

She’s a supreme perfectionist and needs everything in perfect order and perfectly balanced. She’s the most tidy out of his siblings and has a freak out when where rooms a mess. She’s a VERY dedicated student…and I mean dedicated. Sometimes she’ll have mini freak outs if the work becomes too much. So Chucky paid a visit to her school and chatted with the teacher….Chelsea teacher then made the work due the week after.

She’s a girl who loves suits, like she has every color of the rainbow. You name it she has it. And her uncles help her with her growing collection. Getting her all sorts of accessories and like CUFFLINKS…she has 2 pairs one with the letter R and one with the letter C. However she only wears them on special occasions. Because they hella expensive.

She gets a lot of shit from kids at school, saying that she isn’t girly enough or that she looks and acts weird. She speaks rather formal with a bit a slang and cursing thrown in. She says it doesn’t get to her but it really does. And words hurt. Sometimes she can feel really insecure about her appearance regarding her clothing choice. But like her dad she believes showing emotion makes her look…weak. Eventually Benny Chelsea’s best friend told her dad about what was going on. And Chucky was PISSED he felt awful for what has happening to his little girl. So he called his brothers up and they all walked her into school wearing suits. And damn they all looked fly. Like they strutted in. Even Benny joined it!

Chelsea is fluent in German, Dutch, English, ASL, and learning Cantonese and Italian (because of Billy, since he’s Italian and speaks Italian). This girl is like a language queen. Her and Chucky are the only ones who speak fluent Dutch. She’s most fluent in English and German though. She’s the only kid of Chucks who refers to him as Pa or Papa. Because she’s much closer to her German side and closet with her dad. Since all the rest of her siblings are older and do their own thing.

She’s most closest with her Dad, and the two do a bunch of fun stuff together. She feuds with her mom quiet a bit. Since the two have difference opinions and mindsets. And Chelsea stubborn…like really stubborn. She does love her but the two don’t really do much bonding since they’re interested in different things. Tiffany’s more affectionate, emotional, and more into feminine things than Chelsea. One time Tiffany gave Chelsea a makeup kit and Chelsea just stared at it, thanking her mom with and never touching it again. It’s still collecting dust in the closet. Then when Chelsea was younger, her mom tried giving her a fun make over like she used to do with her siblings when they were younger but Chelsea had a whole freak out and ran to her dad sobbing while wiping her face off. Tiffany felt awful and kept apologizing to her. It wasn’t a good day.

Her and her dad don’t really do emotion, like the whole family can be watching a sad depressing movie all of them sobbing but Chelsea and Chucky? They both are just sitting there awkwardly, as the movie continues playing. Her and her dad play a lot of video games. First staring off slow with Super Mario, then going to play GTA 5, and Mortal Kombat. Chelsea asked her dad if he could teacher her how to tie a bow tie, and god his heart strings were tugged. She also asks him to brush her hair since the two have similar hair and Chucky surprisingly his more gently than Tiffany. And the two will just talk for hours.

Chelsea’s idol is literally her dad, and she views him as her own personal hero. And often engages in friendly competition. She can get rather over protective over the people she loves and cares about and will make people she hates lives a literal living hell. She’s petty like that.

Benny is her all time best friend, and the two can often get into shenanigans. She likes this boy named Enzo at her school, and Benny is her wingman. Benny has the biggest crush on Chelsea but he’s in the friend zone, and he’s willing to do whatever makes her happy. Because her smiles brighten up his day.

[azertyrobaz]

Valentine’s Brew Chapter 2 / 2

It was Winta in the end who had to spell it out for them when she told her they would be out with Din this particular evening.

“Well, yeah, I figured, it’s Valentine’s day.”

Omera had looked up towards Din who was in the process of cutting Hadi’s food at the time, and the blank expression he gave her told her everything she needed to know. He’d forgotten. They’d both completely forgotten.

************

Fourth part in the Coffee Shop AU series! It’s Valentine’s day, they have all planned to go out at this fancy new restaurant, what could possibly go wrong?

Read below or on ao3.

Chapter 1

************

It was close to midnight when Din and Omera arrived home. They’d kept Ahsoka abreast of the situation via text while they were being held back at the Italian restaurant to give their statement, but they still found her watching the local news on TV, a very much awake Winta sitting next to her.

“Mom! Din!” the thirteen-year old exclaimed, rushing to their side to give them each a hug.

“Sorry,” Ahsoka said. “She wanted to stay up. Hadi’s asleep though, I promise.”

“That’s okay,” replied Omera, hugging her daughter back just as hard.

“You’re good, right?” the girl made sure, and Din squeezed her shoulder with a nod when it was his turn to receive her hug.

“We’re all good, only the Sheriff got hurt and it wasn’t serious, he’s still over there with law enforcement.”

“What happened?” Winta asked, wanting to get their version of events. “They’re not saying a lot on the news.”

They all stared at the screen and listened to what the journalist was saying. It was weird to see the restaurant they had just left in the background of the shot. The local TV channels had set up a perimeter fast, and Din hoped they would leave just as quickly once they realized there was not much information to glean just yet. This was only an attempted robbery and the perpetrators bad been arrested at the scene. Slow news day, he guessed.

“Nevarro’s peacefulness was shattered tonight – ” the blonde woman said, and Din rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh.

“We should all go to bed,” Omera resolved, looking for the remote.

“But I wanna keep watching!” Winta urged. “Is Paz okay? I thought he’d be with you, they said on the news that the local high school football coach helped in the arrest. That was Paz, right?”

The adults looked at each other silently. Winta was more affected than they had realized and sending her to bed wouldn’t fix anything, no matter how tired they all were.

“Maybe we can just switch off the TV and talk about it,” Ahsoka suggested, and didn’t wait for Winta’s reply before she reached for the remote Omera had been looking for and killed the image. “They don’t know much anyway, like you said.”

Winta frowned, but Ahsoka was good at making any suggestion sound not only reasonable, but also preferable – Din guessed it was because she was used to dealing with dozens of toddlers on a daily basis.

“And I’m going to give Peli a call – she should be home with Paz and Bo, you can talk to them too if you want,” Omera added and her daughter shrugged. She was looking at Din intently. It was on him now, and she trusted him.

“What happened?” she repeated.

And so Din sat on the couch in front of the blank TV screen, and recounted everything to Winta while her mother called Peli. He didn’t skip any detail and Ahsoka perched on an armchair next to them to listen to the eventful dinner. They took a small break for her to say a few words to Peli and Paz, but he knew she would have more questions for him afterwards.

All the while, Din hoped that the one, tiny, irrelevant detail he had omitted – the one and only – wouldn’t come to life, but up until then he’d done a good job hiding the issue.

“Peli said they still don’t know why they tried to rob the restaurant,” Winta sighed after she’d hung up.

“A police investigation takes time,” her mother reminded her.

“But it’s not like it was a bank, there probably wasn’t that much money. People mostly pay with cards, don’t they? That’s what they do in Sorgan anyway.”

And Din knew she had a point there, and that this simple explanation might have worked a few years ago, but not now that she was older.

“Yes,” he agreed. “They do. Which is why the Sheriff thought it wasn’t the first time they tried that. It was just the first time they got caught.”

“They said on TV it might be ‘in connection with a string of robberies in the region’, is that what you mean?” she repeated verbatim, telling them she was taking this very seriously. Probably too seriously.

“It’s possible,” he replied, then looked up towards Omera, but she wasn’t giving him the kind of look that would have made him drop the subject. She agreed Winta was old enough to hear about it, and that the more they discussed it, the better she would feel about the whole situation.

“So it’s just for money?”

“Well, the Sheriff also had a theory about this,” Din said, deciding he could disclose that, too. “But keep in mind it’s just that, a theory, that’s why they’re not talking about it yet on the news, and maybe they never will.”

“Okay,” Winta nodded, sitting up, focused. 

“Vanth believes the robberies taking place in the region were all orchestrated by one person, a crime boss named Cad Bane who’s been attempting to aggressively take over businesses.”

“I read about him,” Ahsoka said, captivated as well. They’d had a lot of time to kill at the restaurant earlier while the police interviewed everyone and had decided to look up what they could on the Internet about the potential mastermind behind the aborted robbery.

“So a bit like in The Sopranos, it’s intimidation to scare the owners into letting him launder his money or something?” Winta reasoned.

“Y-yes,” Din agreed, taken aback by the quickness of her mind. He was tired. He hurt everywhere. He just wanted to go to bed. But he couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that this kid had used a TV show to make sense of everything. He wasn’t just tired, he was old, that was the problem.

“You’re letting Winta watch The Sopranos?” Ahsoka asked with raised eyebrows. But there was a smile there.

“I wanted to watch The Wire but Din said no, so we compromised,” the young teen explained.

“And you’re okay with this?” the daycare manager next directed at Omera, who shrugged.

“She loves it, and the deal was for Din to handle the potential nightmares and all her questions, and it’s been working great, it’s a good show.”

“I didn’t have any nightmare,” Winta huffed.

No nightmares, no. But the questions. Dear God, the questions that kid could ask. But Din had only himself to blame for that one – he’d wanted to catch up on old shows he had missed but also spend time with Winta and it had seemed like the perfect compromise, like she had said. If there was one thing he had never thought he would get when he returned to Nevarro – apart from a son and a girlfriend, obviously – it was someone to enjoy DVDs with during the Winter weekends when the weather was too miserable to do anything else. One in the shape of a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, no less.

“And I wanna watch The Godfather and Scarface next, Paz said they were unmissable.”

“You’ll have to wait a couple of years for those, I told you already,” Din reminded her. Paz was a terrible influence. And yet still his best friend. Somehow.

“I think I’ve heard enough, I’m gonna go home now,” Ahsoka laughed, standing up.

“I’ll walk you to the door,” said Din.

“And I’ll go check on Hadi,” Omera added. She exchanged a look with Din, one that told him she needed that last thing before she felt in the right mindset to attempt sleep herself. He nodded in complete understanding – he’d meant to do the same before turning in.

“Can I check the news one last time to see if – ”

“No,” Din and Omera said at the same time, and the girl rolled her eyes but didn’t insist. She walked upstairs with her mom and Ahsoka made for the foyer.

“Thanks again for looking after the kids, and sorry we got back so late,” he felt compelled to add as she put on her winter boots.

“My pleasure, and it turned out to be quite an eventful evening!”

“Yeah,” Din sighed. He couldn’t wait for it to be finally over.

“And to be honest I needed a change of scenery, and it was exactly what I needed.”

She’d now put on both her shoes and her jacket but neither of them had attempted to reach for the door handle yet.

“Omera mentioned something like that,” Din said, wondering if she wanted to broach the subject at all with him. Surely he wasn’t in the best position to help or offer support – that was more Omera’s thing. And yet she surprised him with her next question.

“Were you scared? The first time the army sent you overseas?”

“You’re worried because Trace is leaving in a couple of weeks,” Din realized – that was why she’d wanted to talk to him about it.

Trace, whom he’d only met a couple of time but liked very much, was an army avionic mechanic. She was usually stationed not too far from here at Fort Carson, but she was part of a battalion which would soon be shipped for a three-month rotation in Syria.

“Of course I’m worried. But she keeps saying she’s fine and all we do at the moment is fight and I hate that we can’t seem to communicate.”

“It’s her job,” Din reminded her gently. “And it won’t be the first time she sees combat.”

“So you were never scared?”

“I didn’t say that. I just – ” And here he had to think about his words carefully because it was still something he had a hard time talking about, or even wrapping his head around. But really there was no mystery there. “It was only ever about me, no one else. It’s easier to hide your fear when there’s no one around to see it. Or no one to share that fear with, I guess.”

“But she won’t talk about it, and I don’t want to be that person and I don’t want to force her, and I know she’s good at her job and I trust her to be careful, but I can tell it’s slowly destroying what we have and she knows that. So it’s just one argument after another at the moment,” she exhaled deeply, the words flowing out of her rapidly yet costing her.

“It freaked me out the first time I came home from work with a black eye after an incident during practice and Omera yelled at me,” he recalled. It had made no sense to him then. Same thing when he got his concussion over Thanksgiving. And as he stroked his arm and felt the sting there, being careful not to press too much to prevent his makeshift bandage from revealing the injury he had done his best to hide until now under his thankfully dark shirt, he was aware that it would happen again. But this time he knew why. This time he’d figured it out. And that knowledge filled him with warmth instead of dread.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I don’t think we’re all equally equipped to recognize that sometimes when people seem angry with us it’s actually because they care. Maybe Trace is like me. Maybe you keep fighting because she thinks that’s the only thing this is – a disagreement.”

Ahsoka stood very still, her eyes fixed on the wall right behind him. And then a slow, barely there smile graced her lips.

“Okay,” she replied simply, and finally reached for the door. “You should get that cut on your arm looked at, it seems deep.”

“Yeah,” he acknowledged.

“Thank you,” she said one last time on the doorstep as cold air rushed in. Din nodded, and hoped what he’d shared with her would make a difference, even if it hadn’t felt like much.

“And thank you for agreeing to look after them again next month,” he remembered to add – that discussion had been one of the reasons why he had been late arriving to the restaurant earlier, but hopefully it would be worth it when he announced his plan to Omera.

He found her in the kitchen, Hadi in her arms. The boy was wide awake and overjoyed to see him. Omera on the other hand looked remorseful.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “It’s all my fault, I wasn’t quiet enough when I entered his room and I woke him up. And now he wants some chocolate milk,” she explained, handing him the pleased toddler while she rummaged in the fridge for the promised treat he knew the little boy had been masterful at conning out of her.

“Baba!” he beamed.

“You should be sleeping, Hadi,” Din sighed.

“Choccy milk,” his son informed him instead.

“Then back to bed,” he conceded while Omera poured him the promised glass.

They both sat at the counter, Hadi in his arms while he drank his milk, both too tired to make any kind of conversation and yet both aware that same as for Winta, it would actually help to talk about things.

In the end, it was Hadi who unsurprisingly pushed them in that direction. Almost literally.

The boy had been slowly going back to sleep after having his full, and Din had been hard pressed to get up and put him back to bed just yet as he was enjoying his warm, reassuring weight against his chest, Omera equally at peace next to him, when an uncoordinated jerk made him recoil and wince.

“What’s wrong?” Omera asked, immediately on her guard as Din moved the boy in his arms so that he wouldn’t press against that spot on his forearm anymore.

“Nothing,” he tried, but it was no use – Omera had seen the tear in his shirt and the paper towels he had packed in his sleeve to stop the bleeding.

“She cut you with that knife,” she realized. “I knew it.”

“Omera – ” he attempted again as she stood up.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I was going to after I put Hadi back to bed.”

“Go do that right now, how deep is it? Do you need stitches? Show me,” Omera insisted, rolling down his sleeve slowly and removing the tissues.

“Not that deep,” Din tried to reassure her, hiding another wince.

“It’s still bleeding,” she remarked, unconvinced.

“I just need some steri-strips.”

“I’ll grab them and the first aid kit, go put Hadi to bed,” she resolved, and didn’t wait for his answer as she made her way to the bathroom.

Din closed his eyes and hugged the little boy but did as she’d suggested. Hadi barely stirred as he pulled his comforter around him and placed his favorite plushies by his pillow for easy access. Maybe tomorrow he’d keep him home in the morning. He wasn’t working until the afternoon and it felt like forever since they had a quiet moment just the two of them. Soon it would be impossible to do something like that. Life was going by way too fast and it scared him. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to worry you,” he told Omera as she watched him disinfect the spot on his forearm then hand him the steri-strips wordlessly to close the wound. It was barely three inches long but that blade had been sharp. He hadn’t felt anything when it happened and then when he saw the tear in his shirt and the blood, they’d been busy answering questions and it had seemed unnecessary to say anything.

“I’ll always worry.”

“I know,” he acknowledged.

“And I hate that the Sheriff put you in that position, you shouldn’t have to do his job for him and he should have called for backup.”

“He didn’t have much time to decide,” Din shrugged, even if he agreed with her. “It worked out well in the end.”

“Yeah, and he got to play the hero,” she huffed as he finally rolled gauze around the cut. He was done. It had barely taken five minutes.

“Him and Paz,” he reminded her with a smile. “He was clearly enjoying himself, too.”

“You’re the one they should thank. You’re the one they should have interviewed on TV.”

“But I don’t want any of that. And you’re the one who said at Christmas that Cobb should find a way to make himself more popular in Nevarro. Well, there’s his chance. He’ll be all over the news for a few days.”

“‘Local Sheriff saves the day’,” she mocked, but looked mollified as she grabbed his hands in hers.

“‘Local Sheriff and football coach’,” he corrected her. “Sounds a lot better than ‘Local athletic trainer and hopeful high school math teacher’, that would have been a mouthful.”

“Former army Major,” she joked, moving closer to him, since she knew how much titles annoyed him.

“Even worse, and Greef wouldn’t let me hear the end of it,” he grumbled.

“Former QB1,” she whispered against his chest.

“Now that one I wouldn’t mind too much,” Din admitted, holding her tightly against him. She exhaled deeply and he closed his eyes, the familiar smell of her hair exactly what he’d needed to feel centered again.

“Tonight was a lot,” she said a few seconds later, and he nodded in agreement.

“And I didn’t even have time to give you your gift yet.”

“You have a gift for me?” she marveled. “Other than not dying from blood loss?”

“You’re hilarious.”

“I know, now come on, what’s my gift?” she urged, looping her arms around him loosely and staring up at him.

“Greef is letting us use his house in the Keys next month. I can get cheap tickets with my military ID card and I thought we could go lie on a beach somewhere and do nothing for a few days for your birthday.”

“What about the kids? Are they coming with us?”

“I already spoke with Paz, Bo, Ahsoka and Peli and they’d be happy to take care of them.”

“You’ve been busy,” she realized and Din shrugged. She still hadn’t said yes but he could see that the idea of a break somewhere sunny appealed to her. Especially since Sorgan would have to be closed during that time anyway for part of the renovations to take place.

“You sure you’re going to be okay away from Hadi?” she pointed out gently, and it had indeed more than crossed his mind that the separation wouldn’t be easy for either of them, but it was probably time they did something about it.

“He’ll be with Winta,” he reasoned. “And it will only be for a few days.”

“What if we fall in love with the place and don’t want to come home?”

“Well, I’m sure Greef will agree to let me use the house again. And maybe we can even take the kids one day, too.”

“That sounds like a plan,” she agreed easily.

“Let’s see how our camping trip goes this summer first,” he reminded her. They intended to go visit a national park or two then spend time with her sister Maya’s family in Phoenix.

Omera nodded and hugged him again, her movements sluggish but her warmth appreciated.

“Bed?” he asked.

She nodded again.

“What about my gift?” he joked as they slowly made their way upstairs, his speech slurring and the memory of the robbery finally at the very back of his mind.

“I’ll show you tomorrow,” she promised, her tone one that immediately made him regret he was so tired.

************

Omera had just opened up when the Sheriff showed up. His arm was in a sling and Peli had mentioned that the wound was actually more serious than they had thought at first but somehow he’d never looked happier. Din had been right – he was the town’s hero and he loved every second of it. He’d gradually managed to convince her that no matter what had happened, Cobb deserved it, and they should let him enjoy this moment of fame. After all, they were now closer to apprehend a famous mobster thanks to him. Paz on the other hand had quickly gotten fed up with the attention,  and this had been equally as entertaining to watch unfold.

Still, she thought the Sheriff could have attempted an apology earlier. It had been almost a week since the robbery. Because there was no other way to interpret the contrite look on his face right now.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been there sooner,” he announced as she started working on his coffee. “It’s been crazy at the station.”

“I can imagine,” she replied levelly.

“How’s Djarin? Peli told me he got injured too? I had no idea.”

“You should ask him when you see him.”

Din had complained when Omera let Peli know about the cut on his arm. Of course he had. But she was never going to let that slide. Cobb might have counted on Paz’s imposing size and Din’s military background on that night, but he should have called for backup.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, and looked like he meant it. “I behaved like a cowboy.”

“You did,” she agreed, and he nodded. Omera had to admit that it felt good to hear it said out loud. She might still not like it, but as far as apologies went this one was pretty good.

She finished preparing his drink in silence then slid the to-go cup on the counter towards him.

“That’s not an americano,” he realized with a frown. The Sheriff had never ordered or tried anything else, which was why he hadn’t bothered telling her what he wanted earlier. But Omera had decided otherwise.

“No, it’s a revisited cappuccino, you should try it,” she informed him. “Because heroes don’t drink americanos, it’s really a terrible drink.”

Cobb looked at her and picked up his cup. Omera tried not to smile.

[thankeywa]

No Offence or anything but your mum's a bitch the cuntiest foul breathing induced she-devil and i don't know you personally but i know that most people deserve love, feel that they are loved, and to be loved by someone important . And i say most people cuz some just don't deserve it (ur mom for being mean) but you certainly deserved more love than the average just cuz i say so and know that there is always someone out there looking out for you and loves you for who you are (and if they're none they've probably kicked the bucket...i just hope not ...i don't want you lonely) don't let the negativity get you in this day of love ❤❤❤ go make a core memory or sum..a memory that makes you remember every time it's valentines day ❤ ❤🌹

Virtual hugs ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ babes 😘

Anon out here destroying my mom 👩

No, I'm sorry if I painted a terrible picture, I love my mother very dearly, we have a very weird relationship that is definitely getting better, she has a very tragic background and she literally had to run away from home to keep me, my grandfather was quite abusive and he didn't like that she married a man who wasn't Italian like them, so he wanted her to ab*** me. I assure you she has worked her entire life to give me every penny and a good education, she unfortunately wasn't also able to connect with me emotionally in the beginning at all. My dad was mostly there for that, and he is very accepting of me.

She is definitely afraid that I will somehow end up in a dangerous situation like hers, and she doesn't understand that the way she manifests her fear is abusive. For example when I date guys, and they have cheated/abused me, she always finds a way to defend them and try to make me give them a second chance. She shuts me out when I talk about girls.

I'm not making excuses, I let her know when I'm hurt and I try to have those difficult conversations, because I love her and I want to be in my life.

Family is hard and I'm not saying they should always be forgiven, everyone has to make that choice for themselves.

Also, no core memories so far anon, and I'm currently in my pjs ready to go to bed, but now that you've hyped me up, I'm definitely feeling like I should go out on the town and break some hearts. 🤠

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 13 January 1955

Starting out in 1955, and man, are we starting with a bang! Three songs, all of which I knew before listening to them - and all of which I reckon the average person on the street probably would know, too.

Mambo Italiano - Rosemary Clooney and the Mellomen (peaked at No. 1)

Well this song feels like it's clearly cashing into the Italian trend that you're seeing with songs like That's Amore, combining it with mambo music. This works - well enough that I assumed as a small child, hearing this played in Frankie and Benny's sort of restaurants, that mambo was an Italian dance. Which is nonsense - the whole joke here is that people in Italy are doing the mambo, which is Cuban.

The thing that apparently links both these phenomena is New York City, where you got a lot of Italian-American entertainers, but where you also had a bit of a mambo craze through the 1940s and 50s, under Cuban-Americans like Tito Puente and Pérez Prado. All of which is pretty cool.

The beginning, with the slower pace, mandolins and references to going back to "Napoli" does feel like a direct nod to Dean Martin and That's Amore - which makes it all the more interesting when Rosemary sings that "wait a minute, something's wrong" and speeds the tune up to mambo speed, complete with more mambo-ish percussion and saxophones, and a crazy glissando down the piano.

It's full of various Italian or not-so Italian clichés , and so we get in quick succession references to Napoli, pizza, mozzarella, a bambino, vino as well as Spanish enchiladas and goombas and jadrools, both of which were apparently slangy adapted Italian. Plus Rosemary's putting on an Italian-American accent with alarming amounts of gusto - and it is put on, because she was Irish-American as they come, apparently.

The overall effect is chaotic, with Rosemary's delivery, the slightly slapdash piano that comes in halfway through and just the nonsense nature of the lyrics promoting a sense of informality and comedic charm. Lines like "You getta happy in the feets-a" are apparently also drawing on Italian-American vocal jazz artists like Louie Prima, who were known for similar nonsense-Italian for similarly comedic effect.

It's not rock and roll, but it's got the right energy, just about. Tell me that the piano solo in this couldn't be a banging guitar riff. In fact, I'd like a hard rock version of this, I think? Rosemary is giving it her campy, overdone best, and the Mellomen, who remain in the background for most of this, earn their keep with a vehement "uhhhh" at the end. Which you've got to admire.

Mr. Sandman - Dickie Valentine (5)

I know this song pretty well, and I do like it, and to be honest, I don't think this helps Dickie's case here. It's not that his version is bad. But there are a lot of versions I can compare it to, and in most respects I think this lacks some of the magic that other versions have. The Chordettes' version is hard to beat, for example, and the Mamas and Papas version is also pretty nice.

We have all the beats you need, though, from the iconic "bom bom bom bom" opening chords, to a bit of celeste over the title lyrics, and the song itself is solid. Dickie's singing to the Sandman to bring him a dream of a person he can love - simple enough, and whimsical, but still earnest enough not to fall into the novelty category. And it really is a beautiful tune, full of fun barbershop vibes and tight vocal harmonies, if you do it right.

But there are issues even in the intro, as the "bom" bits are just a touch too longer. Likewise, Dickie seems to hang on notes just a bit longer than he needs to - this song works because of how crisp it is, so this hampers it, for me. It's subtle, but it makes words like "saaandman" sound off, somehow.

There's also a slightly awkward thing where Dickie, being male, changes the pronouns in the song ("Make her complexion like peaches and cream") but the female backing singers don't ("Make him the cutest that I've ever seen"). Which changes the song from being about a lonely person dreaming up a lover who doesn't exist into a song about two euqally lonely lovers who exist but just haven't met wanting to dream about each other. It's fine, but it's a different vibe.

And then, towards the end, we get a mildly swung musical interlude and then a very swung repeat of the chorus. Which is a choice. It's quite a cool choice, actually, in principle, and I'd listen to a whole version done like that, but it's just a bit unsettling to change to the swung rhythm. Something about it hit me like a car crash, the first time I listened, and the way it speeds up out of it right at the end is also just far too lively for a song about sleeping and dreaming!

I've made it sound like I hate this song, which I don't, but it's definitely not my favourite version of the song to exist. Oh, well. I still did enjoy it!

Shake, Rattle and Roll - Bill Haley & His Comets (4)

Okay, this is undeniably rock and roll. Initially by bluesman Big Joe Turner, and covered more famously by Elvis, this isn't mixed with anything like gospel or jazz or country music. It's just some straight-forward rock and roll, and it's good fun, not going to lie!

I do wonder how known the sound was in the UK at this point - was the vibe, "yeah, sure, that's a rock and roll record" or was it more "hey, what the heck is this sound?" I suspect more the former, actually - it's energetic, but not a million miles off the energy of things like Mambo Italiano.

There's not a straightforward story to it, unlike some songs we've seen - at the start, we've got Bill exhorting us to "get out of that kitchen" and to "shake, rattle and roll" so it feels like it might be just a song about partying, in general. And the vibe would support that, to be honest. I've listened to this song for years and just assumed that.

But then we also get references to a woman who keeps herself looking nice "But your heart is cold as ice". Plus, references later on to how "I believe you're doin' me wrong" and how "The more I work / The faster my money goes" rather suggests that this lady is a bit of a gold-digger. It's spiteful and mean in a way not many songs have been until now.

And then we get the rather dubious line about how "I'm a one-eyed cat / Peepin' in a seafood store". Not sure what that's about, but it feels dirty, somehow? Plus we've got "doggone", which isn't a swear, but is so clearly meant to be "god-damn". Again, pushing things - until now, these songs have all been very G-rated, but this is at least gesturing to something a bit more daring.

And the sound fits, from the raucous sax/electric guitar combination, to the heavy walking bassline, to the raw, bluesy delivery and the souted "roooooolllll" at the end. It's delightfully unpolished and full of energy and I love it!

A strong set of songs, as I said up top. One, however, looks like the future, while two feel firmly of their era. And to be honest, I also just really appreciated the arrival of proper rock on the scene - a breath of fresh, informal, unpolished air, after a long run of gorgeous but somewhat fussy string-drenched ballads. Not that I think the string-drenched ballads are going anywhere soon, but it's nice to see the alternative making headway in the charts.

Favourite song of the bunch: Shake, Rattle and Roll

[lonelypond]

Snow

NicoMaki, Love Live and Guncharov, 2K, 1/1

The group heads to the Nishikino mansion for a brainstorming session. Nico discovers a few things about Maki.

Snow

“Drive me, Nico-chi. You have a car. It’s going to snow.” Nozomi’s drawl could not be contained in Nico’s laptop.

“No. It’s just a little more than a mile. And you scheduled it during Nico’s workout. So Nico will multitask.”

“I don’t want to get out of bed, Nico-chi. I have a pile of fluffy blankets and I’m warm…”

“You set up this meeting, Nozomi. You, me, Eli, the music nerd with the fancy house…”

“Are you bringing Ma-ki her tux back?”

“Can’t really roll it up in a backpack. Besides, how often do you need fancy clothes?”

“Just give me a bathrobe and a blonde.”

“I’m ending this conversation.”

Nico hit disconnect. She didn’t have time to indulge Nozomi’s mood. She had a few things to pack in her backpack and then it was time to put in the first of her two mile run.

###

Big house. Huge house. Nico didn’t know what to expect when the door opened, but maybe Lurch from the Addams Family and pipe organ music in the background. But no, Maki opened her own door, dressed like a vintage Hollywood movie star in tall trousers and a lavender pinstripe oxford shirt, unbuttoned one or two many buttons for Nico not to have gawked at the sensuous reveal of curve. But Maki didn’t seem to notice, just nodded at Nico, said a breathy “hi” and waved Nico inside.

“Is Nozomi here yet?”

“Yes, she and Eli and and Umi…”

“Umi?”

“My friend who’s going to help with the script.”

“A music student?”

Maki shook her head, zipping down long corridors decorated with green garlands and red bows, setting a Christmas mood almost a month early. “Poet. We met in the Film Classics club.”

Another noir nerd. Nico was going to have to watch some of these movies.

“So there’s The Maltese Falcon, Nico knows that one. What else would you suggest?”

Maki stopped, turned, amethyst eyes curious.

“Nico likes to be thorough.”

A nod. “The Big Sleep. If you like Bogart, you can’t go wrong adding Lauren Bacall.”

Nico appreciated the attention to her interests. Maki glanced to the window, where the sky was getting gray, the clouds heavy with damp.

“Nico will put it on the list.”

“The noir cutoff is 1959, after that is neo-noir. In this weather, we should watch Fargo.” Maki giggled, before continuing down the hall. “It’s snow noir.”

There was a bounce in Maki’s step, Nico lingering two steps behind, whether because of post run fatigue or aesthetic appreciation, Nico decided not to review.

###

Nico did a quick change in a bathroom the size of her first dorm room. Fluffy pink oversized sweater, kangaroo pocket, sparkly winter tights. In the media room, Maki was on the floor, laptop open in front of her on a low wood and glass table. Classical sounding music played out of two portable speakers. Instrumental, dark, ominous, occasional fragile notes from a lighter instrument barely holding the space, crashing piano chords. Nico winced as screechy violin chords began.

“Yuck. Give Nico a pop song any day.”

Nozomi reluctantly pivoted from her conversation with Eli, “This is noir, Nico. Ominous classical is the mood.”

“Actually,” Maki didn’t look up from her screen, “I would have chosen a jazz theme, but I think between the Russian, Italian, and religious imageries and overtones, the collective thought classical would better suit.”

Umi Sonoda, poet and dapper dresser, was perched on the extended chaise leg of the sectional sofa. “Which is why it’s a Scorsese mafia movie, not a noir, although as conceived by the Tumblr hive mind, Goncharov is laden with noir themes.

“And multiple femme fatales, especially if you count Andrey.” Nozomi leaned forward to continue pouring out tea.

“Debatable.” Umi countered. “Katya is the classic femme fatale, her arc slicing through Guncharov, Sofia, and Andrey stories.”

“Shooting through might have been a better analogy. She’s not the knife girl. Or the ice pick asexual.” Nozomi giggled.

“I’d better read this pretty soon, hadn’t I?” Eli said, amicably confused, “Is it all just grim and murdery?”

Maki shook her head, “You can’t help but feel a brief hope, that maybe at least one of them will escape. I think the jazz soundtracks get that better, that sweetness, a seed of hope, a brief respite from ominous, but then everyone's swallowed up again in the sultry struggle, like the opening for The Postman Always Rings Twice.”

Nico’s experience of femme fatales, music, and noir consisted of an article she remembered skimming through about Taylor Swift. Not that Nico would ever admit to being out of her depth.

“No body, no crime.” Nico announced.

Maki raised an eyebrow, “Is that a movie.”

“A Taylor Swift song.”

Nozomi snorted, “Nico brings the high brow.”

Umi smiled, “Actually, Ms. Swift’s latest album really embraces the femme fatale/anti hero vibe. To say “I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'Cause I care” is clever.”

“Nico knows. And Anti-Hero, wow, it’s right there, she embraces it.”

“I prefer when she lets the lyrics get cold blooded enough to be ice.”

Nico hadn’t expected this reaction from Umi. From the looks on the faces in the rest of the room, no one else had either. But Nico was always in.

“Nico-chi, you surprise me.”

“Yeah, like I don't dress for women

I don't dress for men

Lately, I've been dressin' for revenge…it’s the modern genderqueer asexual crime to the max anthem.”

Nico turned to Nozomi, “How?”

“You’re sharp.”

“You can bring a Nico to any fight.” And Nico winked randomly into the room, causing Umi to blush and fumble her tea.

Maki closed her laptop, levering herself up to a seat. “I’d rather riff off Ellington in Anatomy of Murder. Pop isn’t this mood.”

“Agreed.” Umi nodded, considering Maki’s point. “But something rawer than Ellington’s courtroom tones.”

Eli yawned, standing to shake herself and wander over to the window. “Oh wow.”

“What is it, Eli-chi?”

Eli glanced back, a broad smile gleaming at Nozomi’s diminutive, “Snow.”

“SNOW!” Nico rushed to the window. Snow was coming down.

“Something wrong?” Maki asked.

“Nico ran here. And Nico has rehearsal in a couple of hours.”

“I can drive you back.” Nozomi said.

“It’s coming down pretty fast.”

“You can all stay here. My parents are away at a medical conference. We could keep talking and decide on where to film.”

“Oh, are we going to do that here?” Eli spun, taking a better look at the room, “That’s awesome. There's so much space."

“My cinematographer’s not here.” Nozomi stepped next to Eli, glanced out at the snow and then whispered something in her ear.

Nico solved problems. “Rin? Just call her. She’s always up for anything.”

“But today’s her date day and Hanayo doesn’t like to go out.”

Ignoring Nozomi, Nico returned to the couch, pulled out her phone, and sent a flurry of texts.

“Hey, Maki, got anything Nico can cook?”

Maki froze, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I get take out or the chef leaves me things to reheat.”

Nico sighed, “Take Nico to your kitchen.”

###

The refrigerator was the size of three. And barely a quarter filled. With fancy hors d'oeuvres making and bottles of prosecco but no solid food. Nico liked solid food. She had two batches of gingersnaps in her bag, but that was for after real food.

“It’s hopeless.”

“Huh…what do you mean.”

“Just order a couple of pizzas. You must have a go to pizza place. Everyone has a go to pizza place.”

“For delivery? Yes.” Maki sounded thoughtful, Nico turned, curious, “For stuffed, New York style, or pizza turnovers?”

“You have three go to pizza places?”

Maki quirked an eyebrow, “Half a dozen. Sauce can be so mood dependent.”

“Pizza tastes differently depending on your mood?” Nico closed the refrigerator, sighing over the wasted space, “What’s today’s mood?”

Maki turned away, pulling out her phone, pushing loose hair back over a reddening ear, “Carmen’s pesto. The cheese tastes like it’s infused with garlic. You’ll be impressed.”

“Good thing Nico’s not a vampire and allergic.”

Maki froze, “Should I ask them?”

Nico laughed, “No, Nico thinks we’re good on the no vampires. Just get one less heavy on the garlic.”

“Okay.”

So serious. It was seriously adorable Nico thought, the amount of concentration Maki brought to ordering pizza, her lips twisted slightly as she tapped out her order for the online form.

“I guess we should get back there before Nozomi does anything too crazy.”

“Have you been friends for long?”

“Same dorm freshman year so three plus years.”

“You’re a senior?! I thought you were…”

“What?”

“A freshman, I hadn’t seen you around before.”

Nico couldn’t help the disgruntled huff. Would no one ever see her as a mature, multi talented adult with infinite potential. “Nico is always busy, working, studying, and performing.”

“I’m taking pre med classes.”

“Ah, parents and the medical conference.”

“Yeah.” Not much enthusiasm. Maki put away her phone, “It’ll be here in 90 minutes. Want to hear my take on Sofia’s theme?”

“Nico is in.”

Maki turned in the opposite direction.

“What about the others?”

“I’ll leave the door open. They can find the piano.”

Maki practically skipped down the hall, Nico hurrying to match pace. An artfully placed clump of green hung at the end of the hall and Maki startled, backpedalling frantically into Nico, who suddenly had an armful of curves

“Are you all right?”

“Ummm.”

“What is it? A spider or something?”

Nico made sure Maki was standing not tilting and stepped around the taller woman, following where her glance was frozen to the small wreath of mistletoe.

Nico rolled her eyes. Too much silly drama. Good thing Nozomi was in another room or there would be teasing and Nico was beginning to suspect that teasing was not something Maki took to, “We can tiptoe past it. No one will have to know.”

“Santa will.”

Long lashes blinked over open, innocent amethyst eyes. A frown crushed lips into a yield warning. Nico bit the inside of her own lip to prevent a rush of quick, unedited words.

“Papa always tells Mama you have to follow the mistletoe rule.”

Was Maki ten? Nico started to grumble, then shook her head slightly. Not everyone was into kissing, not everyone (shocking she knew) was into dating. Or flirting. Or a chance to try things out with Nico. That was okay, Nico didn’t come for that…well, Nico might have come more eagerly because Maki was attractive, but Nozomi was also really excited about this project so it was going to turn out well. And Nico was always glad to find new friends.

“What is the mistletoe rule?”

“Kiss.”

“So fine.” Nico took Maki’s hand and pulled her under the mistletoe, halfway into the music room, “Beautiful piano.”

“Thanks.”

“Close your eyes.”

“Why?” Maki stepped back, worried.

“Just do it.”

“Okay.”

Maki closed her eyes, no leaning in. Nico thought of the most ridiculous, unromantic place anyone could kiss a person and leaned forward, aiming for Maki’s elbow. But as she brushed Maki’s arm, it flung out, contacting Niico on the jaw, making her world wobbly for a moment. Nico pitched forward, almost tackling Maki, but wrenching herself to the side, as Maki’s eyes opened, horrified.

“What are you doing?”

Nico rubbing her jaw, scowled, “Not having a good time.”

“Why did you do something so stupid?”

“If only Nico knew.” Nico shoved Maki into the room, “Go play something.” Then Nico jumped up and swatted down the mistletoe, glaring at the greenery. “Not on my watch.”

“Nico-chi!” Nozomi had heard the kerfuffle and led the crowd toward the music room, “What are you doing?”

“Saving a life.” Nico shoved the wreath in her dress’s kangaroo pocket. “Pizza’s coming in an hour.”

Nico collapsed on the comfiest looking chaise. She’d earned a rest.

A/N:

Week 2 and 3 prompts for the @sapphicfest Snowed in and Mistletoe.

Also, does anybody else have WENCLAIR on the brain?

[mistwraiths]

4 stars

For some reason, I thought I wasn't going to enjoy this book. I think it didn't sound like something I was going to particularly like but I was going to give it a Try™️. I'm really glad I did because overall, I really enjoyed this.

I found the Italian inspired island a nice setting and while this at surface level is about fighting and surviving an apocalypse every few decades (??? Unclear), this mainly a grumpy bodyguard romance with everything else sprinkled in. The writing was easy to read and descriptive, but like in other reviews, I have a lot more questions and concerns about the world and religion and how the power works than what the book gives me.

Alessa's position of being the Chosen One and being bad at it isn't entirely unique to the YA format, but I liked how she accidentally killed three people and how terrified everyone became of her. The lack of faith in her BECAUSE of her recent accidents made sense and didn't feel derived from something silly. The fact that her title means "Window" and people call her that is kind of funny. I know it's said that her power amplifies a partner's magic, but I'm confused a bit of how she's able to manipulate and USE their magic too. Magnify and actually take someone else's power and use it seems like two different powers to me. Also she seems to know instinctually how to use it magic that isn't hers. But none of that is explained.

I did like Alessa. She wants to do good and tries, despite failing, and I commend her. She actively goes out of her way to get someone to protect her and learn exactly what this Padre Ivini is saying about her when no one will. I did enjoy the slow development of Dante's and Alessa's relationship. Dante good too. Too many times authors use grumpy instead of asshole or mean, but Dante wasn't ever rude or mean and even when he decided to leave or not want something or somehow hurt Alessa's feelings without intentionally being cruel, he apologized. I actually didn't guess his reveal but I figured he was Something like a Fonte.

Most of my issues has to do with the pacing, the way things worked in the world, and a bit of the predictability. Also, after 210 pages, this book kind of loses quality a tad.

Nothing really happens in this book until nearly 400 pages when the battle actually starts. Until then its solidly a romance while sort of preparing for the end of the world. The fact that people are trying to kill her, the lack of her power working, Ivini, and all that is just still happening and mainly background noise. So, this book, while enjoyable and readable, is pretty slow.

Why not train EVERY Fonte for battle? Why are they starting to train two weeks before? You know the apocalypse is coming when a Finiestra is picked, why not train immediately then? If your Goddess is all about connection and working together, isolating your savior doesn't really make any sense. I get maybe killing your Finestra when you have time to spare but A WEEK OR TWO BEFORE DOOMSDAY??? Where is the logic??? Just LEAVE for protection. Also why when these fools barely train are they using the last day of training to play on a beach??? And if your savior didn't show up why on earth would you wait until the end to show up??? I know the wind died but that was like a few days before. You had years. I would have been sweating when an island's finestra showed up and mine did not. Some things just don't make much sense.

The twin betrayal had me so mad. And he had the audacity being like "I told Ivini on Dante so we're even" 💀 SIR YOU LITERALLY TRIED TO KILL YOUR SISTER AND THEN TRIED TO CONVINCE HER TO DO IT HERSELF. And the narrative tries to make it all better. No. Absolutely not.

I did guess the end about the connection. It wasn't particularly hard. I did really like the part where HUGE SPOILER BEWARE Dante dies. I think having him dead and her searching for the source of life or whatever would have made an EPIC end but of course he had to come back to life. But they still are going to search for it.

Overall, it was really enjoyable and I think I would read the sequel when it comes out!