#i had an entire script written up for every part of the song!!!!! and no one wanted to help me make it

[alchemiclee]

"if I can stop one heart from breaking" in star rail is such a beautiful song. I want to shoot a mv for it!!!!! I have it on repeat at work and have mv ideas.

the only problem is, once again, my ideas require OTHER PEOPLE to help. which I do not have 😭😭😭😭

this is why i haven't been able to shoot a video yet. no one ever wants to help me with anything. i'd do it alone if I could act 2-4 different parts at once and shoot and direct all at the same time. but cameras can't move on their own and I can't clone myself

[sky-is-the-limit]

"Mine."

Bi!Reader x Abby Anderson

Summary: Your friend, Abby, has issues with who you decided to share your first queer experience with and she decides to take matters into her own hands.

CW: Afab!Reader, Porn with little plot, NFSW content, Oral sex (receiving), Suggestive language.

Song recommendation: Slow Down - Chase Atlantic

WC: 3,223 words.

''Abby, stop! Can't you walk a little slower?!'' Short of breath, you gathered whatever energy was left in you, after what was probably the most embarrassing moment you had to endure so far in your lifetime, trying to catch up with Abby's long strides down the cold corridor.

One thing for sure, she was purposely making it a challenge for you to keep up with her.

''With Nora? Seriously Y/N?!'' Finally, she turned slightly the side of her face around for a second, her piercing blue eyes now a shade darker as she shot you a look of disbelief at that, letting out a dry laugh before shaking her head, scoffing.

Unbeknownst to you, your fate was sealed the moment you decided to be brave enough to experience something your soul had been longing for since you were old enough to understand what romance was and why it only seemed to be limited between a man and a woman.

It wasn't meant to happen. Neither you kissing Nora after her blatant advances in the gym's locker room nor Abby walking in as though your life was a badly written comedy and the entire scene was scripted perfectly to humiliate you.

''I'll explain if you stop running away from me!" Your heart pounded in it’s cage, rattling the bars that were your ribs as her pace was only rapidly increasing with each second, her soaked in sweat sleeveless tee stuck on her like a second skin.

''No need. What I walked in on was pretty self-explanatory.'' Her tone was more bitter than expected, a hint of jealousy behind every word she so acerbically punctuated at you.

Your initial thought, that her anger was due to you hiding such a significant part of your identity from her, vanished entirely. It was abnormal, how a person so close to you who happened to be so openly comfortable with her sexuality, was treating you in such manner.

The last two years allowed to you get to know a woman so kind and gentle in contrast of her intimidating physique, who immediately welcomed you and only gave you unconditional support and care in return of your friendship. It scared you that your intuition was screaming that there was more to this than she led on.

''I didn't mean for you to find out this way, I was-'' Your attempt to explain was cut short as she finally stopped outside her room, leading you to bump your front into her defined back, your fingertips lingering a bit longer on her shoulder blades.

''I just don't fucking get it.'' It wasn't frequent for Abby to behave so irritably, her milky freckled skin reddening with frustration, losing her calm composure for something that could easily be solved, if she would just let you explain.

Her fingers shuffled with her keys, agitatedly trying to find the right one so she can unlock the door. Every passing second was driving the both of you to insanity, for different reasons.

''That I happen to also like women? A bit rich coming from you, Abs.'' This was getting ridiculous and you made sure the tone of your voice conveyed that, spitting out every word with sarcasm and intent.

She finally unlocked the door, pushing it with such force that it guarantied to leave spots on the white wall of her bedroom before eventually turning her body around to face you.

''That you like her.'' Abby's tone dripped with scorn as she responded to your remark, her words carrying an edge sharper than a knife. Her eyes narrowed, a vertical wrinkle appearing between her eyebrows, lips pursed slightly with her arms crossed over her chest.

Her eyes seemed to pull you in, a gravitational force that you couldn’t resist and so unable to maintain eye contact, you drifted your gaze to the floor.

''It's not that, I- fucking hell.'' The words tumbled out of your mouth in a fast-paced torrent, echoing the racing thoughts within your mind.

Seeing that you weren’t going to get her to spit out the truth and leave her stubbornness aside, you sighed deeply, tugging her arm, beckoning her to follow you into her room without waiting for an invitation.

''I just wanted to.. I don't know, confirm my suspicions. That I might like women too and Nora.. was just there." You admitted, closing the door behind you. Her brows knitted together in a mixture of confusion and curiosity

''You never told me about.. your 'suspicions'.''  Abby frowned, tilting her head clearly awaiting for you to say more.

''I wanted to make sure first, you know.'' You watched her eyes study you for what seemed like an eternity. It raged through your veins, a wildfire you were ill-equipped to temper, let alone control. 

''And?'' She muttered, her breath almost visibly lodged in her throat. You couldn't help but tore your eyes from hers, feeling your face heat up considerably.

''And my suspicions were correct, I guess.'' You mumbled, cheeks hot under her scrutiny. Abby's response to that was expressed under her breath, almost unintelligible but definitely annoyed.

''Stop with the fucking mumbling, Abby! If you have something to say to me then just say it.'' You finally snapped, every fiber of your being screaming with frustration.

''And it had to be her? You barely even know her, Y/N!'' She was seething now, eyes narrowed in a vicious glare as she slowly edged dangerously closer to your form. Her tone, like a bass drum, resonated in your chest, leaving you with a strange fluttering sensation.

''I don't understand why it's such a big fucking deal to you, Abs!'' At this, you glowered, craning slightly to get in her face before snarling,

''It was merely just a kiss! But yeah, don't worry, when I decide to finally have sex with a woman, I'll make sure to ask of your approval first.'' You huffed, chuckling at her audacity. The words came as a snarl, low and menacing with a knot tightened in your throat, fighting to hold in the urge to ask of her transparent jealousy.

''I just think you should've had your first with someone you know, someone you trust.'' And finally she, too, seemed to realize she had gone too far with this. She hesitated at the fire in your eyes, her expression softening a fraction as she mumbled the words.

''Yeah because there's a bunch of women in my life, waiting for me to say the word.'' A second, two, three passed without any motion or words exchanged. No response from her as the air grew thick with tension. The question hanged in the air, heavy and intoxicating.

''There's at least one, that's for sure.'' The words hit you with the power of a thousand crushing waves. Overwhelmed, your entire body became impossibly still and you just stood there frozen, unblinking, lips slightly parted.

Pending, whether to breathe or scream. It was doubtful whether you were meant to hear that or not yet judging from Abby's indecipherable expression, she was not fixed on an answer either.

''What?'' Even if you weren’t thoroughly sure of what exactly had been transpiring between the two of you since your group moved to the WLF base two years ago, you knew how to recognize a botched confession when it was staring you in the face. 

Eventually, you two ran out of things to say, exhaling heavily as you fall silent.

Abby ultimately decided to take matters into her own hands, her boots clicking on the ground with every step she took towards you, approaching you so painfully slow that your heart almost stopped at the anticipation she brought into your bones.

By the time she was merely inches away from you, you exhaled the breath you had been holding deep in your throat, focused only on backing instinctively away as slowly as she was approaching, until your lower back hit the edge of the desk near her bed.

That’s when it fully registered just how close you two were. Enough that you could feel her hot breath against your neck. Lifting your eyes up to look at her properly, you shuddered at her gaze, hardened eyes smoldering with burning intensity, making you mildly uneasy to this new sensation taking over your body.

''God, you're so fucking thick sometimes.'' She launched herself at you, descending her mouth onto yours, trying to take possession of lips that she had only tasted in her dreams.

Her kiss was hypnotic, so insistent, pressing the tip of her tongue to your shut lips until they surrendered to her and then pulled you the rest of the way against her, your face pushed into hers in a smothering kiss in which you hardly participated in, letting her dominate it in any way she saw fit and it was unparalleled.

One hand was in your hair, tugging it gently and the other at the base of your neck keeping you close to her as though wind was to drift you away from her embrace. Her fingertips slipped beneath your collar to tease at the skin just underneath your clothing and you found yourself melting into it, eager for what would follow.

''I always knew that one day I'd have you like this'.' Gently, she trailed her fingertips up to your jaw, turning your head to the side before attaching her lips to the soft skin, planting wet kisses all over it.

If someone asked you whether this might be a record for how quickly arousal had overtaken your senses, you may have lied. Of course not, you'd say. No way did it take just one nip on your neck to get you this fucking soaked. It started a fire within you no one else could ever ignite.

''You think I haven't noticed how you look at me?'' She latched onto that perfect meeting point between your jaw and throat where she could feel your hammering pulse against her lips and tongue while she marked you with her mouth.

''Fucking hell-'' You gasped as she found that spot that unlocked your entire body, making you squirm and whimper as she increased the intensity of her coordinated attack on it, biting and soothing, until you were a keening mess.

''I always thought that it was gonna be me but you're so god damn impatient.'' Goosebumps slithered down your spine as darted her lips up to your ear, her lips gently caressing your lobe and your hips bucking slightly, longing for her touch.

Her hands trailed down the dips and curves of your body before grasping your arse in both hands, hoisting you upward with ease. You responded, wrapping your legs around her eagerly as she guided you both backwards towards the bed.

Feeling her shins come into contact with the edge of her mattress, she sat down with you straddling her lap, her lips caressing your neck softly.

''She won't get to have this. Not with you.'' She murmured, pulling your bra cups down so your breasts were on full view over the fabric of your shirt, making you squeak, blinking owlishly at the sudden development.

A rush of excitement washed over you, feeling a near-instant reaction between your thighs. You couldn't help but quiver as she dragged her fingertip across your bare nipple, your breasts heaving with each fast breath.

''So beautiful.'' Her breathless whisper set your skin ablaze, gawking at you as though you were the finest masterpiece in a gallery.

''Abby, please-'' Your nails dragged down her defined forearms, creating red lines impatiently. You weren't sure what you were begging for but the slight smirk that formed onto her lips showed you that she understood anyway.

What was certain, was that you were a proper mess under her mercy. Suddenly, the cool temperature of the room turned into unbearable heat, skin on fire contradicting the cold sweat slipping down your spine.

A whine escaped you as she took your nipple in her mouth, latching onto the very tip with her teeth. She held your stare as she swirled her tongue around the peaked bud, the lace just thick enough to keep her from touching you, but only just.

You could still feel her lips curl around it and the heat of her mouth blazing your skin, leading you to grind against her broad thigh, desperate to rid yourself of the ache between your legs.

Driven by the heat settling in your lower half, you found yourself subconsciously grinding down into her lap, eager for any kind of friction to help soothe your ache. It wasn't enough.

Growing frustrated, you planted your hands on her broad shoulders, supporting yourself as you gently started pressing your hips against hers, subconsciously griding them up and down . Sensing your desperation, she chuckled to herself.

''Not like this. I want to taste you.'' There was nothing she’d love more but to go down on you, feel your thighs quiver and press against her, have you pulse around her tongue until you’re a sobbing mess, begging him to stop and begin, a never ending cycle of pleasure.

With a swift movement of her hands, you found yourself against the soft cottoned sheets of her bed and Abby barely just below your waist, looking up at you with a gaze full of desire.

The hunger in her eyes as she easily removed your jeans from your legs was striking, mesmerising every nerve in your body to stay still under her touch.

Your panties were almost transparent when she reached down, and she wasted no time to zoom in on them. You were practically creaming her fingers once she moved them past the flimsy material, slipping it down to your ankles and then tossing it aside.

She turned her undivided attention to your drenched cunt, folds gleaming with your overflowing slick. Without hesitation, she pressed her lips against your slit, licking excruciatingly slow your arousal and groaning at the taste of you.

In that moment, she felt drunk, gliding her tongue through your wetness, soft sighs escaping her lips whilst taking your scent in. She licked a path up your slit to your throbbing clit before sucking it into her mouth, her pointed tongue tracing circles around it.

It was intoxicating and she was hooked from the first tantalizing taste. Her tongue dug deeper as she sought more, burying her face into the apex of your thighs. 

Only if she knew how many sleepless nights you spent dreaming of her with your hand in between your thighs, wishing it was her instead.

''Abby-'' You moan her name like a desperate prayer, voice feeble and croaky to her touch. Her tongue was painfully, awfully delicate and torturously slow as it circled your sweet spot. In need to feel more pressure, you tried to lift your hips into the pleasure with her grasp tightening on your thighs, promising blue-shaded marks to appear so to hold you into place.

You were too enthralled by her mouth to notice that one of her hands had left your thighs as soft lips rested against your clit, sucking it with need before two fingers slid inside of you with ease, curling upwards to hit your spot instantly.

Her fingers fucked into you slowly, agonizing, matching the pace of her tongue flickering every inch of you. You jolted as if you’d been electrocuted, tense and shirking as you gripped the sheets so tight, it felt as if you'd rip them to shreds.

''My girl.'' Her voice sounded so broken and wrecked, showing you exactly how bad she craved this, craved you. Your fingers tugged at her soft hair desperately for something to keep yourself grounded.

The sound that escaped her lips was so feral, almost like a growl matching her brutal pace, and your eyes blurred with stars as she hit the deepest parts inside of you with her long fingers over and over.

The orgasm building inside of you with each thrust was overwhelming, threatening to leave you shaking and breathless in a way no other person could ever quite manage, even if they were the most experienced on the planet. No one mattered but her, neither to your heart or trembling body.

''Mine. Aren't you?'' She whispered breathlessly before licking you again, slower and more deliberately than before.

The action drew a sharp cry from your lips which was quickly stifled as you bit down on them, squirming under the flickers of sensation. It felt as though you were connected, quickening her pace, working in broad strokes, sliding against the sides of your labia.

You felt your face flush to her question, whether it was from the raspy, assertive tone of her words, or the return of her searing gaze on you, perhaps a combination of both, you didn't know. Not trusting yourself to speak, you settled for a shaky nod and a barely audible 'yes' that came out mostly as a whimper. 

You arched your back, your hips jerking in his grasp as the pleasure made your body burn from the inside out. You moaned with complete abandon, your grip on your sheets almost tearing holes in the fabric.

The noises coming between your legs were obscene. The slurping and sucking that reached your ears drenched your body with a hot flush and you threw your head back with a long whine. Your body was aching for relief, a way to release the tension that had been building up from the past couple of days of sexual frustration. 

Pleasure twisted deep in your belly, and the release was nearly excruciating when you were finally pushed over the edge.

Without being able to control the moans and whimpers lodging in your throat any longer, you finally yelped in pleasure as she lapped at your cunt, white dots in your vision as the orgasm hit you hard, your whole body shaking with the sudden release of tension.

The pressure, the heat led you to scream, tears forming in the corners of your eyes from the intensity, but her mouth refused to leave your throbbing core. She slid her tongue inside your hole, grinning at the rush of your fluids on her chin.

It was not deep, not even close, yet the stretch was enough to curl your toes from being overstimulated. Enough for you to croak out her name as your back pressed against the bed, kittenish and feeble.

Nothing else mattered but the feel of her tongue, as she drew your folds aside and ruthlessly drank mouthfuls of your release, as eagerly as someone stuck in the desert for far too long coming across an oasis, glistening slick dripping down her face in the process.

You held your palms across your mouth attempting to stifle your cries while bucking your hips against her greedy mouth.

When she was satisfied enough, she pressed her head gently against your thigh, planting a soft kiss there before darting her gaze up to your face, taking in the mess that she made of you with a beaming smile.

''That was- fuck.'' There were no words to describe the euphoria you just experienced and so you just stared at the beautiful woman resting so comfortably against your skin, with half lidded eyes, stretched open, and ever so pleased.

Speechless, your hand reached down to her angel carved face, tracing the outline of it softly with your fingertips.

''Oh, we are not done yet.'' Yeah, you might have to thank Nora after all.

[bardicbeetle]

hey. Hey. You got any analysis of the Lost Boys or thoughts on the movie to share? who's your favorite character in it and why??

@abalonetea

Analysis on the movie I've been many levels of obsessed with since age 14 you ask?

...this is going to end up undercut for length I can already feel it.

The Lost Boys is my comfort movie, my I-feel-like-shit-nothing-is-fixing-it movie, my I-can't-write-please-help movie and my go-to for when I am inflicting media upon a new friend. I know it backwards forwards, upside down and inside out, I own the out of print novelization written by Craig Shaw Gardener, I posted the original prequel script to fanfiction.net in the early 2010s because I found it buried in a forum post and wanted it to be easier to find, I have listened to every version of cry little sister that G Tom Mac has ever put out in addition to the entire stage musical he produced. The fic I wrote for it in 2011 is still on Wattpad and to this day for some fuck ass reason gets 1000s of hits per year. I have another fic for it on ao3 that still takes up brainspace for me on a minimum weekly basis.

I.

Honestly do not know who I am as a writer if not for this film.

It is such a huge part of who I am as both a fan of media and a vampire writer and as a horror enjoyer in general.

And it is undeniably, baked into its bones, queer as fuck.

Not just from the overt point of here is a film in the 1980s about men sharing blood, directed by an openly gay man, hands us platonic and familial and romantic interactions between male characters, who are allowed to hold one another, allowed to express emotion, allowed to exist freely and without shame I am--so very abnormal about this movie.

I'll be the first to admit it's not perfect by any means, it very much exists a time capsule of its era, but also, to momentarily put the bar on the floor, it isn't slur laden and full of take-backs for any of the emotional vulnerability like other things around then were (see: Once Bitten, which while unarguably very much more on the comedy side of horror-comedy, i'm going to put into the same category by virtue of Camp Vampire Movies of the 80s).

It hands us one of my favorite mothers of all time. Lucy Emerson is a treasure, she spends the whole movie trying her goddamn best to remember that she is stronger than anyone gives her credit for. That she chose to divorce an abusive man, pick up her two sons, and leave without more than signing the papers and getting out. She doesn't care if they're poor, she doesn't care if she could have gotten something from her ex-husband, she wants her boys safe and there is a very large implication that sticking around to do the whole song and dance would have ended badly. Lucy lives for her sons, she wants so badly to make the world easier for them than it was for her, she wants to be part of their lives and part of their interests even if she does not understand them, and I maintain that Had Max Actually Succeeded, it would not have been long before the Lost Boys themselves were Lucy's as much as her own two sons, and that would not have ended well for Max. Protecting mother, lioness, made to be underestimated so you are always caught off guard.

Edgar and Alan Frog are near and dear to my heart, these idiot vampire hunter children were just so very much what my brother and I were in terms of Making Up Games To Play--ignoring the fact that for these two it's real, not that it ever had been before the Emerson family rolled into town and Sam's brother got mixed into the Lost Boys group. Edgar wanting to be in charge of things and wanting to protect the people he cares about and the town he is too stubborn to admit he loves despite being what, 12? 14? Alan being quieter but just as absolutely ready to go "yeah we are totally experts at this" as his twin, the fact that neither of them have any idea what they are getting into. Dipping barely into the sequels territory (which...they aren't good. by any definition. but Edgar and Alan are the best part of them both) we get Edgar dealing not only with his perceived loss of Alan to half-vampirism, but his whole loss of Sam after having to kill him and I just.

Ugh.

NOW, dipping into the main event there is Michael, who spends this whole movie just trying to figure out where the hell he's supposed to belong at this point. He doesn't see any point in starting a new high school in his senior year, he doesn't want to upset his mother by just absolutely dropping off the planet, he cares deeply about his family and wants to help however he can because they are struggling for money. So what does this seventeen year old kid do? He starts picking trash up off the beach for eight hours a day. He gives that money to his mother under the guise of it being "leftover from christmas" because he doesn't want her to worry about him working. He feels so fucking lonely without the friends he left behind in Phoenix and he feels like he's too old to supplant himself into a new friend group in Santa Carla before everyone goes their separate ways after high school anyways.

Enter Star and the Lost Boys.

Yes, Michael is taken in by Star because she's beautiful and mysterious and he's a teenage boy seeing nipples through a tank top, but beyond that he sees in her, in David and the others, how self sure they all are of the decisions they've made. This group is all within his age, they're all living in a goddamn sunken hotel half claimed by the ocean, they have motorcycles like him, they smoke weed and eat chinese food and Marko keeps pigeons and Dwayne can skateboard and Paul is a music nerd and what the fuck how do they manage to seem like they have their lives more together as a group of teenage runaways than he does?

He's enamored with it, obsessed with it, the movie speeds up a timeline of something that does in fact happen over the course of a couple weeks, of him hanging out with them, slowly experiencing more and more symptoms of vampirism from the blood he drank the first night, unable to stop coming back, unable to really figure out what it is they have figured out that he doesn't, and hoping that maybe if he stays with them he will eventually feel the same confidence in his own existence that they do.

But couple that with the horrifying reality that he is becoming a monster. His younger brother is terrified of him, the family dog bites him, the horses won't go near him, he pulls a mouse out of a trap freshly dead and squeezes it like a spent juice box into his mouth, he is falling apart at the seams by the time David decides it's time to finish things. And that's what David wants, he wants Michael in a position where he is no longer lucid enough to resist once there's blood in the air.

And it almost fucking works.

I stand by my belief that the entire movie hinges on the beach party where the Lost Boys kill a whole bunch of Surf Nazis. The whole thing, the outcome of the final fight, the failure of Max's plan, all of it hangs on that one night, and whether or not Michael can actually manage not to give into the bloodlust. He does manage, obviously, he leans into the shock and fear and near throws himself out of that tree because he knows that if he doesn't, he will join the blood bath happening not ten feet away. He is starving and exhausted and everything in him is screaming that if he just gave in, it would all feel so much better.

But he doesn't.

He lays in the sand until he cannot hear any heartbeats left.

Lays there clawing his hands into the ground like if he can hold himself still enough then maybe this will stop being real.

Three of the four boys don't pay much mind to this, Dwayne Paul and Marko have slipped back into regular antics despite being coated red. Their faces have returned to normal, their eyes no longer brilliant gold rimmed red, they are laughing and shoving and having a good time.

But David is furious. He's quiet about it, he isn't loudly angry, something I think he probably absorbed from Max over the years, he tells Michael what needs to be done if he wants to stay with them, and then he and the other Lost Boys leave him there in the sand, burnt flesh and ashes drifting down to him on the breeze.

The thing about David is that he realized the night on the train bridge that he didn't care about Max's bullshit plan. He didn't care that he was originally going to feed Michael to Star. He is fixated on getting Michael to join them, not just for himself, not just to keep Star around, but also because there's a refusal to give up in this kid that has him excited, a stubbornness that he wants to break. It's the thing that eventually leads to his death.

ANYWAYS.

I think, perhaps, I have yelled enough.

Oh, shit, favorite character.

I think without any doubt it has to be David. Especially after reading the novelization, the comics, the original prequel script, he's just, he is such an interesting character and his motivations are so obvious despite how much he would appear to hold them close to his chest. He's a root character I can trace a lot of the tropes that carry over in my own antagonists to, and some of my protagonists as well.

double anyways, camp vampires from 1987 my beloved.

Thank you Katie <3

[lohstandfound]

💽💌💡

💽 What kinda music do your characters listen to?

you know i dont know if iv'e put that much thought into what the bmc characters would listen to other than jake has very eclectic playlists that are often criticised by chloe and (mainly squipped) rich, so they often hijack his party playlists

for my graphic novel series, i have an entire playlist dedicated to songs that jay would listen to

💌 Which of your fics mean the most to you and why?

oohhhh that's tough.

"she's the sweet to your savoury" is one i go back and reread a lot because i just like it so much

they'd be nearer thee / and understood means a lot to me because it is a very self-indulgent fic

and the 5 +1 royal pains fic is the longest thing i have written and i am very proud of it

my non bmc stuff: familiar was an assignment i did that my lecturer said i should submit to magazines to publish and i instead put it on ao3. and the red rabbit, the play version (because there is a fic version) and it was the first script i had written by myself that was performed with an amazing and super talented cast with a wonderful director and i loved everything about the production. i remember the auditions for the showcase it was a part of (because i was on the team who organised it), and in between auditioning for other plays myself and checking to make sure it was running smoothly i would go and hang out at the red rabbit auditions and one of my friends always seemed to be going back to read for jason because he really wanted to be jason and he did a wonderful job and i could rave about this cast so much i love that play it is so dear to me. and spores was my first sci-fi horror radio play project and i cant wait for that to be done so i can actually share it (i say, having not worked on it in months)

💡 Are there other fics or writers that are inspirational or influential to you?

"Artists are thieves, right?"- quote from one of my friends in the news article about his upcoming book release

you, definitely. i definitely stole the way i write dialogue now from if we were villains

uhhhh.... i cant really think of any others off the top of my head. someone will come up with a headcanon or something and i will integrate it into my version of the characters

[caltropspress]

RAPS + CRAFTS #24: NAHreally

1. Introduce yourself. Past projects? Current projects?

I’m NAHreally, an MC and beatmaker from Massachusetts currently living in Jersey City, NJ. I’ve been releasing music as NAHreally since 2016. My most recent album is called BLIP. It’s a collaborative album produced entirely by the Irish producer The Expert. Before that, I put out two self-produced projects called HACKINAWAY and Loose Around The Edges. Before those, I put out 5 tapes entitled TAPE through TAPE 5.

2. Where do you write? Do you have a routine time you write? Do you discipline yourself, or just let the words come when they will? Do you typically write on a daily basis?

I turn rhymes and lines over in my head everywhere I go all day long, but the central hub of my writing is my desk at home. Nothing is final until it reaches the desk. I don’t have a routine or consider myself all that disciplined—I just write when I find the time to. I work toward writing every day, but probably only sit down specifically to write two or three times a week (more when I’m lucky).

3. What’s your medium—pen and paper, laptop, on your phone? Or do you compose a verse in your head and keep it there until it’s time to record?

Lately I’ve been using the notes section of my DAW (Logic) in the project I’m going to record into. Sometimes I’ll write a whole song in there. Other times I’ll start in a notebook, continue on the phone, then compile everything in that DAW notes section. I typically have my verses memorized by the time I record, but when I don’t, it’s easy to pull up and read as I go. Plus, it helps keep me organized.

4. Do you write in bars, or is it more disorganized than that?

I write in bars and quatrains.

5. How long into writing a verse or a song do you know it’s not working out the way you had in mind? Do you trash the material forever, or do you keep the discarded material to be reworked later?

As early as right away and as late as album sequencing. I’ll sometimes salvage a handful of lines from an abandoned song, but generally the stench of abandonment keeps me away.

6. Have you engaged with any other type of writing, whether presently or in the past? Fiction? Poetry? Playwriting? If so, how has that mode influenced your songwriting?

My day job involves a lot of writing and editing—nonfiction educational video scripts and even rap lyrics. This type of writing has greatly influenced the clarity of my rhymes. I want my lyrics to be immediately digestible, and my day job has helped me with that a lot.

7. How much editing do you do after initially writing a verse/song? Do you labor over verses, working on them over a long period of time, or do you start and finish a piece in a quick burst?

I edit as I go. It’s rare for me to move on to a new line until the one I’m working on feels final in both content and delivery. This can leave me stuck on a single line for hours and sometimes months. When I do know what’s coming after a line, I’ll make a note but almost never start writing anything in earnest. In some cases, when I finally write the line, it can strike me as a better fit for one or two lines later. When that happens, I move it down and get back to work on the set up.

Because of this approach, the only editing that really happens after a verse is written is to achieve a different shade of meaning through certain words or because I realize the flow could be cleaner or more interesting.

In some cases, particularly with more conceptual songs, I’ll write out what I’m trying to say in prose then make it rhyme.

8. Do you write to a beat, or do you adjust and tweak lyrics to fit a beat?

A big part of my writing process is rapping aloud, so I almost always write to a beat (though it may not be the beat I end up recording over).

9. What dictates the direction of your lyrics? Are you led by an idea or topic you have in mind beforehand? Is it stream-of-consciousness? Is what you come up with determined by the constraint of the rhymes?

The first line tends to dictate the direction of my lyrics. In my mind, once you have a great first line, the song is basically written—it’s just a matter of trial and error until you find the rest. That first line often determines whether a song will have a topic or be a little more random. Occasionally I’ll pick a topic ahead of time, but usually it’ll stem from a more naturally occurring bit of writing.

My opinion on rhyming changes depending on what I’m trying to do. If I’m writing in a stream-of-consciousness mode, those rhymes better be unique and interesting. But when I’m looking to communicate information, I’ll take whatever rhyme I can in the name of clarity.

10. Do you like to experiment with different forms and rhyme schemes, or do you keep your bars free and flexible?

Free and flexible mostly, but I’ve been in a tinkering mood lately. We’ll see if anything sticks.

11. What’s a verse you’re particularly proud of, one where you met the vision for what you desire to do with your lyrics?

“That Many of ’Em” on BLIP. The experience of being inundated with information and opinions is practically universal and yet it’s hard to discuss without sounding like a whiny baby. I think I did OK here:

Where do people find these opinions On every last thing that’s outside of their dominion? I mean, the way they pull them out of thin air Makes me worry my opinion-having muscle is impaired. I’m confronted by opinions on a litany Of subjects daily, and it’s starting to get to me. It’s so hard to find out what’s taken place Without first working backwards through a bunch of hot takes. And I’m so damn inundated That it’s difficult to tell which opinions I’ve created In my own head and which ones were osmosis. Also, there’s this collective psychosis That makes pedestrians opine like a pundit On big picture things about which they know nothing. Fantasy GMs and political junkies Will write War and Peace on smooth vs. chunky. Too much cable news. Expertise brutally murdered by YouTube. I feel surrounded by a vocal minority Whose willingness to speak is their only authority. But squeaky wheels get grease And comments and likes and of course retweets. It appears we’ve made sane people retreat By handing the megaphone to these opinionated freaks.

But I don’t think there’s that many of ’em, And I don’t wanna know any of ’em. But it feels like there’s plenty of ’em, But I don’t think there’s that many of ’em.

12. Can you pick a favorite bar of yours and describe the genesis of it?

This section is from “Civic” on Loose Around The Edges:

In a Civic bumpin’ Misfits. Number one in your heart, two on your shit list. I’m an interesting fact not a statistic. One of my friends is related to Michael Chiklis.

Like I said, when I’m going stream-of-consciousness, the rhyme matters more. “Misfits,” “shit list,” and “statistic” were already there. When I try to think of rhymes—particularly multisyllabic ones—I form the sound(s) with my mouth over and over. Real words, gibberish, whatever comes out—just something that might make a light bulb go off that leads me to the right rhyme. I don’t actually remember it, but I’m sure that’s how I landed on “Michael Chiklis” (famous actor and my friend’s semi-distant relative). 

So there the line was: “One of my friends is related to Michael Chiklis.” It’s the type of mundane thing that might make you say “oh wow” in idle conversation but not really anything you’d find in a rap song. There’s just something so funny and exciting to me about transporting a throwaway tidbit like that into an unfamiliar and absurd context. On top of that, the preceding three lines are all a bit unexpected in their own right, so there’s a sort of build up leading to the oddest possible payoff—something I love to watch people react to in real time when I perform this song live.

13. Do you feel strongly one way or another about punch-ins? Will you whittle a bar down in order to account for breath control, or are you comfortable punching-in so you don’t have to sacrifice any words?

I can rap all of my verses straight through. I don’t do punch-ins, but I do often comp portions of multiple full-verse takes together to create a final Franken-take. I rap the entire time I write (out loud in private or just above silently in public), so lines I can’t rap get changed immediately. For what it’s worth, I have nothing against people who punch in.

14. What non-hiphop material do you turn to for inspiration? What non-music has influenced your work recently?

When I was writing BLIP, I read a lot of Kurt Vonnegut, slightly less George Saunders, and a little Joan Didion. The Expert also sent me a monster playlist of what he considers well-written non-rap songs. Some highlights: “Depreston” by Courtney Barnett, “Lah-Di-Dah” by Jake Thackray, “I’d Rather Dance With You” by Kings of Convenience, and “Cult Boyfriend” by Jeffrey Lewis. My favorite non-rap songwriter lately is Jonathan Richman.

15. Writers are often saddled with self-doubt. Do you struggle to like your own shit, or does it all sound dope to you?

I oscillate between not-quite-crippling self-doubt and utter certainty that I’m one of the best rappers ever (with several stops in between).

16. Who’s a rapper you listen to with such a distinguishable style that you need to resist the urge to imitate them?

Homeboy Sandman.

17. Do you have an agenda as an artist? Are there overarching concerns you want to communicate to the listener?

I don’t think so, but as the years have passed I’m less and less sure.

RAPS + CRAFTS is a series of questions posed to rappers about their craft and process. It is designed to give respect and credit to their engagement with the art of songwriting. The format is inspired, in part, by Rob McLennan’s 12 or 20 interview series.

Photo credit: Noah Anthony Mezzacappa

[drakedoo]

My thoughts on the fnaf movie. ⚠️spoilers ahead, if you haven’t watched the movie yet, I urge you to watch it and then come back and read this⚠️

Hey, so I just got finished watching the five nights at Freddy’s movie and let’s just say it was pretty good. I don’t normally put out my thoughts on movies that I watch or reviews on them but I thought this would be a little fun and like I said if you haven’t seen it yet, I kindly ask you to go watch it and then come back here and read what I have to say so that I don’t spoil the fun for you. If you read this without watching the movie, please do not get mad at me for spoiling it because I did warn you and asked you to watch it first . Without further ado, here’s my thought on it.

Things I liked about it:

At first, I had my doubts with Matthew Lillard, playing William Afton, but he did an amazing job, especially at the end. I really enjoyed his take on our beloved villain of the story.

I found it really cool that one of MatPat’s lines is “but that’s just a theory.” because it references his oh so popular phrase that he always says on his channel.

The animatronics designs. I love how they look almost like they just stepped right out of the video game and look absolutely amazing and say what you will about them having red eyes, but I really didn’t mind it.

Foxy humming. There are parts were foxy hums while he hunts, and it brings back a detail from the game

The miniature doll of balloon boy popping up every so often in cabinets and scaring the shit out of Mike. He did what we were all thinking, and turned that fucker around.

The game poster in the background of the office

Some of the 2016 Halloween store, costume masks hanging on the prize counter wall, and a few Funko plushies scattered here and there

Mike’s little sister having the same legal name as me because it just felt refreshing and a little bit joyful, hearing, my name, said, over and over in one of my favorite things in the world

The animatronics, helping Abby build a fort in the pizzeria. I just found it really adorable and cute.

The living tombstone song playing during the credits. It brought a lot of nostalgia back to me.

Spring lock failure scene

OK now that I got through the things that I liked and enjoyed in the movie here’s the things that I wish could’ve been different and didn’t necessarily like or find necessary

I wish they there was more scenes at the pizzeria and a little more time with the animatronics because they were so cool, and I wish the movie was a little longer because it kind of just felt rushed at some parts.

I wish the spring lock screen was a little more than what we got and had a little little more dramatics I guess, like, for example, more violent thrashing, and more blood but I mean it is also a PG-13 movie so they can’t really have a lot of blood and gore

 I wish they actually played Toreador March at some point like they did in the trailer

Scott Cawthon should’ve been the one on that training tape

 I feel like Vanessa could’ve been written better . No hate to the actress though, because she was just doing her job and going off of the script.

I know we all wish we could’ve seen Markiplier since he’s the reason the game really took flight mainly but since he had scheduling conflicts with the iron lung movie, he’s working on unfortunately he couldn’t do it but it would’ve been really cool to see him in it.

So I had a lot more things I enjoyed and liked rather than not. I’m just happy we finally got a five nights at Freddy’s movie after many many years, and many many trials and errors, and rewrites. Mind you, this isn’t going to be exactly like the games because the movie is an entire new story and lore, with some five nights at Freddy’s game lore, mixed in(there’s so many different five nights at Freddy’s universe lores) if I had to rate it, I’d probably give it an eight or nine out of 10 because I actually thoroughly enjoyed it and it made my inner child really happy because in a weird way, Five Nights at Freddy’s saved my life because the lore and the games and the fandom, was my escape from my reality in school(I was what you could call a Carrie White in junior high and high school) and it really helped me find my passions, which was cosplay because some of my first cosplays were five nights at Freddy’s. So finally getting to see the movie we were promised is amazing and made 12 to 13 year-old me really happy.

Anyways, I’m gonna go to bed now because it’s almost 5 in the morning so peace out✌️

[avoidingcertaindoom]

Happy Sunday Ask-A-Thon, week 4 for @ask-a-thon . What inspires you the most to write, what makes you want to write and what do you treasure most about your writing?

The funny thing is, I think two of my more narratively driven stories kind of started out of spite? But they haven't been wholly sustained from it I can explain--

Trufulla started with a lost Dungeons and Dragons player character of mine, after their first campaign fell to pieces and I was just feeling really bummed and upset I couldn't find a place for them anywhere else. So I made my own! Now Riki's had a whole overhaul as far as race, backstory, and narrative arc and while it was originally just me dabbling in DM type world building I ended up inspired by both my nursing classes and my relationships with my friends. Now I've got the plot outlined, dozens of comic scripts written, and you can see the lineart of the prologue not horribly far down on my blog.

Cry Little Sister was entirely because after at least a year of vibing to the song from the Lost Boys I was very disappointed that the movie didn't match the theme like I had envisioned. It also helped that vampires have been a special interest of mine since childhood, and while Vampires exist in Immortal Coil I had done a lot of worldbuilding around the town that would become Murnau Gap and I didn't have any other way to explore it since it was a large part of one of the characters' trauma that they'd never go back to.

And last but not least, from the above to everything in Immortal Coil, sometimes you just see tropes and stories with fascinating premises but the way things play out aren't at all how you thought they'd be? Like it's good, it's fantastic and kudos to every writer who can make an idea their own. But what if it's in a way that is purely self indulgent to me and the group of friends who put up with my bullshit right? Why not put my own spin, who's going to stop me-

[bowtiesnmusicals]

Here is my recap of the "Legendary" (Furt) episode of the podcast.

Welcome to...and that's what you really missed...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

Kevin said that's what I wish we were recapping. Jenna said why don't we have a Harry Potter podcast. Kevin said we probably know more about Harry Potter then we do about Glee. We would probably be better at that.

Welcome to our first Glee wedding. Jenna said it feels like we have done a ton of weddings already but we haven't. Kevin said, this is our first right, first and second because there are two in this episode. Jenna said first and a half. Kevin said 1.5.

This episode originally aired November 23, 2010. This was around Thanksgiving time in the US.

The #1 song was Like a G6.

The #1 movie was Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows part 1.

Jenna asked Kevin if he remembers when they went to see this movie. Kevin said no, oh wait, and asked if they sat it at Arch Light at midnight and they dressed up a little bit. He has pictures from that night. This was the first Harry Potter movie that Jenna has ever seen. Kevin said what a weird movie to come in on. It's Kevin's favorite Harry Potter movie. Jenna said it's her husbands favorite as well. Jenna said he puts it on all the time and she is like why this one. Kevin said in terms of ones he watches the most, not because it's his favorite, but because he feels like it's easiest to watch. Jenna said, this one, you crazy girlfriend, I'm talking about Goblet, like that is easy. Kevin said he's seen Goble of Fire too many times. Jenna said she's seen them all too many times. The reason Kevin likes this movie is, because you asked, he thinks this section of the book is not great and this is the only movie that improves upon what is written in the book. Jenna said fair enough, she has to agree, they really did do something with it. She doesn't love it but they did do something with it. Kevin said he thinks it is the best acting in the entire film. Jenna said it is like watching an indie film. Jenna said this was the first movie she came into and was kind of confused but she was excited that everyone else was excited so she was into it. This is when Kevin lent her all the books and she got into the movies a little later. She refused to watch the rest of the movies until she finished the books. Kevin said good for you. Kevin said he is glad they have that time of Harry Potter being untainted by the terfness. Jenna said such a pure more innocent time.

Also this week in Glee news. The American Music Awards happened. Darren met Katy Perry. The other boys had already met Katy Perry because they had hosted the Teen Choice Awards with her. Shortly after they will be in her music video for Last Friday Night. Kevin said he had to run out of a gay club because they started playing that song and he was really embarrassed so he walked out. Jenna asked why was he embarrassed it's such a great video. Kevin said it is a great video but friends and people started to look at him and he was like I've got to go. Jenna said yeah I hear that, very exciting though, and they will have to talk about that when we get there.

This episode was directed by Carol Banker. She was a new director but she had worked on Glee since season 1 as the script supervisor. Their is a script supervisor every day on set and they take copious notes on continuity. The wardrobe people turn to them and are like what day is this. They also have photos they refer to as well. Jenna said she didn't explain it very well. Kevin said even within a scene it's like if there is a take and you turn your head and let's say Jenna your hair is down and half of it moves from behind your shoulder to in front of your shoulder then that's what you need to do to match that every single time now. Because they had so many people on the show the script supervisor is paying attention that many actors all at once. They are also making sure you saying all the correct dialogue, if drop a word, if you add a word, if you are improving, that person is going to come in and be like so here is the actual line and you do need to do it as written. They do this for all the characters in every scene, in every take, all the time. They also are taking the notes because they sit with the director and the DP and watch the takes and sometimes the director will be like that is the take I want. So they can also mark those things down that this is the directors preferred take in the moment for the edit. So it is a huge job and responsibility. They see everything because they are at the epicenter where all the departments are talking to the director and DP and going to the little area where the script supervisor sits. So Carol Banker got to step on up and went on to direct all kinds of series. Jenna said thank you for that much better explanation. Kevin said nonsense. This is one of many episodes that Carol will direct for Glee.

We have some special guest stars. We have the one and only Carol Burnett. So two Carols. Kevin said he watched this episode last night and watched the series finale of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel right after not realizing there is someone playing a young Carol Burnett in the episode. Then he woke up today and Carol Burnett was trending and its a lot of Carol Burnett because she is an icon.

Jenna said there are also a lot of Carols. We have Carol Bander, Carol Burnett, and Carole Hudson-Hummel. Kevin said she becomes Hudson-Hummel in this episode. Kevin said it was really special to talk to Jane when she was on about getting to work with Carol Burnett, how crazy and very surreal. Also talking to Jane about marrying herself which Jenna did not think came so quickly. Kevin said he did not think it was in this episode. Jenna said she thought it was in season 6. Kevin said it sounds like a season 6 move.

They talked about the songs in this episode. Kevin said it is like a mini early Bruno Mars tribute episode.

The overview is that Burt and Carole announced they got in engaged and Kurt takes on all the wedding planning. He hires the New Directions to perform at the wedding. Finn is a little hesitant obviously for personal reasons. Sue also decides that she is going to get married but she is going to marry herself. Her mom comes to town, the one and only Carol Burnett. Sue is still principal and she is actually going to advocate for Kurt.

Kevin said the real big star of this episode really is Carol Burnett. They have had a lot of really famous people, legends, but he feels like Carol Burnett is TV Legend/Icon. He said what was wild about watching this was knowing how much Jane admires her and the whole time he was watching Jane interact with Carol in character he was thinking how much fun and also how hard it must be to stay in character. He said he knows when you are in scenes with a legendary sometimes you are also sometimes aware of I am watching this this really famous incredibly talented person in front of me right now. He said obviously if you are really talented like Jane you are probably just in it and you are doing the job but it was so weird to see Jane play Sue Sylvester next to Carol Burnett. He just wanted her to just be Jane and just fawn all over her. Jenna said right, and she was not doing that, it's not the character at all. She said she can only imagine it is very out of body. Kevin said their number together was phenomenal.

Kevin said lets talk about this storyline real quick because this is the smaller storyline but they do it in a bigger way. Carol Burnett shows up in Principal Sylvester's office and we learn that she is Sue's mother and that she is a famous nazi hunter. Jenna said we really love the nazi hunters on Glee. Kevin said it's quite funny. The sort of go at it. Sue has a complicated relationship with her mother. Her mother has overheard that Sue is going to marry herself because Rod Remington is getting married and she is really embarrassed and furious about it. No one can lover her like herself. Mama Sylvester comes in and is like this is really sad and pathetic and has all these insults. There is a lot of you abandoned us, you abandoned your daughters, you abandoned me. I've been taking care us and where have you been. Mama Sylvester is like I've been off killing nazis but she is so funny. Jenna said she is so funny. Kevin said it's zero percent surprising that Carol Burnett is funny but way to sell a crazy storyline. A wild storyline. Jenna said at the root of it, and she doesn't know if it's the magic of them or a combination of the writing and the magic of them, but it really comes back to a mother and daughter. At the end, in the auditorium, the foundation of it is a broken family. Jenna said this is crazy and she is glad that Doris(Carol Burnett) is like this is kind of crazy but even more so its funny because Doris is like I can't believe you are not letting me be a more central part of your wedding. The age old mother/parents involved in weddings.

Kevin asked Jenna if she love this number they did together. Jenna said when she opened her mouth she was like right, right. right, that's Carol Burnett. Kevin was like yeah. Jenna said its wonderful, it's really really wonderful. So simple. Kevin said he forgot Carol Burnett can sing, she can do everything. Jenna said its simple, just let them do their thing. Kevin said it's not like everyone can pull off the dialogue in the middle of the song. They are both comedic geniuses and toe the line of what Jenna said of identifying and representing the storyline of the mother/daughter relationship that is serious but also in the context of the absurdity of what is going on and the situation around them and it's just so beautifully done and puts the rest of us to absolute shame. Jenna said she forgot how good that number was and when she watched she was like oh right, this number. Kevin said he didn't remember it. Jenna said it was probably because they were like this didn't include us, let's just go, back in the day. Kevin said this was one of those things too that they got to have some of those amazing people on but if they didn't interact with them, and they read the scripts, they weren't skipping them, they were probably in dance rehearsal or recording or something. Jenna said she didn't meet Carol. Kevin said he thinks he did or he saw her or they had a conversation as a group on the New York backlot which is where their stages were. He said he thinks he did see her for a second but he doesn't think he spoke because he was in awe. Jenna said what do you say to the queen.

So Sue decides to marry herself and she is officiating it herself. The wedding happens at Jean's home. Kevin said Jean is also so talented as well, the three of them together are really tremendous. Jenna said Robin. They really sold a very kind of broken family and it was really heartbreaking. Kevin said as crazy as it is the Adidas wedding dress was phenomenal. Carol Burnett's reaction to it was also phenomenal. Kevin she was all of us. This is ridiculous, absolutely crazy. Jenna said Lou Eyrich at her crazy, wonderful, genius again. Doris says she still thinks this whole thing is absolutely crazy and she's said she is not more a part of the wedding. Then Sue gives it to her mom and says she is a bully. Then you are like oh I see where Sue got it from and I see why she is the way she is and then it is just her and Jean. Sue says you know when I finally began to like who I am, when I stopped trying to please you. Burn, burn, burn, burn. Kevin said damn. Jenna said it's the most profound thing she has heard Sue say. Doris is uninvited to the wedding, good-bye. That is a wrap on Doris. That's a wrap on Carol Burnett and a wrap on Sue marrying Sue.

The real meat of the episode is the wedding that happens in record time. Jenna was like I know, I was like already. Kevin said we didn't want to drag this wedding preperation out for a couple episodes. Jenna said Kurt is just a magician, that's all. Kevin that isn't the Ryan Murphy style. We want to introduce it and wrap it up in 42 minutes.

Burt and Carole surprise Kurt and Finn at school and tell them they got engaged. Kurt is so excited, he's got the wedding plans under control from the trunk full of wedding magazines under his bed instead of all the other things boys have under their bed. Finn is seemingly not so excited. He is a bit shocked. It probably feels a bit soon. Burt and Carole are going to Waikiki for their honeymoon. Jenna said take me with you. Burt wants a really good band so Kurt is going to enlist New Directions. Jenna said because we are a really good band. Kevin said we are a great band. Jenna said a wedding band. Kevin said we have a band that plays with us. Jenna said that is a really good band. Kevin said that is actually a band. Glee Wedding.

Simultaneously what is going on with Kurt is that he is getting bullied by Karofsky still and there is this power dynamic and shift where Finn is feeling pushed aside because he felt like he was blindsides by this whole wedding. Kurt is taking the lead, I'm going to take it over. At the same time Kurt is being bullied and shoved aside and Finn is not stepping up to the plate as now about to be his step brother. Everyone wants Finn to be the leader and Kurt is like you are the leader, you need to step up. I am going to teach you a dance for the wedding and you are going to give your mom away and all these things. Finn is sort of resistant to all of it but eventually is like you are right I can be a leader if I step up and learn to dance but then when push comes to shove when it's time for the Glee club to enlist him because the girls have this great scene. All the girls who have boyfriends who have boyfriends on the football team and they enlist their help to go after Karosfky. When Finn is approached about it he says he can't because it will jeopardize my future but at the same time Sam is trying to get his spot back as quarterback. When the time comes and they do approach Karofsky about it, Sam steps up in a big way and gets into that fight. Jenna said the locker room scene was really great. When the girls enlist the boys to do it they go and they really do confront Karofsky and he is kind of cornered. Kevin said he was proud of the boys, for all the stupid things they do, this is good. Jenna said she was too. It gave the storyline some more gravity that people were actually taking it more seriously or giving it more notice and attention. Jenna said, okay finally we aren't just saying there's nothing we can do which is a whole other thing in the principal's office. Kevin said it did make up for a couple of episodes ago when Kurt really was getting the shit beat out of him by Karofsky Jenna said right and no one was doing anything. Kevin said Schue was like I know you aren't happy. Where at least they took Kurt into the principal's office and Sue really grounded was explaining that no one saw it and you weren't hurt this time. He doesn't reveal yet that his life was threatened and nothing really happens so boys go after Karofsky.

Jenna asks if they had to have a stunt double for when Kevin fell out of the wheelchair. Kevin said that's not him and that they wouldn't any stunts. Jenna said she was impressed because she thought it was Kevin that went down. Kevin said if they even suggested anything they said nope and he said that's fine there are incredibly talented stunt people and that's their profession, leave it to the professionals. Well except when Kevin was pushed into the pool but that wasn't planned. Kevin said they had an incredible stunt team.

Sam really takes a beating for Kurt and really goes to the mat, no pun intended, with Karofsky for Kurt. That gave the whole thing a little more gravity. Jenna said it was frustrating when Sue took them into the office, even though she is advocating for him and is actually taking this seriously and not just kind of being Sue, it's was upsetting because that's crazy that all of that, that happened still wasn't enough to get Karofsky suspended. Kevin said it wasn't like every time it happened he was in a hallway full of kids so it's not like there are not witnesses to any of this happening. Better late then never that its finally being addresses because we need it for another plot point that happens at the end.

So then this wedding happens. Santana approaches Finn (Frankenteen which was Cory's twitter handle for a long time) and was like look if you want to be a leader and get your cool status back then we should maybe tell everyone we did it last year. He's like I can't. Kevin said this is sweet, this is the finchel relationship that we all know and love, he is like I can't tell her because I love her and I don't want to break her heart and it's going to break her heart. Kevin said their scene was so great together. Jenna said she likes Santana and Finn together. Kevin said they were very good together. He said it was sort of similar also in real life where they are obviously very different people but to him they filled similar roles amongst their friend group. They were very good at getting them all together, they were all about the comradery and making sure they stayed together and stayed friends whether it was events or house parites whatever it was. They were also just two of the nicest and funniest people. Kevin said they were mirrors of each other. He said they are so different but their dynamics amongst their ranks was similar. They operated two different ways but what they were trying to accomplish was the same. He asked if that makes sense. Jenna said yeah not totally but she never saw it that way before. Kevin said they are both very very talented and getting to watch them play is wild and the best.

We get to the church and they get married. Kevin asked if Jenna knew the song Marry You before this. Jenna said yeah, definitely. Kevin said he had never heard it before and it was still fairly new at the time. Jenna said she was running that album into the ground at that point and that was why she knew it and was very excited for it. Kevin said how fun were these two days at this church. Jenna said the most fun. First of all that number, Marry You, was ridiculous and she doesn't remember rehearsing it, it was such a great time. Kevin said he thinks they barely rehearsed it. Jenna said it was Zach and Brooke running down the aisle like do this or have fun and be stupid and go for it. Kevin said it was really sweet all the pairing and groupings. Jenna said she had a great time filming this.

Romy, which they hadn't really worked with Romy all that much yet as a group. They love Romy and they loved watching her doing her thing with Finn. It was a lot of Romy and Cory. So when Romy came to this wonderful wedding she was like what are we doing here. She came with a duffle bag to their trailers and pulls out a bottle of patron. She literally brought the kids patron. Kevin said she didn't tell them she had patron until they got to the reception when they weren't really doing anything. They had to really perform Marry You and do that emotional scene. Jenna said they weren't drinking tequila at that point. Kevin said there were a lot of hours and hours of them sitting at those tables in the reception room. Jenna said she blocked it from her memory. Kevin said he didn't remember performing at the reception at all, zero recollection, he just remembers sitting at those tables for hours. Jenna said it was because it was really quick, the shot that really quickly. They spent a lot of time on Sway. Kevin said Sway took a long very long time. They ate up the time.

Jenna said lets talk about what they teased. Dianna, Lea, and Jenna were pescatarians at the time. Dianna was like I having been craving meet and Jenna was like me too. Dianna was like can we just have some meat. Jenna was like yeah. And then came Wendy’s. Jenna said who got the Wendy’s. Kevin said transpo Seth. Jenna said it was close by. Kevin said it was and maybe they were running to get lunch for themselves and they were like can you get it for us too. Kevin said he thinks it was just the three of them. Jenna said that spicy chicken sandwich man. He said he remembers sitting on the floor of his trailer and watched the two of them break that pescatarianism before his eyes and they were both worried they would get sick. He said neither of them did probably because it’s not real chicken. Jenna said it probably wasn’t, it’s probably rubber but it was delicious. Kevin it’s so good. They barely ever got to shoot on location. They were on the stages of Paramount all the time. So they were somewhere at a church, it felt like kids house, they were out, there was patron and chicken sandwiches. They had a great time. Jenna said we really did. Kevin said he thinks there were paparazzi shots as well because they were always on the lot so this was an early time for them having to experience paparazzi in that way while they were shooting. Jenna said when they shot sectionals and regionals last time there wasn’t a lot of paparazzi but as they get to these bigger locations and people found out they would have to put base camp behind fences or gates or put walls for them because it got a little crazy starting probably now. She said you are right there are a lot of paparazzi shots. Jenna asked Kevin if he remembered they went to that park. Kevin said yes and we got on the swings. Jenna said they found a park at lunch and walked to it and they got on the swings. They were in their red dresses with flowers in their hair and sweat pants underneath swinging on the swings. Jenna said we were really living our lives. They were like we are free. Kevin said it was os much fun. It felt like they didn’t have a lot to do. There was a lot of setup. A lot of Romy, a lot of extras, a lot of Mike, a lot of Kurt and Finn. Jenna said she feels like they were just having a ball.

Kevin said he would like to point out two serious. The Burt and Carole vows…just kill me now. Kevin said he has goosebumps now. Jenna said they know how to deliver us a monologue. Kevin said those two, he wants them to be in everything everywhere all at once. He said he loves them so much and they are so good together. They were so lucky they were surrounded by so many talented actors. Jenna joked, to lift us up. Kevin said growing up Mike was the host of that show. Jenna said Guts and Global Guts. Kevin said he had no idea just how good of an actor and a good man and just a good person. Jenna said sometimes you’ve just got to pay the bills. Kevin said I get it, I’ve hosted shows myself since. Jenna said no, he really is such a wonderful man. What a talented bunch. Kevin said the other aspect of this, when the Glee club boys, minus Finn, confronted Karofsky. Tina really went hard on him saying that everyone was there except Finn and he was feeling it. He said he thinks during the wedding ceremony he realized he messed up and some things are more important, we are now family. He does this whole number to surprise Kurt and it’s so sweet, those two together. Jenna said she cried. Kevin said oh my god, Mike O’Malley’s face, when he realized what is going on on, you have to look at his face right before Kurt and Finn go and get Carole and Burt from the table to join them, he is just on the verge of breaking into tears. Kevins said he has full goosebumps right now. It was so, you know when you see a parent cry. It was just so sweet. Jenna said now it’s really, Cory too knows how to give a good monologue, he knows how to deliver. Kevin said they had so much tequila by that point. Jenna said yeah, no probably, they were exhausted. Kevin said all those reactions of Sway he was like do we look drunk. Jenna said probably drunk or tired. Kevin said for the record they didn’t get drunk, he doesn’t think any of them drunk, they just like took a shot. Jenna said not this time. Kevin said they were scared and Romy was not trying to get anyone or herself in trouble. Kevin said they took one little shot. Jenna said one little snippy for good measure. Kevin said maybe this was the beginning of what caused Blame It On The Alcohol. So lets just mark this and see the progression. Jenna joked that its Romy’s fault.

Finn redeems himself. Carole and Burt are married. There is a new union and we get into this much more serious deeper storyline. We’ve mentioned Karofksy is still tormenting Kurt. Karofsky really gets in Kurt’s face this time around. Kurt says he feels like he is in a horror movie where he just never knows what is going to happen. He doesn’t know what Karofsky is capable of after his life has been threatened. To wrap it all up Sue has really advocated for Kurt and says there is not a lot I can do but if I see if myself I will come fo him and get him out. Kurt admits to Finn that his life was threatened and then we go into a whole other gear. Sue is like no, no, no we aren’t doing this, you are expelled, you are out. Kevin said he appreciated how they portrayed Karofksy’s dad, because he didn’t believe his son and he knows something is up. They bring Kurt back in and are like look because there are now witnesses to any of this we can’t expel him and he’s coming back to school. Sue says Figgins is coming back. I can’t help you from this office but if I am in the hallways I can be another set of eyes and I can help you.

To rewriting a bit Burt is being helped by Kurt and Finn with his dancing. He sees Karofsky and by this point Finn knows about the threat. Burt is like what was that and Karofsky is walking by in the hallway. Finn is like if you don’t tell him I will. Kurt has to tell Burt what happened and Burt comes charging out, as a father should and would do. Again another wonderful performance by Mike O’Malley taking Karofsky down as much as any grown man can take down a teen. So that what kickstarts Burt finding out.

We fast forward wot where we just left off where Karofsky is coming back to school. Carole and Burt, as the parents and voice of reason should and the people in control, tell Kurt they will take their honeymoon money and will give to him for Dalton. Kurt walks into the choir room and Mr. Schue is all excited to give him a solo for regionals which was probably a lie anyways, you know Rachel is going to get it. Kurt says he leaving. Everyone has taken it seriously but not this seriously up until this point, serious enough that they are going to lose Kurt. Everyone was devastated. Jenna said she understood, zero tolerance and she wouldn’t feel safe there. Good for Kurt. Kevin said he loves how upset everyone is because again this show being on a network in 2010 and you have the gay character that is arguably one of the biggest characters on the show and beloved by all the other characters on the show and to see how that affects them where he has become so popular and so vital to their friend group in glee club. Kevin said it was really profound and moving to him in that way. He said Amber getting up and just saying Kurt and no other line just broke his heart. Jenna said he is one of us and he’s also gong to be competing against one of us. Of course Rachel points that out immediately but fair because next episode is Special Education.

The other thing that happens is Sam and Quinn. Sam is fully obsessed with Quinn and basically proposes and was like here is a promise ring. Quinn is like no you are crazy but after watching how he stuck up for Kurt by the end of the episode she is like you didn’t even notice I am wearing your ring. Kevin said it was a really sweet little like sub storyline that was woven in there and they are really sweet together. He is making her feel comfortable after having a terrible previous year. Jenna said they are just really cute together too.

Tartie Takes:

Cringe/Ouchies - Kevin’s was Sue marrying herself and kissing her own hand. Jenna said it made her really uncomfortable that she doesn’t want to talk about it and will take that one too.

Best Dance Move - Marry You…so cute.

Best Song - Kevin said Marry You and Jenna said Just The Way You Are. They are both great. You can’t go wrong.

Best Performance by a Prop - Kevin said his ribbons were really great. Jenna said the tequila.

Best Lines - Kevins aid the vows. Jenna said she really loved Jane’s performance. She played the seriousness of Kurt being bullied, harassed, and threatened so beautifully with the comedy of Sue Sylvester. When she was so serious about him being arrayed and there wasn’t a lot she could do and she is calling him lady and Kurt was like you know that’s bullying. She was like okay noted and then the turn around is so fast but its so serious in the delivery and says I will allow you to choose from the following nicknames then gelfling, porcelain, and tickle me dough face. Kurt says I guess I will go with porcelain and Sue was like ugh I was really hoping for tickle me dough face.

Shit We Found on TikTok:

Someone posted a Sesame Street parody of Glee and said never forget the most accurate parody of Glee ever. They talk about the letter G. It’s called G. Jenna keeps saying no, stop, no. It’s a full recreation of the set and characters all in Sesame Street form. It’s not regionals its g-gionals. Jenna said is it real, this is really, Sesame Street did this. Kevin said yes. Jenna said WHAT!?!? Kevin said it’s absolutely incredible. Find a song with the letter G. There is Sue Sylvester, there is everybody. Kevin said it is so crazily good and he doesn’t understand how these things happen. Jenna said what, this is amazing. Kevin said there is a song. Jenna said she is shocked. Kevin said everyone go look at that because it phenom. Jenna said the puppets look really similar. Kevin said it’s it really crazy. Kevins said he could go on but he won’t keep you any longer you can go check it out for yourself.

Next episode is Special Education….it is some competition as Kevin said.

[candycoatedrox]

had to make a poster for my school project this year and it took me like 5 days and i am very proud of it yippeeeeeeeee

(id below cut because it is VERY very long)

[ID: A poster with a light blue background and a lot of text on it. A large, handwritten header at the top says "Original Animated Short Part 1!" with sparkles around "original" and yellow lines around "Part 1!" for emphasis.

A simple cartoon person, Poster Molly, with curly hair and a sweatshirt waves hello. She says, "Hi there!!" The text under her reads:

"My name's Poster (blanked out for personal information)! Some of you might recognize me from last year… Well, I'm back and better than ever!! Last year, my focus was on comics. But this year… This year, I've set my sights on something bigger:"

"Animation!!" in large font with yellow lines around it for emphasis. Poster Molly is underneath, holding her arms up excitedly like she's presenting the word. Text underneath reads:

"I wanted to create an animated short with my original characters, synced to the song 'The Other Side' from 'The Greatest Showman' soundtrack."

Drawings of two characters are underneath. The one on the left has an arrow pointing to it that says, "this is V." It is rendered in slightly glowing cyan lines, with everything inside the lines showing through to the near-black background. It floats mid-air with a smug expression on its face, and has cat ears that seem relaxed. It has three tentacles in place of hair that swoop forward.

The character on the right has an arrow pointing to her that says "and this is Wade!" She is an Inkling from Splatoon, with purple tentacles that fade to turquoise, tied into a ponytail in the back and long in the front. She has a medium brown skin tone and golden eyes, and the top half of her right eye is a bright turquoise.

Text continues: "But that's a big project..."

At the top of a new column, the text continues: "Animation involves a lot of drawing. Don't believe me? Let's do some math... 24 FPS (frames per second) times 60 seconds equals 1440 drawings for one minute!!

To cut down on drawings, animation is usually done on "twos" — a new image is shown every other frame, effectively reducing the FPS to only 12. But that's still 720 images per minute...

The process of creating an animation, from start to finish, is usually broken up into three major stages: Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production.

First, Pre-production! This stage consists of concept art, character design and development, storyboarding, and pretty much everything else that comes before the actual frame-by-frame animation. This stage is when model sheets, turnarounds, thumbnails, storyboards, and a timed animatic are made. (It's also when scripts, music, and vocal lines are written and recorded — but luckily, I get to skip that entirely!)

Next, the bulk of the work (and time!) goes into Production. Production is the actual frame-by-frame animation, and is usually split into two parts: keyframing and "tweening," also known as "inbetweening."

Finally, Post-production is the shortest stage. It consists of clean-up, coloring, adding effects, and editing. My plan was simple: I'd spend the first half of the year on pre-production, and the second half on production, with about a month left at the end of the year for post-production.

At the top of a new column, Poster Molly scratches the back of her head apologetically. "Hoo, that was a lot of information! Back to the fun stuff..."

Text below her continues: "Around the end of December, I realized I wasn't very far along in the storyboarding process. I only had the bridge finished, which was about a minute and a half long — less than half of the full song! Considering my original plan was to have the storyboards done by the end of January, that wasn't good…

So, I decided to change up my timeline, turning it into a two-year project instead of a one-year project. I'd spend this year working on pre-production and storyboarding, and next year on the actual production and post-production of the short. That gave me much more time to get it all done. Now I wasn't tied to a schedule designed for college students with twice as much free time as me, and I didn't have to sacrifice quality to get it done on time!

Even if I'm only drawing a new, very simple image maybe a couple times a second instead of all 12, storyboarding is still a lot of work! I've had a lot of fun storyboarding and seeing my characters come to life, but it's definitely been tiring. I've had to leave my comfort zone as I try to push the poses and perspective to create something more expressive. Here you can see all (or almost all) of my storyboards for the second half of the song's bridge. It's a lot of work, making these stick figures as energetic as they are!"

A collage of 40 different storyboards is below. They are heavily simplified, with each character being little more than a stick figure with a simplified expression. Text below continues:

"Even with all that time, I'm still not quite done with the storyboards. I plan to finish them over the summer, and dive straight into production next year! Hopefully, this time next year, you'll all be watching my complete, fully animated short!"

End ID]

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony's Stupid Daily Blog (534): Sat 2nd Sep 2023

Rewatched the brilliant Ghostwatch tonight. This was an incredibly well written, perfectly cast production that I'm sure would have been fine on it's own merit (i.e if everyone watched it knowing it was fake) but the fact that so many people tuned in after it started and paniced thinking it was real is what secured it it's place in TV history. Even though in hindsight it's easy to say that Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene, Craig Charles and Mike Smith are clearly acting they are so convincing and play it as if they were presenting a live show that at times you forget that this is a scripted performance. There's only one element that doesn't hold up in my opinion. For years the show has been commended for a part in the film where a caller rings in to tell them that in the piece of film from the children's bedroom they played earlier they were sure they saw the image of a man standing next to the curtains. They play the footage back and there clearly is a ghostly image there but the presenters act like they can't see anything. They then rewind the footage and play it again but this time the ghostly figure is gone but again, the presenters just act like there's nothing there just like the first time. This is the thing that comes closest to breaking the film because it would have made more sense to have the shadowy figure visible during the initial showing of the footage early in the film and then when the woman calls in telling Parky about the image she saw the should have played the footage without the ghost in it to make the real audience at home who saw the ghost the first time make them think they were seeing things. Every time I rewatch Ghostwatch this one moment is the thing that niggles me the most because if they'd have fixed it then it would have been a perfect movie but even with this major fuckup it's still a milestone achievement in TV history.

Speaking of TV history today was also the final Day of CITV. After 40 fucking years ITV has decided to just put all of its kids shows on an app rather than having any of them airing on a channel anymore. This is inevitably going to happen to all the channels eventually and that makes me a bit sad because watching programmes as they went out gave you a sense of comradery and community that has been lost in the era of streaming. Normally if an episode of Prison Break was airing on a Monday you'd watch it then talk to your friend at work about it the next day. Then on Tuesday you'd watch an episode of Mad Men and talk to your mates about that the next day. Now TV has changed to the point where you could spend all day Monday watching an entire season of Prison Break on the Monday and then the next day your friend would go "Don't tell me, I'm still on episode 3". Knowing CITV was gone did make me a little sad as I like many kids used to stick CITV on as soon as I got home from school when I was in primary school (and for a few of my college years because I was quite a heavy afternoon drinker). I still remember the fun I had watching Art Attack, Kipper, Funhouse, Finders Keepers, ZZZap! and many more. I even have an almost photographic recollection of an ident featuring an animated clock singing a song reminding kids to tune in at half past three. It's weird what sticks with you but that has burrowed into my brain for some reason. Not to get too sentimental here but the thing you realize more as you get older is the stuff that you remember from your childhood now only exists in your head. Although ITV still has access to all of those shows the specific memories that you associate with those shows are yours alone and it's impossible to convey them to others. I was at work today so I couldn't tune in to watch the final day of CITV ever but evidentially I didn't miss much. The channel just treated it like another day at the office airing the same programmes they would normally air in that timeslot. There were no classic shows, no interviews with the stars / creators of those iconic shows, no farewell documentary looking at the history of the station. Hell, there wasn't even anything aired the whole day indicating that this was the final day in this channels 40 year history and that's just ridiculous. Although I'm sure this was ITV's choice and if CITV had their way they would have included all those things I mentioned. There are probably people working there who have been there if not from the start then for years and you can bet that they wanted to go out with a bang. Maybe ITV didn't want to risk giving complete free reign of the final day over to ITV because they were scared of them pulling a Blake's 7 / Brookside and making the final day a giant fuck you to the people cancelling them culminating in an episode of Scooby Doo where Scooby gets possessed by a real ghost and joins the gang together Human Centipede-style. Either way thanks to everyone who ever worked at CITV for all the great memories. You were a big part of my childhood and it's a shame you won't be a part of any more.

[tinseltine]

#2 – Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody | Sony Pictures Releasing | Director Kasi Lemmons | Screenplay Anthony McCarten - When you grow up in the late 80’s and early 90’s, like I did, Whitney Houston‘s music is a huge part of the soundtrack of your life. The recreation of so many iconic performances and the videos is why “I get so emotional baby” watching this music biopic. I didn’t care who I annoyed in the theater, I sung out loud to every song the entire movie and luckily there were others who joined me. There’s a true sense of joy, care, respect and triumph throughout the film even during the singer’s rough times.  Which I’m sure many critics will feel makes the movie too soft, that it goes too easy on Whitney. I haven’t wanted to read any reviews cause I don’t care about that.  I wanted to be in the presence of this iconic, megawatt talent again and relive the height of her fame when she just seemed absolutely perfect, and WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY fulfills that need.

Anthony McCarten has written a clean, believable, engaging screenplay without many flourishes.  It’s not creative like Rocketman or Elvis, both of which I very much enjoyed, but I don’t think imaginative storytelling techniques would work for a Whitney biopic. The script moves pretty swiftly through her formative years singing in the church and on stage at a Cabaret backing up her mother, Sissy Houston, played by Tamara Tunie, who will always be Jessica on As the World Turns for me. Quickly Whitney is getting her recording contract with Artista Record, headed by Clive Davis, played by the incomparable Stanley Tucci. I always like him, but he really reminds you of Clive Davis. And the actor playing Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders) seems like a clone of the singer from the 90’s.  But of course, what brings the movie home is the talent of Naomi Ackie, a Cockney girl from East London whose most major roles, at least stateside, have been in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as ex-Stormtrooper Jannah, and as Lena Waithe‘s wife Alicia in the third season of Master of None. Ackie doesn’t look like Houston, not nearly as attractive, yet it was easy enough to look past this and see her manifest the spirit of Whitney; sadly something Jennifer Hudson was never actually able to do playing Aretha.

A good portion of the film centers on Whitney’s relationship with Robin Crawford (Nafessa Williams) they meet as teens in a playground where Whitney includes her middle name, Elizabeth, when Robin asks who she is. The two just hit it off immediately and eventually move in together.  Whitney’s parents realize it’s more than girlfriends/roommates between them, which is why they don’t have any love for Robin and try to play down their relationship as much as possible, as this is at the start of Whitney’s career.  Of course, if Whitney had come to her fame in this present age, she could have been an out lesbian and lived her life with Robin as her spouse, nobody would bat an eyelash anymore, in fact, it would probably be a boost to her career.  At any rate, the film depicts her as basically straight, but simply loved Robin, and why not experiment with sexual orientation when you’re young?  Sometimes I envy how fluid kids can be today, which for the most part, is accepted. Kasi Lemmons says she took a lot from Crawford’s book “A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston” to capture their relationship. 

Although Whitney had a more casual, sporty side to her personality, it didn’t seem as though she was pining away for Robin, too afraid of her parents and the tabloids.  If Whitney had really wanted that life, I believe she would have made it happen, period.  Because this is a loving and fitting tribute to a legend, we don’t see the years with Bobby from their infamous Reality TV show, where Whitney acted super ghetto. Or the Diane Sawyer interview. These could have been fun to see. But I get why it skips over those years going straight to rehab and Oprah comeback.

For me, it’s not always about what’s being lauded. How often do you see a movie that seems so perfectly well-crafted and yet leaves you cold. I care about engagement, and I was transfixed watching the reenactment of Whitney’s 1994 medley at the American Music Awards of “I Loves You Porgy”/”And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”/”I Have Nothing.” It brought me to tears, which is why this is my second favorite movie of 2022.

[cherrykindness]

let's make babies |

pairing: Harry Styles x Actress!Reader

summary: you and harry are doing a live on instagram, you've drunk a lot of wine and now the world knows that the future Mrs. Styles is ready to make babies.

warnings: mostly cute, but the title tells you what you need to know 🤪

"What is your favorite song from the Fine Line album?" Y/N read aloud, twirling in her right hand the second glass of wine of the evening, the one already halfway through. "Adore You and Watermelon Sugar, of course."

Harry giggled, rolling his eyes upon hearing his fiancée's statement.

"Y/N will always choose Adore You because it was obviously written for her." He accused. "She wouldn't give that answer under different circumstances."

The comments climbed up the screen continuously, most fans gushing about how cute Harry Styles and YN/LN could be while the other part was concerned with wringing even more information out of the slightly inebriated couple who had decided to do a surprise live one early Sunday morning.

As expected after being away for some time to begin filming Don't Worry, Darling in Southern California, Harry enjoyed a lazy weekend in the house he shared with his fiancée and her pets. The days were filled with late naps and relentless Netflix marathons, sublime and ethereal evenings, marked mostly by unexpected declarations and rounds of sex that used to last until the beams of light were shyly coming through the linen curtains. They were not a monotonous couple, so this order could easily be changed.

"Watermelon Sugar is nothing more than about my love for watermelons, don't get too creative." Harry replied to a fan while sporting a corner smile, the message standing out among the rest for its dozens of emojis and large print, questioning the singer about erotic content behind the lyrics of his latest hit. "I really don't know what you guys are talking about."

Y/N laughed, shaking her head before leaning it against her fiancé's chest, propped up on the soft white pillows that were spread practically all over the bed. The air conditioner was on at a minimal temperature and a light rain whipped on the panes of glass camouflaged by the cream-colored curtain, that being the projection of Y/N's favorite nights.

"You can tell them, I'm not shy." She joked, nudging her fiancé's waist.

"You know what it was written about and who it was written for." Harry replied, raising one of his eyebrows. "That's what matters."

It went without saying that much of Harry's newest album, as well as some of his earlier work, had been done in exclusive dedication to his future wife. Y/N had been the muse for a vast repertoire of romantic songs, and even though the singer preferred to keep the story behind his more explicit compositions a "secret", the relationship the two had shared for more than three years was already solid and known enough for the media and fans to distinguish hidden messages in small details.

"It's a song about what usually comes before the act of making babies." Y/N laughed as he pointed at the display. "Honestly, you guys are impossible."

"No, we make babies every day." Harry joked, making a funny motion with his eyebrows. "I would spend my entire career writing just about that."

"Harry!" The actress exclaimed incredulously, slapping her fiancé weakly on the chest. "Children might be watching this."

"You don't want to have babies with me?" He asked falsely offended, accepting the cup that Y/N offered him. "Because I want some babies with you."

Y/N laughed, rolling her eyes as she watched the internet freak out at the dialogue that had suddenly emerged. Since the beginning of the quarantine, it was kind of inevitable that the couple of artists would not become the darlings of all social media; they were fervently active with photos, videos, and lives that depicted step by step daily life in isolation, gaining more and more followers and making the media more and more fascinated by the relationship they both shared.

The wedding was scheduled for the summer of next year and it was perhaps the most anticipated event in the tabloids. Bets about what the model of Y/N's dress would be and lists presuming who would be selected for the short list of guests stood out among countless news stories about the famous people influencing pop culture today.

The possible arrival of a Styles baby was an inevitable topic in interviews. Harry and Niall were the only members of the ex-boyband that had not become fathers yet, and because they had maintained a solid relationship and were seen as one of the most enviable couples during the last four years, Y/N and Harry had gotten used to all this openly asked questions. They didn't mind, they even had fun with the montages and all the anxiety that dominated the whole internet, often mentioning the fandoms' efforts to represent them as such "cool" parents in perfectly edited pictures.

"No, guys, I'm not pregnant." Y/N amusingly clarified the doubt of dozens of new comments. "Please don't believe so many controversial news stories that appear out there. I was on twitter last week and saw several people theorizing about a possible pregnancy, most of the arguments based on a website that used photos from the set of How to Get Away with Murder in the season where I was actually playing a pregnant woman as Laurel." She laughed. "It's so funny! I know you guys love to guess these things, but we won't hide something so special when it actually happen, I promise."

"Especially because Y/N can hide absolutely nothing from anyone." Harry accused, leaving his drink on the corner table before settling into a comfortable position for the two of them. "Anyone who's a Marvel fan knows that. That's one of her most characteristic quirks."

"They gave me a fake script for the last two movies." Y/N agreed, shaking his head. "For me and Tom."

"We agreed to keep the engagement a secret for a while. The plan was to travel to Holmes Chapel to break the news to my family in person, but guess who got a call at ten o'clock at night from an angry Anne because she learned of her son's engagement from an interview Y/N gave the next day?"

Y/N gave a guilty smile, winking gracefully at the camera. "It was all James' fault! I'm sure he already suspected something, those questions were very suspicious."

"Of course the questions were suspicious, babe. You literally said you had a secret that involved both of us but that you couldn't tell because it was important that our families knew first."

"I thought he would think about a pregnancy or something!" The actress defended herself, feeling very convincing in her intonation bordering on obviousness. "That's a mania I can't get rid of, it's in my genes."

"Did you all hear that? Further proof that you guys don't have to worry about guessing when Y/N's pregnancy will be, I'm sure our baby will make sure to tell you everything while still in the womb, mom's genes will make sure of that."

"You are so funny, Harry Styles." Y/N sarcastically stated, holding back a giggle as countless messages with laughing emojis were frantically up. "Yeah, I know I talk a lot and all, but you have annoying quirks too."

It was obvious that live would be news the next day. Although they were completely open about matters concerning their relationship, nothing seemed better than receiving so much exclusive information from a Harry and S/N drunk on expensive wine.

"You wake up in a bad mood and you're dangerously sexy, that should be illegal."

Harry laughed, holding his fiancée's waist a little tighter as he felt her tumble a little further to the side, getting closer and closer to the edge of the bed. Y/N was dangerously weak for drinks, and the singer knew that the actress' body was already near its limit.

"You're the only sexy person here, love." He declared with a corner smile, evidently finding the whole situation funny. "Do you want to go to sleep now?"

"No." Y/N shook her head. "Can we watch some movie? Can we watch Sweet Home?"

"Of course, love." He murmured, giving the woman a quick kiss on the forehead.

Even though Harry knew that his fiancée was unlikely to make it past the five-minute mark of the episode, he made sure to restart the korean series at exactly the scene where she had stopped, the first chapter still halfway through after Y/N realized that it would be impossible to watch such a macabre work without a drop of alcohol in her blood.

She had been so excited by the taste of Argentinian wine and the idea of updating her fans after a few weeks away, that she had forgotten the main purpose of the live. Harry and Y/N had been apart for a few days due to the new movie the Brit was shooting in North America, all happening in an unrestrictedly careful manner due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic.

He was slowly migrating towards acting and the future Mrs. Styles couldn't be prouder. Y/N had felt on cloud nine when Harry had given her the news of his upcoming job, but her only pronouncement on the subject had been a succinct post on instagram. Just a photo of the couple on a trip to Germany with a simple heart emoji didn't seem enough for the actress' exhibitionist soul, and coming to that conclusion was the main reason she decided to invite him, already relatively changed, for a live appearance. Y/N wanted to go on and on about how much she loved that man and work on that whole honeyed speech that would bring her (once again) the title of "cutest bride of all time," but of course Harry had to come home from his trip with his favorite red wine and poison her with those sweet caresses that took her out of orbit, turning the degree of alcohol content into the least of her problems.

"You're going to kiss Florence." Y/N exclaimed suddenly, as if only now realizing that her fiancé would share the screen with Florence Pugh, one of her closest friends in that industry. "Kiss on the mouth."

The MacBook was still open and hundreds of new comments were going up every second, but Harry didn't bother one bit to warn her about the possibility of her becoming a meme the next day. He was having too much fun with the situation to worry.

"Are you jealous?"

"Yes." She stated with a pout. "I am jealous, I just don't know if I'm more jealous of her or of you."

"But you kiss me every day, babe." Harry laughed. "And you've been kissing other people's men for almost ten years." He joked.

"But I only think about you, I already told you that."

Harry shook his head negatively at the camera, knowing he was sharing with the fans the funniest side of his fiancée.

"I know that, honey." He assured, lightly stroking the actress' back. "I think we'd better turn off the TV and go to sleep now, I'm sure you'll have a terrible headache tomorrow."

The brit planned to bid his audience goodbye and put an end to that recording, but Y/N was drunk and her sense of right and wrong had already gone to space. Harry should have been quicker, however, because his fiancée's speech would be cause for new tags and the only subject for the interviewers for at least the next few months.

"I don't want to sleep, how about we make babies?"

That's what Watermelon Sugar was all about, after all.

[heyyyharry]

Happier

(inspired by happier by Olivia Rodrigo)

Word count: 2.4k

I'm selfish, I know, I can't let you go So find someone great, but don't find no one better I hope you're happy, but don't be happier

Part 1: Drivers License

Part 2: Deja Vu

A/N: I edited the original lyrics to match the POV :)

.

.

.

Harry had come up with a thousand scenarios of how this day would play out. Actually, he’d been thinking of this day since the moment he’d received the news. He didn’t dare to hope that she’d say yes to coming back for a sequel. He’d been sure that they would write her character off, give a lame excuse for how his love interest could not make a return and make his character forget about her completely to move on with a new girl in town. It would have been great if it was that easy in real life. Once someone was written off the script, they were gone for good. Real-life relationships were not that simple. Goodbye didn’t mean ‘never see you again’. You would still share the same friend circle and social bubbles, and it was worse when you two worked in the same industry. Harry didn’t know how he’d lasted a year without running into her, not since the Grammys.

“Didn’t you two date?”

“No.” Harry shook his head, but his eyes stayed glued on Y/N from across the room. She wasn’t looking his way, too busy saying hello to everyone else. “No,” he repeated, more to himself than to his co-star. “We didn’t.”

“But she wrote an entire album about you,” said the other twin. What was her name again? Lulu?

“Luna!” cried her sister, Lex. “You can’t ask him that!”

“No, it’s okay,” Harry said with a tight smile, slightly annoyed by the blonde twins, but he didn’t want to seem like an ass on the first day of filming. “And I don’t know if it was for me. You should ask Y/N.”

“Ask me what?”

Harry flinched when he looked up and saw Y/N padding towards them. She hugged the twins, who seemed way too excited. Harry guessed they were Y/N’s fans. They gave off crazy fangirl vibes, probably just pretending not to know the drama to interrogate him. He couldn’t blame them for assuming he was the villain and definitely could not blame Y/N for portraying him as one. It was more important that he knew who he was and how much he had changed since his last relationship. Maybe they could finally be friends.

“Were they bothering you?” Y/N asked him once the twins had left.

Harry nodded. “They’re your friends?”

“Oh, I met them last year on tour. I’m surprised you don’t know them. They were on Disney.”

“I don’t watch Disney,” Harry admitted with a smile. “Well, not today’s Disney.”

“Understandable.” Y/N nodded and bit her lip. She seemed guarded with her straight back and hands hidden behind her. She eyed him up and down, quite subtle yet noticeable. “How have you been?”

“Pretty good,” he said, nodding slowly. “You?”

“Yeah, but mostly tired because of tour.”

“You’re done?”

“Yup, last night was the last show.”

“Nice.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow. “Nice?”

Harry blinked. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No.” Y/N giggled. “You still sound very...you.”

“Well, shouldn’t I?”

“Yeah, you should. But it’s been a year so…I mean, you haven’t changed much.”

“Right,” he said lowly, his eyes falling to his feet. Harry supposed he should say something else, perhaps bringing up another random topic to discuss, but all he could think about was what had happened between them. Things had been messy, hadn’t they? How could they go back to before that? Before her first song about him. Before he’d chosen someone else over her.

Or he could talk about her new relationship. She’d been in a happy relationship for almost six months, right? No wait, hadn’t they broke up two weeks ago? He wasn’t sure because he hadn’t been catching up. If they’d broken up, he’d sound like an ass to even mention her ex’s name. He should just stay quiet.

“I’ll see you later?” she said, gesturing at her stylist who was waiting by the door.

Harry could ask her right now -- the reason she’d agreed to film the sequel to their first movie together. He’d heard from a very reliable source that she’d specifically asked her agent to decline any project that he was in. So did this mean they were good? That she didn’t hate him anymore? He could have gathered his courage and got the answer right then…

“Yeah, see you.”

...but he didn’t.

And so she gave him a smile and a little wave, then happily returned to her stylist.

.

.

.

“See you tomorrow, Y/N!”

“See you, Annie!” Y/N said as she put the rest of her things into her tote bag. Her new driver had got her schedule mixed up, and so she had to wait here for another half an hour. She was in no rush. It had been a light first day, and she’d had a fun time getting to know the new cast members and catching up with old friends.

She sat on the sofa in the lobby, legs crossed, texting her best friend about her day. She’d purposely left out the short off-screen conversation with Harry, and her best friend didn’t even bother to ask. In their world, he didn’t exist, and his name was censored in every conversation like a curse word that was even worse than ‘cunt’. Nevertheless, she didn’t hate him anymore. She was doing just fine on her own, being busy with her career, and she’d been in a happy relationship after her fall out with him.

She and the guy, a model, had broken up two weeks ago due to long distance and some differences that they could not change. They had ended on good terms and decided to stay friends. They said you could only stay friends with your ex when you still had feelings for each other, or you had never loved each other that much in the first place. For her, it was probably the latter. Her previous relationship had been more platonic than romantic, apparently. So she had nothing but the best to say about him.

As she was going through her camera roll, just reminiscing about the past, she heard footsteps approaching and looked up to find Harry. He offered a smile and gestured to the spot beside her on the sofa. “May I sit here? My ride is late.”

“Yeah, sure.” She hurriedly scooted over.

“Good job today,” he said. “You were great.”

“Thanks, so were you.” She smiled, and they both looked away at the same time. This was so awkward. She hated small talk. She’d never had to have small talk with Harry. Conversations with him used to be so easy and natural and silly. Whatever this was, it wasn’t them.

“Can we just be normal?”

At first, Y/N thought she’d been the one who’d said it, so when she realised it’d been Harry, she was speechless.

He swallowed and sat a bit straighter, still not looking at her. “I don’t want us to be weird and awkward.”

“Okay,” she said.

He cleared his throat. “Wanna try again?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, not to sound like an ass but when Joey kept forgetting his lines, I was so pissed off, I could throw a chair at the wall.”

“Right?!” exclaimed Y/N, feeling free to have finally broken out of her shell. “Like, he doesn’t even have many lines. I know he’s new but damn...you can’t get far if you don’t learn your goddamn lines.”

Harry shook with laughter. “Oh God, we sound like dicks, don’t we?”

“Maybe.” Y/N laughed, covering her mouth. “But you know what? We can’t be nice in this industry. It’s impossible.”

“Shhh, if someone heard this, we would be into big trouble.”

“Oh please, I’ve had worse articles written about me than ‘Y/N speaks facts about her lazy co-star’.”

Harry tossed his head back and cackled. “The worst one I’ve got this week was ‘Harry Styles hates therapists.’”

“What?!” Y/N gasped. “No way! That’s so stupid!”

“Right?” Harry rolled his eyes. “I could get all my therapists to speak up for me but I’m kinda immune to bullshit now.”

“Therapists? Like plural?”

“Yeah, one in every city.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.”

Y/N rubbed her hands onto her legs. “Rough year?”

Harry’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he leaned back. “You have no idea.” Then he swept his hair out of his eyes, sucked in a breath, and finally looked at her. “I wish I could have talked to you, though.”

She bit her tongue, knowing what she was about to say next would disappoint her best friend so much, but she had to. “So do I.”

Harry looked taken aback before his lips curled into a smile. “It’s silly, isn’t it? I haven’t talked to you in a year, and I feel like I know everything that’s happened to you except that I don’t.”

What he’d just said might make no sense for most people, but Y/N knew exactly what he meant. She nodded and wetted her lip. “You only know as much as everyone else does.”

“Yeah, I got updates on you from the news and our friends.”

“Same.” Y/N smiled back. “I hate how they write articles about your new haircut but not mine.”

“I like your new hair colour.”

“Thanks. I like your new car.”

Then they both burst out laughing. It was fun and also a little bit strange that Y/N didn’t feel the same anxiety talking to him as she used to. It must be because they had grown and were now meeting again as better people.

“Damn, my ride's here,” Y/N said as she read the text from her driver. “I gotta go now.”

“Oh, okay.” Harry stood up and followed Y/N to the entrance. “Hey, just wondering--”

“Yeah?”

“Am I...am I still blocked?” He looked a bit flustered as she tilted her head and squinted her eyes. “On your phone. Because I remember you having my number blocked--”

“I unblocked you on your birthday.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.” Y/N shrugged. “I should’ve sent you a happy birthday text but...I didn’t want your girlfriend to get the wrong ideas.”

“My ex.”

“Yeah, I know.”

They smiled at each other one last time before saying goodbye. Y/N knew it was silly, but she was hoping he would go after her.

Ding.

A notification popped up when she was in the car. She was almost home, and it was from Harry’s number. He’d sent her a link with a message that said, “Hope you like it :)”.

Curious, she tapped on it and was directed to an audio file titled ‘Track 5’. The upload date was last year. About two weeks after their short conversation at the Grammys.

Hurriedly, she fumbled inside her bag for her iPods and put it on before she pressed play.

“Hey, Jeff, I couldn’t sleep so I wrote this song. Listen and let me know if it should go on the album.”

Then came the piano intro. It sounded good, so Y/N wondered how it hadn’t ended up on his last album.

But when he started to sing...

We ended a while ago Your friends are mine, you know, I know You've moved on, found someone new One more guy who brings out the better in you

And I thought my heart was detached From all the sunlight of our past But he’s so nice, he’s so funny Does he mean you forgot about me?

Oh, I hope you're happy But not like how you were with me I'm selfish, I know, I can't let you go So find someone great, but don't find no one better I hope you're happy, but don't be happier

And does he tell you you’re the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen? An eternal love bullshit he might not even mean Remember when you were with me I meant it when you heard it first from me

And now I'm pickin' him apart Like cuttin' him down will make you miss my wretched heart But he’s charming, he looks kind He probably gives you butterflies

I hope you're happy But not like how you were with me I'm selfish, I know, I can't let you go So find someone great, but don't find no one better

I hope you're happy I wish you all the best, really Say you love him, baby Just not like you loved me And think of me fondly when your hands are on him I hope you're happy, but don't be happier

The song was for her. He’d written it when her new relationship had gone public. Y/N sat there, staring blankly ahead until the honking of a car tore open her inner peace, and reality came crashing back in. The driver dropped her off at her house. Instead of going inside, she stood on her front steps and replayed the song one more time. When it ended, she decided to text him: Why didn’t this make it to the album?

She didn’t know where he was now, but it showed ‘typing’ in less than a second, as if he’d been waiting in their chat since he’d sent that link.

You would’ve hated me, Y/N.

True, she replied. Still, I would’ve loved the song lowkey. And added, I love it btw.

He took so long to type that it was driving her crazy. She flopped down on the concrete stair with her phone clutched in her hands, her heart thundering against her ribcage. Anxiety popped like a balloon when his message appeared: Were you happier?

She reread it again and again.

No.

I wasn’t either, he responded. I kept getting deja vu.

Ha, nice reference.

That song is my guilty pleasure. Love listening to you roasting me on loop.

That last message made Y/N bury her face into her palm and giggle like a fool. She thought for a second and wrote: I could come roast you in person now if that’s what you prefer. I think we’ve never had a proper roasting.

Can we meet, Y/N? Or are you busy now?

No, not busy.

Great, I’ll pick you up.

Just tell me where, she responded with a smile on her face. I got my drivers license now :)

[love-archon]

A Day With The Genshin Characters: Liyue Edition

Today's going to be a busy day! Check your planner for who you'll be meeting with- as one of the esteemed members of the Liyue Qixing, you cannot afford to be late to any appointment. 

• 6:00, Ningguang: Morning Tea 

Although you say you love your job, waking up at un-archonly hours has to be the part you like the least. Even getting up at five in the morning, the hour when tigers prowl, is still not enough time to prepare for a meeting with the Tianquan. You rush around frantically choosing the best outfit, fragrance, and hair arrangement to present yourself to Lady Ningguang, and you're halfway out the door when it hits you- you forgot to bring a gift with you!

"Right on time," Ningguang says, pleased. You smile, hoping she won't hear your heart beating from anxiety. "And what a lovely present, too... is there any doubt you were appointed as one of the seven Qixing?" (You can't tell if it's her rare praise, or the sheer altitude you're at within the Jade Chamber, that's making your head spin).

• 7:00, Keqing: Business Meeting 

You barely have time to rest before Keqing whisks you away to Yuehai Pavilion. You're very close friends, and you admire the girl for her tenacity and diligence. The conversation flows easily as you walk to your destination under a cloudless sky. It's a wonderfully sunny moment, but the moment the doors lock, you mean business. In the next two hours, you conquer matters that would normally take days to resolve, and the two of you exchange grins. 

"There we go!" Keqing breathes a sigh of relief, pushing away the last stack of papers. She holds up her hand, and you high-five. "You know, I like how easily you keep up with me. You even caught mistakes I would have missed... things like this make me even more certain Liyue is better off in human hands."

• 9:00: Check In With Ganyu

With such a hectic schedule, Ganyu is your saving grace. It's always important to check in with her, just to make sure nothing you have planned catches you by surprise, and sometimes you wonder why others rarely do the same. She's quite lonely, and often mentions how nice it is that you speak with her every day and bring her gifts to help with work. It may be part of your job to be courteous, but... it does help her feel less lonely and conflicted with herself. 

"Qingxin flowers? Thank you so much." She accepts them gratefully, smiling at you with warm eyes. "I still have that new stationery you gave me, too. You're so kind for remembering the things I like!"

• 9:30: Talk to Beidou

The tea in the Jade Chamber was just a front for Ningguang to spring a request on you- meet with the captain of the Crux Fleet to discuss her... recent smuggling habits. But Beidou merely laughs heartily when you arrive. A crewmate tosses her a sack of Mora, and she slits it open, letting the payment shower over you in a spray of gold. And then, before you know what's happening, you're roped into helping them find a treasure rumored to be lost beneath the waves. 

"So, Ningguang though sending her star diplomat would get me to let up, huh!" You blush, wondering how you could be so easy to read under her ruby eye. "I was impressed by your words, and how well you fought by my side. But the annoyance of the Liyue Qixing is of no concern to me."

• 12:00, Tartaglia: TEACH HIM A LESSON!

As the member of the Qixing that oversees diplomacy and foreign relations, it's you that must meet with the Fatui Harbinger. He's quite good at playing pretend- all your underlings believed he was a naive, careless young man, and easily manipulated, too. And all of them ended up suppressing the urge to break something after they were done conversing with him. On your honor as one of Liyue's seven stars, you vow to not make their mistakes. 

"You're asking why I don't try to drive you mad?" he said, setting down his fork. You'd caved in and given him one after watching him struggle with chopsticks for far too long. "You're the only one who isn't a bore to talk to, that's all-" so this was on purpose?!- "and besides, I want to challenge you to a fight afterwards! Your vision's getting quite dusty from neglect, comrade. Let's fix that!"

• 2:00, Yanfei: Discussion of Legal Matters

Yanfei's counsel is an invaluable treasure. Especially when dealing with an opponent as vicious as Snezhnaya's Fatui, who deserve to have her wrath unleashed upon them. You walk to her office with a gleam in your eyes, and are delighted to see an equal fire already blazing in hers. For the next few hours, you two take the "suggestions" Tartaglia passed on from the Northland Bank and scheme on how to best tear them to shreds with the law.

"That man-childe's been giving you trouble again, huh," she giggles. "What did he come up with this time~? I've been waiting for an excuse to bring out the latest edition of my lawbook!" And with that, Yanfei slams it down, and the sheer weight of it nearly cracks her desk. "He won't know what hit him!"

• 4:00: Free Time

Of course, "free time" simply means that you have no meetings scheduled for this hour, which lets you adequately prepare for the next day's events. Tomorrow is your appointment with the Feiyun Commerce Guild, which you already know will require great patience and strength of mind. Because the head of the guild, and his eldest son, the future head, are- to put it mildly- not very bright... it's fortunate, then, that the second son Xingqiu has a good head on his shoulders.  

"Tomorrow, you should go straight to me instead," Xingqiu informs you cheerily, handing you a popsicle. Apparently, he keeps them around for his friend Chongyun, who's off to complete another exorcism. "I'll be sure to set everything in order." His eyes gleam. "And then, I can tell you the latest developments in 'A Legend of Sword'!"

• 5:00: Catch Xinyan's Concert!

Liyue's one and only rock musician isn't hard to find, thanks to the designated performance spots scattered around the city. You stop by at the raised platform where she's rocking out, where other people are listening as well. Xinyan strikes a peace sign in the air, and her vision glows with energy before the stage erupts with pillars of fire; her audience bursts into cheers and applause, and she's beaming as she leaps down to meet you. 

"Wait, seriously? You really changed up the rules a lil' so it'll be easier for me to hold concerts here?" Her eyes shine as they scan the papers- one of the many results of your work today in Yuehai. "Thank you so much! Wait-" she picks up her guitar again, giving it an experimental riff. "Let me think up a quick song for ya as thanks- I insist!"

• 6:00: Wangsheng Funeral Parlor 

Lately, you've been sent particularly determined requests from the other nations about allowing tourists to observe the ancient funeral rites. You already know the answer's gonna be a hard no, but the laws written by Rex Lapis state that you must check with the director anyway. She's not there when you arrive, so a consultant, Zhongli, brings you tea while you wait for her. You sit together in the fading sun, waiting for Hu Tao's familiar song to rise above the hill. 

Zhongli takes a quiet sip from his cup, closing his luminous eyes. "Although it was Rex Lapis who created the laws, they are not meant to be set in stone. Humans must revise the contract as they see fit, so that it will not erode with the passage of time." Something makes you feel as though it's more significant to him than you know. Then, he smiles slightly. "But, just looking at the people leading the way in his absence, like you... there's no need for me to worry."

• 8:00: Dinner; Request Chef Xiangling

The Wanmin Restaurant, run by Chef Mao and his daughter, is a breath of fresh air. While the rest of Liyue is divided between the "Li" and "Yue" styles of cooking, Xiangling pays the conflict no mind. Instead, she's not afraid to be daring and experiment, blazing ahead without worrying about what others think. You can see some similarities between her and Keqing, but it's best not to mention it after that disastrous banquet they organized together... 

"Had a rough day, didn't you?" Xiangling asks, her golden eyes twinkling as she hands you the steaming hot bowl. "Well, for you, I made sure to prepare your favorite dish! I hope you don't mind if I added a lizard or two this time- I'm kidding!" she adds quickly, upon seeing alarm flash across your face. 

• 9:00: Return Home

After everything that happened, you're eager to collect the reports from your subordinates and head home to draft new revisions for Tianquan Ningguang to look over (and then, hopefully, get some rest). But as you're walking on the path to your neighborhood, you spot a little girl sitting in the grass, clutching her head. Alarm rises in your chest as you rush over to see what's wrong, and why she's alone- only to realize with a start that she's the child that returned from the dead.  

"Thank you for taking Qiqi back to Bubu Pharmacy," she says, reading solemnly from her notebook (where the entire thank-you script is written). Even when you set her down, she's still reading the pieces of paper. "Will you tell Dr. Baizhu where I got lost? Please and thank you, again."

• 10:00: Sleep

In the end, you never did get to those revisions. You can hear your fellow Qixing scolding you in your head, but at least you got plenty of other things done; the well-oiled machine that is Liyue will still keep running on thanks to the tasks you accomplished today. Someday, even the adepti will have to acknowledge the ability of humans... you turn in your bed to feel the coolness of the other side. Speaking of adepti... the night air coming in... reminds you of... "Xiao..."

"I thought you were in danger," the adeptus huffs. The moment you said his name, you'd finally fallen asleep, but it still brought Xiao to you- balanced on the windowsill, hair waving in the breeze. "Still... I'm... glad that you're alright," he admits, glancing at you to make sure you're not awake to hear. "Rest well, bright star of Liyue." And then, with a sound like a sigh- or was it the wind?- he's gone.

[s1utspeare]

y'all i am losing my entire fucking mind

so if you know me like, at all, you know that i am absolutely obsessed with theatre, especially musical theatre, and lately, I've been trying to study foreign musical theatre, especially Asian musical theatre (which is entirely due to the Korean Hamlet rock opera, which i discovered like three years ago and listened to on repeat even though i had no idea what anyone was saying lmao). ANYWAY i've found as of late that Korea has numerous musicals based on Western classic literature, which fucks because 1) musical theatre 2) most of those stories would be made better by being musicals but western musical theatre either won't do them or fucks them up (like there's a Dorian Gray musical??? i've been waiting for one of those for fucking ages???? help)

so today i am going to talk about the Korean musical Frankenstein (프랑켄슈타인 ), which will be opening Nov. 12, 2021, and running through February of 2022 at the Bluesquare Shincard Hall (if you have a chance and can go see it for me, please do) and how fucking GALAXY BRAINED IT IS. NOTE: I am not a Korean speaker, nor do I have any connections to the culture, so if I make an error or say anything offensive, please let me know (My credentials are that I have a degree in theatre and have read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein an unfortunate amount of like four times). Also these are my personal opinions and interpretations of the text, so don't take them as fact, and feel free to discuss your own interpretations!!

The show was first written and directed by Wang Yongbum, with musical composition and direction by Lee Seongjun, in 2016, where it sold out its 23-show run and was given a 3-week performance extension because of how popular it was. It's since been performed 3 times, coming back to the stage in 2021 for a fourth.

As far as my knowledge goes, Korea has a fairly limited musical theatre canon, at least for original Korean musicals. Typically, when they perform musical theatre, they outsource to other countries for shows, or adapt shows from other languages for Korean audiences, which is absolutely fine, but that makes Frankenstein very exciting, because it is an original Korean show, and made by a team that is known for their original shows. They're also known for not casting kidols in productions in order to draw ticket sales, so the fact that this show did as well as it did with odds stacked against it is incredible (also the amount of tech work in this production is??? incredible).

Anyway the songs all slap and the production value is ICONIC and they double-cast every single part, which brings me to my main topic of conversation: the absolutely galaxy brained decision to make this incredibly gay and also good.

so in the original version of frankenstein, victor is a terrible disaster bastard man and i hate him. If i saw him in real life i would punch him in the face. He is gay and homophobic. a terrible person and a terrible scientist. actually the only character i like in this book is Henry, who deserves the world actually.

WHICH IS WHY THIS MUSICAL GOT ME SO HYPE!!! because they MADE HENRY A MAIN CHARACTER!!! and not only that, but they changed the script so that Victor is like, a military general, I think? idk he's tasked with creating like superhuman soldiers for the military, and since his parents died when he was young, he's got some sort of weird notion that he's cursed, so he decides to go PLUS ULTRA and just. make people. and to do this he grabs field surgeon henry dupre and is like "bitch let's make some people" and henry's like "fuck ok"

now, in the novel, victor is obviously. very into men. given the fact that he creates the most perfect man imaginable with the best proportions and all of his kinks as his creature, but then becomes disgusted with him due to his repression. BUT IN THE MUSICAL henry gets accused of murder and sentenced to death, but before he dies, he sings a whole love song to victor and they hold hands through the jail cell bars and he asks victor to use his body for science, to complete their shared goal, which UM. BITCH. THAT'S????? FUCKING ROMANTIC AS SHIT anyway here's the love song bc it's making me go insane i literally started sobbing when i watched it for the first time. not only is it gorgeous, it's also so full of love and lost dreams and the desire to stay with someone even after death? catch me crying in the club. please do yourself a favor and listen to it, it's gorgeous

Edit: I watched a version with dialogue at the beginning and basically Henry takes the fall for a murder Victor did and when victors like “why did you do that when you’ll die?” Henry says, “because you’ll live” 😭😭😭😭

BUT THEN. THEN. VICTOR HONORS HENRY'S WISHES AND USES HIS BODY TO CREATE THE CREATURE, BRINGING HIM BACK TO LIFE. WHICH. FUCK. makes SO much more sense than him just being like "oh fuk big scary monster lol" and freaking out. if he freaks out because that's his lover, the person he cares most for, and he's just sentenced him to a lifetime of being almost-human-not-quite? I'd freak out too. (Also the lab set when he’s making the monster FUCKS HARD)

(anyway then he like??? sells him to a fighting arena?? idk there's this whole dance number with them throwing henry all over the stage and chains and he gets punched a lot. very very fun you know).

i won't spoil the ending but just know that it's WAY better than the book, with like, an actually satisfying ending for both the creature and victor (satisfying plot-wise), and I'm obsessed with the changes they made, and also just how this musical is tonally and everything overall? i'm gonna start learning korean just so i can go watch theatre.

uhhhh this really wasn't that much of a post just??? i needed to scream about this??? also the love song is once again gorgeous, please go watch it if just to see how beautiful the actor playing henry in this version is

if you're interested in watching more of this show, they have a whole performance of the first act songs here. The cast album (with at least half of the songs) is on Spotify.

The writer said that in the future he hopes it could come to Broadway or West End and I fucking hope so too!!! pls cry with me about this show i'm absolutely not okay

[deus-ex-mona]

MAKE A HOLIDAY: Chapter 4

when you try your best, but don’t succeed...

previous part (chapter 3)

next part (chapter 5)

A few days later—

MEGU: Today will be the day when we manage to surprise IV by taking over his work for him!

DAI: Will we actually be able to do it this time?

MEGU: Even IV wouldn’t be able to predict a last-minute meeting, right~?!

MEGU: Let’s be the ones to get through the meeting here and now.

DAI: We’re supposed to discuss how we’re gonna announce our new song, as well as talk about our upcoming live, on the radio, right? 

MEGU: Leave the talking to me. I’ll be sure to make it real exciting.

DAI: Yeah, your commentary sure is rather exciting. Well, you’re not as good as me, though.

MEGU: Yeah, yeah.

Staff: Good morning!

MEGU: It’s nice to meet yooou!

Staff: Huh, you guys are early, aren’t you?

MEGU: We were so pumped up that we rushed right over.

MEGU: Let’s go over today’s scriiipt! Let the meeting begin!

Staff: I’m grateful that you guys are so motivated! 

Staff: But the review of the script, as well as the meeting to go over it has already been done, so I leave the checking of the fine details to you, please.

DAI: Eh… Um, who…

Staff: IV was the one who took care of that.

Staff: After he finalised the script, we had a meeting with him to review it, so there aren’t any problems at all.

MEGU: Ehh?! He went over all of these documents?!

DAI: There are written additions… in IV’s handwriting. “Talk about the stage costumes in great detail.”, huh.

MEGU: He wrote that I should describe “The choreography in great detail.”.

MEGU: Wh-when did he check all of this over…?

Staff: Also, IV told me to tell you two that you guys should talk about some juniors that have piqued your interest as of late.

MEGU: When he says “juniors”... Is he talking about LIPxLIP?

DAI: I guess so. We know for a fact that the listeners would get real excited if we mention the names of those guys.

MEGU: It’d cause a buzz on the Internet too, right…?

DAI: Geez, just how far ahead was he thinking when he made that suggestion…?

MEGU: He’s always so busy from dawn till dusk every single day, so just when did he attend the meeting?

DAI: We’re just no match for IV, huh…

That afternoon—

YUI: Haah, I guess that recording marks the end of the day. That was pretty hard, huh.

DAI: It’s nothing compared to what IV has to deal with, though.

MEGU: That’s true, but…!

RIO: Have you guys finished changing? Let’s gather up our costumes and bring them out.

DAI: Eh? We hung our costumes up on the rack.

YUI: I was thinking that we could take our costumes to the cleaners by ourselves today.

MEGU: IV usually takes care of jobs like this too, right~?

DAI: Hold on. I’ll bring them… huh?

MEGU: Eh? My costume is gone! I’m sure I hung it up here.

DAI: Mine’s gone too?

YUI: Mine’s not here too… Where did it go?

DAI: Ah! The staff came in while we were removing our makeup just now, right?

RIO: Maybe they took our costumes out while we were chatting away.

YUI: So does that mean that IV requested the staff to do that in advance, or something…?

RIO: Even though we’re trying to get ahead of IV, it feels like he’s been a step ahead of us this entire time.

MEGU: At this rate, it’ll always be hard for us to get his work done before him…

RIO: Our manager sure seems to get his work done outrageously fast.

YUI: Is he for real… Just what the hell is he made of?