#i miss having a dvd collection as well

[imflyingfish]

Going through another phase of wanting to buy a record player verses being unsure if i should

[eunhos]

.

[miuszn]

ellie x reader where ellie comes home after patrol (or after college class if u like modern!ellie more) and sees you wearing one of her shirts with only panties underneath and she gets a littleee feral 🥹

i’m so into you

SETTING : jackson ( canon universe before joel’s death , or not , up to u !! )

RATING : 18+

WC : 2203

WARNINGS : overstimulation , kinda vanilla ? , fingering ( r!recieving ) , oral ( r!recieving ) , top!ellie , she calls u princess , not proofread

NOTES : hii .. so sorry this took so long !! pls forgive me i’ve been so busy 🥹🫶 the end is a liiiiittle bit half assed bc i was trying rlly hard to finish this and i feel like i’m gonna have writers block soon so i was getting out as much as i could before that. so pls forgive me ik the aftercare isn’t too thought out i was trying to come up w stuff i promise but i just couldn’t . anyway . if this was ur request , i hope u enjoy !! i rlly liked this idea i got to writing it right away eheh

— 𓆩♥︎𓆪 —

ellie had a long and tiring day on patrol. it was one of those days she had been unfortunately assigned to one of the areas that had the most infected to clear out, and while it wasn’t a difficult task for her, it was most definitely not something she enjoyed doing either. not only that, but she had to cover for jesse almost immediately after getting back to jackson since he had caught a really bad cold, which meant she was pretty much out the entire day. while this wasn’t something common, it was something that happened every once in a while and it was never enjoyable for her nor for you. of course you understood she had a job to do, but you always dreaded these days where she had more to do than usual.

it was sunset, and you decided to take a quick shower before it got dark. you realized none of your clothes you washed had dried yet, so you decided to just throw on one of ellie’s t-shirts and thought you’d simply figure it out tomorrow. night fell and you started to worry about whether your girlfriend would get back safely, while you knew for sure she’d be fine, there was always that thought in the back of your mind that made you worry. you decided to just watch a movie to get your mind off it and stop worrying about her. you scanned through the collection of dvd’s ellie had stored and wondered how she even managed to get so many. you didn’t think about it too much and grabbed a random one, since you weren’t gonna watch the whole thing anyway, and sat down.

it wasn’t long before ellie finally got home, and you stood up excitedly to greet her as soon as she came through the door. you hugged her and gave her a peck on the cheek, happy that she made it back home safe.

“you were out all day,” you complained, “i missed you so much.”

“m’ sorry babe,” she apologized, “had to cover for jesse. the guy got sick again, i don’t know how the hell he even manages to get sick so often.”

“well, what’s important is you’re here and your safe. i was worried about you, you know?”

“you don’t have to worry about me,” she brushed you off, “i’m fine, see?”

you playfully rolled your eyes and pulled away, that’s when she finally got a good look at you and she realized you were only wearing a t-shirt. her t-shirt. she knew you knew she struggled to control herself whenever she saw you in her clothing, regardless of how many times she might complain about having nothing to wear after you use them all. but you hadn’t thought about that when you just threw it on, in fact, you pretty much completely forgot about all that.

ellie wasn’t sure on wether or not she was gonna make a move, she wasn’t sure if you were in the mood and didn’t want to make thinks awkward. she figured you would just want to spend some time with her after she’d been out all day, and nothing beyond cuddling and some kisses. regardless, she decided to test the waters.

you both sat down back on the couch and continued watching the movie. you gave ellie a short summary of what had happened so far so she would understand what was going on in the movie, but little did you know she wasn’t interested in the movie. her eyes were on you.

a few minutes into the movie, she put her hand on your waist and gently pulled you closer to her, and then rested her hand on your thigh. whew. you loved it when she did little things like that, it turned you on whenever she showed hints of possessiveness no matter how small, and she knew this. that’s exactly why she was doing it. she was trying to see how long it would take for you to crack, how long it would take for you to beg her to touch you. although you felt a little heat from the small gesture, you weren’t aware that was her intention. you didn’t think much of it, as it was something she did often and it might’ve simply been out of habit.

about 10 more minutes passed by and ellie realized that hadn’t been enough. she noticed the goosebumps on your skin from the cold, and saw there was a small blanket on the end of the couch on her left, so she reached and grabbed it.

“you cold?” she asked.

“yeah,” you replied. “not a lot though, it’s fine.”

“we can use this blanket,” she suggested, “it’s kinda small though. wonder how we can share it.”

“maybe.. i can sit on your lap?” you responded, not considering the implications she might get from it. of course, she agreed. now she was one step closer to having you exactly how she wanted you. she let her hands wander around and finally rested them on your waist. she started placing gentle kisses behind your neck and on your shoulders, and you finally caught on to what she was trying to do.

“ellie..”

“hm?” she didn’t stop what she was doing.

in that moment you remembered how much she loves you wearing her shirts. you hadn’t put thought into it when you first put it on, but now it was all starting to make sense “i know what you’re trying to do..” you said.

“n’ what’re you gonna do about it, princess?” she said, playful smirk tugging on her lips. she knows how much you like that nickname. it turns you on, and she knows it. she moved your leg slightly, parting your legs so your cunt would be directly on her leg, the only barrier being her jeans and your panties. held your waist a little tighter and started slightly and slowly moving you back and forth, stimulating your clit through the thin cloth of your panties with the friction of her rubbing you against her leg, causing you to let out a few whimpers and soft moans. while the rough fabric of her jeans rubbing against your clit, your panties providing little protection, felt a little uncomfortable, it was something you could overlook. she kept moving your hips back and forth for a moment before stopping and removing one of her hands from your waist and moving it to your inner thigh. she placed it there for a second, then slowly moved it up your crotch and lightly tugged on your panties.

“may i?”

you nodded, and she swiftly removed them and threw them somewhere on the floor. she teasingly slid a finger along your slit, making you softly moan at the contact of her cold fingers against your warm skin.

“wow, barely touched you n’ you’re already so wet. aren’t you embarassed?”

you bit your lip and looked down, trying to contain

the noises that wanted to escape your mouth. after a few moments of her sliding her finger along your slit to tease you, you started to get fed up and needed more.

“els, please..”

“hm? please what, baby?”

“please.. fuck me already..”

“you’re gonna have to try a lil’ harder than that, pretty girl.” she smirked, and started rubbing circles on your clit. she didn’t want to give you what you wanted immediately, she wanted to have a bit of fun with you first.

“ellie, please, f-fuck.. please fuck me..” you begged.

“hmm.. alright princess, i will.”

she slid a finger inside you and started gently thrusting it in and out of you. she went at a slower pace, and she was doing it on purpose. she loved teasing you, especially when you got all whiney and started begging her to do more. it didn’t take long before you started to get impatient from the small amount of stimulation she was giving you.

“too little..” you blurted out.

“oh?” she poorly pretended to be surprised by your remark. “is it really?”

“y-yes.. please.. more..”

“you sure you want more?” she chuckled. “can you handle it?”

you nodded, just so desperate to feel more. she slid another finger in you and pumped them in and out at a faster pace, curling them to hit your sweet spot causing you to moan louder and more than you previously were. soon enough, she felt your walls clench around her fingers and she knew you were close. she kept thrusting her fingers in and out of you, but started using her free hand to rub circles on your clit, causing you to whine from the overstimulation. she realized this and started to tease you.

“what happened, tough girl? didn’t you say you could handle it?”

“ah.. ellie..” you whined.

“you sound so pretty like this. all whiny n’ such a mess from me touchin’ you. so cute. and no one gets to see you like this except for me.”

“i’m..”

“i know, princess. cum for me.”

and almost on cue, you did. you thought that was it, but she lifted you with ease and laid you down on the couch, discarding the blanket you guys had been sharing until now. you were still sensitive from the orgasm you just had, so you thought ellie was done. but you were far from right. you looked over to your panties that were on the floor thinking you were about to put them back on, but it’s as if she read your mind and said,

“you won’t need those for now.”

you looked at her a little confused.

“what, you think i’m done with you?” she chuckled, getting on the couch and positioning her head between your legs, gently forcing them open. “we’re not done ‘till i say we’re done. got it?”

“w-wait, ellie, i’m still-“

she gave you a long lick to tease you, which caused you to moan.

“sensitive?” she finished your sentence for you. “even better.”

with that, she started to eat you out as if you were her last meal, and she was not being gentle at all. she didn’t give two shits that you were still sensitive. in fact, it turned her on even more hearing your loud moans and heavy breaths, and seeing the small tears that flowed from your eyes due to the overstimulation as she licked you and sucked on your clit mercilessly. she then slid in two fingers, again, continuing to stimulate your clit with her mouth as she pumped her fingers in and out of you at a rapid pace while curling them with every thrust. you felt like you were in heaven, but at the same time, felt like you were in hell. it was a little painful, but you didn’t mind a little bit of pain because it was overshadowed by the pleasure you were feeling. you felt your mind go blank, all you could feel was ellie mercilessly fucking you with her mouth and fingers. at one point you ended up losing track of all the times you came due to the intense feeling and only came to your senses once she was done. she gave you a few moments to cool down, and when you finally snapped back to reality, she was caressing your face and watching closely to make sure you were fine.

“you did so good, baby,” she praised. “was i.. uh.. was i too rough?”

“a little,” you answered honestly, “but it was okay. i loved it.”

“you sure? was it painful at all?”

“a little, but i enjoyed it. i’m fine. don’t worry about it.”

“if i’m ever being too rough, just tell me to stop, ‘kay?” she reminded you, “i don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“ellie, it’s fine,” you insisted. “what was that all about anyway?”

“well, you know,” she broke eye contact. “i just couldn’t resist you. you look so fucking sexy whenever you wear my clothes. you drive me crazy.”

“i wasn’t really thinking about it when i put it on..” you admitted, “but i’m glad you like it. maybe i’ll steal your clothes more often.”

“i’d be happy having barely any clothes to wear if it means i get to see you wearing mine.”

she helped you off the couch, and insisted on carrying you due to your weak legs even though you’d be able to walk to the bed.

“i think i need another shower..” you said once you looked in the mirror and realized how sweaty you are.

“i can get a warm bath running for you,” ellie offered, “if you want i can bring you some snacks or a book while you’re in there.”

“it’s fine-“

“i insist,” she said. “just relax and lay here until it’s ready, okay? i don’t mind doin’ it. i got you like this anyway.”

“ellie..”

you smiled at her and finally accepted. she never once let you do anything like this yourself, especially not after she had been a little rough with you, she needed to make sure you were fine, and she liked taking care of you. and she might not say it often, but she really loves you.

[bloatedandalone04]

In The Way I Need You | Part 8

Series Masterlist

➪in which you and clay go on your first date and quickly realize just how much you like each other.

PSA: strongly suggested to read the warnings before proceeding.

WC; 3.3k | Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡

You were going through Clay’s questionable movie collection as Joey played with his blocks on the floor a few feet away from you, his lips moving a million times a minute as he told you whatever random thought came to his mind. 

“My dad really likes you,” he said, making you look over at him with a smile, the DVD for Ghostbusters in your hand. 

“Yeah?” You ask, setting it aside before rummaging through another bin in hopes you could find a movie suitable for Joey. “I really like him, too.”

Joey knocks the tower he had just built down and starts again as he says, “He talks about you a lot,” 

You blush as your hand brushes against the DVD for The Lion King, and your mind instantly goes back to the first night you spent here. The same night you and Clay kissed for the first time in this very room. “Does he?” 

Joey nods and you knew you’d have to tease Clay later about the fact that his own son had accidentally exposed him. “We think you’re pretty,”

You get up and walk over to him before wrapping your arms around his little body and lifting him up. “Really?” You hum, kissing his cheek quickly as you make your way upstairs. “Well, I think you are adorable.” 

It was nearing seven thirty when you finished bathing Joey, and as soon as you had him snuggled under his covers, Clay poked his head into the room with a small grin. “Daddy,” Joey called out to him as Clay entered the room and sat next to his son. 

“Hey, buddy,” he said back, smoothing out Joey’s hair before leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. “I missed you.” He said before looking up at you with tired eyes. 

You smile down at him as you put away the book you had just finished reading to Joey. 

“And you,” he murmurs, taking your hand in his in front of his kid. “Go to sleep, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow. I think grandma wants to steal you for a little bit, so you get to spend the day with her.”

“Okay,” Joey smiled up at his dad before closing his eyes.

“I love you,” Clay whispers and looks over at you as he stands up. He laces your fingers together as he tugs you out of the room and quietly shuts the door behind him. “How was your day?” He asks as he leads you back downstairs and into the living room. 

“It was good,” you answer as he moves to sit on the couch, his hand slipping from yours in order to pull you onto his lap. “Joey and I talked a lot.”

Clay smiled up at you, “About what?”

You hold back a smirk as you smooth out his shirt. “About how much his dad likes me,” you say and watch as his smile fades and his brows furrow in embarrassment. “Apparently he talks about me a lot, too.

Clay groaned and closed his eyes. “God, that kid has a big mouth,” he muttered, resting his head against the top of the couch. 

“So does his dad, apparently,” you smirk and he rolls his eyes. 

“I’m never talking to him about you again,” he said, but was only half serious. 

“That’ll be hard to do, I hear that kid really likes me, too,”

Clay grinned and nodded in agreement. “He does,” he leaned in and pressed a kiss to the side of your head. “And I love how much he loves you already.”

Your smirk softens as you think about the sweet kid sleeping upstairs. “I kinda love him, too,” you confess and watch as Clay’s smile grows. “He’s so much like you, it’s hard not to grow attached to him…to both of you.”

Clay’s smile fades at that, but before you could question if you had said the wrong thing or not, he was leaning in and pressing his lips to yours. The kiss surprises you but you quickly reciprocate it, your hands sliding up his arms and gripping his shoulders. 

His own hands grab hold of your waist and pull your body right up against his. Your lips mesh together with a sense of desperation, the few kisses you’ve shared before this clearly not being enough for the both of you as you connect over and over again with very little breaths in between. 

“Someone really did miss me,” you tease when you pull away.

“Of course I missed you,” he softly scoffed as he gently traced shapes onto your jean covered thighs. “Do you want to go on a date tomorrow?” He asked and then kissed you again.

A grin breaks out on your lips, making you involuntarily break the kiss. “Yes,” you answer and press three quick kisses to his mouth. “I do.”

“Great,” he rasped in between kisses before pulling away with a boyish grin. “I’ll pick you up at….wait, when are you free?”

You press a final chase kiss to his lips. “Whenever you are,”

“So….say, six AM?”

Your eyes widen and you pull away with a nervous laugh. “Okay, maybe not that early,”

Clay shakes his head as you move to settle against his side. “How about around one? I’ll pick you up,”

You give him a teasing look, “Rick will pick me up,”

“I’m giving him the day off,” he says and you look up at him in surprise. 

“You are? So you’re actually picking me up then?” Clay hums, pressing his cheek to the top of your head. “Wow, and they say chivalry is dead.”

-

Clay was actually feeling nervous as he gave the taxi driver, yes taxi driver, your address. 

He wanted to drive himself, but was advised against it ever since his heart attack, so he was left with the task of hailing a cab and getting to you that way. He was sure you wouldn’t care, though. If he knew anything at all, it was that you were a genuinely nice person and didn’t care about the things he usually felt embarrassed or concerned about, and he adored you for it. 

The last time he had felt this nervous was when he was going on his first official date with Sam. That felt like forever ago, and he realized that he didn’t miss those years as much as he used to anymore, and he knew it was because of you. 

When he arrives at the cute townhouse apartment, he asks the cab driver to wait for a few minutes before getting out of the car and walking up the stone steps that led to the door. He knocked a couple times and was only waiting for a few seconds before the door opened and you gave him a nervous smile. “Hi,”

“Hi,” he said back, looking at the cute white and blue dress you were wearing. “You look pretty.”

You blush and reach behind you to shut the door. “Thanks,” you reply. “You look hot.”

Clay laughed, looking down at his white button up and dark jeans. Yes, he was actually wearing jeans. What were you doing to him? He never wore jeans, but he didn’t feel the need to constantly dress formally around you like he did with everyone else. He didn’t feel the need to pretend. “Thank you,” he said and held his hand out to you. 

When you take it, he leads you to the cab and watches as you fight back a smile. “You took a cab here?”

“Yeah,” he answered, opening the backseat door. “I was going to drive myself but…” He gestured to where his heart was weakly beating in his chest. “I’ve been told it’s not a good idea right now,” 

Your eyes soften and you squeeze his hand in yours. “I get it,” you murmured and got in the back when he moved out of the way. 

“I was thinking about showing you Times Square,” he offered and you grin over at him. “I know it’s a bit of a long drive, but maybe we can spend a few hours down there? And then we can get dinner.”

“That sounds perfect, Clay. Just nowhere expensive,” you reach over and grab his hand again as the forty minute drive begins. 

He was a bit worried that it would be awkward, but he should’ve known that with you it never was. You made him feel comfortable, and he could only hope he made you feel the same. Chances are that he did, as the whole drive consisted of small talk that allowed him to get to know more about you. 

You were a straight A student in high school, used to work at a movie rental store and loved it before you had to quit when you moved to Brooklyn, your favorite animal is a polar bear, and your left eyebrow lifted every time you talked about a topic you loved. 

You didn’t tell him that last one, of course, he picked up on it and realized that you probably didn’t even know you did it, but it was cute and so you for some reason. 

It was nearing two when you finally made it to the busy Times Square, and you looked a bit overwhelmed as you stood on the sidewalk with him next to you. “Wow, it’s lively down here,” you observe and tighten your hold on his hand. 

“Are you okay?” He asked and lifted his free hand up so he could tuck your hair behind your ear. “I guess I should’ve warned you that it can get a bit busy around this area. I’m sorry, baby.”

“I knew it would be,” you trail off and meet his eyes. “I’m okay, really, just don’t let go of my hand and we’ll be fine.”

Clay laughed and pulled you closer to him. “That’s more than okay with me,”

He showed you all the various stores and restaurants around Times Square, all while keeping his hand locked in yours. It can get confusing, even for him at times, so he tried to not get completely lost in the area he was only somewhat familiar with. 

“This city just gets bigger and bigger everyday,” you laugh and pull him along with you to a flower shop. “I feel so overwhelmed, but in a good way.”

You look at all the different flowers with a pretty smile painted on your lips. “What’s your favorite kind?” He asked and you pointed over to the red roses. 

“It reminds me of when I was little and I would people watch at the living room bay window,” you say as you walk over to the roses, and Clay follows after you. “I had these neighbors named Cindy and Mark. They were a couple and used to babysit me after school until my parents got home. They were across the street from us and every single time Mark got home from work, he would have a single red rose in his hand and sometimes I’d get to see him give it to Cindy. She always looked like she had fallen in love with him all over again every time he gave her a rose.”

Clay felt a smile form on his face as he listened to your memory from childhood. He loved how you noticed things like that, and he wanted to know so much more about you. “That’s a nice story,” he commented and you turned to look over at him. 

“It was a nice time in my life,” you murmured and held his gaze until he leaned in and pressed his lips to yours. You kiss him back and wrap your free hand around the back of his neck as you stand a bit taller in order to reach him easier. He pulls away with a soft grin that you had no choice but to copy. “What was that for?”

Clay shrugged, “I just like you a lot,” he answered and you blushed as you broke eye contact and pulled him out of the flower shop. On his way out, one of the employees must have been watching the sweet exchange as he held out a single red rose to Clay as he passed by him, and Clay made a mental note to return to this shop and pay the kind man for his gesture. 

You failed to notice it as you tugged him with you to a small hut on the side of the street that was selling key chains and charms. “I love stuff like this,” you admit as you look at all the charms with wide eyes. You grab one that simply said ‘Welcome to NY’ in a cursive font and hold it up to him. “It sounds dumb, but I don’t know. I just love it.”

“It’s not dumb,” he says and you shrug as you turn to ask the seller how much it was. You hand him a ten dollar bill, even though the charm was only five dollars, and tell him to keep the change before turning around to face Clay with a toothy smile on your lips. 

“Look,” you say and hold the charm up before adding it to your keychain. “I’m a real New Yorker now.”

Clay laughed, “I think you’re the only person in New York that actually has a keychain that says ‘Welcome to New York’,” 

You roll your eyes but soften your expression when he holds up his hand and shows you the rose. “Clay,” you whisper and slowly take it from him. 

“I don’t want to pry into your past, what I already know about it is enough for me, but I do want you to have good memories here, too,” he said and your smile grew as you stepped forward and wrapped your arms around him. 

“Trust me,” you start as he returns your hug by wrapping his arms around your shoulders. “All the memories I’ve made here have been amazing. I have you and Joey to thank for that.”

Clay kissed the top of your head. “You don’t need to thank us, pretty girl,” he murmurs and pulls away to brush your hair out of your face. “You’ve done so much for us. It’s been better with you around, and Joey loves and trusts you so much…I think he really needed someone like you in his life.”

Your eyes glaze over and you look away. “Stop it,” you scold lightly. “I refuse to cry on the first date, Clay.” 

“I’m sorry,” he laughed and looked up at the darkening sky. The streets had cleared out a bit, but he still kept you close to him, simply because he loved having you near him. “It’s nearly five thirty. Are you hungry?”

“Always,” you answer and lace your fingers with his as you bring the flower up to your nose and inhale the fresh scent. 

“Did any of the places we passed look good to you?” He asked as you began walking down the street again. 

You nodded as you closed your eyes and grinned. “I’m fine with anywhere,” you tell him. “Just as long as they have diet coke.”

Clay rolled his eyes and began guiding you towards one of the more pricey restaurants, but you stepped back with a look of warning that had him grinning as he easily pulled you along with him. Your complaints fell on deaf ears, and you eventually gave in when he ordered you a diet coke, and the rest of dinner passed by with more talking and even more flirting. 

It was nearing seven when the two of you got into the back of a cab and started the forty minute drive back to Brooklyn. Clay sat behind the driver as you crawled over and rested against his side, the dark scenery not capturing much of your attention as you gaze up at Clay. “I had fun,” you tell him quietly as he wraps his arm around your shoulders. “This is the best day I’ve had in a while.” 

“I’m glad,” he whispered back, kissing you quickly before resting his chin on the top of your head. “Are you tired?”

You nodded, “A bit,”

“It’ll be a while before we get back to your place,” he says. “You can close your eyes if you want.”

You whine a bit as you move closer to him. “I want to be with you,”

“I’m here,” he assured you, tracing his fingers up and down your arm. “I’ll be here when you wake up. Promise.”

Giving in, you nod again and close your eyes, and Clay sat completely still as he listened to your quiet breathing. The drive back went by surprisingly quick, and he was a bit disappointed when he gently shook you awake and helped you out of the car. He loved spending more than an hour or two with you, and he was beginning to realize that he wanted to do it all the time. 

He takes your hand in his as the two of you walk up the stone steps that lead up to your front door, and when you get there, you turn to him with a tired smile. “I don’t want you to leave,” you shyly confess as you drape your arms around his neck, being careful not to crush the rose. “Today was amazing, Clay.”

Clay smiled down at you and kissed your forehead. “I don’t want to leave, either,” he admitted and pulled away to brush his nose against yours. 

You give him a teasing grin as you backed yourself up against the door and pulled him with you. “I don’t get you all to myself very often,” you mumble, scratching at the short hairs on the back of his neck. “If I’m not careful, I might become selfish when it comes to you.”

“Please,” he whispered as he braced both hands against the door on either side of your head. He leaned in and ghosted his lips over yours as he continued, “Please, be selfish with me, because I think I’m selfish with you, too. I’m jealous of my own kid because he gets to be around you more than I do.”

You smile at that. “Kiss him goodnight for me?” You sweetly ask and he nodded instantly before pressing a deep kiss to your lips. 

Your hands slide down his back and you pull his body right up against your own, and the quiet moan that left your mouth had him pressing himself harder against you. That damn sound you made will stay with him all night, and he knew he wanted to get you to make it more often. He wanted to discover all the pretty sounds you make whenever he got you alone with him, and he wanted to see if you tasted as sweet as he knew you were. 

He needed to go before he began to physically show you the effect you have on him. That could wait. He wanted to take his time with you, he didn’t want to rush into things like he did before, even if he was convinced that you were everything he could possibly want and more. 

“I should go,” he mumbled against your mouth, and you whine softly before pulling away. 

“You probably should,” you agreed and he huffed out a laugh before kissing you one last time and backing away. “Thank you for a great first date, Clay.”

He smiled at you as he stepped down onto the stone slabs. “So can I expect a second one?”

You looked in thought for a second. “You can expect to see me at your house for a couple hours a week,” you shrug then give him a genuine smile as you press the rose against the tip of your nose. “Goodnight, Clay. See you on Monday?”

Clay nodded and you turned to unlock and open your front door. “See you on Monday, pretty girl,”

[projectbluearcadia]

[P1] Film Worthy

NSFW Lucifer x F!MC Spice Rating - 2/4 KINDA SPICY

[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ]

Just decided to run with this today, but pornography with plot = dinner. Story CW: Restraint; Whipping; Degradation

[ Story Premise: Lucifer falls asleep during the weekly family movie night, and upset that he did, insists on watching something else with you. He happens to pick something he'll never fall asleep to. ]

Wordcount - 1077

smutty notes (consult if you haven’t read my smut before.)

You feel Lucifer's head lean into yours, his breathing getting softer as he relaxed his weight more and more into you. You think about scolding him about falling asleep in the middle of a movie Levi had made such a passionate point of making everyone watch because it was "TSL's greatest movie", but you can't really blame him. He deserved the sleep, and far be it from you to stop him.

That said, it's become difficult for you to focus on the movie yourself when you're busy trying to keep him from slumping into you so hard that his weight is starting to shove you into Mammon. The white-haired idiot nearly gives his brother away, and you slap your hand over his mouth.

"Say nothing or I'll tell him about your secret rendez-vous," you mouth at him, and he quickly nods. You both pay attention to the movie, even as Levi takes that precise moment to look behind him suspiciously, and you quickly draw your hand over Lucifer's head, hoping Levi won't notice that his eyes are closed.

Fortunately, it seems like he's saved as Henry shouts something at the top of his lungs, and Levi snaps his head back to watch. Nice save, Henry!

Fortunately, the rest of the movie goes without incident, and you just barely manage to cover for him when it ends by saying he fell asleep during the credit roll.

"Luci... C'mon, let's get you to bed," you urge gently as everyone leaves to go to their rooms, but he's out cold. "Lucifer, honey, my head isn't a pillow."

"Mmm..." he hums in his sleep, and you sigh with a little smile.

"Alright, fine, we'll stay here," you concede, carefully pulling the rest of him onto the couch before you lower his head to your lap. "You're lucky you're cute." You ruffle his soft hair, watching his sleeping face as he mumbles nonsense. You yawn yourself "Mm... Guess I'll try to get a siesta too..."

It's just as you're starting to fade in and out of consciousness that Lucifer stirs, and you blink a few times as he sits up and cracks his back with a satisfying yet slightly worrying series of snaps.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Lucifer asks, cupping your cheek. "I didn't want to waste movie night sleeping..."

"It's okay if you get sleepy, Lucifer..."

"But I wanted to enjoy it with you. We haven't spent any time together this week," he protests, and you can't help but chuckle a little because he sounds whiny.

"Want to watch something shorter then, so you don't feel left out?" you ask sleepily, "before we go to bed?" He grins like a boy, and you ignorantly wonder what he's thinking about.

"Something we can only watch together," he adds mischievously. "Let's make it special."

"Sounds like you already have something in mind," you reply, and his blue magic wisps through the darkened room to reveal a... rather interesting DVD in his hand. "Where on earth were you keeping that?"

"There are places in this house that I keep a very good secret of, including my collection of, shall we say, some very erotic theater?"

"That is not theater," you laugh, "and certainly not the kind you normally enjoy."

"Well, I do pick them for story and acting skills above all else, but... I won't lie when I say that similar stories didn't make the cut because they weren't explicit enough for my tastes."

"You are such a pervert," you giggle, and he pokes you in the sides, tickling you while you do so.

"Oh, like you aren't, little Miss Smut? You and Satan go through those dirty fantasies like they're just a bit of light reading before bed."

"Okay, okay, stop it!" you gasp through your giggles. "Just put it on!"

"Your wish is my command," he replies with a cocky smirk before he turns the television back on and loads the disk-drive, a nostalgic hum wavering through the air as the information was read. Lucifer excitedly pulls you into his lap, kissing the back of your head as he presses play.

To some of your surprise, the plot is genuinely interesting; the female lead is a serial adulterer with complicated reasons for cheating, and the male lead had been divorced twice by the same awful woman. Of course, that made him hardened and cynical, and it made her a pathological liar.

Which of course would lead to a very intense scene where he slammed her against the wall, hungrily digging his fingers into both her throat as well as her inner thigh when he asked her if she was trying to play with him.

"O-Oh," you say, shifting on Lucifer's lap as you watch the male lead tease her with the handle of a whip while he covered her eyes. It was made clear to the only the audience that he knew she was lying to him as he told her to guess what he was going to do to her. And the reality dawning on her face as he thrusted the handle into her, letting her feel the whip against her legs.

"Want me to do that, honey?" Lucifer asks sweetly against your ear as he ties her up and degrades her while she begs for him. Begging and begging for him to put it into her, and your mouth falls open at the look on her face.

You raise your hands to your lips, feeling your face warm as you watch him, frustrated, pound at her. You've barely even registered Lucifer's question; you're too busy biting your lip at the curious woman squeezing her legs together at the door, her fingers shudderingly hovering on the handle like she wanted the scolding that the male lead was dishing out.

"Holy shit..." you whisper, even as Lucifer traces his lips down your neck. The entire scene wasn't just dirty; it was believable. The tension was so thick with jumbled emotions of lust, love, shame and anger that it was practically sitting in the room with you.

"Do you really want it that rough?" Lucifer chuckles against your shoulder, running his fingers up against your waist, breaking your concentration in the process.

"I, um... I don't think I can take that..."

"Relax; I was teasing," he chuckles, nursing his hand through your hair. "You don't have to sound so anxious. I'm not going to do anything you don't give me the go-ahead for."

[niklausxcaroline]

Would it be okay to ask you for jdrama recs? Coming from someone who hasn't watched a single jdrama in their life 😊 Kind of a jdrama starter pack please? ❤️

*sweats nervously once again* bc as I said before I honestly don’t like to rec things bc I think my taste is all over the place... 😂 and I'm not one who really pays attention or think about the faults of dramas. I just watch and enjoy (most of the time) lol. It also has only been almost four years for me with watching jdramas so I feel like I'm still pretty new to them haha. but I will try~ and what I mention is honestly more of ones I enjoyed the most watching and can remember!

okaaay! if you want to start out v short and sweet w some 🦋's i have two favorite drama specials 💘

— Tadashi Koi no Hajimekata (2023) | episodes: 01. genres: romance, youth. » there's only one episode but with two different versions! the name mentioned above is the first version and then tadashi koi no hajimekata: horoama? horoniga? date hen is the second version. it basically the same but shows the perspective of the two male leads with additional scenes! i just loved the pairing of mako and eita and their chemistry was soo good and fun. i am still v sad it wasn't an actual full length drama 😭 and the song that played at the end of date version was on repeat for months! 10/10 reccomend ✨

— An no Ririkku: Sakuragi An Haiku Hajimetemimashita (2021) | episodes: 02. genres: drama, youth. » i remember enjoying this one a lot it was definitely one of my favorite watches in 2021! since this one isn't the freshest in my memory (i have the worst memory fr) i can't say much but i swear i was obsessed w this special and the leads back in 2021!! 😆

before i get into mentioning actual full-length dramas i'll mention my two favorite jmovies that i actually physically own :)) so if you're interested in watching a movie before diving into dramas 💐

— Murder at Shijinso (2019) | duration: 2hr. 0 min. genres: horror, mystery, thriller, youth. » i love this dumb (affectionately) silly movie so much!! it might also be because i love the main actress hamabe minami but it's definitely just a fun murder mystery to watch :D

— You're Not Normal, Either! (2021) | duration: 1hr. 38 min. genres: comedy, romance, drama. » i enjoyed this one a lot!!! obviously since i also went out of my way to own it haha. but yeah my reviews for literally everything i like is "i enjoyed it" 😅 but seriously i did 🙇‍♀️

now for dramas!! i'll mention my two all time faves then ones i remember enjoying the most! 💐

— Talio Fukushu Daiko no Futari (2020) | episodes: 07. genres: comedy, law, mystery. » it's been three years since it aired and i'm still crying about it 😭 it's the one drama i never shut up about and think about all the time. it's my favorite drama of all time like nothing throughout the years has had a hold on me since!! (what i've previously said about it~) | the way both leads played off each other and their chemistry was just- a++ the soundtrack for the drama was also such a treat and the vibes matched it so well! the vibes of the whole drama though!! I think it was also shot beautifully. and the consistency (!!! the way they kept things going even the smallest details !!!) throughout was something i really appreciated and looked forward too :’) i really be missing it everyday... </3 | i literally have a talio collection that i finally completed a few months ago 🥹 i have the dvd, cd, vinyl, and the magazine the leads were on the cover of 🫶

— Itsuka, Nemuri Ni Tsuku Hi (2019) | episodes: 06. genres: fantasy, friendship, supernatural, youth. » this one still makes my heart hurt whenever i think about it and i just simply love it to pieces. it really has left an lasting impression on me. short and bittersweet. 🖤

dramas that are romance focused 💓

— Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo (2020) | episodes: 10. genres: comedy, medical, romance. » ahh so i think this was my first jdrama i watched!?! i honestly cant remember if i watched any before this bc this was the first jdrama i actually made gifs of so i'm going off of that as it being the first haha. but if you want something nice and fun to watch with romance at the forefront this is for youuu! bc i feel like most of my recs aren't romance heavy! and i just remember being obsessed with the leads and pretty sure it's what made me continue to watch jdramas 🫣

— Animals (2022) | episodes: 08 (+ 2 specials). genres: business, romance, drama. » loved loved loved this drama! one out of the five favorite dramas i watched in 2022!! great friendships, great message, funny and sweet moments, lovely lead— umi-chan i miss youuu. 🤧

— Oshi ga Joshi ni Narimashite (2023) | episodes: 12. genres: comedy, drama, romance. » definitely one of the funnest and sweetest drama i watched last year and suzuki airi (female lead) it's just such soo good, love her acting! she's also the lead in the drama animals i previously mentioned! pure rom-com with great chemistry!! ✨

— Kieta Hatsukoi (2021) | episodes: 10. genres: comedy, romance, youth. » high school setting with romance/friendship being the focus!! all the characters are so likable and it was such a cute and fun watch!!

— Ore no Kawaii wa Mousugu Shohikigen!? (2022) | episodes: 09. genres: comedy, romance. » easy fun and cute watch with great leads!!

dramas with all other kinds of genres (w hints of romance) ✨

— Bishoku Tantei Akechi Goro (2020) | episodes: 09. genres: comedy, food, mystery, thriller. » ooh i was obsessed w the leads of this one as well LOL. idk i really had so much fun watching this one and i loved main female lead a lot. 😭 also it had some really funny moments 😭

— Toki wo Kakeru Bando (2020) | episodes: 10. genres: comedy, music, romance, sci-fi » #wasnt expecting any crying to happen going into this drama 😩 #miura shohei's performance though?? AMAZING #he had me in tears every time #ryo i love u #not that it's similar but this reminds me of itsuka nemuri ni tsuku hi 🤧 | tags from a post i posted when i watched yeah 😂

— Dr. White (2022) | episodes: 10 (+ 1 special). genres: comedy, drama, medical, mystery. » also another favorite from my five favorite dramas watched in 2022! even though it wasn't finished being subbed until last year i still very much enjoyed what eps i watched back then! like i really looked forward to every episode and soo grateful the subber decided to finish it and subbed the special as well! i might be bias because i love hamabe minami who's the female lead (and is in two other things i mentioned above lol) but all the characters are v likable and they all have great chemistry together! plus i enjoyed the v subtle hint of romance between the two mains like it isn't really there but it is and i was quite satisfied with the ending. 🫶

— Ryosangata Riko: Puramo Joshi no Jinsei Kumitate Ki (2022) | episodes: 10. genres: business, drama, life. » i adore the lead so much, she's the cutest! i find this one to be such a fun and relaxing watch! and there's a cute little hint of romance which was soo good to me and wish we got more of them. 😭 there's also a second season: Ryosangata Riko: Mou Hitori no Puramo Joshi no Jinsei Kumitate ki / with same cast members but set in a new universe that just aired last year!

— Okaeri Mone (2021) | episodes: 120. genres: life, drama, romance. » the number of episodes might scare you but this drama is an asadora (morning drama) which is only 15 minutes per episode! so if you're looking for a longer watch about life with a bit of romance i 10/10 recommend checking it out!! yes hello i always miss them 😭

what i'm currently watching ☕️

— Uchi no Bengoshi wa Te ga Kakaru (2023)| episodes: 11. genres: comedy, law, mystery. » i totally have a thing for law and mystery dramas lol. but i've been enjoying this one a lot and recommend if you want something fun but somewhat serious to watch! and if you just like law dramas like mee 😂

— Nanyobi ni Umareta no (2023) | episodes: 09. genres: drama » this one is keeping me really interested and is definitely a type of drama i haven't really watched much of?? it's engaging, surprising and the actors are great! i feel like most dramas i mentioned are easy going ones to watch besides a few so this one is the latter!

+ special mention if you wanted to watch something base on an manga w anime-like feel ❈

— Kishibe Rohan wa Ugokanai (2020 - 2022) | seasons: 03, episodes: 03, 03, 02. + a movie Rohan au Louvre (2023) genres: horror, fantasy, mystery, thriller, supernatural. » i had been watching since the first one came out in 2020 and i didn't think we would be getting a season every year since and then even a movie! definitely check out if you're in the mood for creepy mystery with pleasing visuals + great outfits!

yeaaah that's it from me! ✌️ i feel like this isn't much of a starter pack-friendly list since it's kind of all over the place sorry 😭 but hope even just one peaks your interest!!

[scenedenial]

please dump some of your current headcannons on me, i beg.

my carmrich headcanons:

-richie took 30 yr old carmy’s virginity obviously …. cause all his life he’s been teaching the little brat things like how to inhale while lighting a cigarette and how to talk to girls without freaking them out so it only makes sense that he’s the one to do this too ….. and it’s awkward and fumbly and kind of unsexy and carmy nuts in like four seconds … but afterwards when they’re smoking in bed and richie’s like hey, cousin, you okay? carmy gets all teary eyed and goes i thought no one would ever want to touch me like that and richie gets a lump in his throat and says c’mon, bear, you’re so stupid

-it’s always kind of been about mikey between them ….. about loss and grief and missing and the helpless feeling of searching for something that’s gone for good .. the feeling of going through something that only a couple people in the world understand and how that can either solidify relationships or tear them apart

-neither of them really sleep all that well or all that much so they spend a lot of time in the middle of the night watching movies …. carmy’s not really a film guy (are you out of your fucking mind, cousin, how the fuck is it not your thing, you’re singlehandedly diminishing my cultural intelligence / what cultural intelligence you dumb fuck, you think your banking app is stealing your identity) but richie has a collection of about thirty thousand dvds (physical media, bear, the final cornerstone of a lost society) so they’ve got a lot to work through

-they don’t really tell people and no one really asks but everybody pretty much knows …. natalie threatened richie with physical and spiritual violence if he damages her little baby brother but tina thinks they’re probably good for each other (maybe two wrongs do make a right)

-carmy has an oral fixation which richie thinks is so fucking cliche (a chef that needs to have his mouth filled; revolutionary) but, hey, he’s not fucking complaining

-richie likes to kiss and he’s good at it; it took carmy a while to get used to cause he’s a rabid fucking dog but it’s kind of nice to be touched that gently .. it’s kinda fucking nice

-eva likes having uncle carmy around to make her fancy pancakes shaped like mickey mouse and she doesn’t really understand but her dad laughs a lot now and she’s glad he isn’t alone

[jarchaeology]

i really appreciate your work archiving jensen’s run on days of our lives, i am having a blast watching sammi’s wedding lol

is days of our lives considered lost media in any capacity? it seems crazy that there is really no way to watch previous seasons on DVDs or streaming. you have preserved literal YEARS of television, are other eras of the show that are just gone?

yay i’m glad you’re watching it!! sorry this took so long for me to answer. it was a super interesting question, which means it sat in my drafts forever.

old episodes of days are really fucking hard to get a hold of, but they do exist. they aren't sold in dvd boxsets or on any streaming service, but generations of soap fans have managed to capture a huge chunk of them on vhs. they just aren't accessible to everyone.

when i started this blog, i couldn't find more than a handful of jensen's episodes. the playlists people used in the past were all nuked for copyright reasons, and most private sales were just straight up scams. i finally found a site that i trusted, but it wasn't cheap. once i was able to raise enough to buy the episodes, i was determined to make them STAY available. that's why the youtube playlist is private. and even if that gets taken down, i have everything on the drive and have encouraged people to download and make their own copies. nothing lasts forever, but my collection has lasted longer than most.

all that being said, there are chunks of days of our lives that might truly be lost media. take a look at the "complete" days collection from the site i used. 1984-2024 is all accounted for, but 1965-1983 is pretty sparse. fans might have copies of those "missing" episodes in their private collections, but that's a whole new research question when you consider the fact that most homes didn't have the ability to record tv until VHS came around in the late 70s.

also, i do think that the network has some, if not all, of this footage. that's kinda the case with most "lost media." we presume it's lost, while also acknowledging that these giant companies probably have scrooge mcduck levels of storage somewhere. there is a time limit on how long material can last in the format it's recorded on, so i hope those archives are at least being well-taken care of.

[sinner-sunflower]

P.2 HH Lucifer-centric AU 18/?

STORY 1, PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12, PART 13, PART 14, PART 14.5, PART 15, PART 16, PART 17, PART 19, PART 20, PART 21, PART 22, PART 23, PART 24, PART 25, PART 26

Update: There will be a change in the chapter upload schedule. New chapters here will be posted MWF starting this week so next update will be on Friday. While TTh are days for me to rewrite and post story 1 chapters on ao3.

Thank you for your understanding <3

-----------------------------------------------

Adam is actually adjusting rather well in Hell which, honestly, baffled Charlie and the others. Lucifer not so much because he's pretty sure Adam was not meant for Heaven but they didn't wanna embarrass themselves by having the first human soul fall in Hell.

And they say Lucifer's the prideful one.

Sure, the dickhead bitches and complains but he deduced the guy would do it regardless of where he was. He always thought that Adam was a lazy ass son of a bitch who's all dick and no brains; like one of those jock characters from Charlie's DVD collection.

Maybe that's why he's adjusting so well. His attitude is very on brand for Hell.

Still doesn't explain this, though.

Lucifer: How are you so good at this? I thought you said you hated it.

Adam: I said I hated it not that I'm shit at it. Besides, who the fuck loves doing paperwork?

Today, Lucifer is at the palace catching up on centuries worth of documents that he missed during this 'me-time'. The Sins initially offered to take over so that he could rest but he insists on doing it himself. He feels bad about relying on the Sins too much every time there's a problem. He's supposed to the older brother! The-uh- King of Hell! And what King can't even do simple paperwork?

Apparently he is, because he and Adam have been at this for days now and the pile just never seem to lessen. He's beginning to think someone has cursed him to be stuck here forever.

Speaking of Adam, Lucifer won't admit it to his face but the other has been a very big help; like they're actually making progress and none of the work is half-assed too.

He can't help but look on in wonder at how the first man is just zooming through the endless papers.

Adam: Oi. I know I'm a fine piece of art but can you stop lookin' at me like that? Take a picture, it'll last longer.

Lucifer: I just can't get my head around all this.

Adam: What's not to get, bruh? You know I'm good at everything; even the boring shit. I handle Sera's when she's too busy doing fuck knows too, you know!

Lucifer: Excuse- what?! You handled Sera's documents?? And she didn't stop you the first time???

Adam: Okay- why the fuck are you acting like that's such a shock?

Lucifer: Helloooooo it's freakin' Sera? It's you? I just-

Lucifer makes an exaggerated gesture of scratching his head in mock confusion.

Lucifer: -is she out of her mind? Did she suffer some form of brain damage?

Adam: Okay, look. You are making this into a way bigger deal than it needs to be, I don't pry into your stupid skills and insecurities.

Lucifer: Bitch, you literally do that all the time!

It was nice, in a weird way, how they're bantering. It almost reminds Lucifer of the first days he came to Eden; how Lilith and Adam pretended for a bit to get along for him.

As an angel, he was taught to see the good in everything. After all, everything was made by Father's hand so why would they be anything less than good and perfect?

They say that God is omnipotent and all-knowing, so he often wonders if his Father intentionally made the humans that way. Still does not explain why he would cast him out when the mistake was in his Father's hands.

Because.

Adam was fun until he said something about Lilith. Adam was fine until he acts like a 'man'. Adam was a friend until he wasn't.

Eden was one hell of a reality check. Pun intended.

Man, was pre-humanity Heaven always been cult-like?

Adam: Bro, how bout you shut up and let me do the work you've forced upon me. And why are you here anyway? I thought you live at that hotel now.

Lucifer: Oh? Would you rather do the work there? I have to warn you; Nifty goes in and out of rooms as she pleases to clean so-

Adam: Ah!!!! Don't say that name!

Lucifer: What? Afraid she's gonna come out of the mirror like some sort of Bloody Mary?

Adam bearing his teeth at him like a wild animal is a funny sight to see but then a got a very genius idea, a literal lightbulb turned on above his head.

Lucifer: Nifty...

Sensing what Lucifer is doing, Adam scrambles up and charges at him. Lucifer dodged him with ease and flies high above the room away from prying hands.

Lucifer: Niftyyyyy~

Adam: Lucifer, stop that shit!

Lucifer: Niffffffffffffffty-

Nifty: Hey guys!

The scream the two let out at the sudden voice were embarrassingly high enough to be mistaken for a teenage girl's.

Adam: WHAT THE FUCK?!

Lucifer: Jesus Christ!

Despite the panic in front of her, the little cyclops just smiled on.

Lucifer: Nifty, what in the world are you doing here?

Adam: Get that thing away from me!

Lucifer: Oh don't be such a baby, it's just Nifty.

Adam: You screamed too, asshole!

He gave Adam a wave to say 'whatever' and turns back to Nifty who has her eyes locked on the panicking demon behind him.

Maybe he should let her have at it at him just a little.

Nifty: I'd love to start a goat collection hehe~

Okay, nevermind. With Adam's surprising skills at organization, he can't afford to die yet until he finishes Lucifer's paperwork.

Lucifer: Uh Nifty, my question?

Nifty: Yes, roach queen?

Lucifer: Roach what? You know what, don't answer that. I asked why are you here.

Nifty: Oh! Miss Charlie is calling for you. Seems pretty urgent.

Lucifer: Did something happen at the hotel?

Nifty: Not really!

Lucifer: So?? What is it???

Nifty: Have you been outside at all, Mr. King?

Lucifer: Well no. We've been holled up all day doing this-

He vaguely gestures to the mess of his office.

Lucifer: And I put up a sound barrier so we wouldn't get distracted. I've also turned off my phone sooooooooOHHHH my god!

What the shit?? 666 missed calls??? Most of them are from Charlie.

Nifty: Said that no one could reach you. The others are trying to calm the panic cause most of the icky demons went straight into the hotel. I wanted to stab them but Miss Charlie told me to just come here and get you!

Probably to prevent bloodshed. His daughter is so smart but-

Lucifer: What actually is happening, Nifty?

Nifty: Oh! The sky is falling!

-----------------------------------------------

Sorry if it's a bit short but I just wanted to write AdamsApple banter and a bit of introspective.

Also, is that a chicken little reference???

Kudos to you if you saw that Spring Broken reference (arguably my fave Helluva Boss episode all because of the creative insults)

[dreaaspeaks]

You can't be serious...

georg listing x reader

Summary: You spend Christmas with Georg after not seeing him for months and try to make him watch 'Love, Actually'

(fluff, tooth aching fluff)

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You hadn't seen Georg in months, the band's popularity had grown immensely, way beyond Germany, even Europe. His constant traveling, band practices, live shows and interviews made it hard for either of you to even find time to call each other, with texts being answered only hours after being sent.

When the band was finally able to take a short three week break before going on tour again after New years, it made you eager to spend every second with Georg. Thankfully, after he picked you up in his arms in the airport, you knew he had the same plan too. A movie night was not uncommon for the both of you, after all he didn't have a whole DVD collection for no reason, however, what was usually a five minute affair of picking what to watch resulted in a thirty minute back and forth.

"C'mon please...I love this movie!" you said with a smile, having tried to force Georg to watch 'Love, Actually' the past half an hour, promising anything you could think of for a chance that he would give the movie a go.

Georg shook his head and pulled you close to his chest, littering soft kisses on your jaw and he muttered against your skin, "You can't be serious...Love, Actually isn't even a really Christmas movie! It just takes place during Christmas, it's like calling Die Hard a Christmas movie" Georg reasoned with a smile still on his face, his chin resting on your shoulder, his fingers playing with the tips of your hair.

You sat up looking at him offended, "Oh my god am I dating someone who doesn't think Die Hard is a Christmas movie?"

Georg rolled his eyes playfully and pulled you back into his chest, you leaning up to kiss his chin softly, "I'll watch Elf if you watch Love, Actually...how about that?" The corner of Georg's lips turned up, a glimmer in his eye as he thought about your proposition.

"Alright...alright, but if I end up sleeping don't blame me, the movie is just boring." Georg stated as you loaded up the DVD, making you playfully glare at him.

You sat back down on the sofa with him, cuddling into his chest, taking in his warm scent. You missed everything about him, the way his arms wrapped around you as if he was protecting you, the way his hair would still fall in his face despite him putting it up in a low ponytail with the old hair tie you gave him. The way he oddly smelled like sleep, the warm, safe scent of faint cigarettes that he would never admit he smoked, the generic cologne scent that always lingered on his skin and clothes from him using too much in his early and mid teens.

Maybe it was subconscious, maybe you had done it on purpose but your hold on his waist as you cuddled into him tightened, your face resting flat in the crook of his neck.

"Now you aren't even watching the movie." Georg teased, kissing the top of your head, running his fingers through your hair making you laugh and hit his chest lightly.

"Shut up...I just missed you that's all." You mumbled softly, lifting your head up from his chest, seeing his eyes soften and felt his arms wrap around your torso tighter.

Georg sighed and kissed your forehead, "I missed you too, I wish I could spend more time with you, really I do..."

You caressed his arms slowly, placing a soft kiss on his cheek, "I know, I know, but you have other commitments as well-"

Georg tried to cut you off but you covered his mouth, "Shhh, you missed me right? So listen to my voice will you? Geo...I'm okay with you being away often, as long as you come back and let me force you to watch sappy movies as we drink coffee at 8pm, I'm happy."

You saw a smile start to grace his face, his perfect teeth flashing before you as he brought his index finger to your chin, bringing you into a soft kiss, his hand cupping half your face as you melted into his arms. As Georg tried to deepen the kiss, his tongue grazing softly on your lower lip, his fingers digging harshly into your fleshy thighs, you slowly pulled away, leaving him with a soft peck.

"What?" Georg asked softly, his eyes staring up at you, your chin still between his thumb and pointer finger.

You smiled down at him, your fingers removing his hair tie in a swift motion, "Nothing...just that this is so cliché." You muttered, your head resting back down on his shoulder.

Georg's brows furrowed, his eyes squinted as he turned to you, "I still don't get it, what?"

"I mean, the fire place, the movie playing in the background going on about love, warm winter sweaters...you've got admit, when we started to make out it just got really cliché." You stated, smiling as you realised that if this was a movie, you'd be given the cheesy happy ending, a love song sang by some indie band playing you to the credits.

Georg chuckled and sighed, suddenly pulling you into his lap, his right hand cupping your cheek, "You can't be serious, you stopped us making out for the first time in months to state the obvious?"

As your fingers ran through his hair and your head nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "I had to, because you're the one" You mumbled into his neck, holding up your pointer finger and wiggling up and down, mimicking the love-sick Simon in the scene in Love, Actually playing behind you.

Georg’s cheeks flushed as he rolled his eyes playfully, he pulled your head up, pulling you into a soft, loving kiss, making up for his constant absence and drowning you in his aura.

His warm and familar scent that you dreamed about every night for months now surrounding your every particle, the firm grip you imagined as you slept, holding you so assuredly that you knew you'd never be lonely again, the faint taste of mint on his lips from the lip balm you practically forced him to wear when you first started dating. All of it was just...him.

"Maybe I do like this movie after all."

[blogthebooklover]

How do you feel about the upcoming pota movie :)?

Super excited, @pink-writer-girl! I'm very curious about where the film will be going. I trust Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the writers, because they are obviously fans of the original franchise; and from the "Rise" Blu Ray DVD commentary, Rick has collected a lot of information and articles about exotic pets, advances in science/medicine, animal testing and abuse in these facilities. However, for this film, so far it looks like they're telling the classic Hero's Journey with Noa. I know they're also producers for this movie, which I think is a very smart move; because this whole reboot franchise is their idea. I am most definitely going to see this in theaters (cinema, just in case if you're not State side, lol); because I missed out on watching the "Caesar" trilogy.

I'm really curious about Mae and Noa's alliance, with maybe just a little bit of a romantic element in there. I'm an absolute SUCKER for anything Beauty and the Beast, from reading fairy tale retellings to fanfiction and movies. We did see a little bit of this element with Nova in War, and some Hunchback of Notre Dame as well, when she gives Caesar food and water; but that was also a child-and-their-pet vibe, too. Mae and Noa on the other hand, seem to be around the same age (if we're talking human years in Noa's case). I am very excited to see what happens when they're at the abandoned observatory, and when they have to interact with Proximus Caesar.

On that note, I am so curious about Proximus Caesar. He is obviously unhinged, but he also knows about the history of humans and technology. In the newest trailer he says, "They could fly like eagles fly. They could speak across oceans." So I'm wondering if this is also a reference to the original book, and Rod Serling's draft for the 1968 movie.

I do have some drafts saved for Planet of the Apes in general, be on the lookout when I post them!

[animehouse-moe]

One Punch Man Season 1 Storyboard Collection

It's been a minute since I've shared about my art book escapades on here, but this set is just way too cool to not talk about. Only produced for a limited edition run of S1 DVDs, these art books are a pain to find, but I finally got my set and wanted to show them off a little bit.

What bigger name is there for direction on One Punch Man than Shingo Natsume? Having boarded the first two as well as the final episode of the season, there's way too much for me to want to share here.

The issue being that the art books are painfully small, and as you can tell it's two pages of storyboards to a single page in the art book. Makes it incredibly difficult to get good pictures of, but I've got a few here from the first volume.

Upon first opening this first art book, I was really surprised to see how Shingo Natsume boarded the series. His work as a director and animator is incredibly refined and accurate, so seeing so much detail and information missing in these boards surprised me.

Still, for what's lost in detail, Natsume makes up for in feel. The first image I shared of the boards really illustrates that. Even though the details aren't incredible, the feeling and flow expressed with the boards is incredibly strong, and is a massive piece of why season 1 did so well.

Also included in these storyboard collections is a handpicked group of keyframes from the relevant episodes.

What I really really love about these is that they provide a cut number as well as the animator behind the cut. You can't really see it well in the second image, but in the first you can see that Oda Gousei is credited with the specific cut shown.

Anyways, it's really really incredible seeing the insane work of Season 1 in this much detail and background. Makes me wish these art books were easier to find and were a larger trim.

Really such a pain to try and photograph, and even still there's a lot of issues with these images. In spite of that though, you can 100% tell how amazing this work is, and this is only for the first two episodes.

Volume 6 is definitely my favorite volume thanks to Yutaka Nakamura's keyframes being featured in it, but I need to figure out how to get better images so that I can properly share those keyframes.

But that's about all I have to share with the collection. It's a lot of storyboards and a little bit of keyframes, but I think regardless of interest it's a super easy recommendation for people to pick up, if they can find it (the first vol is typically reasonable, second vol not so much, and good luck with the rest sadly).

[mcondance]

a quick talk on obtaining physical media

you can get your physical media off of amazon. you can type in “xyz dvd” “xyz cd” “xyz vinyl” in google too and it’ll show you results for ebay and other stores like walmart and target probably. i don’t really do this cause i’m a vintageantiqueoriginal fucker.

edit: ebay is a great place to find dvds, cds, and vinyl that aren’t originals but have been opened so they’re cheaper still!

if you’re an antique, vintage, original fucker like me, ebay is the way to go. i got my slc punk original 1999 (first edition, MINT CONDITION) dvd off ebay and i also got my soundgarden 1996 down on the upside digipak cd off ebay too (yes i’m flexing 😁).

discogs is another great way to get original vinyl and cds. i got my ORIGINAL 1996 SOUNDGARDEN DOWN ON THE UPSIDE VINYL off discogs. but only people who know the worth of what they’re selling use discogs, so prices are higher on there. ebay is always my first step. (i was flexing again 😋).

tip: to make sure you’re getting the original pressing or version, zoom in on the back of the vinyl sleeve, cd or dvd, look at the bottom where all the copyright information and stuff is, and it’ll have what year it was printed labeled on it. if the pictures included with the listing don’t have the dates, ask for pictures of the back or move on.

also, people using words like “original” “vintage” “first pressing” on ebay definitely know the value of what they’re selling. i’m personally too lazy to sift through new copies and old copies, but if you wanna try your hand, simply type in “xyz dvd.” look for listings with no decorative words or words that younger people would use. you wanna find someone’s granddaddy selling his old cds, dvds, and vinyl. it’ll be cheaper than other listings because they just want it out of their house or have no use for it anymore.

antique, resale, and vintage shops also have dvds, cds, and vinyl. it’s more hit or miss cause you have to hope they have what media you’re looking for but you can also find things that you weren’t looking for but are nice to have. i just came from a resale store and i found the temptations on dvd which wasn’t on my list but it’s fucking nice to have 😋😋

as for how to indulge in this media, you can get that one white cd player that everyone has off of amazon. i’m currently looking for an older cd player as well as a dvd / vhs tv for when i start collecting vhs. again, ebay is the way to go.

collecting physical media is fun and also very important with the threat of media erasure looming heavier and heavier over us everyday. please collect all of your favorite movies, shows, and albums, before it’s too late.

[0ur-diabolikal-rapture]

the past month or so has been really strange for me in terms of my current fixation/interest/idk the word for with toby stephens

In 2010 I studied jane eyre as part of my english class and my teacher made us watch the 2006 bbc adaptation with him and ruth wilson in it, and although I didn’t read the book cover to cover, I really loved the adaptation

In 2013 I went to see him perform in private lives in london. at the time I was really into the tv show the hour, and seeing anna chancellor being cast really made me want to see the show, and recognising toby from the promo material made me even more excited about going

after the show my friend at the time and I waited at stage door to try and meet anna, and we were lucky enough to meet the entire cast as it was literally just me and my friend waiting there. all of them were really great but toby in particular went out of his way to interact with us and was really sweet I’ll never forget it. the show itself was so funny and was definitely a highlight of the theatre trips I’d been on that year, and I’d even got clippings of interviews and other promo bits that anna and toby had done during that time too

and then in 2014, I’d always been obsessed with period dramas but I’d managed to watch north and south (2004) for the first time, which honestly changed my life it’s still one of my favourite things ever. and as a collector I’d obviously wanted to have it on dvd, so I opened up amazon and added it to my basket and I’m not sure why, maybe it was offered as a recommendation? or having watched a period drama it made me think of others I’d enjoyed? but I bought the dvd for jane eyre as well.

and since then, even through the many times I’d culled my dvd collection I always managed to keep those two even though I didn’t watch them, because I knew how much I’d enjoyed them in the past I couldn’t part with them

since around 2021 I’ve watched north and south maybe once a year maybe twice but I was still reluctant to rewatch jane eyre in case it wasn’t as good as I remember but finally in 2024, after a little period drama resurgence I rewatched it. and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks. I wanted to rewatch it immediately, I’d completely forgotten how good it was all those years ago and I was so glad I’d chosen to watch it again

about a month ago now, I’d seen a edit on my twitter of toby for black sails, I didn’t even know the show existed I had no idea of the context or anything but I saw it and was so intrigued by it that I went out the same day and bought the entire boxset, I had no job and I really didn’t have the money to purchase it but I just had a good feeling about it. (for context: I don’t have wifi at my place so I buy dvds to watch things) but after a couple of episodes I was so happy that I got them and I knew it would be my new favourite show ever and I was obviously obsessed with flint

since finishing black sails I bought a few more dvds of toby’s work and I’m having such a good time and I genuinely don’t know why I didn’t do this after seeing private lives because that’s my usual pattern after seeing things that I really enjoyed. I really admire his craft and there’s just something about him I can’t really describe but I’m just a little fascinated at the moment

it’s just been a strange but interesting time for me having loved an actor’s work for such a long time, having met him such a long time ago and only now really exploring his work properly. I’m obviously having the best time but it feels so.. bittersweet? illogical? like I’ve missed out on a lot? life is strange…

but anyway I watched the tenant of wildfell hall today and baby toby holding a puppy healed me

[emotionally-charged-arson]

Avantasia - Moonglow: Earbook Notes and Text Interview

I've been meaning to post these for a while. All the little extras from the Moonglow earbook, for posterity. This and Moonflower Society (which I'll do soon enough) have been collecting dust on my shelf for a while. May as well share them with the masses. Absolutely fascinating insight into Tobias Sammet's writing process and really got me to hear the album as intended, purposefully vague as that intent may be.

Moonglow: an interview with Tobias Sammet on the New Album

What made you decide to create Moonglow and carry on with Avantasia - when it was originally just a little side project?

Tobias: I had that music in me, those songs, those lyrics and the longing to somehow let it out. I believe that if you take art seriously and don’t do it just for what is expected or reasonable to the world around, you can’t really come up with a plan and a strategy. If you are honest, intuition tells you what to do.

When did you start working on the material and when did you know that there was going to be a new Avantasia album? 

Some of the ideas came when we were doing our previous album Ghostlights, but sometimes it’s the wrong time to work on a particular song, sometimes you don’t find access to an idea and then you shouldn’t push things. On the other hand we had too much material for Ghostluight anyway, so I put some of it on the backburner. After Ghostlights was done I just kept writing music but I knew I wasn’t under pressure of delivering anything soon. I enjoyed the situation to be without a contract and deadlines for a new album. Of course, we had to come up with the 25th anniversary compilation of Edguy which was quite an amount of work, the book and the DVD and all that. But we didn’t have to deliver a complete new Edguy album, so there wasn’t any creative pressure. I kept compiling ideas in my spare time as always, and at some point I realized that these new ideas clearly were Avantasia songs. 

The material sounds quite embellished and put together with lots of love for detail, almost sophisticated in passages, was that something you did on purpose? 

No, I didn’t think much about it. The whole process spanned over two years, there was a lot of time to write something, put it aside and wait and think about it and go back to add something. I had built my own studio and I was really working a lot in there, a magical place with good old valve equipment. A cozy retreat, sounding great. I spent a lot of time there to think about the details and try out things. It was the first production I used it for. Even on previous albums we had always paid attention to every tiniest detail, which isn’t necessarily common in traditional Heavy Metal these days which makes our music a bit more… I don’t know how to put it, “fragile,” maybe? At least it adds an undertone of subtlety which I kind of miss in Metal music today. However, this time we went even further. Many things are layered, there are a lot of subtle things going on. Strangely the parts are rich in detail and subtle, while the sum is loud and flamboyant. That’s weird, isn’t it? 

That’s why we’re given the instrumental versions on the bonus disc? To discover the details? 

Yes, and even though we had done that with previous albums before, especially this time there is a good reason for that. You’ll hear it when you’ll listen to the instrumental versions of the tracks. But whatever is going on there, we only do what supports the main idea of the song. Nothing must interfere with the quintessence of the main theme of a song. I don’t get music where everybody plays against everybody and they’re all great players and in the end you wonder who in the band is playing which song. And why!

Usually, what do you come up with first, the music or the lyrics? 

There’s no regularity. A lot of what U do happens subconsciously. Sometimes I just have an idea for a lyric, but mostly it’s the music first as I am a musician first and foremost. Yet, lyrics do mean a lot to me personally. There’s nothing wrong with an instrumental, but a bad lyric can ruin a song for me, and writing lyrics is important to me personally as a way to amplify the music and also to express myself. I have concepts and ideas, and sometimes I am furious or sad, angry or whatever. And I let it out. Every now and then a lyric is born from pure hedonism, but it needs to support the music. 

Speaking about the lyrics on Moonglow, is there a concept behind the songs?

Yes, there is. But I don’t want to dissect it, because it is meant to speak to the listener. You will always fail reading someone an instruction to a poem. Lyrics unfold their allure just by their words, not by an explanation. I could give you hints, but you better listen and feel what’s in the words that speaks to you personally. Dissertations by the author ruin the impact. 

The usual question would have been: what is the story of the album? 

Now, the imaginary sub-title of Moonglow is “The Narratives of a Misplaced Entity.” Each song is a picture of a misfit that is thrown into the world of the bold and the beautiful. He’s confronted with a bright and glossy reality which he can’t find a place for himself in. He begins to seek shelter turning to the dark. And darkness seems to offer him a gate out of misery…

So is it a rock opera again? 

I am not sure, I like the term “Rock Opera,” it sounds strong and it gives you an idea of the fantastic world that you are invited to step into, with different characters. Yet, these are individual lyrics, a collection of songs weaving together to a coherent world. I have been told by music industry people that “rock opera” is not a good term to approach kids, too old fashioned a term. But then, I don’t really care. My goal was neither to write a Broadway Musical with big drama, nor to be flavour of the week. I wanted to create a fantastic world that would be a great frame for very personal lyrics, maybe some of my deepest ever. I wanted each song to make sense of its own and fit in the bigger picture that is the entirety of Moonglow. I didn’t think about an arc of suspense because to me that would equal a limitation to the poetic approach. 

But you have a strong line up of guest vocalists to sing different roles again? What are these roles? 

Every singer is a counterpart giving a view from a different angle, an additional character in each song. Your imagination will connect the dots. 

Where do you find inspiration? 

In my own life, my childhood, my professional life and thinking of the challenges and difficulties we’re all confronted with. Feeling like a sore thumb sticking out. As a kid I felt different, then I seemed to find shelter in the Rock world where it took only two records until I felt different again. There are confines and conventions. In your life you are surrounded by people with expectations that a human being with an own vision is bound to fail. When you are sensitive it’s even worse, you don’t want to let others down but it begins to eat you up. You need to acquire a certain amount of stubbornness to protect yourself against burning out. To me writing about it helps, to let things out and weave a fantastic world around it. It’s easier to attach all the feelings to some anonymous homunculus freak in a Bram Stoker type story than writing “when I was a kid my friends put me in a trash barrel.”

Somewhere you said, you wrote most of the album in England…

Some of it. I need a certain environment more than a high gloss recording temple. In England they hesitate to tear down an old building for example. They rather call it vintage or full of character; and then they charge you twice as much. I love their respect for history and tradition. Recently I read an article about psychogeography and if I got it right some intelligent scientist folks have found out that people like me aren’t necessarily crazy. Certain landscapes, buildings, even light situations have a strong influence on my creativity. I was in England quite often recently, and I’d sit in an old pub with a beer, surrounded by Victorian buildings and after a while I was in a different world. And it had nothing to do with the beer. I love Edgar Allen Poe and occult ghost stories, Hammer Studio films and I’m also into the Victorian revival of the Gothic Novel. Moonglow is the world of foggy, eerie streets in Victorian England, its bridges and manor houses at night. 

Do you consider Avantasia a project or a band? 

It’s a solo project with treasured guests. I do things as I please without having to ask anyone, I make the decisions but it all couldn’t be done without the support of amazing guest musicians and a producer called Sascha Paeth who is the best musician I have ever met in my life. He;s a prodigy, the hands that translate my humming to riffs, he will suggest that we should cut off a part and he will make a huge mess of 120 recorded tracks sound great. Sascha helped me become much better as a musician because I had to rise to the challenge of clicking with him on his level which hurts when you are a young musician and you are not ready to work work work. He’s beyond words! Micheal Rodenberg is unbelievable too, especially when it comes to arranging an orchestra with all its details. Then of course the singers and the rest of the band, they are the cream. I mean, what would Starlight sound like without Ronnie Atkins? What would Alchemy sound like without Geoff Tate? Bob Catley has inspired me in so many ways. You can pick anyone who;s on the record. It’s a solo record but also a team, and when we hit the road it’s a family. These people are my friends and the foundation of  our working relationship is joy and mutual respect. They have all earned their spurs a million times. To answer the question: it’s Avantasia! A solo-project-band-tribe with guest stars who become family members. 

Are there any singers that you wanted to have that didn’t accept the invitation to be a part of Moonglow? 

When outside people throw in names I am always a little confused. “Ask him!” “Get her!” “Invite Paul McCartney!” “Get Bugs Bunny!” Well, the term all-star-band is a tempting marketing phrase, but Avantasia shouldn’t be a trophy collection. It’s about songs that are sung by unique singers whose voices are special and suit a certain song, passage, mood or character. Yes, I write a passage, having Bob or Jorn on my mind, and then it's a blessing when these great vocalists finally turn a song into something unique. But it is always about the song and the singers with the type of voice that gave you the inspiration to write a certain passage. I do not want to make Avantasia gimmicky.

Your fans have been asked to submit questions to you, here are some of them:

How do you manage to change the song's keys several times in a song without losing the flow of the song? Is that something you do on purpose?

Not losing the flow certainly is. But the key changes happen naturally. I write on a piano which I believe makes understanding harmonics easier as opposed to composing on a string instrument. Changing keys makes it interesting. When you've written 10 or 15 albums in one musical genre, it's always a challenge to do something distinctively yours and not be boring. At some point you'll end up adventuring through different keys to keep things exciting and once you feel safe doing it you stop realizing you're leaving the original key beyond the typical Desmond-Child-three-half-tones-up final chorus thing. It's fun. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, they all went through different keys in one piece. And classical music is still the foundation of what we do. Classical music and Blues, and Iron Maiden of course.

Some people think that you have moved away from Power Metal and become something different throughout the years. They ask if you consider returning to the sound of your first albums one day?

I don't think about those things, I let things happen. You can't force it, then it becomes insincere and you're not Metal but plastic. I can honestly swear that I never denied my roots and identity, I just laid off shackles and allowed myself to let in a bit of diversity. What's the difference between Hard Rock and Metal?

Was Dio Hard Rock? I read that Kiss were considered Metal when the term Heavy Metal was brought to the table in the early 80s. Who defines the terms, who is the doorman next to the pigeonhole deciding who's gonna be granted admission and who won't? Do I really want to go in a club that wants to keep others out who don't belong? And who makes the rules? Wikipedia? Will I listen to my heart or to Wiki-pedia? And then: Is taking Wikipedia as a reference Metal? Is Maiden Metal even though they don't use double bass drums? And - most importantly: who cares? I don't want to sound disrespectful, but I am 40 years old, music style discussions don't mean that much to me anymore. We got a little more diverse, I can't see any tendency towards a certain style or away from another. Call me Power Metal and I proudly agree, call me Epic Rock or Symphonic Metal, that's alright too. Avantasia is Avantasia. It feels great and if you ask me, most of it doesn't suck when you listen to it, too.

People are interested in the influence you have on the cover artworks of Avantasia albums, and how you got into choosing the painter of the new one.

It's been done by a Swedish artist named Alex Jansson who illustrates books for kids usually. I ran into his illustrations and I was blown away, because even though some were cute, some had a real grotesque intensity. They were enchanting and innocent, yet they had a shade of eeriness. And they were different to anything 1 had seen in the Metal world. I gave him some of my lyrics and asked him if he'd come up with something that would symbolize the main character of Moonglow entering a different world... The Moonglow world. He did it, and I love the picture.

When you write lyrics, do you first start out in German and then translate what you want to say or do you write in English from the start? The question was asked because you sometimes tend to use words that are not commonly used in the English language of today, how do you come up with your lyrics?

I write in English from the start. I do not have that much of an attachment to German when it comes to poetry, which is weird. I don't know why, it's programmed - English is the ink I am drawing with. Sometimes of course I look for a different metaphor or word and occasionally I have to take a dictionary. And sometimes my grammar is weird, but then I advocate artistic freedom and of course, I am Ger-man, my English speaking friends forgive me. I read English books mostly, and the books I read are usually old and deal with certain topics, that may bleed through in my lyrics. Eric Martin once joked about how he imagines me sitting at home all day with this dictionary "Encyclopedia of long forgotten words that nobody knows but that do rhyme to something common", trying to find words, but this is not the case. I lust love new metaphors, and sometimes I have to look things up.

1 don't try to use elaborate language, I am not such a person, not in German and not in English, I talk the way I talk, not the way I think I should talk to come across a certain way.

Are your stories based upon your own personal experience?

Yes, of course. I mean, I see art and creativity as an outlet for something I carry around and that needs to get out and be said, as if you write something off your soul, a letter that you don't send to someone. Everything I do is heartfelt, even the most simple hedonistic lyrics I write. Of course, The Metal Opera was a story based on the spiritual quest of a 20 year old with a limited vocabulary to create metaphors with. The good intention is there, but you are 20 and very young. You don't know how to phrase things and how to get your view on things in the right order. You don't even know what to think. That album was also fueled by my interest in the middle ages, in the devil, in the historical tradition of the dark era of the inquisition and persecution of heretics. Of course what you write is amplified and it has gone through a filter to anonymize things and create a story that is open for interpretation, but there is something of myself in there. You know, even the most angry lyrics like in Edguy's "2 out of 7" or "Space Police" are heartfelt. Some may think they are hedonistic or goofy, but some people are functioning on a different frequency and that's okay. Yes, my stories and lyrics are based on personal experience

Have you ever thought about releasing the stories of the Avantasia albums as books?

Not really. I mean, I could rewrite them and I am working on a story that would be home to all the individual lyrics on Moonglow. The Metal Opera would work as a fantasy novel, The Wicked Trilogy too, but down the line there is one issue. A book needs arcs of suspense. A collection of intertwining poems isn't necessarily a story with a flow and an arc of suspense that would meet the entertainment requirements of the 21st century, I think these things are different worlds. I am not interested in writing an opera that would work as a movie or book with individual songs portraying each bit of a storyline... "Noooow they gooooo across the wooooods". No, I want to write short poems in music and put them together within one frame.

Can you describe your writing day? Are you just writing during daytime like an 8 to 5 job or do you write when you have an idea? How do you combine your writing session with your daily family life?

I write whenever an idea pops up in my head. Then I capture it by humming it into my phone or computer or if I have a piano around, I try to find out, what the harmonics in my head look like on the keys. Because a great melody is always based on the right chords. They are mutually dependant. Sometimes I know the chords and hum the melody first and then the chords afterwards, tapping the beat on my thigh. When I really go playing around with ideas and trying to sort things and try out details, when I arrange stuff, I like to work at night or before noon and the light situation is very important to me. It depends on the right mood. My family are alright with it, they accept that I'm nuts.

You also do a radio show on German radio?

Yes, 3 hours every week, you can listen to it via stream or satellite radio wherever you are, and of course via normal radio in the middle of Germany and up in the Northern parts. It's great fun, I stumbled into doing it when doing promotion for something, I was at the station of RadioBob to do a live interview with some of their hosts and I said "look at all these knobs, I can do that too". And they hired me. My wife said "Alice does his show on RadioBob, Joe Elliott has a radio show, Nikki Sixx has got one, you will have yours". And here I am and I enjoy it. I listen to music again. As a fan, not as the singer of Edguy or Avantasia. It is great fun and they told me there are a lot of people listening from all over the world.

Can you tell us something about the forthcoming Moonglow World Tour?

Yes, it will be massive. We will play long shows, we will have a great line up of many well known guests, I am not sure I am supposed to talk about the guests yet, but a lot of the singers on Moonglow will join the tour. It will be hard to come up with a setlist, as I guess we'll have to play many songs off of Moonglow, but as we'll do this tour and then most probably rest for quite a while, we'll have to play a best-of set in a way, or a combination of our band hits, the big old songs and the new material. We're touring rarely and we don't know if and when it is gonna happen again, so we better deliver everything people will want to hear.

Moonglow - The Narratives of a Misplaced Entity

Track by Track With Tobias Sammet

GHOST IN THE MOON

"Ghost In The Moon'' is a wonderful opening track. Yes, it's 10 minutes long, and it's quite unusual as it has two different choruses. It starts with chorus A, then there are two choruses B after verse one and verse two and then there are two choruses A in different keys in the end again. The whole song structure is really different, a lot of harmonic changes, tempo changes, in the middle we have a break-down section where you get the feeling that a different song starts. It's quite cinematic I think. I call these kinds of songs Christmas songs as they have a Christmas-ish appeal, very wintry, very enchanting. 

Originally I wanted this song to be a duet but after we had recorded it Sascha insisted that none of my vocals should be removed which I took as a compliment and even though I tend to fight for having things my way when I am convinced that something has to be done a certain way, I agreed in such a case. The backing vocals were sung by four amazing vocalists who are usually working for Musical and Theatre shows, very soulful voices that gave the song a Gospel feel. We had that kind of sound in mind, a bit Rocky Horror Picture Show but still Hard Rocking, and even though something is planned in advance, you aren't prepared for what you witness when you finally hear such voices in a room laying down the vocals of the real thing. It was mind-blowing. It took us quite some time to record the backing vocals for this one. The atmosphere is really unique, it's an epic version of "Mystery Of A Blood Red Rose.”

BOOK OF SHALLOWS

Book Of Shallows is one of the first songs of which we had arranged parts. It laid around and sounded quite simple and it was just half finished for a while, up to the second chorus to be precise. The whole mid section was attached much later.

Also the anthemic keyboard and guitars, the opening lead melody came only way later, when I was sitting in a hotel and listening to the song and found something was missing. 

Usually I hold the opinion that in certain types of music you can't write the chords and the foundation of the basics underneath without a vision of what's happening in the foreground melody-wise. I know that some bands say"someone writes the chords and someone else the melody". To me that doesn't make sense, yet of course someone may end up getting good results working like that. But I rather want to know which effect a certain chord will have in combination with a melody. The idea of the big picture will give you the sole valid reason to opt for a certain chord somewhere. Chords are required by melodies and vice versa and it should go hand in hand. In Metal it's often like that: someone does a sausage of chords and riffs and leaves it to someone else to do something with it. This way you leave the songwriting job to someone who's gotta come up with something great having to deal with given parameters. Of course in certain music styles that may work, but not in anthemic music styles, in something based on the harmonics of Classical Music, I think.

Anyway, in Book Of Shallows the melody on the intro riff was a try and error thing that I put on there afterwards as the original idea sounded like something essential was missing. Now as a finished piece of music the song sounds very tidied up even though it's got many different elements. It's one of the heaviest tracks I ever did, even though the first verse sounds very melancholic. The whole song is one big increase of energy, Jorn and Ronnie did a wonderful job as always, just being them.

I always wanted to work with Mille Petrozza of Kreator again. He is a good friend and we've known each other for almost 20 years, a very intelligent artist and a great guy. I had worked with him 15 years ago when he sang some guest vocals on Edguy's Hellfire Club album, and "Book of Shallows" needed some extreme aggression vocally. It sounded scary and exactly the way it was meant to sound.

With Hansi of Blind Guardian I had worked in the nineties already, I have known him for a very long time. A very nice guy and a great singer. And I can't thank him enough.

When Edguy was starting out, when nobody knew about us he supported us, contributing guest vocals on our second official album back in 1997 and helped us get some recognition. If I remember correctly I thought about having him on the Metal Opera album as well, but he was very busy at the time. Now, years later, I had those songs that were a perfect fit for his voice. And he opens his mouth and it sounds like him and no one else. After the second chorus there is a passage for which he did his own backing vocals. It sounds like a massive Blind Guardian choir, so his voice must play a huge part in making Blind Guardian sound like Blind Guardian. Well, it's obvious!

MOONGLOW

There is a little bit of a Mike Oldfield influence in there I think. The instrumental basics of the song were written in 2015 but it didn't seem to belong on the Ghost-lights album, if I remember correctly back then the question was: Should we take "Isle Of Evermore" or the "Moonglow" song? As I previously said, it breaks my heart but you have to put songs aside sometimes to make up your mind or for whatever reason. And sometimes you have to put great songs like this on the backburner. It was a jewel in the rough from the beginning and Candice Night has made it shine. Now was the time to retouch the song and model it and release it. A song will let you know when it's ready to correspond with your creativity and when you're ready to complete it.

THE RAVEN CHILD

The song's basic key elements had been written around 2012 or 2013 but I couldn't connect to it back then. Sometimes you find access to an idea immediately and sometimes you feel that it has potential but you realize that it's simply the wrong time to work on it and you better put it aside for a while. I had so many other ideas for our previous albums Ghostlights and The Mystery of Time, I didn't see the necessity to fall back on this particular song. When we put it aside years ago its working title was "Fearraven" as we had thought it felt a bit like "The Scarecrow" even though that similarity wasn't intentional. Without having been told about our impression Jorn said in the studio that this could be a sequel to "The Scarecrow" So there must have been something universal about our perception.

I have to say that this song really benefited from the months and years we gave it to grow. I wrote a Celtic overture, a Celtic breakdown after the second chorus which Miro arranged beautifully. And I really enjoyed creating the middle section where the tension builds up, with the layered canon type vocals, the Gregorian elements and letting it explode into a Black-Sabbath or Heaven-and-Hell type up-tempo grande finale. Hansi Kürsch added so much magic to the song, and Jorn is Jorn, what else can you say? In the production we gave the song whatever it needed. We need Gregorian chants? Let's ask Billy King, the guy who does vocals for the World-music project "Gregorian" to do the monk thing. I wish I had been able to work with him for The Metal Opera! We need a Celtic Harp? Let's get a real one and get the greatest Celtic Harp player one can find, Nadia Birkenstock.

There is a lot of love for detail in that song; and on the whole record. And the result shows that it's worth it to give ideas time to grow, to simply put them aside when you can't find access to them. Lyrically the song is rooted in the psychic life of the main character, it's about conviction and the intolerance you have to face when you follow your belief. I have always been fascinated by the Cathari's fate and the myth of the last night at Montségur has influenced the song in a way. The whole legend is a manifest of intolerance clashing with the volition to be yourself. It's about conviction and strong principles to not let expectations water down your own conception of life. It's about hiding yourself away in the last retreat, being besieged and knowing that something's near to break your spirit and simply smoke you out if you don't fit in someone else's concept. The main character's last way out is turning to the dark... I think it's one of the best songs I have ever written, I am really proud of it.

STARLIGHT

"Starlight' is a paradoxical song. It has quite an easy-listening feeling to it, not too heavy, not too soft, a moderate tempo, conceivable chord progressions and har-monies, and yet it's got something intensely melancholic. In the beginning after it was written when it was in a very pure and raw form I never really had an idea what this song was and where to put it and what to think about it. But then with the lyrics and once it was all sung and recorded it was beautiful. The phonetics in the chorus are quite smart too. I am proud of this, because I think the amount of syllables and the phonetics add a lot of drive and get the song the right balance of melancholy, sadness and that uplifting powerful element as a counterpart.

This song is so Ronnie-Atkinsish. Because he also has those two paradoxical sides to his voice, something deep and melancholic and when a song needs to take off he switches to his roaring Metal voice. Once Eric Martin said on tour.

I advocate Ronnie getting twice as much as everyone else, because he is two different singers in one body." And he can party like four of us!

INVINCIBLE

This was originally just the intro to the song "Alchemy,” but it became a breathing entity of its own even though lyrically and musically it is closely attached to "Alchemy.” "Invincible" deals with what we're often told, in the music business but also in everyday life: be tough and don't let things get through to you. Frankly, the character in the story is confronted with requirements he can't meet, to not be subtle or fragile. Geoff Tate did such a wonderful job on it. He had delivered an amazing performance on the previous album and when we shared the stage for the first time I was blown away by how good he is. We talked about recording atmosphere and about how great it is to actually make music together in a room.

So we said let's meet in a studio and record parts for the next album together, old school. And that's what we did. Geoff is a very nice person, good sense of humour, a real artist, a wine lover, great to work with and it's uplifting to share the stage with him.

ALCHEMY

That's the song that gave birth to "Invincible", because "Invincible" is the overture to "Alchemy" in a way. It's a very powerful and heavy song, almost Rammsteinish when it comes to the riffing. Yet it has some very classic anthemic Metal and Classic Rock elements. I thought it would be great if Geoff would pull some of his theatrical trademark Queensryche-Empire-Mindcrime-style-vocals out of his hat - and wow! - he can still do that like no one else. A thousand vocalists have tried to sound like Geoff in the past 35 years, but he has that frequency in his tone that is distinctively Geoff. When I was a kid I wanted to be able to sing like Michi Kiske and Geoff, Michi had been influenced by Geoff too, we all tried to borrow from Geoff at some point in our lives, but Geoff is Geoff!

The song is about influential people trying to tell the character what is good for him, it's about someone trying to get the best of you by manipulating you, so you lay off your identity and do as you're told. Switch off your visions and Svengali is gonna make you happy! That's what you're told by megalomaniac art industry execs all the time, through the centuries I believe: Lay off your personality and bury your longing, because if you don't interfere but deliver, we can turn crap to gold. And if I turn on the radio, I am afraid they seem to be right...

THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN

It was song number 13 we did. I remember that because the working title was

"Song 13". It wasn't planned to be such a long song, I wanted it to be a powerful uptempo song that would get to the point immediately. And it got to the point immediately but then the midsection got longer and longer and we had two pre-choruses. And in the end it all made sense but it was over 7 minutes long. I tried to cut it short but wherever I tried to edit a part out, it didn't seem right. And of course who would I need to cut a song for? If it feels right the way it is, then it is right. What I like about the song is how it features so many guest vocalists and yet it doesn't sound as if it would have been put together artificially, to me the flow of the song is very natural and it sounds as if made from one piece.

The title has nothing to do with Pink Floyd, it's been inspired by the God Pan in horror literature. The lyrics itself belong to the world of our main character.

LAVENDER

That's so Bob Catley. I love him and I love Magnum. Bob is a true legend and whatever he sings is filled with life and his magical British storytelling timbre.

This man has sung so many legendary tracks, he has been so influential to me breathing his soul into Magnum songs like "On A Storyteller's Night" or "Don't Wake The Lion", and later into my songs like "The Looking Glass". "The Story Ain't Over" or "The Great Mystery", it's extremely inspiring to write songs with Bob in mind. I didn't try to copy any of the aforementioned songs, I just had Bob's voice in my head and let it inspire my songwriting. When I write a passage for another singer I come up with different things than I'd write when I'd do it just for my own voice. It's a creative boost and it's a key to the diverse songwriting for Avantasia. Writing for other singers makes it easier for me to step aside and try out new things. 

"Lavender" sounds familiar and like something new at the same time. Bob's voice and the way we arranged the song is familiar, the song and the details are new.

It was also interesting to witness the whole thing lifted to a different level when the Gospel choir began to do its work. All of a sudden it became something Broad-wayish, something really massive and full of Soul. Most of the backing singers were native English speakers, so is Bob. The phonetics required to have it sung differently from what the word lavender is usually pronounced like. It was funny in the studio, people from South Africa, USA, England and Germany discussing the best possible compromise of pronouncing the word lavender so it worked in the song and it doesn't sound weird. In the end, I believe it is creative freedom. Whatever needs to be done needs to be done... The type of lavender in my song is a different one to the other lavenders out there, and therefore pronounced differently, okay?!

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

Requiem is one of the last songs that I wrote for the album. I had a fast and epic song of which the instrumental parts were almost completely arranged. It was great! But I wanted something that would work good for Michael Kiske's voice and that old fast song had more of a layered chorus and some Celtic influence. I thought that it wasn't the perfect song for Michi's voice. So I put that other song aside and wrote a new one based on an older anthemic melody that I had a demo of. An idea that had to be sung as a duet with a singer like Michi, just like "Reach Out For The Light" or "No Return". But Michi was doing shows with Helloween at the time, so he wasn't sure he was gonna make it and I was prepared to take my demo vocals on the record. Fortunately everything fell in place when he managed to sing his parts.

You can hear the influence of Classical Music in "Requiem For A Dream". What I like about the song is that it's got the typical anthemic approach of Avantasia with fast guitars and hymnic melodies. But it feels like it almost has some sacral ele-ment, a certain sacred grandeur in the harmonies, something that is unique. And we made it even a little more colourful with elements like the slap bass passages which have been played by Sascha. Yes, he isn't just the best guitar player I know, he is also a great bass player, a much better one than I am I have to say. I am a sin-ger, and I love bass guitar, but I am not a very good player for those kinds of things.

Lyrically the song is what the title says, it's about a person's arrival in the world of what's commonly understood to be reasonable among adults. And it also deals with the spiritual challenges that go along with it.

MANIAC

I have always loved that song and wanted to do a cover version of it. Sascha said "it's been done several times already". But I didn't know any of the other versions and I didn't think of it as a problem. If you love something, do it! I said "Let's just do it for joy" and he arranged the song as a favour to me. What can I say? We both thought that it was about to become a great rendition. I sang it but something was missing, I thought it was too one-dimensional, and I immediately thought of Eric Martin joining me. In the meantime I had begun to consider that we should maybe take it on the regular album, as something light-hearted wouldn't be too bad. We already had several songs beyond the ten-minute-mark, some of them we simply put aside for later because I didn't want Moonglow to become a double album full of 10 minute songs. Of course everyone knows the movie that "Maniac" had been used for, and everyone has those distinctive associations, which are not exactly connected to the eerie world of Victorian England's occult writers. But deep down, it is a song about a maniac, who doesn't feel peace in life except when the lights go out and she can do what she loves. That qualified, so I said "why not, it's a great song, let's take it highly officially on the record, but let's make it the last song." So if Moonglow was a movie, "Maniac" wouldn't be part of the scores in the movie, but it would play during the closing credits maybe. Yet, after Eric had sung his vocals I knew, this was definitely going to be a track on the album. There are no rules in the art world, and if there is one it should be: If it feels right, do it! No matter what someone else's rules may be.

HEART

A bonus track. Writing bonus tracks is always great fun although I did it with a grain of salt. I thought the record was too long even without a bonus, I had already taken some other songs off, not because I thought they were mediocre, but because I wanted to have a 50 minutes album originally. That was my ideal con-ception. As a fan I rather want to start listening from start again after 50 minutes and not be burnt out after listening to an album for 75 minutes and not be done still, especially when there are as many different things going on as on an Avantasia album with all the styles and orchestrations and the different singers.

It doesn't get boring I think, but it can be a sensory overload and song 6 or 9 will not get the recognition they should get. Even after I had taken some material off the album again, the album is still over one hour long, but as it's quite colourful 1 think that it's good as it is. Anyway, the record label always asks you to deliver bonus material. Yes, "just" a bonus song. But if you deliver subpar material it will stain the whole album as the final impression, if you do a bonus song that belongs to the concept and is rated AAA by the quality control, why would I downgrade it to be a limited edition bonus only? The solution was - I had to write another song that was of good quality but a bonus. Bingo! Steve Perry was about to launch his comeback and even though I didn't approach him I thought I want to write a song in the style of 80s Journey. When it's just a bonus I can do it, just for the joy of doing it. A blatant rip-off of the sound and style and trademarks of Journey. This is what I did, I got in my lyrebird mode and tried to figure what Steve Perry would do. I really love that song, also the lyrics are very dear to my heart. They could fit in the concept too, but in a way they are worded in general terms. It's about someone who feels obliged to be unselfish and function at a certain pace while his heart tells him to not lose himself.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (July 9-15, 2023)

It was hectic, but I think I enjoyed this year's G-Fest more than the last. My friend Alana and I went all-out with our costumes (to the point of a rare costume parade skit with the lovely Battra on the left). Dad debuted his unbelievable Oxygen Destroyer replica in the model contest, which became part of my Dr. Serizawa costume on the last day. I met up with @kyodaikino, @bog-o-bones, @zagorudan, @spankzilla85—and The Boy Who Cried Godzilla on Saturday, in what I believe is the first time two Wikizilla staff members have been in the same room. The Pickwick selections got me to visit twice for the first time in ages; truly, a visible projection of Godzilla (2014) is unmissable. I missed half of Kiyotaka Taguchi's new Daikaiju Bugon short while getting an autograph from TJ Storm, but I did pick up a Blu-ray of his Female Weapon 701 (and took copious notes during his Q&A... no, he wasn't announced as a guest, he just showed up). Flight complications foiled Yumiko Shaku's first panel, but it was standing room only for her second, which was one of the best guest interviews I can remember from the con in a while. Oh, and @bog-o-bones miraculously snagged me her last autograph ticket.

The teaser for the next Toho Godzilla film, Godzilla Minus One, was released in such close proximity to the con that it didn't get a panel. As with Shin Godzilla, Toho isn't playing coy with the monster's design, but is leaving it (and another famous director, Takashi Yamazaki) to shoulder much of the weight of promoting the film. We don't even know the cast yet! Minus One takes place during the Allied occupation of Japan; uncharted and quite provocative territory for a Godzilla film. Toho International President Koji Ueda explained the title thusly: "Japan, which had already been devastated by the war, faces a new threat with Godzilla, bringing the country into the 'minus.'" Toho International will distribute the film in the United States on December 1, a record turnaround time for a G-film. Going off the major theater chains posting about it, Minus One might actually receive a wide release, which hasn't happened to a Toho entry since Godzilla 2000.

Cleopatra Entertainment has announced corrections to the numerous subtitling issues in its Shin Ultraman Blu-ray and DVD releases which should be rolling out more-or-less now. They're also shipping replacement discs (by request) to folks who wound up with the original versions.

Toho International will be launching an online American store for Godzilla merch, which will hopefully make this stuff a bit easier to collect, both in terms of cost and ordering. They're promising "a mix of items from the Japanese Godzilla Store as well as international exclusives."

Keizo Murase's Brush of the God has again been delayed, this time to an unspecified date in 2024, but they softened the blow with another great-looking teaser.