#laura mellow

[turigirl]

[ID: a grayscale drawing of two anthromorphic dogs, one dalmatian, one labradoodle, standing in the rain. both are op's original characters. on the left is dominique dalmatian, who has no expression. she holds an umbrella solely above laura labradoodle's head. laura stares down at the ground with an unreadable but negative expression. /end ID]

that was your last mistake

i find my love awake and waiting to be

now what can be done with you?

she's waiting for me

[lilibethdrawsreylo]

Sleep, Water Lily | Hackearney | Chapter 14

It was as if the mellow August afternoon dimmed once she entered, but no ghosts came charging at her. Laura ran upstairs and down the green hallway. Quickly crossing the shadowy master bedroom, she came to a stop in front of Constance’s vanity table. Its broken mirror was covered with a pillowcase—and the tarot deck wasn’t there.

[barricadescon]

BarricadesCon Panel Descriptions: Highlights of Track 1, Saturday, July 13

Reflecting on Directing Les Mis by Pieces Of Cait

Cait directed an amateur production of Les Mis at the end of last year, and would love to talk about how that went and share snippets from the show and behind the scenes. This will include talking about adapting Les Mis for the space and budget, approaches to certain scenes, dual casting lead roles, and probably raving about the lovely cast. 

2. What Horizon: Tragedies, Time Loops, and the Hopefulness of Les Amis by Percy

In this presentation, Percy will discuss the ideas of tragedy and hope with reference to Hugo’s original text and the ways in which rebellion has been changed in adaptation, as well as other works of inspiration for this staged play adaptation of Hugo’s work (namely Hadestown and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead). The presentation will detail choices made in the adaptation process, show clips from the staged reading, and touch on the different characters, setting, and overarching themes with which Percy engaged while creating the play. 

3. Cosette: A Novel — The (Fanmade) Sequel to Les Misérables by Imiserabili

This presentation is  a deep-dive into the 1995 fanfiction “Cosette” by Laura Kalpakian. It will include a short background on the author and the publication, a summary of the plot, an analysis of represented historical events in the work, character analyses and comparisons to the source material and other Les Mis adaptations, and memorable quotes.

4. Barricades as a Tactic: How Do They Work? by Lem

This session will explore the tactical and strategic uses of barricades, with an eye towards what to consider when writing both canon-era fanfiction and modern AUs. After all, the strategic goals towards which the barricades were used in canon-era urban warfare were often quite different from the strategic goals of similar-looking tactics in contemporary protest movements. Core components of the session will be a map-based analysis of July 1830, a comparison with June 1832 highlighting strategic goals and considerations canon-era characters would have, and an exploration of various parallels among contemporary protest tactics (which may or may not *look* like barricades).

5. Why is there a Roller Coaster in Les Mis? The Strange History of the Russian Mountains by Peyton Parker (Mellow)

In Les Miserables there is an actual canon scene where Fantine rides a roller coaster. How did a roller coaster end up in Paris in 1817? And why did this ride, one of the worlds first Roller Coasters, make a cameo in Les Mis? It’s “Les Mis Meets Defunctland.”

We’re going talk about the earliest origins of the Russian Mountains, the fascinating history behind how they came to France, their many connections to the political turmoil of the time period, what they felt like to ride, why they were shut down, how they fell into obscurity, and why Victor Hugo included them in Les Mis.

6. Obscure(-ish) Les Mis Adaptations To Watch by PureAnon

Les Mis has been adapted many times over the years, and this means there’s a lot of adaptations to enjoy. Because of this, a lot of adaptations are underviewed or underappreciated. This panel will discuss 1925, 1948, 1967, and 1995. These adaptations are all very different and are fascinating looks at how different countries and different time periods will adapt this story. Clips of each adaptation will be shown so the audience can get a taste of what each adaptation is like. 

7. Recovery: A Fanfic Live Read by Eli (Thecandlesticksfromlesmis)

A full cast will live read a Les Mis fanfic written specifically for the con.

8. Preliminary Gaieties by Barri Cade, Percy, and Rare

In keeping with personal tradition, Rare, Percy, and ShitpostingFromTheBarricade will bring you a second year of our dramatic reading of the “Preliminary Gayeties” chapter of the brick, following specified drinking game rules (including classics such as “brick quotes that appear commonly in fanfiction,” “pretentious classical references,” and “drink/eat when characters drink/eat”), and enjoying snacks mentioned in the chapter as they are mentioned. Everyone is invited to participate by reading, eating, and drinking along with this activity!

[loosesodamarble]

Lemonade on a Hot Day

Summary: Solara is served a drink that's special to House Vermillion on a sunny afternoon. Genre: general Word count: ~1000 A/N: This is the first of a few oneshots I wrote as a gift for @thoughtfullyrainynightmare! Happy birthday, Laura!

..........

Summer was in full swing in Clover Kingdom. The Sun burned brighter in skies that were cleared of spring rainstorms.

One person who was enjoying the sunny days was Solara. She had gone out to the garden of House Vermillion and sat herself down at a table, shaded by a wide umbrella. Lush leaves of green and vibrantly colored blooms decorated her surroundings. Solara leaned back in her chair a bit and had an elbow rested on the table top as she propped up a book in her hands.

Solara turned the page and greedily took in the words that presented themselves. It was a peculiar genre of story where at certain points in the book, the characters would be divided between two choices and the reader could read the result of either choice by flipping to a specified page. There were branching paths and dozens of endings, making the book dense. And Solara was fascinated by it. She’d read four endings already and was impressed by the consistency of the character personalities despite the varied paths.

In her periphery, she noticed one of the palace staff approaching her with a serving trolley. Solara turned her head to get a better look. Laid out on the top shelf of the trolley was a glass pitcher filled with a pale yellow drink, a metal box that likely carried ice inside, some stacked cups, and coasters for those cups.

“Afternoon,” Solara greeted with a smile. “I don’t think I asked for anything to be brought to me.”

“No, you didn’t make any requests,” the maid replied with a grin of her own. “But the kitchen just finished preparing a large batch of lemonade and we thought that everyone should get a taste of it.” She plucked ice chunks from the icebox then poured the lemonade into the cup for Solara. “Have a taste, m’lady.”

“Why thank you.” Solara bookmarked her place in her book and accepted the lemonade.

The cup already had condensation on it from the cold drink inside and the warm summer air outside. The little droplets against Solara’s fingers felt nice, making Solara realize just how hot it was that day.

Solara sipped the lemonade and immediately let out a surprised hum. It tasted different from lemonade she’d had before. Something about it was more refreshing. The acidity from the main ingredient was there but it tasted like it’d been mellowed out, though not from sugar.

Are Cloverian lemons not as acidic as ones grown in Thea? Solara wondered while taking another gulp. She picked up a crispness that was familiar but not enough for her to place what the flavor was. Is it the sweetener? Is it not sugar?

“Is the drink to your liking?” the maid spoke up, tilting her head to the side as she inquired. “You look a little perplexed…”

“I do like it. It’s welcome after having spent a while out here. I’m merely curious about the flavor of the lemonade,” Solara readily admitted. She drank more of the lemonade to be sure that her taste buds weren’t lying to her. Focusing more, there was a faint melon-like flavor to it. Like the taste equivalent of a whisper. “It’s different from lemonade I’ve had before. Is there anything special about the preparation?”

“Why yes there is,” answered the maid. Her smile stretched across her face. She seemed quite pleased, even eager, to hear Solara’s question. “The head chef for House Vermillion uses cucumber water as the base of her lemonade. She uses lemon zest to flavor the water too, making the lemonade even lemon-y-er!”

“Ah, that explains the flavor.” Solara glanced at her cup which was already half empty.

“I should also mention that the cucumbers come from the chef’s own home garden, watered by her own magic,” the maid went on. Her eyes sparkled as she talked and Solara watched with endeared rapture. “The residents of House Vermillion have been enjoying the recipe for well over sixty years. And even if other people used cucumber water in their lemonade, it’ll never be as refreshing as what we serve here at House Vermillion!” The maid was gushing at that point.

“I didn’t think lemonade would be a point of pride for a royal house,” Solara giggled. She took another gulp of the lemonade and let the sweet-sour lemon and delicate cucumber flavors dance across her palate. “But I’m glad that it’s the case here.”

Pink flooded the maid’s face, now aware of her rambling. “A-ah… Sor— I didn’t mean to—”

“No need to apologize,” Solara assured. “I’m not a chef myself so what you told me was fascinating actually. It’s amazing how culinary experts can come up with such lovely flavors. Give my compliments to the chef for her recipe.”

“Of course!”

“Oh, and…” Solara downed the rest of her cup then held it out to the maid. “Could I get a refill, please?”

“How about I leave the rest of this pitcher for you?” offered the maid.

“That’s not necessary. Don’t you need to bring the lemonade to oth—”

“I can just get a new pitcher from the kitchen.” The maid set a cloth mat on the garden table, placed the lemonade pitcher on the mat, and finally handed one of the coasters to Solara for her cup. “Do enjoy yourself, Lady Solara.”

“Thank you. And I hope you can take some time for yourself as well,” replied Solara.

The maid left, humming a melody Solara didn’t recognize as she did. Once the other woman was out of sight, Solara refilled her cup then opened her book back up.

A cold drink on a warm day with an engaging read to while away the time. It was nothing special but Solara would certainly enjoy herself that way.

[rikebe]

Hi! I was wondering as to why you think Akihiro would be more dependent on attention than Bobby (based on your ship meme)? Anyway I really love your x-men art! /gen /pos

OOOH this is a fun one!

as you can see i put akihiro so far on the left he almost falls of. i just really see him as someone who really, really needs positive attention. pretty easy to understand why too, since textually he essentially didn't have any positive relationships with anyone after he was a small child (and even before that his adoptive mother couldn't stand being around him because of his mutation and he got bullied for being mixed), and you can really see the way he, even if he'd never say it, craves positive attention by the way he interacts with the handful of people he has kind feelings for.

he builds a relationship with johnny and becomes his friend, presumably for ulterior motives but he sticks around for much longer than he needs to, talks to him on the phone and is just like.. his pal for a while. he didn't need to do that, and since it's pretty clear to me he had romantic feelings for johnny of some sort it it's pretty obvious why he'd be eager to spend more time with him. what's also of note is that akihiro pretends to be a much nicer, more sympathetic version of himself around johnny. yes, to manipulate him, but also because that is a version of him that johnny could easy like or even love. he's essentially roleplaying the fantasy of being the kind of person nice old johnny could love, and he keeps coming back to that well of positive attention.

the other standout to me is his relationship with donna, the cop lady he fixates on in D:DW. akihiro becomes obsessed with the idea that donna is "like him", someone unsympathetic and cold to the idea of killing, and he latches onto her in the hope that she could be that person who loves and understands him as he is. it's also pretty telling to me that he's aware of this "difference" between him and other people, and that he obviously feels that there's a wall between him and "normal" people.

then there's his relationship with his sisters, people he sticks around for without standing to gain anything from it other than... well, people he loves and who love him. laura and gabby are the only people that love akihiro unconditionally, that keep him around fully aware of all the dark nasty ugly parts of his past, who can relate to him due to their similar upbringings. he craves this love and attention from them, and that's why he seems to mellow out when he's around them. their love is a motivator to be better, rather than to pretend that he's better.

so while i don't think akihiro is necessarily super clingy or even always acts on this, because it's mostly a subconscious thing for him, he definitely deeply desires attention and love and acceptance, since he's, you know, human, and was abnormally deprived of all of these things most of his childhood and adult live. bobby is also someone who knows what kind of a nasty boy he is/used to be (i don't see a reality where they date without akihiro having worked through a lot of his baggage) and still chooses to love him and accept him, and i just think he'd really relish in positive attention from a partner where the cards are fully on the table. no lying and no manipulation, just the reality of who both of them are.

as for bobby i definitely think he really LIKES attention as he's very insecure about a lot of things, and he also really struggles with accepting himself as he is and presenting a false version of himself, it's just not as extreme as akihiro.

on a less analytical note akihiro is just a massive diva and loves being the center of attention. remember when he died that one (no, the first time, not that other time) time and made it all of new york's problem? yeah. bobby's just a lot less vain so he can handle not having the spotlight better LMFAO

[hazeltailofficial]

WORLD GOTH DAY

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@hazeltailofficial / @hazeltail / hazeltail on youtube / hazeltailofficial on tiktok / hazeltailofficial on ig

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Mayday (TheFatRat ft. Laura Brehm)

I'm floating through outer space/I'm lost and I can't find a way/Oh, all the lights going dark and my hope's destroyed/Help me, is anybody there?/Save me, I'm running out of air/Calling out mayday

"Laura Brehm's voice is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard, especially here where it's full of despair plus with the mellow, lonely vibes of the background music, it all comes together"

The Kids Are Alright (The Who)

Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away/Bells chime, I know I gotta get away/And I know if I don't, I'll go out of my mind/Better leave her behind with the kids, they're alright

"It's one of the most ethereal songs I've ever heard and it also may have rewired my entire music taste when I was 14. The harmonies are SO good and the guitar sounds so nice like it's such a perfect song, it is peak 60s jangle pop and I lose my whole mind everytime I hear it. Also just hearing that opening chord sets off my fight or flight response (in a good way)"

[the-everqueen]

in your opinion - the best and worst blunt rotation squad, with the Logan characters 🤣

lmaoooooo i love this question. i'm going to say best would be Pierce, Gabriella, and Caliban. Laura, too, if she's older than 12. (i feel in my BONES that older teenage Laura would be such a stoner skater girl, she listens to math rock and wears the grodiest converse.) Pierce mellows out enough to be nerdy and bitchy in a fun way, also he has good recommendations for the trashiest taquerias. Gabby could do dabs, a joint is nothing to her, she's just here for fun. Caliban...you KNOW he's one of those dudes who has esoteric jazz and indie pop on his playlist. so long as the vibe remains chill, he's good.

worst: Logan. mostly because i personally wouldn't want to find out what happens if the Wolverine gets paranoid while high. Charles, that motherfucker would lose all sense of mental shields and just blissfully rifle through everyone's thoughts and say them out loud with zero sense of embarrassment. (that being said...i really want Charles and Pierce to interact [eyes emoji]) Rice, because duh.

honestly? i think X-24 could go either way. let's roll him a joint and find out. >:)

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #21:

Time Fades Away, Part 2

So. I headed north as promised last night, straight into L.A., Neil's very own uptight city in the smog (city in the smog), to see my famous brother make some very grown up music.

It was amazing and upsetting. Amazing in that Prairewolf are, for our current moment, what Booker T and the MG's were for 1967.

But it was upsetting in that my famous brother and his almost as famous bandmates did not obey my directive and perform Neil Young's Yonder Stands the Sinner with a generous dollop of their own wordless cosmic white man cowboy jazz funk slathered on top. Rather they played songs from their first two records.

I made some videos but have no idea how to paste them in here. If I could figure it out, you'd hear me grooving and hollering and jostling about as everyone in the room blissfully lost their minds amidst the rowdy crowd action and psychedelic vibes.

Naw, it wasn't really that kinda show. Even though Dr. Demento himself was allegedly in the room everyone just sat and nodded with appreciative thoughtfulness while they played. My buddy Greg points out that we probably looked a lot like the studious white folks in the Booker T clip. The band made no speeches and pensively sipped at their Tecates. The projected images behind them swirled and danced in time with my brother's patient yet nimble fretwork. I was filled with intensely mellow joy. Then I drove home.

It was awesome.

And yet, because Prairiewolf didn't bust out a single Time Fades Away cover, I do need to issue the following apology: yesterday's post had nothing whatsoever to do with Neil Young's reckless live album of entirely new songs from 73. Please accept my humble apologies and send all your angry feedback to my famous brother at doomandgloomfromthetomb.

I didn't understand Time Fades Away on any level as a teenager. Neil sounded cranky throughout; the pace was frantic until it was dull; there were no noticeable guitar solos (somehow I didn't notice the fairly groovy interludes on Last Dance); and even at the tender age of 16 I wanted to find David Crosby and punch him squarely in the nose for smugly interrupting the record to announce that what followed would be "a little experimental".

For reasons that are not well-founded or clear I've always associated Crosby with my middle school woodshop teacher Mr Halferty: he would not let us touch any wood in his classroom. Rather, we made keychains and sugar scoopers (as if any of had sugar barrels at home that needed accessing a la Laura Ingall's Farmer Boy) outta plastic and he drove an El Camino. On the last day of school we surreptitiously placed all our finished projects around the wheels of his sweet ride gleefully figuring that as soon as he peeled out there'd be shattered plastic everywhere.

The plan was to hide in the bushes and watch it all go down. I don't think we followed through on that part of the plan. But I felt it then and I feel it now: neither Mr. Halferty nor Crosby have any business on a Neil Young record of any kind post Deja Vu (unless they're glowing unobtrusively in the background as in Through in My Sails).

And so I didn't dig Time Fades Away as a kid.

But it's over 30 years later and I now carry Neil's cranky frantic energy on the record around with me just about everywhere I go. I berate my 11th grade students whenever they enter the classroom more than 6 seconds late or act like their phones are their friends. I drive either way too fast or way too slow. I dream of punching Donald Trump, not David Crosby or poor old Mr. Halferty, squarely in the nose.

So, these days Time Fades Away is right up my alley.

Let me count the ways:

The title track sounds like it's played by angry, drunk monkeys. I mistakenly had my turntable turned up to 45 rpm this weekend when I first dropped the needle; aside from the fact that Neil sounds like a bubbly chipmunk at that speed the song sounds basically the same: terrifying, and good.

Neil must have issued 48 different live versions of Journey Through the Past in the last decade and a half. They're all good. But on Time Fades Away's original take Neil is more plastered than on all the other versions combined.

And you know what they say when it comes to Shakey and Freezermen concerts at Vassar College in 01: the drunker, the better.

As Neil works towards and through the last chorus I feel the room spin wildly around him. It's terrifying, drunk and bleak; it's awesome.

Yonder Stands the Sinner is one of the most unhinged tracks in Young's entire oeuvre. It does not sound experimental, David Crosby; rather it sounds wonderfully insane. At 16 years old I just scratched my head and thought about playing The Joshua Tree or something else instead. Today I feel like Neil is reading the words inscribed on my very soul:

Neil Young: he calls my name without a sound.

Up next we've got L.A. I grew up there. It was alright. But this song is way better: Neil borrows much of the hook from Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown and slows it way the hell down. He's already finding his Tonight's The Night sound and groove here with Ben Keith alongside him, the steel guitar throwing shadows on every available wall of the theater. This is probably my favorite song on the record.

Love in Mind, like The Bridge on Side 2, is just lovely. Neil could nail a ballad like no one else at this point. Everything is fragile and quavering. You want to give the poor guy a hug and recommend a good therapist.

My nearly 80 year old mother talked after the show last night about how seeing her son on stage in Prairiewolf was the opposite of all the Kris Kristofferson shows she saw around LA before Kris became a household name. Seeing her drunk, vulnerable, potentially doomed and beloved cousin play live was utterly stressful. She saw that Kris was not well but that he simply had to make earnest art anyway.

I think it would have been similarly stressful to have been an alive and well Neil Young fan in 1972/3. (I was born in 76 and encountered Young as he entered his 90's heyday.) Fans on the Time Fades Away tour must have worried about whether he was even gonna make it through the show without keeling over.

Folks my age and younger have never been properly stressed out by any of Neil's Ditch era; we encountered all that wonderful music with the knowledge that he survived it all; indeed, we knew that he spun the whole era on its head and made it the foundation for his greatness rather than the soundtrack for his demise.

When it comes to great art like this record, time doesn't fade away. It morphs, it swells and it alters perspectives. Kinda like the lights and sounds I saw on stage in LA last night... And check it out: I figured out how to put in a video of it all which captures... almost nothing. But take my word for it, it was awesome!

[meat-wentz]

meat I know you love indie sleaze and I have a question about it! crystal castles is kinda lumped in with this genre and to me is has an “edgier” appeal (when I listen to it I feel like a vampire) and I was wondering if this had a specific name within the genre. and if I’m being honest I see indie sleaze thrown around for a lot of things (from early lady gaga to skins the tv show) so does it even count with that? if it is do you have any recs for music like cc/ crim3s/sidewalks and skeletons? hehe thank youuu <3

yes!! so one of the issues with the label "indie sleaze" is that it's being retroactively applied to encapsulate an entire era/scene/aesthetic vs. an actual genre. back in the day we just referred to basically any indie label music as "indie" which could span from folk to twee to underground rock to electro to club pop to hip-hop. much of indie sleaze was based in having wide-ranging eclectic tastes and sensibility for the underground, so hopefully that clears up a little bit why the indie sleaze label gets so messy when it comes to defining a sound and look and attitude!

in regards to crystal castles and their sound, they really super stood out as a very dark version of the more electronic fueled projects at the time, which tended to go for more dance-oriented beats, and crystal castles was super influential in having this specific kind of wild chaotic energy but also these dark droning tones and sounds. their genre kind of formed around them and their sound later as we moved into a more dubsteppy era around 2009-2010 and continuing into 2012-late 2013 (at least at the height of the genre from my perspective on the scene) and was given the name "witch house." weirdly, crystal castles have always carried that "indie" genre for me even after the witch house subgenre became popular, i think just because of that early exposure to them in tandem with other artists like justice, ladytron, boys noize, sebastiAn, etc, where they all sort of kind of had that dark thread throughout their music (i def recommend all of them), and i still don't entirely characterize crystal castles as having all the characteristics of witch house, even though they were a huge influence. witch house was easy to identify due to the way their musicians and titles were stylized, lots of v's in place of u's (CHVRN) or used as an inverted A, all caps, usage of crosses like literally everywhere †††. usually marked by a dark droning sound and high pitched or deep gravelly gothy vocals, as well as darker ideas present, song titles like SACRIFICE, RITUAL, BURIAL. it should be noted a bunch of early witch house was also influenced by remixes, so some of the earlier examples of witch house songs are one off remixes of other electronic songs. you can also see the influence of witch house on a lot of later and current artists like purity ring and polica and laura les, etc.

here's some super cool artists to check out that have that same dark, droning sound or whiplash chaotic feeling or both! (a bunch of these are straight from tumblr mixes i downloaded in 2011-2012):

[dykefever]

LAURA LAURA LAURA!!! HAPPY LAURA DAY MY LOVE HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! in my special laura day party hat ready for the laura day party arctic monkeys on the speakers and buckley for when the party mellows later into the night ofc…have the best best most wonderful day day i love you so so much and i love hanging out with you and i love laughing + also occasionally hating with you my lovely lovely laura..can’t wait 2 see you when u are back and HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!!! I LOVE YOU!!! also us featured below. to provide helpful visuals. MWAH!!!!!!!!!!!! 🐦♥️🐛

RIDIIIIIII MY LOVE MY LIGHT!!!!!! i love you so bad you know me so well... arctic monkeys... jeff ... but for real thank you, you got me such a thoughtful n sweet gift and the nicest card ever!! i am so happy i know you this message made me smile so MUCH. and i miss YOU! we will be reunited once again soon though 💕🥰😳❤️🐛👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏽👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏽👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏽👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏽 (<- us)

ps. if you don't greet me like that on saturday i will be. really sad.

pps. more visuals of us.

[turigirl]

Could you tell us either abt ur ocs or your f/os? :-)

hi anon i love you

my ocs that ive been thinking about most lately have been those under the tag "fine & mellow" :o) theyre a 60s girl band! ive read a lot about the dynamics of popular bands, specifically in this time period, and i think the love-hate relationship that usually results is really interesting.

i think if i ever illustrated it in some way (art or writing or etc) id want it to be a comic. maybe a webcomic, maybe a physical comic. im not super sure on that.

id want to include things like interviews, magazine covers, album covers, photos of them, etc, played as from a real band (as real as a picture of furries can be). i have a list of album names and song ideas for each one (some being existing songs to pretend are theirs, some being "original" songs. meaning i made it up)

the band is founded in 1959 by dominique dalmatian, who is the main character. she's reserved- not shy necessarily but cautious of every new person she meets. she has bpd (projectionn of my symptomsss) and depression that creeps in slowly and immobilizes her. and she plays bass! she has a strong work ethic and will push her feelings (and others') aside to finish her work, in this case being f&m's albums.

fine & mellow is the name of the band, by the way, to be clear. it's named after a jazz standard and slowly becomes more and more ironic.

there are other guitarists before, of course, but the most important one is laura labradoodle. she's peppy and brings a lighter tone to their music as well as a more romantic light. shes a brilliant songwriter, despite it being really just a hobby. shes a full time photographer when they recruit her. when she joins in 1962, the band as a whole changes. she and dom write songs together, becoming closer and closer. that relationship and how it bends and breaks is especially what i would focus on. there's something so heartbreaking about getting so close, hearing a part of the others soul, only for something to backfire and send the band into a downward spiral.

clears my throat. so anyway, the drummer is named lolly lamb, and she stays from the beginning (until she's pushed out by jackie, who you'll hear about in a sec). she adores 40s and 50s fashion and has a seemingly instinctual sense of beat. drumming for f&m started out as a favor for her friend and ended up becoming so much more for her, and the rest of them.

in early 1964, after a couple months of no creative breaks, laura brings in... a hairdresser. her name is jackie jackrabbit, and she stares at the other two like they've grown new heads. but she's laura's friend, and they know the moment she sings with them that they've got something special. jackie is a little snobby and a little blunt, but manages to fit in fairly well. she can't play an instrument, but her singing ability more than makes up for it, and laura hands her a tambourine a few months later.

they release an album in july, and it seems to be the domino piece slowly falling into place. after months of arguing with jackie, lolly leaves the band.

they hire a session drummer, LAYLA, but she quickly becomes their permanent drummer for their next albums. layla (stylized in all caps) is the stage name of susie sloth-bear, a drummer who first got famous as a model. but she was good, playing as a session drummer across the states.

but the making of their next album with layla is FULL of arguments, and they go on a 5 month hiatus. the hiatus gave them the new material they were looking for, but they struggled to work together in making them. most of the songs on the next album would be mainly played by one individual member. only layla collaborated with the other three. the damage was done, and their 1967 album, fittingly titled "kill the lights," would be their last.

so that was kinda long, huh? i still don't have everything set in stone, but here's a summary probably way longer than you expected. they also all have refs! which are on my toyhouse (link). i would upload them here, and someday i might get around to it, but i dont have the energy to write ids for all of em. so. ill leave it at all this. if anyone has any questions, though, id be happy to answer :o) im still workin out the kinks!

[amarcttos]

⧼ laura harrier, non-binary, she / they / arabella by the arctic monkeys + you have your mother's piercing eyes and her quick temper, her soft hands and unyielding heart. ever since you could remember her words 'don't you ever show them weakness' resonate within you. you repeat it like a mantra. hold onto it like a lifeline, until it becomes second nature. you're proud of never faltering, wearing those high walls you built around yourself like a badge of honor. it's quite easy, you think. you are your mother's daughter after all; your father gave you his charisma, that charming smile, the confidence and above all the bloodlust. you know how to use it well. whispered sweet nothings upon eager ears at the end of the night become crimson warmth against your lips. you love the push and pull, the thrill of it all. it's only fair, you say. you are your father's daughter after all; woman, daughter, creature… it's all just you, you, you. beautiful, charming, caring… all you. cunning, vindictive and closed off but still just you. your life is not short but you know there's still no reason to waste your time being something you're not. you live your life by your own terms, no ifs of buts. it's only logical, you exclaim. you're irrevocably you, after all. ⧽ ━━ hey, isn’t that AMARA ROSIER? i read a daily prophet article on them, once ; the THIRTY year old half blood WITCH / DHAMPIR is a BEAUXBATONS alumnus who has gone on to be the OWNER OF THE SIMMER & SHIMMER APOTHECARY. i’ve heard they can be quite RESILIENT & INDEPENDENT, but i don’t know… they came off very STUBBORN & VINDICTIVE in that interview. it really is hard to know what to believe these days though, isn’t it?

born in italy to two very incredibly caring parents that even though weren't expecting or planning to have a child ( too busy loving each other ) still spoiled and loved her deeply. they weren't very strict which meant amara had quite a bit of freedom to do whatever he pleased and that trait just... remained, really. even now as an adult she just does as she wants.

very very independent, firm believer in 'if you want something done well you have to do it yourself' thing. it's very hard for her to trust in someone else's judgement / decisions... which kinda falls back into the whole 'likes things done her way' thing, so she's also very stubborn.

her parents and her have all been shunned from the rosier fam, burned off the family tree and all... even from pureblood society. ( her mom for ... essentially being a monster fucker, her dad the monster and her the mini monster so ... u know ! fun things ! ) she's very bitter about it, actually. not necessarily because she cares about it / the rosiers / or anything ... just the fact that they would dare talk shit about her parents infuriates her greatly !!

has a very ... complicated relationship with the blood supremacy belief, to be honest. it's been systematically taught through generations, that even her dad being a vampire and all somehow believes it; her mom as well a little, amara knows it's bullshit and the very reason why they've been cast aside ... but she also grew up with those beliefs so it's still quite difficult to unlearn. so, despite trying, she might slip a little; be a little insensitive. that being said i don't think she thinks she's better than anyone because of you know, last name / magic or anything like that; but she might think she's better than someone just because That Bitch™️ !!

she has a bit of a mean girl mentality i'm not gonna lie. though i don't think they're like ... out there making it their life mission to make people miserable. she might have been like that when she was in school but she's definitely mellowed out a lot. she's kind and friendly and tries to give other people a chance, but as soon as she feels wronged somehow that flip just switches. in beauxbatons she was definitely the kind of person to just ... hex someone if they looked at her the wrong way or talked shit behind her back. nowadays she might forgive ! might not forget though ...

she's very loyal to those she holds dear / has allowed to get close, will go through the ends of the earth for anyone she loves. at the moment i don't think the list of people in the 'ones i would die for' list is very long tbh but ... it might change !!

that loyalty is also one of the reasons why she joined the death eaters. she doesn't really hold the beliefs they have, at least not so fervently as mentioned before, but they're also the only ones even mentioning anything involving "magical creatures" in what they do ( though if they 100% believe that they're actually gonna do anything is also debatable ) so ... the bad guys don't look so bad when you / your family are included !! if that makes any sense.

alignment wise i would say they're more chaotic neutral, they're definitely not above doing questionable things if it means her survival / freedom and the one of those she loves.

that's pretty much her whole Thing: survival, freedom, fun ! that's all she wants out of life ! good / evil comes second to that.

Did Not fight in the battle of hogwarts at all, was probably too busy having fun on some other side of europe, making out and making memories as she should.

has her own little, very nicely decorated apothecary ( thank u kaela ) called simmer & shimmer ! sells all kinds of potions and potion making ingredients, even the more difficult or morally dubious to find ! located in knockturn alley. basically mr mulpepper's much younger and hotter rival, if u will. it IS a legitimate business, though it also functions as a bit of a cover for any... may or may not be cursed objects, you know? not because she actually needs or even wants the money. her father gets them / brags about them for a while / gets bored of them and then she conveniently sells them at a very good price, so ! it's a win - win situation for all !

i dunno what else... so this is all for now !! ♡

[unicyclehippo]

Ollie as someone whose rhythm also got rocked last Thursday when Laura hit us in the dopamine with a big carnival game hammer, I'm here to say good job doing literally anything but vibrate in place in discomfort. You're killing it. Tea leaves have mellowing properties alongside the caffeine that coffee lacks, that might be nice. Drink some water regardless. Thank you for writing. Good luck sport ilu

SPEAKING OF TEA I GOT A TEAPOT YESTERDAY SHES SOOOO CUTE

[philomenas-stuff]

What happened in the hotel.

Just a bit of fun. I got fed up waiting for an ao3 account so here it is for what it’s worth. Sincere apologies to Dorothy L Sayers for blatant plagiarism of the punt scene, but I’ve always thought #Nurppi had quite a lot in common with Peter and Harriet!

“I didn’t know”, she said, so quietly he could barely hear her, and with a catch in her voice that suggested her emotions might be as tightly wrought as his own. He swallowed hard, unable to breathe as he watched her lean in towards him.

When it came, her kiss was unexpectedly gentle. Her lips were soft, brushing his with such delicacy he hardly dared to kiss her back for fear that when he opened his eyes she would have melted into thin air, as insubstantial as a dream.

As indeed she had, for she had fled in the blink of an eye, back into the bedroom of their hotel suite to tend to Emil, leaving Nurmi to face another night on the couch alone. Same shit, different sofa.

There was no chance of sleep. His body hurt like hell where the bullets had thumped into his protective vest. He understood why she had done it, but that did not stop the fact of it eating away at his core. For fuck’s sake, she would have killed him.

He let his mind wander back to when he had first met Sofia Karppi, his cheeks colouring slightly at the memory. She’d told him to wait, just as the dog-handlers were telling the dogs to “stay”. Good boy, Nurmi, do what you’re told. God, she’d been a pain in the ass, but he was more than capable of standing up for himself. Truth was he found her fierceness more intriguing than it was intimidating, and seeing it as a challenge he wasn’t slow to push back against her hostile behaviour.

Their relationship had started to thaw with the arrival of the first heavy snow of winter, when they had spent an entire day together searching for Henna. While he felt no sense of responsibility towards the girl, her situation had struck a chord with him and besides, he was conscious of Karppi’s increasing anxiety as day wore on into night. He caught glimpses of a more vulnerable woman, and he chose to stay with her not because it was necessary, but because he wanted to.

They’d ended up back at her place, where he’d unexpectedly found himself cast in the role of babysitter to the kid. It didn’t come naturally to him, but he’d had fun doing boy stuff all the same, and he smiled at the memory of Emil shooting him in the chest, struck by the irony of it: like mother, like son.

He had eventually crashed on the floor of the boy’s bedroom while Karppi was trying to have a heart-to-heart with her stepdaughter; much good had it done her. When he woke, she was standing gazing down on him, her usual indifferent stare replaced by something altogether more mellow. In the dim glow of the nightlight, she looked quite beautiful.

“Would you like to sleep somewhere more comfortable”, she had asked, politely. His brain told him it must be an innocent double entendre; his gut had instinctively registered an entirely different and more visceral response. The desire to kiss her had caught him unawares, but he knew well enough what effect his blue-eyed gaze could have on a woman, and though he knew he was chancing his luck, he did not resist the impulse to let his eyes rest on her face, asking the question. For a few heart-stopping seconds it seemed she was about to take him up on the offer. To this day, he was not sure which of them had looked away first. Something had passed between them, and each of them knew it.

From that night, their professional relationship had shifted, unremarked, to a more collaborative footing. The incident had rattled him, however, and he was torn between a desire to find out more about what made this woman tick; and the contrary urge to keep his interest under wraps. He felt exposed, as though a piece of his armour had worked itself loose.

Laura had been an unwitting casualty of his unease, though he had been tiring of her in any case. She had become a liability; a hangover from a past he thought he’d put behind him. It wasn’t the first time that he’d behaved callously towards a woman, but it was unusual to feel bad about it. Unaccustomed self-pity was partly what had propelled him back to Karppi’s apartment: as for the rest, he had not yet reached the point of admitting that Sofia Karppi was getting under his skin.

He had no particular expectations when he rang her doorbell, but was quite unprepared for what he found. The place looked like it had been ransacked, and the woman herself astonishingly drunk. Unsure how to proceed, he began by lecturing her rather pompously on the error of her ways, but it soon became evident she was laughing at him provocatively, and he took the proffered drink to cover his discomfiture. Wrecked as she was, she looked lovelier than ever: sultry and luscious and pouting at him. ”Fuck me”, he thought, but after all, perhaps this was what he had come for.

She was so close he could smell the whisky and feel the warmth of her breath on his lips, and he braced himself for impact. Even so, the urgency of her kiss took him by surprise and he could not help but respond in kind.

Then, just as suddenly as she had come on to him, she had dissolved in his arms, a damp, sobbing mess. The world was boiling around him: rocks were melting and the sea was burning. The wave of tenderness that overcame him was strange and glorious and terrifying, and he had nowhere safe to land. Coming down was the hardest thing.

Still unable to sleep, he picked himself up and crossed to lean against the doorway into the bedroom, where the sleeping figures of Karppi and Emil lay snuggled against each other, illuminated by the lights from the street below. He felt the same rush of tenderness that had a habit of creeping up on him from time to time now. His heart had been in hiding for so long he didn’t really know what to do with it when it made one of its sudden unpredictable appearances. His gut was telling him to do what he’d always done, to pack his feelings away neatly, out of sight and out of mind, as if they belonged to someone else: someone he didn’t want to know.

His head was saying otherwise, but he’d had enough of agonising for now. He returned to the sofa where this time, mercifully, sleep overtook him.

________________

The first grey light of morning was creeping through the room when Sofia awoke, and all was quiet apart from the rhythmic breathing of her still-sleeping son. She came to with a start, remembering that she had just kissed Nurmi. Though he hadn’t backed off, his response had unsettled her: his kiss had been so tentative, almost shy, like it was his first. Like it really mattered.


In the beginning she had resented his very existence: she hadn’t wanted a partner, let alone one who was too young; too smooth; too cocky; too wet behind the ears. He was like a tiresome puppy that she wanted to kick out from under her feet. But he was neither naive nor stupid, and gradually she had begun to appreciate that he was giving back as good as she gave him. There was steel behind those big, baby-blue eyes, and it intrigued her. Sometimes he looked at her as if he were giving her the come-on, but every now and then she thought he might be about to transfix her with an icy death ray. What was it Koskimaki had said? ”He’s just a little different from you”.


Their professional partnership had worked because they often came at problems from different angles. Sometimes sparks would fly, but neither was inclined to let resentment simmer for long; and as her wingman, his level-headedness had proved a worthy foil to her own impetuosity. Nurmi knew a lot of stuff that she didn’t, and the incongruous mix of practical skills he had brought to the party had been a constant source of wonder to her.

If she was honest with herself, she had been flattered by his occasional flirtatious banter. She hadn’t had decent sex for years, and there had been occasions when she might not have said no to the offer of a nice recreational fuck. God knows they had come close a couple of times and, she had to admit, she relished the feel of him, for despite his cool exterior, he was always warm and reassuringly solid to the touch.

There was a lot about Sakari Nurmi that didn’t quite add up, but it had been pretty clear to her that the doorway to his innermost secrets was firmly boarded over, with one of those hand-painted signs nailed above it warning “here be dragons”. Curious though she was about what might lurk in the darker recesses of his mind, she had not hitherto had the stomach to face the consequences of finding out.

She had been genuinely pleased to see him when he’d come back from leave of absence, and there had been a time when their relationship had hovered precipitously on the cusp of something more profound. Then he had gone behind her back to arrest Henna. Though in her heart of hearts she knew that Nurmi had done the right thing by taking action to protect the girl’s longer-term interests, she blamed him for everything that had happened subsequently: her humiliation at work; the break-up of her family; and the bitter loneliness he had caused. His betrayal had created a vacuum in her life, and she hated that she missed him so much.

On her return to work she had been determined to remain detached, but detachment wasn’t commensurate with the anger she felt, and the desire to punish him for her pain. But she soon realised that lashing out at him was fruitless. She was pounding her fists against his chest and finding him as immovable as ever, not a flicker of emotion behind his eyes. Deciding she would really rather just have her old companion and sparring partner back, if he would have her, she started chiseling her way through his defences. It was a tough job, and just as she thought she might have been getting somewhere, she had been forced into the ultimate act of betrayal.

Suddenly afraid that their already fragile relationship might be damaged beyond repair, she went to look for him.

He was on the sofa, his slender frame curled in a neat and noiseless sleep. Affection washed over her as she saw that, at rest, he had lost the haggard look he had been carrying around of late. Though his features were familiar enough by now, as she cast her eyes over his face she noticed details as if seeing him for the first time.

The straight, delicate nose, slightly tilted at its end. His heavy browline, interrupted by a small flaw over his left eye. Those ridiculously long lashes. The firm set of his jaw, downed in light stubble. And a tiny crease in the corner of his mouth, the hint of a smile. It seemed like a lifetime since she had seen him smile.

Suddenly she became aware that the blue eyes were open and watching her. She felt herself flush scarlet from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair, and she thought her legs might give way.


“Sofia”, he whispered, and reached out his hand.

Somehow she made her way to the sofa and, laying down, she made spoons beside him, grateful to avoid his gaze. It seemed entirely natural to feel his arm come round her waist in a comforting embrace.


“You never call me Sofia”, she said.

“Nor you me Sakari”, he murmured hoarsely into the back of her neck.

She could feel hot tears coming. ”I didn’t know…I didn’t think I could go through with it. I hoped and prayed…”

“Shhh”. The gravelly voice behind her was patient, soothing. ”Sofia, I know you didn’t have a choice”. He manoeuvred her round gently, so that they faced each other, nose to nose, and used his thumb to wipe the tears that had pooled below her eyes. “I’m here. I’m alive. I can live with it”. He hesitated, “but I don’t think I can live without you”.

“I didn’t know I loved you”, was all she could say.

They were still there on the couch smiling stupidly at each other when, some time later, Emil came stomping out of the bedroom.

“Eeeugh”, they heard, and laughed.

[kimwexlers-brownhair]

Tagged by the fabulous @cauldronofmorning for eight shows to get to know me! Thanks so much for the tag!

1) Twin Peaks. Agreeing with Char on this one. One of my friends calls it “Pacific Northwest Gothic” and I couldn’t agree more, especially as a girl named Laura from the PNW. Thankfully my life is far more blessed than Laura Palmer’s. It’s really one of the most influential shows of all time. All of the procedurals or dramedies that came after, especially ones with weird avant-garde feels to them, might not exist without Twin Peaks. One such show that has Twin Peaks all overs its DNA is:

2) Yellowjackets. It’s a young show that I’ve only recently become obsessed with, but it’s like somebody put all my favorite narrative choices in a blender in a way that doesn’t feel pandering. 

3) Succession. It’s pretty enthralling, innit? The comedy-drama line is a very tricky tightrope, and damn if Jesse and co. don’t knock it out of the park every time. We really get under the skin of these terrible, terrible people, and you find yourself empathizing at least once with every major character.

4) Columbo. As for shows that might have influenced Twin Peaks, I wonder if Columbo was one. They have surprisingly similar vibes, at least sometimes. Columbo himself is a more slovenly, seemingly absent-minded precursor to Dale Cooper. They’re both unconventional weirdos with hearts of gold who present the opposite to the standard cynical TV sleuth -- not to mention they wear the same raincoat, only Coop’s is crisp and clean next to Columbo’s...less crisp and clean coat. There’s also that kind of groovy, mellow ‘70s vibe that can get very unsettling very quickly. I never get tired of watching Columbo.

5) Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul. I’m grouping them together in one because BCS wouldn’t exist without BrBa, and they both do scratch many of the same itches for me. Magnetic casts and writing that transcend the genre -- again, and this might seem like a stretch, I see the DNA footprints Twin Peaks left behind in that the tropes get flipped upside down. Sometimes you’ll start the show on a little boy capturing a tarantula or a closeup of ants devouring a dropped ice cream cone. Pure Lynch.

6) The Simpsons, I’d say about the first eight seasons. It first aired when I was close to two years old, so I don’t remember a time in my life without it. My dad was at first a little nervous about letting me and my sister watch because of how intense Itchy and Scratchy was, but darn it, he wanted to watch it and he rightly knew we would have been little nightmares to deal with if he didn’t include us. It shaped my sense of humor, while also ruining a lot of good kids fare at the time. If you’re raised on The Simpsons, Sesame Street probably won’t do it for you. I do kind of regret that, I think The Simpsons probably made me a bit of an insufferable kid. I still don’t know who I’d be without it in those formative years, though! Too bad it’s now the bloated corpse of what it once was, and I stopped watching years and years ago. It was a sad day when I realized there are now far more bad seasons than good.

7) Mystery Science Theater 3000. Another one that shaped my humor early in life, although not as consistently as The Simpsons. I actually don’t remember seeing it at all apart from my early years until my teens, when the Sci-Fi channel started airing them. I’ll always be a Crow girl, I am not original in that regard.

8) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I hate a lot of their choices especially in the early seasons, and I won’t defend those choices. But I do see growth in how they choose to satirize the world without falling into the trap of appearing to endorse it. (Most of the time). It’s the funniest cast on Earth with the funniest writing on Earth. Little green ghouls, man.

Tagging: @georgeromerosanalcavity, @thewildwestpyro, @kimberly-wexler, @bluestockingbaby, @tinylilvalery