#location: totentanz

[busyvampire]

"𝑻𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆"

[bizarrebazaar13]

FL-inspired book recs!

brought to you by hotel wi-fi

Locations

The Royal Bethlehem: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Room in the Tower” by E.F. Benson. these are short stories, not novels, but they are fairly quick reads and are about locations where reality becomes twisted. the yellow wallpaper deals with mental illness and medical neglect, while the room in the tower is more about the overlap between dreams and the real world.

Port Carnelian: Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. ok, hear me out on this one. if you’ve ever thought port carnelian would be great if it actually dealt with British colonialism and racism in a meaningful way and also had a murder mystery, you might like this book. a much younger Mycroft Holmes goes with his friend Cyrus Douglas to Douglas’s home in Jamaica to investigate a series of mysterious deaths.

Ladybones Road: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley. Nathaniel Steepleton finds a gold pocket watch in his bedroom one day, but he cannot open it or even hear it ticking. six months later, it opens on its own, and an alarm goes off at the precise time that a bomb explodes in Scotland Yard. he then goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, who claims the watch was stolen from his shop. Mori has a gift for elaborate clockwork, and though he seems kind and relatively harmless, Nathaniel is sure he is hiding something.

Ambitions/Major Storylines

Early Light Fingers: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. it’s a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, but it can still be understood and enjoyed even if you don’t share my Sherlock Holmes autism. I specified early light fingers, because the mystery of what exactly the house of silk is, and the theme of corruption in highest levels of society, reminds me a lot of exploring and learning about the orphanage. just a heads up, this book is centered around a murdered child, and deals with the systemic abuse and neglect of children in victorian london. its biggest content warning is also its biggest spoiler, so I won’t give it here, but feel free to ask me. I had it spoiled for me on accident and still liked the book a lot.

Late-game Nemesis: “The Moonlit Road” by Ambrose Pierce. another short story, it recounts in three parts the murder of Julia Hetman, as told by her son, her husband, and Julia herself. it specifically reminds me of the dreams of the dead section of nemesis.

Evolution: Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. Tory Stewart becomes obsessed with mermaids after her sister Anne’s disappearance. Anne was filming a mockumentary about mermaids in the Mariana Trench, but the ship she was on disappeared, and was recovered weeks later with no trace of the crew. footage was found that appeared to show the crew being murdered by mermaids, but it’s largely believed to be for the movie, not real. seven years later, Theodore Blackwell recruits Tory as part of his mission to return to the Mariana Trench and capture a live mermaid. it hits sort of the same spot for undersea survival horror that the diving bell section of evolution did for me.

Exceptional Stories

The Bloody Wallpaper: Sign Here by Claudia Lux. hell is an office. literally. Peyote Trip sold his soul while he was alive, and now works in hell, convincing other people to do the same. he’s one deal away from a big promotion, and all he needs is the soul of one last member of the Harrison family. normal laws of space and time don’t apply, the real hellscape is capitalism, and secrets don’t stay hidden forever… sound familiar? in terms of violence and body horror, I don’t think it gets much worse than the text of the bloody wallpaper. one of the main characters does have a pretty brutal backstory involving christianity-related child abuse though.

Totentanz: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. set in late 1920s Mexico, the story follows Casiopea Tun and the Mayan death god Hun-Kamé on a journey across Mexico and eventually into the underworld. Casiopea finds Hun-Kamé’s bones in a chest in her grandfather’s house, and when she cuts her finger on one of the bone shards, Hun-Kamé becomes bound to her. together, they must find the rest of his body, which has been scattered around Mexico by Hun-Kamé’s brother Vucub-Kamé, who took over control of Xibalba from him. Hun-Kamé intends to retake Xibalba, but he and Casiopea must face sorcerers, demons, and twisted family dynamics- and that’s before they even get to the underworld.

[chevvy-yates]

RYDER’s DOING ON CCR

Ryder and Garnet are old chooms. They’ve known each other since Ry was able to attend one of his first underground raves Night City had to offer: an event at Totentanz where he met Falco in the crowd and came into a chatter and a friendship resulted from it.

They used to be chooms with benefits for a bit as well whenever it was needed as both of them are used to go to sex positive events. Falco and Ryder found out fast, that NUSA technoise differs very much from the technoise in their home country. So instead of complaining about how bad most NUSA tech parties are they sat down and developed Garnet’s idea together: the concept of HELL BUNKER and the birth of Chrome Chamber Rave. Ryder is no owner as all the ideas and investment came from Garnet in the first place but he helped him a lot in the beginning working out a concept. Especially to get CCR known in Night City by creating flyers for it, therefore Ry is also featured on covers and pushed the location so much it grew quite known already by 2075. He also used to work as a bouncer in the beginning as well and still offers to do it when the club appears to be understaffed. In return he doesn’t have to pay for entering and friends of his always get in for free as well. Yet Ryder loves it more to be inside and to rave of course as CCR is his favorite weekend every month. Another headcanon is that Ryder might become co-owner once he‘s freed from Beast.

To give you a better imagination of what HELL BUNKER might look like, here are two 3-min videos of the Berliner Techno Club 'TRESOR', that shows how Garnet's location might look like – at least the base of it.

First video is from the old club that got deconstructed in 2005 (has a long history together with techno subculture after the Berlin Wall fell; I can recommend watching this over an hour documentation if your are interested), This is literally the underground bunker style I imagine for Garnet's club. The second video seems to be of its current location (which is a big hall of a heat and power plant) that shows a part of it used in the underground for some parties.

[imaginarycyberpunk2023]

At Totentanz

"Come on dollface, take my hand, I'll protect you."

OC: Vinnie

I mean this location is pretty dope and I will probably spend much more time there. I imagine him to be a very sexy dancer, so I wanted to do something like this for a while. I'm not mad at how these turned out, especially the lighting in the 3rd pic.

Bonus:

That dude in the background side-eyeing him made me laugh.

[locationkinggrp]

MY RULES / MY V'S / MY SOCIALS

Welcome to my Nightmare. I will be updating this post over time with more links & info of various things. Thank you for stopping by and giving it all a nice read. Enjoy! 🖤 🤘❤️

MY RULES.....

♱ DO NOT interact if • you are a bigot • you are a homophobic • you have any issues with any LGBTQ+ people • you are a bully • you have an issue with males wearing “catch me fuck me knee high boots” • you have a problem with trans people • you are a microwave that hates heating up food • you are a gremlin disguised as a mogwai ♱ DO NOT follow if • you are looking for numbers • you are anything or everything under the "do not interact if" • you are a bigot groupie • you got problems with others shipping the same NPC as you • you cannot handle f/f & m/m postings • you are quick to block someone without talking to them 1st • you are an asshat hellbent on drama • you are mother nature • you are an asteroid

MY 6 V'S.......

+NAME: Vexx +AGE: 27 +GENDER: Transgender +SEXUALITY: Panam-Sexuality +JOB: Owner/Broker of Lazy Real Estate Professionals. Owner of Jinguiji in Center City. +SIBLINGS: 3 +ALIASES: Pretty Devil +INPUT/OUTPUT: Panam Palmer

+NAME: Velvet +AGE: 27 +GENDER: Male +SEXUALITY: Pansexual +JOB: Agent at Lazy Real Estate Professionals. DJ Heartbeat at Riot. Fill in guitarist in a band called Troops Of Doom. +ALIASES: Thunder Bite +INPUT/OUTPUT: Aymeric Cassel

+NAME: Vixxio +AGE: 27 +GENDER: Female +SEXUALITY: Lesbian +JOB: Agent/HR at Lazy Real Estate Professionals. Owner of the Ded Zed store. +SIBLINGS: 3 +ALIASES: Flawless Sandstorm +INPUT/OUTPUT: Songbird

+NAME: Vladislav +AGE: 27 +GENDER: Male +SEXUALITY: Gay +JOB: Agent/HR/Office Asst. at Lazy Real Estate Professionals. Bartender Demonic Rumble at Totentanz. +ALIASES: Profanity of Darkness +INPUT/OUTPUT: Dum Dum

+NAME: Valaine +AGE: 27 +GENDER: Female +SEXUALITY: 8ugsexual +JOB: Agent at Lazy Real Estate Professionals. Double jobs at Riot : DJ Virus & bartender Cinnamon Tempest. +SIBLINGS: 3 +ALIASES: Crimson Nymph +INPUT/OUTPUT: 8ug8ear

+NAME: Vyandrara +AGE: 27 +GENDER: Female +SEXUALITY: Bisexual +JOB: Agent at Lazy Real Estate Professionals. DJ Stitches at Totentanz. +SIBLINGS: 3 +ALIASES: Grumpy Darktwirls +INPUT/OUTPUT: Aurora Cassel MY SOCIALS......

Nexus: LocationKingGRP (mods = locations, eyes, nails, tattoos, lipstick & makeup) Instagram: location_king_grp X: Location King GRP Ko-Fi: locationkinggrp (fixing it up, under construction) YouTube: Location King GRP (mainly videos of some mods & lil gameplay stuff) AO3: Location_King_GRP (deleted old stories, they are being fixed up currently) Patreon: LocationKingGRP2079 (new & uncertain of it's path, under construction) Discord: locationkinggrp

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! What inspired your world? A culture that we have here, a type of planet or mythical location, or maybe a novel?

Happy WBW! :D Short answer: everything :P Longer answers:

The Death series: Alice in Wonderland + Hades and Persephone in settings vaguely reminiscent of China, Turkey, and Russia

The Power and the Glory: variously inspired by LOTR and Narnia, real-world cultures (Russia, Japan and China), and The Untamed.

Totentanz: a mixture of Arthurian legends, Norse mythology, The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, and Edge of Tomorrow.

Like Snow on Hungry Graves: very loosely inspired by Georgia, Turkey (well, the Seljuk Sultanate, but close enough), and China. Fictional inspirations include Tian Guan Ci Fu, Ashes of Love, Goodbye My Princess, and a dash of Lovecraft (specifically The Shadow over Innsmouth).

The Case-files of Seo Yo-han and Uneasy Money: By far the easiest, because all of them are set in the real world (well, give or take a world war and a few other unpleasant events).

[mrssimply]

1st: Diner

The Fic Advent Calendar is launched!

I decided to do a fic advent calendar this year, and idea that was given to me by Bones a.k.a Riots from the Totentanz Discord Server.

You can find the prompt liste here.

Every fic will be posted on my AO3 Account here.

This one is for @m-lter and the prompt was "Johnny/Male!V/Kerry for prompt “Two of the people in the relationship have accidentally done something hurtful to the remaining person. How do they apologize or make up for it?” It can contain NSFW or not, I don’t mind. It can take whatever tone you prefer, angsty hurt or wholesome hurt. S’il vous plait"

That morning when he wakes up, Johnny is surprised to find himself in his bed. It takes him a minute to gather his thoughts, and he regrets the exercise right away as it seems to awaken his hangover. Wincing as a spike of pain flashes through his skull, Johnny turns on his back and brings his hands to his face. The nausea hits next, and he swallows it with a deep breath. 

“Fuck,” he curses. How did he get home?

Home is Kerry’s mansion in North Oak, he lives there since V’s stubbornness and Kerry’s money pulled him from beyond the black wall into a new body. It’s been about a year, and it’s been a great year in Johnny’s opinion, despite the chaos of the world and Night-City in particular. 

Movement in the bed next to him makes him open his eyes to discover Kerry is asleep beside him, makeup smeared around his closed eyes and hair a mess. Johnny smirks and reach out to poke his nose gently. Kerry frowns, but doesn’t wake up. 

Looking beyond him, Johnny finds the bed empty: V is already gone, which is not unusual, but it still nags at the rockerboy. 

He slowly gets up and pads down to the bathroom to piss and take a shower, which allows him to feel a tad more human. The next stop is coffee, but he gets derailed in his quest by the huge dinner table further to the left. The table is set for three, with the nice cutlery: gold-rimmed porcelain plates and matching glasses, there is a bucket with an unopened bottle of champagne waiting, and a big plate of what seems to be lasagna. Instinctually, Johnny knows they’re home-cooked, done from scratch and he’s also pretty sure V made them. Now that he has money and a real kitchen (a new addition to the mansion), he spends a lot of time cooking for his two inputs. It wasn’t great at first, but he’s been steadily improving. 

Still, the champagne is out of the ordinary: this speaks of another intent. 

Coming closer, Johnny can see that the lasagna plate is untouched, except for a suspicious bite that’s probably Nibbles, since the plate stayed out there in the open the whole night. As Johnny wonders about it, tendrils of memory from last night come back to him.

Kerry and he had been celebrating the end of recording for their new album, with a new independent label Johnny chose. They’ve been at it for over three months, and it has sort of consumed them. Thinking about it further, Johnny can’t recall the last time they all had dinner together. Breakfast yes, but dinner, or an evening just the three of them… 

Johnny frowns as he recalls getting totally smashed with Kerry last night, the alcohol and the drugs kicking harder and faster due to the tiredness and excitement they’d both been feeling. Around five, Dino had kicked them out of the Electric Orgasm with a last laugh, and said he’d called V to get them. Johnny gets a vague memory of Kerry and he riding at the back of the Calibrun, giggling and singing and trying to entice V to join them in their shenanigans, without success. 

Eying the dinner table one last time, Johnny turns around and goes in search of his phone, locating it under a pile of clothes from last night. It’s dead, but a few minutes of charge brings it to new life. Sitting on the bed, Johnny checks the convo he has with Kerry and V and sure enough, there is another clue.

V’s apparently sent them four messages asking when they were coming home, reminding them about dinner. They replied to the first two, saying they would be there soon — but the time stamps next to these messages indicated an hour had gone between the two. The last messages went unanswered, and Johnny can tell they were already high and drunk at this point, probably doing shots with some of the techies from the label.

Biting his lower lips, knee bouncing in nervousness, Johnny scrolls back up and now that he’s paying attention to it, it clearly appears to him how their conversation has dwindled, how often V asked where they were and they barely replied, saying they were busy. There is one message two weeks ago asking them to block their schedules for last night, V telling them it will be something special with three winking smileys. Johnny looks at his own response: “sure, I’ll be there,” and Kerry’s, who added a little heart. Apparently, they both promptly forgot about it.

Feeling a strange sensation of dread, Johnny connects to the house system to scan for V. It shows Nibbles napping downstairs in a ray of sun, curled up on a couch, but not traces of V. Sighing loudly, Johnny turns on the bed to shake Kerry awake. After a groan, and an attempt to bury his face under his pillow, the second rockerboy accepts to open an eye to glare at Johnny.

“What?” he snaps and Johnny can’t help but smile mockingly.

“Someone didn’t get his beauty sleep,” he comments.

“Go fuck yourself,” Kerry mumbles, turning his head the other way.

Smile fading, Johnny pokes him again.

“I think we fucked up last night. V was waiting for us with a home cooked dinner. We totally forgot.”

No answer. Johnny is about to shake Kerry again when the man swears lowly.

He grabs his phone and checks the date before cursing again. Kerry rolls and sits, with a painful noise as the hangover makes itself known to him as well. 

“Yesterday was the first,”

“Yeah,” Johnny says with a raised eyebrow, “What’s special about it.”

“First December, Johnny, that’s when we got you back. When, ya know…”

When Johnny woke up in a new body and the first thing he did was to kiss V senseless, and then Kerry as well to erase his wary expression. They’d both looked a bit shocked, which had made Johnny laugh and kiss them again. Later, they’d told him they hadn’t really expected him to be this… Forward, or open, with any of them, let alone both of them. V had laughed that he'd still hoped to lure him into their bed sooner or later. Johnny had replied that dying twice had sort of made him reconsider some things about missed opportunities, and wasting time.

It also means, Johnny slowly understands, that yesterday had been their one year anniversary, and V had wanted to do something special for the occasion. He’d cooked, chosen a bottle of champagne, and set the table for a romantic dinner that would certainly have made Johnny sneer and mock him, even though it would have secretly pleased him.

“Shit,” Johnny mutters.

The rockers look at each other with helpless expressions for a few seconds, before Johnny frowns.

“Why didn’t you say anything yesterday?”

“I don’t know Johnny, why didn’t you?” Kerry shots back, obviously annoyed at being held responsible.

“I didn’t know it was that special, you obviously knew.”

Kerry gives him a deadpan look.

“You didn’t think the anniversary of you coming back for good was that special to V?”

“I didn't realize it had been a year already,” Johnny replies, refusing to feel guilty, “time flies, and all that.”

Kerry sighs and does exactly like Johnny, scrolling back up their group chat and coming to the same conclusion.

“Fuck.”

V is not sulking, he is just… Taking a break from his two inputs. So what if he’d been hiding — staying in Jackie’s garage for the past week? He isn’t sulking. It’s just more practical to be here, since it’s closer to The Afterlife and work has been hectic lately. That’s all.

His phone buzzes again and he sees it’s Johnny again. They take turns trying to reach him, but lately their attempts have been dwindling. V is not disappointed by that.

He sighs forlornly into the empty room and tightens the covers around himself. The room is shrouded in darkness, which is exactly how V likes it right now, filled with blaring rock coming from the sound system he installed a while back. His playlist consists mostly of dark rock ballads, but he’s taken the time to remove all of Johnny and Kerry’s songs from it, so it’s basically circling with the same ten songs. The playlist was mostly Johnny and Kerry’s songs… 

He doesn’t hear the discreet knock the first time, so whoever is out there tries again harder.

“V?” It’s Misty. The merc toys with the idea of ignoring her, but she can be stubborn so V decides to let her in. He opens the door, still wrapped in his blanket and she stares at him before letting out a little chuckle.

“Oh, wow… I didn’t believe Mama when she told me you were pinning, but you actually are.”

“I’m not pinning.”

“Sulking then.”

“Nope. I’m… Thinking.”

“Hum hum, what about?”

“Things.”

“Johnny and Kerry?”

V turns around, the blanket swishing dramatically behind him.

“No.”

He can hear Misty covering her laugh with a discreet cough, but decides to ignore it. 

“Well, apparently they are thinking about you. They’ve been harassing Vik and Mama, and apparently everyone else, too, about you.”

V refuses to feel mellowed at that, but he looks at his friend over his shoulder.

“I’ve been busy.”

“I bet. Mama kept them away from here, but they’re getting desperate, they know you’re hiding in there. Won’t be much we can do if they really want to see you.”

“I would love to see them try,” V mutters darkly, thinking about all the ways he could really barricade himself in the garage if he wanted. Johnny might be a bit of a problem, but Kerry would be basically useless.

“Yes, you would,” Misty replied serenely. “You want them to fight for you, don’t you? You want them to stop taking you for granted, that’s why you’re hiding in there, isn’t it? You want to see how they deal with your absence, if they miss you, if you’re as important to them as they are for you.”

V is glad he turned his back to her because that way he doesn’t have to try — and fail — to hide the maelstrom of emotions her words unleash inside of him. He looks down, but he won’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she’s absolutely right.

“Well, V, let me tell you, they do miss you, and they are driving everyone insane so… could you please give them a chance before Johnny decides to do something drastic like… Burn something?”

V can’t help it, he snorts because Johnny is well capable of putting fire to Night City just to make things interesting, and Kerry is no better. Actually, Kerry might be worse, because he has zero chills when it comes to his relationships. 

“Please?” Misty insists, “Kerry and Vik nearly got into a fight yesterday because he said they didn’t deserve you and you would be better off without them.”

V winced, and faced Misty.

“But you agreed to help them.”

“Yes. I think they deserve a second chance.”

“Why?” V asks, because he’s been asking himself the same thing for the past week. Neither are great dating material: they’re self-centered, obsessive and possessive, and far from being nice persons overall. 

“I think they’re sincere in their love for you, and they can do better. But I agree they need to be reminded you're precious, and that they need to treat you as such.”

V nods, feeling the strain around his heart ease at her words. As always, she understood better than he even could.

“Ok, I’ll text them.”

“Great!” Misty concludes, clapping her hands with a smile.”I can feel it will all be worth it, in the end.”

V drives to the mansion at exactly the appointed time. He stops the bike and sighs, before nervously rubbing his palms over his thighs. He doesn’t know why he’s nervous, but he is. Maybe he fears he’ll let them off the hook the moment he sees them, and he doesn’t want that. He deserves better than the way they treated him.

He enters silently, giving the home system a firm order not to ping any of his input about his arrival. The house smells nice: something is cooking, and V feels his mouth waters at the perspective. 

He pads to the kitchen like he is in stealth mode during a gig. The view that waits for him when he rounds the room’s entrance is worth it: Johnny stands in the middle of the chaos that invaded the kitchen. There are cuts from fresh vegetables, open cans, oils, pepper and salt plus various pans on the counter like a small army surrounding him. He’s stirring something in a pot with a look of utter concentration, watching the time on the alarm clock next to him. V notes that, although he’s wearing an apron, he actually is all dressed up under: dark gray shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows in deference to the metal arm, and black dress slacks that hug his frame in just the right places. He also trimmed his beard and tied his hair up with a dark red silk ribbon. V drinks the spectacle in silence, noting with a smile that Johnny is still barefoot, like the idea of putting dress shoes was so repulsive he waited the last moment. After a minute of devouring him with his eyes, V decides to make his presence known and steps into the light. Johnny’s eyes immediately zero on him, dark pupils pining V with their usual intensity. It forces the merc to fight down a shiver and work to keep his stance relaxed.

“Hey V,” Johnny says, voice barely above a murmur. He lowers his hands on the counter, pot and stirring spoon forgotten. V can feel Johnny is nervous, unsure of how he should proceed and it makes the young fixer viciously happy. Let them stew in their stress for a bit longer.

“Hey,” V replies. They stay in silence for long seconds, and V sees the way Johnny’s cyber hand twitches on the counter.

The rocker seems to come to a conclusion in his head because he walks toward V, stopping only once he’s already in V’s space. 

“Missed ya,” he mutters, raising his hands to frame V’s face. The quiet confession makes V’s heart beat faster so he doesn’t stop Johnny and even tilt his head. It's all the man needs to swoop in and kiss him. It’s soft, tentative like a question and when V lets out a little groan, Johnny relaxes and kisses him harder. He slips closer, lean frame hot against V’s bulky form and seeks shelter between the young man’s lips. With the tiniest whimper, V lets him in, arms going around Johnny’s shoulder to melt into the kiss further.

When they separate, V is panting slightly, because he’s young and in love so it doesn’t take much to get him going. Johnny’s little smirk at the corner of his mouth says he knows it, but he refrains from commenting, which in his case, is a declaration of love. Shutting up is his love language.

Johnny’s thumb brushes V’s mouth, and his eyes soften.

“I’m sorry,” he mouths and wow, this was unexpected. Which is why Kerry finds them like this a minute later, while V is still processing the shock.

“Johnny, fuck, we’re late, and he’s not there, do you have any news, is he still —”

Dressed in a white shirt with golden threads and dark blue jeans, Kerry stops on the threshold of the kitchen with a gaping mouth. He looks like a deer in headlights, which is funny because he’s not the one who was found kissing their lover.

V turns in Johnny’s arms, and the man’s hand stays on his hip like a possessive brand. Kerry steps closer, biting his lower lip. He racks a hand through his still wet hair, dislodging a little droplet of water that runs down his neck. V’s eyes follows it and his mouth runs dry because he wants to lick it up. Before he can do anything about that, Kerry nervously steps to him.

“I thought maybe you wouldn’t come,” he says, hands hovering awkwardly at his sides. V takes them and offers him a smile.

“Misty convinced me you deserved a second chance.”

“Oh fuck, thank god, yes, I’m sorry we fucked up like this, with the album and everything, and I didn’t realise we were gone so much, and how many times we bailed out on you, I’m so fucking sorry. Promise to do better, ya know, treat you right this time I mean,” he laughs nervously, passes a hand over his mouth and behind V, Johnny laughs, hiding his face against V’s neck. His gentle lips bring another shiver to V’s skin.

“They are right,” Kerry continues, “your friends… You deserve better.” His eyes shine with something V can’t quite name. “You’re so easy on us, so easy to live with… None of my relationships were like that… Normal? Sort of? No drama, no cheating, I don’t know.”

“I wasn’t there,” Johnny supplies like it’s important they don’t forget.

“Yeah, that… I mean, what we had, it’s good, it was good, right?” Kerry asks and V really wants to put him out of his misery and say yes, but…

“It’s close to good, yeah,” he admits and feels both men relax and sadden at the same time.

“Yeah,” Kerry breathes, lowering his eyes, “it’s not good enough for you.”

V sighs discreetly and resolves to make the second step.

“When I got involved with you two, it was with clear eyes. I knew you enough to know I shouldn’t expect typical romance, and that you would be unavailable sometimes, just like me. When I get into jobs, I can be pretty focused too, and forget about the rest of the world. But we need to work on what’s important for each of us, because…” he pauses, closes his eyes briefly before taking a leap of faith: he needs to come clean, too: “Look at it from my point of view: suddenly you were spending all your time together, living the rocker’s life and partying, creating new things together, and only calling me when you need a ride home because your asses are high as kites. And I get it, you’re finally living a life you should have had fifty years ago, you’re finally working through your bullshit and being together like you always wanted, more or less consciously… So I really started to wonder where my place was between you two and well, when I asked for one night and you couldn’t even give me that…”

He lets the words hang, and feel Johnny bury his face tighter against his neck, and his hands tighten on his hip. Kerry looks like a school boy being scolded and V has to admit the sight is cute. 

“Don’t you get it, V?” Johnny asks quietly against his neck, “Without you it doesn’t work. We would destroy each other if it wasn’t for you. That’s what I feared the first time ‘round.” he admits and it’s probably only due to the fact he feels the vibration against his back that V understands the words.

Kerry shakes his head and comes even closer, hands delicately holding V’s jaw.

“You transform the universe into an adventure worth living for, you freed me from the shadows I was drowning in, and you allowed me closure. And then you did something even more miraculous,” he laughs, and his eyes shine bright with a strange sort of fever. “But that’s not why I love you. I love you because I’m happy with you like I’ve nearly never been in my life. And I hope you feel the same. You make me want to make you happy, V.”

Behind the merc, Johnny hums in acquiescence and in that moment, V feels it: how he would burn the city to protect him, how he would tear the world apart if that meant V would be safe, tear himself apart a second, a third time, just so V would smile. He knows it in his bones, thanks to the strange connection that persists between them even now they have two separate bodies.

He relaxes and suddenly feels very silly for having doubted it. He laughs nervously and nods, catching Kerry’s wrists in his hands to kiss his palms. He doesn’t know what to say, but he’s spared from that by Kerry, who surges up to kiss him. Devours him, more like, helped by Johnny who is biting his neck softly and pulling him tighter against him.

Kerry’s lips are burning, his mouth is trembling as he licks into V’s mouth and cages the young man’s body between his and Johnny’s. He smells like home, they feel like home and tension bleeds from V’s body in that instant. He melts against Johnny and they don’t need more to ignite. 

Their hands are everywhere, all at once, and he finds himself being worshiped right there, hard and breathless with Kerry on his knees before him… When suddenly the stove starts beeping and they register the smell of a burning dinner.

Johnny freezes.

“Oops,” he says and he’s clearly hesitating, but the interruption helps V to gather his thoughts. He helps Kerry up and kisses his pout away.

“You owe me dinner,” he declares after clearing his throat.

They dutifully go back to the preparations, fixing their clothes and swallowing back the desire they teased into flames. Still, V knows he’s in for a wild ride tonight, but that’s fine, it’s an outcome he likes.

They are shit at cooking, it appears, but V can’t blame them. When he started, they also bravely tasted everything he made, so he does it for them too. The diner smelled nice, but it’s so spicy it’s not edible. After half a dozen of bites, they’re all calling quits between two bouts of laughter. Johnny clearly needs to check his definition of “a pinch” of pepper. They end up on the couch eating sushi and drinking the expensive champagne V’d initially bought. Nibbles tries to steal their food, Johnny and Kerry start arguing about the music they put on for the evening, and just like that, everything is back to normal.

One convo won’t fix everything, but Misty was right: it will all be worth it, in the end.

[esteemed-excellency]

I compiled a list of all the Exceptional Stories I played, to be updated with every new one I play or buy. The bolded ones fit with Hiram's storyline, and the stars are for my favourites:

A Trade in Souls - Spirifier ending

The Gift ⭐️ Sided with the Princess

Cut with Moonlight - Meridian House continues to operate

The Last Dog Society - The Sunken Admiral had his revenge killing the Sequencer and the Shamble-Man

Discernment

The Art of Murder - [played both endings, killing the snuffer was the most in character option but I liked her character]

The Waltz that Moved the World ⭐️ Danced the Waltzing Duke to his death and took his secret

The Frequently Deceased

Where You and I Must Go

Our Lady of Pyres

The Persona Engine - Destroyed the Machine

The Twelve-Fifteen from Moloch Street - Uncovered The Lily's secret and entered Hell

The Century Exhibition - entrusted the Wind of Ages to Hell, and kept its location from the Empress' regiment

The Season of Skies - the Gracious Widow will continue the Polymath's work, hoping for London to see the stars again

The Marriage of Feducci ⭐️ The marriage fell through

HOJOTOHO!

Trial and Error

The Stone Guest ⭐️ Filmed with stage magic and The Grand Hunt

The Sinking Synod

Lamentation Lock - Left with the Listless Pugilist, the Ascetic Housebreaker and the Hollow-Eyed Turncoat

Written in the Glim - The Entomological Astrologer continues her activities

For All the Saints Who From Their Labour Rest ⭐️ The Intrepid Deacon became an agent of the Brass Embassy

The Magician's Dream - The Haunted Magician keeps working for the Glass

Cricket, Anyone? ⭐️ Gave the Broken Word to Hell, the Game must go on

Noises from Upstairs - Saved the Dashing Debunker from moonlight

Tauroktonos

The Garden Embassy

The Brass Grail - The Dowager helped against Virginia and the Bishop regained his lover

Say it With Flowers ⭐️ Met with the Brooding Captain and the Lady in Lilac to mess with the Princess' plan, the messengers are safe.

Por Una Cabeza ⭐️ Doña Villar won the bet and kept her soul, her villa went to the urchins. Hiram kept the secret.

The Dilettante's Debut

The Icarian Cup ⭐️ Saved the Zeefarer and won the race, the Zeefarer and the Explorer parted in friendship

Caveat Emptor ⭐️ Preserved the original parasitic sigil and its copy on the deed

The Fair Unknown ⭐️ Won the tournament with the Red-Handed Queen's favour and claimed the boon

Reunion - The Prince remained in London, forsaking the royal family

The Tempest - The Tempestuous Urchin learned to let go of her anger, and she remains with Silvvy

A Crown of Thorns - Accepted and destroyed the Belligerant Prince's honey batch, helped with the Thorned Manservant's campaign

Adornment - Escaped Mr Stones' mines thanks to the Superstitious Smuggler's sacrifice. goddammit mr stones

Mistress of the Skies - The Collective moved to Parabola

A Stretch in the Sky

Totentanz ⭐️ Danced the true Totentanz and preserved its instruments

The Queen of the Elephants

Codename: Sugarplum ⭐️ Mr Stones kept the bomb, and the Bazaarine Correspondent went West. Hiram has the dog the dog

Dernier Cri

Inheritance

The Exile's Chalice

A Devil's Due - Helped Verity recover the Lyrical Soul

SALON SCANDAL! - The Foreign Office declined to comment (and the Monster had wings)

Stolen Stanzas

The Hollow Triptych - Freed the Conjunction of Absence

A Bright Future - Brokered a compromise between Mr Fires and the Futurist

The Deadly Dapperlings

The Mudlark's Lament ⭐️ Befriended the Precocious Tosher and helped the Drownie

Flame, Lead, Clay, Glass - Both the Engineer and the Correspondent survived and will probably get together again in the future, the Correction was dealt with

The Stolen Song - The final verses of the Enigmatic Drownie's song convinced the Accused Contralto not to join her in the zee

The Bloody Wallpaper ⭐️ Payed the debt to the Fingerkings, shouted at the Manager

The Path of Blood and Smoke

The Children of the Glow - Chose to not reveal the truth about the Luminous Miss Sparks and her glowing paint

The Stripes of Wrath - Left the tiger to die in peace

The Green King - The Green King died, though Lady Jane bound herself to him

A Newt by Any Other Name ⭐️ Sacrificed The Lure, left The Newt in the vault, and kept the diamond newt

The Tale of Old Fritz ⭐️ The Doomed Diver returned home safe

Slobgollion

The Sunken River - The Zubmariner and the Heart returned to London, safe from the Admiralty

Déjà Vu

The Laws of the Game

Arcana - Drank the Cider and freed the Sacristan

A Nest in the Eaves

[franzliszt-official]

Good afternoon/evening Mr Liszt :) I was listening to Symphonie fantastique and I was wondering if Totentanz was inspired by it?

Good morning my dear pupil.

I suppose listening to the Songe d'une nuit de sabbat sparked this doubt. Although our very strong friendship certainly has had some effect on the both of us - "Hamlet" he used to call me, Hector a fervent atheist with the strongest mystical experiences I have ever encountered - I'd suppose the clearest bond between our musical choices would be his idea to include the Hungarian march in La damnation de Faust, with all that the Ràkòczi March meant for me and all Hungarians abroad.

In the Symphonie Fantastique he included the gregorian canon for the Dies irae, which outdates us all by many centuries and has always been a stable for all students of music. Such a coincidence is incidental. The Dies irae has been the basis for my "Dance of the Dead", Totentanz, as a self-explaining motive, and for some other compositions of mine such as one of the Mephisto-Walzer. The Totentanz, though its name nevertheless would suggest the such, has not been inspired by a chorea macabæorum, but by the medieval fresco called Triumph of Death located in the Monumental Cemetery in the Square of Miracles in Pisa. Its subject is the topos of three bodies found in the woods, that of a peasant, of a noble and a clergyman, all equal in death, and the struggle between forces of Good and Evil to capture the souls of the dead and condemn them either to Eternal Death or to be saved.

I enclose pictorial representation and video re-enactment from 17:50 onward

[busyvampire]

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #20 – Anon

Troupe Falsiam had just completed an extended tour of practically every Thavnairian village that still stood in the wake of the Final Days, and now it was time for their own spirits to be lifted – with a celebration at Mehryde’s Meyhane, the place that Ranaa swore was home to the best food in all of Radz-at-Han.

That would be an extremely tall order, as far as Makoto was concerned, because she had been to every single one of those villages with the Troupe, and even participated in some of their performances (primarily helping them battle the manifestations of the Totentanz, but Ranaa had added in sections to their routine that allowed her to demonstrate her skill with a Katana in less lethal formats as well), and she’d been served some of the most exotic and best-tasting food of her life in those villages.

She loved her girlfriend’s homeland. The people were warm and welcoming, the lands were beautiful even in the aftermath of the tragedy wreaked upon the, and perhaps best of all….the three of them did not have to hide who they were.

Ranaa had introduced both her and Fearless as her girlfriends in every location they visited (among all of their other titles, because Ranaa loved bragging on them), and no one had even blinked at the idea of the three women being in love. It had initially triggered her old fears, but over time, she’d been able to move past that and just enjoy the acceptance.

She almost hated that she felt so strongly about protecting her home city, that she was the one tying them to a particular location. And soon enough, she would be the one asking them to say goodbye, to return to their home in Shirogane.

“Stop that”

Makoto jerked her head upward into Fearless’ caring but reproachful gaze. Kami, had she been sulking??

“Fearless, I, um…stop what?”

Fearless sat down next to her and brought her into a hug.

Stars, Makoto always felt safe in her muscled arms.

“Stop beating yourself up. Stop thinking it’s your fault we can’t stay here. Stop thinking we don’t choose to live in Kugane every day because we love you and entirely support your work with the Sekiseigumi. That we resent you. Should I keep going?”

Makoto huffed a small chuckle. “No, no, I don’t think that will be necessary. I’m sorry. How did you know?”

“You’ve been doing it for the last third of the tour. It wasn’t hard to understand why.”

Makoto stilled as she felt panic rise in her stomach.

Fearless hugged her harder, not-so-subtly adjusting her head position to nestle in between her breasts. Though she was wearing simple local clothing, it was still thin and soft, and it had the immediate effect of distracting Makoto from her fears. “I said stop it, silly.”

“Oh, are we hugging Makoto’s fears out of her? I’m in!”

Makoto felt the squish of her other love pressing into her other side, and she had to smile. “All right, all right! I suppose it was silly to expect my two very smart and insightful loves to not notice. I apparently have no ability to hide emotions from you two.”

Ranaa scooched herself in closer, resting her chin on Makoto’s head to look at Fearless. “Still worried about going home, is she? Thinks we’ll resent her or something cause we gotta go back to hiding our relationship when we do?”

Fearless chuckled, nodding.

“You told her to cut it out, I assume?”

Fearless nodded again.

“Makoto, love, darling, we love you, we both absolutely respect what you’ve done with the Sekiseigumi, we’re proud of-and support your- ambitions to do even more, and while I love every moment we’re here in my city of birth, our house in Shirogane is my HOME now, got it?”

Makoto laughed. “Okay, okay, I believe you. Thank you both. As always, you know how to make me feel better.”

Ranaa went still.

“Ranaa?”

The miqo’te shook herself out of her thoughts. “Sorry. Um….I just had an idea. I don’t….I don’t know if it’s terrible or brilliant….no, forget I said anything.”

Fearless released Makoto as the pair leaned in towards her.

“Come on, Ranaa, you can’t just say that and expect us to not pay attention to it” Fearless said to her.

“She is right, darling. Please, tell us. We won’t think worse of you, you know that.”

Ranaa looked up to them, a sheepish expression on her face and a bit of fear in her eyes. “Um….well, If…if you wanted, before our trip ends….we could get married.”

Both Fearless and Makoto sat back, glancing at each other in shock.

“It…it was a dumb idea, I know! It’s not like it would even be recognized as binding in Kugane. I don’t even know if the Eorzean city-states would, either. And, and, and, we don’t need ir, right? We’re all absolutely committed to this relationship, we don’t need a document to prove it, just just forget I said anything”

The next thing she knew, she was being squished just as Makoto had been moments earlier.

“Ooooof, Sisters save me, why do I have to have a pair of MUSCLEHEADS for girlfriends, you’re gonna pop my head off!”

“Oh shush, you love it. And we love you, silly.”

“So….is that a yes? A no?”

Fearless looked down on her. “I would absolutely love to marry you both, sweetling, but we don’t have to do it now. If Makoto agrees….I think we should make an annual vacation here, and the next time? Let’s do it then, but I want all of our friends and family there. I want my sister and brothers and the rest of the Scions to come.”

Makoto chiumed in “And while I don’t have any blood relatives I want to join, some of the other samurai in the Sekiseigumi. on the other hand? I would like them to be able to make it. I agree with Fearless. A year to plan this and look forward to it? That I think we can do. And I agree, I would love to call you both my wife!”

Makoto yelped in joy. “Oh, I can’t believe it! We’re gonna get married!! Okay, I have to properly propose to you both if we’re doing this, but I can do that in time. Oh, wait.” she paused, resting a chin on her fingers as she glanced upward. “Hrm…there may be a wrinkle I haven’t told you about. Something you’ll need to tell your invitees.”

“What’s that?”

:Well, um….it’s less practiced in the smaller villages, but for a proper Hannish wedding? Well, we believe that we bare our love for our betrothed before the divinities, and to symbolize it….we bare our bodies.”

Makoto was shocked. “Wait…you mean-“

“Yeah, Hannish weddings are entirely in the nude. Participants and guests both”

Fearless and Makoto again looked to each other, but this time the horrified looks they wore prevented either one of them from looking away.

Ranaa began cackling “AHAHAHA YOUR FACES! Priceless.

Fearless glared at her, than picked her up, tossing her over her shoulder. “Makoto, love? I think we need to find a fountain to toss this one in.”

“I could not agree more! I do believe I saw one outside.”

They began walking towards the door, Ranaa still held firmly over Fearless’ shoulder, yelling for help all the way. “NOOOOOO NOT THE FOUNTAIN! Help! Someone help! Save meeeee! Mehryde! Call the Radiant Host!”

But of course everyone simply laughed at her antics, making no move to aid her.

[chevvy-yates]

CLUB OWNER

Falco ‘Garnet’ Ritter is the owner of the place he named ‘HELL BUNKER’, a location that hosts diverse technoise parties and concerts (but also some other music genres). He’s also the inventor of Chrome Chamber Rave as well as the radio station ‘109.6 HELL BUNKER.FM’.

He has earned himself quite a high cred and respect in the Night City party business as his location and main event is unique compared to other technoise events in the city. His vision simply was to bring European technoise (back) to the NUSA, especially hard tech from his home country Germany. He wants people of Night City to experience that technoise from Europe hits differently than other technoise does, especially the one from Germany (as technoise roots lie there)¹. He’s well known in the underground scene and also appreciated by Maelstroms. He used to be deejay-ing at Totentanz years ago and the location gave him a lot of inspiration for creating HELL BUNKER afterwards. He’s mostly known under the artist name ‘Garnet’² rather than under his real name. So in the first place Garnet is a musician and a business owner. But since he’s got ears and eyes everywhere to keep his club clean he may also have important info for mercs and he’s not easy to fight because of his installed Gorilla arms cyberware. He often acts as a bouncer for his own club. It’s likely to happen that you might get thrown out by him personally if you behave inappropriately. He doesn’t make any excuses. Chrome Chamber Rave especially has strict rules such as a certain dress code you gotta have to wear, otherwise you may not be able to enter.

SET LIST

Garnet still deejays at CCR. His setlist is of course all hard technoise yet he concentrates to mix it with more emotions and a touch of industrial, even some lyrics and tends to venture further than that. Each song is unique to itself and can be a true experience if you are willing to let yourself soaked in and let it touch your soul.

“Technoise may not be able to save the world, but it will save your soul.”

— Falco ‘Garnet’ Ritter

—

Cover artwork by me. Steal and you will be doomed. I‘ve chosen tracks only by one artist named ‘Roman Gehrecke’. This artist is the closest to what I imagine Garnet would produce as well. So I decided to borrow the music for Falco. Of course all the music belongs to Roman Gehrecke! There's one song at the end of it I see as the one that is always played at last so the audience knows ok after that it's done. This song is also not by the artist mentioned above but has a well known melody majority knows.

Recommendation: ‚Gefallene Engel‘, ‚Anderswelt‘, ‚Stimmen der Tiefe‘ and ‚Schutt und Asche‘ – best listened to via headphones and making time for it should you want to try to get soaked into.

———

¹ "Technoise and its various derivations dominate much of the German scene. If you're hip, you already know about Technoise. If not, listen up. Technoise is quite popular with the discerning young punk; it was popularized by Germany's own NetWerk actually, you've got your Overlay style from London, Jazznetic from Rotterdam and Echo from Frankfurt. In addition, there are people producing Frock (Fractal Rock) all over the place. The good thing is, Technoise is quite easy to produce. You only need a small computer, some software and you're ready to buzz. Those of you with a message might miss the political attitude, but you're missing the point. Technoise is strictly for partying, tripping and dancing. People meet and dance up to the runner's point. Maybe that's a political statement in itself, oder?" — Eurosource Plus – The New Eurotheater Sourcebook for Cyberpunk

² Garnet first is a song by my favorite band D'espairsRay I still love to this day (they ain't anything to do with techno). And second a gemstone that has the color of a darkened red, which I also try to give him as a main color theme of his wardrobe (together with black ofc).

[gcthamqueen]

For Lilith 43 and 20 💕 But also where is/was her tattoo shop located?

20. where do they currently live? describe their home. 

Lilith currently lives in a little place above her new shop in that area of Watson that’s sort of bordering on Kabuki but is just enough out where you’ll occasionally find a few Maelstrommers hanging out (she does not want her new place getting shot up in some stupid pissing contest if the Tygers run into Maelstrom). It’s probably about the same sort of style as V’s in game place, though maybe a little bit smaller (a bit less floor space in the middle of the room and no armoury). As much as she grew up with a lot of money and had one of those stupid big North Oak mansions while she was married, the only thing she really misses is her old studio. The downgrade’s not really affected her too much since she was out of NC in hiding to solidify the whole “dying the same night your husband got killed” thing she’s been working on.

43. describe their ideal date.

Honestly? It doesn’t really take too much for Lilith. She might occasionally have a hankering for a swanky meal at somewhere like Embers but she’s never really minded what she’d get up to on a date so long as she’s having fun. So probably something like those nights she used to party at Totentanz and then get absolutely off her ass high on the roof with Dum Dum. Like, since there’s that absolute deathtrap ledge outside the toilets, I figure there’s probably something higher up near/on the roof with some beat to shit sofas and stuff where people hang out a bit like the “going into the endgame” rooftop where you have to decide who you’re taking to Mikoshi.

Also I kind of picture her old tattoo studio as having been in about the area of NC where Kravitz’ ripper shop is, (across the road for the Peralez’ penthouse). There’s that little area where that bar for the quest with Nancy’s son and one of the clothes vendors is nearby, so probably around there somewhere? She had a knack for a light tattoos with dermal LEDs so I feel like it’d kind of fit in that area of the city.

[chromrs]

random sentence starters › ‘we’re not friends.’ from @maelstromr 

      › for johnny silverhand.

      “no? ah, c’mon, d, and here i thought we were well on our way to getting matching tattoos.” johnny leans backwards in the black booth located in the back of totentanz, left cyberarm cradling a drink and the other thrown around the back of the booth. there was a smirk slung across his lips, and anyone who wasn’t johnny would be terrified of the glare that dum dum was giving him from the other side of the booth.

      he blames it on the several drinks he’s had already, the way he’s being so friendly and casual with the maelstromer. they would be at each other throats in any other setting, and johnny’s not entirely sure dum dum won’t be at his throat in a second. “you get one half of the heart, i get the other? cute little initials in the middle. that is, if we can find some decent skin on you. don’t call you a chromepsycho for nothin’.”

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Manuscript Search Tag

Thanks for tagging me, @late-to-the-fandom! :D

Words: bright, soft, glow and fade. These are from Totentanz:

Bright:

One of the walls distorted. A ripple ran across it as if it was made of water. Then it drew back like a curtain and melted into the rest of the walls, leaving a doorway that opened onto a corridor. The corridor was brightly lit with the same cold light. It had no corners and not even the slightest shadow for anyone to hide in.

Soft:

Diarnlan's thoughts ground to a halt. She stared around at her own bedroom. Not her bedroom in the palace, but her much smaller, more cluttered bedroom in her old house by the beach. She grabbed fistfuls of the old patchwork quilt her mother had given her. It felt as soft and warm and real as it had so many years ago. She scrambled out of bed and promptly tripped over her old slippers. At the same time she noticed she was wearing an old pair of pyjamas.

Glow:

The runes around the platform's edges began to glow. A map of Avallot appeared in mid-air right in front of him. Karandren tossed the flower aside and examined the map. Diarnlan's house wasn't marked on it, but he could make an educated guess at where it was. He tapped his finger against that part of the coast. The map changed from one of the entire country to one of the north-east coastline. He noticed where the village was marked and used it as a reference to find Diarnlan's house. He pointed at the chosen location for ten seconds. That triggered the runes to lock onto that destination.

Fade:

Karandren closed the door behind her and -- with a little help from his magic -- shoved the statue in front of it. As soon as it was secure he removed the paralysing spell. He promptly got treated to a lesson in how many ways there were to inventively insult someone's ancestry, sexual preferences, and ultimate destination. He listened out of amused curiosity for a while before he realised someone else might overhear and come to investigate. Then he cast a muffling spell on the door. Diarnlan's swearing faded into a mere mumbling in the background.

Tagging @marigoldispeculiar, @junypr-camus, @fearofahumanplanet, @athenswrites, and anyone else who wants to do this! :D New words: weeks, display, assist, require and spring.

[bestmusicreviews]

Hendrik Jan Vermeulen - Krieg

Hendrik Jan Vermeulen - Krieg |self-released, 2016| 4/5, spoken word, in memoriam, WWI 01. Der Krieg, 02. Präsentiermarsch, 03. Sankt Michel, 04. Lazarett, 05. Visé, 06. Ein toter Mensch, 7. Brüder, 08. Handgranatenwerfer, 09. Im Feldkwartier auf hartem Stein, 10. Der Hohenfriedberger, 11. Angriff, 12. Schwerverwundet, 13. Totentanz 1916, 14. 1917, 15. Im Osten, 16. Abschied, 17. Totensignal Artists get inspired by a variety of things including, but not limited to legends, dreams, events, personal experiences, or futuristic visions. The Dutch guitarist, music teacher, and founder of Krieg - Hendrik Jan Vermeulen - dedicated the entire Krieg1916 project to his late great-uncle Bernhard Kronauer who fought as a soldier of the German Army and died in the eastern parts of Galicia (present Ukraine) in 1916. The Krieg album was released a 100 years after Kronauer's death. The music here becomes a complementary background for carefully chosen, early 20th century poetry created by various poets, who also did military service during WWI. Undoubtedly, German-speaking listeners will be pleased by both verbal and instrumental content interlacing on this release. Most of the 17 songs are short, often clocking under 2 minutes. 'Der Krieg' is a perfect representative of the whole collection, with a high, young female voice begins a spoken poem - an apocalyptic and prophetic tale of a wrathful War God (written by Georg Heym in 1911). The young orator (Franca Ley) is then joined by a lower and less expressive masculine voice (Frank Fiedler). Finally, a cold, haunting ambient sound rises in the background, giving the track an uncanny feel. This leads to the interlude entitled 'Preußischer Präsentiermarsch', which brings an uplifting and slightly 'aged', war propaganda-like melody (as found in many Nazi movies), possibly preparing imaginary soldiers for marching off into war. A beautiful, almost magical guitar melody opens the next song -  'Sankt Michel', where listeners get the first impression of Heiko Schmidt's vocals. This male singer and actor from Cologne owns an extremely intriguing voice, the timbre which resembles a female alto. The musical arrangements match the poem perfectly here, as it's performed expressively through necessary dramatization, creating several memorable moments. 'Lazarett' is the first song on the tracklist kept in a slightly goth-rock vibe with additional drums and bass instrumentation. While the freely swinging guitar riff brings freshness, Heiko's dramatic recitation of Wilhelm Klemm's poem gives the heart a much desired thrill. Later, the delicate sonic background of 'Visé' (based on graded guitar accords) becomes a great fit for the warm and distinctive voice of a different, female singer - Charlotte Illinger. Krieg1916 collaborates with many artists, musicians (including Vermeulen's family members), and technicians, with everyone involved getting full credit on the project's official website. 'Ein toter Mensch' is a short track, purely based on spoken poetry. It is then followed by 'Brüder' - a melodious and instantly memorable composition. Heinrich Lersch's poem is delivered by Heiko Schmidt again, and a melancholic mood comes from the guitar, though rhythmic bass and drums lines prevent extensive mourning from taking over. The song (the title of which is German for 'Brothers') while dedicated to all soldiers, wasn't written to glorify mass murder through warfare, but to emphasize the importance of living in peace and mutual tolerance. The freezing, yet beautifully snowy atmosphere of 'Handgranatenwerfer' was created with simple sounds of synth and guitar. They repeat in the background throughout the entire track, dominated by the early 20th century poem written by Anton Schnack. Another short acoustic song ('Im Feldkwartier auf hartem Stein') is supported by a solo guitar melody. Together with the vocal interpretation it may suggest that the performer (Hugo Luyten) tried to bring a positive vibration of hope to soldiers who would impatiently expect the war's end, rather than the arrival of new combat orders. 'Der Hohenfriedberger' is an instrumental composition carrying the motif of victory through an uplifting mood and arrangements typical for an anthem, performed with a high-pitched guitar, quiet bass, and drum cymbals. The 'Angriff' poem by Kurt Heynicke becomes the leitmotif of the next track, where a delicate piano arrangement creates the only background. It's enough though, because the masculine voice (H. Schmidt) recites the poem with an entire spectrum of emotions, making for a desired retrospective insight. It's then followed by 'Schwerverwundet', which begins on a positive note with expressive tones of an acoustic guitar and equally dedicated female vocals (Janina Raguse) getting an angelic vibe later on. The mood and voice may suggest she depicts the spirit of a Virtue drifting over a battlefield, searching for those who were severely wounded or dying, to transfer their souls to a better place. Verses used in 'Totentanz 1916' were written by the German Dadaist and sound poem pioneer Hugo Ball, who was rejected when he applied to join the army due to his medical condition. Ball's anti-war sarcasm gave him the label of a 'traitor', forcing him to flee to Switzerland, where he successfully continued working as part of the Dada movement by co-founding Cabaret Voltaire. The song is enriched with percussive, wake-up sounds calling out to action. The following track ('1917') starts with an uplifting, acoustic guitar part. The skilfully written composition is equally shared between the story-telling vocals (reciting the poem by Carl Zuckmayer) and soothing arrangements, additionally supported with an electric guitar soloing later on. 'Im Osten' brings as melancholic mood as sad the life story of the poem's author is. Georg Trakl was an Austrian expressionist, working as a pharmacist and medical official, who suffered from post-war depression that eventually led him to cocaine overdose and death in a military hospital in Kraków, Poland. Since Trakl died in late autumn, the imagery of falling snow comes to mind again, thanks to delicate guitar and synth sounds wrapped into slow rhythm arrangements and enriched with matching male vocals. Countering this mood is 'Abschied' - the only pure rock piece here, starting with a soloing guitar, then joined by bass, drums, and male vocals reciting a poem by Alfred Lichtenstein. He could foresee his own death in this prophetic writing, completed just a few weeks before he was killed on a French battleground. This and 'Brüder' could work great with a music video with screenplays based on existing historical material. Finally, the instrumental 'Totensignal' brings the end of the tracklist on an epic, peaceful note with a 'rest in peace' motif. No eulogy is necessary however, as the guitar gives an emotional tribute to the late soldier. It could be performed at Bernhard Kronauer's funeral, if only his body was found. Even though there are historical traces hinting at Hendrik Jan's great-uncle's last location, there's no grave to be visited. Krieg, an in-memoriam work of art, is a gift from a family member who despite never having a chance to meet or know more about his ancestor, got inspired enough with the story of his life to write music, curate a selection of war poems, and engage talented performers to combine these two elements into a solid unity. The songs of Krieg will be presented at various events and radio shows starting in January 2017. Many European countries hit by WWI and WWII celebrate their rise from ashes every year, so there should be many opportunities to present these pieces to a wider public, perhaps accompanied by a theatrical performances on the historical subject as well. (Reviewer: Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz, Fabryka Industrial Rock & Metal Encyclopedia, December 30th, 2016. Proofreading: Mike 'Vesper' Dziewoński) Source: http://industrialrock.net/php-files_en/articles.php?article_id=588

http://www.krieg1916.nl

https://hendrikjanvermeulen.hearnow.com/

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/hendrikjanvermeulen