#probably the nostalgia of singing “Welcome to the Show”

[agustdblues]

GMMTV 2024 PART 2 (I heard Gmm is letting fans submit stories for adaptations now😭😭 bffr gmm and hire WRITERS)

•US: GL NATION ITS ANOTHER WIN!! EMIBONNIE !!! WITH SING. I couldn’t have asked for a better cast Usually I’m not up for the “siblings having same love interest” typa story but the shots looked so pretty plus P’Fon is doing this series so IM SEATED. They took the best trailer of the night for me !!

•Revamp (The undead story): WabiSabi probably having a bad day rn💀 GMM has two vampire projects now? hmmm which one of them will get pushed back to 2025🤔 Boun is one sexy vampire BounPrem always look good tgt. Aah sooo many familiar faces are in this, I’m looking forward to it

•Thame-Po (Heart that skips a beat): An Idol romance series! Unexpectedly I’m very sold on this EstWilliam are very handsome and something was working there. Sammy is also here🥺 Since real idols will be singing I can expect better performance too☝️

•Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist: Mark getting his well deserved main role. I’ve been waiting for this day!! The plot might be simple but it will be adorable. My pretty (REAL) doctor Jimmy is also in this- most likely to give me a second lead syndrome haha

•The Heart Killers: FirstKhao and JoongDunk with P’Jo. Unlike my impression of the mock, this is a ROMCOM🤡 Yeah the pilot was not clear at all FirstKhao have great chemistry but it just felt like I was seeing SandRay in another universe. On the other hand, JoongDunk have finally made it out of the universities. I heard that it’s gonna be based off The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, which confuses me more. I’m quite skeptical about this

•The Ex-Morning: Who would’ve thought I’d see KristSingto in a bl in 2024😭 It’s so nice to see Singto onscreen again. The rekindling flame theme is ironically suitable for them. Apparently P’Aof is writing the original script with the Sotus director. I’m torn about this cuz I dislike krusty a lot but the nostalgia is kinda hitting me. It’s truly og revival era

•Perfect 10 Liners: Not an ensemble again🤦‍♀️ I was so confused when I saw the huge ass line of actors onstage but it seems like this will be split into 3 parts to focus on all of the cps. So basically it’s Midnight Series but only gay with Jittirain’s mediocre engineering plot💀 Even if I were to watch this it will only be for JuniorMark but no promises made cuz I can’t even bring myself to watch We Are rn

•Ossan’s Love Th: actually I was seeing EarthMix in the opposite roles but Earth being the one stuck in between is much more fresh ig. I cringed a lot while watching this. Idk Earth maybe comedy is not your forte? I won’t be sure until the actual thing will start airing but still the sirens are on🚨

•Scarlet Heart Thailand: Tu is back again in an adaptation after quite a while. They’ve put together a strong cast here but why is Gun not here!?! I’ve neither watched the series nor read the novel but I’ve heard people say it was traumatising🤡 Since it’s a historical setting, this will cost a lot in production I don’t expect this to air until the end of next year

•Leap Day: This is the best one out of the lakorns announced in part 2. Gun is always acting his ass off damn. This show will be stressful asf but the plot is pretty unique. Everyone’s reaction when Pond said Gun is playing his younger brother was so skdjjdj

•Hide & Sis: Janhae in a family murder drama niceee I got some Pretty Little Liars vibes in the start. If you’ve enjoyed PSIHY you’ll probably like this too

•The Dark Dice: Is this Jumanji and Squid Game mixed and made darker?? Prim definitely loves doing thriller shows but I beg of her to get out of that school uniform already💀 and Gemini finally got to put his hands on this genre. I’m not interested at all

•Friendshit Forever: Girl who is coming up with these show names😭 They had me believing it was a gl in the first 30 secs. Ohh Boun welcome my pretty boy. Betrayal game shows are so boring🤷‍♀️

•Break Up Service: So Midnight Motel made even more illegal? It’s funny how I can see the clear distinction in Off and Gun’s solo project styles lol

Right now I can say I’ll watch atleast 3-4 of these shows. Well many of these series won’t be airing until next year considering Part 1 list is still pending to air Overall part 2 was much MUCH better than part 1

[sailorrequest]

NXX boys as songs in my spotify playlist that reminds me of them

Warning: too much fluff for me to handle

Artem Wing

Blueberry eyes by MAX and SUGA

If dating artem was a song it would be this 

Lets all admit it once again

His eyes are so pretty 

But asides from his eye color 

This is how he would feel during the first stages of the relationship 

It probably hasn't sink in yet that he is finally dating you 

Blue hour by TXT 

He absolutely jams out to these type of songs in secret 

For some reason, I can see this song as when you guys had your first date 

I mean you might accidentally refer to him as “Mr. Wing” due to working with him for a long time and def out of habit 

But as time goes by, yall def would enjoy ur time w each other 

Forgetting that the day is abt to end

Luke Pearce 

Everything has changed by Taylor Swift (Taylor’s version)

This song gives me when you guys first met 

AKA back in kindergarten

I imagine Luke to be more shyer due to his parents dying at such a young age 

Then you came up to him and asked if he wanted to play with u 

Of course he did 

I like to imagine that Luke plays a guitar 

So when that song came out 

He learned the chord and both of yall would sing ur hearts out 

Until he left for NCU 

Then he came across this song again 

Nostalgia flooded in and def shed some tears 

Maybe this time by Sarah Geronimo 

OMG THIS SONG IS AMAZING BSHBUSVCUGUIGIQG

This song reminds me of when you guys bumped each other again in the future during the Pedro Brooke case 

He was 100% def trying to hold his tears back 

His life become much more nicer after meeting u again 

His 3 decade long crush decided to show up again and his feelings grew stronger 

It never faded anyways 

Vyn Richter 

Love like me by Steven Universe 

This song represents how he finally starting opening bit by bit to you 

He realize that world isn't that horrible compared to what he initially thought before 

He felt so welcomed by a warm ray of lights 

He started to enjoy life and the things that surrounded him 

Serendipity by JIMIN 

This song reminds me of when you accepted Vyn for himself and not just the “Dr. Richter” that everyone knows 

I can see Vyn looking at ur eyes with the most devotion towards u 

He def feels more safer around u and lets his guard down around u 

This also reminds me of the 2nd Anni card when he propose to u and admitted that his idea did not went to his plan but its fine because he loves u with his whole heart <33

Marius Von Hagen 

Shut up by Greyson Chance 

This song reminds me of when he finally realized that he likes you 

This took place like after the first meeting and seeing how you stood ur ground 

Marius realized that you are maybe the one 

He absolutely loves everything abt u and adores it so much 

This song was playing in his art studio when he was painting and blushing

Marius was def feeling too much butterflies when Vincent came to him and brought him some snacks 

Vincent thought Marius had a heart attack and panicked so much 

Until Vincent found out abt Marius’s crush towards u

Treasure by Bruno Mars 

This song reminds me when u and him would dance around his art studio 

Hypes u up at everything 

Reminds how much of an amazing person u are <33 

One of his happiest memory of u 

This song just gives me pure serotonin just like how he is around u 

[jadelotusflower]

Obscure Christmas Movie Rewatch: A Mom for Christmas

Tired of your yearly watches of Love Actually and Muppet’s Christmas Carol? Underwhelmed by the churn of Netflix/Hallmark Christmas movies that have approximately three plots and only two titles?

Well this year welcome to my Obscure Christmas Movie Rewatch, where I revisit corny tv movies from my childhood, often available in terrible potato quality on YouTube!

First up it’s A Mom for Christmas! Made in that glorious year of fashion and good taste 1990, with a girl who wants (guess what), an Australian mannequin who wants to be real girl, and a witch who brings them together for Christmas.

Meet Jessica Slocum (unclear if she has a blue-haired English Aunt obsessed with her pussy):

Believe it or not, the messy braids/floppy hat combo was peak fashion at this time (look up Blossom if you want to know more).

Jessica’s idea of a good time is to wander around a department store looking forlornly at the other girls shopping with their mothers, to the angelic voice of the late great Olivia Newton John singing “what if?”

Meet Philomena (Doris Roberts, also late and great), a witch who for some reason works in a department store even though she can grant wishes. She also saves mannequins from trash compactors and encourages people to pick up litter. I kind of wish the movie was about her.

She grants Jessica’s wish of a Mom for the holidays, and bring one of the store’s mannequins to life in the form of Amy Miller. Now, ONJ was always a better singer than an actor, and maybe it’s just the childhood nostalgia talking, but she’s exceedingly charming in this.

Jessica’s dad is this dweeb Jim Slocum (Doug Sheehan), who allows her to move in after she shows up at the door claiming to answer an ad he placed for childcare. You can see where this is going.

There’s a wiff of Xanadu about the whole thing, except instead of a Greek Muse awoken from a painting, this time ONJ is given human form from plastic, and sadly there are no roller-skating musical numbers.

What follows are various Born Yesterday tropes, including Amy cooking chicken noodle soup for breakfast, reading Jessica’s diary and inviting her crush over, and trying to put out a fire with eggnog. Jess learns that having a mother comes with conflict, and Amy learns to cry, as another ONJ song plays in the background.

There’s also the drama of taking one of the store’s cars to go tree shopping (driven by a mannequin chauffeur), and Jessica needing to remember her lines for the school Christmas play (the Santa mannequin helps her out).

There is however a genuinely hilarious moment as Doug sits in the aftermath of the Christmas tree fire, surrounded by burned family photos of his dead wife. Amy pops her head around the corner and chirps: “Are you sure you don’t want some gazpacho?”

There are three different shades of pink in this outfit - the early 90′s, everyone!

Since it’s all very low stakes, we need a villain in the form of mustachioed Jacob Carter Mr Morelli (Carmen Argenziano), the store’s security chief who hates Christmas and (for some reason) mannequins, and wants to bust Amy for shoplifting the clothes she left the store wearing when she came to life.

There’s also a subplot about how the mannequins with no faces or souls are replacing the “real” mannequins, treated 100% seriously, accompanied by creepy music.

Was this some kind of social commentary about department stores losing their vibe and becoming mass-commercialised and soulless rather than retaining customer-focused charm, told through the lens of mannequins who come alive at night vs those who don’t? Probably not. This has no bearing on the actual story other than the threat that if Amy turns back into a mannequin she’ll be replaced and destroyed. But this remains unresolved at the end as we can only assume Amy’s mannequin friends, not so lucky to become human, will shortly be relegated to the trash compacter Philomena saved Santa from in the opening sequence.

Amy has the power to bring other mannequins to life, but they all cheer her off at the end instead of asking her to wake them up so they can stage a mass breakout and save themselves. Way to pull the mortality ladder up after you, Amy.

Kids, the 90’s was nothing but hats and scrunchies. It was a simpler time.

And side ponytails. So many side ponytails.

Amy and Jim fall for each other blah blah blah, Jessica has to confront losing another mother so soon after finding her, but at the end of 90 minutes all is well, Jess and Jim’s love for Amy turn her human forever, Morelli gets almost mown down by the mannequin chauffeur and probably has a break from reality, Philomena continues doing her witchy thing, and a Mom for Christmas becomes a Mom for life.

Look, this is not a good movie. There’s only so much work the nostalgia filter can do, and there is a huge amount of schlock and cringe in this. But Olivia Newton John (RIP) is charming, Doris Roberts (RIP) gives an empathetic performance worlds away from Marie Barone, and it’s inoffensive, family fare.

Should your interest be piqued, it can be watched here:

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[estellamiraiauthor]

The Stars May Rise and Fall: The Annotated Re-read (Chapter 4)

Welcome back to my annotated re-read of The Stars May Rise and Fall. If you’ve missed the previous installments and want to get caught up: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

As always, SPOILERS ABOUND, possibly including spoilers for chapters beyond this one, so if you want to join in, care about spoilers, and haven’t read the book yet, get your copy here, or you can also order the paperback from your local indie bookstore!

Chapter 4 is going to be a fun one, folks… Chapter 4 has got a STORY!

In a welcome change from Chapter 3 (LOL), Chapter 4 is one of my favorite early chapters… this is where Teru sings for the band for the first time, and in the final published draft, it’s also the first time we get to “see” them play on-page at all. (A very early draft opened mid-concert, which is probably how I’d do that hypothetical anime, but wasn’t really needed for the book.) And so a lot of this chapter is a fun little nostalgia dive into visual kei.

I don’t know that I have much to say about the first third of the chapter, where they’re just in the sound check. It’s really just setting up how Teru feels and painting a little picture of how the venue looks. It’s fun for me to go back to, though, because those were fun times and I miss them!

The next part, though, when they actually have to play and the crowd is expecting to see Bara? That was largely inspired by something that actually happened.

I used to follow a little indie band called Replicant. When I first got into them, they had a little following… not enough to be filling venues on their own, but I think they were decently known and liked among people who were into indie visual kei. They had three members: a singer, a guitarist, and a bassist, and there was a drummer who wasn’t an official member but played with them. A month or so after I started following them, a different guy joined as their official drummer, and for like a week there were four of them. Then, one night, I went to see them play… and the singer just didn’t show. They actually just played the instrumental parts without the vocals that night, like karaoke tracks that no one sang along to. It was VERY awkward, and I felt VERY sorry for them, and it was really, really obvious that no one in the audience knew that the singer wasn’t going to show.

From other fans, I heard he just didn’t show up, and the other guys went to his house and couldn’t make contact with him. A couple of years later, a guy from another band said he “ran off with a girl,” but that doesn’t really explain playing one show, and then a week later, no-showing for another. A lot of these guys ends up quitting because they get married and want to get a real job, but they usually announce that they’re leaving and have a farewell show and everything. This guy just abandoned the band and disappeared. And I do think he was probably the most popular band member, so they lost a lot of fans after that happened.

The show AFTER that, I think the guitarist tried to sing while he played, and it didn’t go that well. They took a couple of weeks off after that, and when they came back they had kind of rebranded―the original guitarist sang, and played guitar solos on a few songs, and they had another guitarist join them as a guest to play the parts where he had to be singing at the same time. I liked the original guitarist/new singer… he was the band’s main songwriter, and I liked the songs he wrote. His voice was really different from the original singer’s, though, so they had to change their set lists up a lot, and the poor guy looked TERRIFIED during those first few shows. (Sound familiar?)

Ultimately, the band broke up, and the guitarist/singer/songwriter started a new band that played a lot of his old songs. When I learned about that, I went to see them… and this time HE just didn’t show up without notice. Why in the world would someone do such a shitty thing that had been done to them? I have no idea. It was a really bizarre story and I’m SURE I’m missing some key piece of it.

But, anyway, the whole “Um, hi? I guess I’m singing now?” bit was based on something that actually happened, and that I was in the audience for!

It’s also probably a good time to talk a little about the “oshi” culture here… no one called it “oshi” back then, but if you said that you liked a particular band, everyone would ask “Oh, who do you like?” or “Whose fan are you?” And you were expected to have a favorite band member―people would look at you like you were crazy if you said you just liked the music or liked the band as a whole! So if a popular member quit, a lot of the fans would follow them to their new band, rather than continuing to consider themselves fans of the original band. So Bara’s fans would’ve felt cheated, I think, to have come expecting to see him and them have him not show.

It’s a little bit of a fantasy, I think, for Teru to have won over a crowd who were mostly there to see someone else so easily… but what’s the fun of reading if it can’t take you away from reality for a bit?

So then we have the third part, when the show is over and they’re selling their demo tapes and photo sets in the lobby. Yes, bands were still selling cassette tapes into the 21st century here (even though we had texting before the rest of the world, I swear I double- and triple-checked the timing of all the technology and it’s accurate!). CDs were definitely the most popular way to buy music from major-label bands, but CD burners were still really expensive, so most indie bands still sold demo tapes. A lot of people had these little stereos that had a CD player, tape player, minidisc (MD) player and radio, and would buy CDs and tapes and then put the music on MDs to carry around.

The photo sets would just be photos of the band, sometimes taken in a professional studio but sometimes just in someone’s apartment with sheets thrown over the furniture. These days, I think a lot of bands and idol groups use Polaroid-type instant photos so that no two are alike, and they can sell a lot of photos to the same die-hard fans, but at the time they’d just print a bunch of the same photos and sell them either in sets of one of each band member and maybe one of all of them together, or individually.

And of course, also in this part, we meet Kiyomi. Looking at this as a Phantom retelling, Kiyomi is clearly the “Raoul.” She’s a childhood friend who is reunited with Teru here after they’ve both kind of grown, and I think she also sort of represents the class divide that was between Christine and Raoul in the original. I say “sort of,” because it’s complicated. There’s no nobility in modern-day Japan (although I guess there sort of unofficially is; I could have made her the daughter of an old landowning family or a politician?), but she’s sort of in an “upper” class just because she got a higher education (not a super elite one, based on her age and when she started her job she could only have gone to a two-year college, but it places her above Teru’s high school and WAY above Rei’s junior high in mainstream society’s eyes) and has a “normal” (i.e. salaried with benefits) job. She looks and dresses “mainstream” and while she probably doesn’t make a ton of money, she’d have a monthly salary that added up to more than what Teru made hourly, so while she’s not quite aristocracy, I think there is a kind of a class divide here as well―or at least the divide between subculture and mainstream.

And I think she also represents what Teru thinks he “should” be. He “should” like someone like her―why not? She’s pretty, she’s successful, she’s clearly interested in him.

But in the end, of course he rushes off to keep his promise to Rei instead of hanging around to talk to her.

In a lot of ways, of course, Kiyomi isn’t really Raoul at all―Raoul was trying to save Christine from a murderer, and since Rei isn’t a murderer in the first place, Teru doesn’t really need saving. And since Teru isn’t really attracted to her, as much as he thinks he SHOULD be, the final choice he has to make isn’t between Rei and Kiyomi at all, but between Rei and his career.

…but that’s maybe a discussion for a later chapter? ;)

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning!  I hope you slept well and feel rested?  Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. 

Welcome to Too Much Information Tuesday.

Not everyone you lose is a loss.

The dot over the letter “i” is called a tittle.

‘LOL’ used to mean ‘lots of love’ before the Internet.

You aren't rich until you have something that money can't buy.

On average, 12 new-borns will be given to the wrong parents daily.

In the eighth century, fishermen in Japan paid their taxes in seaweed.

Coca-Cola only sold 25 bottles in their first year but kept going.  (Never give up!)

Boredom is the single largest contributor to the use of drugs and alcohol among teens.

A ‘loophole’ originally meant a narrow slit through which a defender could shoot attackers.

British spies stopped using semen as invisible ink because it began to smell if it wasn’t fresh.

80% of people have at one time found themselves subconsciously singing a song they hate.

In the 1930s, there were plans to build an airport on top of Kings Cross station in London.

The number of heart attacks spike in Brazil on days their team is playing in the World Cup.

“The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.”  (George Carlin)

The Popemobile used by John Paul II on his visit to Ireland can be rented out for stag parties.

The movie ‘Paranormal Activity’ cost less than $15,000 to make but grossed over $193,000,000.

Until 1899, the list of official diseases of the Royal College Of Physicians included ‘nostalgia’.

Coin flips aren’t 50/50, there is a 51% chance you will end up with whatever side you started with.

Only 10% of British teenagers meet the recommended guidelines on sleep, exercise and screen time.

Cameroon is the only country named after a crustacean. It comes from the Portuguese for prawns.

In 1957, Eleanor Roosevelt did a music radio show, taking song requests from children with polio.

Some orchids have spring-loaded traps in their flowers that are activated by male insect’s genitals.

The US Patent Office insisted on proof that the Ouija board worked before granting the patent in 1891.

Some female frogs play dead to avoid mating with male frogs.  (Some women probably wish it were that easy!)

Psychology claims that if two past lovers can remain just friends, it’s either they are still in love, or never were!

The average Bentley driver owns eight cars.  The average Bugatti driver owns 84 cars, three jets and a yacht.

‘Corn sweat’ is the phenomenon whereby the corn fields in the American midwest make the air more humid.

American photographer Danielle Lessnau has created a body of work using a pin-hole camera installed in her vagina.

An unborn baby can taste what their mother is eating and can develop a preference for the foods that she eats.

A new analysis shows that cancers may have more to do with lifestyle, not genetics, in as many as 90% of cases.

Delete your browser cookies before you buy airline tickets.  Ticket prices go up when you visit travel sites multiple times.

During pregnancy if the mother suffers organ damage, the baby in the womb sends stem cells to repair the damaged organ.

According to a study, the two most common feelings that people tend to bring out in others are enthusiasm and boredom.

If we put a giant mirror ten light years away from Earth and looked at it through a telescope, theoretically we'd see 20 years into the past.

‘Frozen’ and other Disney animated films include a credit for Disney’s coffee guy.  He is credited with ‘caffeination’ and has his own IMDb page.

In a 1930s Mickey Mouse comic, Minnie cheated on Mickey with another mouse.  Mickey then tried to kill himself by jumping off a bridge.

Iceland's population is so small that an Icelandic company has created an anti-incest app to prevent Icelanders from dating their relatives.

The hottest temperature measured on Earth (56.7 degrees Celsius) was recorded in a place called Greenland Ranch in California, now known as Furnace Creek.

During the 1945 Hollywood strike, one tactic employed by protesters was to picket movie theatres and give away the ending to people before they could buy tickets to the film.

“Talent is what they say you have after the novel is published and favourably reviewed.  Beforehand, what you have is a tedious delusion, a hobby like knitting.”  (Marge Piercy)

Since odd numbers are harder for our brains to process, some people actually experience feelings of discomfort when the volume of the television, among other things, is set to an odd number.

You can be declared dead in 48 US states but still alive in New Jersey and New York.  These two states allow families to reject the diagnosis of brain death if it conflicts with their religious beliefs.

When asked why he wrote the theme tune from ‘Mission: Impossible’ in 5/4 time, the composer Lalo Schiffrin said: “The people in outer space have five legs and couldn’t dance to our music, so I wrote this for them.”

Okay, that’s enough information for one day.  Have a tremendous and tumultuous Tuesday!  I love you all.

[extremelyblackandwhite]

ascendance - 01

PAIRING: mob!bucky barnes x reader

WARNINGS: violence, dark themes, age gap (reader is 23, bucky is 37)

SUMMARY: she was at the wrong place at the wrong time and a misunderstanding dooms her to a life as an ascendance card under the watch of the executer.

A/N: i’m so excited to go back to my mob writing roots with this one. there’s a bit of a few twists and changes to the traditional mob writing i’ve done before and i am really excited to be sharing chapter one with you. hope you enjoy it xx

> NEXT CHAPTER 

The ambience was dark, badly lit by the yellow flickering lights in the halls with echoes of the buzzing of the hot old light bulbs. There was no sound but that buzz and the heavy sound of his boots hitting the rotting wood floor boards. The scent in the air was putrid, a mix of what seemed like life meeting its end stage, cheap cider and weed. It was definitely different and he didn’t trust it. 

At the end of the corridor there it was. 107. The 107th flat in purgatory with the door slightly opened. He pushed the door open, the smell getting more intense and his boots sticky with the liquor spilled on the floor. 

     - What did you do? - each word was punctuated with intense disbelief, as if this was all a nightmare. 

     - Bucky, help me!

PRESENT

The wind brushed and pulled her hair into different directions as she stepped off the train’s step. She rushed through the streets of New York, hair pin stuck in the middle of her teeth as she fought the winds to try and set her hair into an appropriate hair do while running down the street at the same time. The chattering people and the sun peaking through the clouds was hopeful as she grabbed her coffee from the same vendor off the side street as her eyes gazed upon the Metropolitan Opera House which had been gracing the New York landscape for longer than she had been on this earth and now she was part of it, she was a small speck in an almost 60 year long history. 

Her smiled widened as her sneakers hit the pavement, eyes gazing over the fountain and the flags of the production coming down from the opera house’s arches. The same production she was part off. Sure, she was a chorus girl but the mere thought of singing on that stage, of watching that public in those red velvet seats under the chandelier just made it all more exciting. She walked inside the theatre through the stage door, meeting the manager at the door. 

     - Hi. - she leaned her hands against the desk where the manager was surrounded by attendance and cast sheets as well as a big laptop shining a blue light onto her face. The woman didn’t even look up, instead putting up a board with the names of all people in the production in front of her. - Do you need to see my ID? 

     - Just sign in front of your name. 

Y/N giddily looked at the list of names, hers closer to the bottom but there, written in bold Arial font. She signed her name in front of her printed one with the barely working pen, before pinning it over the board and handing it over to the manager who pointed inside the opera theatre. She held onto her gym bag harshly, padding the sublime floors and looking around with such wonder one would believe she’d never been here. She’d been here before, she was here every month to watch a performance but now she was not guest, she was not just another person walking in with a ticket, she was part of it, she was part of the show. After years of doing community plays, workshops and failed auditions, she had gotten here and suddenly all those days spent in bed feeling miserable in bed after getting rejected yet again didn’t matter anymore she was here.

Her eyes glanced at every tiny little ornament in the opera house until she entered the theatre room. Her heart filled with joy and happy nostalgia as the red and golden tones of the room involved her. There wasn’t anyone in the theatre yet except for a few musicians from the instrumental pit and some cleaners so she was free to roam around. Her fingers traced the suede velvet of the red seats, finding a few missing binoculars on the grounds but not really caring. 

     - You! - she whipped her head towards the voice which came from a woman, probably in her mid 40s all dressed in black with a gold name tag slightly above her left breast. 

     - Hi. - Y/N smiled, extending her hand towards the woman. - I’m Y/N, I’m the new ...

    - I don’t care, we need silk ribbons, now. 

    - Oh, I ... I’m new, I don’t know where I’d get silk ribbons, m’am.

    - The costume room? Go, stop looking at me as if you were Bambi and go.

    - Oh, okay. 

She made her way hastily out of the theatre room wondering how she was going to find silk ribbons, where she was going to find them and why she had to find them. Maybe it was a hazing ritual for new people, after all, she had been into various hazings during her career, including downing a whole bottle of honey which she couldn’t even finish, only eating one fourth of it before becoming nauseous. 

She stopped in the middle of the hall, wondering where the costume room could be. It couldn’t be on the top floor, that was usually where the bars and common rooms were so if the building followed regular construction protocols for opera houses, it was probably on the underground section of the house where the dressing rooms used to be. Y/N ventured into the lift, pressing the lowest number on the number chart of the panel until she reached the underground floor. Y/N looked around, people running in and out yet no one stopped whenever she tried to question where the costume room was. She had managed to find the costume shop but no luck finding the costume room until she was pretty much pressed against a dark door with those exact words by the passing crowd. 

She twisted the knob of the costume room door, tumbling onto the dark room as a result. The room was filled to the brim with costumes on each side of the room, a plexiglass divider between the two sides which stopped every meter or so and also appeared to be divided onto female and male costumes with the ensemble costumes at the back. She padded across the concrete floors, looking through dresses and accessories for ribbons but no successful attempt. The ruffling from the other side of the room had her turning around, forehead furrowed as she walked towards the plexiglass divider. 

     - Hello? - she questioned, wondering if there was someone in this room who could help her find silk ribbons. Great, she had barely joined the company and was already screwing up. Great, Y/N. Way to go, Y/N. 

She saw someone all dressed in black just like the women before, yet there seemed to be something which didn’t match up; black jeans, black shirt and black leathe jacket as well as a pair of also black boots, scruffed and probably entirely too old to still be holding up together. Her eyes caught his which despite the low almost non existent light of the costume room, were light, a sort of greyish blue like the calm sea before of storm. His gaze pulled hers in, like gravity and she couldn’t help but clutch the jacket next to her as a bad feeling along with something she’d never felt before settled in her stomach. 

His hair was mostly pushed back yet the ones which framed his face fell like dominos. She moved along the side where she was to one of the plexiglass gaps and he did the same still maintaining eye contact with her, until the two reached the gap. She didn’t notice she was holding her breathe in until she breathed out.

    - Hi. - her own hand gripped her wrist, shoe grinding against the floors. - Uhm, I’m new here and this lady sent me down to find some silk ribbons but I can’t find any. Do you ...

    - I... uh ... I don’t know where they are. - he faltered for a few seconds before regaining his posture.

    - Oh, I thought since you were here, you might be one of the stage managers. 

    - I’m not. - his tone was monotonous, almost as if he had the answer to her question before she even made it. 

    - Oh ... - she rubbed her neck. - Are you also looking for silk ribbons?

    - I’m looking for the dressing rooms, actually.

    - They’re down the hall. -  she pointed at the door as if it was the “down the hall”. - Hum ... Are you new here too?

    - Yeah. Thanks. - he walked towards the door, opening it and stepping out before catching her gaze once again. 

Y/N remained in the middle of the room as if she were in a transe and maybe she was. It felt like she was falling yet she was firm on her feet and she did not like that feeling. She did not like that feeling of falling, it wasn’t feeling, it was hopeless falling and she wondered why looking at a man who looked like an 80′s glam rock reject made her feel like that, so lost. Maybe it was the respect he appeared to command by merely looking at her or maybe it was the nerves about being new and not being able to find some goddamn silk ribbons. Damn it. 

    - Call for 30 minutes before dress rehearsal. - the voice came from the intercom and immediately her mind dropped the idea of finding silk ribbons and moved to finding the ensemble dressing room and get dressed and ready. Damn it, this was going well. 

She rushed down the hall, bag almost slipping off her shoulder until she saw the door with the ensemble plaque on it. The young woman peaked inside the room where pretty much everyone with a role on the ensemble were already sat down. She shyly walked in the middle row until she found her own little corner, her name written on a sticker on the mirror along with photos of how the makeup should be done as well as how to get the costume in correctly. The same goofy smile returned as she sat down and saw her name above her. It was fine, she was here, she was part of a company.

    - Hey you’re new. - the girl next to her twirled her chair to face her. She already had her makeup on and hair pinned curled up and ready to put a wig cap on. - I’m Elliot but people call me Elle.

    - Y/N, I’m the new chorus girl. First day. 

    - Aw, welcome. - she had a bright smile, inviting and almost as exciting as the whole experience of being there. - Do you want help pincurling your hair? I can get it done while you do your makeup. 

    - Yes, please. - she pulled out a big box from her bag which had all her makeup and pins. 

Elle started pin curling her hair up while she put an inappropriate amount of blush on which was just appropriate to get on stage under the bright yellow lights. Turns out half the practice for opera is learning to do your makeup under bright yellow lights and then learning to sing. 10 minutes to rehearsal start, she was along with Elle going down and up to the main stage where most dancers were warming up. Elle left her to do so, leaving Y/N once again to just stand there, looking around like a little sheep in the middle of wolves. 

    - I’ve never seen you around. - her shoulders almost went up as he turned to see one of the principal sopranos, if not the principal soprano. She had seen all of her shows ever since she was a teenager and she had even wrote an essay for university on her for a module. Catherine Vargas, the best New York could offer, if not the best the world could offer. - I didn’t know they were still casting dancers.

    - Oh, I’m a chorus girl, Mrs Vargas. 

    - A chorus girl? - she furrowed her brows at her, looking her up and down. - What type?

    - The type who ... is in the back with the ensemble. - her voice lowered at least a few volumes down, back curved as if she were bowing. 

    - I know what chorus girls do. I asked what vocal type. 

    - Lyric soprano, m’am.

    - A lyric soprano in the chorus. Interesting. Where did you train?

    - Julliard, m’am.

    - Julliard? - she looked her up and down again. - That is a great school. What is a Julliard graduate doing in the chorus line?

    - Everyone starts somewhere. - she laughed nervously, scratching her arm as she did so.

    - Not a lyric soprano from Julliard. Composers sure do love an ingenue, don’t they? Don’t worry, a few months with me and you’ll be supporting. 

    - That’s ... that’s really kind, Mrs. Vargas. Thank you.

    - Don’t thank me. Could you get me some honey from my dressing room? I’m feeling a bit strained. 

    - It’s 5 minutes until rehearsal starts.

    - It’s okay, chorus normally doesn’t do much during rehearsal. Can you get it?

    - Yeah, I think so.

She straightened her crinkled skirt, looking behind her back before going down the stairs which led down to the dressing rooms. This was good, right? Getting into one of the main star’s good graces besides she was right, the chorus didn’t really get much attention during rehearsals, at least not as much as the main characters. It’s easier to get away with screwing up in the back than in the front, her teacher would tell her which would always earn a few laughs from her colleagues. Yet, Y/N hated to make any mistakes. She would stay up all night in front of a cheap piano she had bought from a charity shop, playing and singing the same 5 note progression until her flatmate yelled at her to shut up. For her, if it wasn’t perfect and if she didn’t get any criticism while performing it, she hadn’t done it right. It didn’t matter at the end of the day but what did matter was to climb up the ladder. She didn’t want to be a star, all she wanted was to be able to be on that stage forever with the spotlight shining on her and she knew there was only one way to climb up. Actually there were two, extreme luck and connections. Now, she didn’t have the best of luck so her major choice was to make connections and reach that status. 

She made her way into the principal dressing room. It was probably one of the biggest she had ever seen, with expensive decor and various flowers covering it. She wondered how many flowers she received on opening nights if that was the number she had on regular days. Y/N made her way to the desk, opening drawers and more drawers to find honey until she found it on the lowest drawn. She went down on her knees to grab it, mindless and careless to everything that was happening until she felt a sharp pain on the side of her her.

Then everything went dark. 

TAGLIST: @lookiamtrying @buckyswillows @blossomslibrary @juliesland @iloveshawnieboi @unmagically​ 

[elvish-sky]

Some Main Musical Themes of the Lord of the Rings & an Explanation of Leitmotifs

Welcome to part 1 of who knows how many analyzing the Lord of the Rings soundtracks (I’ll get to The Hobbit eventually)! This isn’t exactly an analysis, more like me talking about cool things in each piece. Before I get started, I want to make it very clear that this is in no way complete or comprehensive, there are so many themes central to the movies, and I am in no way an expert. I’ll continue posting more analyses, this is just what I could fit in the first one!

So, I feel like to understand a decent amount of what I’m going to talk about here, you have to understand what a leitmotif is. It is defined as “a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.” So basically any recurring few notes or bit of music in cinema is a leitmotif. (The Flight of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner is a famous example).

Howard Shore did a ridiculously complicated and incredible job creating leitmotifs for The Lord of the Rings, and I’m pretty sure there’s around 100 different ones (not counting the Hobbit films). The really cool thing that he did was not only create themes for characters, but also for places, cultures, and ideas! Here I’ll be talking about some of the main themes of the music in the movies.

The Main Themes of The Lord of the Rings, of which there are many so please don’t be mad if I forget some. There will be more parts to this soundtrack-analyzing series!

The History of the Ring. You probably know this as one of the three main-ish themes for the movies. It’s one of my favorites especially because of the way it’s weaved into other pieces. For example, if you listen to Gollum’s ‘music’ you can hear a distortion of the ring theme, symbolizing the effect the One Ring had on Gollum.

The Fellowship Theme. If you don’t know this one already then you’re quite possibly dead to me. This one is sooo cool because it starts off with that ‘bum, bum, ba da dum” which is known as the “there and back again” motif because it starts at one note, goes down, and then returns to the original. After that, you hear those nine epic notes. “Nine notes?” you ask me. “That seems familiar.” That’s because it is! Shore intentionally used nine notes to symbolize the nine members of the Fellowship! Another fun (or slightly depressing fact) is that after Boromir’s death we do not hear the full theme again until the Battle at the Black Gate, showing how the Fellowship broke.

The Shire Theme. The Shire theme has many different settings and themes, but is one of the most recognizable pieces of music in the series. It’s heard at the beginning of the piece Concerning Hobbits, in that lovely flutey sound, the hymn setting. This is restated in many different ways throughout the movies and is also used often to represent nostalgia. You also hear a little restatement of the ‘There and Back Again’ motif! Also, this is sometimes known as Frodo’s theme as well.

Lothlorien. This appears in the prologue for the first time when Galadriel is telling the story of the One Ring. It is ethereal and lovely and peaceful. Another very cool thing that Shore does through the movies is introduced here- whenever we hear a chorus/human voices in the music, they are singing in one of Tolkien’s languages. Here, obviously, they’d be singing in Elvish. When the Fellowship enters Khazad-Dûm, we hear men singing in dwarvish. This is also a very cool thing because it was a conscious decision between Shore and the filmmakers, especially Peter Jackson, as what is being sung is often lines/descriptions from the books that didn’t make it into the dialogue of the movie. It also includes lots of the songs that Tolkien had written in the books. This strategy gave the filmmakers an opportunity to really include everything of Tolkien’s they could, really making them his movies, and is one of the key reasons why the Lord of the Rings films are so good.

Isengard Theme. So epic. So evil. So awesome. The beginning is rather like the “there and back again” theme once more, which not only is super cool because duh, but also helps signify both Gandalf and Saruman’s leadership for each group.

The Realm of Gondor is a theme that is most often used to represent Aragorn and his heritage. It also ties a lot of Faramir’s memories to Boromir. We barely hear it in the first two movies, but it becomes the principal theme of Return of the King and plays in some of the most epic scenes, like when we see Gandalf riding up to Minas Tirith.

Moria. So again, the singing heard in this piece is in Khuzdul with some lines lifted verbatim from the books, which I think is super cool and really adds something to the atmosphere! The singing is only faint, hinting at the danger, until the Balrog is there and then it is aggressive. It is overall very dark, foreboding music, which I love!

Again- I am not an expert on music or composition or any of this- just a teenager who wants to share some knowledge!

That’s all for now, because I promised this like a month ago and here we are a month later and I really just need to post it. But there will be a part 2 that will go into a whole lot more detail at some point in time, never fear!

and i’d love to hear all your thoughts on this!

i’m tagging everyone who said they were interested! @gossip-girl-of-middle-earth @wishingtobeinadifferentuniverse @beenovel @themerriweathermage @the-reformed-ringwraith @anironnn @eru-vande @kumqu4t @cfjqueen @godblessthecactusess @starryeyedrogue @morrigan-of-beleriand @gremlinfaemess @fridaywormteeth @redfurrycat

[jj-babebank]

Camp Willowdale / JJ Maybank AU / PART 3

Synopsis: Camp Willowdale is buzzing with new campers. It’s Caroline Windsor’s first year as a camp counsellor after attending the camp as a camper for ten years. Little does she know that this year Willowdale Lake is going to be a little different from what she is used to it being…

Warnings: future chapters may include curse words, mentions of drugs, mentions of alcohol, mentions of sexual activities, mentions of death.

Pairings: JJ Maybank x fem OC

Part 1 ; Part 2

Part 3 -

Music was blasting in the boys’ cabin and John B made sure to keep the lights dimmed to a maximum, adding to what he referred to as ‘the groovy ambiance’. Caroline and Sarah entered the cabin, leading the way for all of their fellow girl counselors. Word spread faster than a wildfire around the Wildcat Lodge and now everyone was attending what was meant to be a welcoming party for just the boys. Caroline leaned against the ladder of one of the bunk beds and crossed her arms as her and Sarah waited in anticipation for their grand scheme to play out.

“Caroline, Sarah!” John B’s voice alerted them as he snuck up between them, hooking an arm around both their shoulders, “Right on time for the big surprise!” he said, walking dramatically towards what the girls already knew to be his luggage. He turned the music down on his way there, “Alright everybody, listen up!” he said, stopping by his bed, gathering everyone’s attention, “I’m sure to most of us, if not all of us – camp Willowdale is a token of light, a beacon of faith, an ode to nostalgia, if you will,” he spoke dramatically, waving his hands around, making Caroline and Sarah chuckle, “Which is why we have all gathered here tonight, and for that reason, I have done my due diligence and prepared a special surprise for all of us. Girls and boys, allow me to introduce to you,” his hands went to unzip the bag, “Ton-” his eyes widened in horror as he unzipped the bag, revealing it to be totally empty, except for his scarce clothes and the limp body of what appeared to be a dead owl at the bottom.

Everyone around him seemed either disappointed or confused as he frantically ran around the room, looking for his alcohol stash. Caroline and Sarah, however, gasped at the sight before them.

“Shit,” muttered Sarah, “What the hell is that? When I said I was hoping there wouldn’t be animals in there I didn’t think there’d actually be animals in there…”

Caroline shook her head, “Screw what it is! The real question is – who put it there?”

The girls were so focused on their conversation they barely noticed JJ showing up, “You girls know anything about this?” he said, making both of them jump.

“JJ!” Caroline said, trying to mask all sense of worry in her voice, “How could we possibly know anything about this?”

“We did it,” said Sarah quickly, “We stole the alcohol, but we swear to God we have no idea who put that pigeon in there!”

“Sarah!” hissed Caroline, only making Sarah shrug.

“What?” the girl said, “If there’s some psycho playing tricks on us, we might as well have a guy on our side!”

JJ raised an eyebrow, a small smile spreading on his face, “You’re telling me you two are behind this?”, he said, looking at Caroline impressed, “Gee, Carrie, didn’t picture you to be the bad type,”

Caroline’s cheeks heated up immediately as Sarah rolled her eyes and turned to look at JJ, “Earth to Maybank, are you listening to me? We only stole the booze, we didn’t put that in there!”

“Relax, girls,” said JJ, “Knowing John B, that little fucker probably sat dead at the bottom of his bag for a while before you even got to the alcohol,”

Caroline and Sarah both scrunched their noses in disgust, however what JJ was saying did make sense.

“You’re probably right,” sighed Caroline, “Booze is in our storage room, me and Sarah will go fetch it now,” she said, pulling Sarah out of the cabin.

“Are you crazy?” Sarah hissed at her, “Do you really want to give them all that alcohol back? Jesus, Carrie, how the hell do you expect me to last all summer sober? It’s bad enough I have to bunk with Madison Hague…”

“Relax, Sarah, I’m sure there’s gonna be a handful of teenagers with secret stashes of alcohol just waiting to be confiscated,”

Sarah sighed in relief, “You’re totally right, C,” she said, shaking her head as they walked the few steps up to their cabin’s door, “We’re just gonna rob our teens! What could possibly go wrong?”

As she said that and pressed onto the door handle, an ear-piercing scream echoed through the forest, making the hairs on the back of her arm stand.

“What was that?!” she quickly turned to Caroline, who was just as frozen as she was. Counselors started coming out of the boys’ cabin, the music dying down again suddenly. JJ and John B quickly made their way towards the girls, both visibly concerned.

“Are you alright?” said JJ.

Caroline nodded, crossing her arms, “I am, but whoever’s in there doesn’t sound like they are,” she said, tilting her head in the direction of the thick forest from where the scream came.

By this point, Pricilla and the rest of the head staff appeared from the staff lodge, all looking slightly tipsy as they paced through the path to the counselors’ cabins.

“What in the world is going on here?” Pricilla said, trying not to slur her words.

“Sounds like we should be asking you the same thing,” John B muttered under his breath, earning a chuckle from JJ.

“Our guess is as good as yours, Miss P,” explained Topper, shrugging, “We were all hanging out in there when we heard the scream and came out,”

“Well whose was it?” enquired Pricilla, looking slightly annoyed that her night had to be cut short for these teenagers’ shenanigans. When no one could give her an answer, she rolled her eyes and waved them over, “Come on then, off to Wildcat Lodge. We’re gonna have to do a count,”

Once everyone was gathered in the lodge, Pricilla waited for Mrs. Darbyshire, who also seemed a bit too drunk to be taking any of this seriously, to bring her a list of all the counselors’ names.

“Alright,” she said once the list was in her hands, “I’m gonna do a name call. Once we figure out who’s missing, you’re gonna go into that forest and look for them.” This earned her a bunch of annoyed comments and groans, making Pricilla snap back, “Don’t give me that shit, you lost ‘em, now you gotta find ‘em.”

“This is bullshit,” Caroline crossed her arms, “We’re literally minors, what are they gonna do?”

“They’re gonna finish their party,” interjected JJ.

Caroline shook her head in annoyance as Pricilla started reading out everyone’s names one by one.

“Jenna Kinley?”

“Here!”

“Kelce Johnson?”

“Here.”

“Barry Smith?”

“S’up.”

“Madison Hague?”

No answer.

This made Pricilla stand up straighter, looking around the pool of counselors in front of her, “Madison are you here?” when there was no reply yet again, she sighed loudly, “Has anyone seen Madison?”

“Last time I saw her, she said she was going to the girls’ cabin to pick up a jacket,” chimed in Topper.

“Oh, for the love of-” Pricilla groaned loudly, “This better not be a stupid prank, or I swear!”

“I should’ve just given her one of my jackets…” muttered Topper, “Now I feel kinda guilty,”

“Hey, it’s alright,” said Caroline, tapping him on the shoulder, “I’m sure she only saw a bug or something,”

“I trust you’ll all disperse and look for your friend now,” said Pricilla, “In the meantime, us adults will be supervising the Wildcat Lodge,”

“Supervising from what?” asked JJ confused.

“In case… Madison comes back here, of course!” Pricilla quickly lied, “Now off you go, Maybank, you ask way too many questions!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This is ridiculous,” moaned Sarah after bouncing down the stairs of the girls’ cabin with a bag on her arm, “As if this summer couldn’t get any worse,”

“Pipe it, princess,” bit back JJ, “If you didn’t insist on stopping by the cabin before we went into the woods, maybe we’d have called it a night by now.”

“Don’t big yourself too much, Maybank,” she said, leading their pack into the trees and looking around to see whether the coast was clear, “You see, while you were moping around outside, I picked up some provisions,” she said, a devilish smirk spreading on her face as she pulled out a bottle of whiskey from her bag.

Caroline’s jaw nearly broke off, “Sarah, are you serious?”

Sarah only shrugged, “What? I told you I’m not gonna make it through tonight sober, besides, if I’m gonna be looking for the bitch I was hoping wouldn’t be here in the first place, I’d rather be shit-faced when I find her,”

Caroline rolled her eyes, snatching the bottle from Sarah’s hands, “Yeah, well, if I’m going to be looking for the bitch with you, I’d rather be shit-faced too,” she said, taking a rather large swig of the alcohol and hissing at the taste.

“Sweet,” said JJ, picking the bottle up from Caroline, “This is better than the party,”

John B agreed as he got hold of the bottle last.

The group walked through the forest, flashlights in hand, taking the whiskey bottle in turns and laughing as they went. John B had argued that if Sarah could pick something from her cabin, then he could pick his speaker from his, and so the four of them found themselves nearing the clearance by the lake, drunk and singing along to some cheesy song that was currently playing loud enough for only them to hear.

“It’s a good thing Pricilla wanted us here a day early,” slurred John B slightly, “Now you girls have set up the bonfire area and we can chill there,”

Sarah rolled her eyes, “Yeah, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

John B raised an eyebrow and turned to Caroline, “What’s she talking about?”

Just as Caroline was about to answer, they reached the bonfire area, which much to her dismay – had been totally wrecked, once again.

“This,” she said, anger quickly replacing the previous buzz she was feeling from the alcohol.

“Whoa, who did this?” said JJ, flashing his flashlight in the direction of the discarded logs and pillows.

“What do you mean who did this?” snapped Sarah, “Why’d you think we stole your alcohol?”

“Sarah, we didn’t do this,” John B shook his head.

Sarah stopped dead in her tracks, her face becoming slightly worried “What do you mean you didn’t do this? Then who did?”

“Guys,” Caroline chimed in from across the bonfire area, where the fire was supposed to be lit the following night, “Come check this out,”

The three teens made their way towards Caroline who was flashing her light at one of the rocks at the base of the fire pit. There was something written on it with a gooey substance the origin of which none of them wanted to question.

“I don’t know who did it, but whoever it was,” said Caroline, stepping back from the rock so that her friends could see what was written more clearly on it, “Probably did this, too.”

And there on the rock, written with what looked an awfully lot like blood, were plastered four words:

Come and find me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 4 here x

A/N: Finally something is happening haha I hope you're enjoying so far, let me know what you think and if you want to be added to the taglist, please notify me! Story is about to get juicy from now on hehehe

Link to masterlist here. xxxx

taglist: @k-k0129

[dirtycccat]

making mixtapes for the demon bros + undateables

true love is making playlists for people you care about so what if you did this,,, for the demon bros (and the undateables)

lucifer

classical music first, soft jazz second

lots of angry violin playing followed by soft dreamy piano

shostakovich, ravel, chopin

probably some opera too? anything that screams old boomer of culture

...and then chet baker and nina simone 

 (i’m sorry lucifer is a chet baker lover forever in my heart i mean have you heard my funny valentine or i’ve never been in love before or it ‘s always you? please that’s lucifer in love 101)

bonus: based on his character song i feel like he’d also enjoy lap dance music like two feet  (like mammon and asmo) 

anything slow and sensual but with a beat

mammon

basically either party music but horny or romantic / feel good rap

two feet, chet faker, tyler the creator

maybe pop punk???

he gives me angry pop punk dude that mellowed out and now sings abt his gf vibes idk why

also songs you can serenade him with (or the ones he used to serenade you)

lastly, hear me out: disney karaoke (no, i do not accept criticism)

levi

anime openings / endings and movie soundtracks

especially if you watched them together

(because everyone has a playlist with 2000s animes ops and old vocaloid music for nostalgia)

low fi for studying/ no thought head empty just gaming music 9 hours 

but instead of studying he’ll listen to it while gaming because listening to a game’s soundtrack while playing another is a power move

satan

jazz lover on a good day metal on a bad day

...or both on a good day because some people listen to metal to calm down so why not 

you do you king listen to metallica while sipping tea

also ofc he’d love punk for sure since he’s the forever angry teen boyo

but i feel like he’d prefer punk bands that aren’t made up of only angry white dudes

like against me for example

but he’d also like the classics like green day like how can you not

did he have a secret emo phase he told you about and you put some mcr too? maybe

asmo

lana del rey ugly crying karaoke when drunk

also mitski

and fiona apple

i feel like he’d do a lot of crying while listening to romantic songs and ain’t that a mood so put a lot of that

would probably like a mixtape with side a: sad romantic music only and side b:songs to strip to 

bonus: another mixtape with broadway showtunes because we need a theatre kid in this family

he would probably like heathers, legally blonde, mean girls ya know the feel good musicals you can jam to 

(can you imagine asmo singing welcome to my candy store? now you can you’re welcome)

beel

workout music

gorillaz and feel good music like abba

is he the type of person that works out to rap or techno music? we don’t know 

he probably likes whatever is high energy and keeps up with his workout

but would also jam out to abba

likes soft i wanna sleep piano asmr? ya know music you listen to when you’re feeling soft and calm

which he can listen to w his twin

belphie

whale noises

rain against your window while you’re trying to sleep by the fireplace 9 hours asmr

dancing queen but you’re drunk in a bathroom at a party in the 80s

folk rock and goth country  (for our cowboy hhehehehe)

just goth rock  (but with him bela lugosi isn’t dead he’s just asleep)

experimental  loud rap like death grips

2005 sad emo music to cry your mascara off to like mcr and fob

he doesn’t have any specific taste in music  and could listen to anything and he means anything

simeon

canon theatre kid

you can’t stop him he likes all the musicals

probably into the more romantic ones though

rent, falsettos, hedwig and the angry inch

i really want simeon to play hedwig idk can you imagine it  i cant but would like to

also hear me out: romantic french music 

edith piaf, charles azvnavour, pomme

aka artists you can jam out to but also slow dance with your lover while listening to them

barbatos

classical music on the outside, loud metal on the inside

he’s that mom that drinks vodka and listens to loud metal for his alone time (you know the vine)

hidden theatre kid

but prefers the more dramatic and challenging musicals

les mis, the phantom of the opera, the great comet of 1812

hums the confrontation from les mis while cleaning the castle (both parts)

diavolo

disney enthusiast nr 1 dethrones mammon by a lot

you watched all movies with him and now he loves them and demands more disney karaoke sessions with you

probably used to classical music

but hear me out show him 80s rock and he’ll turn into an american whiskey dad

all the dad bands you could think of? he loves them

led zeppelin, queen, kiss, you name it

solomon

if you thought belphie had diverse tastes

hoo boy

say hello to the king of randomness

you could put angry classical music followed by metal followed by dad rock followed by  fleetwood mac followed by david bowie followed by idk random spanish summer songs on the radio followed by edith piaf

and that’d be like his normal playlist

listens to anything which means you can go crazy since nothing makes him happier than being properly surprised by something new

[luvskywalker]

a long time: bucky barnes x reader

word count- 1.5k

warnings- described grief/depression, emotional hurt/sort of comfort, post endgame

a/n- HI EVERYONE!! so after this i am probably going to try and resume prideful piloting, i love the series so much and i want to see it go somewhere, i’ve just been really coming up empty when trying to write it. now, i have some more ideas for the series so hopefully ill have a new part out soon. also, i am so so soft for bucky and i just want to see him happy so i wrote this while i was crying last night LMAO

-

healing hearts always took time, anyone knew that. you never thought you would hurt this bad, you never thought that one day you wouldn’t be an avenger anymore. things change, though, especially after losing three of your closest friends. in just a year you had gone from having everything to losing it all, and in 2023, after saving the universe, you decided you couldn’t do it anymore- not now. with a little help from pepper you found a work at stark industries, and with that, bought yourself a small apartment. you had grown sick of the painful memories the compound brought, sick of the anguish brought on by seeing your suit tony made, or the dress natasha let you borrow, or steve’s old jacket you stole from him. you tried to erase it, to leave and go back to the city, to try to retire from hero work, but it was like you could never have peace. no matter what you did, it was still so hard, especially living alone, because sometimes it was like all you could do was grieve for what you’d lost. on those days, you’d barely move around your apartment and if you had to work, pepper noticed. your mind wasn’t as sharp and your shoulders were droopy so she would just send you home with a pat on your shoulder and a look of understanding. she knew. then, you’d spend the night with thoughts eating you alive, why did steve leave us, why couldn’t it have been me instead of nat, why didn’t tony let someone else snap, why can’t i be as strong as everyone else? how come they’re not hurting still?

it just hurt, so damn much, but you had to tell yourself it was okay. it was okay to hurt, okay to grieve. you got to be human now, not having to save the world, and you could focus on saving yourself.

and now, well, it was long past 2 am and you were still wide awake.

the city outside your window never slept, and it seemed that you didn’t either because each night, when you let yourself rest, all you saw was nat letting go of your hand and falling into the rocky floor of vormir.

so when someone knocked on your door, you weren’t startled awake, you just shuffled over to open it. this time, bucky was at your door.

“cant sleep?” you asked him, worry in your eyes.

he had taken to showing up at your apartment, and though you truly didn’t know why, you appreciated the company. loved it, even.

“didn’t bother to try.”

bucky was not a man of many words.

“wanna talk about it?” you asked, testing the waters, because sometimes he would but sometimes it would get too much for him and he would break down.

he just shook his head and sat down on your couch.

when he did that, you tried to change the subject.

“you know,” you started,

“i heard that you really liked to dance back in the day.” you said with a small grin.

he looked up at you, a glisten in his eyes you couldn’t quite decipher- nostalgia? excitement? sadness?

“i was the best dancer in brooklyn, doll.”

he gave you a look that put the ache in your heart on pause briefly.

“teach me.” you spoke softly, and held your hand out to him.

“i don’t know how much has changed,” he said while taking your hand and rising from the couch, “but we used to dance to music.”

he wore a sarcastic smirk as his eyes looked into your own.

“really? i had no idea.” you replied with a roll of your eyes, before pulling your hand out of his.

“give me a second then.”

you turned and walked to the corner of the room, where an old fashioned record player lie.

you put the first record you saw in and dropped the needle, the sound of a trumpet resounding softly from the speaker.

he held his hand out to you this time, and your stomach gave a little flip at the contact.

kitty kallen’s voice emerged as you danced hand in hand with bucky in your kitchen, and when you looked at him you swore there were tears in his eyes.

“this song..” he began, voice thick with emotion.

“it reminds me so much of him, caught him listening to it a lot.”

he spun you around, and you listened to bucky as the music swelled in the backround.

you risked another glance to his face, and noticed a tear trickle down his face as his jaw clenched.

“i miss him a lot,” he choked out, “he was all i had.”

you looked into his blue eyes full of hurt and you wished you could take both his and your pain and throw it out the window.

“you’ve got me now, buck.” you whispered, a sad smile present on your face.

“yeah, i guess i do.”

you lay a hand on his cheek, and brushed away a tear.

the song continued, haven’t felt like this my dear, since can’t remember when.

you kept your hand on his cheek, now barely swaying to the song.

“you know, i bought this record for him,” you explained, “i read it was one they used at the end of the war, to welcome someone home,” your voice started to waver, and your eyes welled up with tears. but, they weren’t the tears of pain. it was odd, because usually you wanted to keep the memories locked away- keep the grief hidden- but now the memories didn’t cause misery, and you looked back at this one with a bit of joy.

bucky nodded for you to continue, looking so deeply at you, making your heart pick up a little in speed.

“it seemed like he was always fighting some war, and when i played this song for him, he had peace just for a moment.”

a teardrop leaked from your eye, but a smile graced your face.

“neither of us knew how to dance, we stepped on each other’s feet so much”

bucky laughed then, unshed tears making his eyes glisten in the moonlight shining through your window.

“sounds just like steve.”

you laughed too, and continued.

“he was my best friend, yours too. why did he go?”

bucky just shook his head. you both really knew why he went back for her, but it didn’t mean it made sense. your tears stopped falling and so did his, in time with kitty kallen singing out the final line of the song.

“you said they played this when the soldiers came home?” bucky asked you, brows slightly furrowed.

“yeah, why?” you gave a tilt of your head in question.

“it’s nothing.”

you shook your head with a smile, knowing it wasn’t nothing like he had said.

your hand had since moved from his cheek to lay back on his shoulder, and he shifted a little, moving his from your hips to around your neck. the cold vibranium sent a chill through your bones, but you didn’t mind it.

“never got that welcome home like everyone else did.” he said, a solemn smile gracing his face.

“consider this your welcome home then.” you responded, and the band crescendoed, meaning the song would end soon.

you both resumed dancing, bucky giving you one more twirl, and just as the song started to end, you pulled him in toward you more.

“gotta give you a proper welcoming, sargeant.” you breathed out, and bucky caught on, leaning in toward you.

the song began to fade out, just as your lips met his, but a symphony roared in your mind.

his lips were soft against yours, and it seemed to be a perfect fit.

you felt bucky smile into the kiss, and when the song finished, he reluctantly pulled away.

your forehead rested against his, and you couldn’t stop smiling for the first time in five years.

and bucky, he felt like he might actually be happy for the first time since 1945, if he got to dance with you around your apartment and kiss you like he just did.

he pulled away more, so he could look at you, and look at you he did. he looked at you like you had hung the moon and the stars in the sky.

“i think we should dance again, doll.” he mused, eyes lingering on your own.

you agreed, and went to replay the record.

the trumpet echoed in the room, and you spun around the room, no tears, just soft smiles and breathy laughs as he guided you through simple steps.

it’s been a long, long time, the voice sang, and bucky dipped you as you laughed airily.

“can i kiss you again?” bucky asked, as the song continued, kiss me once, then kiss me twice, then kiss me once again.

you took the initiative once again, bringing his lips to meet your own for another time.

you both were wrapped up in eachother, relishing in the joy of being able to really live again, for the first time in.. a long, long time.

so yeah, everyone knew healing hearts took a long time, but they do always end up healing, especially when you have someone to help patch the wounds.

[ehbunnehsblog]

6 CREEPY BABY AND KID DOLLS

Hello and welcome back to my blog. Today I wanted to talk about something that relates to my blog but also steers away from it. For those who do not know, I sorta like creepy things because they fascinate me and i like old toys so i thought why not add both? Its something a bit different and perfect for October with that said let's get into it...

1. Baby Laugh A Lot

Baby Laugh A Lot is a doll from Remco which went bankrupt in 1971 which is also the year this doll came out. She sports red hair, blue eyeshadow and a red dress with striped sleeves. She is well known with the cursed commercial community and has a pretty creepy commercial. Personally this doll doesn't really creep me out but what makes her creepy is when her batteries run out. I will link the video but I will add that the editing and the vibe of the video comes off like a weird ARG are some creepypasta but no this doll is real, again the doll in itself isn't really creepy it's just the commercial that doesn't do her much justice and when the dolls batteries run out.

2. Cricket

Cricket was unveiled in 1986 and was made by Playmates a toy company that will be showing up on this list again later. Cricket spoke and was voiced by Laura Mooney who was 9 at the time, Cricket also moved her eyes which was what makes her creepy. Think of Cricket like Teddy Ruxpin but a human, she did similar things to Teddy and came with tapes with jokes, songs and stories. Cricket also had a black doll. Cricket was originally 75 bucks and heres her commercial.

3. Baby Secret

Baby Secret is a doll from 1965 and just like all these other dolls, she speaks but instead it's in a whisper tone. Baby Secret is made by Mattel, the creators of the Barbie dolls. When I look at Baby Secret I don't see anything that's really creepy but just like the first doll, she has a commercial that is seen as very creepy and unsettling. There is also a Baby Secrets doll from 1988 but she is made by Matchbox and has no affiliation with this doll that I know of.

4. Baby Say N See

Baby Say N See was made in 1965 by Mattel but there really isn't that much info on her which is actually pretty sad. Just like the thing says, she says things and her eyes move just like some of these other dolls which can make for some pretty creepy faces. Also this doll knows she is a doll and mentions she can see in the dark which can probably be a little unsettling and she also moves her eyes around a lot and mentions she can see through anything. Because she doesn't show any emotion it just ends up looking static and creepy but I hope one day there will be more info on her.

5. Beautiful Crissy

Crissy is an 18 inch Fashion Doll with Auburn hair and was made by the company Ideal in the year 1969 to 1974. Her entire thing was that you could choose if you wanted her hair long or short and had a knob at the back where you could change that. I don't find Crissy to be creepy, I think she is really pretty but they definitely made her look a bit older than she is I think. I actually owned this doll and Velvet (I am adding Velvet in another post) but yeah, shes really cool and there is plenty of info on this doll I will link in the comments. Also I will probably end up making a post about Crissy's entire family because it is really interesting and I think doll lovers would be really interested in it.

6. Jill

Jill was a doll made by the company Playmate just like Cricket because her eyes blinked and her head moved but unlike Cricket her arms also moved. Shes like the tween version of Cricket and the tween human version of Teddy Ruxpin. She came with cartridges that let her tell stories and sing. She also had voice recognition capabilities but there is also an inanimate of Jill from 1989 with no speech capabilities, her voice actess is currently unknown. She is 33" and I can't find much info on her. Apparently she broke pretty often and would stop working and needed a ton of batteries for her head, eyes, arms etc but I hope more info can be found about the doll.

Well that was all of them... for now...

If you liked this post please give me a like and repost, also don't forget to follow! I make plenty of posts on dolls and nostalgia and I want to dive into other topics. With that said, what was your favorite doll and which one do you find the creepiest, weirdest or most obscure? Are there any other odd dolls you would like me to add to a list? Which one?

Anyways I find these dolls neat and I am definitely going to try and learn about more dolls! I will see you next time! Bye!

[whootwhoot]

»»—— 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢 2020 "𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴" 𝘚𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 —««

(- author’s note: merry christmas @nixhinoya !! (damn it i choose the most general titles for my stories lmAO) its pretty late but i just got on the laptop rn, sorry for not interacting with you too much^^ but i’m your secret santa lmAO anyways its nice to meet you  😌 😍 i hope you like this owo!!)

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“You’re coming over to Japan?”

“Yeah! Hang on, give me a second.”

You fiddle with the headphones in your hand while pulling your suitcase over to a table.

“Should’ve put these on before calling you.” “Anyways back to what I was saying-”

“WAIT REALLY? IS THAT THE AiR-pORT?”

Your mouth twists as you hear Sugawara’s voice cracking, you just told your boyfriend that you’ll be coming over to visit him in Japan for Christmas, judging by his reaction he probably didn’t see this coming. 

“Yeah Suga, I’m flying to Japan!” 

“Well guess that means I just wasted my money for a flight…” 

“Wait.”

“No way.” 

You are speechless.

“Did I just buy a ticket to visit Y/n? Without knowing Y/n is already at the airport waiting for her flight in 2 hours? Yeah.” 

You are really speechless, Sugawara bursts into laughter upon seeing your stunned expression, his familiar voice rings in your ear. The corners of your mouth uncontrollably quirks up watching your dorky boyfriend. 

----

You're in love, you both are.

You know you’re in love when you can listen to him all day but still laugh when he cracks a stupid joke. 

He knows he’s in love when he has that impulse to make you laugh, as cliche as it sounds, your laugh makes his day so much better. 

You know you’re in love when you can send him texts ranging from stupid puns to endless “I love you”s and midnight confessions every night before bed. 

He knows he’s in love when he sets his phone’s wallpaper to pictures of you, or pictures of him with you in it. It may seem funny but he believes that way the last thing he sees every night is you, and every morning when his phone alarm rings, the first person he wakes up to is you. 

----

“Good afternoon passengers, this is the final boarding call for passengers who booked for flight JL122 to Miyagi, Japan. Please proceed to gate 3 immediately. I repeat…” 

You stand up and stretch your stiff body while holding your phone.

“Guess that’s my queue.” 

“You can’t call me on the plane?” 

“I don’t think this plane comes with Wi-Fi, Suga.”  “Plus the passengers are probably getting tired of me talking.”  Right on queue, the old lady that’s been sitting behind you gives you a dirty look that can rival Tsukishima’s. 

“Teenagers.” she mumbles under her breath. 

You give an awkward wave as you make your way to the front counter, Suga giggling in the process. 

“See you in Miyagi Y/n.” 

“Can’t wait.” 

You watch as your phone screen fades to black, chest feeling heavy, you miss him already. 

This seems to be a short flight, but the longest you’ve been on too. 

----

The flight attendant leads you to your seat. You got yourself a first class window seat, to make yourself comfortable and maybe away from being too paranoid. 

“Can I get you anything right now?” 

“Oh thank you but I’m fine.” 

You sink into your seat, fully utilizing the wide leg room it has. It’s been 6 months since you left Japan, your company promised a really high pay if you work in another country for a year. Your parents were in dire need of the money, and that was the last straw that made you leave Sugawara. 

----

The heart breaks you went through before leaving, the aching in your heart after you promised to never leave him. Sugawara was surprisingly calm with it, acknowledging that you should do what’s best for your parents. That didn’t stop him from giving you a paper with only “Stay” written on it, you were told to open it only when you board the plane. 

----

The feelings and memories all come back in a flash, your eyes slowly turning glossy, letting out a soft whimper.  You rearrange your feelings and run your fingers through your hair before sinking back into your seat. 

You tilt your head and look towards the window, all you can see is the sky, endless blue skies that stretch out far and wide, clouds dancing to the rhythm of the slow breeze. 

----

You can reach the sky, but have you ever touched the clouds?

You’ve fallen in love, but will your feelings resurface from the depths? 

----

Long distance relationships are hard to maintain, they say, you’ve never believed that, but the first week separated took a major toll on you. You could never anticipate the feeling, the yearning for someone, the longing to see his face, the need to hear his voice, the starve for his touch, so bad that it actually hurts. Your chest aches everyday, whether it was seeing something that resembled or reminded you of him. 

----

You close your eyes, trying to sleep all the feelings away. The paranoia you feel, the tingly feeling that something’s wrong stays with you and keeps you up as you toss and turn in the seat.

“How can I sleep when reality is already so much better than my dreams.” 

These words ring in your ear, as you remember the night you video called Sugawara. You were rushing him to go to bed, but as these words slip from his mouth, you felt a warm feeling inside. Something about his confessions has always made your heart just beat a little faster, and feel a little better knowing that he’s here with you, he’s always here.

----

The flight feels like forever as you make your way down to the airport, your body feels like it’s just moving on it’s own. You yawn and nearly knock into someone on your way out, mumbling a “sorry” as you continue to walk. 

You shiver as you splash water onto your face in the toilet, your body feels even heavier now as you put on thick clothes to prepare for the cold weather in Miyagi. (also because Suga thinks the new coat you bought was adorable) 

“Finally.” out of the airport, you took in your first deep breath in Miyagi. 

“Does the air smell better here?” 

“Smells like home.” you unconsciously answer 

The voice rings again, this time it’s the familiar laughter that you were only able to hear in video calls for 6 months. You turn your head in that direction to see Sugawara with his arms open. 

“Welcome back, you haven't changed at all have you?”

You two topple over as you jump into his arms, the warmth of your chest on his, the feeling of being able to feel each other’s breath. He kisses your tear-stain cheeks, which taste a little salty but being able to hold you in his arms again was the biggest present he needs this Christmas. 

Sugawara misses you too, he misses showing affection to you by hugging you, playing with your hair, holding your hands and kissing you instead of having to rely on hearing your voice every now and then. He misses laughing with you, singing with you, or having stupid pranks on each other once in a while. 

Now that you’re here, he finally gets to do it all over again. The overwhelming feeling fills his chest, as he continues holding you in his arms tightly after standing up. Being shorter than Sugawara, you cling tightly to his chest as your ears pick up his speeding heartbeat as you smile and hug him back. 

“I’ve missed you.”

“Me too Y/n, me too.” 

“Also, you’re kidding.”

“Are you wearing a matching shirt with me?” 

“Well, can’t help it. I think it’s cute.” 

You can’t believe your dorky boyfriend found a shirt to match yours when you video called him before boarding the plane. 

“Is that the only surprise I’ll be getting on Christmas?”

“Only one way to find out.” 

“I’m taking you home.”

“Home…” 

You mumble the word, a wave of nostalgia hits you as you smile and mumble the word again. It all feels so surreal, you're in Miyagi right now, with the boy you love, going home for Christmas. Home is where he is, home is always where Sugawara is, his arms, his hugs, it all feels like home to you.  “Home.” 

Sugawara leads you to his car, his hand on your shoulder while the other carries your luggage for you. You adjust your seat only to realize the front seat is still the same as how you left it. 

“Suga… have you never let anyone sit here?”

“I've never adjusted it, that’s all.” 

Hearing that makes your face heat up a little, just how much does he miss you?

“Hey, check this out.” 

Sugawara motions his fingers towards the car ceiling, you look up to see a dangling mistletoe as he leans closer towards you.

“I’m surprised that’s not the first thing you saw when you entered the car.”

“Did you-” 

----

Something about this kiss feels so much different from before; it’s the yearning you have for each other, you need him so badly and now he’s here. He’s here kissing you. A simple gesture, but thousands of emotions pour into one passionate kiss, as he mumbles countless “I miss you”s and “I love you”s in between kisses. 

His hands slowly move from your checks, his thumb stroking it softly then to running his fingers in your hair. You completely indulge yourself in this kiss, sinking deeper and deeper into it, your hands roaming his chest, feeling the warmth of your lover, something you’ve been longing for for so long. 

Out of breath, you finally decide to pull away, you both laugh at the sight of each other’s fluster faces as Sugawara looks you directly in the eye. 

“This is the best present I’ve ever gotten for Christmas.”

“You sure Suga? Not even a puppy could rival it?”

He chuckles “No, not even that.”  “Merry Christmas Y/n.” 

[dear-mrs-otome]

Ribbons & Bows - SLBP (Mitsunari)

Fandom: SLBP Pairing: Mitsunari x MC Rating: No Warnings Summary: What do you get when the perfectly imperfect neighbor and coworker finds out our intrepid heroine can’t wrap a gift well to save her life? Some reluctant help, and perhaps even more reluctant revelations.... ( A quick bit of Christmas-fluff, for a dear friend’s exchange gift. (Hence the named MC) I waffled on even posting this, so far past the season, but figure someone out there might enjoy it too! 2.5k+ words)

She’d recognize that sound anywhere. The sharp, staccato rapping at her door that carried over the sweet croonings of Bing Crosby singing about a White Christmas - too fierce to be anything called as soft as a knock. She knew exactly who it would be on the other side too, and tried her level best not to let her good mood slip away as she straightened up from tweaking the last folds on the gift she was wrapping.

The apartment was small, small enough she had to weave around the boxes of ornaments and decor she’d pulled out of her meager storage on her path to the door. Not so small though that she made it there before a second salvo of pounding followed the opening shots already fired.

“Mitsunari.” She didn’t even have to wait to finish swinging the door open before she greeted the man on the other side. It was already a given who it was. Neighbor, co-worker, thorn in her side...pick a label and run with it. They all fit her particularly handsome cross to bear.

The man in question shook ravenwing bangs out from behind his glasses with an irritated toss of his head, all the better to fix her with a baleful glare. “October.”

Her gaze slid instinctively away from that frigid stare uncomfortably, but it wasn’t much of an improvement given its traitorous preponderance to travel the length of his neatly trimmed frame any time she didn’t keep it firmly locked. A ‘swimmer’s build’, as Jace from the mailroom always drooled aloud. Lean and purposeful, as immaculate in button up and trousers as always - never so much as a spot, or tuck, or crease out of place. 

He was hot...especially for an accountant. She had to give her ovaries that. Too bad his personality had about all the warmth of a winter solstice atop Everest, and even less of anything resembling charm.

Neither of which had ever stopped her heart from doing an odd lurch whenever he met her eyes though.

He didn’t wait for her to dredge up any reply. “Surely you are aware that it is - “ He made a show of checking the ever-present watch on his wrist for emphasis. “Eleven at night, on December the first. So why then, in God’s name, am I being forced to listen to Christmas music at jetliner decibels through my wall?”

“It’s not at ‘jetliner’, Ebenezer Scrooge,” she shot back, hackles immediately up whenever this man was around. 

“It’s loud enough to get the attention of Ms. Takemura above you I would wager though. You’re lucky she didn’t call the super on you.” He made a small dismissive snort, before his gaze wandered down to the package she had forgotten she still held in her other hand. His eyes narrowed sharply and she tried, to no avail, to hide the misshapen mess behind her back. “What in God’s name is that? Is that supposed to be a present?”

“Yes, it’s supposed to be a present.” A good part of her wanted to be huffier about her reply...but the other larger part knew it was a sad excuse for a wrapping job, and she couldn’t stifle the sigh that slipped free before she’d given it permission. “It’s supposed to be for Hideyoshi too. I should have just taken the store clerk up on her offer to wrap it for me. Nothing like looking incompetent in front of your boss.”

She could feel him studying her for a long moment, though she didn’t dare look up to meet his gaze. Nearly jumping when he thrust his hand out towards her, gesturing with it impatiently. “Give it here.”

Pure reflex had her obeying his chilly command, and when it was in his grasp Mitsunari turned the sorry thing over as he examined it, a moue of distaste curling his lips down as if he were holding a dead mouse rather than a box and some scraps of paper that were clearly suffering delusions of grandeur.

“How did you even manage this?” He couldn’t have looked less impressed if he tried. “You do understand the basic concepts of geometry, do you not?”

“I-”

Her protest was cut short when he brushed past her and strode brazenly into her apartment, azure eyes taking the chaos all in with a few measured glances. “Scissors. Paper. Tape.”

“What?” She knew he was speaking legitimate words - they just made only the barest attempt at coherency.

“Scissors. Paper. Tape.” He repeated himself, louder and slower, as if speaking to someone hard of hearing. “You can’t give this to Hideyoshi as it is. It would be an insult.”

He took a seat at her sofa as if it were his own home, placing the package on the coffee table before him and looking at her so expectantly she was already gathering the requested items, dumping them on the table unceremoniously - more than a little bemused at the odd turn of events. Seeing her frosty co-worker ensconced comfortably in her living room was hardly the way she’d envisioned her Friday night going when she’d woken up that day.

He let out a small sound of approval, stripping her package of its sorry wrappings carefully, before reaching past the gaudy rolls full of penguins in Santa hats and kittens wrapped in tinsel for a classic striped pattern. For lack of anything better to do, she plopped to a seat beside him to watch as he worked - reluctantly admiring his deft, well-shaped hands as he set about measuring a new piece of wrapping for her box. 

“It’s not that I’m messy or don’t care,” she said finally into the silence, both to fill it and to soothe her wounded pride. “It just doesn’t seem to matter how carefully I line things up or space them out. They always end up too short or too long, too wide or not wide enough, the tape sticking everywhere…”

“Again - simple geometry.” Mitsunari’s gaze slid her way archly. “Not a skillset I would imagine is in high demand in HR though.”

She pulled a face at his bent head, hating that she couldn’t argue.

It seemed only moments before he’d finished, an impeccably squared box slid along the table towards her, freshly wrapped. He’d even done the thing where he’d managed to line up the stripes along the cut edges too, to her amazement.

“That’s...wow.” She looked up from turning it this way and that to shoot him a beaming smile, admittedly impressed. “Two hundred percent improved!”

She wondered if she only imagined his slight fidget. 

“A two hundred percent improvement is a mathematical impossibility,” he frowned. 

“Yes. I’m aware.” She stifled the urge to roll her eyes. “Have you never heard of hyperbole?”

“Intentional exaggeration as a rhetorical device?” he replied. She was about to shake her head, until she saw what looked like the faintest of dry sparks hiding behind his deadpan expression. “No, never.”

“Probably not a skillset I would imagine is in high demand in the finance department,” she lobbed back, and enjoyed the way his lips twitched faintly, as if stifling the urge to smile.

The faux-leather of her cheap sofa creaked as he turned to eye the equally sorry pile stacked beneath her cheery little Christmas tree, its lights winking happily in blissful ignorance of the crimes in repose at its feet. “And what are those?”

“The rest of my gifts.” She bit back the ‘obviously’ that tried to tack itself to the end of that sentence. She wouldn’t ruin this rare detente with Hideyoshi Holding’s prickly CFO just for the thrill of a cheap shot.

“Well...hand them over too. No need for you to embarrass yourself more than you already manage to on the regular.” He arched a sardonic brow at her. “I trust you can be relied on for something as simple as nametags and a stick-on bow, no?

“I think I can manage that much.” It struck her belatedly, as the absurdity of the entire situation wore off slightly, that she was being a terrible hostess - even if an impromptu one. “Would you...like a drink? I have water or tea...or I just opened a bottle of wine.”

Why had she said that? Offering a man alcohol, at practically midnight. Oh, God, it sounded absurdly forward, or hopeful, or...something. 

“Wine would be fine,” he replied, to her genuine surprise.

She stood and poured two glasses from the open bottle of table red sitting on her small kitchen counter, sipping one cautiously as she handed the other to him and retook her seat.

He accepted it, and then gestured with it to the seasonal trappings decorating her apartment, a small frown creasing the space between his brows. “Why is this all up so early?”

“My father loved Christmas. It was his favorite time of year.” She twisted the stem of the wineglass between her fingers restlessly.

He reached silently for the first of the packages she’d nudged closer, making quick work of it as she waited with poised pen and welcomed the familiar bittersweet patina of nostalgia. 

“He always did all the wrapping, because I was so hopeless. Except his own present of course, which amused him to no end. I keep thinking every year, it’ll get easier with him gone. It doesn’t exactly...but I can put these things up and watch our movies, listen to our music, and feel the good outweigh the bad now.”

Mitsunari only nodded slowly. “It sounds as if he would have approved.”

The pile on her side grew larger and his smaller as they worked efficiently through them, until there was only a couple of disasters left. And then Mitsunari picked up a small box - one she recognized all too well.

“Not that one!” 

She startled even herself with her yelp, but Mitsunari seemed utterly unfazed, merely fixing her with a single arcing brow as he held the box above her swiping grasp. “Whyever not, Ms. October?”

“It’s fine as it is, honestly.” She lunged again and he only sat up a bit straighter, her fingers brushing fruitlessly against the crumpled underside. 

“I won’t give it back until you tell me why.” 

He turned it over, looking for a tag, and she rose up onto her knees to make one more desperate attempt - only to watch with a sort of slow-motion horror, almost as if outside her own body, as she lost her balance and sprawled inelegantly across his lap, her cheek planted firmly against an even firmer chest. 

They both froze.

“October.” There was an odd, strained note to his voice. “Why is my name on this gift?”

She wanted to die, there on the spot. The only bright spot about any of this was that the crisp weave of his shirt was cool beneath her flaming face, as she scrambled for an answer. Distracted by the balsam notes of his cologne mingling with the evergreen of her Christmas tree, both tickling her nose and scattering her thoughts. 

How did she tell him it was for all the times she sat down at her table of one, eating dinner by herself, wondering if he was on the other side of her living room wall doing the same thing at that same moment?

How did she tell him it was for all those times at work she felt absurdly proud of herself for managing to earn one of his quicksilver smiles of praise? The times he held a door, or a taxi, or a stack of heavy files unprompted? The times she heard him come home from the office hours after she had, only to arrive the next morning with an inbox of organized reports, no questions asked?

How did she tell him it was for the face of his she glimpsed sometimes, in that split second when the elevator doors opened on him riding by himself as they passed each other in the course of their daily comings and goings, and she caught sight of what she suspected was the real Mitsunari - the man behind the ice and the vitriol and the acid-etched tongue. Far too young to look so forlorn. As if he’d let a mask slip in the close confines of the tiny space, where there was no one around to notice, and hadn’t quite managed to prop it back up again. 

As if it were his default state to look that utterly alone.

“Because I-” 

‘Buy them for all my coworkers’ was how she should finish that sentence, she knew. It was the safe answer, the sane answer. The one that sat like sawdust on her tongue.

And then it died at the slow slide of his hand gently flattening itself against her back, keeping her from pulling away. His palm was rock-steady, but she could feel the faint tremor of his fingers bracketing her spine, and wondered just what that small gesture cost him.

She settled for a truth, if not the truth. The one she scarcely dared admit to herself. “Because I wanted to make you smile.”

“I…” For the first time ever, she heard him at a loss for words, as Mitsunari cleared his throat thickly. “I’ve never gotten a Christmas present before.”

It was that confession that finally got her to lift her head, cheeks still hot as she gaped at him, suddenly terrified she offended him somehow. Suddenly even more terrified that the answer was far worse. “Do you not celebrate?”

“I’m not...opposed to it.” There was still a thread of something wound tightly between his words, making a snare of them that kept her rooted to the spot. Counting the hard beats of his heart wrenched out beneath her hand. Five, ten, a dozen as she waited for the continuation she felt vibrating through him. “I’m just not sure what to make of this.”

She could see as much when she steeled herself to meet his eyes - the blue of them looking lost. Emotion moving in their depths, like the flicker of something great passing beneath arctic ice. No less immense for being half-unseen.

“You can make of it exactly what you want.” It was the closest she could come to putting herself out there, coward that she was. Leaving the door open if she couldn’t manage to take that first step herself. 

She couldn’t miss the unmistakable way his gaze flickered down to her lips, subliming from glacial to the blue center of a flame in an instant. “And if I want more than just that gift?”

“You can have that too.” Her head tipped up expectantly, in clear invitation.

He didn’t need to be told twice, it seemed. There was a moment, a space squeezed between heartbeats where his breath fanned sweetly over her cheek and his nose just brushed hers - a last chance to pull away, before his mouth sealed over hers and she was consumed.

His lips seared hers, his tongue hot like flame as he sought hers out, the faint taste of red wine still clinging to them both. He swallowed down her moan like the finest of vintages, answering with a tiny hungry growl that set her mind blanking. She clung to his shoulders and felt them flex intoxicatingly as he hauled her to straddle his lap, fingers dimpling hard against her thighs and backside until they were cradled together seamlessly. Bodies pressed in a long line from head to curled toe.

She only tore herself away from the fascination of his kiss when the world began to spin, breaking apart long enough to press her forehead to his and stare into the deep water of his gaze, their ragged breathing knotted together.

“Merry Christmas, Mitsunari.”

It was ridiculous, innocuous. Words dredged up for the lack of any higher function on the part of her brain, although the sentiment was heartfelt. 

And it didn’t seem to matter, when he rewarded her with a smile so fragile and fledgling she knew without a doubt it was the first of its kind he’d ever formed, elevating him from beautiful to breathtaking. Her own Yuletide miracle. “Yeah. I think it might be.”

[abizarreyodelingincident]

Our Nightly Confidant 5

Four steps in my shoes

Four feels strongly.

In general, as a rule, but also in this specific situation, where sweat sticks his hair to his forehead and the pegasus boots chaff from constant overuse. From the slight burn of his arm muscles that nonetheless keep swinging the Four Sword.

Amazingly, the emotion at the forefront of his mind cannot be easily and neatly assigned to one facet of him. Annoyance isn't exclusive to any one side of him, quite the contrary. And the 'you can go die!' disdain is a taaaaad too specific as well.

White paws sweep at him and barely miss the top of his head. Would have hit Ezlo, if this had been his first adventure. The pang of nostalgia doesn't help his focus much.

Small bursts of magic and swings of his boomerang sting enough to keep his enemy on the backfoot. Behind him, a few roots twist enough for an opening beneath the trunk. If he can just...

The paw slams inches away from where he was standing a second earlier.

Urgh. It had to happen after they marched all day in search of civilization, didn't it?

Well, nothing to it, Four adjusts his sword and glares back at the slitted eyes trailed on him.

Which is when the loudest, most thunderous bark he ever heard rips the air in half and hammers in his eardrums. The white monster (cat) yowls in fright, fur straight up in horror, back arched, and it sprints right up a tree.

Wolfie is a familiar sight, and a welcome one at that.

But some instinctive part of him that is more Minish than Hylian can't help grip the Four Sword tighter.  From this perspective, Wolfie has more in common with Wild's divine beasts than a regular animal. His claws look about as tall as Four himself. And at the moment, the wolf is displaying a mouth full of fangs that promise a painful death.

He doesn't blame the cat for scampering. He's seen what those fangs can do to a throat. Or a wrist. Or an ankle. Not, really, he thinks the cat shows great wisdom in getting the hell out of Wolfie's range.  

But, because he is a Hero of Courage, he flips the sword in his hands, sheathes it and waves his arms.

“Twilight!”

The shift is instantaneous, and a little amazing to witness. The ears perk up, the posture straightens from its crouch, the teeth all disappear behind the black lips. It's a flip of Pacci's cane, a turn on a rupee, and there's the big beast their group loves.

“You okay there, Smithy?” Twilight asked, sniffing him for signs of injuries.

It's strange, hearing Twilight's voice coming through the sort of mental-bond-language of the Minish. Useful though. He's not certain he currently possesses the patience for some games of charades with a wolf.

“No injuries.” He puts a hand on the damp nose even as a burst of hot air washes over him. “Just a bit out of breath.”

“Right.”

It's not a doubtful tone, but there's some Time-patented exasperation in there.

“I would have been fine, you know?” says the part of Four that is a bit younger. “I dealt with lots of monsters even at this size.”

(Not Wolfie size though, that he thinks might be beyond him when shrunk.)

The flat look he receives makes him want to squirm.

He's too controlled for that.

“Yes, yes, I know.” He waves off the implied question. “I thought the innkeeper's cat was still inside.”

“He was. But after he mewled a bit, his owner let him out. And when I didn't see you... I had a feeling.”

Four wants to hit his head against a tree. Animals always were more aware of the scent of Minish magic. Many eyed him curiously when he walked through town. He should have known the cat would want to stalk after him. Probably thinking he knew where a village was hidden. He's going to have internal arguments about this all night.

“Cats are all bastards.”

To Four's amazement, Twilight's tail curls between his legs, his ears drooping. He rather looks more the guilty dog part than the majestic beast he insists he is.

“... But they're so cuddly.”

“When you're bigger than them, maybe,” Four deadpans. “Sneaky little shits.”

Twilight's whine is absolutely ridiculous and enough to make him snicker.

“Fine, fine. I'm not deaf, I hear what they say. Not as bad as cuccos, though.” Twilight's gaze wanders off to a faraway place. “Nothing is as bad as those psychotic birds.”

They lose a moment reliving their trauma over the feathered fiends.

Twilight shakes it off first. He lies down, his body like a hill of dark fur before Four, and hints at his back. Any protest Four might have had before dies in the face of his aching legs. He can fight off monsters at this size, but it's unreasonably more complicated. And he is not in the mood to stab spiders in the face tonight.

The fur is silky under his fingers, which is comforting but also a bit of a pain. Climbing means parting the coat of dark hairs and finding grip against skin. Sometimes, the body under him flinches or trembles, like Twilight is fighting off the urge to roll over. Four imagines it's quite similar to tickling. So he hurries up and makes his way up to the top of Twilight's head. Between the ears and roughly around the markings on his forehead.

Satisfied, Twilight stands, and the whole world blurs like he's still using his pegasus boots. A few more steps are needed before Four's body adjusts to the speed, and then he can relax. Twilight's safe.

And, he notes, not heading straight for the inn.

“We noticed the looks, you know,” Twilight says, because he's one of those busybodies that can't help mother cucco everyone around him till they are 'right as rain over a spring'.

“So?” he replies, even, practiced.

(Zelda had questions, at first, then orders that were swiftly obeyed, when in her sight. He hasn't told her that yet.)

“... How many of them do that?”

Do what? He wants to ask. The inn's owner had been quite polite, very careful in avoiding certain words around Four. Indeed so careful that Four could feel their syllables get more and more defined by the innkeeper's silence.

“Whisper?” he settles for. “A few. I'm weird, I know. Shorter than some kids, but can lift a hammer to forge. Own my business outside Castle Town, only shows up for groceries, talks to myself sometimes and stares at empty spots on shelves. I don't know, I suppose they expected me to apprentice beforehand, but there was a kingdom to save and what did that matter then?”

He punches the ground next to him before remembering too late it is Twilight's head.

The growl doesn't last. But the first few words he says are a bit more bitten out than the tone implies.

“There's a kid in my village. Younger than you. Couldn't lose the baby fat in his face for the longest time.” Twilight snorts, and his tail wags a bit. “And he's smart, really smart, a lot more mature than his older brother too.”

Four has a feeling that's partially due to the older brother's personality, but holds his tongue.

“People whispered behind his back. 'That boy is so creepy.'”

“Fey-touched,” Four says before he can hold back the red in him.

That one hurt. He's picked up habits from the Minish, he's aware. Little things like leaving keystones lying around for other kids or tiptoeing minish rings in the grass. But for those differences to matter so much, he hadn't expected until the first time the words had been floating around him.

“Ah,” Twilight says, followed by a whole lot of nothing.

Crickets around them sing. He can almost see some Minish putting a collar on the bugs to bring them home for a concert. Moving from behind stalks of grass, praying to the moon and the goddesses.

Then, Twilight says: “That takes me back.”

Four stumbles through the fur, his hands grasping on some new strands, but he can't tell if his unbalance is due a jolt in their steps or to the enormity of the idea. Twilight, the stereotypical rancher, seen as an outsider?

He tries, but all his brain conjures up is a much shorter version of Twilight dragging goats by the horns. That and dancing (badly) to the melody of a grass whistle.

Even from his spot atop Twilight's head, the eye roll is obvious despite being out of sight. “The only Hylian in a village of Humans?” he drawls. “Found as a toddler lost in the woods? Hardly able to speak for a while?”

Oh, Four thinks, that'd do it.

“They don't have the right to say that to you,” Twilight growls. “You're their hero.”

He could bask in the warmth. Lets himself lie down on Twilight and forget all about the events of tonight.

Curiosity wins, or well, violet does. “What did you do?”

“Nothing special? Just stayed the same and let them talk.”

Four's eyes bug out. “That's it? Nothing? How does that change anything?”

“When you're you, Four... When you're a good person regardless of rumors and whispers... Idiots don't stop talking, but the ones that are worth it stop listening.” A wolfish grin breaks out on Twilight's face. “Besides, you should have seen their black eyes after Rusl heard them say it to my face. After that... well, they could have called me the King of Evil and it wouldn't have mattered. Knowing you got someone in your corner's better than hollow praise from idiots.”

Four blushes.

He forgot for a bit, and he'll apologize to Zelda when he sees her, but it's true. Whenever he recalls that moment, the guard's words aren't ever the same. The phrasing lost all its power, outshone by the impassioned defense and the sheer anger wielded by his friend.

His back straightens. And he allows himself some childish pride in having the Princess of Hyrule in his corner. What do they have to beat that?

Twilight rumbles a laugh. “So... yeah, ignore them. Put them in their place if you want, the goddesses know you have the strength to do it, but that won't change their minds about anything. If you want some peace of mind, discard the idiots.”

Companionable silence falls between them. Four doesn't feel the need to speak after that bit of reassurance. They circle the woods, avoiding Hylians late on the road and monsters alike. Twilight's seemingly content just taking him on a ride, and Four's loath to admit he wants the moment to last a little longer.

They're not too far back from their starting point when he decides to ask: “About that kid?”

“Malo?”

“Yeah, him, how does he deal with it?”

Twilight does not answer right away. He first jumps over some large, gnarled roots and growls at a fox that seemed a bit too curious about the smell of Minish magic. Four's grateful for the time to calm his pounding heart.

“Well, Malo just stares at them until they get uncomfortable. Then he asks them what they're looking for. It never seems to affect him too much.” – discomfort hits at that, and Four can't tell why – “But, well, it also happened in front of me, you know? And I take after my Pa. So I might have knocked a couple of heads together in Casle Town. Followed by a strong talking to. Not that Malo appreciated that I ran off some of his customers.” A sigh. “That kid, I swear.”

Four grimaces. That type of 'customers'. Will think they bless his forge with their presence, praise him to all ends, then turn around and whisper. “I'm sure he's grateful inside.”

“Eh, I hope so, but it's his call in the end. Can't live his life for him.” Some muscles roll, and Four gets the impression of a shrug. “Speaking of, what do you want to do, Smithy?”

The question takes him by surprise, and it's silly that he didn't expect it.

He knows that Twilight would spend the night outside with him if he asks. They're no strangers to outdoor camping and the woods of his era are less dangerous than most. Wolfie would intimidate most if not all the creatures that live inside it.

But it would be illogical to sleep in the woods when they have more than enough rupees to pay for some rooms in a local inn.

Four is reasonable. It's one of his trademarks as a Hero. Mature for his age. Calm. Collected. It's how he's taken seriously as an adventurer. Why would he shatter an illusion that useful? Over some mild ostracization?

'Serve it cold,' says one quarter of him.

Another sides with Twilight. Their big brother made a good point. They couldn't be bothered by every single ungrateful person out there. They'd always exist, so let them stew in jealousy and paranoia and fear. He has the favor of the Princess, his best friend. What does he need anger for against a countryside shop owner?

But, the blue in him counters with an hammer-like argument: 'No, the best revenge is both.'

The others would be a little mad, he thinks. A little.

He's usually mature enough not to get in trouble. He's due for some insanity and explosions. Wild would back him up here. And it might be his voice in his head that pushes the words out of his mouth.

“So, not that I haven't listened to a word you said, but, hypothetically, if I needed help knocking heads together...”

“How many heads? Wars mentioned an interesting technique he learned from his sparring with some Sheikah general the other night. Though, if you'd rather, I can say, without boasting, that a lot of grown men weep at this form. It's embarrassing for everyone, I tell you.”

Four snorts, struck by mischief. “We're going to need to find a stump. I might have a plan.”

Yes, Four contemplates, the glint of wolf fangs under the moonlight is just as terrifying as he figured it would be. He can't wait.

                                                        ***

Legend is silently debating with Sky over the right to punch the innkeeper in the face. It's a fierce debate communicated entirely through raised eyebrows, scrunched up nose, muted snarls and meaningful looks.

The others' patience is steadily fraying at the edges. It's especially noticeable with their youngest. There are fireworks going off on Wind's face. The knife cutting his slab of meat to pieces steadily stabs into it every time the innkeeper's mouth opens.

“And where are you fine young men traveling to?” he says with a customer pleaser smile.

'Fine young men'. Ah! There's a thing he didn't say about Four. The fucking nerves of this man.

“Far,” Time replies, his tone even, but his expression thoroughly unimpressed.

“Ah, yes, of course...” the innkeeper says agreeably. “You, huh, you'll be going with the, ahem, with the boy, I imagine?”

How dare he sound hopeful? And 'boy'?! This man's livelihood is owed to the smithy! And he doesn't even have the excuse of mind control!

A hint of shame tickles the back of his mind, when he had first heard the innkeeper talking. He had sounded nothing like the ones from his era, who sometimes refused him entry outright on the basis of old and false accusations.

This current attitude was, technically speaking, a strict improvement over that.

But does the man have to come alive and become so at ease serving them food whilst the Hero of this land take a walk outside? Alone, at night?

Legend grunts into his mug. The rancher left after the smithy, so that ought to solve the 'feelings' question. A bit of a stick-in-the-mud he might be, but Twilight's one of the few he would trust to help navigate difficult feelings. He's got the patience for it, unlike a lot of them who tackle everything the way they do a dungeon, with reckless abandon.

Yet, in the cozy warmth of the fire in the hearth, over the hesitant plucking of the minstrel's chords, a howl suddenly calls to the moon.

They, alone, do not tense.

The howl echoes a second time, much louder. Closer.

The innkeeper shoots them a desperate look, but Legend suddenly realizes that he is blind, and possibly deaf. He has no reason to stand up, much less draw his sword. And, would Farore look at that, his condition is contagious!

The hinges creak as they inch open.

If Legend were not so experienced, he might have been nervous. But he's better than that. He leans back in his seat, places a hand on Hyrule's shoulder, and sips his ale.

There in the doorway, cut in shadows with the moon as backdrop, riding on a large grey wolf, Four raises both arms high in the air.

“Fear my unnatural power,” he says with as ominous a voice he can produce.

Warriors snorts, cheeks reddened by alcohol, and he gives a thumbs-up to their smith, despite the owner's pale complexion.

The mugs left on the table begin to shake. Oh, this is gonna be good.

It starts with a pair of squirrels and a owl, neither obeying their instincts in favor of swooping inside the inn. Followed by a handful of moles, fireflies and stray dogs.

In a flash of white, the inn's cat bolts inside the inn, meowing, till it reaches its owner's legs and climbs onto him. It perches itself on his bald head, seconds before the first deer bounces inside the building.

Epona breaks the first table.

But the three raccoons lunging after his cat are what make the owner scream.

Legend guffaws in his ale.

[jiahlgc]

CHO SOOAH — HEADCANON #1 (EQUINOX’S TITLE TRACKS AND LILA’S THOUGHTS ON THEM; PT. 1)

from the series of things that i've started but given up midway because i realized it demanded a lot of my time and patience. i intended in making an aesthetic board for each era, but then i got to shooting love, and it was too tasking for me, so i'm writing them as a normal person does. part 2 might or might not come soon because i’m lazy af :D wc: 1205

1. happiness (2014)

sooah has happiness in her list of favorites out of attachment that she shouldn't have because she wasn't even part of the mv, to begin with. but this is the beginning of equinox. the debut single that presented the four girls to the world and would eventually welcome lila to the line-up a while later. it's not the greatest song ever. the lyrics are a bit tacky; the music video is a little bit too much in your face all the time, but for a debut song, she doesn't think it's that bad of a song. she keeps this one more for the nostalgia than anything else.

2. be natural (2014)

be natural is another song that doesn't have lila in it, and compared to happiness, it's not a song that she liked too much back in the day. bear with her. she was only sixteen at the time, and besides having a choreography that she didn't think would fit her, sooah also understands that this was gold star introducing the double concepts to the public and telling them what to expect from them with a group like equinox. she doesn't think it's a bad song, but nowadays she rarely remembers that this was one of the tracks back in the day, mainly because she didn't participate in the making of it, probably

3. automatic (2015)

lila's introduction to equinox was the cause of a lot of murmur of why she was added to the group, and gold star should be thinking the same thing because she was added to sing for a couple of lines and never show up again. sooah doesn't have any resentments towards the song, surprisingly. she thinks it's great, and she doesn't know what it is that makes it feel different from b natural, but she has a lot more fondness for automatic than equinox's previous track. sooah thinks it sounds classy, and the music video is a little mysterious. this is not higher in her list just because sooah was young at the time of it's release, and she didn't think it fit her image.

4. ice cream cake (2015)

ice cream cake is considered lila's debut song, and try as she might, she won't ever get sick of this song. she listened to this at least a hundred times during practice, and she did it again after debut because of the number of times they performed it, but icc has a very special place in her heart because many good things happened in her life after becoming part of equinox and it all started after this music video came out. not only she debuted with this song, but sooah also traveled abroad for the first time to shoot the music video for this, so she has a lot of fond memories of the time.

5. shooting love

shooting love is okay. that's all she can say about it, and at the same time that sooah has a lot of feelings about it, she doesn't have many that can easily be explained. sooah got a lot of screentime with this mv, and she has more lines for this title track than automatic and ice cream cake, but she can't make herself like this song. the mv is pretty and colorful, but sooah thinks it's just fine. she doesn't think she did a good job despite putting a lot of effort in her first comeback with the group.

6. dumb dumb

dumb dumb, on the other hand, makes sooah's heart burst with excitement and good feelings. she likes the mv, the styling, the doll concept. the song is exciting and makes her hum all day long to the lyrics and the beat. it took her a while to catch on to the choreography, but that's every dance routine. dumb dumb still is one of her favorite songs, and for a real reason, not out of nostalgia, but because she genuinely loved performing and listening to this song.

7. one of these nights

one of these nights is one of the songs that sooah has the least number of lines in all equinox's discography, but sooah still adores the song and the album. it's not many people's pick, and she understands why, but there's something about the softness of the vocals, and how it was all presented in the music video that makes her want to listen to this all day long. sooah also felt like a princess while filming this mv, with the pink dress, the boat, and the rain.

8. russian roulette

russian roulette is another very exciting track and still is one of sooah's favorites. rr is considered by some fans as sooah's era, and she's so pleased they think so because she enjoyed their performances for this track immensely. she thinks that it's upbeat and sounds nice. the beat is catchy, which is, in her opinion, the best thing about equinox's tracks, and the mv is so much fun with the cartoons' references. the choreography is also very cool.

9. hwi hwi

hwi hwi had everything to be a shooting love 2.0 because sooah was once again in the center, singing the chorus and everything. but this time, she felt so much better prepared and much more fitting for the song. her confidence in herself is what makes her quite fond of the song and the time that they released it.

10. la la la

sooah thinks la la la is a very good song. it's bubblegum addictive with the chorus, which is always a way to get points with sooah. she has a fair amount of lines and center time, but besides that, she doesn't have much to talk about it. it was the first time that she had floor choreography, but that's the end of her opinions on this song.

11. rookie

sooah hated rookie at the time of its release. she felt exhausted whenever they had to perform it because it's a song that relies a lot on choreography and singing along with it is very difficult. the mv was also very weird and over the top. some fans say that sooah owed this era as well, falling right in the bright alley that fits her so very well. nowadays, she has made peace with the song. she doesn't mind it too much, and by the end of the day, she thinks that it fits equinox and herself.

12. red flavor

red flavor is their best summer track, and sooah will forever defend the power that it has. red flavor is fun, sounds amazing, the dance is also exciting and quite easy to follow. it's the recipe for a good summer song, and she was so glad to be releasing it.

13. peek-a-boo

peek-a-boo was released when sooah turned eighteen, and many things happened back in the day. sooah had just graduated high school. she also had her first solo gig in a variety show, and she felt the healthiest during that period. they had a trip to la to film the music video, and the spooky and slightly darker vibes were a delight. sooah also loved the styling for the title track and was very fond of her rainbow sweater.

[someguynamedstevewrites]

“My Roommate is an Apparition” Christmas Special

Based on characters created by @reddpenn

—————————————————————

“It was a dark and cloudy evening on the twenty-ninth of November.

The end of a Black Friday the likes few would remember.

In an art supply store that can be found somewhere.

A person named Lily almost pulled out their hair.

With sale after sale, and all the price drops,

Poor Lily was tired. She wanted it to stop.

She dragged her feet one after another, with muscles so sore.

It felt like she walked a thousand miles to fall down at her door.

But now it was over, and at last she was free.

To veg out on her couch, and watch shows on TV.

But before she could indulge in being a couch potato,

There was still the matter of her roommate who...

...

Who...”

Lily tapped the pen against her chin as she tried to come up with a good word that rhymed with potato. Her head rested on a cushion against the arm rest of her couch as she slouched back; crossing one leg over the other. One of her spiral notebooks rested in her lap as she turned her head to look at her roommate.

The ghostly apparition stood motionless with a gaunt expression. Their eyes were wide with tiny pupils that somehow weren’t necessarily bloodshot, but at the same time, also bloodshot... but without the blood part. Their unkempt long hair fell down over their nearly non-existent shoulders and down their back, if you could call it that. Anyone who saw them standing next to them would likely jump out of their skin. If they could see them.

They were watching Spongebob Squarepants on Nickelodeon.

It was a rerun of the first episode, and the falsetto voice of Tiny Tim began to fill the apartment.

“Things that bother you Never bother me!

I feel happy and fine!

Living in the sunlight!

Loving in the moonlight!”

“Hav...ing... a... wonder... ful... time...”

Lily could tell the apparition was trying to sing along with its raspy voice. It sounded more like muttering under their breath, but it was clear what they were doing. It had to be difficult for it since they didn’t necessarily have lungs, vocal chords, or any other body parts usually involved with singing (as far as Lily knew). But despite that, it was still happy, bobbing their head slowly from side to side as they tried to keep up with the song.

Lily couldn’t help but think it was adorable; like a Pre-Schooler trying to sing along with their favorite cartoon.

It was the apparition’s scheduled cartoon time, and Lily had just come home after a very long morning, day, and night at work. As exhausting as working on Black Friday was, Lily was thankful to have a nice place to return to where she could unwind and relax. She was also thankful that the rent was surprisingly cheap too; what with the apartment being haunted and all.

She remembered the look on her landlord’s face when she signed the lease. It was a mixture of horror, surprise, and joy in response to finally finding someone willing to rent the apartment. Previous tenants would often report of strange things happening when they lived there. Their TV’s would turn on by themselves at random times. Sometimes the channels would change on their own, and whenever the tenant tried changing it back, they could hear an ethereal whisper demanding that they change the channel.

But Lily weren’t afraid of no ghosts, and took one of her first steps to independent living with dirt cheap rent.

A spooky chuckle came from her roommate as they watched Spongebob completely ruin Squidward’s day ...again. If not for the fact that Lily could see the pale, see-through entity that made that noise, she probably would have found the laughter rather creepy. But she didn’t, and in the spirit of the season, Lily mentally noted how she was thankful that she could see her specter of a roommate.

This train of thought led Lily back to one of the questions she had been asking herself for the past couple months: Why could she see the apparition when nobody else could?

Several possible answers ran through her head. Maybe she had secret powers that she wasn’t aware of? Maybe she was the “chosen” one, selected by the mysterious wraith to be the only person that could see them? Or maybe there was something about them that made them kindred spirits in a way? And if so, what tied them together?

Lily’s train of thought was derailed by the sudden commercial break on the TV, signaling that Spongebob had ended, and Lily knew what that meant. It was finally her turn to have the TV!

“Okay, show’s over. Now it’s my turn to watch something.”

Lily’s roommate gave a disappointed sigh as Lily snatched up the remote and changed the channel to CBS. It was prime time and time for some Hawaii Five-O. Sure it wasn’t the most mentally stimulating television program out there and one could argue it had the same level of intellect as Spongebob, but it was what Lily wanted to watch and watch it she would!

Or at least that would have been the case if not for a tiny spanner in the works. What greeted Lily after changing the channel was not Hawaii Five-O, but a familiar sight that Lily had not seen for a long, long time. Bongos could be heard as the word “Special” spun around colorfully on the screen before resting in place and showing “A CBS Special Presentation”.

A bright blue background with images of snowflakes falling appeared on the TV screen, accompanied by a calming, familiar, song.

“Fahoo forays, dahoo dorays

Welcome Christmas, bring your light

Fahoo forays, dahoo dorays

Welcome in the cold of night.”

“No kidding...” Lily said to herself in amazement. She hadn’t seen How The Grinch Stole Christmas in years. And it wasn’t the live action remake with Jim Carrey or the newer animated movie with Benedict Cumberbatch either. It was the genuine, original, Chuck Jones animated TV special with Boris Karloff narrating.

Lily remembered watching this on TV with her parents when she was little. It was one of the many Christmas specials that would air instead of the usual TV programming at night, and was just the thing for a 8-year old to enjoy before being tucked into bed for a 9 PM bedtime. Fond memories of the Christmas Tree in the living room, glowing with lights, and a stack of presents underneath it came flooding back to her in a wave of nostalgia.

It wasn’t Hawaii Five-O, but Lily wasn’t about to complain. In fact, she thought it was the perfect way to usher in the holiday season after the shopping turmoil of Black Friday. But as she kicked back to relax, she took a look at her roommate and couldn’t believe her eyes and ears.

“Every Who... down in Whoville... liked Christmas a lot.

But the Grinch... who lived just North of Whoville... did not!” said the apparition.

Its face was practically glowing with a warm smile that stretched almost from ear to non-existent ear on her face. Normally, Lily’s roommate was literally quite clear. Its transparent body made it easy to see right through them. But as it gazed at the Christmas Classic playing on the TV, Lily could have sworn that she saw a faint light beginning to emanate from her roommate.

The apparition’s pale, translucent skin looked like it was becoming opaque. A soft, warm glow radiated from its body as though it had just swallowed a night light. And all the while, the apparition spoke along with Boris Karloff’s narration word for word.

“The Grinch... hated Christmas!

The whole Christmas... season!

Now... please don't ask... why.

No one... quite knows the... reason,” the apparition quoted as it did its best to keep up with Boris Karloff’s pace.

“Wow! You’ve got the whole thing memorized, don’t yah?” Lily said with a smile.

The apparition turned around and smiled back at Lily, but this smile was different from before. Their smiles were usually filled with sharp, pointy teeth with an almost maniacal look to them. This smile, however, didn’t stretch across the whole of their face. Furthermore, while their teeth were still pointy, they looked somewhat smaller; almost human, even. It was a soft, warm, friendly smile.

It turned back around and continued to watch the TV classic, and as it did, Lily sat upright and scooted over to one side of the couch.

“Hey,” Lily called out, “care to join me?” She said while patting the seat next to her on the couch. Without taking its eyes off the television, the apparition walked backwards, somehow, onto the couch and then proceeded to sit next to Lily. “C’mere you,” Lily said as she took a throw blanket resting on the back of the couch and draped it around herself and her roommate.

Despite her roommate’s lack of substance, Lily felt warm and comfortable under the blanket. She could feel the faintest touch as the apparition’s head limped to the side and came to rest on her shoulder. It still quoted and sang along with the Christmas classic, but quietly so as not to disturb the viewing experience of their corporeal roommate.

It was peaceful, calm, and comforting. As they watched, Lily looked at her notebook that was now sitting on the floor. The movement of inviting her roommate to the couch had knocked it off. Looking at it, Lily figured out what to put down to finish her little post-Black Friday stress relief poem.

“... But before she could indulge in being a couch potato,

There was still the matter of her roommate who would not let go.

But as mysterious and weird as her roommate might be,

There was something about it that brought a warm smile to Lily.

And so the two sat on the couch in front of the TV,

Enjoying their time together as it was meant to be.”

Lily made a mental note to write that down once the show was over...

...but unfortunately forgot.