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imaginesig · 5 months

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“If they call me a slut, you know it might be worth if for once”

Lewis Hamilton x singer!reader

yourusername

liked by lewishamilton, user1, y/nhq, and 402,038 others

yourusername: my muse <3

tagged lewishamilton

lewishamilton its an honor love

user1 when will I find someone to call me love

lando.jpg your own jpg account when??

yourusername I'll stick to my day job

user2 anybody else bothered by how quickly she goes from man to man

user3 right? like I swear she's had about 7 "muses" in the past 3 years

user4 she's literally done nothing wrong?? how dare a women date more than 1 person in her life??

carlossainz55 so new music when?

Charles_leclerc the Ferrari playlist needs an update

yourusername update loading 🔄

user5 oh please be a new album!!

lewishamilton

liked by roscoovescoco, yourusername, user6, and 183,829 others

lewishamilton: race weekend with my loves

tagged: mercadesamgf1, roscoelovescoco, yourusername

landonorris interesting order

yourusername we all know Roscoe is the real star here

roscoelovescoco listen to the lady 🙌

mercadesmhf1 we love having the Hamilton family in the paddock

yourusername ahhh love to be there!!

lewishamilton 💚

georgerussell63 always a good time with these two in the house

yourusername ahhhh Georgie 🫶🫶

user1 "Georgie" 🥹😭

tmz_offical

liked by user9, user1, user3, and 937,273 others

tmz_offical: just days after the end of the season, f1 driver Lewis Hamilton is spotted out with young girlfriend Y/n L/n. The couple is notorious for keeping their privacy, making paparazzi pictures a rare instance. Click the link in our bio to see what else was taken during their night out on the town.

tagged lewishamilton, yourusername

user1 no wonder they keep private, I would too if ended up trapped in a relationship with a slut like her

user2 didn't she and Dylan O'Brian break up right before they got together? Didn't think he rebound guy would last this long

user3 I could never imagine dating someone that much older than me

user4 fr someone tell her to take it down a notch, her sluttiness is showing

User8 the one sided hate is mid boggling

user5 the negativity is DEFINING

user6 right, y'all can't stand to see a women happy, healthy, and unbothered

y/nupdates

liked by lewishamilton, user5, user9, and 749,934 more

y/nupdates: Y/n seen outside the studio with her producer after radio silence all winter!!

tagged yourusername

user1 she's cooking

user2 she's entering her reputation era I can feel it

user3 fr, after that one tmz post blows up and her comments are flooded with negativity, she locked herself away with her love, and is now seen for the first time in awhile leaving the studio

user4 I CANT HANDLE THIS RN

user5 not the slut trying for a comeback

user6 how about you lead by example? Leave and don't come back 🫶

user8 you know the records gonna slap when @/producer sprinkled her magic

user9 I need them and Taylor+Jack to release something

yourusername

liked by user5, lewishamilton, y/nhq, and 394,028 others

yourusername: "Slut!" out now on all streaming platforms!! The rest of the album, "Amor Omnia Vincit" out this Friday!

when I originally sat down to create this new album I didn't image I'd write half the songs that made the final cut, but I did. This has been a very therapeutic experience for me.

Thank you to this album, my amazing team, and my lovely muse for keeping me going in the difficult time <3

tagged: y/nhq

lewishamilton you are so Shawn Hunter coded

lewishamilton I love you dear

yourusername I love you too darling

user1 they are so domestic I'm crying 🤭😭

user2 lets all start a thread of our fav lyrics from "Slut!"

user3 "if I'm all dressed up, they might as well be looking at us" WE KNOW THIS COUPLE ALWAYS BRING FIRE FITS

user4 very obvious but "if they call me a slut, you know it might be worth it for once," just hits so hard, like this is an issue she's dealt with for so long but Lewis makes it all better bc their relationship trumps everything

user5 piggy backing off of @/user4 's reasoning, "the sticks and stones they throw froze mid air"

user6 "IN A WORLD OF BOYS HES A GENTLEMAN" 🔛🔝

user7 I'm still not very her admitting that all the negavity around her dating has affected her so bad that she told Lewis "I said it might blow up in your pretty face"

scuderiaferarri we will not apologize for the people we'll become when this drops ‼️

Charles_leclerc we've always been #1 y/n stans

lewishamilton you red fuckers can take two steps back that's my title

carlossainz55 I thought you were her muse?

lewishamilton I'm both

user8 ok possessive king

youruserame for me and me only 🥰

lewishamilton

liked by georgerussell64, your username, user1, and 789,739 others

lewishamilton: SO, SO, SO PROUD OF YOU LOVE!! Watching you work through a rough patch with such grace was beautiful. Thank you for allowing me to be apart of it and listen to these songs+more. I'll be your muse forever if you'll have me <3

tagged yourusername, y/nhq

yourusername forever and always <3

lewishamilton <3

user1 that water look very ~aquamarine~ to anyone

user2 he def knew what he was doing

lewishamilton I had a message to send 🤷🏾‍♂️

user2 LMAOOO HES SO PETTY

yourusername sassy man epidemic isn't a joke

user3 I love that she left like people wanted and wrote a whole song to shut down the hater but also put her and Lewis's relationship on the pedestal it deserves

producer such a sweet album!! Some of the best love songs out there!!

Charles_leclerc Vigilante Shit is my new pre-prix anthem

yourusername watch out @/maxverstappen1

maxverstappen this is where the dutch anthem falls silent 😔

carlossainz55 wasn't ready for Dress

yourusername but...

carlossainz55 its my fav

user4 I love that lewis posted for the whole album when Y/n didn't, but she's replying to comments in his section when he isn't

user5 they really are made for each other huh

roscoelovescoco amazing work mom!!

user5 I will never get over the mom

yourusername

liked by landonorris, Charles_leclerc, user5, and 937,039 others

yourusername: surprise!! Since this album taught me what it was like to write and create in such an intamate space with very few people/outide influence I wanted to celebrate it with 3 small shows in Monaco, London, and Ottawa!

tickets on sale at 12 pm eastern this friday, see ya then ;)

tagged y/nhq

landonorris do friends get discounts??

yourusername everyone on the grid plus any serious significant others get VIP entry courtesy of me and my team 💖😘

y/nhq we'll be reaching out soon to select the show

lilymhe you don't understand how excited this makes me!!

yourusername well I couldn’t celebrate without my girls (and their men too ig 🙄🤚)

oscarpiastri thanks a lot y/n

alexalbon anybody else feeling loved??

lewishamilton completely 🫶

user1 this will start world war 3 I can feel it

user2 this is the eras tour all over again

user3 except that was selling stadiums, these are small venues

user4 any f1 driver want to link up for a show?? you'll never have to speak to me ever again

user5 I regret to inform you babe, but I think this is the reason she said serious significant others...

user6 official tour soon?? Please mother??

yourusername oh so very soon...

lewishamilton

liked by your username, georgerussel64, landonorris, and 379,268 others

lewishamilton "got lovestruck went straight to my head" <3

tagged yourusername

user1 crying throwing up

user2 quoting her song?? that's about him?? I'll be resting my eyes on the highway if anybody needs me

user3 my toaster looks like a fun bath bomb

yourusername "got lovesick all over my bed" <3

landonorris beautiful show, beautiful couple 🧡

yourusername 🧡

scuderiaferrari maybe we're colorblind but that doesn't look like Mercedes green

mercadesamgf1 watch your back

georgerussell64 👀

georgerussell64 slayed so hard

yourusername an honor from the meme king?? I'm not worthy

yourusername

liked by Charles_leclerc, user9, lewishamilton, and 930,393 others

yourusername thank you to everyone who came out to a show this weekend!! I had a blast sining new stuff, covers, and old pieces with you all- the love I experienced was unreal!! I cannot wait to see what happens in the future 💖

To all those close to me, our relationships mean the absolute world!! Special love to Lewis who held my hand through my darkest time, showed me what a true relationship was, and gave me a perfect little boy (I love you Roscoe). Darling, its been a wonderful experience being with you <3

tagged y/nhq, landojpg

lewishamilton love you so much angel <3

georgerussell64 definitely gave me and Carmen the night of our lives!!

alexalbon the show was so amazing I almost forgot you flirted with my gf in the invitation

yourusername stay mad

lilymhe 🥵

Roscoelovescoco can I come next time??

yourusername I'll see what I can do...

landjpg thank you for photo creddits and well as the opportunity to photograph these unique shows

yourusername you didn't not dissapoint 👏👏 thank you for doing it

Charles_leclerc I had an amazing time!!!

carlossainze55 you should hear him try to speak, voice complelty gone

yourusername that's the kind of energy we all need

comments have been limited

#lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton smau #Lewis Hamilton x reader #mercades imagine #mercades x reader #lewis hamilton imagine #f1 imagines #formula 1 imagines #roscoe hamilton

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thetriumphantpanda · 11 months

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I Was Enchanted To Meet You | J. Miller Drabble

Summary | Literally just a Drabble about Joel being an era's tour dad, meeting a pretty girl in cowboy boots and flirting. That's it. It's dumb. This goes out to my girl Doni @morning-star-joy who is going to see Tay-Tay tonight and can now be delulu about meeting Joel Miller there. And also therapy for me because I'm in the UK and got waitlisted for tickets, so CRIES. I wrote this in like an hour so excuse any spelling/grammar errors.

Joel Miller didn't exactly understand when he'd signed up to take Sarah to her first concert. When she'd asked to use his credit card to buy the tickets, he'd just nodded and handed it over. When his bill came through the next month, he almost passed out from the cost. But stood here now, in seats that might very well give him a nosebleed, watching Sarah almost lose her mind over the fact that Taylor Swift was about to appear on stage, it was all forgotten. All Joel ever wanted was for his little girl to be happy.

He'd spent weeks listening to the songs, learning the lyrics so he might be able to sing along with Sarah. He watched her sit in front of the television each night making bracelets to trade, and he squirrelled away as much money as possible so he could buy her a t-shirt or something on the night too.

Joel was watching as Sarah swapped friendship bracelets with two girls to her right when something else caught his eye. Two people shuffling into the two seats that had been vacant in front of Joel and Sarah for most of the night. One of them, around Sarah's age, was almost as excited as his girl, bouncing up and down, looking around the stadium with eyes as wide as saucers, taking it all in, but you? You were something else entirely. You had a white cowboy hat sat on top of your head, not dissimilar to his own apart from the colour and the fact yours was covered in sparkly rhinestones. You had a white dress on, falling to your mid-thigh, made of lace and scalloped edges, and a pair of beat-up old brown leather cowboy boots. The literal picture of heaven on earth as far as he was concerned.

He watched as you pointed to the two seats in front of him and Sarah, motioning for the other girl to sit down so you could hand her the soda you were carrying. He noticed your wrists were covered in the same type of bracelets his daughter had been going wild for all evening. Almost on cue, Sarah leans over, tapping your shoulder.

"You wanna trade?" She asks, holding up her own plastic-laden wrist to show you.

"Hell yeah," You smile, nudging the girl with you, "Why don't you give this little superstar one of yours too?"

Joel watches intently as you let Sarah scan your wrists for the specific bracelet she wants, picking one made of pink beads, swapping it with one of hers that was made of black and gold. Joel had no idea what any of them meant, all he knew was that the bill for friendship bracelet materials on his credit card nearly rivalled the bill for the tickets.

"You want one as well, mister?" Your voice cuts through his thoughts, "Can't come and see Taylor and leave with empty wrists I'm afraid."

"Well, I ain't got anything to trade ya with." Joel shrugs.

"That's okay," you smile, "I'll forgive you, this time."

Joel keeps an eye trained on you as you search your wrists, obviously having something incredibly specific in mind for him. You find it, eyes lighting up as you pull it from your wrist and hand it over to him. He takes the delicate thing in his big palm - red, white and blue beads with letters in hearts that spell out 'Cowboy Like Me'. Very fitting.

"Thanks, Darlin'," He smiles, slipping it over his hand, "You been waiting to find the perfect man to give that to all night?"

You let your head fall back in a laugh and Joel thinks you might just be the prettiest goddamned girl he's ever seen in his life. Sarah is pulling at his wrist so she can see exactly what bracelet you've given her dad, laughing and then leaning forward.

"I made him wear the hat!" She exclaims, "Told him he had to fit in."

"Well, you made a good choice," You grin, "He looks mighty fine in his cowboy hat."

You finally turn your attention back to your companion - judging by your likeness he assumes it must be your little sister. You're pointing out things around the stadium for her to look at, and he can't help but find it endearing how she's bouncing in her seat at every little thing, much like Sarah had done when they'd taken their seats.

Joel feels a nudge to his side, Sarah is looking up at him with that glint he knows and loves so much - she's got an idea.

"She's really pretty, dad."

"Sarah!" He chastises, eye flickering to you to make sure you didn't hear what she'd said, but you look completely oblivious.

"She is though!" She retorts in a hushed whisper, "I think she likes you."

Joel brings a finger to his lips to try and get this devil of a girl to be quiet, but he can't help but indulge her - Sarah was right, you are really pretty, "She don't know the first thing about me," He finishes the conversation, "Now you sit tight, I'm going to find you a soda."

When Joel returns, to drinks in hand, he can see Sarah leant over the seats speaking to you. He dreads to think what she's been trying to cook up, seemingly obsessed with making sure he's not so lonely in life anymore.

"Move over," He asks, Sarah shifting to the seat he was in before he left, "Don't drink it all at once, you'll need it for all the screaming you're gonna do." He says, handing the soda to her.

Once he sits back down, you turn in your chair to speak to him.

"Sarah says you're a builder?" She asks, clearly just trying to make polite conversation with him whilst your sister speaks to Sarah.

"Contractor actually," He shrugs, as if it matters, "But yeah, I build stuff, what do you do?"

"I'm a teacher," You smile, "Teach 4th grade." He's about to ask you another question when every single person in the stadium starts screaming, he thinks by the end of tonight he might actually be deaf, "Well, you enjoy the show, mister, hope you learnt some lyrics."

Contrary to what he'd thought, Joel actually does enjoy the show. He sings along to some of the songs he remembers, dances with Sarah for most of the night and keeps a close eye on you during it all. You know every single word to every single song, just like your little sister and he has to admit that when you're throwing your hands in the air and screaming to the lyrics, he finds you prettier than he had done all night.

When all is said and done at the end of the night, you say a polite goodbye to him and Sarah. When he finally sits in his truck, waiting for the scores of traffic to clear so he can get them home, he kicks himself for not asking for your number, but resigns himself to the fact that it was fate. Meant to meet once and that was it. It's not until he's finally carried Sarah up to bed, fast asleep in his arms and settled down to unwind in front of the TV that he pulls his phone from his pocket and sees a message from an unknown number.

I was enchanted to meet you, Joel. Drinks? Saturday @ 6pm?

#pedro pascal #joel miller #the last of us #Joel Miller drabble #joel miller fluff #Joel Miller fic #Joel Miller fanfic #joel miller fan fiction #Joel Miller x you #Joel Miller x reader #Joel Miller x female reader #Joel Miller x f!reader #the last of us hbo #tlou #tlou hbo #Sarah Miller #Joel and sarah

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infinitify · 1 month

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(art by @novalise1 on X)

HOW TO BE | AOT MODERN AU

EREMIKA & RIVETRA (MULTI-CHAP SLOW BURN)

Levi's taken it upon himself to raise his orphaned cousin, Mikasa. Devoted entirely to keeping her safe from the dysfunction of the Ackerman family, he strives to give her the type of life she deserved from the very start. Now depressed, emotionally damaged, and entranced by heavy eyeliner and sad song lyrics, seventeen-year-old Mikasa struggles through growing pains during her pursuit of happiness - all while being so hopelessly in love with a boy who sometimes can't keep his mouth shut.

Mid-2000's Modern/High School/College AU. Goth, angsty Mikasa and protective father figure Levi. Eventual Eren x Mikasa, eventual Levi x Petra.

CW: Graphic depictions of violence, blood, alcoholism. Attempts of suicide/completion of suicide. Mentions of molestation/attempted molestation (no graphic depictions). Dysfunctional family life.

NSFW content in the future.

✮ ✮ ✮

Hello there! I thought I'd finally share my story with the tumblr side of the AOT fandom, so if you're into character studies of your AOT faves, a ridiculous amount of teenaged angst, and horrifyingly tragic backstories, then this if the fic for you! Take a dip into the complex familial bond Levi and Mikasa share while you discover all the heart-wrenching pain between your favourite ships!

Big big big credit to @novalise1 on X for their amazing art that you're seeing above. They drew these a while before my fic was even conceived, but I stumbled upon them about a year or so later and they coincidentally fit the fic so well. I knew I had to show you all their talented art!

If you would like sporadic chapter updates, you can also find me on X @infinitify_ or feel free to shoot me a message in my asks here on tumblr!

But anyway, happy reading!

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ariesmusingz · 2 months

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૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ╱ saves the world sentence starters pt 2 ( created using lyrics from muna's saves the world album. feel free to adjust to fit your muse. )

so i let it happen again

i loved someone who's indifferent

that's why i can't sleep at night

that's why i keep sleeping in

so i started over again

i got back onto that medicine

i don't like when dreaming ends

there's a pink light in my apartment

it comes mid-morning as a reminder

at the right time, in the right surroundings, i will be lovely

i can't help thinking that maybe if you stayed for an hour or two

maybe if you'd seen the soft pink light i wouldn't be alone tonight

i'm living inside my mind

i keep retracting that storyline

thinking if i start again, i can change the way it ends

maybe i will always keep a little piece of this belief

if it isn't you who sees then there isn't any pink light in my apartment

waited a minute till you went in

we talked and then we stopped talking

put on a song and we listened

i know that i make you nervous

i do it half on purpose

you know i think you're precious

i think you're a good person

so why do i wanna blow up your life?

i'll be a very good girl

i won't even think about it

i'm just feeling like i can't help it

i know you said you had a girlfriend

i just want it if it's taken

dad left when i was 11

mom said it was cause he couldn't keep from tocuhing other women

some things have a way of sticking

now i'm standing in your kitchen

you said you told her you were leaving

i can't help thinking i hate you 'cause you're just like him

so why did i have to blow up your life?

i just thought that if i could take you from her, maybe then it would prove that i'm worth something

now i'm alone and i'm hurt

wishing i'd taken you at your word when you said you were taken

i know you said it

i just want it

i see you

it's been some time since i've seen you last

you know the night

i bet you know the night

i'm here

you're here

it's in the air like a firefly

it's june and july

i know you're bad for me

when you say you want me again

i can feel you up on me

it hits me all of the sudden

you can't touch

get your hands off me

there's no reason

i'm free

i get so high every time

happens every time

a damn idea

i focus then i hold that feeling inside

got this feeling inside

i want you

come closer

i feel like i've been here before

you want the power

you tell me it's now or never

you think i'm playing hard to get

this must be hard to get

you've got to get your hands off

you think i'm playing with your head

do you need me to do the chorus again?

i must be some great feeler

i must be really deep

i had a major crisis

when you stopped calling me i saw a psychic healer

she just turned 17

all that she said was to do what i want

like i'm supposed to know what that means

i'm gonna figure it out

i'm already here and i won't leave now

put a pot of coffee on

i'm just having a time

the good news is, if you don't like life, they say it doesn't last long

i was sad in the kitchen

tearing myself apart

trying to search for the piece that i'm missing

i didn't know where to start

i went to an art exhibit

there wasn't any art

all that there was, was a sink and some dishes

be where you are

i know it's not just me who thinks it is just me

got a bee sting on the way back from your house

it was crawing up my leg inside my car

something 'bout the way i had to pull it out

never healed quite right and now i've got a scar

i'm glad it left a mark

remind me what it was like seem i forget

when i'm drinking or i'm thinking with my heart

baby this is what you get when you're reckless and you're playing in the dark

you're gonna move to new york and experiment with communism

go down on a girl after reading her some frantz fanon

you'll go out of your way trying to find some place you can hide and get high

you're gonna call your mom

you're gonna cut off your hair with dull scissors from the desk in your dorm room

learn by trial and error that threesomes are more sad than fun

you're gonna move to la

guess you're running away from the patterns you have and the decisions you've made

yeah you're gonna sit in the sun

it's gonna be okay

you're gonna smoke cigarettes on the ground beside the pool at stardust

you're gonna get obsessed with a boy who's hooked on heroin

you'll have some all-time nights dancing outside with lcd on the speaker

you're drinking dark pink wine

you're gonna lose those friends

you're gonna fall in love with a girl which you were not expecting

you're gonna start a band

it's just her, another friend and you

then you get freaked out

you say something about how you just can't commit

you move into your aunt's house and all your dreams come true

you're going to come to depend on the sec of a sadistic stranger

you're gonna learn to pretend

you lie about it to save face

the morning you awake in the deepest of pain that you've ever been in

you admit you've got to quit him

you're gonna learn to pray

you're gonna start to call friends

you're gonna start to call yourself an addict

you finally read zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance

you're gonna clean out your drawers

you're gonna feel much more like god is a mystery and jesus is a metaphor

you're gonna tell your reflection

#rp sentence prompts #rp promts #rp sentence meme #rp sentence starters #memes: mine #roleplay memes #rp memes #rp #rpt #rpc #rph

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eerna · 20 hours

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Wait okay omg I would love to hear your thoughts about the Broadway Mulan Rouge because I also have many feelings about it, most of them disappointment unfortunately lol. It could've been amazing!! But I just!! I don't feel it like I felt it in the movie idk man

Yeah, I am the same... I was SO hyped when I heard that they were turning it into a musical, but in retrospect it is pretty clear it was never gonna be what I wanted it to be :(

THE MUSIC. To me, MR! has this very recognizable music style where it is a jukebox musical, but every song is rewritten and its accompaniment changed so that they all fit together with the soundtrack of the film. It's percussion heavy, it's piano heavy, very jazzy/mid century film music? If you know the songs and try to sing along, you will fail, because they're just that different. That's why it doesn't suffer from the jukebox musical curse, in my opinion. However, BMR! totally removed those stylistic changes and turned them all into pretty standard musical theater arrangements of pop songs, and they all overstay their welcome because they aren't even shortened. NOW it suffers from the jukebox musical curse, bc how am I supposed to take's Christine's "I want" song seriously if it's FIREWORK by KATY PERRY. The worst example of this is what they did to El Tango de Roxanne, the most iconic part of the movie. In MR!, it's a mashup of Roxanne by The Police (representing the Argentinian's tale) and Tanguera by Mariano Mores with original lyrics (representing Christian's angst over Satine). Both songs take turns and overlap, pointing out the parallels, rising in intensity until everyone starts screaming and crying. Absolute insanity. I don't know a single person who wasn't floored by this song when they first saw the scene. In BMR!, it's Christian's solo, which means no parallels, most of the song is Roxanne and the iconic Tanguera melody shows up for like 40 seconds in the beginning and in the end just so they can say they put it into the show. There is no rising tension, there is no overlaps, no development, it's just. There. Like yes you put it into the show, but pretty much all of its symbolism and memorable aspects are gone. And the jukebox issues are stabbing you in the eyes. WHY IS CHRISTIAN SINGING ABOUT A WOMAN NAMED ROXANNE. WHO IS ROXANNE. IT MAKES SENSE IF ROXANNE IS THE NAME OF THE WOMAN FROM THE ARGENTINIAN'S STORY, BUT IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT CHRISTIAN IS THE ONE SINGING ABOUT HER. God.

THE WEIRDNESS. MR!'s aesthetic is super interesting to me because it represents its aura of sex appeal and hedonism through the lenses of grotesque. It would have been super easy to put the sex workers into sexy outfits and glam up their faces and make them sing seductive songs on beautiful stages, but no. Their outfits are eye stabbing, their makeup is garish, and they're screeching and throwing themselves around violently on stages that are dark, kitchy, claustrophobic, and loud, while the camera switches every 2 seconds and your brain feels like it's running on fumes. AND IT IS SO FUN. The club looks SO nasty and SO fun and I wanna go there. However, BMR! doesn't want to alienate anyone, so they did... Exactly what I said. Everyone is universally attractive, the stage is very clean-cut and open, the appeal of the club is played completely straight. This is best shown in the production Christian writes for the club. I know that the play from the movie is not very PC so I totally get why they would change some of it, but... They turned it from a vibrant, oversaturated opera with enormous musical numbers that lends itself perfectly to the big dramatic finale taking place during its premiere into a THREE CHARACTER CHAMBER DRAMA. Like who tf signed off on this change. WHO. LET ME SEE. WHO SAID THAT THE FINALE OF THE ENTIRE STORY WILL BE SET IN A STAGE IMITATION OF A LIVING ROOM. GOD I AM SO UPSET.

THE ROMANCE. MR! works because Christian is a naiive, innocent, idealistic poet with grand ideas of love. THAT'S why Satine falls for him - he is completely different from other men, and he makes her believe love can be more than what she'd been given throughout her life. Also, he's never been in love, so everything feels much more real and intense for him. In BMR! he is a completely different character, an overconfident seductive sexyman. Why would he be any different than all the other men in Satine's life??? Because he can write good??????? She has met many writers before, as we know, so what makes this guy different????? And not only are we less forgiving of his bad actions because he is older and experienced, HE IS SO MUCH WORSE IN THE SHOW. In MR! he sells his typerwriter to buy a ticket for Satine's premiere to go see her one last time and scream at how horrible she is - bad, and horrible to watch. In BMR!, he sells his typewriter to BUY A GUN and goes to Satine's premiere SO HE CAN KILL HER OR HIMSELF ONSTAGE - absolutely insane and horrible and how tf did we get here. AND LET ME REMIND YOU that this version of the story DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THE STORY CONTEXT OF EL TANGO DE ROXANNE, in which Roxanne's lover kills her, SO THEY REMOVED THE ONE BIT OF FORESHADOWING THAT COULD HAVE MADE IT MAKE SENSE.

THE REST OF THE WRITING. BMR! tried to give depth to side characters and their relationship with Satine, but that means they totally sidelined that Satine is a deeply unhappy person in a very unhealthy situation. They tried to make it look like she is choosing to marry the Duke (YEAH I FORGOT TO MENTION, THE DUKE IS A SEXY SEXY GUY WHO WANTS TO MARRY HER IN THIS VERSION) without any pressure put onto her by the club, but that makes it all so much more boring. MR! is far from a deep analysis of Satine's friendships, but I thought that the little bits and pieces we saw were delightfully complex. Satine is going to become the Duke's mistress because he will sponsor the club, and everyone employed there will live a better life. Ziegler is her father figure, but he is also her pimp who is pushing her into the relationship. He feels sorry for her and obviously cares for her outside of their business relationship, but he is so deep in the "underworld life" that he no longer sees a way out for anyone. But when it becomes apparent that Satine can no longer withstand the pressure, that the life they are all living is something she can't deal with, everyone just. Helps her out. They bail her out of the tower, they threaten the Duke, they stand with her, it's not verbal, it's all in the actions. It's why we can have a grand finale where everyone sings and dances while the Duke is crying in the background. BMR! has the girls telling Satine they care about her and her telling them she will protect them, but they are completely useless in the plot. No one comes for her in the tower, and the play is a THREE PERSON DRAMA so Christian is the only one there to stand with her in the end.

THE PLAY. I already said most of my issues with it but just to point it out once more. There is nothing more annoying to me than a piece of media that's about a piece of media being written, and then that piece of media ends up unseen. Throughout MR! we see the play being written, we see many scenes being added, hear a ton of songs from it, the issue of the plot resolution is a big dramatic point, and the finale of the movie is also the final scene from the play. In BMR! we see one scene, the show's end, that keeps being repeated over and over again.

SATINE'S WHITE DRESS. It deserved its own point bc what the hell is this.

This is already super long, but this show annoys me so much I could legit keep going lol. Everything is worse. Everything is toothless and clawless. It's such wasted potential.

#mountevey #eernask #mr liveblog #i need to turn it into a liveblog tag

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meimeikyu · 18 days

Text

Giving sans AUs kpop solo songs,,, an extremely self indulgent post

this is based on both the tone/lyrics of the song, my interpretation of the lyrics, and the music videos. also just songs i like

also!! a lot of these will be focused on my interpretations of both the song and the characters, as well as specific parts of them

(this will be slightly long and full of links so it goes under the cut)

Cross: Lilac - IU

youtube

this song makes me so aggressively happy and sad at the same time and its so hgksghkshgksghs i feel like itd fit him so much,,,, for one lilac being the song name bcs i associate cross heavily with lilacy purple but also just the whole theme of the song being losing a person but it being like a perfect goodbye and etc and. idk i see it in him

"Will you forget me someday?

Will you forget our faces and the scent of today?

While having a good nap

Like a faded mid-spring’s dream"

Blue: Bam Yang Gang - BIBI

youtube

okay so this is mostly based on the lyrics, and the concept of blue working with the stars but kinda being lesser than them? since hes 'only' mortal and cant keep up and yet hes expected to and. yeah i love this concept n i love this song so

"As you were leaving you turned around and said to me

"You always want far too much"

No what I’ve always wanted was one thing

Just one thing sweet chestnut red bean jelly"

Dream: INVU - Taeyeon

youtube

god so its like a sad song about forbidden love in my mind but like. some of the lyrics hit so hard n i feel like theyd work for dream so well and the mvs so pretty (and also has a bow!) but like. dream and forbidden things work so well together in my mind bcs shes the one trying to keep everything together and yet also be the perfect guardian of positivity and can never be sad or angry and never get tired or stop and. she cant even love someone because shes supposed to be a guardian and thats not part of her job </3 (also trans fem dream canon to me)

"I think I lost my mind

But it's my kind of love

Without leaving anything

Pour everything out and flop

Suddenly at one point

I see myself exhausted

Even though I'm trying my best"

Ink: water color - Whee In

youtube

okay one i adore this song two the whole song being art/painting themed!!! literally ink!!!!!! and the theme of a lot of the lyrics being about becoming/embracing yourself (in my mind) i feel like fits him bcs like, hes out of the normal hes weird but hes HIM!! he has an identity he has a life he has friends hes not just that sketch anymore!!! hes a full person :D

"Gonna make it colored

I'll pick my brush

Just dye my everything, yeah, deep in my mind

Then I will follow my heart

Draw the things that only I have

Gonna do it my way

I don't wanna stay here"

Nightmare: Animal Farm - BIBI

(warning for fake blood/gore in the mv, as well as violence and guns)

youtube

so i actually had a few ideas for nightmare tbh but idk they didnt feel quite right to be 'the' song i put as nightmare, but oh boy this song did! the whole royalty vibes of the music video plus the apple in the beginning, and just the whole tone of the song and mv felt so right. whats more fitting than the one video thats age restricted lmfao

this is meant to be a more fanon nightmare but not quite the whole 'only doing it for the balance would never do violence otherwise' nightmare but also not 'fully evil an corrupted and the real nightmare is dead' just,, some combination of the two that i like to do nightmare as. definitely bad but not cruel to those close to them, would do violence or manipulation for purposes other than the balance and for her own gain, but doesnt intend to tip the scales all the way and destroy every positive instance. also very much fancy and royal aesthetics :3

"Welcome, well done

Shameless friends of mine

Who's next?

Hang my pretty head in your room

Where is love? Where is my sympathy?

What have we lost?

Is it a farm? Is it society?

Am I a tiger or a gazelle?"

Killer: Heart Attack - Chuu

youtube

oh wow the song i drew killer with like a week ago,,, shockinggggg (silly)

tone wise does this song seem like killer? meh debatable but i associate it with him so fucking hard!! one i feel like if we go off popular like fanon-ish killer i think hed like this song <-projecting probably but TWO!!! all the lyrics about like giving his heart an the apple themes in the mv??? consider: its him about nightmare, giving his whole heart sould and purpose to nightmare and how nightmare is obviously tied to apples canon wise, and the mv uses apples to represent freedom or sin (imo) and killer 'eating the apple' or agreeing to work with nightmare for some form of freedom. also non toxic killermare has my heart and soul and this is so killermare to me btw <33333 (also the other girl in the mv is yves and for the sake of this idea she is nightmare in this context <3)

btw have i mentioned how much i fucking LOVE this song bcs i fucking adore this song i love it so much im so insane about it

"Pounding more and more

I’ll give it all, take my heart

Surely you’re my destiny

It shines fully in my heart"

Dust: 28 Reasons - Seulgi

youtube

ok lyric wise maybe less fitting than the other songs but like,, the whole mvs theme of 'good and evil exist together in a person' is like. so how i feel about dust how do i word this. what he did is bad or 'evil' killing everyone is objectively bad but in his mind hes freeing them from a worse fate (the constant resets) and doing it for the greater 'good'. it doesnt matter if thats true or not, the fact is he believes it to be,,,, combine with the idea of him sometimes feeling horribly guilty about what hes done versus comforting himself with what he does because its better for him... i feel like both dust and killer have this very skewed view of their past vs present, and where killer barely remembers his past dust VERY MUCH does, and has a massive line in his head of where sans ended and he started. idk if this makes sense to anyone else but alone those lines, picture the chorus as if its him talking to himself,,,, also this songs amazing i love it

"28 reasons that ruined you, you don't have to know

I have no bad intentions

You know all 28 reasons to run away

So, why are you leaning into me again?"

Error: Glitch - Kwon Eunbi

youtube

This ones also kinda less directly connected but i couldnt not do the glitchy song for error (i also had minimal other ideas shhh)!! The whole glitchy theme and a lot of the lyrics being based around that is perfect for our glitchy man,,,, also this song is just really good n i love eunbi!!

"I make a touch, t-t-touch the limit After crashing the steep wall again The shaking caught my eyes, wait a minute"

---

so originally this was gonna have more guys but ive run out of proper ideas for it and if i don't post it as is its gonna live in my drafts forevr n i dont want that bcs im actually really happy with what i have so far so end for now!! i may do more another time but yeah!

i do offer this bonus tho!!

Festivalverse: Apple - Gfriend

youtube

in general i adore this song but also i just associate it with my au, specifically the gods!! also the apple theme in general fitting with dreamtale, the final bit, and just how gorgeous the whole mv is! its so my au to me :3

silly thing but if ur curious about which member would be who in festivalverse: Sowon - Ink, Umji - Error, Eunha - Geno, Yuju - Reaper, Yerin - Dream, SinB - Nightmare

"There’s no turning back when the night turns restless Let the festival I dared to imagine come alive"

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ladamedusoif · 1 year

Text

Visiting - Chapter Two: Bright in the Sea

(moodboard by the wonderful @cutesyscreenname)

Pairing: Professor!Ben (College AU) x OFC Lydia/fem!Reader (reader POV/2nd POV)

Summary: Seeking a change of scenery after her life falls apart, Lydia crosses the Atlantic and arrives in a small New England town, to spend a year expanding her intellectual horizons as a visiting professor of art history at a small liberal arts college. Her growing friendship with Ben Morales, professor of Hispanic literature, forces Lydia to confront the fallout from her past - and raises unexpected questions about the future.

Chapter Summary: Lydia continues to settle in at Barrow College, developing a closer friendship with Ben as well as other colleagues. Not everything is smooth sailing, however, and things come to a head at a staff team-building away day at a New England beach.

Word Count: 6.5k (??)

Rating: Mature; will become Explicit in later chapters.

Content (chapter specific): Professor Ben College AU; smaller-than-usual-for-this-fandom age gap (she is 41 and Ben 47 when the story begins); canon is not a thing here; slow burn; strong language; thinly-veiled racism and discrimination; accent discrimination; "anti-woke" culture war nonsense from academics; not all historians, etc; alcohol consumption; discussion of anxiety and panic disorders as well as coping methods.

A/N: This chapter is part world-building, part "dealing with academic assholes", part meet more characters - all woven through the growing friendship between Lydia and Ben. I guess this is mostly fluff but kinda angsty at times? I did warn you it was a slow burn...

Much of this chapter is set around academic administrative and 'team-building' activities. Trust me when I say that these are the norm if you work in a contemporary university or college (and that I'm jealous of the Barrow people having a cute beach house for these events).

Also trust me when I say that the views and attitudes of K. Wright Lacroix are scarily common in academia on both sides of the Atlantic, and kicking against this is vital.

The title of this chapter is taken from the lyrics to Laura Veirs' song 'Cast a Hook in Me'.

I also listened to Lisa Hannigan's Sea Sew album while writing the last scene, and 'Sea Song' from that record feels very fitting for these two.

See the Series Masterlist for an outline of Lydia's story and background.

Further, short A/N right at the end to avoid any spoilers.

Taglist: @cutesyscreenname; @lunapascal; @fuckyeahdindjarin; @julesonrecord; @tieronecrush; @perennialdoll247; @vermillionwinter ; @iamskyereads ; @love-the-abyss; @tessa-quayle; @javierisms; @imaswellkid

The universal language of twenty-first century academia is, it seems, all-faculty meetings in airless lecture theatres, fuelled by terrible coffee and slightly stale cookies.

For you, though, attending your first proper meeting of the year at Barrow was a novelty, and the mid-September residual sunshine and warm temperatures (by your standards) meant that your new colleagues were in an upbeat mood.

Well, more or less.

“Are you ready for your first mandatory death by a thousand statistics? Fuuuuuck me, I hate this shit.”

Ani Sen stands at your office door, hip cocked, dark curls piled on top of their head to show off their freshly trimmed, back to school undercut, and impossibly funky, bright green glasses dangling from one hand.

“It can’t be as bad as an all-staff briefing I once had,” you suggest, scooping up your notebook, pen, and iPad and popping them into a tote bag. “Twenty minutes with the head of department and every slide had an animated graph, pie chart, or word art on it. I felt nauseous.”

Ani grimaces. “Okay, that does sound fucking awful. But where we lack in pointless animations, we make up for in tedium. And dick-swinging.”

The first time you met Ani, a fellow art historian and specialist in contemporary art, you’d been in awe of how cool they were. Mid-40s, smart, stylish, and highly accomplished, Ani’s coolness was positively glacial. They were also sweet, kind, and incredibly funny, their brand of sardonic (and sweary) humour chiming perfectly with your own.

Ani’s best friend in the faculty was Evan Rhys, a colleague of Ben’s in the literature department. Where Ani was dry and sardonic, Evan was bright and effervescent. He was about 40, tall and rangy, piercings dangling from one ear, and a perpetual spark of colour in the faculty corridors. When you first met him, Evan was sporting a shock of bright orange hair and a lurid green slash-necked jersey shirt, paired with white jeans and a pair of Converse exactly the same colour as his hair.

He was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a huge student favourite. Rather more surprisingly, for a college professor entering middle age, he also had an Instagram following in the tens of thousands. (Ani was completely at a loss as to why he was so popular. “It’s just photos of him in those fucking outfits!”, they whined. “Maybe it’s because he matches them to his hair.”)

Between them, Ani and Evan had wasted no time in ensuring that you were invited for lunches, coffees, and introductions to the colleagues they thought you’d like to meet. Or, as Ani put it, “I’m gonna make sure you meet the non-fuckwits first.”

There was no shortage of fuckwits, apparently. Ani had drawn up a masterlist - “in case I’ve forgotten someone is, or has been known to be, a dick.” You had scanned it casually, feeling an unexpected surge of relief when you note that Ben Morales’ name is absent.

You knew deep down that he wasn’t a fuckwit, though lord knows what he thought of you. But you had had one day to get the measure of the man - Ani had been working here, alongside him, for several years.

“I met Ben Morales on my first day,” you mentioned, trying to sound casual. “He was tasked with doing the welcome for me. Seemed really nice, actually.”

Ani closed their eyes and makes a sort of “awwwwwh!” noise, as if they’d just seen a red panda or a sea otter or some other furry creature of equivalent cuteness.

“Oh, definitely not a fuckwit. Me and Evan have coffee with him or sometimes go out with a bigger group to Murphy’s - that’s the one bar that even students usually steer clear of. Ben’s the anti-fuckwit, actually, in every sense. Just an all-round good guy.” They raised an eyebrow. “Total fucking dork, though.”

Total dork or not, Ben had continued to take his welcome duties seriously. A couple of days after your welcome meeting, he’d met you in the staff lounge yawning at the filter coffee machine while it brewed up a fresh pot.

“Are we running you ragged already?”

You turned, smiling when you realised who it was. “I swear to god, I get the worst slumps around 4pm. Trying to get ahead of this one.”

He nodded sympathetically and brandished his blue mug. “Why do you think I’m here?”

The next day, around the same time, you were about to get up from your desk in search of coffee when you noticed a familiar silhouette in the glass panel of your office door: Ben, bearing two cups of coffee (one black, one with creamer).

“I hope you don’t mind? I was getting some for myself and remembered what you said about your 4pm slump, so…”

You beckoned him into the office and to a spare seat, gladly accepting the cup and placing it on your desk. “I’m so grateful. Coffee to your door? Come on, that’s the dream.” You rummaged in your tote bag, producing a small box of cookies and shaking them in his direction. “Unfortunately these are all I can offer by way of a thank you.”

It had only been a couple of weeks since you started at Barrow, but in that time the coffee call had developed into a bit of a habit on days where you were both around in the afternoons. He’d claimed that the companionable chatting that accompanied the coffee was just to see how you were getting on and make sure you had everything you needed, but you suspected that he really just liked having someone to talk about books or movies and swap silly stories with.

And you like it, too, especially when you manage to make him laugh so hard he has to take his glasses off to wipe his eyes. You’d bonded with some of your closest work friends (of all genders) at home in a similar way. It felt easy and natural with Ben from the start, and - with Ani and Evan - you were glad to have found such welcoming people so soon.

There was no sign of him at the all-staff event, though. You slip into a row of fold-down seats alongside Ani and Evan, who’s nursing the biggest iced coffee you’ve ever seen.

“Have you prepared her?” he asks Ani, who’s retrieving a pen and notebook from their bag.

“I have. From what she’s said, this is a universal experience. She’ll be fine. Right Lydia?”

He swigs some coffee, ice cubes clattering inside the enormous plastic goblet. “Not every college has a Professor Lacroix, though”, he muses, ominously.

You are about to ask who Professor Lacroix is when you feel a brush of fabric on your right arm and detect a familiar scent: clean soap, paper, bergamot, slightly spicy cologne, and with the addition, now, of coffee.

“Okay if I sit here?” Ben is gesturing to the empty seat beside you, at the end of the row. He’s a little more formally dressed than usual: black jeans, checked shirt, and a dark red tie. Somehow he’s managing to carry a cup of coffee, his glasses, and a folder all at once, and an old conference tote bag is slung over his shoulder.

“Of course!” you nod, moving your things over to clear space. He sits down and puts on his glasses before turning to you with a smile.

“Benjamin,” Evan says, nodding and raising his enormous iced coffee in Ben’s direction. Ben reciprocates the gesture, nodding with exaggerated ceremony. Evan’s gaze shifts to focus on Ben’s tie.

“Um. Benjamin. Are those…giraffes?”

You turn to look a little closer. Sure enough, Ben’s tie features a pattern of tiny giraffes, woven into the silk fabric. He looks down and lifts up the tie.

“My brother’s kids got it for me at the San Diego Zoo,” he explains. “I promised them I’d wear it for the first talk I had to give this year.”

Evan remains sceptical, sipping on his coffee as if the tie has personally offended him. You are about to tell Ben about your eldest niece’s love of giraffes when Professor Jennifer (Jen to most, Jenny to very few) Arden walks up to the end of your row.

Jen is head of the literature department at Barrow and a formidable figure in the world of gender studies, with a publication record as long as her arm. She is petite and fine-boned, her dark bob neatly slicked down, and she always looks perfect: beautifully tailored palazzo pants, gorgeous silk blouses, and a collection of statement necklaces that you covet greatly. She’s incredibly smart, deeply charismatic and very no nonsense, but has been extremely kind and welcoming thus far, embodying the perfect blend of “do no harm, take no shit” that a role like hers requires.

She’s also close to Ben, having joined the department around the same time. One day over lunch, Ani had mentioned to you that there’d even been a student rumour about them being secretly married. “Someone in one of my classes once claimed - no, swore blind - to have met them grocery shopping in town with their kids. Their KIDS!!” Ani laughed so hard the tears ran down their face. “Her wife is a goddamn paediatric surgeon for crying out loud, and a gorgeous one at that! I mean, no offence to Ben but if they saw Rachel they’d realise how wrong they were, because she’s incredible.”

Jen checks in ahead of the staff briefing, making sure you’re okay with being introduced to the entire faculty (do you really have a choice?) and confirming that Ben’s ready for his presentation.

“It’s going to be great, promise. It’s vital work.” She pats Ben’s shoulder in a gesture of reassurance.

Ben looks up at her, his expression uncertain. “And if there’s a backlash…?”

Jen raises an eyebrow. “Then we deal with it. Don’t let the bastards grind us down.”

When she's returned to the central podium you ask Ben about the presentation, wondering why he’s preparing for a negative reaction. This sort of trepidation was normally only seen when someone was about to announce a faculty restructure or cuts.

“It’s the next stage in the diversity and inclusivity initiative we’ve been working on,” he explains, opening his folder to retrieve some of the documents. “It’s a team effort - I’m just the person who reports back on the committee’s plans. Unfortunately, some colleagues aren’t quite so keen and -“

He’s interrupted by the loud voice of Professor Andrew Whitney, faculty dean, calling for attention as the meeting gets under way. “I’ll explain later,” Ben whispers, dark eyes serious behind his glasses, “but…well. You’ll see.”

Professor Whitney introduces you about halfway through the meeting. “…who will be with us for the entire academic year, working in Art History. Lydia?” He scans the lecture theatre. “Perhaps you could introduce yourself more fully, tell us about your expertise and plans for the year?”

Panic rises in your chest. Public speaking is literally part of your job, but something about the rows of expectant faces makes you want to sprint up the steps of the hall and run.

A gentle nudge from your right. “I think that’s your cue. You got this, don’t worry.”

You nod appreciatively at Ben as you get to your feet, introducing yourself and explaining your research interests. “So, uh, yeah. I’m really excited to be here, and thank you all for being so welcoming so far.”

You sit back down as quickly as possible, heat rising in your face. Jen stands up at the podium and leans into the main microphone. “A reminder too that, as is traditional, Lydia has two elective modules open to students on any major/minor combo in the faculty, so please do encourage your students to sign up! Lydia, would you like to tell us what these are?”

You stand up again. “Um, semester one is a course on unpacking the gaze in visual culture, focusing on the female gaze and queering the gaze; semester two is focused on readings in radical theory and applying this to visual culture studies. All welcome! No prior knowledge required!”

Jen grins at you from the podium and lightly applauds. You suddenly become conscious of a theatrically loud tut-tutting coming from the other side of the lecture theatre, where a pale man with sandy-coloured hair and dressed in a navy blazer, chinos, striped shirt and bow tie is staring directly and disapprovingly at you.

Evan leans over. “That’s Professor Lacroix. I think you’re his worst nightmare. Apart from Ani. And me. And probably Ben, after this.” He gestures towards the podium.

Ben is standing at the rostrum, loading up his PowerPoint presentation. He seems a little nervous, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck and occasionally fiddling with his tie.

When he glances around the hall and meets your eye, you can’t help but give him a little thumbs up, mouthing “you got this!” in a reciprocal act of reassurance. He half-smiles, and starts the presentation.

He’s a natural: convincing and engaging, every detail meticulously prepared and evidenced. The project, it transpires, focuses on making Barrow - historically associated with providing a liberal arts education for the “elite” (translation: rich white people) - more inclusive and diverse through a range of admission schemes, scholarships and grants, and ongoing support.

You can see why Ben is the committee’s spokesperson. His passion for the project is plain to see as he outlines the supports being introduced - monitoring progress for students who’ve entered through the new schemes, offering extra, free support services and guidance to help them throughout their degrees, and so on.

“A liberal arts education is for everyone,” he says, “A college like Barrow is for everyone. We’ve started to make this a reality, and this year - with your help - we’ll ensure every student gets the support they need.”

Applause ripples through the theatre - except from the po-faced Professor Lacroix, who exhales, rolls his eyes, and does the most half-hearted attempt at clapping imaginable.

Ani leans in to you as Ben walks back up to his seat. “Lacroix is Fuckwit Numero Uno. King Fuckwit. The Fuckwit Tzar.”

Sure enough, when you look back over in his direction you notice that Lacroix has his hand up. Andrew Whitney calls on him to ask his question, and you swear you can hear everyone around you doing a sharp intake of breath.

“Professor Whitney,” Lacroix drawls in a bizarre mid-Atlantic accent, “I suspect you know what I am about to ask. But I must once again express my concerns about the direction of travel in this faculty.” To your horror, you notice a handful of his colleagues in history nodding appreciatively.

“Fuuuuuuck offffffffff”, Ani mutters under their breath. You steal a glance at Ben, whose usually open and friendly face has fallen into a scowl, jaw ticking as if he’s biting his tongue for fear of what he might say.

Lacroix turns in your direction, and gestures to himself. “We haven’t been introduced. I’m K. Wright Lacroix, Professor of American History.”

“The K stands for Kevin,” Ben whispers in your ear. “Or Kunt”, Evan adds, draining his iced coffee and forcing Ani to suppress a giggle.

Lacroix isn’t that old. Hell, he might be younger than you, but he’s got that countenance of someone who came out of the womb clutching a copy of the National Review. He continues speaking, now addressing the entire hall.

“Over the last couple of years this college has drifted in a dangerous direction,” he pronounces, as if addressing a rally. “We have had the incursion of critical race theory, gender ideology, and now we have our visiting professor offering radical theory to our students. Meanwhile, traditional subjects and approaches - the bedrock of the liberal arts education! - are forgotten.”

You want the ground to open up and swallow you. This isn’t the first time you’ve had this shit thrown at you. It won’t be the last. But the tacit acquiescence to this guy’s bullshit is mortifying.

Ben is clutching a pen in his right hand, long fingers gripping it like he’s afraid to let go.

“And of course, we have just heard the latest from Professor Morales and his comrades - pardon me, committee - in their efforts to kill off the grand Barrow tradition of high standards and academic excellence. And I ask once again - where will it end? Who will we ‘cancel’ this year?”

There’s something about the way he pronounces Ben’s surname - technically correct, if one was speaking Spanish, but with an extremely exaggerated accent intended to reiterate its “foreignness” - that makes you feel sick. Coupled with his use of “comrades”, the implication is clear. You’re appalled and surprised. This sort of thing would result in immediate action if it happened in your institution. Wouldn’t it?

The seats in the lecture theatre are close together, and as a result you can actually feel Ben’s entire body tense up. Ani is throwing their hands up in exasperation.

“Can we move on? This isn’t adding anything to the meeting, for crying out loud!”

Professor Whitney waves his hand in a call for calm. Jen Arden is rolling her eyes and shooting daggers at K. Wright Lacroix.

“Thank you, Professor Lacroix. As ever, your comments will be noted.” Professor Whitney looks at his watch. “I think that’s us done. A reminder: the annual away day is on Saturday, at the Barrow beach house! A wonderful opportunity for some team building and lobster rolls, as always!”

In your experience, an “away day” literally meant going to another room on campus to eat terrible buffet food while doing team exercises and focus groups. There was no “away” involved. It comes as a surprise, then, when the reaction to Professor Whitney’s announcement from the room is decidedly muted.

“Why does no one seem to like a beach away day?” you ask Ani as you pack up your things.

“Because they expect us to attend at weekends, because the actual beach time involves stupid shit like scavenger hunts or building a raft, because Andrew fucking Whitney thinks that’s how you build collegiality and interdisciplinary working,” they hiss. “Plus, it’s cheap - the college owns the property so they don’t have to pay venue hire.”

You turn to ask Ben if it’s really as bad as all that, but he’s already gone.

You swing by the college canteen, in search of some sustenance to bring back to the desk. Evan is still fuming from the briefing.

“Fucking historians I swear to fuck!” he hisses, assessing the selection of sandwiches on offer.

“I mean, they’re not all like that guy,” you offer, trying to defuse the tension. You’re still smarting, too - not so much from the stuff Lacroix had directed at you, as the casual racism and classism in his comments about the diversity initiatives. About Ben.

Evan exhales and reaches for a hummus and roasted vegetable wrap. “I know. Some of my best friends are historians, as they say. It’s just Lacroix. He gives them a bad name. And he’s always had it in for anyone who isn’t a cishet WASPy fucker.”

“Why doesn’t anyone do anything? I mean, he’s clearly guilty of implicit discrimination, at a minimum.”

Evan rolls his eyes. “First, he’s a bit of a nepo baby. Family of academics. Well connected, especially to the head of the college. Well off. So the college leadership doesn't really bother pursuing it when the issues are raised.”

He fills a paper cup of filter coffee for himself. “Secondly, the Barrow way is that colleagues - as in, permanent employees of the college - aren’t allowed to directly confront colleagues unless it’s specific to a class. There’s a process involving filling out forms. Supposed to stop confrontation and tensions, apparently.”

“What the fuck??”

“I know. It’s toxic.”

You fill a coffee cup for yourself, add creamer, then pour another. Black, this time. You pick up two donuts: one glazed, one powdered sugar. You walk with Evan as far as his office and then continue along the corridor.

You can see him through the glass panel in his office door, sitting at his desk. He appears to be reading something on his computer screen while absentmindedly playing with a little bobblehead figurine on his desk, lightly tapping its head so it wobbles back and forth.

You knock gently, holding up the coffee expectantly when Ben looks up. He nods, beckoning you in.

“This is very kind. Thank you.” He looks deflated. He takes off his glasses, pinches the bridge of his nose, and exhales.

“I’ll leave you be. I just thought you might appreciate the coffee -”

Ben shakes his head, gesturing for you to sit down. “No, no. Just a bit of a headache. I probably need caffeine. Stay. Please stay?”

You sit down in the chair facing his desk, opening the bag of donuts. “Glazed or powdered sugar?”

His eyes widen and his mouth forms a little “o” shape. “Ooh. I think I’ll go with powdered sugar.” He smiles as you hand him the donut on a serviette.

Ben’s office is, well, very him, inasmuch as you know what “him” is after a couple of weeks : a substantial desk with an anglepoise lamp stands in front of the tall windows, covered in piles of papers and books; a mid-century armchair sits in one corner with a low table beside it and a floor lamp behind, also stacked with books; and there’s a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, all heaving with texts of various shapes and sizes (and in several languages, you’d noticed). Family photos and framed prints are dotted here and there, and you’ve been meaning to ask him about some of the trinkets that you can see on some of the shelves.

“I was really impressed by what you said today about the diversity and inclusion initiative, you know,” you say, sipping your coffee. “It’s such important work, and the plans are great. Like Jen said, it’s vital.”

He shrugs and chews thoughtfully on his donut, powdered sugar lightly dusting his moustache. “You saw what I meant about some colleagues not being keen.”

You raise an eyebrow. “I know I've only been here a few weeks, and it may not be my place to say it, but… that guy’s just one asshole. One asshole on the wrong side of history, ironically for a historian. And he shouldn’t be allowed to treat colleagues like that. Especially not the way he…well, how he referred to you.”

Ben sighs, resigned. “It’s not the first time, probably won’t be the last. It’s not that simple here, unfortunately. There’s a rule -”

“Evan mentioned it to me. And - again, might be speaking out of turn - in this case it’s fucking stupid. Anyway, more importantly - the scheme sounds fantastic, and I’d be glad to talk over some of the equivalent stuff we do at my place sometime. Maybe share some best practice and swap ideas?”

Ben tilts his head and smiles. “I’d like that.”

You scrunch up the paper bag. “Before I go, I’ve got two questions.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Go on.”

“One. Is the beach away day really that bad, and what’s the dress code? Because I’m not sure I want to do bathing suit chic in front of the entire faculty.”

He huffs a laugh. “It’s not that bad. Just be prepared to help academics who’ve never as much as changed a lightbulb complete a scavenger hunt or assemble a raft from a selection of junk. And shorts are about as far as anyone goes. Thankfully.”

You feign wiping sweat from your brow. “Phew. Okay, question two. Can I see who that bobble head is?”

He turns the figurine around. “It’s our old pal Indy. I know you’ve probably never seen a professor with a bobble head in their office before. Please don’t judge me.”

“Judge you?!” Your grin is wide and genuine. “Just wait until you see my historical figures Playmobil collection. I love this! He’s got a PhD and everything. Didn’t you say he’d given you a misleading expectation of what it would be like to be an academic, though?”

He smiles at the figure, sending Indy’s head bobbing in its Panama hat. “I did. Not so much the fighting Nazis thing. More so that he never had to do any admin. And that he could climb out of his office to escape students.”

“That said… some might argue that you’re fighting oppressive and would-be dictatorial individuals, just at work rather than in the field? Wait - I didn’t say that. You never heard anything.” You mime locking your mouth and throwing away the key.

Ben gasps before collapsing in a fit of laughter. “Holy shit, Lydia, you’re the only one who could get away with that.” He rests his hands on the desk and tries to recover his composure. “Fuck. I really needed a laugh.”

You nod your head as you open the door to leave. “At your service.”

“Has everyone found their teams and their colour-coded sticker?”

Andrew Whitney is trying to corral an entire faculty’s worth of humanities academics into five teams for his grand team-building exercise - as Ani predicted, this year it involves building a raft. To promote interdisciplinary communication (per Professor Whitney’s introductory talk, delivered that morning), the teams are mixed, with people from various departments working together. To your relief, K. Wright Lacroix is on a different team, one primarily made up of other historians. Ben is on a team with Evan, and you and Ani are working together with a mixed group of musicologists and literature colleagues.

Though most of your colleagues remain cynical - Evan, for example, is wearing huge sunglasses, an enormous black hoodie emblazoned with the word NOPE, and a brightly-patterned pair of board shorts - you’re enjoying the relatively warm mid-September weather, stiff ocean breeze notwithstanding, and appreciating the novelty of seeing the New England coastline. Not having banked on a professional visit to the beach so soon, you’ve rustled up your most beach-appropriate and practical attire from your limited wardrobe: a pair of dark green cropped linen culottes and a long-sleeved Breton striped top, with a trusty pair of vintage-style leather sandals.

Ani stamps their Teva-clad feet on the sand and pulls up the hood on their tie-dye oversized sweatshirt, wrapping their arms around themselves to warm up. “You know the drill, right? We just have to make something that’s going to stay afloat for like, a minute.”

You nod. “And we can use the pile of beach trash in the middle as our source for components, and the aim is to work together to decide on a design and execute it. Is there a prize?”

Ani looks at you with a pitying glare. “Two guesses, girl. I’m motivated by spite. I just wanna beat the shit out of fucking Master and Commander over there.” They flick their head towards Lacroix and the historians, who seem to be assessing wind speed and direction by holding up fingers and tossing paper handkerchiefs into the air.

The building process is less an example of teamwork and more a sociological case study in group project dynamics, where one or two people take the lead and do most of the work while the rest kick back. Ani’s desperation to triumph over Kevin Lacroix and his crew has them going hell for leather in designing a simple but lightweight structure, dispatching you to gather plastic bottles and twine for the other team members to bind together.

You wander over to see how Evan and Ben are getting on. Evan is literally motionless, sitting in a lotus position on the sand with his hood up and shades on. Ben, clad in a pair of dark red shorts, a navy zip-up hoodie, and a grey, well-worn Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot T-shirt, is constructing a mast and sail of some sort from a long twig and an empty plastic bag. The ocean breeze has left his hair a tousled mess and he appears to be squinting against the glare despite wearing his sunglasses, but he looks like he’s in his element.

He notices you and waves, and you move a little closer. Your culottes flap against your legs in the wind, and you have to rest a hand on your brow to shield the sun enough to see him properly.

“I think you’re enjoying this, Professor Morales.”

Ben stands up, leaning forward to brush the sand from his knees and thighs. The gesture draws your attention, unconsciously, to the strong, lean muscles of his legs.

Your brain immediately remembers, unbidden, that he cycles to work.

He shrugs but his smile says it all. “Transferable skills!” he admits. “Building Lego taught me everything I know.”

A roar from Ani jolts you. “Lydia get your ass over here we have like ten minutes I swear to fuck!”

“They want to beat Lacroix,” you explain. Ben lowers his sunglasses and looks at you conspiratorially.

“Who doesn’t?”

And then he winks at you.

Ani is a pretty good raft-builder when they’re out for blood. Your team's haphazard construction bobs around in the surf while its captain whoops and cheers it on from the shore. The musicologists have long absconded to the beach house, hoping to steal an early march on the lobster rolls, so it’s just you, Ani, and a couple of the literature people left to witness the triumph of the SS Fork This Shirt.

“I thought you hated this stuff?” you ask Ani while they jump up and down in the sand.

“I love it when I’m winning and Fuckwit Tzar over there is not.” They gesture to where Lacroix is hastily trying to fix the mast on the overly elaborate ship his team had constructed out of an old plastic barrel. “Hey, historians!" Ani roars. "Oceans are battlefieeeeeeelds!”

Lacroix’s raft is the only one not to successfully set sail, which makes Ani even happier. Evan embraces them in a hug as you all stroll up to the beach house for the long-awaited lobster rolls.

The beach house, which was left to the college by a former professor, is an early twentieth-century building with shiplap cladding painted a pale blue with white accents, accessed from the beach via a white wooden staircase. Two white Adirondack chairs sit in a small garden facing the ocean, perfectly placed to admire the view.

You fall into step with Jen Arden and Ben as you join the rest of your colleagues inside. You’re all ready to dive in for a lobster roll when Andrew Whitney puts himself between you and the food. Never a wise move, but this is technically the boss, after all.

“So tell me, Lydia, are you settling in okay? What made you want to come to us for the year?”

You have your responses down pat. Professor Whitney seems impressed enough, moving on to ask about your plans for your elective classes.

You’re in the middle of explaining the concept of “queering the gaze” when a familiar but unwelcome face appears alongside the faculty dean. K. Wright Lacroix sips his white wine as he tries to insert himself into the conversation, and you feel deeply uncomfortable.

The next time there’s a natural lull, he pounces.

“I’m not here to critique your ideology this time, my dear. I am here to offer some friendly, constructive advice. Your accent, it's…difficult to follow. Impenetrable, at times. You speak very quickly, you know, and not all of us are used to having colleagues or tutors with an accent.”

You silently try to draw on some of the grounding techniques you’d learned for anxiety, willing yourself to stay calm.

“Technically, everyone’s got an accent,” you say quietly.

He understood that, alright. “Be that as it may - think about your new surroundings.” He speaks to you as if you are from another planet. “Speak more slooooowly. Enunciate. Yes?”

Your eyes are starting to prickle with tears but fury is rising in your chest. Fuckwit Numero Uno, indeed.

“There’s nothing wrong with how Lydia speaks, Kevin.” Ben, behind you, has overheard the last part of the conversation. “No one else has trouble understanding. Do you, Andrew?”

Professor Whitney is flustered, eyes darting between the three of you. “I…do not.”

Kevin Lacroix looks like he’s sucking a lemon. “Another bit of friendly advice, Lydia.” He flicks a glance at Ben before returning to stare at you. “Choose your friends here carefully. Though, admittedly, it looks like Morales here has already won you over.”

That fucking exaggerated pronunciation, again.

The red mist descends.

“Oh, okay. Enough. There you go again. I know your colleagues can’t say this - but I can. I’m not a permanent colleague, am I?” You’re trying not to raise your voice, but it’s taking every ounce of self-control you have not to let this creep have it.

Lacroix looks startled, clearly unused to someone letting rip.

“I don’t know exactly what your problem is, but I can take a pretty good guess. And if this is the stuff you throw out in public about someone like Ben - I mean, about Professor Morales - then I can only imagine what you say in private about your colleagues. And it’s disgraceful. No wonder you can’t abide the work being done to make this a more diverse and inclusive institution.”

You do not notice that the hum of conversation in the rest of the room has died down, as your colleagues turn their ears and eyes towards you.

“I genuinely don’t care if you think I speak quickly or not, but I do care that I’m about to spend a year in a working environment where someone can undermine their colleagues on the basis of their ethnicity or identity or gender or their first language or even just what they teach. That is not the image this college should want going out into the world.” You glance over at Andrew Whitney, who shifts uncomfortably.

“I don’t need your advice on how I speak, Professor Lacroix, and I certainly don’t need your advice on choosing friends. I think I’ve done pretty well so far on that front, you know?”

It’s only when you turn to meet Ben’s gaze that you realise everyone has been watching and listening to you tearing strips off K. Wright Lacroix. There’s a note of concern in Ben’s eyes, and when you look for Ani you see them mouth the words “Fuck, Lyd”.

You fucked up. This isn’t how they do things. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Fuck.

“Um, Professor Whitney? I will follow the official complaints procedure, just to keep everything above board, and…yeah. Excuse me.”

You walk as quickly as you can out of the house, settling on one of the wooden chairs out front as you try to quell the panic starting to grip your whole body.

Deep breaths, and the sound of the sea. Eyes closed, you concentrate on your breathing and on the waves lapping at the shore.

“Hey.”

Ben is standing beside you, a plate with a lobster roll in one hand and a glass of what looks like lemonade in the other. “I don’t think you managed to get a lobster roll in there, did you?”

You shake your head, and he hands you the food and drink, tilting his head as if he’s trying to read your mood.

“I wouldn’t mind some company, if you’d like?” You gesture to the other chair, placed just to the right of yours. He does that little half-smile of his and sits down, looking out to sea as you tuck into your food.

“Oh, fuuuuuuuck me!”

Ben turns, startled. You swallow the bite of your lobster roll.

“M’sorry. It’s just so good. I didn’t realise how hungry I was. Or hangry, maybe.”

“You didn’t have to say that, you know? Inside.” He looks back out towards the Atlantic, brow slightly furrowed.

“I’m really sorry, Ben. I just…me and my big mouth. I am so sorry if I’ve caused trouble for you, and - fuck. Not even been here a month and I’m a troublemaker. Typical.”

“You’re not a troublemaker, Lydia. I meant that you didn’t have to feel it was on you to take Lacroix to task like that.” He turns slightly towards you and a smile creeps over his face. “But I’m kind of glad you did. Dropping that ‘international reputation’ thing with Andrew Whitney there? Fuck, Lyd. It was…pretty badass.”

“I just hate that fucking gatekeeping shit from people like…him. It’s hard enough making it in this job without connections and family prestige or whatever he’s got.” You shrug. “And anyway, you stuck up for me and my accent, too.”

He hums thoughtfully as he watches the surf breaking on the sand. “It’s what friends do, isn’t it?”

You study his profile for a moment. The art historian in you is somewhat tickled by its near-classical proportions, noting the strong curve of his aquiline nose. You’d never noticed the little heart-shaped patch of bare skin in his beard before, either.

“It’s really beautiful here, isn’t it?” you say quietly, turning your gaze back to the water. “Maybe they’ll let me just move out here for the duration of the visiting role, keep me in lobster rolls all year.”

He chuckles. “It is beautiful. It’s nice to have the ocean relatively close. And hey, if you do stay here and need help eating the lobster rolls, well…”

A crunch on the gravel of the front yard interrupts the conversation. Ani has come to find the two of you.

“They’re loading us back on the buses to campus now, dudes. You okay, Lyd?”

You pop the last of the lobster roll into your mouth and give them a thumbs up.

“More than okay. Apparently, I’m a badass now.”

This time, you wink at him.

(bookshelf divider by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more)

Further A/N: Kevin Lacroix's comments to Lydia about how she speaks and her 'having an accent' are, believe it or not, based on actual stuff that was said to me by a colleague at a conference in the US.

Reminder: everyone has an accent.

Thanks, as ever, to the Visiting headcanons and sounding board: @cutesyscreenname, @julesonrecord, @lunapascal, @imaswellkid

#visiting fic #visiting masterlist #mr ben snl #professor ben x OFC #mr ben #pedro pascal character fanfic #mr ben x ofc #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal #Spotify

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oceandiagonale · 5 months

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If Gene had a theme song, in what genre it sould be and what lyrics would look like??

🤔🤔

OH I WAS LOOKING THROUGH MY INBOX TO SEE IF I FORGOT ANYTHING AND FOUND THIS

honestly, anything from Bump of Chicken would probably work for him, like in an anime OP way... 😳😳😳

(lyrics about like, not giving up, the usual pokemon stuff -- he is still in the pokemon world, so I'd want it to still fit the thematic material there!!)

LIKE, THE THING IS. I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR ONE FOR YEARS BUT NOTHING HAS EVER BEEN QUITE RIGHT, YOU KNOW???

(putting this under a cut in case it gets long)

like okay. the closest ones I've got are all singing voices and none of them have like, the right intonation, or the right range, or the right amount of vocal fry, y'know?

he has the range and some of the timbre of General Shang in "I'll Make a Man Out of You," but there's a bit of depth and texture that's missing from it (and also that song is kind of unique because it's one guy trying to mimic another guy's voice and neither of them sound exactly right when they're speaking)

there's ONE moment in the Madeon song, "You're On" that has fits really well but the singer there (Kyan) also sounds a little too young, and then Madeon himself doesn't really have the right voice either

Autoheart and a lot of mid/early 2000s bands have the right sort of range, but again, everything else is off.

Adam Young (Owl City) has a lot of what I'm looking for -- good range, a soft tone that can be clear or muddled depending on the mic and mood, with some vocal fry behind it, but it's missing some bass undertones.

Also, I've noticed that a lot of what I'm looking for is present specifically in the KYO covers that my partner makes, like this really clear bit in Donut Hole or like, the middle-high parts of Gigantic Girl, (and some other WIPs that I get to listen to as boyfriend privilege which I am so 😈 about. my partner's so cool 💕) but the thing is, I could literally just be spoiled by their tuning process and not be able to find a voicer in real life (KYO's voice provider doesn't sound like him when he's talking) (plus the whole thing where Gene speaks English because I speak. English.)

But I'm also very picky when it comes to Gene FKJHDSFJKSD

#oceandi answers #marblescollector #generic protagonist #I'm kind of curious -- does anyone else actually have a headcanon voice for gene????? like you think he sounds a certain way

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chevvy-yates · 5 months

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103.1 TECHNOI⚡︎E FM

A fictive/headcanon radio station fit for Cyberpunk 2077 presenting German ebm artists. It is Ryder's overall favorite station he likes to listen to every day.

The first of two spotify playlists with a collection of songs I imagine to be one of Ryder's favorite radio stations (in my headcanon) he listens to when he e.g. drives around in the city or got it running in the background in his apartment. Had a hard time chosing the word 'Technoise" for one of them, yet I went with this one for the more ebm, industrial and dark wave focused tracks. I think it does fit better to the overall 'Technoise lore' (see further below) than the hard tech stuff on the second playlist. Some of the artists are already in business since the 80s/90s and especially Faderhead I would have loved to have in the game as he did a whole EP named '2077' dedicated to Cyberpunk when it came out. Overall these songs sound very 'tech'-like and each of them has this base of a repeating beat or melody and even words that stick to your ears. Some of them have actually lyrics, too, some are English, most in German.

—

109.6 HELL BUNKER FM

Mostly a hard techno playlist Ryder listens to, especially when he's working out. Most of these songs get played at 'Chrome Chamber Rave' a fictive/headcanon event occuring every 1st Saturday per month at the 'Hell Bunker', located in the underground of the Dark Matter Bld. Japantown.

This one is for the more hardcore ravers. When you listened to the other one first then for this one you may understand my decision why I've splitted it up. The beats are harder, there is much less to non lyrics and singing – all is focused on beats, repetition and other sounds. Wanna work out? Take this list if you like it. However, I've placed a few more 'melodic' ones in between so you can take a little break from the harder tracks. These are mostly by the artist 'Klanglos'. Also placed some with opera singing (Venezia, Hardtechno Anthem, Bella Ciao, Fortuna and Ameno) as it is the kind of techno Thyjs surprisingly will find good (because Ry will definitely listen to his music at home and even drag soldier boy to CCR).

—

All cover artwork done by me.

⚠️ READ: Please do not repost/reupload any of my art (the cover pics) here or to any other platform, or I will be forced to do anything to get it annihilated.

Why two?

There's two of them as I wanted to separate the (hard) techno beats from the more ebm (electro body music), dark wave and industrial ones which I also minimized to German (and one Austrian) artists only. I like the idea it is a station that plays only German as I've read in one of the many lore books that 'Technoise' is a German music genre:

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

Now I do not know how exactly the 'Lore Technoise' does sound as I can imagine it very well having more rock elements (as they speak of 'overlay style from london' (like punk back then swapping over to Germany in the mid or was it late? 70s -> German punk bands formed but also the New Wave came to exist, spread into the goth genre and so on, also Industrial so both ways; rock and electronic elements etc.) so I may have my own headcanon for it, while others maybe interpret it differently?

I definitely see some political messages in some ebm and industrial songs as well but a lot also are focused on something else less political. And if we go pure (hard) techno, it's definitely just for 'partying, tripping and dancing'. I can't say if it will stay like this, if I delete some songs or add new but for now I think it's good. If you want you can follow one or even both playlists. I would be happy about it though I know it's not everyone's music taste. ;)

And yeah ofc I placed Ryder into the covers, it's playlists for him, so yeah. If I ever do it with my other boys I'll do that the same way.

–

I'm also working on a list for Chrome Chamber Rave that will be even longer and have more songs by the artists that are already on Hell Bunker, but it's more for personal reasons as I started to dive so deeo into it I also searched pics that help me imgine how the location looks etc. Maybe I'll make another post for it, maybe not.

#cyberpunk 2077 #about: ryder von scharfenberg #aesthetics: ryder #Ryder's favorite radio stations #been tweaking and fine-tuning this for a few months now and think it's ready to be posted #had a lot of fun working on this #I love music and I love to give my boys certain music tastes #overworked the covers as I didn't like the old ones anymore #because I made ccr cover look cooler than hb and tn #never content with my stuff brudi

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tomorrowxtogether · 1 year

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TOMORROW X TOGETHER: How K-Pop’s Lost Boys Found Themselves — And Global Stardom

The Umeda neighborhood of Osaka, Japan is a trendy place. In recent years, the entertainment district has become home to a number of top restaurants and luxury stores surrounding the already legendary jazz clubs for which the port city is known. With its wanderable alleys lined with abundant food marts and vintage shops, Umeda is on the forefront of culture – making it the perfect place to meet up with one of the most voguish musical acts currently working.

The members of South Korean pop group TOMORROW X TOGETHER are in Japan smack in the middle of their 2023 “ACT: SWEET MIRAGE” world tour. It’s mid-morning the day before the show when the group rolls into a cozy hotel suite one by one, picking from the mountain of snacks and juices in the corner and bowing politely as they sit.

There’s Soobin, the soft-spoken, painfully endearing leader of the group, who reaches for a small bag of candy upon entering; Yeonjun, who can deliver a wink or a wave with professional precision; Beomgyu, the contagiously cheerful baritone; Taehyun, strikingly smart, with wide eyes constantly monitoring his bandmates; and Hueningkai, the sweet-voiced, hardworking youngest.

During our two hours of individual and group interviews, the members of TOMORROW X TOGETHER (often referred to as TXT) are markedly unguarded — it’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen a K-pop group. Soobin’s hair is still tousled from sleep; Yeonjun is lounging on the couch in a loose-fitting black tank top. More than one member appears to have slid into the hotel slippers in lieu of footwear, and all are bare-faced. It’s a rare level of vulnerability and trust in an industry that values highly intentional aesthetics for its stars. The members appear not as the coiffed performers they can also become, but simply as five young men who just woke up, chatting about a particularly thrilling chapter of their story.

The group’s most recent mini-album, January’s The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION, finds them stepping into new adventures. The album’s closing song, “Farewell, Neverland,” ties together the effort’s concept and styling, inspired heavily by the story of Neverland’s very own Lost Boys. The Lost Boys, notably, are not Peter Pan, a figure alluded to in the song “Devil by the Window” — “Temptation touched my tongue, spread the wings of desire/ He's whispering, ‘Give up, don't you put up a fight.” Rather, the story of the young adventurers surrounding Pan does feel like a better analogy for this moment in TXT’s story: Lost Boys are brave and individually talented, defined by their camaraderie, and, in some tellings of the story, they eventually choose to leave Neverland and grow up.

Asked how they’d explain this new era to fans, Beomgyu points to the lyrics of the The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION anthem “Happy Fools” featuring Coi Leray, with its chorus of, “Even if it’s a little delayed, I’m not afraid/ I’m happy every day.” Says Beomgyu, “I really want to tell them that we once wandered, and overcame this teenage phase, and are still growing. Those are the stories and messages we want to convey.”

K-pop’s Lost Boys are indeed growing up — and blowing up in the process. The quintet arrive in Japan at the top of the steep and steady upward trajectory they’ve been on over the last few years. It began with their 2019 debut, The Dream Chapter: STAR, which introduced the world to a refreshingly joyful sound from a group ready to explore the highs and lows of youth through a different lens than many of their K-pop peers.

While some other groups at the time leaned into rebellion in their lyrics and noise elements in their sounds, TOMORROW X TOGETHER arrived on the scene with hopeful, playful pop. Their very first release, “CROWN,” takes the stress of feeling different and turns it into a strength: “There's a horn rising out of my head/ But I love it/ You became my crown.” Some artists distance themselves from early material, but that first EP’s “Cat & Dog” and “Our Summer” both appear on the set list for this year’s “ACT: SWEET MIRAGE.”

Even the screeching halt of 2020 didn’t prevent the members from building on the momentum from their debut. Although they couldn’t connect with audiences in person, their sparkling pandemic-era release, minisode1: Blue Hour, with its particularly addictive title track, helped the group find a footing in the global market.

By the summer of 2022, they’d stepped onto a yet larger world stage. They became the first K-pop act to perform at Chicago’s Lollapalooza, delivering such a successful set that they’ve already been bumped up to headliner status for 2023. The “ACT: SWEET MIRAGE” tour, which arrived in America in early May, is also an exciting step up from the group’s previous trek, 2022’s “ACT: LOVE SICK.” While the last tour had TXT in theaters that sold out comically fast, this year sees the group upgraded to arenas.

“I can feel that there are literally more MOA in numbers, right in front of my eyes,” Soobin says, referring to the shorthand for the group’s beloved fandom, Moments of Alwaysness. “The scale is bigger — I think it’s flashier.”

“Since we have more MOAs this time, we can have even more fun,” confirms Yeonjun.

The day after our conversation, the members take the stage at the 10,000-capacity Maruzen Intec Arena, where deeply immersive sets, dramatic lighting, pyrotechnics, moving platforms, and dazzling costume changes make for a hypnotic three-hour spectacle. When they return for a recently announced Osaka show in July, they’ll be at the Kyocera Dome, which has more than triple the capacity at 36,000.

Speaking to how the show will translate to their upcoming Lollapalooza set, Taehyun shares, “There’s still time to set some specifics, but you’ll get a lot of hints from this tour.”

”When we were performing for the first time at Lollapalooza last year, I felt a little pressured and worried, rather than excited, because I had to perform in front of a lot of people that don’t know us,” Soobin recalls. “But last year, I saw that people were just there to enjoy, and they enjoyed our show — so now that we’re going back with the title of headliner, I’m not worried this time. It’s also a good opportunity to present ourselves to people that don’t know us, so I think I’m going to enjoy myself even more this time.”

There’s a palpable sense of excitement among the bandmates around that idea of headliner status. “When I saw our name the biggest it could be, I thought, ‘Could this be real?’” says Beomgyu. “When I was performing there last year, I remember thinking, ‘Could there be more people than this?’”

Considering half of their four-year public existence was during lockdowns, TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s ascension has been remarkable. As K-pop has become ingrained in the musical mainstream and the crowd of idols continues expanding, there’s a clear global demand for TXT: Not only are they major festival headliners, but The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION was the group’s first project to land at No.1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. “I think I got more confident in our next album, and promotions, too,” says Taehyun of this latest achievement.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER formed through the former Big Hit Entertainment, which now exists as BIGHIT MUSIC under the umbrella of HYBE. If those names ring a bell, it could be due to the fact that HYBE is also the company behind BTS — but, although the members of TXT would be the first to heap glowing praise and thanks upon the artists they refer to as their “seniors'' in the industry, the two groups don’t have much in common beyond the offices they all share in Seoul.

HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk, a businessman with an evident passion for songwriting, oversaw the formation of TXT and even co-penned the lyrics to that first track, “CROWN.” Under the direction of Bang, HYBE grew from a humble underdog running behind the other major K-pop players into an international force. The corporation has been named on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Companies list two years in a row now — and TXT’s own story is a major part of that journey.

“It's incredible to see how much they have grown to be incredible artists over the years,” shares HYBE producer Slow Rabbit when reached over email. He calls it “an honor” to have been working with TXT since before they were introduced to the public. “Looking back, it's surreal to think that they were the last group to debut in a small office building in Gangnam before moving into the HYBE headquarters in [the Seoul neighborhood of] Yongsan. It feels like we've been preparing for their success for a very long time, but it's all been worth it.”

As K-pop has broadened its global reach, it’s arguably become more competitive, too. With all the varied sub genres, aesthetics, team dynamics, and performance styles, fans can practically cherry-pick their ideal group. Ask MOA, and they’ll say there are a few things TXT does exceptionally well: There’s an unabashed joy woven into their sound, from the dreamy haze of 2019’s “Our Summer” to the infectious cheer of the dance break in 2021’s “No Rules.” As for their performances, TXT engender a communal feeling through constant engagement and communication with the audience, enticing their fans to join their young crew – if only for the duration of the show.

Since first coming together in 2017, the members have developed a tight-knit dynamic that makes them that much easier to root for, and makes MOA feel like more than just supporters. It goes beyond “fan service,” as TXT is always striving for authenticity in how they communicate with MOA. Beomguy notes the members “get a lot of energy from Weverse,” HYBE’s proprietary communication platform allowing direct communication and media sharing between artists and fans.

TXT’s pixie-dusted team dynamic, immediately discernible, also differentiates them from other K-pop projects. There are some that operate playfully, displaying their rapport through good-natured teasing. Others take a strictly professional approach, reasonably regarding their teammates more as coworkers who clock in, put on great performances, and clock out. TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s relationship could best be described as familial, displaying a reassured ease that stems from years of safety and trust. It’s a camaraderie that begets fearlessness, knowing that members of this brotherhood have each other’s backs.

“When we are on standby behind the LED screen between sections of the concert, I’m so out of breath,” says Soobin. “But when I hear the members’ voices in my in-ears, saying, ‘Hold on, we can do it, we’re almost there,’ they cheer me up and bring strength to me.”

“I’ve started leaning on my members,” explains Beomgyu. “Rather than feeling the strength of just one member, I feel the strength of the team.”

Throughout an incredibly demanding tour, which has a set list of over 25 songs (most requiring intense choreography), that reliance on one another is essential. “The things we have to do every day are not easy,” says Taehyun. “There are challenges on this tour that we can only do as a team.”

Hueningkai, who was only 16 years old when the group debuted, describes his bandmates as his “second family.” “Since we are five different people with five unique strengths, there are so many things to learn from each other,” he says. “I think I learned from Yeonjun how to use the stage as a whole and enjoy it — I don’t think I actually had a good sense of how to do that during the ‘ACT: LOVE SICK’ tour, but I learned from watching Yeonjun.”

Taehyun immediately jumps in, ready to hype up his bandmate: “Since our set list this time is so demanding with a lot of dances, I see Hueningkai and realize that he’s stronger than I thought — he has a lot of stamina.”

The members often spend their downtime with one another, too. Beomgyu shares that they enjoy going shopping and swimming, despite the fact that studio time, rehearsals, dance practices, and press moments already require them to be together nearly constantly. When asked what part of their work they most enjoy, dance practice or recording new music, Beomgyu goes with option C.

“Being home, in the dorm,” he says. Across from him, Soobin nods. “That’s a perfect answer.”

Although they enjoy their spare time, the boys come alive on stage – though the Japanese crowd behaves differently than what an American might find familiar. A concert here, even one at an arena like Maruzen Intec, is treated more like a Broadway show; upon checking in, a staff member explains that there is absolutely no video or photography permitted.

The lights go down and the Twitter meme “not a cellphone in sight” becomes unironic reality; throughout the nearly three hours the members spend onstage, I don’t spot a single mobile device or camera. The staff don’t even feel the need to lock up phones or provide the magnetically-sealed Yondr pouches you might see at certain shows in the US. People respectfully keep their technology tucked away.

I’m told to expect a difference in the way Japanese concertgoers interact with artists compared to crowds I’m more familiar with, and it’s distinct. There’s polite applause and a smattering of cheers between songs, but the audience often quickly falls silent enough that the sound of the members’ shoes squeaking across the stage is audible. While it might not have quite the adrenaline rush associated with a US show – “American MOAs really know how to party during a concert,” according to Yeonjun – there’s something undeniably intimate and sweet about the experience, a personal aspect that’s all too rare in the digital age.

As performers, understanding nuances like this and being able to tailor a meticulously planned show to global audiences requires hard work. The day before the concert, following our chat, TOMORROW X TOGETHER hold an extensive rehearsal in the empty arena. They run through almost the entire show, choreography and all, carefully preparing their comments in Japanese. (The members’ native language is Korean, and they’re also practicing their English, making this the third language they’ve worked with in just a few hours.) The concert’s Japanese lift includes introductions and opening comments, transitions between songs, audience interactions and games, and heartfelt closing remarks. While the bandmates take turns with the phrases, Taehyun diligently watches the monitors, quietly noting errors and helping when someone encounters a linguistic challenge.

In contrast with our time at the hotel, where only an interpreter and single HYBE employee accompany TXT, the arena is a flurry of equipment and criss-crossing staff. Despite their age — even the oldest of the group, Yeonjun, is just 23 — the bandmates move through the backstage maze of scaffolding and string lights like the seasoned professionals they are.

Throughout the days spent with their camp, staff members in their closest orbit speak of the group with utter fondness and pride. When showtime comes, and the same boys who took turns finding their light during rehearsal transform and step onstage in princely outfits, not a hair out of place, it’s easy to see why the people around them find such satisfaction and joy watching this young group of men band together and flourish.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER are similarly diligent in all elements of their career, particularly songwriting. As with past releases, the members were heavily involved with the development of The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION, which isn’t always the case in K-pop. That personal touch paid off in an album brimming with maturity, audible evidence of the group’s continued evolution.

The focus track, “Sugar Rush Ride,” is a high-octane jolt of adrenaline with eye-catching choreography that feels urgent and fresh, a true accomplishment for a group that has conditioned fans to expect top-tier performances. “Devil by the Window” kicks off the album with a throbbing dance beat and pushes the members into their lower registers to deliver lyrics wary of “a wolf in sheep’s clothes” seducing them to “stay when you’re tempted to leave.” “Tinnitus (Wanna be a rock)” is an exceptionally smooth bossa-nova bop delivered with bewitching confidence.

“When I look at the individual members, I see that they are all improving in their own unique ways,” observes Slow Rabbit. “Their songwriting, lyrics, and producing skills continue to mature with each project they undertake. They are constantly striving to get better at what they are good at… They have the confidence to experiment with bold ideas.”

“We’ve been performing a [new] song called ‘Blue Spring’ during our tour,” shares Beomgyu. “We started from toplining and incorporated the lyrics the members wrote, and the entire process was so fun and interesting. In the future, I hope I can write an entire track myself and continue to grow.”

Hueningkai wants to do more songs in the future that have a “band vibe” — think the group’s stellar track “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)” featuring Seori. Yeonjun and Beomgyu want to dig into the hip-hop sound they played around with more during their debut era. Taehyun thinks the members would do a great job with a jazz song. He’s also grown to love toplining and lyric writing, and shares that he wanted to lug his production equipment on tour with him (it was, unfortunately, too heavy for his carry-on).

Following an album inspired by one of the most famous stories about fighting the temptation to never grow old, the group is determined to keep developing as they leave their “teenage phase” further behind. It’s only by maturing that they’ll continue to find new ways to explore the wide-reaching experiences faced not just by the group, but the audience growing up with them. Receiving the reactions to The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION has invigorated them and filled them with hope for the next stage of their career.

“I think right now, this moment, is TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s momentum,” observes Taehyun. “All five of us are ready — and we are confident.”

American fans who snagged tickets to the “ACT: SWEET MIRAGE” tour will be taken on a journey through TXT’s discography: the energetic, youthful Dream Chapter; the hard-hitting, sprawling Chaos Chapter; a dip into the playfully bad boy era of Thursday’s Child; and the recently introduced Temptation Chapter. With the setlist weaving in and out of these different periods, we witness firsthand how their various chapters are all part of an epic that’s still being written.

As Soobin mentioned, there are instances between dance numbers where the members are heard trying their hardest to catch their breath, offering the briefest glimpse of the hours of hard work required to pull off such an intense production. Details like the orchestral flourishes added to “Blue Hour,” a new dance solo for Hueningkai, and backdrops that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Disney theme park create an otherworldly, mystical atmosphere.

Eventually, though, the lights come up, the show ends, and the crowd begins to spill out as the streetlights of Osaka flicker on. By morning, the last few scraps of confetti on the arena floor will be the only indicator that the members of TOMORROW X TOGETHER were there. But that doesn’t mean our Lost Boys have returned to Neverland, never to grow up. They have too much still to learn and too many stories still to tell for that.

They’re only flying higher.

#txt #tomorrow x together #230512 #consequence #soobin #yeonjun #beomgyu #taehyun #hueningkai #article

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starfishlikestoread · 1 month

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@mouseinamushroomhouse you asked me for a Simon Illyan playlist nearly a year ago, and I'm proud to report it is finally done! I hope you and anyone else who listens to it enjoys!! :)

(shoutout to @cookie-nom-nom for suggesting the song Time Machine and @trelldraws for the McCartney and National recs, as well as putting up with me randomly sending various songs and helping figure out which ones fit and didn't. More musings about the process & specifics under the cut!)

With this playlist I really focused on keeping the length down, since I wanted every song to count and ideally keep the whole thing around an hour in length. This resulted in a lot of songs that kind-of-but-not-really fit Simon having to get cut, which was painful but made the fanmix better in the end, and part of the reason why this whole thing took so long, hah. I did however save them all in a separate playlist, so if after listening to the main one y'all want to see what didn't make the cut, feel free to listen here (do know it's not in anything resembling order, though).

With that said, it was a conscious decision to devote 3 whole songs to the chip breakdown, because I feel like while objectively it didn't take up 18% of his life, subjectively in the moment I think it probably felt that way for him.

The first and last songs really serve as bookends to the playlist for me. With the first not even fully a song, rather a spoken word 3rd POV narrative about a robot and last one literally named 'Simon', it felt right thematically about how he sees himself. I'm not sure if we get any explicit musings about the chip from him in that light in canon, but Tej's line about his "super-humanity ... or super-inhumanity" stood out to me in that regard. Especially since it's all but said that he didn't have much of a say in getting it installed in the first place, did he ever feel like the robot people considered him to be? And how did that change?

At the same time, there's so much more to Simon than just his chip, and I hope that shows through the songs I picked as well (if you look at the dates added, you can see I only found 'Until It Kills' yesterday, and that finally completed the playlist for me). I wish I'd found a song that managed to convey him & Miles as a team specifically, but that proved surprisingly difficult as so many songs of that nature seem to be written with a direct parent-child relationship in mind. Still, I'll add it if I ever find it.

ALSO, so damn hard to find songs with spy-related lyrics, I've used so many different search terms and engines and still nearly every result is instrumental music or about a specific incident. I think I have enough in here that it works, and I'm sure those songs exist somewhere, but the internet in all its glory did not choose to reveal them to me (if you know any I'd love to have a listen, I probably won't be adding them to this playlist however as I really just want to be done with this mini-project asdfghjkl).

Edit: aa I forgot to say the one specific thing I wanted to, which is how the line "play dirty" in the song with the same name for me really links back to Galeni's line in Memory: "Damn but Illyan fights dirty when he fights" <3 that's my guy,,

And as said in the description of the playlist, first few songs are very much inspired by the fic Aral Vorkosigan's Dog by Philomytha (since it might as well be canon for me).

And finally, for fun, my top 5 favourite lines that just feel so Simon Illyan to me out of every song in the playlist:

"But no one ever tells you that forever feels like home / Sitting all alone inside your head" - Through Glass by Stone Sour "With the hands of time around my neck" - Hourglass by Motionless In White "Nano-electrodes pulse the thrum / One note to beat my heart, beat my heart, like a drum" - Yes I Know by The Pack a.d. "I testify if I die in my sleep" - Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea by Fall Out Boy "Keep them safe inside your home / If it kills you" - Until It Kills by Midtown

If you've read this far, thank you, and do let me know what you think of the playlist and if there are any songs/lines that stood out to you, I'd love to know <3

#vorkosigan saga #simon illyan #character playlist #my art #fanmix #character songs

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isuckatwritingsobenice · 7 months

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CHNDIFJD IM BACK BESTIE!!!

and I’m here requesting more atrocities regarding Toradeen and smut 💀❤️.

Ok so I’ve been absolutely dying for a fic like this

Basically. Toralei and Clawdeen get into some argument. This is when they’re still in high school. (G3 obvi). And like before their friends or anything. They’re arguing, and Clawdeen basically has enough of her attitude and they start making out and Toralei is all flustered and Clawdeen ends up fuckinh her against the lockers. (Theirs no one there but part of the fun is the idea someone could easily walk in and see toralei getting absolutely demolished against the lockers. And it surprises Toralei jsur how much that turns her on). She’s very surprised she’s going along with it and also totally mortified she’s so aroused by Clawdeen topping her.

Here I even have screenshots of me ranting about it to friends

OH AND SHE HAS THE BIGGEST DAMN MOMMY KINK EVER. Begging, DEFINITE OVERSTIMULATION. Manhandling. Rough treatment for the win!!!! Toralei absolutely gets off on being humiliated which embarrassed her even further cause she didn’t even know thag till Clawdeens literally ducking her against the lockers (definite clothed sex. Clawdeen has a random ass strap on)

A/N: you really pulled out the screenshots, 👏 i commend you. I had to draft this a few times to get one I really liked so this took a little longer than I liked but 🤌 there is nothing this writer can’t do. I mentioned in another post I didn’t watch the first or second live action MH movie, so these are little based off of Wikipedias breakdowns of the movie😭, so if things seem a bit out of place that is most definitely why. I also decided to make this songfic just because this song truly fits these two.

Warnings: girl x girl, NSFW under the cut, characters are aged up (18), dacryphilia, Songfic!, lyrics are in bold, exhibitionism, mommy kink mid-way through, hints at humiliation

Navigation!! // Masterlist!!

STRANGERS

She doesn't kiss me on the mouth anymore

'Cause it's more intimate, than she thinks we should get

She doesn't look me in the eyes anymore

Too scared of what she'll see, somebody holdin' me

“Why can’t you just hear me out? Things don’t have to be like this Toralei.” Clawdeen said, trying to reason with her. Toralei continued her pace down the corridor, trying to do anything but be apart of this conversation any longer.

“What’s there to hear if it’s all pointless?” Toralei quipped back, her pace quickening.

“You’re not even giving me a chance.” Clawdeen said, catching up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder to turn her around. Toralei stops with a huff, crossing her arms.

“It’s a waste of time. This is a waste of time, you-“ Toralei is cut off. Clawdeen pulls her close, hands on her cheeks bringing her into a kiss. Toralei wishes she didn’t enjoy it so much. This was wrong, right?

When I wake up all alone

And I'm thinking of your skin

I remember, I remember what you told me

“We should be doing this.” Toralei says between kisses, back flush against the lockers.

“Why are you so worried about what we shouldn’t be doing?” Clawdeen asks, brows furrowed, a frown pulling at her lips. “Why don’t you worry about what you want?” Clawdeen asks, leaning closer, their lips barely brushing against each other. “Is this what you want?” Clawdeen whispers, barely being heard by Toralei.

Her head is spinning, her feelings are a mess. She knows they shouldn’t be doing this, here of all places where anyone could see them. But she also knows this is what she wants. But could she really give herself that?

“Toralei,” Clawdeen reminds, eyes searching Toralei’s for something, anything. “Is this what you want?” Clawdeen asks again. Toralei remains quiet, instead choosing to close the distance between them, thinking yes.

Said that we're not lovers, we're just strangers

With the same damn hunger

To be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all

We're not lovers, we're just strangers

With the same damn hunger

To be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all

“You really want to do it here?” Clawdeen asks breathlessly, Toralei whining at the loss of contact as Clawdeen pulls away. Toralei nods, sexually frustrated at the loss of contact. Her jacket was off and on the floor, Clawdeens as well.

“I don’t care, I just need you.” Toralei says, pulling Clawdeen into another kiss. Despite the cool metal against her back, Toralei’d body was on fire. The weight of the situation had long subsided, the frustration and need lingering in her was more important, something she needed to take care of. Clawdeen moved her hands down her waist, honing her fingers through the belt loops, pulling Toralei closer, grinding into her. Her legs parted, allowing Clawdeen to slide between them, getting closer. “Clawdeen~ oh-!” She moaned, hands finding purchase on her shoulders. Clawdeen grinned, kissed going down to her neck, moving to leave light bite marks on her collarbone.

“Don’t be too loud now.” Clawdeen says, flipping her skirt up, revealing her obviously wet panties, sticking to her.

She doesn't call me on the phone any more

She's never listening, she says it's innocent

She doesn't let me have control any more

I must've crossed a line, I must've lost my mind

It had felt like forever to Toralei, face mushed against the lockers. The cool metal did nothing to erase the blush dusting her cheeks, nails nimbly gripping onto the locker for some sort of support. Clawdeen had now had her skirt flipped up for what felt like hours, but was really only minutes and to Clawdeen, just the beginning.

“Clawdeen please,” Toralei panted, knees growing weak from the stimulation. “Just let me, j-just let me cum already.” Toralei pleaded. Clawdeen grins, reveling in the way Toralei moans when she hits a particular spot that has her slipping further away from reality.

“Why should I?” Clawdeen asked, leaning closer to whisper in Toralei’s ear. “You should be ashamed, what kind of slut likes being fucked against a locker?” Clawdeen asks, and Toralei only whines in response. “You like this don’t you? The thought of someone seeing us.” Clawdeen asks, thumb moving to circle her clit through her panties. Toralei’s back arches into her, desperate for more, more contact, more anything. “C’mon, say it, you know you like this.” Clawdeen said, picking up her pace.

“I do! Ugh I do! Clawdeen I’m-!” Toralei cuts off, a loud moan ripping from her throat. Clawdeen just smiles, pressing a kiss to her cheek, a contrast to her assault under Toralei’s skirt, the tip of Clawdeens strap, which Toralei hadn’t even realized she had on, kissing her cervix perfectly, her eyes practically rolling back into her skull.

When I wake up all alone

And I'm thinking of your skin

I remember, I remember what you told me

“je suis si proche!” Toralei says, and though Clawdeen has no idea what she’s saying, she takes it as a good sign, the sounds coming from where the two are connected getting more vile as Clawdeen keeps up her pace.

“You gonna cum? Gonna be a good girl for mommy?” Clawdeen whispers, laughing when Toralei lets out a high pitched whine, gripping onto the locker for dear life as she cums, the strap coating in a light ring of cum as Clawdeen keeps up her face.

“What a dirty girl. Getting off in public, must be nice huh? Being able to get fucked so good against some stupid lockers?” Clawdeen asks, her hips snapping faster despite Toralei’s orgasm washing over her.

“Clawdeen, I- I can’t anymore,” Toralei says, moaning at a particular hard thrust. Clawdeen clicks her tounge in annoyance, holding onto the back of her neck to stabilize herself, hips jutting into Toralei’s, focused on giving her another orgasm.

“I’m amused you think out of the two of us you’re in control here.” Clawdeen says, hipping snapping forward again.

Said that we're not lovers, we're just strangers

With the same damn hunger

To be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all

We're not lovers, we're just strangers

With the same damn hunger

To be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all

Toralei had never felt more tired in her life. She had also never had that many orgasms in a row before. Toralei was tear faced, back against the cold locker now, hips painfully being pushed into the cold metal almost as if she was trying to become one with it. Clawdeen was having her fun, pushing Toralei to the limit as ‘revenge’ for their argument earlier.

“Please, Clawdeen- I-“ Toralei stuttered. She had been babbling nonsense for so long neither one of them knew what she was begging for anymore.

“Too much for you?” Clawdeen asked with fake sympathy. Toralei nodded, mascara staining her cheeks, eyes squeezed shut as she felt another orgasm hitting her. Clawdeen just laughed, gripping her hips and pulling her closer to meet her thrusts.

“You can take it, you can do it.” Clawdeen said, the sound of skin slapping making Toralei hide her face with her forearm. “No no no,” Clawdeen said, reaching up to pull her arm away. “Focus on me.”

I miss the mornings with you laying in my bed

I miss the memories replaying in my head

I miss the thought of a forever, you and me

But all you're missing is my body, oh

“This is a one time thing,” Toralei huffed, straightening her skirt and brushing the hair out of her face, despite the sweat sticking to her.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that.” Clawdeen winked. Toralei felt her cheeks heat up.

Said we're not lovers

'Cause we're just strangers

With the same damn hunger

To be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all

We're not lovers, we're just strangers

With the same damn hunger

To be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all

#monster high x reader #monster high smut #monster high toralei #monster high clawdeen #toradeen #monster high clawdeen x toralei

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