#the use of music in this show overall slaps

[novelconcepts]

I love Yellowjackets’ dual use of “The Killing Moon”. It speaks so beautifully to that feeling of hearing a song when you’re young, having it mean something, having it resonate in your chest—and then hearing it again as an adult, and realizing it’s just not the same. It still means something, it still lands, but you’re different now, and so the song, too, shifts. To have two different versions, two uses of one song, really capitalizes on that feeling of growing up and having music specifically grow with you.

[mauesartetc]

Redesigning Helluva Beelzebub

Hoo boy, roll up the sleeves for this one.

The Original

In my review of Helluva Boss 108, I mentioned that Beelzebub's character design put me in mind of how some DeviantArt kid's fursona might look. And... Yeah I stand by that statement. The most likely reason I can figure Viv Medrano wanted her to be dog-like was to make a reference to her Die Young music video, which featured an anthro wolf singing a Kesha song (for context, Kesha herself voiced Beelzebub and co-wrote a song for this episode).

But for those who are unaware, Beelzebub's traditional depiction looks nothing like this.

Really the only visual similarities the Helluva version shares with the Infernal Dictionary version are the insect wings, six limbs, and the crown thingy over the head. (At least I think that's a crown-? Kinda hard to tell on both counts.)

Bee's eyes get somewhat more insectoid later in the episode, but that feels like a cop-out. Wow, her eyes and colors changed. Totally a bug demon, right?

They had the same problem in Hazbin Hotel with Katie Killjoy, who's allegedly supposed to be a praying mantis but barely resembles one, even after her transformation.

I understand the desire for fresh takes on old figures, and taking creative liberties so the new interpretation doesn't feel generic. But the changes should at least make sense. By now it's pretty clear Viv couldn't care less about representing Ars Goetia demons faithfully, as demonstrated with Paimon, Andrealphus, and now Beelzebub. You could slap completely different names on these characters and it wouldn't change a thing. I posted this meme a while back but it's never been more relevant:

On top of that, what reason could there possibly be for the design to be this damn complex? Why did she need so many markings on her face? Why did she need so many layers of hair? Why did she need flowing goo for her hair, tail, and body, each requiring dedicated effects animation?

When it comes to a hand-drawn production, less is more. Any superfluous details on a character just make unnecessary work for the animators.

Anyway, here's what Viv has to say about it.

Alright, I'll admit: The lava lamp bit is a little clever. Basically it works as a regular stomach does, but on demonic steroids. But it wouldn't look so much like Viv's making this up as she goes if we'd seen Bee's stomach performing its intended function in the episode. Let her chow down on a giant piece of food (maybe that cotton candy she's been handing out-?) and swallow it, and let Loona (and the audience) see it dissolving in her transparent belly. As a general rule, if it's not shown or explained in the work itself, it's not canon. Like I've said before, Viv: Elaborate on the nuances in the story you're telling, not on social media.

Also, "Her ears are designed after beehives"? Wh...Wha? Ma'am have you ever seen a beehive.

(Hell, even if you told me the ears were inspired by the generic cartoon beehive we're all familiar with, I wouldn't have guessed. There's a difference between being subtle and being vague.)

I can kinda see it in the overall shape, but that's a very specific design inspiration that wasn't clear at all in the design itself. Same with the "animal trainer" thing: I never would have picked up on that if Viv hadn't pointed it out. If a character design doesn't visually convey all the necessary information, it's not a successful design. Show, don't tell. There's a communication breakdown between what Viv's telling us and what Bee's design shows us.

(It's possible she actually meant "Her ears are designed after honeycombs", but even then, each compartment has a specific pentagonal shape that's not coming across at all here.)

I also find it interesting that Bee and Loona have almost the exact same body type. Of course Viv's pretty infamous for samebody syndrome, but it's actually unnerving how similar these two are.

Might this be a reference to Vortex's "type"? Is this foreshadowing a relationship with Loona? Am I overthinking this? Yeah, probably. Viv's demonstrated a clear preference for tall, skinny body types over the years, so it's safer to assume that's the explanation. It's all aesthetics. It ain't that deep. Occam's Razor and all that.

Finally, Bee how the hell does your shirt work.

The Concept

So at this point it seems most logical to lean into the "bee" thing for the redesign, and scrap all the canine elements. As for the blobby hair and tail... yeeeah let's nix those too. We're going for a streamlined version that's easier to animate. And because I ignored the ringmaster look for my redesign of Asmodeus, it only makes sense to do the same for Bee's animal trainer vibe (what little there is) for the sake of consistency. I know this version of Hell has a circus theme with its highest-ranking demons, but there's never been an in-universe explanation for why that is.

Let's look at actual bees, then. A quick peek at Google has informed me that certain insect species have smaller, "simple" eyes (also known as ocelli), in addition to their compound eyes. In bees, this manifests as a triangular grouping of three beady eyes on top of the head.

In her Helluva Boss episode, Bee's full demon form has three eyes, which could be a reference to this triangular arrangement, plus her regular form has two spots on her forehead in addition to the third eye. So it's possible Viv actually did research for something. Pleasantly surprised on that front.

Next, the body. I've noticed that some folks find Bee's skinny body type refreshing, as the sin of gluttony is too often personified with fatness. And that's fair. That's valid. But consider this:

Imagine any Vivziepop character saying that about a chubby person. Imagine the series sending the message that fat people can be sexy too, and that they have worth outside of their appearance, enough for at least one character to consider them girlfriend material. That they're valued and appreciated regardless of this culture's beauty standards (which we know nothing about since the worldbuilding is as thin and flimsy as tissue paper, but whatever). Imagine if this show finally had a fat female character who wasn't relegated to the background. Don't know about y'all, but that would be refreshing to me. And when you take into account all the fat-shaming of a character who isn't even fat, portraying a fat character as attractive would be a nice change of pace for this show.

Now let's talk about clothing. In the episode, Bee's clothes show off a lot of her body, with a cutout crop top and short shorts. We can take a similar approach for the redesign (something that still shows off her chest, belly, and limbs, in keeping with the extroverted "party girl" persona), but that perhaps includes more queenly elements.

The Redesign

Because this is a redesign, many elements were already in place, but I still had to figure out how this character would look as a bee. Here's where the preliminary sketches came in. Lots of trial and error in this process.

Wrestling with this character's face got a lot easier once I realized I could mold it into a pentagonal shape akin to a honeycomb compartment. It took a few tries, but at last, I had a final sketch.

All that was left to do was test out some color combinations.

I tried a few different approaches, but in the end, this is the version I felt worked best.

I used many of the colors from the original, but pushed the orange much harder since orange is the symbolic color of gluttony as a sin. And overall it gives Bee a nice honey-ish look rather than the generic black and yellow we already see on so many bees in cartoons. I thought the colored outlines on her clothing would add a soft, feminine touch, as well.

And just for kicks, here's a quick sketch of her giant form, inspired by the Infernal Dictionary drawing of Beelzebub.

Conclusion

The canon version of this character exists in the form she does for no reason than to stroke her creator's ego. "Hey guys, remember when I animated that Kesha fan video? Remember how cool that was? Wanna see me foist this unnecessarily-complex character design on other animators while I take a victory lap?" I wouldn't mind so much if Viv animated any of this herself, but she didn't. I could almost excuse this if she had no animation experience and didn't know how much work it requires, but she does. The self-aggrandizing entitlement is just off the charts. But a nonsensical design is leagues better than a stolen one, so... brownie points for that, I guess.

[koqabear]

2KKKKK!!!! Congrats! I have a song equation!

Tinnitus BUT (demo ver) + enemy!Tae + angst + smut + slight fluff well since they do fuck- but they're still enemies on end.

♫: TXT, Tinnitus (Demo Ver.) // join the 2k event and request something!

"You always tried to tell your friends you don’t get along with Kang Taehyun. Did it work? Absolutely not. Now you’re stuck with him again, and there’s no telling what insanity will take over you tonight."

taehyun x fem! reader // wc: 2.6k (everyone cheer i’m getting the hang of it) // enemies to enemies, hinted fwb (the term friends used loosely), smut, MDNI.

warnings: tyun is an asshole sorry guys. slight hard dom!tyun, a bit of switch!mc, semi-public sex(?), unprotected sex, hair pulling, marking, biting, handjob, slight strength kink, hand restraining, degrading, creampie, slight cockwarming

notes: i’m so close to finally following my own rules abt the word count limit…! (i can’t keep getting away with this 😔)

Kang Taehyun was the bane of your existence— that much was obvious to anyone that spent any time around you.

He was arrogant, cocky, and overall an eye-sore; the first time you met, you actually gave him the benefit of the doubt, getting introduced through mutual friends and eventually forming a group that (unfortunately) included him. 

It was bad from the start. He was a complete smart-ass and had a knack for making casual, blunt comments that would immediately put you down; you’re not even sure what the fuck you did to him, but you do know that you never let a single one of those snide remarks slide— jabbing back just as hard, showing that you weren’t all bark and that your bite hurt more than one would expect— it got to the point where your friends knew that they should hold you back on a leash when you were around each other. 

Sometimes, you couldn’t even look at him; which is why you preferred to go to group events if you were explicitly told that Kang Taehyun would not be there, knowing that you would only ruin the night if you tagged along, more likely to start a fight than to try to actually enjoy yourself.

So to say that you were currently angry as you sat at a random table of a club, gritting your teeth and tapping your fingers against the table as you stared out at the dance floor, unable to look straight in fear of catching a glimpse of Kang Taehyun, was a severe understatement— you were fucking fuming. Your jaw aches from how hard you’re gritting your teeth together.

“Are you gonna dance, or are you so up-tight that you can’t even do that?”

“Leave me the fuck alone. I don’t wanna hear it.”

You’ve been dealing with his witty remarks all night. He’s just come back from the dance floor, hot and sweaty as the sight of a random girl getting all up on him practically made you gag; if you hadn’t been chosen as the designated driver tonight, you would’ve left long ago.

What’re friends for… you think bitterly, staring down at the water you only got to keep yourself occupied— you can feel Taehyun’s stare burning into the side of your face, and it only serves to make you more irritated as time goes on, hoping that he’ll stop being such a creep and look away.

“What is your problem?” you hiss, finally having enough after approximately one and a half songs of him doing this. Like expected, your eyes meet his, and a slow smile creeps its way onto his face as he leans his head back, resting against the booth as he looks at you with low-lidded, hazy eyes— he’s having fun getting under your skin, that much you can tell. You resist the urge to reach over and slap the stupid look off his face.

“Am I doing something wrong?” he asks, and you’re forced to lean toward him slightly from how quietly he talks, barely hearing him over the loud music that blasts all around you— you scoff at his words. 

“Don’t act stupid, you’ve been giving me problems all night— even now, don’t think I didn’t feel the way you were looking at me all weird.”

“I feel bad,” he confesses, ignoring the way you give him a scathing look as he continues, head lolling to the side lazily to watch the packed dance floor, “You looked so pathetic over here by yourself— someone would think your friends ditched you.”

“I’m the designated driver,” you point out through gritted teeth.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.” he glances back at you, and you jolt slightly at the way his gaze rakes over you slowly, “‘Cause this…? It's just sad.”

“And what exactly would fun be to you? Practically fucking some other girl on the dance floor to the rhythm of some shitty pop song?” Fuck, he’s done it again. He’s got you riled up and it’s only making you even angrier that he’s able to get you to this point— it doesn’t help that he’s laughing condescendingly at your sudden outburst, shaking his head and muttering something that you’re unable to hear from the obscene volume of the music. 

“Why are you here then?” he asks, tilting his head slightly and raising that stupid brow of his, a habit you’ve quickly come to hate, “To have intellectual conversations with other patrons?”

You don’t know what takes over you. Maybe you’ve finally been pushed to your limit, pent up and frustrated with the fact that your friends continue to brush off the fact that you and Taehyun simply do not get along— your fingers might just break your glass from how tightly you’re gripping onto it, standing up so suddenly that your chair slides away from you— but you do know that this was long overdue and well-deserved, throwing the rest of your water straight at him; a smile twitches at the corner of your lips as you take in the way his eyes screw shut and his brows knit together, left frozen as you take this moment to walk away, before you decide to say fuck it and really show him your bite. 

You walk mindlessly— the dance floor is too packed, and you feel as though your body is way too lit up and restless to try and join in— so you’re making your way to the bathrooms, the hall lonely and poorly lit as you open the women’s restroom, slipping inside and ready to lock the door so you can finally take a moment to compose yourself—

“Are you fucking insane?” you don’t think you’ve ever seen Taehyun like this, eyes alight and livid as he stops you from closing the door, slipping inside and slamming it behind him, taking in the way you only take a step back and yell at him to get out, “You need to start controlling that little temper of yours, cause you’ve really been getting on my nerves recently.”

“Oh really?” you laugh out, incredulous as you take a step toward him, pushing his chest roughly and forcing him to stumble back against the door, “Because you’ve been a total fucking angel, haven’t you? All pretty and proper, such a good boy, right?”

“Not my fault you’re such a wound-up bitch that doesn’t know how to take a joke and have fun,” he spits out, unfazed by the way you corner him and send him a nasty glare, refusing to back down even though you seem like you’ll get physical any second now.

“Take a joke? Have fun?” you seethe, poking his chest as you speak, “Everything that comes out of your mouth is a pathetic attempt at low blow disguised as a joke. So forgive me if I don’t find you funny.”

For once, Taehyun doesn’t know what to say— all he’s able to think of is the way you’ve practically pressed him against the door with your own body, the way his chest dully aches from the way you’ve been poking at him, and the way your own is heaving slightly from how angry you are, lips parted and eyes blown out with rage as they flicker up to take in his expression. 

A moment passes; then, your lips are on his, and his hands are on your waist, jerking you forward and forcing you to close any space left.

What possessed you to do this? You’d rather not think about it, choosing instead to get lost in the feeling of Taehyun and push past the fact that it’s him, the man who likes to degrade others for fun— actually, you think you will think about it, digging your nails into his shoulders and taking in the way he groans slightly against your mouth— and you quickly take this opportunity to take the kiss further, tongue eager to taste him as his hold on you tightens slightly.

“Fuck,” he mumbles against your lips, feeling the way you refuse to part for longer than a second; he frowns, a hand going up to grab at your hair before he’s tugging at it— using it as leverage to pull you away from him, watching the way your head slowly tilts back before your eyes are fluttering open, looking at him with such anger he can’t hold back his breathy laugh. 

“I can’t believe you, you…” he mutters out, and you can already tell he’s about to say something that will morbidly sober your clouded mind. 

“Shut up and put those lips to use,” you sigh, fingers tangling in the nape of his hair before you’re tugging him back toward you— you’re holding back a smile at the way your hands smooth over his shirt, the material slightly damp under your skin and his hair pushed back from how much he ran his hands through it.

Besides the fact that your hand is currently undoing Taehyun’s zipper and his lips have begun to suck and bite at your neck, nothing has really changed; you can still hear him cursing you under his breath, feeling the way he lets out a shaky sigh the moment your hand wraps around his length— teasingly stroking him, making sure to lead him on but not give him enough.   

It’s all a game of cat and mouse, judging by the way he’s just as eager to try and pull sounds out of you. Though, when he sees his current efforts aren’t working, he decides to take a different approach.

One thing you’ll never be able to deny about Taehyun is that he’s strong; he’s proving himself now, pushing you back and making you sit on the sink counter with ease— his hands are rough as he pulls up your dress, sloppy kisses still being laid out across your neck as he huffs slightly at your wandering hands; pulling away before he’s stepping back, slipping his belt off with ease and restraining your wrists with them— quietly, you muse about him being oddly skilled at it, but you’re quickly quieted by the way he tugs at the belt again, tightening the item around your wrists and listening to the way you whine at the feeling.

“Such a smart mouth,” he mumbles, pulling his cock out as he takes a look at you, eyes drinking in your dazed eyes and fucked out appearance with delight, “Too bad you’re too dumb to know when to shut up.”

He’s grabbing your waist before he’s tugging you forward— you slide slightly across the counter, legs spread open as Taehyun stands in between, feeling the way one of them hooks around his waist before you’re tugging him in closer, eyes challenging as you raise a brow impatiently. 

“Don’t give me that look,” he scoffs, allowing his tip to run teasingly along your slit, feeling the way your walls flutter around him in response, “Or I’ll leave you here and make you wish you begged for me while you had the chance.”

“Oh really?” you tilt your head, tugging him closer and feeling the way his tip breaches your entrance for a moment— your breath hitches, and though Taehyun pretends to remain unaffected, you can feel his cock twitch with anticipation. “I’m sure you’re all talk.”

This, Taehyun decides, is about as far as allow you to continue to provoke him; he’s pushing into you with one swift motion, watching the way your voice breaks and your mouth falls open at the feeling of him inside you, thick and warm and full as you clench around him, your pussy already wet from the way he simply couldn’t take his hands off you earlier; you hope he doesn’t notice it, but the way his lips quirk to form his usual arrogant smile definitely isn’t a good thing. 

Taehyun doesn’t give you a chance to adjust. He doesn’t take it slow, doesn’t ask you what feels good or what you like— he simply gauges your reaction and begins to fuck you, grinning at the way you whimper and whine that it feels good, throwing your head back and giving him access to mark your neck and collarbones, making sure to leave enough that you’ll remember this for a long time— after a moment, you realize what he’s doing, cursing under your breath and pulling at your restraints as he simply responds by sinking his teeth into the delicate flesh.

“Gonna make sure you remember this. Make people ask who you got these from,” he whispers, laughing mockingly at the way you whisper out a fuck you, retaliating by sucking harshly right at your jaw, just under your ear, “Feels good? Like knowing it’s me making you feel like this?”

You can barely process what he’s telling you; not when he’s grinding into you so good, his breaths heavy against your skin as he leans back up to kiss you once more— it’s a mess of tongue and teeth as you both fight to remain on top, the only thing you can still have control over as you sink your teeth into his lip meanly; he only reciprocates by fucking you harder, a hand reaching down to rub at your clit as he smiles against your lips, trying to keep control with the way you clench around him.

You’ve realized reluctantly that Taehyun is not all talk— he’s found the spot that has your body tensing and your sounds becoming louder, undoubtedly beginning to filter out the bathroom as Taehyun slaps a hand over your mouth; sending you a harsh glare, his brows furrowing at the way you tighten around him and your mouth falls slack against his palm.

“Be fucking quiet,” he hisses, letting out a hitched breath at the way you only buck your hips in response, your leg locking around his waist and bringing him impossibly close as you look up at him, your eyes dazed and glossy as you feel the way his cock twitches inside you at the sight— his pace picks up, and Taehyun can feel his high approaching, swollen lip bitten at and stuck between his teeth as he takes in the way you squirm under him, tears swelling at your waterline as you whine and moan against the palm of your hand.

Taehyun is the first to unravel; filling you to the brim, the feeling of his warm cum and thick cock that continues to rut into you enough to have you following soon after, chest arching toward him from the way he leans down in a sudden attempt to muffle his sounds, cruel mouth biting at the junction between your neck and shoulder as you merely curse at him in your mind. 

He doesn’t pull out— if anything, he’s still fucking you slowly long after, a slow pace as he mumbles something about keeping you filled; you don’t even have the energy to roll your eyes, resting your head against his own that is still buried in the crook of your neck, attempting poorly to catch your breath. After a moment, the reality of everything seems to set in, and your wrists ache.

“If you tell anyone about this, you’re dead.”

He huffs in amusement. 

“This is embarrassing for me too, you know,” he mumbles, turning his head so you can feel the way he noses along the column of your neck, sighing slowly before he says, “But I wouldn’t be against it happening again. You know, just to put you in your place.”

The moment Taehyun takes this stupid belt off you, you’ll show him what it means to be put in place. 

But for now, you’ll settle with the feeling of his cock still inside you and his arms wrapped around your waist. (For another thirty seconds, it’s been long enough and you’re sure there are others waiting outside by now.)

[thatstonedwriter]

Helluva Bestie

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Content; gender neutral, no pronouns, platonic, mentions of substance use and mental illness

Feat; Blitz, Moxxie, Millie, Loona

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Being best friends with the I.M.P squad would include a lot of things.. like,

Blitz teasing you over random things. Hanging out and watching T.V (and sometimes making sure he doesn't shoot at it when commercials come on), making sex jokes and being flirtatious (if you're comfortable with it), and lots of casual physicality (like hugs, head pats, slaps on the back, etc). Blitz is the kind of friend who is protective, but struggles with connecting emotionally. It would take a bit before he gets comfortable enough to be open with how he feels (especially because he doesn't really know how to be vulnerable). Definitely has boundary issues and will push you away, but at the end of the day, he's a very loyal and caring friend.

Moxxie showing you all his favorite musicals (just don't let him force you to watch Cats). If you're interested, he loves info dumping about weapons, battle strategies and history, theatre, and (of course) Millie. Moxxie would also love to teach you how to shoot, should you be interested. The mommy and daddy issues are strong with this one (same with Blitz) but Moxxie knows how to be vulnerable. Dude still needs therapy. If you're close enough, he'll confide in you, and return the favor by trying to help you with your problems. Overall, very sweet and thoughtful, even if he can be a bit dramatic/pretentious.

Millie dropping everything to help you, no matter what. Her first priority may be Moxxie, but that doesn't mean she won't absolutely obliterate anyone who hurts you. Similar to Moxxie, if you were interesting in learning how to fight, she'd be happy to teach you (you probably gotta tell her to take it easy though). Millie would love to introduce you to her family, too. Hopefully they won't treat you how they treat Moxxie.. either way with Millie, you can expect lots of rough housing, compliments, support, and a fierce protector.

Loona being.. harsh, anti-social, and intimidating.. but those things don't mean she doesn't care. She has moments of sincerity, and will absolutely offer you advice. Loona would also be the kind of friend you could smoke/drink with while talking about random shit, daddy issues, and how stupid the world can be. Not to mention, another very protective friend. Yeah, she can be teasing, but she wouldn't tolerate someone harassing or belittling you. Probably one of the most trustworthy. Unless it endangers your safety, your secrets will stay safe with her.

[toomanywatchers]

Why I Love Travel Season’s Editing Style:

Okokok- I already made a post stating my love for Travel Season after my first initial watch-through of the first two episodes, but I have more to say. Last night, I could not stop rewatching these episodes. Possibly because I am just over the moon seeing Steven, Andrew, and Adam back in action in a show created 100% by them, and where they are allowed to make it their way- BUT there is another reason I could not stop watching it. All do in part of the editing style.

As a self-taught (and soon to be academically-taught) video editor, my favorite thing when watching digital media is seeing what techniques and styles creators use to convey an overall concept to their videos/shows. Some of the more detail-oriented editing I see in today's climate of internet content comes from Watcher's shows. For instance, Mystery Files with the corkboard graphics. Are You Scared of the hand-drawn art from illustrators Mollie Ong and Rafael Mejia. Dish Granted with the use of circle cutouts and white negative spaces. Weird Wonderful World with its cartoon sound effects and stylistic graphics/music to fit whatever atmosphere the boys are in. Puppet History with the motion graphics being put within the confines of the puppet theatre and just everything that goes into the post-production process of the lore events of that show. I could go on, but I might end up writing a whole novel in the process.

Plus, this is about Travel Season... so let's talk about Travel Season.

I was barely 5 minutes into the first episode when I realized just how different Travel Season stands out against anything Watcher has ever created. The overall vibes of the show are calm, peaceful, comforting, and relaxed. The whole show feels like I am watching an old family home video made in the 90s with a camcorder. This style of content that isn't constantly moving at a fast pace and in your face would not perform well in the YouTube algorithm, and I am glad that Watcher was able to launch their own platform to make shows like Travel Season because gosh, this is the kind of content I miss. Oversaturation and pleasing the algorithm can only go a long way as a creative, trust me.

Anywho- back to editing. I am going to point out just some of my favorite editing details that were showcased in the first two episodes of Travel Season. Starting off with probably my favorite scene from both episodes:

This small clip highlights many of my favorite details of the post-production of Travel Season. The first detail I brought up in my previous post involves The Brick aka the camera. The concept of The Brick ties in with what Meredith, Watcher's Development Coordinator, said in Pod Watcher episode #23 about physical hobbies. Something that we can create in a physical sense that does not belong to a digital realm ala the internet/social media. The idea of having a functional prop with The Brick can tie a whole show aesthetic together, but in this case, The Brick also aids in the post-production allowing the team to make smooth-flowing transitions. What I mean is sometimes, especially with a show like Travel Season where they cover many different locations/activities in one video, finding a perfect, easy-flowing transition can be difficult. Jump cuts can be useful in certain cases to hit a comedic mark or shock the viewer, but that is not the overall vibe of Travel Season. The pictures taken on The Brick from their work tripe an easily organized B-roll for harder transition points and simple things such as finding Seoul provide space for much-needed voiceovers for context.

Another editing point that is provided in this clip is the audio. Watcher has never missed the mark regarding audio choices and the addition of sound effects in their work. Sometimes people think that when editing, the editor finds a song that fits and slaps it on the timeline, but here showcases the idea of editing for the environment. What really stuck out to me is the jump cut to the location and using an effect like Lowpass on the audio to make the audience feel as though they are truly standing outside of this nightclub-esk restaurant. Then it jumps to the audio back to normal with Steven dancing as Andrew browses then back to Lowpass edit as they introduce this next location. It's just such a subtle touch that had me all giddy because small details as this audio editing elevate the scene to another level. Showing that Watcher was trying to make you feel like you are there with the boys on their travels. A true immersion effect that I just love.

Also to Adam and Annie who were both camera operators, your b-roll is absolutely superb and adds to the overall vibe of Travel Season.

The last point of editing I want to bring up as it's on the top of my head are these moments:

When they use a frame hold and then change the aspect ratio for a transition. I just find it such a charming technique in video editing. Plus I feel like this transition fits in with the whole "taking photos" approach because in a way the changing of the ratio on a frame hold is like taking a snapshot of that frame like a picture.

I just... I just love it, okay?

Honestly, I could go on and on about every little detail of this show and how they decided to overall produce it, but like I said- novel.

Watcher just puts so much love and care into all the shows they make. Even when it comes to the last process of video production which is editing the episodes together. I have not seen many channels put this much thought into the specificity of their videos like Watcher. This is why I gravitate towards them so much they care about the little things in the shows they create.

Moral of the story: I am in love with Travel Season and with Watcher as a whole.

thank you for listening to my ted talk aka my nerdy ramblings

[honeyspawn]

I finally watched VHS Christmas Carol Live last night, and I loved it! I wanted to give some initial thoughts:

The music SLAPS! Like, so good! I'm not usually much of an 80's pop person, but honestly it was bop after bop the whole time. Bah Humbug, That Scrooge, Christmas Electricity, and Priceless were all highlights for me. I think what sold it for me was how lyrically tight it was, and how strong the emotions were. Telling a story entirely through song is no easy feat, but they absolutely nailed the structure and pacing.

Speaking of the emotions, Christmas Carol has been adapted so many times, that it's really important to hit all the emotional beats to sell the spirit of the story, and VHS delivers. I feel like many adaptations go all in on the misery, regret, and sorrow of the story, and only really bring the cheer and warmth in at the very end. VHS really embraces not only the somber parts of the tale, but the joyful parts too. Fezziwig's Chistmas party, Fred's party, and the Crachit's family dinner all really portray the joyfullness of the season and how that joyfullness can come from many places. It really strengthens the message of the story in a way that adaptations focused only on the bleak aspects miss.

In terms of actual story decisions, VHS really sticks to the classic story very closely and does it really well. Actual story changes are few and far between, but the ones they included I really liked. I loved the addition of the couple who are thankful that Scrooge died because it relieves their debt. It really highlights that Crachit and his family are not the only people affected by Scrooge's greed. Many adaptations either like to forget he's a landlord, or don't unpack the ethics of landlords, so it was nice to see some sort of acknowledgment of Scrooge's less direct and more systemic impact. I also really liked how Scrooge delivered the turkey to the Crachit's in secret, and didn't give Bob his raise until after Christmas instead of barging in unannounced. I had never really thought about it before, but in most versions he does just kind of barge in on their celebration and make a big production of giving Bob a raise. I like how he let them have their celebration in peace and spent more time with Fred.

The performances were all killer. I know it kinda goes without saying at this point, but everyone in the cast in Starkid shows are always so talented. Special mention to James Tolbert, because I feel like he doesn't get enough recognition for what a talented actor, dancer, and choreographer (and director) he is. This was also my first time seeing Janaya Mahealani Jones in anything, and her Belle really blew me away. Other stand-outs for me were Dylan Saunders' Scrooge, Lauren Lopez and Joey Ritcher's Crachits, and Jaime Lyn Beatty's Ghost of Christmas Past, but really everyone knocked it out of the park.

June Saito's costumes! The 80s themeing was outstandingly executed, and the quick changes were really impressive. I've gotten used to the more realistic and toned down costumes that fit the Hatchetfield shows' setting (which are also fantastic, not trying to minimize those), but between this and the LiB's in NPMD, it's wonderful to see June Saito get to really go over the top. Special mention to Marley's costume (silver chain pants? silver chain pants!), the 3 spirit's silver and blue color themeing, and that sequined suit jacket Scrooge wears at the end of the show.

Overall, really good. Might pay for the VHS Carols digital ticket later today and watch it.

[procrazedfan]

Fanmily

Minnie Mae Murderface was the kind of gal who didn’t let anything stand in her way. Whether it was running from Johnny Law for blowing up illegal explosives in a swamp, drinking booze to numb the back pain, or outright diving in the lake to noodle for a catfish dinner, she never hesitated on any decision she made. The way she saw it, it was a waste of time hemming and hawing. It was better to take action than to sit around and wait to ask for permission. For right or wrong, at least something would be done.

That was probably why she didn’t hesitate to put in a little somethin’ extra in her Pa’s beer before she gave it to him.

Or why she didn’t look back when she crawled out the back window of the broken screen of Daddy’s trailer with nothing but her usual overalls, sneakers and tool kit.

Or why she didn’t stop walking when the sun rose again over the horizon of the ten-mile marker on the road.

All she knew was that she had better get free or die trying. Cause it was either that, or she'd have to go back to Pa.

Granted, he was alright for a Pa. He was nice enough to let her keep wearing overalls and play with the other boys her age when she was a youngin'. Taught her how to fix the truck, along with HVAC units, and all other things that would need fixing at the trailer or the junkyard. They even watched NASCAR together on Sundays.

It wasn’t until that preacher fella done come by their little ol’ nowhere town of Mount Pantera that her Pa went crazy. Suddenly, he’d gotten funny about what she should wear, was told to do less “men’s work” and more “women’s work”. Even the NASCAR on Sunday went away in favor of hearing that same preacher man on the pulpit.

If that was the only thing he was trying to change she could have tolerated it.

Trying to ignore the growing pain in her lower back, and took a swig out of the bottle of beer that she saved for herself for the trip.

The question was...where was she gonna go now?

Her Ma was buried six feet under, not that she remembered much of her. Her aunts and uncles nearby would just turn her back in to her Pa as soon as they could. And the rest of her extended family was Lord Knows where.

She chewed her red hair from her right pigtail, trying to think of a solution. It was a shame she didn’t have her fiddle on hand. That was useful for thinkin’. But she reckoned she had to travel light on an occasion such as this.

Minnie tried recalling any relatives that were out there in the world, far away from the quaint little ol’ town of Mount Pantera. The only place she knew her whole life. Who was at that family reunion last year?

A beat up car in the parking lot of the diner she was walking by had been blasting some kinda music she never heard of.

The rhythm was...heavy. The sound of the drums were consistent, and the sound of the guitars were low, like a war song for a march. The singer must’ve had a frog in his throat, because she could barely make out the words from the sound of his growling.

"Hungry and tired the frigid plain yields little

  We trudge on further, eating pride and snow that's brittle

  We ride

 We ride"

She grinned a little to herself with her tooth gap showing, imagining what it would be like if she had a horse to ride out of town on instead of her own mismatched feet.

-That was “The Lost Vikings” a Dethklok Classic, stay tuned to 5184MTL for metal hits old and new -

Where had she heard of Dethklok befo- her hazel eyes widened in revelation as she slapped her knee. It was Cousin Willy’s band! She remembered Granny Murderface braggin’ about it after she had one too many beers at the reunion last year.

Everyone called her Granny on account that she was the Murderface clan’s oldest living matriarch. And when she put her foot down, that meant her word was law, even though she retired to Florida some years back.

If anyone could get her out of this situation, it was Granny Murderface, she was sure of it.

Minnie Mae walked through the doors of Flotsam and Jetsam’s Diner with a spring in her step and a wrench in her hand.

“Got anything need fixin’ round here for a plate and a phonecall?”

[saturninemartial]

I'm a casual listener. Why does everyone hate Panic? Or rather Urie?

I was an OG fan back in 2005/06 but tapped out after the second album, so I wasn't fully aware of all the drama, so I had to look some of it up.

P!ATD was started by childhood friends Ryan Ross and Spencer Smith; Urie wasn't invited until later. The original lineup was rounded out with bassist Brent Wilson, although he was later replaced by Jon Walker. It was Smith, Ross, Urie, and Wilson on their first album; and Smith, Ross, Urie, and Walker on their second. In 2009, Ross and Walker decided to leave the band, mostly on creative differences with Urie. So there goes one founding member, Ross, and another core member, Walker.

Dallon Weekes, whom you might know from IDKHOW, joined as bassist after this; with Ian Crawford on guitar. Smith, Urie, Weekes, and Crawford recorded and released an album in 2011. During the recording, Crawford left bc he wanted to create "real, genuine music."

Smith, Urie, and Weekes recorded another album that was released in 2013 and soon went on tour. Smith left for a bit for addiction reasons; and in 2014, Urie said it didn't look like Smith was coming back; and in 2015, Smith confirmed he wasn't coming back. So Ross and Smith, the original two creators of the band, are now gone; and Urie is the only one left from the original lineup.

In 2017, Weekes announced he was leaving so he could focus on his own band, IDKHOW. That's the final "replacement" member, and from then on, it's just Urie. Since then, Urie has used the Panic! name for what is essentially a solo career, creating music that is so far gone from the original vision and slapping someone else's name on it. The creators of Panic!, Smith and Ross, left a long long time ago, and Urie has essentially acted like nothing happened and hasn't really given them credit. It's been the Brendon Urie Show for ages; more than one person left because of creative differences with him specifically. The Panic! name was never his to use yet he kept on using it, I guess for clout?

Then we get into the allegations against Urie. I'm on mobile and at work so I don't really have time to add receipts, but googling Brendon Urie allegations will bring up a ton of links. Basically, there are allegations of him sexually abusing fans, possibly minors. He's also publicly made some nasty rape jokes, and used the word tr*nny. I think I'm just scraping the surface here.

Overall he's an intensely unpleasant person who's been happily profiting off someone else's concept and name without credit for years. He's used Panic! as a vanity project, and the shit he's put out isn't even good.

[idontknowanametouse]

Nobara Kugisaki headcanons because I love her

[ID: a picture of the Jujutsu Kaisen's first ending with Nobara Kugisaki kicking a door open, her arms wide open while she holds 4 shopping bags, two on each hand. She wears an aqua green t-shirt under a white overalls with short pants, with a small bag tresspassing her shoulder and dark blue shoes with red shoelaces. Her expression is happy and her hair is tied in two high buns. The background behind the door is yellow and the rest of it is red. End of description]

She is part mexican from her father's (and grandma's) side of the family with indigenous heritage!

She is trans! And also a lesbian! And has killed terfs with her hammer!

Saori was her trans and gay awakening

She is chubby! She tells fuck you to whoever says anyshit about her body!

She is disabled and uses a cane on her right side! She normally won't use it on Jujutsu High because there aren't very long distances she needs to go through in the campus, but she will use it on training and outside

She is autistic and has hiperactivity!

Her favorite colors are pink and orange

She loves roses, specially pink ones

Her parents are... not great. That's part of the reason she spent so much time at her grandma's house during her childhood

Her grandma was the best mother figure she had, but she didn't have a father figure... until she went to Jujutsu High. She started seeing father figures in Nanami and Gojo, even though she didn't realize it

She keeps in contact with Fumi every week

She and Maki are hanging out and thinking of starting to date! They've already kissed!

She has a love-hate relationship with Mai, but they end up bonding over their passion for fashion

Yuji is her best friend and they are basically siblings in every way possible

Nobara got a bit jealous when he and Megumi started dating, but she eventually overcame that feeling

After her fight with Mahito (yes, she is alive. No, I take no criticism) she gained an eyepatch with a heart on it and shaved the left side of her head because that part of her scalp got really fucked up

Her taste in music varies between Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne, and her taste in clothing varies from a bubblegum pop style to this:

[ID: a picture showing from someone's shoulders to a region right above their knees. They has pale skin and is wearing a sleeveless black shirt with a pink skull with crossed bones on it, fingerless gloves gloves with a fishnet stocking material under fingerless black gloves with a blurred white sign over it, a pink and black checkered skirt with black hips and something that seems like black pants, shorts or pantyhose, but the picture cuts it on this part. End of description]

Nobara is actually afraid of needles, but she'd rather die than let anyone know that

She likes sewing! In fact, before deciding to be a Jujutsu sorcerer, she wanted to be a designer

She loves doing make up and hairstyles on herself and others

She has an entire collection of stim toys, including, but not limited to: chewing necklaces, spinners, glitter pots, squeezing balls for anxiety, magic cubes, plushies and lava lamps!

She slapped Sukuna once and it was one of the most gratifying experiences in her life

[shiraishi--kanade]

I feel like the project sekai fandom should talk more about Mizuki initial 3-star side story more. More specifically, part one. 👀

Especially the An Shiraishi fandom 💫

Like. The fact that An was singing ALONE on the rooftop when Mizuki found her.

Someone gotta do an analysis about that interaction, someone who’s way better at analyzing than me. 👀

Anon I appreciate you saying that and the asks themselves but as much as I would really love to slap some deeper meaning onto that interaction and especially An being on the rooftop I think that's... Just because she didn't want to bother anyone lmao. My girl's singing is loud when she wants it to be. Rooftop kind of seems like a good place to practice unless she's in the mood to find an empty classroom, but it's also probably not visited by teachers much so it's pretty much a no-brainer.

The interaction itself is pretty interesting though, especially as it probably (probably. Proseka timeline is a hot, hot mess) takes place before Vivids teamed up, or at least teamed up for good, and definitely before VBS as a team came to be, which is probably why she's alone. It's surface-level, but it shows that:

1) Mizuki and An are still only getting closer as friends, because they so happen to only now find out they share a very crucial interest, or perhaps Mizuki only now started to trust An enough to tell her about it (they've been part of N25 for at least some months and this point and... It could have not come up at this point, still, but why wouldn't it? Alternatively, how did An's singing not come up to this point either? She's much less secretive about those things. Early pjsk funkiness again?)

2) They both can immediately tell the other is serious about their music and love it, even by subtle hints, so it's just like... Really sweet in general. As well as the fact that they managed to become friends without even mentioning music in the first place.

An interesting detail is that An doesn't mention Rad Weekend by name, just as "a dream", which is not what she usually does. I wish I could find an explanation for it but I think it's just early Proseka exploring the possibilities and laying out the foundation for the units, so unfortunately them just not wanting to throw everything at the readers at once is a more probable reason than anything I can come up with.

3) Together with her being on the rooftop and apparently not mentioning RW to Mizuki before it can be used to highlight An's Middle School "I can't find a partner no matter how hard I try" loneliness, but at that point rooftop hasn't really been established as a Place of Middle School Blues by the cast (Rui, Mizuki and Shiho most prominently), so is it intentional? Hard to say. Cool detail in retrospective though.

That being said it's a nice side story overall, though I'm sad these singing lessons didn't really... Become a thing for those two like for Nene and Ichika. I think that arc would have a lot of potential, honestly.

Huh. Maybe someone should write it. Perhaps. Wink.

[xerith-42]

Some Thoughts On Miku Expo 2024 (AZ)

So. Let's get the big one out of the way. I knew going into this concert that I was not going to be seeing the proper Miku hologram, which was cringe, but my friends and I had been preparing for this for a while and we're too excited to give up on it. We were determined to make the best out of a potentially bad situation.

And I will say, there was some good stuff at that concert. While the LED screen certainly wasn't ideal, the model they projected onto it was incredibly expressive, fluid, and honestly real in a way that a projection shouldn't be. That's just the power of Hatsune Miku I guess. And the band was absolutely incredible, I think I fell in love with the bassist.

For the songs I knew I had a great time. I was singing and dancing along, the crowd was really energized, there was something special in the room. And even some of the songs I didn't know I had fun dancing to. Vocaloid music almost always slaps. There's another positive I want to bring up, but I'm holding onto that for a bit. There is one more positive I promise.

But uhhh... There was a bit of a problem with the set list. I knew 2 songs on it. I would consider myself a more casual Hatsune Miku fan, I was more into her in middle school and listened to a lot of her classic songs. In fact my outfit was themed around my favorite of these, Two Faced Lovers. And they didn't play it! Even though it's one of her most popular songs ever of all time!!

I don't object to newer music being played, but part of the concert experience is the collective feeling you get there. The sense of community when you all sing along to a song in this room, looking at your idol on stage. But most of the crowd didn't seem to know these songs either. I would wager a lot of them were people who have been Vocaloid fans since their formative years, and the classics from those older eras mean a lot to people. It really limited the collective experience when most of us didn't know 80% of the songs on the set.

Furthermore, the LED projection was incredibly limited, and underutilized. I won't pretend to know anything about how it works but it really sucked that the visuals were so... Typical. I don't know if you've ever seen a Vocaloid music video, but those things are so visually stimulating, full of really creative and bonkers animation. They have songs with incredibly striking visuals attached to them that they could have put on the screens surrounding the stage, but they didn't do that.

I would say overall the experience was worth it. But it wasn't because of most of the set list, or because of the visuals, or because of the lighting. It was because of the people. The incredibly talented band that played with her. The masses of people who showed up in merch, in cosplay, doing choreography in line, playing games in the pit. It was the people who cheered for someone holding up a picture of Shadow The Hedgehog and all of us losing our shit over it. It was the Hatsune Miku plush without a hairline that got held up and caused us to all yell "BALD!" while pointing at it.

It was the people I made jokes with in the pit knowing I'd never see them again. It was the people who complimented my outfit and I did the same for them. It was the two Miku plushies that started fighting each other in the pit. It was everyone changing their light sticks to different colors for the different idols. It was the people. I know Miku is an artificial being, but she has a way of bringing people together and uniting us as one.

I just wish the event planners had utilized that properly.

[moltenwrites]

I was gonna keep these posts serious, but eh I’m just gonna post whatever.

That being said DAMN the rap scene has been crazy. When Like That dropped, I must admit, I thought it was stupid. But when shit started getting serious, I got invested HARD. Plus, this is giving us a LOT of new Kendrick, so win win. Here’s a random ranking of the songs

10. Taylor made freestyle - It uses AI vocals that not only sound like shit, but disrespect a dead person

9. This one’s gonna be controversial, but I gotta put the heart part 6 - This song was such a trash ass respone to meet the grahams. It was saying “ nu uh “ to some SERIOUS accusations, and in a way that gave us no reason to believe it

8. 6:16 in LA - I like this song, it just didn’t leave much of an impact. It’s good though.

7. 7 minute drill - I gotta admit, this song as a diss is WEAK, even more so considering Cole apologized. That being said, the song kinda slaps. The beat switch with the “ Conductor “ is really cool.

6. - Push Ups - This song was a really good comeback to Like That: it called out Kendrick for being slow on responses, and had some good disses ( I.E the drums diss )

5. - Like That - Like that is REALLY good. The beef starter itself, it had some HARD disses ( the big three line ) while bringing Kendrick back into the spotlight. It’s a really good song

4. - Family Matters - Despite this song getting HEAVILY overshadowed by a certain drop, Family matters is a BRUTAL diss. There are some serious allegations here aswell, and the song just sounds good overall. Plus, the music video referencing GKMC was cool.

3. Not Like Us - A crazy follow up to an even crazier diss. Not like us is a jammer that hammers on some allegations that people looked over. It’s a really good song

2. Euphoria - Euphoria was CRAZY. The slow start switching into that insane beat, the disses at Drakes parenting, and the pure levels of HATING in this song elevate it. Like, this level of hating is BEYOND me.

1. Meet the Grahams - Jesus… this song is insane. Kendrick reveals some crazy shit over an evil beat. Euphoria may have been pure hating, but this song showed us *why.* It is brutal while still managing to sound fantastic, and for that it is my favorite.

Alright that’s all for my rambling, if you have any thoughts reply and I’ll give em a look.

[disastergenius]

Celebrating 15 years of Team Starkid with my (current) ranking of all of their shows and brief thoughts on them.

VHS Christmas Carol

I don't know how this became my favorite. The music is top tier, I've liked every version of it.

I was initially nervous to watch it because I wasn't sold on the original format, but it grew on me.

Also it's the second best adaptation of A Christmas Carol (the best is still the Muppet Christmas Carol)

2. A Very Potter Musical

My first ever Starkid show.

I watched it with my sister on our very old computer. I was in maybe 6th grade and had become quite obsessed with musicals and Harry Potter, so it perfectly combined my interests.

I truly was not totally sold on it just because 6th grade me was not prepared for all the cursing and the dirty jokes (6th grade me was a very different person) but Granger Danger fully hooked me

I still hold that Granger Danger is the best Starkid song, i do not care that it gets (over)played all the time. I also love that they keep having to come up with new ways to perform it (my favorite/the best being the LeakyCon one with Meredith directing the rest of the cast who only half-remember it)

Definitely ranks high just because it was the first and nostalgically I love it so much

3. Trail to Oregon

It's so fun as a concept and one of the few shows I like that really uses audience participation and makes it work.

Joey credited as "Everyone Else" and every shot with Clark in the background

I like the smaller cast, it's such a feat to run a show like that with 6 cast members

4. A Very Potter Sequel

it's ranked 4th but it probably actually ties with Trail to Oregon

I watched it after AVPM (so my second starkid show) and it did not disappoint

I do think it is stronger than AVMP for most of it

I quote Draco a lot

5. Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier

Definitely my favorite parody they've done. There's a great video that breaks down why it works so well: they've nailed the style.

Around the same time I first watched Twisted was also around my Wicked phase so that helped a lot.

Dylan Saunders knocks out it out of the park as Ja'far, he puts so much depth into the role. It works as an actor and for the part and helps a lot of the humor since Ja'far is the straight man of the show.

The entire soundtrack slaps including the bonus demos

6. Nerdy Prudes Must Die

The songs are great

The production value on their shows has gone up exponentially, and they make good use of it. The effects are so so good

I've never been more uncomfortable as when the words "dirty girl soup" were first said

7. Black Friday

probably tied with NPMD but

I think plot-wise it is better than NPMD, and overall so are the songs. I think maybe the live version that's on youtube is what makes it slightly below NPMD because everyone was sick so it sounds very different between the live and recorded.

the garland and lights becoming wiggly is peak set design

I think it has some of the most memorable songs

the return of Dylan Saunders and his lovely ballads

Take Me Back is a top tier love song for Starkid

8. Starship

Probably the 3rd Starkid show I saw

Joey Richter absolutely sells the performance (he's not carrying it because the whole cast is great) and is fantastic as the lead

puppets! so many puppets!

9. Holy Musical B@tman

my previous exposure to Batman at this point had been the 60s Adam West TV show so really this is like the spiritual successor of that, so honestly i was totally unfazed by the number of puns, I just assumed that was how Batman media was

Jeff Blim as Sweet Tooth is great, but I also love Joey Richter's in the Apocalyptour

"you got my hopes up so high, then mugged and shot them in an alleyway!" i quote an unreasonable amount

10. The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

tbh I did not super like the show when I first watched it but it grew on me overtime. I think i really started to enjoy it when I went back to watch it after they announced Black Friday was going to be a sequel

11. A Very Potter Senior Year

it's so long guys

I think Joey Richter is the best part of it, Sidekick was fantastic

i do love that they got basically everyone they could to come back and do it

most of the callbacks work really well and make it fun

12. Ani: A Parody

fully gonna admit I haven't seen the full show itself, but I do really like the music

it is truly in the Star Wars spirit

13. Firebringer

I really wish I liked this show more, I think it's a fun concept and overall was fun

the opening number is really good musically

i think the humor and the unnecessary cursing didn't really work for me

14. Me and My Dick

I just think overall this show isn't to my taste but it's quite fun

[cherrylng]

Muse Disc Guide - Absolution [STYLE Series #004 - Muse (August 2010)]

IN MUSIC Having established the basic structure of the ‘Muse style’ in the ‘guitar rock’ format (with piano) with their previous album, the band entered the phase of developing it with this album. In order to try something new, they entered the studio with Paul Reeve, who had been involved with Muse from the beginning, while looking for a replacement for John Leckie, who had been the main producer of the previous two albums. They recorded four songs that they described as ‘Queen-esque’, with a 32-piece orchestra and 98 layers of chorus work. The band recorded two more pieces, the lush (9/ Blackout), with a graceful mandolin sound, and (10/ Butterflies & Hurricanes), inspired by Rachmaninoff's piano concerto.

However, in the process of finishing those two songs, and with Rich Costey as producer, the band reconsidered a return to an over-the-top, yet hard-hitting sound, keeping in mind that they were a three-piece live band. In addition, the sense of crisis in the world situation at the time began to cast a shadow over both lyrics and sound, and the overall direction shifted towards a darker one. The result is a heavier, more solid, more three-dimensional album with strong contrasts between each song, and an increased scale in all aspects.

The most striking thing on first listen is the change in the drum sound, which has become tighter, heavier and more crisp. Interestingly, the guitar sound itself is more layered and complex. Based on his live experience, Matthew emphasises the expression of a single guitar playing with gusto and power, rather than layering parts to create a thicker sound on this album. Even the piano sometimes evokes the roar of a thunderclap, and in (4/ Sing for Absolution) he places metal objects on the piano strings to create that sound. With multiple climaxes, including their quintessential ‘aesthetics of excess’ (2/ Apocalypse Please), (6/ Falling Away With You) and the emotionally-charged development of Muse's verse (3/ Time Is Running Out), (8/ Hysteria), (14/ Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist), they finally achieved their first UK No.1. —Sumi Imai

-

2003 Hit Albums

The year 2003 was a year of unrest, partly due to the start of the war in Iraq. Many musicians expressed their opposition to the Bush administration in the USA. However, when Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks said during a London show that she was ‘ashamed of George W. Bush’, she was met with a general slap in the face from the Republican-leaning country community, which led to a furor that lasted for several years. Madonna sent an anti-war message in the video for her single of the same name from (A/ American Life), but the video was eventually taken off the air. Meanwhile, in the UK, Blur's Damon Albarn and Massive Attack's 3D [aka Robert Del Naja] launched an anti-war campaign.

In the US charts, the hip-hop/R&B groups were as strong as ever, but Outkast's (B/ Speakerboxxx/The Love Below) was the most distinctive and was highly praised even by non-hip-hop listeners. Among rock bands, (C/ Fallen) by Evanescence, a gothic metal band fronted by the red-hot Amy Lee, and (D/ Meteora) by Linkin Park, one of the biggest heavy rock hit-makers, were big hits. The latter in particular became a monster album, selling 10 million copies to date.

The male version of the UK's leading artists of 2003 was The Darkness. Their catchy hard rock sound, influenced by Queen and Aerosmith, and the friendly character of Justin Hawkins made them explode in popularity. The female version is Dido, whose album (F/ Life For Rent) stayed at number one for a total of eight weeks after taking the number one spot from Muse.

-

IN LYRICS Novelist/Poet Jorge Luis Borges has said many times that he could see traces of his writing slowly appearing in the real world, and as Matthew says in an interview at the time of release, the synchronisation of imagination and the real world also occurs in this album. (2/ Apocalypse Please), originally about religious fanaticism, was written before the Iraq War, but when Matthew witnessed the anti-war movement in London, which coincided with the recording, he couldn't help but juxtapose the Iraq War with the lyrical content of the song.

The coincidence of what he wrote invaded the real world in unexpected ways - which is interesting because it can also be explained by the themes depicted in (10/ Butterflies & Hurricanes). (10/ Butterflies & Hurricanes) refers to the ‘butterfly effect’, where the flapping of one butterfly's wings causes a storm in a completely different place, and it is not unnatural to replace this with the coincidence of words written in London coinciding with the Iraq War, which is a world apart in time and place. It is not unnatural. What is more, there are coincidences in which the worldview in (10/ Butterflies & Hurricanes) is not unrelated to the war. In this eerie connection, one cannot help but see the chaos dynamics on which the ‘butterfly effect’ is based.

In terms of chaotic connections, one cannot help but be reminded of Matthew's statement about the making of the album: ‘The process of giving an easy-to-understand narrative to what I feel’. The neurologist Oliver Sacks, whose work Matthew has acknowledged as an influence, said that ‘every person with a coherent identity tells himself a story about his life every moment’, which Matthew puts into practice in the tangible form of music. The chaos of love is no different, and "Falling Away With You" transposes the pain and frustration of an unresolved love affair into the vessel of a story, making us - and Matthew himself - understand the pain and frustration of it. —Kaoru Abe

-

YEAR 2003 January - Yokozuna Takanohana retired and Ozeki Asashoryu became the first Mongolian to be promoted to the 68th Yokozuna. February - Space shuttle Columbia broke up in mid-air over Texas on its return and crashed. March - The US military launched an attack on Iraq, starting the Iraq War. - Spirited Away won the 75th Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. April - A new pneumonia outbreak, SARS, in China kills 774 people by the time the new pneumonia is declared under control in July. - Grand opening of Roppongi Hills. May - US President George W. Bush declared an end to the war in Iraq. June - The first ‘Candle Night for a Million People’ was held. July - Record-breaking heat waves hit France, with more than 11,000 deaths announced. (T/N: Wikipedia states that the death toll in France was more along the lines of 14,802-19,000.) - Vancouver, Canada, was chosen to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. - Noto Airport opens. August - Major power outages in the USA and Canada. - The first six-party meeting with the US, Russia, North Korea, Japan and other countries is held in Beijing, China, to discuss issues such as North Korea's nuclear programme. September - Third album "Absolution" is released. It tops the UK charts. October - European tour begins. - Shinagawa Station opens on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line. - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California, USA. November - ICOCA use begins in JR West Japan. - Michael Jackson arrested on charges including sexual abuse of a minor. December - Digital terrestrial television broadcasting started in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

Translator's Notes: I will admit, I'm about halfway through the STYLE Series magazine, and I feel as though I keep getting this feeling that the Japanese really, really loves Muse's Absolution album a lot. Of course, given that this special magazine was released back in 2010, I'm not sure how strong this bias is held until I translate Crossbeat's special book for Muse that was released in 2015.

[whimsicalwhespir]

My ROTTMNT Headcanons:

_________________________________

Mikey:

-Slaps bandaids and stickers on everyone when they're sad! Also does the same for himself

-I love how everyone agrees Mikey can cook but I'd like to think he's memorized everyone's favorite meals and makes them on special occasions! He also totally teaches Casey how to cook so the poor boy can have a healthy and productive hobby to seperate his apocalypse life from this one

-Absolutely 100% is the most connected to his mystic abilities. He was the first to unlock them and overall shows a more deep seeded understanding of how they work. Draxum is also silently fascinated by him

-Follow up to the previous hc, after the Krang, Mikey totally trains every night to use his powers and the first thing he does is levitating a piece of pizza into his mouth

-Therapizes every single person in his family, they act all dramatic about it and poke fun at Mikey but they really do apprecate it

-Hides in his shell whenever he's sad and since it's super obvious, his family catches on quickly and can comfort him

-Has like 800 stuffed animals

-His art covers like 70% of the lair because Splinter and the boys keep hanging it up proudly and asking Mikey to make murals of them. Same thing applies to April and Draxum pretends to hate every drawing but in reality he has a special room dedicated to Mikey's art in his apartment

-Is the most empathetic of the group and knows exactly how to calm everyone down on bad days or nights

-Legally cannot say fuck (but Donnie is trying to influence him)

-Has scars on his arms from opening the portal and paints over them, turning them into art (ex: lines turn to vines with flowers or tree branches or little snakes or whatever), whenever he's down

-Painted a huge mural for his gram-gram in the lair

-Sobs hysterically at sad animated movies and shows (*handshake*)

-Calls Draxum mom and/or secondary dad

Leo:

-Sings obnoxiously loud in the shower

-Watches telanovelas late at night and gets really really into them

-Regularly practices sleight of hand and uses it in battle (once went to Hypnopottamus for lessons and neither ever talked about it again but Hypno is secretly proud of Leo's progress)

-Is a hardcore theatre geek with knowledge of plays and musicals that could rival Donnie's knowledge of other topics

-Tries to make people laugh any time he can, even if it's at his own expense

-If he could get a pet, it would be a bird so he could teach it phrases like "Dee is a nerd" and then follow Donnie around all day

-Has a bunch of nightmares about the Krang debacle and checks on everyone after he wakes up just to make sure they're okay. (Sometimes he runs into Raph and they both silently check on everyone together)

-Refuses to tell Donatello that he's his favorite brother because Leo knows it'll just go to Donnie's head

-Used to hate his face marks but his brothers kept telling him how cool they were and nowadays they regret it because all of that just fed his ego (they secretly don't really regret it)

-Couldn't sing if his life depended on it

-Is SUPER good at lying but uses it for good more than anything (ex: when they were younger, he once noticed Donnie not sleeping for a few days so he pretended to have a nightmare and asked Dee to come sleep with him to scare away the monsters. Donnie was our like a light in less than 5 minutes)

-Will do the most insane dares just for the honor

-Regularly goes to Hueso for advice

Donnie:

-Has somehow memorized every digit of pi and literally nobody understands how

-Listens to rain noises when going to sleep. Cannot stand the rain in person (it gets his tech wet)

-Is fantastic at making digital music and makes songs inspired by people and events in his life. He's also not great at singing but wow this man can rap

-Shouts "the floor is lava" at random intervals to see his brothers scramble

-Is the only family members with a driver's license

-Records EVERYTHING and due to this, he puts together people's compliments about him into a playlist and listens to them to either build his ego or just make himself feel better after a rough day

-^^^ Alternatively, he sometimes listens to people's insults as well. And oh boy, don'tcha know he also has the most traumatizing points in his life recorded too! We love listening to Leo sacrificing himself to the Krang over and over again

-Has organized the dishes in alphabetical order

-Really likes anime

-Keeps every gift ever given to him and organizes them neatly in his closet

-Really wants to exchange notes with Baxter Stockboy

-Has named all of his inventions and kisses them goodnight

-Experiences some side effects from controlling the Krang ship, such as tech being influenced by his emotions

-Takes and teaches dance lessons in secret (he uses a disguise)

-Is the best medic in the family and heals people's injuries after battles with assistance from Mikey who slaps bandaids on everyone

-Comes up with super elaborate comebacks to insults in his head after arguments but they all fall apart within 2 seconds of talking and it just devolves into calling people dumbdumbs

-Has an automated lab like Reagan Ridley from Inside Job (also unrelated, but they would totally be friends if they met)

-Uses humor to cope just like Leo

Raph:

-Is the only turtle brother who can genuinely sing

-Has stuffed animal play dates with Mikey's stuffed animals (they both try to keep it a secret and thinks nobody knows but EVERYONE knows and finds it hilarious)

-Collects coupons

-Has snacks stashed around the lair for snackmergencies

-Is the first one his brothers go to for comfort

-Carries his brothers at least 20% of the day

-Loves animals with all his heart but all of them hate him so Donnie made him a robo kitten when they were kids

-Volunteers to feed Repo Mantis' cat on weekends

-Cleans when he's stressed out

-Has eaten a whole watermelon in one bite, rind and all

-Constantly posts on social media but every picture is horrible quality

-Makes his brothers do team building exercises at least once every week during training

-Like Donnie, he also has side effects from the Krang attack but they instead take form in more psychological ways. He constantly questions if his thoughts are his own and if what he remembers sre nightmares or reality. He sometimes hears a voice in his mind but isn't sure if it's just an intrusive thought or something more

-Used to punch a specific spot on his wall whenever he got really excited because he can't keep his energy in so Donnie made him a special punching bag

-Loves watching Mikey cook and helping when he can

_________________________________

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANNA HEAR MORE HC'S ABOUT THESE GUYS OR OTHER CHARACTERS LIKE APRIL, DRAXUM, CASEY, ETC!!! I HAVE M A N Y.

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Love On The Brain ♥️ | Matt Murdock Imagine (500 Followers celebration)

Marvel Masterlist

Characters & Pairings: Matt Murdock/Daredevil x female!Avenger!reader (romantic), the Avengers, Foggy Nelson, Karen Page.

Content Warnings: fluff, flirtatious banter, profanity, mentions of violence, suggestive dialogue near the end (slight nsfw) | Female reader (she/her) | wc: 3000

Premise: Following a successful mission, the Avengers celebrate in their usual style by hosting a grand party buzzing with music, food, drinks, and overall a good time. Little do they know, a certain Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is in attendance after he caught the eyes and heart of their fellow hero.

Note: I find it funny how I titled it ‘Love on the Brain,’ in regards to the song mentioned in the fic, but today happened to be the day the book ‘Love on the Brain,’ by Ali Hazelwood was released (which I got because i loved her book ‘The Love Hypothesis’)

———————————————

“I was beginning to think you were a no show, Murdock.” The teasing tone of his lover had Matt chuckling, turning to greet her as she approached. He could tell she was smirking, more than likely checking him out as she looked him over. “Glad to see you didn’t disappoint.”

“Disappoint you?” He feigned offense, giving a dazzling smile. “Never, L/n—it would be tragic to do such a thing.” Feeling her stand beside him, Matt placed his hand on her waist and blushed at the feeling of smooth material covering her skin. It was his favorite dress of hers: black and silky with an open back and thigh slit.

The last time she wore the damn thing Matt had pulled her from the restaurant 10 minutes into the date and nearly took her against the wall of a back alley. All it took was for her to wear silk and it he was a goner. The times she wore nightgowns of the material, Matt had to restrain himself—part of him knew she did it just to rile him up.

Her lips pressed to his cheek, thumb moving to wipe away the red lipstick residue left behind. “The others were starting to think I was lying about us. I was running out of excuses for why you were late.” There was a pause, Matt knowing she was checking for any visible injuries.

“Foggy was late picking up his dry cleaning. So we had to get him a different suit for tonight.” A groan from his friend had the two laughing.

“Thanks, buddy. Just expose me for my unreliability—in front of an Avenger nonetheless.” Foggy turned to greet the woman on Matt’s arm, “I’m very sorry, Y/n.”

“It’s alright, Foggy,” she smiled. “I’m happy you guys made it, even if it’s two hours late,” her teasing had him groan again, Karen lightly slapping his chest to get him to stop being dramatic. Y/n moved to give the blonde a hug, “you look gorgeous, Karen.”

“Thank you,” she blushed and returned the hug. “You look—wow, you look amazing.” The woman thanked her, moving back to Matt’s side while the two took in the scene around them. The party was buzzing. All around the two could see politicians, government agents, and of course, the Avengers. Tony and Banner were by the bar with Natasha serving drinks. Clint was conversing with Maria Hill while Rhodey chatted up some guests over by the lounge. Then on the upper deck Steve was discussing the recent mission with Sam and finally Thor was flirting with an agent out on the balcony.

“Holy shit,” Foggy breathed, gaze locked on the bar, “there’s the Avengers.” Y/n raised her brow, glancing over shoulder at her friends before smirking at the man.

“What? You thought when I invited you guys to an Avengers party, that the Avengers wouldn’t be there?” Matt bit back his laugh, squeezing her waist. Foggy started to stutter, causing Matt to go, “now, c’mon. Let’s not tease Foggy. He was already nervous about coming tonight—give him a break.”

She laughed, “let’s break those nerves then.” Stepping away, Y/n laces her fingers with Matt’s pulling him with her as she begins to move. “They’ve been asking all night about you guys.” Together they follow Y/n as she makes her way to the bar where Steve and Clint had just joined the others. Natasha is the first to see them, perking up as she connects eyes with the woman.

“Well well,” the redhead moves around the bar, “is this who I think it is, Lib?” Lib, shortened for Liberty because Y/n was known to the world as the superhero Lady Liberty. An enhanced individual after a lab experiment gone wrong where she developed the ability to convert matter into other forms. After getting on S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar, Y/n was recruited to the Avengers three years prior to meeting the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen and defense attorney, Matt Murdock.

“It sure is,” Y/n smiles, before glancing at Steve and Tony. “You owe him twenty bucks, Stark.” She shakes her head with a laugh when the older man sighs, pulling out a crisp $20 bill and slapping it in Steve’s open palm. With a roll of her eyes, she turns back to the three, “They thought you’d never show and I was lying—because apparently me and dating is something Tony couldn’t comprehend.”

“Hey, hey! I just thought you weren’t into that, Lib. You’ve never mentioned it until recently,” Tony defended, not noticing the dropped jaws of Karen and Foggy—who couldn’t believe they were standing in the presence of Iron Man.

Y/n gives a playful glare, “Because I like to keep my love life a private matter, Tony. Now, so you know I am in fact off the market, this is Matt Murdock—aka the stealer of what you like to call my cold dead heart.” Matt chuckles, coughing into his hand which only makes Y/n smirk.

“Oh come on,” he objects with a smile. “Cold and dead?”

She scoffs, pushing her hair over her shoulder, “You’d be surprised what dealing with this group of misfits does to me, babe. You’re lucky you get the good side.” Matt tilts his head, not really believing the statement since he has witnessed her anger a few times. Maybe cold was the accurate term when Lady Liberty has too much fire to her torch. “I see that look, and I’m gonna stop you before you can say anything, Murdock.”

Matt just laughs, playfully nudging her causing the two to stumble a bit. The others look on with fondness, glad to see their friend happy and in love.

Pocketing the cash, Steve turns to greet the group first. “Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you all. Y/n’s told us a lot and we were looking forward to finally put the names to faces. I’m Steve.” Sticking out his hand, he shakes Foggy’s hand first. The lawyer was practically frozen where he stood, glancing at his hand for a minute when Cap let go to shake Karen’s, who blushed furiously at the hero.

“I’m—uh-I’m Franklin Nelson, but you can just call me Foggy. This is Karen, she works with us over at Nelson and Murdock.”

“Hi Karen,” Steve smiles, causing the woman to blush more and say, “Hi,” in a high pitched voice. Finally he makes his way to Matt, who extends his hand at the same time Steve raises his. It surprises Steve a bit. The team were already aware of his condition—which pretty much consisted of Y/n melting it in their brain she would raise hell if they treated him differently than how they should.

“Matt.” The two shake hands and the other Avengers take their turns introducing themselves. When everyone’s done, Tony is the first to speak, “So you guys are the famous Nelson and Murdock over in Hell’s Kitchen.”

“That’s us,” Foggy laughs nervously, adjusting the collar of his dress shirt.

“Impressive work you guys are doing,” Tony compliments and all three thank him. “If only our legal team could step it up.” Natasha scoffs, slapping his shoulder, “in case you forgot, half of them are at his party. So keep your voice down.” He just rolls his eyes while taking a sip of his drink.

“Can I get you guys anything?” Nat then asks, making her way back around the bar. “Everything’s on us, and by ‘us’ I mean Tony’s tab.” Laughs go around, minus the billionaire who just looks annoyed.

They each give Natasha their order and go back to conversing with the guys. Foggy and Karen are occupied with Clint and Rhodey, and soon Thor who joins the group after a while. Matt keeps his arm around Y/n as Steve and Tony begin questioning the two.

“So how did you two meet exactly?” Tony asks while chewing on an olive. Y/n takes the beer and cocktail from Nat, passing the former to Matt and says, “We sorta just ran into each other. Didn’t we, babe?”

Matt takes a sip of his beer before smiling as he recalled the memory. It had been a long week at the firm, sorting through files and files of clients and figuring out the next move of Fisk. Matt and Foggy had just entered the office on Friday morning when Karen jumped out of her seat with a look of surprise. Matt already could point out she wasn’t the only one in the office. There was another presence in his office.

“Guys,” her voice goes low. “Uh so you’ll never believe who’s waiting for—wait Matt!” The man was already walking away, flinging the door open to be met with the aroma of a perfume—an expensive one at that. The steady heartbeat filled his ears, not once fluttering by the sudden intrusion.

There was a gasp from Foggy behind him, who was now gaping at the sight of Y/n L/n leaning against Matt’s desk with her arms crossed. “Oh my God, your Lady Liberty.”

“And you must be Franklin Nelson,” she smiled, before setting her eyes on Matt. “And Matt Murdock.” Her voice was smooth like honey. When she stood, her clothes brushed against each other letting Matt figure out she was wearing some form of silk blouse and dress pants with a set of heels.

He stepped into the room, placing his walking stick against the wall, “What can we do for you, Ms. L/n?”

“Please, just call me Y/n. No need for formalities,” she told him, moving to now sit in the chair across from his desk while he went to his own. “I’m actually here to speak with you two about a certain vigilante Hell’s Kitchen has the pleasure of having. My boss needs me to collect information so I’ve been scouting. I saw your firm, and knowing about the work you two do I thought I’d stop by to see if you could provide me any insight.”

Everyone minus Y/n stiffens. Karen and Foggy glance at each other, while Matt focuses on the steady pace of Y/n's heartbeat. He was hoping to catch her in some kind of lie. Maybe she was trying to see if she could get him to slip. Or the Avengers were already hot on his trail. When nothing in her pattern changed, Matt relaxed.

“Karen, would you give us the room please?”

“Of course,” she replied, closing the door behind her as she left. Foggy adjusted his tie, moving to the opposite side of the office so he was closer to Matt. It was quiet. The silence slowly becomes awkward by the second before Y/n eventually claps her hands, “shall we get started then?”

Sitting up straight with is hands on the desk, Matt nods, “Where would you like to start, Ms. L—sorry, Y/n.” Although he could only make out her form in the world of fire he sees on the daily, Matt knew she was smirking when she calmly stated, “How about where you tell me how long you’ve been Daredevil, Mr. Murdock.” The one sentence had his whole world crashing around him. An Avenger knew his identity, and she spoke as if it was a long time coming for him.

At first he tried to play it off like he didn’t know what she was talking about. “I—I-uh, ma’am I can assure you you’ve got it all wrong—.” But the woman wasn’t having it.

“You may be a good lawyer, but I’m a better agent. Please don’t insult me by trying to gaslight your way out of this. I can assure you, Mr. Murdock, that I have everything to prove my claim.” By now he was red and fuming, hand tightening in a fist. Before he could try to plead his case, Y/n surprised him by saying, “but unlike my employer, who expects me anyday to tell him who Daredevil is, I don’t want to expose you.”

For the next two hours, the three proceeded to discuss the topic of how she found out. This was then proceeded by Matt pretty much begging Y/n to keep his identity a secret—which was something she already planned to do. There was also the fact of what was in it for her in keeping this secret. “Nothing,” was the answer when he questioned her motives. “Mr. Murdock—.”

“Matt,” he told her softly. She gave a small smile.

“Matt, the reason I came here was to warn you. You’re lucky it was me who S.H.I.E.L.D entrusted with handling Daredevil—.” He did his best to not make a comment at her choice of words. “Because although I am part of the organization, they are not the best when it comes to dealing with things in an ethical manner. And I see that what you’re doing is actually good for the city.”

“He’s breaking the law,” Foggy interjects, causing Matt to glare at him. He just shrugs, “It’s true, man. You’re acting outside of the law—which is ironic because you're a goddamn lawyer.” A small giggle left Y/n’s lips, her hand coming up to her mouth.

“Anyway,” she pulled herself together, offering the two a smile. “You’re a good man, Matt. And what you two have done here at your firm has helped a lot of people in this city. You’ve also been they’re hero from behind a mask—which I can respect, if the path was different in my case I would’ve probably done the same.” Raising from her chair, she moves to grab her blazer before putting it on. “Your secret is safe with me, but if I were you I’d start doing a bit more to remain inconspicuous. Before long it may not just be me who’s figured out who you really are.”

Matt stands from his chair as Y/n places her bag over her shoulder. “I will be sure to take your advice, Y/n. And thank you—really I do appreciate you not saying anything,” he says while following her out of his office and to the main door. Karen stands, but Matt makes a motion for her to sit back down. Foggy mouths to her, “I’ll tell you after,” when he sees Y/n isn’t looking.

With a hand on the knob, Y/n maneuvers so she’s facing the lawyer, pulling something out of her pocket with her free hand. “If you ever find yourself in a pickle or someone’s got info on you,” she extends a small business card with her name, email, and phone number. “Give me a call. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you,” he takes the card, placing it in his suit pocket and tries to ignore the warm feeling making its way through his veins. There was something about Y/n that was drawing Matt in. He knew she was beautiful. Foggy would go on and on about her when the Avengers first came to light. Matt listened to how he described her with this sense of longing and how he ‘faint where I stand,’ if he ever saw her.

Matt was actually surprised the man kept it together when they entered the office.

Maybe it was the way she carried herself—which was very attractive, or the fact she was willing to risk her career to keep his secret. Not many—especially those in the public eye—would do something like that for a man they didn’t know. Whatever it was, it was the reason he chased after the woman to ask on a date when she left the office saying, “You know, the Avengers could use you, but Hell’s Kitchen needs you.”

Back to the present and almost a year later, the memory faded with Matt supporting a light blush to his cheeks. Y/n did the most deceiving to her friends, not letting them get any sort of suspicion against Matt. The story she gave was they met at his firm (true) when her friend from Hell’s Kitchen was a client of his (lie). Thankfully, neither of the Avengers questioned any further.

Then Tony almost ruined it when he said, “Hell’s Kitchen? Now that I think about it, isn’t that where the guy in the devil looking spandex suit is causing trouble?” Matt tightened his hold on Y/n’s waist, her hand coming to his back to rub it. They both kept straight faces and tried not to give any indication they knew more than what they were letting on.

“Yeah, he’s quite the character,” Y/n spoke with a neutral tone, holding back a giggle when she feels a pinch to her side. “I’m rather impressed he’s managed to stay out of the limelight this long.” This time Matt has to drink his beer to stop himself from grinning. Neither of the guys notice.

“Shame,” Tony grumbles, slumping when he sees his glass is empty. “We could use a guy like him around here. Mayb Fury would not put so much pressure on our backs.”

“You’re a superhero, Tony,” Y/n leans into Matt’s side. “You signed up for the workload when you decided to make that suit. And look where it got you,” she gestures around them to the buzzing party.

“Yeah, Yeah,” he waves her off, handing the glass to Natasha to refill. Some small talk ensued between the group for a few minutes before Y/n’s attention was pulled away when the tune of a familiar song started to play. She instantly recognized it as Rihanna’s, ‘Love on the Brain.’

“I love this song,” she announced, pulling away from Matt only to take his hand. “C’mon, lover, let’s leave the boys here to argue who’s going to lead the next mission while you and I hit the dance floor.”

Grinning, Matt bids goodbye to the two and let’s Y/n lead him to the middle of the floor where other couples have joined together in a slow dance. He could hear her singing along while they walked before she stopped and turned in his direction. “Baby, you got me like ah, woo, ahh,” her arms went around his neck, while his to her waist. “Don’t you stop loving me.”

“Loving me,” he sang the back vocals, causing her head to fall back as she laughed.

“Don’t quit loving me.” “Loving me.”

“Just start loving me.” ‘Loving me.”

Together they swayed, signing to the music no matter how silly they sounded. Some couples smiled at them, while others ended up moving away. Eventually Foggy pulled Karen out to join, the two mirroring the couple’s movements from close beside them. When the title lyric played Matt lifted Y/n off her feet and spun her around. “Must be love on the brain!” Her laughter echoed when he put her down, bringing her closer and pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“I don’t think I’ve said it enough, how much I’m thankful for what you’ve done for me this past year, Y/n,” Matt said in a low tone, careful to not catch any prying ears. His lips moved to her ear, feeling her hand come up to gently caress his head. “You mean the world to me.”

“Oh, Matt,” she said softly, kissing the area by his ear. “I’d do anything for you. I’d go against the Avengers if it meant keeping you safe.” The feeling of emotion overwhelmed Matt when he felt the steady pace of her heart. She was telling the truth.

How was he blessed to have someone like her in his life? The man would never know. The only thing Matt did know was he loved her with his entire soul and would burn down the city if she asked him. His devotion to Y/n rivaled that of God.

“I love you, Y/n.” He felt her pull away so she could lean her forehead against his, their noses brushing against each other. Warmth spread throughout him and he could feel her own against their clothing.

“And I love you, my handsome Devil.” Smiling, the two meet in a kiss—still swaying to the song as it nears its final chorus. When they break the kiss, Matt starts to trail kisses across her jaw and cheek causing her to giggle.

“Matt, you sly devil—we’re in public,” she scolds with a light tap against his chest to stop him. Of course he knew she loved it, but they were in front of her colleagues and they had to maintain some decency.

He bites his lip, mischief coating his expression when her heart skips at the feeling of his hand trailing up and down her bare back. “I can’t help it when you wear this.” The silk on the area just above her ass is smooth beneath his fingertips. “You know what this dress does to me.”

Fingers go to his tie, pulling him closer to whisper in his ear. “Then I guess we’ll have to get out of here so you can help me out of it. Don’t you think?” A rush fills him when she lightly nips his earlobe, careful to not draw attention despite the party beginning to clear out.

“Won’t your friends be disappointed you’re leaving so soon?” At his point Matt was teasing her. Part of him was hoping they’d get caught as the sexual tension became to much, but his lover was a pro at maintaining calmness. Hell, she managed to deceive him the first time they spoke.

“What they won’t know won’t hurt them. Besides,” her eyes trail over to the bar where the group is occupied with alcohol and wages. “They’re occupied at the moment. They won’t even see us if we sneak to the back— take the stairs to the next floor and catch the elevator from there.” She leans closer, brushing her thigh against his. “C’mon, Matty, who are you to back down from sneaking off into the dark for late night endeavors.”

Without any words Matt leads her to the stairs, careful to pick up his walking stick he left by the bar without any of the Avengers noticing, and the two hurry off to the elevator on the next floor. Gasping, her breath is literally taken away when Matt pushes her into the elevator wall to kiss her. “What about Foggy and Karen,” she pants between kisses, fingers messing up his styled hair.

He smirks, “I’ll call him in the morning. The two will figure it out when they notice we’re gone in the next five minutes.” Laughing, Y/n pulls away while he once again trails kisses across her jaw, moving to her neck.

“You are something else, Murdock.”

“Only for you, L/n.”