#there's a cover of a song from Pete's Dragon on there

[im-no-jedi]

me: I need to be more varied with what songs I put on the OTP playlist

also me: *adds yet another Hozier song to the OTP playlist* welp 😩

[greatkittydream]

thank to @smokinferret for opiz idea

Jaune was surrounded by his friends and Team Rwby.

smokinotter: teams can be divided up in pairs of 2, 3 and 4 depending on the skill level of each member.

Ruby: hey Jaune why don't you ever talk about where you're from.

yang: come to think of it vomit boy you never do talk about that type of stuff. what's wrong Mama kick you out the nest earlier or something. yang said in a playful town.

jaune: well I just don't think it's that interesting I grew up in a smaller rural area that was comprised entirely of humans. there isn't much variation there, I just don't think I'm that interesting compared to you yang I mean you're a dragon for Pete's sake.

yang: fair I am pretty cool. she said pulling back her sleep and flexing her arm. but I still think you should have some cool stuff like don't your people typically tell stories.

Ruby: yeah, yeah I heard you people make stories where werewolves seem like the most badass and killable creatures ever that only the not only the most powerful and strongest of magic can harm tell us one of those.

Blake: I don't know why you want to hear one of those stories human stories typically revolve around monsters being violent and cruel by Nature. she said in the common area feet over couch reading a book forced to be in the conmen area.

jaune: already saying we're just going Ruby would rush to his defense saying he's a good human pariah would lead in saying she's half human and then the three would go out at talking about humans are getting better while Blake brought up the atrocities done And Atlas still hitting monsters for no reason. you know what there is this one story Mama but sing to me to sleep. in hindsight he should have kept his mouth shut because now Yang won't stop calling him a mama's boy.

yang: how do you go on vomit boy let's see what your mom was saying you to sleep with I'll have you know my mother was a dragon and they only tell the most gruesome stories that children.

jaune: well I guess I'll sing the song I don't know if he'll be anything like Your Dragon Tales though I can only imagine how scary those would be in order to scare a dragon.

jaune: "clearing throat noise"

Don't ever laugh as a hearse goes by

For you may be the next to die

They wrap you up in bloody sheets

To drop you six feet underneath

They put you in a pinewood box

And cover you up with dirt and rocks

It all goes well for about a week

And then, your coffin begins to leak

And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out

The worms play pinochle on your snout

They eat your eyes, they eat your nose

As you begin to decompose

A slimy beetle with demon's eyes

Chews through your stomach and out your sides

Your stomach turns to rancid grease

And puss pours out like melted cheese

You spread it on a slice of bread

And that's what you'll eat when you're dead

And the worms crawl out, the worms crawl in

The ones that crawl in are lean and thin

The ones that crawl out are fat and stout

Your eyes fall in, and your hair falls out

Your brain turns into maggot pie

Your liver starts to liquify

And for the living, all is well

As you sink further into hell

And the flames rise up to drag you down

Into the fire, where you will drown

Your skin melts off as you descend

And Satan tears you limb from limb

Your suffering will never end

And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out

They'll eat your guts and then shit them out

And when your bones begin to rot

The worms remain, but you do not

So don't ever laugh as a hearse goes by

For someday, you'll be the one to die

And when Death brings his cold despair

Ask yourself, "Will anyone care?

everyone else in the room: what the fuck was that.

______________________________________________________________

opiz pov: Miss Good Witch do you know why I brought you to my office.

Miss Good Witch: no but I have a feeling you're going to tell me.

opiz: miss good witch you have petitioned to have jaune expelled over 10 times and it has not even been a week, I understand you think I'm a fool for letting the boy after all you haven't seen anything he could potentially do and he's performed just below average. before you answer that question though Miss Goodrich let me ask you a question do you know what I am.

Miss Good Witch: you are a phoenix sir one of the five left in the world I fail to see how this pertains to the boy and yes I want him out of the school for his own safety he's not been Taught how to properly use his mana and he's in a school where people can be murdered without charge the because the people in the council refused to change even after hundreds of years of life the school forced to abides by the Old Law system. and he's a human many family still hold a grudge.

opiz: well let me put it like this that boy is very very special I could go through thousands of cycles and never get a chance like this again so with all due respect MS please hold any and all requests of expulsion of him.

______________________________________________________________

hi smokinotter here a little World building the council is Not Elected it is inherited and it is full of people hundreds if not thousands of years old because of this laws are slow to change and it's still under a monarchy system. hate generates hate, just as many humans hate monsters. There are monsters that hate humans for the simple fact of each other's existence.

@howlingday thank for the help with the ideas

[cbsghostsdaily]

Meet the Ghosts: Alberta Haynes Click on each image for higher quality + image ID is under the cut!

[Image ID: A still graphic of three photos, all with a red gradient with black.

Graphic 1: A Spotify Podcast template. The podcast section is labeled: “Meet the Residents: Alberta Haynes”. The cover itself is a red gradient. There is a photo of Alberta from the 1920s in black and white, with a white outline behind her image. The cover photo states: “THE ULSTER COUNTY REVIEW PRESENTS: RATS, JAZZ, & MURDER: WHO KILLED ALBERTA HAYNES?” Underneath, it says: “Hosted by: Samantha Arondekar & Todd Pearlman”

Graphic 2: A purple-pink table top containing: 

A pink pen

A cup of coffee

Next to the coffee cup, a paper that says: “From the desk of Todd Pearlman” in blocky writing. There are three notes underneath it that say:

“There’s some beautiful, ethereal humming. Sam’s weird assistant said it’s off-tune but it reminds me of Alberta. Maybe it’s her cheering us on from beyond the grave...”

“Need to double check Sam’s sources. Yesterday she said Alberta liked Dungeons & Dragons, which wasn’t even around then? Then when I pointed it out she said “Uh...I mean...I think she’d like it.’“ 

“Alberta Clone plan is still in Phase 1. Sadly.” 

Under the cup of coffee is a phone, with a photo of Alberta on it. 

Under the phone are two notepads. The one on the left says “TODD’S THOUGHTS: Sam joked this photo has Alberta in it. Obviously, it’s empty but I feel inspired whenever I look at it...” The one on the right in neat handwriting says. “Hey Todd! Just slipping htis under your door where you’ve been doing hte podcast notes. For days. Just a hunch that you’re listening to Alberta’s songs again. But we have guests coming so you can come back next week for more Alberta research instead! Just at your earliest con-” from here, the word trails off with a scribbled line, and new handwriting is seen, saying: “GET OUT BRO - JAY.” 

Graphic 3: A community forum page that says “Ulster County Review Community Forum. Underneath it says: “Selected topic > Alberta Haynes > Most viewed”. Five posts follow in varying red-pink gradients: 

4.8k upvotes: Posted by albertafan101, 6 months ago. Title: ALBERTA HAYNES: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR. Subtitle: “Ignore what that guy was saying, ther edefinitely wasn’t any “Thor” or “Pete’s” around in Alberta’s circle. Now, something that IS interesting, however, is a note found in the Woodstone B&B...

0 upvotes: Posted by fortheloveofpete, 6 months ago. Title: SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS. Subtitle: “Don’t ask me how I know this, but I can give my word it’s true! - Pete: Friend (and hopefully more?) | Lizzo: descendant? - Sam: “bestie” } Thor: enemy whenever he says landship

1.2k upvotes: posted by toddhaynes, 2 weeks ago. Title: SONGS. Subtitle: “Alberta did not get the chance to perform a lot of her songs, but there are some notable ones. - “Don’t Be a Rat (ironically, Alberta had ratted out a singer...”

90 upvotes: posted by sam_arondekar, 1 day ago. Title: NOTABLE QUOTES. Subtitle: Hypothetically. I’d like to imagine she’d say these! “My death, like my life, was spectacular. Had to be! No way I went out from something boring like a busted ticker.” 

56 upvotes: posted by pickleballover, 30 minutes ago. Title: WHY ARE THE HOSTS SO STRANGE? Subtitle: He sounds like a stalker. And let me tell you, that Sam woman...

/end image ID]

[tgammsideblog]

Tgamm S1 Ep 19-B ¨All Night Plight¨ Episode analysis

Molly, Scratch and Libby decide to stay all night late to watch a comet that passes every 50 years, the problem is that staying awake all night for the three of them is more easy said than done...

¨All Night Plight¨ episode is a bit hard to talk about since it has some pretty interesting things going on for the main characters as well as the theme of the story. It is an episode that give quite a lot to talk about in the fandom when it first aired.

The story starts with a quickly explanation in Molly's class about how there is a comet that passes every 50 years for people to being able to see it at night. The teacher explains that one has to stay up very late (4:00 AM) to be able to see it pass. She ends the class and the students leave school.

Molly, Scratch and Libby talk about the comet on their way back home. Scratch has a hilarious moment he talks about how he made a man cry once because he kept moving his keys (with Dana Synder's comedic timing great as always). Then Libby comments how this could be their only opportunity to see the comet together with ¨who knows how our life is going to be in fifty year¨, followed by a funny scenario of seeing herself as some sort of fantasy knight from her fantasy novels.

This makes Molly become very anxious for a few moments, as she thinks about how ¨everything could change¨ and suddenly decides that she wants to stay up night to see the comet, with Libby and Scratch joining her idea. It's clear that Molly fears the idea of losing her friendship with Scratch and Libby over the course of the years or how it could change. So, she decides she wants to make the ¨perfect memory¨ with Libby and Scratch.

It's worth of noting that the song sequence that plays while the Mcgee family are making the preparations for the night is very adorable. It presents the characters as your typical live action comedy sitcom, with their names showing up on the screen. There is also the detail of different moments being potrayed as it was a photo album, which itself has little notes and drawings made by Molly that are both funny and cute.

Once the night comes and Libby arrives to the Mcgees' home, she comments to Molly how there is too much light pollution. After a funny exchange between Sharon and Pete about how drives the trio, Sharon takes them to the country to be able to see the night sky better. (In the buffalo field from Episode 4-A, out of all things).

Most of the rest of the episode involves Molly desperately trying to keep Libby and Scratch to stay still in one place while Scratch protest not having eaten anything for all the night and Libby switching between falling sleeping and pretending to be a knight fighting dragons because of her trying to stay up late.

It becomes so ridiculous to the point Libby starts charging up against the buffalos thinking they are dragons and Scratch using Molly's phone to order a pizza while being in the middle of the country.

In all this, the night get worse and worse as Molly realizes that they didn't brought the snaks with them and Libby becomes more lost in her sleepy knight fantasy. Molly keeps pushing Libby and Scratch to stay to watch the comet together despite they both are tired and hungry. She is so determined to have this ¨perfect memory¨ that she doesn't consider how her friends are making at the moment.

When the sky happens to get covered by clouds, Molly tries to ¨blow¨ the clouds away. Getting tired of the situation, Scratch asks to Molly why she is so desperate to see the comet. That's when Molly explains that she is afraid of what is going to happen to the three of them over the course of the years and she is afraid of losing them as friends or their relationship changing. This shows that even after months have passed since they moved in to Brighton, Molly still has these abandonment issues of having to leave his friends behind for moving from house to house a lot before the events of the show. She is afraid that growing up she is going to lose Libby and Scratch as friends, which is probably the closest she has had to an actual long stable friendship.

I think the context of this episode is important as well since it takes place after the events of ¨Home is Where the Haunt is¨: The Mcgees almost lost their ¨forever home¨ in Brighton and Molly knows the curse that bonded her with Scratch was broken during the course of that problem. I think these two things brought these personal issues to Molly back, making her realize that not all things are permanent.

Noticing how important seeing the comet is to Molly, Scratch ¨eats¨ both Molly and Libby, shapeshifts into a hot air balloon and takes them above the clouds to see the night sky better. This moment is one of the most beautiful scenes from the series, both visually and emotionally. The animation of the comet passing by is amazing and the score is wonderful. It's worth of mentioning that Scratch cries tears of joy when he watches the comet pass by. It's a great example of how much the character has evolved since the start of the season.

Scratch moves back to the ground, releasing Molly and Libby. Molly thanks Scratch and Libby for staying all the night with her. They decide to go back to Mcgees home until they realize that they forgot about the angry buffalos, making the episode end.

In conclusion: ¨All Night Plight¨ is a great episode that shows how far the friendship between Molly, Scratch and Libby has grew over the course of the season. It acts as a celebration of their relationship so far, letting all them have both funny and emotional moments in the episode. It's also a good exploration of a side of Molly that hasn't been brought up for quite a while, which is her abandonment issues and hear fear of losing her freinds again. It is hearbreaking to see her breaking down while explaining to Scratch why she wants to make a ¨forever memory¨. In all, it is a beautiful episode and it isn't hard to see why it is considered one of the best from this season.

[4trackcassette]

4, 6, 21, 23!

4. three songs that you know thanks to your parents

every song on ABBA Gold. I think that about covers it...

6. three songs you wish you could erase from history (because they’re terrible)

"Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons, Meghan Trainor's entire discography but especially "All About That Bass", "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. guess when i was in middle school lol.

21. three songs of your childhood

one that always gets me is pete seeger's version of "this land is your land". my mom always sung that song to us as kids and we'd listen to it in the car sometimes. my dad got obsessed with Wicked in like, 2008, so we'll put "Popular" on here. he was also really into they might be giants (for kids) so i know all of Here Comes Science extremely well. Give it up for "Science is Real."

[rockybloo]

Would Flint sing Petunia a piano song like Bowser singing about Peach?

Also would Flint’s full dragon form be close to Themberchaud from “D&D: Honor Among Thieves”?

Flint doesn't know how to play the piano but he def serenades Petunia on a near daily and would do a rock cover of "Peaches" for her since Jack Black is a voice claim for him

And I haven't seen D&D: Honor Among Thieves (I'm not too into D&D in general honestly) but he looks more like those chubby 90s animated dragons like Devon and Cornwall from Quest for Camelot or Elliot from Pete's Dragon when he transforms.

[oopsislipped]

Nightmare Time 2: Yellow Jacket Live Blog

this is really random but I love the way jae sings "just run away if you want if you dare"

if the announcement is NMPD or season 3 I am going to lose my mind

OKAY LEX SONG

STEPH

"Tom and Hannah are flannel buddies"

wait fuck

hannah your hand is close to the blade- oh no she has airpods in she can't hear us

shout out to the person in the chat who said "girl you can't afford a heart atrack"

JOEY AS ETHAN

"comes loose all the time"

I love ethan so much

they might not be in california but at least they're not with pamela anymore

when you're made in americaaa

webby is is so cute

MOM JEANS WEEBY

"hannah used to love games" :(((

hannah's birthday<3

ETHAN TOOK HER TO PIZZA PETE'S

nick's "wee woo wee woo" reblog if you agree

cowboy curt???

A PERSON IN THE CHAT JUST WENT "MARKIPLIER???"

YEEHAW

"uncle wiley's texan cousin"

bu. bulletproof glass

WAIT THIS IS LIKE HANNAH'S VISION

"stopwatch's power is inspired by a character from dragon ball z" starkid this is literally jojo's bizarre adventure

Lex is crying :(

hannah gets a friend<3

IT'S A BIKER JACKET

BLUE SHIT MILKSHAKE???

the music is so good

did she. did she just steal spitfire's power

POKEY

wait was that Nick's actual voice? if it was, it was so cool-

FRIENDSHIPPP

they're having fun<3

FOUND FAMILY VIBES

Jamie singing!!

this episode is going to hurt a lot isn't it

"it's tough being a positive role model."

SHERMAN CAMEO

'he crafted the perfect cover' "the stock market, babe."

IN THE BOUNCY HOUSE?

HUH

WHAT

????

BOMB???

things are about to get bad.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE I love the puppets.

HE'S PROPOSING

"cross my heart, hope to die"

oh no

THE BOY FRON HER VISION

they're flying??

IS HE GOING TO SAY WHAT I THINK HE'S GOING TO SAY

he didn't.

he said the same thing wiggly did in black friday though

"that's what spitfire's dad said. he broke at 50 million."

WEBBY :(

THE TGWDLM OPENING THEME

hannah should have thinked about the implications

POKEY DOLL

no. nO

WEBBY

HE SAID IT

HE SAID THE THING

rip otho

ETHAN MY BELOVED

they killed him off in black friday because they know he'd be too powerful

WAIT ARE THEY GOING TO BREAK UP

WHAT.

NO

I am not okay

that was so good

"I'll find you in the next timeline" <333

[groovesnjams]

"We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel

DV:

Since the original WDSTF is a frequently-cited contender for the worst song of all time, the concept of doing a cover version that updates its references seems either borderline-genius (because there's nowhere to go but up) or exceptionally foolish (because the core idea is so flawed that there's no value to uncover.) It makes sense that Fall Out Boy would do this, and it makes sense that the result reveals that both things are true. Here's the thing: I come not to bury "We Didn't Start the Fire (A Fall Out Boy cover of the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire)" but to praise it. Because it gets right one of the core things that Joel got wrong. The original "Fire" is a series of signifiers, ironically juxtaposed and strung together as disconnected events - a chronolog of nearly half a century that Joel connects into a meta-argument that "things happen" to every generation. But "H-bomb" didn't just materialize out of thin air, nor did "Belgians in the Congo" or the Vietnam war that Joel references a couple times. His is a history without subjects, and consequently without responsibility or blame. "AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz," he sings: these are presented as merely things that happened, not deliberate choices with moral consequence.

Fall Out Boy make no such pretense. Their "Fire" is a list of events that made an impact on Pete Wentz and crew, abandoning the pseudo-objectivity of chronological order in favor of a random, stream of consciousness approach. "World Trade, second plane" is unquestionably a defining event of the past 30 years, but "Cubs go all the way again" and dual Michael Jordan references only belong on a list that comes from a band that claims Chicago as its hometown. Add Captain Planet and the overly-cute "Prince and the Queen die"? This is something that only Fall Out Boy could - or would - attempt. It's a cliffsnotes version of their specific lifetimes, and can't possibly be seen as anything else. It's dumb - so dumb, like "Trump gets impeached twice/ Polar bears got no ice" is not even the nadir - but Fall Out Boy aren't cloaking their point of view like the world's worst historian (Billy Joel.) I'll gladly take their nonsense honesty over Joel's logical elision of history.

Or rather, I won't, because while Fall Out Boy upgrade the lyrics the fundamental concept here is so useless - and the melody so grating - that it's impossible to want to listen to this godforsaken song more than once, as a curiosity. It says something fascinating about Fall Out Boy that in 2023, a decade into an afterlife that's now lasted nearly twice as long as their original run, they're following up a return-to-form album with a one-off single as wildly misconstrued as this and managing to get even one thing right. I think what it says is, "Imagine Dragons better get their shit together if they want to compete."

MG:

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is an absolutely vile song, a piece of pure capitalist crap. Whether Billy Joel's smooth, solid, original turd or the clasp of dingleberries that make up this cover, it's still flag-waving propaganda barrelling around the bend. How can you both assert your nativist perspective as the center of the universe and excuse yourself and your fellow countrymen for any responsibility in all the wars, slavery, and unfounded hatred we've wrought in our existence? You can't, but it warms my heart that some of the richest men in the last two centuries have attempted the impossible. Fall Out Boy's stab at ironic juxtaposition might be funny in an arch way if Pete Wentz weren't an actually talented lyricist capable of staking out emotional truth in his work. Instead he's wasting his time not quite rhyming "black parade" with "Y2K." And while we're here, are these supposed to be the good events, the bad events, or just the events most worthy of laminating and tacking to the bulletin board? Sandy Hook, Columbine -- brutal, horrific losses of very young life -- on one hand, Meghan Markle and Venus and Serena -- famous black women -- on the other. What's the suggestion here?

Don't bother. There's nothing at the core of this song, nothing on this song's outer rings, nothing at all. Fall Out Boy have robbed these words of the energy they possessed in their inert state, produced meaninglessness where potential once stood. Defending this song is an exercise in tragedy but typing on about something so obviously wretched and doomed isn't a much better use of time.

[andallthatmishigas]

Top 5 '70s songs and/or Top 5 '70s movies.

The 70s are a weird time period for me and not one I usually gravitate to HOWEVER this is an awesome excuse for me to think about it, thank you!!

Top 5 70s songs:

1. I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor (I sang this song at my 8th grade talent show and it’s a go-to karaoke song for me and I fucking love it)

2. Mamma Mia by ABBA (my other go-to karaoke song and a song that never fails to make me happy)

3. Songbird by Fleetwood Mac (my favorite non-Stevie song from Fleetwood Mac and one of my favorite songs of all time)

4. Delta Dawn by Helen Reddy (I actually knew the Bette Midler cover first and I literally just this second learned it’s originally a Tanya Tucker song dang but anyway I adore Helen’s voice and I’ve been singing her version in my car a lot over the last few months)

5. I Shall Be Released by Bette Midler (in another case of me loving a cover of a Bob Dylan song, this one really hits me deep and I love the way she sings it)

(I have discovered that all the Cher songs I love most came out in the 60s or 80s or later and I don’t really like anything she did in the 70s oops and same thing for Barbra Streisand. And this is why the 70s are often a blind spot for me in music. All my faves were before or after this decade. My 70s love is pretty much Fleetwood Mac and ABBA and that’s about it lmao this list was a bit of a challenge.)

Top 5 70s movies:

1. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (very important to my childhood)

2. Pete’s Dragon (I promise this whole list won’t just be Disney movies but that’s really what I’m all about here)

3. Live and Let Die (one of my favorite James Bond movies)

4. Diamonds Are Forever (another favorite James Bond movie)

5. The Deep (it’s a treasure hunting underwater movie and it’s awesome and I want to watch it right now)

Honorable mention to A New Hope, which is my favorite Star Wars film and did come out in the 70s.

(Once again, 70s films are hard for me because everything I love is earlier or later!! I looked up so many movies and was like oh dang that was the 80s oops)

[demonicxfire]

Songs of Freedom

I was thinking about this since some days now.

Does anybody else besides me have their own songs that makes you feel... free?

I have some. However, I don't feel freedom everywhere in all these songs. In some of them, I just feel it in specific parts.

1. Tokyo Ghoul: Licht und Schatten (Epic Version by Samuel Kim)

In this song, I can feel Freedom since the beginning, until the end of the first part, but I can mostly feel it from 0:45 to 1:36, which is the end of the first part.

But also the second part of this song is extremely cool, and it gives me a lot of Adventure vibes, so I think it kinda counts?

2. Attack On Titan: 2Volt (Epic Orchestral Cover by Hurakion)

Here, I can feel Freedom from 4:36 to 5:25, but I can mostly feel it until 5:01

(Edit: I forgor to say that, in Attack On Titan, "Freedom" is also a key word, that (kinda) summarizes the entire anime) (So yeah, I was kinda expecting a "Freedom part" to be there)

3. Something Wild by Lindsey Sterling & Andrew McMahon (a Soundtrack from the 2016 Movie "Pete's Dragon")

This one... well. It's a lot. Here, the feelings of Freedom and Adventure are combined. And I love it so much. 🐺❤️

I can feel Freedom since the beginning, until the end. However, I mostly feel it in the chorus

This song also makes me feel such a good boi 🐺😋

4. Bruno Coulais - I'm a WolfWalker (a Soundtrack from the Animated Movie "Wolfwalkers")

Damn it. This one.

The first part is almost... ethereal. It's like Nature and Heaven created one new Realm.

The first part is also the one where I can feel Freedom.

I love it so much. 🐺❤️

----------------------------------

And this it it.

These are the songs where I can feel... free.

These are my Songs of Freedom.

And y'all? Does anybody else have at least one? Lemme know in the comments/reblogs pls! I'm very curious!!

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

🐺❤️🐺❤️🐺❤️🐺❤️

[gaykarstaagforever]

Tonight's Halloween Party Playlist (2023) [Minus the ones that are on every list ever]

"Mysterious Mose" - R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders

"Ghost of Stephen Foster" - Squirrel Nut Zippers

"Demon Kitty Rag" - Katzenjammer

"My Drag" - Squirrel Nut Zippers

"Minnie the Moocher" - Cab Calloway (from The Blues Brothers movie soundtrack)

"Hell" - Squirrel Nut Zippers

"Come On In" - The Bridge City Sinners

"All Hail" - The Devil Makes Three

"Man from the Moon" - Dean Barlow & The Crickets

"Butcher Pete" - Roy Brown

"Paint It Black" - Rolling Stones

"Time Warp" - from The Rocky Horror Picture Show

"Dragula" - Rob Zombie

"Wake Up" - Biggie Smalls feat. KoRn

"Lecher Bitch" - Genitorturers

"A Smaller God - Darling Violetta

"How Soon is Now" - the Kai Watson cover

"Flowers on the Wall" - The Statler Brothers

"Green Door" - Shakin' Stevens

"Go-Go Godzilla" - the Brian Setzer cover (?, I don't know if it's a weird instrumental cover of the BOC song or just it's own cool thing)

"Corn Rigs" - Magnet (from The Wicker Man 1973 soundtrack)

"All Souls Night" - Loreena McKennitt

"Procisson, apuis baile" - Galandum Galundaina

"Orchard Fair" - Wye Oak

"Verni Coronaberis" - Mediaeval Baebes

"Schottische Fran Havero" - Lothlorien

"Lil Jon's Palace" - Mashup by oneboredjeu of Lil Jon's "Get Low" and Caravan Palace's "Dragons"

"Reference Point" - Acoustic Alchemy

"Unda" - Faun

"Song of the Witches" - SJ Tucker

"St. James" - Rag'N'Bone Man

"Moon" - Omnia

"Lone Digger" - Caravan Palace

"Hermetico" - Balkan Beat Box

"Daemonos" - Daemonia Nymphe

"Sitting on the Moon" - Enigma

"Witch's Rune" - SJ Tucker

"Vampire Killer" - Castlevania theme cover by banjoguyollie

"Mahalagaesca (Bucovina Dub)" - Shantel feat. Mahala Rai Banda

"T'ain't No Sin (To Take Off Your Skin)" - Fred Hall

[paralleljulieverse]

‘Gentlemen like you are few...’: A Supercentenary Tribute to Irwin Kostal

1 October 2021 marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of Irwin Kostal, the musical arranger, orchestrator and conductor whose work helped shape the sound of the post-war American stage and screen musical. In this post we look back at the career of this remarkable 'music man’ with a particular focus on his collaborations with the equally remarkable Julie Andrews -- who, as it happens, shares the same birthday, so this post is doing double birthday honours.

A gentle, unassuming man, Kostal or ‘Irv’ as he was known by associates, was not one for the limelight. It’s possibly why he gravitated to the ‘behind-the-scenes’ art of musical arranging. Unlike composers, performers, or even conductors, arrangers seldom loom large in public perceptions of professional musicianship. They are, for the most part, the ‘invisible artists’ of the music industry: their contributions to the sound and experience of music are immense, but they remain largely ‘uncredited in records, liner notes or books or records’ (Niles 2104, p. 4). That Irwin Kostal would ultimately prove a rare exception to this tradition of thankless anonymity -- becoming sufficiently well-known to have his own name not only included on recordings, but emblazoned on the front cover alongside those of the ‘star’ vocalists with whom he worked -- is a testament to the singularity of his talents. 

Born the son of first generation immigrant parents in Chicago in 1911, Kostal claimed he was instantly ‘smitten’ by music when he saw a piano at the age of two-and-a-half, but his family was too poor to afford such luxuries. Moreover, his father -- a hard-drinking Czech with a fiery temper -- was ‘rigidly opposed’ to his interests in music and ‘could see no future in it’ (’Irwin’ 1962, p. 70). So Kostal initially had to content himself with listening and absorbing as much musical knowledge as he could indirectly. When he was eleven, his father finally brought home a broken player piano salvaged from a removals job and it provided the young Kostal with the launch pad he needed. 

Kostal devoted himself to his musical education with single-minded zeal. His formal training was intermittent -- enabled by a supportive mother who ‘surreptitiously managed to save money from her weekly allowance for my musical instruction’ (’Irwin’ 1962, p. 70) -- but he was a passionate autodidact who would spend countless hours studying and practising on his own. By age 15, he was already playing professionally with local touring bands, while also offering his own services as a piano teacher with, at one point, more than 40 pupils (ibid.).

When he wasn’t playing, Kostal would be found in the local library poring over musical scores and reading about the greats of the classical canon. He was particularly intrigued by orchestration and the possibilities it offered for varying the sound and feel of music. He recalls how he would take orchestral scores home and study all the parts learning ‘about musical instruments I never knew existed’ (Suskin 2009, p. 56).  He progressively worked his way through the music of the masters, going alphabetically: 

‘Bach...Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Elgar, Frank, Gounod, on and on through the alphabet...I tried to absorb everything. By the time I came to Ravel, Tchaikovsky and Wagner, I knew quite a lot about music in a jumbled way’ (Suskin 2009, p. 57).

While still in his teens, Kostal started to experiment with arrangements of his own, scoring a high school production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin with multiple variations on the American folk melody ‘Way Down upon the Swanee River’. ‘By taking away the rhythmic aspects and playing it in a minor key,’ he recounts, ‘I found lots of ways to play this song, making it fit the dramatics of the half-hour long story’ (ibid., p. 56). Thus, Irwin Kostal the arranger was born.

Throughout the 1930s and early-40s, Kostal honed his talents in a professional capacity, working with various big bands, before finally landing a job as a resident arranger for an NBC radio affiliate in Chicago. Following the war, Kostal moved to New York where, after a rocky start, he secured regular work as conductor and arranger on a number of long-running radio and TV variety shows including Your Show of Shows (1950-54), Max Liebman Presents (1954-56), and The Garry Moore Show (1959-63). It was demanding, fast-paced work with Kostal having to arrange and orchestrate hundreds of score pages a week, but it consolidated his musical versatility and capacity to work across a wide range of styles and forms (Suskin 2009, pp. 57-60).

Throughout this period, Kostal was also orchestrating for Broadway shows, racking up over 52 credits on theatre productions big and small (Allen 1995, p. 18). Many of these assignments were done in a ‘ghost-writer’ capacity including contributing work to such classic musicals as Wonderful Town (1953), The Pajama Game (1953) and Silk Stockings (1955). A major breakthrough came when Kostal was contracted to work in a credited capacity as co-orchestrator on the original Broadway production of West Side Story (1958) -- collaborating with Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Sid Ramin. It earned him his first Grammy Award and a subsequent invitation to arrange and orchestrate a string of other big Broadway musicals including Fiorello! (1959), Sail Away (1961) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962).

The success of West Side Story also saw Kostal do repeat honours on the film version (1961) which would, in turn, earn him an Academy Award and kickstart a hugely successful Hollywood career. In 1963, Kostal was invited by none other than Walt Disney to take on the major job of arranging the songs for Mary Poppins (1964) which had been written by the in-house Disney composing team of Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman. The Sherman Brothers claim to have suggested Kostal because they were fans of his Broadway work and they wanted a bright theatrical sound for the score. However, Walt Disney demurred. He reasoned it was a period film and they needed someone who could write music for any style or era, suggesting they get the musical director from The Garry Moore Show instead. Cue mutual delight when it was discovered they were all referring to the same man, Irwin Kostal (Sherman & Sherman 1998; Suskin 2009, p. 65).

Kostal’s work on Mary Poppins catapulted him to new heights of mainstream success. It not only secured him another Academy Award nomination -- he lost to Andre Previn for his work on My Fair Lady -- but it also brought him a tidy fortune in royalties from the film’s best-selling soundtrack album (’Kostal’s’ $65,000′, 57). His fame -- and fortune -- skyrocketed even further the following year when Kostal was contracted to arrange the score for The Sound of Music (1965). His dazzling efforts on this box-office blockbuster confirmed Kostal’s status as Hollywood’s presiding musical wonder-boy and saw him walk home with his second Oscar. A string of other big screen musicals followed including Half a Sixpence (1967), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). 

Many of these films were repeat collaborations because Kostal favoured working with people he knew and with whom he clicked personally and creatively. He would for example continue as the de facto ‘house’ arranger for Disney well into the 1980s, working on various assignments for the studio including Pete’s Dragon (1978), Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) and the controversial re-recorded 1982 release of Fantasia (1940/1982) (Tietyan 1990). Kostal would also maintain a long association with the Sherman Brothers, acting as musical arranger for all their big screen musicals including the aforementioned Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), as well as Tom Sawyer (1973); Charlotte’s Web (1973); and The Magic of Lassie (1978) (Sherman & Sherman 1998).

The other great collaboration of Kostal’s career was of course with Julie Andrews. Perhaps it was the fact that the pair shared the same birthday but Kostal had an extraordinarily sympathetic relationship with Julie and he would work with her more than any other vocalist. Long before they teamed on Poppins and The Sound of Music, Julie and ‘Irv’ were making musical magic together. Kostal was the arranger and conductor for Julie’s first two solo albums for RCA: The Lass with the Delicate Air (1957) and Julie Andrews Sings (1958) where his sensitive facility with a wide range of musical idioms from English classical to Broadway and Tin Pan Alley came to the fore. Reviewing the first of these albums at the time of its original release, one music critic lauded it as ‘a record to charm every member of the family...[with] a combination of sincerity and simplicity and wholesome sweetness...Thank goodness arranger and conductor Irwin Kostal met the challenge and set the ballads winningly without overpowering Miss Andrews’ light pure tones’ (RRS 1958, p. 5A). In a similar vein, another reviewer praised the second album for ‘its charming unforced version of standards, well known and almost forgotten...Miss Andrews still sings naturally and purely [and] the deft accompaniments played by an orchestra under Irwin Kostal are agreeably restrained’ (Masters 1959, p. 11).

In this early period Kostal also worked with Julie as guest star on several episodes of The Garry Moore Show, where he was resident musical director. In this context, Kostal was pivotal in helping establish the legendary teaming of Julie and Carol Burnett which came out of the Garry Moore appearances. He would go on to act as musical director for their breakout 1962 TV special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall which would earn Kostal his first Emmy (Taraborelli 1988, pp. 172-79). He would secure his second Emmy a few years later working with Julie again on the 1965 variety special, The Julie Andrews Show (1965) where, among other highlights, Kostal scored a series of stellar song-and-dance medleys for Julie and guest star Gene Kelly. The same year, Kostal teamed up with Julie on yet another recording with the 1965 edition of the annual Firestone Christmas albums. 

It was however their combined work on the two big musical mega-hits, Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, that secured the Kostal-Andrews partnership a place in the history books. A cultural phenomenon of the highest order, the soundtrack recordings for these two films remain among the most successful albums of all time. Mary Poppins held the #1 spot on the US national music charts for 14 consecutive weeks in 1964, beating out Elvis Presley and The Beatles (Hollis and Erhbar 2006, pp.72ff). The album for The Sound of Music sold over 9 million copies in its first four years of release alone, remaining in the Billboard Top 100 for an unbelievable five-and-a-half years, and becoming the highest selling LP of all-time in the US up to that date (Murrells, 1978)  The Sound of Music continued its record-breaking run abroad, dominating the international charts and holding the #1 spot for 75 weeks in Australia, 73 weeks in Norway and 70 weeks in the UK, becoming in the process the single biggest selling album worldwide of the 1960s (Harker, 1992, pp. 189-91).

Commentators have frequently singled out the combination of Julie Andrews’ soaring vocals and Kostal’s dynamic arrangements as instrumental to the phenomenal success of these two albums. ‘Miss Andrews glows--positively glows--right through the record groove, vinyl disc, amplifiers, speakers, and all other mechanical barriers,’ enthused one contemporary reviewer of the Mary Poppins soundtrack, noting how the ‘songs that Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman have written’ and ‘the handsome arrangements by Irwin Kostal have the perfect balance ‘of lilt and flair to provide Miss Andrews with an effective working basis’ (Wilson 1965, p. 109). Apropos The Sound of Music, another critic pronounced it ‘as good a reproduction of a score as has ever been made’, noting how it ‘presents Julie in a most appealing role and given the splendid musical direction of Irwin Kostal, her talent comes shining through...as a treat beyond measure’ (Moore 1965, p. B6). 

In total, Julie Andrews and Irwin Kostal would work together on six recordings, two musical motion pictures, two television specials, and a host of other TV appearances representing some of the very best of Julie’s musical work during her heyday of the 1960s. Considered alongside the wealth of Kostal’s other work across film, stage, television and recording, it’s hard not to concur with Disney’s Nelson Meecham who, on the occasion of Kostal’s passing in 1994, eulogised: ‘He brought the joy of music to more people than it is possible to count’ (Allen, p. 19).

Sources:

Allen, John F 1995. ‘Remembering a Music Man: On the life and work of Irwin Kostal.’ Boxoffice. August: pp. 18-19.

Harker, Dave 1992. ‘Still Crazy After All These Years: What was popular music in the 1960s?” Cultural Revolution? The challenge of the arts in the 1960s. Bart Moore-Gilbert and John Seed, eds. Routledge, London and New York: pp. 186-200.

Hollis, Tim and Erhbar, Greg 2006. Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

‘Irwin Kostal: Music in all its many forms is his life.’ (1962). The Province. 2 June: p. 70.

’Kostal’s’ $65,000 Poppins Score’ 1965. Variety. 10 March: p. 57

Levy, Charles 1964. Mary Poppins: About the stars and photo-story features [Press kit]. Buena Vista Distribution, New York. 

Masters, John 1959. ‘Off the Record: Enchanting Music.’ The Age. 7 January: p. 11.

Moore, Robert 1965. ‘Record Turntable: Julie Andrews out in front again in film album of”Sound of Music”.’ The Arizona Daily Star. 7 March: p. B6.

Murrells, Joseph, ed. 1978. Book of Golden Discs: Records that sold a million. Barrie & Jenkins, New York.

Niles, Richard 2014. The Invisible Artist: Arrangers in popular music (1950-2000). BMI, London.

Oliver, Myrna. 1994. ‘Obituaries: Irwin Kostal; Film, TV Orchestrator.’ The Los Angeles Times. 1 December: P. B8.

RRS 1958. ‘On the Record: ‘Lass with the Delicate Air.’ Bristol Herald Courier. 9 February: p. 5A.

Sherman, Robert B &  Sherman, Richard M 1998. Walt's Time: From before to beyond. Camphor Tree, Santa Clarita, CA.

Suskin, Steven 2009. The Sound of Broadway Music: A book of orchestrators and orchestrations, Oxford University Press, New York.

Taraborelli, J. Randy 1988. Laughing Till It Hurts: The complete life and career of Carol Burnett. William Morrow & Co, New York.

Tietyan, David 1990. The Musical World of Walt Disney. H. Leonard, Milwaukee, Wis. 

Wilson, John S. 1965. ‘The Lighter Side’. High Fidelity Magazine. 15: 4: pp. 107-111.

© 2021, Brett Farmer. All Rights Reserved.

[rootbeergoddess]

Candle on the Water

First, thank you to the amazing and wonderful @positivelydetectivecomics​ for not just editing but also being my #1 fan girl and fellow Tom Hiddleston/Thomas Sharpe groupie. Second, this has to be one of the longest things I’ve ever written. It’s like twenty pages. I’m so shocked I managed to write this much! Anyways, this is a Little Mermaid AU for Crimson Peak because I want Thomas to be happy goddamnit.

The title is from the song Candle on the Water from Pete’s Dragon.

~*~

The ocean had always fascinated and terrified Thomas.  It was vast, deep and endless. There was no way humans would ever be able to search the entirety of it.  It offered up many beauties but also horrors.  That didn’t mean he didn’t find it beautiful.  He just preferred to enjoy it from the beach, not on a boat.

Boats made him nervous.  Being an engineer, he could appreciate the beauty of a design but he didn’t think humans were meant to float. Plus, he got seasick.  Why had he agreed to this forsaken cruise? Lucille was nowhere to be seen but he honestly preferred to be alone right now.  Her presence had become smothering. He had known that sooner or later this farce of a relationship would have to end and he could see the end in sight. Avoiding her wasn’t his best strategy but he still needed time to think. How could he tell his sister that he was done with her?

I'll be your candle on the water

My love for you will always burn

I know your lost and drifting,

But the clouds are lifting

Don't give up you have somewhere to turn

Thomas lifted his head, scanning the ocean. Singing, someone was singing. It was a song he had never heard but it was the most melodic thing he had ever heard. But he was confused. The voice was coming from the water. That was impossible unless it was a really talented manatee.  There were no islands for miles and they weren’t even remotely close to the shore. Was this a trick?

I'll be your candle on the water

Till every wave is warm and bright

My soul is there beside you,

Let this candle guide you

Soon you'll see a golden stream of light

Confusion was replaced with curiosity.  Thomas scanned the ocean, desperate to find the source of the song.  He walked along the deck, his eyes never leaving the waters.  Then, he spotted it.  Sitting on a rock, he saw a woman with her eyes up to the sky and her mouth opened.

A cold and friendless tide has found you

Don't let the stormy darkness pull you down

I'll paint a ray of hope around you

Circling in the air, lighted by a prayer

The boat was getting closer and Thomas gasped when he got a better look. It wasn’t a woman, it was a mermaid.  She had no legs but a dark, blue tail of scales. Her long hair was in a braid with seashells and starfish. Around the rock were a group of fish and a few other sea creatures, all listening to her song. He wasn’t sure why he did but Thomas stood on the railing. Her voice was so pure and rich, he had to hear more.

I'll be your candle on the water

This flame inside of me will grow

Keep holding on, you'll make it

Here's my hand so take it 

Look for me reaching out to show

As sure as rivers flow,

I'll never let you go

I'll never let you go

I'll never let you go

Her song was done and Thomas’ heart felt heavy. Then, she looked away from the sky and their eyes met. Thomas wanted to say something, anything but at that moment, he lost his footing and fell into the water.

~*~

You dove right into action when you saw the human hit the water.

Humans were not born natural swimmers like mermaids were. They had to be taught how to swim and some of them never learned the skill. They also didn’t possess gills or any means of breathing underwater.  This human could drown without your help and as you dove under the water, you could see him struggling. The poor thing was terrified.

You swam to him and when you reached him, you saw the fear in his eyes.  Instantly, you felt bad. He had been listening to you, that was why he was standing on that large, metal thing and he had slipped.  How foolish were you? Without wasting a moment, you grabbed him and swam back up to the surface. He gasped for air, desperate to fill his lungs. 

“Easy, easy,” You rubbed his back.

The humans on the metal contraption were in a tizzy; they were searching for him, you suspected. There had to be a way to get him back to where he belonged without you getting spotted. As you thought, you felt the human’s eyes on you and you turned to face him. His fear was gone and was replaced by adoration.  It was odd but you felt a bit shy suddenly.

“You’re a mermaid,” He said.

“Yes,” You said. “And you’re a human.”

“You’re beautiful.” 

You felt your face flush. Other merfolk had told you that you were beautiful, you were the king’s daughter after all.  So, why did this human make you feel weak? The thought was pushed to the back of your mind when you came up with a solution to your predicament.

“Oberon,” You said. 

“What?” He asked.

Around your neck was a shell necklace; in the middle was a small, blue conch shell with holes drilled into it.  You placed the tip of it into your mouth and then blew into it.  The human watched you, entranced by everything you did. 

“What is that?” He asked.

“It’s how I call my friends,” You said. “Oberon should be here any minute.”

“Is he a friend of yours? Is he a merperson like you? How did you meet him?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” You said, smiling.

“I’m sorry but---I thought mermaids were a myth,” He said. “And I’ve never met such a captivating creature before in my life.”

Again, familiar words but your heart swelled at this.

“Do you have a name?” He asked, his eyes scanning every inch of your face.

“Y/N. Do you have one?”

“Thomas. Thomas Sharpe.”

Before you could ask anymore questions, a large tentacle poked out of the ocean. Thomas screamed but you quickly covered his mouth.

“No, it’s okay,” You told him. “This is Oberon. He’s going to help you back onto your---floating island.”

“You can talk to a giant octopus?” Thomas asked. “That’s incredible I---wait, you mean you’re leaving?”

He sounded disappointed. Guilt returned to you but you knew you were doing the right thing. 

“I have too, it’s too dangerous,” You said. “If someone else were to find me, they’d gut me like a fish or worse.”

“Will I ever get a chance to see you again?” He asked.

“It’s probably better to forget about me,” You gave him a sad smile. “Goodbye, Thomas.”

You placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and dove back into the water. Oberon wrapped a tentacle around Thomas’ waist and soon, he was gone. Sighing, he delved deeper into the depths towards your home, thinking he’d forget about the experience completely.

~*~

Thomas didn’t forget.

When Y/N had swum away, he was ready to go after her He was no match for Oberon though; the massive octopus placed him back on the boat as if it was nothing. He watched as the tentacles receded into the water, leaving him behind. He wanted to throw himself back into the water to swim after her but it was a foolish idea. Y/Nwere faster than him, how would he catch up to her?

Lucille had found him and she was furious, blaming everyone from the captain to the cook.  Thomas let her fret over him but his mind was elsewhere.  A mermaid; he had met a real life mermaid named Y/N. The fairy tales he had read as a child hadn’t done Y/N justice; she was a million times more beautiful than anything in any book. The rest of the trip felt like a blur to him. Lucille didn’t let him out of her sight. This would have annoyed him but he was more focused on finding Y/N again. Each day was spent on the deck, praying and hoping he’d hear her golden tone again.  Lucille pestered him, asking him what he was looking for but he never told her. Would she believe him? Who cared about that, he was worried about Y/N’s safety.

“If someone else were to find me, they’d gut me like a fish or worse.”

Lucille was the or worse.  Thomas longed to see Y/N again but he couldn’t stand the thought of Lucille discovering her. She would take such joy in destroying the beautiful maid. Even if he ever saw her again,he would do all in his power to make sure Lucille would never find out.

They returned to land two days later. Lucille was doing everything in her power to get Thomas’ attention back.

“Thomas, you need to stop daydreaming and focus again,” Lucille nagged. “I don’t know what happened that night but it seems to have affected you more than you’re letting on.”

“I’m fine,” He lied. “I wished you’d believe me.”

“You know I can tell when you’re lying,” Lucille grabbed his hand. “I know you too well.”

She was right but that didn’t change anything. Thomas couldn’t remember how or when he realized the relationship he had with his sister was wrong. No, not wrong; twisted. Loving his sister in that way had been wrong but he hadn’t stopped it or even tried until now. Meeting Y/Nh had just made him want to distance himself from Lucille even more.

When they reached home, Thomas still found himself distracted. He tried to work on his machine but it was impossible. He was dying to see Y/N again. The only issue was he had no idea how to find her.  He felt hopeless; would he ever be able to find her again?  Thinking of being unable to reunite with Y/N filled him with dread. For days, he felt aimless. Two weeks after the trip, he decided to take a ride to clear his mind.

Thomas found himself drawn to the beach.  It was hopeless but he thought that maybe he’d be able to spot a glimpse of her again. He had the carriage stop and he popped out, surveying the land before him.  He stopped when he saw something on the beach; a body.  Confusion filled him as he headed down on the warm sand and walked towards the unmoving person. His heart nearly stopped when he realized who it was.

“Y/N?”

Carefully, he turned the woman on her back. Yes, it was Y/N. He caressed her face and her eyes fluttered open. When she saw him, she managed a weak smile.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I didn’t want to forget,” she replied.

~*~

Thomas wrapped you in his coat and helped you walk towards his carriage. You stopped when you saw the two huge, black creatures. 

“What are those?” You asked, scared.

“They’re just horses,” Thomas said. “They’re beasts of burden we use in our day to day life.”

“They’re so big,” You said. “They look like they want to eat me.”

“It’s alright,” Thomas assured you. “Watch.”

He made a clicking noise with his tongue and the horses looked his way. He reached out, rubbing the snout of one.  You watched with awe, amazed  that such large creatures would bend to him.  The horse noticed you and you shrank away but Thomas took your hand in his. Then, he carefully placed it on the horse’s snout.

“It’s soft,” you said, “I thought they would vanish. They look like they’re made of shadows.”

Thomas chuckled at this and you smiled. You ignored the looks of the driver as Thomas helped you into the carriage. Fascinated by this new mode of transportation, you sat down and ran your hands over the cushions of the seats.  Thomas sat down next to you, watching you as you felt the fabric.

“Y/N?” 

You looked at him.

“How---how are you here?” He asked.

“It’s a rather long story,” You said.

“I’d love to hear it.”

So, you told him. You told him about how after meeting him, you kept thinking of him.  No matter what you did, you couldn’t forget him and it was driving you mad. Your sisters had noticed and asked what was wrong but you lied, telling them you were thinking about how you wanted a new seashell necklace.  After two weeks, you decided enough was enough and you had to do something about it. 

You had to see Thomas again.

Under the cover of night, you snuck off into the deepest, darkest waters to the home of Morwenna, the sea witch.  After explaining your problem, she told you she would help you but she warned you it was dangerous.  

That part you didn’t tell Thomas. You didn’t want him to know what giving up your tail would potentially cost. Or that if he didn’t feel anything for you, you’d turn into seafoam.

Morwenna had one of her anglerfish take you towards the surface along with a potion and a sack full of jewels. According to the witch, humans had to ‘pay’ for things. The jewels would help you do so. Once you drank the liquid, your tail started to split and you felt imessnese pain. It was so bad that you blacked out.  You think the angelfish pushed you towards the shore but you weren’t sure. As you told Thomas this, he never took his eyes off of you.

“I’m so happy to see you again,” he said, “These past two weeks have been such a nightmare.”

“They have?”

“I’ve done nothing but think of you,” he admitted.

“Then I made your life miserable.” You felt awful.

“No, don’t think that!  I can’t explain it but meeting you--it’s changed me,” Thomas turned your face to look at him. “You have no idea how happy I am that you’re here.”

“So you’re not upset?” 

“No. Although I wish you had been able to contact me,” Thomas smiled. “I could have brought you a dress.”

“A what?” 

You soon learned what a dress was.  The carriage arrived in town and once you saw other people, you pressed your face against the window.  There were so many people, dressed in such odd fabrics.  Thomas stopped the carriage and told you to wait for him. You pouted at first but he promised you’d be able to leave the carriage soon.  Not wanting to upset him, you agreed to wait.  A few minutes later, Thomas returned with two women.

“Hello!” you greeted them happily.

“Oh you poor thing!” one of them said, “Look at the state you're in.”

“I’m not poor or a thing,” you said but they ignored you.

“Come here dearest, we’ll get you cleaned up and we’ll find something proper for you to wear.”

You were confused and looked at Thomas. He gave you a small nod. Well, if he trusted these humans, you trusted them. They helped you out of the carriage, making sure Thomas' coat covered all of you and ushered you into a building. They took you towards the back and gave you a simple ‘dress’ to wear. You stared at it, wondering what to do with it. It was such an odd thing, why did humans wear them?

“Here dearie,” One of them said. “Let me help you.”

You were thankful for the help.  Once you were dressed, they began to ‘measure’ you. Measuring involved some long, yellow thing and a lot of notes. Curious, you grabbed at the yellow item and tugged at it.

“What is it?” You asked, holding it up.

“A measuring tape dear. Poor thing, your amnesia must be terrible. You don't remember anything.”

“I do remember things! I remember my name, it’s Y/N,” You said. “And who are you?”

“I’m Miss Chatterly and this is my daughter Elizabeth,” The elder of the two said. “Now stand still darling. We’re going to get your measurements and find you a dress.”

“Must I wear a dress?” 

“Of course dear, you want to be a proper woman, don’t you?”

You thought about this for a second.

“If I’m a proper woman, will Thomas like me?” you asked.

“I think he already likes you, my sweet,” Miss Chatterley chuckled. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, he’s obviously smitten.”

Smitten: you liked that word. You tried to be obedient and not move but everything was so interesting! Thankfully, Miss Chatterley and Elizabeth were patient as well as they were kind. After taking your measurements, Elizabeth went to start working on some dresses while Miss Chatterley found something for you to wear in the meantime. It was a gorgeous deep blue with white pearl buttons and black, lace detail on the back.  While you didn’t understand the point of dresses, it was pretty.

“It’s beautiful!” You said. “I love it!”

You needed some help walking out to Thomas. Walking was already hard enough but the dress made this difficult. Why did the women on the surface torture themselves like this?  But you had to be proper. Only a proper lady could win Thomas’ heart.  Thomas smiled when he saw you.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

“I feel beautiful if not a bit strange,” you replied. “The colors remind me of the ocean.”

“Now be careful dearest,” Miss Chatterley said, “It seems like you’ve forgotten how to walk too.”

“I’ve never walked before! I can’t forget something I never learned,” you said.

“You were right, Sir Thomas,” Miss Chatterley tutted, “That bump on the head must have really scrambled her noggin.”

“Indeed it has,” Thomas said, taking your hand, “I found her passed out and naked on the beach. I have no idea what happened to her but I vowed to make sure she was taken care of.”

That wasn’t a total lie but you were confused. Why did everyone keep talking about your head? You took the bag of jewels Thomas had been holding and reached into it. You pulled out a large sapphire and placed it in Miss Chatterley’s hand.

“Thank you for my first dress,” you said, wrapping your hand around hers. “I’ll cherish this forever.”

“My dear, this is too much,” she began to protest.

“Please, take it,” you smiled, “I cannot let your kindness go unrewarded.” 

“Oh goodness, thank you love,” Miss Chatterley grinned at you.

Thomas led you back out of the building, keeping a firm grip on you as you tried to walk. This was frustrating; Thomas made it look so easy.

“Here, watch my legs,” he said. “It’s one foot in front of the other.”

“It still feels peculiar,” you said, “It’s not like swimming at all.  How come it’s so easy for you?”

“Well, I had to learn as well,” Thomas said, leading you back to the carriage. “You see, when humans are babies, we can’t walk at all.  We start off by crawling, then we push ourselves up and start to toddle.”

“That’s fascinating! Tell me more,” you said. “Please? I want to learn more about humans. And I have questions too. Why did you tell Miss Chatterley I bumped my head?”

“Into the carriage first and then I’ll tell you more,” Thomas said.

You obeyed and got back into the carriage. It started again but instead of staring out the window, you leaned against Thomas. He tensed a bit before putting an arm around you.

“I remember you said that it was dangerous if anyone were to find out that you’re a mermaid,” he said. “So in order to not arouse suspicion, I told them you had bumped your head and gotten amnesia. It’s a condition where people lose their memory. That way no one would think you were odd for not understanding certain concepts.”

“Like dresses?”

“Yes, like dresses,” he chuckled, “Do you really dislike it?”

“No but it’s hard to move in,” you said. “But it’s what a proper lady does so I must wear one. What else does a proper lady do?”

“In all honesty, I prefer you just the way you are,” he said.

His words made your heart soar.  There was so much you wanted to tell him but you remained silent. Was it proper for a woman to declare how she felt for a man or should she stay quiet? This was all confusing; why couldn’t relationships be easier? 

“But what do proper ladies do?” you persisted.

“I suppose I’m the wrong person to answer that,” Thomas said with a smile. “But I suppose we could find someone to help you learn.”

“Like Miss Chatterley? She was so kind. And her daughter,” you said, “How sweet of them to make me dresses!”

“I suppose you could ask them your questions,” Thomas said as the carriage. “Alright, so this is where you’ll be staying.”

You looked out the carriage to see a large building. It was bigger than the other one and there were so many more people.  As Thomas helped you out, you couldn’t stop looking at everything.  Thomas led you to a human behind a large piece of wood who greeted you both.

“Hello good sir, I was hoping you would have a room for rent,” Thomas said. “I’ll be paying upfront and it’ll be for this young lady.”

“Of course sir,” the man said. 

You were given a key and led to a room. Instantly, you were drawn to a large item in the middle of it. You walked over to it and touched it. Oh, it was soft. You got on top of it, finding it was also bouncy. 

“What is this?” you asked Thomas.

“A bed,” Thomas said, “You sleep on it.”

“But it’s not made of coral,” you said, “And where are the fish?”

Curious, you crawled over to the edge of the bed and looked down. No, you didn’t see any fish.

“Do mermaids sleep in coral reefs?” Thomas asked.

“Yes and the fish keep us company,” you said, turning back to him, “Will I like a bed?”

“I think you will,” Thomas said smiling, “Will you be content here?”

There was something about his tone that felt off.

“You aren’t going to stay here with me, are you?”

Thomas’ smile vanished.

“I want to stay with you but--I need to keep you safe,” Thomas said, “I can’t explain it right now but there is someone in my life who wouldn't like you.”

“Why?” You asked.

How could someone dislike you if you hadn’t even met them yet?  Surely you couldn’t have made this person angry without having done something to them.  You waited for Thomas to say something, growing a tad frustrated. Crossing your arms, you sat on the bed and turned your head away from him.

“Y/N,” he said gently. “I have to keep you safe. I promise, I’ll come to see you everyday but for now, please stay here. Where it’s safe.”

“Fine,” you said, not looking at him. 

Were you being petty? Maybe, but you came all this way for Thomas. You were risking everything. There was a chance you’d never see your father or sisters again.  If Thomas didn’t love you, you’d turn into seafoam and never be able to swim again. Why couldn’t he understand that? 

“You can leave now,” you added, still feeling angry.

Thomas walked to you, getting down on his knees. 

“Y/N,” he said, taking your hand, “If anything were to happen to you, I'd never forgive myself.”

You stole a glance at Thomas; his blue eyes were shining with sincerity.  It was hard to stay angry at him when he looked at you that way.  While you wished he’d stay with you, you had to trust him. Thomas was the only human you knew. 

“Alright,” you said, “But you’ll come visit me right?”

“Of course,” Thomas said with a smile, “I promise to come back later for dinner but for now, stay put.”

“Okay Thomas.”

~*~

Thomas was enamored and worried at the exact same time.

Of course, he was enamored with Y/N. She was so different from the women around him. She was sweet, friendly and so curious. Constantly, she was asking questions. Other people seemed to fall under her spell as she became interested in everything around her. When he was with Y/N, all the she did was talk about the wonderful things the surface had to offer. Thomas was thankful that he could answer most of her questions.

He was worried because he knew it was only a matter of time before Lucille found out.  Lucille’s anger was terrifying. Thomas had never been on the receiving end of it thankfully but he had seen it. She was also a possessive woman; if Lucille saw him with Y/N, he’s not sure what he’d do. Run? Hide her? All he knew was that protecting Y/N was of the utmost importance. 

“Thomas, what are they doing?”

It was a nice, sunny day and the pair were walking along the busy streets of England. Y/N stopped to point at a four piece band, playing some music.

“They’re playing music,” He said. 

He should have realized she would have been interested and Y/N walked towards the men, completely engrossed. But then she started to sing.

Ah Danny boy, the pipes,

The pipes are calling

From glen to glen,

And down the mountain side

People stopped what they were doing and started to listen to Y/N’s melodic voice.  It was amazing how one voice held such power.  Thomas beamed as people surrounded her to listen to her perfect voice, his heart almost bursting with joy.  The more time he spent with Y/N, the deeper in love he fell.  He wanted to tell her so badly how he felt but he kept stopping. He’d have to deal with Lucille first, then he could tell Y/N

Applause rang out once she finished singing. After thanking the musicians, Y/N ran back over to Thomas.

“Oh Thomas, wasn’t that wonderful?” She asked.

“Of course it was,” Thomas said. “Anytime you sing, it’s wonderful. But how did you know the words?”

“I just do,” she replied smiling, “Mermaids have the ability to know all songs but we each have a special one.”

“Like the one you sang the first night we met?” Thomas asked.

“Yes,” she smiled again, making his heart giddy. “We’re each born with a song in our heart. Candle on the Water is mine.”

“It’s a beautiful song,” Thomas said. 

“Well,” she blushed, “It’s also a special song. You see---oh nevermind.”

“What? Don’t become shy now,” Thomas teased, “Tell me.”

“Merfolk find their soulmates through song,” she continued, “Our special song is supposed to connect to our soulmate and lead us to them.”

Thomas felt his heart stop. He took hold of Y/N’s hand and she stopped walking.

“By any chance, does the song work on humans?” he asked.

“I---I don’t know,” she replied, fidgeting slightly, “Is there a reason as to why you’re asking?

Thomas swallowed, staring into her eyes. He felt heat course through his body as Y/N closed her eyes and inched closer. Thomas was about to do the same when someone called his name.

“Thomas?” 

Thomas’ blood went cold as he turned to see his sister.  Lucille said nothing at first, staring at Y/N with a cold, calculating look.  Lucille was analyzing Y/N, seeing if she was a threat. Thomas prayed that Y/N would appear weak and helpless; that was the only way she’d be safe. With a tight lipped smile, Lucille looked back at Thomas.

“Who is this?” she asked.

“Oh, this is just an old acquaintance of mine,” Thomas said, laying a protective hand on Y/N. “Y/N, this is my sister Lucille.”

“A pleasure,” Y/N said curtly.

Maybe it was because their romantic moment had been ruined or she sensed Lucille’s venom but Y/N’s usually sunny dispotiston vanished. Thomas wasn’t sure if Lucille bought Thomas' lie but she continued to smile, acting as if everything was fine. 

“You’ve never mentioned her before,” Lucille continued, “I would think you’d mention such a good friend of yours.”

“I’m sorry, I must be going,” Y/N said suddenly, “Good day.”

Thomas watched as Y/N bolted down the street. His heart told him to chase after her but his brain told him to stop. If he made a scene, Lucille would realize Y/N was more than a friend. It hurt him to do so but Thomas let Y/N slip away. She looked back once but her eyes were sad. 

“Thomas,” Lucille said, “I thought you said you had a meeting today.”

“I did,” Thomas lied,  “But the meeting ended early and as I was heading back home, I happened to run into Y/N. We were just talking, remembering the old days.”

“Thomas,” Lucille stepped closer to him, “I know when you’re lying to me.  Tell me, who is she?”

“No one you need to worry about,” Thomas said. “Let’s go home.”

~*~

Thomas had mentioned Lucille to you before. She was his sister but Thomas didn’t talk of her lovingly, andhere was something off about their relationship. Thomas hadn’t stated it out right but you weren’t going to push him to talk about it. If he wanted to tell you, he would.  Meeting Lucille confirmed your sucsopions about her; she was evil. There was a bad aura around her, you could feel it. Thomas had tensed up when he had heard her voice. 

It had been two days since you had last seen Thomas and your heart was heavy. There was only one day left before you’d turn into seafoam.  You were standing by the window, looking out towards the ocean. You missed Oberon and regretted not saying goodbye to him when you had the chance. The shell you used to call him was still around your neck, but you hadn’t used it in days.  Maybe you could go say goodbye tonight. With another sigh, you grabbed your coat and headed to the door. 

You were shocked to find Lucille standing there.

“Lucille,” you said, stepping back. 

“Y/N,” Lucille’s voice was icy, “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“Oh,” you touched the shell around your neck, “I’ll be leaving town soon. I was going to say goodbye to a friend.”

“How quaint,” Lucille smiled but there was no warmth to it, “And what of Thomas?”

Your heart clenched.

“I don’t want to bother him,” you said, stepping past Lucille, “Excuse me.”

Lucille grabbed your arm, twisting it and making you wince.

“Yet you’ve been bothering him,” Lucille sneered, “Instead of working, he comes here to visit you, doesn’t he? I knew he was hiding something. I know him better than he knows himself, you see. I’ve been with him since the beginning.”

“Lucille, please let go,” you said.

“He needs me,” Lucille continued. “I’m the one who has always protected him. I protected him from mother and everyone else. They tried to take him away from me but we’re meant to be together.”

“What are you talking about?” you tried to get free, “Let me go.”

“You’re a distraction, a commodity, something to entertain him,” Lucille’s eyes looked mad, “But he always comes back to me. No one loves him the way I do.”

Realization hit you like a ton of bricks.

“That’s disgusting!” You managed to get your hand free. “You’re his sister!”

“Who are you to judge us?” Lucille stalked towards you, “You’re a little nothing with no name, no family, no title. You’re just a mysterious whore who has bewitched my brother. How long do you think you’d hide?”

“I’m leaving,” you said, trying to get to the stairs, “I’ll forget about Thomas and never come back.”

“That’s not good enough!”

Lucille grabbed you and turned you around, a knife in her hand. Fear seized your body as she pointed it towards your neck.

“You’re coming with me.”

The streets were barren as Lucille marched you down towards the pier. Tears streamed down your face as you obeyed, your heart twisted and body hurting.  Tomorrow would come and you’d be no more. Your father, your sisters and Obreon; you’d never get to see them again. It all hurt but what hurt the most was not being able to see Thomas again. What a fool you had been; all this time and you hadn’t been able to tell him.

You stumbled as you reached the docks. Lucille grabbed you by the hair, forced you up. Your legs felt weak as your bones began to fade. Tears continued to roll down your cheeks as you marched towards your fate. Even if you jumped into the water, you couldn’t swim for long before you transformed into seafoam. How you wished you could call Oberon but with Lucille at your back, you were afraid to make a move.

“You’re going to jump into the water and drown yourself,” Lucille commanded, “In the morning, I’ll tell Thomas that you’ve left. Saddened and heartbroken, he’ll be mine once more.”

Anger filled you; how dare she treat Thomas like an object.  This wasn’t love, it was obsession. Maybe you’d die or turn into foam but you wanted to take one more risk. Just one more. Sighing, you opened up your mouth and began to sing.

I'll be your candle on the water

My love for you will always burn

I know your lost and drifting,

But the clouds are lifting

Don't give up you have somewhere to turn

“What are you doing?” Lucille pressed the knife to your back, “Stop that.”

But you didn’t stop. You kept singing. IF the legends were true, Thomas would hear you wherever you were. Even when Lucille pushed the knife into your back, you continued to sing through the pain.

“Lucille, stop!” 

You turned around to see Thomas standing behind the two of you. You smiled but Lucille pushed the knife in deeper, making you cry out.

“I won’t stop until she’s dead!” Lucille shouted, “You swore you’d never fall in love with anyone else.”

“I’m sorry Lucille,” Thomas took a step forward, “I---I heard her song.”

It was true. Thomas was your soulmate. Your song had reached him and he had used it to find you. Lucille looked confused but only for a second. Enraged, she took the knife out of your back and you slumped down, unable to stand. The loss of blood and your body changing was too much to bear.

“Are you saying you love her?” Lucille asked.

“Yes,” Thomas got closer, “Lucille, I fell in love with her the moment I heard her song.”

Lucille stared at Thomas, bewildered. Her grip was still on the knife and you realized something; once you were dead, she’d kill Thomas. With what little strength you had, you grabbed the shell and placed it to your lips. Lucille knocked the shell out of your hand and raised the knife to stab you again. You heard Thomas shout her name but it was no use; she was in a blind rage.

“This is all your fault!” she shouted.

Closing your eyes, you braced for impact. Then you heard bubbling in the water. The knife fell from Lucille’s hand and you opened your eyes to see a familiar tentacle. Lucille backed away, terrified as Oberon came out from the depths, his golden eyes filled with anger.  The octopus lashed out and grabbed her by the waist, tossing her up like she weighed nothing. Thomas ran to your side, watching as Oberon broke Lucille’s waist. Once she was dead, Oberon threw her into the ocean and got closer to the dock.

“Oh, Oberon,” you said sadly, “I missed you. I’m so sorry I didn’t say goodbye.”

“No,” Thomas grabbed your hand. “Y/N, please don’t talk like that.”

“I’m sorry Thomas,” you said, pressing your head to his. “I’m too late. I never told you that I love you.”

“Too late? What do you mean?” 

“She’s talking about the price for her legs,” a familiar voice said.

You turned around to see Oberon held Morwenna the sea witch on one tentacle. The crab woman stepped onto the dock and walked over to you.  

“Morwenna?” you asked.

“You see,” Morwenna crouched down, “For a merfolk to stay on the surface with their human love, they must confess their feelings and those feelings must be recioprated. If not, they turn into seafoam.”

“What? Y/N, why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” Thomas asked.

“I didn’t want you to fake your feelings,” you said, “But it’s okay. I made peace with what is going to happen to me.”

“Oh, you needn’t be dramatic dear,” Morwenna reached into a pouch around her waist, “You won’t be going anywhere. Here, eat this.”

Morwenna offered you a pearl and you popped it into your mouth. It burst, releasing a bitter liquid into your mouth. You gagged.

“What was that?” Thomas asked.

“For her wound,” Morwenna said. “Now, stand up dear.”

Your confusion was growing but Morwenna seemed so calm. Thomas stood up and offered his hand. You took it and found your legs were working. In fact, they felt firm. 

“I don’t understand,” you said, “I was too late.”

“No, you weren’t,” Morwenna grinned, pointing to Thomas, “His confession saved you.”

“It did? So, can I stay?” you turned to Thomas, “With you?”

“Y/N,” Thomas caressed your face, “From the moment I saw you, I adored you. I’ve been wanting to tell you how much I loved you for days but I was too afraid.”

“Afraid of what?” you asked.

“Afraid of rejection, afraid Lucille would find you,” he said, “But now she’s gone. Please Y/N, stay with me. I love you.”

Oberon suddenly burbled, his big, round eyes tinged with sadness.

“Oh Oberon,” you smiled at him, “I’ll never forget you, how could I? You saved us both. I will visit you, I promise. But my home is on the surface now.”

Oberon reached out his tentacle and rubbed your face. He then playfully grabbed Thomas' hat, pushing it down on his face. 

“He’s saying he trusts you,” you told Thomas. 

“Well then,” Thomas fixed his hat, “Thank you Oberon. I promise I’ll keep her safe, no matter what the costs.”

“Happy endings all around,” Morwenna said, “I’m so happy things worked out for you dear.”

“But it wouldn’t have been possible without you,” you said, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“No thanks are necessary,” Morwenna walked back towards the sea, “I’ll tell your father you're safe. He’ll probably come to visit so be on the lookout. Farewell you two.”

You waved goodbye as Morwenna climbed onto Oberon’s head and they departed. When they were gone, you turned to Thomas.

“I love you,” you said.

“I love you too,” he returned.

And finally, you kissed him.

[atinyrabbit]

love/hate songs

Since 8tracks is messed up and playmoss is gonna disappear and Spotify doesn't have many songs, I’m posting some of my playlists here. This is a list of songs about love/hate relationships for pairings. Enemies to lovers, tsundere personalities, hero/villain couplings, opposites attract, loving someone you know you shouldn't. This list is several years old so the songs are older and kinda ‘scene.’

Major trigger warnings for the lyrics of these songs. Some songs have violent lyrics. This playlist romanticizes conflict.

Song list under read more:

Love to Hate You - Erasure Nicotine - Panic! at the Disco Don't Let It Go To Your Head - Fefe Dobson Your Love Will Kill Me - Daniel Lavoie Bruises and Bitemarks (Remix) - Good With Grenades October & April - The Rasmus feat. Anette Olzon Violator - Son of Rust Sick Amore - El Creepo Disgusting - Ke$ha Dangerous - Depeche Mode Oleander - Mother Mother Fear & Delight - The Correspondents Love is a Suicide - Natalia Kills Sex as a Weapon - Pat Benatar I'd Love To Kill You - Katie Melua Before I Ever Met You - Banks Rent - Pet Shop Boys Helpless When She Smiles - Backstreet Boys Holy - Zolita Strangelove - Depeche Mode I Won't Say (I'm In Love) - Susan Egan Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd Only You - Ellie Goulding Devil Devil - Milck Livin' In A World Without You - The Rasmus  

Hate Love - Adelitas Way Suddenly - Peter Heppner Sick and Twisted Affair - My Darkest Days Radioactive Mirrors - Amazinglyjon Dangerous - Cascada Violence (Club Mix) - Grimes & i_o This Is Love - Air Traffic Controller Make Hate To Me - Citizen Soldier Gently Break It - Beck Pete Portrait of a Female - Cruel Youth This Could Be Love - Alkaline Trio Lie, Lie, Lie - Myra You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi I Only Wanna Be With You - Volbeat Maybe You're Not the Worst Thing Ever - Cast of Galavant I've Got You Under My Skin - Seether Human - Oh Land Le Bien Qui Fait Mal - Mozart, L'Opera Rock Can't Help Falling In Love [Light x Dark Remix] - feat. Brooke Tommee Profitt Fell For You - Green Day Stupid Grin - Dragonette Broken - Lauren Hoffman Take Me to Church - Hozier Super Psycho Love - Simon Curtis Whip - Mr.Kitty   Get You Off - Fefe Dobson Crazy Girl - Ke$ha Vice - POP ETC Cannibal - Silversun Pickups Rest in Peace - Original Cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Hem of Your Garment - Cake Tear You Apart - She Wants Revenge Truth Or Dare - Marianas Trench We Sink - CHVRCHES Gingerbread Man - Melanie Martinez You Stupid Girl - Framing Hanley   Die For You - Red F*cking Boyfriend - The Bird & The Bee Mean - Nicole Dollanganger Must Be Crazy for Me - Melissa Etheridge That Girl - Alexz Johnson FMLYHM - Seether Bad Romance - Halestorm Aquarius - Within Temptation Flirt (With Me) - Zeromancer I'm With Stupid - Pet Shop Boys Stop This Song (Love Sick Melody) - Paramore Trying Not To Love You - Nickelback Kill for You - Zolita A Love Like War - All Time Low You Need Me - SWANS Hatef--k - The Bravery Bottled Affection - Cold War Kids True Love - ThouShaltNot Terrible Thing - Ag I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters Exit Wounds - The Romanovs Gun - Chvrches Every Breath You Take - Chase Holfelder Whole Lotta Love - Smash Mouth Bloodsport - Sneaker Pimps XXX - Imran-C Bitter Rivals - Sleigh Bells Destruction Of Us - Mr.Kitty Teeth - 5 Seconds of Summer Love Me Dead - Ludo Paralyzed - The Used River - Bishop Briggs Neon - VERSA Sucker For Pain - Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa & Imagine Dragons I'm Your Villain - Franz Ferdinand Beautiful Monster - Ne-Yo I Own You - Birgit Let Me Be Your Armor - ASSEMBLAGE 23 Perfect Enemy - t.A.T.u. Straight for the Knife - Sia One More Night - Maroon 5 I Hate You (Don't Leave Me) - Ke$ha The Moth - Aimee Mann Mad Love - The Veronicas Toxic (Acoustic Britney Spears Cover) - Johnny Goth Bad Intentions - Digital Daggers Shut Up - Nick Lachey Soldier - Bitter Ruin First Bad Habit - Vanessa Hudgens In The Darkness - Dead By Sunrise Tearin' Up My Heart - *NSYNC You'll Be Back - Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton & Jonathan Groff Crazy In A Good Way - VERIDIA Combat Baby - Metric In Bluebeard's Castle - Unwoman When Doves Cry - Prince State of Seduction - Digital Daggers Whataya Want From Me - Adam Lambert Broken Inside - Broken Iris Murder (feat. Minx, Chilled) - Boyinaband Why Do You Love Me - Charlotte Lawrence Follow You Home - Nickelback Love To See You Cry - Enrique Iglesias Impressed - Natalie Imbruglia Die For You - Megan McCauley Your Kind (Speak to Me) - Danger Radio Tyrant - The Bravery Violent Games - Polica Toxicated Love - NEO Nemeses (feat. John Roderick) - Jonathan Coulton Miserable - Lit Running From My Shadow - The Velvet Teaparty Barricade - Stars Trouble (Stripped) - Halsey Brutal Hearts - Bedouin Soundclash Desire - Meg Myers Sticks And Stones - The Pierces Just the Girl - The Click Five Himerus and Eros - The Spill Canvas Blood - In This Moment I'm Insane - Myah Marie Fiction (Dreams In Digital) - Orgy Whore - In This Moment Monster - Ryan Adames Foundations - Kate Nash Only When I Lose Myself - Depeche Mode Hatchet - Archive The Beginning of the Twist - The Futureheads Change - Deftones Trust Me - Marc Senter Love Me Hate Kiss Me Kill Me (Scndl Remix) - Fukkk Offf Big Bad Handsome Man - Imelda May The Mighty Fall - Fall Out Boy My Obsession - Cinema Bizarre Stitches - Orgy Miss Kiss Kiss Bang - Alex Swings Oscar Sings! Sweet Dreams - Beyonce Fuel To The Fire - The Maine Closer (Nine Inch Nails Cover) - Niki Barr Band Clueless - Orla Gartland Devil Woman - Cliff Richard Hatefuck - Motionless In White I Love You But I Don’t Like You - Molly Moore Overpower Thee - AUF dER MAUR Get Down On Your Knees And Tell Me You Love Me - All Time Low Post Blue - Placebo Genghis Khan - Miike Snow Poison - Alice Cooper I Know I'm A Wolf - Young Heretics Little Toy Gun - honeyhoney I Miss the Misery - Halestorm Dirty Sticky Floors (radio mix) - Dave Gahan Clarity - Zedd I Get A Kick Out Of You - Frank Sinatra I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Die for You - Otherwise Labyrinth - Oomph! Black Black Heart - David Usher I Want to Destroy Something Beautiful - Josh Woodward I'm a Priest - Daniel Lavoie You Need Me - SWANS Afraid of the Dark - Phildel Virus - Ryan Adames I Wanna Be Your Dog (remix) - Emilie Simon Hello Goodbye - The Beatles Sarcasm (Album Version) - Get Scared Use Me - Hinder Poison & Wine - The Civil Wars Pretty When You Cry - VAST Tainted Love - Soft Cell Scream - Avenged Sevenfold Think About It - Danger Radio Gallery Piece - Of Montreal Bang Bang Bang Bang - Sohodolls Little Girls - Say Anything I Hate Everything About You - Three Days Grace Love Runs Out - OneRepublic Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins Hit Me Like a Man - The Pretty Reckless Bang Bang (feat. Adam Levine) - K'naan Hurts So Good - John Mellencamp Addicted - Kelly Clarkson Whiplash - FEMM Paralyzer - Finger Eleven Crime - Temposhark Misery Loves Company - Emilie Autumn It Was Good for You Too - Marian Call Price Of Company - The White Tie Affair Burn! - Kobra And The Lotus I Love My Lawyer - Ofelia K I Want Blood - empires (I Always Kill) The Things I Love (ft. The Real Tuesday Weld) - Claudia Brucken Misery (Cutmore Radio) - Maroon 5 Fire and Ice - Pat Benatar I Lust You - Neon Neon Pistol Whipped - Marilyn Manson Bitches Brew - Crosses A Formidable Marinade - Mikelangelo And The Black Sea Gentlemen Control - Puddle of Mudd Scary Love - Skye Sweetnam Loveyouhateyou - Sad Robot Untangle Me - Snow Ghosts A Little Taste - Skyler Stonestreet E.V.O.L - Marina and the Diamonds   (You're the) Devil in Disguise - Elvis Presley Shut Up & Kiss - Me Orianthi Cool for Chaos - Nostalghia Oyeme - Enrique Iglesias I Hate You - Sick Puppies GirlShapedLoveDrug - Gomez You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk - Pet Shop Boys Need You Like A Drug - Zeromancer Werewolf - Cat Power Bathwater - No Doubt Bad Dog - Neon Hitch Guns And Horses - Ellie Goulding Rev 22-20 - Puscifer Won't You Please Be Nice - Nellie McKay The Perfect Drug - Nine Inch Nails Until The Day I Die - Story of the Year Womanizer - Britney Spears Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations I Think I Love You David Cassidy Stalkers - Mindless Self Indulgence   Kill Me Every Time - Blue Stahli Preface - FKA twigs Every You Every Me - Placebo Want - Disturbed Spit It Out - IAMX Destroy Me - Mr Kitty My Sweet Prince - Placebo Psycho - Imelda May Monster - Meg Myers Figured You Out - Nickelback Suffocated Love - Tricky Satisfy Me One More Time - Frank Sinatra This Love - Maroon 5 Miss Jackson (feat. Lolo) - Panic! At The Disco Fire and Ice - Pat Benatar Every Other Time Lyte - Funky Ones How Do You Love Someone - Ashley Tisdale Poison - Gin Wigmore Bitter and Sick - One Two The Outsider - Marina & the Diamonds True Love (feat Lily Rose Cooper) - Pink Bad Boy - Cascada Irresistible - Temposhark Painkiller - The Queenstons Born to Die / Russian Roulette - Amazinglyjon Like Sugar - Matchbox Twenty Mad About You - Hooverphonic Stupify - Disturbed Problems - Mother Mother What Is Love - Haddaway Animal - The Cab Marionette - Antonia I Hate You But I Love You - Russian Red Carve A Name - Mother Mother Criminal - Britney Spears Danger - Hilary Duff Fell in Love w/an Android - Simon Curtis Demon Lover - Róisín Murphy Always - Saliva Too Close - Alex Clare Little of Your Time - Maroon 5 Sex and Violence - Scissor Sisters Electric Storm - Delta Goodrem Black widow - Susanne Sundf��r Dangerous Kind - Rasmus You've Really Got a Hold on Me - The Miracles Over and Over - Three Days Grace Devour - Marilyn Manson Nature of Inviting - IAMX The Odd Couple - Weezer Hurt Me Harder - Zolita Terrible Love - The National Mad Love - Jojo Boomerang - Reliant K Bad News - Sleeper Agent I Was An Island (EP Version) - Allison Weiss Rock Bottom - Hailee Steinfeld You’re the One That I Want - Lo Fang Poison - Rita Ora Kill For You - Skylar Grey ft Eminem Wouldn't Be Love - Ritual Hate Me - Nico Collins Irresistible - Fall Out Boy I Love You... I'll Kill You - Enigma

[below-average-fangirl]

A Sky Full of Stars

Fandom: Pete’s Dragon

Pairing: Gavin Magary/ Mackenzie (OC)

Warnings: Smut, Fluff

Summary: Gavin reconnects with an old flame

Fan Fiction Masterlist

Link to story on AO3

Fastening the laces on her boots Mackenzie tried to figure out if tonight counted as a first date or if it was just her and Gavin picking up where they'd left off 15 years ago. The butterflies in her stomach certainly made it feel like a first date but then Gavin had always had that ability to make her knees feel weak. He only had to flash that boyish smile at her. Mac had anticipated the possibility that Gavin would ask her out and she’d prepared speech, which she had rehearsed countless times in her head that covered all the key points. That it wasn’t a good idea to retread old ground, it would ruin the friendship they’d built since her return to Millhaven and that she was still hurting from the separation with James. 

But when Gavin had come swaggering into the office as she looked over his business accounts, seemingly self-assured and asked if he could take her out on a date she found her body betraying her rational mind, her cheeks blushed and her heart beat faster as she said yes, she’d love to. Her heart had swelled at the relief which flickered across his face. Mac knew that an awful lot of Gavin's bravado was built on shaky ground that he was constantly looking for reassurance and validation.

A knock at the door startled Mac from her meditations. Jumping up from the bottom of the stairs she dove for the door in eagerness, resting her hand on the doorknob she took a calming breath as she opened the door and greeted Gavin. The soft glow of the hallway light cast across his face framing him beautifully. “Hey.” She breathed, caught a little off guard.

“Hey.” He smiled. “You ready?”

“Er yeah just give me one sec let me just say goodnight to Jessica.”

“Sure.” Gavin nodded.

Turning to head to the living room Mac rolled her eyes and chastised herself. Get a grip, she thought, you should be used to the sight of his face.

Mac made her way over to Jessica who was sitting on the floor by the coffee table playing chess with Casey, her babysitter. Mac leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Jessica’s forehead. 

“Okay sweetheart,” Mac cooed, “you can stay up till 9, no later alright.”

“Yes, mom.” Jessica’s eyes remained fixed on the board trying to work out her next move

“Casey if there are any issues just call Grace and feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Stephens.” Mac had learned not to let the use of her married name cut her anymore.

“See you in the morning,” Mac said as she gave Jessica another kiss before whispering. “Knight to...” But Jessica cut her off.

“Mom no, that’s cheating, let me figure it out.”

Mac stood up straight, hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay just wanted to help.” She said as he backed out of the living room laughing quietly to herself. 

“Everything okay?” Gavin asked as Mac closed the door behind her and they made their way to his truck. 

“Yeah, Jessica found an old chessboard of mine so I’ve been teaching her, but we’re at the stage where I’m no longer allowed to help. Apparently.”

Gavin made his way over to the driver’s side. “Ah. Yeah, Nate is very much at that stage as well. Has been since she was about 5.”

Both climbed into the truck and Gavin turned the ignition. 

Gavin hadn’t told Mac where they were going, he simply advised her to wrap up warm. Making their way down the road they sat in silence for a while before Gavin pointed to the glove compartment. 

“Do me a favor and grab a tape out of there. Be nice to have some music.”

“Sure.” Mac thought nothing of it till she opened the compartment and saw there was only one tape in there, her mouth dropped when she recognized her handwriting on the case. Gavin was watching her from the corner of his eye. 

“Oh my God Gavin is this,” Mac snatched up the cassette, turning it over in her hands, her careful and clear script showing the song and artists and her artwork as a cover. “I can’t believe you kept this.”

“Of course I kept it.” He glanced at her smiling. “Most thoughtful gift I’ve ever had.”

Mac could feel tears prick in the corner of her eyes. Leaning across the cab she placed an arm across Gavin’s shoulders as she gave a peck on the cheek, his stubble rough but not unpleasant against her soft lips. They glanced nervously at one another, the atmosphere in the cab becoming thick and heavy with anticipation. Sitting back in her seat, Mac opened the cassette box and put the tape in the deck. She smiled with glee when the soft sounds of Blackbird by The Beatles wafted from the speakers.

“You always had the best taste in music.”

Mac leaned back in the seat and smiled at Gavin. “I think I know where you're taking me.”

***

Gavin parked the truck and cut the engine so that the music would keep playing. Mac moved to open the door but Gavin laid a hand on her shoulder. “Just wait a sec, let me get everything sorted.”

Mac nodded and Gavin hopped out. Mac felt the truck move slightly as he lowered the tailgate as he stepped into the back. Looking through the window she watched as Gavin moved the plastic covering revealing blankets, cushions, and a picnic basket and set about rearranging everything. When he was done he looked through the window at Mac, smiling and beckoning for her to come out. Mac turned up the volume on the music and stepped out of the truck.

Gavin held his hands out to Mac who took hold of them for support as she put one foot onto the wheel and pushed herself up, swinging her other leg over the side of the truck and stepped into the flatbed. She stood staring out across the view before her, the view of the valley with Millhaven off in the distance and the forest stretching far and wide. The night air littered with bright stars. For the time in a long time, she felt like she was home. Mac cupped her hands together, bringing them to her mouth blowing hot air into them to warm them.

“You know the first time we did this it was summer.”

Gavin gestured for her to sit down. “Don’t worry I’ll keep you warm.” He said as he knelt to grab something from the picnic basket. “Hot chocolate.” He grinned, shaking the flask as he picked up two mugs.

Handing the mugs to Mac he sat down beside her, pulling a blanket over them before opening the flask. He poured them each a small portion of hot cocoa before closing the flask and laying it beside him as he took a mug from Mac, he held it out to toast. “To second chances?”

They clinked mugs. “Second chances.”, Mac whispered before taking a small sip, watching Gavin. She brushed her hair away from her face, “I remember for our other first here we had champagne.”

Gavin looked at her over his mug as he drank, gathering his thoughts. “Do you remember that first with fondness?”

Mac reached out a hand, caressing his cheek with her palm, “Of course I do.”  

Gavin looked away, somewhat embarrassed gathering his feelings before he looked at her again. “It’s just, you know it wasn’t my finest hour our break-up and I was worried that might have tarnished any memory you had of me.” 

Mac dropped her hand. “I can’t lie. It did for a little while, you accusing me like that in front of all my friends. But as time went on,” she shrugged. “I realized I hadn’t put a lot of work into us when I was at college. I let you carry that load a little too much.” 

“So you forgive me?”

Mac smiled warmly at him and leaned forward to give a chaste kiss on the lips. “Yes.” She said as she pulled apart, his hazel eyes seemed to ignite with a desire she hadn’t seen nor felt in a long time. 

Finishing her cocoa Mac placed her mug on top of the roof of the cabin before shuffling down to lie on her back to look up at the stars. Gavin drained his mug, placing it alongside hers before also moving to lie on his back beside her. Silence fell between them again, the sounds of the forest mingling with the music from her mixed tape.

“Any chance of spotting a shooting star do you think?” She asked as she looked over at Gavin he was watching her intently. 

“Possibly. Although it’s been a while since I did some stargazing.”

“I assume then you’re still hopeless with the constellations and their names.”

Gavin looked to the night sky, pointing to random clusters of stars. “Oh yeah, the erm, the skid bucket, and the onion.”

Giggling Mac turned on her side, sitting up one arm as she took hold of Gavin’s hand, drawing out the constellations. “You mean Cetus and Orion.” She looked down at him, her long auburn hair falling around her face, there’s eyes locked on one another as she let go of his hand. “Guess I wasn’t a very good teacher.”

Gavin moved to mirror her position, reaching out to brush her hair from her face, his palm resting against her cheek, his voice was low and husky when he spoke “No. I was just distracted by something else."

Mac's breath hitched, closing her eyes when Gavin lightly ran his thumb across her lips before his hand shifted to rest at the nape of her neck. His hot breath tickled her lips before he laid his mouth on hers. The sharpness of his stubble against her skin was in stark contrast to how soft and tender his kiss was as if he was asking for permission to deepen it. Mac's answer came in the form of her hand fisting his jacket, pulling him closer. It was all the invitation Gavin needed as he rolled her onto her back, conscious to straddle her hips to keep his weight off her. 

The feeling of Gavin on top of her caused Mac to moan into his mouth. It had been so long since she felt desired like this and if she could engage her rational mind, to tell herself why this was too much too fast she would have ignored it. Unzipping his jacket she pushed it from his shoulders and they broke apart, panting as he sat up to remove the item, while she worked on removing her own. Gavin’s mouth was on her again in an instance as his hand slipped under her shirt, she gasped at his cold touch against her warm skin.

“Sorry.”

“‘S okay,” Mac mumbled in pleasure. “Don’t stop. But the first time we did this it was also summer.” They smiled at one another, sharing the joke as the memory of that night shone brightly in their eyes. Gavin returned his lips to hers, his tongue sweeping into her mouth as his hand under her shirt drifted upwards. 

When he ran the pad of his thumb over the delicate lace of her bra, teasing her sensitive bud, Mac grabbed his thick lush hair, running her slender fingers through it. It felt so good to have him close to her, him touching her like this but she wanted more of him. Letting go of his hair she ran her hands down the length of his muscular and toned body, stopping when she reached his belt buckle. 

Taking the hint Gavin pulled his hand out from her shirt and sat up slightly as he worked on unbuttoning Mac’s pants. Without being told Mac lifted her hips to make it easier for him to pull down her pants and underwear and when he slid a finger into her folds, his thumb massaging her clit, Mac let out a soft groan at his touch. She knew it wouldn't take much to bring her to the edge, she honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd been touched like this, with care and love. 

"Gavin." She pleaded as she pushed his jeans off his hips. 

Not needing to be told twice Gavin removed his fingers from inside her and rested his weight on his arms, placing them either side of Mac's head, they looked intently into one another's eyes with Mac holding his length as she helped guide him into her. She was tight and wet and Gavin buried his face into her neck muffling his groans. 

Wrapping her arms around his neck, her mouth close to his ear Mac whispered. "It's been a while." She suddenly felt self-conscious. 

Lifting his head to look at her Gavin spoke quietly. “We don’t have to...”

But Mac covered his mouth with her hand, silencing him. “Just be gentle, okay.” 

He nodded, smiling kindly which made his eyes sparkle, and his cheeks dimple. Mac realized for the first time how much she’d missed him. Falling for him came so easily to her, he always was the most handsome man she’d ever known. 

Gavin shifted his weight slightly, so he could lean more on one side to free up a hand. Taking hold of Mac’s hand he kissed her fingers tenderly as he slowly rolled his hips back and forward. “Whatever you need.” He whispered, letting go of her hand so he could once mare slip his own underneath her shirt, his fingers dancing across her skin before he began palming her breasts.

Mac’s eyes rolled back in her head and she arched into him. “Fuck. Gavin.” She panted, she was suddenly desperate to touch him, to feel his skin against her fingers, reaching down she slipped her hands into his jeans, grabbing at his ass. Gavin let out a groan. 

“You always had the best bum of all the boys.” Mac smiled when soft chuckles shook Gavin’s body at her confession. Pressing her lips to his ear, her voice laced with desire as she spoke. “I used to love watching you play baseball, your ass in those tight, white trousers, bent over the plate, so pert. Mmm. Could just take a bite” She whispers, taking his lobe between her teeth.

Gavin hissed, his head resting against her shoulder. “Jesus Mac.” He panted as he increased his pace. “Fuck. Mac. You feel so good.” 

Moving his hand from her breast, sliding it down her torso he slipped his fingers between her legs and started massaging her clit, Mac let out a strangled cry. Smiling to himself Gavin covered her mouth with his, kissing her like he wanted to devour her, capturing her moans and mews as she reached the climax of her orgasm. His own soon followed and he collapsed on top of her, both panting heavily. Gavin enjoyed the feeling of being held in Mac’s arms as they calmed their breathing. 

Stroking his hair, Mac placed a kiss on his cheek, breathing in the scent of him, pine cones, and soap. Looking up at the night sky her vision slowly came back into focus as she watched the stars, she smiled as she saw a shooting star pass overhead, closing her eyes she made a wish. 

Mac gently nudged Gavin to rouse him. "Hey. You missed it."

"Certainly didn't sound like I missed it."

Mac burst into fits of laughter. "I mean a shooting star, you idiot." 

“Oh.” Gavin lifted himself and smiled down at Mac, slowly pulling himself out of her. “Nice to know I still have it.” He bragged, tucking himself back into his underwear, and redoing his jeans.

“God.” Mac cried out with mock exasperation as she pulled up her pants and underwear. “You’re such a bloke sometimes.”

“With a fine ass though.” Gavin picked up a blanket and as he laid down on his side next to Mac covering them both with it as he continued poking fun at Mac. “Have you been ogling me the whole time you’ve been back then.”

“Obviously,” Mac said grinning, turning to face him. “I hate seeing you go, but boy, do I love watching you leave.”

“Well, now I feel all self-conscious.” Gavin jokes. “Every time I’m around you from now on, all I will be thinking about is you checking out my ass. And what happens if you find another ass you like more.”

Giggling Mac pushed Gavin onto his back, kissing him to shut him up. “Yours has always been the ass for me.” She said when she broke the kiss.

“Promise?” Gavin asked smiling, as he slid an arm around Mac’s waist.

“Promise.” She whispered as he rested her head on his shoulder, making sure they were both covered with the blanket.

Gavin placed a kiss to Mac’s temple as she snuggled closer to him. As silence fell over them, for the first time they noticed the music was no longer playing, the only sound was the forest and their soft breathing. And as they lay there in one another's arms, happy to have found each other again, a second shooting star passed by overhead.

[letterboxd]

Drawing Closer.

Animation lovers: watchlists at the ready. From action capers to Irish folk tales, in 3DCG or the humble pencil, by manga legends and raucous newcomers, Letterboxd’s animation correspondent Kambole Campbell picks ten new feature films we’re excited to see.

When the gears of the live-action film industry ground to a near-halt earlier this year, animators were still at work. As a medium that, at its most fundamental level, is controlled fully by the imaginations of its creators, this might be the one element of the screen industry that has some kind of ability to operate throughout the pandemic.

Based on previews from this year’s online edition of the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival, there’s a lot to look forward to that’s still in the works, even now. With everything from blockbuster capers and fantastical alternate histories, explorations of folklore and real human stories alike, we can expect a spoil of boundless and endlessly creative films limited only by the imaginations of those drawing them.

Here are ten animated features I’m specifically excited for, in no particular order (except for the first—fight me if you like, Masaaki Yuasa will always win).

Inu-Oh Directed by Masaaki Yuasa / Due to release in 2021

If there’s one new animated film to watch in the next year, make it Inu-Oh (but also, don’t limit yourself to one). Masaaki Yuasa has proven himself time and again to be one of the most exciting and versatile animation directors alive, as well as potentially the busiest. With his studio, Science Saru, this year alone he directed two television series—the fantastic ode to animators, Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!!, and the intense Netflix disaster series Japan Sinks: 2020—as well as the melancholy, romantic feature film Ride Your Wave.

Inu-Oh looks to be just as imaginative and wild as anything else Yuasa-san has made, based on the work-in-progress glimpse at Annecy. Set in fourteenth-century Japan, the film is based on Hideo Furukama’s novel about the legendary masked Noh theater performer Inu-Oh, born with “unique characteristics”, which lead them to cover their entire body. Both novel and film focus on their close friendship with the blind biwa hōshi (lute priest) Tomona, and the success they find together.

“We often think of history as moving in one straight line, but it actually branches off, and people and events in those branches have been forgotten or disappeared,” Yuasa-san said during the Annecy preview. Inu-Oh explores those hidden branches through an anachronistic reimagining of the roots of traditional Japanese entertainment. The main idea: what if the performers of Noh theater were treated like Japan’s pop idols of today? Yuasa-san described the main characters as “kind of like The Beatles” of 1300s Japan.

On credits alone there’s a lot of promise, with the legendary Taiyō Matsumoto— the mangaka who created Tekkonkinkreet and Ping Pong (and collaborated with Yuasa-san on the latter’s fantastic anime adaptation)—lending his eccentric yet elegant designs to the film. The preview opened with minute movements comprised of rough, wide almost painterly brushstrokes, an art style almost completely unlike anything Yuasa-san has done previously.

As it turns out, this is but one way of representing the world of Inu-Oh, through the perspective of Tomona, a Notes on Blindness-esque way of representing how Tomona perceives things. From those small glimpses, Inu-Oh looks to be a beautiful, anthropological piece built with both the same free-form style that characterizes the rest of his work, and perhaps something more classical as well.

Wolfwalkers Directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart / Coming to theaters and Apple TV+ in late 2020 after a September 12 premiere at TIFF

Made and set in Kilkenny, home to the acclaimed animation studio Cartoon Saloon, the much-anticipated Wolfwalkers is inspired by animation’s past, Celtic legend, and the local area’s history. Set in 1650, Wolfwalkers takes place amidst attempts by the English (Cromwell, specifically) to pacify and tame Ireland. Representative of those wild elements the English are seeking to eradicate are the ‘wolfwalkers’—people blessed by Saint Patrick with the power to leave their bodies at night and become wolves during their sleep (Irish werewolves, essentially). The story follows an English girl, Robyn Goodfellowe (Honor Kneafsey), who moves to Ireland with her father Bill (Sean Bean), to help carry out Cromwell’s plan to kill the wolves.

Like his previous film, Song of the Sea (2014), co-director Tomm Moore says this new film is based upon a childhood story common amongst those living in Kilkenny. And like his previous films (including 2009’s The Secret of Kells), it looks to be a visual feast, with a mixture of dynamic camera styles, pre-viz work and hand-drawn animation for moments like its ‘wolf-vision’. Moore draws the ideological divide between the English and the Irish into every scratch of pencil, the occupied cities comprised of rigid lines and angular designs, while the forest and its inhabitants are more free-flowing and unkempt.

Moore cited the rough charcoal lines of Isao Takahata’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya as one influence on the Cartoon Saloon animators’ approach; the way that Robin is drawn gradually changing along with her worldview. Cartoon Saloon is yet to make a bad film, and Wolfwalkers looks like it might be the company’s most beautiful myth yet.

Stay tuned to The Letterboxd Show for an interview with Tomm Moore.

Over The Moon Directed by Glen Keane / Due on Netflix, late 2020

The feature directorial debut of animation legend Glen Keane, early glimpses of Over The Moon look utterly bonkers. A long-time character animator for Disney, having worked on almost all of the studio’s animation output since Pete’s Dragon in 1977, Keane looks to be bringing his vast array of talents to his first feature film. The trailer alone shows off a vast blend of styles, from the 3DCG (three-dimensional computer graphics) and more realistic lighting that we’ve come to expect from Disney animation, as well as the more textured, hand-drawn work the director cut his teeth on.

The story itself sounds wild, though it starts out simple enough: Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) is enraptured by her parents’ stories of a goddess living on the moon. After her mother passes away, Fei Fei begins to believe the story is true, and decides to build a rocket to get there. There’s also a hint of something living there. Whatever the answer is, I’m curious to see it, and with a star-studded cast that includes the likes of John Cho and Sandra Oh, how could I turn it down?

Lupin III: The First Directed by Takashi Yamazaki / Released in select territories; wider release due late 2020

Takashi Yamazaki’s Lupin III: The First, the first 3DCG-animated Lupin III feature film, looks rather incredible. It’s the latest in a vast, 50-year history of anime based on the manga from the late Kazuhiko Katō (known by the pen name Monkey Punch). Despite that long history, the Lupin III franchise has always managed to resist being made obsolete; part of its ongoing appeal is its ability to continuously adapt to new contexts and styles while retaining its simple charms, and The First is no different.

The film announces itself in the same way as ever, the iconic ‘Lupin III’ theme blaring over a flashy title sequence that builds off familiar iconography, as well as moments from the franchise’s history. It revels in the style of old-school caper the show continues to embrace, taking delight in the exploits of a modern-day gentleman thief who announces his robberies with calling cards.

Even with the new and unfamiliar animation style, Lupin III: The First feels like a classic Lupin III tale, taking the story back to the 1960s (the decade during which the character was created), and even putting its main character back in his classic red suit. Each character design translates surprisingly well to this mode of animation—Lupin’s gangly frame, as well as the unique appearances of his compatriots Goemon, Fujiko, Zenigata and Jigen (who looks bizarrely attractive in this—although, to be fair, “everyone in this movie is f—king sexy” according to Letterboxd member London. Accurate).

Yamazaki does well to avoid the often sterile feeling of 3DCG animation by having these characters all move like the cartoons they’re based on (for starters, a long-running visual gag of Lupin leaping straight out of his clothes). It might take some adjustment (which for me, only really lasted up to the opening credits) before it becomes fully dazzling. Lupin III: The First might be the most exciting action caper of 2020, in any medium.

The Legend of Hei Directed by Mtjj / Released in China late 2019; international release TBA

Rivalling Lupin III: The First for most flamboyant animation on show at Annecy was The Legend of Hei, a feature-length prequel to the Flash web cartoon The Legend of Luo Xiaohei by Chinese artist Mtjj (real name Zhang Ping).

The series tells the story of the spirit Luo Xiaohei, who takes the appearance of a small black cat before being adopted by a young girl. The film’s story focuses more squarely on the cat, Xiaohei, who transforms into a man and goes on to live in the forest, his carefree existence soon interrupted by the discovery that humans are beginning to encroach on that territory as their cities expand, and technological progress puts the two worlds increasingly at odds.

As the film explores more of Xiaohei’s origins, the thick, clean line-work and cute art style disguises a much grander, epic conflict at play, realized in some wildly animated fight scenes. (“Starts off small and adorable, then expands into an epic conflict on an Akira scale,” writes Tasha Robinson.) The 2D-animated film allegedly took five years to produce, Mtjj saying in an interview that the complete film, at 100 minutes, required more than 70,000 drawings—or around twelve per second.

With its gentle score and clash of the spiritual world with the modern, the environmentally conscious work of Studio Ghibli comes to mind, as does the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender (perhaps the most popular consideration of East Asian spirituality in the West, especially with its resurgence of popularity thanks to Netflix). The Legend of Hei enjoyed an extremely lucrative run in China in late 2019 thanks to the original cartoon’s sizeable fanbase at home. No news yet on who will pick the film up in the West.

ON-GAKU: Our Sound Directed by Kenji Iwaisawa / Expected to release late 2020

Rotoscoped by hand over a period of seven years, the independently produced anime ON-GAKU: Our Sound has a rather appropriate match of creator and subject: a film about amateur musicians made by amateur animators.

Director Kenji Iwaisawa adapted the film from Hiroyuki Ohashi’s cult manga, and there’s a charm to the rudimentary style of its art, the plain faces of its characters resembling the designs of something like ONE’s Mob Psycho 100, while also matching that show’s deadpan, oddball sense of humor. The laid-back voice acting only adds to that effect, as main character Kenji and his cohort’s obvious excitement flattened into a consistently amusing monotone.

It’s not quite a classic tale of underdog artistry, as the group never really gets better, but the film embraces the primordial noise that emerges whenever they pick up an instrument. Iwaisawa takes the characters seriously, showing their raucous and unconventional performances with complete sincerity. “Loved the deadpan humor and appreciated the message about how art can act as an impetus for positive change in our lives,” writes Dan.

Passion, companionship and collaboration is what’s most important to Our Sound. It’s a deeply weird film, but one filled with great ambition and visual wonder, increasing in boldness as it goes. The different styles of coloring and expression that emerge beyond its initial palettes are radical enough to catch anyone off guard.

Connected Directed by Michael Rianda / Releasing in most territories in October 2020 (October 23 in the US)

Connected is the next step for Sony Animation as it moves in an exciting new direction (the studio recently stated that it would be green-lighting more animation aimed at adults). Produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, off the back of their immensely popular film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Connected is imbued with the same kind of idiosyncrasy and innovation that made Spider-Verse a mega-hit.

From first-time feature director Michael Rianda, best known for his work on TV’s Gravity Falls, Connected is a family-road-trip-AI-apocalypse movie, based on the bizarre chemistry of Rianda’s own family. Formerly known as The Mitchells vs The Machines, the film looks at the push and pull between technology and human relationships, and how different generations respond to the ongoing changes in how we interact online and personally.

While this isn’t animated “on twos” (where each frame of character animation holds for two frames of background movement) as Spider-Verse often was, Connected also attempts to maintain a ‘drawn’ quality in its art. Characters move fluidly, but with clear outlines drawn from simple shapes. There’s also a strong contrast between the lived-in detail of human habitats versus the stark minimalism of the domain of the robots.

Thankfully the clips from the film don’t look nearly as finger-wavy and luddite as the trailers might suggest. (They appear to take the Boomer point of view that technology unequivocally ruins everything, but we know it’s more complicated than “screens bad”). In any case, it looks like the beginning of an interesting run for Sony Animation, and I’m keen to see how it turns out.

The Summit of the Gods (Le Sommet des Dieux) Directed by Patrick Imbert / Due to release 2021

Le Sommet des Dieux distinguishes itself in this list by being the one most firmly grounded in reality, but it’s by no means less wondrous. Based on Jirô Taniguchi’s five-volume manga Le Sommet des Dieux—itself based on the 1998 novel by Baku Yumemakura—the story starts with the question of whether George Mallory died going up or coming down the summit of Mount Everest on June 8, 1924. 70 years later, Fukamachi, a young Japanese reporter, stumbles across a camera potentially belonging to Mallory, and embarks on an adventure of his own with his friend Hasu Joji.

In close collaboration with the mangaka Taniguchi-san, who passed away during development, director Patrick Imbert seeks to replicate his art style, which was more aligned with that of European comics than traditional manga, with less exaggerated and highly detailed line-work. The team also looked outward from Taniguchi-san’s art, to the character designs of works such as Hiroyuki Okiura’s Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, as well as his 2011 film A Letter To Momo, and the films of the late, great Satoshi Kon.

From what I saw at Annecy, there’s something of a mix between what Imbert calls the “documented detail” of Taniguchi-san’s work and simpler design for the larger urban spaces. To accomplish this, the studio draws its traditional 2D using modern techniques, such as “movie-style” framing—locations and interiors created in 3D software and then overpainted for detail, identity and authenticity.

The Summit of the Gods also seeks to recapture the detailed and subtle realism of Yumemakura-san’s depiction of George Mallory, with low-key voice performances conducted in shared sessions; recording movements and hiring a boom operator to make the sound more akin to live action, perhaps even more natural. Though production has already been long, the studio had thankfully pre-empted the long delays of Covid-19, so let’s hope we get to see the film with our own eyes, soon.

Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds Directed by Benoît Chieux / Scheduled for 2022

An original fable from animation director Benoît Chieux, Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds is still very much in the midst of production, with an expected release in 2022. It looks captivating; a surreal tale set in an imaginary kingdom with delicate and clearly defined artwork, about a being named Sirocco, a despised figure with the power to control the wind, who is forced into solitude by the denizens of this world.

The dream kingdom resembles a Spirited Away-esque land, with its own hierarchy and bizarre set of rules, mundanity mixed in with visual wonder. Flying crocodiles, living houses and strange humanoids populate it, and the main characters, a pair of girls named Carmen and Juliette, turn into cats themselves. All are drawn with wavy lines, soft colours and fluid movement, the surreal presented with an inviting rather than foreboding air.

Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 Directed by Hideaki Anno and others / 2020 release delayed; keep an eye on the official Twitter account for a new date

Hideaki Anno is set to bring his earth-shaking Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise to a close, again, with the fourth instalment of his ‘Rebuild’ series of films, Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0. Delayed for almost a decade now (the previous instalment came out in 2012!), and delayed again by Covid-19, the film looks to close out a grand rewriting of the original series that shot Anno-san and former studio Gainax to fame—“Bye Bye, All of Evangelion” the tagline reads. But we’re gonna have to wait a while longer to bid this final farewell.

Made with co-director Kazuya Tsurumaki (who has served as director with Anno-san since the original series), the first ‘Rebuild’ film, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, seemed to be a fairly conventional remake, updating the visuals and score with more modern techniques. The story starts the same: the isolated, depressed and self-loathing teenager Shinji Ikari is forced by his absentee father to help fight the mysterious, giant, alien ‘Angels’ by getting in an equally mysterious big robot called an Evangelion (“Eva” for short). He finds no self-fulfilment in this, and if anything, the close contact with other people only seems to push him further into himself. So far, so familiar.

However, the second film, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, veered completely off the rails in the best way possible, destroying audience preconceptions. The line between sequel and remake was fascinatingly blurred, and only continued to get weirder with Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, as the story landed in completely unfamiliar territory, altering its characters beyond recognition while adding entirely new characters in the process. It’s now almost impossible to predict what 3.0 + 1.0 will be. The only footage available so far was a wild ten-minute clip in which the Eiffel Tower is wielded as a weapon by an Eva. We were this close.

Ayumu Watanabe’s ‘Children of the Sea’ (2019).

There are almost too many gifts, even just from Annecy alone, to describe at length. A couple more worth mentioning: Anja Daiman’s musical comedy The Island looks fascinating for its reclamation of the colonialist story of Robinson Crusoe; and Yuta Murano’s first anime feature Our Seven-Day War promises plenty of plot twists amidst the actions of rebellious youth. A range of beguiling short films were also on display—a selection helpfully compiled here by Letterboxd member Iknow.

Outside of Annecy, other films are finally arriving, virtually or otherwise—such as Gints Zilbalodis’s peculiar and quiet Away, and Ayumu Watanabe’s beautiful and surreal Children of the Sea (with music from none other than Joe Hisaishi!). Though not all animation is comfort food by default—it is simply a medium, after all—it’s reassuring knowing that animated films are able to continue, in some form, through the pandemic.

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