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m1ssunderstanding · 5 months

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Get Back Rewatch 55 Years On: Day Four

"Lennon's late again" says Paul, as he walks in late. And sweet Ringo just gently, "between ten and eleven is the time" Which means: "Chill babe. He'll be here."

One thing that always gob smacks me is how bored George and Ringo are watching Paul pull Get Back out of the ether. They literally see him do this shit all the time which is insane to me.

His voice is so so so pretty!!! And he's just so completely in his own world. The hunched shoulders. The twitching. The gibberish. The tapping. The twisting.

Obviously this is a song with the original central feeling being let's go back to before everything went wrong but he wants to make it into a meaningless song with both story bits and almost walrus-esque bits. But why is the first lyric he comes up with about gender? Thinking of @scurators posts on Paul and gender.

Ringo's customary quiet really does add significance to his voice, so him singing along with this so quickly says something I think about his support for the song and for Paul in general.

When John walks in he's greeted with a little cocky nod and smile like "look what I've just done while you were late." And then Paul sings "get back to where you once belonged" directly at him before breaking the eye contact. It's one of those heartbreaking Lennon/McCartney miscommunications because Paul is doing this to get John back, but actually it's scaring him away, you know? Paul thinks he has to prove to John how good he is, but John's exhausted with how good Paul is.

STFU Michael Lindsay Hogg

Paul really does love the idea of being forced out of parliament by cops and honestly so do I. Would've been iconic and might've kept them together.

John's so quiet today and also Yoko is not here. Correlation or causation I wonder.

"They say don't they say charity begins at home?" I love you forever, George. His humor is always so well-placed and so dry (even though he's clearly cracking himself up here). And it steers the conversation away from a direction he was not happy with without poking any bears. In fact, everyone's laughing. Clever boy.

"I've decided that the whole point of it is communication. And to be on TV is communication and we've got a chance to smile at people like all you need is love or something so that's me incentive for doing it." Wise, egalitarian John making a lovely appearance.

And then there's Paul. "I'm here cause I wanna do a show." Lol I love them.

Why do they say "Mr Epstein?" Is it because they're on camera and they want people to know who they're talking about? Does it have something to do with the maharishi telling them certain ways to talk about Brian? Does anyone have any thoughts about that?

Okay so you know how I just said last time how emotionally mature George was? I still think it's generally more true of him than the others, but this right here? This is not it. "I don't want to do any of my songs in the show because they'll all just turn out shitty." Man has issues.

I think it's important to recognize that George and Paul have both said the literal word "divorce" and it's NBD. But when John does it, Paul takes it as "the groups really over and I have to go into hiding and not get out of bed and maybe od who knows." Why? There's another puzzle piece here that we're missing.

"Should we leave you for a while?" "YES!"

On the one hand I'm like "working on Maxwell is the last thing you guys should be doing with this time alone." But on the other thing maybe it's the only thing they can do at this point.

"Mal? You should get a hammer. And an anvil." As he's walking away. Main character in a contrived mad genius biopic. Except it's real.

"Joan" sounding suspiciously like "John" ... And then he goes "fool, Maxwell fool." Aka one of their ~special words~ New theory. John hates Maxwell because he dies in it. And Paul's the killer.

"Take it away Johnny." Even though it was George and John whistling before wasn't it? Did George get cut from the whistle chorus? Another straw on the camel's back.

I LOVE that John just does not know any of his own songs. Across the Universe my beloved!

On the glyn/Paul moment featured below, I have three thoughts. 1. Whore. 2. John Lennon villain origin story. 3. The fact that glyn didn't just tell John is striking.

"I wish it fucking would". "Cause I'm down." This lyric going from a self-soothing reassurance that his people aren't going to leave him that he'll always have this beautiful dream he's created with them. To this? I hate it here.

So there is a big emotional and energy difference between their Beatlemania selves singing "Rock and Roll Music" and their current selves. And part of it is due to the fact that they're just not as happy as they were then. But I think most of it is really just that they thrive when they're performing for an audience.

#Sorry for the scarcity of shitty pics to break up the block of text in this one.#Hopefully the next one will be better #paul mccartney #the beatles #john lennon #mclennon #ringo starr #george harrison #Get back

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the-team-sucks · 29 days

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Aite, Jay's thoughts on Restoration now that the emotional dust has settled.

My non-spoiler thoughts are... it's okay, a love letter to the series? No. A love letter to fans? For the most part.

No shade to RT, Burnie or anyone who worked on this, they did what they could, and had time for. This is going to be loooooong as its my full summary of the movie as a long-time fan, RvB is my special hyperfixation/interest. Spoilers below the cut.

Alright, to start. I personally will believe that s14-17 are cannon, and that Restoration is a simulation/Jax movie/AU/Alternate ending./what have you. I believe this for many reasons, but let's get the Big 3 out of the way first.

1. Sarge's death. I understand it's inclusion, and I understand that with the anvil and steel boot of WB it was hard to produce something of immense quality. Sarge had been a consistent key player and many of us expected this.

But his death was... wrong. It didn't feel impactful, he didn't die a Sarge death. While the reasoning was good (saving Caboose) the execution and runtime made it feel sloppy and just a plot driver(barely). He deserved a much more heroic send-off, and this comes from a avid Red Team supporter, so this should have impacted me. If Sarge had a proper heros death (and the movie had more time), set in a similar vein as Church (or even like he would have died to Meta in s8) then I think I would have had a lot more feelings, and I think it would have also allowed me to accept it much easier, I'm not insanely upset at Sarge dying(however I still would prefer them all to be happy), im upset at how it was handled.

2. Doc's death. Alright, this one peeves me a bit. I LOVE the idea at play, I personally even think it works with Wash given their history in S8, it is a really good reveal. But this also means Doc, an integral character who's been there since Season 2. Doc, who had been the most mistreated and abused character--and JUST got over being overshadowed by O'Malley in universe(S17)... died off screen. And that alone makes me not want to take this as cannon.

It was a moment of "WHAT??-wait." I like Doc, I like all the characters of RvB, but Doc dying off screen after the battle is not it. The Matt Hullum double kill is arguably funny, but I won't stand for Doc dying like this. Sorry.

And 3. The one that bit me the most, hold your sighs/tears; Grimmons. I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that Grif would leave Simmons, or that Simmons wouldn't go with him. These two characters have been joint at the hip since episode one, they have been through EVERYTHING together. There is a LOT of subtext behind these two, Grimmons barely felt like a fan ship, if they revealed the two were married the entire time I wouldn't have batted an eye.

I don't like their ending. They should have either both went to earth, or both stayed in Blood Gulch. I understand Grif's entire thing was hating the military, but he loved his friends, he cared so much (saving Sarge MULTIPLE times despite Sarge still always bullying him, agreeing to go with Sarge and Caboose to fight the Meta even though he didn't have to, him throughout all of the Chorus Trilogy, and this is just the stuff that is cannon no matter what.), and I don't believe him simply being dismissed would have him leave, he stopped being apart of a proper military when Project Freelancer shut down, and while he was apart of Chorus they'd clearly been demoted/let go since they were ranked down to Privates in Restoration. (I also believe S15 handled the idea of them being moved after S13's ending far better)

And while I don't mind Simmons coming into his own as a leader, he dosent... have a team? They abandoned Lopez, Sarge is dead, Donut is an Admiral (likely for the UNSC), and Grif left. The Blues only have Caboose and Tucker. Carolina and Wash are likely going to go back to the hospital to let Wash heal (which is another thing). So its just Simmons, Caboose and Tucker alone in Blood Gulch? Doing... what exactly? Fighting? This is not a good ending for any of them and it barely makes sense. Id honestly have preferred a "where are they now" segment to this ending.

With those out of the way, lets go over a small lighting round of stuff i didn't like;

Wash felt like he was just there to tell us Doc died, and to get Carolina to the final fight. If you removed him entirely and just said "Carolina has been tracking Meta" nothing would change.

Carolina's inclusion felt like someone threw a cyan bolder into the script, her entrance being a homage to Maine's entrance in S10 was cool but she appeared out of nowhere.

I refuse to believe that after all of this none of them would be checking in on Wash, that man has been the glue of the Reds and Blues since he joined the team and I REFUSE to believe they would just dump him at an institution, however this is especially insane for Carolina. She would be with him every second.

Tucker was INSANELY underused, his moments of breaking through Sigma's control were good, but Tucker felt like he wasn't important. He should be, he should have been the main character of the story, he is the main character of Red vs Blue to me (after Church).

The way Lopez and Sheila were just abandoned is disrespectful. Its in character, and the whole gag but for a final season I dont want a gag like that in a finale. I wanted to see Lopez at that campfire scene imagining him not talking but enjoying the reminiscing. That would have been so sweet and nice. This also applies to Sheila.

The lack of Donut outside of a mention of him being an Admiral and the silly memory of him from Simmons is outrageous. He is a main character, we established this in S17 and retcon or not, he earned that development and it should have remained.

Grif was was insanely angry in the beginning, I imagine this more as Geoff because his performance throughout was probably the best of the movie. He's taken RTs closure hard and I completely understand him being upset, so this is barely a complaint.

Alright... with the negative out of the way, lets talk positive! i wish I could say my positives outweighed the negatives, but unfortunately that isn't the case, however I do have two big standouts.

1. The campfire scene. This, this scene alone is what adds a chunk to the positive section of my feelings. It was the scene that really gut punched me, the moment I heard Ed Robertson's voice I crumpled into tears (I am a HUGE Barenaked Ladies fan). The pure bittersweetness of watching these characters who have been through so much together finally taking a serious moment to reminisce is all I ever wanted from RvB. I wished with all my heart that Tucker, Church, Sarge, Donut, Doc, Lopez, and Sheila could share in it, who knows maybe Sarge and Docs ghosts popped by to listen. But, this is to me, what I wanted.

2. Agent Texas. This was good, this was REALLY good. The bait and swap to have Caboose bringing Tex back and not Church was good, and especially nice development from Caboose despite how rushed it feels. The kicker of this though? this Tex was not the same Tex as before. That reveal that this Tex was not based on the Directors memories of Allison's failure, but instead based on the Reds and Blues memories of her beating their asses is ACTUALLY insane, and a genius twist. And her getting her black armour plus the playing of Round One/Bullfight got me more hype then I was ever expecting to get from Restoration. I also believe that Tex finally being remembered properly and being able to move on with Church was heartwarming and very much deserved.

My negatives far outweigh the positives, but the positives are so good, and with it being the finale of 21 years worth of content I cant in the right mind say I dislike Restoration. I don't like it as the ending to Red vs Blue, call me bias (my favourite season is 15) but the trade off of development for the characters between Restoration and Shisno is just not worth it for me. Say what you will about the Shisno Trilogy but you cannot ignore that it gave us the much needed development for many characters, Grif and Donut standing out the most. While the "god"-plot is far fetched and out there, and I've heard that Tucker was character regressed in s16 (which I do not believe and will die on that hill but thats a topic for another day), or the inclusion of the Blues and Reds putting a wrench in some lore I still don't think it was all bad enough to warrant a retcon entirely. Who knows, maybe this was all planned from the start, or it was just because of WB. But this ending is not satisfying to me. I won't say its a bad ending, if I didn't like Shisno so much and never bothered to watch it I'm sure as a direct continuation from S13 I would have a much more positive look on it.

I also do believe that Burnie wrote it in such a way that you can decide for yourself if S14-17(and 18 if you enjoyed it) or Restoration is the cannon ending and to that I respect it.

So in short, my review of the final piece of official Red vs Blue content, is that its okay. A lot felt OOC, and plot was rushed and messy, things felt like they were all predetermined and not driven by the characters as is RvB's biggest strength. It was far too short and even still I generally don't like retcons. But for what it is, and the positive moments it brings I still think its good. Not cannon to me, but I will definitely be taking points from it into my personal cannon post-s17 (Admiral Donut my beloved, you would be so cool if you actually showed up).

#rvb #red vs. blue #red vs blue restoration #rvb restoration #restoration spoilers

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moltengoldveins · 3 months

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personal favorite headcanon: totems don’t just ‘heal’ you. They fill every scar, every open wound, with gold. They knit you back together Wrong, and it doesn’t just extend to the injury that killed you, it knows Everything. Even long-faded scars are back, brighter and bigger than they were when they first healed, shimmering bronze in the green light of resurrection. They’re a soul-deep instance of the craft of kinsugi: you come back better, in one sense of the word, but you do not come back the same, and whatever dictates ‘better’ does not care to hide or soften your history of suffering like your body does. Every loss, every slip, every pain is magnified and glorified, until they are all most people can see of you. You become, in entirety, what you have survived. Your death becomes your identity. (Are you really even revived?)

Elaboration on my personal favorite headcanon: Techno’s execution was the first time he’d ever had to use a totem. He’s an old thing, be he god or man: he’s never died. But he has fought. He has fallen. He has held himself together with cloth and rage, and afterwards Philza has had to stitch stray pieces of flesh together until they once again resemble his dearest friend. Most of his injuries are old enough for the evidence to have faded from the surface: they are not old enough for the totem to pass them by. For a moment, when the anvil fell, he looked like he was made of gold entirely, a figure of divine fire. He barely faded when the light did: every inch of his skin laced through with shimmering lines. One of his eyes was crushed in the execution: it glows yellow now, alongside its red partner. Quackity fought a man made of metal, and died watching him bleed ichor instead of blood (long healed bones, deep tissue tears… his heart, crushed by his rib cage when the anvil ground his body to pulp. the gold took everything, even the blood his chorus chants for.)

Tommy has to take a moment to recognize Techno: he doesn’t have to hear the story to know what the Butchers managed to do.

Philza spends a hundred winter nights replaying that moment on the balcony, one futile arrow shattered against the falling iron, half of his soul consumed in green and gold. He spends a hundred more laughing, pressed to Techno’s side, naming each glittering cut, recalling their origin. Neither of them remember what Techno looked like scarless. That is, of course, the whole point.

When Doomsday comes, the first sign of death is a burning figure, tall and bright and cast in gold under a blood red sky, standing amidst a sea of black hounds.

#technoblade #mcyt #headcanons #it’s about death being permanent even when it’s not #It’s about losing what made you alive #Becoming your death #embodying it to the point where you might as well BE dead #A walking testament to every single thing you’ve ever suffered.#If nobody can actually see you beneath the gold #Are you even there?#If nobody can see past what you have suffered to who you ‘are’#If your very flesh is made a sign of loss #Are you anything else? Can you be anything else?#Further than that it’s about a character who Already Is in every way a testament to suffering #Who’s clothes and voice and skills and habits and beliefs are there to facilitate death #there to serve a chorus of bloody hounds.#Does the totem change him? Does it actually do anything?#Or does it merely make him more of what he already was?

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ginza-division · 22 days

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Next Stage (Last Judgment Ver.)

Bring the Beat!

[Last Judgment:]

We’ll step up and face the Next Stage

[Masa:]

In the heart of the chapel, where the faithful come to kneel

A shepherd guides his flock, with a love that's truly real

"Embrace the path of light," he raps, "let your spirit thrive

With faith as your compass, we'll keep hope alive."

[Eiji:]

In the vast web of PROFILE, connections spark and dance

A nexus for voices, in the digital expanse

"Embrace the evolution, or fade into history's shadow," we decree

For in the relentless march of tech, it's adapt or cease to be

[Oki:]

I'm the titan in the booth, with a voice that shakes the ground

My verses forge like Hephaestus, in the beat, my anvil's sound

Rising like a phoenix, from the ashes of defeat

I bring the fury of Ares, no retreat, only compete!

[Eiji:]

Social media's web, that's the future's arrangement

[Oki:]

The Titan's roar, that's the arena's judgment

[Masa:]

The faithful's way, that is our commitment

[Last Judgment:]

Oppose us, and Death will be your very Last Judgment!

[Chorus:]

We’ll meet here again (HEY)

Let’s sail on our next adventure then (HEY)

Remember today and rewrite the future

Come to the next stage! Let’s go!

I wanna face off against you again (HEY)

I wanna be stronger then (HEY)

Remember today and dazzle them with how you’ve changed

Let’s go to the shining next stage

[Last Judgment:]

We’ll step up and face the Next Stage

#hypmic #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic #hypnosis mic oc #hypnosis microphone #ginza division #last judgment #masa judice #eiji noguchi #oki teagan #next stage #rhyme anima #hypnosis mic rhyme anima

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indygotcha · 9 months

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They had a full episode given as a preview for Tiny Toons Looniversity on CN's official channel... and it's US-ONLY

One proxy-watch later though... wow. Like, I'm actually kind of impressed, sold in even. The writers are really digging in deep with all of the possibilities and jokes the premise of Tiny Toons' setting had since it's inception!!

Enjoyed the hell out of how they rewrote characters like Plucky to be actually be pretty funny (YMMV), and the episodes look to be really well-written too!

I really, REALLY like the way Plucky got rewritten in this show: they made him so full of himself, reaching these hilarious levels of ignorancy to everything, or everyone around him. And even then, he's kind of chill with everyone - most of the time.

I don't think I was that much into him in the original show, with how he was essentially Chuck Jones' Daffy, but younger, not really bringing much originality out of him. On that end, the original show often tended to reduce him into the butt of Acme Acres - sometimes even by the Bunnies' expense (Anvil Chorus), or in spite of helping them out like how he's jailed along with Daffy in Who Bopped Bugs Bunny" .

Now yeah, that was because Chuck Jones' Daffy was the designated fall guy of LT back in the 80s to 90s, and this was naturally passed down on to his Tinier counterpart - but it always made me feel like the show couldn't escape falling on being the "Muppet Babies" of Looney Tunes, with good sum of the characters being pretty carbon copies of the original Looney Toons.

This only made certain toons who defied their direct counteparts stand out all the more, like how Calamity Coyote was just this nerdy but amicable kid prodigy when he wasn't paired with Lil' Beeper... or Elmyra, undoubtedly the "Shirley Temple" of the WB Animation Studios back in the 90s.

Seeing the Tiny Toons engage on gags and showing them off to each other with banter-y feedback on top is such a novel, fun concept on a premise all about school geared for training upcoming toon stars. I always felt this was a very underutilized aspect from the original show, with only few of them playing with this in favour for more education or regular school-centric antics (which aren't like, bad - but I was specifically drawn on this show due the possibilities presented by it's cast and the first episode implying the teachings of Toon Arts.

Alongside the whole "Toon DNA" explaining the comedic immunity of Toons at large, and then utilized well on the conflict of this episode, is making me really excited about how just much the writers will go on digging on the concept of Toon Physics or Toons. that really drew on these types of works at the first place (such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit)

While at it, huge props also on Hampton getting to have a really cool starring episode, which even had a pretty fun B-plot tying it all up together. Watching Wiley being a scientist still pursuing Road Runner amidst of showing how Toon DNA works was just so delightful - and so was With Hazel being used well with her iconic laugh as nice flourish for the whole episode's resolution. (Also Granny's gonna be a real MVP in this whole show, huh...)

The animation might need to be given some bits of polish and tonal balance - as of right now, the well-animated bits are there aplenty in the show, but it seems to easily shift on the other side of a spectrum where characters are "under-animated" to bridge them. Feels like cutscene quality jumps in Kingdom Hearts, but with the overanimated bits we see in Spongebob (not as egreciously bad, though).

I'll bear with it for now because writing's really damn good for a show like this.

#tiny toons looniversity #tiny toon adventures #and now to do the waiting game for the rest of eps to come out in following days I guess

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acmeoop · 1 year

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1812 Overture Finale “The Anvil Chorus” (1990)

#90s #amblin #warner bros #tiny toon adventures #gif #plucky duck #cartoon prop #cannon #explosion #tiny toons

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noisessobbingdistant · 2 years

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Metal Mania #8 — Page 17

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My favorite bands are, for different reasons, are Motorhead and Rush as I like just about all of thier material (based on entirely different criterea though) but my favorite metal bands (as of this week) are assembled below according to the ratio of songs I’ve heard of them that I like against the ones that I don’t like.

The Metal Mania League of Gods:

1. SILVER MOUNTAIN

2. MERCYFUL FATE

3. ACCEPT

4. TRUST

5. SCORPIONS

6. SAXON

7. JUDAS PRIEST

8. DIAMOND HEAD

9. BARON ROJO

10. SWEET SAVAGE

11. NIGHT SUN

12. ANVIL CHORUS

13. IRON MAIDEN

14. RAINBOW

15. MSG

[“JOAN BAEZ” is written 5 times to the left of the list with a larger question mark next to it]

[“Axe murder KILLS!” is handwritten to the right of the list]

Well, the list also has to include Angelwitch, Black Sabbath, Electric Sun, Riot, Deep Purple, Bow Wow, Ozzy’s band, Budgie and millions more but I can’t really go on much more. So now it’s your turn—with any correspondance to MM, list your top 10 bands so we can put together the Metal Mania Hall of Metal Gods for future issues. Now what are you waiting for? Send ‘em on in!!

[An image of a man from the neck up; he has a beard and is wearing what looks like a turban. Please correct me if I’m using the incorrect terminology; I don’t know how accurate calling what he’s wearing a turban is, but I’m also not sure about what else it might be called]

Turbaned madmen ARE MIDDLE EASTERN METAL MANIACS!

ANCIENT METALWORK FROM LURISTAN?

DISCO is SHIT

IN HEAVY METAL ZIT PIT!

AARDSCHOK - POSTBUS 4283 - EINDHOVEN

HOLLAND

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random-conspiracy · 1 year

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"ClAsSiC mUsIc Is BoRiNg", "OpErA iS fOr PrEtEnTiOuS aSsHoLeS".

STFU! This kind of music with absurdly powerful instruments always get me. Just look at this shit!

Giuseppe Verdi for "Il Trovatore" has FUCKING ANVILS AND HAMMERS in the chorus.

And the fucking Overture 1812 by Tchaikovsky has CANNONS that weren't even as fast as the original sheets needed for the epoch.

FUCKING CANNONS, ANVILS AND HAMMERS!!!!

What is next?? Multiple dynamite charges in the orchestra??? Or straight up setting the pace with shotguns to the ceiling???

We're gonna see the actors ripping each others apart with their bare teeth and hands, filling the air with an extraordinary blast of melody and screams. And it's gonna be UNBELIEVABLE

#random-conspiracy #classic music #opera

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sailxrmxrs · 1 year

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blacksmith milo many thoughts head so full. this has been floating around in my brain for like a month it's been agony in all the best ways. throwback to playing l4d2 in vc and going wild over blacksmith milo crumbs. anyway it was so powerful i had to go and make it a reality if only to stop the screaming in my brain. milo with his hair tied back and sleeves rolled up......sensational. mc is a travelling mercenary currently between jobs and they've just arrived in a town nearby the capital. before going on to find work, they come across a blacksmith with a face far too pretty to be anything other than some rich noble's son. the two get talking and the rest is history.

A gentle pattering of rain thrummed rhythmically against the deep green hood of your cloak. Since reaching the northern lands of the capital, the climate had shifted drastically from the generous sunshine of the southern desert. Even the town's cottages and taverns looked as gloomy as the skies above, thatched roofs one bad thunderstorm away from falling apart. Coming here directly after weeks of watching the sun reflect off crystal windows and sprawling oases was like being doused in ice water. Almost quite literally, given the light downpour that only seemed to worsen with every step your horse took down the muddied path. The sun was nowhere to be seen despite the early afternoon hour, hidden behind knitted clouds so heavy and grey they looked almost ready to burst. You hoped to find the local blacksmith's soon if only to find cover from the inevitable impending storm. There was also the matter of your sword's blade growing appallingly dull; if you didn't get it tended to soon you'd barely be able to cut a loose thread from your tunic.

It seemed fate was on your side today, the familiar sound of iron against steel like a metronome leading the chorus of town life. Tucked away just behind an inn was a blacksmith's workshop. The exterior looked a little more lively than the rest of the town's infrastructure, as though its owner had taken extra care to keep it in optimal condition during the harsher weathers. An orange glow from the fiery furnaces came from the open doorway, letting out a mild warmth to fight against the cold rain. Luckily for your horse, there was an awning canopy sheltering the side of the workshop complete with a water trough and a place to tie their reins. As you made your way inside removing the dampened cloak hood you were met with the sight of who you presumed owned the place. He seemed tall even when leaning over the anvil to inspect his work. His long hair was pulled back and tied with a strip of leather loosely atop his head. His sleeves were rolled back to reveal his forearms, no doubt in part to combat the raging heat of the furnace. Surveying the room was enough to tell you that he was no beginner to his trade. It may have been a small workshop, fitting for a small town you supposed, but it was cosy. The place was lit with amber lanterns, their warm light reflected in the metal sheen of swords and axes and shields. He just might sell his stock on to the capital judging by the sheer quality of it all. It seemed you'd struck gold coming across this small rural town.

Your fingers chimed the small bell sitting on the desk by the entrance, its tinny ring echoing against the walls. The blacksmith turned, seemingly surprised to hear a visitor. Whoever this man was, he was no ordinary blacksmith. Most held rugged faces, worn with age and wizened under the roaring heat of constant fire. No, this man looked more like a rich noble's son who'd been deposited in some poor, desolate town as punishment for mistreating one too many maids. His eyes were a rich purple and his skin surprisingly held a gentle tan, clear and smooth save for a few stray swipes of coal from where his fingers had brushed loose strands of hair away from his face. The man could only be described as pretty—beautiful even. Certainly a rare trait for one in such a profession, at least as far as you had encountered. Still, even if he did not quite look the part, his handiwork was enough to tell you he was no beginner. Even the small blade he held looked far more ornate and well-made than some of your own back home.

"Afternoon," he called out, setting aside his current project and pushing his hair back from his face, smearing another streak of charcoal across his forehead. It took a great deal of self-restraint to not let slip a bemused smile.

"Afternoon. I assume you're the one to go to for sharpening weapons?" You asked, removing the scabbard from your waist and setting it atop the counter.

The blacksmith didn't crack a smile, unwilling to put on the pretences most tradespeople offered visitors. "About the only one in town who knows how to hold one of these, let alone sharpen one. Just passing through?"

"On my way to the capital. Although I shall likely have to extend my stay if the weather doesn't ease up. Is it usually this dreary around here?" You leaned against the counter, watching as the blacksmith took your sword to the whetstone, hands working deftly to sharpen the steel. He was sat directly under a lantern, using the light to inspect his handiwork every few moments. His focus was as razor sharp as your blade's edge was soon to be, taking utmost care to ensure no room for mistakes.

"If you're planning to wait for the rain to clear then you might as well move here. No getting to the capital until a day or two in the summer season when the sun deigns to make a rare appearance."

You grimaced, chin resting on your hand. You'd thought as much but the confirmation was not on your list of favourite things to hear. It seemed you had a long, and damp, journey ahead of you yet. Today might be a choice day to invest in another spare cloak. One that was perhaps a tad more waterproof that what you currently wore.

"Anything else you need sharpening up? Low on arrows, maybe? Got plenty of stock so feel free to take your time. Stay out of the rain a little longer." You were not one to spit in the face of opportunity, especially given the bonus pay you'd received from your previous employer. So you went and retrieved your reserve weapons from the shelter in which you'd left your horse and offered them up to the blacksmith whose name, as you'd learnt, was Milo. Surprisingly, he made for rather pleasant conversation, asking after your line of work and where you'd travelled from. In response, he'd offered up a chapter or two of his own story. He'd been born and raised in the small town to grocer parents but had spent most of his time in the local blacksmith's workshop, bothering him with all sorts of questions about everything had worked until the old man had taken him on as an apprentice. Once he was old enough, Milo was taking requests and eventually took over the business once his boss was too old to work as proficiently as he once had. Since then he primarily did business with palace officials, supplying new stock and revitalising damaged weapons and materials.

As the day drew to a close, the sky somehow turning darker, you pulled yourself away from the workshop and its rather pleasant company. You'd tossed a few silvers onto the counter, leaving an extra as payment for the afternoon shelter despite Milo's protests. He had been in the middle of forging a formerly broken sword and couldn't pull himself away to try and refund some of your coin. When you peered through the window, Milo was shaking his head as he returned to his work, a whisper of a smile tugging at his lips. The first and only one you'd seen from him all day, no doubt because he believed no one could see. Still, it warmed you inside to know he had not thought of your presence as a complete bother.

After leaving town, it became a somewhat regular routine to revisit that little rural town whenever your travel plans allowed it. Every time, without fail, you'd spend a day sat inside the workshop, telling Milo all of your ventures to various corners of the realm. In turn, he'd tell you of the local goings on, most of it trivial and uninteresting in his eyes but the normality of it all was a welcome change of pace for you. Hearing about the friendly competition between the various townsmen or other affairs that took place was a far cry from the types of jobs you were taking on, leading you to all sorts of unsavoury characters hiding in dark places. Spending that time with Milo was a highlight of your journeying, even if those visits were few and far between. He would always welcome you in and offer up a seat in the workshop, sometimes even volunteering to cook a hot meal. He was a rare constant in the ever changing routine of your life and at some point along the way you began to wonder what life might look like if you had a more permanent place in town, as opposed to your constant moving from place-to-place with each job that came your way. It was easy to let your mind wander in the silence of solitude that your travels offered, daydreaming of scenes of you and Milo where you could greet each other whenever the desire struck, rather than waiting weeks or months for a job that sent you in that direction. Whether he wondered of the same or not was a complete mystery.

Despite the growing closeness between the both of you, Milo remained a mostly closed book, keeping his innermost feelings to himself. Any time you mentioned in passing that you had missed his company, Milo would merely hum in acknowledgement and not offer up his own feelings on the matter. If you tried to press for more of an answer, he'd change the subject or make a teasing remark about how you were growing attached. In spite of his apparent disdain for sentimental comments, Milo would always be trying, and failing, to suppress a smile that suggested he was not quite as emotionally guarded as he pretended to be. Usually you'd let it pass without acknowledgement, but it was rather satisfying to watch him scramble for a response that didn't implicate himself for enjoying your company.

As time passed by, it had been a good many months since your last visit to that little workshop. Circumstance had kept you away and busy with a larger job than usual from your latest client. It had been so brutal that you were already planning a few weeks of rest before taking on another job if only to recover from the various aches and pains you'd acquired along the way. Even if they were only minor injuries you felt deeply in need of a good long rest. Thankfully, as fate would have it, you were coming to the end of this particularly gruelling job and the end was on the horizon along with your long-awaited freedom. And with that oncoming freedom you intended to make your way toward that same old town. Naturally, by the time you reached its borders, the skies grew gradually more grey and bleak as though there was some vengeful god overlooking the people and deciding the enact their frustrations in the form of dull weather. Still, it wouldn't feel the same without the sharp winds and constant threat of rain at all times.

As the workshop came into view, you could feel all the tensions that the last months of work had instilled within your body evaporate as if by magic. Dismounting and walking into the familiar wall of warmth felt like it took hours, the anticipation of seeing Milo again building with each breath. But as you breached the threshold of the doorway, you were met with an empty workshop with no blacksmith in sight. There were signs of half-finished projects lying on the wooden benches and the fires of the furnace were still keeping the place enveloped in its usual heat but Milo was nowhere to be seen. It was hard to ignore the sting of disappointment that you had missed him. He was unlikely to be too far but there was always the chance Milo was away in the capital delivering his latest assignments. Still, it wasn't as if missing him today would mean you had to wait another number of weeks. You could easily return in a few days now that you had a moment's peace to breathe before continuing on to the next place. Sighing to yourself, you made to turn for the door when a familiar voice struck your ears.

"Long time no see. There was me starting to get worried you'd forgotten all about me." Milo was stood in the workshop's entrance, carrying a large box filled with materials. He set the box down and stood with one hand leaning against the counter while the other sat on his waist. His hair was loose over his shoulders, a rare sight given his usual spot by the furnace, but it suited him. Somehow made him seem even more princely than before.

"If anyone was to forget someone, I'd imagine it'd be you forgetting me," you teased, smiling at his exaggerated gasp of shock.

"Me? Forget my favourite visitor? Never. I'm appalled to hear you think so poorly of me."

You raised an eyebrow. "Favourite, hm? Interesting—" Before you could finish speaking, Milo stepped closer, raising a gentle hand toward your eyebrow and subsequently robbing you of your voice.

"What's this?" His thumb gently grazed over a small cut you'd sustained during your last job. It wasn't anything fatal nor did it hurt anymore, but the remnants still remained as it hadn't quite healed. You playfully swatted away his hand, putting a few steps between you both.

"Nothing you should be concerned with. Plenty more where that came from."

"That does not instil me with a great deal of confidence." His voice was deadpan once more, the slight hint of alarm having now dissipated. Despite the distance you'd put between the both of you, the air felt heavier and warmer than usual. Had it really been so long since you last saw him? And had that time somehow made him seem even more beautiful? Maybe it was just the lack of charcoal and dust that made Milo's appearance that bit more striking than usual.

"At least let me take a closer look," he murmured, eyes diverted from your gaze as a rare quietness seeped into his voice. You nodded, sucking in a breath as you stepped toward you, cautiously inspecting the minor wound. Seeming satisfied that you weren't at risk of toppling over, Milo removed his hands but didn't move away.

"Any other injuries I should know about? Aches or bruises to tend to?"

You hesitated for a moment, contemplating if you should answer honestly or not. There was a stubborn ache in your ankle that had worsened in recent days. That slight hesitation was enough to give Milo his answer. He sighed, taking your wrist gently in his grip and leading over to a workbench and sitting you down with a stern look on his face. "Where." It wasn't even a question, more of a demand than anything. Still, you didn't object nor deny its presence and silently held up your ankle. Milo was careful in his ministrations, making sure not to aggravate whatever ailed you and halting his movements whenever you made any noise to signal discomfort.

"Hope you don't have some fancy event in the capital planned because this ankle looks sprained to me. Granted I'm no doctor, but I'm still prescribing you a week or two of rest. At least. Definitely no adventuring for a while." Milo looked up at you, almost waiting for you to argue that you'd be fine or that you couldn't pass up on an important client. Any other time you might have done so. Might have protested that your horse could carry you with little need to use your injured ankle. But this time you knew it could wait.

"Then it's a good job I'm on break. Indefinitely. Well, not quite indefinitely, but at least until I feel like going off adventuring again. Think there's somewhere in town for me to stay?"

Milo offered a rare, genuine smile, one that he'd kept for himself after your past visits. He rose from his stool to sit beside you, eyes fixed on yours as he took your hands in his. Everything about his movements was gentle and soft, entirely removed from the usual strength of his smithing work. He reached a hand your cheek, smile still lighting his face as he whispered, "I think I might know someone."

#infinite blue #infinite blue x reader #infinite blue fanfic #infinite blue milo #infinite blue milo x reader #oh look more fantasy what a surprise #this is sarcasm no one is surprised or shocked in the slightest #anyway take some blacksmith milo based on the early sketches in the discord awooooo #anna writes

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sumire-no-nikki · 8 months

Text

A Tug of War

Life lately feels like a bit of a tug of war, a never ending vigilance to fight extremes.

Case in point: some time ago I found this old bookmark tucked in an old manga of mine. I was browsing my shelves and remembered the bookmark is from a trip to Japan in 2017. The nostalgia instantly felt like a thousand anvils tied on my ankles. It was so easy to sink into missing everything from that time six years ago. And yet since then there have been so much goodness in my life. I live well and I am most content. When my first thought was crippling despair about a sense of unexplainable loss, my true feelings about it are that of gratitude and relief and inspiration.

I don't know why I'm predisposed to such mental traps. It seems so restless in my head. I find I have to always steer my mind so constantly. And look, I know my strength. I know I can win over this fickle, whiny, belligerent little child of a mind that I have. But I do wish it wouldn't be such a struggle to maintain an even keel, especially when there's no reason to be so melancholy or anxious. Why did I have to be born difficult? My mother always did say that about me.

At times of frustration I look to my cats. I see them living their life quietly and in the moment. They are cautious but they know precisely what delights them, and they are loyal and constant to that joy. They chase their happiness without fear. There's never shame in the way they express their distaste. They don't worry needlessly about what has happened or what will. They love the sun and know how to get cosy on rainy days. They are always observing and it isn't very hard to amuse them. They take care of themselves. They are capable of deep affection for others because they understand their own independence.

Now, really, September has been a lovely month. I don't know why I've started with quite a negative thought. In general, my days have been productive and filled with adventures. I've got two concerts at the end of the month and there's Oktoberfest too. I'm not big on drinking but I thought I should experience it at least once. Also, it has been a tremendous reading month for me! It's safe to say I've conquered my reading slump, which is a good thing because wow, look at that graph. I was completely out of commission for two months lol.

From my desk I watched the tree in the backyard turn from green to orange, slowly, as each September day passed. It's mostly yellow now and soon it will become bare. I look forward to the thickening autumn. I will be spending some of it in the UK again like I did last year. And I will be visiting some countries I haven't been to after that. And then in December I'll be twenty eight. How strange to find myself feeling relief in getting older. I used to dread this. I can't seem to figure out why I did anymore.

The song for today's entry is from Kate Davis' debut album, which I consider to be one of the best debut albums I've ever listened to. This song was not a single so it's quite a deep cut. I don't even think she plays it live anymore actually. The first chorus goes:

Big transitions require impulse actions Require loss

Which, is true enough. It's the nature of change. The sentiment is a tender one, but what gets me is the lyric additions at the end as the chords open up:

Big transitions require impulse actions Require loss And light And love

I relate so deeply to this song, for many reasons but I enjoy that blip of optimism the most. I'm quite comfortable with loss because I'm used to it and it's easy enough to manage alone. But light and love is always dependent on other people. I generally don't have much faith in others but the song reminds me to try a little harder in that department.

I send you my affection. May you enjoy October with as much gusto as my orange boy enjoys his catnip pepino.

Until next time!

#diary #sumire-no-nikki

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