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deadcactuswalking · 1 year

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 04/03/2023 (Freya Ridings, Superstar Pride, Caity Baser)

“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus is at #1 for a 7th consecutive week, and I don’t see it facing much competition. For now, welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

It’s a pretty standard week, and I’m pretty busy this week, kind of exhausted, so let’s be as quick as possible and start as always with the notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover – after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. Sure, it’s expected that “Lost” by Linkin Park and “Voices” by KSI and Oliver Tree have left the chart, but we also say farewell to four big ones: “Out of Nowhere” by Bugzy Malone and TeeDee, “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” by Harry Styles, “PSYCHO” by Anne-Marie and Aitch and... “STAY” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber... again.

As for what’s filling in the blanks, we actually see a decent few returning entries. Two of them are long-term hits briefly coming back, those being “Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd at #72 and “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi at #63, and the other two are recent instrumental TikTok hits picking up a new peak, those being “METAMORPHOSIS” by INTERWORLD at #68 and “Snowfall” by Oneheart and reidenshi at #61. Elsewhere, we have our notable gains, including “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez at #53, “Under the Influence” by Chris Brown at #51, “Shut up My Moms Calling” by HOTEL UGLY at #47, “Whistle” by Jax Jones featuring Calum Scott at #46, “Another Love” by Tom Odell at #44, “Snooze” by SZA at #40, “Here with Me” by d4vd at #34, “Rush” by Ayra Starr at #29 and finally, apart from a gain in the top five, “Hide & Seek” by Stormzy at #21.

This week, the top five of the UK Singles Chart is pretty familiar, with one twist. We see “Sure Thing” by Miguel at #5, sure, but then thanks to a seven-years-too-late remix with Ariana Grande, The Weeknd sees “Die for You” surge up to #4. Otherwise, we have “Kill Bill” by SZA at #3, “Boy’s a liar” by PinkPantheress at #2 and of course, “Flowers” at #1. Now we move onto our smaller batch of new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#69 – “Watch This” – Lil Uzi Vert and ARIZONATEARS

Produced by Forza and Kado or ARIZONATEARS

This is technically another case wherein the song credited by the Official Charts Company doesn’t really exist. As the story goes, Forza produced the original track which was previewed in 2019, but later, he was called out by Uzi for leaking music they’d worked on together, putting the song in limbo and leading Forza to get kicked from his band, the Working on Dying trap production collective. Eventually, in April of last year, the song and its video were leaked in full, leading to amateur producers making remixes. One particularly remix, listed as the “ARIZONATEARS Pluggnb Remix”, became particularly popular on SoundCloud, and eventually Uzi’s label Atlantic, in the tradition of screwing Uzi over, picked it up under the bizarre subsidiary – and artist credit for no reason – “sped up nightcore”. Today, we have this new version gaining much of the traction, with the original still not officially released. Issues with Forza must be the only reason why, because the original is honestly pretty fire, with a great, playful introductory verse from Uzi and a hard-hitting tread beat that has a plummeting bass placed onto ethereal keys and vocal samples that make for a pretty samey yet effectively atmospheric cloud rap track. I would prefer a shorter version, since Uzi may have a lot of flows but a lot less to say, since they’re just flexing for the most part, even if the hook is incredibly infectious. Regardless, I must prefer it to the version we got on streaming, pitching down the vocals and adding a cheap sounding synth that whilst has a cool melodic idea, just continues to mind-numbingly loop with very little variation for pretty much the entire song. The remix, whilst sounding vaguely on beat, doesn’t fit the vocals too well, with ARIZONATEARS placing some needlessly soulful plugg chords within a song that is so unabashed in its flexing that it really doesn’t seem like a good fit, especially if half of Uzi’s energy is taken away through the vocals being isolated by an AI stem splitter. It’s just an awkward fit that takes a good song and kind of butchers much of the appeal. I get why the sound has captured people, yet I can’t help but think there’s better ways to introduce people to pluggnb.

#67 – “22” – JayO

Produced by JayO

UK singer JayO, mostly known for contributing to songs by people such as Drake and YNW Melly, has his breakout solo hit with this self-produced song that... barely really exists, but it’s pleasant enough. My main issue is JayO himself, whose nasal voice takes quite a while to get used to, as the production isn’t bad at all, taking a groovy and cloudy approach to typical Afrobeats percussion that takes a really reverbed and echoed approach in its synthetic claps that I find pretty interesting, especially when placed against the solid bass and hypnotic keys. Again, JayO has pretty much nothing to say, as it’s a mostly sex-focused love song with a repetitious chorus and second verse that just repeats itself instead of bringing any new lines in. The production, whilst decent, doesn’t change enough to accommodate the utter lack of a finished song here, so the end product ends up as just okay. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being really big though.

#64 – “REACT” – Switch Disco featuring Ella Henderson and Robert Miles

Produced by Switch Disco and Punctual

Switch Disco are the UK’s self-proclaimed “no. 1 mashup DJs”, and this song features a very prominent sample of “Children”, the dreamy trance classic released in 1995 by the late Italian producer Robert Miles, so prominent that he was granted a posthumous feature credit. The original song peaked at #2 behind “Don’t Look Back in Anger” by Oasis, and this reinvention features Ella Henderson on a lead vocal line that seems like it really does give credence to them being mashup DJs, since it seems completely separated from the sample, with her decent enough vocals comparing love to a chemical reaction not even remotely fitting on the disgustingly-placed sample of the now-iconic piano line. At some point, they bring in hilariously dated acoustic guitars and it almost becomes funny if it weren’t for the fact that the sample is barely implemented outside of the hook so it just becomes a copy-and-paste job. I have nothing against mashups, in fact I’m all for them, but when people who predominantly make mashups resort to just writing a song and pasting it over an existing sample, without making any real concessions to either the sample or the original song they wrote, maybe they should stick to just letting the songs be written for them, because this is pretty damn bad.

#35 – “Pretty Boys” – Caity Baser

Produced by LiTek, Matt Rad and WhYJay

The main reason that this is a unique set of new arrivals is how unfamiliar a lot of the names and faces are, or at least how they’re only slightly familiar, with some vague connections we’re familiar with, like how Caity Baser has her breakout single here, but it’s produced by Aitch’s go-to guys for whatever reason. We’ll see more of both that trend among the new arrivals as well as this one: the songs just aren’t interesting. This one is about how she continuously ends up with men who are attractive but completely boring. She has a lot of spark in her delivery, reminding me of a less volatile Lily Allen and less explicit GFOTY, and it can be quite infectious charisma-wise but the personality that drips off of this ends up becoming both its best and worst element, as whilst she’s never annoying herself, the production is so blank and upbeat with its recurring whistle and awkward trap percussion amidst the otherwise chirpy track that she ends up with barely any space to express that personality, which means this ends up pretty claustrophobic. I really do like the bridge with the acoustic guitars but it’s also just an idea that kind of comes out of nowhere because the production wasn’t fine-tuned for someone who, you know, actually has a personality – it’s almost like it was made to overshadow a performer’s lack of it, so when Baser comes on with her bratty attitude, it feels very overwhelming and for not much good reason, as the song has little edge. As it is, it’s pretty much a comedy song, and it’s chintzy fun in that regard, but it’s not something I’ll ever return to.

#33 – “PAINTING PICTURES” – Superstar Pride

Produced by GlobalKnockz

Superstar Pride is also new to the scene, having this song from his 2022 tape 5LBS OF PRESSURE blow up essentially out of nowhere, and man, it’s been a while since we had a rapper with an unusually clunky name. I almost got used to A Boogie wit da Hoodie and YoungBoy Never Broke Again but they seem to be on their way out so Superstar Pride is here to fill that spot, except with a song that is less of a mouthful and more just a weird play on his surname. Regardless, is the song any good? Well, I love the Faith Evans sample, which I recognise from when Lil Yachty sampled it on “Forever World” with Trippie Redd, but it’s arguably flipped a lot more cleverly here as while he harmonises with the original melody in the intro, he’s soon rapping over a hardcore chop and flip of the sample, buried under a minimal intense trap beat. He reminds me of Moneybagg Yo, with clunky writing definitely a part of that, as well as his gruffer delivery that works when balanced against the melody in the chorus but is pretty gross-sounding in the bassy verse. I like the detail about his family and upbringing, but I’d prefer if it was more fleshed out, given that there’s clearly more he wants to say, but resorts to rapping about thots and how it’s “no love” for these women, which is disappointing when he could go into that relationship he had with his mother that involves both loyalty and cocaine in more detail. Sure, artists don’t need to reveal more about their personal lives if we don’t want them to, but the hints we have here are compelling and I wish they went further, especially because I honestly think that chorus would work as an incredibly solid first verse for a song about that. I think that the song will still last quite a while, mostly because a star-studded remix seems very possible for a song like this going viral, maybe with someone like Lil Durk whom this beat seems tailor-made for, and I’ll be waiting for that remix so that I can fully endorse this.

#31 – “Weekends” – Freya Ridings

Produced by Steve Mac

Freya Ridings? Well, damn, this feels like reuniting with an old friend! Ridings first broke onto the UK pop scene when I was in my first year of reviewing the charts with her top 10 hit “Lost Without You”, which I still don’t like but hey, how’s it been, girl? Thanks to COVID, it honestly feels like it’s been forever. Are you making good music finally? Wait, you actually are? Well, colour me surprised: Ridings released a disco song about alienation which aside from some mix clipping and vocals that I feel should be even more processed instead of drenched in reverb and echo, I think is pretty decent. Given her throaty voice combined with the melodramatic rising pianos, it allows for comparisons to Florence + the Machine, and it definitely isn’t a unique track, but the chorus is insanely catchy and powerful, throwing itself into the strings and percussion that I wish was a bit more organic just to channel the disco even more. The second verse bringing in those distant keys, triumphant horns and Ridings’ gruff vocal riffing makes the dissonant disco frustration feel even more poignant, and the bridge with the trap percussion for once uses it to make a pretty killer slow down that I honestly wish was longer. The build up into the final chorus does feel rushed, but I feel like the chaos caused by the sheer amount of production that is thrown into this very much fits the content and really the thesis of the song. Good job, guys, though maybe I have to be worried now that the people who were charting back in 2018 can come back and surprise me with a genre shift that is of genuine quality. I’m going to prepare for Swarmz to make an industrial rock song featuring Not3s and ZieZie produced by CamelPhat and Loud Luxury. If you’re asking who those people are, trust me: you’re not alone.

Conclusion

Well, it wasn’t a particularly notable week in terms of either extreme of quality, so I suppose Freya Ridings takes the Best of the Week for “Weekends”. Come on, it’s like a high school reunion, I felt obliged to! Funnily enough, the Honourable Mention actually goes to Lil Uzi Vert for “Watch This” as not only is the original actually very good, the ARIZONATEARS remix at least has some more unique sound going for it, and much of the original’s qualities such as the rapping from Uzi is still vaguely there. I can’t sincerely give a Dishonourable Mention though, so I may as well tie Uzi with JayO for “22” as once again, it’s got a more unique interesting sound that I hope to see done better. As for Worst of the Week, Switch Disco takes that easily for “REACT” featuring Ella Henderson and the late Robert Miles, neither of which I blame for its quality. As for what’s beyond the horizon, like always, I have no idea – but Mimi Webb’s album could have some impact so I don’t think next week will be any more interesting than the last. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you next week!

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kentuckywrites · 2 years

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Imperium 3: Chapter 7

Tempus est dicere bonam noctem. (It’s time to say good night.)

Starr knew his eyes were open. He could feel himself blinking, shaking in the onslaught of confusion, but everything was pitch black. There was no structure below his feet; he was floating, somehow, in this dark expanse of nothingness. Was this death? Was this somewhere in between? He took a deep breath, the air cold and frigid around him, but no condensation dared to form, no sign of life emerged from his being.

“Mira?” He called out, hoping for some kind of answer. It was foolish to expect one if he was dead, but maybe the planet had a way of reaching him in this state, so far from the realm of reality and life.

I am here. I just…

The planet responded, hesitant, unsure. Starr grit his teeth. They had no time to be cowards. This was what needed to be done, and the sooner it was over with, the sooner he’d be gone. He didn’t want to linger here, not in this world, not when the beings that formed him had clearly changed their minds about fusing together and finding their path towards healing. Were they both happy with this, truly? Was Starr really just a plaything for them to find their peace, and now that he’d fulfilled his purpose, they’d discard of him? The longer the silence lasted, the more Starr felt angry at the entire situation. This was wrong. This was unfair. He opened his mouth, about to scold Mira for taking its sweet time in killing him, when -

“You must be tired of falling into holes and dying. I hope this is the last time you’ll ever have to do it.”

…

Starr turned his body, his heart plummeting into his stomach, freezing over from the ice that electrified his veins. There, floating in the darkness, kissed by the faintest blue glow…

“Hello, Starr,” Nessa said, her smile so soft and sad and full of pity. “I’m Nessa. Mira’s told me a bit about you.”

“So we are dead,” Starr couldn’t help but hiss the truth, “Mira lied.”

“No, not exactly. Not yet, at least,” She leaned towards him, moving slowly closer. “Right now, we’re in a kind of limbo between life and death. You’ll die when Mira leaves your body and Pongo takes over. It’s just having a hard time letting go of you, I think.”

“Why? We were pointless, in the end. They both used us as a means of achieving their own personal goals without any consideration as to my own happiness. We were an escape and nothing more.” He hissed, the initial shock of seeing Nessa turning into rage. Her smile faded, replaced by an even sadder frown. The pity even shifted into sympathy, the understanding of his plight. Somehow, it felt worse.

“Do you really think you were pointless?” She asked, “Because the way I see it, you’re the reason both Pongo and Mira were able to heal. You saved them both from sinking deeper into their trauma.”

“They made us live with it instead of dealing with it themselves! They were too weak to carry their memories, so they dumped the hard work onto us in the hopes we could fix it for them!”

“...They did. You’re right.”

That caught Starr off guard, her readiness to agree with him. She pressed her hands together, held them up to her chest as she massaged her own knuckles. “I don’t think it’s fair that you got dragged into this. I think there might’ve been other ways to help Pongo and Mira both. But…well, that’s the shitty part. We can’t go back and change things. We have to live with the consequences of both our own actions and the actions of those around us, as unfair as that might be.”

“I never asked for this!!” Starr cried out, the sudden increase in volume causing Nessa to flinch, “I never had a choice, I never wanted to be their puppet! And now they expect me to die!! Was everything I did meaningless? Was it a waste to try and live?!”

“...That’s not something you should be asking me.” Nessa said, “Ask yourself that. Was it a waste, living the life you created for yourself? Was it a waste forming the bonds that you did, or fostering the powers that you got? Was it a waste, making all of those memories over the last six months?”

Starr didn’t respond right away. All of the memories he’d created came to the surface: meeting Vanala and Froyoyo, being accepted into the caravan, learning how to use water ether, creating the gauntlets to house his ether and using it to defend the caravan from indigens, playing with the littlepon and listening to their bedtime stories until the night had fallen and they’d snuggled up together. There were memories of being awake, being alive. But just as many memories were of his sleep, the blissful and peaceful slumber. The Disgrace’s nightmares would sometimes greet him in the unconscious, but Starr never let them prevent him from sleeping, because he knew the waking world would be kinder to him. He was so thankful for that, so incredibly thankful that he’d been able to forge ahead of the Disgrace’s fears. And in reminiscing, in his gratitude towards the past six months, Starr found himself grinning. No, none of it was a waste. He’d lived. He’d lived the life he was given, and he never regretted a second of it.

“I lived.” He breathed, “I am so thankful that I got a chance to live.”

“You lived for yourself, and in doing so, you lived for Pongo and Mira,” Nessa told him, “You are Starr, and Starr lived according to his own desires. But Pongo and Mira were able to see how you lived, and your joy is what set them on their path to heal. They never told you how to live, they just…they wanted you to live. That’s all.”

Hearing that brought tears to Starr’s eyes, and he sniffled, looking down. Only the darkness existed around them, and yet, he began to find it soothing in a way he couldn’t quite describe. When he looked back up at Nessa, her sad smile had returned, and her hand was extended out towards him. He willed himself forward on instinct, his own hand getting closer, closer. A memory shot forward of himself, the Telethia self, flinging his tail upwards and launching Solstice and Nessa into the skies to plummet to the ground below. He could feel her shock, her betrayal, her pain.

He did not take her hand, his arm falling back to his side.

“I hurt you, back then.” Starr whispered, “And I am hurting Mira and…and Pongo, now, by existing. They gave me the chance to live, but in doing so, they denied themselves that very same chance. They have always deserved that chance, far more than I ever did.”

“Don’t say that,” Nessa begged, her own tears beginning to spill over, “You deserve to live just as much as they do. I’m just…I’m so sorry you can’t. I would’ve given you the biggest hug.”

“You sound like Pongo when you say that,” Starr chuckled. It felt strange, using Pongo’s name again, but…but it was harsh, calling him the Disgrace. Pongo’s only sin, after all this time, was the severity of his breakdown. He and Mira had both come a long way, and Starr could attest to their growth more than anyone. A moment passed, and the warmth left his body, fleeting into the cold expansive void. He couldn’t revel in this comfort forever, this chance at seeing Nessa again.

“I…I think I am ready,” Starr confessed, “But before I go…can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“You, um…you are dead. Do you know what comes after dying? Will you be there?”

Nessa swallowed hard, the topic causing her shoulders to tense. “Death is like falling asleep. There’s not much afterwards. But for the time being, even if we can’t see each other, I’ll be there with you.”

“Then I welcome sleep with open arms,” Starr said, grinning despite the pain. Was it pain, at this point, or was it resignation? Could it have been both? How fitting, it was, that he was born into life welcoming the darkness of sleep, and in death he was holding himself to the same acceptance.

Nessa looked up, almost looking at something specific, but there was nothing there. Starr felt his heartbeat slowing down, Mira’s presence becoming increasingly stronger. It had been a part of him this entire time, and though he knew this swelling in his chest was the beginning of the end, he could only feel gratitude. He’d been given a chance to live, however small his time had been, and dying with rage in his heart would leave a bitter taste on his tongue. No, he refused to die with regrets, not when he’d lived such a wonderful and beautiful life.

I am sorry. I am breaking my promise.

“It is okay,” Starr said, “We both knew this would not last forever.”

That does not change how much it hurts.

“I know.”

…Good night Starr.

“Good night, Aidoneus.”

Starr closed his eyes. The world left him, and he passed into the arms of eternal slumber.

Good morning, Pongo.

“...”

How do you feel?

“...”

I know this must feel strange, after all we have been through, but -

“It still hurts.”

The body’s eyes opened, and both were now indigo, Pongo’s color. The separation had gone smoothly; he felt no traces of Starr internally. Externally, however, this was not Pongo. It was his body, taken over by someone he’d forced into handling his pain. It didn’t feel right, returning to what Pongo had been gifted, but…but what else was there?

“I feel like a fool,” Pongo said, “Starr was right. I am a coward. I…I do not regret his creation, but it was wrong of me to agree to it. I should have been strong enough to handle my own trauma.”

It was my prerogative to fuse. The blame is as much mine as it is yours.

The planet sighed, a deep and wistful thing.

But we cannot linger. You know what has to be done.

“I do.”

Are you ready for it?

Pongo did not respond, not immediately. His hands shook, quivering with the weight of expectation. Nessa had been right, too - how many times did he have to do this? Fall into a hole, die, and somehow save the world? Why, why was it constantly him who had to make the sacrifice? Why did he keep placing himself into that role, why did fate keep insisting that this was all he was good for?

Pongo?

Pongo buried his head into the crook of his arm, a combination of cool metal and warm fabric rubbing against his skin as he attempted to push his tears down. When he finally had the strength to respond, his voice still shook, weakened with emotion.

“Starr was angry. He had every right to be, considering his circumstances. I always thought his anger towards me was justified, because I was being selfish. I should have simply pushed it down and gone back to NLA to continue my life. But…but I would not have been living, if I had done that.”

Because the pain you carry would have held you back.

“And I would never have forgiven myself, knowing it would have. I would have wanted to push through it and act normal so I did not worry those around me. But I…I was not strong enough to do that.”

That was never going to be a question of strength, Pongo. You are putting too high a standard onto yourself.

“I am. I did,” Pongo admitted through his tears, “And that is something Starr taught me. I need to…to be kinder to myself. I want to live. I want us both to live, and not be burdened by the pain we have accumulated. I want to drink hot chocolate with L’Cirufe at his shop, I want to help Lin with her schematics, I want to get book recommendations from Elma, I want to meet people and make friends and just…I want to live.”

At his confession, the space in front of him grew brighter. Pongo half-expected the figure that appeared to be Nessa, but she’d disappeared when Starr died. She was keeping her promise to him, that she’d be there with him in death, and Pongo couldn’t fault her for that. Instead, what formed was a small ball of white light, ether sparkling and rising up from the shape inside it. A little draconic tail, spined and curled around itself - Mira.

When it spoke again, a strange effect occurred. Pongo could hear it in his mind, just as he always had, but he also heard its voice echoing from its ethereal form.

That is what you deserve. You have deserved the chance to live ever since I created you. I am so sorry that your life has treated you so unfairly up until this point, but I swear that no matter what comes your way, you will never have to face it alone. Myself, your friends, your family…you are surrounded by people who love you. Now, the last step is to love yourself as much as you love those around you.

Pongo sniffled, wiping the tears from his eyes. “That may be the toughest thing I have ever tried to do.”

It is a good thing you are brave enough to try.

Another deep breath, filling his lungs with all that he felt, all that he had pushed so deeply inside his subconscious returning to the surface with the strength he finally knew he had. Pongo was shaking, his nerves comprised of fire and electricity and a deep, deep sense of responsibility. He was stalling, right now, but he didn’t care. This was a good feeling, being able to speak, able to be heard. He would never let go of this blessing again.

“I am ready now,” Pongo told Mira. “I am ready to end this.”

It will hurt.

“It will be nothing I cannot handle.”

Pongo.

“You should know more than anybody else that I have suffered through worse. As long as you are by my side, I will bear it.”

…I made a promise to Starr. I will extend that promise to you. We will be together until the end of time.

“May the sun and the moons above grant us the power of the star. Let us, the humble servants, protect the land and the sea, the sky and all between…” Pongo finished, trailing off into a quiet smile.

It is time. I will be here when you wake.

The image of Mira pulsed, forcing itself back into Pongo’s chest. The impact threw him into an expanse of white, and he felt full, bursting to the brim with energy about to ignite. He knew his body was morphing, morphing to accommodate the expanse swelling within him, and the resulting effect on his body was indeed a physical pain he’d never experienced before. But Pongo was telling the truth, before. He could handle it, because he knew Mira was there with him. That would always make the pain worth it in the end.

Before he fully receded into the back of the body’s subconscious, Pongo could see Nessa. She was smiling. She was proud.

He smiled back.

Elma thought she had seen it all. Mira had thrown challenge after challenge at humanity, yet they always came out on the other side. Even with the understanding that there were new continents to explore, that there were threats at their doorstep that were awesome in their destructive capabilities, Elma truly thought that nothing could phase her.

Corvhesperikon’s reawakening, its reanimation from a pile of bones, did not surprise her. Sure, Elma admitted to fearing the yggralith, especially after dealing with Pharsis. She understood the danger that yggraliths posed to Mira, a planet which was nothing short of a tasty appetizer to a world-eating extraterrestrial goliath. She would stop at nothing to defeat Corvhesperikon and see to it that humanity’s home remained relatively hospitable.

Elma had even seen Starr tumble backwards into the pit, swallowed whole by the darkness. She’d been firing at Corvhesperikon’s legs - minimal damage, hardly left any impact at all - when the monstrosity directed all of its ire towards the “little godling”. She could only conclude that it was referring to Starr. After all, Corvhesperikon took the plunge into the darkness after Starr fell, screaming with all the rage it had stored in its blackened heart. Elma was not surprised by this, no, she was scared. Fear and shock, though they often worked in tandem, were completely separate entities.

That being said, Elma was shocked by what emerged from Cocytios’s pit.

There was a brilliant beam of light, nearly as wide as the pit itself, reaching up and into the night. The sheer force of the blast nearly knocked Elma off of her feet, but she maintained her balance, shielding her face. She heard a screech as the light separated and Corvhesperikon emerged, its wings flapping with wild abandon. Was it hurt? No, no. That was anger of the highest caliber, anger that could never be tamed.

As the initial wave of light began to recede, a figure became apparent. It wasn’t as large as Corvhesperikon, far from it, but it was far taller than any xenoform or human Elma had ever encountered. It was white, blinding white. Every part of its body was a beacon, dimming down to the point of acknowledgement but not to comfort. A massive pair of wings stretched out of its back, reminiscent of the Telethia’s, and its limbs were long and dangly and coated in stardust. Parts almost appeared as armor, chitinous and otherworldly. Centered in its chest was an emblem, a draconic tail that swirled around itself. From its head, two jagged horns, two elongated and pointed ears, something akin to hair covering one ear. A halo of every color imaginable shone just behind it, and those same colors danced in its singular eye like a galaxy contained.

From a respectable distance, Corvhesperikon spat at the figure with nothing short of hostility.

“IT IS YOUR TIME TO DIE, AIDONEUS.”

Aidoneus? Lumina had mentioned the name, Lumina admitted to seeing this Aidoneus’s ether strand intertwined with Starr’s - Pongo’s? Fuck, this was getting complicated, and all Elma knew was that Aidoneus was a friend according to Vanala and Lumina both. It had fought alongside them in the first battle against Corvhesperikon and Syriahnydra. It was here again, rising from the depths that Starr had been pulled into.

Aidoneus had no mouth with which to speak, yet its voice rang out as a song; Elma heard it all around her, from above and below and behind.

“I WILL NOT LET YOU DESTROY WHAT I HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO CREATE. THIS ENDS HERE.”

Corvhesperikon screamed, charged at Aidoneus. Its maw was easily larger than Aidoneus’s body, it could swallow the entity whole if it wasn’t careful. Yet Aidoneus snapped out of existence, reappearing by Corvhesperikon’s left flank and throwing balls of energy directly into its side. Finally, attacks that did noticeable damage to the yggralith, noticeable and painful. Elma could only stand and stare, watching the exchange unfold in the sky above. A tinge of orange on the horizon, an indication that the dawn was close to greeting them. Did the sun want so badly to witness this fearsome battle? Elma had to admit she was thankful for the dawn, for the chance at seeing a new day grace the world. But for now, the darkness was nearly all there was, save for Aidoneus’s everlasting glow.

“Friend Elma!!” Vanala sprinted over, her wings balled up behind her. Her fire ether sparked in her hands, her gloves turning red from the flames. “Need to get far away from here!! Take Sprinkle Sprinkle and run!!”

“I won’t leave,” Elma spoke before she could fully think things through. Wait, Vanala’s idea was smart - what help could she possibly provide? But there was this nagging feeling in her heart, a need to remain behind and see things through to the end. Was Aidoneus a permanent resident? Was Starr dead? By extension, was Pongo dead? Fuck, FUCK. Elma reiterated her stance, “Aidoneus may still yet need our help.”

Vanala looked up at her, and somehow, she must’ve known there would be no convincing Elma out of her current plan. “Vanala will help Aidoneus. But friend Elma can’t fly, and -”

“LOOK OUT!!”

Froyoyo charged at the two, carrying Sprinkle Sprinkle in his wings. Behind him, Aidoneus was tossed into the side of the mountain, Corvhesperikon roaring in absolute delight at getting a hit in. The resulting impact brought down debris, sprinkled in with snow and rubble and boulders the size of houses. That was not what Froyoyo warned them against, however. Corvhesperikon circled the mountain perimeter in the hopes of repositioning and getting a better angle on another attack, and in doing so, it swept low to the ground, its claws mere inches away from slicing through the snow. Elma lept to the side, dodged with a swiftness she’d perfected over the years. Vanala flew up, lingered by Elma and Froyoyo even though everything about her suggested she wanted to give chase.

Aidoneus never made contact with the ground, but it dipped in a moment of recovery from the blow it had received. By the time Corvhesperikon returned to re-engage, it was charging more energy-based attacks to throw at its body, and still every hit made its mark, still every hit burned through the layer of feathers protecting the flesh and bone beneath. Elma was in awe, tracking the battle and maintaining close visual contact with Aidoneus. Even with Vanala’s help, weakened after the first battle, would Aidoneus be able to defeat Corvhesperikon? There had to be something, some way she could make a difference, it was torture just standing by while the fate of the world was decided in a matchup between two godlike entities -

What the hell was that?!

Another screech, beyond the horizon of snow-peaked mountains. That didn’t belong to Corvhesperikon. It couldn’t belong to Aidoneus, no? No. Something was flying towards them, something with long crystalline wings, yellow shards of ether mimicking the movement of feathers. Elma couldn’t contain her smile, the single laugh that escaped her mouth.

“Hello again, Solstice!” Elma called out. Telethia, the Endbringer responded with another screech - they heard her, they knew, and they were happy to see her again. But kicking Corvhesperikon’s ass was their duty, and their duty came before all else.

Aidoneus looked over its shoulder. Curse that form for not having a mouth, because Elma was certain it was happy to see Solstice, happy enough that it would have smiled. A resolute nod later, and the two were tag teaming blasts at Corvhesperikon. Man, maybe Elma didn’t need the sun to rise after all. Solstice and Aidoneus were doing just fine pushing the darkness back on their own.

“Go, mamapon, go!!” Sprinkle Sprinkle cheered, drawing Elma’s attention for long enough that she saw Vanala push herself up into the air with her wind ether, joining the fray. Her attacks had hardly left a mark before, and they didn’t do much now, but Elma had to admire Vanala’s willingness to fight despite the odds. Froyoyo had placed the littlepon down in the snow, watching the scene just as intently. That was worry there, in his eyes, that familiar shine of hope and concern. Elma wished she could reassure him that this wouldn’t be as devastating as the first time he had fought against Corvhesperikon, but how could she say that in due confidence? She wasn’t there. She hadn’t seen the devastation all those centuries ago.

Solstice dove down onto Corvhesperikon’s back, her claws digging into its flesh and ripping chunks out one by one. It wasn’t a pretty sight, far from it, and yet Elma felt resolute pride in how effective their attacks were. Lightning cascaded off of their body, a storm of ether surging straight into the freshly formed wounds. Corvhesperikon screamed, its neck suddenly swiveling as it tried to bite at Solstice. Solstice darted out of the way long before the yggralith was able to land a hit; in this form, they had access to its mind, its thoughts, its plans. And even without that ability, she was fast, terrifying so even for her size. Elma remembered her very first encounter with Solstice, back in Noctilum, back when she and her team had been fighting the Sphinxes. Even then she’d displayed an intergalactic strength, an unparalleled speed - a recognition that Elma hadn’t been able to decipher. Now, looking back, she knew that Solstice had been bowing her head to Pongo, to Mira, to the body they inhabited together and to the being that gave her purpose.

Aidoneus released another powerful blast of ether, directing the energy towards Corvhesperikon’s face. It flinched backwards, shaking its head. It swung its claws in every direction, blinded for the time being but still enraged enough to keep fighting. Aidoneus floated, hands balling up into fists as it spoke to Solstice and Vanala.

“KEEP THE BEAST OCCUPIED.”

Solstice roared again to convey their understanding, and Vanala reacted with a hearty cheer. “Vanala do her best! Send Corvie to hell!!”

And off the two went, unleashing blast after blast into the yggralith’s flank. Corvhesperikon kept swinging in each direction, its focus constantly switching and propelled by blind rage. It snapped at Vanala, and the Nopon was able to just barely dodge out of the way. She was hardly visible when paired against the other three beings, an insignificant speck spouting fire and ice and lightning. She had speed on her side, however, and she used that to her advantage. Solstice continued drawing most of Corvhesperikon’s ire, flipping onto their stomach to release a beam of ether out of their mouth and into the yggralith’s neck. Corvhesperikon screamed, and quicker than anticipated, it struck at Solstice with a mangled talon that rivaled their size. Solstice wasn’t able to dodge the attack and took the brunt of the damage, faltering and falling a couple hundred feet out of the air. Speckles of blood dripped down to the snowy surface, an impromptu rainfall. Elma flinched as the wind carried some over towards her, not far enough to stain her armor but far enough to leave a mark a few feet away from where she stood.

With Solstice out of commission for a short period of time, Corvhesperikon was able to direct all of its attention towards Vanala. Elma cried out a warning, but it came too late, it came without enough strength to carry it to her ears. Corvhesperikon lunged, and in one fell swoop, it snatched Vanala up into its jaws. She had no time to react and disappeared from Elma’s view, trapped within its maw.

“VANALA!!!” Froyoyo cried, his voice cracking from the strain. Sprinkle Sprinkle watched on in horror, shrinking into their father’s side. Elma felt her heart plummet, thinking that Vanala couldn’t survive such an attack.

Solstice roared, pushing their wings furiously in an attempt to return to the fight faster. Corvhesperikon anticipated how fast she was, where she’d attack next, and grabbed Solstice out of the air with their talons, locking her within its grip. More blood rained down as its claws dug into Solstice’s body, and the Telethia yelped and squirmed in pain.

But then, Corvhesperikon’s mouth began to leak. Something was trying to emerge out of it, something blue and white and shining. It tried to scream, but that was exactly what it wasn’t supposed to do. The floodgates opened, and from inside its mouth, ice formed along its jawline, freezing it wide open. The source of the ice was none other than Vanala, poised on Corvhesperikon’s tongue as ether glided out of her hands. Sprinkle Sprinkle cheered at the sight of his mom, but Froyoyo remained wary, watching, anticipating the worst.

“Aidoneus…better…be ready!!” Vanala shouted through gritted teeth, the frost from her hands beginning to falter. Some of the ice began to crack as Corvhesperikon waved its head back and forth, attempting to regain control of its mouth. Vanala wouldn’t be able to hold the effect for much longer.

Aidoneus had been floating in the same spot all this time, unmoving. Swirls of ether were condensing in the air, flowing straight into its chest where the spiked draconic symbol was ingrained. It was amassing power, but how would it release it? Was Vanala seriously suggesting that she’d keep Corvhesperikon’s mouth locked open and let Aidoneus fire its shot through her and into the yggralith? That was suicide!! And even if Aidoneus couldn’t finish its charge by then, the ice would shatter and Vanala would be swallowed up, separated from her family and her ether feasted upon until she was nothing but an empty husk, a body starved of life’s building block.

“NOW!!”

Aidoneus yelled, and Vanala closed her eyes, tumbling forward. It was a miracle that she didn’t hit any of Corvhesperikon’s teeth on the way out, for the ice shattered almost instantly when she stopped supplying ether to create it. Corvhesperikon let out another painful screech - its loudest one yet, making Elma flinch back.

And then, Aidoneus let go.

From its chest, the ether had congregated and released into one fiery beam of energy, piercing straight through Corvhesperikon’s mouth and through its body, exiting out the other end. It was every color imaginable, a cosmic rainbow of sound and beauty. Elma couldn’t pull her eyes away, watching as the yggralith’s scream was cut off and its body torn asunder. The beam persisted for what felt like an eternity, and when it finally imploded on itself in a storm of light, Corvhesperikon’s body dispersed, fragmented into tiny pieces of flesh and unprocessed ether.

Elma hadn’t realized her jaw was slack until she forced her lips back together. Corvhesperikon was dead. The yggralith was no more.

The debris was like snow, polluted and darkened. They were the fragments of Corvhesperikon’s feathers, those that had once given it the capability of flight, now falling to the earth. Some clung to Elma’s armor, desperate and wanting, but she shook them off. They reeked of death and rot, bitter when mixed with the cold. She’d rather not have it surrounding her.

Vanala was the first to descend from the sky, but her first target was not Elma. She instead ran to Froyoyo and Sprinkle Sprinkle, hugging the two with her last ounce of strength. Froyoyo’s face nuzzled into her fur, and Sprinkle Sprinkle found themself happily squished between their two parents. The occasional sniffle rang out in the wind. Elma looked up when she heard another creature descending, quickly revealed to be Solstice. She landed, creating a whirlwind of snow and Corvhesperikon debris. If Elma didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought Solstice was trying to control how hard they flapped their wings in an attempt to lessen the pollution. Their flank was still soaked in its own blood; Corvhesperikon had held it in a vice-like grip, before, and it hadn’t freed them during Aidoneus’s attack. Elma wasn’t sure if any of their injuries were collateral. She took a step forward, seeing the recognition and respect in the Telethia’s eyes, and by the time her boot finished crunching the snow beneath, Aidoneus floated downwards, positioning itself between herself and Solstice. Elma paused, swallowed. She continued onwards until she was next to them both.

Solstice made a noise akin to a huff, and then a rumbling purr. Elma raised her hand, touching their snout gently. Through her gloves she could feel the swirls and delicate patterns in her chitinous body, a natural armor that housed a cacophony of ether below the surface. She allowed herself a moment to connect, to feel, to be.

“HELLO, ELMA.”

Aidoneus spoke, softer than before. Had it used up its strength, too, or was this tonal shift on purpose? Elma had a suspicion that it was the former, and thus, she found herself mimicking its tonal level.

“Hello, Aidoneus,” She said, “Thank you for saving Mira.”

“MIRA AND I ARE ONE AND THE SAME. IT WAS NOT MY TIME TO DIE, NOT WHEN I HAVE SO MUCH LEFT TO DO.”

Ah, that explained a few things. Elma smiled at the realization, the conclusion that Aidoneus was the being Mira had once been and the reason the planet was sentient to begin with. But that connection also harbored another question, one that she wasted no time in asking.

“If you’re Mira, then what happened to Po -”

Wait. No, he said that wasn’t his name. That hurt, that hurt so badly. She corrected herself despite the pain.

“- to Starr?”

Aidoneus seemed to recognize this tension, averting its gaze for a moment. Elma expected bad news - how could you feel good about an answer when the other party wouldn’t meet your eyes? But when it spoke again, it was with a combined softness. Yes, it was weakened, and that was affecting its volume. But there was a love there, too, a compassion so deep that Elma could feel it through every part of her being.

“THIS IS A TEMPORARY FORM I CAN TAKE. PONGO AGREED TO RESUME CONTROL ONCE I HAVE REVERSED THE TRANSFORMATION. HE HAS MADE PEACE WITH HIMSELF, THOUGH HE WILL STILL NEED TIME TO HEAL. I THOUGHT I COULD HELP, BUT…BUT I MADE THINGS WORSE. I REALIZE THAT NOW.”

A pause.

“WILL YOU BE THERE FOR HIM? HE WILL NEED YOU AND HIS FRIENDS NOW MORE THAN EVER.”

“Always,” Elma didn’t hesitate in her response, “But if you’re really Mira, then you must know that Pongo needs you just as much as he needs us.”

“...I DO NOT KNOW IF I BELIEVE YOU. HE IS WHO HE IS TODAY BECAUSE OF HUMANITY - BECAUSE OF YOU.”

“Sound like friend Aidoneus don’t know value of self,” Vanala piped up, having walked over with Froyoyo and Sprinkle Sprinkle by her side. Eye bags were beginning to form under her eyes, tired yet still shining with compassion. “Does Vanala need to sit Aidoneus down for pep talk like Vanala did with Starr?”

Aidoneus chuckled at that. “NO, THAT WILL NOT BE NECESSARY. BUT I ADMIT…I HAVE THINGS I MUST COME TO TERMS WITH REGARDING MYSELF. PONGO WILL NEED TO DO THE SAME.”

“And we’ll be there for him every step of the way,” Elma reaffirmed, “Thank you again, Aidoneus.”

“Many thanks indeed,” Froyoyo said, “Were it not for Aidoneus, wifeypon would be…” He shuddered, the mental image giving him pause. “Second time now that Aidoneus saved world. Makes you honorary Heropon in Froyoyo’s book.”

“...AN HONORARY HEROPON?”

“Not as cool as Legendary Heropon. Froyoyo still Legendary Heropon of Cocytios. Honorary Heropon like sidekick.”

“I CERTAINLY FEEL HONORED BY THAT. THANK YOU, FROYOYO.”

“Meh meh!! No reason dadapon and Aidoneus can’t both be Legendary Heropon!!” Sprinkle Sprinkle pouted, “Both heroes! Both heroes Sprinkle Sprinle forever look up to!!”

Aidoneus chuckled again, reaching down to pat Sprinkle Sprinkle’s head. The height difference between the two was laughable, even more so when Aidoneus returned to its previous stature. It looked off into the distance, to the pit that it had emerged out of. “EVERYONE, FOLLOW ME. IT IS TIME.”

And off Aidoneus floated towards the edge without further explanation. Was it needed, when they all knew what was going to happen? Elma and the Nopon followed silently, though moments after their first steps the ground below them shook. Sprinkle Sprinkle was the only one who looked outwardly panicked, and Elma couldn’t blame them. It was Solstice behind them, the great and powerful Telethia, attempting to follow as well. She made eye contact with the littlepon, and after that, all of her steps were calculated, softer.

The sunrise was beginning to dominate the night, midnight mixing with the oranges and yellows of the dawn. As everyone congregated by the cliffside, Aidoneus turned back towards the group, making a request.

“I ASK THAT NO ONE HERE SPEAKS OF ME, OR WHAT HAPPENED THIS DAY. I DO NOT WANT TO CAUSE ANY UNNECESSARY CONCERN, NOR DO I WANT HUMANITY TO RELENTLESSLY PURSUE ME IN THE HOPES OF ANSWERING THEIR QUESTIONS.”

“Humans are a naturally curious race,” Elma said, “But I understand. I promise BLADE and those who live inside NLA’s borders will not hear of this.”

“THANK YOU AGAIN.”

A pause.

“THE EARTH WOULD BE PROUD OF YOU. FOR HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME, AND FOR HOW YOU HAVE GROWN.”

Elma wasn’t sure what to make of those unspoken implications, but she could feel the sentiment, the nostalgia dripping through Aidoneus’s voice. All she could do was smile, nod, watch as Aidoneus flew upwards and then descended into the darkness of the pit. The same beam of light that had graced its entrance to Cocytios returned, though nothing emerged from it for quite a while. When something finally did begin to take shape, Elma observed with keen interest. There was a torso, arms, legs, a head. As the light began to fade, more details became apparent - black hair, pale skin. Elma got her hopes up…

Until she recognized Starr’s armor.

Starr descended down from the light, eyes closed and body limp. His hair was short like Pongo’s, and the scars across his right cheek were gone. Maybe this was Pongo. He fell into Elma’s arms just as the light vanished, and Elma turned him over so that he lay in her arms. The moment reminded her of when she’d first met Pongo, that fateful day in Starfall Basin. How time had flown past them, how time had treated Pongo. If she could only go back in time and warn him then about all the pain he’d bear, all the loss and tragedy…

No. There was only the present, there was only the gift of today. Elma had to make it count, and she’d make sure Pongo made it count, too.

Softly, gently, Elma spoke.

“Wake up, Pongo.”

#xenoblade x #Imperium 3: Chapter 7 #ow.#yeah i lost track of how many times I teared up in that first scene #but um...yeah.#good night starr.#one chapter remains.#and then...it's over.

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philosofungi · 5 months

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On the Cusp of Existence, I Wonder

I screamed into the void, asking And the universe: a blank, uncaring reach of time Said nothing, Likewise to the millions before me.

Science says I am a product of miosis That I rose from a sea of amino acids Pooled on a speck of cosmic dust A testament to natural selection Embedded in 1.618, golden, evolved, biochemically Structured, predictable, meticulous.

Matter and time is all that there is I exist, c'est tout, and all is blankness, A canvas where I hold the paints, nihilist A living amalgamation of fossilised experiences That ceases being in totality the moment of the cessation of my heart. Reality resumes. Or are we suspended in Milton’s mass of Chaos, Plato's shadows on the wall of a cave? Bearing such eschatology, will I be Trapped in an Inferno or a Kafkaesque limbo? Are we projections in an absurd, brutalist matrix In blind conformity to pre-coded proclivities? So,

Maybe I am bound by an all-encompassing Fate, As the Greek tragedians pen of a dismal Oedipus Forever confined to a future predestined As a Raskolnikov or a Napoleon Shaped by the snipping, cutting, and measuring of Mystic thread. Pawns in an arbitrary, celestial design.

And whether reality is a construct of matter or fate How should we then live? Tethering our existence to Some unyielding, abstract, ethical decree? Grasping for some order, some de jure legitimacy Knowing that behind Manichean depths of conscience lies Promises of an elusive truth. Provided it exists.

Do all roads lead to heaven? Contradictions cannot co-exist, and I too Am paradoxical: spiritually anorexic, Starved yet repelled by nourishment, if you could even call it that— Struggling for a shard of autonomy.

It's teetering on the edge of a cliff With a dizzying sense of vertigo You fly when you believe, they say Take a leap of faith. But I am afraid to plummet.

So I stand there, with scraped knees And unanswered pleas simply Looking down On the cusp of existence, I wonder.

—Charlotte Starr

#poetry #dark academia #philosophy #existential #words words words #literature #thoughts #reflection

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asolle · 7 months

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Click the link to download or stream Music Music Music fall 2023 episode 3 (good songs from summer 2023 part 2): https://app.box.com/s/qtmi4k7auqdwwuwnadtq607evmnxbb82

Playlist:

Beck and Phoenix - Odyssey PWNT - Clouds Feeble Little Horse - Paces Atmosphere - Dotted Lines Madeline Kenney - I Drew A Line Headphone - Keep it Simple Georgia - It's Euphoric Current Joys - Cigarettes Metric - Just the Once Jungle - Volcano Belle and Sebastian - When You're Not With Me Jessy Lanza - Limbo Girlray - True Love Secret Night Gang - Never Ever Pvris - Good Enemy ANOHNI and the Johnsons - It Must Change Jenny Lewis - Joy'all Protomartyr - Elimination Dances Decisive Pink - Destiny Killer Mike - Run/Don't Let the Devil Hippo Campus - Yippe Ki Yea Gringo Starr - Get to Know You Rose Rose - Sugar Hill Squid - Green Light Deaf Charlie - Losing My Mind Black Milk - No Wish Rancid -Tomorrow Never Comes M. Ward - New Karrang/Dedication Hour

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anissapierce · 1 year

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Another idea thtll never come to fruition n will just be something i think abt sometimes is like ...a team of just...all the titans fucked over/sent to limbo etc

Karen beecher i think would make a good lead for the team n a nice mentor figure maybe ......like idk i think that though shes pretty busy maybe shes just always keeping an ear open n reaching out to these teens while theyre on the team after she hears some shit or they reach out to her and that's how

The goal of the team would be to rescue karen starr n tanya spears.... obvious that wasnt tt fault exactly but maybe if things ended better with the team or they kept up w her she wouldnt be put in a place to sacrifice herself while on deathstrokes team. Ace is considered as a part of the team bringing her back bc karen knew about their budding romance but was nixxed from consideration

Danny c back from his limbo possibly bc of the jason fic idea ive been thinking abt for years

Eddie b...

Celine p- she wasnt dead like everything thought bc amanda ain't letting her kid die like that. After getting let high n dry by tt she basically wasnt allowed out of her moms sight ... Until she found out that her mom adopted her n so she used her moms resources to try n get in contact w her team mates...found out tht bart left kiran behind n used more of her moms resources to rescue her

Kiran s - she is generally a kind person but she does resent that it was celine that rescued her and not her now exboyfriend..... She would jump at a chance to help tanya

Lorena m -

Miguel b is warmer abt the titans than the others on account of his role in titans academy but hes still aware enough to know that like he wasnt treated the best once the team disbanded

Miguel,celine and kirans memories of their time as titans is rlly vague (like miguels is in canon) but they rmbr it enough to feel slightly bad about the whole thing.

#dc talk tag

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jesuslists · 1 year

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Jesus’ Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for 2023

Each year, Dad and the Blessed Virgin Mary get after You to make resolutions to improve Yourself and the mankind You supposedly redeemed through Your crucifixion. Here are Your Top 10 resolutions for the Son of God in 2023. Review last year’s resolutions to see if You followed through.

1. Rehire Katharine Gibbs as Your Personal Secretary. Rosemary Woods was Such. A. Disaster. She was horrible at keeping accurate records of summit meeting between Dad and Lucifer. You will never understand why God the Almighty even asked Richard Nixon for a personal referral. 2. Grant Nine More Lives to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Instruct Your legal team to draft the memo to Dad authorizing more lives for the President of Ukraine. Remind Him how well the whole nine lives thing has worked for Tom Cruise. Doing his own stunts, are you kidding Me? 3. Release Diego Maradona from Purgatory. Now that Lionel Messi has replaced him in the pantheon of Argentina greats, it is time for Maradona’s final judgment. He was a naughty boy, not the least of which crediting that World Cup goal where he cheated to the “Hand of God.” Clearly a hand ball as well as blasphemous. He could end up in the hot place for all eternity if the tie-breaking vote is cast by St. Peter Shilton, who is set to take the rotating at-large seat on the Final Judgement Committee (FJC). 4. Reset Elon Musk’s Soul After the MOU Expires. The Archangel Michael wagered Mephistopheles over the war in Ukraine with the winner gaining control of Musk’s soul until 12:01 AM (GMT) on January 1, 2023. Michael has always been under the spell of the so-called Russian military might and prowess, but the dark angel put the fix in with the Russian generals by promising them what Lucifer had promised Me in the wilderness that one time. Maybe once the MOU has expired, Grimes will take Musk back. 5. Get a New Girlfriend. The Blessed Virgin Mary has been after You for 2,000 years to enter into a meaningful, long-term relationship with a nice Jewish girl, but all the women in Heaven are just too nice for Your tastes. You’ve tried dabbling with earthly women, but they end up dying, are too complicated (e.g., Sharon Stone, an older woman fiasco), or like Natalie Portman, married. Your siblings Scott, Rachel, and Joseph, Jr. suggested someone more age appropriate, like Emma Watson. Also, St. Alan Rickman has been whispering in Your ear. 6. Commission a Dramedy About the War in Ukraine. On Spec. Have that New Archangel Abner inspire Adam McKay to write and direct. Antony Starr, who plays Homelander on “The Boys” as Vladimir Putin, Tom Cruise (see #2 above) as Volodymyr Zelensky, and Dame Helen Mirren as Joe Biden. Special appearances by Jonah Hill as Sergey Surovikin, the Russian commander for operations in the war, and Clare Danes as Zelensky’s wife, Olena Zelenska. 7. Flood the Hamptons. It’s been a while since the heavens really flooded the earth and You would like to jump-start the Earthly Climate Change Initiative. Also, You always get a kick out of watching wealthy and powerful people panic and cry that life is unfair. 8. Grant Pay-Per-View Rights for Lauren Boebert v. Marjorie Taylor Greene Mud Wresting Contest to Higher Ground Productions. 9. Designate Diet Mountain Dew the Official Soft Drink of Heaven. You saw this dude’s Instagram account, and now You are hooked. 10. Invent Limbo. Leave it to the morons at the Catholic Church to invent the concept of limbo (here). It’s not real despite Dante Alighieri imagining the virtuous Virgil residing for eternity in its gloom. However, everything the 45th President of the United States touches turns to [redacted] and You don’t want to spoil heaven or hell (or purgatory, because Dad cares). In Limbo, President Voldemort will be sad, and no one will hear his cries and accusations. No gold toilets, gilded thrones, or cheeseburgers. Only arugula salads. He will be instructed that if he completes all his tax returns correctly, he will be granted entrance to Heaven. Good luck with that!

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12lab · 3 years

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youtube

Nacho Vegas

Canción del extranjero

Concierto en homenaje a Leonard Cohen

Paraninfo de la Universidad de Oviedo

20 de octubre de 2011

Nota El 19 de octubre también tocó la versión adaptada al castellano de The Stranger Song (1967), en el teatro Jovellanos de Gijón y con Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) presente, a dos días de recibir el premio Príncipe de Asturias de las letras (de 2011). Esta canción también la grabó en 2004 y salió publicada el 14 de marzo de 2005 como «cara B» del sencillo El hombre que casi conoció a Michi Panero (Limbo Starr, 2005).

#Nacho Vegas #2005 #El hombre que casi conoció a Michi Panero #Canción del extranjero #Leonard Cohen #The Stranger Song #1967 #Gijón #Limbo Starr #Música

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blanddcheadcanons · 5 years

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Jon Starr (The Time Commander) has been taken in and out of Comic Book Limbo SO many times that he's gained partial cosmic awareness.

@yoshimickster

#john starr #time commander #limbo

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muwi-translates · 3 years

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Bustafellows - Bad End Short Story [Limbo]

Short story that continues the bad end of Limbo’s route, from a Stellaworth Tokuten.

Limbo Bad End spoilers. Don’t read this until you’ve finished that!

**Please don’t move this translation or claim it as your own.**

[Livin’ with your voice]

“Welcome, Valerie.”

Scarecrow’s house always feels way too big every time I come over. When I first heard that my brother was living in a shared house with his guy friends, I was worried about what kind of place it would be, but I was surprised by how large the place is. It shouldn’t even be called a house.

Helvetica leads me into the living room.

“Where’s Shu?”

“I think he’s gone out for work. Um… nothing that Limbo asked him to do, though.”

Scarecrow replied with some difficulty. I can tell what they were waiting for by looking at Helvetica and Mozu’s face. I knew that they think that because I’m here, I have news about my brother. I knew that, but I was the one who wanted to hear some news about him.

“Limbo’s working as a bail court lawyer now.”

“Bail court?”

“That’s right. It’s one of those quantity-over-quality jobs that the New Sieg Bar Association gives out easily. There’s hundreds of bail hearings a day and they only take a few minutes each. I wouldn’t want to do it even if they paid me big money.”

“I’m sure Limbo must feel the same…”

Helvetica was right. It was a job that he would normally never want to do.

“He was desperate to keep himself occupied anyway. I only ever see him when we pass by each other at the courthouse…”

That’s why I came here-- where do I even start with him? That’s what I was about to ask, but I stopped myself. I could tell from their dark faces that Limbo probably doesn’t stop by the house much anymore.

“Would you guys mind talking to hi- Limbo? Even if I did it--”

“I know you have some expectations for us, but I don’t think we can do anything.”

Mozu interrupted me.

“...We’re still trying to come to terms with what we’ve lost, too.”

ーーー

As I left, Helvetica came to see me off at the door. He gave me the name of a bar on the outskirts of Belle Starr. It seemed that Limbo had stopped going to Carmen’s place where he’d known lots of people.

The bar was dark and quiet, with only a couple of tables occupied by people who looked like regulars. Limbo was sitting at the end of the counter, with several glasses of whiskey.

“Hold on, Limbo. I thought you couldn’t hold your drinks?”

I sat down next to him as he laughed weakly.

“I’m not drinking, I’m just laying them out. I really want to drink and forget everything. I thought that if I did I wouldn’t have to think about anything…”

He lifted up a glass and the ice clinked against it. When I looked closely, it did look like that none of the glasses had been sipped from.

“...Whenever I get drunk, I keep hearing that song in my head.”

“That song?”

“It’s the song she said she liked. I played it on the piano… and she hummed it next to me. I’ll hear it… so I can’t drink.”

He slumped onto the counter, curling his body into a ball like a child. I gently stroked his back.

“... Limbo, how about we stop by the hospital? I know you won’t like it, but it’s important to get help during times like these. Your mind right now isn’t healthy. You’ve lost someone close to you, you’re confused. You understand where I’m coming from, don’t you? Please, do this for me. Not for you, but for me. You understand, right? Hmm?”

As I spoke softly and gently, Limbo looked up at me. He was smiling, but there was nothing behind it at all.

“...You’re worried that if you leave me alone, I’ll kill myself or collapse somewhere from exhaustion, aren’t you, Valerie?”

“......”

“I promise you I’m not going to die, Valerie. And I’m not going to push myself so hard that I collapse.”

“Huh?”

“You know, the other day, when I was drinking, I thought about how it might be easier if I just died. It wasn’t just a thought either, I even put a knife to my wrist. But I can’t do it. Whenever I try to, I hear her loud voice calling my name out. Whenever I try to work without eating or sleeping, she’d get angry. I can’t do that, she’d say. She’ll tell me to eat this or eat that. She’s so noisy...”

“Limbo... “

“Something’s wrong with my head… hey, Valerie, I’m begging you, please just get rid of her…”

Limbo raised his body to look at me. He stared at me with eyes that implored me to help him. He looked as if he was about to cry.

“She keeps saying my name every single day… but she’s dead. She’s not here anymore. I even carried her body to the ambulance. When I held her, she was already starting to get cold and hard. I remember, you know? How she felt. Like a doll. I asked the doctor right in front of me to come help me, but he didn’t even hurry. He just peeled her off me, checked the inside of her mouth and closed her eyelids. I thought there might have been a chance that I had made it, but everyone except me knew that she was already dead.”

As Limbo reminisced about that day, his tears rolled down onto his lips.

“The one inside my head isn’t her… kill her… kill the thing inside me… I can’t take it anymore…”

He’s broken. That’s just to be expected. His friend was killed right in front of him. And on top of that, he’s been hurt the same way in the past before.

When that undocumented immigrant Navid had bought commited suicide, Limbo had broken down. That time, Limbo had closed off his heart to endure it, and managed to hold on. Now this wound was being gouged out again, and someone important to him has died. It would be strange if he wasn’t breaking down.

“Limbo… you can’t do that. I can’t do that either. But I know there’ll definitely be someone who can help you. So why don’t we go home for today? You can stay at my place. We can go to the hospital together tomorrow, okay?”

When I hugged his shoulders, he looked up and smiled.

“...It’s alright, Valerie. I’m okay. I’ll go back to my place, and tomorrow morning I’ll stop by yours?”

“Alright, that’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Are you sure you’ll be okay? Call me if anything happens, okay?”

Limbo looked back to the glasses sitting in front of him. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine. She'll be there to wake me up tomorrow too.”

#otome #otome game #nippon cultural broadcasting extend #bustafellows #limbo fitzgerald #mytranslations

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steamworksandshadows · 4 years

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Extremely Large Pile of Halloween Music Recs, 2020 Update!

(Reorganized a bit, and with a whole bunch more songs.)

Classical

Come Little Children - Erutan (ethereal classical)

Transylvanian Lullaby - Erutan (ethereal classical)

Transylvanian Lullaby - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (orchestral classical)

A History of Horror (album) - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra

Double Trouble - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (classical)

Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium - Camille Saint-Saens (eerie classical)

Danse Macabre - Camille Saint Saens (dark classical ballet)

Uranus, the Magician - Gustav Holst (orchestral classical)

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice - Paul Dukas (orchestral classical)

Night on Bald Mountain - Modest Mussorgsky (orchestral classical about witches)

In the Hall of the Mountain King - Edvard Grieg (classical)

Dies Irae - Mozart (threatening choral/orchestral classical)

Don Giovanni, a cenar teco - Mozart (growly baritone/bass opera - the bit where Don Giovanni gets dragged to hell, both in the supernatural religious sense and in the modern internet slang sense)

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - Bach (classical pipe organ)

String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor (III) - Shostakovich (classical string quartet)

Dance of the Knights - Sergei Prokofiev (classical)

Flowering Vines - Unwoman (ominous cello waltz)

The Carny of Mr Dark - Deathwatch Beetle Repairman (goth pipe organ)

Castlevania organ medley - Ulla Olsson (pipe organ)

This Is Halloween - Vitamin String Quartet (classical string quartet)

Vitamin String Quartet Performs The Nightmare Before Christmas (album)

The Vampire Masquerade - Peter Gundry (classical)

Waltz of the Bone King - Peter Gundry (classical)

Masquerade Suite: Waltz - Aram Khatchaturian (dark classical waltz)

The Comedians, Op. 26: Waltz - Kabalevsky (uneasy classical waltz)

Grim Grinning Ghosts - Myuu (instrumental piano)

Rock, alternative, rockabilly

Haunted - Ashcan Orchid (folk rock)

The Last Steampunk Waltz - Ghostfire (rock waltz)

Bad Moon Rising - Rasputina (cello metal)

In the Hall of the Mountain King - Apocalyptica (metal cello)

Get Your Kicks on Route 666 - Exdevils (metal)

Shoot The Zombies - Andrew Huang / Songs To Wear Pants To (sing-along folk)

Something Wicked That Way Went - Vernian Process (circus rock)

Dark Carnivale - Frenchy and the Punk (indie rock)

Come Alive (War Of The Roses) - Janelle Monae (rock)

Gallows - Coco Rosie (goth indie/alternative)

My Favorite Things - Youn Sun Nah (creepy vocal)

Annabel Lee - Psyche Corporation (electronic alternative)

The Devil Wears a Suit - Kate Miller-Heidke (alternative)

Toxic - Yael Naim (neo-folk)

Crazy For You - Venus de Vilo (indie rock)

Witchy Woman - The Eagles (classic rock)

Goodnight Moon - Shivaree (alternative)

Bela Lugosi’s Dead - Nouvelle Vague (alternative)

Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) - Concrete Blonde (alternative)

Tombstone - Suzanne Vega (alternative)

Off With Your Head - Mz Ann Thropik (alternative)

Poison Apple - Charlene Kaye (rock)

This Is The Night - Harry Potter soundtrack (rock)

Look Out Young Son - Grand Ole Party (rock)

Painkiller - Birdeatsbaby (rock)

Haunted - Frantic Flintstones (rockabilly)

Freaked Out and Psyched Out - Frantic Flintstones (album)

Zombie Riot - Batmobile (rockabilly)

Alice in psycholand - Nekromantix (rockabilly)

She’s My Witch - The Radiacs (rockabilly)

Werewolf - Southern Culture on the Skids (rockabilly)

Human Fly - The Cramps (rockabilly)

Munster Beat! - Martinibomb and The Coconut Monkeyrocket (‘60s pop remix?)

Circus punk, dark cabaret

Charmed, I’m Sure - Circus Contraption (dark circus cabaret)

We’re All Mad - Circus Contraption (dark circus cabaret)

Pink Elephants on Parade - Circus Contraption (dark cabaret)

The Last Waltz - The Magnificent Seven (dark cabaret waltz)

Tango de la Muerte - The Magnificent Seven (rock tango)

Bloody Bones - Beats Antique (dark circus waltz)

Monster Tango - Mucca Pazza (circus punk marching band)

Rumanian Dance No. 1 - Mucca Pazza (circus punk marching band)

Mr. Spider Goes Home to Spiderland - Mucca Pazza (circus punk marching band)

The Trouble - Birdeatsbaby (dark cabaret)

Theatre Noir - Robyn Cage (dark cabaret) (music video)

Jekyll and Hyde - Theoretics (hip-hop)

Lament for a Toy Factory - Dr. Steel (circus rock)

Bogeyman Boogie - Dr. Steel (circus rock)

Circus Apocalypse - Vermillion Lies (dark cabaret)

When You’re Evil - Voltaire (dark cabaret)

BRAINS! - Voltaire (dark cabaret)

Careless Whisper (cover) - Unwoman (electronic cabaret)

Katrinah Josephina - Universal Hall Pass (a capella)

Buried in Water - Dead Man’s Bones (dark waltz)

Metropolitan Waltz - Orpheum Bell (folk waltz)

The Buccaneers’ Waltz - GurdyBird (electronic folk?)

Black Waltz - Amber Asylum (electronic circus thing)

Creepy Clown Symphony - Myuu (self-explanatory)

Americana, bluegrass, blues, soul, funk

In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company - The Dead South (Americana)

Stranger - The Devil Makes Three (Americana)

First and Last Waltz - Nickel Creek (Americana)

Ghosts of Mississippi - The Steeldrivers (bluegrass)

7 Devils - The Goddamn Gallows (bluegrass, rock)

Old devils - William Elliot Whitmore (bluegrass)

Death Come Creeping - Stefan Grossman (bluegrass)

The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie - Colter Wall (Americana)

Shankill Butchers - Sarah Jarosz (Americana)

Hellhound - Shawn James (acoustic blues)

Voodoo Woman - Koko Taylor (blues)

Your Hoodoo Man - Studebaker John & The Hawks (blues)

Voodoo - The Neville Brothers (New Orleans soul)

Voodoo - Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons (soul, funk)

The Witch Queen of New Orleans - Redbone (funk)

I Put a Spell on You - Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (rock ‘n roll)

Jazz, swing

In the Hall of the Mountain King - Duke Ellington (jazz)

I Put a Spell on You - Nina Simone (slow jazz)

I Put a Spell on You - Morgan James (slow jazz)

Old Devil Moon - Frank Sinatra (jazz)

Black Magic Woman - Janice Hagan and Kenny Vehkavaara (jazz)

I’d Rather Be Burned As A Witch - Eartha Kitt (jazz)

Thriller (1930s Jazz Cover) ft. Wayne Brady - Postmodern Jukebox (swing) (alternate link)

The Devil With The Devil - Larry Clinton Orchestra (swing)

Swingin’ at the Seance - Glenn Miller (big band swing)

Spooks - Louis Armstrong (swing)

The Headless Horseman - Bing Crosby (swing)

Skeleton Jangle - Dan Levinson’s Roof Garden Jass Band (swing)

Resurrection Waltz - Lee Presson and the Nails (big band waltz)

Spooky - Puppini Sisters (Andrews Sisters-style swing)

Headless Horseman - Kay Starr (swing)

Hell (Remastered 2016) - Squirrel Nut Zippers (swing)

Ghost of Stephen Foster - Squirrel Nut Zippers (swing)

Memphis Exorcism (Remastered 2016) - Squirrel Nut Zippers (swing)

Boogie Man - Lee Presson and the Nails (swing)

Rattlin’ Bones - Preservation Hall Jazz Band (New Orleans swing)

Save My Soul - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (New Orleans swing)

Skeletons in the Closet - Louis Armstrong (swing)

Skeletons in the Closet - The Moon-Rays (swing)

The Mack - Beat Circus (swing - doesn’t seem very Halloween at first, until the tuba player gets murdered in the middle of the song. I swear it makes sense.)

Balrog Boogie - Diablo Swing Orchestra (swing)

Voodoo Mon Amour - Diablo Swing Orchestra (swing)

The House Is Haunted - Casa Loma Orchestra (swing)

Skeleton Jangle - Viva La Rocca (swing)

Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer - Ella Fitzgerald (swing)

Grim Grinning Ghosts - The Dapper Dans (barbershop)

Grim Grinning Ghosts - The Dapper Dans (in person) (barbershop)

Halloween Medley - The Cadaver Dans (barbershop)

Pop

Full Moon Tonight - Silvastone feat. Bellsaint (pop)

Demons - Hayley Kiyoko (pop)

Season of the Witch - Lana del Rey (pop)

A Little Wicked - Valerie Broussard (pop)

Halloween - Aqua (pop)

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - violin/cello/bass cover - Simply Three (electronic pop)

Shoot The Zombies (Pink Fluffy Unicorns Remix) - Andrew Huang (happy pop)

I Put a Spell on You (no movie dialogue) - Winifred Sanderson (pop musical)

Electro-swing

Fear & Delight - The Correspondents (electro-swing)

Midnight - Caravan Palace (electro-swing) (alternate link)

Midnight - Swingrowers (different electro-swing)

Old House - Dirty Honkers (electro-swing)

Devil’s Samba - Sim Gretina (Latin-flavored electro-swing)

Devil’s Got My Soul - Victor and the Bully (rock/electro-swing)

Cuphead: Railroad Wrath (Electro-Swing Remix) - The Musical Ghost (electro-swing)

Cuphead: One Hell of a Time (Electro-Swing Remix) - The Musical Ghost (electro-swing)

Bendy and the Ink Machine: The Devil’s Swing - Fandroid (electro-swing)

Bendy and the Ink Machine: The Devil’s Swing (Glitch-Swing Remix) - The Musical Ghost (glitch-swing)

Undertale: Spider Dance (Glitch-Swing Remix) - The Musical Ghost (glitch-swing)

Undertale: Spider Dance (Sim Gretina Remix) - Sim Gretina (funk/glitch/chiptune)

Luigi’s Mansion (Remix) - Qumu Music (chiptune, electro-swing)

Undertale: Ghost Fight & Dummy (Peggy Suave Swing Remix) - Sim Gretina (electro-swing)

Electronica, EDM

Backstreet Bones: Everycorpse - Sim Gretina (uhhh…spoopy Halloween EDM remix of Backstreet Boys? If you click on nothing else, click on this one. It’s very worth it, I promise.)

Macabre Rotting Girl Feat. Kathy-chan - Sim Gretina (adorable electro)

Sim Gretina feat. Kathy chan: Let The Monsters Free (µThunder Remix) - µThunder (EDM)

Ghost in the Machine - PrototypeRaptor (complextro)

Spooky Tune - PrototypeRaptor (complextro)

Nullifcation [Underground] (Legend of Zelda remix) - PrototypeRaptor (grimy EDM)

Grim Grinning Ghost (Remix) - The Living Tombstone (EDM)

Undertale: Megalovania (Sim Gretina Remix) - Sim Gretina (EDM)

Undertale: Spooktune (Sim Gretina Remix) - Sim Gretina (EDM)

Spooky Scary Skeletons (Remix) - The Living Tombstone (EDM)

Warren Zevon: Werewolves of London (Daheen Rmx) - Daheen (psytrance)

Interlude: Limbo - Yoshimasu Kamiya (ambient horror)

Bloodstone - Amon Tobin (atmospheric glitch)

Volk - Thom Yorke (ambient horror)

The Horror - RJD2 (instrumental hip-hop)

Crybaby - Drum & Lace (indescribable brooding atmospheric)

The Kid Who Drowned At Summer Camp - Hot Sugar (instrumental hip-hop)

The Darkest Evening of the Year - Emancipator (downtempo)

Halloween Funtime REMIXMONSTRousMASHup - Pretty Lights (EDM)

HALLOWEEN Theme Song (DJ Deville Trap Remix) - DJ Deville (trap)

The Oogie Boogie (Man) - Duke Skellington (glitch-hop)

Stranger Things Theme Song (Michael Jobity & The Foreign Machine Remix) - Michael Jobity, The Foreign Machine (synthwave - my personal favorite remix of this theme)

Stranger Things Theme Song (C418 REMIX) - C418 (synthwave)

Stranger Things (Louis Futon Flip) - Louis Futon (chillstep)

Stranger Things Theme (Slicey Remix) - Slicey (trap)

Stranger Things - Theme Song (Oscar Wylde Trap Remix) - Oscar Wylde (trap)

Ghostbusters (Kill Paris Remix) - Kill Paris (EDM, future funk - by far my favorite remix of the Ghostbusters theme)

The Ghostbusters Theme (Remix) - The Living Tombstone (EDM)

Ghostbusters Remix - Matheo (EDM)

Ghostbusters Remix - Fat Noize (dubstep)

Lady Gaga: Monster (Starfuckers Remix) - Starfuckers (EDM)

Lady Gaga: Monster (Chew Fu Remix) - Chew Fu (electro-house)

Michael Jackson: Thriller (James Egbert Remix) - James Egbert (electro-house)

Michael Jackson - Thriller [The Reflex Halloween Disco Edit] - The Reflex (moody, indescribable IDM(?))

Beetlejuice (Dubstep Mix) - Figure (dubstep)

The Addams Family (Figure Remix) - Figure (dubstep)

Hedwig’s Theme (KE KRA’s Trap Remix) - KE KRA (trap)

Stress - Justice (French electronic…something)

Things I thought were funny

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah - 30 Rock (parody novelty record)

A Hard Days Night of the Living Dead - The Zombeatles (zombie rock)

Schüttel deinen Speck - Peter Fox (witches’ dance video) (the track by itself)

In the Hall of the Mountain King - Portsmouth Sinfonia (experimental orchestra from the ‘70s - google them, you absolutely will not regret it)

Gangnam Busters - FAROFF (Ghostbusters/Gangnam Style mashup - annoyingly, it works far better than you think it will)

#music #music rec #halloween #halloween music #spooky music

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coochiequeens · 3 years

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Chava Herman Sharabani has been trying to obtain a get—or a divorce, according to Orthodox Jewish religious law—from her ex-husband, Naftali Sharabani, for 10 and a half years. The 30-year-old teacher lives in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn with her two children, and her marriage, as she describes it, was not a happy one. Herman Sharabani had been legally separated for a decade, but the get from the beth din, or the Jewish religious court, had been delayed.

According to tradition, it is the husband who initiates the process of issuing the get. Sharabani had left the family a decade earlier, according to Herman Sharabani and her lawyers, but she says he still refused to grant her a get. (Representatives for Naftali Sharabani did not respond to Vogue’s request for comment.) “Here I was for 10 and a half years, running after people, asking ‘Can you help me? Is there anything to do?’” says Herman Sharbani. “And they’re always like, ‘I don’t know. Call me in a week.’”

The process rendered Herman Sharabani an agunah, a woman who is trapped in a dead marriage, according to orthodox Jewish custom. (In Hebrew, the word is literally defined as “anchored” or “chained.”) Without a get, an agunah woman cannot remarry or even date. “It was just a constant banging my head on the wall,” says Herman Sharbani.

On Instagram, Herman Sharabani happened to see a DM conversation between the popular Jewish singer Dalia Oziel and a woman named Rifka Meyer, who runs a prominent sheitel (wig) salon in London. Meyer described how she had fought for a get for almost 10 years and only spoke out about her struggle recently. (Meyer received her get in September of 2020.) Seeing this conversation out in the open inspired Herman Sharabani.

Herman Sharabani reached out to Oziel and sent her a digital flyer she had created with an image of her ex-husband’s face paired with the phrase “Get Refusal Is Abuse” on it. Oziel posted the flyer to her Instagram feed.

“If I don’t use my platform for this, what good is it for?” said Oziel in an interview last month, speaking about her motivations. “I said to my followers: ‘I get it. This is uncomfortable. But we need to stand up for our fellow sister. She is chained to a dead marriage.’” Suddenly, the hashtag #FreeChava was being widely shared. Within the Orthodox community, it was impossible to miss.

The delay or denial of a get can be motivated by many different reasons. A get might be withheld to extract a favorable financial arrangement in civil divorce proceedings. Or one party may want to engineer a certain custody arrangement, even if they left the family long before. In many cases, according to Keshet Starr, a lawyer and the executive director of the nonprofit Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, those who experience get refusal are survivors of domestic abuse.

There is a growing movement to register get refusal as domestic abuse in and of itself. Amber Adler, an Orthodox Jewish mother of two who is running for city council in South Brooklyn, supports a New York State Assembly bill that would classify get refusal as coercive control and make it a felony. In some cases, the refusal perpetuates a power imbalance—get-refusing men can sometimes remarry by skewing ancient laws, leaving the woman in marital limbo. “It’s still happening, and it’s still damaging, and it’s hurting women across the board in a long-term way,” says Adler over a video call. Currently, in New York, there are two laws in place that theoretically protect against get refusal, the Domestic Relations Law 253 and Domestic Relations Law 236(b). Both are intended to prevent the get system from being misused, but both laws contain loopholes that can be exploited, says Starr. DRL 253, for instance, mandates that the person requesting the divorce must pledge that they have removed all barriers to remarriage for their spouse; but it does not work the other way around.

In addition, these laws are complicated by the division of church and state. “We have to structure any legislation carefully so that it doesn’t overreach into matters of religious law,” says Starr. “That would create constitutional problems.” Starr also notes that “on the Jewish legal side, there’s a whole body of Jewish law that is sometimes not comfortable [with civil law],” meaning that the religious figures involved in these cases may not ultimately respect civil law. While there are no concrete statistics on agunah cases, Starr is currently working with 75 women seeking a get, connecting them with local counselors and lawyers.

The intersection of religious and secular law has proved sticky terrain for women (or men) attempting to obtain a get. But the emergence of social-media-fueled activism has the potential to change the traditional power dynamics. In many ways, #FreeChava mimics other social-justice movements that have played out on social media: There is an initial post, then the repost, and sometimes a viral moment. (To date, more than 1,500 posts have used the #FreeChava hashtag.) Sometimes flyers are created depicting the get refuser in the style of a “wanted” poster. There have been color-coordinated outfit campaigns to show support: On February 25, known as PinkOutThursday, women dressed in pink to show solidarity with Herman Sharabani and recounted stories of their own attempts to obtain a get. The Instagram account @thegetbusters is a stream of supportive posts for Herman Sharabani and other agunahs. Then there is the physical mobilization: Several rallies have occurred in New York–area Jewish communities from Monsey to Lakewood to Flatbush.

The emergence of social-media-fueled activism has the potential to change the traditional power dynamics.

The pressure built by these social media-generated protests has tipped over into more traditional forms of protest within the Orthodox community. Shira Stern, who owns the blanket business Swaddle Bee in Monsey, New York worked with the Orthodox Jewish community of Lakewood, New Jersey to publicize a siruv, or a contempt-of-court order organized by rabbinical authorities to compel someone to action. “I like to shine light on positive things in the Jewish community, but once this became a campaign, I’ve been trying to advocate and get people involved,” Stern says.

The ripple effect of #FreeChava may be difficult to quantify, but its impact seems profound. Herman Sharbani “put a face to the whole movement,” says Yael Braun, who is working on her case. Braun, 33, who goes by @the_divorce_specialist on Instagram, says she is the only female toenes, an advocate in the Jewish court system, in the U.S. While Braun is not a lawyer within the United States justice system, she works within the Jewish courts and has long dealt with get-refusal cases. “I can’t tell you how many calls a day I get from people, women who’ve been suffering for years, but they didn’t even know they could say something,” says Braun. “They didn’t have a voice, and Chava really broke that. She broke the stigma of what an agunah is.”

While an agunah may have been hesitant to speak out because of shame before, the movement has encouraged other women in similar positions to come forward. Like Herman Sharabani, women have used social media and protests to help other women struggling to obtain a get. While social media has always played a part in the Orthodox Jewish community—often being deployed for charitable causes—raising awareness of get refusal is new for the community. Since Oziel’s initial post back in late February, according to Braun, 17 women have so far been freed from their agunah status by using similar tactics to the #FreeChava campaign. One of those women, says Braun, had been an agunah for 18 years.

“They didn’t have a voice, and Chava really broke that. She broke the stigma of what an agunah is.”

Part of the success of this social-media-fueled process has been the pressure it has put on authority figures within the community. Adina Miles-Sash—known as @flatbushgirl on Instagram and one of the more progressive and outspoken religious influencers—shared Herman Sharabani’s story a few weeks after the initial post. “This woman somehow became the face of this issue that has been on the back burner for far too long,” says Miles-Sash. She recalls promoting and attending a rally for another agunah: “We were going to get angry. We were going to get mad, and we were going to make it uncomfortable.”

During the rally, Miles-Sash and a group of women were approached by a prominent local rabbi who offered to broker the get. “And we were like, ‘We’re not backing down,’” says Miles-Sash. She filmed the interaction and later put it on social media. “We had 40,000 views,” says Miles-Sash. That night at 8 p.m., the woman received her get.

While Herman Sharabani herself still hasn’t received her get, she is hopeful. “My dream for other agunahs is that they’ll have protection,” she says, “that they won’t be used as leverage.” David Abramson of Abramson Law Group, who is Herman Sharabani's lawyer, and Braun, his daughter, have set up a foundation, the Agunah Foundation: Liberating Women From Chained Marriages, that will help women pay for legal fees and also set up a fund for necessities such as food, housing, and therapy.

“Everyone needs to realize that this is abuse and a human-rights issue. It isn’t just a Jewish issue—we aren’t the only religion that deals with this,” says Braun. “We can’t let our fellow human beings go through this.” Oziel, who first posted #FreeChava, is still fighting for Herman Sharabani. “Would I have ever imagined that this would’ve taken off in this way? No,” says Oziel. “But here I am, and I don’t regret any decision.”

These women are stuck in dead marriages for years if not decades because the husbands hold the power to declare a divorce and religious leaders don’t get involved. Disgusting

#FreeChava #Get refusal is abuse

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krispyweiss · 3 years

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Let’s Twist Again: Chubby Checker Turns 80

Here’s a twist: Chubby Checker turns 80 today.

Though he’s been making records since 1958 and is associated with the first generation of rock ‘n’ roll, Checker - born Ernest Evers on Oct. 3, 1941 - is more a peer with the second generation, younger than Beatle Ringo Starr, Grateful Dead man Phil Lesh and Jimi Hendrix bassist Billy Cox, all of whom are 81.

Checker is a literal song and, mostly, dance man. In addition to “The Twist” (and “Let's Twist Again” and “Twistin’ U.S.A.” and “Slow Twistin’” and “La Paloma Twist” and “Teach Me to Twist”), there’s “Limbo Rock,” “Let’s Limbo Some More,” “Let’s Do the Freddie” and, of course the “Yo Twist!” version of “The Twist.”

So, c’mon, baby and twist one up, do the twist - and do it again and do it slowly and teach someone to twist in the U.S.A. - for today is a milestone for Chubby.

And if anyone can twist at 80, it’s Checker.

10/3/21

#chubby checker #the twist #ringo starr #the beatles #phil lesh #grateful dead #billy cox #jimi hendrix

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longforyesterday · 4 years

Photo

Ok. Here we are. Long post(/rant) ahead in response to the photo above. Sorry for my English, but I had to get these things off my chest. Thanks to everyone who will take the time to read this post, and tell me what you think!

1. They had all agreed to shut up about the “divorce” and he announced it to promote his album.

First of all, it was Allen Klein (one of the main villain in this wretched story) that had convinced John - who was very enamoured with him, his persona and his promises - not to tell anyone about it. In late December 1969 John, however, told journalist Ray Connolly, who didn’t say a word. Klein wanted to make as much money as he possibly could from the band, and announcing the break-up would have certainly damaged that prospect. Paul did it in April 1970. That’s four months of limbo, of nothing. He was in the midlle of an uncertain situation, with a manager who profited off them and their work and that he didn’t want, his bandmates and closest friends against him. Paul loved the Beatles and being a Beatle, he never wanted them to break up but the time had come. George had wanted out for years but never left for good. We all know John had lost interest in the band and had already started working with Yoko. I feel like Ringo didn’t want the band to break-up, but just went along with the other two, hoping that Paul would eventually agree with them. Releasing a solo album (that he put together without any help from the other three) while staying in the Beatles under Klein, with no hope of a follow-up to Abbey Road, in a tense situation, after John’s “divorce” private announcement, alone against the other three would have meant - for Paul - that everything he made from it would have gone to Klein for the most part. Of course he didn’t want that. Let’s not act like this didn’t affect Paul at all. It must also be mentioned that, while he was working on his solo album, Allen Klein and John had contacted Phil Spector to work on Get Back/Let It Be, which had been shelved.

Back in Beatles headspace, Paul sat in a room at Cavendish Avenue and, with fresh ears, reviewed the results of the second version of the Get Back LP. To his mind, the music was stark, unadorned, frighteningly bare, but ultimately thrilling. Klein, meanwhile, bluntly deemed it ‘a crock of shit’ and conspired with Lennon to bring in Phil Spector, who had just overseen the rousing production of ‘Instant Karma!’, to rework the tapes. Unknown to McCartney, Spector booked studio time in March and began slathering strings and brass, fairytale harp and aaahing choir onto ‘The Long And Winding Road’, making it sound hopelessly corny, like a BBC orchestra backing Engelbert Humperdinck. At this stage, however, Paul remained unaware of this development, his thoughts somewhere else entirely. Secluded in his music room at Cavendish Avenue, McCartney began recording his first solo album.

Tom Doyle, Man On The Run

Then came a letter (maybe it’s just me, but I find it a little passive-aggressive) from the rest of the Beatles.

Ringo Starr stood on the doorstep of McCartney’s house at Cavendish Avenue, unaware that he was about to precipitate the end of The Beatles. His tricky diplomatic mission, which he had chosen to accept in his role as the chirpy drummer, was to convince his increasingly estranged bandmate that there was an unacceptable clash of release dates between the long-delayed Get Back – now renamed Let It Be – and Paul’s freshly minted eponymous solo album, which was due to be issued only a week before. With him, he had a letter, dated 31 March 1970, handwritten by John Lennon and co-signed by George Harrison. It read: ‘Dear Paul, We thought a lot about The Beatles and yours [sic] LPs – and decided it’s stupid for Apple to put out two big albums within 7 days of each other. So we sent a letter to EMI telling them to hold your release date ’til June 4th (there’s a big Apple-Capitol convention in Hawaii then). We thought you’d come round when you realised that The Beatles album was coming out on April 24th. We’re sorry it turned out like this – it’s nothing personal. Love, John and George.’ Paul – his patience already strained, his temper on a hair-trigger – invited his friend inside and very quickly absorbed this information. Then he erupted. ‘I told him to eff off,’ Paul says. ‘Everyone, to my mind, was completely treating me like dirt. It was kind of like, “We’re the big guys, we’re the grownups.” And I said, “No way, man. Get out.”’ Ringo swiftly departed with the sound of Paul’s fury ringing in his ears. McCartney refused to budge and his solo album was released on 17 April 1970, forcing Let It Be back another two weeks to 8 May. It was the moment when Paul McCartney finally gave up on The Beatles, the point where he mentally quit the group.

Tom Doyle, Man On The Run

Of course the news provoked public outrage, and Paul - trying to set the record straight - later said

‘It was all a misunderstanding,’ he protested. ‘I never intended the statement to mean “Paul McCartney quits Beatles”. I didn’t leave The Beatles. The Beatles have left The Beatles, but no one wants to be the one to say the party’s over’

Tom Doyle, Man On The Run

but John was furious because he had wanted to announce it to the world and Paul had beaten him to it. He didn’t announce it to promote his own solo efforts, he wasn’t the type of person to do such a thing: Paul left that limbo he didn’t want to stay in and did what had to be done, even though it was painful. His first solo album resented from the announcement, and McCartney was destroyed by critics for ages because of it, not because of the songs, and by John, George and Ringo too.

2. “He sued the Beatles”

Yes, he sued them, that’s a fact. He sued them in December 1970, at the end of an year during which he had received worldwide hate and criticism for his actions and for his album. He could have sued the other three immediately after the release of McCartney or Let It Be (and he was booed during screenings of the movie), but procrastinated and thought a lot about it. He also had a nervous breakdown because he felt worthless and useless and because of that difficult situation within the group (which at that point didn’t exist anymore) and with Klein. We could have lost him if it hadn’t been for Linda. There was no other escape from that situation. He brought his former bandmates to court with a heavy heart. He “killed” the Beatles, but he also saved them from their manager. In the end they all recognised Paul was right about Klein, and he did them a favour by freeing them from that shark and from Apple.

3. “It’s a drag”

Imagine having just learned of your close friend’s sudden, terrible death at the hands of psycopath. Imagine burying yourself in your work, in the studio to deal with your grief, and crying your eyes out all the while (George Martin was there with him, and I trust George Martin). Then you come out of the studio and a journalist shoves a microphone in your face, prying, asking you for a reaction to the sad news you’ve been trying to deal with for hours. He probably was still in denial. Everyone has a different reaction to death and grief.

4. “He lost their songs to his little Jackson mate”

Paul and Michael had worked together on two singles, and MJ had hung out with the McCartneys in their Scottish estate. He had also asked Paul for financial advice, and he suggested investing in song-publishing. The Beatles catalogue was up for sale and Jackson seized the opportunity. Of course Paul didn’t think MJ would go after their songs and was upset about it (eight years of his and his former bandmates’ hard work in another man’s hands? I would be furious) and he and Yoko weren’t able to outbid Michael and to get the songs back, which only happened ten years ago.

5. The credits for ‘Yesterday’

Every song in the Beatles catalogue that wasn’t a cover, written jointly with Ringo or written by George was credited to Lennon-McCartney, even when they wrote and composed separately (especially after 1967). Paul and John also agreed that the credits could be reversed, if either of them wanted to, on any future releases. When I first got into the Beatles, I thought that that was a good arrangement, but in my book the name of the main composer should go first. For example,in my opinion, A Day In The Life is correctly credited to Lennon-McCartney, but Eleanor Rigby, which was Paul’s creation with some input by John, should be McCartney-Lennon. But this is just my opinion. Now, Yesterday. We all know Yesterday was and is Paul’s baby. John repeatedly said he had nothing to do with it. In Wings Over America (1976), Paul reversed the credits for five Beatles songs, and John didn’t say a word about it. In 1996, before the release of Anthology 2, Paul asked Yoko to reverse them only for Yesterday, and she disagreed. He didn’t ask her to remove John’s name. After Yoko’s refusal, (probably unbeknownst to Paul) Linda, who was at the height of her chemo treatment, phoned her to ask the same thing, only to be answered “That’s never going to happen”. She could have been more empathetic and polite. Maybe she refused beause Yesterday is the most covered song of all time and still makes a lot of money?

6. “Salieri and Mozart”

Some people may argue that I’m bringing Yoko into this for no reason whatsoever, but - actually - there is a reason. The comparison with Salieri and Mozart was made by Yoko herself in a BBC interview in December 1997, when Linda was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Put yourself in Paul’s shoes. Your wife is dying and your best friend’s widow rubs salt into the wound and describes you as the Salieri to her late husband’s Mozart. Common knowledge has it that the two composers were enemies, and that Salieri even poisoned Mozart, but in reality the Italian musician was Wolfgang’s mentor and tutor, and we probably wouldn’t have had Mozart without Salieri. If you choose to make that comparison just as Yoko made it, you should keep in mind the historical truth, and that Salieri was essential. The person who made the comment said that Paul is the modern equivalent of Mozart, and for a reason. Mozart had been a musical prodigy since his childhood, and Paul was and is still considered by many an all-round musician and multi-instrumentalist. People who worked with the Beatles like George Martin and Geoff Emerick, their sound engineer, even said that he was the most musically talented of the four. He also composed Yesterday in his sleep, for heaven’s sake! You can have your favourite among the four Beatles, but you can’t deny his talent. (The commentator isn’t doing that, but a lot of people did it in the past and still do to this day.)

7. *I’m not going to repeat those last words*

Read up on his life and work, dear commentator, and then tell me if you still think that. And his solo work shouldn’t be dismissed like that. Maybe I’m Amazed? Another Day? Band on the Run? Live and Let Die? Here Today? I could go on. (The other former Beatles wrote some clunkers too, let’s not forget that). I think that many of the nasty, horrible comments about Paul come from what John said about him immediately after the break-up. John regretted them later, walked back on them, apologised and made peace with Paul (who never badmouthed him in the press), but the media ignored that and continued spreading lies. Paul wasn’t and isn’t perfect, neither of them was. A lot of people (mainly boomers) just like to act like John was Saint John of Peace from Liverpool and never did anything wrong, while the other three were inferior to him and evil people, especially Paul. Nowadays (thankfully) people tend to be objective and to not believe the old whitewashing propaganda that has been perpetuated by the Lennon Estate. But this post is not the place for that.

#i've written a testament #but it was worth it #i'm going to tag john too because i mentioned him a lot #paul mccartney #john lennon #the beatles #rant

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incandescent-eden · 4 years

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STORY MASTERLIST

A (not so) comprehensive list of all the things I write about, all of which are subject to change at any given time because I do a lot of refactoring!

LOOOOONG POST INCOMING I write... a LOT, and I have... MANY projects :) Feel free to ask me about any of them! :)

With love <3 Continue reading below the cutoff if you want to know the basic rundown of my worlds and works!

ANGELVERSE:

This universe encompasses all of the angels and demons I like to focus on. Works in the angelverse will likely be about Faraday (formerly known as Efrem), a demon lieutenant, Ezekiel, a young angel, the archangel Uriel, or angel Raguel / angel Sophia (their stories are intertwined).

The main concept I have on Angelverse surrounds Faraday, who has grown into himself as a demon and made something of himself. He finds it impossible to shake who he was before. The question comes up during an important meeting between Heaven and Hell of whether he is truly Faraday or Efrem, his own self that he has shakily become, or the self he inherited from being his father’s son. There’s also brotherly angst between Faraday and Ezekiel, who refuses to let go of the past. (If you look at my old works tagged ‘ezekiel,’ you’ll see Ezekiel used to be a part of Faraday/his ‘ideal’ self, which is why new Ezekiel, separate from Faraday, reads so differently.)

The Raguel and Sophia stories are also closely linked to characters Andromeda and possibly Zachariah. Andromeda’s father runs a cult and has captured an angel in his attic. When Andromeda finds the angel (Sophia), her otherwise “normal” life is thrown into disarray as she starts unraveling threads about her father’s actions as a cult leader. If Zachariah is to be a part of it, he would be living with Andromeda’s family, having run away from his past.

Prominent characters in Angelverse include: Faraday, Uriel, Ezekiel, Stena, Michael, Ramiel, Raguel, Sophia, Zachariah, Ambriel, Ruhiel, Gabriel, Raphael, Luci, Bee, Sasha, Saoirse, and Heather. With the exception of Sophia, all names ending with “el” are angels, while the rest are demons. Also, I say prominent, but like half of these characters are from a bygone era (2018 when I first created them).

TW/CW for heavy religious (Christian) imagery, emotional abuse, violence, transphobia mentions and cult talk. Additional content warning because I tend to write angels as LGBT, but I recognize that some people are not comfortable with this affiliation with Christianity.

LUXTRURA (NOTE: LUXTRURA IS ON PERMANENT HIATUS):

Luxtrura is the name of a fictional country in ye olde European fantasy style, and I haven’t thought of a title for the WIP yet, so I mainly tag it ‘luxtrura’ or ‘luxtruran trio.’ This WIP is a fantasy / dystopian / political intrigue about an uprising in the kingdom of Luxtrura run by an inexperienced king and corrupt nobles all vying for the crown.

Luxtrura (at the current moment) follows the life of His Majesty Devron Fharren, the Eighth Fharren King, who inherited the crown by kingdom decrees at the age of 21. Unlike most kings, Devron has only had seven years of proper royal tutelage on statecraft, having only been named heir to the throne when he was 14. He soon finds he has inherited a kingdom that has been deeply wounded, that his people hate him, and that he has few allies among his own country’s nobles, his friends, and neighboring royalty. Revolution is brewing, and he has a choice to make: to claim his birthright or to help his people.

Prominent characters include: Devron Fharren, Eden Barison, Mili Starr, Plumeria Rwalke, Lilia Tao, Rassaya Tao, Andrea (a mysterious stranger who gives only her first name), Jakob Fiyre, Cordelia Fiyre, Liseline Fiyre, Sonja, and Orange and Rouse (the dragons).

TW/CW for violence, sexual assault mentions, transphobia mentions, political talk, blatant classism, and death.

GLOWING EYES:

A “what-if” scenario where Victor Frankenstein and Dorian Gray had met and become friends and also Frankenstein wasn’t a man and was named Viola and was not a pleb weakling like Victor. Also Dorian Gray is fat because I said so.

This story reimagines the Frankenstein and Dorian Gray cast as students in their final year of the prestigious University of Ingolstadt, with Frankenstein having returned from a year off during which she was suspended for [redacted] reasons. The vibe we’re going for is dark academia, but I don’t think they ever actually do any learning?

Prominent characters include: Viola Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, Elizabeth Lavenza, Henry Clerval, Basil Hallward, Deukalion, and special shoutout to Justine Moritz and Sibyl Vane because I didn’t want to put them in, but they definitely deserved better in the source material.

TW/CW for death, violence, toxic/obsessive relationships, grave-robbing, body part mentions (eyes, limbs, etc), and mentions of the Devil. Basically, if it was a concerning part of either the Frankenstein or Dorian Gray stories, it will still be concerning.

Fun fact, there is a Glowing Eyes playlist that I am NOT too ashamed to share with the public! :D

HELEN OF LEGEND:

A retelling of the Helen of Sparta story that explores Helen’s thoughts and motivations. Who was the woman behind the face that launched a thousand ships? And did she ever even want those ships to be launched? (Spoiler alert: the answer is no.)

Helen of Legend gets pretty heavy handed because I get really mad about people lauding the Greeks as the end all be all of culture, and I’m still really mad about how people dress Millie Bobby Brown up like she’s 25-40, so make of that what you will.

On the bright side, Helen of Legend is a sapphic retelling!

Prominent characters include: Helen, Leda, Menelaus, Clytemnestra, Penelope, Theseus, Aphrodite, Paris, Cassandra, Hector, and Hecuba.

TW/CW for misogyny, implied past sexual assault, sexual assault mentions, mentions of spousal and emotional abuse, people being generally creepy about bodies, people being creepy toward children (Theseus), cities burning, subtle classism, and death.

OF DANCERS AND DREAMERS:

A musical about Anne-Marie, a non-binary Vietnamese lesbian born into a wealthy family, and Jules, a Tunisian baker’s daughter who is working her way into the Paris ballet. Anne-Marie wants to be a designer, but their mother, Mme Trinh, has other plans. The year is 1884, and it was hard for the Trinh family, as immigrants, to establish their foothold in society, and Mme Trinh will not have her child throw away the family’s hard work. One day, while at the ballet, Anne-Marie becomes smitten with Jules, a ballerina with the most dazzling smile. They find solace in sharing their passions with one another and become friends, each eventually realizing they have fallen for the other in a time that is unfriendly to both of them.

Prominent characters include: Anne-Marie, Jules, Victor, Mme Trinh, and Amandine.

TW/CW for subtle homophobia, classism, mental illness, and parental guilt tripping/emotional toxicity.

THE LYRE EFFECT:

A play about life after death, and what it means to live and love. This play follows Patroclus upon his death, desperate to return to Achilles. He meets the reluctant Eurydice, embittered by decades alone in limbo halfway between life and death. Together, they almost throw someone off a boat (is it really murder if they’re already dead?) and have a chance to tell their stories, stepping out from the shadows of their more famous lovers.

I took a lot of liberties with this, so Orpheus is a woman (wlw OrphEurydice), and I would like for both Achilles and Patroclus to be played by trans men, and for all of the characters to be played by non-white actors.

Prominent characters include: Patroclus, Eurydice, Achilles, Orpheus, Apollo, Hades, Charon

TW/CW for talk about death

SPEED ROUND (OR: THINGS I WRITE ABOUT THAT AREN’T AS AMBITIOUS JUST YET/AT THE CURRENT MOMENT):

Here Lies Forever - a story focusing around two young people, Medb Flaherty and Virgil Sutherland, growing up at an orphanage amid war, abandonment, and sickness. Medb is a blind writer who dreams of traveling the world with Virgil, her best friend since their teen years, but when the war strikes too close to home, Virgil leaves Medb and their peaceful student life behind to join the army. Unwilling to let go, and recognizing the pain Virgil is in, Medb takes it upon herself to save Virgil, the both of them haunted by the ghosts of their pasts.

On the Corner of Maple Street - short stories about the lives of Sarah and Evangeline together, two lesbian women who met when Sarah was 28 and Evangeline was 31. Sarah was a toy maker and Evangeline was an actress. They have a son named Oliver, who’s now in his forties, and they’re grandmas to all the neighborhood children. They live on the corner of Maple Street :)

Partager Un Reve - short stories, often romantic, about two circus performers, Alyona Ledbedeva (who does aerial silks) and Li Mey Ri (an acrobat). They’re cute together, there’s not really much to say here.

Claire - there’s a really old novelette floating around on my account and you can find it if you search Claire, but like it’s OLD. An 18th century French lady who contracted TB and died but was brought back by a necromancer named Cecil (Cecil is the character of my friend @sinnabon-cosplay !) and is now immortal. Fun times with Claire and Anthony usually involve lamenting the fact that they’re stuck as teenagers.

Miscellaneous - miscellaneous demon and monster characters like Alexander, Felicity (both vampires), Sparrow (succubus/Heather’s youngest sister), Zephyr (fae, husband of Spar), Lycan (she’s... a werewolf), and so on. Not really connected to a plot

Performing Possumhood - uh this was a play I wrote with my friend @holdingonmyheartlikeahandgrenade for a 24 hour play festival, it’s about a guy named Thomas who becomes herald for a kingdom and then on his first day of work, the king dies, and his son becomes king, except the new king??? is a possum???? and like no one does anything about it, so Thomas just feels like he’s going insane, poor guy (also everyone else is named Thomas except the king, whose name is His Majesty King Parthur Pencildragon of Alpacalot)

Nordic questing team - I’ve literally written nothing for these fools, but I’m tempted to make it into a dnd campaign! The characters I have are Val (short for Valnotte) (she’s a nokke), Hanne (human poison seller who wears an eyepatch just because), Fur (short for Bjorgolfur, he’s a werewolf who left his pack because he was too good at being alpha wolf but he didn’t want to be alpha, he wanted to press flowers and have a cute little cottage by a cliffside with a pretty garden damn it), and Bo (full name: Boscobel Blue, he’s a cow boy. Literally. He has cow ears and a big septum piercing and a tail. Also he’s a shepherd. His sheep are carnivorous :))) Make of that what you will)

Alice x Secret Garden - another play but where Alice Liddell and Mary Lennox are 18 years old and find themselves in Wonderland, after Mary is jaded from the end of WW1 and is frustrated at her friend Dickon’s marriage proposal, and Alice runs away, trying to retain her childhood as best she can

Retellings - I do myth and fairy tale and folk retellings! :) You can search ‘Tithonia’ for my sleeping beauty retelling, and I wrote Orpheus and Eurydice a while back. Still working my way through Icarus :’) Also ‘Mermaids Can’t See’ is a retelling of the classic mermaid story but written as a ??? field guide? journal entry? notes about mermaids?

If there’s a work you want specifically about a character, I always tag characters, and I also will tag character introductions and pictures/references of them as “beanpuff char[]”!

#writeblr #reevie rambles #masterlist #wip masterlist #beanpuff char[]

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