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authenticcadence18 · 3 years

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in the spirit of the other anon: what are some of your favorite pnf songs?? 👀

AHHH MADDY PLS YOU KNOW I LOVE MUSIC AND PHINEAS AND FERB THANK YOUUUU FOR THIS ASK.

ok so! favorite songs! I’ve got a ton so let’s just jump right to it (see what i did there? lol)

What Might Have Been

This is my FAVORITE Phineas and Ferb song, I remember when whispers about a “Phinbella duet” first started circulating mid-2012 and being SO HYPED (I was so hyped I wrote my own Phinbella duet, lollllll. maybe I’ll post it sometime). I waited literal YEARS for this song and it was VERY WORTH THE WAIT. I love the instrumentation (the strings? the guitar? the drums? the hint of Isabella’s theme at the beginning of the third verse? a A H), the lyrics are just so heartfelt and sweet and poignant (with just a hint of trademark PnF humor thrown in, lol), and the vOCALS GOOD LORD, ALYSON AND VINCENT KILLED IT. And the harmonies at the end. Bless. AYA isn’t perfect but I ADORE “What Might Have Been.” Like, they really gave us a 3 1/2 minute long song of Isabella and Phineas singing about being in love. They did that for us. Sometimes, I listen to it on a loop when I need to focus...or just because I want to listen to it. It’s truly just. The best. Ah. My heart. This song deserves more mainstream attention dANG IT.

Summer Belongs To You

This song is so uplifting and positive and the beginning is a Phinabella duet of COURSE I love it (i deeefinitely made a lil’ reference to it in a certain simile in chapter 9 of CHFIL, not sure if anyone caught that but writing it made me smile!). It always puts me in a good mood and makes me feel like I can accomplish anything. And it gets bonus points because it features Candace singing about loving her brothers!! SBTY is also one of the episodes that got me interested in the show, so this song holds a special place in my heart.

City of Love

This song ALSO holds a special place in my heart. Like, it’s so sad but it’s so good. I love Isabella, and I feel for her (and when I first heard this song I could 100% relate to her plight, LOL). This is also the first PnF song I ever downloaded! So it’s very nostalgic and special to me.

Us Against the Universe

I ADORE THIS SONGGG I ADORE IT SO MUCH OK IT’S JUST EVERYTHINGGG. It makes me feel ALL THE THINGS. It’s very similar to “Summer Belongs To You,” but rather than being rooted in nostalgia, it’s like a reminder that the characters are still as present and united as ever. A couple years ago, I never would’ve thought we’d get to hear the entire cast sing together ever again, so like....this song means the world to me. It’s a great song for 2020.

The Universe is Against Me

This is ALSO the perfect song for 2020, but in a venting way as opposed to an uplifting way like the previous song. I love the imagery in the lyrics (and like...they’re surprisingly real and raw for Phineas and Ferb) Singing along to it is so cathartic, I could listen to this one on a loop and not get tired of it.

Happy New Year

THIS SONG DESERVES TO BE ON AN ALBUM. I listen to it every new year; it really captures the feeling of New Year’s Eve and the celebration of starting over (and also. uh. I will forever associate it with Phinabella and lovely Phinabella vibes because of that scene of them dancing together).

Busted

Busted is iconic. Plain and simple. I adore it. Love the harmonies, love the vibe, I’m pretty sure this was the most listened to song on my old iPod, lol.

Somebody Gimme a Grade

I was (and am...lol) 100% the kid who had to have the best grades they could, so this song speaks to me on an emotional level. I also love the clever wordplay--like, “you wasted all my time learning how to rhyme then left me hangin’ from a treble clef!” is sUCH A GOOD LINE LIKE WHO THOUGHT OF THAT IT’S BRILLIANT. I also love getting to see Baljeet come out of his shell a bit and express himself!

Happy Evil Love Song

This is one of my go-to songs to play on the ukulele! It’s just so funny and sweet (as long as you don’t think about what happens after it, lol).

I Really Don’t Hate Christmas

THIS SONG. I LOVE IT. I love that it pokes fun at the “villains hating Christmas” trope while also subverting it! It’s just, so soooooo so great. I have a great time trying to sing it each Christmas season, LOLLLL. (because those are some FAST lyrics. how did Dan do it????)

That Christmas Feelin’

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs ever!!! It really captures the vibe and joy of the season, and I always go out of my way to play it when hanging out with people who might not know it’s from Phineas and Ferb! lol

In The Empire

One of my biggest flexes is being able to sing the entire “It’s sO NOT FAIR....” section of this song, LOLLLL. It’s just such a fun one to sing!!! (or attempt to sing....hah. Ashley has SKILLS.)

Ferb Latin

Ok, this one might seem a little random, but as a musician, I am OBSESSED with how the three melodies intersect and blend together at the end of the song!!! It sounds SO GOOD. (Plus. Phinabella duet. Yes. Are y’all detecting a pattern?)

Aerial Area Rug

So I’ll just go ahead and say PHINABELLA first because this song has MASSIVE Phinabella vibes (I mean it begins with a homage to the “do you trust me?” scene with Phineas and Isabella, that’s like pure-seratonin right there). And this song is also genuinely just so beautiful. It’s sung so well and the instrumentation is gorgeous and the lyrics are so literal but like, they work very well. (and that key change baby, I love a good key change!)

Gitchee Gitchee Goo

Gitchee Gitchee Goo means that I love you! It’s a classic, and super catchy, and totally reminds me of Phinabella even though in the context of canon that isn’t what it’s about at all😅. Also! Candace and Phineas singing and having fun together will always make me smile. I crave wholesome sibling interactions.

Thank You For Coming Along

THIS SONG MAKES ME FEEL THINGS....I really can’t think of a better send off the show could’ve had. I love how genuine it is, like a love letter to the fans, with all the references and such (I’m a sucker for fourth wall breaks, lol)! And I mean, that Phinabella moment near the end is just MAGNIFIQUE, YES, FOURTH WALL BREAK, PHINABELLA KISS REFERENCES, AND PHINEAS FLIRTING WITH ISABELLA??? WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

We’re Back

and THIS SONG. THIS SONG RIGHT HERE. I can’t think of a better re-introduction to these characters after saying goodbye to them years ago. This song really feels like a warm hug, a welcome home. The music video Disney released for it is especially wonderful because it incorporates scenes from the show!!! I always rock out to this one whenever it comes on. It’s a gift, truly. I love it. I needed this song this year!!!

Ok I could go on and on and on but this post is getting really long so I think I’d better just post it, LOL. Maybe I can make a pt. 2 sometime, LOL. Because there are plenty of other songs I love!!!

THANKS FOR THE ASK MADDY I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS!!!!!!

#sorry this post is so long #typed it out on my computer😅#long post #phineas and ferb #phineas and ferb music #cadence rambles

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thegildedlady · 3 years

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Old Friends

Gray dawn broke over Stormwind City. The last stars hung dimly in the sky overhead as more and more light slowly filled up the dark spaces of the human metropolis. These early morning hours were when most of the city’s working folk made their way out of their modest homes and trudged towards whatever task awaited them. The streets were just crowded enough that Kordya Pavlov could pass through them undetected. The layer of sleep still sitting on most overnight guard’s eyes gave her some protection from recognition. Normally she tried to avoid delving this deep into the city, but today Kordya had her own task to attend to. An old friend was expecting her, and she hated to disappoint.

As she cut through the back alleys of the Old Town, Kordya began to smell the coal ash chugging out of the Dwarven district. Right about now the smiths and craftspeople would be stoking the flames from last night’s embers, ready to start a hard day’s work all over again. The smell bristled in her nose and she shook her head to expel it. Kordya walked on by the Dwarves at work, not stopping to admire their constant drive or revel in a hard day’s labor.

“At least I’m not breaking my back like those chumps,” she thought to herself, as she tried to ignore how badly the smell of coal reminded her of a long lost home.

She finally reemerged at the canals, where the coal scent was blown away on a sea breeze funneled through the entrance to the harbor. She inhaled deeply, letting it wash the earth off her as she hurried down the street. The sky was turning from deep gray to lavender, and she would need fleet feet to make it to her destination by daybreak.

Kordya looked down from the ramparts and saw a large crowd gathered at the base of the docks. A wooden platform and gallows had been erected in the looming shadow of the gilded lion’s head protruding from the stone wall behind it. Before the Prince pulled a classic Wrynn Disappearing Act, he kept the gritty practice tucked away inside the stockades and far from public scrutiny. Ever since the regency began, the High Exarch has had no such issue and resumed public executions. A hanging would always draw a crowd, and served as a not so subtle reminder of what fate awaited those who would flee from the Crown’s justice. The bleak scene caused dread to settle in her gut like she’d swallowed a stone, heavy and uncomfortable. She pulled her hood up over her mop of copper curls and began her descent. Kordya disappeared at the edge of the spectators just as the provost began to read the sentence.

“Let it be known that Frederick Albert Lafollette, of the village of Lakeshire, has been convicted of the crimes henceforth stated: Fraud, thievery, assault, arson on five counts, murder on two counts, and piracy against the Alliance Navy. For these crimes, by order of High Exarch Turalyon, he is hereby sentenced to hanging by the neck until he is dead.”

The crowd booed and hissed as the crimes came one after another. Kordya had shuffled her way closer to the center where she might get a closer look. A giant of a man, Frederick looked like he could rip clean through the ropes binding his hands in front of his person, should the desire strike him. He had been worked over, that was clear even from where Kordya was standing. His eye was blackened and his nostrils were crusted with dried blood. Though he stood in the face of his own demise, his expression was serene like a meditating monk. To the strangers gathered to watch him die, he was just another criminal. To Kordya, he would always be Freddy.

Suddenly, a gloved hand pressed against the small of her back. Kordya went stiff as a board, her fingers hovering above the pistol slung around her hips. Before she could cause a scene, a quiet voice spat out an explanation from just over her shoulder.

“Don’t get hasty now, Kordy. It’s your ol’ pal, Earle. You ain’t wantin’ to lose two old scarabs in a day now, are ya?”

Kordya whipped her head around to match the voice to the face in her mind. Earle was already older than dirt when Kordya first met him some ten years ago. Now he was brown as a nut and wrinkled like an old saddle bag. He smiled a leathery grin, his few remaining teeth hanging down to match the tufts of white hair poking out of his ears. Earle was wearing a tattered hide cloak, and pulled his hood up to match Kordya as he took his spot beside her. She did not mind his closeness, but wished he had taken a dip in any body of water before showing up today. The pink hues of the sunrise behind them gave a faint glow to the early morning mist still hanging in the air and warmed their backs as the minutes dragged on.

“I wasn’t sure anybody else would show up,” mumbled Kordya.

“Oh, s’no trouble for me. I been stayin’ down round the cemetery, so I make it out to most of the hangin’s.”

“You got a room or are you roughing it?”

“You know me, kid. I’ll let you take a guess.”

Kordya nodded curtly. She got the picture. The two stood in silence for a while- unsure of what to say to the other. They were not the same people who had formed a comradery all those years ago. What tied them together in the past was just that; the past. Their time with the Blue Scarabs wasn’t a pretty memory for either of them. If nothing else, the hollow feeling that came along when reminiscing about those days was one thing that they actually had in common. Being here for Freddy, of course, was another.

The provost held his palm up to silence the crowd’s jeering. When the noise had settled, he continued reading from the scroll in his hands.

“If Mr. Lafollette should have any last words, speak them now.”

Freddy’s gaze was cast over the crowd and out to the sea, where deep blue waters crashed against the rocky shore. He cleared his throat with a rumble, and Kordya held her breath.

“Tell my mother I’m sorry, that it ain’t her fault I ended up the way I did. And tell her I’ll get even with Pop for what he did to us, when I see him in hell.”

His voice called out clear and true and his gaze squinted against the rising sun. A flash of copper caught his eye and dragged his attention down to the crowd, where two familiar faces looked back at him with recognition and sorrow. When Freddy realized who he was looking at, he smiled sadly. Kordya smiled back, but felt the hot sting of tears welling behind her eyes.

“We’re here for you, Freddy. We came. You don’t have to do this alone,” the words screamed in her mind, but there was no need to say it out loud. Freddy understood it all, just from the way she held his gaze.

The hangman looked shrimpy compared to his charge. Freddy had to lean down, rather courteously of him, to let the hooded man slip the brown sack over his head. The crowd murmured as the priest read his last rites. A noose was fashioned around his neck, the provost signaled the hangman, and the trap door fell out from underneath Frederick Albert Lafollette. The snap of his neck would echo in Kordya’s mind for the rest of her days. He died quickly, the sheer weight of the man mercifully sped along the process. Cheers erupted from the gathered spectators as he swung. It made Kordya hate them all for their cruelty. Earle gently squeezed her hand with his boney fingers and tore her away from Freddy’s fate.

As the sun crept higher in the sky the crowd slowly trickled away until only a few remained. Kordya and Earle waited on the fringe, each had nowhere else to be. The guards had taken Freddy’s body down and wrapped him in a dirty shroud; it took five men to lift him into the crypt keeper’s cart. A Gnome with lime green hair was arguing with the driver about its destination, and the ruckus was drawing all sorts of attention.

“Fifteen gold pieces!”

“Get lost, Gnome.”

“T-Twenty! Twenty gold pieces for the giant!”

“I done told you once, I’m taking this corpse to the graveyard. He’s not for sale.”

As the cart pulled away, Freddy’s body in tow, the green-haired Gnome shook his tiny fist and cursed the driver’s name. Another Gnome, this one with hair the color of candyfloss, was trying to calm him down.

“We can’t let such a specimen escape! We should follow him, wait til the burial is done, and then-”

“Think very carefully before you finish that sentence, pipsqueak.”

Kordya pressed the barrel of her pistol down onto the top of the green one’s skull, and cocked it. He dared not move from that spot, but still could not stop his limbs from trembling. The little wannabe-bodysnatcher reminded her of a tiny, yapping dog. One flash of Earle’s smile was enough to send the pink one running. The old man set to emptying the Gnome-sized pockets in the vicinity as Kordya spoke.

“Listen, I’m a reasonable kinda gal. I know you weren’t thinkin’ of doing something to our dearly departed friend’s body. Cause if you were, well…”

She dropped to one knee and slid her gun down the back of his lime pompadour to get within earshot.

“I’d have to hunt your little friend down, and make the two of you into a new pair of boots for them to bury him in. It’s the reasonable thing to do, for a guy like Freddy. He’s a big guy! I’d say you’re about as long as his foot…” Kordya eyed the trembling man up and down, and sized him up as if she might actually be serious. It was enough to scare the color from his previously rosy cheeks.

“N-NO! I wasn’tgoingtodoanythingyouHAVEtoBELIEVEme I- I- I-”

With a kick of her muck-covered boot, she sent the Gnome stumbling to the ground and freed him from her hold. “Scram. Now.” she ordered. He did not waste time. The Gnome skittered away as fast as his legs could carry him, Kordya and Earle watched as the tiny speck of green disappeared into the distance. The old man snickered a bit, but the somber occasion still sat heavily on both their shoulders. Kordya holstered her pistol and kicked the dirt in the Gnome’s direction.

“Good riddance, son of a bitch. Vultures! He’s barely even cold, and they’re tryin’ to scrap him for parts.”

“You got that little feller pretty good, Kordy. I’d say you ain’t got to worry about Freddy now.”

She let out a shaky sigh she didn’t know she was holding and fumbled for the brass cigarette case she kept in her shirt pocket. Kordya scraped a match across the stone walls and lit up two, one for her and one for Earle. Before handing it over, she met his gaze.

“Promise me you’ll make sure they get him in the ground, and that he stays there. At least for tonight.”

“I ain’t much of a fighter no more, but I’ll keep watch over ‘em. Course I will, Kordy.”

She bought his time with a smoke they shared on the ramparts. Neither spoke again until the cigarettes had burned down to nothing. Earle snapped his fingers as the thought hit him.

“Aw shit, kid. I almost forgot! Freddy let me in on a big score comin’ his way, somethin’ he ain’t never saw before. Gimmie anothern’ and I’ll tell you what it is.”

He waggled his eyebrows, focus locked on the shiny brass case. Kordya smirked and tugged two more sticks from her stash.

“I see you ain’t lost the touch.”

“I worked a lot of jobs in my years, but I never did nothin’ for free.”

He winked at her and popped the little rolled paper between his lips. After taking a couple puffs, Earle got back to the proposal.

“Fred was tellin’ me all about this big time job that falls into his lap, right? Some E-thereal feller in fancy armor wanted him to pick up some products for buyers and deliver ‘em to where they’s goin’. Only catch is, the feller’s real secret. Freddy said he was part of some kinda cartel, but not one he ever heard of.” He took a long drag, then continued. “You know where Freddy’s old place was? That might be a good place to start.”

Kordya had already risen to her feet before he could finish talking. She offered a hand to pull the bag of bones up off the steps, which he gladly took. Earle placed a hand on her shoulder before she could set off.

“Good luck, Kordy. Don’t get caught.”

“Thanks, Earle. You too.”

The old friends parted ways having savored the moment, albeit brief, after all these years. Earle kept his promise, and watched over their fallen comrade through the night like a toothless guardian angel. Kordya had caught the scent of her next payday, and there was no stopping her now. She couldn’t wait to get back to the Mogu.

#kordya pavlov #a scene

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aint-nodenying · 5 years

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meeting b.m hc

gwilym lee x reader

okay so i wrote this like how i speak and type, so if the grammar mistakes and inconsistency with acronyms and shortened words kill you, don’t read it. enjoy!!

okay so i want this to be a story as well but i’m gonna make this super detailed headcanon first

anyways you’re MARRIED TO GWILYM LEE RIGHT

i know, what a dream

so you’re like driving right?

actually, lets start this off in gwilym’s pov

so he’s on the set of borhap

i want to say it’s the first days, like live aid concert scenes

but it could also be when they’re in the farm recording

i just want it to be somewhere with instruments and stuff

so you (y/n) are out and about, having a girls day with ur bitches, ya feel

and i feel as though i should make it prominent that i have a very specific look for y/n here

if you don’t like that, sorry man

uhhh so y/n has a cockney accent, I DONT KNOW WHY DONT COME FOR ME I JUST HAD A COCKNEY ACCENT RESONATING IN MY HEAD WHEN I THOUGHT OF THIS

so she has a cockney accent (if u don’t know it’s kind of like jesy’s accent from little mix but you can also watch this)

also your band is a bit unconventional i think

bc y’all like move around what you do

like one day you’ll be on guitar and the next you’ll be on drums

that whole shabang

so you’re like out and driving about and gwilym is like “lol lemme kill my wife”

so he calls you right?

and he’s like “hey baby, what’re you doing?”

and you pick up and you’re like “hEY LOVE, nothing much just rehearsing with the girls, anyways i FINALLY got the chords in ‘39 down, like how fuckin’ cool am i???”

and little do you know BRIAN MAY AND ROGER TAYLOR ARE RIGHT BEHIND YOUR VERY ATTRACTIVE HUSBAND SAYING NOTHING

so he’s like oh tight, she can play a very intricate song that i wrote, that’s pretty rad

and gwilym, the little shit is like “yo are your girls with you?”

and you’re like uhhhh yeah lol why

gwil is like “hEEYYYYYY I HAVE A GREAT IDEA. WHAT IF you came onto set and just played it for us”

and you’re like uhhhh why??? is it in the movie?

and he’s like uh yeah sure the entire cast wants to hear it

you’re saying in your head “what the fuck???? who allowed this man to make decisions???”

and he KNOWS that he can’t make you come onto set without another push so he brings out the big guns

“hey, brian may is coming onto set today”

LITTLE DO YOU KNOW JOE IS TO THE SIDE VIDEOTAPING THE ENTIRE INTERACTION

SO UNKNOWINGLY YOU SCREECH ON THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS

and brian may is like holy shit she’s got a set of pipes

so you’re like whimpering like uncontrollably and you’re like “holyshitholyshitholyshit you’re my hero”

and brian THE WONDERFUL MAN finally speaks up

and he’s like “hello, y/n how are you today?”

and you SCREECH AGAIN

one of your bandmates take the phone and is like “sorry mr. may, y/n in inconsolable rn, we’d love to come in to play you what we have”

and then in the background of the phone, very clearly next to your very loud and high-pitched whimpers are just your other bandmates SCREAMING

while we’re here let’s give them names

so there’s you,,,, crysanthemum (crys (chris), crysti, santhe???, mummy fOR SURE)

aaliya?? (a-lie-yuh) (ao maybe ali, liya (leah))

and,,,, lilliana (lilli, ana, liana, lil’ ana, anal if they’re being little shits to eachother lmao)

cool got that out of the way, let’s say that mummy answers the phone and says that and the rest are freaking out in the background

let’s reiterate that JOE MAZZELLO IS VIDEOTAPING IN THE BACKGROUND

so once mummy is like “lol we’re in studio rn and it’s a half an hour drive but we’ll be there in 15″

the borhap guys are all around rehearsing and just hangin about and then you and the ladies FINALLY ARRIVE

and so you get on the stage/in the “studio” and you’re all looking around in awe

but i’m just gonna say that if they’re in the wembley stadium, they’re not in awe of the stage bc they’re TALENTED WOMEN AND THEY’VE ALREADY PERFORMED IN THERE

if anything they’re in awe of THE OLD MEN WHO WERE ONCE THE HOTTEST MEN IN THE WORLD NOT TO MENTION THE MOST TALENTED

so you all get there with your equipment, well not the drums but you’ve got the bass and a tambourine, and a FUCKING 12-STRING

anyways you get there and gwil like attacks you with hugs and kisses because i’m SOFT

and joe has his phone out again videotaping this

and the borhap set is like!!!! besties!!!! because you’re all besties and you all love and support each other

and then FINALLY BRIAN MAY and ROGER TAYLOR MAKE THEIR WAY TO YOU AND ARE LIKE “how are you, love”

and you just start crying and blubbering like a fool and they hug you and they’re like

“aw it’s okay love”

and you’re like !!!!

THEY SMELL SO FUCKING GOOD

anyways after they let go brian is like “so i heard that you perfected ‘39″

and you’re like “wuhwuhwwuhwuh iwouldn’tsayiperfectedit BUT it’s not half bad”

so he’s just like “show me what you’ve got”

and so you and the gals go and set up (who would’ve known they used actual real amps on the set)

and brian and roger are to the side, brian smiling at you comfortingly and roger is brooding as per usual (but he’s in a good mood, you can tell)

so you count down, “1...2...3...”

and YOU GO OFF SIS

LIKE YOU STRUM TO YOUR HEART’S DESIRE HOLY SHIT

hold on lemme see if i can find a 12-string cover on yt

okay i’ve got this gal but imagine that she’s with 3 other girls, xxxx

so you’re not the only one singing though bc y’all swap parts

so you guys like harmonize and shit but you’re almost the one that’s primarily singing

uh let’s say that mummy is on bass, ali is on supporting 6-string, ana is on tambourine/stomping VERY LOUDLY/kick drum, and ofc you’re ON THE LEGENDARY 12-STRING

and so YOU’RE ALSO THE ONE HITTING THOS GD HIGH NOTES BC YOU’RE TALENTED AND WONDERFUL AND BC YOUR VOICE HAS MANY OCTAVES JUST AS FREDDIE DOES OR AS PERRIE EDWARDS HAS (take a look at little mix’s perrie and her octave range, it’s pretty impressive)

and so when you hit those fucking notes roger and brian are like

and so once you’re done everyone applauds you guys bc as i said before you guys are so talented

and i guess joe finishes off by recording you like squatting down, covering your mouth crying happily at the accomplishment of PLAYING THAT FUCKING DIFFICULT ASS SONG

and like the video cuts off right after brian and roger like clap and hug all the girls bc daaaaaaaamn

that shit was hard with a capital H

i guess thats it lol

the end

a/n hello this is my first queen fic/hc but i hope y’all like it. queen fandom is a lot nicer and open than any other fanbase i’ve been apart of which I LOVE. anyways i was planning to make this into a fic if you liked this. i also want to make a fic/hc of how you and gwil met but if you want that to be completely different, in no way involving this then i could do that as well. i could also do one about brian may (i’m not gonna say borhap!brian bc let’s be honest, they both look exactly the same) or roger taylor (borhap! or rela life bc i think both are A SNACC) um i’ll also open up a taglist why not, so taglist is now OPEN. i’ll have one for permanant queen!fics and lists for specific members. i wrote all of this in like an hour so i hope it’s not that too much of trash. anyways, have a nice day/night!!! LOVE YOU ALL

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fionnfanatics · 7 years

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Request: Hii, I was wondering if you could do a jack lowden imagine where the reader is a cast member, I’ll leave it up to you just anything to do with jack lowden as I bloody love him, btw live your writings A/N: thank you so much, I'm glad you like them! ------------------- "Hey Y/N, Chris needs you to help out over on set 2." Your assistant said, barging into your make-up tent. "I still need to finish up on Fionn, what do they need me over there for?" You questioned, gesturing to the boy sitting in front of you. "Apparently Max got drunk last night. The waves didn't settle well with his hangover and he ended up getting seasick. Chris sent him home." "Bloody great. Who's gonna finish Fionn? He's got a photo shoot in 10 minutes." You complained, looking down at Fionns unfinished makeup. "I can finish for you. Besides you already did the hardest parts. They really need you over there, you're the best artist we've got." The assistant pleaded, making you sigh. "Wait, Max is usually on set 3, why would I need to go to set 2?" You questioned suddenly, looking at your assistant in confusion. "One of his guys is on the boats today, I'm not really sure why." You still hesitated, looking down at the 19 year old. "Oh go on Y/N, they obviously need you more than I do." Fionn said, shooing you from the tent. "Fine." You told the two of them, grabbing your jacket and portable makeup bag, heading into the cold. You had been a makeup and hair stylist on the set of Dunkirk for 6 months now. Chris absolutely loved that you were able to do both, so you mainly stayed on the beach with the bulk of his cast. You worked a lot with Fionn, Harry, Kenneth, and Aneurin, even working on Cillian and Tom for their land scenes. Chris had never sent you to set 2, the civilian ships, because Annie was able to handle the four men, Mark, Tom, Barry and Cillian just fine. Those four didn't really get much makeup, just slight touch ups. Max was in charge of Tom Hardy and Jack Lowden, the two pilots in the movie. If what your assistant said was true, one of these men must be on the boats now. Maybe one of their Spitfires had gone down in the script. Based on the fact that you had already seen how Tom's plane went down, you could only assume you'd be working on Jack Lowden. Jack Lowden was actually the only member of the main cast that you hadn't met yet. You'd met Tom, Barry and Mark at a dinner party. Jack had flown home that weekend to visit family, so you hadn't met him. You were actually kind of excited to meet him. You'd seen his work in 'War & Peace', instantly becoming a fan of his. There was a car waiting for you outside, which then brought you to a small boat. You were on the boat for 15 minutes before you arrived to where the sea filming was taking place. Chris sighed in relief once he saw you, taking your hand and helping you onto the Moonstone. "Thank god you're here. That other idiot was spending all his time hunched over the side of the boat, and this one can't do hair to save her life." Chris sighed, gesturing over to Annie who was currently working on Barry. "S'alright I suppose, Fionn was pretty much done. But I'm warning you, if I get sea sick I'm gonna throw you in the water." You joked, smiling up at the man. Laughing, Chris led you into the cabin of the ship. There was a blonde man standing there chatting with Mark, both of whom looked over at your arrival. "Bout time you got here." Mark joked, smiling over at you. "Yeah, well I can't just walk over here can I?" You asked sarcastically, sharing a laugh with the older man. "No, I s'pose not." Came the reply. "Well, this is Jack. Jack, this is Y/N." Chris spoke, introducing you to the blonde. You both made eye contact, sending shivers down your spine. Seeing him on a TV did not give this man justice. He was absolutely stunning in person. His blue eyes were electric as he looked at you, a crooked smile lighting up his face. "She's the best stylist we've got. I'm just glad she was able to get over here." Chris said, smiling down at you again. "Anyway, we just had Jack filming a scene in the water, so his makeup is off. I need you to redo it, and make sure his hair isn't just sticking to his face." He told you, before heading back out of the cabin. Mark followed, giving you a smile and a pat on the shoulder as he went. Turning to Jack, you saw he was already staring at you. Flushing slightly at his intense look, you quickly got to work to try and distract yourself. "Chris told me he was sendin' ov'r a woman, he forgot te mention how beautiful you were." Jack spoke from behind you, making you jump. Turning around, you noticed he was right in front of you. "Alright hot shot." You laughed, trying to force down another blush. "Flattery will get you nowhere. Take a seat over there." You demanded, pulling out the items you needed. "Yes ma'am!" He smirked, taking a seat like you asked him to. Rolling your eyes playfully, you moved over towards him to begin his make up. "You've got beautiful eyes, you know tha?" He smiled as he stared up at you, allowing you to rub on some foundation. Your eyes flickered to his briefly, a smile on your lips, before focusing back on your work. "A pretty smile too." "My Jack, you're quite the charmer, aren't you?" You teased, reaching for a different brush and toner. "Only when I fin' myself in the presence of a woman as perfect as you." He winked, his eyes trailing down your body as he checked you out. When his eyes were back on yours, he was biting his lip in appreciation. 'Mother of god' you thought to yourself, heart racing in your chest 'he's gonna kill me with those damn eyes.' "I'm sure you say that to all the ladies." You laughed, finishing up on his makeup. "Alright, one thing down, one to go. I just have to fix your hair." You told him, walking back to your bag and pulling out your comb and gel. For the next 5 minutes, Jack stayed silent as he stared at you. Every once in a while you would squirm slightly under his gaze, but for the most part managed to ignore him. "Wha's a gorgeous lass like yourself doin' working on a film set?" Jack suddenly asked, breaking your concentration slightly. "A lass like myself?" You asked, confusion coloring your tone. "Ya. You're much too pretty to be hidin' yourself behin' the camera. They should be hangin' your photographs in museums." He said seriously, nearly making you pass out. "Oh, uh, I... um." You were stammering, an absolute mess in front of him. His smile suddenly grew devilish, leaning towards you in his seat. "Am I makin' you flustered darlin'?" He questioned, one hand coming up to rest on your cheek. His thumb brushed against your red cheeks, leaving you speechless. "No, of course not." You responded once you found your voice, looking away from his eyes. The hand on your cheek moved to your chin then, turning your head to face him once more. "I think I am. And I think you're just as attracted te me as I am te you." He spoke huskily, his eyes dilating slightly. You swallowed harshly, a sudden wave of confidence overcoming you. After all, he had just admitted he was attracted to you. "And what if I am?" You questioned boldly, maintaining eye contact with the Scottish man as you set down the comb and gel. He suddenly stood up, making you stumble back slightly. His arms were then wrapping around your waist, pulling you into him. "This." You had one more fleeting glance of his blue eyes, before his lips were on yours. For a few seconds, your body froze and your eyes remained wide open in shock. A moment later, your body finally responded. Closing your eyes, your hands found their way to his muscular chest, holding onto his Air Force costume tightly. Smiling against your lips, Jack pulled you even closer as he kissed you senseless. His teeth were suddenly nibbling gently at your bottom lip, forcing you to let out an involuntary moan. He made an appreciative groan in response, gliding his tongue into your mouth. His tongue fought against yours for a few moments, before pulling back breathlessly. The two of you just stood there staring at one another, small smiles on both of your faces. Unbeknownst to the two of you, five pairs of eyes were watching you from the deck. "You owe me $20 bucks Tommy boy." "Shut up Barry."

#jack lowden #jack lowden imagine #dunkirk #dunkirk imagine #jack x reader #jack lowden x reader

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xseedgames · 7 years

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Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection - Localization Blog #2

“Rally-ho, true believers!” I shout, swinging into the grand hall on a chandelier, interrupting the fancy party. Everything stops as eyes are focused solely on me – on my roguish good looks, my brand-name tabard, my elk leather highboots. I somersault to the floor, landing on my feet with a flourish and a bow. “I know you must have thought this high society gathering dreadfully dull without me here to tell you about the intricacies of composing prose for novel electronic amusements, so I’ve come to enlighten and entertain thee. Also, did you know all the food here is free? My pockets are full of cocktail wieners right now.”

Indeed, it’s an honor to see you again, dear readers. I hope you enjoyed my previous blog about the upcoming PC release of Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection. As a small refresher, it served as something of an introduction to Zwei: II as a game – what it’s all about, its two main characters, the setup of the story, and its battle and leveling system. You can think of it as a sampler platter to give you a taste of why this game’s cool.

Do a barrel roll

Today, in my second Zwei: II blog, I’d like to go into more detail on the process of writing and editing for the game, and some of the things I dealt with and thought about as I localized it. I’ve done an entry like this for each of my prior projects, and I always enjoy it because it gives me a chance to briefly pull back the curtain and share with you some of the minutiae of localization, and the truism that every project is its own beast.

One interesting thing of note about this project is that it’s the first project on which I served as the sole editor. When I started working at XSEED, most of my prior localization experience had been as part of a team working on large single projects, while most of XSEED’s workflow at that time had been to keep a single editor on a project as much as possible. Each method has its own benefits, as you’d expect. When I work with a partner or team, I enjoy being able to bounce ideas off them or ask for hot takes any time I want, like, “Okay, which of these five potential quest names sounds the best to you?” or “Here’s what I have so far for this scene, but I want this girl to sound more disinterested. How would you do it?” We solicit general impressions from the office fairly regularly, but having other editors acquainted with the specifics and setting of the project you’re working on gives you access to an informed, expanded scope beyond your own intuition and experience. That’s important, because every editor is naturally going to have some characters or scenes they click with more readily than others.

On the other hand, flying solo can also be nice because it represents a purer distillation of editorial voice. With single-editor projects, you know that all the text in the game was overseen by the same person, making thoughtful choices with full knowledge of where everything fits in the greater scheme of the story. I think that’s what XSEED values about this methodology, but with the arrival of mammoth-sized scripts like those for the Story of Seasons and Trails of Cold Steel games, it became a matter of practicality to learn to work well as small teams on projects – a challenge I think our editors have risen to meet in admirable fashion. Of course, that’s not to say I didn’t have a lifeline or two working on Zwei: II. Junpei and Tom were an ever-present source of support whenever I had a question about something in the Japanese – and there were many, many of those over the duration of the project. Even when you’re working alone, you’re never truly alone when you’ve got the office familia backin’ you up.

Getting to work on a project by myself has also helped me better understand my own work process. One nice thing is that everything I mentally bring to a project – the stories I’ve consumed and experiences I’ve had that color how I interpret characters and scenes – remains consistent throughout. This is especially pertinent when writing for comedic scenes, as no two editors will have the exact same sense of humor, and Zwei has more than its share of wisecracks and comedy. The scary thing about being the sole face of a game, though, is that anything that’s weird or wrong, any jokes that totally fall flat, emotional connections that don’t get made – that’s all on me. In a way, it’s a test of myself as a writer and editor, with you all as the judges. With the original Story of Seasons, Tom and Ryan lent me a hand, and I had the dashing Young Kris as my partner for the first Trails of Cold Steel, but here, you get pure Nick, for better or worse (hopefully for better).

I mentioned briefly in my previous blog that Zwei: II felt like it was deeply informed by ’90s anime and manga, and I’d like to unpack that a little more for you here, in case your curiosity was piqued at the notion. After all, a lot of the games we work on here at XSEED are pretty anime-flavored, right? What’s one more on the list?

Here’s my take. Over time, the general vibe of anime has undergone change, as all thriving arts tend to. One major difference – the one most relevant to our discussion – is the observation that protagonists in many modern series tend to be passive, disaffected, reticent, or otherwise hesitant to engage the world and situations around them. They’re the reactive sort. Sometimes it’s because they’re exceptionally socially aware. Sometimes it may be because they’re awkward youths. Sometimes it’s because you get the impression that the writer really wants you to think this person is cool or above it all. Anime from the ’90s, on the other hand, is much more associated with protagonists who leap into situations without thinking, do things without considering the ramifications of their actions, and adhere to a personal code or philosophy that the character consciously or unconsciously holds. Both approaches, in the hands of a good storyteller, can and have made for some great entertainment, but from a writing perspective, the “’90s anime” types are definitely easier for me to work with. They’re more expressive, more willing to engage, and their very being tends to create conflicts that help drive the story and the growth of both themselves and other characters.

During the time I was working on Zwei: II, I actually ended up rewatching a season of Ranma ½ (those blu-rays are preeeeetty sweet) and seeing the Tenchi Muyo TV series for the first time (on loan from Tom). Seeing those really made this whole point click with me, like, “...That’s it! That’s the kind of comedic stylings Zwei is trying to channel!” Not in the sense of specific plot points or characters from any particular series, but the sort of atmosphere that was about creating opportunities for amusing things to happen. Ranma, for instance, tends to nettle many of the characters in his series not on purpose, but just by being who he is. And not just that – doing it on purpose also comes very easily to him (just watch how he loves to bait Ryoga or Kuno with his taunting). Ragna is less purposefully ornery, but his decisive personality draws the admiration of some and the exasperation of others. Plus, later on in the game, you run across a genuine hot spring, and we all know what a staple of the era that is. ;)

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Tragedy is easy, comedy is hard,” and there’s truth in it. Most of us love a good comedy, but do any two of us love all the same comedies or laugh at all the same things? Humor is deceptively difficult because it’s so mercurial, influenced by the times, by moods, by delivery, and more. A bit that might leave you stone-faced Monday night could have you busting a gut Thursday night. Understanding why something that makes you laugh does so is the study of a lifetime. There’s really no shortcutting it – you have to get the mileage, experiencing things that make you laugh, thinking about why, and chasing the next thing you think might give you another shot of mirth. I can only hope that I’ve imbibed enough of the spirit of humor to properly convey the charm of what is perhaps Falcom’s most levity-laden title.

Yeah...just hangin' in there, y'know...

Beyond my approach to the game itself, we have its characters – the heart and soul of the action. Quite often, early on in the process of localizing a game, I’ll get an impression of a character as, “Oh...I guess he’s a lot like X from [other source],” and as I make a couple of those anchoring connections and begin considering the characters in the game from those perspectives, they begin to show their multiple facets. Lest you think this sounds too close to, “Oh no, he’s just taking an existing character and foisting that persona on this carefully crafted, unique game character!”, take a measure of comfort in my assurance that I, too, would be dissatisfied with an approach that oversimplified. Think of it more as a basic framework – scaffolding that lets me clamber around the object d’art to get at the fine detailing.

With Ragna, for instance, his characterization is very front-loaded in the game. Right away, you know he’s a freewheeling pilot, sort of a hotshot, and likes to do things his own way. The image he creates is very “early 20th-century flyboy,” and I sort of conceptualized him as a guy who wouldn’t feel out of place if you stuck him in among the cast of “The Rocketeer.” Speech-wise, his alternating between laid back and fired up reminded me of Gundam Wing's Duo Maxwell, and like that character, Ragna likes to chime in with some tongue-in-cheek commentary if something patently ludicrous or weird happens in the game. Finding characters who are reasonably like the one you’re writing for helps, as does understanding the milieu in which a character exists – what they were doing just before the story began, and what the world around them that shaped them is like.

There are actually a couple characters who have what I termed “Ragna-variant” speaking styles. Ragna’s main vocal tic is that he sometimes truncates words ending in “-ing” (so “nothing” would become “nothin’,” and “fighting” would be “fightin’,” though I tried to generally keep it to one per text box – it’s a spice, not a marinade), so among the expanded cast, you get some people who speak that way because they have similar lifestyles. Odessa, as a rough-and-tumble Treasure Hunter who specializes in capturing bounties, is very colloquial in her faux old-west style. Gashler, who runs the garage out by the airstrip, is a full-bearded, goggled mechanic that sort of reminded me of Cid from Final Fantasy IV, and his speaking style is pretty thick – one of the most affected in the game, though I tried to make it still pretty easy to comprehend. One also has to consider that people who have special styles of speech have certain occasions where that’s either suppressed somewhat, or is expressed with even greater emphasis than normal. Even old man Gashler might speak (mostly) standard English if you dragged him to a black-tie event, but on the other hand, if someone said his workmanship is rubbish, I have no doubt that he’d be cussin’ up a storm, blastin’ furnace-fire, and lettin’ loose with the sort of strange, idiomatic expressions that only grease-stained mechanics know.

Ragna being an unusually “American-feeling” character made him pretty easy to write for right from the start. Alwen took a little more finesse and more time to find her ground – but not because she was difficult in a conventional sense. The trick with Alwen was that she definitely inhabits a certain archetype, at least partially, but I needed to figure out how much of that I needed to accurately represent her, and when to let her individual characteristics shine.

Alwen, as the daughter of an esteemed Trueblood vampire house, can be very prideful, bordering sometimes on haughty. She learns fairly quickly that the world beyond her castle has more complexities than she gave it credit for, but her distance from the world of humans actually gives her some surprising insights. Now, the most common way you see characters like Alwen played are that they step out into the greater world, eventually realize how much they don’t know, and depend on their friends to teach them what it means to really live along the way. Alwen...has some of that, but it’s the way she interfaces with the world that makes her an interesting and fun character. For example, she doesn’t technically NEED to eat food, but likes eating a ton of it (on Ragna’s dime, of course) just because it’s tasty. She’s not afraid to walk right into town and make small talk with the people. Alwen may be a vampire, but she’s refreshingly (and oddly) free of so many of the preconceived expectations people have about what vampires are like. She even calls Ragna out on this early on in the game when he’s shocked that she walks around just fine in the bright morning sunlight. A great deal of Zwei: II’s story is really her story, especially when it comes to getting the ball rolling, and it helps the story greatly to have a character who both entices with a bit of the familiar but also stands out due to individual quirks.

I also did with Alwen a variant of what I did for Laura in Trails of Cold Steel, where I shifted her from talking with a “proper,” antiquated style of speech to a more natural speaking style that still retains the idea that she’s highborn. Coming at this from a lore perspective, Alwen hasn’t been out of her castle in the last 100 years or so and has learned what she knows of the world from her estate’s extensive library, so it would be very feasible for her speaking style to sound older than that of Ragna or the people of Artte. In practice, though, Ragna having a casual style of speech and Alwen’s speech being fairly rigid made it difficult for the comedy to land, and to really connect with Alwen as a character. Can you imagine what Star Wars would’ve been like if Princess Leia spoke like a medieval fantasy princess while trying to banter with Han Solo? That’s the kind of disparity I’m talking about. It might’ve been funny, but for reasons entirely unintended. So after thinking on it a while, I decided to adjust Alwen’s speaking style, dialing it back. My priority was to keep her sounding articulate and well spoken, but casual up the language so that the banter between her and Ragna has the requisite snap it ought to. In my opinion, the net gain from that was well worth the adjustment, which you’ll be able to see for yourself when you play.

Sort of tangentially related to that, in the Japanese version, Ragna goes through basically the whole game calling Alwen “Princess” (“hime-san”). The best reasoning I could figure is that maybe, having taken on some power from their blood contract, Ragna feels he should acknowledge her as his liege, but...that explanation totally flies in the face of Ragna’s personality. Ragna is a guy for whom there is ONLY a first-name basis (or a nickname if he finds one for you he likes). The most likely explanation is that it’s just the difference between politeness levels in Japanese personal address versus Western personal address, but the title put a certain amount of “distance” between them that I didn’t want to remain there for the duration of the game. The alteration I made to compensate for this was to have Ragna refer to Alwen as “princess” a bit at the very outset of the game, but quickly fall into using her first name, which feels much more natural for the character. To draw the analogy with Star Wars again, think of it as Han Solo going from calling Leia “princess” or “your worship” in a sort of snarky context when he doesn’t really know her to simply calling her “Leia” once he’s spent time with her and knows her as an individual. Plus, with as big a deal as Ragna makes over wanting to work together with Alwen as “equal partners” at the start of the game, it would be weird for him to then go on to refer to her by her royal title for the rest of the game.

This discussion isn’t meant to be a comprehensive retrospective of Zwei: II’s localization, of course; just a list of some of the noteworthy things I grappled with working on the game. Editorial work does have its pressures and difficulties – when the buck basically stops with you, how do you know you’re making the right call? – but ultimately, these kinds of challenges are what keep the job fresh and interesting. The point of all the character personality profiling, the speech styles, the fine-tuning, is for players to be able to sit down and experience a fun story and memorable characters that “just work,” no speculative microscope examinations of the translation required. I think my obsessive tweaking and spit-polishing will make for a better game experience...but you don’t have to take MY word for it. Give Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection a try when it comes out and see for yourself!

#xseed games #xseed blog #xseed #Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection #post: nick #long post #Falcom

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aubjornsnightmare · 3 years

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vignette: scene 2 (wip)

You were having a rough time adjusting to domesticity. Of course, you've seen the numerous times Makral had made a peacetime faux pas, or reacted by his triggers to some innocuous civvie construct, but for the most part, he's been operating finer than you have. You're still stuck at home, with the only times you go out being when someone in your little group invites you out.

You'd never leave your friends hangin’.

You've been trying out this new dating app cobbled together from all the fragments of the humans', which allows you to socialize whilst staying "in the comforts of home." You've been hitting it off with an older lime-mutant fella and his Godhooded roommate for a little while, and now you're waiting for him to text back to meet in person - hopefully, if you can spare the energy, at one of the restaurants Connor / Victor's contemporary dancestor set up alongside 1025's Crockercorp.

A short little message from Makral pops up before then: "... stay at yours for a bit?" The attached picture seems to be taken right across the road very close to the ground. Lil' Makral's curled up on the ground in a position you'd seen Big Makral get into during his Knight Syndrome Lite.

You heave yourself off the plush couch overlooking the empty lot that is your backyard and lurch over to the front door. Makral's just waving from the other side of the private highway, crouching next to lil' Mack and smiling like nothing's wrong with the tableau.

"Only if you explain what happened," you text back. He takes a running jump over the empty asphalt, gingerly carrying the kid, and glides over to you, landing a few inches to spare. "What's up Rhys-san? How's your day been going?"

A short, noncommittal remark admits him into your cozy domicile, whose mood is immediately ruined by him throwing the kid onto the spot where you were just sitting. He turns to greet you with a grin that's blanker than usual. "Do you remember how bad my coping mechanisms used to be?"

You must look severely unimpressed, because he sits down with exactly the posture you tried to beat out of him. "Mack," you whisper, clapping once for emphasis. "If I wasn't a shut-in with severe social anxiety, imposter syndrome and a nonexistent minimum threshold of social interaction I'd come into your life and fix everything."

You pin him to your own furniture and loom over him before he gets the chance to cut back. "If I wasn't destined by this stupid Game to be involved in my own life and situate an actual home instead of this slough, I'd be Xigilych's uncle. I'd be a married housekeeper in perfect domesticity. In fact," you hiss, touching foreheads with your stupid fool of a kismesis, "I'd meddle in everyone's lives. But I can't. I fucking can’t help you if you don’t try at all!"

If he doesn't already consider bone touching a rough passionate ouverture of love, someday after the time loop resolves, you'll make him know it.

"So, Mack, care to explain just how you threw yourself into a fit, over a spot of tea?" You exit his personal space and slink off to the kitchen to set the kettle. "By the way, have you developed any dairy allergies since we last convened?"

He had not developed dairy allergies, going off his attempt to operate the low-tech stove to heat up some mint-chocolate-ice-cream flavored cow's milk instead of drinking your tea with the hot goats' milk you provided. He fished out that excruciatingly terrible mug you fired - in an equally terrible fit of boredom - and poured the milk directly from the pan, leaving little bits of powder stuck in the cast iron and little droplets of milk to swirl around in your Current.

That black hate from so long ago still burns strong. Short-lived in sprints and tilted heavily toward pity, but still simmering in your every encounter.

Makral and you sit in your kitchen, quietly sipping each of your chosen drinks when, simultaneously, your app buzzes from a flurry of voice call requests, and you can hear the limeblood's voice directly muffled by the front door. Accepting the limeblood's voice call through the app results in you hearing his full yelling voice in duplicate - one from your phone, and one just outside.

#partition tau #vignette #guard of breath #heir of blood #original broadcast

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