#barb daly

[snippychicke]

For the Sake of a Smile (V.2) Chapter Fifteen)

Title: For the Sake of a Smile (Revised)

Overall Rating: Mature (18+)

Chapter Rating: M for Mature. We've begun the 18+ content

Trigger warnings: Nothing beyond the child abuse hinted in the series, though we do explore the consequences a bit more.

Main Pairing: Balam Shichiro/Reader

Summary: Hell on earth was your motto for your job. Granted, you were pretty sure earth really was hell, considering the shit you had seen in your life. And the fact your coworker was a child. 

A child named Suzuki Iruma, in fact. A kid who’s life was decidedly worse than yours, but yet he smiled despite everything. It wasn’t long after meeting him that you decided you’d do a lot for his smile. Including summoning a literal demon and signing your soul away.

But as it turns out, hell (The Netherworld, actually) was a lot better than living on earth. Demons were more humane than a lot of humans you knew.

And Iruma’s smile wasn’t the only one that would change your life.

Masterlist | Ao3| Mairimashitai! Simps Discord

The next morning you were lost in your thoughts as you walked towards Furcus's prep-room that she shared with Dali, arms laden with the books that you had convinced Sullivan --Dad-- to find (which he hadn't even hesitated over, wrapping you up in a hug as he promised to do his best). The next you were literally swept from your feet and being cradled gently but firmly to a familiar chest, shoulder-length white hair tickling your nose.

"Shichiro!" You laughed as you clutched to him, careless of the books that had been unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

"Good morning," Shichiro mumbled as he buried his face in the crook of your neck.

"Good morning," You agreed, your whole body feeling warm and your heart light. "How are you this morning?" You asked, raking your fingers through his hair, careless of the looks you were garnering from the students in the hall.

"Good, you?" He asked, pulling away enough to look you meaningfully in the eye. 

And really, compared to how you had been, you could answer him honestly. "Better. Much better." You showed him the vines that were no longer barbed or black, though still looked a darker shade of green then they had been. His expression brightened, and you were sure there was a wide smile behind his mask. You gave into impulse and leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead, and felt as well as heard his sharp intake of air. The cold metal of his mask contrasted with the warmth of his breath as he pressed his face against your neck.

You cursed the mask's existence, part of you yearning to feel his lips ghosting across your skin instead of his breath. 

"Really, Shichiro?" Kalego sighed as he added your name with the same hint of annoyance. "It's far too early in the morning for such public displays." 

"You're just jealous," You teased, clinging to Shichiro as you looked down at the dark-haired professor. You were sure your cheeks were as flushed as Shichiro's, though that hardly stopped you from grinning impishly.

"Disturbed is more-so the correct term," Kalego shot back, clearly unamused with his eyes narrowed. "You're both making a scene in front of the students."

There was a rebellious part of you that wanted to make more of a scene; but that would mean removing Shichiro's mask, and you weren't sure he would be happy with you doing that in public. Even if it was to show how much his scar didn't bother you in the least bit as you covered it in kisses. 

"Oh, right." Shichiro mumbled, sounding rather embarrassed as he carefully set you down before picking up the books you dropped. "Sorry."

"Don't be," You answered honestly as you accepted the books back, though you weren't sure if his apology was toward you or Kalego. Either way, you gave him a smile as you brushed his hands with yours. "You just made my day a hundred percent better."

He smiled behind his mask, cheeks a deep pink as his fingers brushed yours as he allowed you to take the weight of the books. "I'll see you at lunch then?"

You nodded your head, silently hoping that this time around, things would be less… emotional and allow you to actually enjoy the fact he was as interested in you as you were in him.

"I don't want to know," Kalego once more interrupted your daydreams. Your face felt as warm as Shichiro's dark-red cheeks looked, and the relatively-smaller demon tugged at his friend. "Come along, Shichiro. I don't trust you two alone at this point."

--+--

It was no secret that the entirety of Babyls faculty and students knew about you and Shichiro courting. Looks and conspiratorial giggles followed you through the halls, and you found even more students attempting to watch you nonchalantly yet failing utterly.

Though after the revelation of Iruma's classmate Purson, you wondered how many more were watching without you noticing.

But really, you couldn't care less at the moment. Your heart as well as your mind was happily drifting on cloud-nine as you went through the day, eagerly awaiting the noon hour.

"Ma'am?"

You looked up to see the half-dozen students that formed the small Library Battler; headed by Furcus and her love of knowledge, they had been a large part of helping organize the library.

Furcus had teased you were also stealing her students' affections from her. (Well, you had assumed it was one of her dry teasings.)

Yet today, instead of vibrating from excitement about some new rare book their teacher had shared with them - or fuming with righteous anger of another student disrespecting a text - the six young demons looked unsure; most of them stood behind Mneme, the fifth-year student leader of the batra.

"Who did what?" You asked with a sigh. After all, they would only pull their noses from a book if it was something important.

"We heard you've... accepted Professor Balam's offer to court." Mneme continued, clutching her book tightly. "While we are not skilled fighters like many of our peers, we wish to offer our assistance."

You blinked owlishly at them, sure you misheard or misunderstood. "Assistance...?"

"Professor Balam, while one of the more powerful of demons, and skilled with the knowledge regarding biology of both flora and fauna of the Netherworld," Alim offered as he peeked around Mneme. "He also has... questionable hobbies."

You groaned, "Devi, not that stupid rumor again. Professor Balam does not experiment and torture students. Yes, he can be a bit handsy and enthusiastic at times..." Which weren't exactly negatives in your book by any means.

"We're aware of that, Ma'am," Ji-Su interrupted as you trailed off, your mind trying vainly to clamber into a daydream of being wrapped up in Schichiro's arms, him mindlessly stroking your hair as you nestled in his lap, safe and happy. But this time, instead of platonic, you could be sure of his feelings for you. "But we mean his other hobbies."

Other...hobbies? "Huh?" You asked, mind turning to try to figure out what they were talking about that would warrant such a sneer in their voice.

"Well, the picture books," Ismene admitted with a whisper. "What kind of self-respecting demon - let alone a professor of Babyls - likes picture books?"

"His picture books? That's what's got you all up in arms?" A soft snicker escaped first, before you started laughing whole-heartedly, or maybe it was hysterically. Devi, they had issues because of that?!

"He is a teacher!" Mneme protested. "Ma'am, as powerful and intelligent as he may be, you have to admit it's disconcerting."

"I wouldn't say disconcerting," You defended with humor still coloring your tone. "I actually find it quite adorable."

"We are scholars," Wasi spoke. "Such things are beneath us! Professor Balam is one of the leading scholars when it comes to biology."

"And imaginary creatures!" You protested, for some reason feeling like you had to remind them that he was knowledgeable about both.

"Well, yes, but again that's hardly something a demon with his status should be focusing on!" Memne scoffed. "Theories that can never be proven, and books that dumb down knowledge are beneath him! Beneath Babyls!"

Ah. Now you could kinda see where they were coming from. Not that you agreed - and definitely didn't want to argue about how imaginary wasn't quite as fictional as they thought. 

Instead, you switched back to the topic of Shichiro's picture books. "But I believe it's a testament to his knowledge of subjects to be able to explain it in such simple terms. If we didn't have picture books, how hard would it be to capture the interest of small children? Also, while imaginary creatures are impossible to prove, I think it's a great mental exercise. And plus, have you ever seen his drawings? They are so cute!"

The group of young demons looked at each other, doubt and suspicion on their faces. "Perhaps she is just as mentally unstable as the professor after all," Wasi murmured non-to-quietly. 

"Hey! There is nothing wrong with enjoying picture books, let alone creating them!" You defended, your humor slowly melting away. "Creating cute pictures to entertain along with funny little stories to help explain the intricacies of complicated subjects in a way others can understand is an amazing talent. It's part of the reason that I fell in love with Shichiro! Those books helped Iruma --and myself-- so much on subjects we were struggling with!"

You realized you might have said a little too much in your passionate speech, judging by the looks the Literature Battler - as well as the other students - were giving you. How were you going to salvage this?

"Both me and Iruma... didn't have the greatest resources growing up," You explained awkwardly after a long pause. "Especially before the Chairdemon found us. So, to be honest, our knowledge of some fundamentals were... spotty at best. Professor Balam's books helped a lot to fill in the gaps, bringing both joy as well as understanding."

Silence still reigned over the library, making your pulse seem even more deafening in your ears. That dark whisper started to crawl back from the dark recess of your mind, pointing out how much you had screwed up. 

"Ma'am, did you just say you loved Professor Balam?"

Mneme's question made that whisper shut up despite the flush of your cheeks. You had said that… but it was nothing you were ashamed of, persay. You crossed your arms and jutted out your chin defiantly. "And what if I did...?"

The students looked at each other with silent nods confirming whatever they were thinking "We concede," Mneme spoke, giving a slight nod as she turned back to you. "You have always been an unorthodox teacher..."

"I'm a librarian, not a teacher."

"And as the librarian - with a love of knowledge that rivals Professor Furcus - we must admit we obviously have more to learn from you." Mneme replied. "Nor did we mean to insult your beloved."

You opened your mouth a few times to argue - or at least say something - but words escaped you until the bell screamed. "Just, uh, be more willing to think outside the box-- and apologize to Professor Balam, not me!"

The students made varying noises of agreement as they left. You wondered if admitting that you loved Shichiro was too soon, but you couldn't deny your feelings. You had been enamored by the giant demon for quite a while, and you had still had difficulty understanding why no one else had taken to him before your arrival to the Netherworld.

And he cared for you. So you were going to cling to your feelings, digging your heels in as well as your metaphorical claws. 

--+--

Shichiro was waiting for you in his prep room as the lunch bell rang, a small buffet set out on the coffee table, the smell causing your stomach to growl. 

"Hungry?" Shichiro laughed lightly at the soft noise, making you blush as you entered, touching your stomach as if to make it behave. 

"Maybe," You answered with an embarrassed chuckle, taking a seat as he closed the door. "I don't quite have Iruma's appetite, but it has been a while since breakfast." 

He sat next to you, his large body pressed against yours and his arm wrapping around your waist. As soon as you had a plate full of the offerings, you found yourself curling into his side.

It reminded you of the evening after Walter Park, the first time you saw his face without his mask. Learned how strong and powerful he was. 

Woke up to that soft smile of his. 

"I'm so relieved to see you smiling again," Shichiro admitted, casually stroking your side. It didn't tickle, but caused goosebumps to race across your body. 

"I'm sorry," You apologized, and held up a finger when he tried to argue. "Let me explain. I was talking with Iruma last night, and kind of… had a revelation. And making you guys worry while trying to pretend I was fine wasn't… the best thing to do." 

He hummed thoughtfully. "I still don't believe you need to apologize. When demons have their evil cycles, they're not held responsible. Strong emotions are impossible to control. But if there is a way for us to help you next time, I would love to learn about it." 

"Hopefully there won't be," You sighed. "I mean, I still worry that I'll mess things up, but…" A lot of it had been because you were so full of love for this giant demon, and so sure that he couldn't - or wouldn't - return your feelings.

His hot breath was suddenly ghosting across your skin as he leaned over to press a kiss on your cheek, his mask settling on the table. "I'll be here to protect you, I promise. You and Iruma. " 

Your pulse quickened, both from his words and his gentle kisses. You quickly abandoned your plate and shifted to meet his lips with your own, a new appetite growing in the pit of your stomach. Especially as Shichiro groaned lowly against your mouth as you teased his lips with your tongue, running it along his large exposed teeth before brushing his own larger tongue. A soft, almost cautious touch to assure you weren't overstepping. 

He was far less gentle as his tongue chased after yours, quickly invading your mouth as his body shifted against you. His large hands helped move you to lay back on the couch, allowing him to hover over you, one arm bracing his weight from crushing against you. 

You liked this. You really liked this. It lit a fire in your chest and loins, chasing away any self-doubt. Studying his thick hard muscles with your hands, enjoying his odd mix of rough and tender affections. His kisses were hard and desperate, as if he had been starving, yearning to taste and explore every bit of you. 

Yet his hand was soft and careful as he squeezed your breast through your shirt or studied the curve of your waist and hips. As if you were made of glass and he was afraid to break you. 

But devi, you wanted to be broken. To be laid bare and utterly fucked by him. You tried to convey that as you mimicked his kisses with your own desperation, shifting your legs open so your hips could meet his. 

He groaned as he rolled his hips against you, the prominent bulge pressing against the junction of your thighs. You didn't know which affected you more, but decided it really didn't matter. 

You just needed more. More of the noises, more of him pressing against you. More of everything that made Shichiro Shichiro. 

"Please," You whispered between kisses, breathless and needy. "Please, Shichiro. I-I need you." 

The noise he made against the sensitive flesh of your neck was a cross between a growl and a groan. His hand grasped your hip, fingers digging into your flesh as he rutted against you. "You have no idea how long I wanted you to say those words. How long I've wanted you like this. My precious sweet human." 

It probably wasn't the healthiest way to bolster your self esteem, but there was no denying how it made you feel. To feel and hear how much he wanted you, that he found you desirable in the most basic of senses made your heart soar and also stirred your own arousal even more. Your fingers pulled at his shirt, desperate to feel more of his skin. To be able to run your fingers along his abs and chest. To see if there was any difference between him and a human. Did he have hair? Feathers? Scales? 

Either way, you wanted to touch him. Discover more about the demon you loved. 

Something heavy wrapped around your wrist, making you freeze. Four sets of claws pricked your skin. And Nigyul's chirp was unmistakable in the sudden silence.

"Shichiro? Why is Nigyul holding onto my arm?" You asked after a moment, feeling the wooden dragon settle deeper, nuzzling your hand with his damp snout. 

The demon sighed as he sagged against you almost… embarrassed? "Well, you know how he feeds off my mana?" 

"Yeah?" You answered, still perplexed. What did that have to do with the dragon cuddling your hand right now? 

"Well, mana is affected by emotions and those emotions can also affect beings that feed off it." 

You hazy thoughts struggled to piece the information together and compare it to the situation. "Are you saying he's being cuddly because of your feelings for me?" 

"Well, roughly. More like he, uh, may see you as my mate?"

He pulled back enough to meet your eyes, the deep pink of his face contrasted by both his pale skin and deep black eyes. "... is he trying to mate with my hand then?" You asked, deciding not to touch the term 'mate' quite yet (especially given your current position.) You focused on Nigyul clutching to you, completely still and definitely not pressing any 'bits' against you, unlike Shichiro himself. 

Shichiro chuckled awkwardly, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "No. He just wants to be close to you… rather like myself."

Your worry faded as you touched his face with your free hand. "I like being close to you too." 

The smile that crossed his lips made your heart skip a beat. So wide and happy. You pulled him closer, your kisses soft and tender despite the way your blood was virtually boiling with lust. 

"Okay. Nigyul," You muttered after a long moment of tender kisses that were doing nothing to help your situation. "I love you but I would really like my hand back." Your arm was trying to fall asleep between the dragon clinging to it and the awkward way you had it wrapped around Shichiro's large shoulders. 

Nigyul protested with another chirp as you tried to dislodge him and only held on tighter. 

Shichiro carefully shifted, pulling away from you and sitting up. He scruffed Nigyul like one would a kitten, though grabbing his vines instead of fur. Like a kitten, the small dragon seemed to freeze and go limp, letting out a rather pitiful cry as Shichiro lifted him off your arm. 

"I know you want to be close to her," He chided softly while you begrudgingly sat up as well, shifting so you were still pressed next to Shichiro as he coddled the dragon. "But you can't cling to her like that." 

The dragon huffed but sunk into the scritches Shichiro offered in compensation. The dragon started to trill, especially as your fingers joined in on the pets. As frustrated as you were, you had to admit logically it was a good thing that the kitten-sized dragon had disrupted the moment. The clock on the wall showed the lunch hour was nearly over, and having time to unwind before returning to the library was probably a good thing. 

However, whereas your arousal was overall easy to hide, Shichiro's definitely was not. From him rutting against you, you had a good idea of his size - but seeing the actual tenting his member caused in his pants made you realize he was far bigger than your earlier assumptions.

"So… is that something in your pocket, or…"

Shichiro flushed as he shifted in his seat, as if that would hide any. "I am so sorry," He mumbled, and you grinned as you saw the tips of his ears turn bright red.

"It's nothing to apologize about." Not when you were trying your hardest to keep your mind from wading deeper into the gutter. "Though, I suppose it's going to make teaching, uh, hard."

There was another groan as he covered his face, making you laugh lightly despite his apparent discomfort.  It was just so odd to you, considering any man on earth would likely be boasting if they had anything comparable, and likely try to swindle you into helping. 

But not your sweet demon. "I can, uh, handle it," He admitted after a moment. "Before leaving. You…should probably get back to work."

Annnd your mind freed itself of its tether and jumped straight into the deepest part of the filth, happily supplying you with images of him dealing with it; legs spread wide on the couch, head tilted back as he panted for breath, hand wrapped around himself as he quickly worked...

Would… would he think of you? Call your name as…

"I can help," You blurted out, before freezing as he met your gaze. His face was a bright red, eyes wider and darker than before. You could hear him swallow thickly as his breath caught, as if struggling to process your words - or maybe struggling to accept them.

You gathered up your courage, keeping your eyes focused on him as your hand drifted downwards - trailing along his chest. You wanted to be sure you weren't crossing any boundaries; but there was no signs of that in his expression, just eyes hazed with lust as you felt him switch from being unable to breath to short shallow gasps.

Even feeling him through his pants, you could hardly believe the girth pressing against your palm. There was a kind of primal delight watching his expression shift as you rubbed your hand against him through the fabric, his eyes fluttering close and his lips parting slightly.

It gave you the courage to shift slightly, giving your hand more room to work as you asked in your best sultry voice. "Can I help you, Shichiro?"

"Please," He whined quietly, making your stomach knot even more. How in heaven and hell were you supposed to deny that? Not that you had any intention to, but fuck.

It gave you the courage to find and loosen the fastenings hidden in the folds of his pants, partially aware of Nigyul deciding he had best leave you two alone. Vines gently pulled the dragon back up into the ceiling, and truthfully, your mind was so focused on other things you didn't notice where he went after that. 

His cock met your hand, making Shichiro groan as your fingers traced along the hard shaft as you guided it free. You wanted so, so badly to take your time; both to study his member since you could feel hardened skin - reminding you of the different texture of his forearms - but also just to draw out his pleasure. There was a certain delight in watching him struggle with control as you stroked his cock with a careful touch; his eyes screwed shut, fingers digging into the couch, breath coming in harsh gasps...

The power was intoxicating as you leaned closer to him, lips marking his neck as your hand pumped along his cock.

"Is that good?"

His head nodded quickly as he swallowed thickly, a whine escaping his throat as you tightened your grip. You hummed in approval, "Good, got to make this fast though. What do you need?"

"You," He gasped out your name, "Just need you. Just like this. Please."

You smiled against his neck, peppering little kisses. You. How could that little thing make your heart race even more when you were already in this kind of position?

"Think of me then," You whispered, some part of you mortified by what you were thinking - saying. But hell, you were so far gone you didn't care. "Because I certainly am. I can just imagine what you'd feel like stretching me out, your hard cock buried deep inside me." His hip gave a harsh, barely-contained thrust as his breath became ragged, making you grin. "You're so big, Shichiro, I'm going to be so tight around you, but I want every inch of you inside me. Just the thought of you railing into me has got me all wet."

You could feel the pre-cum leaking over your fingers, making your movements easier, and allowing you to go faster over the rougher skin. Just the way he was trembling and gasping and you knew he was close, his hips rolling to every movement.

Devi, how much would he release when he came? The thought made you clench both your hand as well as your core. More than enough to probably stain his pants, but there wasn't exactly anything else to catch…

Well.

You licked your lips. He was big, but you could probably fit at least his head if not more - and it might set him over the edge.

He cried your name as you pulled away, sounding desperate as he grabbed your arm. You gave him a reassuring smile as you moved from awkwardly straddling his lap to kneeling between his legs. His eyes widened as his breath caught once more, realizing what exactly you were up to.

You were fairly sure it was the first time you heard him swear as your lips wrapped around him. You were also sure you heard the couch cushion rip again as he thrusted up into your mouth. Devi - he was huge, barely able to fit just his head in your mouth without gagging; so you continued using your hands as you sucked and swirled your tongue against his member, bobbing your head every so often to see if you could go just a little bit deeper.

He was soon chanting your name with a pleading tone, making you push even harder - forced to take him deeper as you sucked. The hand that had grabbed your arms was soon buried in your hair; though you could feel him still struggling with himself as he'd grip, release, and grip again - afraid to hurt you.

Hanging on to that edge when you just wanted to make him let go.

You grabbed his hand and encouraged him to grip tight, pulling your hair. A moan echoed from your throat as his hand soon tangled in your hair and pulled you closer - and that was all the more it took.

His hips arched off the couch as he thrusted sharply, driving deep into you. You could taste and feel him cumming inside your mouth; warm, earthy, and more than you could easily swallow no matter how hard you tried. But the small bit of cum leaking from your lips would be easier to clean than any other option.

You finally pulled away when he was spent, being careful not to make a mess as you wiped your lips and chin. Satisfied pride filled your chest as you looked up at Shichiro, who was more or less a panting mess as he slumped back into the couch; his cheeks and tips of his pointed ears flushed red, eyes closed in bliss.

You wanted to climb back in his lap; covering his face, neck, chest in little kisses, but knew that was definitely off the table. 

For now.

"You know you're already ten minutes late for class, right?" You teased instead as you climbed to your feet. He groaned as he covered his face, muttering something under his breath. You chuckled as you guided his cock back in his pants and refastened the hidden zipper and clasps before leaning to press a kiss to his cheek. "What kind of example are you setting right now, Shichiro?"

"Are you really human, or actually a succubus in disguise?" He grumbled, peeking at you between his fingers, making you laugh.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

--+--Su-Ki-Ma --+--

As it turned out, Balam's class after lunch was the Misfit Class. No one really noticed the first few minutes after the second bell when their professor didn't show, too wrapped up in discussing ideas for the music festival.

But after five minutes, they started to question his absence. After all, he wasn't one to run late - unlike a few of the other teachers. And after ten…

"You don't think something happened, do you?" Iruma posed to the rest, feeling anxiety bubble up.

"Obviously you didn't train with him," Sabnock said as he clapped a hand on his rival's shoulder. "I'm positive nothing could defeat our teacher."

"Agreed," Asmodeus stated with a frown. "So, what could be delaying him?"

Just as Asmodus finished the sentence, the door opened with a bang and Balam rushed in, looking more than a little frantic.

"Sorry for being late. I, uh, well, it, uh, doesn't exactly matter. I won't dull you with excuses. Let's see, where exactly did we leave off…"

Silence lingered as Balam ruffled through the books on his desk as the Misfit class shared confused and worried looks.

Except for Elizabetta, who tilted her head as she studied him for a moment. "Professor?" She called, raising her hand out of habit. Balam froze as he looked up at the student. She smiled sweetly as she tapped her cheek, "You have some lipstick right here."

Everyone shot the blonde demon incredulous looks; there was definitely nothing on Balam's cheek - the mask covered most of it.

But then Balam turned blood-beet red, and rubbed at his mask.

"Yes - well, um, there is a perfectly normal explanation for that." He paused as he looked at the student again, his blood-line trait ringing in his ears - barely audible over his own heartbeat. "You were lying."

Too late, however. Nearly all thirteen students of the misfit class had mischievous grins on their faces.

"You and Mom share lunches, right?" Jazz offered, crossing his arms haughtily. "Good thing she doesn't usually wear lipstick."

The flush on the professor's face only became darker making most of the class grin like the demons they were. 

#mairimashita! iruma kun #welcome to demon school iruma kun #balam shichiro #balam/reader #suzuki iruma

[louisupdates]

Supporting Louis Tomlinson isn’t “lame” – he’s helping new bands to reach the next level

The former One Directioner is using his platform to uplift rising artists – so it's time to put an end to the musical snobbery surrounding him

By Rhian Daly | 31st October 2022

Right now, the internet is saturated with new music. Touring is becoming increasingly harder thanks to surging living costs and complicated new Brexit rules. Everyone, apart from the biggest artists (and even they’re not safe), could do with a helping hand right now. So why, then, are some acts trying to put down both bands accepting a leg up, and those artists using their platform to pay it forward to those for whom these opportunities could make all the difference to?

Last week (October 22), The Skinner Brothers’ Zac Skinner caused a stir online when he tweeted: “I see all these bands going on tour with Louis Tomlinson from onedirection… fucking laughable. I wouldn’t ever do that on account of it being incredibly LAME.” It reeked of old-school snobbery, implying that because Tomlinson was once a member of the biggest British pop group in recent history, being associated with him was something to be ashamed of.

In a follow-up tweet a couple of days later, Skinner doubled down on his position, comparing him hypothetically supporting the former 1D member to “The Clash supporting Madonna”. His one-minute rant about the “sterilisation” of guitar music felt dangerously close to throwing out the term “real music”.

Regardless of what you think about Tomlinson’s music – past or present – his consistent support of the UK’s underground scene is nothing but admirable. Although, as he told NME earlier this summer, keeping up with all the new music around these days is tough, he’s always armed with recommendations to share with his followers online when they ask for tips. He’s regularly given new and smaller bands support slots on his tours and at his Away From Home festival. He’s even helped out other acts financially when they’ve needed it the most, like when Manchester band Maruja had their gear stolen from their van. Last October, after they reached £2,000 on a crowdfunder to replace the instruments, Tomlinson quietly dropped £4,000 their way, helping them reach their target.

“We were absolutely blown away,” singer and guitarist Harry Wilkinson tells NME of the surprise contribution. “Honestly, we’d probably still be trying to get our gear right now. We’ve made a lot of progress [as a band] this year and, without Louis’ help, we definitely wouldn’t be able to be in the position we’re in right now.” The items Maruja had stolen were things they’d been collecting “all our lives”, including “really rare pedals” they’d likely have struggled to get back at all.

That open-minded reaction to bands is something that feels common within Tomlinson’s fanbase. When each band took to the stage at this year’s Away From Home festival in Málaga, the crowd cheered on every band as enthusiastically as each other – from newcomers like Scottish band Voodoos, who won a competition to kick off the day’s events – to indie legends The Vaccines. It was incredibly heartwarming to see, particularly given this was a crowd of predominantly female fans – a force that has shaped pop culture for decades.

Most mentions of fandoms and stan culture these days are barbed and negative, pointing to ever-growing toxicity online. While that is accurate of some people, Tomlinson’s fans have largely reacted to The Skinner Brothers’ comments in a way that make the London act’s point even more redundant. On Twitter, fans have been collating a playlist of unsigned and upcoming bands – some with ties to Tomlinson, others without – and, in turn, giving those artists more much-needed exposure. “He’s got everyone talking and smaller bands have benefitted from it greatly,” Cooper concedes of Skinner’s original tweet, smiling at the irony.

Community spirit – from Tomlinson’s fans, from artists with a platform they can use – is becoming more and more important as the cost of living in the UK explodes. Financially, rising bands are feeling the strain more than ever, limiting their ability to play as extensively as they once might have been able to. “It’s expensive – you spend so much money on fuel and staying in hotels and everything,” explains Wilkinson.

“You’re trying to grow an audience [through touring] so you can start making money,” Maruja saxophonist and singer Joe Carroll adds. “But you’re having to say no to shows because it’s not gonna be worth the journey – you’re not gonna sell many tickets, it’s not in a city you’ve been able to perform in before, and it’s gonna cost loads to even be able to get there. Having support slots with bigger artists is a great way of growing those things.”

For The Outcharms, not only has opening for Tomlinson given them a rise in interest in the band, including an uptick in monthly listeners online, it’s also helped them see their musical endeavours in a different light. “The mentality of the band has changed – it just gave us a little bit more belief and [and made us open to] taking more risks,” Cooper says. Earlier this month, the group played their biggest headline show to date in the main room at legendary Sheffield venue The Leadmill. “Eventually we would have got to that point, but I don’t think we would have made that leap [before].”

Tomlinson’s dedication to lifting up new bands comes from a place of pure passion. Speaking to NME at Away From Home in August, he cited one of his reasons for starting the festival as wanting to “showcase upcoming bands”. “I’ve always been really interested in the development stage of bands’ careers,” he said. “I think they’re some of the most exciting times. So any way where I can help anything like that, that’s always been really important to me.”

Those who’ve received Tomlinson’s support so far are in agreement that his approach to music should be the norm. “If you’re an artist, you want to see art evolve,” reasons Wilkinson. “I think it’s definitely important once you get to a certain level or a certain amount of status to push for more opportunities [for smaller artists]. The more of that, the better.” Instead of belittling artists for their backgrounds or not sticking to the boundaries we used to put around different genres, we should be celebrating those who are willing to help uplift the whole scene, not just themselves – lord knows we need more of that right now.

#louis tomlinson #nme magazine #31 october 2022

[mtdthoughts]

Heaven & Hell Pt. 1 (Migi & Dali Analysis)

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

If you've paid close attention to Migi & Dali, you may notice several references to Heaven and Hell. In the original Japanese, this is 天国 and 地獄.

One of the lines in the OP lyrics can be translated as, "Welcome to the garden of Heaven and Hell." In the OP, there is imagery of Migi walking in the light (Heaven) and Dali crawling in the darkness (Hell). This motif with Migi being associated with light and Dali with darkness is shown repeatedly throughout the story.

Also in the OP, the twins are shown underwater, with Migi rising up (i.e. towards Heaven?) and Dali sinking down (i.e. towards Hell?)

The manga chapter where the twins first visit Akiyama's house is titled "Heaven and Hell".

The OST that plays during the twins' visit to Akiyama's house is also titled "Heaven and Hell", where the "Hell" version plays when Dali is stuck with a clingy Akiyama and when Migi has to search Akiyama's sister's dark room, and the "Heaven" version plays when Migi is suddenly rewarded for his hard work with... a sweet treasure (his words).

When Maruta looks down and sees barbed wire (yikes!) in the Ichijo lawn, the "Hell" version of the OST plays, and when he finally makes it to Karen's room, the "Heaven" version plays.

These concepts may be significant. For example, there's the obvious duality of the twins, a recurring theme. To get into more detail, we should clarify what is meant by "Heaven" and "Hell."

It may be possible that Sano was referring to the Buddhist concepts of Heaven and Hell, since the story was written in Japanese and did take place in Japan. However, I argue that she was actually referring to the Christian concepts of Heaven and Hell. Indeed, the story takes place in a setting reminiscent of 90's Americana, where Christianity was the predominant religion. Furthermore, in the manga, the twins' school was actually a parochial (Catholic) school. We see Eiji confessing before a priest, and at Christmas, we also see Youko singing "Joy to the World," a Christian song that celebrates the coming of Jesus Christ to save humanity from sin and to provide salvation.

I don't think Sano would go out of her way to depict these if she did not intend on using Christianity, specifically Catholicism, to some extent. After all, she could have just made the school a regular school (like in the anime), and she could have made Youko sing a different Christmas carol. That being said, it's also possible that she simply introduced these details for aesthetics and to give us a bit more immersion to the story. Nonetheless, we can still refer to the basic concepts of Heaven and Hell that is similar to the Christian understanding of these concepts.

*Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I am neither a theologian nor a religious scholar, so do take my words with a grain of salt.

In general, the realm of Heaven can be seen as an eternal divine reward reserved for those who lived morally upright, while the realm of Hell is an eternal divine punishment for those who have committed moral transgressions (i.e. sins) and have remained unrepentant.

Christianity makes these definitions a bit more specific by specifying that entrance to Heaven is attained by living in accordance with God's teachings, seeking forgiveness for sins, and being in a state of grace through faith and good deeds, while Hell is a consequence of freely chosen, unrepented mortal sin, and the rejection of God's love and mercy.

Again, I want to emphasize that Sano was probably not trying to preach Christianity to her readers/viewers, but rather was using Christian themes to highlight the twins' differences, their development, and how they eventually found and accepted happiness. It is interesting to note the drastic differences in how they did so, and it is Dali's acceptance that is more impactful. This, as well as the significance of the concepts of Heaven and Hell in the story will be elaborated in a bit more detail in a subsequent post.

#migi and dali #migi to dali #analysis

[words-and-coffee]

amid a great stillness I am thinking my thoughts . no the barb protruding from my stomach does not worry me . no my dispersing parts do not worry me. I simply clench my other parts. I may be unlooked-for . I may be filled with blood. I may grasp a piece of ice if I can find it . I can be amid a stillness but I cannot count myself among it alone in Room 3 I am papier-mâchéing every surface . I have been papier-mâchéing every surface in Room 3 for twenty-one years . the walls and floor and all the tables and chairs have been thickening . the walls and floor and all the tables and chairs have become thickened and inflamed like an asthmatic airway . I am saving up my breaths to breathe later. I will breathe them later. I will breathe them later when I have survived

Freya Daly Sadgrove, Head Girl: Thin Air

#Freya Daly Sadgrove #Head Girl #Thin Air #quote #quotes #poetry #poetry quote #poetry quotes #poem #poetry excerpt #poem quote #poem quotes #poem excerpt

[spaceintruderdetector]

https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.471659/page/n5/mode/2up

In 1939, after ten years as an expatriate, Henry Miller returned to the United States with a keen desire to see what his native land was really like―to get to the roots of the American nature and experience. He set out on a journey that was to last three years, visiting many sections of the country and making friends of all descriptions. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare is the result of that odyssey.

‘’ Disney has all kinds of temperature - a temperature to suit every fresh horror. He doesn’t have to think: the newspapers are always on tap. Of course they’re not real men and women. Oh no! They’re more real than real men and women: they’re dream creatures. They tell us what we look like beneath the covering of flesh. A fascinating world, what? Really, when you think about it, even more fascinating than Dali’s cream puffs. Dali thinks too much. Besides, he has only two hands. Disney has a million. And besides hands he has voices — the voice of the hyena, the voice of the donkey, the voice of the dinosaur. The Soviet film, for example, is intimidating enough, but slow, ponderous, cumbersome, unwieldy. It takes time in real life to demolish all those concrete pill-boxes, cut all that barbed wire, kill all those soldiers, burn all those villages. Slow work. Disney works fast - like greased lightning. That’s how we’ll all operate soon. What we dream we become. We’ll get the knack of it soon. We’ll learn how to annihilate the whole planet in the wink of an eye - just wait and see.’’  1941

#Henry Miller #america #The Air-Conditioned Nightmare #walt disney #dali

[roseclothes]

Paco Rabanne FW23

From Sarah Mower's review for Vogue

In that moment—the finale tribute to the late designer—you suddenly realized just what an extra-outrageous impact it must have had when Francoise Hardy, Amanda Lear, and all of his models were shaking up staid old haute couture in those super-modern dresses in late 1960s Paris. Not just seen, but very much heard.

The post-pandemic return of Paco Rabanne to the ready-to-wear shows coincided with the recent passing of the founder, aged 88, on February 3rd. Although Dossena never met him (the company having been sold to Puig many years ago) he’d already thought about how to honor him—and not simply by showing his original work. The idea Dossena hit on was to celebrate Rabanne’s connection with Salvador Dali—two Spaniards who kicked up a lot of sensational fun together with perfomance and film in the late ’60s and early ’70s. “They were really dear friends,” said Dossena. He contacted the Gala-Dali Foundation, and was granted permission to use five of the artist’s arch-Surrealist paintings and a couple of stonking great pieces of Dali’s jewelry—a big gold bleeding heart dripping with ruby stones, and a metal ‘barbed wire’ necklace and belt. [...] He treated the Dali paintings “as if we were slashing into the canvases,” cleverly dissecting bodices and re-linking them with metal grommets.

[texancomics]

#barbra daly #barb daly #the trans script #comic swap #april fools #university of texas at austin #ut2020 #ut austin #online classes #college #in a nutshell

[raydrawsdaly]

follow you? with all your ... charm?

#erik/raoul #phantom of the opera #devil take the hindmost #poto #raoul de chagny #erik poto #sketch #storyboard #'storyboard'... it's a sketch comic barb!!!! #quietly drops this off in the tag and runs off into the night #daly art #my art

[grlwatch]

the casting for the main leads of this show were perfect

#idk this year of year of dramas hasn’t really sold on screen chemistry to me very well #but these two are great #potential kim minjae barb? we’ll see #dali and the cocky prince

[popculturebuffet]

Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Restrospective: The Raider of the Copper Hill! “You Got Rich Son”

Hello all you happy people! And welcome back to my retrospective of the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck! It’s been far too long, almost three months since we last checked in with Scrooge and frankly I feel i’ve been spacing these entries out too much for this one and for the retrospectives that aren’t paid for in general. So expect at least one McDuck adventure a month till I finish, possibly two when I can swing it like this month. 

Now i’m done beating myself up, when we last left off a younger more naive, more optimistic and less experienced Scooge took up a career as a cowboy for  Cattle Baron, gained his first sidekick in the form of his Horse Hortense, and took out some cattle thieves with the help of Teddy Fucking Roosevelt. 

This chapter marks the end of the story’s first act. The first act is about a younger and far nicer Scrooge: still onrey and still a cheapskate, but still a good kid and far more outwardly friendly and welcoming, a far cry from the bitter untrusting man we come to know. This chapter is one of the reasons why, as Scrooge learns a hard lesson about wealth and success, the sacrifices one needs to make for family and about sticking your hand in a lightbulb while it’s plugged in. So join me under the cut as Scrooge meets another valuable mentor, one of his greatest enemies, and about 50 feet of barbed wire. 

We begin with the end of Scrooge’s time as a ranch hand and cowpunch. With homesteaders moving in and dividing up the land, Murdo simply dosen’t have the space for cattle baroning anymore and has to let Scrooge go and head back to texas. We do get a great bit of Scrooge wrapped in barbed wire, having gone to cut some down so Murdo could move the herd out. 

So with his Job done and parting on good terms with his old boss, Scrooge sets up his own homestead on some land near the Anaconda Silver Mine, trying to make it as a prospector, starting on the path that would eventually lead him to riches.. in about a decade and a half.

 So Scrooge bemoans his rotten luck over Dinner with a stranger, Marcus Daly owner of said mine... who just.. randomly sat down to have dinner with a 17 year old. 

Marcus belays his own woes: While Scrooge has failed at what he tried to do, having gotten into both steamboating and cattle punching too late to go anywhere with either, Daly has a silver mine that’s full of copper: decent amoutns of it but still not what his investors wanted. 

Both however find their fortunes reverse in an instant in the weirdest way possible. The light goes out at their table and Scrooge tries to adjust it only to electcute himself. To his shock...

He finds out it’s running on electricty, which is starting to become widespread.. and requires vast amounts of copper wiring. Scrooge is back in the game but finds trouble getting equipment as the local seller naturally is a jackass who jacks up the price. Scrooge instead sells the gold teeth his dad gave him to the nearest gentleman after talking him into it. . And i’ts not even the weirdest transaction i’ve seen this week. 

For the record those weird things are the guy on the left’s skinflakes, his power is to make naked golems of himself out of his dandruff and skin flakes and what have you, while the guy on the right is paying for a mutant with a star for a head. So yeah a scottish cowboy selling his ancestor’s dentures to pay for mining gear is refelshingly tame after all of this. 

So we get the comic equivleant of a montage as Scrooge starts his work at prospecting, making a portable homesteader shack as a miner owns any land he lives on, and moving around to try and find it, but he runs into a problem: with his last two careers he had mentors to help him learn what to do: Pothole taught him riverboating and Murdo helped him learn to ride the trails. Here he has no one and while you can self teach a lot of things prospecting isn’t one of them. 

He end sup finding one though as a rich gentleman asking about the mine happens to wander by: Howard D. Rockerduck. If that names sounds familiar it should as he’s indeed the father of exactly who your thinking of and we meet a young 10 or so year old john who asks him to stop dealing with a grubby workman. We also find out whose responsible for him turning out ot be such a piece of work as his mother’s response to his father telling him “I used to be a grubby workman is well... word’s cant’ do this amount of classist bulslhit justice. 

Seriously his unnamed wife is so odious it hurts. And how the fuck did an honest, kind man like Howard end up with this bitch? It’ sbaffled me every time i’ve read this: did he marry for money? is he a gold digger? go down gold dig get down? Is she just THAT good in bed? Did he just make a horrible mistake one night? Did she lie to him about who she was? Was she replaced by a skrull? I have questions no duck comic has properly explained.. and if they have please tell me.  Also it does tickle me we’re getting a bit with a duck named howard though sadly he wears a top hat instead of a nice little bowler. And if you don’t know who howard the duck is.. shame on you. And if you’ve seen the movie.. my deepest sympathies. 

While Howard laments wanting to horsewhip his son, this was a century ago with change mind you standards were different and also John sucks. Howard crticizes Scrooge’s techqniue after introducing himself, and Scrooge and him get into a bit of a tizzy, with Howard offering to teach him for two cents.. but the hostility quickly desolves hours later as Scrooge realizes Howard was right and he’d been doing things completely wrong and the thrill of hard honest work again has washed away any ego driven competiviness. 

I”ll get more into Howard in a second but he does eventually strike copper, and while the vein is full it’s also thin. But Howard has one final trick and takes Scroogey for an ore test. I tried to find more on this but just found a lot of ways to do it yourself and what not. I”m now really intrigued how they did this and found the content of minerals. I know it’s a dull subject but i’m curious how they did it with the technology of the time. Did they just use acids like I found? If so how’d they get them? I do say this is one of the great qualities of Rosa’s works: he makes you want to learn more about history. I looked up more about TR after the last chapter and now I want to know how the hell metallurgy worked in the late 1800′s. 

We then get an intresting interacton as Scrooge.. warmly greets the townsfolk and vice versa.. yes the same Scrooge who as an adult would be introduced proclaming...

Is warm, optimistic and wholeheartedly belieives...

As you can probably tell by Howard’s reaction and what Scrooge becomes.. this story’s all about shattering that notion and is the first of two to shatter the poor kid’s trust in people and make him into the bitter old sod we know. 

The sample comes back 55% positive... which leaves Howard rushing to get Scrooge to a court house. As it turns out there’s an old, very real for the time, mining law called the Law of Apex: whoever owns the land closest to where an ore vein is on the surface owns the whole thing... so legally Scrogoe owns the ENTIRE ANACONDA COPPER MINE, which at this point as detailed in the time skip has gone from struggling to utterly thriving and sucessful. Whoever owns the land at the time the Judge rules it gets the mine.. and Scrooge’s friends, who seconds ago were concerned about him being dragged into court.. are now all scrambling to take his fortune, something Howard dosen’t seem at all suprised about. 

But while this may be a kinder, more naive Scrooge McDuck, it’s still SCROOGE MCDUCK. His response is to cut a nearbye power wire and swing it tarzan style over to hortense and ride her back ahead of the mob... with the electric wire slapping her rear and causing her to go extra fast.. and also quit. So Scrooge stands alone but manages to take out some of the ruffians with his shack while John and the Judge rush to the site. As for Scrooge well... you want to see what a McDuck family beserker rage against an ENTIRE angry mob of opportunistic assholes look like? 

And this isn’t even the most badass thing Scrooge will do this series. Or even in the next few issues. That’s how awesome this series is: fighting an angry mob SOLO with simply his pure rage and whatever he can grab and throw. And he WINS. He’s exausted and passes out, falling out of the sky on his final opponent.. but he took out what was at the LEAST 50 men, and ONLY passed out because one of them threw dynamite in his out house.. and even THAT didn’t kill him or put him out, simply casuing him to land on said dynamite throwing idiot and wins. 

We find out Rockerduck actually was one of the mine’s owners but helped Scrooge anyway: he has more than enough money and all it’s going to do in the end is go to a greedy brat. Marcus Daly shows up and while he’ll get the law overturned eventually, he still has to shut down while that happens and finds the right officials to bribe. And this is the 1800s... you gotta go by train to do your bribes. You can’t just do that shit over email and hidden bank accounts. Daly offers him 10,000.. but given what Scrooge could earn even before he got his mine back, Scrooge turns it down. 

However this victory is bittersweet as Scrooge warmly greets his friends.. only for one to cuss him out and the other to tell him to get loss. We then get one of my faviorite exchanges in this story.

This whole Panel is a masterwork. The sheer INNOCENCE on Scrooge’s face, almost looking like Donald, desperately wondering what he did, when as Howard points out.. he did nothing wrong. He simply got successful and they resent him for it. 

This has been a hard paragraph for me to write as I want to tread carefully. People do have good reasons to scorn the rich or celebrtiies sometimes. Some rich people or those in the media are genuinely terrible. Jeff Bezos, Tucker Carlson, Mel Gibson, Louie CK, Joss Whedon and even someone as low on the totem pole as Doug Walker is odious. And of course we all can think of one odious example of rich bastard i’d rather not think of, especially when thinking of John D Rockerduck and what he’l lbecome as an adult that i’m not giving a pleasure of the name drop but came to mind. 

But even for good people becoming succesful puts up a barrier between you and other people: Fans of yours will admire you or write fanfic or what have about you without even knowing you, i’ve been on that side, and some people will hate you just because without valid reason, especially in this day and age. Success breeds resentment and even people you trusted and loved can sometimes turn on you. It’s the double eged sword of achieving your dreams: You get what you wanted but you often loose what you had. 

And it was no diffrent two centuries ago, with Scrooge’s friends only being friendly as long as it suited them, turning on him first to steal his chance at glory and then to scorn him for daring to achieve it. Some people.. are only there for you as long as your not above them. And sometimes you can be happy. Look at Tom Hanks, who has a lovely family and a long and storied career. Or Linkara, a youtuber who has been at this for over a decade, has tons of fans, a loving wife with her own succesful channel, and just recently got contacted by his childhood heroes. You CAN be happy and successful.. it’s just very hard to make it that far. 

One of the central points of life and times is that’s often not the case: You can get what you want but it comes at a cost. And it’s how you pay that price that will determine how happy you are. Another central point intertwined with it is it’s not the journey but the destination, and i’ts how Scrooge takes that journey that ultimately leads him where he ends up good and bad. And we get an all to telling all too foreboding hint in how he takes everyone he knew for at least a year turning on him overnight. 

When faced with his first real loss on this Journey that wasn’t material.. he dosen’t care. He has his money and riches and that’s enough. And as we’ll see that attitude will cost him greatly. Howard is irate for a moment, hoping he wasn’t wrong in trusting Scrooge.. and indeed, for now, turns out to have placed his faith in the right person as Scrooge gets a telegram: his family needs him. And while he could stay, turn his back on them, and earn MILLIONS.. he tells Howard  to tell the owner he’s taking the deal. For now when given the choice between his family and his fortune, SCrooge will choose them. Sadly.. that won’t hold true forever. 

With this being the end of his time in the story, as he has a still insufferable John buy him a horsewhip for horrific but darkly funny reasons, as John brags about how rich his father is not realizing he’s buying his own whupping tool, i’d like to touch on Howard D Rockerduck and how amazing he is. Rosa managed to pack a throughly interesting, throughly engaging character into only 8 pages. While Rockerduck DID show up earlier in of ducks dimes and destinys, he wasn’t really fleshed out or named and only showed up for one page so still 9 pages total. 

But in those we see a kind and noble man whose easily what Scrooge COULD have been, kind, noble, generous, hardworking and willing to give up money to help people. He’s a good man.. but even he’s seen the sacrifice Money brings. He’s clearly lost friends, lost a sense of peace, and married the wrong Woman, whose poisoned his children into a spoiled brat who will only grown into an even more spoield adult in both continuities.. if raised quite a bit earlier in the 2017 cartoon as he was made scrooge’s contemporary there rather than a child, but semeantics. Point is Howard hismelf isn’t wholly satisfied with his success.. and that’s what he and Scrooge will forever have in common, with Scrooge, likely as a result of meeting the Rockerducks, fearing an indadiquate inheritor and someone squandering what he worked hard for. Though his reasons for not taking up a wife as we’ll see eventually, if outside the main 12 part story but I intend to cover the subchapters in their own time, aren’t entirely motivated by avoiding goldigging but a broken hard and his own stubborness. 

For now though we bid Howard and america adue. Scrooge however for once ends an occupation with less bitterness. Unlike his last two ventures where he made it out with only enough to get to the next one here he made it out ahead: he now has a decent suit, likely bought for him by Howard given he hasn’t cashed the check yet, I know this as it’s a major plot point for next time, 10,000 dollars.. and experince. He may of not gotten all the money he was due on this venture, but he learned more valuable skills and he feels with a land like america, the next opportunity to earn some dough is just waiting for him to get back. And as the chapter ends he muses that maybe the country could use a symbol of this countries boundless opportunity...

Final Thoughts for the Raider of the Copper Hill:

This chapter is one of my favorites. It’s nicely paced, something Rosa himself admits was often a struggle as he had to cover years at a time, has a wonderful new mentor for Scrooge, and sets up a lot of the tragedy to come in the last act beautifully. It’s a nice closer for our first act, showing Scrooge has come out of his first trip to america wiser, more experinced and more hopeful, but at heart still the same kind and noble kid he left Glasgow as. The next act is about the change of that boy into a man, how he will finally find his fortune after some more adventures.. and how the last viestges of his kindess and optimisim towards others die at the hands of a certain fake scotish gentleman. 

Next Life And Times: As is tradition for this series act openers, Scrooge returns home.. and just in time to get his castle back, fight a duel and go to heaven and back. So an average McDuck tuesday then. 

If you liked this review follow for more. And if you liked it a lot join my patreon so I can keep making these and hit my stretch goals. Even at just the 2 dollar level you get access to my discord and your pick of shorts whenever I do a series of them and with Goofy and Donald’s birthdays being the next ones to be celebrated you can’t pick a better time. patreon.com/popculturebuffet See you at the next rainbow. 

#ducktales #the life and times of scrooge mcduck #the raider of the copper hill #scrooge mcduck #john d rockerduck #howard d rockerduck #howards bitch of a wife #mining #prospecting

[dalygrace]

date: February 24, 2018 location: craven estate status: closed to @evcravens​

In certain ways, it had been naïve to think that walking into the familiar rooms of the Craven Estate could bring anything less than trouble. She certainly was no longer welcome, but the lack of hospitality would not deter her. She was still very much a Daly, still carried the weight of her once good name. It was her last bridge to burn, the derelict husk of a life before - one that went up the moment she deigned to step into the dining room. All eyes snapped to her; she met them with a frosty grin.

Grace, hands freshly stained with a blood tithe to the enemy, was making her heel turn in style.

The meal was a tense affair, an atmosphere ill-suited to the typically stately brunch. Her haughty barbs were met with silence or contempt, nothing more befitting a turncoat, the wolf within the sheep’s midst. She stayed only long enough to be polite, finally making her exit as the flaming wreck reached a point where it could not hold. She left in a hurry, eager to be free from the smoke of her self-made flames, out of the house and into the gardens where she could be - blissfully, finally - alone.

But - since fate was never on her side in matters such as these - there are footsteps on the gravel path behind her, and she knows Everett has come to collect.

“What do you want, Everett?” She whips back to face him. They are far enough away from the house that any sense of propriety is gone. Out here she stands, a girl aflame, raging. “Here to give me a sound telling off for my bad behavior? Going to clean me up so I can run along back to your side?” She laughs, a short, cruel thing. “Don’t waste my time.”

#l: the craven estate #c: edgar #hoo boy i'm ready for pain #also? consistent tenses? dont know her #d: 02 24 2018

[softbrutalist]

“What would happen if we decided to survive more? To love harder?” Ada Limón asks me. And I keen at her, I wail in mourning, I know the world through the sworl of gnarled fingerprints and the unforgiving sea of Norton grapes from my grandmother’s vineyard, the Chopin my mother played to them (not us) when it was spring or the Rachmaninoff in high summer although I found it closer to noon. I bleed in garnet and talk back in whispers, with the patience of skin and the ferocity of barbed heart, waiting for the sea to swallow me. Tongue strokes black, gums lined with crimson dévoré velvet, teeth waking into ash. “I want this winter inside my lungs.... I want the sound of your teeth” (Chen Chen). My eyes blind me into silence. I cannot miss you there. Tiina Vainio, Mia-Jane Harris’ photos of autopsies, Dali’s Medusa lithograph <from the Family collection>, a bog-preserved heart in a Christchurch museum, Paul Lowe’s footprints in Sarajevo, Ida Applebroog’s Mercy Hospital, still from Tenebre [1982] and Leonor Fini’s illustrations for the Story of O (at Bellagio, Lago Di Como) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGCx8edANOi/?igshid=s4wrk6zfvk5e

[chromeskiesstuff]

The Killing of Three Thousand Crows Recap EP 1 三千鸦杀

This drama has been a huge blast - I am 8 EPs in and the plot, characters are wonderful and refreshing. The main leads are a hoot themselves, being very hilarious and have their own unique personalities. Props to CGI and costume theme who does their best to make it realistic while in budget, in particularly the costumes feel so natural and pretty.

So just a brief introduction:

This is a Xianxia adaptation from novel of the same name. Xianxia = it involves immortals. Our heroine, Yan Yan, or with her adult/real name Qin Chuan (覃川) is a mortal princess of her country and it has been destroyed by the demon people. Her people are slain and she vowed to kill off each and every demon people to bring peace to her people.

The Male Lead is Jiu Yun (九云), a powerful young immortal who has a crush on her, and he has seen through her ten lives/ previous reincarnation.

We started off with our male lead, Jiu Yun and his friend. His friend ponders why he is sharing with him a drawing by his Shifu/Master and what is it about.

He replied that this was about a war where drums are beating, and bones anre piling up. He also said he didn’t understand the meaning of the drawing for thousand years.

The cinematography is pretty amazing and the narration done by Zhen Ye Cheng (yes our Male lead does his own dubbing along with Zhao Luo Si) is nothing short of haunting. The sequence is written in a semi-classical format, and its a thing of beauty when it combines with great cinematography, great colour combinations, great symbolism (eg drums that reinvigorate a dying party) , great prose and great narration. Look at her red robes flowing in harsh winter while hitting the drums. Maybe I should translate this part later :D

His friend retorted. “It’s normal for mortals to be in war”. He replied "I finally met her yesterday. I have been searching for her for a thousand years” while the screen switch to her facing her enemies alone. 

I presume she didn’t survive. Based on some notes on the novel this was her past life. Anyway I really dig these prologues as of late as its normally shot wonderfully and in a simplistic manner + introduce the whole thing.

The scene switched to an enormous paper bird flying down to a city.

I love the design of the paper bird. Its delicate. Can I have one for a Mercedes?

Our heroine slept at class, slacking off  from learning paper folding spells which is a secret skill of Dali royalty. He also scold her that she have already learn for a year but she knew nothing.Her Shifu challenges her to make ten paper crane. 

She could fight with Bai Qian with tardiness though what Bai Qian did is even more crayy

She defended herself that paper folding spells emphasize on making it freely/casually. Under her shifu threat, she back off, saying she can do it anyway, but instead she made a frog.

The sequence is amazing btw. The CGI is really on point here :D

The paper container too is delightfully designed. Along with the sunscreen panels at the background

The set design and the headdress. Its amazing. Look at the Peach blossom background :D. And I enjoyed her acting a lot. She displays the right amount of mischievousness here :D

Our princess met with her brother and to cheer her up,  her brother shows her a painting he obtained. She said the painting is fine but not worth two to three thousand coins. 

Yeap. It looks like regular drawing even from my POV. But I hope whoever drawing this is not offended T_T (based on TMOPB the artist will normally on set whenever their artwork is shown)

He asks her to look at it carefully. Soon the garden turns into winter, and winter plum blossom starts blooming, and sometime later it turns back to normal. She excitedly asks him where he obtains the painting. He told her he obtained it from the famed painter, Gongzi Qi (公子齐).

Cue hilarity ensured of Gongzi Qi being synonymous with celebrity, full-on with fans dying to have his artwork and to see him,  and her brother the prince being very excited to obtain one. While looking for the artist, a scroll appears on his hand and he looks both happy and confused.

Here’s how he describes Gongzi Qi:

Gongzi Qi, he was rumoured to be extremely handsome, with one of the kind drawing skills. He was rumoured to apply rare immortal spells to his artwork.

She muses that man is too proud. And if Gonzi Qi said his art skills are his second-best skill, then his music skills should be out of the world. Her brother said he wrote a song titled East Wind Peach Blossom Flower .. nope it's half a song not a full song (WTF XD) and he refuses to write the other half, saying that no dancer will be able to dance this song (I see you Gongzi Qi, you are tempting her). Indeed our princess is up to the challenge and asks her brother to request him to finish the song so she can dance to it.

The siblings then visit their cousin, where her brother advises her not to be rude. Apparently their aunt and cousin are attending their mom’s 40th birthday celebration.

After greetings and praises, the two women throwing barbs at each other, we know that Xuan Zhu (玄珠，the cousin) recently start to learn immortal skills under a mysterious teacher. Their barbs become a quarrel, causing their companions to try to rein them in. Yan Yan excuses herself. The quarrel continues as both are tugging a purple handkerchief. 

A man came in. Yan Yan seems to be jealous that this guy (Zuo Zi Chen, 左紫辰) seems to come here to visit Xuan Zhu. He clarifies that he is here on behalf of his father to see her cousins. She instantly brightens up and let him go. 

OK, first crush? And guy seems to be interested.

At the court, the King seems to be really worried about Tian Yuan, as they have usurped three countries around Dali. He is also worried as his prime minister Zuo (Zi Chen dad) applies for retirement at this time due to health. He announces that he will pay a visit to Prime Minister Zuo.

Our Prime Minister seems quite healthy (healthier than the king!!) and performs some ritual that's clearly demonic.

This is performed in front of a satan like figure. That's demonic even in Taoist book right?

Our prince got the sheet music, but with a bet from Gongzi Qi: She must be able to perform it, else he will make her a laughing stock. While visiting the prime minister, she took the opportunity to visit Zi Chen. She blocks him from visiting the king. Instead, she wants him to ask him something on the new music sheet she obtained since he is extremely good with music.

uwuuw the music sheets are so pretty

Zi Chen was amazed since he never saw such complicated tunes. There is a catch though. The verse she pointed out is rather bloody and will cause the audience and the performer to feel very sad, totally inappropriate for a birthday celebration. He answers the way to go is to change the tunes from a sad tone to a happy one.

Girl is clearly enamored with him and his skills. He turned around and ask whether his modified tunes sounds right. She thinks it's great. And she gifted him a hairpin, helping him to wear the new hairpin. She finishes pining the hairpin and touches his face. He reciprocates by grabbing her hand tenderly

OMG I must say this scene is so well done. Very tender, and little words need to be said.

After she left, his father looks for him. He looks anything but friendly. He asks whether he knew the reason the king came. Oh gosh, the prince is way too naive. His father is clearly plotting about something. But he is a young man in the midst of meeting his first love, maybe that's why he didn't catch on the shenanigans.

The Princess is totally unaware of the plot tho, she happily shares her joy with her maid, Aman and hoping for the day Zi Chen will marry her. She also declares that she will be able to conquer the tough music sheets and it will prove Zi Chen's musicality is superior to Gongzi Qi. 

At night Gongzi Qi visited her, leaving her a note. She wakes up and declared again that she will win their bet. Gongzi Qi hears her in the court garden and leaves with a smile.

It seems like the budget is spent on the prince wardrobe. His gear looks very natural and menacing ha. But the candles deco is totally inferior to TMOPB Ye Hua house. Maybe the Demon People are saving the $ for war?

Yan Yan dance is stellar, she interprets the music sheets beautifully, with peach blossoms,snow and leaves. The audience including her brother, Zi Chen, and Gongzi Qi are amazed.

Oh wow the music is wonderful. It reminds me of TMOPB EP30 Peach blossom scene OST - the warm and sweet feel kinda touch. And the dance is shot beautifully. Although I think some of the dance moves are done by a professional dancer? Not a problem imo since one of the most beautiful performances in cdrama history is choreographed by a dancer.

And YESSSS.... his wardrobe is really on point here and the angles the cinematographer take is really good. He is not your conventionally attractive lead so I understand that some angles will not stand out. Kudos to the production team!

The dance ended and Gongzi Qi was shocked that she changed the ending of his sheet music. HA, SO YOU KNOW SHE IS GONNA PERFORM AT HER MUM’S BIRTHDAY BASH PARTY AND YOU WRITE HER A BLOODY TUNE? lmao he is pissed and serves him right XD. And what's wrong with your bestie XD? He seems to have a tendency to pine after a married woman.

They met Shifu who seems to be their ShiXiong (Elder brother disciple). Shifu reminded Gonzi Qi that since he is an immortal, he shouldn’t involve with mortal matters especially when Yan Yan is still very young. Gongzi Qi asks if he insists on doing it? Shifu replied that her fate has been decided and he shouldn’t go against fate. He seems to accept that decree and he hands over a huge scroll of painting, requesting Shifu to pass it to her.

Note: The reason why Shifu is able to involve is that he owes a debt to the Dali Royal family per the book.

At night the city is being attacked, and Yan Yan wakes up feeling happy and refreshed. She saw the painting scroll, both her and her maid marvelled at the painting and she told her maid that she wants to go outside alone to visit Zi Chan.

Meanwhile, Zi Chan father sent his son away “ For praying in the temple. Do request for glory at Royal Court”. His son wonders as his dad will not need it because he is retiring. His dad replies smoothly that it’s for Zi Chan. Zi Chan wanted to pray for his father’s health, and his father praised him lightly, sending him away. Looks like he is sending him away for safety. 

COMMENTS

I have been waiting for this drama for some time, and luckily they are no longer stuck in broadcasting hell. This EP has a lot to unpack, introducing the background and characters. I feel this EP wonderfully introduces multiple characters while making Yan Yan and Zi Chan characters unique. Yan Yan character is sweet while slightly spoiled, she is still very charming herself, and have all the characteristics of a well-loved high born lady. Zi Chan too stands out as the highly ranked son, with his politeness and his crush with Yan Yan being really subtle. Plot-wise it is interesting and hopefully, the revenge plot won’t be too over the top later. The drama is also not afraid to insert some modern jokes (AHEM CELEBRITY ARTIST) while feeling super natural in doing so.

 The magic spells they introduce are fairly unique too (paper magic) which can be quite handy. The brief introduction of paper cranes and paper frogs are delightful. The costumes are delightful too. One of the difficulties of cdrama production is making costumes natural relative to the period and making it beautiful. I love Zi Chan wardrobe here because he looks great in it while not making him too prince-like. Likewise I like that Gongzi Qi wardrobe are slightly more fancier than a normal immortal /Taoist disciple (YEAH HIS WEIRDASS WAYS) but not that fancy.

I think one of the downsides for this drama is the set production. Some of the sets like the snow scene are totally beautiful, while at some parts its so obvious the wood is made of plastic, or the garden looks too tropical. That being said I understand cdrama fantasy budgets are tight + high likelihood of delayed broadcasting, so these downsides are relatively minor, plus the cinematography team is killing it, so I think in overall any fan of xianxia should watch it.

#the killing of three crows #三千鸦杀 #cdrama #recap #review #thoughts #the killing of three thousand crows

[maddiehwthorne]

1. nossos muses patinarem no gelo juntos;

Embora adorasse patinar, não era muito boa nisso, só conseguia fazer o básico e torcer para não se estatelar no chão e acabar passando vergonha na frente de todo mundo. Pelo menos, na companhia da melhor amiga de infância, mesmo se pagasse mico acabaria rindo por saber que a outra não a atormentaria com isso. As vezes (ou seja, quase sempre) tudo o que pensava era em como o mundo não merecia Barbie. “Ai, Barbs, não aguento mais só tocarem música ruim aqui. Eu dava tudo pra descobrir o nome da pessoa que teve a ideia brilhante de colocar essa playlist aqui no rinque.” Revirou os olhos, embora não fosse nem sequer possível descobrir o responsável pelo entretenimento do rinque do centro da cidade. Ao menos, as comidas do local nunca falhavam em ser boas, estava até com os planos prontos para comerem algo na lancheria dali quando cansassem da patinação. “Da última vez que a gente veio aqui tocaram todos os singles novos da Dua Lipa, e agora só toca música de cara hétero. Não tem como alguém gostar dessas porcarias.”

#bcrbiegirl #⊱ · 🌹 · ⊰ —— it's just another day of sun ヽ ( answers )

[prodweek]

Production Weekly – Issue 1137 – Thursday, March 28, 2019 / 145 Listings – 32 Pages 1917 • 2 MEN & A PIG • THE 24TH • 355 • 616 WILFORD LANE • 9-1-1 03 • AGENT TOBY BARQ’S • ALIEN NATION • ANTEBELLUM • ARMY OF THE DEAD • AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS • BACK TO LYLA • BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR • BERMUDA TRIANGLE • BETTER CALL SAUL 05 • BETTER THINGS 04 • THE BIRCH • BOOKER • BREAKING NEWS IN YUBA COUNTY • CHAOS WALKING • CHARMED 02 • CHRISTMAS CARD • A CHRISTMAS WISH • COACH WILLIE • THE CONNECTION • COVERS • THE CRAFT • DALI LAND • THE DARK TOWER • DEFENDING JACOB (w/t CORTEX) • DON'T CLICK • THE DOORMAN • DREAM HORSE • DUDE RANCH • DWELLER • EAUX TURBELENTES • THE EDDY • THE EXPANSION PROJECT • FALLEN HEARTS (CASTEEL SERIES) • FIVE POINTS 02 • FORTUNATE SON • FOUNDATION (w/t THE ABRAHAM PROJECT) • GET SHORTY 03 • GHOSTBUSTERS (w/t RUST CITY) • THE GOOD LORD BIRD • GREENLAND • GUEST HOUSE • HALF EMPTY (aka EIGHTY-SIXED) • HOLIDATE • I STILL BELIEVE • I WON'T BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS • IMMIGRATION GAME • IN THE HEIGHTS • ISI & OSSI • IVY & MISTELTOE • JOSEPHINE • JUMANJI 2 (w/t J19) • KATE • THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS • LADIES DAY (aka CHARMING THE HEARTS OF MEN) • LAPHAM RISING • LAST NIGHT IN SOHO • THE LINE • LITTLE THINGS • LITTLE VOICE (w/t STARLING) • LOVECRAFT COUNTRY • MAINSTREAM • MARVEL’S RUNAWAYS 03 (w/t RUGRATS) • MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE • MAYA LORD • METHUSELAH • MIRAGE • THE MISADVENTURES OF MISTRESS MANEATER • MOSQUITO STATE • MOUSE GUARD • THE NEW WORLD • NIGHT TIME • NOBODY • NOT FADE AWAY • OUR HOUSE • THE PATH • PATTY’S AUTO • PERRY MASON • THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH • THE PHOTOGRAPH • PINK SKIES AHEAD • PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN • THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT • A QUIET PLACE 2 • RANGE ROADS • REBECCA • RED NOTICE • THE RENTAL • THE RESIDENT 03 • RESPECT • THE RIGHT STUFF • ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH • RUBY HILL (aka INDIA SWEETS & SPICES) • THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL • SCRAP • THE SECRET INGREDIENTS OF ROCKET COLA • THE SECRETS WE KEEP • SELENA • SENECA – ON THE CREATION OF EARTHQUAKES • THE SILENCING • SILENT NOTES • SLUT (w/t GRAND ARMY) • SON OF THE SOUTH • SPACE JAM 2 • STARDREAM • THE SUICIDE SQUAD (w/t EL DORADO) • SURVIVORS • SWAGGER!

#Cast #Casting #Crew Call #Director #Film #Filming #Line Producer #Location #Movie #Pilot #Preproduction #Producer #Production Office #Screenplay #Script #Season #Series #Shooting #Start Date #Television #TV #UPM #Writer

[numericalassassin]

All Good Things - Bury Your Heart

For several days Zer0 was impossible to locate. He answered the other’s Echo calls but always said something about a mission and how he’d be back in a few days. They were appeased for the time being with the knowledge he was coming back at some point and they let him be to do what he wanted, which suited him just fine.

The rats in the Fridge suffered major losses, Zer0 wasting massive amounts of ammo in his quest to dull any amount of feeling left in him. Alcohol may have been a more efficient option but that required being around people too long and he’d end up vulnerable and have a massive hangover. Perhaps he could have gotten Mordecai to drink with him but then he’d talk and he’d end up a mess and he refused to come apart so completely with anyone else near. So battle it was, somewhere no one expected him to be. Blood needed to flow, the only things in his head the screams of the dying and the rush of his own blood. Just keep moving, just keep fighting until he was too exhausted and injured to keep it up any longer. By the time he came out of his battle-daze there wasn’t a creature left in the Fridge that would approach him.

He couldn’t run forever though. And that was all he was doing, running just in a different manner. But he didn’t have anywhere to run to and he needed a place to retreat. Sanctuary was the only real town that wasn’t owned by bandits, the one place to rest where he might be safe from everything but himself. Going back to the cave in the Highlands was impossible. He would already be forever haunted by a perfect memory of her, he could bring himself to live surrounded by the walls that held all their closest, most precious memories. A constant reminder of what he’d cost them. The Highlands was still the best and currently closest way to get to Sanctuary though and Zer0 arrived in Overlook stumbling, mind and body dulled from fatigue and pain, heart still heavy with the knowledge that she was up there still, alive and out of reach.

He made the mistake of assuming Overlook was safe, with the shield and the residents finally slowly healing, that there would be no threats within the glowing sphere covering the town. He was proven wrong when a stalker, cloaked and hidden behind a building, barreled into him, knocking him over and pinning him to the ground. Then he was startled out of an automatic retaliation when it promptly laid down on him and rumbled a purr, nuzzling against his chest and helmet affectionately.

“Dali? Damn you’re big,” he croaked, voice shot from the last few days. She rumbled and chirped and chewed on his hand until he reached up to scratch her head. She was much bigger then when he left, when he hadn’t spared a thought for her, he remembered guiltily. Well, this he could make up for, this thing maybe he could do right. Laying there on his back, both hands scratching at her face and head, he decided he’d stay in the Highlands after all, in Overlook where he could be found and where he could lavish Dali with attention. Where he didn’t have to walk past Maya’s apartment every day.

“Alright, get off. Let’s go talk to Karima and see if there’s somewhere for us to stay.” He shoved Dali off, though she followed right at his heels as he made his way through the small town. His sins may be too much to be forgiven but he still had a small comfort here in his pet. That would have to be enough.

Dali might not be able to ease the nightmares but she managed to wake him up most times before they got really bad. She’d be hovering over him when he woke, rumbling worriedly and snapping at an enemy she couldn’t see, then nuzzling into him to be sure he was alright when the adrenaline passed. It was better this way, better then being alone, then waking up with one of his own blankets wrapped around his throat, then reaching for a weapon on instinct and firing at shadows. He may not sleep more, but he slept a little better, exhaustion not quite gnawing at his mind anymore, not to the extent it had been anyway. It wasn’t the same, it never would be, but waking up with her warm weight draped over him was comforting.

She was especially useful when he went out alone, when the feel of Pandora played tricks on his mind, convinced him for a moment that all was well and he had someone watching his back. It was foolish, to ever relax in a place like this but Pandora had ways of dealing with the foolish.

Most bandits went down easy, hardly worth the energy to swing his sword, but there were occasionally a few nests that refused to die. Zer0 didn’t see the marauder until he was tackled, cracked in the visor by the butt end of a shotgun and stunned long enough for said weapon to be pressed against his chest. Before the bandit can pull the trigger and before Zer0 can reach up and disarm him, he’s already been tossed aside and chewed on by and angry stalker. The bandit screams as Dali tears into him, bullets splashing harmlessly off of her shield and Zer0 forces himself up, pushing aside his mistake to examine later. She vanishes as she finishes off the bandit and Zer0 carefully puts a bullet in the heads of two of the remaining bandits, barbs flung from nowhere finishing off a third. The others run and Zer0 whistles Dali back as she tries to chase them, letting them run off and live another day.

Zer0 thinks he might be learning how Mordecai feels, out alone but knowing Talon has his back, that he always has a companion to keep him safe. He’s sure to give the stalker a thorough scratching, heedless of the blood covering her leathery skin. He’d just be sure to take her with him from now on, to be his backup while he reminded himself that Pandora was no safer then the shadow war he’d just left. Maybe she’d keep him alive long enough to get his act together. At this rate, if he stayed by himself like this, he was going to get himself maimed or killed with his head in the clouds and his heart in pieces on the ground.

If he was going to stay on Pandora, and leaving was not an option anymore, he was going to have to bury his heart. Bury the little pieces and make do with the hole left over. Dali would be all the permanent company he’d keep and that would have to be good enough. He wouldn’t drift back to the man he’d been before Pandora this way, he’d still be here if the others needed him, but there’d be the space he needed not to drown himself in memories of them. She didn’t want him there, didn’t believe his words anymore, but he’d stay anyway. There was nowhere else when he’s still caught in her gravity.

Maybe one day enough time will pass that her grip on him will weaken enough for him to escape her orbit but that won’t be today or tomorrow. All that was left was to survive and keep moving. Bury your heart and try to breathe around the jagged edges left behind.

#phaselockandload #All Good Things #drabble #(just breathe and keep living) #(Dali is Zer0's emotional support stalker now) #(also she eats people who try to shoot him)