#been really into Disney piano music for some reason

[spaceagebachelormann]

Alright, I'm hooked. Jekyll and Hyde (and maybe Adam Frankenstein?) with a partner who likes to sing? Disney princess singing, or any kinda singing they'd like. She'd sing to them if they asked, and she often sings whenever she isn't doing anything else or when she's doing something that doesn't require her to be thinking about what she's doing. I think she'd offer to sing lullabies if they wanted.

✧.* 𝐉𝐄𝐊𝐘𝐋𝐋, 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒/𝐎 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒

╰┈➤ MASTERLIST. NAVIGATION.

╰┈➤ CARMILLAS NOTES: i’m so happy about this actually. frankenstein and jekyll and hyde are two of my biggest hyperfixations atm 🫶 also it was kinda hard to make this fem reader

╰┈➤ WARNINGS: none!

𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐘 𝐉𝐄𝐊𝐘𝐋𝐋

he could listen to you sing forever

it’s actually his most favourite thing in the world

while hyde likes just normal music with no singing, like compositions and all that, jekyll actually prefers singing

helps him remember someone else, his favourite girl, is actually there <3

he’ll probably ask you sing at the most random parts of the day, he doesn’t really care what it is as long as you’re singing

i think he’d like to do his work and just let you do yours in the same room, but he will request you to sing, if not sing than atleast hum

at some point anybody singing in general just starts to remind him of you

i feel like for some reason he knows how to play piano so if you really wanted he’d play piano while you sang and it’s like a little duet

yes he’d ask you to sing him to sleep

either laying on the actual pillow or his head in your lap, he barely sleeps but your singing helps him so much

within ten minutes he’s knocked out

nobody loves girls who sing more than henry jekyll

𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄

he does think you have a nice voice, but he doesn’t care for it as much as jekyll

he’ll let you sing to him, but he might not pay as much attention

but i do think there’s certain days where he’s just too tired to actually get up and wreak havoc so he just has you sit in front of him, and he just plays with your hair while you sing/hum

i feel like he might just subconsciously call you songbird every once in a while but idk (it’s 1am leave me alone my brain is cooked)

if you’re lucky he might let you show him different exercises for fun or see what the highest and lowest pitches you can go see but he’d probably have to be in a very good mood

although usually he won’t ask you to sing to him and kind of just gets used to you normally doing it, there have been days where he’s actually requested that you sing for him

at some point after months of this he just gives you a look that lets you know he wants you to sing

“sing for me?” to “sing?” to just a certain glance that you’d know a mile away

𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐈𝐍

he adores you

i think he might’ve been a little shocked the first time you sing in front of him, since there’s a big chance he’d never heard it before

will stop you and just be like “what was that??” and let you explain it to him

from that day on he gets very interested in music and wants you to tell him everything you know about and will want you to sing to him quite a few times a day

he’s very interested in your vocal range (vocal range is fascinating istg)

would love lullabies to be song to him

sometimes, after you guys get a house or somewhere you can actually live in peace, he likes to just lay in bed with you and have you sing

he learns his favourite type of singing is like. kind of opera but also not quite (like christine in phantom of the opera kind of)

he’s so proud of your talent and tells you all the time you should get a job with your voice

he also says nobody in their right mind would refuse your voice

he gets interested in lots of singers after that, but you’re always his favourite

#mars writing 🧈 #jekyll and hyde (marlees version 🧪) #frankenstein (marlees version 🫀) #the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #jekyll and hyde #henry jekyll #edward hyde #henry jekyll x reader #edward hyde x reader #jekyll and hyde x reader #frankenstein #adam frankenstein #adam frankenstein x reader

[lolotheparagon]

Top 10 Sofia the First Songs

Fuck it, I know most of you dont give a shit about Sofia the First but this show has been a sheer delight for me so y'all gonna sit down, shut up and appreciate some good music. The music in this show is much like the music in Friendship is Magic. They both went way too hard than they needed to.

Here's the top 10 best songs in Sofia the First

10. King Cedric the Great

Villain songs are always fun and its even better when the villain singing it is about as dangerous as a rubber duck. Cedric is the true example of how to write a sympathetic villain. He's a hapless sorceror who's actually really good at magic but his anxiety combined with everyone (except Sofia and his niece Calista) viewing him as some kind of loser are the reason why he wants to take over the kingdom cos he thinks that's the only way he can get respect. As this song illustrates how he wants Sofia's amulet so he can use its powers, but as the episode goes on, he finds out he doesnt really have it in him to be truly evil for reasons I won't go into, cos the episode this song's from is SO good. Its called Cedric's Apprentice if anyone wants to look it up.

As for the song itself, its a homage to classic Disney villain songs but Cedric's plan is so childishly over the top its hard to take him seriously, which is the song's intention. Its a great juxtaposition. Jess Harnell's singing is just the ham on top of these cheese sandwich.

He really has a knack for playing characters that are totally wacko

9. Wendell's Way

Speaking of sorcerors, here's another villain: a kid named Wendell. A spoilt brat who stole all the flying horses of Enchancia for his birthday. He's like if Horrid Henry went to that terf wizard school. The song itself has a very boisterious energy, amplified by the hard rock drums and the lute/guitar solo?? which makes it all the more satisfying when Sofia, Amber and James get the upper hand in the end and Wendell's mother comes out of nowhere to ground him, its fucking great. Its nice to see a bully character actually stay a bully and not get force-redeemed by the writers so they can pull the 'everyone deserves a second chance' message , when in actuality, no, some people really are that mean and you're not obligated to give a shit about a bully. Wendell is, in retrospect, a breath of fresh air as the song doesnt pull some sad backstory out of the aether to make you feel sorry for this kid. No, he's just that selfish.

Also the lyric: 'That is a promise, but also a threat' is fucking great.

Its a simple song but a bop nonetheless.

8. Make Some Noise

Sometimes a song is good when its just plain fun. And this song definitely applies. In the episode this is from, Sofia befriends a bunch of trolls living under the castle that everyone warns her are dangerous and violent and here... theyre actually super chill. The fact that Sofia instantly gets into the groove is delightful and again showcases how compassionate she is.

The song itself has a fun, jazzy melody with the trolls using thier equivalents of piano, trumpets and of course their clubs. It's such a feel good song, almost like the voice actors just got up from the chairs and just danced like they dont give a shit and the directors just hit record. It really feels like a song you would hear at a party. Even the repeated animation doesnt bother me.

7. A Princess True

One of this show's biggest weakness is portraying people from different cultures cos its clear the show is made by mostly white people who have a limited understanding of non-white cultures and can easily fall into racist stereotypes without realising it. Its not by any means racist as the show features plenty of non white side characters (Khaled, Kashmir, Jun, Jin and Kari) that the main cast are on friendly terms with. But here, this song is relatively tame as this song is all about Sofia, a white girl, believing in Lani, a Hawaiian girl, as her actions throughout the episode are proof she's the real deal.

In the episode, Princess Leilani lost her family heirloom the Emerald Key into the sea after fighting an evil witch, where it gets washed up in Enchancia so Leilani goes to the castle to get the key back, cos its a key to help her parents find their way home from the sea. However, the witch Mamanu disguises herself as Leilani as well so she can trick the Enchancian royal family into giving her the Key. So Roland puts both Lanis to the test but the test involves the Lanis to act like THEIR cultural view of royalty. Sofia notices one of the Lanis aces it and the other competely fails at it and does something different instead. So Sofia thinks the latter is the real princess and this song is her showing her full support and belief that Lani is the true princess.

Its a very sweet song to a very meaty episode which is why I had to explain in full detail. Its not perfect but the song really encapsulates Sofia's and the show's earnestness towards non-white characters and I appreciate that. It helps the creator is Jewish and went on to make a show all about Latina culture and did actual research on it. So this song, and the episode itself is a good, albeit rocky start.

Even if they fucked it up with giving Lani powers in the next episode she appeared in, goddammnit why the magical native stereotype we were so close!!!!!

6. Me and My Mom

Creator Craig Gerber has stated many times that one of Sofia the First's core themes is teaching kids about blended families and how to adapt after getting new parents and step siblings in your life (since he was a child of divorce himself and had to adapt to having a new father and siblings). This song is about Sofia's struggles to adapt now that she has to share her mother with Amber and James. You really feel sorry for Sofia cos she's so used to having her mother being the only family she has and of course, is easily attached to her.

Its a very soft, heartfelt song that resonates with a lot of kids that are in Sofia's position. I bet they felt very seen by this episode.

5. Improvise

In the episode, Amber wants to join in Sofia's girl scout group but in typical Amber fashion, she brought nothing but dresses and jewellry to an outdoor trip and forgot to pack a tent. So Sofia and her friends teach her how to improvise via musical number. A cute lesson about being resourceful and a great example of Amber becoming a more versatile character as she grows to love the outdoors.

There's a very jovial, motivational energy to the song that really makes it stand out from the usual pep-talk songs in this show. What else can I say? Its a highlight of Amber's character development and a fun little song to boot. Whats not to love?

4. Two By Two

Amber's relationship with her sister Sofia is always expanded upon in the show but her relationship with brother James is a lot less so since Amber and James sparsely interact beyond typical sibling teasing. So its nice this episode, and this song helps establish how much Amber actually cares about her twin brother.

In the episode, Amber accidentally turns James into a toddler thanks to a botched magic spell cos Amber didnt want to share her birthday but as her and Sofia run around trying to find baby James. Sofia suggests to Amber to sing the twin song that James and Amber used to sing all the time when they were little. (which is just adorable)

I love how Amber starts the song in a very deadpan, almost annoyed tone until the second verse hits and slowly her singing becomes more melancholy and emotional, like the fact that her twin being lost is just now hitting her. Especially since she spent the whole episode wishing to have a birthday to herself for once, not realising that she's taking away James' birthday and thus losing him too. That small bit of her looking at the pocket watch with her and James' portrait it, finally finding baby James behind the throne, picking him up and hugging him and them finishing the song together

STOP, MY FUCKING HEART CANT TAKE THE AMOUNT OF CUTE

Its so nice to see a sibling relationship that's actually wholesome.

3. Dare to Risk It All

One of Amber's biggest flaws is her envy and her getting over being an jealous bitch to her little sister is a lesson that Amber has always had to learn in the show's earlier seasons. And while she has made some development, this is the episode where Amber makes the most change. And this song is emblematic of that.

Dare To Risk It All has Rapunzel appear to teach Amber that you have to put other's needs before your own to earn forgiveness, to prove you can change, which is a lesson not a lot of kids shows teach nowadays cos most shows like Steven Universe and even MLP put the pressure on the victim to forgive their bullies or let them off easy (especially if they're family) but in this episode, Sofia is rightfully angry at Amber for stealing her amulet and isnt afraid to snap at her for it the whole episode so Amber throughout this song (and the episode) realising how much Sofia means to her and it puts the pressure on Amber to be a better person and a better sister.

Its one of the few good Disney Princess songs the show has. The Disney Princess aspect of the show is honestly its biggest crutch cos Sofia always has a good role model with her mother and her dad to some extent and the princesses havent exactly had the best trakc record for teaching good lessons to Sofia since they either state the obvious or gaslight her. So its nice to see the princesses teach someone else for a change. And its Rapunzel, the best Disney princess.

Also bonus points for having a good song about earning forgiveness whilst flying dragons.

2. Princess Things

Sofia wants to do flying horse-racing even though mostly boys at her school do that sport and both Amber and Sofia's rival Prince Hugo are discouraging her from trying out the sport. Its your typical girl empowerment message. While the pilot episode established the whole premise, this episode (Just One of the Princes) and this song establishes Sofia's character: a pro-active princess who doesnt fall for anyone's bullshit, which is perfect for a moral center protagonist.

I love how Sofia's expression throughout the song goes from confused to smiling like she's internally screaming. And her verses are basically 'screw you guys i do whatever the fuck i want.' So not only did everyone waste their time singing to convince Sofia but in fact made her even MORE CONVINCED to try out the flying horse derby. Good job, guys.

Aside from that, the song itself is a bop. The repeated chorus really emphasises the peer pressure Sofia is going through. Second episode of the series and they're already making a hit.

1. All You Need

In the episode, Sofia meets Vivian, a princess who's a great artist and musician but is painfully shy and thus everyone is spreading rumours around her. Even Sofia was a bit apprehensive but she pushes through it to meet Vivian at her house whilst they work on their school project and this delightful song just pops up.

I love how it starts with Vivian nervously playing her lute and Sofia starts singing, whilst helping her IN SONG start brainstorming their ideas for a dream castle. Then after Sofia's verse is done: ending with the lyric, Ill paint all the towers blue, now the rest is up to you, Vivian immediately jumps and enthusiastically suggest her own ideas. The music even matches the tone of the characters. When it starts, its only Vivian's lute and a backing track but as soon as the bridge comes, the music swells when Sofia's singing motivates Vivian and its just chef kiss.

This song, as well as the episode this was from, made me really like Vivian as a side character and I always loved her interactions with Sofia whenever she made an appearance. I like how she retained her newfound confidence into later seasons, where she becomes just as pro-active as Sofia.

This song, to me, is what Sofia the First is all about. A girl who's just the sunniest child, befriending the shy kid in her class and having the most adorable musical number. Are there songs with better lyrics and theming? Absolutely. But the sheer serotonin levels this song has, as well as encapsulating the main character's compassion for others, is why this is the best song of the show

Thank you for coming to my TED talk about a bluebell princess

#Youtube #sofia the first

[overtheimaginationwall]

Favorite boss(es) in No Straight Roads?

Least favorite?

(Sincere apologies. I've been holding this one for more than a year in my box, so I hope you don't mind a really late reply ^^")

(Also Happy 3rd Anniversary, NSR!! 🎉)

I will tell ya honestly - they all are my favourites!

Tho if to be more specific I decided to set them up by TOP.

1. Sayu

Oh Sayu, my beloved <3

The Best Virtual Idol and The Reason I bought this game in the first place!

Her music and style of battle was the most fun and dancy! I still vibe to it to this day-

Sooo many references to Internet Culture and Digital Art fills my heart with warmth and gives me determination just like her song itself as well!

Funny Useless Fact: She is the only boss I've beaten on Rank B on my first blind playthrough!

2. DK West

He's OUR MAN, He's THE BEST!

My second favorite and at the same time the hardest for me to beat.

I personally didn't adore RAP genre at first and never seen anyone preform it as an actual entertaining battle until he showed up...

HOLLY MOLLY DESPITE ME BREAKING MY THUMBS WHILE GOING THROUGH THE PAINFUL DODGE GAME - HIM AND ZUKE RAPPING FELT LIKE I'M WATCHING DISNEY-

LIKE-

I STILL HAVE IDEA IN MY HEAD TO MAKE A SORT OF ANIMATIC WITH "FIRST ENCOUNTER" ALONE!!

Anyway, despite damaged fingers - 10/10, would fight again!

Funny Useless Fact: When I was drawing him for the first time I listened to his theme on loop for 4 days straight in order not to get myself distracted or lose motivation, so I finish the piece.

3. Yinu

Oh, sweet child...

I love Yinu and her theme lots even if I'm not that big of a fan of Classical Music. And her backstory...Gosh! It made me cry a lot.

And I'm still feel ashamed of breaking the piano ;;-;;

Love the pace of how music goes with the fight and it feels even better when you get into actual rhythm. There were issues that gladly wore off thanks to practice and fighting this boss over and over.

Tho those slamming cords haunt me whenever I listen to the song off-battle-

Funny Useless Fact: I didn't like her Mother at first but when I read more about her and relationship with Yinu my opinion completely changed. And this is why I would nominate No Straight Roads for The Best Storytelling and Character Design.

4. EVE

Two-faced, tall woman.

Used to be one of my favorites but due to some circumstances I can't look at her the same way I used to but I still adore her as a boss!

I honestly love her style of the fight and music that changes depending on who you play.

Tho fighting her is literally like eating a lemon but eventually you kinda just accept your fate and roll with weird artistic antics happening around you.

And EVE herself as a character is so fascinating. Like this is the moment where I started to see that these aren't just bosses, they are actually characters that tie this little but complex story together bit by bit. And this is why I would nominate No Straight Roads for The Best Storytelling and Character Design AGAIN!

Funny Useless Fact: EVE was supposed to be a next character to have a complete and detailed art of but due to my forgetfulness, difficulties with her design (and many other things) - it was never finished but I hope to get that dusty sketch out of WIP folder someday.

5. Tatiana

The Bitch. The Boss.

I don't really like her music and rhythm but I can forgive that since it is kind of fitting for conflict between her and the BBJ.

She tries to hide her true image throughout the story and the fight but ultimately crumbles cause escaping from the past isn't the best option to improve.

I love her design and personality and I wish there were more villains like her. Strict, simple, stoic and yet well-written.

Funny Useless Fact: I've never drawn Tatiana until NSR announced their release on Steam with addition of Fanat Graffiti Contest that I certainly didn't want to miss out on. It was difficult but I did it and ngl, I am still proud of the results.

6. DJ Subatomic Supernova & 1010/Neon J

I can't really say anything much about both of them. Sorry, guys...

Their designs and personalities are fun and well-made but due to one of them being the first you fight as "tutorial" and the other appears only at the end of a fight. (1010 band doesn't count as an actual boss to me more like a part of it) They didn't struck me much as the others did...

I will say this thou: their backstories are interesting. One is an academy astrology teacher with a goal of achieving the stars and other is a war veteran who just wanted everyone to live in peace and he himself despite everything never stopped his passion for doll-making and making people happy.

Just simply, beautiful...

Cool Science Fact: Their VAs are GOLD!

#sofiath ask #thanks for the ask! #no straight roads #nsr #nsr neon j #nsr djss #nsr sayu #nsr tatiana #nsr dk west #nsr 1010 #nsr yinu #opinion #sofiath thoughts

[type-a-princess]

any courtney headcanons?

yesss i've been waiting for an ask like this

she is SUPER multi talented. academically gifted, captain of the debate team, can sing, dance, play instruments, land lead roles in musicals, do martial arts, but her most favorite out of all of these is singing for sure

some of her dream roles are Eponine from Les Miserables and Vivian from Legally Blonde

her favorite Disney princess songs to sing are Almost There and I Won't Say I'm In Love

i hc her as bisexual but her taste in men is terrible and her taste in women is exquisite

can't fall asleep at night without playing classical music or soft piano instrumentals of her favorite songs

i imagine her having a Filipino mother. she often talks to Courtney in Tagalog and taught her the culture

she goes hard at karaoke and sings songs by iconic vocalists like Celine Dion or Whitney Houston which are only warm-ups to her

really likes Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift and it scares away most people she dates

a lot of the clothes in her closet are autumn colors (green, beige, brown, etc) but her room has a lot of lavender and baby pinks

i imagine her style being similar to Spencer from Pretty Little Liars or Gretchen from Mean Girls. preppy and put-together

never gets enough sleep so she always has dark undereyes that she covers up with some concealer whenever she can

has a claw clip collection and she loves styling her hair with them

would never admit it but she loves reading romantic fiction where the girl reminds her of herself and has a love/hate relationship with their partner

the people from TD she's closest to are Bridgette, Gwen, Heather, and Trent. all for very different reasons though

she finds sentimental value in a lot of things. like she probably still keeps old straight A report cards or her favorite dolls from when she was little or the ticket from watching her very first Broadway show in NYC

she has a "i only need myself" mindset but deep down she's actually very insecure and hates that she can't make friends easily. she tries to put this at the back of her mind but secretly is envious of people that seem to have so much love and support from their peers while she always feels like she's on her own

[bapple117]

Some RadioCotton Trivia 📻🐰❤️

Now that my first fic "If You Can't Say Somethin' Nice, Don't Say Nothin' At All" is finished, I thought I would share some behind-the-scenes trivia!

Some of this will contain minor spoilers for the plot, so read with caution if you've not finished the story - there will be no spoilers for part two (All That Grace). Okay let's go! This list is LONG so hold on y'all

The Bambi Thing

The name is a direct quote from Bambi; there's actually a LOT of Bambi references in the whole fic. The quote was actually the entire inspiration for the whole premise. Bambi is one of my favourite Disney movies and I couldn't help but notice a lot of shared themes between it and Alastor - and then I thought, what if a cute, wholesome rabbit demon came to Hell and taught him to be sweeter?

There's another direct script lift from Bambi later in the fic - when Alastor has the dream about his mother. 'Mother? MOTHER? Mother where are you?' Oh the pain.

Adam also calls Alastor "Bambi" and Verity "Thumper" at points, AND one of the chapters is called "Drip Drip Drop Little April Showers". The themes of them being a deer and a rabbit also crop up a lot, obviously.

The Music Thing

There are a LOT of references to songs, both when I put lyrics at the start of chapters and within the story itself. I am aggressively inspired by music and song lyrics, and have immensely eclectic taste, and can't help myself. Some songs would be the thematic influence for a chapter and I would literally listen to the song on repeat as I either planned or wrote the chapter. Something I'm still doing now while I write Bluest Monday!

At one point I spent about an hour trying to find the name of a music scale just so I could accurately describe it when Alastor and Verity play the piano. I am very meticulous with my research, I was determined to find it 😂

The Alastor Thing

The way I chose to write Alastor was influenced by a number of things. One, that "What just happened? Ffffffuck" line from the finale of Season 1 did a LOT of heavy lifting for me. It showed that he has a version of himself that's less guarded and raw - and I don't care what anyone says, it's NOT because his staff broke. He goes right back to the filter and accent immediately afterwards and the staff is still broken, so.

Two, I just really wanted to write him as someone that uses violence and a covered-up personalty as a coping mechanism for grief, which I don't think is too far from the canon. His eventual softening and ability to love was influenced by things like Mr Darcy, Kylo Ren (LOL), Astarion from BG3, etc etc. Traumatised bad boy is healed by the sunshine girl - we love to see it.

I also did a LOT of research on the canonical information thus far known about Alastor, including things Viv has said in streams. The only thing I got dead wrong was a chapter where he drinks tea - apparently he hates it. Everything else is either based on canon or a speculation based on lore that's been teased.

Other Random Facts

I chose to include Adam as a fleshed out character for a few reasons. One, he's hella fun to write. Two, I had the Vox-jealous-kidnap-and-rescue planned since the start, and I knew I needed a character who could help them. Adam is unknown to the Vees as a hotel resident at that point, and so he became a great choice. I needed to lay the ground work so it would be convincing that he'd help them, so he's there from the start. I ended up loving him so much that he's now one of the main characters in the sequel and is getting his own development arc. Go Adam!

Adam also breaks the fourth wall in the show (Ugly people? *looks at camera*) and so I felt inspired to make him quippy with pop culture references a la Deadpool. It was great fun and very helpful when I wanted to squeeze in a fitting reference.

There is a LOT of foreshadowing and wordplay in the fic. A LOT, so much I don't have time to list it all. For example, Verity drunkenly talks (in Chap 4) about how deer are territorial momma's boys - if that ain't Alastor idk what is. That info becomes very important in Chap 21.

There are references to stuff from Helluva Boss; Fizzerolli Cola, a Verosika music video plays, etc. A sign of more to come in P2 👀

Dramatic irony (where the audience knows something the character doesn't and it's either funny or tragic) is my absolute FAVOURITE Shakespearian trope, and I use it all the time.

I made myself laugh a lot coming up with the names for fake booze LOL

Husk was one of my favourite characters to write, as well as Alastor (ofc), Rosie and Adam.

My personal favourite chapters are 13 (Al drunk with Rosie) 19 (dream scene, fluff & first smut) and 23 (final chapter). I loved the image of Alastor laughing into his drink like a normal young man being silly and chapter 19 has a bit of everything - angst, fluff, smut, comedy. I loved writing that one so much.

The scene where Verity uses Alastor's power to manifest them away from the group cheekily and then Alastor likes it a lot and goes crazy kissing her is very inspired by this scene in Titanic (one of my all time fave movies) - especially where Rose swears and laughs as the lift is going up.

I myself have lost a parent, so I understand that loss very well. I poured a lot of that feeling into this fic, it was something I could actually inject into the story from my own experience.

I'm pretty sure we got the comments turned off on a video on youtube LOL. I linked this song at the end of Chap 19 (I listened to it on repeat while writing the love scene) and the next day the comments were disabled LMAO. That track will ALWAYS remind me of this fic now, arugh my heart

Verity

As much as Verity started as just a way for me to avoid using (Y/N) in a reader-insert fic (something I personally don't like) and a way for me to do the rabbit and deer theme, she became her own character over the course of the story. I made it reader-insert cause I figured no one would read it otherwise, but now the sequel is third person bc she's her own person.

Her name was also a deliberate choice - a V name meaning truth. She makes Alastor face his truth, yadda yadda blah blah blah you get it you get it 😂 Plus it just sounds like a rabbit name doesn't it?

Verity has a lot of traits from myself, but she is NOT self-insert for me, I'd hasten to add. I'm not completely delulu guys okay? ....Not entirely But she does have a lot of overlap with myself. You gotta write what you know, after all. I won't go into detail about the similarities between us - some of them are obvious, I think. But I'll leave that all ambiguous, more fun that way :)

Final Thoughts

There are honestly so many more things I could say but this is already veering into narcissistic self-indulgence land LOL so I feel compelled to stop here, but if anyone has any questions or things they'd like to know, pop them in my inbox!

That's all, folks!

#bapple chats #bapple writes #radiocotton #trivia #q&a #verity #If you can't say somethin' nice don't say nothin' at all #hazbin hotel fanfiction #hazbin hotel #hazbin fanfic #alastor #hazbin alastor #writer stuff #behind the scenes

[mikrokosmos]

What’s the story of your life with music?

The main reason I’d avoided responding to this question was that it’s too daunting. How do I make a narrative out of my interests and hobbies over the years? What can I remember exactly? I don’t want to go on and on, but…

My life with music started in…maybe kindergarten? In elementary school music class my teacher showed us Disney’s Fantasia, where my most vivid memories are of the Bach and Tchaikovsky segments. With Stokowski’s transcription of the Toccata and Fugue, I picked up associating music with colors and shapes, and often when I listen I still think in abstract geometric figures, especially imagining the sheet music floating around and changing colors. And from the Nutcracker suite, I went more Romantic and created stories in my head while listening.

At the same school, the fourth grade class would put on a play version of the Nutcracker story with some music from the ballet. I loved the whole “soundtrack” but especially a scene change with the piece “In the Pine Forest”

Growing up, I liked music but wasn’t really into the pop that my sister and cousins were into (Brittney Spears, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls…), but I’d play around on my cousin’s out of tune piano and “taught” myself how to play Big Ben’s chimes using the black keys. My parents got me lessons with my cousin’s piano teacher who was an old Italian woman who introduced me to Chopin, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff.

As I got more into music through YouTube and iTunes, my tastes solidified around Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Alkan, Scriabin, heavy handed romantic piano. More “Romantic” Beethoven, some “darker” Mozart, and Bach’s organ music. Again couldn’t relate to peers when I got to high school. Yeah I liked Lady Gaga and Beyonce, but I didn’t care about any of the bands kids talked about, and didn’t like a lot of the 00s pop singers. Too many of the works I was into at the time were 19th or early 20th century piano. I was embarassed when guys asked if I listened to anything “hard” and showed them one of Prokofiev’s “War” Sonatas

I loved looking up the history of the works. At the time I thought it was just trivia but the longer I researched, the more I realized it was helping me develop an awareness of how we percieve reality and the social and cultural forces that contribute to who we are and what we do, say, and create.

My first piano teacher passed away, which was kind of rough. She felt like a third grandmother, told me stories about her husband in “The War”, and recorded several Chopin pieces for her family to keep for posterity. I always think of her when I listen to Chopin’s Waltz in Ab, op.69 no.1. Maybe too Romantic of me to bring up the “Farewell Waltz” nickname.

In general I had a very Romantic, and somewhat closed-minded, attitude toward music going through into college. I was kind of snobby against popular music styles, I was convinced Mozart was overrated elevator music, that Satie was a “one-hit-wonder”, and that there was no point in listening to anyone before Bach. Thankfully a lot of taste changes happened through college as I explored the repertoire more and got familiar with Mozart, ‘classical’ Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Handel, Hildegard von Bingen, Palestrina, Mahler, Hindemith, Barber, Schoenberg, and I won’t keep name dumping but when thinking back to my time at college I have a lot of memories of how I felt listening to music and pondering life in the way college students are expected to do.

I’ve always been an amateur pianist, and have been self-taught for the past ten years or so. And a lot has changed in my tastes and attitudes.

Still a Romantic at heart but I try to treat music as “objectively” as I can, let it speak for itself, and try to keep the era in mind when asking “what does this mean? What is this trying to convey?”. I’ve tried letting go of biases so I can appreciate other genres more. I’ve also been engaging more with the musical avant-garde, and am on the more liberal side of the aesthetic “culture wars” that have been going on since the mid 20th century.

Right now my favorite composer is Olivier Messiaen who I believe without any irony is the best composer of Christian music, and maybe the only Western composer who conveys a Christian sense of the Divine to the “greatest” extant possible. Of course that’s my own opinion, but for me the 20 Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus is the greatest work of piano music I’ve heard. The idea of best or greatest when talking about art is pretty silly, and the older I get the more hesitant I am to try and argue for something as arbitrary as “best”, so maybe I’d say that Messiaen is the closest to my heart, along with Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin, Debussy, Mahler, and R. Strauss.

And I don't really talk about my personal life so much, but I have a complicated faith in Christianity, and I'm a gay man, and maybe it's silly but music has been integral to my understanding of life and the self.

#classical #ask #music #classical music #my music journey #Chopin #messiaen #bach #beethoven #Mozart #scriabin #mahler #debussy #strauss

[mak3itr7ght]

Pair : Yoongi x fem. Reader (Disney 'Soul' Au)

Yoongi's pov

'And the winner is...Min Yoongi!' At first... i couldn't be able to hear nothing, just my heartbeat that was accelerating...then, at some point... there they are: Applauses, my name, being shouted by the audience...and then...a feeling, a strange but good feeling, which made me smile like I've never did. This was my dream, to become one of the greatest pianists, to win this important competition and to really start...living. If I didn't succeed, and I died, I could have said.. I never truly lived.

At least... this was my mind.

I was coming back from a night full of festivities, to be honest, I wasn't able to drive a car at all, in that state...but... who would drive me home? My parents are in another town, my home town, Daegu, and I'm here, in Seoul, and they neither didn't come here to celebrate with me... they wanted me to study law and become a lawyer, but, I didn't want to, I wasn't born to live in that way, I was born to play music.

Playing piano helped me. I discovered this when I was almost 14yo: I won a scholarship, so I went to America to join a course, taught by a famous jazz pianist, Joe Gardner. God...that teacher, he played that piano like as if he had been doing it since before he was born. It was like he was able to isolate from reality. It was that man who made me realize what really was the reason I was born, and I am deeply grateful to him for that. But he lived for jazz, instead, I gave my heart to classical music. I spent many times with Joe, I dare say that, I almost saw him as a father figure.

He told me that, everyone, before their birth, must find their own spark and mine was right that one: Piano.

I thought about this, as I tried to follow the straight line of the road, I was taking to get home, despite the alcohol dancing in my veins. At one point though... I saw a shadow on the road, probably some nocturnal animal. I turned the steering wheel to avoid killing it... All I remember from then on was the excruciating noise coming from the wheels, the brake of my car whistling and then...darkness. Total darkness.

Y/n's pov:

'Congratulations, doctor Y/s ! It's all thanks to you if we managed to find a new cure for this terrible disease'

I was so happy... happy for being successful in what I dreamed since I was a child:

I've told to every person I've met, that I would become a researcher and save many lives.

Some of that people laughed at my 'ingenuity', others made fun of me, but, others never stopped to support me, like my parents, who were right in front of me, in that moment, among the crowd full of people who were cheering for me, my parents were so joyful and emotional that day.

I've studied hard, I've got my degree and some years ago, finally, I've moved here in Seoul (actually I'm from Chicago) to start working in a lab. At first, I didn't know what to do, but then, with some help, I've started to create a sort of cure for a bad disease that was spreading around the world. I was thinking about all the innocent lives that I could save. This thought gave me strength, this thought, this will, this wish, made me feel...alive

There were a lot of failures, many times in which I desired to quit and let me fall in the arms of desperation but...probably, if I didn't succeed, or at least if I didn't try and then i would be dead, I could have said...that I never lived.

The day I received the news that, that cure, for which i worked for years, was 100% efficient...I finally felt like I made it. I remember that, that day, i started laughing, meawhile tears was sliding down from my eyes. And now... here i am! After so many efforts, after facing so many challenges, here i am, with this reward between my hands; but, actually, for me, what really matters it's not this golden object, instead, it's that, thanks to me, many people, children, old ones will be able to live their life and try to achieve all their dreams. Because living...it's the most beautiful gift that life itself has ever given to us, even if, sometimes, we don't understand it, at first.

These were my thoughts, while I was sipping some red wine, leaning on the couch of my home, and while observing my degree's picture. I was happy, then, and i never felt that alive in my whole life. But, at some point, I heard a sort of whistle...it lasted 6 seconds...and then...an explosion, a light...and then...darkness. Total darkness.

Yoongi's pov:

'Where ami I? Am I dead?'

Many questions occupied my mind, while in front of me was all black, I took a look at my hands, and I noticed that they were...different, they changed color, it was a sort of light greenish blue, and the hadn't their regular form, it was like they was cartoonized or something, and the same happened to the rest of my body. Even if i didn't felt like that was my actual body...where was I? At a certain point, I caught myself in a sort of cinema, I observed the place around me and there were other entities with the same features as mines. I was confused and scared. Then a light appeared on the big screen and a sort of documentary was played on, it was talking about something called 'You seminar', a new name to call the 'great before'...like something opposite to the 'great beyond'? At the end of the documentary I was more confused and the only thing I managed to understand was that here we are just souls, dead or near to it, and we had to help the future new borns' souls to actually..born on earth. Some other extorted entities started to call our names along with some numbers and my attention was caught by another 'mentor' like me, she was apparently a woman, the fate wanted that one of the entities, called Jerrys, mentioned right her name: Y/n Y/s. That name seemed familiar, I surely heard it in Tv or in radio while looking for my music sheets...oh of course! Yesterday, at the restaurant, after the competition, on tv, she received an award. She was a med or something, she discovered a cure. But how did she get here? How is she dead? I saw here in the tv screen, she was smiling and she seemed so alive. Well, who knows... I kept following her with my eyes as she reached the small stage near the big screen, ready to take care of a small new soul. I felt the slight desire to talk to her, even just to hear what happened last night. My thoughts were interrupted by a voice that called my name, well it was mu turn indeed.

'Min Yoongi! Great pianist, recently winner of a worldwide competition! A pure soul, devoted to music. It's an honor to have you here and the same time a huge displeasure. I will entrust you a soul that still didn't manage to get its spark, despite having had several mentors. 93 come here!'

I wasn't sure about all that situation, maybe it was just the alcohol effect in my body, but, I thought that, if I was able to help this little one, I would be able to wake up. I was watching that small soul approaching me, it looked a bit desperate, it had blue eyes, but I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. Instinctively I showed it a smile.

'Hello! You're the one that will make me born, right?'

I didn't know how to answer, to be honest, but I nodded. I was sure that I would be able to complete my task. The little soul jumped on me, hugging me. It seemed like it wanted to born so much, it wanted to live. I took it, its name was 93, by its hand and we went out of the cinema. We found ourselves in a sort of valley, full of colors like green, purple and blue, so strange and unreal, but, at the same time, so calming. There were souls with their mentors everywhere. Looking around, I spotted Y/n with her little soul. I decided to follow them and obviously my 93 followed me back, still smiling and looking at me with the eyes of a daydreamer, I was starting to wonder how it will be in the real world. We entered in a sort of huge building, it looked like a city... there was everything In it: grocery stores, cinemas, shops, parks, libraries, other buildings, labs, universities, schools and also a space base! It was incredible. I saw that many mentors made their souls found their spark there. Spark...I already heard about this term, it was right Joe who told me about it, I started to think about it and I remembered that I told me also about the time he went on coma... did he arrive here as well? Mh...I was not sure. The only think that I certainly knew is that I must go back.

Y/n's pov:

I was holding that little being's hand, it was a soul, as I understood, while I was wondering how i managed to arrive in that place.

'probably I'm dreaming'

I was saying to myself, I remembered only a big noise, and then nothing, but, anyway, I had to find the spark of that soul, only then I would be able to woke up. We entered in a big building, it looked like a museum, and inside of it there was everything! I saw tutors who showed to their little souls anything that you can do on Earth: from eating a cake or a slice of pizza, to even to launch a rocket.

'It's incredible how much fantasy my mind has'

I was still telling to myself, sure that I was dreaming.

'come, 39! Let's find your spark!'

I took 39 hand again and I went through the inside of that wide place. There was one thing...I felt observed... but I didn't pay much attention to it. First, we went into a lab and i showed it some cute experiments, trying to make it liking science, but I failed... I tried with astrophysics, maths, biology, medicine... I tried many other jobs like chef, teacher, singer, dancer...but nothing, was it possible that that little creature wasn't able to find its passion? I was starting to concern. Suddenly, those other beings, named Jerrys, brought together the various mentors who wasn't able to help their little souls. We returned to that teather where we started, and I saw a scene that made me feel goosebumps.

They had lined us up, and, one by one, the mentors were taken up escalators, towards a dazzling light... And then... They disappeared... I could well imagine where that light was leading.. And I admit that, I was scared, I couldn't die like this, not now that I had seriously started living... I closed my eyes, while the tears ran down my cheeks, but then I heard a voice.

A voice that was aimed at one of those Jerrys:

'Give us another chance! Give us more 5 hours! Please!'

It was just me and that other tutor...and I was praying that the Jerrys would accept his request, and miraculously, they did it. The Jerrys took us again the main valley and they left us there.

We had to find again our little souls... and we had only 5 hours... I was panicing, when suddenly that other soul started to talk to me:

'You managed to find a cure for an unknown and dangerous disease in few years. You will get out of here as well'

He had a calm, low, reassuring voice, I'd like to add. I turned to face him and his face looked familiar, even if we obviously had that non-human body.

'I'm sure you're wondering who I am, right? Well...you just have to know that I love music and playing piano'

He smiled at me, after saying that last sentence. I didn't know what to say.

'What is the number of your litte soul?' he added.

'39. And yours?'

'93'

He said with an higher tone and he looked more relieved.

So we decided to go in research of our little souls, around the whole valley. But there was no traces of 39 and 93.

Yoongi's pov:

We stopped in front of the huge museum where we entered first with our little souls. I could visibly see that Y/N was starting to worry, so, instinctively, I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled at her, to make her understand that everything would be fine, I couldn't explain why, I had done it without thinking about it . I've always been a person who took a long time before expressing a minimum of feeling, life had taught me that, being without the love of parents or friends had taught me that, but Y/N seemed different from other people... Maybe because I met her in another form, I don't know, I was quite confused but I didn't hide that I had a certain concern too, having lost two little souls, in the middle of an immense valley , with other little souls around, MANY OTHER LITTLE SOULS!

But I said to myself "Min Yoongi! You can't let a situation like this overwhelm you. You will manage to get out of it and Y/N will succeed too" so I gave myself strength and we decided to go back to the big cinema where they assigned us 39 and 93...We went inside and found one of those Jerrys, I still don't understand why they had the same name, but it was a doubt that I could easily overlook, we told it about the fact that we couldm't find our little souls.

Jerry smiled, breathing a sigh of relief and reaching out his hand towards the "scenes" of the theater, where the two little souls came out. Y/N and I looked at each other for a few minutes and, always instinctively, we hugged, but then, in the grip of embarrassment, we pulled away immediately and ran towards the souls. Later Jerry pushed us into a small door, which was not there before.

Inside there, there was a kind of cylindrical device where there was a kind of fingerprint reader. I was hesitant but tried to put my hand on it. Suddenly holograms appeared around us, representing images, that I never imagined seeing there:

It was me, it was me in every moment of my life, from birth until...my D-Day, while I was celebrating with all those people, unaware of the accident that would happen following those celebrations.

Y/n was next to me, holding 39 by the hand, while she watched, almost in wonder, to my surprise, those holograms. I kept dwelling on the image that was at the center of that "exhibit":

Me, only 10 years old, playing the piano for the first time, smiled, I was happy, I remember that feeling well, which I had never experienced until then.

I haven't smiled so dazzling since then, at least, until today, until I got that award, which more like a personal victory, instead of a physical victory, Above all, because I won by playing one of my songs on that stage, First love.

'I admire you so much..'

I turned to Y/N. I kept looking at her without saying anything. So she kept talking..

Y/N's pov

I saw every hologram of that room, I had noticed that Yoongi's parents were very strict, from the image that portrayed her mother and father yelling at him ... I felt his pure love for music, listening to the song that led him to win, First love, right?

On the pedestal where the hologram was located, was engraved precisely :

'I remember that moment

Way taller than my height

The brown piano that guided me

I looked up to you, I yearned for you

When I touched you with my small finger'

- First Love, Min Yoongi

Then I stopped at the same hologram he had been looking at for some minutes. And I was amazed: He really looked like he had become one with that plan, he was happy, you could see it as well as feel it. He had inspired me, in some way. I admired him. I admired how he found a way to escape and be happy despite the difficult life he had. Then I realized that he was looking at me, I think I said some thoughts aloud without realizing it .. but now I couldn't leave him like this, without saying anything else ...

'I admire you because despite everything you managed to get so high'

I then turned to look at the emotional hologram of Yoon holding the trophy in his hand, after winning the title of best pianist in the world. I said it yet and I'll say it again, I admire him so much. He didn't do anything, he kept looking at me, his eyes slightly wide open. I instinctively smiled at him and he smiled back softly.

'if we get out of here, i really want to get to know you, not only as a soul, but as a person'

I boldly added. He nodded, his smile became a little bigger than before. Then I realized that we had been looking at each other for almost 10 minutes. So I shook my head and then felt something pulling me.

It was 93. It had taken my hand and placed it on the pedestal where Yoongi placed his hand and the holograms changed:

I saw parts of my life:

My eyes sparkled to see that despite all the efforts I had to go through, as a woman, as a scientist, as a student, as a person, it was all worth it. Yoongi approached me and stroked my head, it was a contact that I could perceive slightly, since, being souls, we hadn't the 5 senses, yet, I could feel that contact.

'You worked hard too, you are to be admired as well.'

I could hear his calm voice saying those words to me as he watched the hologram that shows clearly the moment when I failed. I remember that, that day, I felt the world collapse on me.

The cure had only achieved 10% effectiveness. And of course it was rejected. But then I succeeded.. That happiness didn't last long though. I lowered my gaze and saw 93 hugging me, that soul was such a cutie, she would have become a magnificent person on Earth.

At one point she broke away from me and went towards 39.

The two little souls held hands in front of me and Yoongi, they looked at each other for few minutes, they exchanged smiles and then.. Suddenly, I saw their passes for Earth light up...They had found their spark.. it wasn't a passion then..I turned to Yoongi with teary eyes and a smile that was bigger than my own face.

He smiled too, he had such a cute smile. I had never seen him smile like that before, but I knew that he would still be charming indeed, when he smiled, he was even more..

'We did it, I told you'

He said. I nodding in reply and accentuating my smile even more. Meanwhile 39 and 93 had jumped on us to hug us. They were so cute. We immediately ran towards that big portal that led to the earth..

Yoongi's Pov

I finally figured out what Joe meant by spark... A spark is not a passion.. It's something that drives you to live. I would really like to know what was the thing that lit the pass of 39 and 93 to give them all this desire to born, so, when we arrived in front of that portal that led to the earth, I stopped for a second in front of 39 and the I asked:

'what was that?'

'93..'

It answered to me, smiling.

93? Another soul? Could another soul be a reason.. To live? Then it added.

'seeing your experiences made us understand that living is important and fighting for your dreams despite everything is our duty. But when we saw you, when we felt that you felt admiration for each other, we wanted to try the same admiration...'

Then it turned to 93.

'I hope with all my heart that we will live this life together, even if we are not born in the same country or at the same time, even if you become successful and I remain an ordinary person. Either way-'

'I want to be with you..'

added the other little soul. In a tone so sweet that even the cruelest person in the world would have melted his heart at those words. Spontaneously, I smiled.. Because in the end I understood that the spark as it could be something could also be someone. I turned to Y/N and looked at her with different eyes.

She had told me that she also wanted to meet me on Earth, but I continued to remain hesitant even though I nodded, but now that hesitation is almost completely gone. I seriously wanted to meet her. I didn't know if she was Korean, if she was the same age as me, and honestly, I didn't care about those things, especially after this experience. I turned to her and saw her with tears in her eyes, probably moved by the scene. I kept looking at her, I wanted to try to do something, even just hug her.. But it wasn't like me, it wasn't like me to feel this kind of affection.. What a curious thing, right?

What if... she was my spark? What if the two of us, before being born, had found ourselves in the same spot where 39 and 93 are now, and that we threw ourselves into that portal, fueled by their same motive? Maybe I'd known her for too little, maybe it was me, stunned by what was happening, and that all this was just my huge mental idea..

I didn't know, but I wanted to do something. And I did it. I hugged her, I didn't care about the situation or her reaction. I could feel the gazes of 93 and 39 on me, I could feel that Y / N was surprised, because her body, for a second, stiffened in that hug, but shortly after she let go, reciprocating. We didn't say anything, apparently words, sometimes, aren't needed to convey certain things. We turned smiling towards the two little souls who, immediately after returning the smiles, turned towards that portal and, holding hands, giving each other strength, jumped.

I was hoping that they would be able to spend this life together. I was hoping it so much. After all, this "journey" taught me something, it taught us something:

how precious life is in all its nuances.. and that we have to live every moment, we can't always wait for that something that really makes us start living, because deep down something can give you the will to live, but certainly in waiting to "find" that something, we still have to live and enjoy life, because we don't know when it will end.

So, back on earth, I would have tried to live differently, I would have tried to reconnect with my parents, without hard feelings, and I would have continued to play. But, first of all, I wanted to find the girl with whom I had, I think, the most important experience of my life...because in the end, even though I was in a coma, I was somehow "living" anyway.

After this long reflection, with Y/N by my side who remained silent, probably because she was lost in her world too, I heard a familiar voice behind me, which took me by surprise.

'BRAVO! you did it!!'

We both turned towards that voice, oh yes, it was a Jerry, very happy I might add.

'Now you can finally go your way'

Without even finishing speaking, Jerry opened a portal for us where there was earth. I looked into Y/n's eyes and she held out a hand to me, I, without hesitation, grabbed it and squeezed it, we closed our eyes and then .. We jumped into the portal.

...

...

...

...

Y/n's pov

I opened my eyes, or at least I tried to, I saw a dim light and the rest wasn't even that clear. I tried to move, tried to pull my head up and I succeeded, I had pains everywhere, especially on my head. Then I heard voices that kept saying:

'SHE WOKE UP!!'

'IT'S A MIRACLE!!!'

And other phrases like that. So I tried rubbing my eyes and I started seeing better than before. So I took a look around me and there were my parents, my colleagues, my friends. They were all around me, around that bed on which I probably "slept" for a long time...I smiled, then I looked at myself, I had bruises and bandages everywhere.

'W-what happened?'

I asked. I actually already knew what happened... But I still wanted a double check. And then I thought, everything that happened in the "me seminar" was in my imagination. A simple dream.

'a bomb.'

My father began to speak. It was night. When we got a call from help. Already on the news there was talk of nothing else. We couldn't believe it. The hopes that you were still alive were...near 0%. We brought you here after officers pulled you out of the wreckage. Luckily the bomb had been planted in a part of the floor quite far from your apartment. They found you under the piano you have in your living room. That old piano that you never used but that you cared about because your grandfather gave it to you. You remember right? That piano... saved you somehow. And you got away with a few injuries and a minor concussion. It's a miracle.. '

My father's voice was starting to tremble. They must have had a huge scare. I put a hand to my chest and smiled at my father.

'I'm fine now'

I added.

'How long have I been in a coma?'

I said. I was hoping it was for a week or less.

'6 months'

I jumped. 6 months? So much? Yet that dream... That dream had lasted one day! How is it possible? I was about to panic, but then, Yoongi, who was holding my hand, came to mind, imagining his hand on mine at that moment, so I let out a huge sigh and the panic seemed to go away.

'I needed such a long sleep'

I said and then laughed and, after me, everyone did the same, in the room. After talking a bit with my relatives, the doctors invited them to go out to let me rest, I would have had to stay in the hospital for a few more days for checkups.

When I was alone in the room, of course, the center of my thoughts remained Yoongi, I honestly didn't understand why, but I was so curious to see him, to see him in his true human form, however, how could I, the world is so big... I decided to turn on the TV and by chance there was the news.

At one point my eyes widened.

They were talking about Yoongi and the fact that he had just woken up from a coma that lasted 6 months..

He must have ended up in a coma around the same time as me, that's why we met in the great before.

And.. Most importantly.. He was in the same clinic as mine. I had to see him. I decided to get out of bed, still a little weak but eager to finally meet Yoongi. I didn't know exactly where he was, but by asking some nurses I would have certainly found him. I found my parents outside who, in panic, tried to take me back to my room so I decided to run away without telling them anything. I went around the whole floor, but no trace of Yoongi..

I decided to stop so close to a vending machine to get a bottle of water.

'Here the water costs a fortune... And to think that it's a primary asset.. Tsk'

I knew that voice and almost cried with joy, I turned around and saw him next to me, Yoongi. He smiled at me, he had already recognized me apparently.

'You haven't changed much since you were there'

He told me smiling.

'Neither you'

I answered right away.

We stared at each other for a few minutes and then heard nurses pass by us chatting about the birth of two children:

One of them was a girl of English parents, who had only come here on holiday and will soon be returning to England; The other was a boy, Korean.

Yoongi and I exchanged a few glances.

'Do you think that...'

'Yes'

He replied without even letting me finish the sentence. Those two little ones were 93 and 39, ready to start their life on earth.

'even if they're more than 9,000 km away, I don't think the distance will stop them'

I added

'I totally agree with you..And by the way.. About us'

Yoongi turned to look at me again.

'When we get out of here, shall we go and have a coffee together?'

He made me chuckle, because I could feel that veil of embarrassment of him. A man seemingly so cold that he asks a girl out like that? I love it.

'I'd love that'

I smiled at him, only to hear the cries of my parents, enraged, telling me to go right back to my room.

'See you soon, pianist'

I nodded to Yoongi.

"See you soon, my scientist"

He returned the nod.

From that day on we always met in front of that machine, buying the usual bottle of water, when we finally left the clinic, we started dating and well.. You can imagine the rest, right?

#yoongi #bts au fanfic #bts au masterlist #bts fanfic #suga x reader #suga x y/n #yoongi x reader #yoongi au #disney au #bts disney au #Spotify

[morvantmortuary]

Okay so I had a thought-slash-question:

I’m not sure if you’ve ever watched The Book of Life (if you haven’t you totally should, it’s on Disney+ and it’s really cool!), Diego Luna voices the main character in that movie and from what I can tell, he did at least some of his own singing. And he actually sounds pretty good, which brings me to the question: can Hector sing or play the guitar? Does he have any skills at either of those things??

Anyways, just wanted to get that out of my head (😅). Hope you and our dear necromancers are doing well!! ♡♡♡

aww, hi dolly! always nice to hear from you 🖤✨

I’ve discussed this only a little bit previously, but yes, I have seen Book of Life!! Jorge Gutierrez is one of my favorite artists/animators ever; I loved his series Maya and the Three (w/ Diego as a dorky vampire prince to boot), and I’ve been following him on various platforms for years. BoL is seriously underrated, I rewatch it every fall 🥰 And yes, Diego definitely did some (if not most) of his own singing in the movie! he’s a man of many talents fr

Hex is the only Morvant who I imagine sounding exactly like his fc with basically nothing changed (as I imagine before he moved back to Mexico fully with his mom, he went back and forth enough between there and Greymoon to keep his accent), whereas of course I’ve never heard Dani or Eva do a Southern/Louisiana accent before lol. (Now that I have Seth, his voice is also basically unchanged from Dast’s, just bc I think its so cute lmao)

I don’t remember if I’ve talked about Hex’s musicality here, outside of singing (I might have done so in my gc eons ago, but we’ll consider this an update). he can sing, but he’s generally pretty shy about it. he doesn’t like to in any public sense, and he only does so with you after you’ve been dating long enough that he feels fully comfortable doing so. even though he’s good, he sees it only as something to do for fun/goofing around. he doesn’t think of it as a talent so much as he does just part of being a human. his real art is always going to be his visual art, specifically his photography. that’s what he considers his main body of work, and the thing he feels he actively wants to pursue. but when it’s just y’all (or y’all and the twins, and maybe the twins’ partners), then singing is something he does when he’s relaxed and hanging out and living in the moment (or, at times when things are tense and it’s just the two of you, trying to get you to relax and maybe smile a little).

I can see him playing guitar very casually for the same reason — like, not enough to be a professional, but enough that he can competently play a few songs at a party or just hanging out when his eyes need a break from looking at his latest shoot. I imagine he picked it up during his brief stint in university at Mexico City (thinking everyone likes a cute boy who can play guitar at parties, if he wasn’t learning himself from a cute boy who played guitar at a party 👀) and ever since then has just noodled around with it ever since. He can play a few favorite songs of his (and of yours, although he’d want to keep it a surprise until he was sure he could do so without a hitch), but it’s kind of like Maxi and his tipsy piano-playing at 2 AM - nothing he’d really want to show off, purely something for his own enjoyment (and yours, potentially).

but this was so sweet of you to send my way!! thanks so much for thinking of him, hon 🥰 big hugs from us to you in your neck of the woods, and we hope you’re doing well too! 🖤👻

#nice people!! #dolly! ✨🧚 #hector vibes #hector morvant-casares #hex morvant-casares #hector morvant-casares x you #hector morvant-casares x reader #diego luna fc #slasher oc #medium fc #morvant mortuary #monsterkisser fics

[rosieuv]

The new Miraculous film is actually alright

I didn't have high standards for this film originally. I put the release date on my calendar, but forgot about it as I didn't care all that much. However, today I was too tired to do much so I decided to give it a watch.

First thing is the animation. It's better than the show's, but there was a missed opportunity to redesign the characters to look less like they were just concept art for a final character. Chloe's hair looks like it was dunked in olive oil and was never washed out. Another thing I noticed is that Marinette always seems to be wearing some sort of earrings, which confused me as her disguised miraculous looks exactly the same as the earrings she wears at the start of the film and when she takes them off halfway. I hope they did what Jimmy Neutron did and reuse the film assets for the next season of the show. The camouflaged state of the butterfly miraculous looks so tacky! The creepy basement has been redesigned to replace the lift with stairs and the capsule with generic flowers. The school's been redesigned to look less modern and for some reason, both Marinette and Adrien now have analogue watches. Also Adrien has a phone with 1 camera and uses wired earphones. I imagine it's trying to do what the show did, by keeping all the technology from 2015 as that's when season 1 came out (the only contradicting point being the English news reporter from the season 5 finale said "God save the King", which implies this takes place in 2023 or later). It would be weird if Adrien didn't have the latest tech considering he's supposed to be rich and all. However, Alya's phone looks more like a modern phone due to the fact there's no buttons on the screen side and no bevels. Is she a time traveller?

The voice acting's fine. Something I didn't realise at first, is that this film is a musical. The songs are so damn cheesy and whenever they would play, I would open up discord and look through my unread messages while tuning out the generic songs about not being worthy, love, being a villain, etc. Marinette's singing voice is different than her regular voice and it's really noticeable. Nooroo's voice changed and I really don't like it. I like the scared and high-pitched voice that they had in the show as it gave the impression that Nooroo was terrified of being used for evil (possibly because a similar thing happened to them before), but had no choice and just had to obey. Fortunately Nooroo's a minor character in the film so I don't have to hear that out of place mystical mature voice much.

The music is just generic Disney style cinematic piano stuff. Careless Whisper (or as I call it: the sexy saxophone song) plays twice in the film. Why. Why would you unironically put a meme song in a film?

Now the writing. Oh the writing.

Spoilers here (I go over the ending and important plot points):

First off: this takes place in this alternate world where Marinette is unpopular and weird and Adrien has been at this school for a while now. I like this take as it's similar to season 1, but does a better job at Marinette's character arc. How they meet in this universe is by the library. Also Marinette's not a creepy stalker in this universe, and can actually talk to Adrien enough to ask him to go to the prom thing. Again I like this take as instead of her following him around for 4 seasons before he eventually confesses his feelings, she gets to know him better and they become friends via the help of Alya and Nino. Also when Alya saves Marinette from being publicly humiliated by Chloe, that was a better transition into them becoming friends then how it was originally with them meeting by just sitting together in the same class.

It was annoying how we never got to see Adrien's reaction to finding the miraculous. He finds this cat, didn't question how it got through his window when his room's on the 1st floor, cat turns to ring, then it just cuts and the next time we see him he's cat noir. Meanwhile Marinette freaks out over realising she's the chosen one. She never calls herself Ladybug in her introduction, but people start calling her that as they're all really unoriginal when it comes to name. Cat noir fights the enemy like he (somewhat) knows what he's doing, but Ladybug has absolutely no idea and is acting very clumsy. Something that annoyed me about the original origin story, was that Master Fu just met them 2 and decided that because Marinette gave him a macaron, then she would be a good Ladybug. In this version, Marinette saves his life by pushing him out of traffic, and the kwamis decide who their holders are by destiny or something. There's a couple missing features from the show:

Her magic ladybirds don't activate by her throwing the lucky charm. She figures out how to activate them in the end of the film by moving her arms around.

They don't de-transform after 5 minutes after using their power.

There isn't a manual in the stick and yo-yo (that would be a bit overpowered though).

They don't seem to break the akumatised object, the akuma seems to fly out of it after.

The suits can be damaged by attacks but they can't in the show. Towards the end, Cat noir and Hawk moth have a battle and he rips half of Cat noir's mask off. They also don't seemed to be affected by the magic plot device introduced in United Heroes that makes humans not question why the superheroes look so similar to Marinette and Adrien; Hawk moth realises that Cat noir is Adrien and oh my god that scene was written like it was a fan-fiction I would upload here. Personally I would make the backstory scene a lot darker (although something to note is that in the show, Emilie's death was a lot more recent than in the film) and have Cat noir actually manage to cataclysm Hawk moth (like in season 5 episode 3) instead of the Eiffel Tower (even though that was really cool too) just because I'm so curious how that conversation would go if he knew he essentially killed his own father. I was laughing in that entire scene so loudly that my brother messaged me on discord from the room next door asking if I was having a stroke. I was laughing so hard that I could barely hear what they were saying, and I was more focused on why Gabriel's eyebrows are shaded so tackily.

There's no akuma alert on their phone, they detect danger by their miraculous glowing. Better concept imo.

Ladybug doesn't use her lucky charm in the entire film. Cat noir uses his cataclysm so why doesn't Ladybug use her power? This doesn't make sense to me.

Anyway, Marinette finds out that Adrien likes someone else when she asks him to go to the prom (that isn't described as a prom, but essentially that's what it is) and he rejects her saying that he likes someone else. Well, Hawk moth figured out much sooner in the film that he can akumatise himself and become really OP with a crap ton of butterflies. That version of him reminds me of Dr Robotnik when he gets the Master Emerald in the second Sonic film as he controls his power in a similar way. He drags the earrings out of Ladybug's ears and doesn't put them on? Instead the miraculous of the ladybird goes directly into the butterfly miraculous and it fuses that way. No different form though. So anyway, Marinette is on an island because from what I remember the place was flooded, but her island was separated from the one with Hawk moth and Cat noir. She finds out that Cat noir is Adrien, but the others are too busy having a mental breakdown that they don't notice her 4 metres away. At the end she tells Adrien that she's Ladybug in the cheesiest way. This was at the prom, Adrien's sad that he's never going to see Ladybug again because Hawk moth's been defeated and he knows that Ladybug isn't interested in becoming a couple; so he's next to a tree outside the venue. Marinette finds him and then this really cheesy scene plays that I can't really explain but it would have been better if she just asked why he was sad and then Adrien would be vague, but mention something about never being able to see his crush ever again. Marinette would mention that it's because he likes Ladybug, and because he's Cat noir, the only time they meet is when they're saving the day from akumatisations. He would act startled but that's when Marinette would mention that she's Ladybug, and that he doesn't need to worry. Marinette in the original scene is too vague.

Plagg deserved more screen time: he only appeared in 3 scenes, 2 of which involved him eating cheese. It's such a shame as Plagg's my favourite character from the show. The charm from his original character's been watered down and because he barely features, he never gets to make up for it.

Yeah essentially that's my thoughts. I prefer this universe over the universe of the show as this one makes more sense writing wise. It's not perfect, but it's not too bad. I quite enjoyed it but I feel like it could do with a bit of polishing to make it really shine. I'm not sure what direction the show's going with Lila being the new villain, but this film was definitely a better version of the Hawk moth arc due to it's smaller scale.

You can watch it on Netflix (I think) or some random piracy website that I used called miraculous.to. Use chrome though as the video buffers like mad on firefox.

I spent more than an hour typing this out.

#film #film review #movie #movie review #review #miraculous #miraculous spoilers #miraculous ladybug #miraculous film #miraculous movie #featured

[samthesimpssss]

Hello love! I got a notification and saw you were doing matchups and I'd like to join 😈 (I hope I didn't misread and it's already open)

The Fandom I'd like a match-up for is Tokyo Revengers. My pronouns are She/Her and my gender preference is male and I'd like it to be romantic please <3.

Some positive traits: I'm overall very friendly and easy to approach. I'm very patient and slow to anger. I'm very empathetic and sympathetic, I have a very easy time putting myself in others' shoes and rarely judge others. I'm a good listener and very attentive to others' needs. I tend to remember little things about the people I love and if I'm passionate about something I will always put my 110% in. I'm a very not judgemental person and I think it's fair to say I'm quite mature as well. I can be spontaneous and go along with spontaneous ideas very well but I'm not impulsive. I'm also overall polite and will be very talkative with the right people.

Some negative traits: I have a bad habit of being a people pleaser and have an overall hard time saying no unless I'm asked something blatantly dangerous. I'm a big daydreamer so I often have my head in the clouds which can make me less attentive to my surroundings and may lead the to zone out every now and then. I'm a procrastinator and when I don't really like something I'll leave it until the very last moment to do. And lastly I tend to beat around the bush when I have to say something negative to someone or about someone to them or at least take a while to at least get to it because I try to sugarcoat it as much as possible. So... Basically not very straightforward.

My mbti and enneagram: INFP-T 9w1

And I don't know if you also wanted zodiac signs but I'll add it in anyway:

Sun: Taurus Moon: Pisces Rising: Cancer Venus: Pisces

Some of my hobbies:

-Ballet

-Playing piano and bass guitar

-Writing both books, poetry and songs

-Reading books

-Listening to music

-Visiting museums (I like both art and history)

-Swimming

-Sewing

-Cooking and baking

-Watching both Vintage movies and classic Disney movies

-Going around petting stray cats

-Recently I've been learning how to knit

Other random things about me:

I like animals. I like to go on unnecessarily long walks. Mind of embarrassing but sometimes when I'm nervous to go somewhere for whatever reason I have this little plushie I take with me in my bag. I collect pink snack packages?? It might've not been delicious but at least the packaging is cute 😪. I like pink in general. An unsung love language of mine is just feeding people? It ties in with my hobby for sure but with me you'll never go hungry. I like dressing up and doing my makeup. My favorite season is winter and I love love ice skating. I'm very affectionate both verbally and physically and will tone it down depending on what the person I'm with is comfortable with. Sometimes when I laugh too hard I snort a little :/, I can dance a Viennese waltz My favorite Disney princesses are Cinderella and Aurora and both are actually quite similar to me. One night when I was younger I decided to teach myself 1800s etiquette and now old ladies love me. When I'm excited about something I bounce on my toes a little, I'm adept at flower language and every summer I get up early to pick some pretty ones and press them, only one of each though. I can sing a little but don't expect a power ballad out of me :(. I knit my neighbours cat a little hat. I like exploring local markets for trinkets. I cry pretty easily. I think that's everything I can think of at the moment.

I hope that's enough!

Thank you so much <3

-🦢

I have match you up with…

Manjiro Sano!

- his carefree nature + You = a relationship full of adventures. Y’all will just never be bored with each other

- Expect him to tease you when you snort but he does it lovingly and think it’s cute, he thinks everything that you do is cute—

- he would love to go ice skating with you in the winter, just because he has an excuse to hold your hand when skating :)

- he finds you feeding him very enjoyable. What can I say he likes to be taken care of :)

- he will gladly help you knit a hat for your neighbour’s cat, just so he can spend more time with you :D

- but when you do end up crying for whatever reason, he will always be there for you to comfort you with open arms

“There there my princess, is everything all right? Oh just a bad day? Well… would you like to go for a walk with me? It will help you feel better hmm?”

#tokyo revengers headcanons #mikey sano #tokyo revengers sano manjiro #anime matchups #Tokyo Revengers #tokyo revengers matchup

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Girls' Generation in My Playlists: B-Sides

This is the second half of a post (in honor of their new album!!!) where I'll be discussing every SNSD song that I've put in my Spotify playlists, playlists which I've been avidly creating since 2020. You can listen to a playlist with all the songs from both posts using this link. Enjoy, and I hope you're reminded of old favorites or find some new ones here--I think it's easy to forget just how interesting their music is, and hopefully these posts provide a pretty good sampling!

Europa: Every time I saw this song in my playlists, I would think "what is this? why is it here?". It became one of those songs that I never paid much attention to, but I never remembered to remove it from my library, either. Listening to it while writing this post, I can't imagine why it hadn't clicked with me before, though. "Europa" is really pretty Disney music, feel-good and backed with flourishes of strings and sparkles. And to let us know that this is, specifically, Disneyland California, the final chorus has undertones of acoustic guitar riffs that feel like they're located somewhere between a coffee shop and a resort lounge. I enjoy the wispy high notes in the chorus, but I will say that this may well be the first SNSD song I've found where the instrumental is more interesting than the performance--which I think says a lot about the high level of skill these ladies have!

Fire Alarm: "Fire Alarm" includes a similar heavy funk-inspired instrumental (I don't know why, but it sounds like it's straight out of a sitcom) to the one I absolutely despise in "Girls Are Back", but for some reason this incarnation works just fine for me. I think... I think it may be the harmonies in the chorus. (I'm nothing if not consistent in my tastes!) The song plays with dissonance and glitchy hyperpop sounds to create a sci-fi landscape that feels fascinating, taking us on an ethereal joyride so captivating that we almost--almost--forget to be unsettled. You should probably keep your hands and feet inside the car for this one, though, folks!

Green Light: Like "Lion Heart", this one is comfort food, all soft guitar and sentimental, summery melodies. It also includes my favorite rap ever from Girls' Generation, lighthearted and tender in a way that matches the rest of the song perfectly. I don't have too much to say about "Green Light", I just know it belongs in playlists with my favorite soft BTS songs, and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

One Last Time: Apparently, I really enjoy pop ballads--I wouldn't name them offhand in the top five, or even the top ten, types of songs I gravitate towards, but the way I love "One Last Time" and now STAYC's "Beautiful Monster" makes me rethink that. "One Last Time" is mostly piano and vocals, with a slow and steady chorus ending in a beautiful power note. This is a good one for remembering how to breathe on a bad day--just follow the ups and downs of their voices, and you'll be okay!

Soul: "Soul" sits next to "Mr. Mr." in my sunset playlist! Right from the first chorus, vocal harmonies are joined by someone going absolutely wild with an electric guitar, and the combination sounds fantastic, especially when the synthesizers kick in. When I think of retro concepts, I don't usually imagine a k-pop group taking inspiration from 80's glam rock, but here we are, and I'm not disappointed at all!

Talk Talk: "Talk Talk" is calming without sacrificing catchiness (MY BABY LOVES TO TALK BABY LOVES TO TALK--), and the members do a really good job performing what could have been a really colorful pop song with a softness that I honestly didn't know they possessed, considering how vocally powerful their other releases are, creating a track that feels mature but still truly happy.

Telepathy: This was the first SNSD b-side I loved, and I've never stopped finding it fun! It's a sweet explosion of synth, with its arrangement feeling consistently full, even in the verses, and its chorus only increasing the feeling with vocal layering, which, as per usual for the group, sounds fantastic. This one might be too overwhelmingly cheerful for some listeners, but I think it fits perfectly on my playlist for picnics on sunny days, even if it may be too sugary for everyday fare!

#if you're curious about my favorite of these it's fire alarm! #comeback celebration! #girls generation #snsd #AND THE ALBUM IS OUT I REPEAT ITS OUT I R E A L L Y LIKE THE TITLE TRACK #HONESTLY IM TOO OBSESSED WITH IT TO EVEN PROPERLY PAY ATTENTION TO THE B-SIDES YET

[81scorp]

Some thoughts on AI in art

Here are some thoughts on AI genertade images in art.

Some of these are mine, one of them is from Richard Williams book "The animator`s survival kit" and two of them are comments to a youtube video that talks about AI in art. (I have given credits to the original authors of those comments.)

A.I. is good and all but do we need A.I. art? Wasnt the point of A.I. that it would take over jobs that were too boring, difficult or dangerous for humans? Is doodling on a piece of paper too difficult now? A.I. art is for the consumer who wants their product delivered right NOW. A.I. art can be used as trainingwheels for artists but it shouldnt be the finished product. Are we artists or are we consumers?

AI image generators is great for lazy, impatient people who have no intention to learn how make their own art and are too cheap to hire an artist to draw for them.

AI is a tool, a double-edged sword. It can be used for a lot of fun things it can also work as a shortcut for lazy people. To be good at art takes time and effort and people are not very likely to want to learn how to create a painting if it is just the push of a few buttons away. The journey of learning is also an important part of becoming an artist.

Calling yourself an artist when you upload fully AI generated pictures is like calling yourself a chef because you heated some leftovers in the microwave oven.

When you tell an AI to generate some pics youre not the artist, youre the one who commissions the artwork, youre the employer. Now dont misunderstand what Im trying to say, this doesnt makes you bad, it just doesn`t make you the artist.

"You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could that you didn't stop to think if you should." ―Dr. Ian Malcolm

One thing that bugs me is when people say that AI "democratizes" art. It does not. I have seen sites on the internet, channels on youtube (Istebrak, Winged Canvas) and profiles on deviantart (Ethertingtonbrothers) filled with tutorials that teaches people how to draw. (How to draw perspective, buildings, wrinkles in clothes and more.) Heck, even before the internet there were short tutorials in Disney comic magazines (just to name one example) on how to draw Disney characters (like Donald Duck, Goofy, Mickey Mouse and others). Art was democratized long before AI. Just like everyone else I started from zero and am slowly learning more. Just because you know nothing in the beginning doesnt mean that you cant learn and just because youre not good at something doesnt mean that you cant get better at it. "But it takes time." Some will say. Thats right, art takes time. Art. Takes. Time. Sure, AI is faster, but it`s also like taking piano lessons on a self playing piano.

AI generated images are like the photorealistic remake of the Lion King: Sure, the technology is impressive but still… why?

"But we can learn to draw. There's the myth that you are either born draftsman or not. Wrong! Obviously, natural talent is a great help and the desire is essential, but drawing can be taught and drawing can be learnt. It's best to have done a ton of it at art school to get the foundation in early. But it can be done at any time. Just do it."

―Richard Williams, The Animator's Survival Kit

A lot of what I've been seeing about the "wonders" of AI art, it's never really impressed me because it plays off of the novelty of this being able to replicate styles without an artist's hand. I'm more impressed with its application to speed up certain production processes by being a supplement to the artist's vision. I feel people get so enamored by the flashiness of some new technology and go all in on that for the news outlets when its practical application is more subtle and boring. -Yensid951927 (youtube)

The reason people don't mess around with the music industry is because they have conglomerates and lawyers in place to punish those who don't respect their property. It may be cynical but I think the only thing that will keep artists safe from these bro personalities are legitimate financial threat and follow through. I think a limited version of AI, as a tool, can help actual artists do their work better but never replace it. That said, it needs to be seriously regulated in a way that prevents art theft, first and foremost. -viqverglas (youtube)

#81scorp #editorial #no to ai art #Why have AI in art?

[tvwriteups]

Watching these ESC live performances and music videos without having listened to all the songs first...

Belgium

Party song...but stays at the same speed the whole way through so it becomes boring after a minute.

Ukraine

Okay song. Kind of interested what the staging will look like on a larger scale if they opt to do that.

Albania

You could tell it's the Albanian entry from the first few notes. Hmm, intergenerational song.

Norway

I know I'm just four songs in but there's something about the chorus of these songs that simply does not stand out. At least it went by fast, I guess. And the direction matched the music pretty well.

Spain

LOL, if I heard this before the Albanian song I'd have guessed from the first few notes that it was the Albanian entry. I don't care for the song but appreciate it being send to the ESC. It is staged very well. Interested in seeing how well this does with the ESC audience.

Slovenia

The camerawork is making me dizzy. And I am bored.

Latvia

Latvia being a little weird and experimental again. At least unlike the other songs it changes it up, I guess.

Romania

WTF? Has this been in English the whole time or did it .... oh, it switches back and forth. Okay tune, I guess.

Croatia

Okay, it just gets weirder. Except maybe this is too weird. I'm just assuming this is making a statement in Croatian that I simply cannot understand the nuances of but feels like that Mel Brooks school of making something seem utterly ridiculous as a way of criticizing it.

Denmark

I know I am a much older adult and everything but this kind of takes all the things I find boring about music from the last couple of years and puts them into a song. The repetition in this song is nauseating to me.

Malta

As I was saying with the previous song... Though this is the sort of thing you'd expect from Moldova. Yeah, this is Malta sending a Moldovan-style song.

Estonia

10-second gimmick. Hate to say it but boring ballad.

Lithuania

The beginning piano riff is that stand-out part of the song. Hmm, nice build and then ... the arrangement/orchestration is a bit too wildly different for me that it feels like it becomes a different song for the chorus. Actually listening to it more and I'm not sure if's the arrangement or the lighting in the staging being a bit too much the first time around.

Italy

As someone who found out how much she got seriously fucked over by a couple of Italians and a Greek in the past year I cannot judge this song or the Greek one all that fairly this year. But even just listening to this I am bored in addition to feelings of rage.

Finland

...which makes this beat from Finland perfect for my rage monster. I am all down for this WTF-ery. This is one of those "All in and never stop" kind of numbers. It's the only way it can work. For some reason it turns into something somewhat melodic and...loses something. It needs to go harder at the end.

San Marino

The sound on this is terrible. I like to think I have the most forgiving audio setup at home too. (I am watching this on my surround sound system.) Bored again. It sucks that I kind of have expectations now for a San Marino entry.

Poland

Honestly don't care for it. Blank girl-power, I-don't-need-you song.

France

Not sure dance beats really work with just a singular person at a microphone. The staging for the build isn't enough. Tempted to call it kind of "Gaga-esque" because I want to say "cabaret."

Czech Republic

Harder to judge music videos. Would really be interested in how this would be staged.

YouTube is feeding me Disney+, St Jude, and outdoorsy, and firearms-related ads like I am going out hunting. Like who else is using my YouTube?

Australia

More of that trendy sound that I'm tired of. Poor use of "oh oh"s. Like if you're going to use them, make them catchy. This is kind of all over the place.

Netherlands

Starting emo. This feels like a "real song" if you know what I mean. Man-woman duet = the least successful kind of ESC song. Now I'm curious how I would've felt about this song if I did the whole "just listen" thing I had been doing the previous years.

...

Don't feel like hunting down the other countries even though I know there are clips out there. Just gonna wait for them to appear on the official channel. (Yeah, I'm talking Cyprus, Germany, and Ireland.)

...

I kind of believe that anything could work as long as your staging is really good. I don't really know what I'd vote for in this batch of songs though. Kind of weird when I actually can vote this year.

#tvw watches the esc

[motownfiction]

harpsichord

For as many times as he’s been to New York to visit Lucy and Will through the years, Daniel’s never been to the Met. It’s strange, too, because when he’s at home, he makes monthly trips to the DIA. There’s just something about the Met. It’s intimidating, maybe. Like you have to deserve to be there. Daniel is almost forty years old, and he’s still struggling to believe he deserves to be anywhere.

He and Sadie are browsing one of the galleries on Fifth Avenue. Gallery 681. Musical Instruments. Sadie says she owes it to Sam to visit the instruments; Daniel says he’s pretty sure Sam would have preferred going to Bleecker Street. But Sadie says they should explore while they’re here. Daniel takes shallow steps around the gallery, moves through it more like he’s in a queue at Disney World, not like he’s a guy who knows what it’s like to walk around a museum. If he cared about how he looked, then maybe he’d lift his chin. But he doesn’t, and he won’t.

After some meandering, Daniel comes upon a piece he can’t help but stare at. It’s a harpsichord from Italy, dressed up like a myth of some sort. The Triumph of Galatea. And it’s beautiful. Daniel can’t deny that. All gold and mysterious. He’s heard the word harpsichord before, but he always figured it looked like a harp – the kind the angels play in all the other paintings around this place. That’s not what this is. This thing looks more like a piano.

And just the thought of a piano makes Daniel want to cry.

It’s a shame that pianos are such a common instrument because they always make Daniel think of Charlie. When he sees a piano, he wonders what it would be like if Charlie, his ex-best friend and forever-brother-in-law showed up, sat at the bench, and played a little tune. When he hears a piano, he imagines Charlie somewhere in the background, plucking away at the keys like always. He could cry just thinking about it, here in the middle of the Met. It has been years since Daniel could rightly call Charlie his best friend. Doesn’t matter. Everyday, he wishes he could still call him that … could still call him on the phone and talk about what they did all day. But Charlie’s choices – Charlie’s mistakes, Charlie’s manipulations – are the reasons Daniel is in New York today. If Charlie hadn’t knocked up Elenore, then none of this would have happened. Then Daniel wouldn’t feel like he has to shuffle around the Met. He could walk with his head high like all the other folks in here now.

He knows he’s walking with his eyes low because of the guilt. Charlie lives in New York, too, and he and Sadie haven’t even talked about going to see him (except to joke that they won’t).

But it breaks Daniel’s heart, and it breaks it in ways that he’s not sure he can really share. Sadie is Charlie’s big sister – a woman with the biggest heart Daniel has ever seen – and she won’t even entertain the idea of visiting her brother. Visiting him means forgiving him, she says when Daniel tries to bring it up. And maybe she’s right. Maybe visiting him is as good as forgiving him. But maybe there’s still a part of Daniel that wants to forgive Charlie … that wants to look him in the eye and tell him that it could never be that easy to lose your best friend. Not forever. Not for good. He never got to look his own father in the eye and forgive him, and in a strange way, that was all he really wanted to do. But maybe he could do the same thing for Charlie. Maybe he could find a way to love Charlie again, without all the reservations, all the grief, all the memories.

He knows he can’t.

Because he’s never stopped loving Charlie. You don’t just spend your whole life growing up right next to somebody and walk away hating them. Not really. Daniel has always loved Charlie, and that’s the problem. When you love somebody, and they fuck up to the point of no return, you can’t throw them a map. There’s no place to go but away.

Daniel takes another look at the gold harpsichord. He closes his eyes and pictures Charlie sitting around it, playing something, making everything in the world feel right again.

When he opens his eyes, it’s still just a place in a museum.

He’s still a guy without a best friend.

(part of @nosebleedclub february challenge -- day xv! i am behind again, but today was a crazy day)

#drabble #writeblr #ch: daniel deluca #year: 2006

[survey--s]

349.

So how are you today? Pretty good! Much better than I was yesterday, anyway.

Do you like to eat eggs? Nah, the texture makes me gag lol. Poached eggs are tolerable if there’s something else with them though.

When was the last time you had a cup of tea? I don’t remember - a while ago. I’m much more of a coffee person.

Do you have a tapestry in your bedroom? I do not.

Have you ever been to London? Yeah, I used to visit London a lot.

Do you enjoy going to the library? I used to love it but to be honest, I haven’t been there in ages.

If you went to NYC (or if you’ve been), what are your favorite things to do there? I’ve never been but I’d like to visit Brooklyn, Greenwich Village, Times Square, Central Park and Manhattan, plus I’d go and see a show on Broadway.

Who’s the most recent person on your Facebook feed? A local cake business that I follow.

When (if ever) was the last time you saw that person? She hand-delivered a cake to us just after the first lockdown, I think, so around summer 2020-ish, I believe.

Do you know anyone who has a pet bunny? Yeah, Carly used to have two. I used to pet-sit for them actually. They were pretty cute but also quite...non-responsive lol. Not my kind of pet though it was kinda fun to look after them.

Can you play the violin? No.

What’s the last movie you watched? Sleeping Beauty.

Did you enjoy this movie? Sure, I was re-watching a load of old Disney movies as I never re-watch the classics lol. 

What store or website would you most like a gift card for? TheLittleWaxBoxCo please and thank you. I’m just waiting for their autumn release before I buy anything new.

What’s something you’re looking forward to? My beach ride on Sunday! I reaaaaally hope we get good weather but I’m excited all the same as for the first time I’ll be cantering down that beach and I cannot bloody wait. I also know I’ll be on Joe which is really helpful as I love cantering on him. He’s SO comfy to sit on haha.

Name your top 3 favorite musical instruments. Acoustic guitar, piano, clarinet.

What was the last book(s) you bought at a bookstore? I bought a bunch of books on Monday actually - they were Girl in Red, The Mermaid and Near the Bone, all by Christina Henry.

Does the song you’re listening to/last heard evoke any emotion for you? I’m watching Below Deck at the moment.

Do you use Pinterest? No. I really don’t get it, tbh.

Are you wearing earrings? Yeah, I never change my jewellery.

Do you know any sign language? Nope.

Have you ever seen the musical Ragtime? I have not.

Do you have a favorite poem? The Road not Taken by Robert Frost, or The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes.

Do you like Indian food? No, I can’t stomach spicy food without making myself physically sick.

Describe your favorite scarf, if you have one. I’m not really a massive fan of scarves. I love the look but I find them really claustrophobic and they make me all sweaty lol.

Do you have a dog? Yeah, a 4yo beagle called Archie.

Have you ever read the Little House on the Prairie series? Nope. I feel like it’s one of those series I keep meaning to read but I just never got round to it for some reason.

Do you have any homework? I haven’t been in education for well over a decade.

Have you ever gone on a service trip to an underprivileged country? No, and honestly I find those things so cringey.

Do you need to do laundry? Nah, I did two loads this morning.

Do you enjoy going out for breakfast? I love going out for breakfast/brunch, yeah. Unfortunately there’s no decent place to go for breakfast around here, which sucks.

Have you ever performed in front of more than 100 people? Yeah, for school plays and such.

Do you like muffins? Sure, but they’re not really something I ever think about ordering for some reason.

When was the last time you went to church? Decades ago lol.

Have you ever heard the singer Audra McDonald? No.

What’s a quote you think is really powerful? “Moaning won’t fix anything. Get yourself up and save your own self, because nobody else is going to do it for you”

Should you be doing something else right now? Nope.

#survey #surveys

[its-bianca]

Tbh I don’t remember if I posted this before but I don’t rlly want to go through my queue to find out

17/100 - 9/30/2020

#og posts #100 days of productivity #been really into Disney piano music for some reason #studyblr #studying #study blog #study aesthetic #study space #high school student #studyspo #studyinspo #school #deskorganizer #deskspo #deskinspo #my desk #weekly bujo #bujoinspo #my bujo #my notes #notebook #aesthetic notes #Spotify