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canmom · 7 months

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Music Theory Notes (for science bitches) 1: chords & such

This is one of these series where I use my blog as a kind of study blog type thing. If you're knowledgeable about music theory, it will be very basic. But that's kind of the problem, I've really struggled to absorb those basics!

When I was a teenager I learned to play violin and played in orchestras. I could read music, and play decently enough, but I didn't really understand music. I just read what was on the page, and played the scales I had to play for exams.

Lately I've been trying to learn music again. This time my instruments are zhonghu, voice, and DAWs. At some point I might get my violin back too. But really, I'm a total beginner again, and this time I want to do it properly.

For a long time when I tried to learn about music I would get overwhelmed with terminology and jargon and conventions. I might watch videos on composition and they'd be interesting but a lot of it would just fly over my head, I'd just have to nod along because I had no idea what all the different types of chord and such were. I tried to learn from sites like musictheory.net, but I found it hard to figure out the logical structure to fit it all into.

I feel like I'm finally making a bit of headway, so it's time to take some notes. The idea here is not just to answer the what, but also to give some sense of why, a motivation. So in a sense this is a first attempt at writing the introduction to music theory I wish I'd had. This is going to assume you know a little bit about physics, but basically nothing about music.

What is music? From first principles.

This is impossible to answer in full generality, especially since as certain people would be quick to remind me, there's a whole corner of avant-garde composers who will cook up counterexamples to whatever claim you make. So let's narrow our focus: I'm talking about the 'most common' type of music in the society I inhabit, which is called 'tonal music'. (However some observations may be relevant to other types of music such as noise or purely rhythmic music.)

Music is generally an art form involving arranging sound waves in time into patterns (in the sense that illustration is about creating patterns on a 2D surface with light, animation is arranging illustrations in time, etc.).

Physically, sound is a pressure wave propagating through a medium, primarily air. As sound waves propagate, they will reflect off surfaces and go into superposition, and depending on the materials around, certain frequencies might be attenuated or amplified. So the way sound waves propagate in a space is very complicated!

But in general we've found we can pretty decently approximate the experience of listening to something using one or two 'audio tracks', which are played back at just one or two points. So for the sake of making headway, we will make an approximation: rather than worry about the entire sound field, we're going to talk about a one-dimensional function of time, namely the pressure at the idealised audio source. This is what gets displayed inside an audio editor. For example, here's me playing the zhonghu, recorded on a mic, as seen inside Audacity.

A wrinkle that is not relevant for this discussion: The idealised 'pressure wave' is a continuous real function of the reals (time to pressure). By contrast, computer audio is quantised in both the pressure level and time, and this is used to reconstruct a continuous pressure wave by convolution at playback time. (Just like a pixel is not a little square, an audio sample is not a constant pressure!) But I'm going to talk about real numbers until quantisation becomes relevant.

When the human eye receives light, the cone cells in the eye respond to the frequencies of EM radiation, creating just three different neural signals, but with incredibly high sensitivity to direction. By contrast, when the human ear receives sound, it is directed into an organ called the cochlea which is kind of like a cone rolled up into a spiral...

Inside this organ, the sound wave moves around the spiral, which has a fascinatingly complex structure that means different frequencies of wave will excite tiny hairs at different points along the tube. In effect, the cochlea performs a short-time Fourier transform of the incoming sound wave. Information about the direction of the incoming wave is given by the way it reflects off the shape of the ear, the difference between ears, and the movement of our head.

So! In contrast to light, where the brain receives a huge amount of information about directions of incoming light but only limited information of the frequency spectrum, with sound we receive a huge amount of information about the frequency spectrum but only quite limited information about its direction.

Music thus generally involves creating patterns with vibration frequencies in the sound wave. More than this, it's also generally about creating repeating patterns on a longer timescale, which is known as rhythm. This has something to do with the way neurons respond to signals but that's something I'm not well-versed in, and in any case it is heavily culturally mediated.

All right, so, this is the medium we have to play with. When we analyse an audio signal that represents music, we chop it up into small windows, and use a Fourier transform to find out the 'frequencies that are present in the signal'.

Most musical instruments are designed to make sounds that are combinations of certain frequencies at integer ratios. For example here is a plot of the [discrete] Fourier transform of a note played on the zhonghu:

The intensity of the signal is written in decibels, so it's actually a logarithmic scale despite looking linear. The frequency of the wave is written in Hertz, and plotted logarithmically as well. A pure sine wave would look like a thin vertical line; a slightly wider spike means it's a combination of a bunch of sine waves of very close frequencies.

The signal consists of one strong peak at 397Hz and nearby frequencies, and a series of peaks at (roughly) integer multiples of this frequency. In this case the second and third peaks are measured at 786Hz, and 1176Hz. Exact integer ratios would give us 794Hz and 1191Hz, but because the first peak is quite wide we'd expect there to be some error.

Some terminology: The first peak is called the fundamental, and the remaining peaks are known as overtones. The frequency of the fundamental is what defines this signal as a particular musical note, and the intensities of the overtone and widths of the peaks define the quality of the note - the thing that makes a flute and a violin playing the same fundamental frequency sound different when we listen to them. If you played two different notes at the same time, you'd get the spectrums of both notes added together - each note has its own fundamental and overtones.

OK, so far that's just basic audio analysis, nothing is specific to music. To go further we need to start imposing some kind of logical structure on the sound, defining relationships between the different notes.

The twelve-tone music system

There are many ways to do this, but in the West, one specific system has evolved as a kind of 'common language' that the vast majority of music is written in. As a language, it gives names to the notes, and defines a space of emotional connotations. We unconsciously learn this language as we go through the process of socialisation, just as we learn to interpret pictures, watch films, etc.

The system I'm about to outline is known as 12-tone equal temperament or "12TET". It was first cooked up in the 16th century almost simultaneously in China and Europe, but it truly became the standard tuning in the West around the 18th century, distilled from a hodgepodge of musical systems in use previously. In the 20th century, classical composers became rather bored of it and started experimenting with other systems of tonality. Nevertheless, it's the system used for the vast majority of popular music, film and game soundtracks, etc.

Other systems exist, just as complex. Western music tends to create scales of seven notes in an octave, but there are variants that use other amounts, like 6. And for example classical Indian music uses its own variant of a seven-note scale; there are also nuances within Western music such as 'just intonation' which we'll discuss in a bit; really, everything in music is really fucking complicated!

I'll be primarily discussing 12TET because 1. it's hard enough to understand just one system and this one is the most accessible; 2. this has a very nice mathematical structure which tickles my autismbrain. However, along the way we'll visit some variants, such as 'Pythagorean intervals'.

The goal is to try and not just say 'this is what the notation means' but explain why we might construct music this way. Since a lot of musical stuff is kept around for historical reasons, that will require some detours into history.

Octaves

So, what's the big idea here? Well, let's start with the idea of an octave. If you have two notes, let's call then M and N, and the frequency of N is twice the frequency of M... well, to the human ear, they sound very very closely related. In fact N is the first overtone of M - if you play M on almost any instrument, you're also hearing N.

Harmony, which we'll talk about in a minute, is the idea that two notes sound especially pleasant together - but this goes even further. So in many many music systems around the world, these two notes with frequency ratio of 2 are actually identified - they are in some sense 'the same note', and they're given the same name. This also means that further powers of 2, of e.g. 4, 8, 16, and so on, are also 'the same note'. We call the relationship between M and N an octave - we say if two notes are 'an octave apart', one has twice the frequency of the other.

For example, a note whose fundamental frequency is 261.626Hz is known as 'C' in the convention of 'concert pitch'. This implies an infinite series of other Cs, but since the human ear has a limited range of frequencies, in practice you have Cs from 8.176Hz up through 16744.036. These are given a series of numbers by convention, so 261.626Hz is called C4, often 'middle C'. 523.251Hz is C5, 1046.502Hz is C6, and so on. However, a lot of the time it doesn't matter which C you're talking about, so you just say 'C'.

But the identification of "C" with 261.626Hz * 2^N is just a convention (known as 'concert pitch'). Nothing is stopping you tuning to any other frequency: to build up the rest of the structure you just need some note to start with, and the rest unfolds using ratios.

Harmony and intervals

Music is less about individual notes, and more about the relationship between notes - either notes played at the same time, or in succession.

Between any two notes we have something called an interval determined by the ratio of their fundamental frequencies. We've already seen one interval: the octave, which has ratio 2.

The next interval to bring up is the 'fifth'. There are a few different variants of this idea, but generally speaking if two notes have a ratio of 1.5, they sound really really nice together. Why is this called a 'fifth'? Historical reasons, there is no way to shake this terminology, we're stuck with it. Just bear with me here, it will become semi-clear in a minute.

In the same vein, other ratios of small integers tend to sound 'harmonious'. They're satisfying to hear together. Ratios of larger integers, by contrast, feel unsatisfying. But this creates an idea of 'tension' and 'resolution'. If you play two notes together that don't harmonise as nicely, you create a feeling of expectation and tension; when you you play some notes that harmonise really well, that 'resolves' the tension and creates a sense of relief.

Building a scale - just intonation

The exact 3:2 integer ratio used in two tuning systems called 'Pythagorean tuning' and 'just intonation'. Using these kinds of integer ratios, you can unfold out a whole series of other notes, and that's how the Europeans generally did things before 12TET came along. For example, in 'just intonation', you might start with some frequency, and then procede in the ratios 9/8, 5/4, 4/3, 3/2, 5/3, 15/8, and at last 2 (the octave). These would be given a series of letters, creating a 'scale'.

What is a scale? A scale is something like the 'colour palette' for a piece of music. It's a set of notes you use. You might use notes from outside the scale but only very occasionally. Different scales are associated with different feelings - for example, the 'major scale' generally feels happy and triumphant, while a 'minor scale' tends to feel sad and forlorn. We'll talk a lot more about scales soon.

In the European musical tradition, a 'scale' consists of seven notes in each octave, so the notes are named by the first seven notes of the alphabet, i.e. A B C D E F G. A scale has a 'base note', and then you'd unfold the other frequencies using the ratios. An instrument such as a piano would be tuned to play a particular scale. The ratios above are one definition of a 'major scale', and starting with C as the base note, the resulting set of notes is called 'C Major'.

All these nice small-number ratios tend to sound really good together. But it becomes rather tricky if you want to play multiple scales on the same instrument. For example, say your piano is tuned in just intonation to C Major. This means, assuming you have a starting frequency we'll call C, you have the following notes available in a given octave:

C, D=(9/8)C, E=(5/4)C, F=(4/3)C, G=(3/2)C [the fifth!], A=(5/3)C, B=(15/8)C, and 2C [the start of the next octave].

Note: the interval we named the 'fifth' is the fifth note in this scale. It's actually the fifth note in the various minor scales too.

But now suppose you want to play with some different notes - let's say a scale we'll call 'A major', which has the same frequency ratios starting on the note we previously called A. Does our piano have the right keys to play this scale?

Well, the next note up from A would be (9/8)A, which would be (9/8)(5/3)C=(15/8)C - that's our B key, so far so good. Then (5/4)A=(5/4)(5/3)C=(25/12)C and... uh oh! We don't have a (25/12)C key, we have 2C, so if we start at A and go up two keys, we have a note that is slightly lower frequency than the one we're looking for.

What this means is that, depending on your tuning, you could only approximate the pretty integer ratios for any scale besides C major. (25/12) is pretty close to 2, so that might not seem so bad, but sometimes we'd land right in between two notes. We can approximate these notes by adding some more 'in between' piano keys. How should we work out what 'extra' keys to include? Well, there were multiple conventions, but we'll see there is some logic to it...

[You might ask, why are you spending so long on this historical system that is now considered obsolete? Well, intervals and their harmonious qualities are still really important in modern music, and it makes most sense to introduce them with the idea of 'small-integer ratios'.]

The semitone

We've seen if we build the 'major scale' using a bunch of 'nice' ratios, we have trouble playing other scales. The gap above may look rather haphazard and arbitrary, but hold on, we're working in exponential space here - shouldn't we be using a logarithmic scale? If I switch to a logarithmic x-axis, we suddenly get a rather appealing pattern...

All the gaps between successive notes are about the same size, except for the gap between E and F, and B and C, which are about half that size. If you try to work that out exactly, you run into the problems we saw above, where C to D is 9/8 or 1.125, but D to E is 10/9 or 1.11111... Even so, you can imagine how people who were playing around with sounds might notice, damn, these are nice even steps we have here. Though you might also notice places where, in this scheme, it's not completely even - for example G to A (ratio 10/9) is noticeably smaller than A to B (ratio 9/8).

We've obliquely approached the idea of dividing the octave up into 12 steps, where each step is about the size of the gap between E and F or B and C. We call each of these steps a 'semitone'. Two semitones make a 'whole tone'. We might fill in all the missing semitones in our scale here using whole-number ratios, which gives you the black keys on the piano. There are multiple schemes for doing this, and the ratios tend to get a bit uglier. In the system we've outlined so far, a 'semitone' is not a fixed ratio, even though it's always somewhere around 1.06.

The set of 12 semitones is called the 'chromatic scale'. It is something like the 'colour space' for Western music. When you compose a piece, you select some subset of the 12 semitones as your 'palette' - the 'scale of' a piece of music.

But we still have a problem here, which is the unevenness of the gaps we discussed above. This could be considered a feature, not a bug, since each scale would have its own 'character' - it's defined by a slightly different set of ratios. But it does add a lot of complication when moving between scales.

So let's say we take all this irregularity as a bug, and try to fix it. The solution is 'equal temperament', which is the idea that the semitone should always be the exact same ratio, allowing the instrument to play any scale you please without difficulty.

Posed like this, it's easy to work out what that ratio should be: if you want 12 equal steps to be an octave, each step must be the 12th root of 2. Which is an irrational number that is about 1.05946...

At this point you say, wait, Bryn, didn't you just start this all off by saying that the human ear likes to hear nice simple integer ratios of frequencies? And now you're telling me that we should actually use an irrational number, which can't be represented by any integer ratio? What gives? But it turns out the human ear isn't quite that picky. If you have a ratio of 7 semitones, or a ratio of 2^(7/12)=1.4983..., that's close enough to 1.5 to feel almost as good. And this brings a lot of huge advantages: you can easily move ('transpose') between different scales of the same type, and trust that all the relevant ratios will be the same.

Equal temperament was the eventual standard, but there was a gradual process of approaching it called stuff like 'well-tempered' or 'good temperament'. One of the major steps along the way was Bach's collection 'the well-tempered klavier', showing how a keyboard instrument with a suitable tuning could play music in every single established scale. Here's one of those pieces:

youtube

Although we're using these irrational numbers, inside the scale are certain intervals that are considered to have certain meanings - some that are 'consonant' and some that are 'dissonant'. We've already mentioned the 'fifth', which is the 'most consonant' ratio. The fifth consists of 7 semitones and it's roughly a 1.5 ratio in equal temperament. Its close cousin is the 'fourth', which consists of 5 semitones. Because it's so nice, the fifth is kind of 'neutral' - it's just there but it doesn't mean a lot on its own.

For the other important intervals we've got to introduce different types of scale.

The scale zoo

So, up above we introduced the 'major' scale. In semitones, the major scale is intervals of 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1. This is also called a 'mode', specifically the 'Ionian mode'. There are seven different 'modes', representing different permutations of these intervals, which all have funky Greek names.

The major scale generally connotes "upbeat, happy, triumphant". There are 12 different major scales, taking the 12 different notes of the chromatic scale as the starting point for each one.

Next is the minor scale, which tends to feel more sad or mysterious. Actually there are a few different minor scales. The 'natural minor' goes 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2. You might notice this is a cyclic permutation of the major scale! So in fact a natural minor scale is the same set of notes as a major scale. What makes it different?

Well, remember when we talked about tension and resolution? It's about how the notes are organised. Our starting note is the 'root' note of the scale, usually established early on in the piece of music - quite often the very first note of the piece. The way you move around that root note determines whether the piece 'feels' major or minor. So every major scale has a companion natural minor scale, and vice versa. The set of notes in a piece is enough to narrow it down to one minor and one major, but you have to look closer to figure out which one is most relevant.

The 'harmonic minor' is almost the same, but it raises the second-last note (the 7th) a semitone. So its semitone intervals are 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 1.

The 'melodic minor' raises both the 6th and 7th by one semitone, (edit: but usually only on the way up). So its semitone intervals are 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1. (edit: When you come back down you tend to use the natural minor.)

If you talk about a 'minor scale' unqualified, you mean the natural minor. It's also the 'Aeolian mode' in that system of funky Greek names I mentioned earlier.

So that leads to a set of 24 scales, a major and minor scale for every semitone. These are the most common scale types that almost all Western tonal music is written in.

But we ain't done. Because remember I said there were all those other "modes"? These are actually just cyclic permutations of the major scale. There's a really nerdy Youtube channel called '8-bit music theory' that has a bunch of videos analysing them in the context of videogame music which I'm going to watch at some point now I finally have enough background to understand wtf he's talking about.

youtube

And of top of that you have all sorts of other variants that come from shifting a note up or down a semitone.

The cast of intervals

OK, so we've established the idea of scales. Now let's talk intervals. As you might guess from the 'fifth', the intervals are named after their position in the scale.

Let me repeat the two most common scale modes, in terms of number of semitones relative to the root note:

position: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 major: 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12 minor: 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

So you can see the fourth and fifth are the same in both. But there's a difference in three places: the third, the sixth, and the seventh. In each case, the minor is down a semitone from the major.

The interval names are... not quite as simple as 'place in the scale', but that's mostly how it works. e.g. the 'major third' is four semitones and the 'minor third' is three.

The fourth and fifth, which are dual to each other (meaning going up a fifth takes you to the same note as going down a fourth, and vice versa) are called 'perfect'. The note right in between them, an interval of 6 semitones, is called the 'tritone'.

(You can also refer to these intervals as 'augmented' or 'diminished' versions of adjacent intervals. Just in case there wasn't enough terminology in the air. See the table for the names of every interval.)

So, with these names, what's the significance of each one? The thirds, sixths and sevenths are important, because they tell us whether we're in minor or major land when we're building chords. (More on that soon.)

The fifth and the octave are super consonant, as we've said. But the notes that are close to them, like the seventh, the second and even more so the tritone, are quite dissonant - they're near to a nice thing and ironically that leads to awkward ratios which feel uncomfy to our ears. So generally speaking, you use them to build tension and anticipation and set up for a resolution later. (Or don't, and deliberately leave them hanging.)

Of course all of these positions in the scale also have funky Latin names that describe their function.

There's a lot more complicated nuances that make the meaning of a particular interval very contextual, and I certainly couldn't claim to really understand in much depth, but that's basically what I understand about intervals so far.

Our goofy-ass musical notation system

So if semitones are the building block of everything, naturally the musical notation system we use in the modern 12TET era spaces everything out neatly in terms of semitones, right?

Right...?

Lmao no. Actually sheet music is written so that each row of the stave (or staff, the five lines you write notes on) represents a note of the C major scale. All the notes that aren't on the C major scale are represented with special symbols, namely ♯ (read 'sharp') which means 'go up a semitone', and ♭ (read 'flat') which means 'go down a semitone'. That means the same note can be notated in two different ways: A♯ and B♭ are the same note.

The above image shows the chromatic scale, notated in two different ways. Every step is exactly one semitone.

Since a given scale might end up using one of these 'in between' notes that has to be marked sharp or flat, and you don't want to do that for every single time that note appears. Luckily, it turns out that each major/minor scale pair ends up defining a unique set of notes to be adjusted up or down a semitone, called the 'key signature'. So you can write the key signature at the beginning of the piece, and it lasts until you change key signature. For example, the key of 'A♭ major' ends up having four sharps:

There is a formula you can use to work out the set of sharps or flats to write for a given key. (That's about the point I checked out on musictheory.net.)

There is some advantage to this system, which is that it very clearly tells you when the composer intends to shift into a different scale, and it saves space since with the usual scales there are no wasted lines. But it's also annoyingly arbitrary. You just have to remember that B to C is only a semitone, and the same for E to F.

What are those weird squiggly symbols? Those are 'clefs'. Each one assigns notes to specific lines. The first one 𝄞 is the 'treble clef', the second one 𝄢 is the 'bass clef'. Well, actually these are the 'G-clef' and the 'F-clef', and where they go on the stave determines note assignment, but thankfully this has been standardised and you will only ever see them in one place. The treble clef declares the lines to be E G B D F and the bass clef G B D F A.

There is also a rarer 'C-clef' which looks like 𝄡. This is usually used as the 'Alto clef' which means F A C E G.

This notation system seems needlessly convoluted, but we're rather stuck with it, because most of the music has been written in it already. It's not uncommon for people to come up with alternative notations, though, such as 'tabs' for a stringed instrument which indicate which position should be played on each string. Nowadays on computers, a lot of DAWs will instead use a 'piano roll' presentation which is organised by semitone.

And then there's chords.

Chords! And arpeggios!

A chord is when you play 3 or more notes at the same time.

Simple enough right? But if you wanna talk about it, you gotta have a way to give them names. And that's where things get fucking nuts.

But the basic chord type is a 'triad', consisting of three notes, separated by certain intervals. There are two standard types, which you basically assemble by taking every other note of a scale. In terms of semitones, these are:

Major triad: 0 - 4 - 7 Minor triad: 0 - 3 - 7

Then there's a bunch of variations, for example:

Augmented: 0 - 4 - 8 Diminished: 0 - 3 - 6 Suspended: 0 - 2 - 7 (sus2) or 0 - 5 - 7 (sus4) Dominant seventh: 0 - 4 - 7 - 10 Power: 0 - 7

There is a notation scheme for chords in pop, jazz, rock, etc., which starts with a root note and then adds a bunch of superscripts to tell you about any special features of a chord. So 'C' means the C Major triad (namely C,E,G) and 'Cm' or 'c' means the C Minor triad (namely C,E♭,G).

In musical composition, you usually tend to surround the melody (single voice) with a 'chord progression' that both harmonises and creates a sense of 'movement' from one chord to another. Some instruments like guitar and piano are really good at playing chords. On instruments that can't play chords, they can still play 'arpeggios', which is what happens if you take a chord and unroll it into a sequence of notes. Or you play in an ensemble and harmonise with the other players to create a chord together. Awww.

Given a scale, you can construct a series of seven triad chords, starting from each note of the scale. These are generally given scale-specific Roman numerals corresponding to the position in the scale, and they're used to analyse the progression of chords in a song. I pretty much learned about this today while writing this post, so I can't tell you much more than that.

Right now, that's about as far as I've gotten with chords. On a violin, you can play just two strings at the same time after all - I never had much need to learn about them so it remains a huge hole in my understanding of music. I can't recognise chords by ear at all. So I gotta learn more about them.

As much as I wrote this for my own benefit... if you found this post interesting, let me know. I might write more if people find this style of presentation appealing. ^^'

#Youtube #music #music theory #notes #music notes

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thursdaygxrls · 9 months

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Hello! Can I request for tasm!peter parker (maybe taking place at the school or something) where he meets the reader who has a band? Like they are always tapping their pencil and muttering songs and they become friends and he ends up going to their show?? THANK YOU!!!

ahhh i love this request!! i used to be in a band, so this is like a repressed fantasy. also, i sort of imagined this band as being rock/soft punk, i'm sorry if that wasn't the intended genre

At the Roboto

summary — gen-ed classes really suck, but a pencil tapper provides peter with a great distraction.

pairing — college!peter parker x drummer!gn!reader

disclaimer — as always, i don’t own peter (wish i did)

warnings — unedited (literally always is)

The Roboto Club was not a place Peter thought he'd ever find himself. It was small, stuffy, and definitely sticky. The walls were covered in stickers and signatures of bands who had played there (as well as patrons who'd come up with some very colorful insults). The thumping of music filled his ears as his body was jostled by those around him. As he tried to force himself to not freak out from the overstimulation, he made himself remember why he was here:

Gen-ed courses were the worst. Peter had already earned a semester’s worth of college credits in high school, but it wasn’t enough to save him from the agonizing hour and a half long lectures about the Industrial Revolution. His one saving grace had come in the form of a chewed-up number two pencil tapping against the desk next to him.

From the first day of class, he could hear it. Rhythmic pulses of the eraser followed by the staccato of the graphite. He'd glanced over, seeing the owner of the pencil lazily watching the lecture, busy clicking the utensil against the desk instead of writing. He had always assumed it was some sort of nervous tick of theirs until he paid more attention to the beat. There was a pattern to it--the thump of the eraser and the click of the graphite.

Thump. Thump-thump, click-click. Thump. Thump-thump, click-click.

It was a month into the course when he noticed that no matter how it may change, they always held a steady beat with the pencil. It was around this same time when he began hearing the humming. Peter thought he was hearing things at first from how quiet it was. It was too melodic to be an insect, so the bee-theory was ruled out quickly. When he listened in a little closer, he was able to find that the faint noise he was hearing had been coming from the Pencil-Tapper.

When deep in concentration, they had the tendency to hum under their breath. It was like they didn't even notice. They would be moving from typing out notes on their laptop to scribbling on a post-it when they'd start mumbling out a soft melody. Though it was rare, sometimes these murmured melodies would align with the beat of their pencil.

Peter had always been known to be a star student, no matter how boring a class may be, but this Pencil-Tapper was a welcome reprieve from the monotonous lecture he was subjected to twice a week. It was nothing more than innocent interest, of course. No creepy stalking or constant surveillance. Just a way to pass the time as the professor droned on.

Two months into the class, the first lecture of the week had just ended. As always, Peter and the Pencil-Tapper packed their stuff away in humdrum routine. What was different, though, was when the Tapper's pencil fell from their desk. It rolled slowly enough that it hit the ground without a sound, but, of course, Peter heard it. His breath hitched.

He had two options: grab the pencil or ignore it entirely. The kind thing to do would be to return it, but the difficult part of that would be that he would have to return it. Chewing his lip, he looked down at it. It was so small, sharpened down to half its original size. Surely, they wouldn't mind missing something like that. When he looked up, he saw them already walking away. Damn his savior complex.

"Hey," Peter called, his fingers wrapped around the end of the pencil that wasn't ridden with bite marks, "You dropped this."

"Oh, thanks," Tapper's voice came out slow as they looked down at the pencil, "Gross. Sorry about that."

"No big deal." He shook his head, handing over the utensil with a small smile. They returned the grin and turned to exit when Peter interrupted with a small cough.

"Um—" Peter, you dumb, dumb kid, you have nothing to say, why the hell are you speaking? "—So, you tap a lot."

That seemed to catch them off guard. They stopped, letting students filter out of the classroom beyond them. With a quirk of their head, they began speaking again, "I didn't realize I was that loud."

"You're not!" Peter rushed out, "No, no, I just meant that sometimes I get bored, and I sort of tune in to your tapping. Not, like, in a weird way."

"I see," they tutted, "Well, I mean, if you're interested in the pencil tapping, maybe you'd like to hear it on the drums?"

Silence fell between them. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt more like a few hours. The gears in Peter's head turned a little slower than he was used to.

"That was a stupid question, sorry," Tapper let out a sheepish chuckle.

"Not at all," Peter replied quickly, "I just realized that you must've been tapping actual songs."

"Oh, yeah," they nodded, "I'm in a band—Dial 616? We're not big or anything."

"Cool," Peter grinned, regaining a fraction of his calm.

"We have a gig this Saturday at the Roboto. It's just off campus," they explained, "You could totally come if you want. I mean, if you're interested in hearing actual music, not just tapping."

And so he came. The Robot Club was located in a skinny building wedged between a record store and a laundromat. Admission was ten dollars, and there were a few acts. The music was loud and sort of overwhelming, but he held on. Somewhere between the second and third act, he wondered why he was subjecting himself to this. He was reminded when Dial 616 was introduced.

Tapper looked a lot different from the normal sweatpants and t-shirt he'd usually seen them in. Dramatic makeup had been painted on their face that had the illusion of changing color with the flashing of the club's LEDs. Ripped jeans, chunky black boots, a tank top, and two battered drumsticks finished off their outfit. There were four other members of the band, all in equally striking clothes. The crowd around Peter whooped in recognition as they took to the stage, introducing their first song.

They played a few originals and a few covers, Peter's favorite of which being their rendition of California Über Alles. Tapper was a force on the drums. Their face was drawn in utter concentration as they slammed away. They moved from precise beats to messy patterns all without ever losing control of the tempo or their sticks.

When their set was over, they hopped from the makeshift stage, leaving the borrowed instruments there for the next band. Peter was sure it wasn't concert etiquette to immediately follow them, but his body was moving on its own accord. He threaded through the people and to the clump that formed around the band. Maybe they weren't huge yet, but there were still a lot of people bombarding them with screams and hollers of excitement. He noticed Tapper at the end of the of the band members, smiling as they signed someone's arm with a sharpie. When they were done, they looked up, and just like fate, their eyes met Peter's.

"Hey!" They greeted, their voice loud over the already booming music of the next band, "You came. I didn't think you would."

"Why wouldn't I?" He asked, unable to wipe the grin off his face.

"Well, because we only talked once. And you don't know my name, and I don't know yours," they said. Their tone held no malice or condescension, just the aftershocks of adrenaline from being on stage.

"I'm Peter." He had to yell to be heard.

"Y/n," they replied. There was another moment of standstill silence. This time, though, it wasn't awkward. It would actually be calm if not for the thunderous clash of drums behind them.

"I have to go, but, uh, we were gonna go out for pizza if you wanted to come?" Y/n suggested, their behavior suddenly coy in contrast with their appearance.

"Yeah—okay," Peter grinned. They offered him one last smile before disappearing with the rest of the band. Gen-ed actually wasn't that bad after all.

a/n — me 🤝 making up nicknames for the reader

taglist

@reidslovely @iamliterallyspidergwen

#peter parker x reader #tasm!peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker #tasm!peter parker x y/n #tasm!peter imagine #tasm!peter parker x you #tasm! peter parker #tasm peter parker #thursday writes

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mausuwinasa · 12 days

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Things I like abt every Side Order level track bc this is one of my fav OSTs of all time!!!

I have lots of thoughts abt the music in this game so I’m gonna just spit all of them out in this one giant post :3 90% of this will make sense only to me, also keep in mind I have synesthesia so I mention colors a lot when I talk abt music. I’m sorting these based on level type and talking abt each track individually.

d3mol12h

1. Simple and empty, much like the early levels! It creates a nice base to transition into the other tracks from. The detuning on the synths and ticking percussion remind me of a certain Purple Kiss song.

2. This track is genuinely beautiful. The organs (??) in the background give it an oddly emotional feel for such an intense song. The pinks and purples of the synths stand out well against the neutral colors of the in-game stages and enemies. It’s like the musical embodiment of a noble sacrifice! I’d put it on my nuzi playlist if it were on Spotify, smh…

3. Now it really feels like the difficulty has ramped up! The drums here are really interesting, I love the syncopation on some parts. They were also present in the second version, but I didn’t want to drag out the notes for that one any longer. The less intense parts are awesome, and I love how they get aggressively interrupted by the synths! It matches the gameplay very well.

rout1n32

1. Probably my least favorite track, but still pretty neat. I like how the same sample gets “recontextualized” into different chords, if that makes any sense. It has a bright and sunny feeling to it!

2. Metal pipe falling sound… basically just a more intense version of the first track. I like those weird ascending sound effects, they remind me of bubbles. They’re also kinda weird rhythmically, making them a ton of fun to listen to! There’s a tiny little piano sample in a certain part of it that I just noticed, and I really like for some reason.

3. GOOD LORD this song sounds like pure fear and absolutely slaps. The metal pipe has been multiplied thousands of times. Definitely a good encapsulation of the emotions most players feel upon entering Cruel_Sisyphean_Eight-Shaped.Floor.

2ouv3n1r

1. Great use of emptiness. The vocal samples sound almost corporate, a great representation of the conformist world Order is trying to create. Almost puts you to sleep, much like the early ♾️-ball levels do! Hardy har har.

2. The weird, distorted sounds, contrasted with the more relaxing parts with the lovely “wah-wah” synths make this a natural transition between the first and third tracks. I love how the repeated violin and flute sounds make a return here, but with slightly more complicated parts!

3. This song is fascinating AND very stress-inducing! It’s like the song itself is warning you about the 15 or so battering lentos currently trying to charge you. Watch out! Oh, and the less intense parts are GORGEOUS!!! The transition from a yellow to pink key reminds me of a beautiful tropical sunset. The subtle guitar part really adds to the vibe, and the descending chords are the perfect cherry on top for a lovely listening experience. They also contrast the rising synths of the chaotic parts well! It’s like a wink to the camera, a sly reminder that these tougher ♾️-ball levels are way easier than they look. Good lord I wrote for a long while on this…

j1tt3r2

1. Hmm, I don’t have much to say about this one, but I definitely like it a lot. The repeated piano samples feel almost awkward, like when you’re trying to explain your thought process to someone. Some parts of this song almost seem like miniature versions of the more ambient segments of the third track. Pretty neat!

2. I love just how weird the percussion on this is, it’s like it’s bouncing back and forth. The piano sample becomes more chopped up, and some of the beeping sounds that are more prominent in the third track start coming in, like the seeds are being planted for them.

3. Lovely intro! The abrasive synths quickly lead into another odd piano sample, like you’re swaying back and forth in a precarious spot. Almost like a more relaxed version of the vibe created by the percussion! I love the echoey ambient part in this too! There’s a certain element that sounds like someone coughing, which may sound very weird but I mean that as a compliment. The bleeps and bloops make me think of an old Game & Watch game.

j32t1ng

1. Some of the effects sound like dogs and cats to me. It makes the panicking alla mambos feel like skittish little animals, which they sort of are. The ascending beeping sounds are reminiscent of the player chasing them down. I really like the typewriter (??) sounds too! What is it with this game and abnormal percussion? I’ve gotten so much inspiration!

2. The animal-like sounds are still present. Some of the bitcrushed sounds remind me of the noises the enemies make. The meandering but relaxed melody in the beginning always feels fitting when I’m surveying the stage and planning out how I’ll achieve the objective.

3. I love this song! It just feels so cute and silly! The orchestra hit sounds are really neat. I like how the melodies often sound like circus music. I sure feel like a clown chasing down these stupid fish… the cute vibes of this song definitely make its levels feel like just a fun little game, which they certainly are! This has got to be one of my favorite tracks.

Alright that’s the end of my absurdly long post, if anyone wants to hear me rant abt the boss music just let me know because I’ve got plenty of thoughts on that too.

#please read this I spent way too long on it #molly’s manic meows #splatoon #side order #splatoon 3 #splatoon 3 side order #music #music nerd #music analysis #video game music #music lover #video game soundtracks #video game osts #splatoon music

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jahayla-parker · 1 year

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Hii, I was wondering if you had any tips for us ADHD folks for focusing on tasks because I’ve had a horrible week with focusing on tasks even as small just doing the dishes and it’s really stressing me out. No pressure to answer this, I really like your Freddy fics btw, they are soooo comforting and your most recent was is PERFECTION.

Thank you for your question. I’m sorry you’re struggling! As a fellow ADHDer, I know how difficult this can be and that many people don’t understand what it’s like and that it’s NOT laziness or a lack of willpower.

I have put a readmore break for those not interested or otherwise trying to get to other posts. 💜

Sleep! Omg sleep is ssooooo important. I struggle with this so much! (If you need more advice on how to fix this lmk). But sleep is crucial otherwise the symptoms will get worse as sleep deprivation only increases adhd symptoms.

Write down notes/ideas as they come. Don’t try to make yourself memorize or remember things when you don’t need to. My iPhone notes are so random but helpful! This will help get take the pressure off and allow your brain to rest.

Focus on easy wins! I cannot stress this enough!!!! ADHD paralysis/executive dysfunction can make everything feel overwhelming. Breaking tasks into smaller and more manageable tasks seems simple (and in terms of application it is) but it helps more than you’d think! It takes the pressure off of each task. Don’t forgot in getting it all done. Choose one task. Then, chose the first step(s) of the task and set some time (what seems manageable currently not what “you should designate” to it) aside to do it. Then give yourself some rest (see ideas below). Then repeat as needed.

Unless you have to, don’t force yourself to stick to a strict schedule. You might want to choose one important task to schedule if needed (ideally still do it the way mentioned above though). But don’t map out your whole day if it can be avoided. This feels, looks, and in many ways is, far too much. Ideally plan a rest activity too if you’re going to schedule anything.

Rest and self care is super important. This can look different from person to person. Especially downing on what your triggers are or what type of stimulation is best for you. For me and many others (but not all) prefer/find calming stimulation to be easier/better aka grounding. Examples of common grounding techniques include: painting (I alternate between my nails and a color by number set personally), coloring, drawing (for some, not me personally though), reading (varies a lot on effectiveness for people), yoga, etc.

Physical activity can help too but is understandably hard to do when these symptoms hit. Smaller/shorter/less intensity exercises are typically better and easier to get done when it feels like this. The key is rhythmic movement as studies have shown this to help (can help with ptsd too!)

Rhythmic activities examples (both physical and otherwise): Things like a few minutes of yoga/stretching, rolling/bouncing/tossing a ball, (drawing/paint/color can be included here too), tap feet/fingers/etc at a calm but steady pace, find something that makes (or can make) a soft sound and initiate that sound in a calm steady pace, listen to meditation music, petting/brushing a pet, etc.

Don’t strive for perfection. This is a hard one for me too. But, aim to complete something even if it’s not perfect. The pressure to perform well can in itself make the task harder. In these times, completion (even of a tiny step within a task) is perfection!

Motivate yourself! Completion isn’t enough motivation, so don’t even try to argue that idea lol. Instead, reward yourself for reaching small milestones. Motivation is a great psychological tool to overcome this. It can be whatever is the most exciting for you (please consider your health as well. -mostly referring to avoiding substance and addictive behaviors)

Hopefully this helps!💜

#adhd #adhd tips #adhd advice #Jahayla gives advice 🦉#jahayla checks her inbox 📫#lovely little anons

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c1tyhaunts · 4 months

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—OC DETAILS MEME ;; @shivasdarknight: 🎶💯 for all of your girls .o.

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often? (also asked by @bornfornothin!) 💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know. this post already got super long so some of it will go under the cut

Terrah

🎶MUSIC TASTES— She's the kind of woman to end her day with her record player, spinning vinyls until the wee hours of the evening to bedtime. While she's sketching out new machine designs or writing up new reports, she's listening to music. I'd say in a given day, she's spending 60% of it listening to music. Favorite Sound Profiles: Sensual, Rhythmic, Solid Vocals Favorite Genres: R&B (70-2010s), Hip-Hop (70-90s), Country (70s-80s) Music on her "Liked Playlist": ✦ Tennessee Whiskey - Chris Stapleton ✦ Fast Car - Tracy Chapman ✦ Me & Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul ✦ You Dropped a Bomb on Me - The Gap Band ✦ I'm Every Woman - Chaka Khan

💯RANDOM FACTS ✦ As I mentioned in a previous post, Terrah is terrifyingly good at putting apart, fixing, & destroying anything mechanical. This is primarily for equipment that she can get her hands on, and more for those with explicit mechanical components like in a car or fridge. ✦ Because of her deft hands, when she was still in college, she started a side hustle fixing other people's cars or computers. From the circuit board to the full system, she found a solution to the problem and charged a hefty amount. ✦ On the flip side of this, she's not computer savvy. She's not a programmer or even on social media that much. She's good with the CAD programs & analytical tools she has to use for work, but anything IT-related? Ask someone else because she won't be the woman to figure that out.

Lilah

🎶MUSIC TASTES— Funnily enough, I don't think Lilah actually listens to music that often, as she's more likely to consume a podcast or watch a TV show over listening to a song. She does occasionally put on music while she's writing. She much prefers going to a live concert. On a given day, Lilah is probably spending 30% of that day listening to music. Favorite Sound Profiles: Angry, Boisterous, Genre-Bending Favorite Genres: Pop (2000-2010s), Indie (2000-2020s), Rock (90s-2020s), Lo-Fi/Instrumental (2000-2020) Music on her "Liked Playlist": ✦ Girlfriend - hemlock springs ✦ Good 4 You - Olivia Rodrigo ✦ Cobra - Megan Thee Stallion ✦ Bitter - FLETCHER ✦ Phonies - Dorian Electra

💯RANDOM FACTS ✦ Due to growing up in a small town that was hyper-fixated on her appearance & mere existence, Lilah occasionally has anxiety attacks if she feels like a lot of eyes are on her. She doesn't like to be stared at by strangers, and if there's a creeping feeling that she's being followed, it will trigger a panic attack. Ironic, given her dream profession. ✦ After she got herself established in her career, Lilah is just prone to taking spontaneous road trips to herself - only taking her sachel, money, a book, and an idea. She would then take that as a 2-week sabbatical where she'd write up a new novel in that timespan and bring it back to the world. ✦ All of Lilah's novels are short reads (~60-70K words a piece), and they all explore aspects of her understanding of life & love. She's self-published, normally posting her books under her pseudonym. All of the books tell her story at different intervals, and if someone knew her, they could read it and know that these "fictional, coming of age" stories were about her.

Avian

🎶MUSIC TASTES— Although melancholy seems to follow Avian's aura, her music speaks differently to that. While she's working the night shift, she has her headphones ringing more upbeat, optimistic music. While her tastes are varied, they do lean more towards older tunes and music that touch on some gospel with strong vocals. These are also tunes that Avian's dancing through during the night as she's organizing medication. In a day, about 70% of Avian's time is spent listening to music. Favorite Sound Profiles: Soulful, Strong Instrumentals, Old School Favorite Genres: R&B (60-90s), Blues (50-70s), Folk (50-80s), Jazz (40s-2010s), Gospel (90s-2010s) Music on her "Liked Playlist": ✦ FREEDOM - Jon Baptise ✦ My Way - Aloe Blacc ✦ Easy Living - Billie Holiday ✦ Into Each Life, Some Rain Must Fall - Ella Fitzgerald, The Ink Spots ✦ Hound Dog - Big Mama Thorton

💯RANDOM FACTS ✦ Avian is classically trained in ballroom dancing thanks to her dad - it was one of the few activities he got her into so she didn't become a complete shut-in. Specifically, Avian can swing dance, waltz, and foxtrot. Avian enjoyed the dancing part but did not enjoy the part with her weird partners hitting on her afterward. ✦ Avian is "technically" religious but in a spiritual way. James never forced her to go to church with him but did guide her to learn how to use religion that best suited her & her lifestyle. She didn't buy into religion much until her father passed away, and so she leans into spirituality as a way to keep herself sane. I wouldn't consider her a bible humper, but Avian does wear a cross of Christ as her own grounding point. ✦ Because of her previous dance experience, Avian is a lot more quick-witted than a lot of people give her credit for. This was shown once when she got to step in for an intramural sport in high school. Her friend pushed her to play softball for a game against another school and Avian killed it. It was the one time a group was begging Avian to stay on the softball team but she said no because Avian didn't like sports.

Elvira

🎶MUSIC TASTES— Elvira rarely listens to music, and if she does, it's typically in between flights or trains she's on as she's traveling. She doesn't dislike music, per se, but she's one of the few people who rather sit with her own thoughts than let them be flooded by music. She's a very passive listener, and she may put it on in the background if she's cleaning or cooking, but again, she may prioritize listening to the news or putting a TV show on. Most music to Ivy is supposed to be played at a party, anyway. About 20% of her day is spent listening to music. Favorite Sound Profiles: Boisterious, Goofy, Rhythm Over Lyrics Favorite Genres: Rap/Hip Hop (80-2020s), Reggae/Soca (90-2000s) Music on her "Liked Playlist": ✦ Rock, Paper, Strippers - Teezo Touchdown ✦ Fye Fye - Tobe Nwigwe ✦ Murder She Wrote - Chaka Demus & Pliers ✦ So Special - Mavado ✦ Here Comes Trouble - Chronixx

💯RANDOM FACTS ✦ A lot of Ivy's current black/gothic style was inspired by her mother; Ivy grew up looking over the old Polaroids of her mother and her long black locs & black lipstick idolizing how powerful she looked in those old pictures. Because of this, that has influenced a lot of Ivy's current wardrobe. She actually locs her own hair in honor of her mother. ✦ Ivy transitioned early thanks to her mother's support. After Ivy's father left their lives, her mother took pride in her child's choice and assisted in giving Ivy the life she wanted. This required Ivy to transfer schools so she could start with a clean slate, but by the time Ivy was 13, she could start living her true self. ✦ Ivy has been arrested a handful of times, but never charged. This was mostly throughout her young adulthood, as she was often the one stepping into fights to break them up to protect other people. She has gotten lucky that her connections ran deep with good people to avoid the actual time, but the old Manchester police department likely knows Ivy by name, and they're waiting on the day she falls back to rock bottom.

#▶⌜ch. terrah v. sparkz⌟#▶⌜ch. lilah eve lyons⌟#▶⌜ch. avian delilah esparza⌟#▶⌜ch. elvira t. delauris⌟#▶⌜terrah sparkz. lore⌟#▶⌜avian esparza. lore⌟#▶⌜lilah lyons. lore⌟#the only thing i'md oing for the holidays because it hits on my favorite thing: music and random muse facts #THANKS ENYA #▶⌜elvira d'angelo. lore⌟

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krenenbaker · 6 months

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Ignihyde Character Songs and Associations

Finally getting this part posted! I've had it typed up for... a while now, but haven't gotten around to actually formatting and posting it until now. I'll get Diasomnia up today or tomorrow, and then this series shall be complete!

So, onto the dorm with the technical genius and his android brother... what sorts of music may relate to these two?

Notes: Every song is from my liked songs playlist (so feel free to judge me for my taste, haha!) and I only allowed myself to use an artist once for this project. There is also some strong language and mature themes in some of the songs, so be aware if you choose to listen to them. I’ve included: - A song that represents them - A song they'd listen to and (for some) an additional song, depending on the character and circumstance

The full Spotify playlist for ALL songs and characters is linked at the end of the post.

Idia Shroud

Represented by: Nailbiter - Kera and the Lesbians

Idia is, frankly, an anxious individual, and also rather gloomy. However, he is also just emotionally intense in basically all situations - both positive and negative. He also tends to antagonize others, much like the lyrics and music of this song. It's a bit chaotic, and reflects the view Idia tends to have of himself and others (much of which is unwarranted negativity, truthfully).

Listens to: オトモシマス (I'm there for you) - Wonderful ☆ Opportunity!

There is no way that Idia does not listen to vocaloid music in some form. Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm incorrect. And this is the exact type of song he would choose. A song with Rin and Len's vocals, and with a lyrical focus on gaming? I mean, what more could I say? Idia would absolutely LOVE it!

Ortho Shroud

Represented by: Rule 4: Fish in a Birdcage - Fish in a Birdcage

Ortho is so deeply connected to Idia, who literally BUILT him. This song just... fits with Ortho, in a number of ways. Although he's different from the people around him, he still is positive, friendly, and curious. He's figuring out his place in the world, has learned to be expressive and passionate, and is well-supported, all thanks to his brother :)

Listens to: Fuguefat - The Octopus Project

Ortho would probably like music that is rhythmically complex or unusual, since he'd find it more interesting. And a song like this, which is in 7/4 time with multiple different lines and rhythmic patterns, would most certainly be interesting to him!

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst character songs #Ignihyde #idia shroud #ortho shroud #krenenbaker's :)#krenenbaker's creations #has this been sitting in my drafts for... like... a month?#... perhaps.#but it's out now!#and this little series is nearly complete ^w^#Spotify

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sassykattery · 2 years

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Diavolo's Date, Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of our story.

CW: MC is afab and she/her pronouns are used, profane language, graphic descriptions of sexual situations [fingering, nudity, technically public scene in private room], graphic description of female genitalia (male mentioned once), use of party drugs that act as an aphrodisiac [due to the presence of an aphrodisiac, dubcon; author's note: characters would consent to one another without the use of an aphrodisiac, take that as you will]

themes: world building, au, sex, drugs, drinking, clubbing, romance, mild angst DiavoloxMC

Characters: Diavolo, MC="You"

Minors and ageless blogs DNI

18+ only

Masterlist

You walked into The Fall together, hearing the bumping music well from outside of the club. You explained to Diavolo you wanted to go dancing when you left the restaurant. He was intrigued and agreed eagerly. You wandered inside after being allowed to go in ahead of the long line that waited out front, thanks to being with Diavolo. You hadn't been to the club too many times before, even at the multitude of invitations from Asmo and Mammon.

Diavolo said in your ear, "I'm going to get us drinks," and he walked over to the bar. You looked over to the dance floor, and that's when your succubi friends spotted you, and you spotted them. You walked over to them, and they welcomed you into their circle. The endless praises and fawning they had for you was enough to make you bashful again, how amazing you looked all dolled up. They asked about you finally coming to the club, and you explained you were on a date with Diavolo. They all gasped and continued their onslaught of laughter and cheer for you.

Meanwhile, Diavolo had been watching you from the bar. When he had turned, he saw you with what looked to be succubi you knew. He marveled at you again, how you became so intertwined with life in the devildom to become friends with not just one succubus, but several, and they welcomed you with open arms. He took a drink from his glass and overheard some incubi talking nearby at the bar.

"Man, that human is so hot," one said to his group. They all agreed and looked at you like a meal.

"And she hangs out with the succubi, who would've thought a human would be so brave," another said.

"I wonder if she'd go home with any of us?" another one wondered out loud. They all murmured, wondering the same.

"She is quite attractive, isn't she?" Diavolo asked, approaching the incubi from behind. They all spun and looked much to their dismay, a towering crown prince of the Devildom

"Lord Diavolo! What are you doing here?" the one who called you hot asked.

"That human is actually my date. I do agree, she's quite spectacular," he said, a sinister smile taking over. They gulped, getting the message. They left the bar and made sure to avoid you and Diavolo's penetrating gaze.

When Diavolo's eyes returned to you, the music had picked up, and you were dancing with your friends. He watched as you moved to the beat. The mood for the music tonight was dark and sexy. The way you gyrated your hips did something for him. To watch you be free and move so rhythmically reminded him of a different sort of dance, to which he quickly waved that thought away. He didn't want to get caught up in those type of thoughts, not at the present moment at least.

You were smiling, laughing even. The song changed and now your friends were dancing on you, and you laughed even more. The joy on your face pulled on Diavolo's heart strings. You ground yourself into the succubus in front of you, your arms tracing her sides, and her arms went backward to let her hands wander your hips letting her head roll back onto your shoulder, looking up at you. It was all in good fun, and the succubi appreciated your ability to join in on it. That's what everyone loved about you: your appreciation for the fun things in life, and the ability to find ways to create more fun in your life and the lives you touched.

The song was slowly changing again, and you started to search the room, and your eyes landed on Diavolo. He was still watching you, and the corners of his mouth tipped upward. You told your friends you were going to him, and they all peppered you with hugs and kisses on the cheeks.

Once you made your way to Diavolo, he handed you a drink. You accepted it graciously, needing one after all that dancing. What Diavolo failed to notice was why you were looking at everything so doe-eyed, as if you were seeing everything for the first time. What he didn't see was one of your friends offered you a party drug, telling you it would "enhance your night and make everything sparkly," and you took it, not thinking much of it.

Quite literally everything glimmered, and it was brilliant. You felt so focused and full of clarity. When you looked at Diavolo, he sparkled and was the most brilliant in the room. This friend also failed to mention it was an aphrodisiac, but she happened to forget to mention that tidbit of information.

"Are you alright, MC?" Diavolo asked, a little concerned.

"I've never felt better Diavolo," you replied, stepping very close to him. "I feel like everything is so... so glimmery, sparkly. It's beautiful."

Those words rang a bell and he realized what you had taken. He frowned.

"Did someone give you something?" he asked, being direct and firm.

"She said it wasn't harmful to me," you whined. You slid a hand around Diavolo's waist and pulled yourself into him, and now your bodies were pressed together.

Diavolo searched your eyes and mulled it over, and that much was true. It was a milder drug, and you were lucky it was just that. The succubi and incubi were known to use it when they partied in the human world too, knowing it would make humans much more amenable to their antics. It would wear off in a couple hours.

"Why don't we go to the VIP section?" he suggested abruptly. He didn't want you getting into more trouble with more strange drugs, and he didn't fail to see how every incubus in the room eyed you. You nodded in excitement and took his hand as he took the lead, taking you both downstairs, staring at all the sparkly things on the way down.

The basement level is where the elite of the demons in the Devildom resided when they came to party. Diavolo took you into one of the private rooms and locked it. It was on the cozy side as far as size, enough for two leather couches that faced each other, two end tables, a small, fully stocked bar, and a table in the back stocked with everything a demon could need in a room like this.

You immediately sat down, looking all around in wonder. It was dark, the furniture was all black, and dimmed LED lights made up the trim along the walls, but everything still had a shimmer to it, making it more mesmerizing to look at. You could still hear somewhat hear the thumping music from above and outside, but this room was decked out with its own music system so you could enjoy whatever you desired. You grabbed the tablet and selected some music you liked and set it back down.

Diavolo sat on the couch opposite of you, crossing a leg, watching as you took it all in.

"Are you having fun?" he asked. He tried to let the thing with the succubi go. You were safe as long as you were with him.

"I am!" you exclaimed. You were bubbly as can be. You looked at him, and it was like Diavolo radiated his own source of light. No one else in the club looked like that, and you had this entranced look on your face. You put your drink down on an end table and sauntered to Diavolo. You bent down, your cleavage protruding from your dress.

"What about you? Are you having fun, Diavolo?" you asked, purring his name and smiling seductively.

"Of course. When I'm with you, I can't imagine anything better," he replied. He sat forward on the couch, now his face was level with your neck, but he was looking up into your eyes, with all gentleness and seriousness.

*You swiped a kiss from his lips and looked at his face. You couldn't help how sweet he looked in that moment. But that singular kiss ignited that aphrodisiac you took, and it was like your brain single-handedly trashed every inhibition you had prior to this moment. Your eyes shifted from vulnerable but coy to insatiable hunger, and Diavolo immediately noticed the change in your demeanor. You lunged yourself into him, straddling his lap for the second time that evening. You had a knee on either side of his hips and rested your ass on his thighs. Both of your hands took hold of his face on either side, pulling him into a deeper kiss this time.

Diavolo welcomed the attack. He saw that look on your face before you made your move. You felt so right on his lap. He let his hands wander, appreciating how your big round ass wriggled under his touch, how it curved into your back. He squeezed at your shoulder blades. He couldn't get enough of you. You felt like you were made for him.

He pulled back from you and noticed the right strap of your dress was falling down on your shoulder. One of his fingers lightly hooked around the strap, and he looked at you. Without a second thought, you pulled your arm out of the strap, which caused the dress to slip a little, revealing most of your breast. You watched Diavolo's reaction, which was of awe of your body. Smirking, you pulled down the other strap, removing your arm from it. Your dress slowly slipped down to your waist to reveal your bare chest.

Diavolo seized your neck with his lips, hungrily making his way down your collarbone and sternum. This sensation caused you to arch your back, further pushing yourself into the onslaught of kisses. He kissed all over your breasts, admiring their fullness, how perfect they were to him. He gently kissed a nipple, which was rewarded with a moan that escaped your lips. He proceeded to gently suck on it, and your hips bucked. It felt like there was electricity running through your veins, muscles, and bones. Your mind was buzzing. He gently massaged the breast he was kissing, and you began to roll your hips in pleasure. There was a fire burning between your legs, and it was hard to keep it from driving you into insanity.

Diavolo used his free hand and took hold of your hip, using his strength he guided you into a rhythm. You were grinding into his erection, and it was when he was guiding your movements that you realized it was pressing back into your crotch. More moans escaped your lips, desperate for more. He switched his attention to your other breast, which made you shudder. He moaned back in contentment with you. His teeth gently scraped your nipple, and it caused your breathing to become erratic. You felt as though you would explode if you didn't take care of the pressure building below.

Leaning back slightly, which caused him to detach from your breast, you took Diavolo's hand from your chest, looking down into his eyes. You slid his hand down the front of your body, letting it rest just above your mound, hoping he'd get the message. His eyes followed your hand, and then he looked at you, lust dripping in his gaze, making sure it's what you meant.

"I need you to touch me, Diavolo," you begged.

You sat up onto your knees, which made your torso press into Diavolo's, but now there was space below your crotch so he could slip his hand down there. He pulled the hem of your dress up and bunched it above your hips. His dominant hand slipped in between your plush thighs. He took one finger and slowly dragged it across the outline of your slit over your panties. They were certainly damp, further indication of your desire. You bit your lip in anticipation. He rubbed small circles over your vulva and your breath hitched. He watched your reaction, never wanting to miss how you look under his touch. You returned his gaze, and he was completely focused on you.

"Do you want more?" he asked. You nodded instantly, the look of pure desperation on your face.

He finally moved your panties to the side, and slowly pressed into your folds. The heat you radiated from down below invited his finger in further. You gasped when he found your clit, and he gently pressed into it. You nearly jumped with the sudden burst of pleasure, and that's when Diavolo smiled wickedly. He wanted to see you squirm. He retreated to rubbing circles around the little nub, not wanting to give in to you so quickly. You whimpered in protest but still enjoyed the sensation.

Your hands found their way into Diavolo's hair, running through his red locks. He attacked your neck once more with his mouth, and he found the spot where your neck meets your chest, which drove you wild. The combination of him rubbing around your clit and his kisses wasn't enough to send you over the edge, but it certainly was building you up to it, just slower than you wanted.

"Oh, Diavolo," you moaned out loud. His ears perked up. He could have sworn he's never heard his name sound so sweet in his entire lifetime. He liked how you called for him, it turned him on even more, if it was even possible to do that. You were completely wet now, with your slick now covering all of your vulva and his entire hand was beginning to get coated in it. Your arousal smelled so intoxicating to Diavolo, and it was almost more than he could handle. He brought his mouth to your ear.

"What do you want me to do?" he groaned. The way his voice was thick with want made you shudder. His finger made its way to your entrance, gently messaging it. Your body jolted again when he did that, and you so badly wanted him to invade your core, and you started to squirm, just like he wanted.

"I-I want..." you whined, trailing off.

"Tell me," he growled.

"I want you to... to finger me, please, Diavolo. I need you," you whimpered. He couldn't say no to you, especially when you asked so politely. To hear that you needed him was like a sweet symphony to him.

"As you wish," he whispered. His mouth darted to one of your nipples again, tongue swirling around, flicking it occasionally. In the same instant, his finger slowly slid into your core. You let a gasp out at the sudden intrusion, but it turned into a drawn-out moan. Your walls gripped his finger like a vise. The demon beneath you moaned back, imagining something else of his sliding past your gripping sugar walls. When his last knuckle slid in, he remained motionless, allowing you time to accommodate it. You finally relaxed and he began to slowly withdraw, but not completely, and the drag of his finger against your walls sent your head back with a moan.

Diavolo looked at you in wonder. You were beautiful when in the throes of your pleasure, your back arched, and your dulcet voice complimenting his efforts to please you was icing on the cake. His finger slid inward again, and he started a slow pace. Your pleasure was building, and you knew a release was coming soon. You could feel your toes twitch as you drew closer. His voice broke your focus, however.

"More?" he asked. He withdrew his finger and replaced it with two prodding at your entrance.

"Yes, please," you whined. "Don't stop."

With that, he slid both fingers in, meeting less resistance now that you were fully aroused and ready for him. You were so wet; you were practically dripping down your thighs and onto Diavolo's lap. The thumping of the music outside of your private den continued as well as the music you chose, and your mind was still swirling as you kept thinking about how badly you wanted this demon to fuck you.

Diavolo increased his pace this time, and you rolled your hips in sync with his finger-fucking, now adding his thumb to rub your clit. Your hands clutched the back of his neck, pulling him into your chest. He didn't mind the smothering. He enjoyed feeling your bare chest, planting kisses where he could. Your moans escalated as you felt that familiar feeling build. That one that started in your toes, and the heat traveled up your legs. Your body started to tense up, and Diavolo could feel how close you were. You were clamping down on his fingers.

"Diavolo," you called out to him, your voice wavered.

"Yes?" he asked, muffled into your chest.

"Don't stop, just like that. Please, I'm almost there," you pleaded with him, your voice was breathy. Your hips were rocking and your hold on his neck and hair tightened. You were hanging on to him as if your life depended on it. He pulled back a little against your hold and looked up you, and he spoke, clear as day:

"I want to watch you cum," he stated.

Ah, the magic words. The way he controlled you with those words, it was like a switch. You squeezed your knees into Diavolo's outer thighs, your hips bucked forward, head fell back, and you let a small sob escape your lips. You trembled through your orgasm, holding on to Diavolo as if you would fall off the edges of reality if you let go. Your walls spasmed around his fingers and he watched your expression go from ecstasy to bliss. He kissed the sweet spot at the base of your neck again, which further heightened your climax, all the while he's still pumping his fingers in your core. It felt like you rode the waves of pleasure for eternity, and you tried to hang on to it as long as you could. All you could focus on was holding yourself up, trying to keep it somewhat together. Tears welled in your eyes as that very last peak of your orgasm was so intense.

All too soon, the high was fading, and the seams of reality were slowly coming back together. Your head rolled back down, and your eyes remained closed. Your breathing finally began to even, and Diavolo slowly removed his fingers from your core when he felt your walls relax, however they were still twitching from your orgasm. All at once, you went limp. Diavolo leaned back into the couch, and you fell forward, to which he embraced you. He felt your still-erratic heart pounding in your chest. He rested his head on top of yours, and he smoothed down your hair, and then rubbing circles into your back as he hummed with content.

The two of you stayed like that for quite some time. Diavolo had no intentions of rushing you. He sat there and replayed the entire scene in his head, how amazing you were to him. He wondered to himself if you would ever let him do that again, because he was certain he wanted to make sure you were never left wanting for pleasure ever again in your life. Diavolo felt personal satisfaction in being able to bring you to such a height. He also felt very protective over you, never wanting to see you hurt by anyone. He wanted to be the one you ran to when you needed help, when you felt lonely or needy, he wanted to be your rock.

After a while, you finally left the limbo you had succumbed to. You had reached a headspace that consisted of you just listening to Diavolo's heart and breathing while you processed what happened. You shifted, and Diavolo loosened up his hold on you. Slowly, you sat up, looking in his golden eyes. He peered into yours as well, happy to see how satisfied you looked.

"How do you feel?" Diavolo asked. He pulled back the hair that had fallen into your face, sweeping it around to help you.

"Amazing," you replied. Your voice was a little raspy and quiet now. Your eyes were half open, indicating a sense of the daze you were in, and tiredness.

Diavolo softly smiled at you and planted a sweet peck on your lips. You smiled back.

"What would you like to do now?" he asked. You had given him a real treat, so he was open to anything you wanted to do.

"I am a little tired," you replied. You tilted your head to one side and traced a finger down the prince's temple to his jaw. "But I don't want to leave you," you said softly.

"We could go to the castle if you'd like. You're welcome to stay there with me," he offered. His tone was sincere, but also with a touch of seriousness.

You blushed at the thoughts that came about from his offer and averted your eyes. Would you spend the night? Would you get a separate room or stay in his? Would you all do anything else? Or maybe you'd just play chess until you both passed out. You considered it, and finally looked back at Diavolo.

"I would love to," you answered. A huge grin flashed on Diavolo's face, excited he would have someone to hang around with at the castle.

He helped you stand and even helped you slip your dress back on. He straightened all of it back out for you, and even helped put your hair back in order. He had made a mess of you, so he felt a little obligated, but he didn't want to miss the chance to do something so simple but also nice, more reasons to touch you and have you close.

Diavolo walked over to the door, unlocked it, opened it, and gestured for you to go first.

Thank you for reading~ <3

Post made by sassykattery. Do not repost. Reblogs and likes are appreciated.

Masterlist

#obey me smut #diavolo x mc #diavolo x reader #obey me diavolo #diavolo smut

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octoagentmiles · 1 year

Note

Hi! I love your analysis posts! So, I have a question: What kind of music do you think the Octonauts (And any Octo agents you want to add) would listen to, and what are their favorite song?

merci beaucoup <33 I have very little actual musical "knowledge"; I just like specific songs that go beep bap boop a specific way, but I'll try my best here—and as for their favourite songs, I'll just name some songs that remind me of them, if that's okay 👍

Barnacles likes accordion of course, so he'd probably enjoy anything that incorporates it. I can see him liking most genres tbh, he's not super picky—but he definitely likes folk and classical, and he LOVES sea shanties—almost more than Kwazii 👀

Dear Fellow Traveler - Sea Wolf

Born For Greatness - Papa Roach

AND:

Leaving London

Lost

Ship In A Bottle

Abandon Ship* (*pretend it's Kwazii singing to him)

They're all from an album by Steffan Argus, and you need to listen to them in order because they tell a story, and the whole thing is so Him fr.

See also:

The Last Shanty - Derina Harvey Band

—for some Manitoba!Tweak vibes.

Dashi listens to nightcore. She also got Peso into it. Honestly I feel like the two of them are both into pretty much anything—Dashi has a preference for pop, and Peso definitely likes symphonies, ballads, and anything that's chill and lofi.

Dashi also listens to hard rock and heavy metal in her spare time, and it disorients the heck out of whoever witnesses it randomly come on in her shuffled playlists. However, the only type of music I can't see Peso liking, is really loud music; like rock or metal—so they're the exact same and polar opposites at the same time 😂

I ALSO always think of Dashi when I listen to Marina—no idea why lol—might be her accent 😅

I don't have many songs for either of em- but here's what I've got:

Peso:

Cold Cold Cold - Cage The Elephant

Anxiety Song - Human Petting Zoo

Dashi:

Right Hand Man - Something Rotten

Hermit The Frog - Marina. just vibes once again.

Inkling:

Dude exclusively listens to oldies, classics, and like,,, Beethoven probably, BUT! I feel like any one of the Octonauts could ask him to listen to anything and he would. He unironically enjoys Kwazii's music.

Octopus' Garden - The Beatles

Vegimals:

They all have ridiculously contrasting tastes; they all probably enjoy the same kind of music as their respective Octonaut counterparts—but aside from that, they mostly just make their own music so they can all be happy.

Get Back Up Again but SPECIFICALLY the version from Disney's Trolls. trust me on this.

(some) Agent songs under cut:

Calico Jack me beloved:

I headcanon that he wrote his own theme song, so he likes shanties for sure; but I feel like as the years went by and he grew as a person, his music and general interests toned down a lot—so now he's more into ballads, and very Lord Huron or Hozier-esque music.

(all the following songs are angsty but they also hit HARD ykwim?? aye 👀 /pos)

Never Love An Anchor - The Crane Wives

Farewell Wanderlust - The Amazing Devil

Problems - Mother Mother

Metaphor - The Crane Wives

Flight Of The Crows - Jhariah

(oh look a non-angsty song–)

That's Life - Frank Sinatra

Natquik my beloved²:

Barnacles 100% got his music taste from him, I cannot be told otherwise. That's all I have to say about him.

Constellations - The Oh Hellos

Snow - Ricky Montgomery

December - Ricky Montgomery

New Discovery - The Crane Wives

Runaway - Aurora

plus bonus:

Hand Me My Shovel, I'm Going In - Will Wood

Touch-Tone Telephone - Lemon Demon

—to satisfy my personal "I think Natquik deserves to go feral" needs.

Ranger Marsh my belov–:

Exclusively listens to folk and country, and actively refuses to branch out his horizons.

Cicada Days - Will Wood

Swarm Swamp Swim - Cosmo Sheldrake

Birdhouse In My Soul - They Might Be Giants

Tracker:

On one hand, I really like headcanoning that he likes to sing when he's alone—and is actually pretty good; but on the other hand... I think it'd be hilarious if he had unbelievably bland taste in terms of what he enjoys listening to 😂 He has no real preference, so he just lets whoever he's with control the radio. For their sake.

Hold It In - Jukebox The Ghost

I shall not/cannot explain why that song reminds me of him but it does so much-

and I don't have any more for him, RIP ✌️😔 I could probably find some easily if I looked, but I'm lazy ┐⁠(⁠‘⁠～⁠`⁠;⁠)⁠┌

Paani:

He has weird taste too; but unlike Tracker, he has the most alternative underground music taste you can imagine, and he WILL subject you to it. He eats bugs in a universe of talking bugs, and I think it'd be funny if all of his interests were on the same wavelength lmao. He's just a weirdo (affectionate).

Just like Tracker I probably could find more songs if I actually tried to look—but for now all I have is this:

Water Island - My Singing Monsters

I found it on tiktok and it's literally His Song™ ever fr.

#ask #octonauts #ps every song listed is in my playlist 👀👀👀#wink wink nudge nudge /j #i have so many more songs for each character it was kinda hard only picking a handful 😅😅#really exposing my music taste here ain't i #i will never let paani's bug thing go. they need to explain it one day 😭#until then i'm just gonna continue headcanoning him as a weirdo lmaoo xD #i feel like I've never said the word ''taste'' this many times before #well- ok actually i did make posts abt their favourite foods a while back-#but still hfdfhk it doesn't look like a word anymore 😂#anyways #golistentomyplaylistokbye- (/nf)#long post

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broadcastbabe · 3 months

Photo

I’m not so much a muse as I am a break in your punishing practice session. An important concert approaches and you are obsessed with the perfection of your performance in the large arena. This is far from that reality, being one-on-one and making a very different type of musical harmony. Encouraging me to be boisterous as I am pleasured, you call out the pitch of the notes I moan with blissful abandon. Forever creative, you adjust yourself inside me like a tuning fork to guide the proceedings that please your ear. You tell me you will picture me, straddling you as I do now, for inspiration when you play for the throngs. You ease my skirt up to spy our connection as your thrusts become less subtle. My body being knocked back against the keyboard creates a faint rhythmic backdrop to my increasingly deeper moans. My dress is eased further and further up my body in search of a full immersion with my gorgeous breasts. They are nuzzled and suckled until I am quite dizzy with the attention and pleading for a release. Your probes have become profound to that end and your own groans have become syncopated in perfect time with entering me relentlessly. You harmonize with my runaway noise and we cum together in a symphonic crescendo. I am limply draped against the upright as you are inspired to play simple chords around me, leaning in to kiss my breasts as I recover to the serenade. I extricate myself to allow you to continue practicing without my distraction. You call after me to report the venue has just informed him their Steinway is finished being tuned… so we need to reconvene there for a private practice session, with the baby grand. You suggest I dress myself in a low-cut evening gown befitting the hall to accompany you while you continue to fine tune your performance.

#piano #pianist #straddle

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dmdokuro · 1 year

Note

Hi! I recently got Synth V along with both Solaria & Asterian's voice banks, so out of curiosity since I absolutely adore the work you've been doing for They know who they are; do you have some tips or tricks you use when tuning/mixing vocals with Synth V specifically? I've only got some minor experience in that sense. Sorry if I'm out of line for asking for advice out of nowhere though! Feel free to ignore this ask in that case 🙏

i'll admit, this one was quite difficult to answer for a moment, but i think i have a valid answer: learn your voice bank's limitations! there are certain notes they can and can't sing (some outside their range, if you know how to mess around with the vocal mode presets), and the best results usually come from notes within their range. as for tuning, i usually go with the acting route. play the lyrics out in your head as if it were dialogue in a movie, or a comic strip. what exactly would they mean to you? once you have a certain vibe down, replicate the dynamics as you would with the dialogue - are they shouting? pleading with someone? are they trying to communicate with them? is it in first- or third- person perspective? small things like this that assist in the type of emotion needed to tune with human precision. you can cheat with the internal vibrato, no shame in that, but do remember to give the phoneme timing some love to balance it out. punctual diction makes ALL the difference when writing rhythmic or accentuated parts.

eh, i think that would apply to original music anyway, not sure about covers - you'd have to do some good research on that particular song and the kind of emotion it's going for.

hope this helps in some way????? it may be a bit rambly imho.

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it-happened-one-fic · 2 years

Text

On the Floor - Senator Shockwave

Author Notes: This one is a bit different from others I've written. Not only is it my first post to the realm of Transformers fanfiction but it also the first time I have written a Cybertronian reader. Don't worry, the reader is still gender-neutral though! Also, I wrote this fic while listening to "On the Floor" By Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull

Type: Fluff/romantic

Word count: 1252

I frowned slightly at the brightly lit club that all but pulsed with bass from the music within it. Shockwave had said to meet him and Orion here but….

Well, my friends were nowhere to be seen. Which could mean only one thing. He’d taken Orion in there….

I pushed open the door to see a sea of mechs and femmes swaying to the music. I’d only been there for a few seconds when the beat dropped and their swaying turned to intense dancing to keep up with the song's pace change.

The entire crowd seemed to pulse with the music, almost like the sound of it had infected them. I dodged at least three inebriated mechs asking for a dance before I spotted them. Shockwave was laughing at Orion, who looked like he desperately wanted to wither up and die. I sighed, smiling slightly at the sight of them. What an odd duo they were. But then sometimes the strangest friendships were the best.

“Hey,” Orion turned at the sound of my voice, his optics wide as he did so before smiling. “Y/n, you made it.”

Shockwave spun in his chair, his optics shining brightly as he greeted me with a grin, “Have any trouble finding us?”

I claimed the seat next to Orion and shook my head at Shockwave’s question, “Well, when you weren’t outside where you said we’d meet, that only left one option.” Shockwave shrugged as Orion started apologizing for them and I laughed. “Don’t worry about it Orion, I found you two after all.”

The mech nodded, relaxing at my reassurance only to tense up again as Shockwave stood, “Now that you’re here the fun can actually begin.”

My eyebrows rose and Orion slowly shook his head, “I told you I’d really rather not Shockwave.” I frowned, looking between the two of them in confusion.

“Rather not what?” Shockwave’s smile grew at my question.

“Dance of course. What else are we supposed to do here?” I started to shake my head as he approached me, smiling.

“Come on, it’ll be good to let off some steam.” I glanced over at Orion, hopeful for some support from him but he determinedly avoided meeting my gaze. I looked back towards Shockwave, realizing as soon as I did so that he was going to win this round. He held out his servo playfully and, with a sigh, I took it.

“Yes!” I ignored his gleeful celebration, instead frowning at his new paint job that I noticed was almost a perfect match to mine.

“Shockwave….” He glanced over at me in confusion before smiling again as he noticed what I was looking at.

“Like it? I think it brings out my optics.” I snorted at his words and let him pull me along behind. “Let’s go! You’re not about to renege on your agreement.”

I snickered at his words, “My agreement?” He frowned at me as we navigated the horde of people, “It’ll be good for you.”

I quirked an eyebrow at him, immediately calling him out on his crap. “For me? I think we both know who really needs to relax, Senator.”

His optics narrowed as I emphasized his title, “I told you not to call me that.” I tilted my head at him as we both stepped out of the way, narrowly dodging one very excited couple.

“Why not? It is what you are after all,” I grinned at him, waiting for him to react to my teasing.

He rolled his optics before grabbing my servo and hauling me out into the middle of the fray, “I brought you and Orion here to relax, not to argue titles.” His optics glimmered as he turned to face me. “Now, let’s dance.”

A tiny part of me wanted to resist but his smile paired with the pounding beat was too much to hold out against, “Fine.”

I laughed at him as we both moved rhythmically, weaving in and out of the couples and single dancers. Before long it had almost become a game. Avoid each other without getting too close, lest you get grabbed. It was a lot like our relationship overall.

Playful and teasing but always cautious. He was easy to keep track of, his paint job made him stand out in any crowd, including this one. Watching his head swivel as he tried to keep an optic on me and my position was hilarious though. I spun behind a taller couple, wondering what he would do if he couldn’t see me. I giggled quietly about my deviousness. He was so expressive that doing such childish things to see his reaction was amusing. At least until he caught on…

My optics widened as he whirled by me, grinning in a way that let me know I’d never given him the slip. I had to slide to the side to avoid his arm reaching out towards me.

It typically was him that made the move. Reaching out towards me like he often did in an attempt to get a better hold on me. To keep me from slipping away from him.

He pouted slightly as his servo caught only empty air but recovered quickly. Pursuing me relentlessly across the dance floor and leaving a trail of abandoned dance partners in his wake. But then I was no better.

I didn’t know how many mechs I’d danced with before slipping away from them to continue my evasion tactics. I frowned slightly as I got spun around by yet another soon to be abandoned dance partner and lost sight of him. Just moments ago I’d been thinking about how easy he was to keep track of and now he'd disappeared.

Disappeared like I so often feared he would. Being senator had its risks, one of the lesser ones being the burnout that he was currently fighting off. I knew exactly why he’d come in here when our plan had actually been to simply meet up and chat. He’d likely had a senate meeting today and was trying to shake off his irritation. I spun away from my partner, knowing exactly how to get him to appear. I danced by myself, baiting him out into the opening.

It wasn’t long before he emerged just like I knew he would. I could see him just out of my peripheral vision, taking advantage of the opening I’d left him with a glimmer in his optics. I pretended not to see him, swaying happily by myself till I suddenly found myself wondering…. What would it be like to just let him catch me?

It had been a long time since I’d had that thought but this time it didn’t fade, instead it remained and taunted me. I spun, almost instinctively evading him only to collide into an arm on my other side. I turned, ready to greet my newest dance partner only to see his smiling face. My optics widened at the sight of him and his grin grew, “Caught you.”

I was briefly flabbergasted enough that I let him steer me around the room before I snapped back to attention. “But, I thought you…” I trailed off in confusion, trying to figure out how he’d gotten from one side to my other so quickly.

He winked playfully at me, “I guess I’m just faster than you thought.” I smiled slightly, oddly content despite the fact I’d lost our little game. Perhaps this wasn’t so bad…. Perhaps letting him catch me was the right decision after all.

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bwhitex · 5 months

Text

Hello and Happy Tuesday,

Music has and always will be a source of inspiration in my journey of self-discovery. From a young age, I've found that certain melodies spark my curiosity and lift my spirit in profound ways. It is this deeply personal power of music that I'd like to explore with you today.

While we all have diverse tastes, I believe music's ability to transcend boundaries and bring people together holds great beauty. The complex harmonies of classical speak to our shared humanity, as do the vibrant rhythms of jazz or the meaningful lyrics found in folk. Each genre reflects the souls of the artists who created it, and invites listeners to connect.

My journey in listening has been one of exploring new sounds and opening windows into cultures both near and far. But it is also a path of learning - as the moods that move me often reveal my changing hopes, interests and values over time. They actually tell me my personality. I praise people’s ability to read themselves back, and others through their choices and interests in music. It’s not the analysis that ever is the problem, it’s the process of which we organize to deliver the cognitive and emotional evidence. Do we analyze to between understand or do we do it more for conviction? Occasionally, there’s both and that will work out too if it’s fair and proportional to truth. However, I personally, would rather than judging what is "mainstream," I find layers of meaning everywhere, from popular hits to underground discoveries.

Music has also introduced me to fascinating people, as concerts, open discussions and sharing favorite songs have fostered friendships I would not have otherwise known. Even small moments of musical connection, like discovering a new streaming genre or happening upon street performers, seem to brighten each day. Below is an equation built for you to drop right into a search engine optimization. It’s using atypical object relation, it created it to talk right to algorithm. Drop right into a search engine, reflect yourself.

It's an equation I've come to appreciate: (Complex + Abstract + Unconventional Music) Eclectic Taste / [High Level Openness] = Journey Towards Greater Self-Discovery

The Symphony of Complexity

Complex music has always held a unique allure for me. The intricate melodies, the harmonious interplay of chords, the rhythmic undulations, and the profound lyricism of genres like classical, jazz, and progressive rock have always been more than just sounds to my ears. A mirror of my own life. They represent, to me, a labyrinth of emotions and ideas, each note a thread leading me deeper into the understanding of my own psyche.

The Abstract Canvas

Equally captivating is abstract music, an uncharted territory that defies traditional conventions. Experimental music, ambient sounds, avant-garde genres - they create not just a melody, but a mood, a sound landscape that is open to interpretation. I find myself diving into these soundscapes, exploring the different textures and ideas, and in the process, understanding more about my own emotional spectrum.

The Unconventional Path

Then there's unconventional music, the rebel of the music world. Genres like alternative rock and indie music, where artists are pushing boundaries, breaking from established norms, and incorporating unique elements. This love for the unconventional mirrors my own journey of self-discovery. It's a testament to my appreciation for creativity and originality, and my constant quest to seek something different from the mainstream.

An Eclectic Taste

My taste in music is as diverse as it is eclectic. From the classical to the contemporary, from the mainstream to the underground, from the familiar to the foreign, I find joy in exploring different types of music. It's this openness to new experiences, this willingness to step out of my comfort zone that has played a pivotal role in my journey of self-discovery.

The Trait of Openness

As a person with a high level of openness, one of the Big Five Personality Traits, I find that my openness is reflected in my musical preferences. Openness encompasses imagination, creativity, and an appreciation for art, all of which translate into my musical choices.

Complexity, Creativity, and Emotional Depth

My love for complex music reflects my appreciation for creativity and intellectual engagement. The layers of meaning in intricate lyrics, the interplay of different instruments in a complex musical arrangement - they all speak to my intellectual curiosity. The emotional depth in music resonates with me, as I have a greater awareness of my own emotions and a higher tolerance for a range of emotional experiences.

Exploration and Discovery

My journey of self-discovery is also a journey of exploration and discovery in the world of music. I am driven by curiosity and a desire for new experiences. I love exploring different music genres, discovering new artists, and seeking out music from different cultures, time periods, or underground scenes.

Intellectual Engagement

Music for me is not just about the sound, it's about engaging with complex ideas, about thought-provoking lyrics, about complex musical techniques. It's a testament to my intellectual curiosity and my love for engaging with complex ideas.

But this is just my journey, my equation. Each of us has our own unique equation, our own path of self-discovery, influenced by a range of factors such as cultural background, personal experiences, and situational factors. And that's what makes each of our journeys unique and beautiful.

I hope that sharing my journey has given you some insights, and perhaps even inspired you to explore your own musical equation and embark on your own journey of self-discovery. After all, music is a universal language, but how we interpret it is deeply personal. Happy listening, and happy discovering!

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