#for sure my favorite on the good witch deluxe | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

harrysfolklore · 3 months

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hey could u do masie peters as a face claim with singer yn

i was dying to do tom x singer!yn and i this came up ! i really really hope you like it as much as i do !

AND HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY TO THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND TOM BLYTH. ILY

MASTERLIST | MY PATREON

liked by rachelzegler, oliviarodrigo and 836,038 others

yourinstagram the good witch as been out for a week and i just want to say thank for all the love 🥹 here’s a pic of me right before recording the saddest song on the album lol

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ynfan1 IM SO PROOOOUD

ynfan2 i love her so bad

troyesivan absolutely obsessed with every track

ynfan3 WE NEED THE DELUXE VERSION

rachelzegler I’m sooo obsessed with this album, I’ve played it on set like a hundred times this week I’m pretty sure all the cast is sick of me lol. LOVE YOU CONGRATS ❤️

↳ yourinstagram rachh 🥹🥹 thank you for your support ! means the world to me and i hope your cast mates don’t hate me lol. good luck on filming and i can’t wait to see the movie !!

↳ ynfan1 QUEENS SUPPORTING EACH OTHER

↳ ynfan3 i love them so much

liked by hunterschafer, yourinstagram and 486,529 others

tomblyth HG film dump. Just some of the many people I love who breathed life into this movie. @songbirdsandsnakes opens tomorrow 🤍

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tomfan1 CRYING

tomfan2 this movie is about to change my life

mtv new crush unlocked

florencepugh ❤️

tomfan3 i love this cast so bad

rachelzegler LOVE YOU ALL 💘

tomfan4 my man my man my man

liked by shawnmendes, tomblyth and 840,726 others

yourinstagram MANCHESTER THAT WAS AWESOME !! and london you’re next 🥹

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ynfan1 BEST SHOW IN THE WORLD

ynfan2 my turn when

madisonbeer superstar 🤍

rachelzegler I can’t wait to see you live !!

↳ tomblyth I’m tagging along

↳ tomfan1 WEEE TOM A YN FAN SO TRUE

↳ yourinstagram you guys are welcome anytime

ynfan3 she’s a celebrity to celebrities omg

mtv yn x tbosas cast? a yes from me

INTERVIEWS FROM TBOSAS PROMO

INSTAGRAM STORIES

liked by tomfan1, tomfan2 and 10,837 others

tomupdates TOM ARRIVING TO O2 ARENA IN LONDON TODAY?

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tomfan1 OMGGG

ynfan1 YN HAS A SHOW THERE LAJSKA

tomfan2 he’s really seeing yn live😭 such a fanboy

ynfan2 that’s it. i ship them

↳ tomfan3 SAMEEEE

ynfan3 MY FAVES

liked by ynfan1, ynfan2 and 13,378 others

ynupdates “Tonight’s show is special. Not only because we’re at the O2 arena which is absolutely freaking cool, but also because we have some friends coming to see us, and it’s always a pleasure to play for old and new friends.” - YN at tonight’s show !

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ynfan1 OMGGG

ynfan2 I LOVE HER

tomfan1 omfg is this about tom ???

tomfan2 TOM WAS IN THE AUDIENCE

ynfan3 she’s not sneaky

liked by conangray, tomblyth and 845,380 others

yourinstagram LONDON THAT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS EVER !! thank you to everyone who came 🤍

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ynfan1 I CANT BELIEVE I WAS THERE

ynfan2 POP QUEEN

oliviarodrigo best show ever 💜

tomfan1 i bet tom was fangirling the entire time

hunterschafer I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

tomblyth Amazing show and amazing performer, I'm blown away

↳ tomfan2 AHHHH

↳ tomfan3 i literally ship them so hard

↳ ynfan3 thats a MAN

FANS VIA TWITTER

liked by yourinstagram, hunterschafer and 764,093 others

tomblyth Afterparty-ing 🥂

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tomfan1 YEEEEEES

tomfan2 HE WENT TO YN'S AFTERPATY

rachelzegler 👯‍♂️

ynfan1 hes so hooot yn better give him a chance

↳ tomfan3 chill they're just friends

yourinstagram thank you for coming 💕

↳ ynfan2 THE EMOJIII

↳ tomfan2 i'm trying so hard to be normal and not ship them

TEXTS BETWEEN TOM AND YN

liked by gracieabrams, lauraharrier and 876,309 others

yourinstagram unfiltered friday dump

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ynfan1 i live for this

ynfan2 her monopoly obsession is still going strong

rachelzegler You sneaky shits! Invite me next time

↳ ynfan3 WHAT DOES SHE MEAN ?

↳ yourinstagram i’ll make sure snow lets you know next time

↳ tomfan1 SNOW ?? TOM??

↳ tomfan2 AHHHHH

tomblyth It was such a pleasure to beat you at Monopoly

↳ tomfan1 AH SO SHE WAS WITH TOM

↳ ynfan3 IM THROWING UP

↳ yourinstagram shhh don’t let everyone know🥲

↳ ynfan3 😭😭😭

liked by yourinstagram, maya_hawke and 630,998 others

tomblyth I made a new friend 😊

view all 18,937 comments

tomfan1 MY HEART

ynfan1 THATS YN’S DOG STFU

rachelzegler I keep getting excluded from this relationship 🥲🥲

↳ tomfan2 RELATIONSHIP???

↳ ynfan2 NOT RACHEL OUTING THEIR BUSINESS

hunterschafer babies

yourinstagram i can’t believe i’ve been replaced

↳ tomblyth Sorry love, I’m just really charming

↳ ynfan1 STOOOOOP

↳ tomfan3 HE’S SHAMELESS

DEUXMOI VIA INSTAGRAM STORIES

liked by tomfan1, ynfan1 and 40,826 others

celebrityleaks TOM BLYTH AND YN OUT IN LOS ANGELES TODAY

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tomfan1 LORD

ynfan1 I KNEW IT

tomfan2 THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY

ynfan2 AHHHH I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

tomfan3 the couple we never knew we needed

ynfan3 we literally saw this relationship come to life I LOVE IT

tomfan4 byeee yall already claiming they’re in a relationship when they could be just friends

↳ ynfan1 you’re delulu

↳ tomfan1 the denial stage i see

liked by tomblyth, teddysphotos and 837,937 others

yourinstagram we’re in the middle of a tour but i couldn’t help myself and i got into the studio to pour out my lovey dovey feelings and ‘glue song’ came to life ! it’s going to be available everywhere on feb 2 (💓), i hope you like it 🥹

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ynfan1 OH MY GOD ??

ynfan2 AHHHHHH WE WON

sabrinacarpenter such a sweet song i love it 🥰

tomfan1 IS THIS ABOUT TOM ??? BECAUSE IF IT IS I MIGHT CRY

gracieeabrams in your lover era 🥺

ynfan3 SHES DOWN BADDDDDD

tomfan3 HOLD ON. SHES RELEASING IT ON TOM’S BDAY !!!?

↳ tomfan1 YOU’RE RIGHT

↳ ynfan2 and just like that im sobbing again

tomfan2 i want to be stuck to tom like glue too

tomblyth ❤️

↳ ynfan3 SOBBING

↳ tomfan3 THIS IS CONFIRMATION

liked by yourinstagram, hunterschafer and 702,825 others

tomblyth What the bracelets say ❤️ @yourinstagram

view all 17,937 comments

tomfan1 STOP IT

ynfan1 i’ve died dead

rachelzegler MY BABIES MY LOVES 😭💘

↳ tomfan2 if you think about it rachel was lowkey the matchmaker here

↳ tomfan1 hunter aswell !

hunterschafer 🥲🥲🥲🤍🤍🤍

ynfan2 SHE DESERVES A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP IM SO HAPPY

tomfan3 couple of the century for real

ynfan3 THE FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS 😩

yourinstagram love you be stuck 2 u you and your early morning karaoke 💘 happy birthday my love

↳ ynfan1 AHHHH

↳ tomfan3 WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS INFORMATION

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thebestofoneshots · 8 months

Note

Star please! My pronouns are she/her and I am into guys, and am open to poly!marauders!

If you know star signs: I’m a Libra sun, Aries moon, sag rising, Libra mercury, Leo Venus, and libra mars

I’m an intp, 6’1, and I play volleyball. I love listening to music and have a record collection! I’m also a huge film buff :) I’m pretty shy but make friends very easily. People often tell me to speak up but my voice is just not super loud lol. I don’t always like to, but I’m getting better at standing up for myself. My love language varies person to person, but I love physical touch, quality time, and giving gifts.

Thank you so much and congrats on the milestone!! You deserve it all and so much more, you are such a good writer :)

If you want to participate in "TBOS' 400 Followers Celebration" too, you can look at this post for all the options of prompts you can choose from <3

I definitely ship you with Sirius and James. However, Sirius was the first one to notice you. It all started during Christmas when you received a package from your Muggle family. It contained yet another record for your collection – the Diamond Dogs deluxe edition by David Bowie. You were instantlly excited by it, and youre excitment could be percived by others.

Sirius, allthought unfamiliar with the album, instantly recognized Bowie on the cover so he approached you with a playful grin, “Hey sweets, you’re in my Transfiguration class, aren’t you?”

You nodded, “You’re Sirius Black.”

He smiled, glad that you recognized him too, and casually sat next to you, leaning his head on his hand as he looked at you. Initially, you found it a bit strange how comfortable he seemed around you, but his relaxed aura eventually put you at ease.

He shared how he had stayed at school during Christmas to help his friend with some tasks, and how he didn’t really want to go home because of his less-than-pleasant family. You told him about your Muggle family and how they believed it was best for you to stay at school to avoid the Death Eaters. You admitted missing your family and being happy to receive a letter from them.

When the conversation grew somber, he skillfully changed the topic and asked about your album. Excitedly, you shared details about your collection and music preferences. He told you about the cassettes he had received from his cousin Andromeda and promised to make you a mixtape someday. He enjoyed making them for his friends. Your bond only strengthened from that point, and Sirius developed a massive crush on you, growing every time he discovered something new about you. He thought you were absolutely magical, and that, without even thinking about the fact that you were quite literally a witch.

One day, you were in Sirius' room listening to your records since you didn't want to disturb your roommates. James Potter entered, not noticing you both resting on the floor with your backs against the bed. Assuming he was alone, he started humming along to your favorite song. Just as you were about to speak up, Sirius covered your mouth, a cheeky grin on his face. Soon, James started his own impromptu concert, singing at the top of his lungs. Eventually, he began dancing and spotted both of you, with Sirius' hand still covering your mouth.

"Padfoot!" He said reproachfully.

You removed Sirius’ hand from your mouth and gave James an apologetic smile “Hey James!” you said quietly “That was great conert.”

James turned beet red upon realizing you'd seen his performance "How long did you—"

"—The whole thing," Sirius teased.

James was so distressed at that point the only thing you could think to do to ease the tension was to smile at him and say “Wanna join us?”

You weren’t sure you’d ever seen a shy James Potter in your life, but here he was, nodding quietly and walking to seat beside you. You were sitting in the middle, with the two boys at your side. And you three just grew closer from then, it was like the boys didn’t want to be away from you.

While in the beginning you thought Sirius was clingy, he had nothing on James Potter. Whenever they were around you, they were close, in a very literal sense. They always had to be touching you somehow, either by brushing shoulder to shoulder, an arm draped over you, or leaning their heads on your shoulders in the Great Hall, especially Sirius, who always complained about having to wake up early for flying. Those touches slowly became something more: kisses on the cheek, holding your hand, a cheeky hand on your thigh, or backhugs. And while they did sometimes fight for your affection, neither of them seemed bothered by the other pulling you onto their lap or snuggling you closer to them.

One day, you were listening to music in the common room and there was no one else around since you had skipped a class to be there. You were leaning against James’ chest while Sirius had his head resting on your lap; he’d asked you to play with his hair. It was often that you cuddled with the two at the same time, and you loved it, but it also confused you. You somehow mustered up the courage to ask, “What are we?”

“We’re Gryffindors,” James replied at the same time that Sirius said something like “The stars of the show.”

You sighed at their answer and motioned for Sirius to sit up with a light pull on his shoulders. “I meant what are we…” you said, emphasizing the last bit by pointing at the three of you.

James and Sirius exchanged a look. They’d had this conversation before, neither of them willing to give you up, so they settled on sharing. They were both okay with it; in fact, they enjoyed cuddling each other too. “Whatever you want us to be, angel,” Sirius answered earnestly, grabbing one of your hands and intertwining your fingers together.

“If you want us to pull away, or one of us to step back away, we’ll respect your wish, but–” James started.

“–Neither of us wants that,” Sirius finished.

You looked at the two of them. “Neither… neither do I.”

BONUS:

The mixtape Sirius made for you: 1. "Space Oddity" by David Bowie 2. "Dream On" by Aerosmith 3. "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin 4. "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye 5. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen 6. "Hotel California" by Eagles 7. "Imagine" by John Lennon 8. "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green 9. "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton 10. "You're My Best Friend" by Queen

A/N: Hope you like this lil thing I made for you sweets, it got out of hand, as always, but I kind of absolutely adore the result, our boys are so adorbale, it's almost impossible to handle ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

Sending you great vibes, Lilly xxx

MASTERLIST

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satoshi-mochida · 11 days

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LOST EPIC PS5 and Switch physical editions launch August 8 in Japan

From Gematsu

Publisher One or EIGHT and developer Team EARTH WARS will release physical standard and Deluxe editions of LOST EPIC for PlayStation 5 and Switch on August 8 in Japan, the companies announced.

The standard edition will be priced at 3,828 yen, while the Deluxe Edition will be priced at 9,680 yen. The latter will include a copy of the game, an outer case featuring a new illustration by Namie, the original soundtrack CD, an 100-page art book, and an acrylic stand.

LOST EPIC is currently available digitally for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam worldwide.

Here is an overview of the game, via One or EIGHT:

About

The latest game from Team EARTH WARS, the creators of the 300,000 DL hit game EARTH’S DAWN. LOST EPIC is a 2D side-scrolling action RPG about a war between gods and humanity. The player becomes the deity-defying knight, God Slayer, and explores the world known as Sanctum to bring the Pantheon of Six to their knees.

Key Features

Combine Attacks and Divine Skills to Create a Satisfying Combo – Each weapon has its own unique move “Divine Skill.” You can customize your knight by combining your favorite Divine skills. By activating your Divine skill at the right moment, you can take down an enemy and deliver massive damage.

Create Your Own Character Build Using Skill Points – You can further advance the battle by upgrading the character stats according to the weapon you often use. Focusing on specific stats and creating a strength, skill or magic build will also be effective in advancing your quest.

Complete Quests and Earn Rewards – Completing quests given from the many characters will progress the sub-story, and earn rewards for the player. Certain quests require you to fight against enemies known as the Elite. Defeating the Elites can give you powerful rewards.

Craft Items to Better Your Exploration! – When you start to say to yourself, “Where are my medicines?” and “Too many debuffs,” try acquiring materials through cultivating or fishing and craft items! If you find some enemies difficult at times, a good preparation could save you. That is not all, throughout Sanctum, there are hidden items that will surely help you in your venture. Search the corners that tickle your senses and you may find something.

Main Illustrator

Namie – An illustrator from Australia. Has done artwork for Fate/Grand Order, Azur Lane, and Arknights, and character design for The farthest library in the mirror and more.

Voice Cast

The daughter of a Witch, Alta (voiced by Wakana Maruoka)

The Witch of Nabel, Cecilia (voiced by Nanako Mori)

Beautiful and noble Dame of Sanctum (voiced by Marie Miyake)

Son of God (voiced by Ryota Suzuki)

A boy half beast, half human (voiced by Risa Tsumugi)

Ghost Girl (voiced by Amane Shindo)

A girl in hiding through Sanctum (voiced by Airi Ohtsu)

A mysterious black cat (voiced by Fujiya Ichi)

Mariko Higashiuchi

Taro Kiuchi

Honoka Inoue

Casting Corporation AGRS Co., Ltd

Developer

Team EARTH WARS – The production team from EARTH’S DAWN, which was released in 2015 and ported to many platforms. EARTH’S DAWN is a stylish fast-paced 2D action RPG. The user friendly interface and the hack and slash style replayability was praised by hardcore gamers resulting in 300,000 downloads.

Watch a new trailer below.

Physical Edition Trailer

youtube

#Lost Epic #Team Earth Wars #One or Eight #PS5 #Nintendo Switch #RPG #Gematsu #Youtube

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bananaofswifts · 4 years

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Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’: Album Review

It’s hard to remember any contemporary pop superstar that has indulged in a more serious, or successful, act of sonic palette cleansing than Swift has with her eighth album, a highly subdued but rich affair written and recorded in quarantine conditions.

While most of us spent the last four months putting on some variation of “the quarantine 15,” Taylor Swift has been secretly working on the “Folklore” 16. Sprung Thursday night with less than a day’s notice, her eighth album is a fully rounded collection of songs that sounds like it was years in the interactive making, not the product of a quarter-year’s worth of file-sharing from splendid isolation. Mind you, the words “pandemic hero” should probably be reserved for actual frontline workers and not topline artistes. But there’s a bit of Rosie the Riveter spirit in how Swift has become the first major pop artist to deliver a first-rank album that went from germination to being completely locked down in the midst of a national lockdown.

The themes and tone of “Folklore,” though, are a little less “We can do it!” and a little more “Can we do it?” Because this new collection is Swift’s most overtly contemplative — as opposed to covertly reflective — album since the fan favorite “Red.” Actually, that’s an understatement. “Red” seems like a Chainsmokers album compared to the wholly banger-free “Folklore,” which lives up to the first half of its title by divesting itself of any lingering traces of Max Martin-ized dance-pop and presenting Swift, afresh, as your favorite new indie-electro-folk/chamber-pop balladeer. For fans that relished these undertones of Swift’s in the past, it will come as a side of her they know and love all too well. For anyone who still has last year’s “You Need to Calm Down” primarily in mind, it will come as a jolting act of manual downshifting into actually calming down. At least this one won’t require an album-length Ryan Adams remake to convince anyone that there’s songwriting there. The best comparison might be to take “Clean,” the unrepresentative denouement of “1989,” and… imagine a whole album of that. Really, it’s hard to remember any pop star in our lifetimes that has indulged in a more serious act of sonic palette cleansing.

The tone of this release won’t come as a midnight shock to anyone who took spoilers from the announcement earlier in the day that a majority of the tracks were co-written with and produced by the National’s Aaron Dessner, or that the man replacing Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie as this album’s lone duet partner is Bon Iver. No matter how much credit you may have given Swift in the past for thinking and working outside of her box, a startled laugh may have been in order for just how unexpected these names felt on the bingo card of musical dignitaries you expected to find the woman who just put out “Me!” working with next. But her creative intuition hasn’t led her into an oil-and-water collaboration yet. Dessner turns out to be an ideal partner, with as much virtuosic, multi-instrumental know-how (particularly useful in a pandemic) as the most favored writer-producer on last year’s “Lover” album, Jack Antonoff.

He, too, is present and accounted for on “Folklore,” to a slightly lesser extent, and together Antonoff and Dessner make for a surprisingly well-matched support-staff tag team. Swift’s collabs with the National’s MVP clearly set the tone for the project, with a lot of fingerpicking, real strings, mellow drum programming and Mellotrons. You can sense Antonoff, in the songs he did with Swift, working to meet the mood and style of what Dessner had done or would be doing with her, and bringing out his own lesser-known acoustic and lightly orchestrated side. As good of a mesh as the album is, though, it’s usually not too hard to figure out who worked on which song — Dessner’s contributions often feel like nearly neo-classical piano or guitar riffs that Swift toplined over, while Antonoff works a little more toward buttressing slightly more familiar sounding pop melodies of Swift’s, dressed up or down to meet the more somber-sounding occasion.

For some fans, it might take a couple of spins around the block with this very different model to become re-accustomed to how there’s still the same power under the hood here. And that’s really all Swift, whose genius for conversational melodies and knack for giving every chorus a telling new twist every time around remain unmistakable trademarks. Thematically, it’s a bit more of a hodgepodge than more clearly autobiographical albums like “Lover” and “Reputation” before it have been. Swift has always described her albums as being like diaries of a certain period of time, and a few songs here obviously fit that bill, as continuations of the newfound contentment she explored in the last album and a half. But there’s also a higher degree of fictionalization than perhaps she’s gone for in the past, including what she’s described as a trilogy of songs revolving around a high school love triangle. The fact that she refers to herself, by name, as “James” in the song “Betty” is a good indicator that not everything here is ripped from today’s headlines or diary entries.

But, hell, some of it sure is. Anyone looking for lyrical Easter eggs to confirm that Swift still draws from her own life will be particularly pleased by the song “Invisible String,” a sort of “bless the broken roads that led me to you” type song that finds fulfillment in a current partner who once wore a teal shirt while working as a young man in a yogurt shop, even as Swift was dreaming of the perfect romance hanging out in Nashville’s Centennial Park. (A quick Google search reveals that, yes, Joe Alwyn was once an essential worker in London’s fro-yo industry.) There’s also a sly bit of self-referencing as Swift follows this golden thread that fatefully linked them: “Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to L.A.,” she sings. The “dive bar” that was first established as the scene of a meet-cute two albums ago makes a reappearance in this song, too.

As for actual bad blood? It barely features into “Folklore,” in any substantial, true-life-details way, counter to her reputation for writing lyrics that are better than revenge. But when it does, woe unto he who has crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s on a contract that Swift feels was a double-cross. At least, we can strongly suspect what or who the actual subject is of “Mad Woman,” this album’s one real moment of vituperation. “What did you think I’d say to that?” Swift sings in the opening lines. “Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? / They strike to kill / And you know I will.” Soon, she’s adding gas to the fire: “Now I breathe flames each time I talk / My cannons all firing at your yacht / They say ‘move on’ / But you know I won’t / … women like hunting witches, too.” A coup de gras is delivered: “It’s obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together.” It’s a message song, and the message is: Swift still really wants her masters back, in 2020. And is really still going to want them back in 2021, 2022 and 2023, too. Whether or not the neighbors of the exec or execs she is imagining really mouth the words “f— you” when these nemeses pull up in their respective driveways may be a matter of projection, but if Swift has a good time imagining it, many of her fans will too.

(A second such reference may be found in the bonus track, “The Lakes,” which will only be found on deluxe CD and vinyl editions not set to arrive for several weeks. There, she sings, “What should be over burrowed under my skin / In heart-stopping waves of hurt / I’ve come too far to watch some namedropping sleaze / Tell me what are my words worth.” The rest of “The Lakes” is a fantasy of a halcyon semi-retirement in the mountains — in which “I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet / Because I haven’t moved in years” — “and not without my muse.” She even imagines red roses growing out of a tundra, “with no one around to tweet it”; fantasies of a social media-free utopia are really pandemic-rampant.)

The other most overtly “confessional” song here is also the most third-person one, up to a telling point. In “The Last Great American Dynasty,” Swift explores the rich history of her seaside manse in Rhode Island, once famous for being home to the heir to the Standard Oil fortune and, after he died, his eccentric widow. Swift has a grand old time identifying with the women who decades before her made fellow coast-dwellers go “there goes the neighborhood”: “There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen / She had a marvelous time ruining everything,” she sings of the long-gone widow, Rebekah. “Fifty years is a long time / Holiday House sat quietly on that beach / Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / Then it was bought by me… the loudest woman this town has ever seen.” (A fine madness among proud women is another recurring theme.)

But, these examples aside, the album is ultimately less obviously self-referential than most of Swift’s. The single “Cardigan,” which has a bit of a Lana Del Rey feel (even though it’s produced by Dessner, not Del Rey’s partner Antonoff) is part of Swift’s fictional high school trilogy, along with “August” and “Betty.” That sweater shows up again in the latter song, in which Swift takes on the role of a 17-year boy publicly apologizing for doing a girl wrong — and which kicks into a triumphant key change at the end that’s right out of “Love Story,” in case anyone imagines Swift has completely moved on from the spirit of early triumphs.

“Exile,” the duet with Bon Iver, recalls another early Swift song, “The Last Time,” which had her trading verses with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. Then, as now, she gives the guy the first word, and verse, if not the last; it has her agreeing with her partner on some aspects of their dissolution (“I couldn’t turn things around”/”You never turned things around”) and not completely on others (“Cause you never gave a warning sign,” he sings; “I gave so many signs,” she protests).

Picking two standouts — one from the contented pile, one from the tormented — leads to two choices: “Illicit Affairs” is the best cheating song since, well, “Reputation’s” hard-to-top “Getaway Car.” There’s less catharsis in this one, but just as much pungent wisdom, as Swift describes the more mundane details of maintaining an affair (“Tell your friends you’re out for a run / You’ll be flushed when you return”) with the soul-destroying ones of how “what started in beautiful rooms ends with meetings in parking lots,” as “a drug that only worked the first few hundred times” wears off in clandestine bitterness.

But does Swift have a corker of a love song to tip the scales of the album back toward sweetness. It’s not “Invisible String,” though that’s a contender. The champion romance song here is “Peace,” the title of which is slightly deceptive, as Swift promises her beau, or life partner, that that quality of tranquility is the only thing she can’t promise him. If you like your love ballads realistic, it’s a bit of candor that renders all the compensatory vows of fidelity and courage all the more credible and deeply lovely. “All these people think love’s for show / But I would die for you in secret.”

That promise of privacy to her intended is a reminder that Swift is actually quite good at keeping things close to the vest, when she’s not spilling all — qualities that she seems to value and uphold in about ironically equal measure. Perhaps it’s in deference to the sanctity of whatever she’s holding dear right now that there are more outside narratives than before in this album — including a song referring to her grandfather storming the beaches in World War II — even as she goes outside for fresh collaborators and sounds, too. But what keeps you locked in, as always, is the notion of Swift as truth-teller, barred or unbarred, in a world of pop spin. She’s celebrating the masked era by taking hers off again.

Taylor Swift “Folklore” Republic Records

#taylor swift #folklore #review

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ahiddenpath · 4 years

Text

My Favorite Writing Stuff

One of the best things about writing is that all you need is a pen and paper! But we all have our favorite tools and luxuries, and I thought it might be fun to talk about mine below the cut. Lotsa pics, long post.

Word Processors

Scrivener

The single writing item I use most is my word processor, Scrivener, by Literature and Latte. At some point waaaaaay back in 2012, I found myself writing Growing Up with You in Microsoft Word... And having to wait ten seconds for the screen to adjust and load new text as I scrolled. It was just too danged long for the program to handle. Just reading my manuscript was a nightmare, let alone copying and pasting to move text, shuffle paragraphs, etc. Making a new doc for each chapter quickly became a clunky chore.

THEN I FOUND SCRIVENER, AND IT’S THE BEST.

Scrivener is... not very user friendly; there’s definitely a learning curve. But it was immediately so much better for writing long fiction than Word that I bought a book on the program and read it from cover to cover, which... I don’t think I’ve ever done before. That’s how much of a game changer this was.

The feature I rely on most is the binder.

This is the binder for Four Years, which currently has... Forty-eight chapters. I corralled the chapters into two folders, one for the first year of college (1), and one for the second (2).

If I click folder 1, all of the chapters appear, each snug in their own folder. Once the Scrivener file loads, there is no further loading time. Each folder can be moved by clicking and dragging, as can each text file inside each folder. FREEDOM!

This feature alone was worth the price of the program. They offer a free trial, so please check it out if you’re interested!

Portable Word Processors

I’ve mentioned these before, but I have two portable gadgets that allow me to write on the go, distraction free.

Alpha Smart Neo 2

This might look like the baby of a toddler’s toy computer and a keyboard, but it’s actually my baby.

Just kidding! Sort of! The Alpha Smart Neo 2 is a portable word processor that boots up in a second, is powered by three AA batteries for eons, and weighs about 2 pounds. They are no longer in production (which is a crime), but there are oodles available on Ebay for about $20-30.

(I used to own and talk about my Alpha Smart 3000. The Alpha Smart Neo 2 is the latest model before the company shut down, and the keyboard is nicer; it’s quieter and easier on the fingers).

I honestly can’t say enough about this device. I rarely draft on a computer anymore; it’s just too easy to find yourself surfing the web, falling down a research vortex, or even reading your manuscript instead of writing. Alpha Smarts can remember what you wrote until you delete it. That’s it. That’s all they do. It’s beautiful.

I write about 800 words/hr on a computer. I write about 1,500 words/hr on an Alpha Smart. Distractions are so, so real.

When you’re ready to port your writing from your Alpha Smart to your word processor, all you have to do is connect a printer cable to your Alpha Smart, then plug the usb end into your computer. Open your word processor, turn on your Alpha Smart, select the file you want to transfer, and hit send. If you forget any of this, it’s written on the back of the Alpha Smart.

I know that no one should blame their success or failure on their tools, but... I wouldn’t be able to write nearly as much without my Alpha Smart. And if you ever do writing meet ups, you’ll be the only person who isn’t fighting for a power outlet! It also fits easily into a tote bag or backpack.

Oh, Alpha Smart Neo 2. My partner and friend!

Freewrite

The Freewrite by Astrohaus is... um. Well, it’s a lot like the Alpha Smart Neo 2, except that it’s waaaay more expensive, much harder to use, and has terrible firmware.

There are cool things about it, for sure! For one, it has this weird... Pseudo typewriter feel. It’s much larger and heavier than an Alpha Smart, and I’m not sure that I actually consider it portable... But the thick, angled base practically functions as a lap desk. It’s comfortable to use and has a nice mechanical keyboard.

It has wifi capability, so you can send drafts directly to your dropbox/cloud/email, no cords or transfers needed. The screen is an e-ink scree, like a Kindle Paperwhite, easy on the eyes and readable in the sun. It’s also backlit, which is the one major win over the Alpha Smart.

I bought mine used off ebay for a fraction of the list price (this thing is NOT worth $600 on any planet, goodness gracious mercy dang! I paid about $180), and, um... I still don’t know if it was worth it, not when I can buy an Alpha Smart Neo 2 for $30 tops. I mean, I like the e-ink and the backlit screen, but... There’s a lag between typing and the words populating on the screen. There are no arrows to fix a typo. I had to send 10 emails back and forth to tech support to get it updated and working. It was not broken, and I understood all the directions... It’s just god awful firmware. I also lost a draft because it wipes your device if you open their Sprinter program while using your Freewrite.

I still use it, though! The tactile sensation is really nice, the keys make a satisfying clickety clackety, the E-ink screen is lovely, I adore the option to write in a not-that-well-lit room, and the wifi transfer is faster than my Alpha Smart’s wired method. But I still can’t recommend it as long as Alpha Smart Neo 2s are available, not unless you’re some combination of the following: a writing nut who writes so gosh dang much that these toys are worth it, someone who is big on tactile sensation, someone who likes hipster stuff, or someone who would love an Alpha Smart but can’t read the electronic screen well. If this is you, make sure you also have a strong grasp on how to talk to and understand tech support, because you will need them.

Just never ever EVER open Sprinter...

Notebooks

Leuchtturm1917, hard cover, A5, dotted

MAY I INTRODUCE YOU TO MY LOVE, THE LEUCHTTURM NOTEBOOK.

WHERE DO I EVEN START.

The Leuchtturm is... Just the best. The hard cover takes abuse well, stickers hold onto it nicely, it has two ribbon bookmarks and an elastic closure, there’s a folder attached to the back inside cover... The dot version is unobtrusive and encourages smaller writing, which helps the notebook last. And it is available in a rainbow of colors!

The paper is lovely, the pages are numbered, and IT HAS AN INDEX.

I’m a scientist, and working in a Leuchtturm is just like working in a fancy, expensive lab notebook. The set up is done already, man. You just gotta jot down what pages contain what. IT’S SO ORGANIZED, with almost zero effort! Mi amor.

Sure, I could make an index page and number all of my pages manually... But I’ve met myself. I won’t do it. When you combine all of these lovely features, you have one unbeatable notebook.

Plus, they’re easy to obtain in the states! I order them off Amazon or buy them at my local Barnes & Nobles.

Midori MD Notebook, A5, grid

The Midori has even nicer quality paper than the Leuchtturm, but the cover can’t take abuse, and it lacks the nice features. I truly appreciate the paper quality, but the other features bring me back to my Leuchtturms every time.

It’s a Japanese item and is more difficult to import to the states. You can get them off Amazon, though!

Pens

I use Uni-ball Signo 207 gel pens. They write comfortably, and using them feels satisfying. They should be available in most Walmart/Target type stores, at least in the states!

It should be noted that I’m just not a pen buff. I tried fountain pens, and it was more trouble than it was worth for me.

Folios/Traveler’s Notebooks

Okay, so you found the perfect notebook! Wanna make it SUPER DUPER FANCY PANTS?! Well, you could try a traveler’s notebook.

I only learned what a traveler’s notebook is about a year ago, so if you’re also in the dark... It’s a leather cover that holds notebooks inside with elastic. I own these chic sparrows, one for my Midori notebook (or whatever notebook I’m using at the time), and one for my journal.

My full name is etched into them, so please pardon my censorship XD

The chic sparrow traveler’s notebooks are so elegant and decadent and... I won’t lie, I literally move one or both around the house with me, just so I can look at them.

The one on the left is a Mr. Darcy deluxe, size A5, in the Wickham color. The one on the right is an Enchanted Woods deluxe, size A5, in the Elderwood color.

They have lots of pockets on the inside, a pen loop, and elastics to hold multiple notebooks. This one is strung with a Midori notebook. I also have a smaller B6 one that I use as a wallet! It holds a small notebook, so I can write down those ideas that always happen when I’m out and don’t have paper. The pockets hold IDs, credit cards, and cash.

It’s just this... magical, opulent item. While it’s likely the least practical thing on this list, it’s very special to me.

Lap Desks

I HAVE A HARRY POTTER RAVENCLAW STORAGE DESK FROM POTTERY BARN AND I FEEL LIKE A WITCH WHEN I USE IT.

Oh dear, I took a terrible picture, it looks so lovely in person.

The top can slide in both directions, revealing enough storage for several A5 notebooks, pens, and more. It’s a great way to cart your stuff into your favorite cozy nook for a writing session. Plus, you’ll feel like a Hogwarts student! It’s available in all four house designs, plus a Hogwarts crest version.

Pottery Barn puts these on sale occasionally. I’d aim for 25% off before buying.

My Writing Bag

I decked out a tote bag in writing pins to carry my Alpha Smart, thesaurus, a notebook, and pens. You can use any bag, as long as it accommodates what you need! Here are my fave sources for writing-related pins:

Literary Emporium, who makes my favorite pin, “Still I Rise,” a Maya Angelou quote. They have the most gorgeous pins.

When life gives you lemons, read them, advice for the ages

And fandom:

Digivice pin

My beloved Sailor Moon pin, the loveliest pin I’ve ever seen (not shown because it lives on my Sailor Moon jacket!). All of the inner senshi are available!

THAT’S ALL, THAT WAS SO MUCH. Please let me know if you try any of these out!

#writing #writing supplies #my favorite writing stuff #my writing stuff #faves

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klausriordain · 6 years

Text

Listening to Prequelle now for the first time through my stereo. I don’t have the deluxe edition, so I don’t have Avalanche. I received my download code this morning (Thank you to @fate-of-lice !!) Here’s how I feel about each song and the album.

Ashes – I remember hearing this when the ritual started. I was creeped out because I could only see scary scenes in my head. I remember standing there in the dark as it played and I was just nervous about it because of the creepy factor in it. But it was a good start to the album!

Rats – The classic banger! Of course, I’m happy to hear this song again. The guitar in the middle of it sounds so good every time. I’m a sucker for a good bass line, too. Oh whoa oh~ And I swear I love the ending more than anything else in the song. Such a good outro.

Faith – This INTRO gives me goosebumps all over. I remember that they played this there, and I was confused because I had not heard it yet, so I was like “What is this?” but now I recognize it as I’m hearing it again. I like “I am all eyes, I am all ears.” Then “Faith. Is. MINE.” Is good too. I enjoy this song.

See the Light – To quote @fate-of-lice “His father’s father’s father….” The song from the boombox, right? Right off the bat, it sounds very pleasing to my ears. But, I don’t think I want to eat him. Ooh, that little beat in-between the chorus and the second verse… That sounded good. I liked that. I like this song a lot, I’m so mad about it because it sounds like a simple love song. Kind of? It’s just what I get from it after all.

Miasma – The first of two instrumentals on the album. There’s no lyrics to focus on, but I like that sometimes. Sometimes I need a break, so I listen to songs without words in them. It feels good, of course they have that wonderful guitar in there. And then there was the drums. It’s just appealing all over. I love rhythms, and that synth! Amazing. Hey, wait, wasn’t this the track--- AH THE SAXOPHONE! PAPA NIHIL!

Dance Macabre – Who doesn’t love this song? I’m sure there are people out there who don’t, but I personally love this song. This is probably the 100+th time that I’ve heard it, but I would listen to it again if I could. It’s perfect. It fits all of my aesthetics at the same time. And honestly, Copia could bewitch me any night. I don’t mind. I feel sad when it ends.

Pro Memoria – His father’s father, again. This song makes me feel sad, because when I was at the show, I started to think about dying, and death, and it kinda fucked me up for a little while. But hearing it again, I’m thinking about how nice the keyboard sounds behind his voice. I like that the idea behind the song isn’t to be afraid of death, but to know that it’s something that is going to happen whether we accept it or not.

Witch Image – This one is okay, it’s not my favorite, but I still like it. Rotting flesh is good in any Ghost song, honestly.

Helvetesfönster – The second instrumental! This one sounds like something that someone would sync their Christmas lights up to. Definitely like this one more than Miasma. Miasma is still good though.

Life Eternal – Oh, this got me in my feelings. It’s soft, beautiful, and I really enjoy songs like that. “If you had life eternal…” It really makes you think about what you would do if you truly were going to live forever. It has a November Rain (GunsNRoses) kind of feel to it.

Prequelle: A solid album. It’s worth listening to at least once, but sometimes you’ll find yourself listening to other songs and then want to listen to this album again! That’s how it feels for me. I recommend it. It is different a bit from the past albums Ghost has done, but not completely in a way where it would be unlistenable.

Want me to review other Ghost albums? Let me know! I’d love to do more of this. Even if it’s not for Ghost – let me know what you would want me to review!

#album review #prequelle #ghost bc

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chasholidays · 6 years

Note

Hey love your fics im a first time prompt sender, if you can could you carry on Where Everybody Knows Your Name, except with Monty and Miller, I want to see if Monty gets his customer crush too, looking forward to the holiday fics i cant wait thanks x

Original fic here!

“It was Nate, right?”

Monty considers, but he can’t help the smartass retort. It’s his lot in life. “No, Monty. We work together?”

Clarke rolls her eyes, but she’s clearly amused. Possibly in spite of herself, but he’ll take what he can get. “Your customer crush. Nate with the rainbow flag on his bag?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s him. Why?”

“I know him.”

He frowns. “Okay, that’s just unfair. You can’t hog all the hot queer boys. We’re in a recession.”

“Which is why I’m talking to you. He and Bellamy are friends. They hang out. If you came to hang out too, you could actually spend time with him.”

“You have such a weird thing about talking to people you’re romantically interested in. Who does that?”

“People who want to get laid.” She leans back against the counter, watching him shrewdly. He likes Clarke, but she can be kind of intense. “You don’t have to do anything about it. But I figured I should let you know. Hanging out with Miller is a possibility.”

“Miller?”

“Bellamy calls him Miller. That’s why I didn’t make the connection earlier. But we all hung out last night, so—“

“So you slept with a customer and want to enable everyone else to do the same.”

“We’re dating,” she points out. Monty still thinks she might be a witch, honestly. It would explain some things. “All I’m enabling you to do is spend some time with him socially. He’s hosting game night at his place on Saturday night. Bellamy said I could bring friends.”

The entire premise of Monty’s crush is that Nate is attractive and seems to be queer. He’s quiet and polite when he comes in, and usually puts a dollar in the tip jar after he pays. There are no particularly deep feelings involved. He’s eye candy.

But, well.

“Game night?”

“Apparently he’s really into indie board games.”

“Oh my god.”

She smirks, and he’ll give her this one. She deserves to be smug. “So, you’re in, right?” she asks.

“Send me the details, yeah. I think I can make it.”

Monty has a fairly effective strategy for dealing with random crushes: he doesn’t do anything about them and eventually they go away. He likes having a person to idly fantasize about, but actually making a move always seems kind of terrifying. In college, his first and only girlfriend had asked him out, and they’d had a year-long relationship that ended with graduation.

And since then, nothing. Just scattered crushes, the kind with no pressure at all. People who aren’t really real, customers and attractive strangers on the bus. When Clarke was hired, he thought about getting a crush on her, but she was too intimidating, and not really his type.

Plus, after less than a month, she was dating Bellamy, which sort of proved his point. Anyone who went from crush to flirting to relationship with the efficiency she did was not someone he could ever date.

But a quiet guy who’s friends with his coworker and her boyfriend, who has board game nights? That guy’s right up his alley. And it’s a more than a little terrifying.

Clarke agrees to walk over to Nate’s with him, so he won’t be showing up alone. Bellamy isn’t even there, so they don’t have to pretend he’s not nervous about interacting with his semi-crush.

“It’s not a big deal,” Clarke says, which isn’t actually that helpful. He knows it’s not a big deal. She doesn’t need to remind him he’s being irrational.

His expression must give him away, because her face dissolves into a sheepish smile. “Sorry. So it’s going to be us, Bellamy, Miller, their friend Monroe, Raven, and her boyfriend. Apparently they try to do this like once a month.”

“Cool.” He pauses. “Bellamy didn’t think it was weird? That you were bringing me.”

“Nope. That’s part of why I asked Raven,” she adds. “I just said I was bringing my two favorite coworkers.”

“Aww,” he says, grinning. “Thanks.”

“Not a lie.”

“We like you too.” He exhales. “I shouldn’t be nervous, right? This is board games. If I’ve got a thing, this is it.”

“Definitely. Also you like Bellamy and Raven, and Miller is pretty laid back. You have good taste in crushes.”

“Thanks. Did we know Raven had a boyfriend?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, cool, just checking. Should I call Nate Miller? Does everyone call him Miller?”

“I don’t think he’ll mind Nate? He and Bellamy met in high school and there were a couple Nates, so he went by his last name. Either is probably fine.”

“It’s probably good,” he says. “Nate is an idea, Miller is a person. I can get to know the person.”

“That’s the spirit.”

They run into Raven a few blocks out, falling into step with her and her boyfriend, a tall guy with long hair who’s about as intimidating as Raven is, honestly. They’re one of those couples Monty is sure could kick his ass without even noticing they were doing it.

“Hey,” says Raven. “Finally putting your money where your mouth is, Monty?”

“I’ve never understood that saying,” he muses. “Do you have any idea how dirty money is? The last place I want it is where my mouth is.”

Raven smirks. “Don’t be nervous. Me and Clarke are going to talk you up.”

“That actually makes me feel worse, thanks. Is this your boyfriend? Do we get introduced or is he just going to lurk?”

“Yeah, this is Roan. Roan, Monty and Clarke. Clarke’s boyfriend invited us. I slept with him after it turned out Clarke and I were dating the same guy.”

Roan takes this in stride. “I will probably need a diagram. But it’s nice to meet you both. Raven has been educating me on the evolution of board gaming beyond Scrabble and Monopoly, so I’m looking forward to an educational afternoon.”

“Oh wow,” says Monty. “Yeah, you’ve got a lot to look forward to. Did Bellamy tell you what we were playing? If Miller’s understanding of modern board games begins and ends with Settlers of Catan, I don’t think I can be into him anymore.”

“What if board game night is actually just Sorry for three hours?” Clarke asks. “What then?”

“As long as it’s not Monopoly. Then none of us would come out with relationships.”

They talk favorite games until they get there, which lulls Monty into a false sense of security. He can do this. He’s a normal person who has normal conversations.

And then Nate opens the door to the apartment building, and it all kind of falls apart. He usually comes in on his way to work, dressed in slacks and collared shirts, but on his own time he apparently favors tight t-shirts and worn jeans. The t-shirt has the triforce on it, too, just to rub it in. It’s like he stepped right out of one of Monty’s pathetic dork fantasies.

“Hey, coffee shop crew. I’m an asshole who doesn’t actually know any of your names except Clarke. I assume you’re Raven and you’re Monty,” he adds, guessing correctly. “And you must be Raven’s boyfriend, name to be determined.”

“Roan,” he says. “A pleasure.”

“Cool. We haven’t ordered pizza yet, so you guys can get in on arguing about toppings. Come on up.”

Bellamy and Monroe are already upstairs, looking at Nate’s–Miller’s–impressive collection of board games. To Monty’s commingled relief and horror, he’s got great taste in games, some titles he loves, others he’s been hoping to try out, and even some that weren’t on his radar at all but look cool.

“I have a problem,” says Miller, when he catches Monty examining a deluxe edition of Underlings of Underwing. “A kickstarter problem.”

“This is honestly amazing,” he says. “Like–wow. You have the game collection I dream of having.”

“Yeah? What are some of your favorites?”

There’s this zone Monty gets into where he’s nervous, where he can interact normally, have full, coherent conversations, but it feels as if he’s watching himself do it, as if he’s in a video game running through a pre-written script until he hits a decision. He and Miller have a perfectly cordial discussion of games, and Monty’s sure he comes across well.

On the inside, though, he’s basically dying.

It gets better once they settle in for actual gaming. The games are engaging and require him to put thought into them, and even though he always ends up playing the same game as Miller when they break into groups, he can interact through mockery and trash talk, which works for him. Especially since Miller gives as good as he gets.

He’s congratulating himself on interacting like a normal human and never having to do it again when Miller grabs his arm. “Hey, have you played Pandemic Legacy?”

“No, just regular Pandemic.”

“I’m trying to get a game going on Thursdays. Bellamy and Clarke are in, so we need a fourth. You want to join?”

“Thursdays?” he asks, to fill the space as his brain catches up.

“Yeah. I figure we won’t make it work every week, but I want to try it. I hear it’s cool.”

“Yeah, me too. I can probably do that, yeah. Thursday nights?”

“Yup. Give me your number, I’ll text you when we’ve got a plan.”

“Awesome, sounds good. Looking forward to it.”

They shake hands, and Bellamy and Miller do a bro hug, and everyone else says their goodbyes downstairs. Clarke’s going over to Bellamy’s, which means she’s not going the same direction he is anymore, and he gets to walk home alone, letting his music dominate his brain.

Jasper’s playing Splatoon when he gets to the apartment, and Monty just collapses next to him with a groan.

“Did it suck?”

“No. It was amazing. We have a ton in common, he has a huge game collection, he wants me to join a weekly Pandemic Legacy game. I don’t know how it could have gone better.”

Jasper pats his shoulder, consoling. “Sorry, bro. That sucks.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Miller’s never been one of the regulars who comes in every day, so Monty doesn’t actually see him again for another couple days. He comes in on Tuesday morning, though, looking just as attractive as always, except now he has a personality.

Clarke Griffin is the worst thing that’s ever happened to Monty, probably. This is her fault.

He’s grabbing a big order of pastries when Miller comes in, so he just offers a smile, but he ends up in line right next to him, because that’s the kind of luck Monty has.

“Morning,” says Miller.

“Morning. How’s it going?”

“Okay. I was hoping you were going to be here. When do you finish work on Thursday?”

He blinks. “Oh, uh–three? Morning shift.”

“Cool. I was thinking like six for the game. Order dinner, figure out the rules, fight over how to prevent disease while the world dies around. The usual.”

“Yeah, that should work for me. Are you getting any pastries?” he adds.

“Yeah, blueberry muffin.”

Monty grabs one quickly, puts it in a bag and hands it over. It’s nothing he hasn’t done for other regulars, nothing he hasn’t done for Miller before, even. But this is the problem with a fake crush becoming a real crush: now everything feels important. It’s not fun anymore.

Which is, of course, ridiculous. He still doesn’t have a chance. He just has real things to pine over.

“Thanks,” Miller says, easy. “I’ll text you later tonight.”

“Cool. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

“Very natural,” Maya says, patting his shoulder once Miller is gone. “Totally smooth.”

“It may seem that way, but on the inside I am dying.”

“No, I can tell.”

“Thanks,” he says. “Really.”

“At least you get to hang out with him every week,” Clarke says, and he glares at her.

“I’m not even talking to you. You’re banned.”

She just smiles. “You’re welcome.”

He makes sure there are no customers around before he gives her the finger. So he’s not that doomed.

Yet.

Interacting with Miller isn’t that bad, except that the whole crush thing doesn’t get better. He’s just waiting for something to ruin it, and nothing does. Miller is not only hot and queer, but sarcastic and geeky and passionate. He works for a theater company that does outreach in public schools and seems to love it, and while Monty doesn’t really think he saves kittens from trees in his spare time or anything, that’s not really his type anyway.

Miller is his type. Basically just as he is. And he has no idea what to do about it.

“You could ask him out,” Clarke says. They’ve got their fifth week of Pandemic Legacy tomorrow, and Monty might be complaining. Just a little.

In his defense, it is her fault. She deserves it.

“How dare you,” he says.

“Monty doesn’t woo,” Jasper adds. “Monty is wooed.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. Most of the time, I’m neither.”

“Oh right. In general, Monty is just sad and alone.”

“That’s me,” he agrees. “I’ve got a brand, Clarke. Respect the brand.”

“And your brand can never date Miller?”

“No, my brand’s just bad at it. And I think it’s incompatible with his,” he adds.

“Really?” Clarke asks, sounding dubious. “You’re nerds who love games. How are you not on Miller’s brand?”

“His low self esteem makes it hard for him,” says Jasper, like he’s some kind of expert.

“Your mom’s low self esteem makes it hard for her,” Monty mutters.

“You’re great, Monty,” says Clarke. “Really.”

“I know. But that doesn’t mean I’m asking Miller out.”

“Okay. But you could.”

“I could,” he agrees. “I’m just not.”

He assumes it’s the end of the conversation, which is true in a limited sense, but Clarke clearly doesn’t forget, because Monty’s been at Miller’s for about three minutes when their phones buzz with a message from Bellamy: Sorry, something came up, me and Clarke are out.

It’s not even a real excuse. They really could have done better.

Miller must agree, because he snorts and tosses his phone aside. “Wow, subtle.”

“You think they’re having sex?”

“Oh, probably. I meant–” He glances at Monty, like he’s thinking it over. “Bellamy’s been telling me to just make a move for weeks. He thinks just because he’s dating his barista crush, everyone else should too. So he probably decided to skip out just so I’d–do this.”

Monty’s mouth goes dry. “Wait, what?”

“No pressure,” he says, with a shrug. “But if they’re not here anyway, we could switch this to a date. Or we can pretend I didn’t say anything and play video games.”

It takes his brain a second to catch up. “Really?” is what he comes out with, and then, “I mean, um. Can we do both?”

“Both what?”

“Video game date? Like–we’re on a date, but we’re still playing video games. Is that something you’re into?”

Miller smiles. “Yeah, Monty. That’s exactly what I’m into.”

“Oh. Wow. What are the odds?”

“Pretty shitty,” Miller says. “We must be lucky.”

Monty can’t stop grinning. “Yeah, we must be.”

He makes Clarke a coffee when she shows up for her shift the next morning. “I’m not saying I forgive you,” he says. “But I no longer want to murder you.”

“Cool.” She raises the cup. “To customer crushes?”

“To customer boyfriends,” he corrects, and she grins.

“Even better.”

#screwitanddoitanyway

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recentanimenews · 3 years

Text

Manga the Week of 11/25/20

SEAN: Happy Thanksgiving! Please be safe when you celebrate it!

Cross Infinite World gives us the 2nd volume of Another World’s Zombie Apocalypse Is Not My Problem!, which surprises me, as I thought it was a standalone. Though perhaps it surprises me less because it was on last month’s list – it got bumped.

Dark Horse Comics has two deluxe volumes – Vol. 6 of Berserk and Vol. 2 of Hellsing.

ASH: I plan on getting my hands on that deluxe Berserk volume.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a trio of titles, as we see Fire in His Fingertips 2, World’s End Harem 9, and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 11.

ASH: Fire in His Fingertips is definitely one of the spiciest josei manga being released in print right now.

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts The Bloodline, their first attempt at pulling a Cross Infinite World and licensing direct from the author – this isn’t out from a Japanese publisher yet. The plot sounds a lot like Our Last Crusade, but with vampires.

There’s also a pile of other titles. By the Grace of the Gods 5, Cooking with Wild Game 10, Demon Lord, Retry! 5, Full Metal Panic! 9, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 7, the 11th and final volume of Kokoro Connect, My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 2, and My Next Life As a Villainess 8.

No print debuts for Kodansha, but some new volumes. We see I’m Standing on a Million Lives 8, Noragami: Stray God 22, Sayonara Football 2 (the final volume, though also see Farewell My Dear Cramer), The Quintessential Quintuplets 11, The Witch and the Beast 2, and Yuzu the Pet Vet 4.

MICHELLE: Man, I’m already so far behind on Yuzu the Pet Vet.

ASH: Likewise!

SEAN: SEAN: Digitally there is a debut. Am I Actually the Strongest? (Jitsu wa Ore, Saikyou Deshita?) is a reincarnation isekai that runs in Suiyoubi no Sirius. A reincarnated kid is abandoned for being weak. But is he? Is he really? No word on whether the author’s high school bullies play the villains here, but it’s possible! That is typical of the genre.

There’s also Cells at Work: Baby 2, Farewell My Dear Cramer 12, Maid in Honey 3, My Best () Butler 3, Orient 8, Shaman King: Red Crimson 4 (the final volume), The Slime Diaries 4, and When We’re in Love 2.

Seven Seas has a massive amount of stuff. Let’s start with the debuts. Days of Love at Seagull Villa (Umineko Sou Days) is a Comic Yuri Hime title about a spurned fiancee who runs away, and the single mom who runs the housing complex she runs to. No relation to Umineko: When They Cry. Probably. It’s from the creator of I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up.

MICHELLE: This looks really good!

ASH: It does! I’m looking forward to giving it a try.

MELINDA: Could be interesting.

SEAN: Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises is a one-omnibus shoujo manga that originally ran in a not-shoujo venue, Shueisha’s Jump Kai!. It’s about the lives of two Takarazuka girls. There is a sequel, as yet unlicensed, still running in Japan, this time in Hakusensha’s Melody.

MICHELLE: This looks really good, too!

ASH: Yes, it really does! In fact, it’s probably one of the releases that I’ve been most looking forward to this year.

ANNA: I’m intrigued by this for sure.

MELINDA: Same here!

SEAN: Two light novels we’ve seen digitally already also make print debuts: The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent and The Sorcerer King of Destruction and the Golem of the Barbarian Queen. We also get the 2nd volume of each of those series digitally.

Also due out next week: Adachi and Shimamura 3 (print) and 4 (digital), Citrus+ 2, D-Frag! 14, Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 3, Gal Gohan 5, GIGANT 3, Harukana Receive 6, High-Rise Invasion 15-16, Magical Girl Site 13, My Senpai is Annoying 3, Neon Genesis Evangelion ANIMA 4, PENGUINDRUM 3 (manga version), Scarlet 2 (the final volume), and Species Domain 8. A large number of these have been out digitally for a while.

Tokyopop has the 7th volume of Futaribeya: A Room for Two.

Vertical has the 14th volume of Witchcraft Works. They also have the digital debut of the final volume of Katanagatari.

Yen On only has three volumes, but one is a doozy. The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya is the 11th volume in the light novel series, coming out digital-only (for now, print will follow) in North America at about the same time it’s out in Japan. The last volume in the series came out in English almost 7 years ago to the day. It’s been a while. Now, this is merely three short stories, but hey, it’s nice to see Haruhi back again – rumors of the author’s crippling writer’s block were worrying.

ASH: It has been some time! I never got around to reading them all, but I did enjoy the Haruhi novels that I made time for.

SEAN: They’ve also got The Asterisk War 14 and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 7.

On the Yen Press side, no debuts, but we get Breasts Are My Favorite Thing in the World! 2, Bungo Stray Dogs 16, Is It Wrong to Try To {Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria 13 (manga version), Overlord the Undead King-Oh! 5, and Teasing Master Takagi-san 10.

Give thanks for manga! And again, stay safe. Masks, please.

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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gloomy-goober · 7 years

Text

A Graceless Spell

Roman Day 3: Princey is cursed to be clumsy in everything he does for one whole week! I wonder how that plays out?

Part 1 (You are Here!) / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 In which Princey has the worst morning of his life.

The initial wake up should have been the first clue that something had been off.

Roman was usually graceful when he awoke. Like an animated princess he would wake with a dramatic yawn, his hair perfect in every way, and birds singing either outside his window or even in his bed chamber.

Today was different. The Prince was on his way to return to the mind palace castle after he had defeated an evil witch. He had not made it back before dark so he felt it wise to set up camp on the side of the trail in the forest.

No birds sang as he woke up and he woke up in a groggy fashion that would be more appropriate for some of the other sides to wake up like. He did not feel as well rested as he normally felt. He just felt like he needed to get the rock that had found a way to dig in his side away from him.

He sat up and groaned at the soreness of his muscles. Battles did not usually leave him in such a state.

“I guess she was a tougher fight than I thought,” he mumbled to himself as he popped his back and sighed at the small bit of relief that brought over him.

He moved out from under the blanket he had laid under for the night and stumbled out of the tent. The usual dramatic flair of the creative side foiled as his barefoot snagged on the side of the tent and he fell face first into the dirt road.

“Blasted tent!” Roman grumbled under the breath and pushed himself to his feet. He glared at the simple tent as if the inanimate object was truly to blame for his face plant.

“I knew I should have made the deluxe version,” he stated to the empty wood as he brushed the dirt from his once clean silk pajamas. “I guess exhaustion made me foolishly think that any old tent would do.”

He snapped his fingers and the tent disappeared as well as the dirty pajamas that were replaced with his usual princely attire. Usually he did not bother with using his power in his area of the ‘mind space’ but this very unflattering awakening and run his patience thin.

“Reginald, I believe it is time to-” Roman turned to address the space where his regal white steed should have been tied to a tree but he found the reigns had been cut and the horse no where.

“Horse thieves! Really? In this part of my wood!” He looked around the dark space and frowned. He could have sworn he had been closer to the castle yesterday not in the thieves usual hang out. “Fine! Whatever! I will just...just walk home.”

The side moodily made sure his sword was still with him before he started off down the dirty road alone; leaving the tent behind.

“Don’t they know conjuring a horse is a lot harder when one’s had used most of their power to make a main hub a castle?” he mumbled to himself. “No respect for their prince. I should send a royal guard to flush them out. That’ll show them.”

Boot covered feet slowly made their way out of the darker part of the wood and into a more familiar territory. The wood had slowly thinned out to show the outskirts of his kingdom. A few farmers were out and about; toiling their land and carts moved down the road towards the communal market.

He ran a hand through his hair to get out any leaves or dirt that may have gotten stuck during his rest or walk and stood up taller. Roman would not let his people see him in such a miserable state. They would see their prince as he should be seen; strong and victorious.

His world seemed to have other plans.

A great roll of thunder rumbled across the suddenly darkened sky and great drops of water began to abuse the earth. The villagers scrambled to get to shelter. The farmer left their crops to be watered naturally by the rain and got their animals back inside. The carts hurried along to get the main village to stay in a shop or pub.

None of them noticed the now drenched prince.

“Could this morning get any worse?” Roman grumbled and shook his head as he moved to continue his long walk through all this rain.

He must have not picked his foot up enough because before Prince knew it he was laying in the muddy path; white clothes now stained brown with the wet dirt. Anger swirled in his gut but he swallowed it down. He had to get back to the main hub and then he would get warm, ask Patton for a cup of cocoa, and stay in his room to sleep the rest of this day away.

Everyone’s eyes were on Prince. Usually the creative side would be overjoyed with the undivided attention he was getting from the other three sides. They never did pay enough attention to him, in his honest opinion. Today, though, he wished they would look away.

His walk back had been terrible. The mud had slightly washed off of him because of the rain but the force of the drops had splatted his boots. The brown of the dirty path had also stained his usually white, and currently soaked, outfit.

“Whoa, Roman, what happened to you?” Patton paused the move he had been watching and stood up from the couch. Concern was in the emotional side’s voice and it showed by the speed that he made his way over to him.

Roman put on a smile and waved off the concerned hands that wanted to check a small cut he had gotten from a wayward branch on his wave up the hill where the castle sat.

“It is nothing. I just had a small run in with an elemental in the woods on my way back,” Roman added a laugh that he hoped did not sound too fake, “Threw me into the moat-”

“We have a moat?”

Roman ignored Virgil’s little add on. “But it is no matter. I just need a change of clothes and something to warm me up.”

“Say no more,” Patton said with a grin, “You go get a nice shower and change into something super cozy. I will make you some of my extra special hot cocoa.”

“With marshmallows and whipper cream?”

“What kind of special hot cocoas would it be without that stuff?” Morality snorted and pushed him out of the main hub and towards one of the many hallways. “Now go.”

Roman did not go against the ‘order’ of the trait. A sense of calmness had washed over him at the feeling that he was safe again in the mind castle. More peace came over him as he walked into his room and greeted his lovely posters that adorned the walls from their frames.

He wanted nothing more than to flop onto his bed and fall asleep but in the state he was in that was no an option. He grabbed his most comfortable pajamas from his dresser and moved into the en suite. That is when more trouble began.

What should have been a relaxing shower was a clumsy nightmare. He tripped over his trousers when getting them off, knocked over his shower’s shelf, almost broke the handle when the water was ice cold on his back, and ripped his sash when he got out of the shower and almost fell over because the floor was slippery.

“What in Walt’s great name is going on here?” He thought as he very, VERY carefully got into his pajamas. He clung to the ripped sash as he threw the rest into the laundry basket. He would have to fix this later.

“Roman! I got your cocoa!” Patton’s voice sang from outside the doorway. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to drink it in here or if you wanted to join us to watch The Avengers.”

Prince made his way over to the door and gave a weary smile to Morality. Carefully he took the warm mug, his favorite one he noted, and held it in both hands to soak up the warmth.

“Thank you, Patton, for this and the offer but I am weary from the journey back. I think I want to rest up in here if you do not mind.” +

“Say no more, kiddo. You drink that and sleep; me time is always a good thing to have.”

Roman nodded with what the heart said and took a sip. That had been a mistake. Too much of the molten chocolate hit his mouth and he felt it as it burned his mouth.

On instinct his hands let go of the mug and it feel to the floor with a loud smash. The hot cocoa hitting Patton’s shoes and his bare feet. He jumped back with a hand over his mouth as the sting dulled to that uncomfortable swollen feeling.

“F-!”

“Oh no!” Patton cut him off, “I’ll get a rag, just don’t move. I don’t want you stepping on any glass.”

Roman watched as Morality walked off quickly and he moved to lean against the door frame but missed. The royal fell, luckily away from the spilled drink, onto his back in his room.

"What happened? I heard a crash.”

Roman felt his face heat up in embarrassment at the sound of a anxious side’s voice. It only got worse when he heard the rushed yet methodical footsteps of Logic join the darkly clad side.

“It appears there was an accident,” Logan stated and Roman had to open his eyes when a shadow fell over him. The prince made a face to see the nerd staring down at him. “Are you seriously hurt, Roman?”

“Nothing was hurt too badly except-”

“Okay! I got the rag and a broom, also some cold water for your-hey guys!”

Roman sat up to see Patton had returned. He waved off the helping hand to Logic and pulled himself back to his own feet.

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

“Patton what happened?” Logan asked, “Did you drop the cup when handing it over?”

Morality shook his head and started to work on cleaning the spilled drink. “No. Roman burnt his mouth and dropped the cup. It happens to the best of us but he is lucky he did not get any of glass on him.”

“Princey dropped a cup?” Virgil said the question with disbelief and looked over at the sulking side. “Really?”

“It isn’t that impossible, Virgil,” Logic stated as he took the broom from Morality and started to sweep up the shards of the mug. “Sure, Prince is the least likely of us to drop something but it does not mean it won’t happen.”

“Yeah, but you got to admit it is a little weird. He comes back drenched and covered in mud and-”

“I am still here you know,” Roman shouts from his bed and glares at the two that had been mostly engaged in the conversation. “I don’t appreciate all the talk about me when you are not talking to me about me.”

“Fine,” Anxiety said and crossed his arms, “Then what is going on with you?”

“Nothing is going on with me!” Roman may have used too much flourish with those words and almost knocked over a lamp. He had to move fast to catch it and luckily did. It was a collector’s item after all; it would be terrible if it did smash to pieces. “I am perfectly fine. Merely tired after a long battle. I would appreciate it if you all left now.”

The other sides looked at each other and than at the prince before they left one by one. The first to leave was Virgil; the side had a blank expression on his pale face which usually meant he was thinking too hard. Logan left next after he made sure all the mug pieces had been swept up.

Patton left last after he made sure all the cocoa was gone and that Roman was ‘snug as a bug in a rug’, his words not Roman’s. The prince let the strained smile on his face fall as soon as they all left and he flopped back onto his pillows.

The ramification of that was the lamp he had luckily saved getting shaken and tipping off of the night stand. Ariel’s head went flying off and landed a little ways away; not to mention the bulb was broken.

“Oh come on!” He covered his face with his hands and took in a shaky breath.

“It’s alright. I will just...rest and than later I can glue her back together,” he mumbled to himself and rolled over so his back was to the broken lamp. “It is just one bad day. I have tomorrow.”

A faint smile lit Prince’s face and he clapped his hands to the lights would dim in his room.

“Yeah. Tomorrow...tomorrow...I love ya’ tomorrow...you’re always a day...a...way...”

#Roman #Roman Sanders #Prince #Princey #sanderssidesappreciationmonth #sanders sides #fic #my fic #'A' Fic #thomas sanders #A Graceless Spell #I hate Annie but I had to put it in there because even I admit the song helps me on bad days #The FAM ILY #Virgil #Anxiety #Morality #Logic #Logan #FOUR SHOT WHYYYY

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tinymixtapes · 6 years

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Column: Favorite Rap Mixtapes of July 2018

With a cascade of releases spewing from the likes of DatPiff, LiveMixtapes, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud, it can be difficult to keep up with the overbearing yet increasingly vital mixtape game. In this column, we aim to immerse ourselves in this hyper-prolific world and share our favorite releases each month. The focus will primarily be on rap mixtapes — loosely defined here as free (or sometimes free-to-stream) digital releases — but we’ll keep things loose enough to branch out if/when we feel it necessary. (Check out last month’s installment here.) You could argue that the prolific nature of modern mixtape milieus makes for a mess of inaccessibility. You could, but we at TMT would be much too busy listening to mixtapes to participate in that academic exercise. Onto our informal survey of July 2018 then: nine writers, 14 tapes, mad points of reference and impressions, scenes and feels. Yes, it’s just a sampling, dreamy and incomplete, but selective, like picking curios from a cabinet or fishing life in the notochords, curated by your favorite jet-setting rap connoisseurs, this one writing from the suburbs of Nashville, where the flea market dollar bins are like the barbecues, i.e., smoking. –Samuel Diamond --- 03 Greedo - God Level [STREAM] Don’t doubt that God Level is the most compelling of 03 Greedo’s offerings to date, almost entirely by design. Of course, context is everything: this, his self-proclaimed debut album, came amidst the commencement of his 20-year prison sentence, a fact plainly reflected in the sheer breadth and depth of this project. Greedo utilizes the hour-and-a-half-plus to cover plenty of stylistic ground, with a knowing and foreboding, yet never overly rueful, presence behind the mic. As Jeff Weiss puts it in his heartfelt profile, “a Greedo song exists for every emotion and every occasion,” and no less so than across God Level’s expanse: there’s more conventional going in alongside post-Thugger gurgle; West Coast bounce here, blown-out trap there. And, of course, it’s all wrapped in cover art that slyly references Greedo’s iconoclastic streak, the last laugh in a sordid state of affairs. Clearly, to attain this Level, you have to kill a few idols first. –Soe Jherwood --- Future - Beast Mode 2 [STREAM] The mixtape is Future’s format. Beast Mode 2 is his 19th and the follow-up to his 14th, Beast Mode. The latter was a cold turn for the Atlanta trailblazer; a darker, colder reflection that helped flesh out his character from a 2D trap star to who we hear today. Beast Mode II follows that trend. The weight of success is a tired trope, but when Future sings “Pouring up in public, damn I hate the real me” on the tape’s final track, it doesn’t sound like the millionaire’s cry to the masses about how money doesn’t make you happy. He’s not singing for you or as a part of the emo-rap trend. This is his format, only one of two direct sequels. Unlike the elaborate sculptures of Evol or DS2, Beast Mode 2 is for Future, an etching in a diary. A passing moment. –Sam Tornow --- Pink Siifu - Ensley [STREAM · DOWNLOAD] Ensley is a girl’s name meaning one’s own meadow. But who is she to Pink Siifu? Track five, “Proud/Pray,” might offer a hint, as Pink raps, “This is for my sister.” Maybe he’s just talking about that song, but having relocated from Birmingham to Cincinnati to Los Angeles to his current artistic sojourn in New York, not to mention having also released music under the names iiye, [email protected], and Liv Martez, Siifu too could be an Ensley, at least in spirit, as he seeks to continuously terraform new ground for this rap shit. The meadow sprawls, and with 26 songs clocking in at over an hour, this tape is also scaled up from the field. But don’t let that fence you off — there’s a whole ecosystem here, and Bandcamp has put together a convenient guide for the journey. –Samuel Diamond --- RetcH - After the Verdict [STREAM · DOWNLOAD] It’s far too easy to let the details of RetcH’s run-ins with the law overcloud what After the Verdict properly announces: that the man is back on his bullshit. Sure, titles like “Made it Out” are reminders that the New Jersey rapper just shook off decades of jail time, but even the most explicit engagement with the court case refrains from ham-handed reckoning in favor of unapologetic flexes, like the kickoff, “I clutch the slimmy that was stocky and some beef and broccoli/ And smoke a choppy with a mami on my way to papi.” Far from a calculated return to form, After the Verdict is a refinement of the gnarled, snappish flows we heard on Finesse the World unspooled over a trim batch of ghoulish instrumentals from GRiMM Doza. Despite RetcH’s affinity for every trap upstart’s favorite purple concoction, it’s unclear whether he belongs in the same conversation with his glitzier contemporaries or with those gunning for “something made for grown folk.” What’s clearer is who this music isn’t for: the polite society do-gooders who’d smugly donate to cash-starved schools yet would flee a high-end restaurant as soon as RetcH walks in. Thankfully, RetcH will keep on snarling and sneering, erasing demarcations you thought were fixed and bum-rushing every yuppie function from Millburn to Moorestown along the way. –Cirrus Slump --- Rabit - CRY ALONE DIE ALONE [STREAM] The thing about invoking DJ Screw’s influence in nearly any beat-based form is that it’s already implied. Nevertheless, in an era of wanton creative theft, it never hurts to be explicit. Like any Houston native, Rabit’s always been outspoken about his love for Screw, but CRY ALONE DIE ALONE is his first full-on embrace of the deceased originator’s iconic mixtape form. It’s a far cry from an original Gray Tape, but so is just about everything; merging Houston classics, witch house, and the cutting edge of bass music — three distinct branches of the larger Screw family tree — the mix is less a faithful re-creation than a survey of the breadth of the legend’s influence in the nearly 20 years since his death. There’s a lot of baggage that comes along with making a self-anointed “screw tape,” as there are thin lines between tribute and imitation, or appreciation and exploitation. And the Houston originals here, including”Diamonds and Wood” and “Pourin’ Up,” provide such a zoomed-out view of the city’s vibrant scene that they can initially scan as something closer to gesture than considered selection. Repeated listens put that out of mind, however; the tape owns its origins to such an extent, from the cover art to its June 27 release date, that it can only be a labor of love. –Corrigan B --- Chief Keef - Mansion Musick [STREAM] Things were simpler in 2012. Finally Rich, and especially “Citgo” (the 13th track on the deluxe version), projected effortless style and grit, taking rap to a place it hadn’t been before and one that we didn’t recognize. It’s difficult to say whether Chief Keef has been less or more vital to music in the years since. On one hand, the 17 (or so) mixtapes he’s released since Finally Rich have attracted little mainstream recognition, and none of them has produced a single with the magnitude of “I Don’t Like.” As Corrigan B put it in his review of the very underrated Thot Breaker, “fuckers in school don’t say much about Chief Keef these days.” On the other hand, Keith Cozart’s signature is scribbled thoroughly and, it seems, permanently across the landscape of rap music. I still find his music exciting in its own right, and it shows that he knows and embraces who he is, down to those idiosyncrasies of his style that haven’t been as widely emulated as others. In a couple important ways, Mansion Musick sounds similar to the last 17 (or so) post-Finally Rich mixtapes; the vocals are clear and high in the mix, the variety of drum sounds is small, and the approach to composition and songwriting is unmistakably closer to the sputtering idyll of “Citgo” than the furious staccato of “I Don’t Like.” The piano-driven opening and closing tracks and well-executed collaborations with Playboi Carti and Tadoe particularly stand out. –Will Neibergall --- DJ Surrup - Kids See Ghosts of Screw [STREAM] It’s not at all a knock on Kanye West and Kid Cudi when I write that DJ Surrup’s slowed and throwed version of their Kids See Ghosts project is better than the original. (It’s actually my favorite of the recent G.O.O.D. projects, other than the masterful Daytona of course, plus…) Surrup has been quietly improving upon hit records for years now, and Ye seems to bring out some of the best in him (and vice versa), as The Life of Purple Pablo is also a prime example of Surrup’s sleepy-eyed, sharp-eared genius. By not only slowing and scratching his source material, but reordering and reimagining it in ways extra conducive to replay, Surrup proves himself not yet another “ghost” of Screw, but rather a diamond in the rough of remix culture. And no offense or anything, but Cudi kind of sounds in transition here, which is all kinds of bonus awesome. –Samuel Diamond --- Fat Trel - Finally Free [STREAM · DOWNLOAD] When Fat Trel was locked up on weapons charges in spring 2016, it seemed like another setback in the D.C. street rap king’s belabored transition to wider success. 2013’s SDMG mixtape was blisteringly good, with daring, diverse production that showcased how Trel could hop on anything, be himself, and make it work, leading him to sign with the (perhaps ill-fitting) MMG label. His career has been in idle since then, save for a steady output of video singles since his September 2017 release date. And while the long-awaited Finally Free doesn’t electrify like early-career Trel, that may be a good thing; adjusting gracefully to the vicissitudes of 2018’s rap landscape, the rapper has eased off the drill-and-molly anthems and found a new sweet spot over the mourning, low-slung style of beat pioneered by 808 Mafia. But rather than swag rapping, Trel spits the same unshakable flow that made him famous — so effortless you sometimes forget he’s even rapping. –Nick Henderson --- King Carter - Prisoner of Mind [STREAM · DOWNLOAD] Slums don’t let up. Forget simply taking over this column; the crew is about to fuck around and go the 2018 equivalent of All City, whatever that may be. King Carter’s Prisoner of Mind is one of the latest in a superstring of quantum-entangled collabos from SlumsNYC and frequent comrades such as Standing on the Corner, Slauson Malone, Medhane, Caleb Giles, et al., but it isn’t just one of the latest or just anything for that matter. Streaming this, I laughed, I cried, I came, I died, I came back to life, and I made sure to download the split-track version so I could do it all (or some, but mostly all) over again. Major props due Ade Hakim (a.k.a. Sixpress) who handles the bulk of production on here and has been on an absolute killing spree of late. –Samuel Diamond --- Lil Boii Kantu - 514 [STREAM · DOWNLOAD] The fact that Lil Boii Kantu is able to hammer out non-cringeworthy covers of classic Blink-182 cuts and produce goth trap tunes that slap just as hard never fails to astound me. There’s no shortage of SoundCloud artists who claim versatility, but few can toss the word around and back it up as well as this L.A.-based emcee. Kantu’s sophomore tape picks up where Trippie Redd’s A Love Letter to You left off in 2017, pairing the former’s croaky, auto-tuned howls with murky plug beats. “Senior Ditch Day,” Kantu’s ode to pre-graduation blues, is 514’s choicest offering, laden with screechy pop-punk riffage and teenage romanticism. –Jude Noel --- Big Kahuna OG - SKY CHRYME [STREAM · DOWNLOAD] Richmond-based rap collective Mutant Academy offers a wayward vision of what it means to be a rap crew today. Though there isn’t a fail-safe path to ensure stardom, many of the most celebrated rap groups of the decade have made an art of capitalizing on the “outsider” image. If there’s a unifying “edge” to the four Mutant rappers — Big Kahuna OG, Fly Anakin, Henny L.O., and Koncept Jack$on — it’s that they’re apostles of a particular blunted, Virginia-grown everyman lifestyle wherein Ohbliv loops and Nickelus F epistles are daily sustenance. From without, this seems a plausible way of corralling local support. Yet the group found its early devotees largely by way of the internet, which in turn had Richmonders jetting to the nearest backyard boogie. The squad’s been sitting on so much material that the rollout of the recently excavated SKY CHRYME had the casual air of a SoundCloud loosie. However, disposable, SKY CHRYME is not; Kahuna feels personable without the media manicure, and the mostly homegrown, skyward beats will have even the most fusty of heads retract their diagnosis of the death of “real hip-hop” and start muttering, begrudgingly at first, conspicuously with time, “the internet is the fucking move.” –Cirrus Slump --- Theravada - State of the Art [STREAM · DOWNLOAD ] The State of the Art is goonish, unemployed, unshaven, waking up at 2 PM, driving to the fye to sell back used Eastern Conference Records releases, hoping to get enough to pick up a 2-for-30, getting broken off with an extra $2 and using it to cop some even more obscure early 00s shit, most likely from another region, with a beer-stained pen-and-pixel cover. Theravada channels that come-up, not sonically, but emotionally, giving you that “Hold up, who’s this character?” feeling. My brother said we went to the same high school, but I don’t think that’s right. I did meet the dude after a show at a pool hall in my old neighborhood, though; having never heard the word “theravada” at that point, I thought he was telling me his name was Nirvana over and over: true story. That would’ve been about the time he was working on this, I assume. The moral: Y2K was real, the singularity already happened, is still happening, and right now as you read this, it’s the year 2000. –Samuel Diamond --- Hoodrich Pablo Juan and Danny Wolf - Hoodwolf 2 [STREAM] Hoodwolf’s overstuffed successor makes the cut, despite falling short of the airtight cohesion that Atlanta duo Hoodrich Pablo Juan and Danny Wolf sealed into their debut collaboration. Populated by a deep supporting cast of emcees and producers, Hoodwolf 2 exchanges the pair’s industrial minimalism for a diverse blend of timbres and experimentation. While HPJ’s delivery remains as oddly layered and tongue-in-cheek as ever, Wolf dabbles in slasher-flick dissonance on “Bitch Nigga,” Zaytoven-inspired decadence on “Everything Rare,” and even a trap-inflected appropriation of traditional Japanese music on “Just Vibe” — exclusive to Datpiff and SoundCloud. Despite muddy mixing and phoned-in features by Lil Skies and the ever-uninspired Rich the Kid, Hoodwolf 2 reaches some impressive heights, especially when its respective collaborators embrace their innate weirdness. When your missteps are this good, you’re doing something right. –Jude Noel --- 03 Greedo & Nef the Pharoah - Porter 2 Grape EP [STREAM] In early July, 03 Greedo began what will be a considerably long hiatus from hip-hop recording and performance. Luckily (and bittersweetly) for fans, he’s promised that there’s plenty of unreleased music stowed away on hard drives, which will appear on upcoming projects. This EP, in fact, is the first to be released while he’s behind bars. It’s a collaboration with fellow Californian Nef the Pharoah, and, despite being recorded with 03 Greedo’s sentence looming on the horizon, it’s fun and carefree in a DJ Mustard summer-vibe kinda way. It fits snugly into the lexicon of hot weather-friendly California hip-hop, and Nef and Greedo balance each other’s styles surprisingly well: Nef with a consistent G-funk flavor and delivery, Greedo more melody-savvy and radio-adaptable. It’s a fun, bite-sized, easily digestible listen for warmer weather, landing just at the right time. Despite its feel-good allure, this EP will land heavy on the ears of fans who’ve been following Greedo’s explosive trajectory over the past year. It’s the beginning of a long goodbye, but at least we have unreleased material (that hopefully will contain more Nef collabs) to look forward to. –Alex Brown http://j.mp/2LWnt54

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birnblog · 6 years

Photo

TOP 20 PRIME SLICES OF THE YEAR

Compiled in no particular order by Music Directors Jon O’Neal, Erin Ober & Ruben Radlauer

Alvvays - Antisocialites

Antisocialites is easy to listen to without falling into platitudes. Alvvays has matured in their songs and sound, resulting in a memorable album equal parts wistful and feel good.

KÁRYYN - QUANTA 1:11 / Radio Sampler

QUANTA 1:11 is a bizarre and ethereal work that ranges from ambient synths and Bjork inspired vocals to noise electronic breaks. A must listen for anyone interested in the what the cutting edge of experimental electronic sounds like in 2017.

Destroyer - ken

Ken is the latest lesson in dark pastiche from Destroyer. While borrowing the polished pop production from the 80s, the darkness and weirdness lurking underneath the sheen feels timeless.

Metz - Strange Peace

Metz’s punishing third album feels like it exists in a room collapsing in on itself. Recorded with legendary engineer Steve Albini, this is Metz like you’ve never heard them before. Mess of Wires might be the best heavy song of the year.

Cobraman - New Driveway

Recorded as the full soundtrack to a Thrasher skate film, this album recalls skate music of the 80s and is a quirky, fun listen all the way through.

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid

Berklee alumnus Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s latest album is otherworldly. The Kid is a blend of surreal synth textures and lush electronically layered vocals.

Girlpool - Powerplant

Girlpool’s first album with a full band adds a whole other layer of dynamics and sound without compromising the intimacy and closeness that first drew so many people to the band.

ODESZA - A Moment Apart

A Moment Apart is full of instant electric jams, which is probably why it’s nominated for the Best Dance/Electronic Album of the year. Odesza has always been able to put out songs that you can almost immediately sing along to while still maintaining a real sense of originality. Their synth sounds are crisp and enticing, pulling you in with every build up and beat drop.

Superorganism - Something for Your M.I.N.D. [Single]

This wonderfully strange pop song is all about the production. The juxtaposition between the smooth background vocals and jumpy synth keeps you hanging on to every line. If you haven’t gotten into Superorganism before, this single will surely convince you to check them out.

Hippo Campus - Wam Glow

Hippo Campus truly embodies the indie pop genre. With its bright, laid back guitars, and catchy hooks, this short three song album is the perfect background music for a summer drive with the windows down.

Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins

Although each track has its own sense of complexity in groove, lyric, and theme, Painted Ruins as a whole feels lighter and less internal than some of Grizzly Bear's past works. The driving guitars and warm vocals create a new world for the listener to explore and live in for a little while. It is a silky smooth, psychedelically simple, and just a straight up good album to listen to.

Yumi Zouma - Willowbank

This whole album is so laid back and easy to listen to. The lead singer, Christie Simpson, has the most fitting, soothing indie pop voice that mixes wonderfully with the dreamy guitars and relaxed drum pocket.

Overcoats - Young (Deluxe)

Electro-pop duo, Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell, are meant to sing together. This album really stands out from the beginning with the first track, “Father”, a seemingly celtic inspired song that one wouldn't expect from a typical indie pop band. Overcoats keeps the listener interested with different influences like this throughout the album, while still keeping things consistent with their driving harmonies and classic synth sounds.

De Lux - More Disco Songs About Love

More Disco Songs About Love is the modern day disco album you didn't know you needed. It is clear to hear the 80s inspiration throughout the album, whether it's the Stevie Wonder-esque drum grooves, flute sounds reminiscent of Van McCoy’s “The Hustle”, or general similarity to The Talking Heads. Overall great listen, and even better to dance to.

L.A. Witch - L.A. Witch

60s vibes, Reminds me a lot off the work from Olivia Jean of The Black Belles. Doorsy with a bit of Alice Cooper influences.

Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice

Wonderful collaboration from the two. They really compliment each other's style and sound.

Thundercat - Drunk

Another album that contains an incredible collaboration featuring Michael Mcdonald and Kenny Loggins (Show You The Way). Thundercat never ceases to amaze me as he continues to push the envelope musically with his compositions.

Paul Schaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band - Paul Schaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band

The first release from Paul Schaffer post Letterman’s retirement with members of the CBS Orchestra. A lot of great songs featuring artists like Shaggy, Darius Rucker and Dion. My favorite track is “Happy Street” which features comedy legend Bill Murray.

White Reaper - The World’s Best American Band

Awesome album from the Louisville-based Garage Rock band that gives off classic 70s rock vibes. “Judy French” is a must listen on this record.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana, Murder of the Universe, Sketches of Brunswick East, Polygondwanaland

Not only am I impressed with the fact that King Gizzard released 4 albums in one year, but that each album sounds better than the next one! The musical integrity of each album is uniquely fitted into each release while still maintaining to aesthetic and style of the band’s overall sound. Bravo gentlemen, bravo.

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twilighteve-writes · 7 years

Text

Of Broken Bonds and Corrupted Core - Ch. 2

Summary: In an attempt to protect his teammates, Lance let himself be captured in a rescue mission gone wrong. He thought he was ready for anything the Galra and Druids threw at him, but he was proven wrong when Haggar herself took over and tried to make him into the Galra Empire’s newest weapon. As it turns out, having the ability to manipulate the elements was something intriguing, and Haggar wanted him around to serve as the Ice Mage of the Empire. It didn’t matter that Lance didn’t want to. It wasn’t like he had a choice.

Sequel to Of Seas, of Streams, of Falling Rain, of Naval Hurricane. While it could be read as a stand-alone, reading the previous work is highly recommended.

Can be read in AO3 or FF.net.

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Read under the cut:

“I can’t believe he did that.”

Hunk laughed darkly at Keith’s words. “Keith, this is Lance we’re talking about.”

Keith took a deep breath. “Yeah… I guess I shouldn’t be this surprised.”

“Nevertheless, we need to get him back,” Shiro growled. “We need to get him as soon as we can. The Druids won’t treat him as a royal guest. They’ll tear him apart.”

“We need to plan this carefully, though,” Pidge interjected quickly. “Alpha Kaj isn’t something that we can easily get to. Plus there’s no way it still hung around in Neba galaxy. It must have moved somewhere else.”

Shiro closed his eyes. “I know,” he whispered, voice broken.

Allura watched alongside Coran, silent and still, wondering what exactly they were supposed to do. Once again they were robbed of one precious member, and once again they weren’t sure how exactly they could regain him. Allura sighed, pursing her lips in contemplation. Lance was never her favorite. He was far too loud, too obnoxious, his tendency to throw pickup lines twenty times a day too annoying, but he was also an irreplaceable member of Voltron. He was also a Paladin, whose traits had kept them going.

He was also family.

Allura straightened up and took a deep breath, turning to greet the freed prisoners. She plastered a smile and opened her mouth to speak, but she was beaten to it.

“My lady,” greeted a tall, three-eyed lady with hair that could rival the most exquisite curtain, “I am Pythia of Castal. May I speak to you of your missing pilot?”

“I – “ Allura blinked. “Of course.”

Pythia kneeled in front of her, seemingly only so Allura didn’t need to crane her neck up so keep eye contact. “My lady. The people of Castal have always been able to foresee the future, however briefly or vaguely. With enough willpower, we can access this vision as we wish, though the result we get would be far too fragmented. However, I have reasons to believe that your lost paladin would be retrieved safely, more likely sooner rather than later.”

A knot of tension Allura didn’t realize even existed eased slowly in her stomach. She had heard of the Castallians, their predictions, and their unnerving accuracy. Allura smiled. “Thank you very much, Pythia of Castal. Your information is greatly appreciated.”

Pythia’s gaze turned solemn. “I must say that it most likely would be a difficult battle, though.”

Allura instantly mirrored Pythia’s expression. “I know.”

“The bond!” a sudden shout from Pidge drew Allura’s attention. “We could use Blue’s bond with Lance to track where he is!”

Allura stared at her quizzically. “Can you not use the bonds between Paladins to do it instead? It would be much faster and easier than using the bond between the blue lion and him, since you cannot understand the blue lion as well as you do your own lions.”

Pidge shook her head. “I’m not sure it’s strong enough to track with. We can barely feel one another during training, much less through… I don’t know, solar systems?”

“Yeah, even I don’t sense him all that well,” Hunk agreed. “But Lance’s bond with Blue, on the other hand, is really strong. We should be able to track him through Blue.”

“Alright then,” Shiro spoke up. “Let’s go to Blue’s hangar. We’ll work there.”

“If this is your equivalent of suite hotel room,” Lance began, “then I must say that I am severely disappointed.”

The Druid that had strapped him to the bed he was on peered at him, head tilted aside as though curious.

“Oh, did you know?” Lance said to him conversationally. “There’s like, a classification for hotel rooms on Earth. Standard, deluxe, junior suite, and suite. Standard is just, well, standard, while suite is like the most wow of all rooms. I wouldn’t know because I’ve never stayed in a suite room, but I heard it’s great.”

The Druid nodded and looked away.

“You talk much for someone who has just been captured. Don’t you realize what would happen to you?”

Lance turned to the door, where a tall, long haired Galra who looked way prettier than any Galra Lance had laid his eyes on strolled to him casually. He grinned. “Hey, I’m sure these guys appreciate it. I wouldn’t want to be your typical silent, cowering prisoner and bore you out of your mind.”

The pretty Galra smiled. “I have heard that the Blue Paladin has ways with his words, but I never thought he would be this entertaining. I am Prince Lotor, Emperor Zarkon’s son. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Oh shit. Suddenly the pretty Galra didn’t seem so pretty anymore. Lance let a smile bloom in his face. “Oh, heeey. Nice to meet you too. The name’s Lance. Uh, how’s your dad?”

Lotor chuckled darkly. “Comatose. Doesn’t seem like he’ll wake up anytime soon.”

Lance cringed. That was awkward. “Ah. Um, sorry to hear that?”

“I’m sure you are, considering that it’s you and your friends who made him this way.”

A laugh, high pitched and nervous, escaped Lance’s lips. “Yeah, well. About that.”

Lotor stared and gave a small smile. “Never mind that. Anyway, I’m here to give you an offer.”

“I don’t know if I’d like this but go on and explain?”

“Before that.” Lotor held up a finger and turned to the door, calling, “Come in now, Haggar.”

Lance felt his fingers growing cold when the door opened again and the familiar, hunching figure of the Head Witch of Galra Empire walked in. She stared at him for a moment before turning to Lotor. “Sire?”

“I have to agree with you, Haggar,” the prince told the witch. “He is as interesting as you made it seem to be. He’s got quite a mouth, too.”

“I am here, I heard that, I’ll take that as a compliment,” Lance interjected.

Lotor gestured. “See?”

“He is certainly not your average prisoner, Sire.” Haggar sounded unimpressed. “I do believe he could be good for the empire, however.”

Lance stared. “Excuse me, what.”

Lotor threw him a brilliant smile that somehow made Lance feel sick to his stomach. “Well, about that offer I talked about earlier. Simply put, I want you to join the empire.”

An eyebrow shot up. “What.”

“You are good with words, that’s what I’m looking for,” Lotor explained. “As I’m sure you’ve seen, our soldiers aren’t good talkers. I’m not that good either, to be completely honest, but I think you’re more than good enough. You have ways to… connect with people, make them like you, unlike most if not all Galra around, and I believe that could be very influential. Dangerous, even. Join the empire, Blue Paladin, and help me convince others to join us as well. The Galra Empire could bring prosperity for the entire universe if only people agree to join us.”

“You want me to sweet talk people to surrendering their planets to Galra?” the brow lifted up again.

“Well, it’s either you join us willingly or be our power by surrendering your quintessence and let Haggar do whatever she needs and wants to do with you,” Lotor told him, almost nonchalant. “She thinks your ability to control water and ice is very interesting. And able to heal, too? Fascinating. I also think your ability is very interesting, Lance. It’s another reason why I wish you could join us.”

Lance forced a smile that came out more of a grimace. “That’s a very generous offer, but I’m good, thanks. I’ll stay with my current team.”

Lotor stared in disapproval. “You do realize that you’re fighting a losing battle, don’t you? My forces far outnumber yours.”

“That’s true, but I like my friends better than yours,” Lance shrugged. “So it’s a no. Don’t push it, Prince. My answer won’t change no matter what.”

“I see.” Lotor straightened, suddenly looking distant. What little warmth he’d shown to Lance vanished with no trace. “I’m sorry that we do not see eye to eye, Paladin.”

“Well, you and me both, buddy.” Lance shrugged again.

Lotor spared him a small smirk and turned to Haggar. “He’s all yours. Do whatever you need to do.”

“Of course, Sire.” Haggar’s eyes followed as Lotor exited the room. As soon as he was out, she turned her full, undivided attention at Lance. “Blue Paladin.”

Lance gulped. Haggar was still as nope as he last remembered her. “Why, hello there Haggar, beautiful as always, I see. Listen, I’m sorry I trapped you in ice. I was upset and reckless and didn’t think through my actions.” Shit, he was babbling. He needed to stop babbling.

Haggar circled his bed, staring like someone who was considering buying some kind of goods. She didn’t acknowledge his words. He wasn’t sure if that was good or not. He gulped and stopped talking, choosing to warily eye the space witch instead.

“I had considered coming after you, Paladin,” she spoke lowly, partly to herself. “I have found your ability to control water and ice intriguing. Druids are able to use magic, but not the elements. What makes you able to wield them? What is different? Are you able to use basic Druid magic?”

Lance stared. “Uh. Can you tell me what you were saying again? In simple sentences, if you please? ‘Cause I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Haggar ignored him. She lifted her hand and reached to him, and he froze in panic. Nowhere to run, nowhere to move. He tried to squirm away, but her hand reached him anyway, gripping him tight in the arm. He couldn’t shake her off considering how he was bound, so he resolved to glare at her while enduring her completely unwelcome touch.

Her fingers sparked purple, but no lighting came to electrify Lance. He glanced quizzically at her hand, then back at her face, and gasped.

He could feel something deep beneath, crawling and wriggling and gnawing deep into his being. It was gross, disgusting, repulsive. It felt like the thing was trying to take over and turn him into something else entirely, changing his bright blue into something murky and muddy and unrecognizable. The crawling was deeper than his skin, deeper than his flesh, deeper than his bones – it felt like it was trying to reach his very soul. He choked on a sob as his eyes began to water, and he wished it would just go away, leave, leave, leave, I don’t want you here.

Then, as soon as it came, it retracted into itself and vanished completely. Lance gasped again, gulping in ragged breath after ragged breath, relieved to know it was gone but still shaken and confused by the whole ordeal.

“How curious,” Haggar mused, and Lance jolted. “You could manipulate your own quintessence and control a powerful element, yet you don’t know how to cleanse your own core.”

Lance took a deep breath. “Lady, I have zero idea what you’re talking about right now,” he told her, cursing inwardly at the tremor in his voice.

Haggar pulled her hand away from Lance. She turned to the Druid that had been standing still, keeping watch, by the bed all this while. “Prepare the equipment. We shall study his bond with the lion, see if it has anything to do with how he uses his power. Locate the rest of his comrades, too, while you’re at it; I’d prefer to get back my Champion as well.”

Lance’s eyes widened. Haggar wanted to study his bond with Blue. Haggar could locate his friends through Blue. Haggar could potentially get Shiro back again.

His heart pounded loudly against his chest. When he let himself get captured, he completely forgot about the bond he had with Blue. Small hope bloomed in his chest – they can trace me, they can get me, they can save me – but as soon as it came it was squashed. He couldn’t rely on the bond to let his friends get him. Haggar would be expecting that; it would be the same as presenting themselves on a silver platter. They couldn’t do that.

But him being here meant Haggar could use his bond to locate Blue, and therefore his friends. He didn’t know how, or if that was possible at all – he didn’t know Haggar, for all he knew she could just be bluffing.

He wasn’t willing to take that chance, though. He couldn’t let his friends be captured.

His resolve hardened, as sure as ice forming in sub-zero atmosphere. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and reached deep within, grasping at his bond with Blue. It felt weak, stretched by distance. Alongside it was the bonds he had with other Paladins, far weaker than the bond he had with Blue, but present nonetheless. He dove into his connection with Blue.

My Paladin? Blue’s voice was so faint, so distant. They were too far apart, but effort from both their ends fueled by desperation allowed words to travel through.

Blue, Lance bit his lip. Blue, they’re going to use me. They’re going to use our bond to find you. Haggar wants Shiro back.

My Paladin, please, fear not, Blue’s voice grew slightly stronger. It was laced with forced calm. Paladins of Black, Green, Red, and Yellow are trying to locate you.

Panic rose within him. No, no, Blue, they can’t! They can’t do that! Haggar would be monitoring the bond, she’ll know. I can’t let them come when we’re still connected, Blue; you, me, all the other Paladins. If the bond isn’t there, if Haggar can’t see them coming, they’d have better chance at attacking.

My Paladin, Blue began warily, agitated, what are you planning to do?

I’m the only link that could be misused, Blue, he explained. If the bond is gone, then…

My Paladin, no. Please, don’t.

I can’t let them get to you, Blue. I can’t let them get my friends. My family.

Paladin –

I’m sorry, beautiful. Be safe.

Lance – !

Lance gripped his bonds – with Blue, with the Paladins – and, before he could stop himself out of fear, before Haggar realized what he was doing and stopped him, stretched the already stretched thin bonds and let them snap.

The effect was instantaneous. Blue’s voice was abruptly cut off, and he received a quick but powerful surge of despair, fear, and anger all mixed into one through the tattered remains of Blue’s bond before it was gone. Through the bonds with the other Paladins, he got faint feelings of shock, then confusion, then dread before they, too, faded and was gone completely. He felt hollow somehow, the cavity the bonds left mocked him through the proverbial gaping hole in his chest, the dangling threads that once conveyed feelings of reassurance, of warmth, of affection, mockingly sent only cold nothingness.

Through it all, he heard a distant noise that he soon recognized as screaming. It took him a moment longer to realize that it was him who was screaming, and that he was crying. As it turned out, ripping away bonds with a giant robot lion and important people in one’s life was a big deal. Who knew.

When the screaming stopped, he realized that Haggar was glaring at him hatefully, panting slightly. The guard Druid inched away from her. Were her cheeks red? Had she been screaming, too?

“How dare you,” Haggar hissed. “How dare you!”

Lance stared at her through vision blurred by tears, confused, before he realized what she meant. It hit him like bricks, and before he could stop himself he let loose a bark of laugh. “What? Is it that bad that I don’t have my bonds anymore?”

Haggar gritted her teeth. “I will make sure you suffer, Paladin.”

Lance couldn’t help it. He laughed, loud and hysterical, unable to rein it in even as his whole body shook and his stomach ached from the force of it all. With the laugh came the tears, and before long the laugh was interlaced with sobs and hiccups.

Lance let himself laugh and cry without restraint, bracing himself to the coming pain. From now on, he was all alone.

Coran watched as the remaining Paladins worked in Blue Lion’s hangar, trying hard to use the bond between Paladin and Lion to track Lance.

Or, well, some of them worked. Shiro stared at the monitor of Pidge’s computer, where the young girl typed as fast as she was able to, spouting line after line of codes in hope of getting their teammate back. Keith was pacing back and forth, gripping the Marmorra dagger and using it to cut through the air every once in a while as he tried to work out his agitation. Hunk, on the other hand, had long since abandoned the post and went to the kitchen to bake some cookies after knowing that at the moment there was nothing he could tinker with so he could tamp down his frustration. No tool that needed to be made, no hardware that needed to be rewired. Nothing a mechanic could do.

“Pidge, status report,” Shiro requested.

“I’m getting close to translating the bond into binary codes, but we’ll have to figure out how to make sense of it all later,” Pidge answered monotonously, too absorbed in her work to answer otherwise.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you, Pidge,” Keith told her.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, now shut up and let me work.” Despite the dismissive tone, Pidge’s fingers flew even faster.

Coran glanced at Allura, who was standing by him. She returned his glance with her own worried one, and he knew instantly that his gaze mirrored hers.

Each and every Paladin of Voltron was important, and they all contributed to keep the team balanced and strong. Lance, however, was invaluable in how he kept the team going no matter the circumstances. If he hadn’t been there when Shiro was gone there was no doubt that the team would fall apart. Now that he was the one actually missing, Coran wasn’t sure how the team – the princess and himself included – would fare.

“Hey, guys.” A voice from the doorway caught Coran’s attention, and in came Hunk holding a large bowl of cookies.

“Hunk,” Allura greeted. “Have you calmed down a little?”

“Yeah, baking’s always helped me do that,” Hunk answered with a grin, though it wasn’t as easy as usual. “I made way too much, though. I have the usual green goo cookies, and the peanut butter cookies, also this space blue choco chips cookies, and basic vanilla butter cookies.” He stared at the ‘vanilla butter’ cookies. “Except the vanilla ones turned out to be neon yellow instead. Hm.”

“Soon as I’m done with this I’m gonna need the peanut butter ones to refuel,” Pidge announced, still typing.

“I’ll save some for you,” Hunk promised. “Now does anyone else have special requests? Because I’m pretty sure I’m gonna eat like half of these on my own so if you want to call dibs on them – “

Several things happened at once, then.

The Blue Lion, which had been sitting completely still all this time, came online all of a sudden and let out a deafening roar, eyes lighting up bright yellow. It immediately paced frantically, swiping and clawing at the hangar walls, still roaring. There was an undercurrent of grief and despair within its voice.

Hunk stopped talking abruptly, eyes growing wide before rolling into the back of his head without warning as he swayed and fell back, bowl of cookies forgotten at once. It immediately activated its anti-gravity feature and floated nicely on thin air, but Hunk didn’t have the same advantage. Coran dove to catch him before he hit the floor, managing to do it just barely. He ended up cushioning his fall with a loud oomph.

Keith, who was still pacing around, gasped aloud. The Marmorra blade slipped from his fingers and clanged loudly against the floor. He fell on his butt, sitting without moving while staring at nothing. Silent tears streamed down his cheeks. He looked… disconnected, somehow. Disjointed, and unsure how to deal with it.

Pidge stopped her rapid-fire typing so suddenly that the absence of constant noise was jarring. Instead of typing, Pidge had resigned to gripping her laptop so tightly that Coran was surprised he didn’t hear it crack. She heaved heavily before curling into herself and started screaming wordlessly into her computer.

Shiro had frozen for a moment, eyes wide and unseeing as terror flashed within the depths of his gaze. His Galra arm suddenly lit up a bright purple, brightest Coran had ever seen it. He launched to his feet, losing his footing immediately and falling again, and he squirmed backwards, eyes darting around as though trying to locate a threat. His unseeing gaze found Allura, the only one who was still standing upright, and he cried loudly as he launched forward to her, ready to slice her to pieces. Thankfully, Allura reacted quickly. She caught his flesh hand and quickly pinned him down as gently as she could, whispering soothing words in an attempt to bring him back to reality. It didn’t seem to work, as Shiro instead struggled against her, tears of fear and anger gathering in his eyes, shouting loudly and telling Allura to let go.

“What’s going on here?” Coran asked aloud, baffled, perhaps a little bit scared. First Lance was gone, and now the rest of the Paladins suddenly ceased to function and the lion Lance piloted acted up? It didn’t seem right.

Soon, things began to calm down a little. The Blue Lion stopped wailing and pawing the walls, slowly folding into itself and laying down on the floor. The yellow light of its eyes died as a particle barrier was raised, cutting itself off from the outside world. Pidge’s screams had stopped, replaced by choked, broken sobs that squeezed Coran’s heart until it was nothing but a bleeding mess. Shiro’s loud order to be let go had turned into a soft request that Allura soon granted. He finally seemed himself again, though he still struggled to keep his arm under control.

“Coran…”

Coran’s attention snapped to Hunk. The young man reached and gripped his sleeve, eyes moist. “Coran, it’s gone. What do I do? I can’t feel Lance anymore.”

Coran felt cold immediately. “What do you mean, Hunk? What’s gone?”

The tears escaped Hunk’s eyes. “The bond! The Paladin bond, the one that connects me with Lance. It’s gone, Coran. It snapped.”

Coran opened his mouth to speak but found no words. He closed it again as he stared at Hunk in speechless shock. The Paladin bond, snapped? Had it ever happened before? Was it even possible?

Hunk took a look at Coran’s flabbergasted face and laughed grimly. “You don’t know what to do either, do you, Coran? Oh man. This is hopeless.” Tear fell like waterfalls down his cheeks. “We don’t know what to do. Lance’s gone. Lance’s gone. Lance’s gone…”

“Hunk, please, calm yourself,” Coran gripped Hunk’s hand. “It’s true that this has never happened before, so I have no idea what will happen to Lance, but right now our first priority is finding Lance.”

“But the bond snapped, Coran,” Hunk argued. “Doesn’t that mean he’s gone? Permanently? Like, d-dead?” Hunk sniffed.

Ah. So this was why the Paladins were so distressed. Coran squeezed Hunk’s hand. “Hunk, I don’t think Lance is dead.”

That stopped Hunk’s tears. Suddenly, all Paladins’ attention was on Coran. He steeled his gaze.

“What do you mean?” Hunk asked, voice small.

“When a paladin dies,” Coran ignored how Hunk flinched at his choice of words, “the bond they have with other paladins don’t snap. They fade, little by little until not even a remnant of it is left, but while fading the bond is still there. It just doesn’t feel of anything. Is that how it feels like, Hunk?”

“…no,” Hunk answered after a moment of contemplation. “It just… snapped. It feels like it’s… dangling? Like it’s trying to reconnect somehow, but someone is actively holding it back?” Hunk looked at him. “Does this mean Lance is doing this?”

“I don’t know, Hunk. This has never happened before.” Coran sighed. “But I’m sure Lance is not dead. How he is now, though, is another matter entirely. Which is why we need to get him back. If not through the bond, then through some other methods.”

“We can get Slav to help,” Shiro wheezed through gritted teeth. He groaned, Galra hand clenched as the purple light finally dimmed. “If he can see all realities, then he can give us pointers where Lance is.”

“Pythia says she can see the future, even if just snippets,” Hunk added. He pulled himself up, sitting up instead of slumping against Coran. “We can ask her to help, too. I’m sure she can work with Slav.”

“Blade of Marmorra,” Keith’s voice was soft, if a little hoarse. “They got intel of where Alpha Kaj was. They can do it again.”

Allura nodded. “Well, then. Let’s relocate to the control deck, where it will be easier to arrange it all. Shiro, please go get Slav once you’ve had your arm under control. Hunk, go to Pythia. She told me earlier to find her in the star map room if we need her.” She stood up and turned, placing her hand on Blue Lion’s particle barrier. “We will find your paladin,” she vowed solemnly. “This I swear to you.”

Hunk rubbed his eyes and slapped his cheeks with both his hands. “I’ll go clean up for a bit. Then I’ll go get Pythia.” He stood up and began to walk. “Thanks, Coran.”

“Anytime, Hunk.”

“I should go too,” Keith, too, stood and followed Hunk out.

“I’ll go to Slav,” Shiro added, following the other two. His hand had dimmed even more, though it hadn’t deactivated yet. Coran was sure it would soon. Shiro had always had good control over it, and he’d regain it soon.

Pidge was the only one who hadn’t moved or spoken. She had stopped sobbing, though she was still sniffling. Coran glanced to Allura, who met his gaze. She nodded and left the room quietly.

Coran moved, sliding to a crouch by Pidge. “Number five? Pidge, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m… I’m okay,” Pidge croaked. Coran couldn’t see her face because she was still curled, still gripping at her laptop. “I just need a moment.”

Slowly, Coran reached and touched Pidge hands. She jolted at the touch, but didn’t recoil. He pried the laptop off her hands and set it aside. “Pidge? Will you look at me?”

She sniffed and slowly looked up. Her eyes were red, and tears fell still down her cheeks. Snot peeked through her nostrils. She sniffed again.

Coran took a handkerchief and gave it to Pidge. She took it wordlessly and wiped her eyes and nose.

“Do you want to talk?” Coran offered.

Pidge was silent for a moment before she finally spoke up. “I just… am I cursed?”

Coran blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“This is kind of selfish of me considering what’s currently happening, but I can’t help but feel like I’m cursed or something,” Pidge sighed. “Everyone around me just… goes. One way or another, one by one. First it was Dad and Matt, then Shiro, and now Lance. I feel like me being around people puts them in danger.” Her hands curled into fists. “Even I disappear from my mom’s life. What kind of kid does that to her own mom? She didn’t know I was gone. She probably thought I was dead. She probably thought she’s the only one left in our family.” She hunched forward and sniffed wetly. “I’m a terrible daughter.”

Coran’s heart sank. “Pidge… it’s not your fault.”

“I know,” Pidge sighed. “Logically, I know it’s not. Me and Lance and Hunk and Shiro and Keith being whisked up by a giant robot cat is no one’s fault. It’s kind of a blessing, actually, since now I have opportunity to look for Dad and Matt. But I can’t help but feel guilty that I left mom alone. And I can’t help but think that I could have done something to prevent Lance being captured.”

Coran stared. “Was there anything you could have done?”

There was another moment of silence. “Probably not,” Pidge admitted at last, not sounding happy about it. “The Druids were too fast. Nothing could hit them, not even Lance’s shots.” She rubbed her face with both her hands. “Ugh. I guess I just have to get him back myself, huh? Then I’ll get my dad and Matt. Somehow.”

“Then you can all go back home to meet your mother,” Coran agreed, smiling warmly even though his heart ached still.

Pidge smiled. “I mean I’ll probably have to go back here if anything happen again, but for now… for now that’s good enough.” She nodded. “Yeah. That’s good enough.”

Coran’s smile widened. He circled his arm around Pidge’s shoulders before squeezing softly and letting go. “Come on, Pidge. Let’s get Lance back.”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah.” She got to her feet and pulled Coran up before gathering her things in her hands. “Thanks, Coran. Lance is right; you’re the best space uncle ever.”

Coran laughed aloud. “I sure hope I am, though I’m sure you don’t have another space uncle.” He grinned at Pidge. “Does that make Lance your space big brother?”

Pidge groaned. “The worst bro ever… we have to go clean up his mess all the time.” She straightened up and turned serious at once. “Still a space bro, though. So yeah, let’s go.”

The thing about quintessence was that you don’t know how truly important it was to you until yours had been poked, gauged, and stretched so thin you feel like you’ve run three decathlons nonstop without any break whatsoever.

Well, Lance certainly knew now. The Druids and the head witch Haggar hadn’t spared him any of the details. By poking, gauging, and stretching Lance’s quintessence so thin he felt like he’d run three decathlons without any break. Honestly, Lance had never exhausted his quintessence like this before, and he wasn’t sure what would happen if he ran out – or worse – which was totally a possibility given how Haggar treated him.

Lance didn’t really want to find out.

He knew he was about to anyway.

“I don’t understand,” Haggar muttered to herself as she circled Lance’s bed. “There doesn’t seem to be anything different in your quintessence. Why are you able to do what you do? Why can’t the Druids?”

Lance laughed breathlessly. “You know, I was just asking the same thing. What about you put me off this rickety thing and we can discuss and theorize over a cup of tea? No?”

Haggar glared. “If you hadn’t snapped your bond this would have been much easier to do.”

Lance gulped. “Well, I guess we’re both stuck then.”

Truth to be told, not really. Lance could feel the snapped bonds, how they desperately try to latch and reform again. He could feel how the Paladin bonds searched and tried to reconnect the little strands back until tattered threads could recreate ribbons once more. Lance had to actively stop them from getting to close to his end of tattered remains just so they couldn’t repair themselves. He still couldn’t let that happen. Not with Haggar still around. Not even if she wasn’t around.

Blue’s bond stayed silent and dormant, however. Even when Lance tentatively poked at it, nothing went through. It made him worried. A part of him childishly felt abandoned.

How stupid. It was him who broke the bond in the first place. If anything, it was him who abandoned Blue.

He sighed. Just how long had it been? He wasn’t sure if he could trust his sense of time. It felt like weeks, but he couldn’t be sure. Mealtimes were sporadic, seemingly only given when he’s already starved or exhausted. And he got starved or exhausted often due to the poking and gauging thing.

Which, he now realized, he probably should be worried about. It seemed that Haggar had decided that his quintessence wasn’t much different from Druids’. She’d probably switch methods to poke and gauge at him now.

His suspicion was proven correct when Haggar approached him with electricity brimming in her hand. Before, only the Druids came to work with him, and only with needles and cables. They drew his quintessence out, studying it under several different magically controlled environments. To be honest, Lance didn’t know what exactly they were doing with it or even how they could draw someone’s quintessence out, but they did it. The only good thing Lance got from it all was that his quintessence apparently behaved like liquid and could spread frost and froze things in a moment’s notice.

Usually, Haggar only watched. The fact that she came to him personally was more than enough to make Lance feel even more uneasy than usual. The way her hand sparked menacingly certainly didn’t help matters.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Lance asked when Haggar stood by his bed.

She didn’t respond. Instead, she placed her hand on his chest, and Lance grimaced, readying himself for pain. The electricity in Haggar’s hand sparked before sinking into Lance’s chest.

“If we cannot find out what makes you different,” Haggar began, “we will simply make you ours.”

“What – “

“Even if we cannot have our Champion back, we will make a better weapon.”

The surprisingly familiar and entirely unwelcome feeling of something crawling within him overpowered Lance immediately. He choked on a gasp as the same disgusting, disgusting thing dug deep into him, reaching ever deeper and leaving trails of repulsive darkness. He immediately remembered the time when Haggar did the same thing before, rummaging in his very self and shaking him deeply before retreating immediately.

That time, it was experimental. It was sniffing out a new field, curiously poking before retreating without leaving anything. This time, it was different. It was soldiers marching into battleground, it was mercenary with a mission, a bird of prey diving for the kill. It was darker and stronger, intent, focused. No matter how much Lance willed it to go away, how much he wished it would vanish, he knew it wouldn’t.

Or perhaps it could, if only he was a bit stronger. Pity all those experiments he’d gone through had made him too exhausted to put up a fight when it was actually needed.

The dark reached his core. Bright blue was soon stained, stirred up and tainted. Lance let out a scream before he could stop himself, begging the dark to get out, get out, get out, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t make it go away.

Lance looked up at Haggar. She was the one doing this, still doing this. Her hand didn’t budge from his chest even as he writhed around in fruitless attempt to get the darkness out. He gulped as tears began to gather in his eyes. “Stop this,” he begged, not really caring about preserving his own pride. At this point he’d do anything as long as he could get away from the disgusting feeling of crawling and gnawing that was threatening to change his very soul.

Haggar simply returned his gaze calmly. “Serve the empire well, Ice Mage.”

The remaining bright blue within himself flashed before it was devoured. His original color was gone, too tainted to be recognized. Ugly, muddy shade of its former self began flaring its power. As Lance’s tears fell, coldness began to spread and numb his fingers. His tears froze.

Haggar lifted up her hand. Lance drowned in the darkness of his own tainted core.

#voltron #vld #Voltron legendary defender #fanfic #my fic #lance mcclain #keith kogane #hunk garrett #pidge gunderson #katie holt #takashi shirogane #Allura #coran #haggar #lotor #long post #multichapter #ao3 #FF.net

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