#i have no energy left to deal with other people who riff on my ideas

[lexiewrites]

*bangs head against wall*

Ahem. 

Pro-tip: If you read a fic you like, and want to use a similar idea, it’s always a good idea to credit the fic that inspired you.

#i already deal with the fact my own sister essentially rips off my writing style #in another fandom #by not dealing with it at all #i have no energy left to deal with other people who riff on my ideas #and the thing is i would be the fic's biggest goddamn cheerleader #and super supportive #aside from the scenes that are a little too similar #it's been a long day and maybe i'm reading too much into it #i've been in fandom long enough to know the Old Rules #not everyone has #i don't want to be THAT asshole #but it's ruffled me

[avauntus]

I was recently lured back to Final Fantasy XIV by their “returner” campaign (if you are away a while, log in and play for free for two weeks). I’ve been having a great deal of fun, got over my “healing yips” and jumped into group content, and finished the Shadowbringers main “5.0″ storyline.

(Yes, it made me cry. Yes, like everyone else-- I concede it is excellent as everyone says.)

Final Fantasy games always kind of...”wink and nod” at their series traditions. And thus I’ve been happily playing along (when I’m not sobbing, natch), running across the occasional call-back to threads I know from earlier in the series, going “Oh, that’s cute. That’s clever,” and not thinking too hard...until the most recent breadcrumb dialogue line for the continuation of the story (patch 5.1) made me put down my controller, put my head in my hands, and go “Aaaaaargh!”

Urianger in brief: “I think I’ll be a problem ON PURPOSE.” lol.

Theory overthinking hours! I can come back later and see if I was right. 

SPOILERS, after the cut, for Shadowbringers through 5.0 and, uh...Final Fantasies 3/6, 7, 10, and 12. (lol)

One of the very, very clever things Shadowbringers did is finish up much of the story of the Umbral Calamities by retconing the existence of the FFXIV storyline as taking place and/or belonging to the same universe of every single other Final Fantasy game all at once, many worlds existing side-by-side ignorant of each other, each just sliightly different from the next.

Which means all those “clever callbacks” aren’t just fun Easter eggs for fans-- they’re also fair game for the plot. If the game isn’t just being goofy, it’s leaning really hard into the Final Fantasy tradition of the “Oh NO Statues.” 😆

The what now?

The “Oh NO Statues” are my mental nickname for the recurring powerful, often sentient monuments that show up in Final Fantasy and invariably break the world:

 Kefka did a number on home values with these three in FFVI, for example.

Later Final Fantasy games would refine and riff on this, of course. “Oh no, the statue is a space alien (?)” (Jenova, FFVII); “Oh no, the statue came to life and destroyed our civilization!” (Sin, FFX).

This isn’t Zanarkand, but it totally could be, right?

And my personal favorite of the “Oh NO Statues” incarnations, The Occuria, FFXII. Statues who aim “guide the History of Man,” ancient beings who manifest as aetheric masked forms, often visible only to a few, whose origins are (in FFXII) unknown:

Balthier: This creature... So this is your Venat?

Cid: Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca! Just how far will you go for power? Does your lust for nethicite consume you? Am I right? I am, aren't I. A worthy daughter of the Dynast-King! You would do well to go to Giruvegan. Who knows? You may receive a new Stone for your trouble.

Ashe: Your words mean nothing to me!

Cid: The reins of History back in the hands of Man.

And later:

Cid: To hell with the Occuria and their stones! What good a power that cannot be harnessed? Baubles best-suited for study, no more.

Vayne: We conquered two kingdoms, that you might study these "baubles."

Cid: Oh, I am grateful for the sacrifice. Without it, manufacted nethicite would have eluded us - an unrivaled weapon. Tell me, Venat. Have I not been an apt pupil?

Venat: My counsel did but guide your able hand. Through power of Man, the Stones did you perfect. Yes. So much accomplished in six fleeting years. Man's fervor o'er all obstacles prevailing.

Cid: Our lives are much too short. You undying might waste long centuries away, but we, I fear, cannot.

Vayne: Just so. Had we more time, we might have used more "prudent" measures.

Cid: Your greatest work still lies before you. Not lightly will the Occuria allow you to wrest the reins of History from their grasp.

Venat: Indeed. What claim does Gerun have on history's reins... seated on throne immortal, rent from time? For your ascendance, Vayne, I offer prayer. May you attain all that which is your due.

Vayne: Attain it I shall.

This is... fascinating, because it is heavily implied by a different storyline in FFXIV that Ivalice and the events of FFXII, exist somewhere in the worlds that were shattered from the Source that was FFXIV’s ‘main world.’ There is even an Ivalice in FFXIV, but it is NOT the one we know from FFXII-- Fran exists in FFXIV as a general of Dalmasca, and to all appearances (that I’ve seen, so far), a key difference is Balthier never existed, or never left his position in the Empire.

(On realizing this, I took a good minute to be amused that Balthier really WAS the “leading man” as he so often trumpeted, that apparently so much depended on his existing in his bravura sky piratery, all unknowing-- bless.)    

As Ivalice exists -- well, the ‘Occuria’ are much like Emet-Selch and the other Ascians, aren’t they? “...seated on throne immortal, rent from time...” indeed.

Of course, in FFXIV, we’ve struck down most of the “relevant” Ascians by the end of Shadowbringers so what then? Almost certainly, the last “sane” one is gone. 

But what’s interesting to me is this: Emet-Selch asked us to remember his people, and he mentions the three Ascians we know as antagonists-- but every single time he talked about his “purpose” it wasn’t to save the named Ascians. It was to save some unnamed other or others, his “lost friends and loves”-- one of which is heavily implied to be connected to the player character. 

(There’s a whole “fragments of a shredded soul thing,” but-- ‘we don’t have time to get into that’ meme-- here.)

The other-other Ascian that is eluded to --heavily-- in the run-up to the end of Shadowbringers 5.0 is the Unnamed Fourteenth-- the Paragon who turned away from the other Ascian councilmembers when the details of their plan to save their civilization and the toll that would be paid were revealed. I think we’re meant to think this conscientious objector is the one who summoned the Light, to grant autonomy to mortals rather than guide them towards a destiny that would serve the Ascians’ return, even if the mortals were “shadows” of what had come before the worlds were split.

Beyond a lot of breadcrumbs, we don’t get much more than that in the ending bit of 5.0, but that sure sounds like Venat to me.

Venat was always portrayed by a woman voice actor, despite the Occuria being “genderless,” and...

OK, so...what does this have to do with nethicite?

In FFXIV, “manufactured nethicite” exists -- it’s called White Nethicite Auricite (oops!) and the Scions (the faction our character belongs to) use it to trap Ascians’ will and shatter their energies.

It’s also heavily implied that if natural auracite is allowed to feed on mortal souls and imbued with aether (energy), it will cause mortals to go insane. The Ivalice raid sequence spells all this out, but in short-- your fears and desires are made manifest in exchange for your life energy. Over time, auracite exposed to mortals gains a low-level chaotic will of its own, like the One Ring in Tolkien’s works.

It is, in short, a staggeringly insane idea to propose putting your soul into a soul-eating crystal as Urianger is doing. And Urianger has no way of knowing this, of course, but this will of the nethicite in FFXII came from the Occuria -- their tools to “guide the History of Man.”

There are no more unsundered Ascians left worth mentioning (Elidibius, lol), but the energy of that Unnamed Fourteenth is out there scattered in the Light-- and this is “White [light] Auracite.” Despite everything, I don’t know that the Light are all sunshine and rainbows for mortals. For one, they like stability. 

If the Scions start unknowingly imbuing themselves with the powers of Ascians by merging themselves with insane immortal chaos crystals (!!), they may manage to bring about the Eight Umbral Calamity and the end of civilization anyway by unbalancing the world(s) themselves.

...Wouldn’t that be a kick in the pants for Emet-Selch? I mean, if the main character hadn’t had to put him out of his misery already. (*sob*) 

#ffxiv #overthinking it #auricite #occuria #venat #ffxii #shadowbringers spoilers #final fantasy #emet-selch

[hd-wireless]

🎶 H/D WIRELESS FEST - REVEALS 🎶

At last, the day you’ve been waiting for! It’s the REVEALS! 

Come check out the talented people who created your favourite Wireless fics and artworks!

Massive thanks once again to all the 54 creators of our 64 works (yes some people created multiple works! Special mention to cloudlesslysky who wrote FIVE fics!). And thanks also to all the readers, betas and supporters of H/D Wireless! It’s been a bumper year!

Without further ado...

🎶 H/D Wireless Art 🎶

📻 Stuck on the Bridge Between Us (G)  by pygmy_puffy @pygmy-puffy

🎵 Song prompt: Talk Me Down by Troye Sivan

🎵 Summary: finding the courage within themselves to be vulnerable, so they can stop hurting the other and start loving each other as they so deeply want and need to

📻  So Let's Dance, Take a Chance, Understand Me (T) by Dazed_and_Inked @dazedandinked

🎵 Song prompt: T.Rex, Get It On

🎵 Summary: The War is over and everything has changed.

After a few of years of travelling around the world, Harry decided to move to Muggle London, looking for peace and a place where the scar on his forehead doesn’t have a meaning. His new flat is in a perfectly normal neighbourhood close to the centre, quiet during the day but full of students at night.

He really likes the small bar down the road, a place that serves cheap, awful drinks and plays good old classics. It’s always crammed with people talking, laughing or dancing along with the riff of electric guitars.

From the first time he crossed the threshold, Harry thought it was perfect, the right mix of noise and warmth to be alone without feeling alone. Just what he needed.

He couldn’t imagine that someone else was there for the very same reason, looking for a place where the Dark Mark was only a tattoo.

Blame it on the alcohol, on the music or whatever you want, but when Harry’s eyes landed on Draco’s slim figure, swaying on the dancefloor, something warm and inexplicable possessed him. 

📻  The Pass (T) by julchen_in_red @julcheninred

🎵 Song prompt: The Pass, by Rush

🎵 Summary: Draco, lost in darkness, seeks a guiding light.

📻  If you knew… (T) by gnarf @gnarf

🎵 Song prompt: Young Folks from Peter Bjorn and John

🎵 Summary: The war had left scars on all of them.  Some were obvious. Some only if they looked closely. But the worst ones were those they couldn't see. Those that were hidden inside.

📻  an ode to the boy i love (G) by nettleforest @nettleforest

🎵 Song prompt: Animal - Troye Sivan

🎵 Summary: an evocation of vulnerability, trust and tenderness

📻  Home Sweet Home (G) by gnarf @gnarf

🎵Song prompt: Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

🎵 Summary: In the middle of a Zombie apocalypse Harry made it his main goal to find a safe home for Draco and himself.

📻  Turn back time (T)  bt erlasart @erlasart

🎵 Song prompt: If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher

🎵 Summary: Draco's had a rough few years, if that's what you call falling in with a bad lot, attempted murder and a close brush with death. Now facing the weight of his misdeeds, Draco tries to pinpoint when it all went wrong.

📻  Time to Get Out (T)  by SoldSeperately @secretartlair

🎵 Song prompt: My House - PVRIS

🎵 Summary: A few years post-war, Pansy convinces Draco to go on a night out at a muggle club. They run into some familiar faces.

🎶 H/D Wireless Art and Fic 🎶

📻  A Different Kind of Meaning (E, 17k) by p103 @p103 (art by Zigster)

🎵 Song prompt: Outnumbered - Dermot Kennedy

🎵 Summary: The ceiling doesn't hold any answers, but there are cobwebs scattered across the corners with shadows tangled in their threads. The rug against his back is rough and scratchy, threadbare and devoid of colours other than various shades of brown. Harry takes it all in, absorbs the dingy and depressed state of his home. There's a pointed moment of decision, a note about to be played, a silence about to end, and then he rolls to his feet and sets to cleaning.

It's the first constructive thing he's done in years. 

📻  Keep Holding On (M, 33k) by gnarf @gnarf (fic) and MaesterChill @maesterchill (art)

🎵 Song prompt: Welshly Arms - Sanctuary

🎵 Summary: After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry and Draco both fall into their own battles with their mental states. Draco is sent to Azkaban, and Harry turns to drinking, hoping to forget.

Months later, Harry visits St Mungo’s new ward on request of a friend, only to find Draco in a deep vegetative state.

Not willing to give him up, Harry stays by his side, while simultaneously dealing with the Ministry's newest grand idea to make everything worse.

Making new alleys, and losing old ones on the way, would hopefully be worth it in the end.

📻 Fic : Modern Love (E, 61k) by tackytiger @tackytigerfic

📻 Art : Our Love Song (G) by chachisoo @creeeee

🎵 Song prompt: Modern Love by David Bowie

🎵 Fic summary: Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

And it really doesn’t seem fair that Draco Malfoy is back in Harry’s life, all of a sudden, and even though he’s wandless, and living with Muggles, and making his mother cry with his lifestyle choices, he’s happy. So what's he doing right, that Harry isn’t?

Because things don’t really change, do they? And if Harry can’t be happy, he’ll settle for a good night’s sleep, some posh antiques, and the opportunity to find out what Malfoy has been up to for all these years.

And that’s what starts it all.  

🎵 Art summary: Harry and Draco enjoying a Sunday morning bus ride in London.

📻  For the Thousandth Time (T, 14k) by bluefay @thesleepiesthufflepuff (fic) and mehroomiyat (art)

🎵 Song Prompt: Lucky by Aurora

🎵 Summary: When Draco's wand refuses to work after the war, he turns to Harry for help. 

📻 Fic : Returning Tides (E, 24.5k) by Zigster @zigster-ao3

📻 Art : Love Will Tear Us Apart (G) by Zigster @zigster-ao3

🎵 Song prompt: Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division 

🎵 Fic summary: 

Is my timing that flawed? Our respect run so dry? Yet there's still this appeal That we've kept through our lives

🎵 Art summary: Art piece to accompany the fic ‘Returning Tides’, based on the song claim, 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division ***** Harry's brooding while straddling a motorbike. Need I say more?

📻  That Sweet Sweet Craving (E, 33.2k) by TheUltimateUndesirable @ultimateundesirable

🎵 Song prompt: Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons 

🎵 Summary: Harry is miserable living a lie because he thinks being a gay role model is wrong. Fake dates raising money for a charity that ends up putting him in a situation he had never expected. Draco Malfoy appears back in his life by some odd chance trying to flip his world upside down and he isn't sure it's a good thing. Malfoy always worked that way to him. Mental health issues, sex, escaping, and that sweet sweet craving of happiness.

🎶 H/D Wireless Fic 🎶

📻  Follow the Water (T, 38.2k) by xanthippe74 @xanthippe74

🎵 Song prompt: “Follow the Water” by Calexico/Iron & Wine

🎵 Summary: Harry Potter’s life is fine. Maybe a little dull and predictable, but he shouldn’t complain about that, right? When he unexpectedly finds himself at Luna’s house one afternoon, Harry gets invited to join the secret wonderland that she’s creating with a surprising group of friends. Maybe a summer outdoors is just what a former hero needs to bring some zest back into his life.

📻  Life goes not backward (T, 8.8k) by shealwaysreads @shealwaysreads 

🎵 Song prompt: Daughter by Loudon Wainwright

🎵 Summary: Harry still isn’t used to gifts, but this one is different.

A story of coming home, finding safe ground, and the wild courage of putting down roots.

Leaving one life behind isn’t always a sacrifice, and sometimes the greatest good comes from embracing the people you love. 

📻  The Way We Used To Love (E, 5.3k) by Zzzara @big-draco-energy

🎵 Song prompt: 'Used to Love' by Martin Garrix & Dean Lewis

🎵 Summary: Is there hope when what is not enough for the one happens to be too much for the other? 

📻  but if you close your eyes (T, 3.3k) by cloudlesslysky @cloudlesslysky 

🎵 Song prompt: Pompeii by Bastille

🎵 Summary: The New Magic Order is trying to take over Wizarding Britain. They're not the Death Eaters, but they're not any better either.

The lines of alliance have shifted, but Harry is still on the front lines working tirelessly to stop them.

📻  Haunt the corner of my eye (T, 23k) by harryromper @harryromper

🎵 Song prompt: Echoes of You - Marianas Trench

🎵 Summary: Harry’s life is very much on track. After a successful career as an Auror, he’s set to become the youngest ever Minister for Magic. But strange things are starting to happen at Grimmauld Place. Items he doesn’t recognise are appearing left and right, and somehow he never feels quite alone. There’s only one thing Harry knows for sure: it has something to do with Draco Malfoy.

📻  Now that the spring is in the air (T, 5.7k) by cloudlesslysky @cloudlesslysky 

🎵 Song prompt: Seasons in the Sun by Westlife

🎵 Summary: A surprise attack in Diagon Alley leaves Draco struggling to make peace with the fact that he won't live long enough to experience his own wedding.

📻  Seven Days to Monday (M, 11.7k) by static_abyss @static_abyss

🎵 Song prompt: Say Something - A Great Big World

🎵 Summary: There are seven days before Harry has to meet Draco for the final signing of their divorce papers. It's been months and the surprise at finding nothing but more cold sheets and an empty pillow next to him still catches Harry unaware. He doesn't know where they go from here. Whether it's possible to go anywhere after everything that's happened between them.

📻  Blond Brew (E, 30.4k) by MicheleBlack @micheleblack

🎵 Song prompt: “Blondes” by Waterparks

🎵 Summary: A blond roast with soy milk makes Draco's morning, but a pair of green eyes makes his week.

📻  A Series of Nonsensical Events (T, 12.8k) by CoffeeCurse @coffee-curse

🎵 Song prompt: My Gospel by Charlie Puth

🎵 Summary: Malfoy is up to something. When Harry and the other Aurors are called into a Gringotts break-in and find him the culprit, Harry’s at a total loss.

But things only get weirder from then on.

📻  Ignore the Truth (E, 2.6k) by static_abyss @static_abyss

🎵 Song prompt: Dangerously - Charlie Puth

🎵 Summary: "Longtime on-again-off-again lovers Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were caught in a compromising position in one the Ministry's lifts yesterday evening. While fans of the couple are optimistic, there's still doubt as to whether or not this particular reconciliation will last. When asked directly about the nature of his relationship with Draco Malfoy, the Boy Who Lived had simply this to say, 'Fuck right off, we're busy.'"

- The Daily Prophet, "Love Is In The Air," 28th Oct. 2005.   

📻  Your Daddy Knows (You're A Flame) (E, 27.8k) by Ladderofyears @ladderofyears

🎵 Song prompt: Babyfather by Sade (2010)

🎵 Summary: It's just over a week until Draco's twenty-fifth birthday party and Harry Potter is a busy wizard. Amongst all the excitements of fatherhood, work and friends, Harry realises something special about his husband Draco. He is pregnant with their second, much wanted baby.

There's only one problem: Draco is entirely oblivious to the fact and seems determined to remain so. 

📻  Don't search me in here (E, 6.7k) by Sassy3 @sassy-sassy3

🎵 Song prompt: Gone - Charlie XCX & Christine and the Queens

🎵 Summary: Draco spotted him in a corner, crowded by Ministry employees. He looked like an animal, trapped in a cage. He had a strained smile on his , and his eyes were looking everywhere else than on the people in front of him.

Draco can’t quite help himself, watching Potter from afar. Just out of curiosity, of course. He’s happy with his life, nothing is missing, and if he’s lonely it’s entirely by choice. 

📻  I Can Be Your Lighthouse (T, 4k) by orpheus87 

🎵 Song prompt: The Lighthouse by The Used

🎵 Summary: When Harry gets called to investigate reports of Dark magic, the last thing he expects to find is an almost unconscious Draco Malfoy. After multiple instances, he resolves to find out what's going on.

📻  Drop Everything Now (T, 21k) by parkkate @parkkate

🎵 Song prompt: Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift

🎵 Summary: After accidentally bonding himself to Malfoy, Harry finds himself in an utterly precarious situation… 

📻  No one fucks with us (T, 3.3k) by Laura_Sinele @laurasinele

🎵 Song prompt: NFWMB by Hozier

🎵 Summary: Draco Malfoy wonders for how long has Harry Potter been a terrifying force of nature. Harry Potter thinks Draco Malfoy has been a badass MF all along. If the world has to end so they can have some peace and quiet, be it. They'll set it on fire.

📻  Will You Stay with Me? (M, 10.2k) by EvAEleanor @eva-eleanore

🎵 Song prompt: ‘Run’ - Daughter

🎵 Summary: Ten months ago, Draco had found none other than Harry Potter blindly drunk and bleeding outside a Muggle pub. He'd brought him home and hasn't left his side ever since. He looked after him, took care of him when yet another nightmare plagued him. 

Harry is sure that Draco will leave him at some point, and he can’t let it happen. He can’t have another person leaving his life unexpectedly. So, Harry forces him to leave — after they spend one last night together.

📻  until the sun has changed the colour of my hair (T, 4.9k) by cloudlesslysky @cloudlesslysky 

🎵 Song prompt: Jag saknar dig mindre och mindre - Melissa Horn

🎵 Summary:  Draco's life has been one big mess ever since Potter broke up with him. He doesn't want to see his friends, he's too ashamed to see his parents, and his apartment is one giant mess. He's constantly prepared for disaster, and spends his time either alone in Muggle parks or in his apartment. But one day... One beautiful day... He will forget Harry, surely.

📻  Love Found (E, 7.5k) by peachpety @peachpety

🎵 Song Prompt: I Found, by Amber Run

🎵 Summary: During Harry’s sixth year, Draco Malfoy joins the Order as a double-agent and continues with his task to get the Death Eaters into the castle as assigned by Voldemort. Draco succeeds with his mission the evening Harry returns from the caves with Dumbledore. The boys reunite on the Astronomy Tower and, with the Death Eater’s arrival, are forced to engage in a fight, driving Harry to come to terms with his feelings about true friendship and romantic love.

📻  On the Third Day He Took Me to the River (M, 14.4k) by pixiedustatsundown @pixiedustatsundown 

🎵 Song prompt: 'Where the Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ft. Kylie Minogue'

🎵 Summary: This is a story of two lonely young men falling in love.

This is a story about dreams and duty, about witches that give purpose to the one and doom the other.

You think you know how the story goes, but this is a different story, and it doesn't end well. 

📻  (When They Only Hear You Whisper) I'll Be Loud For You (T, 2.8k) by VeelaWings @veelawings

🎵 Song prompt: There for You - Martin Garrix/Troye Sivan

🎵 Summary: Potter must have been having nightmares again. He was restless in his bed across the room. Moonlight shone through his open bed curtains and highlighted the contours of his body, the grimace on his face blatant. His thick blanket was kicked down, one leg still covered by his twisted sheet, the musk of his sweat pungent in their small dorm. Low grunts accounted for the majority of the noise he made, but it was peppered by the occasional groan or unclear shout of words. However, ‘No,’ was always clear.

Draco hated it. 

📻  The Interview (T, 17.3k) by Cibee (Cibeeeee) @cibeewastaken

🎵 Song prompt: Just Say Yes - Snow Patrol

🎵 Summary: One interview had Draco realizing how naïve he was for thinking he deserved Harry. 

📻  Lookalike (M, 1.4k) by Zzzara @big-draco-energy

🎵 Song prompt: 'Lookalike' by Conan Gray 

🎵 Summary: When you look in his eyes, Do you think of mine? And when you look at that smile, Do I cross your mind? I know in your head You see me instead 'Cause he looks a lot like I did back then Baby, don't lie, He's just a lookalike... ©

📻  As Fascinating As a Slap Bracelet (T, 13.2k) by acupforslytherin @acupforslytherin 

🎵 Song prompt: Have It All - Jason Mraz

🎵 Summary: Who would have thought that a wacky little Muggle toy would lead to an unlikely friendship between Harry and Draco? Not Harry, certainly.

Who would have thought that this friendship would bloom into something more? Well, Ron, for one. 

📻  If Sex Is the Drug, Then What Is the Cost (E, 3.8k) by EvAEleanor @eva-eleanore

🎵 Song prompt: I Almost Told You That I Loved You - Papa Roach

🎵 Summary: For quite some time, Harry has been seeing Malfoy. Well... Actually, he's hired Malfoy, to keep him company, in his bedroom. It's only sex — honestly — and since Malfoy is the best, he's the only person Harry wants. That's all it is, right? 

📻  I Grow Fonder Every Day (M, 21.6k) by Drarrelie @drarrelie

🎵 Song prompt: One and Only by Adele

🎵 Summary: Draco still doesn’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse, sharing a flat in Muggle London with Harry Potter.

It’s all Draco’s ever wanted — more than he’d ever wished for. And if it entails suppressing his inconvenient feelings for the man, so what? He’s perfectly happy with his life as it is, perfectly content with just having Potter close and enjoying his company.

That is, until one Friday evening at the beginning of April when the end starts. 

📻  How Can I Live Without you? (G, 2.2k) by ununquadius @ununquadius 

🎵 Song prompt: "So Far Away", by Avenged Sevenfold

🎵 Summary: After Draco's death, Harry wonders how can he live without the one he loves when he's so far away.

📻  Following the Arrow to Your Heart (E, 10.9k) by goddessofthehearth 

🎵 Song prompt: Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran

🎵 Summary: After the war, Draco is recruited into the Department of Love (aka Cupid's Arrow). His job is to bring together witches and wizards whose magical signatures are only compatible with each others' (essentially soulmates). As they all learned during training, Cupids are chosen because they do not have soulmates.

Six years later, Draco's convinced himself that he's perfectly fine with not having a soulmate. But his latest client turns out to be Harry Potter, and he's forced to reconsider in light of his old feelings.

📻  cos I only need your name to call the reasons why I fought (T, 6.6k) by cloudlesslysky @cloudlesslysky

🎵 Song prompt: War, by Poets of the Fall

🎵 Summary: Ron and Hermione leave the Horcrux hunt, leaving a hurt Harry behind.

But at least Draco is still there with him.

📻  Madness (M, 10k) by tigersilver 

🎵 Song prompt: House of Fun by Madness

🎵 Summary: A desperate search for contraception all around Diagon Alley.

📻  Between Myth and Man (E, 16.2k) by slytherco @slytherco 

🎵 Song prompt: Why'd you only call me when you're high? - Arctic Monkeys

🎵 Summary: Draco, lost and a little broken, navigates post-war reality convinced that people like him should not be allowed to make their own choices. To solve the problem of his self-sabotaging tendencies, he starts taking a few drops of Veritaserum every morning.

A story about the complexity of choices, repressed desires that come to the surface when we least expect them, and the utter hopelessness of truths built on a foundation of lies.

📻  stay awhile (stay here with me) (T, 3.1k) by panicparade @panicissharp​

🎵 Song prompt: I like me better - Lauv

🎵 Summary: "Then when?" Harry tries again. He's not sure if he really wants to see the photo or if he just wants to keep talking to Malfoy. This Malfoy, who is so different from what he was expecting. In his Muggle jeans and smartly pressed sweater, with an air of vulnerability around him that Harry isn't used to seeing, Malfoy looks approachable in a way he never has before.

Harry stops his fidgeting as Malfoy looks up to meet his eyes. Through the hum of the crowded pub, he has to strain a little to hear him. "Maybe," Malfoy starts, hesitating a little but never breaking eye contact, "one day?"

📻  All it needs is messing it up and stars (G, 5.9k) by a_reader_and_writer @harrypotterfanfictionwriter

🎵 Song prompt: Tongue Tied by Faber Drive

🎵 Summary: After the war all the Malfoy's came off with light sentences. Now during 8th year Draco is finally free to be himself and date his crush; Harry Potter. Or at least so he thought..

A letter from his father rips that happiness away.

But maybe in the end it will take just a bit of messing up and some stars to get that happiness back.

📻  I'm gonna let it happen (E, 12.3k) by tomoewantsdolls @tomoewantsdolls 

🎵 Song prompt: Florence + The Machine - Shake it out

🎵 Summary: And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope It's a shot in the dark and right at my throat 'Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me Looking for heaven, for the devil in me Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me

📻  I feel it in my bones (M, 6.3k) by cloudlesslysky @cloudlesslysky

🎵 Song prompt: Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

🎵 Summary: Harry’s heartbeat is loud in his ears as his heart pounds in his chest. His lungs burn as he pants for air. His legs are screaming in protests as he continues to push them to their limit, forcing himself to run ever faster.

📻  Born in the U.S.A. (M, 9k) by KittyCargo @kittycargo

🎵 Song prompt: I'm on Fire by Bruce Springsteen

🎵 Summary: “You need to come home, Draco.”

“What? Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, I just have an opportunity for you, and you need to come home to take it.”

When Draco's mother insists he comes home, he drags his feet and convinces his friends to take a road trip.

📻  just tell me when it's alright (E, 23k) by M0stlyVoid @bonesliketambourines

🎵 Song prompt: Teeth, Lady Gaga

🎵 Summary: Harry’s been fighting tooth and nail for any bit of normalcy he can get his hands on. He’s sick of feeling like something’s wrong with him, tired of feeling different. He thinks he’s finally gotten to the root of it, and has settled into a routine that makes him happy. Naturally, that’s when Draco Malfoy walks back into his life and upends it once again. Has Harry bitten off more than he can chew with his former rival?

📻  The Courting by the Pureblood Who Only Has Five Milligrams of Romantic Intelligence and Thinks He’s Real Smooth (T, 19.4k) by Cibee (Cibeeeee) @cibeewastaken

🎵 Song prompt: Cupid - Amy Winehouse 

🎵 Summary: Draco could grab Potter and shove him into a stall before proceeding to suck his soul out of his dick, but secretly, deep down, in the part of Draco that he will never admit to anyone, he is (everyone pauses to shudder) a romantic. Potter is not someone Draco wants a one-off with. Potter is — Draco’s beloved!

So Draco decides to boldly go where no one has gone before: to put himself through scrutiny; their friends’ teasing and pranks; unsound romantic advice from a house-elf; wearing pretty clothes; all to try and win Potter’s heart through courtship.

(An unnamed ginger bastard can be heard yelling from afar: “This is actually a detailed guide on how not to court someone!”)

But who cares about the opinions of redheads? Literally no one.

📻  What Will We Do With a Drunken Harry? (E, 4.9k) by Thunder_of_Dragons @thunder-of-dragons

🎵 Song prompt: "Drunken Sailor" by The Irish Rovers

🎵 Summary: A victorious Quidditch match, a claimed Quidditch Cup, and a wild House party can mean only one thing. Will the aftermath lead to one excruciating hangover in the morning, or will it perhaps lead to something more?

📻  Though Your World Is Changing, I Will Be The Same (E, 15.9k) by hephaestiions 

🎵 Song prompt: Slave To Love by Bryan Ferry 

🎵 Summary: “I shower after work,” Harry had told him once when Draco had asked what cologne had such longevity as to be effective after a full day of gruelling Auror work. 

“For me?” Draco had asked. Teased, just a little. There had been a smile lingering on the edges of his consciousness, threatening to traipse onto his mouth. 

“For Ginny,” Harry had said, voice flat. “She hates it when I come back sweaty and crackling with other people’s hexes. Did you know magic has a smell? I didn’t until she told me.”

–

It's all fun and games, till somebody falls in love. Given his luck, it's obviously Draco who has to go and do it.

📻  I Can't Help Falling in Love with You (NR, 4.8k) by readdreamwrite26 @readdreamwrite26

🎵 Song prompt: I can't help falling in love with you - Elvis Presley

🎵 Summary: Harry stood up and set his hand out to Draco. “Dance?” “I didn’t know you danced, Potter.” “Hm, I’ve danced a lot in my time," Harry replied smugly. “How do I know you won’t step on my feet?” “You don’t, but I think the risk will be worth it.”

📻  Searching For a Place to Hide (T, 12.5k) by Erin_Riwen @erin-riwen

🎵 Song prompt: Love Will Keep Us Alive - The Eagles

🎵 Summary: After the war, there were threats against the Malfoys. Needing them kept safe until the trials are over, the Ministry puts them in protective custody but a murder attempt proves there’s a Ministry leak. Desperate, the Ministry decides a safe house is best, but who to trust to keep it secret and keep them safe? Narcissa calls in a life debt, the Minster calls in a favour and Harry Potter wonders why his life continues to hate him. 

Along the way, the Malfoys learn how to be a family again, Harry learns that some things are not how he thought and maybe never were, and the touch-starved boys discover that they may be each other's forever answer.

📻  Isolated Thunderstorms and Scattered Showers (T, 21.3k) by triggerlil @triggerlil 

🎵 Song prompt: Iris - the GooGoo Dolls

🎵 Summary: Post-war, Harry needs space. Everything is too much all at once, and time and time again, he finds himself pulling the invisibility cloak over his head, just for a bit of peace.

Returning for eighth year is hard, especially when you're considered a war hero, and your name is Harry James Potter. It's just that things go a little wonky when Harry starts following Malfoy, and finds that he can't (or doesn't want to) stop.

📻  Kiss It Better (E, 1.5k) by articcat621 @articcat621

🎵 Song prompt: Kiss It Better by Rihanna

🎵 Summary: When Harry's injured, Draco knows there's no place he'd rather be than by his side.

📻  (shut up and) dance with me (T, 7.9k) by punk_rock_yuppie @punk-rock-yuppie

🎵 Song prompt: Shut Up and Dance - Walk the Moon

🎵 Summary: Four dances Harry and Draco share.

📻  In Love with the Ferret (E, 21.9k) by Pineau_noir @pineau-noir 

🎵 Song prompt: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

🎵 Summary: Harry has never been the most observant bloke. Sometimes to the point of him not realising his feelings for a particular pointy, pale git. And it's not his fault if literally everyone else knows about said feelings except for Harry and the git in question. So it's really not his fault, when faced with the scope of his feelings, he suddenly has a hard time talking to one Draco Malfoy. Or looking him in the eye. Or not being a total weirdo around him.

There's nothing to do but take the advice of his friends and try to woo Draco over dinners with friends, Ministry cases, and an unfortunately named Italian restaurant.

Harry just can't stop the flutter in his chest when he sees Draco smile.

📻  Dance with me? (M, 8.2k) by Aylaar @accioxanxiety

🎵 Song prompt: I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston

🎵 Summary: Draco had given up on love, until one day sitting outside the usual gaudy cafe he frequented 'people watching' he spotted Harry Potter lurking, a suspicious Draco investigates and a series of events ensue.

📻  The Cupid Incident (E, 12.6k) by meandminniemcg @meandminniemcg 

🎵 Song prompt: Can' Get You out of My Head - Kylie Minogue

🎵 Summary: Draco gets into the way of a potions attack and can't get Potter out of his head.

📻  Carouse (E, 19.9k) by Drarryismymuse (Hatchersn) @drarryismymuse 

🎵 Song prompt: Dead by Madison Beer

🎵 Summary: Carouse (verb): To drink plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way.

Harry finds himself using alcohol in increasingly dangerous ways to cope with the stresses of life. When he is put on leave from work to sort out his issue, he instead falls head first into a lively club scene where he can drink and fuck his worries away. That is, until a certain blond from his past reappears and throws off his entire routine.

Massive well done to all these talented creators - you’ve made this fest utterly spectacular! Take a bow!!

🎙️ Don’t forget to check out the Playlists:

Youtube

Spotify (Provided by @eva-eleanore​ Thank  ypu so much!)

#HD Wireless #hd wireless 2020 #hd wireless reveals

[lonelypond]

AU Yeah August: Café Quarantine, Part III

NicoMaki, Love Live, 3.2K, 3/4

Summary: The quarantine continues. Nico and Maki get closer, but...

Café Quarantine, Part III

Maki’s phone went off. Nico.

N: There’s muffins in the oven ( ˘▽˘)っ♨ WAKE UP before the timer goes off.

M: NO.

N: Your pad will burn down. Your parents might notice.

Pad? Oh, the slang kick. Nico was in a good mood. Maki grinned.

M: They’d have to be home.

N: You’re in a mood.

M: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

N: Go get the muffins.

M: Maybe.

N: No fever, no coughing “:♡.•♬✧⁽⁽ଘ( ˊᵕˋ )ଓ⁾⁾*+:•*∴

Maki glanced at the time. 9:30 a.m. And Nico had already baked? Maki groaned.

N: Up and at ‘em, barn burner.

M: Musicians are night people. Why aren’t you?

N: Nico is magic. And you’re too much, sugar band.

M: Please forget you ever found that jazz slang link.

N: (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

M: if I get up and deal with whatever you put in my oven, will you never refer to me as a hepkitten or barnburner again?

N: Your oven ✧(σ๑˃̶̀ꇴ˂̶́)σ and sure, square.

M: <(｀^´)>

N: 5 minutes.

M: Fine.

Maki pulled on a t-shirt and found her slippers. Muffins? Might be worth waking up for.

###

A duet, Nico jumping in to the livestream from the library. “I Get No Kick.”

Maki at the piano, her voice a sad and sober invitation,

My story is much too sad to be told But practically everything Leaves me totally cold The only exception I know is the case When I'm out on a quiet spree Fighting vainly the old ennui And I suddenly turn and see Your fabulous face

Then Nico for chorus.

I get no kick from Champagne Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all So tell me why should it be true That I get a kick out of you

Some get a kick from cocaine I'm sure that if I took even one sniff That would bore me terrif- Ically too Yet I get a kick out of you

And Maki alone: I get a kick every time I see you standing there before me

And Nico alone: I get a kick though it's clear to see That you obviously do not adore me

Maki after an instrumental riff: I get no kick kick in a plane, oh yeah Flying too high with some girl in the sky Is my idea of nothing to do, And both for the big finish: you know what, babe I get a kick, you give me a thrill, I get a kick out of you

Maki’s phone double pinged. Hanayo. And Rin.

H; Oh my god, Maki that was like a scene from a movie. You and Nico were both so poised, so pretty, so wistful...almost like you were looking out the windows at each other from so far away.

R: TELL NICO YOU LIKE HER. Don’t just sing things.

H: But keep singing. I have so many ideas. You have such great chemistry. (●♡∀♡))ヾ☆*。

R: Kayo-chin’s typing so fast there’s sparks.

And Rin sent a video of Hanayo at her laptop, hunched over, glasses sliding down her nose, fingers moving at a faster tempo than Maki had ever played.

Then a Nico text.

N: So what’d the PR department think?

M: ((●♡∀♡))ヾ☆*。

N: Just like Nico’s plan.

M :◑.◑

N: Nico’s hungry. Did you order pizza?

M: Isn’t that your fifth meal today?

N: Nico burned off fever calories.

M: Yeah. And you don’t have any to spare.

N: Nico is muscle -(๑☆‿ ☆#)ᕗ

M: Tiny muscle.

N: Tiny muscle that can out arm wrestle you.

M: Try me.

N: Oh, Nico will.

M: I’ll order something. Do you actually want pizza?

N: No. But they get it here fast. And NICO NEEDS FOOD.

Maki had an image of Kaiju sized Nico raging through Chicago in search of snacks. It was God Tier humor. Maki played a quick series of notes, chords chasing and crashing into each other, giggling as they sped up to a sudden silence.

N: That sounded silly.

M: Are you outside the door?

N: Yes. Order my pizza.

M: Fine. And it was only as silly as you.

N: ԅ(◉෴◉ԅ)

###

Maki was now having dreams in Korean. The portal to Seoul had moved to the media room as she sped watched through Tomorrow’s Cantabile. Campus envy for start. Such a beautiful location to play. Crazy professor dude was a bit overdramatic but the music...Maki would stop watching when she couldn’t take any more not playing. And the dorms, with the piano right there....Maki would just stay put…

“Ooh, the violinist subplot is so cute.”

“No spoilers” Maki ordered, not looking behind her, where Nico was presumably lounging in the doorway.

“How come you didn’t go to a music school?”

“They call them conservatories. And because I was going to be a doctor.”

“Was.”

Maki paused the stream from her laptop to the TV screen and turned. Nico was leaning, eyes sparkling enough that Maki could imagine the “Nico won this round” smile under her extra sparkly pink mask.

“Northwestern has an excellent music program.”

“You said was.” Nico smirked.

Maki started the program up again.

###

Maki was getting frustrated. Between her parents and their “what’s your premed major choice?” hints and Nico’s dissection of her verb tenses, there was too much attention on her. And Nico was feeling better, less coughing, so they were nearly running into each other in the hall more often. After Nico’s invasion of Maki’s Tomorrow’s Cantabile viewing experience, Maki fled outside, grabbing her soccer ball and working on a few tricks. Rin hadn’t stopped by in a couple of days and Maki was starting to feel too isolated. Just dribble the ball, do some squat thrusts, roll over in the grass for a few yards, then lay on her back, staring at the sky and tossing the ball up and catching it. No sounds but birds and ball.

Maki knew she couldn’t just punt. But the more college classes took her away from music, the less she wanted to spend time in a classroom. And then Nico, with a surprise dream involving jazz, one of Maki’s favorite things. And Maki’s random Café Quarantine idea became the very real pleasure of music with Nico. Maki wanted more of that. Music with Nico, time with Nico, every night with Nico, seeing exactly how much attention Nico would pay to what Maki chose, both clothes and music, what Nico would suggest, where they would agree...Maki hummed a little, she and Hanayo had been tossing themes back and forth. Learning more about DeeDee Bridgewater after Nico’s name drop had “Lady Be Good” looping in Maki’s head and she really wanted to perform it for Nico. Hanayo had suggested “Dames” be the theme, throwing “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” into the mix and Maki added “Satin Doll.” She hadn’t talked about this with Nico yet, but tonight’s show was getting closer and Maki was surprised Nico wasn’t out here, haranguing her to practice.

Why wasn’t Nico out here? Maki jumped up, ball tucked under her arm, and quick walked through downstairs, before heading up to the bedrooms.

She paused outside Nico’s door, no coughing, then knocked. “Nico?”

No reply. Maki opened the door a crack. There was a pile of blankets in the center of the bed, with Nico presumably underneath it. Maki glanced at her phone. Two hours ‘til showtime. No Nico tonight.

Maki closed the door quietly, and went into her room. Shower off the grass, then pick an outfit. But first, Maki dropped back onto her bed, hugging a pillow, and willing more energy to Nico.

###

Nightmare. No breath. Buried under cases of coffee, Maki gone for the weekend, the hospital coffeeshop closed, and no one going to be back for days. Or was that Maki coughing, somewhere, fading, when Nico couldn’t move, couldn’t reach her.

Nico sat up, throwing blankets off her, breaths too fast, too shallow, panic...where was she. Dark. Maki’s house, sweat, fever? Where was Maki? Grabbing a mask, an action now so automatic that even on this half awake edge of rooms too big, too empty, too dark panic, Nico knew she needed to reach out for the one on the nightstand. Loop over the ears, trip over the blanket bunched up next to the bed, hit the ground with her knee, curse, stumble toward the door and nearly into Maki, who was heading for Nico’s room, wearing what must be her pajamas, a gray and light blue flannel shirt, partly unbuttoned and what looked like gray boy shorts with a blue stripe down the hip. Nico forced her eyes away from Maki’s very long legs while the surprised redhead skipped back and squeaked.

“Nico? Are you all right?”

Nico leaned against the wall, inhaling through her nose, “Nico’s fine.”

“I heard you…”

“Nightmare.” Nico frowned, “Were you coughing?”

Maki shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest, suddenly seemingly aware of how much skin she was showing, compared to Nico’s pajama pants and frilly camisole combo.

Breathing almost back to even, Nico stood, “Sorry Nico woke you up.”

Maki shook her head, biting her lip, “Wasn’t really sleeping. Would really rather have been talking to you, but I didn’t want to…”

“Thanks for letting me sleep. Had a lot of energy this morning, but it just suddenly disappeared after lunch.”

“Recovery is slow. You have to give yourself a break.” Maki hadn’t thought to grab a mask so Nico could see her soft, concerned expression.

Nico decided she had enough energy for flirting “Nico’s doctors usually wear more.”

Nico watched Maki flush with embarrassment and backed toward her room, “ummmm…”

Nico reached out a hand for Maki’s arm, her touch gentle, “It’s okay, Nico won’t tease you.”

Maki pulled away, fingers now splayed and covering the top of her thighs, where the shirt ended. She wouldn’t look at Nico.

Right Nico, Nico scolded herself, flowers, dinner, candy...or at least a blu-ray and popcorn night first. “I’ll start tea. Maybe we can watch something funny. Nico needs a break from bad dreams.”

###

While Maki decided what to wear, Nico let the tea steep and watched tonight’s Cafe Quarantine. Floor length violet gown with embroidered chrysanthemums, and a textured crepe, artfully falling off the shoulder neckline. Nico whistled. Maki’s closet was deep and delicious. Had she actually worn them places? And which places? And with who? Nico found a sudden discomfort nudging at her, the thought of Maki in a hotel ballroom, someone’s arms around the fitted waist of her gown...Nico refocused on actual Maki at the piano, fingers sprightly as “The Girl From Ipanema” danced, Maki swaying breezes and skirts with her left hand, drifting clouds into sunshine with her right. Nico giggled, Maki was doing her own secret theme with the instrumentals, songs about “Brazil.” They’d be out of songs before Nico could suggest a Flying Down to Rio week.

“Hey.” Maki said breathily from the doorway of the kitchen.

“Nico was about to watch your second song.”

“I’ll go pick a movie.”

And Maki was gone, with a flash of pajama pant clad leg. Except that on Nico’s phone, Maki’s voice was swinging into a bluesy opening of “Lady Be Good” that turned laughing and flirty. Nico smiled, she could tell Maki was forcing herself not to wink as she sang

“I am so awfully misunderstood So lady, be good to me Oh, please have some pity I'm all-alone in this big city I tell you I'm just a lonesome babe in the wood So lady be good to me”

And then with a wink, and a brashness that surprised Nico, Maki started scatting, a huge grin between nonsense syllables, her voice dropping lower and lower, and then suddenly a sprint back to staccato, and then another wink and the final verse, daring someone to save her.

“Oh, please have some pity I'm all alone in this big city I tell you I'm just a lonesome babe in the wood So lady be good to me Oh lady be good to me”

Nico took her mug of tea and a cookie to the media room, still thinking about Maki’s performance. As stellar as Maki was on the piano, she was also starting to show real flair as a vocalist. Nico found herself imagining the duets they could do when her 10 days of isolation were up.

But Nico stuck to practical as a conversation opener. “I left water in the kettle if you want tea.”

“Thanks.” Maki got up, she’d already opened the windows and left Nico the seat closest to them, “I’ll probably just stick with milk and cookies.”

“Oh good, bring the rest of the cookies.:” Nico settled into her seat, “Hey Maki, where’d you get the idea to scat? Ella?”

“The Muppets.” And Maki was out the door. And Nico was once again intrigued by how little she could guess about Nishikino Maki’s thoughts.

###

Another Café Quarantine performed and posted. Nico was buzzing. Even in separate rooms, her duets with Maki were fire. And now Eli was on a video chat.

“You beans have so much chemistry. Nozomi can’t wait until you bring Maki over for dinner.” Eli laughed as she curved a silver bangle bracelet, “How’d you two start dating? All the ‘you were roommates” tropes. Or was it at work? Ooh, a coffeeshop AU! When’d you kiss? Where’d you kiss? Behind the counter at work, while you expertly sprayed whipped cream on a mocha? Taking a break from inventory and sharing a chocolate chip cookie? In the kitchen, wiping chocolate off her cheek.”

“Enough with your fantasies. And Nico is contagious, we are not dating. I thought Nozomi was the nosy wife.”

Eli leaned back and stretched, blonde hair in a tight ponytail. “I’m bored. Nozomi’s gotta keep working but I’m stuck at home. I need vicarious romance.”

“No. You need to put together a dance routine for a night of Café Quarantine.” Nico had decided to drag Eli back into performing. In the two years, Nico had spent at college, she’d had enough dance classes with Eli to be impressed at the ballerina’s abilities. Then Maki could play a more classical piece.

Eli leaned forward, chin in the hand propped on her knee, and sighed. “I’m out of shape.”

“For you.”

Eli shrugged in low key agreement, “I’ll think about it. Are you really not dating?”

“No.” Nico sunk back into pillows.

“Not even a not yet?”

“Maki’s a hard read.”

Eli shook her head, tapping her forehead. “You’re nuts. Do you listen to her singing?”

“That’s just music.” Nico had been telling herself this almost nightly.

“Nico.” Eli’s tone was serious, “no one sings like that if it’s just music.”

Nico sat up, her tone matching Eli’s. “Maki might, she’s a genius.”

“Plus,” Eli was very good at ignoring Nico when necessary, “she invited you to quarantine at her house and didn’t kick you out when you got sick.”

“Her dad wanted to, I think.”

Eli leaned forward, her face contorting comically, “Well, duh, Nico, another point for DATE THE HEIRESS.” Eli’s eyes brightened, “You’re in a Korean drama. Does her mother hate you? Is there an ex? Spill.”

“Don’t call her ‘the heiress.” Nico didn’t want any more attention paid to that aspect of things than she already had to. How was she supposed to compete? Would it be like dating the poolboy or the maid in Maki’s parents’ eyes.

“Maki.” Eli said simply.

“Maki.” Nico liked holding the syllables in her mouth.

“Why aren’t you dating Maki yet?”

Nico flumped back into her pillows, “Nico wants to be well.”

“Say, hey, let’s date. Then it’s settled. There’ll be time for kissing later.” Eli went back to bending silver.

“Things have to be the right temperature. Or they break.”

“Don’t throw jeweler references at me, Nico.”

“But it’s true...how about cooking references? If you take a cake out too early or too late, even by a minute, it’s not as good. And the more complicated the cake, the more a miss messes it up.” Nico groaned, almost throwing a pillow at her phone, “Plus, Nico’s exhausted. And hungry all the time.”

“Still coughing.”

“Yeah.”

“Be careful. We miss you.” Eli’s sincerity was always soothing.

“I miss you.”

“I get the exhausted thing. It’s hard to think about romance when you can’t keep your eyes open. Nozomi’s working double shifts to cover our bills.” Eli held up the bracelet to show it off.

“That’s pretty. When Nico gets cleared, I’ll cook you a special dinner.”

“Thanks.” Eli chuckled, “As long as you bring your girlfriend Maki over.”

Nico chucked a pillow at her phone.

###

R: Did you tell Nico you like her yet.

M: Pick another topic.

R: Where are we going on a double date?

M: Rin.

R: What’s wrong?

M: I’m just thinking about a lot of things.

R: Don’t think. Just do. You overthink (҂⌣̀_⌣́)

Rin was right, Maki did overthink, but right now, she legitimately had at least three major issues she was juggling, including the fact that finding herself sitting and staring into space, remembering Nico’s voice and mimicking her gestures was interfering with Maki’s ability to plan anything.

M: I’m just ready for a change,

R: ( ¬_¬)

M ˚▱˚

R: Is this about your parents?

M: It’s about me. I’m going to be 21.

R: Your trust fund?

M: Not really exactly that. I just feel like I should make an I’m an adult statement.

R: Date Nico.

M: Before that.

R: Oh.

M: Yeah, oh.

R: (σ≧∀≦)σ

M: Thanks.

R: Donuts and coffee in the backyard tomorrow?

M: Not before noon.

R: (≧ω≦)ゞ

###

M; How are you feeling?

N: Tired. What are you doing?

Maki looked at her exchange with Rin.

M: Nothing.

N: Nico too.

M: Good night.

N: Great show tonight.

M (~_^)ｂ

N: See you tomorrow.

M: Donuts for breakfast.

N: Not healthy.

M: Dr. Nico needs to change her opinion, one of them will have blueberries. And toasted coconut is wonder food while coffee leads to longevity. All science-y stuff I read somewhere.

N: Σ(T□T) Dr. Nico?

M: I got the rockin pneumonia and the boogie woogie flu.

N: Will donuts fix you?

M: Yes.

N: Nico will find a recipe.

M: ♥

M: Nico…

N: ?

Maki considered typing something like, what if I quit the coffeeshop? When are you leaving? Can we have a kiss theme week?

M: Get some sleep.

N: c⌒っ╹v╹ )っ

Maki dropped her phone on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Where to start so many conversations?

A/N: And this monster of an @auyeahaugust fic continues. Take care!

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #RinPana #Hoshizora Rin #Koizumi Hanayo #Ayase Eli #NozoEli #Au Yeah August #Coffeeshop AU

[loudestsounds]

Top 50 Records of 2020

50- Melee by Dogleg

           You like some punk in your cereal? It’s a part of a healthy breakfast. Melee has something truly special here. It’s high octane when it needs to be while still maintaining precision and focus in the instrumentation and recording. Ultimately what’s compelling about the record is how frustrated everything sounds while still managing to maintain melody. It’s the sound of breaking shit to rhythm!

49- Grae by Moses Sumney

           A stunning and rich concoction of songs that leaves you bewildered. Moses Sumney has made something deeply personal while still inviting you inside. While the second half (which was released a few months apart from the first) tends to make the entire album feel a touch long-winded, the effort is well-executed and often breathtaking.

48- Fail to Be by Yashira

           This one snuck in at the last minute. A totally earth-shattering metal record that is determined to damage your dome permanently. There’s certainly a heavy dose of Converge influence all over the record, but Yashira manages to separate themselves from the pack with excellent song writing and unique choices. Production wise this record might be par for the course, but there are some nice little touches on tracks like The Weight and Amnesia that create wonderful depth.

47- Man on the Moon III by Kid Cudi

           I went into this thing with on giant sigh but left questioning whether I had accidentally pressed play on another album. Kid Cudi manages to pull something off! Cudi somehow takes inspiration from the genre that took inspiration from his own catalogue of music circa 2005. This is a terrific record to zone out to and let play out. Will this record rival some of the big stack bullies of hip hop? No. Cudi was never about that. He’s always been about mood and this is one moody son of a-! There are some clear skippable tracks (see: Elsie’s baby boy) but he also lands some excellent grooves on Solo Dolo, Pt. III, Lovin’ Me and Tequila Shots. While the record does suffer from overstaying its welcome with an 18 song track list—it manages not to take you out of the experience.

46- Whole New Mess by Angel Olsen

           WNM was poorly marketed as a distinct album, despite being essentially stripped back versions of 2019′s All Mirrors. Audiences were met with disappointment at having only two fresh songs to sample. The reality is it doesn’t fucking matter. Angel Olsen has done no wrong for her entire career. These songs can breathe in a ‘whole new’ way on this record and allow the listener greater insight while simultaneously haunting the walls of the record. Lark and Tonight (Without You) take on an entirely different life, and New Love Cassette feels like a different song entirely. Even Olsen’s scraps feel like fully realized ideas. Still—the title track steals the show, as we hear Olsen at her most desperate. Usually overwhelming the listener with her poise and sharp wit, Olsen promises that she’ll really do the change. She doesn’t have to change a thing.

45- Eastern Flowers by SVEN WUNDERS

           This one caught me off guard in the summer and I had it playing in the background of everything I was doing. Cleaning. Studying. Working. Eastern Flowers is middle eastern music made by Nordic people and I stopped trying to figure out how that happened a while ago. There is a lovely energy here, one that fuses traditional middle eastern melodies with funk embellishments. Eastern Flowers is just a really fun time.

44- The Archer by Alexandra Savior

           I had skipped Savior’s first record entirely before diving into the sophomore album. Going back, it’s clear that she has developed a great deal in the meantime. Despite Alex Turner producing the last one, the song writing takes the haunting details to whole new heights. Savior seems more confident in her voice, and also more willing to play with it in production (the ghostly tone on her voice in Soft Currents a testament). Savior separates herself from artists with a similar voice or who rest beside her within her genre, in how long she is willing to simmer within a song. These aren’t typical arrangements and it’s exciting to hear Savior throw you for a loop on songs like Howl and But You. We’re all excited for what lies next.

43- Push by Heads.

           Angry. Aggressive. Anxious. Push is a record that feels like the moments that build up before a massive protest. You are constantly pushed to the edge as the listener. There is a sinister element to the vocals that is deeply unsettling. Most songs slowly build with the promise of something bigger, instead reaching success simply by maintaining tension. Then there are songs like Weather Beaten and Nobody Moves & Everybody Talks that change the narrative, exploding into a punishing breakdown. Heads. Have something truly electric and angry on their hands here, and we’ll go along for the ride.

42- Indistinct Conversations by Land of Talk

           Many stripped-back and bare tracks on this one from Montreal’s own Land of Talk. It hits you about halfway through that the album is obsessed with loving one’s own history. Even when things have failed to work out, many songs suggest that we can only look back fondly. Opener Diaphonous warns I was caught up in the wrong stuff/ but I have to laugh. There are moments of greatness on this record, like the rushing movement of Look to You and the twangy riff of Footnotes—yet the marvel is in the consistent beauty, never wavering.

41- Are You Gone by Sarah Harmer

           A really soothing yet fun indie rock record that satisfies my craving for the music I loved as a teenager. There are some lovely arrangements and melodies from Harmer on this one, and while the mood is a touch sad, you’re happy you got to share in the emotion of it all. The album oscillates between more intimate moments and full-band jams, which create a nice balance—as if you’re moving in and out with the tide.

40- Circles by Mac Miller

           I was never the biggest Mac Miller fan. I wasn’t all that familiar with his catalogue before Swimming, and I perhaps made a point of listening to this posthumous release simply because he passed tragically. Still, the songs seem touched by his state, haunting the listener in combination with what we know ultimately happened to Mac. It’s a real shame it had to end like this, but if there was ever a gorgeous, captivating, and mature release to come at the end of a successful career cut short, Circles was it. 

39- Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions by Steve Arrington

           Steve Arrington is back from his cryogenic freeze with a sick friggin’ soul album! These are fun, joyous and lived in gospel/soul tracks that play well in almost any setting. Play this bad boy with your friends, family and even around the office. Nobody will be disappointed. There are also some beautiful production touches that make this a great listen on headphones. Steve wants to tell you all about how funk is the way—and I think I believe him.

38- Atonement by exhalants.

           A fun ripper that makes you want to run up your walls and slam your fists on the floor. Atonement is not active listening per se, at least not in comparison to records released by their cohort, but it certainly puts you in a space that the band creates, dictates and commands. This is a band that has borrowed from others in the genre, but made that rare hardcore record that has just the right amount of hooks while maintaining space to catch ones breath.

37- Petals for Armor by Hayley Williams

           PFA had that multiple EP release thing that a few artists did this year (see: Dirty Projectors). Ultimately the entire project suffered from a touch of bloat—but the incredible songs were spread out enough on this album, that it had to make my list. There are incredible production choices on this record, and it clearly was a labour of love for Williams. The songs are a bit rigid in the vein of Annie Clark, but Williams has a freedom to her vocals that liberates them. I think a more refined 10 track album may have cracked my top 20. Songs like Taken and My Friend don’t seem to have a real purpose on the record other than just being half-baked mood tracks, but they don’t tarnish the effect that songs like Simmer, Over Yet or Sugar on the Rim have on the listener.

36- Farewell to All we Know by Matt Elliott

           Farewell is a collection of the creepiest, saddest and most beautiful songs you’ve ever heard. I don’t usually stray down this path but this is an album that works so well when reading or writing. There is some beautiful poetry on the darkness of the world and the last hopes for mankind. What sets the record apart lays in the details. The haunting echoes of the city streets. The whisper of ghosts that drag behind Elliott’s guitar. The record establishes incredible mood, inviting you in for a glass of despair.

35- Polysomn by Kairon; IRSE!

           My head hurts just trying to write about this record. It’s weird, heavy, melodic. The vocals feel unique to the genre while used sparingly. There is a lot of interesting synth play on this record that might invite listeners outside of the genre—but that also add depth and feeling to songs that otherwise might feel like trudges through metal music mud. Polysomn is filled with exciting, dynamic elements that are a good entrance into “weird, heavy music” for you listeners out there. I won’t pretend to know how this band does what it does any longer. Just enjoy.

34- Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver

           Frankly, the record is difficult to talk about without making it seem like it sounds like basically all of its contemporaries. In fairness, Deep Sea Diver shares a lot of commonality with the likes of Weyes Blood, Broken Social Scene, Sharon Van Etten (who even features on the title track). That said, everything sounds great on this record. The songs are tight, the melodies hang effortlessly and the vibes are…vibes. There are a ton of interesting choices, from the weird arrangements on Hurricane, reminiscent of Wolf Parade- to the videogame synths on Lightning Bolts. It never gets tired or boring—it just stands as an excellent indie pop/rock record that you can play at your board game night.

33- When I Die, Will I Get Better? by SVALBARD

           Equal parts mathy, metal, prog, emo and god knows what. This album has an intense feel to it that will have you uplifted as you thrash around your apartment. The momentum of these songs truly amazes, as we’re taken for an absolutely blistering ride on almost every track. Nonetheless, the songs find a way to breathe, unlike most of their contemporaries that leave you exhausted by the twenty minute mark. SVALBARD also has an ear for melody that fights typical metal fatigue. I won’t get tired of listening to this one.

32- Silver Tongue by TORRES

           After the bizarre, cryptic disappointment of Three Futures, it didn’t seem clear where TORRES would head. On Silver Tongue she appears to continue a confident journey in her own direction, but with a bit more focus and lot more precision. Where Three Futures was too disorienting to follow and often too indulgent for the listener to feel at all involved, Silver Tongue extends an olive branch—grab hold and you’ll be taken on a strange, glitchy and melodic journey into psychedelic pop rock. While the songs lack warmth, that seems to be the point entirely. There’s a magic in the cold and dreary walls that TORRES builds on the record that impresses with every subsequent listen.

31- The Baby by Samia

           A tremendous indie-rock record with some of the most excitement build-ups and hooks of anything released in 2020. Samia sings about some of the bleak realities of sexual frivolity in one’s twenties, while still somehow gloating about her vinegar and kale diets (all tongue in cheek). There are clear standout tracks (Big Wheel, Fit n Full, Minnesota) – but where Samia shines, and where she separates herself from her cohort of indie rock darlings (see: Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, Clairo) is how well her slower ballads, such as Does not Heal, land. She is a superior song writer in many respects and has everything ahead of her.

30- Live Forever by Bartees Strange

           A very surreal, genre bending record from newcomer Bartees Strange. Live Forever sounds like totally different music depending on which track you’re on. You have some Death Cab. You have some Bon Iver. You have some Joey Badass? It’s a strange journey through an eclectic, cluttered and heavily talented musical mind.

29- The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens

           While the record as a whole underwhelmed me, Sufjan is still Sufjan. If this record was made by any other artist I’d be telling everyone about it. Many of the sounds felt a bit too familiar, which put me off just a touch. There are still unbelievable moments on this record: the layers on Make Me an Offer/ the dance-pop qualities of Video Game/ the swelling choir section of Tell Me You Love Me/ the build up of tension in The Ascension. There are the more confounding moments: Death Star as a song and not as parody/ Sugar as a slapstick suggestion of romance. Frankly I’m not all that blown away by the lead single, and nearly 13 minute odyssey, America—but I can understand how it operates as a statement of frustration and raw emotion. Nonetheless, Sufjan continues to occupy a space that, while at times mystifying, still leaves you entranced by the mystique of it all. We always leave wanting more, even if we’ve had a bit too much.

28- Set My Heart on Fire Immediately by Perfume Genius

           A gorgeous and lush assembly of songs that feel very personal to PG. The songs are grand, yet surprisingly intimate. One frustration with the songs that I’m still struggling to come to terms with, is that they seem very distant from the listener. We’re not invited into the experiences that the songs discuss—they seem isolated and tethered to the artist. That was likely a conscious decision and suits the subject matter well. Still, for all the warmth and atmosphere—you wish you could go along for the ride. Perfume Genius seems content on operating on their own planet—as we listen through frequency.

27- Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa

           This was certainly the year of Dua. She seems to have realized her final form and it’s truly a great thing to witness and listen to. Future Nostalgia plays out as an exceptional throwback pop record in a pop era dominated by future/hyper industrial production. These songs are poppy and unashamed to be exactly what they are. With the exception of the clumsy songs that bookend the record (the title track is a lacklustre open & Boys Will Be Boys attempts to tie in a loose, feminist concept to the record)—the album as a whole is jam packed with immense hooks. Let’s hope Dua hasn’t peaked because there is so much to love and groove to on this record.

26- KG by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

           Another instalment of the King Gizzard microtonal series. Unlike Flying Microtonal Banana, KG tends to hit harder and land smoother. There is a ton of groove on this bad boy that gets you comfortably settled, until the boys shake it up with some eclectic, middle east inspired arrangement. The beauty of KG is how you are never allowed to settle into something for too long. You’re almost always moving on to another segment, idea and branch of music that makes you feel...weird. Thanks guys!

25- Quelle by BRIQUEVILLE

           A haunting, drone fuelled romp in the spooky room. Quelle almost puts you to sleep until it urgently shakes you awake with a thunderous riff. It’s clear that every moment of the record is laboured over, every decision painstakingly made. There are moments taken straight out of your favorite horror film, yet the album manages to pull you in closer instead of pushing you away. Bold choices pay off for BRIQUEVILLE on this one, as we enter their world, and almost don’t manage to make it out.

24- Lianne La Havas S/T

           LLH self titles a record that sees her reaching back to a more stripped down, jam-based sound. There are some absolute bleeders on here that see her voice reaching registers she hasn’t covered on previous releases. The live-band recording works in her favor, as the instrumentation is loose enough to create a mood but still manages to quickly snap back to tight and precise progressions. Anchored by a well-executed Radiohead cover (Weird Fishes) the record has a strong b-side to match its grand opening half. The hypnotic qualities of many of the tracks are an especially fun element to the release as the jams tend to work you up wherever you are. La Havas has something very special on her hands with this record, and it’s one I will continue to share for years to come.

23- Omens by Elder

           A softer and, dare I say, poppier release from stoner rock fiends Elder was a welcome addition to music in 2020. There are many long form jams on this record that open themselves up to synths—and while it seems they haven’t totally mastered how to integrate more electronic segments into their riffage, the moods are still tight as hell. Give it a spin with some decent headphones and you won’t be disappointed.

22- Miss Anthropocene by Grimes

           You can try as hard as you’d like to root against Grimes but her music speaks for itself. I looked for ways to tell myself that she had finally waned or has become less inspired—but it’s just not true—she is finely tuned to whatever wavelength is firing on her alien planet. On MA the songs have more space to breathe, often meandering within themselves for over six minutes, until she hits you with a straightforward pop rock track that is so well produced and contains such a great vocal performance, that you simply cannot deny that we have yet another excellent release. It’s freaky, it’s haunting, it’s weird, and at times it’s even pleasurably comic. Grimes is doing it all and she is doing it on exactly her terms. We should expect nothing less.

21- Rough and Rowdy Ways by Bob Dylan

           I won’t pretend to be an expert on Bob Dylan’s catalogue. Nor will I pretend that I know what makes Bob Dylan good or bad. All I know is that Rough and Rowdy ways has great songs that back beautiful poetry. It’s consistently captivating and often, terribly sad. The final track, Murder Most Foul, may be one of the most potent, historical epics ever put to music. All in all, Bob Dylan has something deeply interesting to add to our weird, chaotic, and just plain shitty times.

20- Superstar by Caroline Rose

           The last show I went to was the album release of this record and it absolutely killed. Playing the record front to back, Caroline Rose will always be the pre-pandemic gig that symbolized the lightning before the thunder. Superstar is an excellent concept album about a fictionalized Caroline travelling across country with hopes of become…well… a superstar. Along the way she tosses and turns in a relationship, eviscerates doubt and self-loathing by replacing it with boisterous egotism, and manages to find herself at a finish line exhausted, and yet surprisingly having still learned something. The tracks on this record blend seamlessly into one another as Rose manages to coalesce the synth-rock madness we are used to with tighter song writing and more lyrical purpose. Caroline Rose may have just ended up what she wanted to be along.

19- The New Abnormal by The Strokes

           Everybody talks about a timeless quality that The Strokes early records have and it seems every record they have made since their first two have been made with the purpose of dispelling that very notion. The fact of the matter is, that timeless quality is what has endeared them to fans for two decades. The New Abnormal recaptures their earlier spirit. Sure, there are indulgent nods to the 80s that they seem obsessed with (sometimes to a fault)—with songs like Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus and Eternal Summer. Those songs likely work better in front of a crowd, and tend to actually crowd the record itself. Yet, there is no denying that there are excellent STROKES SONGS on this record that make you feel the way you felt listening to their first two records. The Adults are Talking is an immediate entrance into what made you love them to begin with, and Selfless follows as one of their prettiest ‘ballads’. Not the Same Anymore and Ode to the Mets close the record on an extremely high note, harkening back to the warmth of Room on Fire, with more mature and independent song structures. The true testament to the band’s growth is with their first single At the Door—which is an epic that ebbs and flows through wild croons and jagged synths, asking you to sit down and believe in the song itself. It’s as if The Strokes have been asking us to simply trust them all along.

18- UNLOCKED by Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats

           This is exactly it. Two masters collaborating in what might be their respective primes. It’s so packed, saturated, concentrated, condensed it almost seems like if it were any longer it would make our heads explode. They found the hip hop secret and managed to unlock it for us. While this may qualify as an EP it is an album’s worth of brilliance. It slaps from beginning to end with Kenny Beats saving his best instrumentals that masquerade as demos. Don’t get me wrong—these are brilliant templates for Denzel to cruise along to. Except Denzel does nothing close to cruising, he sets the road on goddamn fire. While Denzel is namedropping Rosa Parks and Don Corleone while recommending his haters go on a diet, he is playful in the same way Joe Pesci was playful in Goodfellas. With every subsequent verse Denzel is requiring that you answer the question: i’m funny how? You are certainly no clown! We swear!

17- NO DREAM by Jeff Rosenstock

           NO DREAM friggin’ rules dude! It took a bunch of listens for me to get the hang of it. I especially felt resistant to the opening track and how the record begins by pummelling you with punk chords—but that’s where Rosenstock is, so you just have to take it. NO DREAM is about giving up on settling for less. Rosenstock yells about hometown washouts, he yells about road trips, he yells about dopes who don’t believe in climate change. But you really feel something once Rosenstock starts to regret some of those lost loves. Maybe he could have behaved. Maybe he reacted too quickly. Maybe he made choices he never thought he’d make. Haven’t we all thought that? NO DREAM is a masterful punk rock record that maintains goofy, crazy, hilarious and fun traits that all good punk records need while providing us with heart that Rosenstock has never shown us before.

16- We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches

           Well, they did it again and snuck in there at the final hour. The Avalanches’ third record is a groovy, cold weather house record, bookended by some sort of intergalactic nonsense. Ultimately, the nothingness means everything, as there is an incredible amount of feeling that rests in the pieced together samples. Features from MGMT, Kurt Vile, Leon Bridges, Denzel Curry and even Rivers Cuomo only add to the madness. While the run-time is a bit long, the songs are quick enough to carry you through swiftly on your back. The Avalanches have once again offered us hypnotic, dream-like listening, perhaps when we needed it most.

15- Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers

           Bridgers has this very special quality about her song writing, where it feels like she’s pulling you close to tell you something and then whispers into your ear a secret that you knew all along. She then pats you on the shoulder, nods her head, and says good luck- all with a smirk.  Bridgers has secrets we don’t have, and that’s what makes her music equal parts haunting and gorgeous. The melodies on Punisher remain in your head for months and while they are deadly serious they also reassure you with a “hey, you know this is just a song, right?”. Songs like Chinese Satellite offer more complex arrangements that are made full (but not heavy!) with string section embellishments. Halloween is the small town folk song about a place you just had to be there to understand. Graceland Too offers a nice release from the shadows that loom all over the record, although it’s never in too much sunlight to become a distraction. The entire album flows effortlessly, and before you know it you’ve reached the breathy scream and laughter at the end of epic closer I Know The End. Life is a game that Phoebe Bridgers is watching us all take bets on. She’ll remind us how it all played out later.

14- Find the Sun by Deradoorian

           These songs are odd, cyclical, hypnotic. The vocals are static and often emotionless. Find the Sun is a masterpiece taken directly from 1972—but thank god it was here to lull us into paralysis in 2020. None of the songs are direct injections, instead they are slow-release capsules that require you to take your time. Opener Red Den has a standard song structure (an anomaly), but still has a haunting, looping chorus that is interpolated with a second chorus that rests three levels lower. Perhaps the most direct track is almost impossible to describe. These songs are riddles or rubix cubes or those goddamn magic eye paintings that you have to look at for three hours to make out a boat (I see you, Mallrats). Deradoorian crafts an album that, despite requiring a certain degree of passive effort (huh?), still goes down smooth. Although clearly inspired by CAN, there is nothing frustrating here that forces you to concede that “maybe art doesn’t need to be understood, man”. This is a gorgeously pieced together album of psych/folk/rock that has earned its place on the mantle.

13- What’s Your Pleasure by Jessie Ware

           A dangerously good pop record that throws you back to the 80s with disco inspired flourishes. Some parts Robyn, some parts Madonna. Jessie Ware has a sound that grows past merely reproducing the music that has inspired her. There are curious and inventive details in songs (like the chorus in Ooh La La or the harmonized layers in the verses of The Kill). The songs take you to groovy heights with their detail, but the record also has some straightforward, power thru dance tracks like Read My Lips that anchor it, never letting you forget that this was meant to be danced to with others. What’s Your Pleasure is a beautifully woven pop masterpiece that never lets you go.

12- Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was by Bright Eyes

           Bright eyes is back. This record is an exciting return for the band, one that captures the misery and mysticism that surrounds our age of impending doom. Got to keep on going like it ain’t the end/ got to change like your life is depending on it-- is the first verse we hear from Conor and he never truly lets go of the sentiment. All the tracks are haunted by his past, the bleak world we live in, and the thought of trying to work out a way to make it through the days that feel like years. Down in the Weeds comes out after nine years away from the band, time Conor spent getting married and divorced, and sadly also losing his brother. These happenings find themselves scattered all over the record, as Conor is hesitant to reference them directly, but instead allows them to haunt tracks like ghosts. The instrumentation from Mogis and Walcott is fuller than other Bright Eyes records, the sounds more diverse. If someone asked what Bright Eyes sounds like one could legitimately offer this record as evidence—it is a distillation of many sounds across their entire catalogue. Ultimately what Down in the Weeds does best is remind us that the will to continue through the world is what makes us distinctly human, but also what makes us closer to something greater, something beyond everything. She doesn’t know what a comet does/ you’re approaching as you disappear-- is what we hear on the closing track Comet Song. Bright Eyes brings us closer to a truth we always knew would be just out of reach.

11- Death by Coastlands

           Aptly named, Death is a record about endings. Heart wrenching, devastating, finite and yet oddly satisfying endings. There are very sparing vocals on the record, but the instrumentation offers more feeling than any hardcore record this year. The pacing of songs like Dead Friends, the haunting choir that looms over Marrow, or the breaking of tensions that erupts out of Red Smoke Flare. This record doesn’t need words to evoke feelings of peril, urgency and grief.

10- Songs by Adrianne Lenker

           On not a lot, just forever, Adriane Lenker sings and I want to be your wife/so I hold you to my knife. This line arrives as plea instead of a threat—on an album filled with songs where Lenker reckons with her desperation. She pleas with the past for lost time returned, she pleas with her lovers for mistake forgiven, she pleas with herself for the possibility of change. When added to her catalogue with Big Thief, Songs proves that Adrianne Lenker may be the supreme song writer of our generation. On Anything she describes staring down the barrel of a hot sun as if the imagery were a familiar expression. Lenker tosses poetry at us like she might throw a frisbee. Even if we were positioned well enough to catch it, we could never throw it back, we are lucky to have it all.

09- Host by Cults

           Host didn’t feel like much on my first listen. But it kept burrowing endlessly into my brain. Now I’m waking up in the middle of the night singing the melodies on my way to go pee (No Risk! No Believing! Or Leading...). They nailed all of it. The song writing is crisp. The production is electric and soothing. They lull you to a peaceful calm with lullaby sounding tracks like No Risk. When things are just about to get repetitive they shake you out of your dream state (see: Like I Do). Every track on the record is a standout, but it can only truly be appreciated as one complete, masterful piece of music.

08- how I’m feeling now by Charli XCX

           Sure—it’s a bit of a pandemic time capsule. But holy shit. Charli made this absolute batshit hyperpop record in a month during lockdown. It is truly an unrelenting pinnacle of future pop that will hold up long past this absolute shit show of an era has passed. Charli has this way of making an unsettling listening experience that is also absurdly danceable. There are moments of insane pleasure, unhinged anxiety and bombastic ecstasy. From the promise of once again being together in forever to the claustrophobic realities of quarantine in enemy she covers the entire experience.  These songs really stand alone as brilliant testaments to Charli’s prowess. There is no stopping her as an artist at this point. Oh, and she also did us a tremendous solid by making a danceable record about how we miss dancing together. God bless you Charli, baby.

07- Ohms by Deftones

           This year needed this record. Something loud and clear as hard rock punishment. Deftones have what I believe to be their best record. Their sound has never been more crisp, focused or melodic. There are definitely new areas that Deftones explore on this record. From Spell of Mathematics to the title track—there’s a sharp attitude that plunges into their already excellent formula. The little details and flourishes of synth in songs like Genesis and Pompeji make all the difference (the latter’s transition into This Link Is Dead a clear standout)—allowing the record to breath and the listener to feel overwhelmed with, might I say, the world they have created. The album is full of beautiful moments of focus that keep the tension the band has built and cultivated for over a decade.

06- Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

           Fetch the Bolt Cutters is a record that maybe wasn’t for me at all. I firmly believe that women understand more of this record than I ever could. There’s so much brilliance in the pots and pans percussion that accompanies most tracks. There’s an energy that studio drums could never bring. And well, the songwriting speaks for itself. It’s an undeniable culmination of all of her influences. Fiona Apple is a songwriter that simply doesn’t exist anymore (some of her cohort has actually, sadly, died).

The most valuable lesson Fiona teaches us is that there is no perfect way to get over anything. But we are meant to wrestle with endings. Maybe we are all meant to move on. Making friends, sneering at enemies. Like beasts in the wild. Life might be one big game of axis and allies. Like Fiona walking on her way to school, we “grind our teeth to a rhythm invisible”. This record proves that we should each bring our mouthguard.

05- Every Bad by Porridge Radio

           Every Bad is the room that your loneliness goes inside of to scream. Porridge Radio has an absolute masterpiece on their hands. Absolutely punishing lines that carve away your own anxiety with excellent songs that switch things around constantly. There isn’t a single stale song on the record and yet they work so cohesively. Every Bad is constantly asking us to self-examine, to dig a little deeper. What is going on with me? Is the first lyric you hear on the record. I’m coming home is the last. The record spans the cycle of existential dread guiding you through difficult choices and it could not have come at a better time.

04- St. Cloud by Waxahatchee

           I think I like Americana music. I probably knew that when I couldn’t resist the sing-along qualities of Killers records like Sam’s Town or Battle Born—but Crutchfield’s 2020 record has solidified for me. The writing here is too good to be true. Equal parts poetry and melody, her voice has this raw quality that really carries home when she plays up the southern twangs and drawls. The album feels obsessed with new beginnings after brutal endings. Hometowns on fire and the power of choosing to move on. The lyrics still feel haunted by the weight of memory (St. Cloud), and the anxiety surrounding what might come next (Ruby Falls), but the fresh approach to song writing has Waxahatchee sounding the best they ever have.

03- RTJ 4 by Run the Jewels

           They did it again. Not much to say here. It never gets old and it never feels stale. The records still feel like their own distinct hip-hop manifestos. The boys seems just as angry as they always did. The album arrived in the midst of a revolutionary cloud that hung over the world. The album is proof that we should expect it to remain overcast. The production on this thing is just as sleek, with El-P switching things up in bold ways on tracks like Goonies vs. ET. Some of the older tricks are used again, we have our comedown track with Pulling the Pin, we have our rock sample track with The Ground Below, we have our standout single with Ooh La La. The predictability of these songs may sound as if the album is formulaic but that’s beside the point. The fist will still knock your ass down, even if you knew it was coming. A truly loving element to the record is the bond that Killer Mike and El-P foster with each other through their alter-ego characters Yankee and The Brave- you can’t help but bask in their romance. The opening track is a blunt reminder that, in case you forgot, these guys are still here for another eleven rounds. The closing track solidifies the truth that they aren’t going anywhere, not anytime soon. And nor should they. We need Run the Jewels more than ever.

02- Captured Spirits by Mammal Hands

           Mammal Hands came out of nowhere and blew my goddamn mind. I have no deep connection with Jazz as a genre, but by god did this record force me to go digging. It’s the type of accessible, energy driven music that makes you cozy and comfortable until it rips your goddamn ears off with sax solos and manic piano arrangements. While the latter half of the record doesn’t manage to match quite the same energy as first half standouts like Late Bloomer or Riddle—the beauty of the record is in its assured sense of pace. We’ll get to the good part, but on their time. Mammal Hands know what they’re doing.

01- Women in Music Pt. III by HAIM

HAIM have found, executed, and perfected their sound all in one album. WIMPIII is a masterwork that shockingly happened all at once. Where previous albums Days Are Gone and Something To Tell You may have excited with the promise of what could come next, this record stuns you with what is happening right before your eyes. The confidence that the sisters share on the album’s cover shines through on all the tracks. They know who they are and they know how they sound. I Know Alone is a perfect example of refined song writing, with subtle production touches (especially in the percussion) that add something extraordinarily dynamic. Up From A Dream and Gasoline are the pure rockers that you knew the band was capable of, but that they never before capitalized on. There are softer, more romantic folk tracks like The Steps and Leaning on You that might make your parents cry. Spanning a wide range of topics (depression, lost loves, home, isolation) the album fit so perfectly with our insane year—but the sound, summery and sheen, will manage to stand the test of time. There was initial frustration with the choice not to include singles Now I’m In It, Hallelujah & Summer Girl within the formal track list (because on any record they are the strongest songs!)—but with further consideration, their inclusion as bonus tracks make perfect sense. HAIM has crafted 13 gorgeous, smart and powerful songs that stand alone, together. Those bonus tracks just act as a mind-blowing encore. Women in Music Pt. III is the most dynamic, focused and well-written record of 2020. We dare not ask for better.

[salvatoreschool]

‘Legacies’ season 2 spring finale review: Evil is only as powerful as you let it be

For an impromptu end, the Legacies season 2 spring finale was one hell of an episode. Congrats to the whole Legacies team for letting us end season 2 (for now) in such epic style!

So, last episode ended with Hope asleep (and in Josie’s mind), Landon dead, Raf zombified, Lizzie pretending to be dead, and the rest doing their best to play up Lizzie’s death so Darth Josie wouldn’t catch on to their plan.

That’s a hell of a lot to try and wrap up in one episode, but I was SERIOUSLY impressed with how well this episode worked as a finale. I mean, yes, of course I’m desperate to know why Hope is still seemingly stuck in Josie’s mind, and why Landon hasn’t woken up if the Necromancer did his part. But I’m also really glad that we have some threads left open ended to pull on this summer while we wait for news regarding when it will be safe for the Legacies cast and crew to return to set. I’m sure they’re as eager to film those last four episodes (including that confirmed musical ep!) as we are to see them, but first and foremost, it must be safe for them to return.

That all said, here’s my full review of all the craziest bits of the Legacies season 2 spring finale:

Of course Josie’s subconscious is a fairytale world

I mean, we knew it from the previews already, but it makes a lot of sense. And I hope that now that she’s rewriting the story, her subconscious world will morph and change to fit the woman who dreamed it up.

If we ever end up in Josie’s subconscious again, I hope we find it a different sort of fairytale kingdom. One where the princess is a little more fierce and badass, while still maintaining that sense of goodness, with the same kind heart and good humor.

Dark Josie reigns supreme

I’m thinking in the hierarchy of villains, she’s somewhere underneath Malivore, and probably Kai, too, but definitely higher than Clark or the Necromancer or pretty much any of the singular monsters from last season. For some reason, that black magic energy is just so much more powerful than almost anything else we’ve seen on Legacies so far.

There are a couple TVD era villains I can think of (the Mikaelsons anyone?) that would give her a run for her money, but she’s gonna rank pretty high on the Legacies villain list for a long time.

Hope is Lizzie and Lizzie is Hope

I gotta say, Danielle Rose Russell does a mean Lizzie Saltzman. I bought it hook, line, and sinker. It must have been a lot of fun for Danielle to get to do something a little different for a change than more of Hope’s tortured hero drama. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love me some Hope-saved-the-world-and-all-she-got-for-her-trouble-was-this-black-puddle-of-goo drama, but it was nice to see one of the show’s strongest actors get to flex a different muscle for a bit in the Legacies season 2 spring finale.

So, what exactly happened to Landon?

Last episode he was stabbed by Raf with the golden arrow. I really believed that when they pulled it out, he would start his resurrection cycle again, but no such luck. Raf is holding the arrow when he brings Dr. Saltzman down to take a look, and at no point in the course of this episode did it appear that Landon was even thinking of bursting into phoenix-y flames.

So, is Landon dead? Or just stuck like it seems Hope probably is at the end of the episode? Well, we have a bit of a wait til we find out, but let the conjecture begin!

No nonconsensual kissing for these fairy tale ladies

I know, I know. When we start thinking in fairy tale tropes, it’s easy to start believing in true love’s kiss, but I actually really like the stand the writers took in this episode. You have to be the change you want to see in the world, and, in order to re-write tropes like those of Snow White and Prince Charming, you have to start somewhere. Why not our little supernatural show about witches, vampires, wolves, and the menagerie of monsters they had no idea they were sharing a world with.

Little Red Riding Witch vs. the Big Bad Wolf Queen

I find it interesting that Hope was able to fend off the darkness pretty well until it took Josie form. Is Hope just reluctant to hurt someone who looks like Josie, even if she is in her evil form? I think that may have been part of the case, here. Plus, it’s nice to know that Josie had the power to tame her darkest impulses all on her own.

Lizzie’s gets a major dose of truth

It’s really unfortunate that everyone has fallen into this ‘Lizzie is terrible’ schtick, but it was probably good for her to hear. Lizzie is so self-assured in her popularity that she doesn’t see the forest for the trees. She can think of how each and every person treats her in one on one situations and such, but she doesn’t take a look at the big picture very often. I’m sure even Lizzie would have noticed that the other students more fear her than love her.

But at the same time, Lizzie’s bravado is a delicate facade. Just underneath that thin, flimsy coating of “thick skin” she pretends to have, is a girl who just wants to be liked. She just wants to know that when she sacrifices herself to save her school and her sister, that someone will have nice things to say about her and a few nice memories to carry her on with.

Jed and Kaleb’s riff off

This whole Jed and Kaleb competition for Alyssa Chang’s affection is kind of hilarious. Them having a riff off full of skilled (and some rawer talent) runs in the middle of Lizzie’s fake funeral was adorable. I mean, that was a terrible memorial, but at least it helped dissolve a little of the tension already ramping up in this episode.

Oh, and if their bonding over Alyssa’s flaws means a new bromance is born, I am SO here for that, too.

A deal with the devil… adjacent

In order to save Josie from the black magic churning through her cells, Alaric had to make a deal with the Necromancer. Since our zombie-creator found himself powerless against the powers of Lord Josiemort, he knew there was only one way to get her out of his life and himself back in the driver’s seat. Returning Raf and Alyssa to actual life and (supposedly) reviving Landon was just a trade off. The real choice was between giving all Josie’s black magic to the Necromancer and giving him a supercharge of his power or letting her fall deeper and deeper into the evil coursing through her veins.

The unbreakable covenant spell

Eerily reminiscent of the Unbreakable Vow from Harry Potter, the Necromancer agrees to be bound by their deal. In order to assure Alaric that he would hold up his end of the deal, the Necromancer breaks out the Unbreakable Covenant Spell, which would require each party to hold up their entire end of the deal to reap the benefits. This is why I’m sure beyond sureness that whatever’s keeping Hope asleep is affecting Landon, too… somehow.

Enter M.G. and his unique ability to speak Lizzie

Only someone who truly knows Lizzie down to her soul could have turned an entire room of people laughing at her into a crowd that remembers their friend fondly. I would have loved to hear more of their remembrances of the nice things that Lizzie did for them. For every wild, crazy thing she’s done, there’s something downright sweet to balance the scale.

It shows how much M.G. really truly cares for Lizzie. It’s not just a crush or some teen hormonal thing. He loves that girl. He knows her down to her marrow. And every wonderful thing he does for her brings her closer and closer to seeing how incredible his belief in her is. And only someone who believes in the good in her is going to be able to win her heart. I can’t wait to see her crush on him next season. It’s coming, I can feel it.

The actual fairy tale narrative

First of all, Evil Queen Josie’s armor outfit was STUNNING. So freaking gorgeous, even in all black.

I love that, in the end, Josie and Lizzie were both so afraid to hurt each other that they found themselves second class citizens in their own lives. Last episode, Lizzie had to choose herself in order to even have a chance to beat Josie in the Merge. In the Legacies season 2 spring finale, Josie has to set aside her fears of being powerful enough to beat Lizzie in order to push Dark Josie out of power.

Josie takes a break?

Toting all that power around for so long seems to have worn Josie out a bit. It might be a good thing for her to take a step back from her power for a bit. I’m interested to know what might be important enough for her to restore her magic. Who will have to be in life threatening peril for her to jump back into the fray?

They like me! They really like me!

Lizzie’s look of incredulity when the other witches who spent most of the day badmouthing her showed up at the lakeside to celebrate her life.

Thank you, ‘Legacies’ writers, for bringing Raf and Alyssa back to the land of the living

Poor Rafael has been through enough. He’s had the shit end of the stick so far this season, so I hope that now that his heart is beating again, he can have something go his way for once. Landon coming back would be a start, but something else would be nice, too. Maybe a nice new romance or bromance? Raf needs more people in his life than just the two people who love him the most, and bring him the most pain, too.

So, did Alaric and the Necromancer go through with their Unbreakable Covenant?

If they cast that spell over their deal, then the Necromancer HAS restored Landon and his perma-sleep is being caused by something else. OR, and there’s a decent chance of this, the Necromancer uses a loophole of never declaring WHEN he would restore Landon to his body, and the Necromancer is delaying raising Landon until the opportune moment, which will undoubtedly involve Malivore and probably Clark, too.

What did you think of the ‘Legacies’ season 2 spring finale?

#Legacies #TheOriginals #TheVampireDiaries #TVD #HopeMikaelson #DanielleRoseRussell #Tribrid #RedRidingHood #JosieSaltzman #KayleeBryant #Witch #Siphoner #DarkJosie #SleepingBeauty #BigBadWolf #EvilQueen #LizzieSaltzman #AlaricSaltzman #MG #RafaelWaithe #LandonKirby #KalebHawkins #LegaciesSeason2 #MysticFalls #SalvatoreSchool #TheNecromancer #FairyTale #FacingDarknessIsKindaMyThing #JuliePlec #TheCW

[bubblesandgutz]

Every Record I Own - Day 563: High on Fire The Art of Self Defense

Like every other hardcore band back in the ‘90s, Botch had a strict rule about only playing all ages shows. What was the point in playing a 21+ show when the majority of our fans were minors? We’d been a band for six years and had a few full U.S. tours under our belt when we left our original booking agent---a Boston hardcore kid named Matt Pike---and began working with an agent out of Seattle who booked bands like Melvins and Murder City Devils. He booked our U.S. tour in support of We Are The Romans, and he snuck a 21+ show at The Stork Club in Oakland, CA into the routing.

I’m not sure when we came to the realization that we were scheduled to play a bar, but we were already out on the road, and it was upsetting news. Apparently our agent had agreed to the show because we’d be opening for Matt Pike’s new band. “Matt Pike? Our old booking agent?”

Apparently this was a different Matt Pike. This Matt Pike had been in a band called Sleep that was a big deal in certain circles, but was completely off any of our radars. Bear in mind it was 1999 and Dopesmoker hadn’t been released from the vaults of London Records. The lore surrounding the shelved album hadn’t yet developed into legend. It was gonna be a great show, we were told, but we had no frame of reference.

So we rolled up to The Stork Club in the afternoon with the idea of exploring the neighborhood. But after seeing multiple drug deals transpire on the sidewalk outside the venue within minutes of rolling up, we decided it might be better to stay and watch over the van. Eventually the staff showed up and let us in. The Stork Club was a dive bar that looked to be half-a-century old. I would now describe it as cozy and full of character, but back in my pre-drinking days it just struck me as depressing. High on Fire rolled up shortly after, looking like these terrifying hillbilly / hippie hybrids. The bartender called the bands over and handed everyone two drink tickets. I remember Matt Pike seeming genuinely saddened by his allowance.

The night didn’t sell me on 21+ shows. I’d say there were fewer than 50 people in attendance. We played and it was weird... the energy of the all ages crowd was noticeably absent. But when High on Fire took the stage the whole place lit up. They were massive and unrelenting---a total stampede of riffs. The guitar sounded so ungodly thick and burly. And there was this Matt Pike character---shirtless and howling like a man possessed.

So that was my first time playing a 21+ show, and it kinda sucked, except that it was also my first time hearing High on Fire, so that ruled. They didn’t have a record out at the time, but when they passed through Seattle a year or two later I was sure to make it out to the show to pick up this LP. 

#high on fire #everyrecordiown

[disinvited-guest]

3/5/2020 Milwaukee

 I snagged a spot to the left of the keyboard, far enough over to see Marty across the stage.  I was happy to notice that the venue had evidently been putting my “Historic Preservation Fee” to good use.  What had been a flimsy floor of plywood over an open pit in front of the stage was now relatively solid ground.  Since the plywood floor had bounced and shook during the 2018 show, I didn’t miss it.  We were very close to Marty’s Quiet Storm setup as the crew was prepping for the show, so as Fresh took it back offstage, we noticed that he wasn’t wearing any fancy socks!

Only a few minutes after eight, the lights dimmed and a gif of the flag from the Flood Promo was displayed on the projector.  The crowd began to cheer, but it was several seconds before the pre show mix was replaced by Gyspy, and late into that before They took the stage.  Finally, there they were!  Both Johns, Danny and Marty came on and as the cheers died, kicked off the evening by playing Dead.  As they finished, Dan came onstage ready to go.

From Dead they went straight into They Might Be Giants, beginning an absolutely amazing set.  Dan and Danny were kidding around the whole time, Flans was all over the stage, Marty was making the best drumming faces, and Danny was dancing as he played.  All the things I had missed about going to shows were there in abundance, and it was wonderful.

Without pause, they moved on to the always exciting Twisting, and then We Want a Rock.  During the latter song, Danny glanced over at me and did a double take, then gave me a big smile and a nod of recognition.  I think maybe he didn’t recognize me immediately with my longer hair.

Flans had a bit of trouble with his part on Want a Rock, and after the song was over and he had greeted us all, he told us “I just did the musical equivalent of falling down the stairs, so this seems like a good time to remind you that there will be no refunds.”  He continued on, telling us that they had just finished a “four-song rock-block” and that the first set this evening would be all Flood, and the second set would have two songs from Flood, making it “arguably the best set.”

During all this, Danny was upstage dealing with what was apparently a cut on his right thumb, touching the spot and exclaiming “ow!” although he didn’t treat it in any way for the rest of the set.

Meanwhile, Flans continued his introductions, “We are only They Might Be Giants act that matters and from the original members of the band, we’re glad you’re here.”

Linnell then explained that tonight he was debuting his new keyboard stand, and that he’d had his old one for 25 years. Flans told us all that people had tried to tell him to change it, “but I said ‘leave my buddy alone about his keyboard!’” this was said in a tight growl of a voice, crowding the microphone in a truly hilarious, faux-aggressive way.  Linnell went on to explain that no one in the crew had said anything about the stand to him, but when he brought it up to them, they had said that he really did need a new one.

Flans then excitedly chimed in to explain that the keyboard stand was like many men’s second wives “because it is much like the old one.  You are just showing you have a type.” Linnell seemed a tiny bit taken aback by the comparison, but replied that it was “under the hood” that it was different.  The new keyboard stand is a light blue with silver buckles on the sides and removable black legs.  The keyboard on it for this run of shows was white with wood-grain panels on the side.

As their conversation about the keyboard stand wound down, Flans mentioned that he didn’t know what song was next on the setlist, so he moved away from his mic to check his copy upstage.  Watching him go, Linnell said drily “Well you need to be at the mic for it.”

Flans did return to the mic quickly, allowing them to play Minimum Wage. Several people in the crowd, myself included, did a whip-cracking motion at the appropriate time, which felt awesome but looked hilarious.  From there, they played Your Racist Friend, meaning Curt came onstage to blow us all away.  He stayed onstage as they started Particle Man.  Flans showed everybody how to clap, but the crowd had mostly stopped only a few lines into the song, with the few who had stuck with it eventually losing momentum. During the interlude, they played Sun Ra’s Rocket Number Nine, which I had never heard before, and thus had no idea what they were doing.  It sounded very awesome though, and it was clear why it had made it into the show, with Curt rocking out on the euphonium, and an excellent accordion riff on Linnell’s part.  Curt kept the euphonium for the next song, Hearing Aid.

Flans told us that the next song they were going to play was a short one, and that they were going to do it two ways. He encouraged us to “Listen when we do it this way so you can spot the difference,” and they played Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love.

After the song was over, Flans seemed slightly at a loss to explain what came next, “The next part of the show, it’s not really justifiable.”  He decided that we did need an explanation before they played it, but passed off the task to Linnell, “You do it.”

Linnell told us all “It was a dare actually, we lost a bet, that's why we’re doing this.”

“But you need to tell them what we’re doing,” Flans interjected.

“I think you explained it well,” Linnell answered, causing Flans to make a face. “We’re playing the song we just played backwards.”

Regaining his way with words, Flans told us all “If you could record this- and I’m not saying you could- you could take it back to your fancy recording studio, in your McMansion way out in the suburbs and play what we are about to play backwards and it would sound exactly like  the song we just did.”

And with that, they began Stilloob, which was truly amazing in a way the video I had watched of it simply could not capture.  There was a wild energy in the air, that of people who know what they are doing is both beautiful and ridiculous.  Both Dans and Marty were glued to the sheets of paper with their parts on them, and were visibly relieved once the song was over, although I think they did an amazing job with it.  As they moved straight on into Letterbox, Dan moved up onto Curt’s riser, then caught Danny’s attention before striking a ‘rock pose’ for him. 

I believe it was at this point in the set when Flans told us all how trying not to touch his face has just made him realize how much he touches his face.  Linnell responded with a wonderfully bizarre rant about other people touching his face “They tell you not to touch your face but don’t say anything about other people touching your face.  I would like to ask the members of the band to stop touching my face, you know who you are!”

It was hilarious, but marred slightly by a few drunk ladies in the crowd screaming that they would like to touch his face.  Eventually, they subsided, and Flans got back to the subject at hand, how trying to touch his face “just made me aware.  Like adult onset-”  he stopped here, clearly at a loss, then continued “I was going to say adult onset OED, but that would be a good thing.”

“It would be a good thing to have the Oxford English Dictionary,”  Linnell answered.  “I have that other thing”

“The opposite of that,” Flans shot back

“I have the opposite of the Oxford English Dictionary,” Linnell agreed.

From there, they played Lucky Ball and Chain, during which Danny followed Dan around looking over his shoulder at his guitar while Dan tried to move away.  After a few moments of this, Danny went over to look at Linnell’s keyboard then came back to Dan and pointed an accusing finger at Dan’s guitar.  I’m not sure what he was looking at.  

From there, they played Hot Cha and then Women and Men, which is a personal favorite of mine.  During the next song, Someone Keeps Moving My Chair, Danny mouthed along to a few of the lyrics.

There was a pause as Linnell went over to get his accordion and returned to the mic.  There was a moment of confusion as Linnell, off-mic, asked who started the next song.  Flans, who was already checking the setlist for what song was next, replied also off-mic. “You do, John,” making everyone onstage crack up.  This began Whistling in the Dark, followed by the always high-energy Birdhouse in Your Soul.

“We have one song left, and then we are going to take a 10 minute break that lasts 45 minutes.” Flans explained to us after Birdhouse ended.  “We’ve played, as I’m sure you’ve been keeping track of, 16 songs off of flood and we’re going to play 2 in the second set.”

The last song in the set was Road Movie to Berlin, which included the King of Liars verse, which caused a few audience members who hadn’t heard it before to laugh.  Marty played his tambourine diligently throughout the song, and Dan and Danny, who only play at two brief points, were off the stage before Flans was done singing.  Marty and the Johns finished out the song, then walked offstage to join them.

As the lights came on and the crew began setting up for the Quiet Storm, it became apparent Fresh must have changed his socks sometime during the first set, as he was now wearing socks with the 9;30 Club logo printed all over them.  I also learned during this break that they had switched their ‘cue song’ meaning that even though Girl Don’t Come was in the playlist, there were a few more songs between it and the end of the break.  

The Johns and Marty were back onstage before very long though, to the ominous Godzilla Intro.  Marty was really playing up the tone that it created, with stoic looks and deliberate movements as he came on and got ready for the set.

Before playing anything, Flans greeted us all; “Welcome to the Quiet Storm portion of the evening, the part of the show when we play all the quiet songs.”  A man in the crowd booed in response to that statement, and Flans, looking out in his general direction, told us all “We would like to dedicate all our songs to the guy who just booed.  This next song is from the difficult middle 30s of They Might Be Giants.”

This led into 2082, which was, of course, amazing.  Linnell sang the year 2415 instead of 3415 as he was listing off the progressing years.

Flans didn’t know the album the next song was on, and banged his forehead on the mic in frustration before introducing the song as Music Jail.  The song was so incredibly rocking for the format, and I was truly amazed.  I had heard this song with the full band setup before, but this different version truly felt new and special.

Linnell moved over to his keyboard for the next song, Wicked Little Critter, and there were no lights on him because of it.  It was a bit strange, but didn’t detract from the song.

Instead of moving on while the setup was taken offstage, like they had in 2018, the Johns and Marty all went offstage so the crew could take away the Quiet Storm setup (and so Fresh could wear the cover like a cape).  While they were doing this, they projected the Underwater Woman video for the audience to watch.

The band was back on quickly to finish out an amazing second set.  Before beginning, I have a few general notes.  This set was really bass-heavy and Danny did an absolutely stellar job.  He was amazing to watch!   Also, I think he liked seeing my reactions to the songs I didn’t expect them to play, I could see/feel him watching me during some of the intros.  The crowd had obviously taken full advantage of the break to refill their supply of alcohol, and were a bit rowdier and less coherent.

  Coming onstage, Flans rushed straight to the mic to announce “This song is not on streaming sites because we like sabotaging our own career!”  This got a huge cheer as they began The Communists Have The Music.  I believe it was during this song that Dan reached over and tried to poke the body of Danny’s bass, which he quickly jerked out of the way before they moved apart with big grins.

Next, they played Wearing a Raincoat.  I’m always overjoyed to hear anything from Spine, and was completely surprised they had pulled this song out of the vault!

I believe it was here that Flans pointed out the balconies, and went on a diatribe explaining how it was their job to get people excited, but in venues like this you didn’t want the people in the balcony getting too excited.  I believe that Linnell chimed in to mention the Modeska, and not getting sued by the children of lawyers.  Finally Flans sternly warned the people in the balcony that they were only allowed to be “85% rocking out.”  The folks in the balcony cheered, and Linnell relented “Well, okay, 90%.”

At this point, someone in the crowd shouted out a request.  Flans, a bit peeved, moved his mic stand forward and demanded to know “Is there anything else?”  Then spent several seconds arguing with the incomprehensible mess of many crowd members shouting out song titles.  “I’m telling you! We don’t take requests.”  While all this was going on I, embarrassed, had taken off my glasses and hid my face in my hands.  When I looked up again, Danny was watching me, amused, and we shared a rueful smile over the situation.

Eventually, Flans stopped arguing with the drunken masses and they played Pet Name, which sounded amazing, then moved on to Spy.  I had expected new samples from Linnell for his part of the ending, and I wasn’t disappointed.  He had an Eagles’ sample of “take it to the limit” which he had repeated several times opposite the band.  The beauty of this sample is that, because that line repeats in the song of origin, you aren’t absolutely sure it is repeating sample until the 3rd or 4th time.  Not limiting himself to that, Linnell also played the same sample slowed down, which sounded appropriately monstrous.  Eventually, he switched directing over to Flans, who had trouble controlling the crowd in his bit, eventually giving up on us.  Instead of finishing the song, he stopped everyone playing, then began the intro to Older, which was incredible.

After Older, which included the always-humorous long pause, they went straight on to Let Me tell You About My Operation.  The highlight of this song was, as always, Flans’ energetic delivery and non-stop movement around the stage.

Finishing Operation, Dan left the stage and Linnell went to get his accordion.  I had no idea what they were going to play, not even after it was announced as being a song from Apollo 18, until they actually began the song, Turn Around!

Afterwards, Linnell went to the other side of the stage, presumably to put the accordion down, but came back to his mic still holding it.  Meanwhile, Marty and Danny were telling Flans he needed to stall.  At this point in the setlist, All Time What was listed, but they never ended up playing it, so I assume the trouble was somehow related to that.

Flans returned to his microphone and told us a story to stall as requested.  Apparently, he used to have a job where he worked at Grand Central Station.  A bunch of the city’s electrical wiring is located under the city, and the heat from the wires attracts a lot of roaches.  Flans shared a changing room with the exterminator, who was there one week every six months.  One day Flans struck up a conversation with the guy and they were “bonding over having shitty jobs,” when Flans noticed the guy had a roach on his jacket. “So I pointed it out to him and the guy went ‘Aaah!’”

There was some scattered laughter from the crowd, then an awkward pause.  After a moment, Flans said “There’s no punchline to this story, I just think that if you have that job you should maybe have a different relationship to bugs”

Linnell further explained “That would be like if we said, ‘we’re going to play another song Aaah!’”

They then played Museum of Idiots with Linnell on the accordion, a change from when he played it on the keyboard in 2018.  I will never get tired of hearing this one live; feeling the bassline in my chest and hearing the raw emotion in Linnell’s voice is truly wonderful.

The issue that had delayed the show was clearly not yet fixed, so as Linnell put down his accordion and returned to his keyboard mic, Flans prepared to stall some more “So when you worked for the NJ Port Authority-”  He was cut off by Danny, who had come up between him and Linnell, presumably telling them that they weren’t going to be able to fix whatever the problem was and had to move on.

Linnell then responded to Flans’ original comment by saying there was no rearview, and that they had to look forward and not back.  He then told us all “‘Aaaaggh! We’re going to play another song.”

They played The Guitar, with Linnell and Curt on the Future of Sound.  I do enjoy FoS, but I will admit I slightly prefer the live version of The Guitar that has a bass solo in the middle.  I may be a teeny bit biased though.

After the Guitar was over, Linnell had to go and grab his accordion AGAIN, while Flans introduced Dan on the keyboard and told us all that this would be their last song of the night.  He said something about having the best audience ever as well, but I didn’t catch all of it.  Dan, having made it up to the keyboard, was staring, confused, at the settings.  Linnell eventually went over and changed the settings for him before they started Doctor Worm.

They left the stage to thunderous applause.  Eventually, Dan came back on alone, starting the intro to Istanbul, which the audience began clapping along with.  While he amazed us all from in front of the drum riser, the other guys crept onstage quietly, so they were all in place to start the song.  There were two fake endings, one with Dan and Curt switching off, which is always my very favorite part of the song, and the real ending with Curt displaying his talent, meaning we got to be amazed by Curt and Dan both at different parts of the song!  After the song was over, there was a mass exodus as Marty, Dan, and Curt walked offstage, although Curt returned right away.

“We’re playing another song,” Flans announced, “I don’t know why those guys left!” Danny looked over at me and grinned at this, and I grinned back.  They played Theme From Flood, officially hitting all the Flood songs for the show, and then left the stage once again

When they returned to the stage this time around, Flans grabbed a copy of the Flood picture disk that had been sitting up against a case upstage.  He showed off the disk to us, saying that picture disks were controversial, and the sound quality was probably not as good but “It will be the best sounding zoetrope you’ll ever own!”  Unfortunately, while he was doing this, some folks in the crowd thought he was giving that copy away and started yelling for it, so I missed some of the nuances of his pitch.  Eventually, Flans put the disk back where it was, and they played End of the Tour, then an especially rocking New York City before leaving the stage for the night.

Danny and Marty were both back onstage soon after.  Danny gave out setlists, including one for me, and waved at me after he did, I waved back and felt a bit silly and a bit giddy.  He then grabbed a bunch of Flood stickers and started throwing them out into the crowd like  throwing stars.  It didn’t work very well in practice, with a lot of stickers going astray.  I eventually got one that landed on my shoulder before leaving the venue.  It was a long, windy walk back to my hotel, but I was glowing with joy the whole way.

#tmbg #recap

[hanramm156]

Rammstein Family Game: Get to know me! (Warning: a long ramble)

I’m honored to be tagged by @cherrisplace​ and @momoredcrow​. ^^ It’s been a pleasure to read other people’s Rammstein memories and opinions, so here comes mine as well. Writing is one of those rare things that keep me sane during this crazy season, so I apologize this being super long. More rambling is probably coming when everything’s cancelled and I have nothing else to do.

Rules: There are no rules. Tag whoever you want. Don’t tag yourself. Tag yourself. You don’t have to answer all the questions. Do what you please. Have fun.

Created by: @vapor-stein

1. I’m curious: when did you discover Rammstein?

2004 properly, but I might have heard Du hast or other popular songs even earlier.

2. Tell me your story. How did you discover them?

As said, it was 2004 and I was watching some random Finnish music show. Back in the days, I watched a lot of music videos from the tv and recorded my favorite ones to VHS. One evening Rammstein’s Amerika came from the show and I was like “??? What on earth is this??? Sounds interesting…”. I wasn’t into metal music back then (I mostly listened to indiepop and alternative rock), but for whatever reason, I got hooked instantly to this German band’s dark, eerie sound. It was refreshing to hear something else than English and the video was also thrilling.

Rammstein had intruded my mind already, but the final straw was when I saw the Mein Teil video. I liked both the song and the video A LOT - so much that I even felt kinda “dirty” for liking something this dark. A 14-year-old me was constantly asking from myself that: “am I even allowed to like this kind of stuff this much?”. The backstory for the song was creepy, but so mesmerizing – like I had been introduced to the darkest corners of human mind: yes, this kind of stuff happens, and we shouldn’t close our eyes from it. So next, the only thing I could do was to buy Reise, reise album, listen to it on loop and sketch my German notebook full of Rammstein lyrics. Here’s a proof:

I have so many stories about my relationship to Rammstein that I might have to write them all down now when there’s a lot of time.

3. Favourite song?

This topic would be worth a novel itself, but here are some of my favorites:

Asche zu Asche – So badass, gives me such an energy every time – plus, not to forget the burning microphones and SILVER REESH!

Bück dich – Yes, it’s a horrible story once again in this song, but I can’t help but to admit that the song is freaking catchy and in a weird way, hot. Also, there’s a funny backstory when I was in 9th grade and we almost performed this song in our official graduation party with my boyfriend and a bunch of our friends (maybe good that the idea was abandoned in the end…). We had a vague clue what the song was about, but we just thought it was funny – also, our German teacher dressed always in leather and loved Rammstein (she played us Bestrafe mich during one class and I’ll always remember the awkward atmosphere) so we were thinking to dedicate the song to her for as our goodbye. XDD Seriously, why I have been so weird for all my life…

Sehnsucht – In most of the pop songs, longing is described by tender words and soft lyrics, but not in Rammstein’s case. I’ve had this weird feeling of “longing” all my life that I can’t describe properly. It’s kind of an inner emptiness, only arts and music can help to deal with it when it hits. I think Sehnsucht describes so realistically what is longing about in reality: it’s this angry pressure in your heart which you want to get out of your chest but can’t. In the end, you just want to scream your lungs out.

Mein Herz brennt – Powerful song that always gives me goosebumps. I can’t even explain why. Maybe the fact that “tough” men being emotional is my soft spot and Rammstein hits that spot hard.

Links 2-3-4 – I have always been kind of a rebel and I feel like when everyone else is going to the “right” I have to go to the left, to the unknown. My heart is longing for adventure, for the paths the others are not going. I dunno, but this is such a powerful song for me. When I hear it, I always just want to jump around. In Tampere concert I went totally nuts when Links started as the second song, lol. From that moment I felt like I was back home with my boys.

Mein Teil – No need for further explanations anymore.

Los – The harmonica solo!!! The dropped c tuning and the acoustic sounds!! I love it.

Amour – My favorite R+ ballad. I confess that I listen to this and think about the lyrics when I’m in the mood for writing something painfully romantic.

Weit weg – There’s this painful longing once again that always resonates to me. I listened this to a lot after the “after blues” of Ratina concert.

Tattoo – A song that I didn’t care about so much at first, but for whatever reason, it’s almost my favorite from the new album nowadays. It’s catchy as hell and I like the “rattling” guitar riffs.

4. Least favourite song? Come on. I know you have one.

Feuer frei – Too much Vin Diesel vibes. I also get a picture of drunken, middle-aged Finnish guys on a R+ gig who don’t care about to band, but just want to have a party of their life and get drunk, far away from their wives. (No offense to anyone, but as music is almost like a religion to me, I can’t help but to have a bit of disrespect for kind of people who just “consume” music.)

Pussy – Both musically and lyrically, so bad, but I get the point the guys tried to give with this nonsense.

5. Favourite album? & 6. Least favourite album? aka. I ramble about all the albums.

Tough one… as the rules were vague, I decided to have a short opinion about each of the albums.

Herzeleid – Summary: a bunch of guys, born and raised in DDR, are tired of everything so they get together and play aggressive songs - you can almost smell the testosterone miles away while you are listening to this album. I have to admit that I love this album even though it’s not musically super creative. It’s just raw men with raw feelings – and I have to say, it works for me.

Sehnsucht – I was creeped out of the album art as a teenager, lol. But yeah, musically improved from the former one and there are some classic songs that make Rammstein as they are nowadays. I listen to this often when I’m driving.

Mutter – The album that they had the most struggles with if I have understood correctly. The pain can be heard through the songs and it’s so honest and raw. I lost my friend in 2004 tragically and this album was one of the things that kept me sane back then. Especially the beginning of the album (MHB, Links, Sonne) hits me hard in the guts.

Reise, reise – The album that started all this hype in me, so it has a special place in my heart. I also liked how they tried something different to their usual sounds in this one, like orchestral and acoustic songs.

Rosenrot – To be honest, this album has always left me a bit “cold”, so I cannot even make a real opinion of it. There are some good moments though, like Mann gegen Mann that really speaks to me.

Untitled: This has been on the loop since last August and I was honestly surprised how good the album was. I hadn’t listened to Rammstein for a while, but when I got this album to my hands after the concert, holy shit it hit me. I like hearing the path the guys have gone: their new music is much more mature than the first angry albums. Also, I love Till’s poetry in this one, like Was ich liebe and Weit weg.

I think I answered the question #7 already, so I’ll skip to #8.

8. Unpopular opinion about a member? A scandal? Anything?

Even though I appreciate Till as an artist and a poet, I don’t find his appearance attractive. You can throw rotten tomatoes at me now, but this is just my opinion, no means to offend anyone. Maybe the reason is that my taste for men tends to go for androgynous side, so I am not drawn towards very masculine men.

I’m not interested in Lindemann project and I don’t like their music so much, but the tour looked entertaining though. I bet all the people who attended had a lot of fun.

How Richard pronounces English is extremely sexy to my ear, even though it clearly sounds like a German guy trying to sound American - still, it’s like honey to my ears. Stupid man who makes my knees weak with everything he does.

I hate to admit that I don’t like Ohne dich so much. I don’t know why. :(

9. Have you ever seen them live? Tell me what you felt.

Three times this far! Oh man, I could talk about for hours how the concerts have made me feel, but I try to be reasonable now.

Ruisrock, Turku, 2005 – My first time seeing them live – and going to a festival without any adult supervision, so it was a special experience overall – and they blew my mind. It was raining and thundering and we were completely soaked with my friends, but it was worth it!

Bonus for everyone who managed to read this far: teenage me waiting for Rammstein to start playing, looking so badass with my denim jacket and R+ logo drawn with eyeliner. :D

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, 2012: We went to the show together with my boyfriend to celebrate Valentine’s day and holy shiiiiit it was awesome. Hands down one of the best evenings of my life. I was so hooked to Rammstein afterward that when we were at my bf’s family’s cottage, his brother had to tell me to stop blasting Herzeleid all the time in the kitchen. :’D

Ratina Stadium, Tampere, 2019: Aka. byebye my life, say hello to fics, listening to the band all over again, stupid memes and all the content this fandom creates. I fell in love again with Rammstein during this concert.

I have tickets for Düsseldorf and Tallinn, but now I can only wait and stress that will Corona ruin everything. In that case, I’ll weep alone and write fics about the tour 2020 that ended up never happening.

10. Do you play any instruments? If you do can you play any song by them?

Yeah, I play guitar and piano but nowadays I mostly sing. Rammstein songs are super easy to play with guitar and I recently learnt to play Tattoo and Sex. Have been practicing Engle on piano as well. Some songs I like to sing are Deutschland, Tattoo and Engel. The “speaking” parts are difficult though. ^^;

I’m not sure who I could tag to this who hasn’t done it already, but I’ll try my luck: @ah-its-too-much​ @soronya​ @einemelodie​ @xiaolianhuax​ @so-darya-darya​ @maximaembra​ @kvidasjuklingur​

#rammstein #tag game #get to know me #hanhan's rambles #I spent ridiculous amount of time doing this #whatever

[sinceileftyoublog]

Dogleg Interview: Buckle Up, Motherfucker

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Earlier this year, Michigan punk four-piece Dogleg released one of the most blistering, endlessly playable debuts of the year in Melee, which, yes, is a Super Smash Bros. game. At this point, much has been written about the band, from their beyond wild live shows to their Pokemon-referencing and video game-playing prowess. Lost in the shuffle is that 2020 was poised to be their year to gain even more of a national following. Released on March 13th, right as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Melee was supposed to be supported by three cancelled tours--SXSW, an opening slot for Microwave, and an opening slot for Joyce Manor--and an appearance at this year’s cancelled Pitchfork Music Festival. Listening to the songs on the record, you can only imagine how they translate: the jerky momentum of “Bueno”, build-up of “Prom Hell”, gang vocals of “Fox”, clear-vocal anthem of “Wrist”, and odd groove of “Ender”. The band agrees that playing live is what makes them Dogleg: “Our live shows is what made us the forefront of the DIY music scene for as long as we were with such little released music,” bassist Chase Macinski told me over the phone in April.

The band’s self-titled debut EP--at the time, the band was simply a solo project of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Stoitsiadis--was released in 2015. Full-band follow-up Remember Alderaan? (Macinski, drummer Parker Grissom) came out in 2016. In the four years between EP2 and LP1, Dogleg took their time writing what would become Melee but wasted no time debuting unreleased songs as they were finished. It was not just their energy, but their steady stream of new material that garnered the band a growing fan base, local and beyond, and eventually a deal with venerable indie punk label Triple Crown Records. “Fox” and “Kawasaki Backflip” were released as singles last November and February, respectively, and the generated hype garnered them rave reviews from publications like Pitchfork that, 10-20 years ago, probably would have scoffed at them.

Dogleg’s bigger moment--they’ve certainly had plenty of already big ones--may be on hold. Macinski continues his day job as a janitor in Southfield, about 20 minutes northwest of Detroit, while Stoitsiadis has played around with live-streamed acoustic and solo electric sets. While the group approach to writing that allowed the band to flourish when making Remember Alderaan? and Melee may not be possible without a completely reopen Michigan, and while Dogleg won’t be able to feed off of crowds for a bit, I have no doubt they’ll come back when they can with an even greater drive.

Read my interview with Macinski below.

Since I Left You: To what extent can Melee be fully appreciated without the context of the Dogleg live show?

Chase Macinski: I think you get a feeling for it. You understand it. But you still haven’t experienced it. We have been playing these songs for a long time. “Headfirst” for example, we basically had that song written by the time Remember Alderaan? came out in 2016. But we didn’t want to include it on the EP because it was close but not finished. Two weeks later, I’m pretty sure we wrapped it up, and then we were like, “Cool. We have the first song for the new album.” At that point, we thought it was time to make an album. We were playing it ever since it’s been done. As we were writing songs for the album, we were incorporating them into our live shows. A year ago, when the album wasn’t even out, half our set was still this album. Locals who saw us on the most recent tour we got to go on did catch that experience but didn’t get the whole context of the album, you know?

SILY: "Headfirst”, especially, is the most maximal song on the record.

CM: Oh yeah.

SILY: At the same time, when I read reviews of your music that say things like, “Dogleg plays loud,” or “Dogleg has energy,” it seems to leave out the complexity of the arrangements. The stop-starts, the drum fills, the crescendos. There’s a lot going on in the music, beyond it obviously being loud and fast. Can you talk about achieving a balance between raw energy and composition?

CM: We want to build up a lot of tension when we play, and we keep that in mind when we’re writing songs. We definitely try to think of, “What’s really hype? What builds up a lot of energy? What gives us butterflies in our stomach and makes us really jazzed up to hear this or anxious?” For the live shows, since we focus so much on those details, the start-stops and crescendos, it fills itself in pretty easily since we’re all focused on that and on the same page in terms of execution, that it just happens, and on the other side of that, we’re trying to be as energetic and involved and engaging with the music as possible. What we do in theory helps us out in practice, if that makes sense.

SILY: How did you approach the sequencing on Melee?

CM: We took it very seriously. It took us a lot of time to figure out what order the songs should be in. I immediately said we should start the album with “Kawasaki Backflip”, and I got some backlash on that. The other two contenders for the first track were “Fox” and “Prom Hell”. “Prom Hell” had more of an argument than “Fox” did. My attitude was, “‘Kawasaki’ starts off like a roller coaster, and that intro guitar riff is just like, ‘Buckle up, motherfucker.’ Let’s go for a ride.’” I really thought it had that tension immediately out the gate and blasted you with what could be a middle ground for the entire album, where I thought “Prom Hell” didn’t really address or show you what you can fully expect on this. For the first track, you might think something differently. After that, it was a lot of, “Okay, how does one song end and another begin?” We thought a lot about what key songs were in, what note songs ended on, how they ended, what the band was doing, what they sounded like, and then we thought about the same thing for how songs begin. “How does this one start? Does it start full-band, just guitar, drum fill?” We wanted to make sure we weren’t being too repetitive and created a sense of flow that could make one song go into the other. We even incorporated those moments where we were very specific about the time change between “Kawasaki” and “Bueno”. We were very specific about when “Kawasaki” ended and how much time passed between that and for you to hear the drums of “Bueno”. We wanted it to be an exact timing just for enough tension to be built up.

SILY: Were there any considerations to the thematic sequencing of the songs?

CM: No, not really, other than when we wrote “Ender” and decided to call it “Ender”, we knew it would be the last song. Otherwise, there wasn’t thematic sequencing because the lyrical content and the themes through the lyrics throughout the album were Alex’s thing. We write a song, and when the whole band writes the song, it’s an instrumental. Then, Alex comes up with a melody, and we all pitch in with what the lyrics might sound like, and Alex writes all the words. I’ve contributed when he’s got writer’s block and have helped him out a bit there, but for the most part, all of the themes for the lyrics he puts in. 

SILY: There’s a line on “Kawasaki Backflip” that does seem like an appropriate introductory mantra to the record: “We can destroy this together.”

CM: Yeah, I mean, I think that’s a pretty powerful statement as an introductory song on the album. “Kawasaki”’s that “buckle up” song, as well, so the instrumental aspects definitely lead into that idea of “get ready for what you’re about to experience.”

SILY: A song like “Cannonball” is a bit more swaying instead of clearly uptempo. When you go into write as a unit, do those differences occur naturally, or are they forced with any sort of intention?

CM: “Cannonball” I would say occurred naturally because we wrote the song as we were practicing one day. In between songs we were practicing and making noise, I played that main verse riff, that A to C progression. I was just bored, not thinking, and playing my bass, waiting for Alex and Parker to be like, “Okay, let’s play another song.” While I was doing that, Alex was like, “Yo, what’s that?” I was like, “I don’t know, I was just messing around.” We started building on that and took that swaying feeling for what it was, and the lyrics to add to that--I think “Cannonball” was maybe the 4th, maybe 5th song on the album, so we didn’t have any idea what would be on it at that point. We knew it was a Dogleg song.

SILY: On “Ender”, are those actual strings in the outro?

CM: Yes, those are our friends who go to music school in Chicago. We know them from the School of Rock music program we all did when we were in middle school and high school. They were home for summer vacation and had their instruments, and we asked, “Yo, can we record y’alls playing violin”...I forget the other instrument. [Editor’s note: It’s double bass.] Those are actual strings. Honestly, I thought they played the parts so well, I made a comment that, “I don’t think people will think this is real because it sounds so genuine and good.”

SILY: I actually assumed it was a synthesizer.

CM: It’s legit. They’re just really good at playing their instruments. The horns are real as well.

SILY: What’s the story behind the cover art?

CM: The cover art is Alex’s aunt’s artwork. She’s a really great artist, and we’ve used her designs in the past. If you’ve ever seen the dog pack t-shirt, where it’s the bunch of dogs in watercolor--it’s also the artwork of our first EP--she also did that. She just really likes drawing dogs. We’ve never really commissioned something from her--she’s always already made something that we’ve thought is really cool, and then Alex asks her whether we can use it for the band, and she says, “Yeah, sure go ahead.” One day we were playing a show in 2017, way before we had half the songs on the album written, before “Fox” was even an idea. [Alex] was scrolling through his aunt’s Instagram and came across that picture. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and was like, “What is that?” He just goes, “It’s just something my aunt made.” I was like, “That is a fucking phenomenal piece of art. We have to use that for our album artwork.” He was like, “Okay.” He asked, we got permission. We made no edits to it. I don’t know when it was drawn or made, but when I saw it, I immediately knew it was perfect.

SILY: Is she a fan of the band?

CM: Yeah, she likes the band. She thinks it’s really cool.

SILY: Have any of these songs evolved, from the song structure to the performance, as the fans get to know both the recorded and live versions?

CM: We play the songs faster live, that’s for sure. Before we did any recording for the album, we had to decide on a tempo we wanted to play them at for the album. But since the songs were written, it’s just whatever tempo we’re feeling. For Melee, none of the song structures have really changed. But for the Dogleg self-titled EP, a lot of those songs, we play very differently live. Alex did that all by himself, recording, drums, bass, vocals, guitar. When we got incorporated in the band, that’s when we had the ability to put our spin on it. We changed and added those stop-and-go’s, different solos. No major changes to structure, but they feel more like Dogleg songs you’d expect to hear today.

SILY: Have you written anything during quarantine?

CM: Alex has been making some riffs, but we haven’t written any music. Alex says it’s pretty difficult for him at the moment. The songwriting process for every song on Melee and every song on Remember Alderaan? has been a band experience: Someone comes to the table with a riff, melody, one piece of the puzzle, and then the entire band fleshes it out. It’s pretty difficult for us to write music at the moment when we can’t get together.

SILY: Is there anything else next for you? Are you releasing any more music videos?

CM: We have some ideas. Nothing fleshed out yet. The last thing we did was the “Wartortle” video. We also have the Eureka [Records] sessions, which were all filmed before Michigan was put under lock down. We have some guitar play-throughs that will get out eventually, where it’s Alex playing along with the songs.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading during or before quarantine that’s inspired you, comforted you, or caught your attention?

CM: I’ve been listening to a lot of music that I’ve listened to in the past. Once I graduated college and was really active in the temporary jobs I had and on the road, I stopped using Spotify for a long time even though I still had my account. My senior year, my Spotify minutes were huge: You listen to music when you study, do homework, whatever. Once I graduated, I couldn’t listen to music while doing things. A year ago, I was working at a hospital on a research project, and you’re not allowed to listen to music during work. I had like 15% of the music usage I did the previous year. So I’ve been revisiting a lot of old music. I’ve been listening to a band called Colossal. I forget the name of the album--it’s the only one I have in my car. The first track is called “The Dusk of Us” so it’s the first thing that comes to my mind. [Editor’s note: It’s Welcome the Problems.] Phenomenal album, really nice. I’ve listened to that a lot. My roommate has an extra PC, so I’ve been playing a lot of PC games, which I haven’t done in a long time because I don’t have a PC that can keep up. I’ve been playing [Civilization VI] with friends over Discord, which is nice, because I haven’t talked to them in a while. I haven’t really been reading anything, and I’ve been trying to watch movies I’ve been expected to watch for a while. Yesterday I watched The Matrix for the first time. 

Melee by Dogleg

#interviews #dogleg #alex stoitsiadis #chase macinski #parker grissom #jacob hanlon #triple crown records #kristofer lane #eureka records #melee #super smash bros. #pokemon #covid-19 #covid-19 panedmic #coronavirus #coronavirus pandemic #sxsw #microwave #joyce manor #pitchfork music festival #diy #remember alderaan? #school of rock #spotify #colossal #welcome the problems #civilization vi #discord #the matrix #triple crown

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

Evanescence's Amy Lee Talks Musical Evolution, Growing Up & Life Under Quarantine

The frontwoman opens up to the Recording Academy about the hard-rock mainstays' forthcoming album, 'The Bitter Truth' and its lead single, "Wasted On You"

The current coronavirus quarantine has turned out to be a mixed blessing for Evanescence leader and singer Amy Lee. While she is elated about the new music her band is producing for their first album in nearly nine years, they have to figure out how to finish the project being apart. They also had to postpone touring Europe with Within Temptation and cannot interract with their fans anytime soon. That feels ironic given the anticipation for their new release. At least Lee did not have to face being separated so soon from her five-year-old son Jack and explain why his mother had to go away on tour, and she got to jam virtually with Lzzy Hale on the Halestorm song "Break In." At the same time, Lee admits, her immediate family members are driving each other a little bit crazy. That's to be expected.

Lee and her bandmates have been adjusting to the circumstances. They decided to change the choice for the lead single off of their forthcoming album The Bitter Truth by swapping it out for the song "Wasted On You." Thematically, however unintentionally, it feels like now and features all five band members in their own homes engaging in various activities from contemplation to playing music. The video is very fitting for a band whose singer frequently channels inner emotional turmoil that people struggle with alone. Thus the clip feels like a natural extension of their work.

"Yeah, this is the place I always put myself in," concurs Lee, speaking on the phone to the Recording Academy from her home in Nashville, which fans are seeing for the first time through that video.

"Most of us in the band are very private," notes Lee. "Showing my home is a big deal for me. Just being our real selves without makeup, just living in real life, not acting. What's powerful about that is that everybody around the world is doing the same thing. The idea behind it was to show that at our core we're all still connected even though we're not physically together."

When she saw the first edit of the clip from director P.R. Brown, whom she praises highly, it made her feel very connected to her band. "I missed them," admits Lee. "I pulled the trick on myself, feeling all these emotions about being close to you guys and how we're going through the same stuff. I guess it was going to be effective because it totally worked on me."

Given how depressing life feels for many people right now, Lee believes that new music is extremely necessary, and there are new Evanescence songs still in the making. The Bitter Truth is not actually finished yet, and Lee is not sure how many songs will make up its entirety. Individual tracks will just be released when they are and eventually be collected as a cohesive whole.

"I like living in the moment, and I don't have it all planned out," says Lee. "And that's beautiful. We always wanted to do it this way. It's lucky because we got to continue down our path. We went in for the first batch of songs with Nick Raskulinecz in the beginning of February. We have that batch, but I'm not sure exactly when we're all going to be able to get back together again since we live all over the world. Jen's in Germany. But whether we're going to have to do some things remotely, we still have to get together to some degree."

Usually, the band records new music and it takes a year or so for it to reach the public's ears. They started working on "Wasted On You," a break-up song of sorts about freeing oneself from routine and toxic patterns, the day before New Year's. Sharing it with fans and getting feedback so soon after it was completed feels like a gift of instant gratification that they find special and rare.

Naturally, many fans have been anxious for a new Evanescence album, but they have continued to snap up concert tickets and have remained loyal throughout the near decade-long duration. "It's not like they got pissed off and left," remarks Lee. "They still want it whenever it's going to come, and that's a huge gift. Especially now. There's just so much music out there that you can only find if you're searching for it."

Lee has continued making new music over the last nine years. Following her emancipation from her previous label Wind-up Records in 2014, she jumped into many new projects. The first was the Aftermath album that served as the soundtrack to the movie War Story starring Catherine Keener as a war zone photojournalist. That was done in collaboration with cellist Dave Eggar, who also worked with her and producer/composer/drummer Chuck Palmer on music for the 2015 short film Indigo Grey: The Passage by Irish/hip-hop dance troupe Hammerstep. The musical trio further collaborated on scores for the documentary short I Am Her (2016) and the feature film Blind (2017). In 2016, inspired by the birth of her son two years earlier, Lee did an album of children's music songs entitled Dream Too Much.

Such diversity should not be surprising considering that at the core of Evanescence swirl goth, metal, and pop sounds that commune without overriding each other. This makes the band less easy to tag and simply reflects Lee's diverse musical tastes. Last year, they released a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."

"I like a lot of pop music," says Lee. "I like a lot of dark, trippy, trap-pop weirdness. Even if that just comes out in the way that I'm crafting a melody, it's there for me enough that I feel it in the way that I want to feel it. Then all those other elements that play a role, like cool guitar riffs and things from other genres, it's when it all blends together that it really sounds right. That's a picture of who we are."

While she knows people certainly expected certain new music from her, Lee has needed to scratch that creative itch that led her to such outside explorations. She felt that denying herself these opportunities would make her feel like she was not being true to herself, even though her fans craved a new Evanescence album. Lee felt compelled to work on that "weird song idea" or collaboration with a cellist. "If I don't let myself do it, then I get frustrated," she concedes. "There was something else I needed to get off my chest first."

The singer and pianist mentions that when she was pregnant, she thought her mom phase would outweigh work, but her need to create only got stronger because it was such an emotional time for her.

"Up until the week before Jack was born, I was working on that Aftermath album which was so great because it was moody and weird and creative, and it didn't all rely on the same old tricks," recalls Lee. "A lot of it was instrumental. People want me to sing a ballad. I actually wanted to play the piano live with Dave [Eggar] and write as we play and record that, then create the song that's totally weird, electronic, Africa-inspired. There's all kinds of weird stuff on there."

Ten months after Jack was born, a lot of emotions were welling up inside of Lee, which naturally led to Dream Too Much. "I just felt like I had a whole new chamber of my heart that started up that I didn't know about before, and I needed to express it," she elaborates. "Weirdly, becoming a mom made me need to create a lot more. There hadn't been an all original Evanescence album until now, but it's just been everything else." She chose to jump onto all of those "someday, I want to do..." projects.

When Lee did return to making music with her main project, it was for 2017's Synthesis album featuring Evanescence songs reworked with a full orchestra and electronic music elements along with two new songs and three instrumentals. She notes that many people thought that that release was a clue as to where the band's music was heading, but in fact, it was the opposite.

"Because we got to do that very different thing, I felt so motivated and inspired to run the other direction and really dive headfirst into the rock part of our music and our current sound as a band," says Lee. "I think allowing yourself to do all the things that your heart wants to do as an artist is just healthy. It's not like there won't be more fuel inside you that's going to want to create more the next day."

The long break between albums certainly helped feed her fire for the band. Further, Lee's artistic life has been augmented lately by two special musicians. The first is aforementioned cellist Eggar, whose resume includes The Who, Josh Groban, Beyoncé, Carly Simon, Bon Jovi and Manhattan Transfer, has been a great collaborator for her.

"He's just got such a bright energy and is so encouraging but also really, really talented," enthuses Lee. "He pushes me to the next level without it being painful, if that makes sense. We were talking about wanting to make a documentary of his life because you just sit down and listen to him talk about stuff like living on a beach in the south of France and playing a million dollar cello."

On the recommendation of Eggar, Evanescence guitarist Jen Majura came into the fold back in 2015 following the departure of longtime member and songwriting collaborator Terry Balsamo. She is the other key player.

"What I've learned over the years is the harder thing about finding a person that's going to be in your band family is the way they fit as a person," explains Lee. "There are a lot of people that can play amazingly, and Jen is a great musician, but for somebody to really fit into your family dynamic is hard. I called her and flew her to New York, and we just spent time together. We went to guitar shops, went to lunch, got drunk, and had conversations about music and jammed a little bit. But mostly it was just becoming friends, and it happened really quickly. It just felt right. We knew that. I knew that I liked her, and I could see things in her that reminded me a little bit of myself. It's been really nice to have such a cool jolt of positive energy that she inserted when we needed it a lot. Now we can also have background vocals. We've never been able to have that before with me being the only girl, and I wanted it to be a female voice."

Circling back to the new song "Wasted On You," there is reference to being "six feet low" that reminds one that on first two Evanescence studio albums there was one song apiece that referenced Lee's late sister, who passed away at the age of three when the singer was six. It turns out that Lee recently lost her younger brother, who died at the age of 24.

"It's really hard," says Lee, turning somber for a few moments. "This has been a crazy time, the last few years. A lot has happened to us within the band. Since the last album, there's a lot to say. We are still who we are, but there have been things that have caused us to change our perspective, and the way that we see the world, the way that we see other people, and the way that we think because of the losses that we've suffered. I'm speaking in plural because our bass player Tim just lost his stepdaughter."

Lee adds that this has been a time during which, in so many ways, she had to grow up and didn't want to. "I just want to be a kid again," she concedes. "I just want to be a kid with my siblings and my mom and dad, and somebody else I know at the end of the day is going to take care of it. Somebody else is going to be the dad, somebody else is going to be in charge. It's a really shitty thing that when you grow up, you have to be the one who does that. You have to be the one to make everybody else feel okay. And sometimes it's not okay. That's the bitter truth."

This moment dovetails into the Recording Academy's recent conversation with Tori Amos about how one does not really understand another's pain unless they have experienced it personally. And a person does not need well-meaning but cliched platitudes from others to deal with pain. They just need to process it in their own way.

"That's a huge part of this band and making music for me from day one," declares Lee. "I just need to process the fact that I hurt right now, and not say, 'But it's gonna be okay.' I still have hope after all, but I think it's important sometimes just to say, 'Hey, I hurt' and let that be the message because other people are hurting too. Instead of being fixed immediately, we need to process our pain, we need to feel the pain. It's important. It's part of what is eventually going to let you get through it. The only way out is through."

That concept might seem anathema to many people caught up in a social media and mass media world where everyone wants to put on a happy face and does not admit to feeling wounded or defeated.

"Right, we don't show the pictures," acknowledges Lee. "I don't Instagram when I'm having a horrible day. We're just showing little clips of life when something was awesome, so when you look through that window into somebody's life you're not getting the full picture. You're just getting the highlight reel. That isn't real."

Funnily enough, the music and videos of Evanescence represent the opposite aesthetic. They show when they are not having a good day.

"That's true," concurs Lee, laughing out loud. "You just listen to my album, and you hear how horrible everything is."

At least that emotional sincerity has allowed her to produce some timeless tunes, with more on the way.

#Amy Lee #Evanescence #2020 interviews

[dyde21]

Please please please percabeth marching band AU from the prompt list

Boy oh boy, this reminds me of the mechnic!AU prompt I got for Arkos that turned into my longest fanfic and still most successful one Arc’s Metalworks. Hearing about this prompt for some reason murdered me with inspiration. This is just a short one-shot but I’m super tempted to make this into a longer piece as well...

XxXxXxXxX

Hip checking the the band room door to open it, Percy yawned as he held open the door, letting Leo and Jason enter. The band chairs had all been pushed away, forming a big circle to let their friends sit together. Looking around, Percy pouted slightly when he couldn’t see a certain blonde he was particularly attached to. 

“McDonalds, again?” A voice cut in behind him suddenly, making him jump about a foot in the air as he spun around, trying not to spill his coke.

“I didn’t have lunch made today! So I needed something! It was Leo’s idea! It was close by.” Percy took the shotgun approach to excuses, hoping if he said enough of them that one would stick, or his girlfriend wouldn’t care enough to rebuttal all of them. 

“You’re almost an adult. You can make your own food. 2, Leo always wants junk food. That doesn’t mean you need to indulge him. 3, It’s always close by. So is the grocery store that has fresh options.”

She shot him down, making his shoulders droop.

“I wanted fries.” He confessed to the blonde with gray eyes that was in the process of staring him down intently. 

Smiling, satisfied with his honesty, she just patted him on the cheek. “Was that so hard? Tomorrow you’re eating something healthy, or else.” She threatened him. 

The sigh of defeat that left Percy’s mouth was apparently enough of a confirmation for her. 

Kissing his cheek in a peace offering, she leaned down to take a sip of his coke before moving past him to the circle with everyone else. 

Frank and Hazel were already tucked away to a side, Hazel offering Frank one of the cupcakes she had made the night before, before sliding the large bin towards the center for people to take one as they pleased.

Leo was already cracking open his energy drink as he fished out a burger from his bag. 

Jason took a seat next to Piper, giving her an apologetic look as she scrunched up her nose at the meat he was eating. For as much meat as Jason ate, Percy was still surprised he managed to date a vegetarian. 

Reyna was next to Hazel, taking a bite of a homemade sandwich as she flicked through a few pages of sheet music, keeping time with one hand as he memorized the score. 

A soft piano song wafted through the room, and Percy didn’t even need to look up to know what was happening. 

Still, glancing over he saw exactly what he expected. Tyler was tucked away in the corner on the baby grand, playing what sounded like a piano version of a song from Hamilton that Annabeth had been singing recently. 

“I have never been the type to try and grab the spotlight.

We were at a revel with some rebels on a hot night” 

Ashe’s voice started singing in a voice that really made Percy wonder why she wasn’t in choir. Annabeth took her seat next to him, humming happily along. 

Ashe swayed in place slightly next to Tyler on the bench as she sang.

“Laughin’ at my sister as she’s dazzling the room” She sang as she looked over at her boyfriend next to her.

“Then you walked in and my heart went” 

*Boom*

The piano stumbled a bit at the sudden loud noise as they looked over to see Leo grinning, having hit the concert bass drum in time with the song. 

Most of the group started laughing as Tyler managed to recover his piano playing, but Ashe was far too amused to sing properly anymore.

Leo rejoined them, going back to his food as he looked proud of himself. 

“Don’t use percussion equipment if you aren’t in the section for a joke.” Reyna warned half-heartedly, her own smile betraying how amused she been at seeing Ashe jump at the noise.

“Yeah, yeah.” Leo offered, not really affected considering it wasn’t the first time he had heard that warning, and he severely doubted it would be the last time. He earned a bit of good will with the band and drum majors considering he was the resident expert on fixing any problems with the instruments.

The song wound down eventually. Precy noticed Ashe leaned over and kissed Tyler’s cheek and looked away, seeing Annabeth smiling as she dipped an apple slice in peanut butter and his gaze lingered on her lips, the little gob of peanut butter stuck on her lip he kinda wanted to kiss off.

“Stop flirting at the piano and make sure you eat properly. We’re marching outside today, it’s hot, and I don’t want to hear you complaining cause you’re hungry.”

Annabeth called out suddenly, making the pair at the piano flinch before they stood up after a moment and made their way over.

Tyler took a seat as Ashe went to her locker, emerging with two containers of food that she heated up in the microwave. Not long she sat next to Tyler, handing him one and laughing as he let out a dramatic sigh of appreciation and started digging in. 

“How come you never cook for me?” Percy teased, nudging Annabeth to get her attention. 

“Cause I don’t believe in spoiling my boyfriend like Ashe does. I prefer to let you learn for yourself.”

She offered, smirking at the girl across the circle. 

Ashe narrowed her eyes. “I’m not spoiling him, he’s a terrible cook and I’m trying to get him to eat healthy. Something your boyfriend could stand to do.” She said, motioning at the array of fast food spread out in front of Percy.

“Why am I being thrown under the bus here.” Tyler complained half-heartedly. 

“Cause you get amazing food hand-delivered to you every day by your girlfriend and we’re jealous.” Piper chimed in. 

“Frank gets sweets though!” Leo chimed in, earning an approving nod from Tyler. 

“I would eat healthy if Annabeth cooked for me.” Percy offered, before glancing at his girlfriend and pausing. “Maybe…” 

Annabeth gave him a dangerous glare. “I’m not that bad of a cook.”

“Most of the time, no. Sometimes…”

Ashe snickered as Annabeth flipped her off. 

“It’s okay to be bad at cooking Annabeth…” Tyler offered trying to reassure her.

“Shut up and eat your girlfriend’s food.”

Tyler just grunted, pouting as he dug into his food. 

“Don’t tell my boyfriend to shut up because you’re jealous.” Ashe countered, raising an eyebrow. 

“I’m not jealous. I just haven’t really tried to learn to cook anything complex really before.” Annabeth defended herself. 

Tyler put down his drink. “I’ve tried cooking lunch for Ashe before! A few times. It just doesn’t really go well…” His voice trailed off.

The group got quiet for a moment as they remembered the last time when Ashe went home because she had actually gotten a mild case of food poisoning when she was determined to finish the food he made even after it was clear it wasn’t done right.

Ashe leaned over and kissed her boyfriend's cheek, rubbing his arm. “You’re really sweet for trying. Besides, you know I love cooking. I’ll count on you for studying instead, deal?”

“Deal.” He offered as they grinned at each other with a look that made Percy roll his eyes at how sweet they were. 

Ashe turned to Annabeth, her expression softer. “For real though, if you ever do want help cooking, I’d be happy to help you.” Her expression one of peace rather than teasing. It wasn’t a secret Ashe was pursuing cooking for a career so no one really tried to compare themselves to her. 

Annabeth glanced at her for a moment longer before nodding and smiling. “That would actually be cool. I can show you some tricks I use for my notes too.” 

Ashe grinned and nodded.

Percy nudged Annabeth’s arm before motioning with his head subtly towards Tyler who was still looking a little off-put. He could see a wave of guilt was over Annabeth’s features. It was no secret that the social butterfly Ashe’s boyfriend was more socially awkward than most.

“Did you ever get the hang of that piano riff in Mirror, Mirror Tyler?” Annabeth asked, a slight apologetic tone in her voice.

Tyler regarded her for a moment, before he offered her a reassuring smile that there were no hard feelings. “Mostly, kinda, yeah. I’m still like 40 BPM short of it the full speed but it’s definitely less clunky. My hands were starting to hurt yesterday though so I had to stop.”

Annabeth grinned at him. “Don’t hurt yourself practicing, but that’s pretty incredible. Make sure you let me hear it when you have it down. Ever since you got me hooked on RWBY that song keeps coming up in my music.”

Ashe was beaming now that people were no longer bickering and soon the rest of their lunch period had passed as they all scrambled to put the room back together, having not realized how late it had gotten. 

Hours later when they were all returning from the marching practice. “It’s so hot out.” Percy muttered as he slipped his snare drum off and collapsed across a few band chairs. “Why do guys have to keep their shirts on?” He moaned, tugging at his to air it out from the heat. 

“Cause if girls have to suck it up, so do you.” Reyna offered, taking a swig from her water bottle. 

“Then let girls take them off too.” Leo added, earning a swat on the back of the head from Piper.

“Shut up Leo.” She said, before tousling his hair affectionately as she walked past. 

“I’m starving.” Tyler complained as he set down his quads. “Quads are too heavy.”

“Told you to eat more earlier.” Annabeth scolded.

“Move, you’re on my folder.” Ashe complained, nudging her boyfriend half-heartedly who didn’t budge.

“It’s too hot.” Tyler moaned.

“You’re too hot.” She countered. 

Making the boy pause, giving her a curious look before he sat up enough for Ashe to grab her folder. 

A minute later and everyone was practically melted into a puddle in various places around the bandroom when Chiron finally walked in. 

“It was a hot day today. Make sure you drink plenty of water, not just now, but as these weeks pass to stay on top of it.”

Everyone groaned some sort of affirmation. 

“Besides, we want you all ready for our competition in a month!”

There was a pause before a wave of cheers erupted as life suddenly rushed back into everyone at the reminder. 

Annabeth and Percy shared a glance as they grinned. They were going to knock it out of the park this time.

XxXxXxXxX

I hope you enjoyed it! I had a LOT of fun writing this. I still am super tempted to turn this into a full fledged multi chapter AU. If there is any interest in continuing this let me know. My time is just so split already. 

As always if you are interested in supporting me, letting me write more check out my art commissions HERE or even my Ko-Fi HERE to get an instant prompt fill!

#percabeth #pjo #Percy Jackson #Annabeth Chase #HoO #Band!AU #I really shouldn't start another AU #I already have 3 I want to write for #but i like this one so much #I really shouldn't write it though #But I want to #BUT I NEED TO DRAW TO EARN MONEY #x.x

[noblecrumpet-dorkvision]

Need Help Deciding on a D&D Character

Edit: I made a Twitter poll to help decide: https://twitter.com/noblecrumpet/status/1144389611763961856

As my Tomb of Annihilation campaign is nearing its end (they are exploring level 4 of the Tomb now), I have been offered the opportunity of a lifetime for a DM: to actually play in a game instead of DM-ing it!

The problem is, I have three banger character concepts and no clue which to play. Since I have a lot of followers that can weigh in, I figured I would present them to you guys to help me decide. Each has at least one friendly NPC and one rival/villain NPC in their backstory and a character arc for maximum involvement in the story. Let me know which one sounds the most interesting or exciting to play because I like all of these dudes equally.

The setting is Forgotten Realms, but not the Sword Coast, and I think our team comp has two different barbarians and two other unknown characters. All three of my ideas are spellcasters so I’m not as concerned that I will be going against party comp.

Character 1: Dain, the Undermage

Character: Duergar Slime Sorcerer (homebrewed) focused on dealing a lot of Acid damage.

Appearance: Dain has ash-colored skin with a dirty red beard turned yellow in places from contact with acid. His forehead is magically branded with a column of three dark violet eye symbols rising from his brow. He wears a conglomeration of found and scavenged clothing scraps that form into robes, using bones for ornamentation and clasps. He wears a dark cowl to hide the sorcerous mark on his forehead. His spells all have a visual effect involving green ooze or slime.

Character Arc: Once he understands what heroic comradery is like, or if someone risks their life to save his, he will go from a selfish and greedy miser to someone willing to share his ambitions and to risk his own life for his new friends.

Backstory: Dain was once a proud brewer in a duergar kingdom called Blackmount, a subterranean mountain citadel ruled by Gabrid Grayrune. Brewing is an especially rare and almost taboo art since strong alcohols will cause duergar’s psionic powers to go awry. He lived with his wife, Azntryd.

One day, an aboleth named Thuuldukod took control of a good number of the duergar in the kingdom and spirited them away to its lair. Somehow the aboleth’s transformative slime and Dain’s innate psionic powers awakened a latent form of sorcery within him. He gained power over slimes, acid, and ooze and was also able to break free from Thuuldukod’s control. After freeing some others, they were able to overcome the aboleth and bury it beneath a pile of rock.

   Upon returning to Blackmount, the duergar took in the other freed duergar that survived, but banished Dain. His awakened power marked him with three purple eye symbols on his forehead, and the duergar believed this proved he was somehow still under the aboleth’s control. He left his life and his wife Azntryd behind. Angered by this treatment, he left to wallow in the filthier regions of the Underdark with his newfound powers, going slightly mad as he wondered if he was truly the one in control of his magic.

   Adventurers came by and tried to slay him, thinking the raving duergar was a common monster, but he overcame them. This battle caused him to rethink his priorities and once he noticed the wealth these heroes had accumulated, decided to act on his duergar greed and become a “hero” himself. His ultimate goal is to create his own kingdom to replace the one he lost.

Character 2: Klak, the Dungeon Delver

Character: Kobold Artificer (Artillerist) with a focus on exploration and utility.

Appearance: Klak sports red-grey scaled skin with orange eyes. As an artificer, he is always weighed down with lots of equipment, but thankfully has been able to design a haversack that can hold many of his things despite their weight. His artifacts are primarily made of stonework with glowing crimson runes, including his artillerist turret which grows from nearby stone to attack. The energy of his magic is red with lots of Kirby dots.

Character Arc: Klak is distrustful of warm-bloods but is his curiosity for history and ancient relics easily overcomes this. When he finally reunites with his crush who stayed behind when he was exiled, the only kobold or even person he ever trusted, Klak will have to choose between living in the ancient past or finding his feelings in the present.

Backstory: Klak (“Pebble” in draconic) and his kobold brethren served a green dragon named Andorax the Venom-Fang. Klak was one of the tyrant’s trap-makers. One day when mining out space for a pit trap, Klak came upon the entrance to an ancient lost tomb with magical technology and defenses. Not wanting to tell Andorax, he created a secret door in front of the tomb’s entrance and would steal away to the place when no one was looking. Slowly he began to uncover new secrets and learn how to abuse the magical items there. He even overcame some undead creatures by himself thanks to learning how to recreate a magical turret that once halted his own progress.

   After learning so many new tricks, Klak’s traps began to improve and Andorax started to take notice. He also started to notice when he went missing. Eventually, he discovered the secret entrance and filled it with poison gas while Klak was inside. Thinking quickly, Klak was able to create a gasmask and hide within a secret compartment. He couldn’t risk leaving, and knew that his kobold brethren would soon be combing the tomb for his body, so he dug and mined his way to the surface. Exhausted and running drastically low on air, he breached the ground in the wilderness nearby.

   Now Klak looks for new dungeons to delve, only stopping into town to sell treasures and buy tools and supplies. He knows a dwarven antiques merchant named Helga Goldbraid that shares new leads with him. He has joined adventuring parties before, but is wary of doing so ever since a human fighter, Amyster Bayn, betrayed him to get away with wealth and leave him to die.

   He misses one of his kobold friends whom he had a crush on, Jakryl, a crackshot crossbow sniper who presumably still works for Andorax. Klak was never able to confess his feelings for him before his escape.

Character 3: Gazmin Selunath, the Tide Princess

Character: Triton Bladesinger (elf restriction waived) with a focus on hitting people with her morningstar and blasting things with ice but with valuable utility spells in her back pocket. I imagine her as Thor’s personality, Starfire’s appearance (inverted color scheme) and the feeling of a Frank Frazetta painting.

Appearance: Big wavy green hair down to her calves, blue scaled skin, and yellow-green fins and webbing. She is tall for a triton, and has a powerful muscular build. She wears algae-stained whaleskin leather armor studded with barnacles, and a crown of spiked coral. She wields a magic morningstar whose head is a giant pearl with conical shells for spikes.

Character Arc: Gazmin is a prideful and haughty noble on a self-imposed quest to prove her worthiness to rule by slaying a great evil. However, she will never be satisfied. She has no actual desire to rule, but instead wanted to explore the surface world and its wonders. Her arc will complete once she stops lying to herself.

Backstory: Gazmin Selunath, daughter of Queen Myrthyn and King Genallus, is next in line to the throne of the triton kingdom of Seluna (which lies in a deep part of what the landlubbers call the Shining Sea). Gazmin was taught triton magic at the most prestigious magic schools and also the art of combat from the greatest triton warriors, and combines these skills into a bladesinging style she calls the Orca style. She wanted for nothing, but still realized something was missing. She didn’t feel worthy of attaining the crown and proclaimed that she had been given a task in a prophetic dream from the gods: she cannot rule Seluna until she destroys a great and terrible evil. Seeing no great evils in the kingdom, she opted to leave it and find this evil on land. Her parents gave her powerful triton relics to aid her in her quest. Then they said their goodbyes and she left in search of glory.

   Gazmin is unfamiliar with the ways and workings of the surface world. The first thing she did upon arriving was save a mountain man named Riff Bin from a group of marauding orcs. When asked where he lived that she may return him safely, he said his home was the mountain. She mistook this to mean that he was a great king who owned an entire mountain, and now offers him fealty and occasionally visits to send him tribute. Riff takes this in stride, not wanting to offend the terrifying woman who froze ten orcs solid and shattered them with her morningstar.

   Little to Gazmin’s knowledge, her jealous and treacherous younger brother Elganus has followed her to the surface world in hopes of ensuring Gazmin never returns to claim the throne he believes he deserves.

#d&d #5e #character #dungeons and dragons #character concept #character creation #backstory #duergar #triton #kobold

[fullstop-official]

A Hellish Freak Disaster with Burning Rubble and No Survivors

AKA: Chapter One - July 18

In three days, everything will change.

But right now, Travis Longfield is swatting his free hand at my shoulder as punishment for having my feet up on the space above the glovebox in the Gator – his Wrangler nicknamed aptly for its military-appropriate paint job. I have to laugh a little at his feeble attempt to keep straight on the road and hit me at the same time, more to mock him than anything else. But I finally give in and give up my recline before he takes his chance at the next stop sign to go for the ankles.

“You care about this thing too much, dude,” I tease, “I’m not allowed to sit comfortably – Jesus, I can’t even eat in here!”

“Do you want her to end up like Cole’s car?” The Gator, of course, has always been a her. “He wrecked that Cherokee. It can’t be saved. They should write it off for internal damage.”

“Yeah, okay. Sorry I upset your girlfriend here. I won’t dirty her up.”

“I’m not really worried about that,” he says with a smirk. “You’re not even the one dirtying up your own girlfriend.”

His comment makes my mood immediately plummet, and, as we pull into the Mechis’ driveway behind a sleek, black Lexus, my mood suddenly becomes a satellite that drops from the stratosphere, falling down, down, down toward the earth at thousands of miles per hour and on fire. Travis parks the Gator and we both climb out. He takes a moment to pull his guitar case from the back seat before we go about picking our way around the aforementioned Lexus and Cole’s hopelessly-stained, wrapper-littered Grand Cherokee to reach the side door to the garage.

We enter, and we’re the last two to arrive. Cole is sprawled out on the duct-taped loveseat by the wall that’s way too tiny to fit all of him. He looks over and his shaggy and badly-highlighted hair flips naturally as his head turns. Still, our appearance isn’t enough to steal his attention away from loudly strumming a progression of power chords on his guitar in order to mess with Matt. Matt is attempting to tune his bass on the other side of the room in spite of the noise, but probably isn’t having an easy time without anything that resembles quiet. Bryson is on the beat-up couch opposite of Cole, scribbling in a binder that’s full of schedules, sets, general to-do lists, and other notes that he says are necessary and need to be kept – though the entire thing is so crammed with papers that it will explode one day.

My satellite mood fails to brace for impact and crashes against the ground, colliding in a hellish, freak disaster with burning rubble and no survivors when I see the Lexus’ owner practicing the screeches that she calls “vocal warmups” by her mic stand, front and center. Saying she’s my mortal enemy undoubtedly makes me sound like some sort of comic book supervillain, but I’ve never come up with anything more accurate and less theatrical and childish to describe what we have. Our rivalry would probably take an entire war map with battalions and flags to comprehend.

I met Selena Walton when we were in seventh grade – briefly – but truly got to know and dislike her the following year when our feud officially ignited. It was just shortly after that, during the same year, that the rest of us really jumped on the idea of forming the band and, by the end of eighth grade, we’d seen it through.

There was just one problem. I play the drums. Travis is lead guitar, and Cole is on second. Matt plays bass. Bryson covers keyboard when we need it for certain songs, but otherwise acts as our manager. We were good on our own, just the five of us, but when things started getting more and more serious, we had a debate about lyrics.

Cole is an incredible singer – when he’s singing unclean vocals (the screamo parts). When it comes to singing regularly, he may as well just strangle a bird on stage; the sound it would make is more or less the same. Our preferred genre of punk and its “close-enough” offshoots (we’ve found that a healthy mixture brings in a bigger audience) are starting to blur the lines a little, but we all agreed that we wouldn’t be a full-fledged screamo band. We resolved to use his talent conservatively. The rest of the guys couldn’t carry a tune to save their lives.

I can sing, but drummers stay at the back of the stage, and squishing the two roles together makes the show lose a certain kind of energy. The audience generally likes to see the singer while they’re singing. I can sing backup, but there needs to be someone up front. A hype man.

Enter Selena Walton. Unwelcomely welcomed to the band after our first five months of minimal lyrics with a three-to-two vote.

And whom I hate more than anyone else in the universe.

And maybe it would be slightly better if she didn’t front our band. I have nothing against female punk singers, or really just female singers in general. Many of them are good, even pretty great. Selena, however, is an exception. She hates the vast majority of the music that we perform. And, though what she does is technically considered singing, she is an alto who thinks she’s a soprano, which is the worst kind of alto and does not make for a spectacular – or even subpar – show. Her signature style is going up a few too many notes at the end of nearly every line, regardless of whether or not she can hit them, and it is such a pain to listen to that I’m surprised my head hasn’t shattered like glass, or exploded like Bryson’s band binder is going to do. This is all in addition to her entitled, annoying, spoiled brat attitude which is all wrapped up into one short, oblivious, bitchy, brunette package.

I wish that was the end of it, but, devastatingly, having Selena as our lead singer isn’t even the terrible part. I can deal with that. But about a year ago, band practice went from being the few hours a week that I had to tolerate the fact she exists to my own, personal hell.

Bryson’s managerial skills are sharp, but PR-wise he tends to run things like a scripted reality TV show in order to make us stand out from other local acts so people can invest in our “personal” lives. I don’t know what celebrity dating scandal gave him the idea, but a fake inter-band relationship was proposed and, by some weird misfortune, not immediately vetoed. After a ton of arguing, I literally drew the short straw.

Selena Walton is my fake girlfriend.

And I hate her.

At the very least, after a year of playing pretend (and having her hang off of me during shows after spitting in my face behind the scenes), I haven’t actually been forced to kiss her or anything yet. I think I’d have to tear off my lips and cauterize the wounds if that happened.

Bryson still sticks to his delusional claim that having us fake date is a good thing for the band, even though it causes more drama when we’re alone together than it ever does when we’re out in the public eye. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to keep it up because Selena only acts like she’s staying faithful to me when, in reality, she’s probably slept with every guy who’s ever looked at her for more than five seconds. Pretending that I tolerate her is a tough challenge, but I deserve an Oscar for acting like I love her.

And so, when Travis and I walk in, she pretends to ignore me, but I watch her in my peripheral when she thinks I’m not paying attention. She gives me a look; it’s a spiteful, almost disgusted scowl. For what it’s worth, I’m glad she can just barely endure my mere presence. It’s the one thing about this entire situation that makes me feel all happy and light inside.

Travis sets his case down to take out his guitar, and I go sit on the arm of the couch next to Bryson. Since we cleared out his garage to act as our rehearsal space, my setup has lived here permanently and I’m the only one who ever touches my drums. They only move for gigs, and I don’t have much to prepare before practice.

Cole gives me a subtle nod, but doesn’t stop strumming one of our originals. “S’up, Scott,” he greets me. He uses my last name instead of my first. Bryson, Matt, and Cole have all done that as long as I’ve known them – apparently, the single syllable of my surname is easier than having to waste energy saying the two in Morgan.

I glance over Bryson’s shoulder after nodding back. The paper he’s mentally wrestling with has July twentieth – Friday’s date – and the time of our show at the top. The rest is the final setlist he’s been compiling that has only just been finished. It takes us a long time to decide which songs we’ll be playing, and in what order. (I blame Selena.) The one thing that Bryson has left blank is the space after encore:.

We always do an encore. And it’s always a Paramore song because they’re the only non-objectionable option Selena likes. Paramore is an amazing group, and I do like their music, but if she doesn’t learn to like literally anyone else, I’ll start to lose my goddamn mind.

Bryson taps his pen against the paper for another minute, and then grabs the list and, leaving the space empty, shuts the binder. Our logo is on the front of it, slipped into the plastic cover. It’s just a black circle with our band name, Full Stop., inside of it in an all-caps, blocky, white font. We let Cole design it – we’d said we wanted something simple, and, though it looks like something that was created in Microsoft Paint (and it probably was), he’d delivered. Selena thinks it’s too plain, which is why I think it’s the most wonderful graphic in the world. I wear one of our T-shirts as much as possible and I’m met with her judgy glare each time.

I watch Bryson set the binder aside and look over the setlist another time before rising. “I guess we can start,” he announces. Cole’s instrument abruptly stops. The garage, however, is not entirely silent. Matt and Travis use the absence of guitar riffs to actually tune their instruments. At the very least, Selena shuts up.

I proceed over to my kit, and purposefully bump Selena’s shoulder with my arm as I pass. She’s about five-foot-four – about a head shorter than me – and it irritates her when I “accidentally” run into her. It makes my whole day. I sit on the stool and the others slowly start to claim their positions. Cole drags his amp over from the loveseat, and Travis pulls the elastic from his hair so it falls just to his shoulders. He claims having it loose helps him rock harder. I fail to see the correlation, but he’s a damn good guitarist, so I try not to question his methods.

As Matt takes his place, and Selena taps her microphone to make sure no one (me) has muted it behind her back again, I put my earplugs in and grab my sticks. They feel like an extension of my body when I hold them – like having just a little bit more to my arms. My nerves begin to hum with anticipation. I saw the first song and I’m pumped to play it.

Bryson gets started and reads the set from the paper like always: song title, and then the artist for Selena’s music-illiterate benefit. He only skips the artist if it’s one of our originals – at least she knows the titles of those. And she seems to tolerate singing them. Sometimes.

“Okay, open with This Could Be Anywhere in the World – Alexisonfire. Selena will take a sec to introduce everything, then Silver Bullet – Hawthorne Heights, right into Bring Me To The Light. Selena can improvise something after that. Green Day’s Holiday smoothly into Boulevard of Broken Dreams, then You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid – The Offspring, and this is the working title for the story of two crazy kids.”

“We never really found a title for that, did we?” Travis says teasingly. He throws a small smirk my way.

“No,” I agree in a similar manner, “We really didn’t.”

If he’s going to make fun of me, I’m taking it in stride. I wrote that particular number, and a fair chunk of our other originals. I think that sometimes my titles are pretty good, even when they’re just chorus lyrics. But sometimes – well, they’re that.

“Selena improvises something, and then we go to the Red Block,” Bryson continues without missing another heartbeat. I’m pretty sure I hear his voice raise a little to grab our focus again. “Red Flag – Billy Talent, Red Sam – Flyleaf, and Something Different – Red As Dusk. Selena says stuff. Changing – Saosin. Pressure – Paramore. Selena talks. Be Like The Zeros. Kiss Me, Kill Me – Mest, and Selena introduces the final song. Strong finish with Postcards – Amber Pacific. Got it?”

Four of us nod, or make our brief sounds of agreement. Selena ruins the unanimous confirmation.

“And my encore?”

“If I keep thinking about that, I’ll have a fucking aneurysm,” Bryson says with a straight face. He passes her the setlist. He knows if we start having that discussion now, this won’t be a rehearsal, it’ll be a homicide. “Just run through what we’ve got. We can look at that when I know this set is okay.”

She mutters, “Well, for once I’d like to know what we’re doing before the night of the gig.”

“Yeah, then maybe we could do something other than Misery Business, or Still Into You, or Rose-Colored Boy, or – no, wait. That’s about it, huh?”

She doesn’t turn, but she does stick her middle finger up at me. I hear Travis try to softly suppress amused laughter; a small, entertained huff escapes him. She hates me. It’s so great.

“Please just practice the damn set.” Bryson’s voice has shifted to something like exhausted pleading. He’s not in the mood to break up a fight today. I mean, he’s going to have to anyway – there’s not a single doubt in my mind there – but he doesn’t want to. He always gets this way so close to a show. The stick doesn’t come out of his ass until the stage lights go off.

To ease his stress a little, we do as he says.

This Could Be Anywhere in the World is one of Cole’s favourites to perform because nearly half of it is unclean vocals. This means that it’s one of my favourites to perform because Selena’s unstable wailing only has to pierce my auricular space half as much.

And it’s a ton of fun to play on drums.

Once she’s butchered her way through Silver Bullet and one of our originals, I’m introduced as the representative from California by one of Travis’ very few spoken contributions during Holiday. Even though its absolutely necessary, Selena hates the fact that I’m the best she’s got for clean backup vocals that won’t make our audience’s ears bleed. She especially despises this brief part Matt and I share – my voice and drumming and his iconic bass line – simply because it takes the attention off of her for nearly a full bridge. I sing the rebellious lyrics with a smirk shot her way. She flips me off.

Selena hates singing You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid, and sings this is the working title for the story of two crazy kids terribly in an attempt to annoy me. She makes it painfully obvious that she’s suffering through the Red Block, and gets a smidge better during Changing because a Paramore song follows. She always complains that I use too much cymbal during Pressure. I wonder if she’s actually listened to the song, or if she’s just deaf.

I watch her reach for the list again as it comes to a close and beat her to it.

“I Love How You Say We Can Be Anything But Treat Us Like Shit.”

“That’s not what it’s called!” she snaps.

“Sorry. Be Like The Zeros, parentheses: I Love How You Say We Can Be Anything But Treat Us Like Shit.”

She turns a bit just so I have the luxury of seeing her roll her eyes.

“What? Do I need to say it backwards too?”

I can visibly see the rage manifest inside of her head and, with another smirk that I can’t help at this point, and that I can’t say is innocent, I launch into a hidden talent that frustrates her to no end. I don’t know exactly how I came across it, I just know that I’m able to do it and she’s not. Travis can do it as well, and he watches me with amusement as I drive Selena up the wall. I picture the smoke coming out of her ears as she glares at me.

“Tihs ekil su taert tub gnihtyna eb nac ew yas uoy woh evol I,” I recite. “Bryson knows the title – he wrote it!”

“Just start the damn song, Scott,” Bryson sighs rather than taking a side, even though I’m right.

I don’t give Selena the chance to have the final word. The crash cymbal screams beneath my stick in the intro. Thankfully, Bryson purposefully wrote this song in the right key for her alto voice, so I don’t have to hear her try and fail to sing outside of her vocal range.

 “My mind is clouded like a smokehouse / I think I need a light to find what I was gonna say / My body’s numb and feeling funny / Lost here in a strange place / Just another average day.”

 I’m sure Bryson is relieved when we finally make it to the end of Postcards without another interruption. The first hour of practice ends with our finalized setlist played in full and no unstoppable brawls.

“Can we talk about my encore now, Bryson?” Selena demands at the final note, ever the princess.

Bryson starts to look as if he would rather eat his own hand than discuss the encore and incite her wrath, but also that he knows if we don’t talk about it beforehand, we’ll have to pick ten minutes before the show and we’ll end up doing Let The Flames Begin again.

“Okay, fine,” he relents. “Band meeting.”

I set down my sticks and pull out my earplugs as the guys put their guitars on the assorted stands. Selena leaves her mic and goes to take a seat. She hates sitting on the furniture because everything in here is a relic too shitty for a thrift store; it’s all either tearing, patched with duct tape, or just too stained or dusty to be used by anyone other than a semi-successful garage band in LA. Selena’s in one, but she doesn’t act like it.

We make it a habit to sit as far away from each other as possible. Matt and Bryson take the loveseat where Selena’s perched herself on the one not-duct-taped arm that’s probably going to need a layer of the stuff in about a month. Travis, Cole, and I take the couch.

“Thoughts?” Bryson asks. I can tell he’s bracing himself.

I am too, but I keep my mouth shut and wait for Selena to get her terrible idea out of the way first.

“We should do Ain’t It Fun,” she pitches. “It’s always a crowd-pleaser.”

“It would be if our regular crowd hadn’t already heard you sing it a hundred thousand times.”

“What’s fucking wrong with that?” Her angled eyebrows raise, and I can already see her pupils filling up with fire. If anyone else had said it, she wouldn’t be as pissed off, and that simple fact alone is why I argue in the first place.

“Should I say it forwards or backwards?” I demand. She scowls. “They’re getting bored! If we lose the audience at Underground, we won’t get gigs, and Full Stop. is just fucked! Back me up here, Bryce.”

Selena whips her head around to glare at Bryson so fast that I expect her to break her neck, and I’m almost disappointed when she doesn’t. Bryson’s biting into his cheek, not wanting to say that I’m right in order to avoid her fury, but not denying it either. The others show their agreement plainly – Matt’s mouth takes on an uncertain slant, eyes bright, and Cole can’t stop himself from nodding subtly. Travis wears a smirk. He always takes my side in this war.

“Oh, fuck you guys!” she spits. Her defeat is a delicate sound. It’s like music to my ears.

“What do you want to do, Scott?” Bryson asks. His voice is calm, a mediator.

“We already have a Paramore song in the set. We can’t do another. We need to try something new this time. An original, or–” I rifle through my mental music library. I know which songs we’ve done, and all of the options we haven’t ever tried because Selena is a brat with bad taste. “Maybe actually try some My Chemical Romance for once? They’re a fucking staple to the punk-pop genre.”

“Ew, no,” Selena interrupts. “Veto.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Where do I start? They’re terrible.”

“First of all, how dare you.”

“Here we go,” Bryson sighs. He goes unheard.

“Second, do you have a better idea?”

“Yeah, like fifty! We should do something by The Chainsmokers.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“What? They’re good!”

“No, they’re overplayed! The crowd will be asleep before we even start. They’re not even punk!”

“You’re such a fucking snob!”

“Wow! Look, everyone! The pot is calling the kettle black!”

“Guys! Holy fuck – calm down!” Bryson’s voice cuts through us both. He’s rubbing his temples to curb the migraine Selena’s clearly bringing upon him. “Can we all remember that music is subjective?”

For a moment, the silence rests. Travis is clearly entertained and firmly stuck on my side. Bryson’s trying to fight off that brain aneurysm he promised himself. Cole and Matt are somewhere between rolling their eyes and coming up with an excuse to leave.

Selena is on the brink of completely detonating. Her jaw is set, posture disturbed and rigid. She doesn’t remove her beady, flaming eyes from me, and looks like she’s trying to murder me with her sheer force of will. In her imagination, she’s probably stabbing me with one of my drumsticks. Her tiny fists are clenched.

“Marianas Trench,” she says through her teeth.

“Are you joking? You’d need a church choir just to sing half their crap,” I say. “Dead Kennedys.”

“Veto. Ed Sheeran.”

“Worse than The Chainsmokers. Jimmy Eat World.”

“What? With their one fucking song? Vance Joy.”

“Who?”

That one really makes her mad, so I grin as I say it. She knows I know who Vance Joy is – if only because she’s mentioned him four million times and butchered one of his stupid indie songs over and over again with her shrieking.

“Good Charlotte,” I suggest.

She rolls her eyes. “Twenty One Pilots.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Really?” For a brief moment, I watch her little, round face light up.

“Yeah, as soon as you can rap, feel free to buy us all synths and ukuleles. I’m sure your Daddy can afford it.”

She’s so angry that I can nearly see her brain boiling. There are a few Twenty One Pilots songs I would willingly relent to adding to a Full Stop. setlist, but at the moment I know she’s too pissed off to even name one. I almost want to laugh.

“Taylor. Swift,” she hisses, enunciating every single syllable with a seething staccato. She knows I would never agree to it and that’s the only reason why she suggests it. Everything she ever does or says is designed to make me mad. In this way, we’re one and the same.

So, I mimic her tone. “Fuck. No.” And I’m just about to throw out The Gits – not that Selena could ever dream to live up to Mia Zapata’s legacy – when–

“Wait!”

The single word from Cole breaks our staring contest. I still feel my blood thundering from the rush of adrenaline that comes with pushing Selena to her breaking point, but I turn my attention on him. Cole’s straightened up from his lax slouch and, even though he’s sitting, he’s still a human tower – it’s no wonder the football coach spent nearly two years trying to recruit him. His eyes are stretched wide with an idea.

“What?” Travis asks.

He takes the question, but turns to me. His massive hand is slapped against his forehead, an indication of an epiphany. “Punk Goes Pop.”

“Excuse me?” Selena demands. Her teeth are clenched, and her brows are high.

Cole doesn’t need to explain it to me – I’ve caught onto his idea the second my mental music library dredges up the collection. He elaborates for everyone else.

“Yeah, okay, so Fearless Records has this series where they have punk bands cover pop songs, and, like, they’ve done some Taylor Swift stuff. Uh, You Belong With Me, Trouble – oh!” – he claps abruptly as the next idea enters his head and, again, his eyes turn on me, full of excitement and what appears to be an ego boost due to his own perceived genius. He’s gesticulating with the approximate energy of a German Shepherd – “Blank Space from the volume six rerelease! Dude, I Prevail goes so fucking hard on it! I had it on repeat for a month, and I can do Eric Vanlerberghe’s parts no problem!” He’s practically already playing air guitar.

“There. See? It’s a compromise,” Matt agrees.

And maybe it seems too good to be true…

Because it is.

“Yeah, too bad we can’t do it,” I object. Bryson sighs audibly and mutters under his breath. “If we let her sing the clean vocals, it won’t sound anything like a punk song! She’ll just try to sing it exactly like the original and fuck it up!”

“Fuck you!” Selena fires at me.

“Then you sing it, Morgan.”

I give myself whiplash turning to look at Travis, and the energy of the garage turns palpable – a thick, stunned tension that I could slice through with a razor blade and a ton of effort. Arms crossed over his chest, Travis shrugs, completely relaxed and completely, unbelievably serious.

In an instant, the initial surprise melts away, and I’m more confused by his proposal than I am shocked – or maybe it’s just an intense mixture of both. But the point is that I can’t sing it! I’m a drummer! That’s the only reason she’s even here in the first place!

“What?! No!”

“Yeah! ‘What?! No!’” Selena parrots me. For once, we’re actually in agreement on something.

“Why not? You’ve got a good voice, and I know you know the song.”

“Who’s going to play the drums?!” I reason. “That’s why she’s here!”

“I suggested Taylor Swift! I don’t want him singing it!” Selena protests.

“Exactly! Then she can’t hog the stage and be an attention whore and has to settle for being a regular–”

“Morgan,” Travis interjects (scolds), still calm despite presenting me with an insane idea just a moment ago. Selena flips me off with a look of pure hatred. I generally don’t like to push it that far, but I stand by what I was about to say. Her name is synonymous with it.

“I’ll find someone to drum for you,” Bryson says.

I scoff. “What? Am I that easily replaceable?! You’re all fucking ridiculous!”

“Scott,” Bryson starts in his middleman voice. I look at our manager and lift a brow. He seems to wait until everyone has copied me and all eyes are on him.

And then he supports Travis’ idea.

Using some of the most glorious words I have ever heard in my life.

“If we can just get this over with – pick the cover of Blank Space with you on clean vocals so this discussion will fucking stop – you can dump Selena.”

I have no idea what to say.

So it comes out unfiltered.

“Oh, screw you, Bryson.”

Not meant to be hurtful. Just… I can’t even explain it – just some sort of instinctual, astonished reaction.

I would be free of Selena Walton. And I would get to steal her encore.

But I would have to sing front-and-center. Even though it’s a cover, it’s still a Taylor Swift song. I wouldn’t have to sing all of it – about half the vocals in I Prevail’s version are unclean, so Cole would take them. But it’s still a tough debate.

I can’t really feel my body. I guess the shock is still settling in. Or it has settled in pretty deep and fried my nerves or something. But, while I’m internally wrestling against my own opinions, I dare to steal a look at Selena that ends up lasting longer than just a glance. Her eyes are narrowed, her jaw is tight, and her back is rod straight. She’s still inconsolably pissed at the idea that she could end up without an encore even though she’s had plenty already, but I see something else underneath that.

She wants me to take it. She doesn’t want to have to pretend to be shackled to me any longer. The feeling is mutual.

They’re all staring at me as I weigh the pros and cons a few more times.

In the end, I look Bryson dead in the eyes using what I can only describe as a defeated, cold glare.

“I want it in writing.”

Chapter: 2

#writing #creative writing #chapter 1 #interlude #wip: interlude #book: interlude #original fiction #ya fiction #//swearing #oc #ocs #wip #morgan scott #selena walton #travis longfield #bryson mechis #cole marshall #matt jordan #punk #punk pop #writeblr

[taylorroger-s]

ten things [2] // borhap!roger taylor x reader

a/n umm?? holy fuck the first one got way more love than i expected it to. thank you for all the kind words, it’s really motivating. this one is pretty fluffy, but no romance just yet ;) if y’all wanna request stuff (headcanons, one shots, and the like) you need only ask. just, no lemons. i trust y’all know what that means.

oh, and if any of you want to be added to the taglist, you need only ask

enjoy :)

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and the way you cut your hair

“i swear meddows, you need a haircut.” you shook your head at the drummer, flopping back on the low couch after hours of listening to the boys record. it had been three weeks since freddie's party, and you had been spending more and more time with the band.

john was highly witty, played guitar in addition to bass, and was always doing a little dance while he played his instrument. he loved throwing peanuts in brian's wild mane, especially since he could barely feel them. you two would laugh while brian struggled to find out why you kept on avoiding eye contact with him and giggling like maniacs.

brian, in your opinion, was a total genius in both guitar and astrophysics. while it wasn't his turn to play, he would answer all of your questions about the cosmos, almost always  launching into some in depth tangent about how stars are formed or a similar topic. you learned more from him in a few weeks than what you'd studied during all of primary school. it was truly satisfying to see someone who found their calling in life.

freddie of course was completely indescribable. he had a strong sense of self and wouldn't let any naysayers compromise his confidence or attack the band. you often said he had the voice of an angel who learned to walk on earth. you were enamored by his groundbreaking ideas that only made the band more recognizable. it was clear to see why mary loved him.

roger turned out to be less of a wanker than you assumed. you both had a chuckle once you realized that he too studied biology at east london polytechnic. he wouldn't let anyone fiddle with his drum set, nor did he let anyone drive his car. his ability to hit ridiculously high notes while still drums perfectly was considerably impressive. he always knew what to say to induce the most laughter, leaving the whole gang in stitches once everyone started cracking jokes at each other. once you found out his middle name was “meddows”, that was your permanent nickname for him. but that didn’t mean you didn’t hate him.

that day was just like any other. brian spun idly in his chair, curly head of hair bouncing with the beat of deaky's newest bass riff. freddie was fast asleep on the couch, head resting in mary’s lap. you were next to her listening to deaky play, flipping through a thick novel you had borrowed from brian on how moons are formed.

the air smelled faintly of cigarettes and cheap perfume, thanks to roger smoking with his arm around another lanky woman. she had his blond locks wrapped around her finger, other hand resting on his knee. it seemed like he had a different girl by his side each time you saw him. in the back of your mind, you couldn't help but wonder why he never stuck to just one.

mary was fast asleep at your side, head cradled in your lap. she looked so peaceful, letting out little puffs of air in a steady rhythm. they had been working late into the night, you and mary there to keep them company like usual. truthfully, you all did more goofing off then recording. whenever someone was behind the glass, the ones waiting would make ridiculous faces in hopes they would crack and have to restart the recording.

but the long day had taken a toll. freddie had gone with miami to pick the gang up some food, drastically lowering the energy that shook through the room in his presence. without his vibrant spirit, the world felt like it was moving slowly through molasses. after meeting him, your world would never be the same.

the comfortably silent atmosphere was broken by an abrupt ringing coming from a phone mounted in the wall. you all glanced up in unison, brian about to pick up the receiver before roger’s current plaything hopped to her feet and held out a hand to stop him.

“i’ll get it!” she announced, nearly skipping her way to the far wall. Brian slowly sat back down, glancing over to you with a quizzical look in his eyes. You shrugged back, yet you kept a keen eye on her back, suspicious as to why she rushed to pick up the call. she must have expected it, and told whoever was on the other line to call her at the studio. strange. you didn’t think much more of it, just wanting to return to your book and be a pillow for your dearest older sister.

but the latter ended due to your sister being a painfully light sleeper. her face contorted as she tried to go back to sleep, but the groupie’s incessant chatter made sure that did not happen. deaky and roger seemed to be the only ones without a significant reaction to the girl. roger readjusted in his seat, taking another long drag from his cigarette.

mary soon sat up, stretching arms high with a deep sigh escaping her lips. a patterned quilt was thrown across her shoulders, brought by you from home in anticipation of situations like that. “‘morning m, slept well?” she stuck her tongue out at you and leaned back on to your lap.

“could have used a little more. how do these boys manage to live with little sleep and still manage to play like that?” you couldn’t help but giggle at the dazed look on her face, blonde hair tangled on one side of her head. after planting a quick kiss on her forehead, you opened your book and flipped to where you had left off. A beat passed before roger’s plaything hung up the phone, striding over to him with her hip swaying gently. she slid onto his lap, interrupting his subconscious air drumming along with deaky’s riff. he shifted uncomfortably from the sudden intrusion, but didn’t hesitate to wrap his arm around her waist and whisper playfully in her ear. she giggled lightly and pressed her lips to his, before pushing herself back off the chair and brushing off her skirt.

“i’m gonna head, catch ya later rog.” she announced, throwing a wink in the drummer’s direction. he gave her one back, baby blue eyes following her until the door to the recording studio swung shut. mary’s sleepy gaze switched between roger and the door, brows furrowed slightly.

“who was that? christ, how long have i been asleep?” she shifted and curled up against your side, chin resting in the crook of your elbow. her eyes struggled to stay open as she waited for an answer, goofy smile fixed on her lips.

“that is meddow’s newest plaything, no clue her name. it’s been an hour. give or take.” mary groaned and placed her head back in your lap. “why do girls fawn over him constantly,” mary mumbled into a blanket, trying in vain to fall back asleep. roger raised his eyebrow at the two of you, cigarette barely an inch from burning all up. he took another puff, blowing the light gray smoke out through his nose before reaching over and sticking it in the ashtray. brian and deaky had wandered into the recording space, experimenting with ways they could change the sounds of their instruments. muffled laughter could be heard through the thick soundproofing, only sound besides mary’s even breaths since she had fallen back asleep, and the infrequent turn of a page from you.

“it’s totally the hair.” the sound of his voice startled you, still laced with a cocksure tone. he grinned at your bewildered expression, still surprised that he decided to answer you. That soon wore off and you rolled your eyes.

“definitely not. it’s so long. and shaggy. And always so messy.” roger laughed, getting up to sit next to you and mary on the couch. he smelled of cigarette smoke mixed with a lemony sort of cologne. or was it shampoo?

why am i thinking about how he smells? freaking new-girl-every-night meddows.

“pfft yeah right, y/n. you’re just jealous because my hair is prettier than yours.” he flipped his blond locks over his shoulder, grinning at you with a sideways smile. you narrowed your eyes at him, turning back to you.

“in your dreams .” you muttered absentmindedly, one hand brushing the hair covering the face of your sister. a small sneeze came from her sleeping form, not disturbing her slumber in the slightest. you loved your sister more than anything in the world, she had been there for you through thick and thin. from learning to ride the underground to rushing university applications, she had been by your side every step of the way. at that moment, you were sure you would never love anyone as much as you loved her, and that no one would love you as much as she did.

the band did make you feel a great deal more loved than you had with just mary by your side, even after just a few weeks. vivacious freddie always had a kind word or sincere encouragement to give. sweet deaky had biting sarcasm and self deprecating humor that never failed to cheer you up. brian would listen to your rants for hours, and you two would argue over the validity of astrology between songs.

as for meddows, you hated him. you hated his cocky demeanor, promiscuous rockstar attitude, and nonchalant ignorance. he had no sense of commitment, the only people who he was loyal to being the band and no one else. all he did was break hearts and chain smoke. you could not imagine a redeeming trait existing under all that muck.

“it adds to the vibe. i like it long.” he lit his second cigarette, blowing a small puff of tobacco smoke in your face. you scrunched up your face, shooting him a dark scowl. roger just laughed at your angered expression, taking another drag from his cigarette.

“i swear meddows, you need a haircut.” you shook your head, turning away from the long haired drummer boy. freddie finally burst through the door, breaking the brief silence that had fallen over your side of the studio. him and miami had pizza boxes in hand, jackets slick with rain from the outside.

“hello children, sustenance has arrived! where is my love mary?” you waved freddie over, pointing at the sleeping woman on your lap. he knelt at her left, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. she was slowly starting to wake once freddie had re entered, smiling sleepily at him by her side. brian and deaky came through the recording space door, laughing at the stupid was deaky had arranged brian’s hair. roger stood, joining deaky in poking fun at brian's multiple pigtails tied by loose rubber bands. mary had moved to sit by your side, freddie’s arm wrapped around her. you strode up to miami, striking up a conversation while the rest of the group had their own fun.

munching on some pizza, you smiled at the scene in front of you. everyone was so relaxed and happy. your heart swelled. you knew, deep in your heart, that you had found your family.

⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱

like i said, pure fluff. but plot is coming in the next part. should be up saturday or sunday.

taglist!!

@afirstclassloser @isabella-bby @guiltyissues @emothrash @moveimbi @thatgeekspeak @ilikecoffeecupsmorethancoffee @maiauniversetime @allieburakovsky @70srogertaylor @therealwatermelon @rogersfalsettos @cosmiclunas @anamcg317 @dreamer821 @bibahbubah @sabbrriiinnaa

#queen #roger taylor #bohemian rhapsody #ben hardy #benhardy!roger #roger taylor x reader #roger taylor imagine #bohemianrhapsody #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy imagine #benhardy #rogertaylor #borhap #bohemian rhapsody movie #fanfiction #fanfic #ten things

[howlingheartdemigod]

If you are still looking for prompts maybe beau is forced to meet up with her parents, they insult her while jester or yasha or jester and yasha are there with her

whooie this took on a life of it’s own

tw for emotional abuse & manipulation

willing to practice

It was well understood that the last thing Beau wanted to do was visit Kamordah. She, loudly, stated as much, every few miles, in fact.

“I think we should ghost this fucker.” She said, arms crossed, practically pouting, in the back of the cart. “We dip out, then next time we’re in  the city we steal out blood bac, and say a big ol’ fuck you to the Gentleman while we’re at it.”

Fjord let out a long suffering sigh. “Great idea. Let’s just torpedo an important alliance. Perfect plan.” He rolled his eyes, looking over at her from atop the horse he was riding.

Jester turned around on the bench at the front, batting her eyelashes. “We will only he there for a day Beau.” she reminded. “And anyway, we don’t know if the rich people we’re going to find are your parents anyway. We might be stealing the stuff back from some random rich people.”

Beau grumbled a little bit, leaning back against the cart. They were right, of course. They needed to fix their relationship with the Gentleman. Especially after fucking off the the ocean, and then the Xiorhausian conflict for months. Favors received required favors given, and this is what the Gentleman needed done.

Still, it didn’t sit right with her, going back there. It made her nervous, made her stomach twist.

Beau felt a knee bump hers, and looked up, catching Caleb’s eye. There was an understanding there; Caleb could see this was just fear. Fear of going back to the place where she was hurt. Fear of dragging others there. He could recognize it, recognize the pain. She appreciated that he didn’t think her pain was stupid, was silly, even though it wasn’t as serious by comparison.

He gave her a little smile. “You have friends who have your back now.” He told her mirroring her words from their journey to Felderwin. “We’re here to defend you, and kick some ass. Just like you do for us.”

Beau looked at him for a second, then nodded, eyes dropping. There was a snap, and Frumpkin appeared in her lap. He turned circles, then curling up to sleep. Beau pet him behind the ears, letting the sleeping Faye calm and distract her.

A few miles along, Caduceus spoke up from where he was steering the cart next to Jester. “Someone up ahead.” He called back. Beau reached for her staff, straightening her back. She leaned an arm over the side of the cart, looking down the road. She felt the weight of Frumpkin shift off her lap, and saw Nott move to sit just behind Caduceus, hiding in case she needed the element of surprise.

Beau squinted, head tilting, but it was Jester who saw first, gasped and let out a little laugh. “It’s okay!” she said. “It’s Yasha!”

Yasha joined their little parade a few miles outside of town, to cheers, and hugs from Nott, Caduceus, and Jester They explained where they were headed, and then set off. They shifted around the cart, Jester and Nott taking the horse that had been trailing behind, Caleb moving to sit by Caduceus, Beau and Yasha in the back of the cart.

“We’re going to you hometown?” Yasha asked Beau.

Beau nodded. “Yeah, uh… Yeah, but I don’t want to spend too much time there. The Stormlord lead you this way?” she asked.

“Yes.” she said nodding. “I believe he knows that I wish to come back to you, uh, you all.” she said, nodding a little. She shook her head, seeming to search for something else to say. “It will be nice to see where you grew up.” Yasha said.

Beau let out a little broken laugh. “Well, I hope that you all don’t actually have to. That estate sucked.”

“We aren’t gonna go there.” Jester called from the horse. “We’re gonna run in, get the stuff from the rich people, and get out. But if we do, we’re gonna run and smash shit and take it and run!”

“Yeah!” Nott said, from where she was holding on to Jester’s cloak. “It’s gonna be great.”

Yasha nodded a little. “It would be nice to see a little bit of it as we smash things, then, if we have to go there.”

Beau smiled, nodding a little in agreement. “Yeah, smash shit and run.”

It quickly became clear that it was definitely Beau’s parents who screwed the Gentleman over. Beau went quiet as they loaded into the cart to head the few miles out of town to the vineyard.

“Beau,” Caduceus said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to come with us.” He said. “You don’t have to go back there.”

Beau looked at her friends, strapped up to go and head out and deal with her family. “Yeah, yeah I do, Duceus.” she said. “But, thank you.” she said.

Beau headed towards one of the horses, but she felt a hand grab her wrist. Jester gave her a little smile, and pulled her towards the card. “Sit with me.” she said.

Beau nodded, and clamored up into the cart, words not coming. Jester held her hand, as Nott hopped up into the cart, tucking against her side.

They headed out, and the quiet radiated out from Beau, settling over them all. Beau watched the lightly wooded area, turn into the familiar fields of grape vines. She tensed up, eyes scanning the horizon.

“That big tree is the one I fell out of, when I broke my arm.” she said softly.

Jester followed her gaze. “Oh, yeah, that makes sense.”

“I kept climbing it, though.” she said, nodding. “Carved my name at the top junction there.”

Beau forced herself to keep talking, telling little stories about growing up. Trying to keep her head clear. She couldn’t go in ruled by fear. She couldn’t let that rule her.

Nott started asking questions, laughing a little at funny things. She started to supply her own stories, of Luke as a toddler, trying similar escapades to Beau’s. She felt her heart catch in her throat. Nott had chosen to leave Luke and Yeza in Allfield, to keep traveling with them, to find a way to become a halfling again, and because she wanted to stay with her friends, but it clearly weighed on her. Hearing her talk about Luke, hearing her relate to Beau’s stories, it made Beau feel closer to her than she could possibly explain.

Beau was feeling better, swapping stories as they rode along.

But the top of the house, the manor, came into view and her voice got caught in her throat.

“They have a son.” she reminded they quietly. “He’s just a kid, so… you know… don’t let me burn the house down.”

Frumpkin suddenly appeared on her shoulder, purring, which was a little comfort, but not enough. She reached the hand Jester wasn’t holding back to scratch the cat, lifting her eyes to the wizard riding in the front of the cart. Caleb gave her a nod, a promise.

The stopped a few dozen meters from the door, and she let out a little breath, then slid to the edge of the cart. She picked up her staff, and jumped off, turning towards the house that was once her house. She walked towards the door, and stomped up the stairs putting on all her vibrato and confidence before her friends could even get off the cart to back her. She hit the door with her staff, then took a step back.

“Come out, asshole, I know your home, you never leave.” She called, scowling. “Mother dearest.” She shouted. “Father o’ mine. I’ve got business with you.”

Beau stared at the doors with rage in her veins, waiting for the showdown she’d been building for her whole life. She took a step back when she heard it unlock, hands curling into fists. She took a deep breath and held it, feeling a strong presence step beside her, feeling some kind of reassuring energy pouring towards her. She couldn’t bring herself to look over and find out who’d joined her on the porch, though. She had to keep her ground.

The little huff of disgust was expected, when her father’s eyes locked on her. She suddenly realized she should have tied her robes proper. She should have changed. She should have washed her hair, or scrubbed some of the blood away. She lifted her chin a little as her father looked past her. “What kind of riff raff have you dragged onto my lands, Beauregard.”

Beau swallowed, “We’ve been hired to retrieve an item you stole. Let us in or we’ll bring crowns guard. We’ve already found some you haven’t paid off.”

She watched her father scowl and think, clearly wanting to turn them away, but not wanting the trouble. “Well,” He said, making up his mind. “Do come in, then.” He turned his back, leaving the door open.

Beau turned her head to nod them inside, and quickly realized that they were all still behind her, down the steps. She looked to her other side, noticing that the heat, body heat she’d been sure, was gone. She blinked, and took a shocked breath. There was no one there, but, the air, she realized, smelled like lavender.

Beau sood with her arms crossed in the open entry way. She knew that the stairs to the left lead to the library and her fathers office. She knew the ones to the right lead to the wing that housed the various bedrooms. On the main floor to the right was the dining room, the kitchens, the sitting room. Far back into the house on the left was the master suite was. She’d been in the upstairs wing, housing the bedrooms for guests, and for her. She knew there was what she knew was supposed to be a nursery near the master. She’d never lived in it.

The space was all pale golds and dark browns. It was supposed to make you think of royalty. Make you think of wealth. Make you think that their money was older and more powerful than it was. She’d called her father a moonshine peddler once. He’d thrown the expensive bottle of red he’d been holding at her head. Luckily he had shit aim.

There were small benches on either side of the door. One of them, she knew, had her name carved into the back. She’d pulled it out and quietly scraped it in one day, out of boredom. The paintings on the walls were all of old family members, and a few of the vineyards themselves. Beau hated it.

She stayed quiet as Caleb explained very carefully, that they wouldn’t be leaving without the property that Beau’s father had unlawfully stolen. They knew, from Beau, that his father had the local guard in his pocket, but Jester wouldn’t hesitate sending a message to friends a little farther off to come by.

Beau just stood there, trying to keep from looking around. Trying to keep from caring about every little thing that had changed.

Beau’s mother came down the stairs, and let out a shocked little gasp. “Beauregard.” she said, brow lifting in horror. Beau thought about how she must look through her mother’s eyes; half shaven, a tattoo peeking out the back of her robe, still dirty from the road, probably still bloody as well, surrounded by a band of people from races her mother would routinely scoff at and judge. She was the farthest thing from the daughter she’d tried to hard to mold her into. “You should not be here.”

“It’s fine.” Her father spoke up, interrupting her mother how he always did. “They’ll be leaving shortly.” He called a servant over, and instructed them on what to go get. Fjord walked over to Beau, brow lifting. “You good?” He asked.

Beau looked over at him, and swallowed. She nodded, but something in her eye betrayed her.

“For the record,” He said, voice still low. “You clearly made more of yourself than they ever could have dreamed here. Not enough imagination to understand you.”

Beau gave him a half second of a tense smile. “Thanks Fjord.” she said, reaching to give him a hard pat on the arm.

She heard a scoff from nearby, and looked over to see her mother’s upturned nose. “Should have known.” she said, even though at the distance she couldn’t possibly have heard the conversation. Beau scowled at her, hands curling into fists. “You come in here, acting like a man, disgusting, and fraternizing with monstrous races.” Her eyes stuck on Nott, who was hovering by the door. “You were always trouble, Beauregard,” Her mother continued, before looking to Fjord. “but bedding one? That’s disgusting.”

Beau looked from her mother, to Fjord, then back. “Are you kidding?” She said. “How did catching me with my head up a girls dress not alert you to the fact that I’m not interested in men?” she asked.

Beau’s father let out a hiss. “You can’t expect us to believe a dalliance like that was going to hold. But if it has, clearly this is just proof of what we already knew.”

“Oh and what was that, hua?” she spat, taking a step towards him, footsteps echoing in the empty space. “What? come on, I’d love to hear an original thought from your tiny brain.”

His face contorted into something like a grimace. “You are a disgrace, Beauregard. You’re a mistake. You shouldn’t have ever been born in the first place.”

As blood rushed Beau’s ears it was all she could think that she didn’t think he’d have the balls to say it. She’d always known what her parents thought of her, but she didn’t think it would go for the throat like that. And, despite knowing, despite preparing herself for a fight, she felt herself go still, go quiet, go cold. She felt her staff slip slightly in her grip, the end of it striking the ground, the curl of her fingers keeping it from falling. She felt her breath catch, in shock, in pain. Saw the world slow down as her father sneered at her, the form of her mother a few paces back from him, looking almost smug.

Time zoomed back in, though, when she saw a great sword press to her father’s throat, when she saw her mother tense, hands going to her head. She blinked, taking in the forms of Jester, fingers alight with green energy, hand lifted towards her mother, and Yasha, rage in her eyes, keeping her blade pressed to his neck.

Yasha spoke, “You, sir, are the disgrace. You abused and belittled your child into believing she wasn’t deserving. You treated her like she was a burden, not a gift. You, frankly, didn’t deserve her. And I fear for the child you have now. I truly hope he breaks free of your grasp before you ruin him like you’ve ruined yourself.”

Jester hissed something in infernal to punctuate. Beau felt like the air was lead as the servant who’d been sent off entered the room. His eyes went wide at the scene around him. Caleb stepped forward, a hand outstretched for the parsel. She heard the door open behind her. She heard Caduceus’ soft voice call Jester and Yasha. She watched the tense stare down between Yasha and her father, before Yasha sheathed her weapon. She heard Jester hiss something else to her mother who responded by cowering. Beau stared at her parents, trying to decide how to feel. Trying to get her feet moving.

Yasha put an arm around Beau’s shoulder, turning her. Jester looped her arm around her waist. They walked her out.

They got her into the cart, waiting until they were a ways away to start talking, start trying to get Beau to come back to. Jester was on one side of her, all soft curves and words sharp throwing them back towards the manor. Yasha framed her other side, taking her hand, made of hard lines, and delicate actions.

Beau stared at the building that used to be her house, and took a breath. “We should have smashed more shit.” she managed, slumping between them.

There was a laugh from nearby, and Nott handed Beau her flask.

That place had been her house, sure, but this, tucked between two women who were ready to kill for her at a moments notice, this was home.

#i will probably hate this tomorrow! #oh well! #critical role #critrole #mine #my writing #kinda pre relationship i guess? #also kinda mighty nein as found family #like look #there's a lot here #bloodyshadow1 #tmn #cr2