#i wanted to record this so i could once again Try Music Production | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

quixoticall · 5 months

Text

This Could Get Ugly 6. Views from the Outside

Summary: It's 1983 and The Downsides need another lead singer and you just happen to need a band--it's a perfect match. The only issue? You have to pretend to be in a relationship with your bandmate, Steve Harrington, but you can't help but be drawn to the band's broody guitar player.

pairing: s.h. x fem!reader, e.m. x fem!reader, j.b. x n.w.,

warnings: Mention of French people, angst, fake relationships,

A/N: Hello! Once again, thank you to everyone who interacted with this in any way! I love to hear feedback and see that you're enjoying the work! Another thing: My goal with this story is that it's told over the span of 4 individual works, with "This Could Get Ugly" being the first one. What this means is that there's going to be a LOT of juicy drama to enjoy but I will be taking my time getting to it. It's been super important to me that I tell the story right and at my own pace so while it may seem like the romance is tilting to one guy over another--just know, that that's all part of the plan! My pet peeve when reading love triangle type of stuff is when you can immediately tell which love interest is the end game so my goal for this is to be as even as possible, offering romance for both Steve and Eddie (In my mind, this is less of a love triangle and more of a love different people at different points in time type of thing). Anyway, what a long note! Please enjoy the chapter!

wc: 4.6k

MASTERLIST🎸

Previous Chapter 🎹

Subrosa Article

***

JONATHAN: I never wanted to be famous, I just wanted to play music and make enough money to support my family. I could do all of that and more with The Downsides.

I felt like the luckiest guy in the world then. We were finally starting to see some stability as a band and even though things weren’t exactly as we expected, things were good. I mean we were making music we loved with people we liked—back when we all still liked each other.

***

October 1983—Los Angeles, California

As the studio had predicted, the band’s single was a total hit, as were you and Steve in the press. The gamble Starcourt was starting to pay off.

Everyone was more relieved than happy about that news.

What followed was a few grueling weeks of rerecording the band’s nearly completed album while also strategically traipsing arm-in-arm with Steve around every romantic spot in Hollywood trying to bait the paparazzi.

Things had finally slowed down a bit since the album was in post-production, but Starcourt still had you on a tight schedule. You had transitioned into rehearsing for the band’s upcoming tour. That’s how certain Startcourt was that the Downsides were going to be a success—you were rehearsing for a tour that hadn’t even been announced yet for an album that hadn’t even been released.

You try not to think about what it would mean if the band didn’t meet the label’s expectations. Instead, you focus on figuring out how to adapt to the band you’re now a part of.

The obvious lack of familiarity between all of you was not as pronounced when you were re-recording in the studio, now that you’re all rehearsing together, it is impossible to ignore. The original members of the band share a bond that keeps them incredibly in sync, oftentimes leaving you and Eddie struggling both on and off the stage. You’ve been working to adapt though, and you’ve made progress, sometimes you’re even close to feeling like the band has accepted you as one of their own. But then something will happen that will leave you feeling like an outsider once more.

***

The last thing a hungover you needs to see at seven in the morning is a Subrosa article questioning your moral character and calling you a man-eater. The universe—in the form of one Nancy Wheeler—has a different idea.

“Have you seen this?” the keyboardist asks, indignation coloring her tone, as she slings the offending publication across your lap.

You hadn’t seen it, in fact, but one look at the grainy picture of you and Steve and you can assume what the article says.

You sigh tiredly in response, “Honestly Nancy, you shouldn’t pay attention to this shit. I don’t know why you let it bother you so much.”

“It’s just so unfair that they’re singing Steve’s praises and are still dragging you through the mud, even though you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Exactly, there’s no winning with them, not for me. So why don’t we just say fuck them and do whatever we want?” You find it in yourself to waggle your eyebrows playfully at her earning a giggle from the otherwise serious girl.

You catch Eddie watching your exchange from across the large warehouse that is serving as the band’s rehearsal space with a curious amount of interest.

The two of you have barely spoken since your row outside of Starcourt. It’s not like you’re missing out on much though, since Eddie barely interacts with the band beyond rehearsal which makes his apparent engagement with your conversation unusual. Eddie, realizing he’s been caught staring, opens his mouth to say something but is quickly interrupted by a very late Steve and Robin.

“Hey, have you seen the latest issue of Subrosa?” Steve asks, harried and out of breath.

You try not to think about the fact that this is the third time this week that the two of them have shown up together and late.

“Yes, we were just talking about it, which you would’ve known if the two of you were on time for once,” Nancy jabs back with no real heat, just the annoyance of an older sister chastising her siblings.

“Hey, don’t blame me, Robin wanted to—” he stops short as soon as his eyes land on you and coughs awkwardly.

“I wanted to stop by the post office,” Robin rushes to say. “It’s Bastille Day and I needed to send a card to my French pen pal, Celine in honor of the occasion.”

“Isn’t Bastille Day in July?” You ask Robin.

She flushes scarlet. “Right, exactly, that’s why this is so important, my card was already like three months late. You know how French people are about punctuality.”

She then exchanges a meaningful glance with Steve and Nancy who seem to be having their own sort of conversation consisting solely of glances and eyebrow movement.

“Fine, whatever,” Nancy exhales after a few terse moments of silent communication, “let’s just start please.”

She stands and the others follow suit. You, however, remain sat, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened.

Steve, sensing you hadn’t moved, turns to throw you an apologetic look over his shoulder before beaconing gently with a nod of his head. You sigh but join him, nonetheless.

This happens a lot.

***

JONATHAN: When the whole staged relationship thing first started, I don’t think any of us had any idea what that meant. I mean, sure, it started out as the gimmick that got us through the door but it soon became something bigger than that. Their relationship was synonymous with the band and it's success and I'm sure that resulted in a lot of pressure.

I think for the two of them, though, the most difficult part was trying to keep things professional, especially when other people began to get involved.

***

None of the personal dynamics mattered when you were all playing together.

What you loved most about your bandmates was that they cared about the music just as much as you did. That had become clear from the very first rehearsal and even now, nearly a month in, you’re still in awe watching them all perform alongside you.

Prim, soft-spoken Nancy turned into a wild thing on the keyboard, her whole body moving with the music, fingers flying over the keys like it was nothing. Ever the perfectionist, she would never miss a note, and on the off chance that she did, curse words you had never heard before streamed out of her mouth, causing your eyes to go wide every time.

Jonathan, too, became something else: full of bravado and fire, hair swinging wildly and even jumping around on stage. His playing had a smoothness to it, he knew when to show restraint and let someone else shine and when to bring it himself.

Argyle and Robin were the biggest transformations, though. Gone was goofy and easy-going Argyle the person and all that was left behind was the laser-focused drummer, who seemed to move on instinct to create a strong musical foundation for the rest of you. Robin, who normally was a bit erratic and all over the place, became the self-assured, quick-thinking driving force behind the band. It was like she knew exactly how the song needed to sound and what each person needed to bring to get there. She was the first to let anyone know there was something amiss and no one took it the wrong way because she was rarely wrong.

Steve and Eddie were exactly what you had expected, however, what you did not expect was how alike they would be. They both moved gracefully and with careless precision. Showmen in equal measures.

Once you had familiarized yourself with your bandmates, figuring out how you fit into the band’s onstage dynamic was easy.

Off-stage was a whole different story.

***

JONATHAN: I mean, yeah, I think it was natural that there was a bit of a divide in those early days between the ‘original’ band and our two new members. It’s not for lack of trying though, it’s just, well the five of us lived in a house together and had known each other for years, it was probably kinda intimidating trying to jump into that dynamic. I also got the feeling that the other two weren’t really used to having friends. They both seemed to have their guards up in their own way.

With her you could tell she was holding back, almost like she was afraid of doing the wrong thing and well, with Eddie… you know how he is.

I think it was that feeling of sort of being on the outside that first drew them together, honestly.

***

Your eyes scan over the small craft services area that makes up part of your rehearsal space. Most of the band starts at one table, chatting amiably over lunch. Before you can even take a step in their direction, though, your eyes zero in on Steve and Robin, whose heads are bent, close together, whispering to one another intimately and you falter.

As much as you enjoyed Robin and Steve individually, watching them interact with one another often stoked an aching loneliness in you that you struggled to put out and the more time you spent with them only made it worse. After six weeks, you were worn thin.

Deciding that you’d rather not foster any unearned feelings, you turn to the only other table where Eddie is sitting alone bent over a thick paperback.

Trying to play it as cool as you can, you reach inside your bag to pull out your own book, and casually sit down across from the long-haired boy.

He stares you down. You raise an eyebrow in response.

“Didn’t know you could read,” he says casually.

“Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you,” you shoot back with no real bite.

He chuckles to himself, seemingly impressed before gesturing to your book.

“Didn’t peg you for a Baldwin type either,” Eddie says, eyes scanning the cover of your book.

You shrug, noncommittally, “I found a copy Beal Street sitting with a bunch of junk on my neighbor’s curb and I’ve been a fan since.”

He barks out a laugh so loud it catches everyone’s attention.

Conversation halts and you feel your bandmates’ curious gazes fall on you all at once.

“Forgive me, princess, but I have a hard time imagining you digging through other people's trash for books from what I know of you.”

“And what do you know about me, Eddie? I mean, other than the stuff Subrosa prints.”

His face falls in response.

The two of you spend the rest of your lunch in silence, pretending not to notice the way everyone else is staring.

***

JONATHAN: They ate lunch together every day after that, barely talking, reading their books. I don’t think they were friends or anything, but I did see them exchange books a few times.

It did stress Nancy out, I think, the divide. It made her think we weren’t doing enough to be “welcoming” to them. Argyle and I didn’t really care, and Robin was dealing with her on shit at the time.

***

ROBIN : Yeah, I was seeing this girl, and I was trying to keep it under wraps from well… everyone actually. Steve was a really great friend though; he would always give me rides to and from her place when I needed them.

***

JONATHAN: ...a nd Steve liked to pretend that he didn’t care but he definitely did.

ROBIN: Of course, Steve cared, are you kidding?

NANCY: We could tell it bothered him.

STEVE : Did I care that she was eating lunch with Munson and kept avoiding me outside of rehearsal? No! Of course not.

***

November 1983, Los Angeles, California

The Downsides’ debut album was released on November 6, 1983, to commercial and critical success.

People immediately took to the upbeat synth sound paired with the introspective and clever lyrics. On top of that, you and Steve were, quite literally the talk of the town.

There were entire articles in gossip magazines dedicated to parsing out details of your relationship from the song lyrics on the album and coming up with theories about what the lyrics were about.

And all of that just from a few pictures of you two holding hands. Starcourt was ecstatic, they had bottled magic.

As much as everyone wanted to celebrate, you weren’t out of the woods yet, there were still the press junkets.

A growing list of TV and radio appearances that the band was required to be at plagued Hopper who was tasked with making sure you were all present and willing at these appearances. And of course, that you didn’t make fools of yourselves or Starcourt.

The label had taken it upon itself to send everyone PR briefings—essentially a long list of things no one should say under any circumstances during interviews.

Normally, you would think a list like this was overkill but knowing some of your bandmates, it was definitely needed.

All the eyes (and the pressure) would be on you and Steve, though, everyone knew that. You two were the ‘It Couple’ everyone wanted to hear from, and you weren’t quite sure what you were going to say.

The pap photos were easy: it was just walking around or sometimes getting lunch, holding hands, and looking like you were enjoying each other’s company. Something that wasn’t difficult since conversation flowed easily between the two of you. At first, you would talk music—Steve was incredibly dedicated and knowledgeable, you quickly found out—but eventually, the two of you had branched into other topics. You learned about Steve’s life growing up in Indiana, about all his likes and dislikes, and everything about the band. He managed to pull the same information from you and you let him.

Even the physical stuff was easy, with time. In the beginning, it was an experiment of firsts. While you were pretty well-versed in the practice of feigned affection, you were used to the guy always making the first (fake) move. Most of the guys you had been "set up" with were the "act first, ask permission later" type. Steve was polite and considerate to a fault, and it took you two full dates to convince him that he didn't have to ask before holding your hand and an entire week more to work up to the kiss on the cheek. After those conversations though, touching Steve, in one way or another, had become second nature.

So much so, in fact, that it had begun to bleed into your everyday lives. It was not unusual during the time of your re-recording, to be at the studio and have Steve come up from behind you to rest his hand in the gentle dip of your waist only for you to lean back as you inhaled that scent that was uniquely him: smokey sandalwood and hair pomade.

Right around the time rehearsal started you realized that perhaps the two of you were becoming too comfortable with that type of affection, especially given how much time he spent with Robin, and you had begun to keep a subtle distance between the two of you whenever you weren’t on stage.

Steve while intelligent in his own right, had never struck you as the kind of person to pick up on subtleties, so when he brings up this distance you realize that either you severely underestimated his abilities, or you were not as subtle as you thought you’d been.

It’s a few days before the first stop of the Press Tour—An early morning slot with Wake Up, USA! —that has the two of you sitting on your couch when he brings it up. You had invited Steve over to practice answering any possible questions you may have to field together and make sure you’re on the same page.

As it turns out though, outside of music, Steve is not much for rehearsing.

“Can’t we just wing it?” Steve asks as he lies sprawled on your couch.

You huff in response, “No, we can’t just wing it. This is a big deal! This is our first time out as a couple, and we have to be believable.”

Steve scoffs at this and you raise an annoyed eyebrow in response.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he shrugs in response, “it’s just hard to act like a couple when you’ve been avoiding me for, like, the past month.”

He doesn’t sound accusatory or angry when he says this, just matter-of-fact.

“I haven’t been avoiding you,” you sputter out, weakly.

It’s his turn to raise an incredulous eyebrow at you.

“Really? Could’ve fooled me. Last time I checked you and Eddie weren’t the best of friends, but you’d rather eat lunch with him than the rest of us. You know, if you didn’t like us, you didn’t have to agree to be in the band, we would’ve understood,” he deflates as he says this last sentence and it crumples your heart just a bit.

“I like you guys,” you say quietly, nudging his leg with your knee as you do.

“Then, is it me?” He asks, voice small and eyes low.

“No, no, it’s not you, Steve,” you rush to say.

“It’s just, I’ve never really been any good at this,” you mumble, shy under his gaze.

“Good at what?” He urges gently.

“At being friends with people.”

You continue, words clunky and difficult to get out, “At being friends with someone I’m also pretending to date.

“I mean, with the rest of the guys Starcourt set me up with, I only had to tolerate them for a few weeks, at most. With us, well who knows right? Plus, I actually like you,” you wince at this uncharacteristic display of vulnerability from yourself, “I like all of you and I don’t want to ruffle any feathers or cross any boundaries and hurt anyone’s feelings.”

He chuckles at this, “Trust me, you won’t hurt my feelings by spending time with me.”

You shake your head, “It’s not you I’m worried about, Steve. There are other people.”

Steve’s brow furrows in confusion, “I’m not following.”

You are not sure what to say, now. You don’t want to call Steve and Robin out, it’s clear that they’ve been trying to keep what they have going on a secret, and you don’t want to call attention to that. You’re also afraid that if you mention him and Robin, you’ll eventually have to explain how when you see them together, your chest gets painfully tight. Pivot, you demand of yourself.

“What I mean to say is, it’s easier for me to keep everything professional when I have a little more space because I’m not really used to this friend thing. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I didn’t like you or the band. I like you all a lot, actually and I guess I’m just worried about messing that up.”

You can feel yourself retract into yourself the more you speak and by the end, your knees are tucked under your chin. You can’t bring yourself to meet Steve’s gaze.

He doesn’t respond right away, but you feel the warmth of his palm spread over the expanse of your back.

“Listen, I think… if this is gonna work, we have to be on each other’s team and part of that is talking to one another, right? And letting each other know when we're having a hard time. I want to be on your team, will you let me?” His voice swells as he asks, and you are so aware of his warmth next to you.

“Yeah,” you nod, finally meeting his eyes, “ I want to be on your team too if you’ll let me?”

He nods enthusiastically, smiling so brightly you question if the sun has ever been as bright.

“Great, now can we please practice some of these questions?” You demand, playfully.

“Or, or, and hear me out, we could go get burgers," he offers back.

You end up doing both.

***

November 13, 1983, Sunset Studios, Los Angeles, California

Call time for Wake Up, USA! was insanely early and you don’t think you’ve ever seen an angrier Hopper than one that has to be dealing with Eddie Munson at 5 AM. Eddie is decidedly, not a morning person.

“Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine today?” You deadpan to the disgruntled guitarist from your makeup chair next to his. You were not fairing much better: not only were you running on little sleep, but you were also wound tightly with nerves about your first live interview as a band and as a couple.

“Can it, Your Majesty, or we might have a case of regicide on our hands,” he warns with no real heat behind his words.

“Isn’t it a bit too early to be throwing big words like that around, Munson?” Steve asks, from his spot on your other side.

“Don’t even know what that means,” he mutters, mostly to you.

“It means the murder of a king or queen,” you respond automatically.

“Doesn’t have to be just one, either. You could always kill more than one monarch at a time,” Eddie raises his eyebrows at Steve as he says this, making his implications very obvious.

“Wow, look at us,” Steve exclaims, grinning, “already making veiled threats at each other. We’ve finally made it, honey.”

He says this last part exclusively to you punctuating it by reaching for your hand and giving it a squeeze and you laugh.

The lightness of the exchange distracts you from your nerves for a moment. And from the way Eddie’s eyes linger on your hand interlaced with Steve’s.

Your brief reprieve is interrupted by the soft thud of a heavy object landing in your lap.

“What’s this?” You hold up a beat-up paperback to the culprit.

Eddie shrugs, “The Two Towers, Dustin finally got it back to me, took his sweet time too, that little asshole.”

You nod. He had lent you the first Lord of the Rings book weeks ago, while you were still in rehearsal after you had shown up bookless one day and you had devoured the book. You had been needling him for the second one since, but he had lent it to the audio engineer’s son, a kid named Dustin who idolized him and Steve in equal measure.

“Thanks,” you say, surprise coloring your voice, thumbing through the pages, eyes hungrily scanning the pages.

***

EDDIE: I dunno, she seemed nervous. I thought if she had something to distract her, it might’ve helped.

***

You get through the first chapter of your new book before they pull you into wardrobe.

They outfit you in a light blue dress, with exaggerated sleeves and a belt around your middle to compliment Steve’s dark blue blazer and stripped t-shirt combo.

You feel your nerves mounting as you are helped into your heels and given your mic pack. Suddenly, everything that is riding on this is suffocating you from all ends—a visceral crushing pain that you can’t shake.

Steve appears at your side and the band had been escorted onto the soundstage your hand has been tightly wrapped around his like a vice the entire time.

“Can you, uh, loosen your grip a bit, please,” Steve asks, finally.

“Right, sorry,” you say, letting go of his hand completely and instead focusing your nervous energy on straightening his lapels.

After the third time you’ve readjusted his collar, Steve grabs both of your hands in his, and pulls you close, giving you no choice but to focus on his face.

“Hey,” he says in a hushed tone, just for you, “you don’t need to worry, okay? We’ve got this. I’m on your team, remember?”

You swallow thickly, and nod, before adding, “And I’m on yours, Harrington.”

“That’s my girl,” he says sealing the exchange with a kiss on the cheek.

***

JONATHAN: That first interview, on Wake Up, USA! was what really sold them. I mean, they couldn’t keep their eyes off of each other the entire time.

And then, when one of the hosts asked them how they met, Steve told this story about seeing her for the first time from across the restaurant during our first lunch together and how he was sure he had made a total fool of himself because he was so nervous to be around someone so beautiful, of course, Steve Harrington would say something like that. The audience swooned. Hell, I swooned a little bit.

And then they asked her about all the guys from her past, which was totally fucked up by the way, but she handled it great. She said she was grateful for all the mistakes she had made in the past because they had led her to The Downsides and to Steve.

Between that interview and our live performance, the audience was hooked.

***

“Good job, you two,” Hopper says gruffly, patting you and Steve on the shoulder as you're ushered off stage after your performance.

“Thanks,” you squeak out, all the tension slowly deflating from your body after hearing Hopper’s approval.

It was done, your first live appearance complete, and it hadn’t been a total train wreck.

Actually, thinking back, it had been pretty good. There was a good variety of questions; everyone had gotten to speak; and when it came to you and Steve, well, it seemed believable at least. And the band managed to preform the new single without a hitch, all of the kinks that had plagued you during the last few weeks of rehearsals ironed out.

Maybe you could pull this off after all.

***

By the time the band had wrapped up the week-long press junket, you were exhausted.

What had taken more of a toll than the hours of sitting in makeup chairs, too-tight shoes and repetitive questions was having to pretend with Steve.

You realize now that your problem was never the risk of not being convincing enough, but instead of being too convincing.

You had spent the entire week so physically attached to Steve, that it was beginning to feel like you were one single being. Like he was an appendage you couldn’t move without.

And every kiss on the cheek, every look, every squeeze of your hand, felt like a jumpstart to your heart.

Then there were actual interview parts. Steve was good with the press. He would draw audiences and hosts alike, in as easy as if he was winding up a thread. There was never a question that would catch him off guard and he always came off boyish and genuine in his responses. Like the time he was asked what his favorite thing about you was and he told the story of you showing up at the recording studio with cookies and having the guts to change Eddie’s lyrics in the same afternoon.

You knew better than to ask if he meant it.

The next day, Hopper called to let you know that your album was breaking all sorts of records, and the label was incredibly pleased. So much so that they were thinking of increasing the tour dates and they were even starting to plan for future projects—projects that they wanted you to write.

The news didn’t make you feel light with joy like you had once hoped it would, instead, it made you feel heavy like a sinking stone.

A few weeks later, when the band went their separate ways for the Christmas break, you all knew something big was coming, you just had no way of knowing what.

***

JONATHAN: Right after New Year, Hopper pulls the band into a meeting in his office. First thing he told us was that they were announcing a tour with twice as many dates as they had originally planned for, demand was that high. Then he said, “From this point on, everything is going to move really quickly, there’s no getting off the ride now.”

NEXT CHAPTER 🥁

Taglist: @rexorangecouny , @persophonekarter

#steve harrington x reader #eddie munson x reader #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #steve harrington #stranger things x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x you #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things x you #stranger things imagine #jonathan byers

66 notes · View notes

spidernerdsblog · 2 years

Text

girls like you

A/N : got inspired by this cute reel. Hope you like this. Let me know what you think.

Summary : your baby girl starts an impromptu dance party.

Pairing : Dad! Peter Parker x Reader

Peter sat at the dinner table with his laptop. Being the chief researcher of the R&D team at Oscorp as the date for the launch of their new product approaches, the workload is tremendous. In between working on his report Peter took a few minutes to rest his eyes, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose and glanced at your direction.

You were sitting on the couch watching TV while your three year old daughter May played with her toys on the playmat in front of you. Peter looked at her longingly. He hasn’t been able to spend time with his little girl as much as he used to and it pained him.

From the day you told him you were pregnant Peter was the happiest person on this planet, all the doctor appointments, birthing classes he was there with you. He would talk to your baby girl growing inside you everyday and after she was born he couldn't think he would love anything more than her. He didn’t want to miss out on anything of her growing up. You had reassuringly told him that it is fine once his work is done he can spend all the time he wants with her.

You flipped through the channels when the song ‘girls like you’ started playing. May immediately left her toys and stood up on her wobbly feet.

“I likes it!” she said pointing at the tv screen and began to sway her body to the music. You smiled knowing it was her favorite song and increased the volume, bringing out your phone to record her cute dance. She squealed and clapped her hands in joy and you laughed encouraging her at how good she was at dancing but then she stopped in the middle. Her nose scrunching into a small frown as if she was trying to remember something.

“What happened sweetie?” you put your phone down looking at her carefully.

“Needs, daddy.” May mumbled and toddled her way towards the dinner table where Peter was working. “Daddy, hand!” she pealed.

“May, daddy is working.” you said standing up from the couch.

Peter stopped whatever he was doing on his laptop and looked down at his little princess smiling. “What is it buttercup?”

“Daddy, hand!” she demanded stretching out her little hand. Peter obliged, placing his big hand over her small one.

“Daddy, dance wif me!” May tugged, grabbing his hand.

“You want me to dance with you?” his smile grew wider.

“Yes. Daddy, come!” she nodded and tugged on his hand again.

“OK buttercup, let's dance.” he said, taking off his glasses and setting them on the table before following her to the middle of the room. May clasped on both of his hands as they swayed together and then Peter broke into a silly dance making both of you laugh.

“Y/N, c’mon dance with us!” he said laughing and it made you happy to see him so relaxed after a long time. He had been working late this whole month and his spiderman duties made it difficult for him to spend time with you and May. You could see it on his face how disappointed he was but your sweet little daughter knew how to make her dad happy again.

“Yes mommy, dance!” she squealed.

“Ok!” you said and joined them doing some silly moves of your own. Peter lifted May in his arms, swaying her along with him as he reached out to grab your hand and spun you around. The three of you laughing out loud as another song started. Peter couldn't be anymore happier when he is with his two favorite girls in the world.

Reblogs are appreciated ❤️

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #dad!peter parker #peter parker fluff #tasm peter parker #tasm!peter parker #tasm!peter fanfiction #andrew garfield #andrew garfield x reader #andrew garfield fluff #andrew garfield smut #peter parker smut #peter parker fanfiction #spiderman fanfiction #tasm!peter fluff #tasm!peter x reader #andrew!peter parker #tasm!peter smut

685 notes · View notes

hangmansgbaby · 1 year

Text

Everybody Wants You | 1

Everybody Wants You Masterlist

The girl tripped on the uneven sidewalk leading up to the house. The truck that pulled up to the curb scared her with its loud music causing her bags to go soaring across the yard.

“Dammit.”

“Are you okay? I saw you trip.” The young man climbed out of his truck.

“Awesome, someone always has to witness my less than graceful moments.” She laughs under her breath, kneeling to pick up the random items.

“Here, let me get these for you.”

“Thanks.” She replied as the bags were filled once again and in her arms.

“You lost or something?” The man asked, eyeing the girl.

“Do I look lost?”

“Well considering you’re walking towards the mens baseball house…”

“So because I’m a girl I can’t work with the baseball boys?”

“Oh I didn’t mean…”

“I’m just fooling with ya.” She laughs. “I’m Locklyn, one of the team managers.”

“Bradley Bradshaw, freshman.”

“What position do you play, Bradshaw?” Locklyn questions.

“Pitcher, ma’am.”

“Oh, this is going to be fun.” She laughs, walking towards the house. When she doesn’t hear footsteps behind her she turns to spot Bradley still standing at the curb. “Well come on Bradshaw, get your things.” Bradley stumbles over to his Bronco pulling out a duffle bag and a crate of what Locklyn can only assume are records.

Walking into the house, Locklyn and Bradley first notice the leaking hose hanging down the stairs from the second floor.

“Fucking hell!” Locklyn groans as she walks into the kitchen, putting away different food products. Bradley sets his things by the stairs and moves to help her put items away when the ceiling creaks. “Boys!” She shouts and immediately Bradley can hear the footsteps tumbling down the stairs.

Bradley meets them at the stairs only for them to immediately start ordering him.

“Hey! Could you turn the hose off!”

“The audacity to leave it running.” The second rolls his eyes.

Bradley jogs through the kitchen to the back door and turns the water off.

“Old ass house man. Damn thing wasn’t even half full.”

Locklyn places the last items in the fridge and turns towards the two men walking into the kitchen, glaring with her arms crossed.

“Hey Locksy.” They smile, walking past her.

“Do I wanna know?” She questions.

“Know what?”

“Lord help me.” She groans, stepping out of the way for one of them to get into the fridge. Bradley returns and both men look over.

“Who is this?”

“Bradley Bradshaw.” Bradley holds his hand out to shake theirs. The taller one takes his hand.

“Infielder?”

“Pitcher.” The man shaking Bradley’s hand, lets out a disgusted noise as he wipes his hand on his shirt and pulls two beers from the fridge.

“Another pitcher? Man they're coming out the ass these days.” The second man questions.

Before Bradley could say anything, Locklyn interjects. “It doesn’t matter, the team is lucky to have him, Fitch.”

“Just saying!” Reuban defends. “Pitchers are fucking weird.”

“Alright, since you two have no manners.” Locklyn sighs. “Reuban Fitch, our star batter. He hates pitchers for some inexplicable reason. Javy Machado, co-captain.”

“That's your shit?” Javy questions.

“How about you pick it up?”

“Oh yea.” Bradley squeezes his way between Javy and the counter and Locklyn pushes Reuban out of the way.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.” She leads Bradley up the stairs where two more players are on the landing.

“No one thinks about how much water weighs. Like this is 62 pounds per cubic foot.” One of the men explains to the second. “I tried to warn them, and you know Locks ain’t gonna be happy.”

“But wouldn’t that be amazing if it fell through the ceiling right now?” The boys laugh but Locklyn interrupts them.

“No it would not.” She says, walking over to Javy and Reuban’s room. “What the fuck is that?”

“Uhm… hey darling.” The blonde player smiles, trying to block her view.

“Jacob Grant Seresin.”

“It’s Reuban’s, I swear. I told him it was a bad idea.” Jake defends before catching a glimpse of Bradley behind her. “New teammate?” He questions, pointing with his golf club.

“Bradley.”

“Jake.” Jake shakes Bradley’s extended hand.

“I’m Mickey.” He smiles, shaking Bradley’s hand as well. “Good to meet you man.”

“You meet the geniuses behind this babe’s frustrations?” Jake asks, wrapping an arm around Locklyn’s waist to pull her into his chest. “Machado and Fitch?”

“Yea, one hates pitchers according to Locklyn. Even teammates?” Bradley questions.

“Ahhh Fitch. He got drafted for pro ball fresh outta high school.” Jake explains.

“Decided college ball was more important.” Mickey adds.

“What’s this I hear about the house falling down?”

“Any second now.” Jake mutters, pushing away from Locklyn and stepping up to his putting mat stretched across the landing.

“Seresin!”

“Nat, she’s the other manager.” Locklyn chuckles to Bradley. “She’s also the team’s secret weapon but no one knows so-” Locklyn puts a finger to her lips, telling Bradley to keep it hushed.

Bradley steps over the putting mat to greet Nat.

“Hey, you're one of the new pitchers right?” Nat questions, shaking Bradley’s hand.

“Yea, good to meet ya.” Bradley smiles. “Hey I’m rooming with, uh, Floyd I think?”

“Oh Baby on Board? Yea, follow the phone cord man.” Jake laughs.

“If you don’t knock it off with that fucking nickname.” Locklyn slaps the back of Jake’s head. “Room is down here. Bob’s got a girlfriend back home so he usually has the phone.” Locklyn knocks on the door before pushing it open. “Hey Bobby, this is Bradley Bradshaw, your roommate.”

“Hey man.” Bradley nods, setting his things on the second bed.

“Hey, good to meet ya.” Bob greets before returning to his phone call.

“He’s usually always in here. I think it’s sweet.” Locklyn tells him as they walk back to the landing.

“Ladies!” Javy shouts, jogging up the stairs. “And our resident foxy mamas.” He corrects winking to Locklyn and Nat who rest on the banister.

“Shut your mouth, Machado.” Nat groans.

“Anyways! Happy hour has arrived, which means two hours of drinking before the team meeting. Let’s go!”

“I think I’m just gonna hang back.”

“Bullshit!” Nat says, dragging Bradley down the stairs. Jake follows behind with Locklyn right behind him.

Jake, golf club in one hand, pulling out an impressive German accent says, “Onward, upward, and inward! Ja?”

“Jacob!”

60 notes · View notes

silverfoxlou · 2 years

Text

The Greatest

The propulsive opening track, The Greatest, is a celebration of their [fans] relationship (x)

Opening with the pounding drums of “The Greatest,” the song was penned with the intention of being the opener for his next tour. “That was specifically written as a tour opener, not necessarily an album opener at the time,” he says. “Musically, it’s interesting. There’s probably not another song like that on the record. It starts the album with a statement of intent, which I think is important. There’s a certain ambitious level to that.” (x)

Tracks like opener 'The Greatest' and 'Bigger Than Me' are expansive and wide open (x)

Written All Over Your Face

“Written All Over Your Face,” an infectious indie floor-filler that we both agree is reminiscent of the first two Arctic Monkeys albums. “I’m a big fan of that sound, big fan of that energy,” Tomlinson says. “I went into the room with these people I’ve done a few sessions with, and I said, let’s try and take this as punk as I can get away with. I suppose that’s where the Arctic Monkeys reference comes from; there are obviously punk elements within what they do.” At just two and a half minutes long, Tomlinson confesses it wasn’t a song he was trying too hard with. The aim was to create a “punchy energy,” declaring this was another song he could imagine performing live. (x) slick, funky guitar groove (x)

excited to play it live (x)

'Written All Over Your Face' melodically pulls from indie floor fillers akin to early Arctic Monkeys singles (x)

lyrics

Bigger Than Me

It’s definitely the biggest sounding song I’ve got on the record, definitely the song that stands out as being one that should be a single,” he says. “I wasn’t certain I was going to have one of these songs on this record that has a big chorus. It shows off my vocals, so I’m really proud of what we got out of it.” (x) "I wanted my first single to feel ambitious and to have a certain scale, hence the big chorus," (x)

Tracks like opener 'The Greatest' and 'Bigger Than Me' are expansive and wide open (x)

Lucky Again

Face The Music

On Face The Music, he philosophises that "good and bad and right and wrong are stories made up when we are young to scare us" (x)

point to a kind of new beginning (x)

took the longest to write, went through about 10-12 different productions because the early versions weren't quite right, but he's very happy with how it ended up (x)

Chicago

deep, about a specific person (x)

emotional recording the vocals (x)

All This Time

dance genre (x)

Out of My System

That incorporation of dance melodies is something that erupts on “Out of My System,” a pulsating, punk-tinged Arctic Monkeys-inspired track that recalls the heyday of early aughts indie rock. The day Tomlinson made the track, he had been listening to “Teddy Picker” or “Dancing Shoes” (he can’t quite remember), but he knew exactly what kind of music he wanted to make. “I went in and said, ‘Let's try to write a song that is as punk as I can get away with,��” he recalls. And he led with that kind of intensity and energy from early Arctic Monkeys albums to craft the song (x)

Louis' favorite song (x) point to a kind of new beginning (x) partial lyrics

an angsty electro-punk song they desperately wanted to hate but couldn't (x)

Pop goes punk (x)

Headline

lyrics

Saturdays

Louis' favorite song (x)

emotional recording the vocals (x)

partial lyrics

Silver Tongues

his favorite song, high energy, will be fun to perform (x)

[...] one particular track that Tomlinson is most pleased with is “Silver Tongues,” a joyful and wholesome moment that honors the little intricacies of his relationship. Once completed, he boldly stated it was the first time Tomlinson had written a song that he could imagine being sung by an artist that he is really fond of (x)

"It’s one of the first times that I’ve written a song that I could definitely imagine myself listening to, had I not written it. That track’s very much in line with what I listen to and love musically anyway. Writing that made me feel really confident that I was writing the album I wanted to write. I feel really confident in what’s to come." (x)

dipping his toes back into dance music (x) (is BBC dude lying? he was lying lol)

She Is Beauty We Are World Class

dipping his toes back into dance music (x)

suggest[s] the sort of stadium grandeur we know he’s capable of (x)

Common People

Common People (not a cover of the Pulp classic) is about reconnecting with his roots in Doncaster. "When I get lost, I go back to where I started," he sings (x)

"That song's just trying to capture how amazing the people are there. If you're one of us, we'll hold out our arms and we'll embrace you." (x)

nods to his Britpop roots (x)

Angels Fly

suggest[s] the sort of stadium grandeur we know he’s capable of (x)

Paradise

Holding on to Heartache

That's the Way Love Goes

[...] he approached Faith In The Future’s closer “That’s The Way Love Goes” differently. The song, which was his take on the vulnerable simplicity of the Streets’ “Dry Your Eyes,” was the only track he could end the record on — one about a friend encouraging another friend to get over the fact that he’s not in a relationship anymore. “It's not the fact that you're not sympathizing. You're looking after him from afar, but you're not necessarily a shoulder to cry on,” Tomlinson explains. (x)

After playing around with the tracklisting, Tomlinson claims that he “couldn’t get away from that idea,” adding that “you’ve got two options to end the album: you either end with a slap round the face or a little ballad moment.” Detailing a non-sexual love between two best friends, Tomlinson is confident that this is a song fans are going to adore. “I think it’s an interesting story, an interesting visual going through the song. With the way the album is structured, it kind of fits nicely to finish on that message. (x)

[h]e dials it right back to the conversational intimacy of 'That's The Way Love Goes' on the closer (x)

italics - I'm paraphrasing or summarizing what was said

#faith in the future

87 notes · View notes

javertafterdark · 1 year

Text

Sending a love song to the brothers.

Hi this is my first time writing one of these, please let me know if you enjoyed it! Datables version here

GN!mc, singer!mc, sfw, mostly fluff

Everyone knew singing was one of your favorite hobbies. You even had your room soundproofed so you could practice without bothering anyone - not that you were a bad singer, just who really wants to hear thirty minutes of lip trills and “red leather yellow leather”? One day when you have some free time, you’re going through your sheet music to find a new song to work on. One in particular speaks to you, a love song that perfectly describes how you feel about your special someone. You decide to record your own version of the song. You only had your DDD mic to record with, and a free karaoke version of the accompaniment you found online, but it would have to do. Once you’re satisfied with the final product, you send the file to your sweetheart, saying to listen when they have a free moment.

Lucifer-

Lucifer was somewhat amused by receiving an audio file from you. Was he finally going to hear the fruit of your craft? It would have to wait a bit longer; he was still elbow deep in paperwork, and he wanted to give any new music his full attention. Time slipped away from him again, and before he knew it, it was far past what should have been an appropriate bedtime. When he glanced over at his DDD, he remembered what awaited him. The song wasn’t very long, it could be the brief break he needed.

At first, he’s completely taken by your voice; he honestly hadn’t expected your voice to be so lovely, just assuming your hobby was just a hobby. As he listened to you breathe life into the words with your own passion, it hit him. This song was for him. A smile broke out over his face and his heart swelled. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little bit proud to be the inspiration for such a beautiful performance. But most of all, he felt loved. The song ended but his smile remained. You would be in bed by now - or at least, you should be in bed by now - and he decided to save his response for tomorrow. Extending his break for a moment, he looked up the song and found a sample of the sheet music online. Despite the demanding vocals, the accompaniment seemed simple enough. The idea of playing piano as you sang gave him enough energy to spur through the rest of his work so he could go to bed and let tomorrow come sooner.

Mammon-

Mammon had been trying to get you to sing for him for a while, but it was always at the worst times: after you were on vocal rest, after you just inhaled a bunch of Luke’s sugary baking, and never after you were already warmed up. He was starting to think you couldn’t actually sing. One night, his DDD dinged with the special tone he assigned to you. He practically shoved his schoolwork off his desk and grabbed the device. Upon seeing an audio file, he presses play without reading the brief message that accompanied it.

To say he was blown away would be an understatement. Why the HECK hadn’t you sung for him any of those times he asked?! As he listened, tears welled in his eyes. All those words were so sweet, emphasized by the way you absolutely sang your heart out. The way the lyrics painted a picture of how much the singer loved the subject reminded him of how he felt towards you. Wait. You weren’t dense enough to send such a passionate love song just because. It was for him, it had to be. The waterworks started; yeah he cried easily, but it was absolutely warranted! You sang just for him, how could someone not cry? Before it ends, he’s pulled up his messages. As sappy as he felt right now, he couldn’t bring himself to express it through text.

Hey, not bad! Why don’t you come on over, I might be able to give ya some pointers.

After sending the message, he used the hem of his shirt to try and erase any signs of his tears.

Leviathan-

Leviathan was in the middle of a tense strategy game, one from the human world that you two played together sometimes. Why weren’t you here with him? The Lord of Shadows needed Henry to advise him! His DDD went off and he nearly jumped out of his chair when he saw your name. Were you psychic? After finishing his turn, he checked the message and saw the audio file. It reminded him of I Was Cursed By A Goddess To Only Speak In Song And Now I Have To Warn The King About An Assassination Attempt By His Own Brother: What Do I Do? when the love interest sang a love song to the protagonist to confess their feelings. Surely that wasn’t the case here, you probably just wanted some feedback.

He started to play the song. He always knew you’d have a lovely voice, but he’d greatly underestimated you! Before he could get too lost in the melodic tones, he realized what this was. A love song. Shrieking, he ran across his room and threw himself into his bathtub and pulled a blanket over his head. Was this really happening?! Surely you meant to send that to someone else? Still, he couldn’t help but listen to the timbre of your voice, still beautiful on a shitty DDD speaker halfway across the room. The song ended, but he remained glued to the tub. What should he do now? How was he supposed to respond to that?! After a few heavy breaths, he pulled himself up and walked over to his DDD. With shaking hands, he typed out a message.

Did you mean to send that to me??

After a moment, you replied.

Yeah, sorry if it’s weird, you can just ignore it if you don’t like it.

His thumbs reacted on instinct.

NOOOONONONONOO I DIDN’T MEAN THAT!!!!! I mean I loved it!!!

After sending that message, he quickly typed up another.

Hey I’m playing Civ right now and I’m totally about to nuke Solomon’s grandkid into next Tuesday lololol, you should come over and watch!

Smooth, Leviathan, not weird at all.

Satan-

Satan usually silenced his DDD during his nightly reading. When a message pulled him from the text, he was ready to chuck the device out the window until he saw your name on screen. The boiling rage melted into the aftermath of irritation. He quickly pulled up the messages, and seeing the audio file piqued his curiosity. He had found the spell to soundproof your room, was he finally getting a peak behind the curtain? After putting his bookmark in place and closing the book, he played the song.

He knew the song by the opening notes and his eyes widened. This wasn’t an easy piece, how would you fare? The song continued, and you more than held your own, powering through even the toughest parts. As much as he tried to focus on the technicalities of your performance, his emotions ran wild as he imagined your face as you sang each word. He started to cry; he couldn’t keep from laughing; his stomach turned into a butterfly garden; his heart couldn’t decide if it wanted to fly away or pound faster until it stopped. Not only did you teach him how to feel things other than wrath, now you had the audacity to make him feel those things so strongly and all at once! The last notes faded, and he wiped his eyes as his smile remained plastered on his face. He quickly typed up a reply.

I didn’t know you were such a songbird! I have a friend who has a recording studio if you ever want to record something properly.

A different song.

This one is for my ears only now.

Asmodeus-

Asmodeus sat in his tub, the perfectly hot water creating an ethereal steam effect that his DDD’s camera captured well. The notification from your message popped up as he posed for the pictures, managing to catch how cute his expression was when he saw your name. When he pulled up the audio file, he let out an “Oooooh!” of excitement. A song from you? How lucky was he~~ Before he played the file, he sent a quick reply.

I’m listening RIGHT NOW<3

He pressed play and settled in for a proper listening session. As your voice carried the melody, a chill went down his spine. Who knew you had the pipes? The range? Of course what really tickled him was the choice of song. Such words of love colored by the emotion in your voice? Surely it wasn’t just his vanity talking when he assumed the song was for him? You were practically singing it in his ear. What he wouldn’t give for you to be in his arms right now, singing for him as he held you close.The final notes rang out, and he let out a squeal of delight. How lucky was he that he found someone so talented and sweet to be in his life? He grabbed his DDD.

Oh how beautiful, MC~ I bet you sound even better in person!

I’m going to send you some songs we can duet! We can practice together and compare techniques ;) See you soon<3

Beelzebub-

Your timing couldn’t be better, Beelzebub was at the gym and about to warm up on the treadmill. Once he got to a comfortable pace, he put his earbuds in and started playing the song. It wasn’t his normal workout music. It was a lot softer, a bit slower, but it was from you. This was much different from that time he heard you singing along to a song as you made dinner. He liked hearing just you, you had such a lovely voice. As he listened to the lyrics, he felt warm and fuzzy. It was the same feeling he got when you two were together and the same feeling he got when you made each other smile at the same time. Did you mean to make him smile like a doofus in the middle of the gym? Because he was smiling like a doofus in the middle of the gym. His heart felt so full that he might never feel hungry again.

Screw the workout, he wanted to see you. He slowed to a stop and reset the treadmill before grabbing his things and taking off. As he ran home, he sent you another message.

Where are you?

Moments later, you replied.

Just in my room.

He didn’t reply, but hoped you were ready for the biggest and longest bear hug of your entire life.

Belphegor-

Unsurprisingly, Belphegor was in a death-like slumber when he got your message. He woke up some time later, clearly late enough for Beelzebub to be fast asleep. Whatever time it was, Belphie was hungry. He grabbed his DDD without checking the screen and headed downstairs to the kitchen. As he poured himself a bowl of cereal, he used the device to check the time. The message from you grabbed his attention. An audio file? With a few taps of the screen, he pressed play and set the DDD on the counter.

He fully intended to have his cereal while listening, but the crunching in his ears would have drowned out the beautiful music that filled the kitchen. So, this is what you sounded like? A smile spread across his face and he shut his eyes, letting your tone and timbre paint his imagination with colors. What he would give to have you sing him a lullaby sometime. Of course he noticed the lyrics, too. Were you singing to him? His chest heightened and his whole body felt warm as the music embraced him. It reminded him of the way you held each other. What had he done to deserve such a gift? As much as he wanted to tell you how much he loved it, he didn’t want to wake you up. After quickly finishing his cereal, he returned to his room and flopped into bed. He didn’t have to wait until morning to tell you; he could tell you in your dreams.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #om lucifer #obey me mammon #om mammon #obey me leviathan #om leviathan #obey me satan #om satan #obey me asmodeus #om asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #om beelzebub #obey me belphegor #om belphegor #writings #my writings

36 notes · View notes

taylenking · 10 months

Text

I’m excited to do my first official request. This one comes from Q.

“My request is for a flirty/sexy scene between Kehlani and Victoria Monét. I wanted to be based off their song “touch me”.”

I love Kehlani and Victoria Monét. If EYE could’ve been a fly on the wall while they…let’s move on.

FYI - Kehlani’s pronouns are she/they, so that’s why their pronouns fluctuate within the scene.

To submit your own request, go here. Don’t be shy. I have no idea who you are once you submit. I only know what you put in the request! I’ll try my best to do each one.

***

VICTORIA

Saturday night, my girlfriends insisted I carry my ass from the studio and join them at the club. The clinking of our glasses punctuated the thump of the music as we drank and danced. Our dresses stuck to our bodies, calling the attention of every man in our vicinity. If we didn’t have our own section, they’d buzz around us like flies.

We were enjoying ourselves as we sipped on tequila. There was nothing but good conversation, ass-throwing, and vibes. That was until I spotted a familiar figure in the corner of my eye.

The sight of their abs never failed to take my breath away. My heart pounded with the bass of the Metro Boomin’ production while I watched them laugh with their friends. Their smile glimmered in the dim light, eyes twinkling with delight.

I caught myself smiling, staring. They fixated their black San Francisco baseball cap lower, almost covering their eyes, and denied a shot from a friend. Their friend persisted, but they licked those glorious pink lips, declining again. They seemed to sense my gaze, and their head swiveled in my direction. When our eyes met, my breath caught in my throat.

Their stare was intense, eyes burning into mine, expression unwavering, as if they were in a trance. After a few seconds, they gave me a slight head nod. I returned the nod, and they returned to conversing with their friends.

Damn, I thought they hated the club.

It had been a minute since Lani, and I had last spoke. We broke off our sexual arrangement once the feelings got too intense. Too real. It was mutual. We still had love for each other. The situation still hurt. We had been avoiding each other since. Any event she attended, I skipped or came with a posse. If she approached me alone, I’d fold like a lawn chair—in more ways than one.

My girls were nosey as hell. As soon as they sighted Lani, they started gushing and teasing me. It hadn’t been ten minutes before one called her over. Lani looked puzzled and pointed to themselves as if they weren’t the only person in VIP named Kehlani.

“Damn, you can’t come and say hello,” one of my friends asked.

Lani stuffed their hands in their pockets and let out a charming laugh. Her shirt was cropped under her chest, and her jeans hung below her waist, giving me a full experience of her abdomen up close and personal. Flashbacks rushed back to me. The time I glazed her honeyed abs with pure honey, licking every drop between each toned crevice. The time she came to the studio to “visit” and ended up fucking me against the mixing console as my fingernails clawed into her stomach.

“Ah, you ain’t talking to me tonight?” she asked. Her voice was smooth but extra raspy as if she had spent the whole day recording.

I closed my thighs, ignoring the sensation between them and my disgusting thoughts. There was an attempt to smile at her, but it was poor. Her face contorted with concern as she asked, “We good?”

“Yes.” It came out delicately. My voice had always been as gentle as a lullaby. Lani could elicit a particular tone from me. My cadence was still soft but had a slight huskiness that mirrored my neediness. It came naturally whenever they turned me on. It always revealed my cards. Lani was always willing to play.

Their tongue slipped between their lips before they produced a bald-faced lie for my friends. She had a song she wanted to “talk” to me about. She wouldn’t hold me hostage for “too long.” My friends weren’t idiots, but they pretended for her sake.

When I stood up, she took my hand. Our fingertips traded an electric static. The shock increased as she led me out of the club and into the backseat of her Porsche.

“You and your girls look bomb as hell tonight. You look the best, though.” She tilted her baseball cap up so I could view her alluring brown eyes.

An expiration date didn’t stamp the spell they had on me. Forever, I’d be their doll. They always understood the right strings to pull to bend me to their will. Lani recognized the power she had, but she never manipulated it. She interpreted when to fall back and when to give in. We spent most of our time apart, but our connection was unmistakable, and we cherished our intimate moments.

Their tattooed hand found a place just above my knee. “I saw you throwing ass.” We emit soft chuckles before biting our lips in sync. Their hand moved up my thigh in a painfully slow motion. “Why are you so quiet tonight?” My breath hitched as their hand slipped beneath my dress. The warmth of my wet pussy invited the heat of her fingertips as she inched closer. “You not happy to see me, Monét?”

She knew I loved when she called me that. “I’m always happy to see you…”

A pleading urgency laced the words without my need being spoken. It didn’t have to be. Lani had the secret recipe for unlocking my heart, body, and soul. They paid careful attention to the recipe, timing each step just right and blending the ingredients perfectly. They always delivered.

“How happy, babygirl?” They leaned their face forward, letting their breath cool the crook of my neck before rolling their tongue against it. They sucked onto the skin and nipped lightly before leaving sweet, sensual smooches.

“Daddy…”

Her cocky chuckle made an appearance. “What’s up, babygirl?”

“I missed you…” My hand fell to their wrist, and navigated it to where I needed it the most. Their fingertips brushed my clit. I gasped, and they purred.

“No panties.” Their fingertips began working against my clit in satisfying, slow circles. Their lips pressed against my ear. “You were trying to get some play tonight?”

My thighs stretched apart so they could get an even better angle. I lifted my dress over my hips and watched her play with me. No acrylics, just short, manicured nails covered in my juices. Just the way I loved it.

“I was just having fun with my friends,” I said, a moan croaking in my throat.

“Right, ‘cause you know no one can please you like me, right?” I nodded my head. My hand caressed her arm as she served me. She pulled away from my ear. “That pussy missed me.” She drew her hand away from my center. The strings of my cum stuck to her fingers. Some of it slapped back to my pussy once she pulled her fingers further. “You see that shit, Monét? You’re so nasty.”

She brought the sweet nectar to my mouth before inserting her fingers between my lips. Our eyes latched as I smoothly bobbed my head, sucking every drop from her fingers. She loved that shit. I removed her fingers from my mouth, licking between her fingers, making sure there were no leftovers. “Damn, leave some for me.”

Before I could react, my body hit the leather backseat. Lani orchestrated our bodies to the composition she desired. She spread my thighs as far apart as possible. She lifted them before diving her head in between. I began shivering from her breath alone, but when I felt her tongue, I screamed, “Fuck!”

My fingers twisted in her long, dark locks as she worked her tongue and head in angles that should be physically impossible. Her head was so spectacular that you would’ve thought she graduated at the top of her class. Heat rushed from my ass to the nape of my neck. It sounded like she was down there licking puddles. But I guess she was. My back arched from the leather. While one hand gripped her hair, the other clutched on the edge of the seat for dear life.

Their grip tightened around my thighs because they knew what was happening next. My legs trembled uncontrollably as my body temperature reached a feverish climate. My thighs smashed against their head as cries of pleasure left my vocal cords. The notes were so sharp that they made my ears twitch. Lani was unfazed, lapping and eating me as if it’d be her last. I was going to pass out. This was going to be my end. What would the media say?

Victoria Monét rushed to the hospital after losing consciousness while getting her pussy eaten by Kehlani. #messy #prayersup

It got to a point where I could not make audible noises. My body stiffened. My soul jumped into a different realm. I sipped tea with Princess Diana then I was back to reality. Our labored breaths filled the cabin of the Porsche. Lani kissed her way up to my lips. I didn’t have the energy to kiss her back.

“Damn, Monét, you good?”

A lazy smile graced my face as they chuckled. They kissed my cheek, down to my jawline, then back to my lips. I returned the kiss that time. “I thought you hated the club,” I said with a hoarse laugh.

They gave me a devilish grin. “Your friend posted you on IG twerking. I had to show up.”

I cupped their face in my hands, taking a moment to admire how gorgeous they were. “Let’s hit up The Ritz. This car isn’t big enough for what I want us to do.”

***

Well, that was fun. It’s been a while since I wrote a "fanfic." Like a story with actual real-life people and not characters I made up.

If you came across this and haven't read my books, please check out my current book, "Through the Fire."

"Taylen’s newest invention features a successful transgender chef, Naaji Ofori, and a celebrity fashion designer, Kaielle Havens. A romantic drama that highlights addressing past trauma and opening up once more for a love of a lifetime."

Next week, I'll post the final chapters, and the book will be complete. Afer that, I have another book coming, so tap in!

Join the King's Palace Fiction (for exclusive Black and queer content)

Wattpad

Website

#kehlani #victoria monet #bisexual #lesbian pride #queer pride #queer #lgbtqia #fiction #queer fiction #lgbt fiction #lesbian fiction #black fiction #requests

9 notes · View notes

shatterthefragments · 3 months

Text

✨ End of Year Questions ✨

Tagged by @ongreenergrasses 💖

I also didn’t think I created much this year, and. To be completely honest, I didn’t really make much new art, and what I did I didn’t really post here. Most of what I’ve done this year is really continue writing snippets of lyrics/verses/poetry in my notes. Hoping to make more time for a lot of things this year!

What is the favourite thing you created?

A sailboat reduction print (lino style but on a literal disposable plate)

Which work are you most proud of?

Honestly, either that same sailboat print or some of the poetry/lyric snippets I’ve written this year. Or the leather medicine pouch (also created for my class final project)

Is there anything you’re proud that you achieved this year?

I’m proud that I created anything at all outside of class requirements (I took one art centred course at the beginning of the year, which my sailboat print was created in)

Did you explore anything new this year?

Not so much for creating, but I did get stickers made of some of my previous work to sell at fairs and whatnot.

Wait no the leather medicine pouch - I haven’t done much leatherwork yet though I really want to create super long lasting functional pieces and textiles is very new to me and is a way of connecting to my grandmothers’ past. And I also joined a sewing/quilting club at school (which doesn’t seem to be running this year but I have no time anyway this semester so that’s fine) (I have not finished the sewing supply bag project we started)

Which work gave you the most difficulty?

Anything finished haha. I am still striving to fully finish and edit and refine some of my lyrics into songs (eventually to try to record and produce with whatever free and/or cheap software I can find).

Also some of the more unusual custom cake requests at work were difficult to do but they worked out.

And textiles can be. Frustrating.

What was your biggest creative challenge this year?

Finding time to create. I definitely took this as a year to go and do things that I. Had to go to. And while I probably could’ve brought a mini sketchbook with me, I didn’t usually.

Which work brought you the most joy?

A birthday card I did for a friend. It’s a pen sketch of their favourite beach (at least the view I got when I took a quick visit and picture of it)

Which of your works do you think people should check out?

…from 2023 nothing is posted unless you’re on my personal instagram or something. (Unless I did post my year of the water rabbit watercolour paintings? In which case - those.)

Otherwise my Creating Awl Together story/series (once I make time to create more for it 😅)

Do you have creative plans for the new year? Is there anything exciting that you’re working on?

Oh always 🥺💖✨

I accidentally made a new years resolution to record one of the songs I’ve written,, but also I want it to be. Better than the literal middle school vent lyrics I’ve written.. so we are. Trying to write some new stuff and upgrade to… mid twenties vent lyrics… (and some like!?! Joyful lyrics too?!?!) (I’m actually excited and terrified and don’t really play any instruments right now and what I played on flute isn’t really necessarily the vibe for what’s in my head?? But it could have a place so I’ll probably play again and if need be I could probably rent a tenor sax for a day or so.) so. Next up is learning (or throwing together) a bit of music production (I am currently gathering royalty free free samples from anywhere I find them more or less)

I really want to draw a lot more this year!!

And paint more again!!

And of some of these drawings I want to transfer them to be lino cut or dry point and do them as prints!!!

I have several quilts I want to make!! I’m going to start really small though to. Learn how to sew them haha 😅 But I hope my first quilt is a lovely sea turtle themed quilt for one of my best friends’ cat. Or a lap quilt for mum. I. Realistically I don’t think I’ll get to this before the end of the year.

I want to paint more ceramic pieces at the paint your own ceramics place (I have. Several pieces that I just need to finish painting)

More cards that I drew on~ I have a bit more energy than last year despite everything it seems right now so I am hoping I can continue to draw on cards for my friends 💖

This shall be the year I finish my dogs out doodle (barefoot ship life!!!)

Lastly, any words of wisdom or advice to share?

To myself: just try. Just try. Just do. It can be whatever. Just create something. Just create anything. Joy, catharsis, one single line. Anything you can.

Given how late I filled this out I’m not tagging anyone 😬

#tag games #tag game #✨ creations ✨#long post #you know what? yeah! I am excited for this year!

2 notes · View notes

8turning · 11 months

Note

Hi! You only have 2 works but I'm already obsessed with your blog! Could you write "YoonSung as a Boyfriend" head cannons please? Thank you if you do!

(Sorry for any mistakes, English is not my native language)

this ask is a bit old oops your english is perfect anon, don't worry!! thank you for the support ♡

⌕ . . . cho yoonsung — boyfriend headcannons !

bf ! cho yoonsung x gn ! reader ★ fluff. established relationship. ★ bulletpoint ★ warnings: none. let me know if i missed anything!

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀〈 REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED ! 〉

💭 THINKING ABOUT : YOONSUNG.

there's no way you could ever be bored with yoonsung! he's always willing to go on new adventures, try out that new restaurant that opened up, or DIY matching clothing for you both to have together!

he'd gasp dramatically if you told him you didn't have an intricate skin care routine, instantly dragging you into the bathroom and explaining what each and every bottle or jar on his shelf is for.

if you did have a skin care routine already set for yourself - oh, he's so curious! begs you to bring everything over one day so he can try it out with you, look at what products you use and maybe add a new step to his own routine that he hadn't thought of before.

when the boys first told you he danced when he was tired, you laughed them off . . . but now that you watch him almost every night dance in his room on your phone screen, you can't help but giggle.

he'd talk to you as if he were teaching you the dances but he would fail to notice you're just watching him stumble around fondly (and screen recording the whole thing to show him later)

he's a little clumsy,,, he always forgets where he puts his glasses :(( you're always able to find them for him, though. he shows his gratitude for you attentiveness in forehead kisses!

when you both go out together, he doesn't dare to let go of your hand

you're walking down the sidewalk? he has your hand in his. you're sitting at a table together? fingers are interlocked. going to the bathroom? . . . okay he'll let go for that but you better believe he's grabbing for your hands again once you're out😭

he loves lounging indoors with you just as much as he loved being out and showing you off!

help he's the type to want matching sweatshirts and pajama sets

i touched briefly on this in a different headcannon, but i think something he'd really enjoy having with you would be matching bracelets (especially if you both made them for each other)

he doesn't mind if they're just some elastic string decorated with some colored beads and your initials, he's going to wear it as if its the finest jewelry a man can buy!

whenever he's on the road to a music show or venue and sees something you'd think is pretty, he'd take a picture of it to send to you.

on those long trips to different cities, he watches outside the company van's window to see if there's any interesting shops or restaurants that sound good and notes the names in his phone, hoping he can take you there one day.

he's just :( he's so thoughtful and his members think you put a curse on him because of how often he talks about you.

yoonsung is so loving and attentive and smiley . . . he's so happy to be with you :)

#8turn fluff #8turn fanfic #8turn fanfiction #8turn writing #8turn x reader #yoonsung fluff #yoonsung fanfic #yoonsung fanfiction #yoonsung writing #yoonsung x reader #.mine #.yoonsung

15 notes · View notes

numetalpuppygirl · 1 year

Text

what i'm listening to 4/5/2023 (song notes under cut!)

spot. link//yt link

Laura Les - Haunted: haunted. by laura les.

100 gecs - Dumbest Girl Alive: yeah there's gonna be a fair few new gecs tracks in here. dumbest girl alive is my favorite from 10k, i can't even express how much it just hits every time. i love the riff, i love the lyrics, i love the music video, i love the production, love it love it love it. i also included a minecraft parody i found when searching the video on youtube, you're welcome

Black Flag - Revenge: i've been trying to rediscover my love for some of my favorite hardcore genres, so i took it all the way back to the early days and reconnected with one of my favorite bands. i encountered this song in high school when trying to find clean black flag songs that i could put in a piece i was writing about the history of metal (which the band is not, but hardcore is significant in the history of the genre anyway). it's a great thrash-and-basher and apparently has not been in my playlist until now, which i was unaware of lol

The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever: once again i must admit to listening to the beetles.... alas. look it's a really good song, the lead-in to the chorus is fucking amazing, the instrumentation is really interesting and unique, it just washes over you like waves of sound. plus it's goofy as hell

Jaga Jazzist - I Could Have Killed Him In The Sauna: from the INSTANT i heard the intro of this track i was like ohhh that's going in the next WILT. i don't have a ton to say about it, just listen. it's good sounds to chew on. shoutout io

100 gecs - Billy Knows Jamie: i freaked the fuck out when i heard this track, no joke. which is funny, because i'm pretty certain they played this when i saw them last fall, but i didn't have any frame of reference at the time for whether it would sound the same on the record. i just kept thinking "they did this for ME. SPECIFICALLY" because like hello??? i'm the nu metal gecs fan!!! that's like my whole thing!!!! and this literally sounds like limp bizkit half the time!!!!! i honestly kind of wouldn't mind if the breakdown at the end had been a little more restrained, just to preserve the feeling that it's 1999 all over again, but whatever. it cums. it's also about violence and killing, so i even get a little bit of like juggalo vibes almost

Fiona Apple - To Your Love: this song sounds so sexyyyy like maybe this is out of pocket but when this came on shuffle on a singer-songwriter playlist i was browsing i literally stopped what i was doing and was just like 😳😳😳 it's insane. and like when her voice gets all growly at one point later in the track... anyway haha

Marnie Stern - Prime: found via that coolass video i reblogged a while back oh god let's see if i can find that. holy shit i can't believe that worked. i don't know anything about marnie stern but i should listen to more because prime knocked the wind out of me it's good

100 gecs - The Most Wanted Person In The United States: last gecs track... and it's more rap rock!!! kind of. did you guys catch that cypress hill sample? i sure did!!!! love itttt. plus there's more killing it's so awesome. i've already said most of this stuff to violet (hi violet) but for real i think "got anthony kiedis suckin on my penis" is one of the all-time greatest bars and i'm not joking

DJ Lycox - BILLIE JEAN (DIOR): a lot of music from people on here this month! one of my mutuals (who probably won't read this but if you do. hi :3) posted this track and i really love the original pop smoke song so i was like right what's all this then. it's good. that's what it is then

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run: i was reading this article about bruce springsteen being a sort of icon for butch womanhood and that had me like wow i am feeling emotions right now. and so i went and listened to some springsteen and you know what he rocks. there's something so desperate and heartbreaking about his songwriting, it hits me in a real way. and i've never even been to new jersey

Ada Rook - 920LONDON: new rook album ooh yeah babey. not my fav record she's ever done but still really fucking good. this song kind of reminds me of everlong, which like. girl who's only ever listened to everlong by the foo fighters listening to her second song: getting a lot of everlong by the foo fighters vibes from this. but still it's about holding each other close and making the most of what we have in our rapidly passing time, plus the riffs are kind of similar in ways that i don't feel like fudging musical terminology to try and describe

Sarah Vaughan - Lullaby Of Birdland: cool jazz can be kind of whatever but y'know i'm a vocals girlie and sarah vaughan honestly probably deserves to be listed up there with the greats. her vocal control is insane, and the way she just drifts from her higher register to the lower and back again is hypnotic. good fucking song plus shows props to charlie parker

May Leitz - gODKILLER: another from tumblr, thanks to user bigbaywindow for directing me towards may leitz ^_^ i have been rocking with several of her songs but this was the first one i listened to and it's really good, the lyrics hit me in a certain way as well that some of you might guess. also while putting together the youtube playlist i discovered that may makes youtube videos including one that i've seen floating around my recommended page a couple of times?? so i guess i'll have to see what's goin on over there

The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm - Vi Vigor: am i like. crazy. i would have SWORN that i put this in a previous WILT but i can find no evidence of that being true. in any case this is a cool kinda bebop-inspired jazz piece by an all-woman jazz ensemble who i wanna listen to more of. there's some really great sax work on here especially, so if you're into that def check this one out

Girls Rituals - Hole/The Used: okay funny story on this one. this was the first song i ever heard from any of devi's projects, it was before i even really knew who black dresses was. this song appeared in my release radar and i was like "who the fuck is this" and i'm convinced it only happened because the title is the names of two bands which i WAS already listening to at the time. and i listened to the song and said "this is really bad, and i don't understand why anyone would listen to this." and then i mostly forgor about it. skip forward to recently - i am obviously a big fan of devi's work and plenty of other projects adjacent to this. i get a big new batch of songs in my playlist (hello again to violet shoutout violet) and this song is in here. i listen to it. it's good :) take that, me from two years ago

The Buggles - The Plastic Age: the mandatory Todd Find™ for this month. i was watching the one hit wonderland episode on these guys and honestly didn't pay attention too closely bc i was busy but this song stuck. you guys know i'm all about that campy futurey cyberpunk-adjacent shit. it would be a stretch to say this fully gets there but it's still a fun song either way

Cage The Elephant - Cigarette Daydreams: lame song honestly but the chorus is super catchy plus there's a story. when i was working my old job there was a supervisor i liked a lot who played a wide range of tunes on shift. sometimes it was chill instrumental stuff, sometimes it was metalcore, and sometimes it was like this sort of radio alternative shit. this song specifically would play a lot, as you can imagine, and at the time it annoyed me, especially because of how catchy it is, it would make me think of work. but now both that supervisor and i have left, and so now it just reminds me of vibing with them and making the most of being on the clock. a cigarette daydream indeed

Jason Segel & Walter - Man Or Muppet: i don't know, man. i've had this song stuck in my head since i was eight years old and one day i randomly thought "i wonder if that's on streaming" and it is

#yippee!!#i've been looking forward to this sooo much. god i love doing these #*char noises*#talking pop

9 notes · View notes

fuckyeahvanhalen86-95 · 11 months

Text

Back in 2021, Wolfgang Van Halen shared his thoughts on the use of backing tracks during live shows, saying rather frankly that he thought the practice was “lame as hell.”

He did make exceptions for some situations – “unless it's like, for a keyboard part that you can't necessarily get,” he said – but for the case of vocals and guitars, he made himself pretty clear: “You should just stay home and listen to shit on Spotify if they're going to play to tracks like that.”

Well, his opinion on the matter hasn’t wavered one bit, with the Mammoth WVH frontman doubling down on his stance during a recent conversation with Ola Englund.

When asked about his Taylor Hawkins tribute show shredding taking people by surprise – even leading to accusations of using backing tracks – Van Halen replied, “You never know... hell, half the people live, it’s tracks nowadays. It’s just a fucking bummer.”

“Everybody else draws their own line with what tracks are acceptable or not, but it’s like, if you’re pumping in the main guitar riff and the lead vocals and actual fucking drums – like, pre-recorded drums – that’s a problem. You should be able to play your shit.”

youtube

Echoing his earlier comments, Van Halen went on, “I can understand [if] you don’t have a keyboard player so [you] need the pad, that’s fine, you can’t carry around a 60-piece orchestra, so you’ve got the strings – that’s fine. But lead vocal, main guitar, main bass and the drums… you should be playing that.”

The topic turned to the question over whether over-production in modern music has lead to an over-reliance on backing tracks to recreate certain songs, but Van Halen’s approach remained rooted in traditional approaches.

“I never do anything in the studio that I can’t do live,” he asserted. “Sure, there are tricks that you can do to do stuff you wouldn’t normally be able to do, but why would you want to do that? It’s about creating music that you’re capable of doing and you could do live.”

“I got to a concert to see bands play the fuck out of their music. That’s what we try to do with Mammoth. First and foremost, we are playing everything and we’re doing it to the best of our ability.”

The use of backing tracks during live shows is a hot topic of conversation in the guitar world, with Dream Theater’s John Petrucci recently taking a far more laissez-faire approach to the practice, while still sharing some of Van Halen’s sentiments.

“It depends on what people are doing,” he mused to Guitar World, “because some people don't tour with their whole bands, so they have sound effects and things going on. If they're up there playing their asses off, and they have some sound effects backing that up while they're doing it, that doesn't really bother me.”

youtube

His approach further contrasted with Van Halen’s on the subject of bass tracks, specifically, with Trooch saying a “pre-recorded bass player” would be acceptable “to keep the show going.”

But, he stressed, “Having said that, I think that if anybody's up there faking it or pretending, that's a whole different thing.”

Van Halen is gearing up to release his second Mammoth WVH studio album – Mammoth II – which has so far been previewed with Another Celebration at the End of the World and Like a Pastime.

Once again, he called upon some of his father's most notable guitars – as well as his original Van Halen Marshall amp head and cab – for the effort.

#post van halen #mammoth wvh #wolfgang van halen #2023 #guitar world #Ola Englund #youtube #videos #interviews #backing tracks #pre recorded instruments #John Petrucci #dream theater #like a pastime #Mammoth ii #news

4 notes · View notes

infinitelytheheartexpands · 2 years

Text

post-Lucia still rather incoherent thoughts:

was this a perfect production? no. was there a LOT of great stuff in it? yes. did it make me think about and feel the material in a whole different way? HELL YEAH.

loved the sets. LOVED them.

Anthony Roth Costanzo was everything as host and I died when he popped out of the pickup truck at the beginning.

the musical and dramatic performances were PHENOMENAL. chorus, actors, and orchestra TOP NOTCH.

Nadine Sierra is 110% captivating and her mad scene has to be seen to be believed.

Javier Camarena is *chef’s kiss*. no more needs to be said.

Artur Rucinski is perfection itself and King of the Baritone High Notes. also loved him calling Putin “pure evil” in the interview and saying that he was channeling that pure evilness into his role.

Christian Van Horn was great, ultimate luxury jump-in, if you didn’t know (and didn’t catch the one pre-recorded video in which Matthew Rose appeared) you would’ve thought he was originally in the show.

Arturo and Normanno actually had personalities! thanks Eric Ferring, Alok Kumar, and Simon Stone.

and Alisa had a personality! and Deborah Nansteel sounds kinda like baby Stephanie Blythe!

the amount of blood used was even more than photos indicated. utterly correct decision.

Frizza is an amazing conductor.

the harp, glass armonica, and cello soloists all need raises stat.

I’d love to see how this production works in-house—from what it looks like, I think the HD did a great job of showing what needed to be showed between the live action and the videos.

loved Stone’s comments about how his ideas are only the catalyst and a director’s ideas shouldn’t be the endpoint; everyone should get to contribute. ideal tbh

I couldn’t keep my eyes off for even a second for all of Act I.

HOW THE FUCK DID NADINE JUST BLAST A HIGH D AFTER DOING SOME NINJA LEVEL SHIT WHILE TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM ARTUR IN ACT II

I want to eat that cake

the mad scene, once again, pure perfection. SO many good staging choices, you could just see how she was trying to convince herself that she was finally free only for those Arturo zombies to come back and remind her no you never truly will be free (and then she shoots herself).

also LOVE the Alisa/Lucia bond this production had going on.

there was a moment right before the mad scene where Raimondo is asking that heaven not punish the community for Lucia murdering Arturo and suddenly a bunch of shit just clicked—it’s one single moment of self-awareness that everyone has contributed to this mess, this culture has made this mess, and then they go right back to gawking and making a pitiful spectacle of Lucia during her mad scene.

also, for the first time I really “get” the opera not ending with Lucia’s mad scene. maybe this wasn’t what Donizetti and Cammarano had in mind, but the opera is called Lucia di Lammermoor. it’s all about her struggle and beatdown by these men around her. she gets the ultimate showcase. but it’s not the end. she still dies, and the men around her still make it all about them—it’s no accident that there are no women at all in the last scene. the men twist her death to make it about them, which is why nothing can truly change. they get the last word, not her.

just something to think about, I guess.

#opera #opera tag #anyway this was AMAZING #Lucia di Lammermoor #donizetti #gaetano donizetti #met opera #met opera live in hd #opera analysis #thoughts #opera thoughts

6 notes · View notes

bonnienapierfilm · 2 years

Text

film adaptation update + reflection

post production

chapter 1: bonnie and avid - from strangers to friends

The only experience I had before beginning to edit this project, was my old iMovie days, avid online classes [which took place in the fever dream that was first year] and 'Lethe' [if I have to see that girl in a hospital bed ever again, I will cry]. So yeah, little experience. But I have always been keen to try and edit more, so I'm glad I put myself forward for this! And I actually feel a lot more familiar with Avid now... it turns out if you just practice using something you get better at it - who knew?

I started editing scene 8 [the beach scene] first, only because I was so excited to piece together our beautiful clips. I hope to learn more about the theory behind editing - do you have to edit in order or does it not matter? After playing around with scene 8, I edited the film chronologically, which I think is smart? I felt the process was smooth and editing this way aided me in pacing our scenes, but I have time to learn so much more about editing so I do not stress.

I did a lot of recording the screen on my phone to send to the group for feedback. I now have many videos on my phone of a Mac screen and the shushing of a Peer Bear in the background. I did want the group to see what I was working on, but I think I was also doubtful of my work and needed feedback every step. However, the group held my hand and encouraged me along the way, which was greatly appreciated.

After some tubing [of the you kind], I found videos on ratio changing in Avid. I played around with the timing of the change from 4:3 to wide screen [I feel silly, I don't know the numeric size for this?!], and spent ages matching our shot of the beach landscape to Joanna and Sue dancing on the beach. I felt so very professional and proud when I got it right, "look at me go!" my brain chanted.

Overall, I learnt a lot about avid and editing in general over the past month. I definitely want to widen my knowledge and keep practicing.

chapter 2: sunshine, lollipops and rainbows - exporting, colour grade and sound

Export, exporting, exported. I don't think I can say much more more about this. I wasn't present whilst Eva and Katie did the colour grade but they worked their magic, it looked lovely. Particularly making the sky look similar to the landscape, pinks were poppin'. I know it was difficult for Katie to grade the window to make the light match the room but she did a fabulous job.

Now onto sound. My heart goes out to Orla, she worked so hard on the sound edit and it payed off massively. When writing the script, I wanted to provide as many opportunities as possible for Orla to be creative with sound, like having conversations outside the room, hallucinations etc. Our composer, Arina, who we met upon a chance encounter, gave us beautiful music for the film - really bringing it all together. I can't say much about the process, but I know a lot of work was put in and I was delighted to have Orla doing sound.

Katie drew up some fancy credits for us and myself and Orla put them all in. After watching the film over and over and over and over, alas, I was happy to submit for the crit...

reflection

Once again, I was sweating, shaking and shitting it. I get very nervous in our crits... what if no one likes the film? what if my editing ruins it? did I hold on that shot for too long? yes. what if everyones film is so much better? It's a panic I think we all feel. I thoroughly enjoy watching all the films we have made, and I don't doubt everyone feels the same, no competition just cooperation :)

When rewatching on the big screen, I picked up on a few things. I hold on some shots too long and others not long enough, I doubt this is a realisation I could have only made when watching it enlarged, but I hadn't noticed when editing in screen academy. But in the future, I will make sure to get second opinions on the length of shots.

When getting our feedback, I had taken up some paper and a pen to take notes, however due to stress I turned it into a paper aeroplane instead. So from what I remember...

SCRIPT - Kate had complimented by period writing, which I was chuffed about as I have never written a period drama. So my first go wasn't terribly received! :) I think overall, some off my dialogue would have been more effective had they been delivered differently. No hate to our actors!

SOUND - Our levels were a little low, which caused confusion with dialogue and flow. However, this is something that can be easily fixed! So not much stress about this.

LIGHTING - Andrew was impressed with the lighting... well impressed that we had tried to create sunlight without sunlight. I understand the criticism, our lighting was very harsh sometimes. I think that light, especially golden hour, can be that harsh, however as we have clearly tried to recreate it, it doesn't work as well. Maybe putting more baking paper over the lights to dim them would have worked.

CAMERA - Some of our shots were shakey. I knew this when editing, I did try to use a stabiliser however it warped Eva's pretty shots and made them look weird, so I decided against it. With our final landscape scenes, I do remember on the shoot we had went between rig/no rig. I think a tripod could have worked however we were trying to achieve a sort of shakey shot to imitate Joanna's pov. Some of our shots were a bit tight, I think when shooting our close-ups sometimes we forgot that I was also going to be cropping to 4:3.

EDIT - Joe really liked our ratio change, commenting that it followed the period drama vibe. Yay! Andrew mentioned that some shots lingered and some cut short, which I knew and will keep in mind for future projects.

PRODUCTION DESIGN - Our costumes weren't exactly true to the time, however with no budget and little time, I think we did the best we could. The floral bedsheets were brought up, which I was dreading because I had noticed but thought it would be fine. Shoulda said something!

I hope I haven't missed anything.

I agree with everything criticised in the crit. I have learnt so much about filmmaking through The Last Landscape, especially working collaboratively. I liked how our roles were somewhat fluid throughout, we helped each other when it was needed and open to notes/criticism. I actually don't think I'd change anything about our film, other than little hiccups in edit/sound/camerawork. In terms of self-improvement, I will learn more about editing so in future projects I don't feel so worried about it being bad/nonsensical.

I feel a little sad that film adaptation is over. Nothing about the process felt like work, just fun... with maybe a smidge of stress.

I will miss group six [no dix]. You are all very talented women and I could not have asked for a better group to make a gay period drama with <3

+ ben + adam xx

#film adaptation

4 notes · View notes