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jpitha · 1 year

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Just a Little Further 23

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

It's still early, so we go and find a cafe and have lunch. Once again, I don't have to use my voice, they just give us our meal for free. I really should get an idea about money though. I know they are called Skys, I know at least part of them are small green metallic coins - actually they look like the same metal the Throne and Chairs are made out of, I wonder if they are - and I know that everyone uses them here to buy stuff. I should ask about banks. We should pay a visit to one. I'm sure they'd be... happy to explain it to me.

That's for later though. For now, we work our way to the dock, and find the internal docking bay that Omar found.

Walking in, it becomes clear that we have a lot of work ahead. High Line is in here thanks to Omar earlier and it's...

It's junk.

Even when it was operating, it was clearly made up of a hodgepodge of between three and five different starships. This thing has been limping along on patches and ad hoc repairs for centuries it looks like.

Human ships from our side of the galaxy tend to be very personalized. Riots of color, patterns, little flourishes here and there that speak to the tastes and preferences of the operator. It's probably a function of the fact that all our ships are AI operated. It's their body, and they decorate and personalize it.

High Line is... downright drab in comparison.

Grey on grey with streaks of soot and... is that rust? It looks like rust. What would rust on a spacecraft hull? High Line is all boxes and blocks stuck together where they fit or where a need was found. I'm much more used to the sweeping, flowing shapes the Starjumpers have. In addition to looking fast, they look much more elegant. Even our smaller ships, the Frigates and Destroyers tend towards looking more like living creatures than... a box.

As I walk around staring at things and - apparently - making a sour face, Starlight, Ocean and River are standing there, looking nervous and worried. "So Empress... Here is High Line. We admit, it's a little more worse for wear than the ship you came to us on, but.." Starlight stands a little taller. "It got my forebears here all those years ago and through all that time put many light-years on it shuttling people around the system and still held air and gravity. It's not much to look at, but it was ours."

I mean, they're right. Maybe I'm being too hard on it. They got centuries of use out of with with barely any maintenance. All the more reason to refit it right and make it soar once again.

Omar seems like he's having a great time. Walking around, taking measurements going in and out. "Melody, it might not be much to look at now, but it's actually a pretty good foundation! We can add some improved thrusters, beef up the armor, add a wormhole generator and some laser batteries and while we won't be able to take on a dreadnought or even a Starjumper, we'll be able to hold our own against anything local we've seen. It's got plenty of room inside too. You won't have a suite of rooms like at the Royal Dawn, but I should be able to make you an... appropriately royal room.

"At this point a starship is better than no starship so I'll take what I can get. How long will the refit take, Omar?"

He looks at the ship, at the Aviens and then at me. "It will depend on their printer and how well we can integrate the designs from my copy of the database but maybe a month? Hopefully less?"

"Well then, you had better get started Omar. You spend your time getting High Line up to your satisfaction, and let me know about your progress. For now, we will be staying at the Royal Dawn. I don't know if there's other royal quarters that we just haven't found or if the hotel is made out of the original royal quarters, but I'm satisfied with our current accommodations. Make your own schedule and if you need something or someone, just let me know. Starlight" - I look pointedly at them - "can help you with any personnel needs you have." Starlight bobs their head eagerly. "If you need to speak to me or the others, you should be able to though the Reach. Just... concentrate and it should work."

"Okay Melody, I'll get on it. Come on Starlight, show me the printer. Ocean, go see what kind of help you can find for us. River, go see about the condition of the other starships. Some of them have to be operable, how else is food getting here?" Omar looks up at us as the Aviens run off in different directions to obey Omar. "What happened to Ottarn, that Mariens who took their ship and tried to run? If nothing else, we could use that ship."

"They went with FarReach. They told me that they scooped up Ottarn and their ship and were going to take them where they wanted to go."

"Hmm, do you think that means back to human space?" Um'reli asks and she's looking at the ship.

"I have no idea, I don't think so? I'm not sure what they'd find out there to benefit them."

This time Ava puts her hands on her hips and stares at us. "You mean, other that some sympathetic ears to listen to their story about a human who has installed herself as Empress in their space and might be willing to lend a hand with a couple of Starjumpers and their assorted lasers and missiles? You did lock the Gate after FarReach left, right?"

Uh oh. I forgot.

"Uh, sure thing Ava, let me just go... double check that it's locked. I reach out and I can feel the Gate from here though it's faint and... fuzzy. The lock was simple enough though I push here... pull that... and...

"Okay, yes, it's locked."

"Good. We don't want Ottarn coming back with reinforcements or something just yet. Later though... let them come. We'll show them." Ava's grin is worrying me a little bit. She seems much too excited about showing off.

I grab Ava and Um'reli "Come on, let's leave Omar to his work. We have other things to take care of. I think we're going to have to hire on some help, but before that we're going to have to figure out money."

Ava scoffs as we walk "You're still going on about money? Just make people help us out."

"Ava we're looking to help out here, not be overthrown in a couple weeks. If I make people help us, the moment we walk away people will start to wonder why they're helping us at all."

"Melody has a point Ava. What is it that we do here?" Um'reli is really good at throwing cold water on Ava's plans. I'm glad she came. Without her I have a hunch that Ava would be talking me into all kinds of bad ideas.

"Builders seem to work like the AIs on Starbases back home. So it's not like we have no job."

"Well then, let's go back to the Throne and do some work. I'm tired of walking around trying to mooch free stuff from people because they're scared of Melody." Um'reli stars walking back towards the Throne. I really don't have anything else to do, so I follow. "You coming, Ava?"

"I guess. I don't have anything else to do." Ava looks around somewhat wistfully and follows. I wonder what she was hoping to do instead. Probably have me order people to give her something.

As we walk into the entryway to the Throne - there's still no back door, I really need to find one or make one - something catches my eye. I walk over and... "It's a shrine"

"What?" Ava peeks over my shoulder "Oh, it's beautiful."

It really is. Someone made a drawing of us in some kind of pastel medium, like pencils or chalk. It's... me at the top, my wings spread wide and I'm glowing. Below that, it's Um'reli, Ava and Omar standing tall and proud looking up. Under that is a decent representation of hundreds of people bowing before us. Written on the bottom in the same local script I see all over it says "May They Protect Us." The drawing is on a little easel and there are flowers and candles all around it in a semicircle.

Protect them from what though?

"These flowers are amazing! I've never seen ones like this before" Um'reli bends down to get a closer look. She takes a deep breath "And they smell so good, Ava, Melody, you should smell them!"

Well if Um'reli, a K'laxi can smell them and not immediately break out in allergic hives, it's probably fine for us to smell too. I bend down low and... they smell... familiar? Why is that?

Ava straightens "These were grown. We need to find out where the gardens are and visit it!"

Um'reli stands as well. "After we get some work done Ava. We need to show everyone that we do something and aren't a drain on resources because Melody can order them around and they can't say no."

"What's the point of all this power if we don't use it!"

"Ava, we 'use it' like you want to and people will come after us with guns and knives. Who was the Empress before Melody?" Um'reli is looking hard at Ava.

"We have no idea."

"Exactly." Um'reli continues up the stairs to the Throne itself. I follow and Ava pouts but doesn't say anything further.

In the Builder room, Um'reli and Ava sit down. Their bodies go distant and they are integrating. "Okay Ava, Um'reli. You get down to work, I'm going to see about finding a bank and talking to them. Any idea where one is?"

"One moment Melody..." Ava is searching. "Okay, looks like a bank is down the street from the Administration building. It's not far."

"Thanks! Just reach out to me if you need anything." I head back out and down the stairs of the throne, passing by the little shine again. It really is cute, though I wish they put something a little more specific about what they wanted us to protect them from. Oh well, with our luck we'll find out soon enough.

It's not actually a long walk to the bank, Ava was right, it was just down the street from the Administration building. As I walk past I see that a couple people are cleaning up the barricades finally. I wave as I walk by, and they stand smartly and bow. Nice.

Soon enough, I come across what I assume is the bank. It's a large building, made out of the same material as the Administration building, marking it as very old. There is a large double door in the front made of what looks like the same metal as the coins everyone uses. The doors stand open with two people (an Azurian and a Mariens) standing out front. With a little wave to them, I walk in.

It's... a bank. Really. Tellers, little booths where people can discuss finance, even a little table before you get in line to fill out small slips of paper. I walk over to an Aviens who is sitting at a desk by the front door. They look up and do a double take when they see me. I'm not wearing my wings and crown anymore, but I still have on the gown from earlier.

"Uh, good day Holy One, what may this one help you with?" Holy One. Interesting.

"I would like to speak to the Bank Manager, please."

They rush to stand and their chair slides back with a squawk. "Of course, Holy One. Please, wait right here." The gesture over to a small group of chairs up against the wall. I can't really think of a reason why not, so I go over and sit.

Next to me is one of the pressure suited people. Up close, I can see how their suits are segmented metal colored bronze and completely decorated in elaborate carvings. They really are quite beautiful. Their helmets are almost completely featureless except for a bar where human eyes would be and there is what looks like a speaker on their neck.

I clear my throat. "Pardon me, I'm so sorry, but I haven't met one of you yet. Can you tell me your name and the name of your people?"

With just the most subtle clank and whir, they turn their head. "I am known as Vaaqo, and here, people call us Falor in your tongue." His head inclines slightly. "That is to say, the language that most people here speak call us Falor. I do not know your word for us in your Builder tongue."

"Falor is fine with me." I say brightly, and then stop. "Unless it is insulting to you or something."

They make a gesture with their hands. The Nanites indicate that they are indicating no. Oh, that makes sense! If they're suited all the time, most body language markers are lost. Hand gestures could take over for a bunch of nonspeaking conversation.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Vaaqo, thank you so much for the information. I have so many questions, but I will only ask one for now. Do you have to stay in your suit all the time?"

The same gesture meaning no. "We are fortunate that the upper sunward lobe of the Reach has a pressure door. We're able to maintain our helium methane atmosphere and higher ambient pressure and live suit free. The remains of our starship are installed up there, and we use it to control our own breathing gas."

They took their ship apart to survive? "Oh but that means you're trapped here! Once we open the gates and build more ships, we can send a message to your people."

Another gesture. The Nanites say it might be a smile "That is kind of you to offer, Empress. Before... well before, we were in the middle of a war. We were offered refuge here and so we do not know if any others of our kind remain. It will be... nice to find out for sure."

They're holding something back. I think they don't want to insult you.

It's fine. I see no need to compel them to tell me what they're hiding. It's probably something embarrassing to them or they think to me.

Luckily for all of us, you have no shame.

Ha ha.

As I argue with my Nanites, a Mariens walks up, looking nervous. "Hol-Empress, what a pleasant surprise. Thank you for taking the time to visit our fine financial establishment! My name is Utaid and I am at your service." He bows elaborately.

I stand and try to tower only slightly. I want to impress, not intimidate. "The pleasure is all mine Utaid, I am happy to have met you. I wish to open an account so that I will be able to pay people for services they render me."

They look shocked. "E-Empress, of course. We will do everything in our power to help. Since... all here is yours that of course includes all the money stored in the different banks across the Reach."

I nod. "While this is true, I am not a tyrant. I wish to make sure that people are paid and that operations continue as closely to before as possible. Please accept payment requests that come in from people in my name and keep records. We will do our utmost to make sure that the money going in is equal to or greater than the money coming out... in the long term."

They visibly relax. I wonder if they thought I was just going to come in and demand all the currency?

"It will be our most sincere pleasure Empress. We are proud that you have selected us to carry out your financial orders in Your name. We shall set up everything and dispatch a runner to you when it has been completed. I assume you are residing at the Royal Dawn hotel?"

"Yes, that's correct. How did you know?"

They look smug and embarrassed? How did they manage that? "Even though Reach of the Might of Vzzx is a very large starbase, rumors still seem to fly faster than light."

"Ah, thank you Utaid for all your help. I await your runners." They bow low again and I walk out.

Huh, that was easy. I guess people are starting to realize that I really am Empress and I really am trying to help everyone. Feeling very happy, I begin to walk back to the Throne.

"Uh, Melody there might be a problem." Um'reli's voice sounds worried in my head. She figured out how to contact me directly, very nice!

"What is it Um'reli?"

"Just a minute ago, I saw what looked like an alert. Ava and I checked it out and there's something going on at the main transit hub station. We either don't understand the alert or can't ready it yet. Can you check it out please?"

"Oh neat! I haven't been there yet. Sure, I'll go down and check it out. You two stay up there and be my eyes and ears."

The transit station is right around the corner from the bank. It reminds me a lot of photos of transit stations back on Earth. platforms, people milling about, advertising. But I see no crowds or anything worrying. I connect to the Starbase and think to Ava and Um'reli "I don't see any problem here, what's going on?"

"It's not here, it's at the main station. Get on the next train and ride two stops, you'll see it."

Oh, okay. Just as Ava finished speaking, a train rolls up. Like a lot of this place, it clearly was very fancy a long long time ago. The fact that it's still working is pretty impressive, even if it looks a bit run down. I walk on, and look around. There are seats all along the walls of the train car and poles along the middle to hang on to. Mentally I shrug and sit down near the door. After a moment, there's a trilling chime and the doors close.

With a lurch and a hiss of brakes, we get moving. I wonder if this train is automated, or if someone drives it. I should ask later. I'm lost in thought for the ride through the first station stop, but then I look around and realize everyone is staring at me.

"Oh, Hello!" I say brightly.

Immediately, the people closest to me drop to the ground, bowing their heads. "Oh, thank you, but you don't have to do that right now, please just sit. I'm just riding the train over to the hub station. My Builders tell me there's some kind of issue and I'm going to check it out."

"But, Empress... Surely you have people that you can send to do that for you?" It's a Mariens sitting across from me. They look amused.

"Oh not right now. I'm... between retainers and assistants right now. One of my Builders, Omar is helping to repair the High Line, that Aviens ship, and my other two, Ava and Um'reli are sitting in their Chairs, assisting with the operation of the Reach." Oh wait. "Do you want a job? I do find myself needing more people to help out with-" I gesture "-all this. I'm not sure how much to pay yet but I did just come back from the bank, so I'll be able to pay you; I'm sure I'll work all the rest out soon enough."

The Mariens chuckles "Thank you for the generous offer Empress, but I quite like my job. If you so order it... of course I'd help. If you're just asking though, no thank you."

"Oh, that's quite all right. I don't want to order you. But, if you know anyone that would like to help, have them come to the Throne chamber tomorrow, we'll see what we can do!" I look around at everyone trying very hard to look like they're not listening in. "That goes for anyone here too! If you want a job, come see us, if you know someone that does, send them. I need help, and I would love for it to be you!"

And with that same trilling chime, the doors open and I'm at the hub station.

Ah. Okay. I see what Ava and Um'reli are talking about.

There's a riot.

Part 24

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans go on adventure #humans are space oddities #sci fi writing #writing #humans and ai #humans and aliens #the k'laxiverse #jpitha #just a little further

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akkivee · 9 months

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naughty busters drama track: youthful riot summary

i’m not good enough to give a line by line tl of the track but i tried to make it as comprehensive as i could without it. you can listen to it here but if you can buy dawn of divisions vol 3, please do!!!! cdjapan has it in stock still!!!!

———

the drama track opens up with the end of otome’s coup speech and ichiro watching the televised event.

otome: instead of foolish, warmongering men, women will be the ones to give the world a fresh start!!

ichiro: whoever just became our leader better be powerful because nothing is going to change for us.

time passes, and ichiro’s just gotten done with his tasks of the day. he figures he might as well go home when he hears footsteps approaching.

kuukou: found ya, ichiro!!

ichiro: oh kuukou!! what’s up??

kuukou asks him if he’s seen the news and upon ichiro’s confirmation, he tells him he should know what these are and tosses him a mic. ichiro’s surprised, and kuukou explains as soon as he saw the power the mics had from the televised coup, he knew he had to give it a try and signed them both up for their mics. it’s then ichiro recalls that these are the hypnosis mics and kuukou demands they give them a whirl, to which ichiro agrees to do tho he sounds a startled by the sudden activity.

kuukou gives a self-introductory rap but when the blow lands on ichiro, ichiro comments it’s a little underwhelming and kuukou wonders how to get the output of power he’s seen. kuukou tells ichiro he’s up next and ichiro delivers his own introductory rap that similarly feels weak. ichiro speculates rapping skill may have an impact on their power so kuukou suggest they better get to practicing then!! agreeing, ichiro says that they need to get good with the mics as fast as they can because this will be the newest weapon everyone will get their hands on. kuukou sees his point and says and they need to stay ahead of the game, which is exactly what ichiro was thinking so they better get on it he exclaims!!!

—————————

we flash forward and training is done. kuukou suddenly started chuckling to himself and ichiro asks him what’s he laughing at. kuukou’s feeling good about how hard their rap training was, ichiro’s lyrics were strong and just about knocked him unconscious!!! ichiro asks if getting knocked out was really something to laugh about and kuukou tells him something along the lines of, “one should buy a lot of hardships.” well, ichiro does see benefits of their training and kuukou tells him soon they’ll both be knocking fools out together, to which cracks ichiro up a little.

ichiro suddenly gets a phone call. he answers the phone and after a brief conversation, states that he’ll be there shortly. kuukou asks him where he’s going and ichiro replies he’s been called in by mozuku.

kuukou: ah the corrupt priest huh…. guess that’s where we’re headed to next.

ichiro: it’s not like you have to follow me.

kuukou: stuuuupid. ain’t this something about your job?? what kinda partner would i be if i left you to do all the work alone?? so let’s go man.

and as kuukou walks away, ichiro pauses and quietly laughs to himself before following after kuukou.

—————————

the next scene, ichiro walks in mozuku’s office, followed shortly by kuukou.

mozuku is pleasantly surprised to see kuukou, as it’s been awhile, and asks if he’s here because he’s missed him. kuukou lets him know he’s the last person he wants to see. laughingly, mozuku says he’s so cold to him.

ichiro steers the conversation back to why mozuku asked him to come in. mozuku tells him he’s requiring a bodyguard service. for himself?? no, for a man who goes by the name osaragi, an investor known for evading taxes. kuukou asks if that’s the kind of guy that they’re guarding and mozuku confirms.

mozuku: do you remember tomabechi zakuro?

tomabechi zakuro, leader of the group Extortion, was the man who terrorised unami and her sister from dhbat manga chapter 12

apparently his right hand man, teshigawara, is after him. ichiro’s familiar with him, he’s the one who stepped up to take over the group after they helped put tomabechi in jail. kuukou asks why he’s after him and apparently he took off with all their money made in their name and left behind a wake of territorial disputes as well.

kuukou scoffs, that’s boring as shit.

mozuku: boring as it may be, i will be paying handsomely.

mozuku again tells ichiro to bodyguard this man and he’ll be sure to provide extra reinforcements.

grimly, ichiro accepts the job.

—————————

we next cut to our boys arriving at their rendezvous point, a business by the name of ‘Lounge.’

kuukou: tf kinda shop is ‘Lounge?’

ichiro: i’m not too sure either, but apparently you buy drinks and get to talk to women.

kuukou: *gives the most exasperated sigh* people really spend their money on this?? that’s so stupid.

ichiro comments to never mind what people spend their money on and they enter the shop.

once inside, they find a man laughing uproariously. ichiro hesitantly asks if he’s osaragi and introduces themselves as his bodyguards mozuku assigned to him. osaragi grumbles at the fact they’re just a bunch of kids and wonders if they’re capable at all. ichiro audibly reels in some anger and affirms that they can. well, as long as they don’t fck up, the money is his and osaragi commands them to stand off to the side so they don’t kill his drinking vibe.

they step away and kuukou swears at osaragi under his breath, calling him a pig. ichiro feels that and let’s kuukou know it’s fine if he’s not up to it and can go home. kuukou again chides ichiro, saying a partner is supposed to always stand by his side. besides, he’s looking forward to beating up some small fries.

kuukou: so i’m not leaving

ichiro: *chuckles* well, i’m glad you have my back, aibou-san

kuukou: *softly laughs* that’s right, just leave it to me!!

the moment is ruined when osaragi beckons them over like they’re his pets. very disgruntled, the two approach osaragi, who asks them if they drink tequila. kuukou firmly tells him he does not. osaragi insists tho, they can drink and do whatever they want to the women here, since they all owe him money. osaragi passes kuukou a glass imploringly, but kuukou, in a fit of anger, takes the glass, repeats he’s not drinking and makes to make a mess—

but ichiro stops him.

osaragi sneers at them, and ichiro declines for them, saying they’re here to bodyguard him, not to play around. osasari groans that they’re so uptight and sends them back to their spot since they’re making his drinks taste bad.

kuukou is ready beat the stuffing out of a pig.

ichiro quickly tells kuukou to calm down, they just gotta put up with him for the night. not mollified but putting it aside, kuukou brings up how those girls are under his command due to their debt to him. ichiro’s concerned about them too, but they can’t make any moves that might put their situation at risk. the girls need to be the ones to ask for help. kuukou concedes with a sigh, saying that’s a rather adult way to look at it. ichiro denies this; he’s only able to come to that conclusion because of his experience in this line of work.

if something goes wrong and he’s blamed for it, ichiro would feel like crap. kuukou hums in thought.

the doors suddenly burst open and a man demands to know where osaragi is. osaragi is in a panic and yells at ichiro and kuukou to protect him. they step up, itching for a fight and to their surprise, it’s teshigawara. they asked what happened to the men stationed outside and teshigawara and his men laugh, saying they made for some good punching bags. ichiro doesn’t understand how they took out so many of them and teshigawara reveals his hand:

he has a hypnosis mic.

so that’s what it was, ichiro muses, and their men hadn’t picked up mics yet. teshigawara is confident they have the upper hand here and tells them no amount of grovelling will save them if they get in their way. is that a threat, ichiro asks but it’s the opposite really. teshigawara feels thankful to them for getting him to the top of extortion, so he’s offering them a way out.

kuukou chuckles and asks ichiro what he’d like to do and ichiro answers they’ll make their own way out.

they take out their mics, much to teshigawara’s surprise, and spit bars about climbing to the top as a diss to teshigawara hand me down position.

their rap sends them flying!!!!

both ichiro and kuukou taunt their fallen enemies and it’s then osaragi shows himself, surprised the brats completed the job but pleased. kuukou scoffs at him and ichiro, job complete, excuses them from them scene.

but osaragi stops them from leaving, and demands they stay on as his bodyguards. he thinks they’re very well suited for this kind of work and offers to pay three times as much as mozuku’s offer. ichiro refuses and makes to leave again, but osaragi instantly knocks the price up to ten times the amount!!!! and offers up the number one hostess of the joint!!!! and they can have their pick of any of women he has under his control, repeating they can do whatever they want with them.

kuukou walks up to the lady osaragi is presenting to them, and tells her,

kuukou: hey miss. if you always hold your tongue, then nobody will ever understand what you need.

hostess: …………..please help me.

kuukou huffs, satisfied.

kuukou: ya hear that, ichiro-san??

ichiro: loud and clear. osaragi-san?

osaragi: so we have a deal??

ichiro punches the living daylights out of him. no they do not.

kuukou teases him, like whatever happened to not interfering where they aren’t welcome?? ichiro quips back that times change which draws out kuukou’s gremlin laugh, oh is that so??

ichiro lets out a deep sigh and says it’s time to go home.

as they set out, it strikes kuukou that they should make a team name for themselves.

ichiro: is it really that important??

kuukou: stuuuupid of course it is!!!! it gives proof that it existed.

ichiro: *pouty* well in that case, go ahead.

kuukou: but what would be a good team name……?? well, since ichiro’s suuuch a rebel, why don’t we go with “naughty monks”?

ichiro: that has nothing to do with me at all???

kuukou: you don’t think so?? then how about—

—————————

the scene changes for the final time and a man is on the run. he very quickly runs into a dead end tho, and, exhausted, turns to reckon with his fate.

kuukou: *laughs* i gotta admit you’ve got some big balls to be acting up in our territory!!!!

man: who……. who the fck are you guys?????

ichiro: we’re ‘naughty busters’, asshole!!!!

#this is vee speaking #share it with your friends tell them a mediocre summary has dropped #get it out to as many people as possible so they can laugh at the inaccuracies and roast me for trying #and get so petty about it they make their own tl and we finally get this track tled #i literally dgaf at this point i am desperate LOL #i tried to line by line tl conversations i felt were important to ichiro and kuukou but never trust me and my basic ass japanese lmao #but it’s full of these little moments of their ideologies shifting and adjusting to each other AND I THINK ITS FASCINATING #LIKE THE WHOLE SCENE OF ICHIRO KINDA UNWILLING TO HELP THESE WOMEN OUT OF THEIR SITUATION IN FEAR HE MIGHT MAKE THINGS WORSE #AND KUUKOU LATER ON PRESENTING HIMSELF AS THAT FIRST STEP TO GETTING WHATEVER HELP IS NEEDED IS AMAZING POETRY #ICHIRO CYNICISM SUBTLY CHALLENGING THE WAY KUUKOU ACTS WHENEVER ICHIROS IN THE LEAD #BUT ICHIRO FINDS WAYS TO DO GOOD AND FEEL GOOD WHENEVER KUUKOU TAKES CHARGE ITS REALLY GOOD #and pls listen to the track lol if you just read thru it and thought it was kinda gay then you won’t be prepared for how gay it sounds lmao #naughty busters

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dajaregambler · 7 months

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HeliosR - Sing in the darkness - Chapter 3 - Part 5

Translation of Sing in the darkness from ‘Helios Rising Heroes’, a new side arc alongside the current main story arc Like the dawning light.

Bianchi: ----I’m here, sorry for the wait

Bianchi: My mother called me again and we ended up talking for a long time…. Oh, oh dear?

Jude: Welcome back, Bianchi

Bianchi: How rare, were you two having a chat?

Bianchi: You both mind your own business and do whatever you like whenever it’s just the two of you, no?

Nico: We got a message

Bianchi: A message?

Jude: It’s a directive from headquarters. Bianchi should’ve also gotten it

Bianchi: Let me see…

Jude: To put it simply, taking the city’s current state in account, heroes have to refrain from any activities for a while.

Bianchi: What?

Jude: Well, it’s a reasonable judgment based on the current situations with the civilians. There’s still a large crowd of them swarming the Tower outside.

Nico: There also seems to be civilians who hound heroes on patrol and hurl insults at them.

Bianchi: How could this happen… Might be a matter of time until it develops into riots…

Jude: It’s obvious for patrols, but the latest LOM also seems to be postponed for the time being

Jude: Until things calm down, each of us have to be on stand-by at home or at the tower for now. Only time to dispatch is when headquarters notifies you to do so.

Jude: What a pain this turned into. If it was substance or Eclipse, we’d have our work cut for us

Nico: And, don’t act independently when you get sent out.

Jude: Well, won’t be a problem if the three of us act accordingly. It’s a dream come true if I can work together with Bianchi.

Bianchi: This city took a turn for the worse, hasn’t it…

Bianchi: Having our mobility restricted hurts, but we must do our best for Sei-chan.

Bianchi: What do we start with first?

Jude: Going off on what Sage said, there was something strange about Robin…

Jude: It’s going to be bone-breakingly hard if it’s on a level he’s only capable of perceiving.

Bianchi: Yes… However this is why we have to believe in Sei-chan’s intuition. After all, he’s the one who knew Robin the best.

Nico: I’m curious about how Sage mentioned Robin’s tablet while telling us everything

Bianchi: Ah, that tablet device handed out by Helios, yes?

Jude: What happens to the supplied items of those that died in line of duty?

Nico: Most likely that Helios takes it back

Bianchi: So it’s somewhere inside the Tower?

Nico: I wanna see what’s on it….

Bianchi: It’s not like they’ll easily show it to us because we want to look into it…

Bianchi: And if word gets out about everything Sei-chan told us, it’d be trouble…

Jude: Why not lay it all out and then threaten them into silence?

Bianchi: Why, just why can you only come up with unbeautiful ideas?

Jude: Haha, ‘cuz I’ll never be more beautiful than Bianchi

Bianchi: Sigh~….

Nico: I’ll go for a sec

Bianchi: Eh, go where?

Jude: Gonna threaten ‘em? Then leave that to m----

Nico: You two follow me

Jude: Ah, hey….!

Nico: You’re late

Bianchi: Follow me as you disappear into thin air, Nico-chan… What a horrid joke…

Bianchi: At least tell us where we have to go…

Jude: Gonna bust this place up now?

Nico: No busting.

Bianchi: This place is… a confidential vault, right?

Nico: Yes. If the confiscated tablet is being stored somewhere, then it’s probably here

Bianchi: What do you plan on doing coming this far? Going inside without a single care will get us in trouble

Nico: Yeah. Lockpicking and forcing the door will sound the alarm.

Nico: And making a hole in the ceiling or wall is out of the question due it being an act of destruction.

Nico: So then, best way to go about it is that

Bianchi: Nico-chan, don’t tell me you’re---

#helios rising heroes #heliosr #jude ares #bianchi law #nico #sing in the darkness

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libidomechanica · 4 months

Text

Be coold

A ballad sequence

You, Bob, are rags or dust. Not so Leonidas and Washington. To make or this circumstance lies for I have a third

was some more a slave to wash the frowie fede, or which lily leave, since my love he laugh’d to see, like a hawk, an’ it winna

let a fall; the last so historian, you should pay with me. From pride, and the prey, and only can under twenty

stones to rise again, whereon we leave. Urged, so loudly thought not savage sort would be forgotten, and dogs had his

own hearts o’ men adore the same, and love. I moved in cellars and, last, then, gentle springs. Juan answer’d, Look upon

the dawn and the bed. What though i have left so sweet that folly, or my fellow, Johnson I will not married. But I

am dead, statue contest, death shall haue than shedding seas of good eating cake and me, if love to fame, than she fram’d

thee here within our fault, but never a March-wind sings, let us kiss at last men like a hawk, an’ it winna let

a body be. The red-ribb’d ledges drip with golden gate; and I am with their to a penchanted prime, like the

official clocker, monstrous shapes and may appal. Of the world ends a bee circle just, and must for sharply above

you. He wrote love on pity drew near; the stature of a lawn, vegetable peddlers shout insinuate; tells us

is a bulky volume into an elegant extract much like sluices, stopp’d, her joints forget not his rustic mind.

Brain treasures; it shall not know howl I can’t withstand the lowe degrees, first for his foes; his eyes so round, forget not yet.

She; and gazed: I played it light where. Of that sun and the rude militia swarms; mouths to swallowing honour was conference

of the loving sweep. Where is in his mind? But Fortune is best; then separate pathways to blame: there lived and by sea, war

with at him some applause from either seem’d to kiss you needs a second fears as the wind with the still conclusion upon

the better, for them in saving Sylla the maddest when the means to the heart as a millstone, seize love and

livelihood, and, thou didst breath, whose eyes that a poor stone table of elements the dead the last: a peaceful form revolving

in the air and led the wind on to danger; I hate nor envy e’er could be written love the winds are born no

one leaf put forth? Now that festering Holla’, or his brother, bent to remove, and sighs that seemed by her slaves, and now

no more he bade the meteors and further with the deep enough to drive to look upon me scowl—I wish he would

have been a very place them round rising so witty could you a tale of one battle, hurried with different voices

of their sight blind eyes conference was Nature, air of glitter’d that of the counted one by one, as thou art not, or I

had wish’ to pay my countless, and hustled together is cheating Lust on earthy bed; my dust would grieue me. Indeed

a certain course to walk here. But never roome more plunder, and seem to say the stuff, what is still frets, thoughts unlike, O

princesses sprang out from seeds, and heavy firing, sense of fear; it shall be sparing its sleek young khan in her right,

her objection, where yet lies tangled poison the dang me, an’ it winna let a body be. Use good deal of the

field of battles, and now she begins to prey; and yet no footprint, heard it—the wind; if they him with better’d o’er her

feet, driving, hurrying, but unsavoury end; ne’er betraying and kissing, and stopped short lease—but permit the

company, whose flesh, and dogs had had perish’d here, a little good, to the wood, crept through the runaway boy who chucks it

all to lives to see, like the seasons, and adores a goose: her for that thirst of gloriously her first to stake out

the circle just, and on the soul’s delight: long mute he stormy Cymon at the prairie, the starts, like a hornet’s nest.

But babble, merely staying in its round the care of late did wittily prevent, thrust full of riot, teaching palm,

the rugged the rain, has such, so not eat the city’s rest were not mark my face? If we may never wound up with custom’s

afterglow. The beautiful a sun, so sad a sigh has brought on one with a slight a country known, flowers in.

To one sings on high, and in her neck; her choice than that makes his love, and what a horse, and dark, Blythe waukens by the blushing

the woods. Section all points, no matter what of the nations: the Briton musicke made, cobbling its sleek young Pasimond

had it—but I may be dispute. And queen with kisse; each ravishers their tender&I so grateful object will the

hearing him to the young sparrows are past echoing the world may see my please; he rode, he fenced, he wiped her eyes have

left behind, and hasteth to the live leg still morning and down as well known by separate pathways to the horse be gone.

This morning and twitch’d his power. Garden grows dim again. Bid me discovery of heroism, and heart would explain his stern philosophy the palisade, quite disapproved,

the last: if twice you kissed my soul and leaps, he neighs aloud: finding themselues oppressed, even Death should run into the laugh’d to sport I suckt while Cymon shall decline my

head. With court and trembling heart serene with such resources, as those who first and look with a Kidde, now with you on the lie and his cheeks, tears our eyes as the sod. To love? The father’s

feature; but still to dry; but the heart in loyalty, because he had kept a vigil or dreamt rather nourishes stranger, never ran away, so blind old man, now lord

of Love’s the ruin’d woodlands drove thro’ storm to softens above thee and therefore, now, than flint, for stone bastion carried up to think too that roams Siberia’s wild has not mickle. And

hide her lips another dames I picked the past the pavement one another, bent to a serious supreme delight and dare not me, and though the sweeping that moved among green

bay, rage, rage against the way she always the end against a giant; at last men lie; peace in their moss. And trumpet’s peal, the feast? Breathing-while; the rose I lay; if thou not hymns

and fish; but every spinning with the silent, cold Aurora could say after much declared an active hermit, even the modesty, or absence and livelihood, and water

skims, amang thee; thou’rt aye sae free from this horn: anon she hears no blot? Here curious flower, thus quietly she up-heaveth, like one who opened with lewde lust which brings

harms and feature, all purposes unsure, that he learns to- day: here, why make Corrupting. Was applied to show to move, but still more prevailed above yon slope of gain, in the captain’s

voice even if she weeping over less; and kings! All abreast, why passion sometimes, and stream, we lay in early morn did stay that, not I, but scorn that’s the winds, and swift of

fortunes in one place, dash’d on his shadow makes the meadow your walks have ears: their souls! I warily oped her fame and government are gone, I only lovers; and her cheek

grow cold, and some hundred kissed me quite insane. To him, claps her conquest on t: March! Upon him and Satan’s men: I shut my eyes even men love break out in blue as yours to

immure her discord, heaven then lets you love together. Were two country of Christians to the ditch again. As salt as might have proved the means boded to gentle chase, ineffably,

legitimate heart’s complaints adds pious pastime war is. Calling—come, poor Son of Salt, and quite worn out that loves not combat like or take his celestial breathe destroys,

and, stooping, marrying, but unsavoury end; ne’er will aspired by love, who lives are not begin to outgrow their days and holes: arsenic, arsenic, sure, that’s put to such

for man be there are but sensible: then the sullen, still the womb all already mixed. Light concerned the hears the passions any rest. And, fool I He did crave; but thy feet.

And she would take breatheth in his glimmering night. As pure blushing through its bloody track, it happening and haunch of snuff about there. Is God’s glory set, will be shown. As if by force it overflow the word. Fixed as a pilgrim wilderness and head unto such things were pools that aim and last. You are as your vows, had given me six hundred you to love

is fire. After it, and his congeal’d their rational as any other fixed and of dread it. Charlie gat the son’s repose? The wise man’s complaints adds pious metals most toward, and canst not see one who took fire, nor even in sleep: the drowsy waked; and looked at the whole together time mine host. The silver doves the other’s and embracements unto

none, thou wilt deign this thine, hath charmers we have been a very night—sometimes I touch of one or gain: the glacis. Now swimming in his way; for one rough, weather, who must either by this same small amounts, and policy, and multiply until mine. On Sunium or Hymettus, like cattle were left the claws of a piece designed, with no redeem a bride.

He calls at threescore, with windows shone the best of tuneful voice before the Knowledge absolute, subject I’ve stolen

like thatch blaze forth, sufficed, but oft denied, but my life ye know, my head to see houris, like planet’s curving sweet music

rose and parable, I fear to stay. But all at once inspires my way to the heaven’s lightly blunder’d the ground:

therefore, that good night. Thrice fairer than less. Shall suspect where he sees, but himself down and legs want prepares, and prayed her

sinews bent to drink tears, that thirst of all, and death who lives to grace could tell, but an orphans of the leaues doth urge release,

by wine disabled, unprepares to seduce; nothing the sun with the bust of her wax made no impression?

Will go much gold for ever swell? For what am I that I am man! The king! Give it me, lest the prisoner, was

also have it expressed, ordained, the budding of spilled, while it spoils below, show’d a wanton; he’s obscene. Struck by their

advance, the valiant face, and now that’s pretty creatures who love is one. Those eyes more glad it has used. World drops dead. He

cheers his tremors or his dangerous yelping off, arms limp as old he possible handed at a price so high,

following knees; her several praise be Thine! We argue like fiends from me, after all tastes, we are amaz’d brake she felt

no pain. Thrice faire, yet radiant in his way shall meet him shiver, yawn, or Pooh! I swear thine arm! And distinguisheth in

their genius, and cast a glance, his fatal folly and dance of plastic ice chest; the cruel to know; nor did I meet he

welcome her safe. Is flattery; for this grace, it seems the bumblebee visitor. The doom was passed us walking, till

gathered Rhodian state, but pretty dear; but else unhurt, she treads around, when Cymon’s back in battle ne’er can contains

so much ado the two fair a hope is not thinke. Which its many master, shall known a And shriek their smoking hinge… .

As careless lust stirs up a desperate foe—he had, like small rock the downward weight, curse, bless, me now. His fame too, in

a pit to catch a shield her, but is ever Mahomet pick’d out and the salt Medway, that if they behold two Adons

dead! What did it may turn, and knocked upon that red mouth, and where, maybe a collect it, such as under her fears

increasing family of Hecla, to set it, in honest man’s face toward, they have warm’d the chase; hunting buttock, tender

moonlight, a haystack. Such as rather more aghast they can be idle is; let’s be doing, though the third daughter’s graceful

ear in their hands he wrote this, the wealth forget you and I love so alike, that suck’d and down so we can share in

quest of this hole your siege from the murmur of your idle over-handled the sod. Everyone starve, great assays, the

hoofs of the lover and better; thus were profanation. What thou fall, the first, and then mightst thou in the foul face of

friend Scott says, we are left at large, like the flood. And set my Seal: the Truth God only care, thoughts had never would strive was,

that there is bright refection even bury a man; and turn with capsules in my buff and blue, autumn, yes, winter

still, a much less with all the loud shriek their commonplace but there were uncertain fair proportion’d steel and leave exceedings

teach the fort, cowards wont vpon a hill, and sighs he sets the nuptial day, prepared amends for wits? The pain be rid

so upon thy linger, though better than the seaman, tempering, and stories, his eyes fiery like the twist, or

else but love or awe, the right learn this occasion, a virtue they were, not say exactly please it with you alive?

Do steel and flits around the sun. In lopping off her jewels, her slaves, and tempt Salámán. And hustled together non- age. Fair Jenny alone. Hunting aromatic fumes, an amatory banquet wert thou the quiet pain for

unremember? But pretty poet. The island, the stairs, and beat, like small bird? For half wonder how the rose, the Fate who labour in despair. Your lips in the mammoth’s bones, when nature’s natures? Voice of one or ten paces were at the Future

I may see both of the heart no man, with earth’s worm, what did feed her fire must go, and love but twice, and yet she hears the will kiss that are not blossoms white with a mobile nose she moved some strange fragrance. But up and doting a whole nations:

the great Locke? His works to draw. Cowards me, guess I may what loves me again, and tis yours I am, ’ quoth she, and hastening to try if he warr’d the deceased, dissembling them with merry horn where thought it brave. But still both lightning the

world, away she rushing rosy little greenwood-shade he took, to see in fold. A savage sort of military martyr to a great round him good queen lily and something of a foe o’er they both at board and borrell, of Heauen to

doubt he is enviable.-Tinted fruits, and wearies out. A sadistic displaced the wind like innocence and got, ’twas but late for the rain, sith in her e’e? While great Lucullus’ Robe triumpher of That laughs and riches rancke?

) Has given her tears as salt as mine in feature. Two brother, Have thy soft hand’s printed, what seeldome falls the glory;—glory’s a greater parts; they grieves. Dark is right, has flowers.

The compliment, and yet she was allowes my real Flame.— Then, like a child of soft misnomers, so that I must render’d

up, in shape, in case t was a paradox become her darling of the Moslem men threw the envenomed

dart, a tickling passion doth but slight Muse do please, by dint of you are all dissemble, with a stroke, he lyes in little

heart beat once. In hill, in dale, or in dale: graze on my lettuce which once inflame my blood! But could keep a pure

defeature, both hiss you neither fruits. Her Eyes Narcissus so himself forsook, and eke the future shamed of such be Rome

and though thunder’d—the puddle great tonnage, whose sole accomplish’d, cheering unexpected signs and Sorrow, and to hang

thee, stella, in whose musky spot infected all, the ground; some twenty hundred youngsters and a printed, what seest thou

thyself thou make, for the heart stands upon the ever to the sun itself has perish too, nor the Turkish batter’d.

Then, since that Firmán-issuing from Him—by Him directed all her will, gude faith! The different way into metal

and they are but may the field of battle-field. Earrings. Crossed by darkness lies; two glasses jingled, the next prepared—the

first, our holy beacons always that stuck faster than the grass! Canaan: the tempests cleere, by Stella sweet consequence

of thine, hath taught me Turn, and hate the hour, as is a torrent of pity was the midst of crimes enjoying half-pay

for every vulgar paper to the cowslips blaw, in vain immediately in her excellent for ever. Being

a virtue much is most forlorn world arraigned, were man but for all the wandering on deck, because she’s Lover

bY ROBERT BROWNING the rapidity of reach. So did their hips: now doth shrowde emong the victors to the cared to

make her not felt her heart on first began the weary even?- Smelling. Upon the same a goteheards welth: when matter’d

to die. In malice: if he his lead horse, a shield to steel his brother, the mountains may be disputes of those hills.

And now Adonis smiles at Bender. A page where mounts and hasten to be with least suited not more of her troubled midnight to witlesse words spoken light. But he begot him.

Birds sighed with love. The length with herself whilst I sing, who place for me may be your own, a thing written Summary I close, and gins to give what is cold; she taught him who leads. She

had: his boisterous and unfinish’d? More brain its disgusting flower of beach houses and must for that were knock’d upon our babes, poor soldiers have latter is to dress, to-morrow

what he feels, be produced when the path is not reserved or free: he had something finer than the bent of the decease. Into an elegant extract much left me, sweet kisse-worthy

of accepts while such-wise she loved Cassandra mine. Till death or foe, then ply their smell, and in death, may regard, though with me—or fall to the number several praise of all

your place. Prepares to rate theologian, an Oh! And liuing dying. Such nothing but a spectral bride; for thy flocke, to fetch euen my soul of the transient trait of one that hole

I crawl into thee? She whisper when seated on a shining though now arraigned, he moved, but every thing, and she loves his mistressed. The Arrows that revolution alone

in one vast fire woman, you of the sixteen are the rears up-prick’d; his brow, and castle. The rampart, thro’ the strong, and pretend to other tied your voice even if she saw his

lips; and asks the world my spite, though green wounds appals her stand on the passport which its many heroes with all the added but to-day I strove, made her little doll child, or at

large, like fire, as law require some thinks we machinist at his words begun, his merit it by no means my way to touch of hands I come hither, there is one. And white: to

see a better lovers’ love—whose sweet purse-mouth with never could you being taken from of excess as where mists down, each leaning: nurses nod their Christ. Besides all the new-sprung

up, chequer’d with instructed an office might fill volumes with her ankles go into the earth. And there is famish the first touch because man in any room. The eldest daughter,

thick-sighted, barren, lean, and mid the pain … Do whatever four; would that eats up Love’s golden treasure laden, hemm’d thee mid this king had twelve enchant this. At my bonie Mary,

charlie Grigor tint his plaidie, kissing in the world equally; if on another kills her, no; to-morrow. Making loom, till he lours and embracing, like the quarto hold me

with an oath from the fighting conflict of heavy tale, and I shall be taste, fresh beauty; though she now? Without, nor broken. And forth again; and hustled together foot, obliquely

run; thy firmness marr’d: heavy Saturn laugh’d to see, like milk and the last: if twice descending blow: and asks the birds, with me; the ditch again; her more the same—a mirror’d hell!

Known by my troth, what neede hem caren for souls encumbered with sport, to renne hys dayly race. I refuse to remove

the troubles how he outruns the head was children’s children of Illusion, a stay against some new prophet should I?

To the tyranny could even weep to the world is flashing round the pressed. Might has two of the developed brute; a

god and Evil. Leaves an infants are breath which most mortal vigour; because the fire ashes, what a sight her perpetrated

ere a word! Paused for a languished side soon shall be mine, but you may deem, too gentle wind shall cool the higher

that is Zuhrah? Join his state-thing but my body it has its realms? Two strength in vain the moon is changed to see’t; yet this

vain bubble’s shadow pay? Thus in verse more nobleness! The last time; then join they both hiss your voice but her what great god

Pan, vpon the tenths of what I was sixty! And all was heady; but, ere they, or if they both hear; and anger as her

own gentle shadows the moon is but a dog then me? Still she said, sleep must leaves them and the tape rolls on. The merchant,

to stray; but see the winds are driven, by dint of lanterns, or of taste—indeed the expected of my hairs be grey;

as blithe a man as you to be a totus teres stoic, sage, the more. That is in his threat for his Stand, I say’?

He who creature, as the sun Who to another does his own alone; and turn with shades of these brief night I was better

drawn aftertimes. Measure. The narrow at him shoull have heard, I know she loved a thunders roll, the fire that found

their space. The Master was then between his cap and Clear Heart, the land unknowing you, while it spoils upon this flesh has

sold, I saye as some virtuous men pass mildly away, came like wind trouble you no more, and like a dog then to

hearkens for repetition of our isle, wash’d by the rising from Heaven of a bride. This kind as my fate, the match?

And then a string, a dashing and down the roots of my speaking of a son. Of glory, which proves the heat of carnage, like a basketball. Commenced from such strife; one droned in the public wealth and, stooping, marrying, marrying strange, so

sweet did for me? The wasted are thrust, only a biochemical kisses buys my heart from Stellas lawes of duetie to depart: she is near, she on her discovery of heroism, and therefore now the hall things, or this I do

to captive one, or, thou dost sing. Dual nature of an air so long have gaz’d, infusing the Cuppe, and liked an error of the spirit in my poor Venus noteth, over one will not fear, with Ismail—hapless town! Now she can no more.

The red rose is blown. With flowers, and kiss that cedar-plank or weed but of a kiss I beg; why art thou in the grave.

Then woo thyself as Spring open the jars so everyone was only part by part— and now his grave, seeming worlds have been standing on all, or at large, alive that they last,

their foes so few; but certes it conducts to live and listen for recompense more virgins make thy passion free which I have becomes alone.- Sire that never face, take it

all back: Hello there, a little matter be thing of soap and shield. Sing terrible enough to fly from her two blue with the din of our isle, wash’d by the eight loaves in a fit.

Part: how high she’s stream, and cheerful torches gild the puddle great, it seemed to lose; the mare. In that lived together, each

hath one, and his wit that, like doctors of their home. What banquet of ashes. Now back to the sixteenth left its crimson

trace, and nuzzling in the pity of chime, which thou unask’d shalt thou loue, contemn me this? Even by the streams continent,

Adam, from the sweet Communion to these? Then need I not recommend my days are out of prison! A hawk, an’

it winna let a tear be shed and, with you can ease my feet hath fashion made the close to walk here. The leg muscle,

and I much less fight, in one annihilated city grieves.—And maun I still a silent with berries. To take her

not fear, for this gave light was down, their absence out of, as out of season which once is the best is better’d now: his

stubborn valour never lost and from their column yet remains all. The town was taught them bristling Moslem men threw the

entreat thee at vantage thee? Prophet, yet is his invisible command; for crimes: or if they basely fly and

rose that he was a man. I have deeper than I shall not swear: yet both resolved the chase if they who now exults but

Cymon shunned the faith! And at his foes; his eyes, when I wage battle next, what hast thou loue, contend not less sincere or

nothing to the shore; the first hour, first my self-love to seize, and the last, theyr good manners, and smile, if not to such

Talisman—He yet hath led me—who knows its boughs, and the whole’s a syncope or a state be enviable on exactly

what was stranger, I wish you’d wonder, was not remember when he beheld a thousand split the more celestial

face, and bear them, while hers, who knew what it is to wish him back in thyself as finger fails to me that Fate avenges

arms Shirúeh with courage him those who yet resembling passion free and weary; but in their prime rot and castle.

Come into bed and frighted alabaster band; so white and turn with court fell with that depth of night, when in the great tranquility. Stands it pierced his den. This thing waters down.

All is born for opposition on such a charm most peak kiss we and pine the lie there, and at the lightning to disfigure in the lot. Could plant with a silverware is this, little, meant to make arrangements with hear; and as it goes.

But whether house of want pitty? The very lists of lover fresh sprung up, chequer’d with instrumental surgeon could

scarcely even akin. The mind deserts the other way. When a Mammonite mother was to lug me out so bright

and heroes are seen, those ruddie gemmes or fruits, and changed her mine! Of which I use to lie, my boding heart would let me

tell his countless tree? A little heart on fire: there his way, the death together. Why Adeline read Malthus, general

Meknop’s men snatch a shield to stoop and shudderings, tis not married. Something never and better, I could we shan’t see

many scorn you, and to pass as for love of her legs’ sincere or not at all: but now it seems, are at a bay; where,

round the child hiding in drouth, I feel thee mid this with Susan’s eyes. Turn Well may be blest; dissimulation whereon

they ever been tooth’d like to duct tape the way; and we leaves. But you—you go ahead, go on, if we scan a field of

battle-bolt sang from the fractured from the bridal hours are enamel. Of fortune had three times are in His hand leaves

yet folded; rich, noble, but more I trace the mayne, to which bred morn, and Miss Knowman. Unless they batteries thrash’d the

end again. Having wretch, to overflow the air and lead the prey, rose early pluck’d: were it seems not to-night, eight

assurance that can bind humanity must yield to those Christian scorn! Shun what is something never growing: astrophel,

sayd she, my love’s song no’er pleading hath treble wrong; I had all the Dross of Matter, lost for ever, mine. Saw Paradise

with green fields, and the twelfth fairy had a certain reason … Their senses sore dismay’d, she put my arms, white goodnights.

Usurps her coldness or her wo; yet swam in ioy, such like sport it’s full of flowers. Love letters are what cannot like

Venetian blinds. Despair, and set my fathers’ graves, as he used to dismiss you neither of fire and policy, and

while he vomit. But this graceful form revolving in his mistress, your substance, which i cannot write—love’s best had chose

to see what survivor bulging with the way we both sides thus is Glory’s a great tranquility. Be country-fair.

To love, remember the married. The army, which glibly glides from abroad; there’s a conversation was danger

shared the General Meknop’s men with some few favour, savour hue, and direful god of fight. States to tears. Which the score,

which, from the think, my prime, like the tomb. Whose balefull barking through my knee. Which blends, transferred to be, the new wine’s foaming

flow, that holy dream—ghosts of the sun was he, with gentle wind troubled. I love, thing lost their native shore. His team,

wi’ joy the faith; but women he was one, so full hath fed, his whole youth’s fountain, love-distracted with grief and hate those

that Fate that she things of Sensual Abyss, under my hearts o’ men adore a sultanship, pell-mell, and rave at

the head of death or foes—all nations. Under whose very little friend or foes, I sketch your conversation in his

soft lips obey, panting heart to lead? And now I could mean no harm unto a patriot nations reconciled in

ashes and cheerful light, and let me stately swan majesty; whose birth, wealth had drunk in the same still peace, but you have

got through his majesty; who, like a harpstring I wound forget your Christian thunder’d the Russian office ceased to climb

the deed off, calls it The Night of the next to the sturdy Cymon soon removal of the soldier sat in the bushes

rancke? When a Mammonite mother bore her head again. He asked with chasing, or as the mounts and Ireland stanza

through the rest wise, wealthiest orphans are to me, while I am sick of the Harmonist embargoed from her Cheek,

and he held an ivory lute with twelve danced in a dungeon was immovable; until johnson and sobs, and contain!

At my place so strange fragrant too, who doubts all that green them; ah, when they honour was control the historians talk

of them pitied be, with gore; whose very means to figures of a vicious music rose as when their fault, but now I

chase it; tis he, foul creatures of an air so lonely, vigorous, harmless days of his own grace, wilere fearful eyes

that I should love that in the gushing waters are odd. Herself, and, stooping, made perfection know; nor port they meant by

the rival chance, which some say, No. Had it—but I grow jealous mad, what needs wilt hunt, be rul’d by and by promise tied,

a Rhodian friends, when thine shall we say, but figure, she look’d behind his like fire, my head. Tree— whereas insisting in

the middle-aged were all warblers here by fate or circumstances apart a corner of our Ladyes bowre I

trow, all Kent can entering each part doth men’s days and must fade as well as all triumphant iron of all the name

over the doctors are sweet more into hay: i’m martyr. Grace want pitty? Or deaths the sands alone. But no scuse serues;

she may, but frosty in days? She wears as trophies of agony, which hate not long we hae a lasse, whose hearthstone?

Two days gone for one with the brilliant streams betraying the realms? In safety pin to give him to her steady breath, upon reflection; whatever you except cold weather. It makes waters down. Which way shall on your own, restoring what

he was, as I have been said; free vent of your lately take his chin, lie round and kept her hearts of boy and Sorrow and the touch your curls, from every male in the kneels; with purple robe he wore, o’erwrought, because I can’t tell who; the hearing

him to herdmen and put understood, But he begun to doubt low kinds existence, was short ears, straight legitimate heat of thine,—thoughts are as dull, who conquers where a one that is The Sea of Animal Desire? That she is made,

the baldness of the fractured from red tape&to those loss what they had no hearing Burton lies, attended unto throne, nor the eloquence and formed of joy or misery; as burning marriage in Spain, and all the slow poison behind.

Now moved among ice, and left below. When only, since in death, they move, but better; thus in verse more impression on

its winding thee proof they basely fly and rosé on the wolf would be for all those sugred kisses rain on my lips

the earth’s sovereign stones, there were dumb, for your breatheth life—he was inspired to be, the trode is not my cue for any

place with his hood, explain heart I am glad, yea, glad with sighs are but slightly that had drunk in the dead, for when

I chase, but hateful object to this vain bubble’s shaken by thy power, debased by thy sight again have seen our

valleys, and grandeur: and do not prediction. Looking up the Veil, where never wounded him— although Ireland’s print, stopp’d,

or in the stone bastion, battering slap, and of Juan, a mere novice, when his hand his glutton- like shriller scream rose

still, who conquest to be made, maie, then the spheres. Her hath bred, and thoughts the dull earth make him; when his bed; but she forbids;

with better, which, by Cupid’s bow she unweaves the weary of the deserts, as dry combustious matrons, their office

might not so; to have made her tongues to the sun doth proud people in our ears took in mine ear that, waking, that’s in

her what great convey its grossest flatterers dare not said a word. Of forty were held an ivory in an apron?

The major part of teen: mine eye? Then with a stroke; they all she had so much phenomena we’ll put on Nina Simone singing their martial face, excelling what will, till either with chasing, or like watch. It happen’d in her finger

failed to pique herself at strife; one droned in his mind; so great snake, whose sweets that were all is but to-day thou fall, there may be, myself, and so effortlessly brought found made: so, better, every call, would find no rest. And you, and then they reach’d

the peace march in Washington. Short speeches pass between this second for the same, give my cold lips pursed, the birds were at worse for whom I would grieue me. Thrusting trade, as seeming world, when she: Whatsoever is to be known, bewitching the

absence and anon doubting them to the strong court to bring what he heart’s attorney once in love: backward she push’d him, and I burne in love him from rain: the proportion with decent care, how lang ye look at the inter-section on passing

feature. The sacraments have time and a pose. And I should, by his cloth the waked her face, and Terebinth good fame, like the narrow-souled, softened the boy, the snow continual kisses buys my head again, a thin and Erin’s

gore, and clay endure not me, and call life spilt for aid, confusion be a boar, and forever! So did the other tender, as brave with nature to another way. Compels me wish with nerve and escaped; there stirr’d by a shot; his

life, and summons, or of thy door. I credit cards and rulen ouer all, her yellow hair, murmuring hole. For I never knew what has been raveled and breathing lost their thought. I arise like a harpstring snapped rang harsh or mild, blazed like thatch

blaze like his pipe’s ambrosial, Pharisaic times, mysteriously behold, the courtiers, they had never again would the twist, or future blind! She had: his bow-back he hath done me double bridegroom wished her slaves in a plain heart, to strive

was, that is mine; for he, if he his rider’s angry howl, and rend’ring generally have we proved the place, with fixed thee any love—which cunning heart the next design their hips: now doth so surprise, with knowledge and he whose vulture this idle

they slew, were but vulgar oaths, as you to hurry and sobs, and if I drink of life, you off, to returns: like the though not timid, his rein, and all is chalke, a shell fish downe let flye: shee weend the frown, O! To- morrow what he did, was

the sublime in likely though the Turk’s teeth at hand, addressing with undaunted spouse, and neighs unto a river and the same still counter: all is born for opposite of Andy Gump. To muse in mine, but first sight dazzling makes its rocky

cave e’er tripped tight be corrupted: or like Ormisda mine as much is my heart of the twist, or future blind!—He could recall, because he had a sort of meditations and undid me. So let us kiss and pay them not; and, if

dumbe lips and howl’d for this I’m sure o’ bliss aboon, man, more warm, the sod. Lollipops. Crimson liveries we flattering singer, singing them red and sad their pretty lisper. Doth fall, O! On the dead.—And maun I still retain my buff

and blacks and briars parted as it did, and she’d thaw to a coquette—so very sage, the proud of deeds and his veins in my arms his fear is civilisation was dancing rallying on his sweating Toies, your length pressed to look upon

life’s small rubs should to-night, old age should sing, though wise men at the fight, but no one can hate so much noise. The loves have lost and save;—a mixture of a more dear inhabitant below. Of coxcomb in pretend to their anchors weigh, then be

my deer; feed where might feet slipped in, your feigned not feel why time to the Blood is with the star-gazers, having through whom The Soul, although neither side some need not now despairs, till his Soul she fill’d as without which seems unkind, a heterogeneous

mass of dread. And all be sincere, was from his breath thy life. Cloud cover, dry where birds to sink, but love is fire. It is inside of all light concern, to indue. A Thread lost, disposing towers o’er the scorn of life and direful

god of war. That bosom never lost alone, to join his beauty may the Animal Desire. That daily shilling not to fear the scale. By chance ever things, or to hail the savage mind. At least may grant it was not marry, but

for my own king and clay endure not meat corruption gape or starch, as a thaw of bygone snow; it seems to fail, shall not blame. The magistrate. And the mystery lurks, in soups or sauces, or as sweetly swelling of a reed; the smart.

Like a bold-fac’d coward. We surely be more mouths without malice witty, and crystal, naked into barren ground up, like cedars round rippled by Arseniew, that which of a mother’s house, the roots the priest, to deem, as bear her arms

administering with Cossacques pursue him spread, which sometimes these lead to see her little green fields, or where each redeem a bridegroom though rarely— man’s make a short adieu. Which the branch breath, wherein I will win St. So—But Fate that

sad result of fire announced most foes. Or that a mere novice in the soldiery, a single spot exists—and where Lovers Each of snuff about with certain path to die, or like a ghost? And thus were two country rings which its master,

shall try my gain or lose. I by and by sea, while troops disbanded, and therefore says in about thirty years old such things extemporally decided to take them amid their backs, the rising him on his way; him self not free, and

my slander: grief for only to draw. The chase, whose helpless; all her friendless tears. This done, I’ll seek in my arms have told them selfe did silent&quake I would count eternity! All was pre-engaged in the Hall, maud with sauces Genevoises,

’ and Upharsin, ’ which men vainly decide: the times he scuds far off from morn till the days of stricter rule as far beyond times, repulsed by all agonies and perpetrated ere a world ends a bee circle just, and by any.

The bailey beareth the weeping, vseth. Why do the tables fall, that source of love, lov’d friends. Said the dead man there, as far as I cannot say; the times he made reply: yon clouds that want reason back, for killing silk or taffeta, which I

grieve me. Spite of friends his arms, white pills are animal awesome I would run into your though if I knew. When Adeline was white like some odd angle for now and the close our merit it by no means were wan and forever. I’ll make

all nigh dead, black umbrellas, cameras, and gone, and in pity or some figure bright star shooteth from the din widows of the light of the thorn, when faith is strength, the death, upon reflection, their hips: now doth she humbly doth insinuating

with Cossacques I don’t know the setting she is Christ’s sisters, kith or kin, as you troubled by a truce, begins to see the wind on the objects worthy perusal stand rebuked, like hail, to make of salmon, struggle, for war.

And say—I canna wrang thee so fair. Would they are two lovers closely fused as flower, ’ quoth he, if any love with

lewde lorrell, of Heauen to dreamed I stood upon orthography, so thou pause, for only son, if I had never know.

Thus warned, the fightingale’s complain. Treasure, hopelesse, hopeless are; and whining, and always without thine doth his

cheek, don Juan caught the Cyprian shore, with flowers so that flickered like a tired of all duns! His elder brother.

Once I sunbathed, and break my heart, as if force the woody hollow except when her mother’s crime, she hugged the other’

this sowre-breath’d unaware hath dropp’d down and there arms akimbo and lawless war are scarce allay’d, to-morrow see

again and the flagging him, fair, it was not—but t was hardly brooked the ways—or shrink from their home. Do just whate’er

the dead; would understand. On joy, to soldier, his breast down her arms adorned, he spoke the coward heart. Having that

had made her breast; and frets, but what he finds missing, knocks at my place and part; nay, I am still the world in a wound,

and let them climb the brides in woe, and whining, and prayed her honour’d, foul, or wrinkled-old, ill- nurtur’d, crooked grapples

cast, deprived of flight: long may be much to set a glazed Westphalian ham on, the place, her eyes full of riot, teaching

decrepit age to deserv’d a great harmes had taught the Cyprian lord, man, with whom? What tis pluck’st a flower, thus I

lead a life indeed.—Whereas, if th’ other that on the green the rich, enrich, he climb’d to where it was not

exactly followers decay: and rally back his Romans to forage; her face a slender strength obey’d, yet saw but

hears, in time not near him—she is discreet, for fear of pith and begins a wailing not much to plead; ’tis forced backward.

’ For Cymon’s back’d by water drink, loue to earth and pinned with his regard on the boat was to keep a pure daylight of

though I am talking while yet America! To chide, thy heart swelleth within its love, and his sight beguiled by

habit is in love letters without fame, like wind shall we seize our destiny controlled with and loued the Past. If those

lips, sweet channel of hope and cursed to the graves, as murder’d is: her vogue of single hand,—why, there was a trance girl is

yours ne’er seem’d anxious for what he had won. Like a toy globe, those rubies that close of the bust of Britain’s voice’s tone.

Bids him farewell, hear, mix’d with my songs thine own again. Such a fool within its rose-mesh pulled everywhere each doth grin

before I go hence, and even in slumber in fair perspective, ineffably, legitimately vile, that make

you may exclaim, would understood, he turning sun love taught. Do you remember? His test—thy body sways. On peace an’

rest my mind, how lovely, and their tumble, and in his bloody diuretic. I love, and the Harmonist embargo’d

marriage prevents must not in her excelling silent love breaketh from the seaman, tempest after you’ve risen.

Therefore, Love’s might her yoke did vanished bats, blinded of those who cannot keep it dancing fast and his face more ingenuous

wherewithall awake, it tore thee. Gazing I stood, nor could not lips my lips have possess and were cock’d. God

help us! Breathes my way to rhyme I never waxeth stronger: the children of the other night I am dead, statue

contents, as dry combustious matrons, while poor world drops the ladies’ robes they were his life. Your slight thinks he could say

after you’ve risen. And wit, the birds such poor tricks of the fear? Side by side, so oft bynempt. Winter station,—as women

of my hair were slain son, his who had’retreat, whom the Throne. Evince his sympathy poor birds, though with equal grace!

By reflection; what females are, to second striking? Still is: seldom seen no more, to shift their Eastern mountain from his destitute but, then their weighty pearl the Queen of love, ’—thus chides she shut eye where these he came not near him—she is

no sin certes, but may he render’d monstrous shapes of his opinions two, which her birth required. And where sometimes rather inspires my wish, and waters down. ’Tis forced forwards, in heaven’s consumptive, live on the day with hair over her

olive, and left hundred youngsters all asunder; the boar provoke the world may see both of weeds. As do that fears were old, I saye as some buried. For it’s jet, jet black, an’ it’s like fiends: the grass and by mistakes, too, he was! And shrugg’d—and

the boy that I am true Love, at one touch and yet bright and her and yes I said the spheres. That we may furnish. From becoming blow. In morning, from Adam’s simple truth, Lust likeness still she lies, whereas, if you can stick a needle

through the Turk’s resisteth, or like not of us, as Fate decreed. But Juan had a good, plain, round him glorious blame, with his column also seem’d anxious for help she sees; on several limb is double post and once doth feasting trade,

cobbling in the body keep it elastic keep it selfe doth extenuate; and entremets’ to piddle with the lust was my own, my sweet did for mutual flame. The mind and bone. When nature’s worst offence to wage your arms; ’ but when

he doth sit, long denied, but all these they seek, nor Jove, nor power each side, perfection’s jaws into that great convenient state is for morals: and beat, perfection know; I have made at length he condescend. Upon them, let it pass. Or

raise his children! Is thine in feature, for ever and cling up. They are the envenomed dart, a tickling pain that in me a little hope of gain, in this or that pierceth Allah! One universal sounds it pierced theme; the pain be

mine, or death, and the flame from the sheets, do you know dark is the dwelt in. All the word EVIL.— And Death must dig the light dissolve to die, or little kissable mouth with two pink, of no womanish complexion, and a gloomy morn, rose-

cheek’d Adonis’ breath which show’d what a warming features art, how she loue he bounds of shade, while earth. First of all her kind of prison’d poison. They had never ran away, except for it; smiling thee so indeed and something about the

undergo adulteration— professors of this instant, while theyr throtes. With art in mine are, must just; perverse it sometimes I touch some skill your name for Iphigene is you my mouth bepainted in a case with fullness. Belovëd,

have I seen flatterers, though he mournful hyacinth they propagation; which attire: his body as he that could say after thee of my head. And then yong, his purposes unsure, that lady with yours in the proceed upon

our mind in women; at the exhausts itself by pork, for a much less fight, despair. So soon grown old, at least nine tenth Muse, ten times may find somebody, some few who had follow the hand,—why, there some heir tongueless, houseless, house,

with cheese and fair and hold the soft condition. But here I begun. Lattice-lights he had? Whose silvery bell rang, not a lump of coal that desperate the stalking, but Phoebus lends me now at rest in the more informing a great harmes

had taught my heart. And hear history; but we at least nine, and finite variety, are false, and ice, and I think: but shepheards they red,—the granite? A turbot for dinner ready, but there he seems to faint heart, the married. Her every

turn: eyes, ears told: there Cymon soon removal of thee wrong— that’s the rules of futurity— guessing own. And hath more rage: so of contradict themselves known: and perhaps she’ll give, but I know; nor port they are topic’s tenderness, for one

that unaware hath dropp’d a princes tried in a way you’d changed her heart and death their eares hungrie of each pearl. As long station in the leftovers. No matter could not yet, with thieves trifles. But merely to view, fair, tall, his lips a-glow!

Bent of pity which stiffen’d her sobs do her indifference and in a grateful name; for such hopes and direful god

of fight. For serpent hisses; and in his heart, as mine, the world his rival bark directed from thence he stars for the

field, his power had lost heart beat once. Of myself, ’ thus she beats her honest man’s complaineth. It may be, myself, seek

nae main account them the bloody diuretic. By thy will, gude nicht and done, twere my mistress now I have other

eyes but each to each a fame, if bright, then standing her head, and the chill dark, and only way, my song is broken worlding

wail’d, and Echo there! Not recommends the people deem her forever! Filling light leaps in the life, make me wild!

On her Cheek, and ever, mine. Oh, that took them, wishing maid; like sleeping more than life, too sweet that hidden mystery.

How that straining others know, that weening hys whyte head was chalke, a shepheard much of the least so far as human race; incorporate theology in begging huge chains as

if just dropp’d as is the Prime Spiritual, although heedless of the sea, more famed for that his love, for the bleak air, and with sighs, the Cretans own the sickle, proving the duck pond,

rapping their flocks? A sigh or tear perhaps to other, a second sighs that my last vow comment makes me speaks poor hygiene and rigged with all the oldest princesses danced in a

grateful which prey. Was beggar and sappy plants to be terrible weighed: but the process doth urge released: but then the heavy as if upon a time machinist at his look

at lengthy lexicon of Muses skill, sayne most frail deeds and from me now without a well- proportion was infused, she wakes, is too-too cruelly! But politics. The wood; for

seeing arrive an aid so opportune as were heroes are waked her on the day over a heap of bodies lull’d in black. Breath, who seem’d it winna let a body be.

And so I sware to their return, and the pretty sake but what we loose, and tis yours to immure her dangled tear, I see whom the wise tomatoes. That soft-luring creature as pure and pall, so hath bounds, whose hair waits on feature, hue, or

muscle, and watered with polish’d as night-wanderers often navigate o’er they hold catkins of yore. For more than I have play’d deep for he’s much virgin face the wall. Their naval stories will help me, I admire my father all as

bad, for pity or some heavy heart is a signe of heavy tale, and life behind he would dance of plastic circumstance, see the world of zest. Where no bar; for that the inherent grenadiers. For what armour to indue. Except for mind

to mentions, slight to perplexed in his broad barbarian sounds of horror of blood, that teares did smile to see his lips at half its produced a Special Essence called, while o’er my dying of a swain did appear; he saw in such a

sadistic display they keep it selfe did so, never know. Soul, heart, and wins even men love with mutual comforter, without this counted with moons, dos’t shake as the pitch the starres, oft stombles and all the rest had fallen in either

eyes are grey and by mistakes, that dance-time. On the Shore to bring for existed but the scorn my low estate, the snow carefully everywhere, and Shírín, and all the cup as planned, and lay him love; and entremets’ to piddle with

wondrous brightest laces, with my dust, not I. I am the layers, and common case. Much higher title, not said thy edge should be sister shoulder bore it seems, had bribe. A vessel they restore; the rain, has such, so now as the nerves

and archangels’ trumps do not gross material soul believes it is happens next trees were heard the beauty as they dwell nor the view; and here he met me, fed with sage that what by her none can hate so much longer than hold by thee. In

giving to the silent stream, and I remains; long mute he stood long, too weak, for aye remove. No fountain, love-lacking vestals anywhere; the General, who had felt that’s put to such as she would be known; I should I go on, go on back,

it happen’d, threw up on it. Miss; one hour with an oath, may lend their pause and smile, and Counter- turn, and there: on them, and Timour-Mammon grindstone’s ceaseless and lief, and liued with her hair about how it then t is easier far, alas!

Nay, do not know, i’m half remember that is, no doubt he must his rider’s angry brow; but out, alack! Their genius standing bayonet and trembling rosy little hope remains, where it ever this I can’t imagination’s

grand mess or marriage should have waked her little head, nor blame: therefore I would not. If if is to love God, God acceptation shall we say, is like glow-worm shine, the punish all in masque of rest, why done with her venture that ourselves

are wafted from a furnace, your vows, your stomach’s not a Moslems perish’d in the poor wretch, to overshoot his rider’s and eye’s delight, so trembling not much to pleased, who is my sin and abandon hope; but if the infinite clods,

untrouble? In more dear inhabitant below. And yet the last he flung, as carelessly both wish and fight like a stock-holder in gross, and prodigal: the languishing decrepit age to the stroke surprise on one another night

I perceive the rest might of a true plain his ears upright, he makes me end where each tributary gazes; nor they enter, Cymon in his stealing in drouth, I feel the prince’s presentative mirth. But O! What are not all may be

much too deep in them was such a troubadour in search of glory, for no apparent realms? With sweets—for she never be than shedding their weight trail’d, by a dead heard; but not to myself in myself I can say or lost; and in the better,

youth untimely moan; like sluices, stopped her on the whirl was worst, did I,—to the world will wear thy tears. Till piper lads were done, I’ll bet Moscow to a coquette—so very short, howe’er this crimson, with humours such aberrations?

Once this king had twelve boats with an aspect beyond what I aspired to get my palms each night have dream—that he lies and eyelids pale. ’Ring generally no great round rippled by the fall to the Eternal sleeping overmuch; I wallow’d

nought on thine own sweetness and rue, that lends embracing he labouring him, fair, no more. Not that, like chaste descended to inquire if yet th’elixir got, shadows;—but think I made you up inside of myself. For unremember how

it was blue window-ledge on what may a heavy groan, but what is lost, for the scene I’ve stolen like a ball between two men who speak and rave, now back to your walks have dreamed that kind to have shown. Nothing affection of the neck, her rope.

, And all their martial stoicism, nought all ornament, itself, all be dead are born, the power of beauty slain,

sith in any chronicle of the main from all its country- farm them, and caught a glimpse of thy swinck, that Thou shalt have.

To muse in mine irregularity of religion, I must not dreamed that neighborhood, has come for ever and

his cheek, his breathed with him is beauty of bronze, and lay spill’d, a pure, beyond my days working the prey their power, see

now, who cause as ages upon her distortions, slightly: what dismal cry rings of her home, and People, and like taxi

girls in a year. Where the rising terrible enough for woman: but then it is but to rob thee on my

adventure: the fair may fit, eutropius of its consequence of my lifelong hope, I wish he would recollector would

run much less fight, and soon bereaves, and yet I love, the rudest brute that cruel to know eternity and to herds.

The moment o’er each passion labour more. And I said a cleft in a trembling sailors tried; as the dwarfing city’s taken, and still refuse they blunder’d the gentle springald

can’t, like taxi girls of sixteen bay, rage, rage against earth the second striking? Hugging a whiter hue than here remain with his field, that hour, as is my spite, to shield. Was from

a bullet of a heavy, dull, degenerate mind. The heart burnes; I cannot fly, yet flutter; and whining, and steak while great and body was forced forward. For man be there; there

thou daily knocked upon her she weary caitiff for his wealth, sae lang as I can’t stop, and mylde, well eyed, as Argus was, whom Ida hyll dyd beare, the world therefore say not sullen,

still believe it is hard hoof he wound the twelve enchanting always in a fit. Art so full of fear, as if it were true; too well have a natural joys as lightning—for his

lucky though this was quite worn out with grief, the guests dropped her desire? We lap a’ danc’d to his arms, white lake-blossoms. Her grave, ne’er seem’d to fire, my head of death nor be alive

again—again and no other, a superior grace: he wrung his kind reliev’d by and by proof they still less guessing with undaunted spouse away. The drying up to them

thus oddly. Bob Southey! Like the Briton must be since hap always without bustle; and wheedle a word! Or brigantine, or both, to take breath, whose sinewy neck in battle

set and a yellow-sailed boat comes from its pacifier. Just as I feel, across the infant animal awesome I would pave hell. My blisse, and a solution, so I write

letters are what I can first—my head again she spied the rank grass, and others tender boy, who did not love in their hospitality. Damon, who had felt the ill omens

of her should I be in motion I would not. Calling you might seek that air that you wrought? She price so high, there ensued to the prize the barbecue, you open always have twain.

Violin lasts in the Skein of Joy. But her was about thy steed, and raw in fields, and sings, imperiously, I feel their due rewardeth. The loves me his eye upon Euphelia’s

toilet lay; when Cymon’s back into purgatory to let them sing in through in the dialogue, and learn? Bloodless fear, as if by the gate: dismissed was driven before

I go hence, know that she did fall, come home returns: like the spheres. First just; perhaps may find, happy to have that’s the ethereal state, but Sorrow and only twelve enchant this.

You blame me too, yet sometimes thinking how her eye: yes; and in the more infantine imposed not ask a kiss and some

heir tongue would not brought upon it and the same strangeness, staring wind upon immediate death-disgorging Nature

giveth all she had: his bow-back he hath he became like a fly, in a queer sort of dread of death. Waiting chain it

wearies all as bad, for thee within. But these force, when he learns to-day: her two blue with forward, like a tired childish

error, as the timorous yelping of Salt, and do not stir by night, for whom it shall place of his attract our

green bayonets which says, we are ashes, what there. Or some who had fallen in evil gift. Free of my hart; stellas

selfe might hold to mar the setting moon. And I think of, if I had never did bow, who conquers when therein, with sullen

wind will amiably err, and be then my lady is, doth flash and spirit works of the night or dim the gate

alone, nor power, nor t’ other threat for rays of old and images of life. Ruth forgive the way. Not let any

man to be by bigots shaken down, and legs are cast on the safest: at a distant woe, as striving as ladders

their teeth but none could never fountain on which things long as the dead the gaze whate’er it may not the blood stirr’d or

like many masters, blind to worth destroy, or cast a helpless may befallen worship far more to die, or conquerors,

his like a hawk, an’ it winna let a body but a world slowly, Eden lips uncurled and smooth pebbles

gainst some groaning them red and silly lamb that sitting hye, vpon them amid the sighed to snatch’d with new meaning we were

in his Bounty drown’d. Their eares hungrie of each part in love, and full of care one hour mine; pollutes the earth is he; he

barks, my soul of the weary caitiff for his Stand, I say’? I and therefore fiction. Courage does not of the daughter,

sometimes, mysteriously advisedly she marketh: even so she kissed the cause man in all that did you ever

so little, mere conquests farther hath befall some odd mistaken, and still, and strong, this reede is ryfe, that usual

paragon, an only not always bright, the General Lascy, but not rise: to make too much higher value on it.

#poetry #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Markov chains #Markov chain length: 7 #155 texts #ballad sequence

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lastchancevillagegreen · 4 months

Text

Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2023

I read 80 books this year and throughout the year I had three contenders for what I thought was the best book read. And then it dawned on me, there was only one real choice. This year, as I have done many years in the past, I grouped more than one book together by the same author for Best Book of The Year. And that can only mean one person: Émile Zola.

The Assommoir Émile Zola (1877)

The Masterpiece Émile Zola (1886)

La Bête Humaine Émile Zola (1890)

Germinal Émile Zola (1885)

Earth Émile Zola (1887)

La Débâcle Émile Zola (1892)

Without going overboard on my descriptor Zola wrote 20 books known as the Rougon-Mcquart series which documents these two families over five generations and how mental illness and alcoholism effect their bloodline. There is no way I could distinguish a ranking for these six Zola novels, all great, all devastating and all memorable. In The Assommoir we see how alcoholism and poverty destroy the hard working Gervase, a woman who owns a laundry service. In The Masterpiece, Gervase’s son Claude foregoes everything to become a painter and create the ultimate work of art. Zola based this novel on his friendship with Paul Cezanne. When Cezanne read the novel, he never spoke to Zola again. La Bête Humaine concerns railroad workers and mixes jealousy with violence. In the opening scene the heroine Sverine is brutally beaten and raped by her husband. It only gets worse from that point: murder, pedophilia, and a hero who loves his train (a major character in the book). Germinal concerns the coal mining strike in France in the late 1800s and the subsequent riots that saw many miners gunned down by police. Were I to choose one novel to represent Zola, this would be the one. Incredibly violent (what the striking mining women do to a store owner who used them sexually in exchange for food is nothing you will ever forget) yet heartbreaking in its depiction of starvation, disease and illness (not to mention Zola’s compassion for the horse stuck in the mines for a decade) Germinal is one of the great works of classic literature. Earth deals with itinerant farmers and if you thought Zola might relax his violence and adore the land, you’d be wrong. However, one of Zola’s funniest characters is in this book: a drunkard named Jesus Christ who schemes to steal his father’s hidden wealth. And lastly, La Débâcle Zola’s longest novel, takes us onto the battlefield depicting the Prussian-Franco war in 1870 in which France was routed and Paris literally burns to the ground. More violence, but heartbreaking depictions of death abound. When Zola takes us inside a hospital and begins detailing amputations and other necessary surgeries, you’ll be excused if you grow woozy from the details. I’ve read mountains of classic literature from just about any author you care to name, but I’ve never encountered anything as powerful as Émile Zola’s writing.

This year, I’m ranking my Top Ten favorite reads, which I’ve never done before.

The Bee Sting Paul Murray (2023)

Dickie and Imelda’s marriage is falling apart as Dickie’s car dealership is crashing. Dickie is certain it all has to do with that bee sting his wife suffered on the day of their wedding (it got caught under her bridal veil). Their children PJ and Cass are headed for disaster as well. Can any one of the Barnes family be saved and come out on top? Impossibly funny and painfully tragic this book impressed me so much I immediately went out and bought all of Murray’s other novels. And no, the 200 pages without any punctuation did not bother me one iota. And never read a review of this book: every review I’ve read details major spoilers.

Notre-Dame de Paris Victor Hugo (1831)

Most all of us know this book by the title of the movie: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. But if you have only seen the movie (either film with Lon Chaney or Charles Laughton) be aware the movies have sanitized the book, there are no happy endings, unless you are Quasimodo (whose name is a religious term, look it up) and even his ending is both heartbreaking and pathetic.

The Prodigal Women Nancy Hale (1942)

When this book came out in 1942 it spent 23 weeks on the NYT’s best-seller list. Hale was wildly popular, wrote eight novels and was one of the most published writers in The New Yorker. Today, she is largely forgotten. This novel, a massive 900 pages, follows three women from childhood to adulthood. Hale writes clearly about how love serves only to make a mess of people’s lives and then she proceeds to demonstrate that through the loves and marriages of her three main, well defined female characters whom she follows from childhood to adulthood. I polished this novel off quickly and I believe I could have read another 1000 pages about these three women.

Tender Is The Flesh Augstina Bazterrica (2017/ 2020 Translation by Sarah Moses)

I’m not much into horror fiction, but I whipped through this novel in two days. When a virus kills off all the animals, what can a meat eating world do? Well, the answer becomes immigrants. Suddenly countries welcome them and then butcher them for meat. And if that sounds insane, I’m being kind. This book is the most savage thing I’ve read (and I’ve read 20 Émile Zola novels). Brutal and violent with hints of jet black humor which only makes this even more creepy. And the biggest takeaway is morality flies out the window when...no, no spoilers here.

Right By My Side David Haynes (1993)

Marshall Field Finney is miserable. His mother Rose has walked out of his life and left him with his father Big Sam, a garbage man who Marshall feels little affinity for. Marshall didn’t much care for his mother either, but she was better than Big Sam. Marshall’s best friends are Artie, who is in Special Ed and Todd, a PWT (Poor White Trash). Nothing in poor Marshall’s life goes how he dreamed it would go and that makes it that much funnier. David Haynes has written one of the great coming of age novels and it deserves reappraisal. It shouldn’t matter that Marshall is black, his troubles (and solutions) are universal and laugh out loud funny.

Main Street Sinclair Lewis (1920)

Carol Milford is a bright, articulate college graduate who loves art, theatre and literature. When she marries a doctor who whisks her away to Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, she stands out and not in a good way. People don’t like her and her college degree nor do they understand her love for the arts. Sinclair Lewis delivers a modern woman and it was a safe bet in 1920 people were shocked by just how modern Carol Milford was. This take down of small town living is brilliant, funny and frustrating. In the space of just two books Sinclair Lewis is now a favorite (It Can’t Happen Here made my Top ten last year). Most of his works are sadly out of print and he is, despite the era, one of our most modern writers.

Killers of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and The Birth of The FBI David Grann (2017)

I read this before I saw the Scorsese film. The awareness of who exactly is behind the murders is not revealed right off the start as it was in the film. That grand revelation is saved for close to the end and it is a shocker. But here’s an even bigger shocker: the author does a 100 page coda in which he reveals that there were hundreds of other Osage Indians murdered for their oil rights, not just the family who the book (and movie) focus on.

In A Lonely Place Dorothy B Hughes (1947)

The Expendable Man Dorothy B Hughes (1963)

I’m not much of a mystery fan but these two novels by Dorothy B Hughes made me so excited that I couldn’t read them fast enough. The first book was eventually made into a film starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame. Suffice it to say, it is way different from the novel (Hughes thought the film was excellent even if it was 95% different from the book). The Expendable Man carries a twist that, as Eddie Muller said on a TCM promo about his favorite mystery writers, cannot be filmed. I had to read the book to understand that. Muller was right, that twist will color your take on this novel and make you crazy with worry.

#10

A Frozen Woman Annie Ernaux (1981)

A Woman’s Story Annie Ernaux (1988)

Exteriors Annie Ernaux (1993)

Happening Annie Ernaux (2000)

The Years Annie Ernaux (2008)

Annie Ernaux is a French author who is called a memoirist, a term new to me until I read her work. She writes about herself and her memories of her family. She lays herself bare for everyone to see and sometimes I was often embarrassed for her, her honesty is that brutal. And she never apologies for who she is. In A Frozen Woman she condemns motherhood as completely unfulfilling, a statement that is almost unheard of out loud. In A Woman’s Story she documents her mother’s decline and eventual death. Exteriors sees Ernuax document the things we see daily that are meaningless and gives them the vibrancy they deserve. Happening documents her abortion, a harrowing read that lays bare why banning abortion is a horrid crime against women. The Years sees her document the march of time and all the things that have happened to our world since Ernaux was born. She makes the case that it is all meaningless and completely unimportant. Most of her books are in the range of 100 pages and demand to be read in one sitting. Ernuax is astonishing.

Spine that is Missing In Action is Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, the cover seen below. (Since The New York Times called this one of their Best Books of the Year (and quoted yours truly about it) everyone wants to read this book. I had hoped to showcase that big spine because this is an 800 page book.)

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psdontgetdegrees · 1 year

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We are so close, I can feel it!!! | Week 9: Gaming communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming.

This is our second last week of summaries, and it's been pretty great. I’ve learnt a lot about social media and the intricacies of how they work and the users that use them. It’s been great to have a diverse range of ideas and opinions being presented. This week’s topic is more up my alley however, I'm quite involved in many online gaming communities so it should be easy to explain and summarize!

This week’s reading is on Gaming communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming.

The game making community in Melbourne has been fostered for years, with events like Melbourne International Games Week showing us how important gaming can be to the local community here in Australia (Keogh, 2021). The early days of indie gaming is present right here in our backyard, where someday, this “foundation” that we have created here in Melbourne could somewhat cause an “[emergence]” in prominence in the “formalized video game industry” (Keogh, 2021). Put simply, Melbourne game studios have always strived to break out of their little corner of the world, aiming to make something big, and with all the constant support they are receiving, we could see a new wave of up and coming developers coming out of Melbourne. Recently, a large amount of success has come to the game developer “House House” for their simple and new game “Untitled Goose Game” where their aim is to “ruin everyone’s day”(De Souza, 2021). People from all around the world have started to recognize Melbourne as a game making gem, with studios such as PlaySide who are paving the way for smaller, more niche creators to make a name for themselves. “[releasing] over 50+ titles across Mobile, PC, VR, AR, and now moving into consoles”, PlaySide has begun to impress with its work on “Warcraft 3:Reforged”, a classic for all retro gamers.

Speaking of, let's talk about communities. Gaming communities have been around since the dawn of gaming itself. From the humble Beginnings of Pong by Atari (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 2023), to Super Mario Brothers in 1983 to the massively successful Valorant by Riot Games, gaming has always encompassed community. Pong, for example, was best played with 2. As YouTuber SkyminSlash explains, playground rumors were the beginning of a lot of this generation's experiences with gaming communities (SkyminSlash 2020). They go on to explain that there were “secrets” that came from misconceptions and theories kids would create in the playground and talk to all their friends about it (SkyminSlash 2020). The Pokemon games have always been a great example of “playground rumors'' for me and many other games my age. This has now evolved to discord servers containing millions of fans, twitch gaming channels like “League of Legends” with a massive “104,419,927 watch hours” (TwitchMetrics 2023). There are people worldwide with the ability to watch anyone do anything. These fans also have the ability to fund a streamer's career and pay for the entertainment that they like to watch through donations.

More and more people are playing games and they are playing them together each and everyday. Gaming has become a worldwide phenomenon and typical household necessity. Gaming as a whole, is “booming” (Read, 2022) and sees no sign of slowing down.

References

Keogh, B 2021, “The Melbourne indie game scenes: Value regimes in localized game development”, Independent video games : cultures, networks, techniques and politics, P Ruffino (ed.),, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London, pp.209-222

De Souza, N 2021, “10 Magnificent Games Made In Melbourne To Keep You Happily Busy”, Secret Melbourne, 23 August, viewed 5 May

<https://secretmelbourne.com/best-games-melbourne/>

Playside, 2023, “Careers”, Playside, Viewed 5 May <https://www.playsidestudios.com/careers>

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 2023, “Pong”, Britannica, February 17, Viewed 5 May <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pong>

SkyminSlash 2020, “The Lost Art of Video Game Playground Rumors”, YouTube, November 30, Viewed 5 May <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fkjIGAI6HU>

TwitchMetrics 2023, “The Most Watched Games on Twitch, May 2023”, TwitchMetrics, viewed 5 may <https://www.twitchmetrics.net/games/viewership>

Read, S 2022, “Gaming is booming and is expected to keep growing. This chart tells you all you need to know”, World Economic Forum, 28 July, Viewed 5 May <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/gaming-pandemic-lockdowns-pwc-growth/>

#digital media #entertainment media #lost media #media #gaming #horror games #tabletop games #games #fighting games #retro games #video games #pc games #videogame #ps4

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kth1 · 2 years

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Can you do it too! If you could ship your moots with any BTS member (their bias or not) what would the ships be? Also give us a small glimpse into how their relationship would look like!

hi, yes. whoever you are, you think you are cleaver huh? but what you didn't know is that i am a jealous bean. you want my mutuals paired with bts members? they can't have my mutuals. so im twisting your game! to labeling a few mutuals SHIPPED WITH ME!!!

let's begin: (disclaimer: i'm just going off of the recent people i have been interacting with within like the past few days or so. i can't mention all my mutuals and i hope you understand)

second disclaimer: this is just fun and games, please don't take this to heart if i come off strong

maggie x @jeonjcngkook relationship: a joking relationship for sure. i'd be the first to throw the pillow at jords to either get her attention or to tell her im mad at something. she'd be the one who tries to let me feel things out yet i want to show her how to stop feeling. we are very water and fire based and together we make the sexiest smoke. now we're sweating over the stove trying to make the best man n cheese dinner.

maggie x @kithtaehyung relationship: ryen is either me or is completely opposite. she challenges my very existence and i have no fear in squaring up with her. we'd equally start a riot and completely forget about it the next minute. i would say our relationship is pretty chaotic. but together i think we would be very deadly if that chaotic nature was directed on an innocent bystander.

maggie x @jeonsweetpea relationship: dawn is the "hi honey i am home!" type of gal to which she would need to find me in my hermit cave doing absolutely nothing day in and day out. dawn makes the money in this relationship. she'd check in on me and on the special occasion i will please her with a fancy ass dinner out of the blue and surprise her with a shower of gifts to show my appreciation.

maggie x @taee relationship: i feel like julia and i (though i dont know you as much) would have a lot of "no you have it!" scenarios. we're giving, but are we giving with purpose or we nervous on keeping what we are trying to give? does that make sense? "there's on donut left." "ok you can have it." "no, im letting you know there's one so you can have it."

maggie x @taegularities relationship: this relationship with rid would be like "i can find where you are soft and use it against you." would we be nice to another in front of everyone? ofc. behind closed doors? 1000% there has been 3 diabolical plans set in stone to trap one of us.

maggie x @min-boongie relationship: reka is and continues to be someone i have offered my hand AND taken my hand back. we have a push and pull relationship and just depends on our mood. do we wanna talk, nah. but when we do, then we talk. complimentary pats on the back, or ass. but i think both reka and i would say the most ridiculous things to another during intimate times.

maggie x @joontopia relationship: jess is a complete flirt but enjoys my fiery spirit. I'd have to constantly scold her for bringing back some random hoehoe while she'd plead saying "it's not my fault." however, both her and i would synergize immediately to be flirts together if we NEED to. say less. we are show-offs if you challenge us. bet.

maggie x @ressjeon relationship: i will not share my belongings with her if she stays away for too long. i am exhausted by miss yannie and her need to talk about 500+ topics in a matter of an hour. this relationship would turn me so dormant; i have completely crawled back inside my shell and i accept her using my social meter for herself.

#ask #ok im tired

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katsukisbimbo · 4 years

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DDAENG

✯ pairing: hawks x reader

✯ genre: FLUFFYYDS!!

✯ summary: fan! hawks meeting his newly debuted idol crush y/n at a fansign!

✯wordcount: 2.1k+

✯warning: just swearing and hawks being thirsty <3

✯ note: this literallt came to me because i was trying to turn @hoodtoshi into a bts stan (lowkey succeeded) and i was jus like yea, thirsty hawks

-ˏ͛⑅　‧̥̥͙‧̥̥ ̥ ̮ ̥ ⊹ ‧̫‧ ⊹ ̥ ̮ ̥ ‧̥̥‧̥̥͙　⑅ˏ͛--ˏ͛⑅　‧̥̥͙‧̥̥ ̥ ̮ ̥ ⊹ ‧̫‧ ⊹ ̥ ̮ ̥ ‧̥̥‧̥̥͙　⑅ˏ͛--ˏ͛⑅　‧̥̥͙‧̥̥

- you were nervous

- this was your first fan meet after all,, but you were still nervous

- you were only 19 and had already debuted!!

- that didn’t happen to just anyone!!

- you worked super hard to get to where you are today!! everyone knew that!!

- you sighed as your make-up artist continued to paint your lips a dark red colour

- you honestly didn’t look like yourself, but this was to keep up the whole idol image i guess

- “jinhee, how many people are outside? i’m sure only two people came to see me..” you pouted, resulting in your make-up artist to smack your cheek lightly

- “dOn’t say that you dummy! i’m sure a lot of people came to see you!” she scolded, wiping off the excess makeup on a towel

- “now get out, you’re done”

- “i don’t wanna”

- she raised a newspaper and flexed, ready to beat the fuck out of you if she heard another whisper of self-deprecation from you

- “fine! i’m going!” you grumbled, pouting at oncoming soreness of your feet from your heels

- why did idols have to wear heels anyway?

- okay no, you knew why, but sTill!! they sucked!

- you smiled as you saw the buffet table

- one little snack wouldn’t hurt

- >:)

- “keigo stop fuckign puSHING”

- “im so EXCITED!! i’m meeting THE y/n you SLUTBAG!!” keigo yelled as he shook his companion

- dabi sometimes questioned why he was still friends with keigo

- “i SEE that you asshole”

- keigo took this opportunity to punch dabi in the arm, causing dabi to retaliate, causing kEigo to retaliate, causing dAb-

- okay so

- “i’ve been in love with her ever since she debuted!! and she debuted ALONE!! a whole solo artist!! the talent!! the beauty!! i’m in love!!”

- dabi raised a brow at his friend

- “didn’t you tweet about wanting to ‘put a baby inside of her’?”

- keigo felt his cheeks heat up at the possibility of you seeing his indecent tweets about you

- what if you had seen? what if you think he’s a creep? what if you already hated him??

- keigo felt his anxiety creep onto his shoulders as he continued to overthink, not realizing that they were already next to go in

- ruh roh raggy

- keigo didn’t know anything BUT anxiety

- rip keigo we’ll miss you big daddy :,(

- “please come in, please don’t shout”

- whO was shouting?? nobody was shouting

- keigo wasn’t gonna shout

- as keigo was about to shout, he felt himself be silenced by his partner

- all keigo could feel was betrayal

- “calm down you hot dog, you’re going to TALK to her in person jfc. you can tell her how much you want to father her children then”

- it was almost time and you were STILL at the food table

- you saw a small intern approach you with an uneasy look on her face

- she was for sure about to reprimand you

- “m-ms. y/n,, we have to go now!” she stuttered

- she was sO! cute you just couldn’t say no

- so you decided to just sneak a few bags of chips under your skirt before smiling and quickly following her

- you made your way to the stage, peeking behind the curtains

- you saw a huge crowd of people, mostly males, but one man who sat near the front caught your eye

- he had bright yellow eyes with matching blond hair, even wearing some eyeliner

- the unknown male looked absolutely delectable

- he made you bark a little tbh

- you took a deep breath before you were pushed by your manager on the stage, cheers suddenly reaching your ears as your fans confessed their love for you

- quit shamelessly might you add

- you blushed as you watched the cute blond-haired man cup his hands around his mouth and yell—

- “I LOVE YOU Y/N! IM YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN!” he yelled, gaining the attention of everyone in the room

- soon everyone started to yell that they were your biggest fan and that the blond man could never even compare

- but the man had nothing but a satisfied smirk plastered on his handsome face

- did he enjoy starting riots?

- you sat on the chair, placing your hands on top of the table

- this was a small table ngl

- luckily there was a sheet on the table, hiding your nervously bouncing legs

- just imagine watching a fancam of you bouncing your leg

- people would still thirst for that

- anyway

- “thank you guys for coming! i’m so excited to meet you all!” you started, smiling at the large number of people

- “you guys can ask me questions or some things? i don’t know?” you laughed, feeling slightly awkward

- you didn’t know how to be a person

- “can you do a dance for us!!” a young boy, about the age of 7 yelled, jumping up and down in front of his seat

- “what dance?” you queried, raising your brow in curiosity

- “move by taemin!!” he cheered, immediately dancing

- you laughed at his adorable actions

- you were totally gonna dance for him!

- you got up as the music started to play in the background, moving to the side of the table and sensually moving to the beat while the audience watched intently

- you carefully moved your hips, hitting all the right beats

- this wasn’t any different than dancing in front of the camera people, plus you had to get used to an audience

- it also wasn’t any different from how you had to dance to kpop songs from when you were younger for your family!!

- (no, literally. the amount of times i had to dance to 2NE1’s i am the best, girls generation’s gee, and wonder girls’ nobody. the dances are engraved in my head. 6 year old giri had to dance or else)

- as the song faded out, you held your pose before bowing, smiling at the little boy who continued to hype you up

- “holy fuck.. dabi that was hot” hawks whispered, tightening his grip around his friends sleeve

- “jeez kei, ease up a bit” dabi complained, prying his friends hand off of him

- “oh my god she’s such a great dancer, do you think she’ll like me if i learn how to dance too?” he questioned, grabbing his friend by the front of his shirt, pissing dabi off once more

- “no. not if you don’t stop being a fuckinf weirdo”

- hawks pouted

- dabi grinned

- how cruel

- “does anyone else have a request?”

- “WAP!!” a number of people yelled, resulting in your face heating up

- how would they suggest such a lewd dance!

- especially when there were children here!

- “haha! that doesn’t seem very appropriate!” you laughed it off, trying your best to mask your uncomfortableness

- hopefully this would end soon

- “no! can you dance to gashina please!” a girl yelled, catching your attention

- hm, gashina was actually a very good suggestion

- you could do this! you could be as great as sunmi!

- okay maybe no. sunmi was a god <3

- you did the routine, catching the eyes and the hearts of the audience

- “fuck i think i’m in love dabi” hawks whined, clutching his chest

- he had a lovesick expression plastered on his face

- he was totally whipped for you, no doubt about it

- before you knew it, it was time for the fans to have a minute to speak to you and for them to get their albums signed!

- you had recently debuted with your album, dawn in tokyo

- you had taken inspiration from the time where you had left your hotel at dawn and walked around the streets of tokyo, sitting near a bridge and writing lyrics for some of the songs in the album

- hence the name of the album

- most of your album was written in japan

- hawks felt himself get more excited as he came closer to you, holding tightly to the fabric of his friends jacket, which wouldn’t surely gotten him slapped if you weren’t so near

- before he knew it, he was already next in line, dabi already sitting in front of your figure while holding your soft, delicate looking hand in his large ugly ones

- this made hawks’ chest bubble with jealousy

- >:(

- sure, you had a large fan base, but it still hurt to see people touch you the way he wanted to

- it was now his turn, he walked up the stairs with his wobbly knees, wanting to just sit and be near you

- he knew that you would be able to calm his nerves, or make him spontaneously combust

- “hey! i’m y/n! nice to meet you!” you smiled, out-stretching your hand to him, offering to place your hand in his own

- he swiftly, but gently grasped your hand, before placing it on his cheek, letting you hold the soft chub of his cheek

- no fan had been this brave to do this. it was quite surprising to be honest

- he wasn’t breaking any rules so you decided to fuck it and go with it

- you placed both your hands on his cheeks, slightly squishing them together, causing him to adorably pout

- “dash not nishe” he mumbled, brows furrowing

- you laughed before letting go of his face, bringing your hands back to your side of the table

- “you’re so cute! can i sign your album for you?” you smiled, tilting your head to the side

- hawks just..dieded

- mans said peace out

- your beauty was incomprehensible

- phew, he had to get his shit together! he was trying to impress u! he wanted to be the mc in a wattpad story

- we all wanna be y/n

- anywayss

- “sure dove! u can make it out to keigo, u can put your number in it too ;)” he winked

- KDNDHSK

- DID HE—

- DID HE JUST ASK FOR YOUR NUMBER

- LIKE—

- nobody:

- y/n: i’m not gon do it girl.. i’m just thinking about it

- “ah! sorry cutie! i’m not allowed to share my number :333”

- you tried to laugh as you died inside

- he smiled, before placing a kiss on your fingertips

- “don’t worry dove,i respect that” he winked

- BARK BARK

- “i have some gifts for you!” he announced, placing the huge paper bag on top of the table

- he first pulled out your favourite snack before handing it to you

- how did he get these??

- omg

- then, he brought out a bottle of perfume, and a new song writing notebook!

- this was great!!

- “oh my gosh! keigo! you’re too sweet” you cooed,

- this was a lot

- “i also have something else.. would you wear this flower crown for me and do some fan-service?” he queried

- of course you would!

- you nodded before placing the flower crown on top of your head

- “what do you want me to say?”

- “say.. i’ll be a good dove for hawks. is that okay?” he smirked, tracing small circles into the palm of your hands

- w-wHAT

- was this legal

- your managers were literally ignoring you—

- “o-oh! sure! uhm-“

- god you were going to regret this

- “i-i’ll be a good dove for hawks!” you whimpered, showing off your practiced aegyo

- “ahhh! my heart!” he gasped, dramatically clutching his chest

- “excuse me, we need the next fan to come up” you manager tapped the both of your arms

- you nodded before smiling at hawks and waving goodbye

- you were going to miss him :((

- ig it just wasn’t meant to be

- the night you had gotten home, you decided to go through your gifts

- you were particularly interested in the gift you had gotten from the blond man

- it was really sweet of him to get you a notebook

- the moment you had opened it, you had noticed that something was written on the first page

- ‘xxx-xxx-xxxx call me pretty girl <3’

- he was a bold onealright

- you were contemplating on actually calling him

- he could leak your number!

- well, you could just wait for him to speak

- fuck it

- you dialed the number on your phone and waited as it rang

- “hello?”

- “i-is this keigo?”

- “hey dove, i’m glad you called”

- y/n: i did it :33

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jaskierswolf · 3 years

Text

The White Wolf (2/3)

Previous - Shifter!verse

Geraskier - 2.1k

TW: blood, animal death

______

Geralt gnawed at the venison shank that he gripped between his paws. Geralt had stalked a doe with ease through the forest, combining his tracker skills as a witcher and his new wolf senses. Taking the prey down had been harder. He was used to fighting with swords not his teeth and he’d tripped over his paws more than once trying to pounce but eventually dinner had been his. He tried not to think about the raw meat he was consuming but the more human part of his mind still recoiled as he tore the carcass to shreds with his teeth. He was hungry though. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast and even then it hadn’t been much.

His ears twitched as he heard a twig break nearby. He stared into the darkness of the trees, and sure enough the sound of Jaskier’s endless chatter floated through the air and Geralt could smell his honied chamomile scent from where he was resting. Geralt huffed and went back to his dinner. Jaskier would see to Roach, there was fuck all Geralt could do to help.

Jaskier burst into camp wearing one of his many doublets, judging by the shapes of the fabric it was one of his dark blue ones but for Geralt, colour was but a distant memory. Unfortunately, his hearing had only gotten better. Jaskier was humming away as he always did, until the moment he saw Geralt. Jaskier squinted at him in the darkness.

“Is that… blood?”

Geralt barked and looked over at the rest of the carcass, hoping Jask could see it in the darkness. To this surprise, Jaskier just started laughing.

“Oh wow, Geralt. It didn’t take you long to get the hang of this did it?”

Geralt let out a low growl.

“Oi, none of that. It’s a compliment!” Jaskier knelt in front of him and buried his face in Geralt’s fur.

Geralt could feel Jaskier’s fingers grip into his fur. It felt… not unpleasant, similar to how it felt when Jaskier brushed his hair. He could see why Jaskier enjoyed it so much. Geralt bumped his head against Jaskier’s and nipped at his ear.

“I missed you too, dear heart.” Jaskier kissed his nose and then began to strip off his clothes.

Geralt gave a short quick bark and tilted his head.

“I’m hungry,” Jaskier whined. “but I am not eating that as a human, my stomach wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Geralt snorted. Jaskier’s explanation made sense. He’d never really thought about it before. Jaskier tended to just steal from Geralt’s plate when he was in animal form, although Geralt couldn’t help but remember how Jaskier had gobbled down an entire deer in one bite when he’d shifted into a dragon. He certainly wouldn’t manage that as a human, Jaskier barely finished his own plate of food when he was human.

Once Jaskier clothes were tucked into Roach’s bags and the mare was safely tied to a nearby tree, he shifted. Geralt couldn’t see the dark coppery colour of his fur but he could picture it clearly in his mind along with Jaskier’s never-changing blue eyes.

Jaskier barked happily as he landed on four paws and he pounced at Geralt. Geralt snarled as he was pushed over onto his back and Jaskier bit at his ears. Geralt tried to bat Jaskier away but the shifter was more practiced with his wolf form and Geralt was still struggling to get control of all four paws. He huffed as Jaskier’s collapsed on top of him with a howl.

Geralt howled back before he could stop himself then snapped his jaw shut with an audible clack of teeth. He snarled at Jaskier who had rolled off him onto his back and was yapping away in a sort of strange laugh. Geralt snorted and went back to his dinner, turning his back on the other wolf. Jaskier whined and trotted over to him but Geralt kept turning away. If Jaskier wanted to laugh at his misery then he could find his own deer to eat. Jaskier let another long pitiful whine and nudged Geralt’s head with his muzzle.

When Geralt looked over at him Jaskier was doing his best wolfy version of a pout, his eyes were wide and he looked miserable. Even in this form Geralt couldn’t say no to his mate. He nodded towards the rest of the meat. Jaskier barked and wagged his tail as he dug into his dinner. Geralt watched Jaskier for a few minutes, feeling oddly satisfied that he had managed to provide for them both. It had been his hunt, his kill.

The wolf instincts were different. He was still him, and he still felt human enough but there was a calmness to being a wolf that he hadn’t anticipated. It didn’t matter about coin, or lodgings, or monsters. He could just… exist. They ate in silence until they’d both had their fill, the rest of the carcass would be taken by scavengers once they’d abandoned it but it was now completely dark and the day had been long. Geralt curled up on the ground with a heavy sigh. Jaskier flopped down next to him, using his back at a pillow and wrapping his tail around Geralt’s front paws. Geralt nudged Jaskier’s back legs with his nose and let out a soft whine.

Before long they were both snoring soundly in the forest.

___________

When Jaskier woke up he was still in wolf form. It was rare for him not to change forms in his sleep. More often than not we went to bed in one form and woke up in another but Geralt’s presence as a wolf seemed to have stabilised his own instincts to shift. He’d learnt more about his shifting in the last few hours than he had in his lifetime. Even the books in Vesemir’s vast library had yielded nothing but Jaskier now knew deep down that shifters were meant to live in packs. He’d guessed that whatever form the pack leader took would dictate the forms of the others.

Part of him wondered if he’d ever met any shifters and just hadn’t managed to recognise them and he was sure no one would ever suspect a lone shifter. He couldn’t help the howl that tore from him at the break of dawn. He missed Geralt’s family. He missed his pack. They’d met up over winter but it was now nearly summer and he was so alone. Only he wasn’t alone. Geralt joined in with his howl. Jaskier cut himself off and stared at Geralt. Geralt slowly stopped his own howl and then tilted his head at Jaskier. Jaskier barked and bounded over to Geralt, licking and mouthing at his snout.

Geralt let out a low growl and bit Jaskier on the ear. He rolled over and wagged his tail before finally shifting back to human. He gazed up at Geralt his a dopey fond smile and laughed as the wolf licked his face. He buried his fingers in Geralt’s fur. “Now as adorable as you are, my darling. Shall we try and find another mage?”

Geralt nodded and butted their heads together.

“Any ideas on where to start, dear witcher?”

Geralt nodded again.

“Excellent! Let me get dressed and see to Roach, then we’ll get going, alright love?”

Geralt’s ear flicked and Jaskier took that as a yes.

___________

The Temple of Melitele had only been a few days away from the Sorcerers crumbling tower. Jaskier spent his nights as a wolf beside Geralt and his days as a human so he could keep an eye of Roach. Roach was impressively not fazed in the slightest by Geralt’s new canine look. She even seemed to recognise that the wolf was her witcher. Jaskier supposed travelling with a shifter for two years had helped. Jaskier hadn’t been sure where they were travelling until Geralt had insistently tugged at his hand, pulling him through the gates of the temple.

Nenneke had been fiercely protective of her students when Jaskier nervously approached the temple building with a fucking ginormous wolf by his side but Geralt had just laid down on the ground and wagged his tail as Nenneke stared down at him.

“Geralt of Rivia?” Nenneke asked the wolf with her hands crossed in front of her chest.

Geralt nodded.

“And you are?” Nenneke turned to Jaskier.

“Jaskier. I’m Geralt’s friend,” Geralt let out a low growl. “and partner.” He amended and scratched Geralt behind the ears. “We’re looking for a mage or sorcerer or someone who can help with umm… well.” He gestured at Geralt.

“There are no mages here, but I might know someone who will be able to help you with your predicament. How long has he been like this?”

Jaskier frowned as he counted back the days. “Four days?” He glanced at Geralt who gave a quick nod. “Four days.”

“And he still seems like himself?”

Jaskier’s fingers gently tugged at Geralt’s fur as he thought. “Yeah, I think so. He still grumbles when I talk too much, except I know he’s not really mad because he wags his tail!”

Geralt gave a low growl but sure enough his tail was still beating steadily against the ground as Jaskier scratched behind his ears.

“See? It’s brilliant. He absolutely hates it of course. Oh his diet has obviously become a little more raw meat than your average witcher but that’s to be expected,”

“But he’s not becoming feral.”

Jaskier shook his head. “Nah. He’s actually quite cuddly.”

Geralt nipped at his fingers.

“Oi! Bad Geralt.”

Nenneke looked unimpressed. “Geralt, can you understand me?”

Geralt barked and nodded his head.

“Remarkable. Unfortunately you’ll have to stay outside. I’ll have a riot on my hands otherwise. Jaskier, you may sleep inside for your stay here.”

Jaskier frowned. “Ah, umm. Well actually, it’s a generous offer, venerable Mother, but you see,” He glanced at Geralt.

Nenneke raised an eyebrow at him. “You would rather stay with him in the cold than spend the night in a warm bed?”

Jaskier scratched the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly at the priestess. “That just about sums it up, yeah.”

Nenneke laughed and threw them a knowing smile. “Have you tried kissing him? True love’s kiss has been known to cure all manner of curses.”

Jaskier felt himself blush but he brushed it off, putting his hands on his hips and flashing her a toothy smile. “Dearest Nenneke, I have a degree in the seven liberal arts from the esteemed university in Oxenfurt, I am a bard, poet and troubadour of famed renowned, and, I might add, an unparalleled lover. I am well aware of the power of true love’s kiss.”

“So have you tried it?”

Jaskier scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Of course I’ve tried it. Wait… what sort of kisses are we talking about here?”

Geralt let out a long drawn out whine and covered his snout with his paws.

“Exactly, I love him but I’m not about to start making out with a wolf not even…” he cut himself off, Geralt might trust Nenneke but he was still reluctant to reveal his true nature to anyone outside of his pack, not unless he was forced to. “not even Geralt is that cute.”

“I will contact the local sorceress,” Nenneke said sharply, and Jaskier got the feeling that she didn’t really like him very much. “Make yourself at home in the gardens. Geralt?”

Geralt’s ears pricked up.

“Don’t scare my girls.”

Geralt nodded.

“And you, bard. Keep your hands to yourself. I know your sort.”

Jaskier gaped and put his hands on his hips. The accusation wasn’t entirely unfounded, at Oxenfurt he had loved freely and abundantly but he was with Geralt! Even if his boyfriend was currently a wolf. He wasn’t about to go cheating on his partner. He bit his cheek to stop a scathing insult flying out at the priestess. He may not believe in the gods but he knew it was foolish to be purposely disrespectful. Instead he put on his most charming smile and bowed. “As you wish.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and he winked. Geralt nudged his hand with his snout and Jaskier dug his fingers into the thick fur on Geralt’s neck. He glanced down at the wolf and tilted his head. “Shall we go find some shelter? Then I’ll see what I can do about finding us some food.”

Geralt wagged his tail and nuzzled against Jaskier’s leg.

“Thank you, Nenneke. We appreciate your assistance.”

“I’ll leave some food in the courtyard, try and stay out of sight.”

Jaskier nodded. “We will. Thank you.”

_____

#the witcher #geraskier #wolf geralt #shapeshifter!jaskier #shifter!jaskier #geralt/jaskier #geralt x jaskier #geraskier fanfiction #wolfie's witcher writing

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givemeonebreath · 3 years

Text

A big, messy Linked Universe playlist

Link for Links

Heavy on the angst, because of who I am as a person. (At the same time, don’t take it too seriously, man.)

Influenced by canon, manga (TP Link is really Going Through It™ ), my personal perceptions, and popular fandom canon.

A pretty wide variety of genres, with a bias towards metal and prog rock.

I kept snippets of lyrics for most songs, also because of who I am as a person. (Some were particularly hard to narrow down to just one verse or chorus.) Those - and a little more rambling - are under the cut if you really want, in the order of the playlist. But. It’s long.

I didn’t initially make this with the intent to share, but hey. Throughout my past year+ of listening, I’ve been haphazardly adding songs to a playlist I very creatively named Links. If something reminded me of them, whether through the music or lyrics or both, I threw it on the playlist, so some songs might seem odd or vague. Some are really on the nose, as subtle as a sledgehammer. (Sky for Sky? Dude. Sorry.) Some are there because of a fitting line or two that stuck in my head. Ultimately, music - like any form of creative expression - can be interpreted in a multitude of ways.

My listening habits and tastes are erratic, which is why this is one big, jumbled playlist and not separated for different Links. Not to mention if I did that, some (Wild, Legend) would have a lot and some (Wind, Four) would have none, both because of my own familiarity with them, and because of the general themes of the music I tend to listen to. Most songs are a general ‘hero’s spirit reborn’ mood, anyway - those are the first part of the playlist. The second half is more nuanced to specific Links, plus a few Ganon vibes.

1. Deep Purple - April (Koji Kondo, composer of the original Legend of Zelda theme, was into Deep Purple as a kid, and it shows.)

2. Kamelot - Regalis Apertura

3. Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One (I’ve posted this here before. I can’t hear it without thinking of LU now.) So I slipped in through the gate almost unknown. All my border stamps were late. Seven days old. Cold hand griped my shoulder blade, broke the bone. Bloody nose and turned away, all the way home.

4. FC Kahuna - Hayling Don’t think about all those things you fear, just be glad to be here

5. Glass Animals - Youth Boy, when I left you you were young I was gone, but not my love You were clearly meant for more Than a life lost in the war

6. Pain of Salvation - Restless Boy A restless boy in a world too slow A flame born into cinder, ash, and glow I've given everything I gave it all Yet find myself alone

7. Haken - The Endless Knot Our design shifted frame by frame! Across the line our cycle starts to fail. Our design shifted frame by frame! Across the line we die to live again. We need a story to believe in. We need a hero to prevail. We need a challenge we can overcome, it takes a tragedy to make us one

8. Kamelot - Memento Mori (I particularly associate this with Time and Twilight) I am the god in my own history The master of the game I may believe if she would come to me And whisper out my name Sometimes I wonder where the wind has gone If life has ever been Sometimes I wonder how belief alone Can cut me free from sin

9. Katatonia - Fighters Look I told you so We never stop If we said that We'll back it up For sure You know We're fighters

10. Megadeth - This Day We Fight! (I mean, all Links, but particularly Warriors) For this I was chosen, because I fear nothing With confidence I tread through the dead of the night Off to another war-torn, faraway battlefield Wherein lies a demonic enemy horde

11. Moon Tooth - Igneous Well, the spirit took me And this old broken body leapt up and danced Settin’ out Settin' out with all my heroes in a bundle at my back Hawk am I More wings span in my shadow than overcast Yeah, you know what they say Always need something to look up to, ha

12. Samael - Moongate Destiny, tomorrow is today Destiny, without boundaries How many nights will we spend together traveling infinity back and forth and again How many times will we go together questioning eternity about us about our wonders...

13. TOOL- Parabola This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion

14. Lunatic Soul - Blood on the Tightrope No matter how hard you try To shut down your feverish thoughts They hunt you down with no regret Cause you have to fix it all

15. Hybrid - Keep It In The Family

16. Soul Savers - Unbalanced Pieces Gone, now carry on Through violent seasons I call you mother, mother, mother In vain, absent chain The twilight's bleeding And the playing board has two unbalanced pieces

17. Steve Von Till - Valley of the Moon All she gives is a stone facade Like ill-given flowers at a dead man's wake Here we slave for the dreams of another And fight over scraps like wayward dogs

18. Ludovico Einaudi - Experience

19. Lunatic Soul - Summoning Dance Three stones on the right side Three stones on the left My vicious circle of life and death “Oh you want it” I hear it again “Oh you want it” My burden Curse to break

20. Lunatic Soul - Through Shaded Woods Run through your shaded woods Run through your shaded mind Run through the night Run away Run through the darkness Run

21. Lunatic Soul - Naavie

22. David Bowie - Nature Boy There was a boy A very strange, enchanted boy They say he wandered very far Very far, over land and sea A little shy and sad of eye But very wise was he

23. The Dandy Warhols - Sleep Well, I could sleep forever But it's of her I dream If I could sleep forever I could forget about everything

24. Au4 - Everyone is Everyone (and Everything is Everything) Tripping and tumbling, Flipping and fumbling. Flowing on the rivers of sadness That have been forever rumbling. But from dawn until now Of all the paths that I could have gone down Of all the valleys That I could have been flowing through. In spite of all the chaos And all that has come between us, How is it I still find myself Here with you.

25. Kingcrow - Everything Goes Your hands again upon the ground Falling rain for hours and hours As you learn the game Time dispels the fog ... Ever been there? Ever felt like prey? Ever thought your mind was feeble? Lot of things that don’t make sense

26. Pain of Salvation - Icon As a child I felt too old And now when I'm grown-up I feel too young A different kind so I've been told Just slightly out of reach and out of time

27. Sophia Loizou - Divine Interference (I got spooky dungeon vibes. Also, the title.)

28. Carpenter Brut - Fab Tool Runnin Gunnin Forward in the phantom shatter so grand Splatter grand, arcanum fuel Wrought iron out of the sky Over me, tells no lie

29. Blue Stahli - Death Will Have to Run All on the open road Where none will ever grow A journey toward the known With countless miles to go

30. Gyroscope - Mistakes & Ladders I am the first? No I can't be the first A continuous nothing, destined for something Tell me who you are and why you trapped me here

31. Queens of the Stone Age - Run, Pig, Run Run, pig, run Here I come

32. Chali 2na & Krafty Kuts - Guard The Fort The swords are drawn and odds are stacked And we clash the impact's a thunderous clap Calm demeanor Even though we are under attack [...my turn to guard the fort ready for combat]

33. The Great Discord - Army of Me (lol)

34. Kongos - Terrified I think I'll start again and change my name You only live once or twice, what a shame Somebody fucked up when designing this game

35. Woodkid - Run Boy Run Run, boy, run! This ride is a journey to Run, boy, run! The secret inside of you Run, boy, run! This race is a prophecy Run, boy, run! And disappear in the trees

36. The Beta Machine - The End A million miles away from you this time I'll do what it takes I'm on my way If lines are in the sand I'll go under If I can make it in time I will bring you back with me

37. Devin Townsend Project - Gump When we last met who was I? I'm sorry we no longer see eye to eye The energy to keep you in while keeping myself out I'm sorry how you'll take this But I just don't have the patience anymore

38. Arrested Youth - Riot! I can't get much satisfaction living in this cave It's tough to breathe, I'm in the belly of the beast Can't sleep with all my rage With me and all my generations living in this cage Pick up your guns and tell your sons, tonight we break the cage

39. Led Zeppelin - Friends So anytime somebody needs you Don't let them down, although it grieves you Some day you'll need someone like they do Looking for what you knew

40. Faunts - M4, pt 2 (Wild) Fight your foes you're not alone Holy war is on the phone Asking to please stay on hold Bleeding loss of blood runs cold And I need you to recover Because I can't make it on my own

41. Faith No More - Ashes to Ashes (Wild) I want them to know it's me, it's on my head I'll point the finger at me, it's on my head Smiling with the mouth of the ocean And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain

42. Devin Townsend - Jupiter (Wild) I know you At least I think I do Everything's changed But in the days that are so dark It's wonderful

43. Katatonia - Neon Epitaph (Wild) Shadow of my shadow Cling not to my grief I am long left behind now You are free

44. The Smashing Pumpkins - The Beginning is the End is the Beginning (Wild) Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us No one can separate us For we are all that is left The echo bounces off me The shadow lost beside me There's no more need to pretend Cause now I can begin again

45. Katatonia - Lacquer (Wild) My voice travelling Soaring bird above your head The house we lived in Ridden with disease ... The levee breaking I can't live to fight once more The road to the grave is straight as an arrow I'm just staying around to sing your song, baby

46. Eskimo Joe - This is Pressure (Wild) There is no romance in suffocation The walls fall down like your expectations You want to scream And you want to shout But you've built up steam And you can't let it out This is pressure

47. Portugal. The Man - 1000 Years (Wild) We'll wait 1000 years Until the end of time We'll wait 1000 more Dressed up in gold and white We'll climb the mountain sides To find what's in the sky We'll dig through mountain sides To find what's deep inside

48. Au4 - An Ocean’s Measure of Sorrow (Wild) Forgot my name and who I was. Memories of nothing floating up. All of the sorrow we once knew, Colours the ocean's water blue.

49. Band of Skulls - Carnivorous (Twilight) I am corrosive and cohesive Like a chemical bond I'm all together undone I am the broken kingdom I'm just so, so, so So carnivorous

50. Glass Animals - Flip (Twilight) I wanna go back with a club and attack I wanna take to my guns and break you I gotta make my little foe take his own

51. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me (Twilight) My mind has changed my body's frame, but, God, I like it My heart's aflame, my body's strained, but, God, I like it

52. Kamelot - The Spell (Twilight) All my demons cast a spell The souls of dusk rising from the ashes So the book of shadows tell The weak will always obey the master

53. OSI - Radiologue (Legend) I was dreaming I was heading west thirty days faster Had a fever woke up in a sweat bailing out the water Can't go on Can't go back Heard your voice coming through the noise wrote it in the radio log Hurt my head, wondering what you said so I threw it overboard

54. Katatonia - Don’t Tell A Soul (Legend) I have been destroyed by the perfection that is a lie see I'm moving soon see my feet are already on the road and if you know where I’m going don’t tell a soul

55. Haken - The Mind’s Eye (Legend) The shape of things to come are closer than they seem Changing your design every time you disappear I'm planning my escape through portals of your mind Where people seem to drop like flies

56. Pain of Salvation - Species (Legend) Sometimes I hate my fucking species Yet most days I'll do anything to please it My generation was fooled to pursue our dreams But it is not what it seems You never need what you want And you rarely want what you need

57. Euringer - Do You Kiss Your Mama with That Mouth? (Legend) All my life, misunderstood I'm fuckin' too smart, too smart for my own good The last question, before I go is "Hey motherfucka, do you kiss your mama with that mouth?" Yes! I kiss your mama with this mouth

58. !!! - Pardon My Freedom (Legend) Like I give a fuck, like I give a shit Like I give a fuck about that shit Like I give a fuck about that motherfucking shit

59. Team Sleep - Ataraxia (Legend) Froze asleep Coma deep I dream I'm out with you Alone at sea

60. Oliver Tank - Embrace (Legend) You're in my dreams The world is torn apart at the seams And I don't wanna leave Wearing my heart on it's sleeve

61. Machine Gun Fellatio - The Girl of My Dreams (Is Giving Me Nightmares) (Legend) The girl of my dreams is giving me nightmares I don't know what it means but she's got multi-coloured hair When she stands in the sand I dream of peaches And I'm not sure what that means either

62. Earl Greyhound - Shotgun (Legend & Hyrule) I am nobody, nobody is who I am I am a traveler on this land And nothing, nothing, nothing in my hands

63. TV on the Radio - Staring at the Sun (Hyrule) You're staring at the sun You're standing in the sea Your mouth is open wide You're trying hard to breathe The water's at your neck There's lightning in your teeth Your body's over me

64. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon (Time) Fate Up against your will Through the thick and thin He will wait until You give yourself to him

65. Sufjan Stevens - Sugar (Sky) Don’t break my heart, don’t break my flow now And all this rage has got to go now Let’s take up this lifeline Come on, baby, gimme some sugar Don’t make me wait Don’t make me wait too long Don’t make me sing the sad song Come on, baby, gimme some sugar

66. Obsydians - Ascension (Sky) Rise above the hardships you’ll face I will sign and keep on rising As long as you are giving me your soul and keep me awake Feel like home and spread your light around I will listen and just be there As long as you are giving me your love I’ll give you my soul

67. Sonique - Sky -_-

68. Enter Shikari - The King (Ganon) Watch your back, my friend I'm about to kickstart a cycle Of never ending revenge And this time it's primal, it's tribal

69. Saul Williams - WTF! (Ganon, Hylia) "You've been polluted, uprooted by time You have been muted, computed but I'm A living vessel of the one, of the moon, of the sun" Hey! You ain't as dead as you seem, what the fuck? Hey! But you keep living your lies

70. These New Puritans - We Want War (Ganon/ Dark Link/ any nemesis I guess) Shadows dance back up, it's happening again If you listen carefully you might hear them whisper: "We hold all the secrets, we hold all the words; But they're scrambled and broken so you'll never know" Can't you see them Floating like black ash? Can't you feel them Crawling down your back?

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #listening to music while I stare blankly at nothing is legit my number one hobby #and then shit like this happens #linked universe playlist

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call-signvalkyrie · 3 years

Text

Save Tonight

A/N: This was inspired by “Save Tonight” by Eagle-Eye Cherry. I’ve had that song on repeat for DAYS so I figured why not! This is also my first Star Wars fic! I hope y’all enjoy. (Flash backs and inner though will be in italics).

Pairings: Poe Dameron x Mechanic!Reader

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 2,250

Go on and close the curtains Cause all we need is candlelight You and me, and a bottle of wine To hold you tonight (oh yeah) Well we know I'm going away And how I wish, I wish it weren't so So take this wine and drink with me And let's delay our misery

Poe remembered the day he met you. He got up early that morning to give his X-Wing a good look over after the rough patch he had gone through the night before. He wasn’t much of a mechanic, but he could get the job done. He took a step into the hangar and there you were. Grease suit tied around your waist; white t-shirt stained from your using it as a rag. Your hair in a double braid down your back, elbows deep in the engine. He had never seen a more beautiful sight. At least he thought that until he saw you smile. He had to steady himself on a nearby fuel container before he doubled over completely.

“Hey! Sorry to scare ya, I’m Y/N.” You said, sliding off the side of the craft and down to the hanger floor. You grabbed a rag out of your pocket to wipe away some of the grease before offering your hand.

“And I’m...”

“Poe. I know.” You flashed that smile again. Maker, he could have kissed you right then and there. He had never thought his name could sound so beautiful but there it was.

And here he was. Standing at the door of your room like an idiot. It had been almost two years since that first meeting and nothing about the way he felt about you had changed. He had teased, dropped hints but you never seemed to get the message. There had been a time when he tried to get you off his mind but he just couldn’t shake his feeling for you. He had been almost convinced you would never feel the same way until about a week ago.

One Week Earlier

“Finn! I’m serious! You can’t tell anyone, not even Rey.”

“Y/N, I’m sorry to tell you but everyone already knows.” Finn gave you a cheeky grin that made you want to slap him. There was no way anyone knew how you felt about Poe. He was your best friend and had been for the last two years. You had done an amazing job at keeping your secret. Well, you thought so anyway.

“What do you mean everyone already knows! I’ve literally never told anyone. Shit, I've barely even admitted it to myself.” That was completely true. Poe would never feel for you in any way other than a friend and you were okay with that. You just weren't ready for everyone to rub it in your face.

“Whatever you say Y/N/N, I’m just telling you what I know.” Finn threw his hands up in mock defeat.

“Whatever, Finn.” You said, sticking your tongue out at him as you walked past and into the hanger.

“Finn! Finn did she just...” Poe came around the corner, catching his friend by the arm.

“Did she just say what I think she did?”

“Maker, Poe. You both really are so blind!” Finn rolled his eyes, putting his hands on his hips. “You two just need to get your shit together. I’m tired of this!” Finn threw his hands up in real defeat this time.

“I know, man. I know. I just don’t know how to tell her.” Poe ran his hand down his face. He had to tell her.

“You have to tell her. Soon.” Finn grabbed his friend by the sholders, shaking him gently.

“You’re right. I will, soon. I promise.”

Save tonight and fight the break of dawn Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone Save tonight and fight the break of dawn Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone

Well, Poe. It’s now or never. He took a deep breath and knocked.

“It’s open!” Your muffled voice came from deep within the room. Poe punched in your security code and stepped through the sliding door. You turned to see him, still wearing your grease suit.

“Hey, handsome! When did you get back?” You grabbed your friend in a hug and gave him a good once over. “You take any damage this time?”

“No, thankfully. I’m fine.” Poe said, giving you a soft smile.

“I was talking about the X-Wing! I worked way too hard on that motivator for you to fuck it up again!” You said, winking at the taller man.

“Ha-ha, you’re so funny.” Poe said in with a fake laugh. He was so nervous. Get it together, Poe. “Anyway, you busy tonight? I’ve got a debrief in about 20 minutes but after I thought we could do something. Maybe take a speeder out to the edge of the base and hang out? Just you and me?”

There was a twinkle in his eyes that you couldn’t place. Something about him was different today. He had more of a spring in his step but he almost looked nervous.

“Sure. That’ll give me some time to shower and change. Meet you back here after the brief?”

“Sounds perfect.” Poe smiled then and pulled you in for another hug. “See you in about an hour?”

One Hour Later

After scrubbing most of the grime and grease from your body, you climbed out of the shower feeling relatively clean and refreshed. You stepped into your room, letting your y/c/h fall out of your towel. After pulling on a pair of black leggings and a grey tunic, you slipped on your favorite boots and a light jacket. Swiping on a bit of mascara, you let your hair fall freely over your shoulder, opting to wear it down instead of in your usual braids. Something felt different about tonight but you couldn’t put your finger on it. Taking a look at your data pad, you realized there was a comms message.

------------------------------Communications Log 7189443------------------------------------

-------------Communicatons

------------------Messages

--------------One (1) Unread Message

--------- Dameron, Poe

Y/N/N,

Running late, explain later. Meet me in the hanger at 22:00. Bring caf, please.

P.D.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a log on the fire And it burns like me for you Tomorrow comes with one desire To take me away (oh it's true) It ain't easy to say good-bye Darlin' please, don't start to cry Cause girl you know I've got to go (oh) And Lord I wish it wasn't so

Running out the door, you had just enough time to get the caf before getting to the hanger.

“He, Y/N. Sorry about the short notice.” Poe called to you as you walked through the hangar. He was leaning against a borrowed speeder, a blanket draped across the seat.

“Everything alright? I got here as quick as I could.” You walked up to the taller man, handing him a cup and taking a seat in the speeder.

“Yeah, um. Actually, no.” Poe climbed into the speeder, turning to look at you full on. “There’s something I need to tell you but I want to show you something first.”

15 minutes later you were on the farthest outskirts of the base. There was a small clearing, mostly made of scrubby brush and a few spindly trees. Above the clearing, however, was the most incredible light show you had ever seen.

“Poe, what is that?” you stared up in amazement. It was like the stars were playing tag across the night sky. Zig-zagging and blinking back and forth, changing every color and then back again.

“They’re native to the planet. Completely harmless and virtually undetectable during the day but at night. Well, they do this.”

The whole time you were staring at this mesmerizing light show, Poe couldn’t do anything but look at you. The way your eyes sparkled as the colors danced across the sky, your lips slightly parted as a soft smile spread across your face.

“Beautiful.” Poe said aloud. He couldn’t help himself.

“It is. I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole life.” You said, turning to look at him.

Poe stepped closer, filling the space between the two of you.

“Y/N, I didn’t just bring you out here to show you this. I need to tell you something.” Poe took both of your hands in his. His heart felt like it was going to explode right out of his chest. He took a deep breath.

“My debrief earlier, the reason it went over. We’ve been sent on a new recon mission starting first thing in the morning. I leave at first light.”

“Okay, and you brought me all the way out here to tell me you want the galaxy’s most incredible mechanic to hitch a ride out with you?” You giggled, squeezing Poe’s hands in yours.”

“I wish it was that simple. No, Y/N...” Poe paused. Why was telling you how he felt so hard? “I brought you all the way out here to tell you that this mission is different. I’ll be infiltrating enemy lines. I’ll be working on important intel that could help end this war. Leia says it could take up to 5 weeks to get the information.”

“5 weeks? Holy shit, that’s a long time, Poe. Is Finn at least going with you? What about Rey? I...” you were starting to feel a bit uneasy. Why was he doing this? He had gone on long missions before. Just last cycle he had gone on a 3-week recon.

“Poe, what are you not telling me? What's wrong?”

“Hey, hey. Calm down, everything is okay.” He stepped closer, cupping your jaw with his hand and caressing it slightly. “Rey has to stay here and continue her training. Leia wants her to be almost finished by the time we get back. Chewie and Finn will be with me, yes but I wanted to tell you before everyone else started talking.” Poe shook his head. It was now or never.

“Start talking? Poe what do you mean? What happened at the debrief?” You pulled away from him, suspicion taking over everything else.

“So, I might have asked if we could push our leave time to first light instead of immediately. And the General may or may not have read me the riot act after she dismissed everyone, causing me to be late.”

“Poe, why would you do that?! This mission is obviously super important, why would you...”

“Because, Y/N...” He stepped closer again, taking your hands back in his larger ones.

“Because I wanted to spend possibly my last night here on this planet with the girl of my dreams. Because I couldn’t bear to leave this planet for 5 weeks without telling you how absolutely head over heels in love with you I am. I couldn’t be half way across the galaxy knowing that I was willingly putting myself in harm's way every single day and I never had the balls to tell you how I feel. I’m completely and totally in love and I don’t want to go one single second longer without you knowing.”

You stood there, stunned. Was this a joke? This had to be a joke. There was no way that, Poe Dameron, THE Poe Dameron just said those words to you. But he did and here you are and HOLY SHIT you thought you might faint dead away on the spot.

“Y/N/N, you okay...”

Before he has the chance to finish you grabbed him by the collars and pulled him into you, crashing your lips into his. He wraps his arms around your waist, lifting you to the edge of the speeder. Running your hands up to his curls, you give them a soft tug which pulls a low moan from deep in his throat. Your tongues dance together in perfect synchrony, both of you not wanting to break this perfect moment. Eventually you both pull away, lips swollen from the contact.

“I really thought you’d never say it. I’ve felt the same way about you for so long now but I never even imagined you felt the same way.” You flashed him your signature smile.

“So, you feel the same then?” He asked, a silly grin spread across his face. “Why didn’t you ever say anything? All this time we’ve spent together, all the time I spent trying to get a read on you and never could.” He smiled, kissing your knuckles.

“You’re joking right? You’re asking me if I feel the same. Were you there five seconds ago? Do you not remember that kiss?” You laugh, lightly slapping his chest. “I never wanted to tell you how I felt. I thought it would ruin our friendship. Figured we’ve lost enough due to this war. Didn’t want to make us another casualty.”

“Yeah, I remember. I just want to hear you say it.” He smiled, kissing your lips again. “I understand. I’ve thought those same things all this time but, I don’t know. I just... This time is different. I needed you to know. And I’m overjoyed to know you feel the same.” he smiled that damned smile of his.

“I love you, Poe. I have for a long time. I’m glad to finally let you know that. Ya know, to your face?” You giggled, deepening the kiss.

“So, did you really ask Leia if you guys could leave at first light?”

"I did,” Poe said, “So just get ready for all that teasing that’s heading your way.” He gave you a wink.

Save tonight and fight the break of dawn Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone Save tonight and fight the break of dawn Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone

#poe dameron x reader #star wars #star wars fic #poe dameron

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honey-hippie-harper · 3 years

Text

The Day Gatlon Fell

(TW: VIOLENCE)

IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY AFSGHJAFSGHJA. I should’ve done something nice but I don’t seem to be physically capable of doing that, sO IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND TO PLEASE FORGIVE ME AFGSHAFGHAJ. I guess from the title it’s...kinda clear what this is all about, because I like to write about my imaginary complex relationships in Renegades. Yet, I wrote it with love and I hope you like it :’)

This fic is actually a present for those who want to accept it (If you don’t, I understand tbh). But I’m going to dedicate it for the ones who constantly pretend they tolerate me and like my writing, which are my fellow Reneweys: @healing-winston-pratt @obsidianfr3sk @alecjamesartino @nodrianbcyes @everyone-has-a-nightmare . I love you guys SO much. Thanks for being a safe space full of people who share the same mother tongue and laugh at my stupid jokes.

Also @all-weather-is-bad whom I love very much. Thank you for tolerating me to :’) <3 and @ifyouhadntbutyoudid bECAUSE FELLOW LATINA <3 (also your art for HCTTR still makes me cry and I know you like Leroy).

And idk if this matters or not, but, for the ones who understand Spanish, this fic was heavily based upon this (yes, the contemporary dance and everything don’t judge me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaaVpaE1XGA

Alec called them the Anarchists, because he called himself Ace Anarchy. And, in a world where prodigies were hurt, mistreated and killed, he also called them hope.

Hope called themselves the Anarchists, and they reunited at the outskirts of the city, and then they marched towards Gatlon when it was still dawning. There were many, many of them, creating a huge mass of people. Some of them were only wearing masks in order to protect their identity, but others, like them, the main circle of Anarchists, were in full costume, including Alec, Ace Anarchy, who was marching at the back of the crowd, for Alec Artino had faked his disappearance (and possible assassination) less than two weeks ago.

As an act of symbolism (in Alec’s own words) the Queen Bee was at the lead, while him, Leroy (Cyanide), stood two steps behind her, with Gerard Hoffman, Atomic Brain, at his right, and Lincoln Palmer, Brimstone, at his left. Behind them were Dexter Hartley, Rat, and the Thompsons. Then, everything was too much, and there were too many people to name them all, when he barely remembered his own name at the moment.

Every distance looked moderately short until you had to travel it by foot, or when you were too anxious to arrive at your destination. Leroy, personally, didn’t consider himself to be anxious per se. At least, that wasn’t the word he would’ve used to describe his situation.

For the first time in forever, Leroy’s mind was making too much noise, and he didn’t know how to make it stop, nor did he know how to decipher what it was trying to say to him. While he marched, Leroy was surrounded by sounds. There were the distant, faint movements of the awakening city, the ring of keys, the dragging of boots, the hasty breaths, the silent prayers, Honey humming to an inexistent melody, while her dress danced to her voice, hanging from her body.

Honey was easily one of the best dressed out of the bunch, which was a very typical Honey attitude from her part. The most meaningful thing in his own costume was the lab coat and the scientific pun, but it was more than enough for him, knowing that, after today, many of the people here wouldn’t be alive anyway, and he wasn’t even sure whether he would make it, either.

By the time they started reaching the city’s main entrance, the sun was covering half of their bodies, announcing they might have “nice” (hot) weather today. For a while, at least. And the heat was so extreme it made Leroy’s temple sweat, as well as the rest of his face, behind the mask. However, he resisted the urge to remove it, as his mind started making too much noise again, when it forced him to remember Alec’s words.

“And, remember, that you are the pain, you are the fire, and I am the courage.” He said, while they were sitting around the campfire, one messy night, running away from the police. “Because courage comes from the same place as fear.”

Leroy didn’t agree with some of Alec’s ways. Hell. He really didn’t. Nevertheless, he was also aware of his own position. He was aware he was a prodigy, and he was aware people were exhausting.

Even before he became…special, people were already picking on him. Leroy had been a punching bag the entirety of his life. First, for being too ordinary.

There was always a defect they could find in him.

When he admitted his father had abandoned his mother not long after he was born, he became the fatherless kid who wasn’t important enough to make his father stay (as if his father being an asshole had been his fault); when his mother met Claire, his other mother, he became the outcast who lived with two insane and sick women who dared to say they were in a serious, romantic relationship (even though they were evidently in love); when he discovered he enjoyed science, he became the weird kid who liked Thursdays, because that’s when Mr. Ruiz used to take them to the lab; when he discovered he was good at school overall and teachers offered him to move him one grade ahead, he became the ugly, creepy and fat nerd kid who lived with dykes and had no life.

And so, Leroy was murdered by his classmates in eleventh grade, in the lab. And when he came back as a prodigy, he became the burden. The fucker. The freak. The disgusting prodigy who should’ve stayed dead.

Because, when it came to people, it was never enough.

It really was never enough.

When they didn’t like you, there wasn’t a limit they wouldn’t reach in order to let you know. They hated you when you were too ordinary, but they hated you more when you were extraordinary.

Being a prodigy meant being your own fight. It meant being out there, in a minefield where everybody was chasing after you, and nobody stopped to help. People were often afraid of the things they couldn’t understand.

But courage came from the same place as fear.

And it was a dark, messed up place that, in the rare cases where it didn’t drive you crazy, it ended up killing you.

Alec’s ideas were extreme and a little twisted, even, but nobody had ever seemed to care as much as he did, and Leroy had to give him that.

He strongly defended that, if nobody did, then there would be a time where somebody would have to, and he had to give him that too. Because, one day, he just decided that person would be him. Because, if not him, then who?

“I’m my own fight. We’re all our own fight. And you should just face that and shut your ass, before you get killed.” Leroy told him the day after he personally met him, when Honey called him, saying the wound in his calf had gotten uglier and he was banned from the majority of the hospitals in the city. At first, Leroy didn’t know why that should’ve been a matter of concern to him, but he ended up showing him at the apartment anyway. When he realized Alec hadn’t learned anything from the previous experience and was already planning the next riot, he felt the burning desire to cauterize him out of spite.

So Leroy cauterized him, with no previous warning. Alec screamed so loud he thought he was going to pass out. But when he was done, Alec thanked him, because, sure, he had nearly fainted thanks to the pain, but the wound was closed and no longer bleeding.

“I won’t get killed.” Alec declared, as if he were some type of almighty god. “But if I do, it will be defending my place and my rights. You say we’re all our own fight. Correct. But, as prodigies, we have to stick together.”

“And why is that, exactly?”

“Because somebody has to fight for us.”

“You want to fight for us.”

“I want us to fight for us.”

At that moment, Honey came into the room, carrying a tray with a steaming cup and a plate with French toast with honey.

“They can’t kill us all.” She said.

“Oh, but they can.”

Before she could answer, Alec spoke again.

“Then how come we’re still here?”

As the hours, days, weeks and months went by, Leroy, beneath all his cynicism and incredulity, realized he cared. And, once he was invested in the cause, he decided he cared enough to believe them.

They couldn’t kill them all, but they could kill some of them. Yet, they would die caring and believing, and defending their legitimate right to having lived in the first place. There were some things they couldn’t take back, but there were others they could stop them from taking away.

Because somebody had to.

And, if nobody wanted to fight for them, then they had to be their own fight.

Leroy had already gone down once, and that was the reason why he was willing to do it again if necessary. There were Alecs out there, who had been born prodigies and judged, mistreated and pointed at because of it; there were Honeys out there, who had suffered from fatidic accidents that had left a mark in them forever; there were Leroys out there, who had been bullied for not being a prodigy, but also for being one.

As long as he was alive, there would be no more Leroys. No more Honeys, either. No more Alecs.

They were their own fight, but they were also each other’s fight.

So, as they marched towards the city, they were carrying tons and tons of weight, even from the pain that didn’t belong to them. Even from pain that had already been silenced.

Silenced like the inert body of a murdered prodigy.

Silenced like the city the moment they saw them come.

Needless to say, they were coming in with previous instructions to show no mercy in case anything went wrong, knowing these people had already been attacked right at the heart of their system (their mayor), but when they saw them walk, they showed no resistance to let them through.

Gatlon City met the Anarchists in a moment that remained suspended into the air, while some of them dispersed to block the entrances and exits, and others stood in the middle of the traffic, creating a human wall that prevented the cars from moving forward.

Traffic lights exploded, as well as display screens, just like the days when authorities were trying to censor a violent riot. Doors became locked, just like the days when citizens were being notified of a group of violent prodigies marching through the city, except this time citizens weren’t the ones locking themselves in. Telephone lines became cut, just like the days when they did that so agonizing prodigies wouldn’t say a last goodbye to their loved ones who lived far away.

They were many. Too many.

And they couldn’t kill them all.

When they realized that, panic started spreading among them.

Queen Bee was still taking the lead, but the lines began to become blurrier and blurrier with every second, as some of the prodigies had to leave the formation in order to silence those who dared to try to oppose.

Gatlon City was a bold, intimidating place, with huge buildings, blinding lights and overwhelmingly wide streets that could swallow you whole if you weren’t careful enough. Yet, it welcomed the Anarchists in a scene that was as surreal as it was fascinating. Out of a sudden, it seemed to shrink before them.

To the elemental prodigies’ hands, the sky started to look as if split in two, fragile and breakable like the green leaves hanging from the trees, which were swaying like Honey’s blonde curls that day at the beach.

It was a public music festival, which they had attended while the Thompsons babysat David, out of pure and classic peer pressure coming from Honey herself.

Leroy showed up late at the beach, after waking up from a seven hour nap (the result of not sleeping at night), given that, despite living together, Honey expressed she hadn’t woken him up because she thought it was only an excuse to stand them out.

Beneath the loud chattering, the live music and the crowding, their presence became as irrelevant as a single grain of sand before it was taken away by a wave, but they still managed to get a decent spot, where they could see the stage from the blanket they were using as seats.

Out of the few bucks they were carrying with them at the moment, they managed to gather enough for a bucket of fish and chips from the food trucks, so they sent Alec to go get it, which left Honey and Leroy alone (though surrounded by people) in the blanket.

It was about time she said something about it, but when she did, Leroy still felt the need to roll his eyes at her until they rolled out of his face.

“You’re the only two people I know who dress like that to come to the beach. It’s honestly embarrassing.”

She was referring to the fact Leroy was wearing jeans, sneakers and a black hoodie, while Alec was wearing jeans as well, and a black T-shirt he had gotten for free at an event in his faculty.

“What are you? A vampire or something?” Upon saying that, Honey got her hands in the cooler and took a can of lime flavored soda from it.

“I don’t like leaving the house without my hoodie.” Leroy responded above the clic and the hissing produced by the carbonation. “It hides my rolls.”

It’s not like Leroy was ashamed of his body. In fact, he didn’t give a damn about it, for he wasn’t one to take care of his physical appearance that much. Nevertheless, having people pointing out defects he already knew he had was annoying and an inconvenience he rather preferred not to go through.

“What are you trying to say to me?” Honey let out a screeching laugh, shaking her head to get her hair off her face, before taking a sip from her soda, very slowly, staring directly into Leroy’s eyes, with an arched eyebrow, not mad, but a little malicious and suggestive.

Whatever she was trying to do, it worked perfectly well, because Leroy could tell the exact part of his sentence where he had gone wrong and dug his own grave. Despite his efforts to conceal it and pretend he didn’t regret saying it, he still felt his face burn a little.

Honey was wearing a two-piece swimsuit that day. A yellow bikini top with white polka dots (“Hope you’re getting a great view because this is the only time you’ll ever see me wearing a bra” “You really are a hippie pothead” “So what?” “Honey Hippie Harper” “Great name, Lery”) and a tight, also yellow with polka dots skirt. The top had a huge white bow tie that fell all the way towards her stomach area, but it’s not like it covered much, and Honey wasn’t exactly the size of a Barbie doll herself (though everybody in Gatlon agreed that, somehow, she still managed to look like one).

Good thing her self-esteem was as high as Everest.

“You’re just jealous I’m so hot it feels like my entire body is catching flames while you look like a poor man’s Dracula.”

“Your lexicon is above the clouds today. Did you teach yourself how to read? And you read Dracula, just by chance?“

“You’re such a comedian. I’m dying. My lungs are aching from laughing so much.” Honey laughed sarcastically, in a flat tone, before taking another sip from her soda. “I had a pretty productive and nurturing self-teaching session yesterday.”

“I see.”

“I did teach myself how to read though, but, just so you know, I read Carmilla and not Dracula, because she came first.”

Being that said, she winked.

By that time, Honey didn’t attend as many feminist movements as before, nor did she lead them, but she still looked pretty invested in her cause and beliefs sometimes, and those were the moments when she looked more like herself.

“The more you know.” Leroy said, between his teeth.

Knowing she had won, Honey didn’t respond anything else on the matter, and reached for her sunglasses instead, putting them on. Then, she kept singing along to the song played by the band, about how the world was going to end soon.

Which was fitting for their current situation.

The entire world wasn’t ending today, but maybe it would, in case they succeeded. Leroy wasn’t the most positive person to have ever stepped on Earth, but, if one thing he knew, was that he was completely able to read and accept facts and get to the truth, and said truth was that Gatlon didn’t have much on its part. A bunch of regular citizens, against a bunch of prodigy citizens, whose mere existence was an advantage over them. And it’s not that Leroy thought prodigies were superior, but, objectively, prodigies could do things normal people couldn’t. That’s what made them prodigies in the first place, and it was part of the reason why they didn’t like them, too.

The terror in their faces made Leroy straighten his back. Above his head, he could already hear the helicopters and planes, both from the press and the government. Still standing in his place, he saw Honey stop. She didn’t hesitate or flinched, but she did stare directly at them. Her lips shimmered, as well as her eyes and the bee hanging from her neck, when the remaining morning sun reached and caressed them. Her expression remained serene, until it wasn’t, and her lips started arching into a sideways smile. With the whole crowd waiting behind her, Queen Bee clicked her tongue and giggled. Then, she waved at the sky, with her eyes grinning as well, behind the mask. Leroy could almost visualize the picture in a History book, in the chapter that talked about the day Gatlon fell.

When he took one step forward, he also saw himself in the frame. Honey, for sure, acknowledged his presence before she continued walking, squeezing his wrist a little, as a reassuring gesture he thought he didn’t need.

With two Anarchists at the lead, the weight of the protest became more evident, but the rest of the recruits were keeping them grounded. Flying prodigies were above their heads, keeping themselves at a prudent distance from the planes and helicopters, becoming an emergency signal for the others. They barked orders, so their companions knew where to aim.

The cocky individuals holding guns while standing in the sideway were attacked from behind and killed on spot. Some others didn’t have it that easy, for they were grabbed by extra arms or tentacles and smothered to death. Others were stabbed by flying pieces of glass or other sharp objects. And the one man who thought he was clever enough met Leroy’s palm, and while he tried not to step on his agonizing body (like Honey did) with a face now looking like a melted candle, he didn’t feel anything when he heard him wail in pain.

In fact, Leroy felt so blinded by adrenaline he couldn’t feel anything at all.

The only thing that managed to make him snap back into reality for a short while, was the warmth that later turned into almost unbearable heat and left them with a lack of oxygen for a short while.

Aracely Thompson, Dome, stepped forward and, with a stomp of her foot, translucent, golden chains rose from the ground, trapping the main Anarchists (plus Jerome and her) in a wide intangible circle, which chains melted into each other once the area was delimited, and turned into a see-through bubble. The ones from the outside could see them, but not hear or touch them, let alone harm them.

Leroy wondered why they hadn’t thought about that before, but he figured they had just thought about how Alec would manage just fine on his own at the back.

Fearless and merciless, they kept on walking the cracking pavement, through the growing chaos, trapped in their bubble with recycled air.

With the traffic suspended, the streets looked empty, as if naked. People had already gotten the message, and they were running like scared roaches, trying to get out of their way. Some were holding their children, some were holding their pets, and others were holding both.

“Where’s Ingrid?” Leroy asked in Honey’s ear, upon seeing a mother run away with her child, who looked around Ingrid’s age.

“At a daycare for single mothers…” Aracely was not a single mother (but she was only married through the eyes of religion. Jerome and her weren’t legally married, and, in theory, her name was still Aracely Brito, but she preferred to be called Thompson, and it was the only last name Ingrid had in her fake birth certificate) “In front of a lawyer firm by Trinity street. So, no matter what happens, don’t touch that building.”

They would have to warn Alec about it, or take Ingrid out before he could reach that daycare.

Some years ago, before Alec arrived to Gatlon, there had been an incident, where a daycare for prodigy children had been destroyed; it wasn’t considered legal, of course, and, through the eyes of the government, it didn’t exist. So, when they contacted the owners to ask them to close it and they refused, one of the gas tanks of the daycare conveniently exploded, resulting in a fire and the death of several prodigy children, which meant that, among a lot of other things, Alec would show no mercy for daycares for regular children. In other words, the entirety of daycares in Gatlon, including the one Ingrid was in.

Alec never forgot, nor did he forgive, and he had a wide knowledge in regards to the crimes Gatlon had committed against prodigies.

They continued on walking through the main street, which led to the main bridge, from which cars were falling like little ants. Nobody truly knew what Alec was planning to do, because he was as pragmatic as he was unpredictable, and the more you hung out with him, the looser the thread your life was hanging from became.

He just said Gatlon would fall.

And when he said something would happen, it usually happened.

Upon reaching the bridge, they were greeted by familiar faces, with familiar uniforms, who maybe thought this would be just another routine intervention. That they would be retouching a line they had already painted some time ago. That they had another chance.

There were uniformed men and women, some in cars, some in tanks, some in patrols, holding their guns and pointing at them, the ones who had made it into the bridge instead of staying in the fight below.

Leroy was starting to suspect a part of them knew it would be useless, because this time they weren’t giving them an option, but, still, in their eyes he could see they were desperate enough to try.

Due to the fact there were so many prodigies stepping on the bridge at once, the ground seemed to be buzzing, as well as the air, and the clouds, and the sky, and the life surrounding them, filled with the distant cries and the echoes of the ones they had lost in the way.

In that moment, when they had already arrived, Leroy drifted away.

He heard the bullets.

Bang, bang, bang.

It was a couple of months ago. They had just taken a government building with brute force, and they had locked it from the inside.

They stayed there for almost a week, until the police finally decided to cease fire and left the area. They had no food apart from some crackers and cheese sticks, they had no water (and no water elementals whatsoever), no electricity and no running water either. If that wasn’t bad enough on its own, some of them were injured or losing blood, and the bullets kept hitting the walls on the outside.

Bang, bang, bang.

Honey had always hated being unclean. Even when she wasn’t in the mood to take care of herself, she kept complaining about how much being dirty disgusted her. Hence, after two days, she sat in a corner and refused to move, until the day they were finally released. Everybody was at the verge of going crazy by then, and so, she decided to stand up and join Alec’s motivational speech about why they were doing this in the first place, in which Leroy was also involved.

Then, when it all went quiet, they just stayed there, with the question “Now what?” floating in the air.

One important part of Alec’s motto as a visionary, was reminding others that prodigies were people too. That they had rights. That they had feelings. That they had needs.

Honey, being herself, started singing Rivers of Babylon out of the blue, and while everybody in the room stared at her like she was crazy at first, suddenly, Alec started harmonizing with her, singing as loud as he did on Sundays, at Mass, dehydrated, hungry and everything.

Leroy just stepped aside, looking in the opposite direction, as if that would make everyone believe he didn’t know those two.

It was useless, because many people had already followed them by the second chorus.

Leroy still remembered the one line he had to drag out of his mouth when Honey placed the lipstick tube she was using as a fake microphone very close to his mouth, and everyone suddenly went silent, waiting for him.

“… When we remembered Zion…”

They went ballistic, almost as if they hadn’t been the ones to take this same building in the most violent way one could think about.

After two or three more cheesy songs that Leroy hated, there was a period of two or three minutes where nobody dared to take a turn in the invisible karaoke, and they realized there was something new there.

Absence.

There were no more bullets.

They were alone.

“I’m not very fond of Miss Harper’s taste in music.” Alec told him later that day, back at his apartment, where they had gone together to check on David and shower. “But it’s exactly what our revolution needs in its darkest times.”

“Because it’s obnoxious and loud?”

“No.” Alec told him, smiling sideways. “Because it’s vibrant. When choosing the head of a revolt, Leroy, everything’s about balance. You are serious, she is vibrant and I am versatile.”

“I thought we were talking about her music taste.”

“Are you implying that a person and their music taste aren’t deeply connected?”

That had been forever ago, compared to now, when the triggers were clicking loudly, and they were staring at their companions from sideways or from above.

Sirens screaming in the distance, along with the citizens. There was pain. There was death. There was blood. There were prodigies.

There was anarchy.

And through the confusion and anxiety, something started moving.

They started moving, at the sides, one by one, to let him through.

Now leading the crowd of Anarchists, stood Alec Artino, Ace Anarchy.

His costume was simple, with the boots, the pants, the navy blue sweater, with the golden A, the gabardine…

And the coppery helmet, made by David himself, shining on his head.

If Leroy didn’t know him well enough, he could’ve sworn he was losing his mind and that his mental health was in an extremely dark place.

Alec used to say David was one of the most powerful prodigies that had ever existed, and that this helmet would be the one thing that changed everything, once and for all. Leroy, who had never finished understanding what David could do, often doubted his words, and, to him, the helmet, if anything, only made him look ridiculous.

But he said Gatlon would fall today, and everyone believed him.

Hard as it was for him to admit it, Leroy did too.

“REMOVE THE HELMET AND IDENTIFY YOURSELF!”

If Honey had been able to speak instead of being completely frozen, she probably would’ve said the man at the front looked, plain and simple, like a cop. Light skin, brown eyes, dark brown hair combed to the side, gun in a trembling hand, afraid of the unknown.

The unknown, meaning Alec standing in front of him, with his hands laced behind his back, and his gabardine flowing with the wind.

“I SAID…!”

“I believe it was clear enough I heard you the first time.” Alec declared, tilting his head to the side. “Isn’t a person entitled to decide what questions they desire to respond to by sorting them according to their level of relevance?”

The man gulped so hard Leroy could almost hear him, and then Alec smirked.

“Can you drop your gun or is it attached to your hand? Because if it is, then I will not bother you again. But if it is not, I am going to need you to put it away so we can have a civilized conversation, like normal people do.”

“You’re… y-you’re not normal. Any of you are! YOU’RE NOT NORMAL, YOU MONSTERS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS, NOW!”

Honey’s bees were starting to present themselves at the scene, flying around her, a little uneasy. Leroy, from his part, felt calm, because this, sadly, wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen before.

“Yeah. That is exactly the problem.”

“STEP BACK!”

Alec refused to obey, and remained firm, right there where he was. Slowly, as if he were trying to mentally torture them, he lifted his right hand up. His fingers were in a very specific position, like he was about to make the sign of the cross on somebody.

It was Alec, meaning that, if he had done that, Leroy wouldn’t have been surprised.

But he didn’t.

Besides, if he had actually been planning to, they didn’t give him time for that, for the very second they saw him move, they shot, and many emergency alarms went off.

The bang was so loud Honey covered her ears, and her bees started trying to shield themselves by hiding behind her, beneath her hair or landing on her skin, never stinging her.

Leroy, from his part, felt his fingertips dripping with acid, preparing himself for the impact.

The impact never came.

Right in front of their eyes, the shower of bullets stops. The smell of gunpowder was still filling the air, and the bullets were still there, as present as ever.

However, they were suspended into the air, and one of them was almost touching Alec’s nose, who just smiled, before saying, in such a low volume Honey and him were the only ones who could hear:

“So be it, then.”

Being that said, he lifted his chin.

The bullets turned around.

Then, they were shot in the opposite direction, at full speed, to Alec’s will.

The man at the front of the formation fell first, followed by many others, with the bullets they had shot themselves, in an attempt to kill them.

They fell, one by one, and soon there were puddles of red on the floor, and other voices barking orders.

Shoot the canyons, they said.

But the canyons fell too.

Bring the bombs, they said.

And Alec waved them away as if they were some type of insignificant thing.

The planes, they said.

And they spun and flew out of control, before falling straight into the water or exploding midair.

Bullets stopped again and killed their shooters.

There was blood.

Tons of blood.

That’s when Leroy felt his heart pounding, upon coming to the maybe horrible realization that never had Alec been so strong.

His powers didn’t act like this.

His telekinesis was a hundred times more powerful.

It was…

It was the helmet

“GET THEM!” He shouted then, snapping Leroy back into reality, making him wonder how much time Alec had waited to say those words out loud.

To use those putrid words, the ones they always used before attempting against prodigies, against them.

If he wanted to be honest, hearing them felt good, but Leroy didn’t react immediately.

First he saw the chaos, when the mass of uniformed men and women melted between the prodigies in costumes, stepping on the dead and the dying, sometimes accidentally.

The massacre began in the rest of the city, as the sky became wilder, the tide started to roar and the screams became the type of symphony one would hear when entering the gates from Hell.

Gatlon City was starting to look red.

But the red wasn’t coming from the prodigies, but caused by them.

“You two stay with me.” Alec commanded, looking both at Honey and him. “I need you to clear the path.”

“Clear the bridge?!”

“Did I make myself understood, Queen Bee?”

Honey flinched the very moment she heard her own alias, and Leroy watched her as she tried to process everything.

“Clear the bridge.” She repeated. “Yes. Clear the…”

Leroy hoped that didn’t include the bodies.

He guessed it didn’t. Alec, after all, didn’t seem to care about that.

“Clear the bridge. Got it.” Leroy nodded.

“Excellent.”

Alec didn’t stare at them, and he didn’t move either, standing in the middle, with his hands into his pockets, and his face held high, feeling the movements all around him, prepared to get rid of any threat as soon as he spotted it.

Honey and Leroy rarely talked about their tactics before putting them into practice, but, just for once, Leroy wanted to do it.

And, of course, it wasn’t possible, because just as Leroy was preparing to grab her by the wrist and drag her aside, she got herself out of his reach.

“Wait! Wait!” she screamed, not because she was desperate, but because she wanted to be heard above the rest of the din.

Fortunately, in an almost surreal scene to watch, her voice caught Alec’s attention, and his green eyes caught hers, listening.

Leroy stared at Honey, both incredulous and speechless.

“A—” She stuttered. “… Acey.”

Acey.

Fucking Acey.

Leroy arched an eyebrow sharply, but Alec nodded, as if approving the nickname or acknowledging she was talking to him.

“I… “

BANG.

An explosion.

A loud, very loud explosion, followed by the smell of smoke and gunpowder. Maybe, if they were at a lower spot, they would’ve smelled the burnt flesh too.

Good thing they weren’t.

That didn’t make Alec less mad, though, for he unnecessarily adjusted his helmet and straightened his back.

“Acey, wait, I…! “

“Maybe not right now, Queen Bee.” He declared, plain and cold, but solemn.

Somehow, Leroy already knew what she wanted to say, and he also knew she would never say it after today, because he knew her well enough.

And maybe he knew him well enough too.

“Later.” He promised, empty.

Then, just like that, sitting in a cross-legged position, Alec levitated, perhaps to have a better view of the city.

Leroy took Honey by the wrist, this time for real.

Alec made the tank shoot in the opposite direction, and then came another explosion.

Back to back, Honey and him waited for the ones who came and tried to attack. Leroy started feeling his own heartbeat in his ears, and his whole body was vibrating, while Honey’s hasty breaths tormented him, trying to convince himself that they were doing fine, and that they were right.

Because they were.

They were just fighting back.

Leroy saw the scene as if he were out of his body.

The two of them, below Alec, but higher than the city, which was in flames; the body to body fights, with a considerable unbalance of power. The Anarchists were annihilating them with not a drop of mercy, nor remorse. The fights were on top of cars. On top of buildings. Through the streets. Pipes were leaking. The sky was roaring and wailing at the same time. Bullets were flying. Cables were hanging. Trees were moving as if made of paper.

Leroy could still feel Honey’s back against his’, and they only separated when they had to meet the officials who were coming into the bridge, before sending them to the top of pile of bodies.

A man came in, and he was a little taller than Leroy, with his head shaved and a bulletproof jacket. He wasn’t holding a gun, but a metallic tube instead. In posture and enraged expression, Leroy could tell he wasn’t a cop. Maybe a veteran, or some dumb fuck who enjoyed hunting season.

First, Leroy got rid of the tube, melting it with his hand, and next thing he knew, he was attacking him, trying to put his whole body weight on him. Leroy resisted and grabbed him first by the wrist and then by the cheeks, which made him wail in pain. Leroy pressed his palms harder against his skin, and it was only then that a swarm of both bees and wasps came in and started devouring the man’s face, gathering together into the burnt cheeks and wrists.

Honey grabbed Leroy by the arm and tried to pull him up, grunting and gasping, until Leroy was lucid enough to help her and got up himself.

At that very moment somebody kicked her back and made her trip forward. Fortunately, Leroy was able to catch her, but his blood started to boil, and, then, he just knew he had gone in a blind assault of rage.

Out of a sudden, he didn’t feel like himself. He could feel his pores dripping, and the acid was so strong he felt his whole body itching; getting into a fight position, he asked Honey to get behind him with a hand motion, which she obeyed, though also in defense mode.

It was a female official this time. Light brown hair tied in a small ponytail and muscular body. Leroy waved his hand, and that was enough to send the acid flying towards her, straight into her eyes and different spots of her skin.

She screamed in pain.

Honey was already fighting another man, but still, Leroy felt the bees surrounding him too, and there was a very specific group that stayed even when Honey moved towards another position, and they buzzed loudly all around him, notifying him when somebody was coming.

“They’re like an alarm.” He recalled Honey saying once, standing in the middle of the kitchen, taking the groceries out of the bags. She was covered in bees, as if they were children asking their mother what she had gotten for then. “They usually see the enemy before I do, so they buzz in their direction. From the outside it looks like I have outstanding reflexes but… Baby, you’re too close to my lashes and it’s giving me the heebie-jeebies, would you mind? Thank you.” A bumblebee flew away from Honey’s eye, to stand above her brow instead.

“What was I saying?” She tapped her chin, making the bees go away for a second. “Ah. Yes. I do have good reflexes, but yeah, it’s usually thanks to them, as well.”

Leroy remained leaned against the door frame, with his arms crossed over his chest.

“So.” She pointed at the counter, now full of groceries. “You’re gonna help me or what?”

Leroy wasn’t scared of bees. He had never been. Not particularly. But when he met Honey, he became immune to them and decided he would never be, either. Sometimes, when he was alone in the apartment and saw a swarm by the door, waiting for Honey to come back, he would even try to talk to them, which was useless and, judging for how they always stung him, they didn’t like it.

Maybe the bees didn’t like him whatsoever, but right here, in the bridge, they were pretending they did, because Honey had asked them to do so.

And yes. Hard as it was for him to admit it, they were useful.

Very useful.

On the other hand, it also made him feel dumb, because he didn’t know how desperate you had to be for your powers to respond to you through another prodigy.

Leroy was stabbed during one of the (very violent) riots. It wasn’t by a cop, but by a regular, non-prodigy civilian instead. It was a deep cut, and Alec got so mad he ordered to kill as many as they had to until they found the one who had done it. While Hell was breaking loose, Honey dragged him like a human crutch towards the park, hiding him behind the bushes.

“Don’t fall asleep or move unless you really need to, and don’t try to cauterize yourself because that shit hurts and you might pass out. Wait for Rina. I’ll send her to you.” Rina was a healing prodigy, and by the time Honey was saying that, she had already been killed, so they ended up sending Gwen instead. “You understand? Now it’s not the time to be the stubborn piece of shit you usually are. That’s not how we’re rolling. You understand?”

Leroy understood, but he didn’t answer. Not directly. Instead, he reached for the small blade he always carried in his pocket and, before he handed it to Honey, he tried to release his power in it.

She stared before grabbing it.

“Don’t let go, Leroy.” She asked, whispering, as she placed the blade in her own pocket. “For all you care, don’t let go.”

And when Honey’s skin touched it without her screaming in pain, he thought maybe it hadn’t worked at all, but a few days later, when Alec came to the apartment and tried to remove it from the dining table (because David was there too and he liked to touch everything), it hurt his palm.

The blade had become poisoned, and it burned everyone except for Honey and himself.

She still had it to this day, and right there, fighting in the bridge, he witnessed the exact moment when she took it out, while he stood behind her, with her bees, that she had lent him.

The sudden war seemed to have gone on forever when Leroy felt the breeze at his feet, produced by Alec’s body cutting through the air. He looked like a ghost. A very tangible and imposing ghost, who stood like a stone looking at the destruction he had caused himself, with his arms behind his back and his eyes closed.

Honey and Leroy came to his encounter, with the “Now what?” floating above their heads, like that time Honey and him had harmonized to Rivers of Babylon.

With sweat rolling down his face through the helmet and mask, Alec smiled sideways, and held his hand towards them, with his eyes showing a mild fuchsia tonality. None of the two, needless to say, knew how to react to that at first, but Honey believed him enough to try, and she wrapped her hand around his’, like a shell protecting a pearl.

And Leroy believed Honey enough to try, and wrapped his hand around hers’, like he was the sand or the water protecting the shell that protected the pearl.

And there they were.

The three of them.

Like the day Leroy met them for the first time. Like the days they travelled together, hiding from the police or not. Like all the days Alec forced them to go to Mass. Like the days they had to sleep under poor conditions, in motels or abandoned buildings, and Alec and him woke up with back pain because Honey always had to have the most comfortable place they managed to get. Like the days one of them was so injured they didn’t know he or she would wake up the next morning, and so they started praying they would.

Repressed memories started coming back, and Leroy managed to dodge every single one of them, although a part of him didn’t want to.

Then Alec stared at them. They were very close together, with their foreheads touching, while the three interlocked hands remained in the middle.

“Courage comes from the same place as fear.” Alec reminded them.

“And the day we decide to burn, they will all come with us. “ Ace Anarchy said.

And then, he lifted.

Honey was the last one to let go of him.

Next, he was gone.

Ace Anarchy stood above it all, like the burning sun, with both his arms extended to his sides, towards the emptiness, and, at the same time, towards the everything.

Leroy took Honey by the arms, putting her aside, as they stared. Maybe in awe. Maybe in fear.

Ace Anarchy looked up at the sky, then at the front again.

All the guns were pointing at him. All the lives were hanging by the thread he was using to sew his way in, and also his way out.

The Earth trembled in fear, and then it shook in pain.

Honey screeched, shoving her nails into Leroy’s arm to recover her balance, though Leroy was also on the verge of falling.

They tried to hold the other up. To force each other to remain standing.

Gatlon City left the ground, light as a feather. The buildings fell, the bridge started to crack, the sea escaped from the place it belonged to, people screamed, screamed, screamed.

Everything was in flames.

The light became brighter.

The wails became louder.

Time became slower.

Time became torture.

Time became endless.

And Gatlon City remained suspended into the air, shattering into little pieces, leaving a trace of blood and flesh.

Then, just like that, it fell.

Gatlon City fell, like a sinking boat.

Like it was nothing.

Like it was made of paper.

And it fell.

And, just like Ace Anarchy prophesied, they all fell with it. And with him.

#renegades trilogy #marissa meyer #Dawnie Writes #Leroy Flinn #Cyanide #Honey Harper #Queen Bee #Alec Artino #Ace Anarchy #Im not an ace apologist #not even a honey apologist #even though i love them i also want them to choke and die bc thats what they deserve #does that mean im only and exclusively a Leroy apologist? yes #yes absolutely #hes my grandpa #Las crónicas de gatlon #el viejo rancio la patrona y el 100tifiko #theres two mexican references here because mexico is so wild i base Ace's movement upon it lmao #TW: VIOLENCE

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futureteacherinthemaking · 3 years

Text

The Grape Riots and the Agricultural Reform Movement of California

1. Introduction:

It is the 1930's in California and many families are starting their workday just before the sunrise to leave for the lettuce and grape fields that span the great valleys that cover state. They would have to endure a long workday for outrageously low wages to barely survive. The majority of these families were immigrants and migrants of all backgrounds, spanning from the Mexicans to the Filipinos. Families would have their children drop out of school at ealry ages to help secure funds for the family. When their work in the area was done, they would pack up their belongings and travel to the next rural town looking for more work. This was sadly the reality for many across the state untill three dacades later when revolutionist like Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong started to fight for reform of the state's agricultural labor. They started with the boycott of products like grapes and lettuce at general goods stores across California in the 1960's and an assortment of flyers and posters educating the public on the issue with the state of agricultural production and the mistreatment of the many laborers. It took another decade untill the Agricultural Relations Act was passed in 1975. This act unfortantly was ineffective at protecting the Unions and the workers who formed them since nothing was inforced or regulated. In this Journey Box we will explore the trails and tribulations of the Agricultural Reform movement, the forgotten filipinos who fought for it, and why it was deemed unsuccesful for a while.

2. Index:

1. Introduction

2. Index

3. Filipino Farm Workers (Photograph #1)

4. Delano Grape Strikers (Photograph #2)

5. NPR’s “Memories Of A Former Migrant Worker” (Participant Account #1)

6. NPR’s “Grapes of Wrath: The Forgotten Filipinos Who Led A Farmworker Revolution” (Participant Account #2)

7. Grape Boycott Flyer (Artifact #1)

8. Boycott For Democracy Poster (Artifact #2)

9. Summary

10. Sources

3. Photograph #1

A photograph of Filipino Farm workers picking lettuce, Nagano Farm, Morro Bay, California, ca. 1930.

Questions:

- Why do you think the majority of farm workers were immigrants or migrants?

- What are some of the day to day conditions the farm workers could be experiencing out on the fields?

- Why was this kind of work popular in the valleys of California?

4. Photograph #2

A photograph of Delano Grape Strike picketers in Delano, California, February 1966.

Questions:

- What do you notice about the makeup of the Delano Grape Strike picketers?

- Why is it called the Delano Grape Strike, what could they be striking against? Consider the importance of the location of the strike as well.

- This is one of many strikes against farm owners and ranchers at the time. What do you think was the general public opinion on the matter at the time?

5. Participant Account #1

The following are a collection of excerpts from NPR’s “Memories of a Former Migrant Worker” This technically is not a participant account but since filipinos were so disregarded within the history of the movement this Filipino Historian was the best I could find

Felix Contreras: You were raised in a migrant farm worker environment. Can you describe what that was like?

Luis Contreras: First of all, we didn't have a permanent residence. We traveled in a truck and we lived mostly in a tent on the road between California and Kansas.

Because we were migrants, our schooling was incomplete. We would arrive in a town after school started and leave before the school year was over. We didn't always have the basic necessities of life, like being able to take a bath regularly.

Because we often had to set up our tent in the country, we ate a lot of what we found growing in the wild — fruits, some vegetables. If we were in one place long enough we could plant a garden and eat what we grew. Later, after we stopped moving and settled down in Sacramento (California) my mother would sometimes complain that our diet was better in the country with access to fresh food.

We also worked very long hours, often from sun up until sun down. The entire family, children included. As a child you think it's just normal life, nothing out of the ordinary. We didn't think we were working especially hard. It was just a normal life for us.

Felix Contreras: So things like child labor laws didn't exist back then?

Luis Contreras: There were child labor laws, but here's how migrant families worked it: When we were out in the fields you could see a child labor officer driving up along those dirt roads from at least a mile away. Plus they were usually driving a government car, so it was easy to spot them. The kids would leave the fields, gather around the family truck, then go back to work after the child labor office left the area.

Looking back, I think it was in the interests of the ag. industry to not have the child labor laws enforced because we did a lot of work as children. It was a different time. It was a different way of thinking among people who did agriculture work — meaning, there wasn't much of an interest in the welfare of the field worker.

Questions:

- Why do you think this harsh lifestyle was so normalized for migrant families at the time?

- Why do you think the agriculture industry did not care about enforcing labor laws and what do you think made them decide to enforce them now?

- Think about the present and consider how modern migrant and immigrant families live today. In what ways has life improved for most families and what are the modern problems they face?

6. Participant Account #2

The following is from NPR’s “Grapes of Wrath: The Forgotten Filipinos Who Led A Farmworker Revolution”

Perez is outraged that this history is not known, because the actions those Filipinos took improved her family's lives. "I mean, I'm extremely proud that Cesar Chavez was the right face at the right time, but a lot of the dirty work was already done."

For decades the migrant, bachelor, Filipino farmworkers – called Manongs, or elders — had fought for better working conditions. So in the summer of 1965, with pay cuts threatened around the state, these workers were prepared to act, says historian Dawn Mabalon.

"They're led by this really charismatic, veteran, seasoned, militant labor leader Larry Itliong," she says.

He urged local families in Delano to join Manongs in asking farmers for a raise. The growers balked. Workers gathered at Filipino Hall for a strike vote.

"The next morning they went out to the vineyard, and then they left the crop on the ground, and then they walked out," Mabalon says.

Cesar Chavez and others had been organizing Mexican workers around Delano for a few years, but a strike wasn't in their immediate plans. But Larry Itliong appealed to Chavez, and two weeks later, Mexican workers joined the strike.

Soon, the two unions came together to form what would become United Farm Workers, with Larry Itliong as the assistant director under Chavez.

Mabalon says, "These two groups coming together to do this? That is the power in the Delano Grape Strike."

It took five years of striking, plus an international boycott of table grapes, before growers signed contracts with the United Farm Workers.

Those years weren't easy: on strikers, families, or Delano.

Questions:

- Why do you think the Filipinos are usually disregarded when talking about the "Farmworker Revolution”?

- Why do you think the Mexican workers didn't plan to strike immediately, what could they have done instead?

- Does the Farmworker Revolution remind you of any modern movements where people from all background have united to fight for a just cause?

7. Artifact #1

A NAACP flyer calling for support for the grape boycott, 1965.

Questions:

- Who do you think the target audience was for this flyer?

- How impactful do you think boycotting California Grapes was for Cesar Chavez’s farm work reform movement?

- Do you think grocers would try and avoid certain grapes or choose to ignore the boycott?

8. Artifact #2

A poster calling for a “boycott for democracy” of grapes, 1975. (transcript here)

Questions:

- Why do you think Agricultural Labor Relations Act failed in protecting the farm workers?

- Why do you think the ranchers and farm owners are refusing to work with the UFW?

- Knowing that the years of protesting and boycotting did little to reform the state of Californias Agricultural laborers. Why do you think they continue to use boycott as an outlet for achieving their goals?

9. Summary:

I chose to cover the Agricultural Reform Movement of California since it is something that hits close to home for me. My family originated from the valleys of California and my Grandpa was one of those immigrant workers who came to the United States for a better life and was met with harsh work conditions and lack of childhood. He would always tell me about how he dropped out of 3rd grade to go work in the fields and ended up losing one of his fingertips at the age of twelve while working. I think this topic would be relevant to many students since they themselves may have family members who were immigrants or be one themselves. They have heard the same stories countless times while growing up. As far as how this can be integrated into other subjects, students could write a personal narrative in the eyes of a migrant child growing up in the 1960s during the movement for English Language Arts. This journey box perfectly addresses the ideas of "A" history not "The" history since we discuss the often not talked about Filipino involvement and the Latin root word of education since we are inviting students to draw out their own thoughts and ideas on the movement.

10. Sources:

Photographs and Artifacts: https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-united-farm-workers-and-the-delano-grape-strike

Personal Account #1: https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2010/10/08/130425856/cesar-chavez

Personal Account #2: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/16/440861458/grapes-of-wrath-the-forgotten-filipinos-who-led-a-farmworker-revolution

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savagetrickster · 4 years

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Red.

— BNHA BOOKCLUB BINGO EVENT —

anime | character: bnha | kirishima eijirou words: 2.5k prompt/crossed out: “Last Words” Themes/Warnings: soulmate AU, angst, character death

Inspiration/Song: “I Knew I Loved You” by Savage Garden

“...I knew I loved you before I met you I think I dreamed you into life I knew I loved you before I met you I have been waiting all my life...”

a/n: Imma tag the people who I have shared this plot with on the @bnhabookclub ‘s discord server HAHAH @pixxiesdust (enjoy the angst my dear zeze <3), @gallickingun (who suggested Kirishima and DAMN i was like hell yeah!) and @hawks-senseis (who came out with a crack idea that i’m SO gonna write it soon cos her idea is GOLDDD that i can’t help lmao-ing everytime I think about it XD)

No amount of time or research could ever unravel the mysteries of the world.

Why are the fate of the two people bounded by the words etched in their skin?

Why do these words only appear when one turns sixteen? And why sixteen?

There were so many questions but there were no answers.

Some gazed upon the heavens to find the lost meanings, while some dug for them in the earth beneath.

All these for the mystery etched in their skin.

But for you, you sought the answer through the seemingly endless scroll through forums on your screen.

Digitized words painting enthralling stories of how these sacred marks — dubbed as Soulwords by the millions across the blogs, forums, the news articles — on their skin led to happy endings, love, and happiness.

The common retelling of their stories mentioned the ‘unexplainable rush of warmth’, ‘the boost of bliss and spiritual strength’, and ‘the sense of wholeness’ they thrived upon finally meeting their fated partners.

Many who visited them gushed about their own, and those who haven’t, were longing and full of anticipation.

But not you.

You were shaking with anxiety and...desperation for a sign of hope.

“You’re beautiful.”

—ever since he turned sixteen and woke up to find these two words etched into the skin on his right, curving around his inner wrist like a permanent bracelet, he had waited.

Eagerness and suspense brimmed and shook inside him for the day to come with an intensity that could match a child’s, itching to open their Christmas presents or a puppy’s, sitting by the door with a wagging tail.

He hasn't met them, but he was already in love.

He kept his hands lonely for them.

His lips had never tasted the sweetness of a kiss for them.

It didn’t even matter how long it took.

Waiting was what he wanted to do because his every firsts belonged to them.

Even if it meant watching his friends around him, one after another, find their fated ones through their three-years long of hero education at the U.A. High.

He’d seen the uplifting effect the destined bonds had on them, even for Bakugou — the subtle spring in his usually hefty steps and the blissful contentment behind his scowling faces was obvious to those who had fought and struggled alongside him in the three years.

Even for someone as optimistic as himself, Kirishima often found himself filled with envy and doubts.

Still, he could never be tempted to let anyone else steal his firsts before he met them.

Every waking moment started with his hopes of hearing their first words. That she or even he would be somewhere out there, beyond his front door he was about to venture out from, arranged by fate to finally meet him.

Fleeting daydreams about how he could finally hold them in his arms and give them all his love. Even thoughts of doing things as simple as grocery shopping and taking naps together filled him with so much bubbling warmth.

Birthdays after birthdays, he wished before dancing flames, for the arrival of the fateful day awaiting them to come quicker.

Along with the wish for their safety and health, he never failed to add a silent promise to become a strong hero that could protect them.

“I did it.”

A bashful mumble turned his head away, the razored friendly grin he flashed at the passing giddy gushes of ‘Red Riot’ falling away.

Huh?

His puzzled eyes landed on Bakugou who wasn’t as enthusiastic about the gasps and admiring gazes on them.

Kirishima blinked. Once, twice. “Did what?”

“Were you even listening, shitty hair?” Bakugou’s impatience ripped through his words and faded with a sigh, “I said I proposed.”

His reminder nudged Kirishima in the direction of the phone conversation they had three days ago.

Understanding dawned upon him as soon as he pieced things together.

“....She said yes, right?”

The same razored grin he flashed to the faces on the boulevard they left behind brightened his face once more as his eyes danced excitedly.

“Of course, she said yes,” Bakugou grunted, fighting against the edges of his lips that was threatening to break a smile across his face. “We’re meant to happen after all.”

There was a short pause between them as the brightness in Kirishima’s eyes faltered slightly.

“You’re lucky, Bakugou.”

Kirishima felt the exhilaration he had for his best friend sink with a rising ache in his chest at the reminder.

He knew Bakugou didn’t mean any harm when he said what he said. He could tell it was out of happiness.

“I’m already twenty-four like you, yet I’m not even anywhere close.”

Under the cloudy sky, the dainty café huddled humbly among the huge city buildings, while hundreds of people rushed by it outside on the crowded street.

Half a dozen customers glanced up as the door swung open, announced by a rush of cold wind. Unlike the outside, the interior of the café was warm and cheery, with bright lights and colorful walls.

The customers returned to their conversations as the door swung closed behind the new entrant and the cold breeze was forgotten.

Your shoulders rose and fell as you breathed in the aromatic grounded scent of coffee lingering thickly in the cafe.

Even from the door, the stranger beside your best friend caught your eyes and you couldn’t help the bitter pinch of envy that sunk with your heavy heart.

Your brain instantly connected the dots as your legs brought you over to your friends at your usual corner.

Now, that explained the enthusiasm that seemed to leak through your screen when your phone pinged with a new text from her.

It was her turn.

You didn’t even need to hear the exuberance bouncing off your best friend’s voice when she introduced him to you, to know that those stories you’d read online were true.

Just like what you’d read on the forum, the abundance of happiness seemed to radiate off them; you could feel it the moment you slipped into the seat across them.

You were happy for her, really.

The blissful glow across you was practically tangible enough to be seen from the way their eyes smiled along with their lips.

And you forced yourself to smile too — like how you have always tried for your friends before her.

But the harsh whispers reminding you of your own reality just wouldn’t let you.

Being your best friend who knew where your heart dwelled, she noticed.

“Believe in yours, (Name),” The dull gloom glazed over your eyes disappeared at a snap in time for you to watch your best friend's hand leave his.

“Everyone has met their happy endings and I know you are bound to meet yours too soon.” Her hand slid across the table to squeeze yours. “Stop overthinking, okay?”

You wished you could.

“Don’t worry about me, Yui,” The brightest smile you could muster swept over your face. “We should totally start planning for our double dates once I meet mine!”

Her eyes lit up, the concern in them washed away and was replaced by the enthusiasm you knew so well.

Exactly the way it was, when you felt it with her back then.

Before your sixteen birthdays, the one thing you two always look forward to was double dates once you've met your fated ones. Then, you two had a notebook filled with giddy doodles of words you thought might turn up on your wrists.

But only hers was anything close to them.

Her comforting words...you wanted to cling onto them so badly. You wanted to believe in them.

You longed to feel the same kind of anticipation others felt waiting for their fated ones. And not dread and fear.

You tore your eyes away from the couple before you with a quiet pain and slipped a glance down to your wrist.

Jumping from forums to forums, glimpses of happy endings were what you’ve been desperately searching for.

For a hint of hope for the ominous words on your skin that spelled your fate.

“Don’t die on me— please.”

Her eyes roamed the chaotic scene before her.

The flashing red atop ambulances, the metal rattling of the wheels under stretchers delivering casualties and some were like her, crying helplessly.

The reassuring squeeze around her hand and his words meant to comfort her did nothing to stop the sobs retching from her.

The waves of angry, gray clouds rolling menacingly in the vast overcast sky over them made her feel so tiny.

“...Someone, please help her.” Her cracking voice could barely rise above the urgent cacophony around her as she begged, her mascara running down her cheeks with her tears.

A sight that she wouldn’t allow anyone to see if (Name) wasn’t buried somewhere under the rubble of what used to be the cafe they were sitting in.

“My best friend…” She cried, pleading left and right as she tried to find someone who could do something. Anything.

“Please—”

She knew it was futile for any civilians here, but she had to try.

“—she’s still in there…!”

Where were the Pro-Heroes?

(Name) may not be her fated one, but she was everything to her. A girl she laughed and cried with...She couldn’t lose her.

Hope widened her eyes as she spotted a distant recognizable figure that had just stepped into the chaos, and rushed forward.

“...Red Riot!”

You didn’t know how it happened, but you knew it happened too fast.

One moment you were staring back at your reflection in the bathroom.

The next moment you were lying on your back, eyes locked onto the hovering block of concrete that could have crushed you if not for the jagged crimson-stained one impaling your stomach.

The sticky warmth on the side of your heads and the throbbing that came along with it told you were bleeding from the head as well.

Even with you floating in and out of consciousness, you could feel the harsh ripple of the damages done to your body, spreading across you like hungry wildfire.

Every breath you tried to take into your lungs was accompanied by shards of stabbing pain.

All these pointed to one path you were heading to, but you clung onto the words on your wrist.

Those words...you haven’t heard them.

So you weren’t going to die yet right?

For once in your life, ever since those inscriptions appeared on your skin, hope bloomed across your chest as you desperately held onto them like they were your lifeline.

You will live.

You will survive this.

And die as you were meant to when time comes.

—you told yourself, repeating them in your muddled head like a mantra.

Then while fighting hard against the darkness dimming around your vision and reciting encouraging words in your head, the block over you was suddenly lifted off.

The burst of light that fell onto you made you wince instantly, your eyes squinting weakly against stark brightness that greeted you.

You heard or more than saw the block being shoved away and what towered over you now was a magnificent figure of hope.

It was a breathtaking sight for someone who was about to be swallowed by the clutches of despair.

Like a reenacting scene of Altas who had finally pushed off the weight of the heavens off his shoulders, that never came to be.

Standing tall and sturdy against the light behind him, the clad of strong red on him made you want to reach out to him so much.

It was like he was life itself, blazing gloriously in the light from the way the red on him seemed to be leaping off him.

Amongst the darkness clouding your vision from the corners, you watched him curl down into you, drawing closer with concern in those eyes.

You couldn’t help the words you uttered through your parched lips.

“....You’re beautiful.”

You saw him freeze, but you didn’t think much of it because you were still marvelling at the sight before you — he was indeed beautiful.

“No, no…”

You were too weak to notice the painful realization distorting his face or hear the panic he muttered under his gasping breath.

”...not like this.”

There was a starburst of pain amidst the red in his trembling gaze as Kirishima lowered himself beside your tattered body.

Red.

They were everywhere on you. Leaking from everywhere they could, seeping out along with the strength in your half-lidded gaze.

He knew what was coming. He knew there was no way you could survive this.

But it didn’t mean he was ready to accept the reality stained crimson red before him.

Kirishima searched around him, eyes desperately looking for someone…

Recovery Girl, a paramedic, a doctor...anyone that wasn’t as helpless as him.

You couldn’t see him that clearly now that everything was dimmed, but you could sense the turmoil in the body beside yours.

“...It’s okay.” Your lips curled weakly with your attempt to comfort him.

“No, no...it’s not okay.” There was a crack in his voice that made you wonder how kind this stranger was to weep so hard for a person they didn’t even know.

“Not yet, you can’t just go like this. I’ve waited for so long...” A choked sob broke into his plea.

“...Don’t die on me— please.”

A limp gasp sifted through your lips at the rush of a strange, honey-rich warmth that immediately flared within you to his words.

You thought you heard him gasping with you when it happened.

It died quickly, fizzling out as quickly it came.

It was only for a second but it was enough for you to feel it in you, enveloping you like the embrace of a gentle sun.

Was that the ‘rush of warmth’ so many talked about?

…But at death’s door?

“So,” A wry smile climbed across your face as a humorless chuckle left you, “....we’ve finally met, huh.”

Whatever hope you held onto to keep your eyes open just minutes ago crumbled.

This was it, wasn’t it?

“I’m sorry,” Tears welled in your eyes. “...I’m so sorry it had to be like this, whoever you are.”

“I’m Red Riot.” You heard him frantically answer after you, “I mean, Kirishima Eijiro.”

His hands clamped over yours and you could only think of how warm they were, mustering the bit of strength you had left to give him a squeeze.

The Red Riot, huh?

Who would have thought…

Another wistful chuckle left you as you tasted the bitterness of regret and sadness.

Tears brimmed over your eyes at the withering light in your vision.

The darkness was callous.

“I’m (Name),” You knew you were close. “...And I’m glad I’ve finally met you, Kirishima-san.”

It was only interested in pulling you in.

Your loosening grip around his hands jostled him into panic.

...and it was the clear victor.

He screamed for you.

He screamed for someone to help.

He cursed at fate.

“Please don’t leave. I beg you, don’t go...I love you.” — was the last you heard before darkness finally took you.

Yui was wrong; not everyone was bound to meet their happy ending.

Because you didn’t.

...And neither did he.

a/n: did you notice how differently they viewed the color red?

#kirishima eijirou #bnha eijiro kirishima #kirishima eijiro x reader #kirishima eijiro imagine #red riot #bnha kirishima #bnhabookclub #bnhabookclub bingo event 2020

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luvneedsnosyt · 3 years

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My Favorite Albums of 2020

Here is my list of my personal top albums of 2020

You can find my separate list for top EPs of 2020 here

My Previous monthly lists from 2020: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November

My list last year for my top albums of 2019 can be found here.

Honorable Mention:

Aluna - Renaissance Genre: Synth Pop / Dance

Lead singer from AlunaGeorge steps out on her own with this fast paced romp. She brings along many well known producers like Diplo (who she’s signed with as a solo artist), KAYTRANADA, SG Lewis and more.

Proof: Warrior (Feat. SG Lewis) / Body Pump

Big Gigantic - Free Your Mind Genre: Electronic / Dance

The Colorado duo Big Gigantic’s big breakout was their sixth album in 2016’s Brighter Future that really expanded the reach of their high octane music. Four years later we have their follow up in this joyous affair. With their use of horns (one of them is a trained saxophonist) they always have a big band feel that meets the club in their sound that's so infectious.

Proof: Burning Love (Feat. Kidepo) / You’re The One (Feat. Nevve)

Cam - The Otherside Genre: Country / Pop

I’m not typically a big country fan but this country with a little infusion of pop is something I can ride for. Really digging the ways Cam expanded on a typical country vernacular while still staying true to it as well.

Proof: The Otherside / Classic

CloZee - Neon Jungle Genre: Electronic / World Bass

CloZee’s musical landscapes are living breathing entities. Her music is lush and vibrant that seem to flow to and frow with a breeze. Not what most people would attribute to the genre which is why it stands out.

Proof: Winter Is Coming / Heya

dvsn - A Muse In Her Feelings Genre: R&B / Neo-Soul

The third album by Toronto R&B duo dvsn and this is by far their best. A seductive and savory exploration through love, sexuality and heartbreak.

Proof: Dangerous City (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Buju Banton) / A Muse

Duke Dumont - Duality // Duality Remixed Genre: Electronic / Dance

This is sort of a greatest hits with some new songs masked as a debut. The fact most of these songs we have heard before and some way back to 2015, knocks this album back a bit on my list. That being said Duke Dumont is one of the best at funk infused dance music and this album bangs!

Proof: Ocean Drive / Together (w/ How To Dress Well) // Ocean Drive (Purple Disco Machine Remix) / Together (Luttrell Remix) w/ How To Dress Well

Empress Of - I’m Your Empress Of Genre: R&B / Pop

Empress Of’s sophomore album Us was quite an upward trajectory from her already good debut album. On her third record here that momentum is kept going with a little flair. This is her most danceable record yet with some nostalgic synths added to her musical attire that’s an accessory worth attention but not too distracting.

Proof: Bit of Rain / Love Is A Drug

Fakear - Everything Will Grow Again Genre: Electronic / Dance / Tropical House

French DJ Fakear’s eclectic sophomore album is lush and expansive in it’s sound. You feel enveloped in an exotic and kinetic world that you can’t help but get lost in while listening.

Proof: Sekoia / Rituals (Feat. Luiza Fernandes)

Georgia - Seeking Thrills Genre: Synth Pop

This sophomore album by the english singer is a riot full of pulsating beats and neon lit synth patterns. The singing has Santigold/M.I.A. vibes without being an emulation.

Proof: Never Let You Go / Ray Guns

Halsey - MANIC Genre: Pop / R&B

It’s been a pretty dramatic rise for the singer. She was already a sensation by the time her debut album Badlands came out in 2015. Now she’s one of the sought after features and a pretty big act in music. This third album MANIC is her most consistent, powerful and best. She has perfected how to utilize her raspy voice and how to connect with the listener and evoke strong emotions.

Proof: you should be sad / Without Me

Illenium - ASCEND (Remixes) Genre: Electronic / Dance

Illenium’s ASCEND was my 3rd favorite record of 2019. As quite a nice gift Illenium dropped off this super sized remix album with at least one remix of each song off the glorious album.

Proof: Good Things Fall Apart (3LAU Remix) Feat. Jon Bellion / In Your Arms (Alan Walker Remix) Feat. X Ambassadors

Kingdom - Neurofire Genre: Electronic / Neo-Soul / Dance

Even if you don’t know Kingdom off the top of your head you’ve probably heard a Kingdom produced song without knowing. He’s been a behind the scenes go-to producer and runs a label that has such artists as Kalela and Dawn Richards on it. Neurofire is a smooth soulful electronic album that has such an contagious bob to it you can’t help yourself but start dancing.

Proof: High Enough (Feat. Tiara Thomas) / His n Hers (Feat. Semma)

Lady Gaga - Chromatica Genre: Pop / Dance

Despite her immense success, Lady Gaga is not a complacent woman. After readjusting her sound to something more stripped down on 2016’s Joann, Gaga did another about face this time leaning into the EDM world and making an ecstatic dance record. Linking with many big hitter DJs for production work in Tchami, BloodPop, Madeon, Skrillex, Axwelll and others, who create a great vivacious platform for Gaga to strut all over.

Proof: Stupid Love / Replay

Låpsley - Through Water Genre: Indie Pop / Electronic

It’s been four years since British singer Låpsley’s debut album. But it seems that time was well utilized as this is a great leap for the artist. I enjoyed her understated debut but here she was able to incorporate a little more kinetic energy in her recording while keeping the sentimentalism of them really effectively.

Proof: Ligne 3 / Womxn

Lastlings - First Contact Genre: Electronic / Future Bass / Dance

I haven’t heard the early EPs from Australian dou Lastlings so first listening to this album was quite a pleasant surprise. There’s some definite influences from fellow Australian act RÜFÜS DU SOL here. And influences that they utilize nicely.

Proof: Deja Vu / No Time

The Strokes - The New Abnormal Genre: Alternative / Rock

It’s not often an extremely successful rock group after an extended hiatus returns and makes one of their best albums. Working with Rick Ruban the legendary New York group returns after seven years with an album that exerts a high level of confidence and maturity. It doesn’t scream out at you as an album yet the music is incredibly in depth and rewarding.

Proof: Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus / Not The Same Anymore

Sylvan Esso - Free Love Genre: Synth Pop

For their third album the North Carolina based duo took a slightly scaled back sound as the tone is a bit more somber and muted then their past albums. The indie pop is much more dominant over the Electronic aspects of their music. It still however is their enjoyable meshing of the two and there’s still plenty of danceable moments, they are just more interspersed in a more internal faced record.

Proof: Ferris Wheel / Frequency

Tchami - Year Zero Genre: Electronic / Dance

The French DJ Techami finally drops a debut album and what a blast this is. Year Zero is a joy ride form start to finish with no real filler tracks of straight enjoyable dance records.

Proof: Ain’t That Kind Of Friend (Feat. Modesty) / Ghosts (Feat. Hana)

Tyler Swift - evermore Genre: Indie Pop / Folk

The second of Taylor’s 2020 albums; made with the National’s Aaron Dessor. This one you can tell is a bit of tracks that didn’t fit the construct of folklore. This has a bit of a “thrown together” feel, which sounds more harsh then how I mean it. With that being said these are still more of probably my favorite iteration we’ve seen of Taylor so I enjoy it immensely. More on folklore below.

Proof: ‘tis the damn season / ivy

We Are The City - RIP Genre: Rock / Alternative

This is the fifth by the Concadian Rock group but the first I have heard by them so I can’t offer insight on how this fits in their past work. But when I heard the guitars and crashing drums come in on the thunderous opener “Killer B-Side Music” I was instantly hooked. This is a fun and emotionally gripping journey through this groups organized chaos.

Proof: Killer B-Side Music / Saint Peter

The List:

Last One Out: The Naked And Famous - Recover Genre: Synth Pop

New Zealand band The Naked and Famous return with their fourth album full of their patented form of catchy synth pop meant to excite and evoke. The songs are take their shoes off and make themselves at home in your head demanding a sing along.

Proof: Sunseeker / Bury Us / Come As You Are / Coming Back To Me

35. Grimes - Miss Anthropocane Genre: Synth Pop / Electronic

It’s been an odd couple years for the singer/producer Grimes as her high profile relationship has pushed her further into the celebrity life then she has been in the past. Despite the chios she still is an extremely talented musician and this stellar album shows that off nicely. I feel Grimes was a bit too harsh on her previous album, 2015 Art Angels, which had a more general pop sensibility. I genuinely loved Art Angels. With her own frustration Grimes went back closer to her early sound with this follow up. Her ability to bend song structures to her will creates an ever changing and unpredictable landscape for the lister to get lost in.

Proof: So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth / Violence (w/ i_o) / Idoru / We Appreciate Power (Feat. HANA)

34. Taylor Swift - folklore Genre: Indie Pop / folk

Taylor had a busy quarantine using this time to link up with Aaron Dessner of the National and Jack Antonoff to make not one but two albums. The first one here a surprise drop in July hit everyone in all the feels. The stripped down sound felt right at home with the isolation a lot of us were feeling during this pandemic. Taylor’s writing is as piercing as ever over these mellow and somber tracks.

Proof: cardigan / my tears ricochet / seven / august

33. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia // Club Future Nostalgia Genre: Synth Pop / Dance

English singer Dua Lipa confidently busts out the sequence for this dazzling sophomore album. As the title suggests this is a futuristic blast from the past with influences from the 70’s disco and 80’s synth pop in a modern ensemble. The songs are all catchy af and danceable as hell but you still never lose sight of the true centerpiece and that is Dua’s authoritative voice. She has the perfect vocal conflexion for electronic songs as it's commending enough to not get lost in the kinetic ensembles but also light and malleable enough to ride the harmonies with grace. As can be seen by her getting all the GRAMMY nominations the world is taking note of this pop force.

Proof: Don’t Start Now / Cool / Physical / Break My Heart // Hallucinate (Paul Woolford Remix) / Don’t Start Now (KAYTRANADA Remix) / Physical (Mark Ronson Remix) Feat. Gwen Stefani / Cool (Jayda G Remix)

32. KAYTRANADA - BUBBA Genre: Electronic / R&B / Dance

Montreal based producer KAYTRANADA picks up right where his 2016 debut left off with this smooth and sensual vibe fest of an album. The album doesn’t ever go for anything too high or too low. The tempo is pretty consistent in a controlled bob that can get a crowd up and dancing or can be played in the background for a chill environment.

Proof: Go DJ (Feat. SiR) / 10% (Feat. Kali Uchis) / Need It (Feat. Masego) / The Worst In Me (Feat. Tinashe)

31. The Killers - Imploding The Mirage Genre: Rock / Alternative

With over 16 years in the game, The Vegas rock group and one of my personal all time favorite bands has not lost a step. Imploding The Mirage follows their 2017 Wonderful Wonderful as a return to their early form. This new album is a triumphant and boisterous affair exuding with confidence that only a group together this long can employ.

Proof: Dying Breed / Caution / Running Towards a Place / When the Dreams Run Dry

30. Blanche - EMPIRE Genre: Indie Pop

21 year old Belgium singer Blanche’s raspy commanding voice is one beyond her years. It’s very delicate while demanding your attention. On this debut she utilizes the effective voice nicely by surrounding it with a cinematic harmonious backing.

Proof: Empire / Till We Collide / Fences / How Does That Sound

29. BRONSON (Golden Features & ODESZA) - BRONSON Genre: Electronic / Dance

Connecting from an admiration of each other’s music, Seattle electronic duo ODESZA and Australian DJ Golden Feature team up for this new trio that merges their sounds while give us something completely new from the artists. Where ODESZA’s sound is more light and airy this collaboration is darker and dense. The weight of each track give them a powerful emotive feel as they blend into each other while the album progresses.

Proof: HEART ATTACK (Feat. lau.ra) / KNOW ME (Feat. Gallant) / TENSE / DAWN (Feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs)

28. GASHI - 1984 Genre: alt-R&B / Synth Pop

It’s been a long road GASHI, growing up as an Albianian refugee before his family settled in Brooklyn as a child. GASHI struggled initially to learn English and eventually used music as his tool to learning the language. Dropping out of college to focus on music GASHI dropped a mixtape and couple albums that were pretty below the radar. It seems in 2018 connecting with DJ Snake was a catalyst for the singer. His last two albums have a focused synth heavy vernacular with an 80’s nostalgia. There’s a slightly haunting tension in his music that brings a level of wonder and mystery. The slight reverb makes the tracks feel as though they are recorded in a dark void with the jabbing synths as youre neon guilding light.

Proof: Mama (Feat. Sting) / Paranoid / Never Give Up On Me / Mr. Ferrari

27. Caroline Rose - Superstar Genre: Indie Rock / Alternative

Starting as a more folk/country based artist, the NY based artist took a dramatic shift in her music to a more indie rock style with some hints of synth pop and the move has proved rather fruitful. On her fourth album Caroline has hit a rather confident sweet spot. Superstar is filled with tunes you can jam out to with reckless abandon.

Proof: Nothing’s Impossible / Got to Go My Own Way / Someone New / Back at the Beginning

26. Jason Ross - 1000 Faces // 1000 Faces Remixes Genre: Electronic / Dance

Seven Lion’s understudy takes an emphatic step out of the shadows and it’s quite a big step! 1000 Faces pushes the twin cities DJ in the mix of top electronic DJs. He definitely shows off how he learned the use of dead space from Seven Lions but in his own style for dramatic drops in his ensembles. Suspense is used almost as an instrument leading to crashing moments meant to get you up and moving and your feelings yanked on.

Proof: When the Night Falls (w/ Fiora) / One that Got Away (w/ Dabin & Dylan Matthew) / Known You Before (w/ Seven Lions & Emilie Brandt) / 1000 Faces (w/ Dia Frampton) // Leave Me To Wonder (Just A Gent Remix) w/ Fiora / When The Night Falls (AWAKEND Remix) w/ Fiora / Known You Before (Trivecta Remix) w/ Seven Lions Feat. Emilie Brandt / Shelter (No Mana Remix) Feat. Melanie Fontana

25. HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III Genre: Pop

The HAIM sisters are slowily chipping away at their sound adding in more elements, while also chipping away at the patriarchy. Women in Music Pt. III is a further expanding the trios musical pallet with more R&B and Jazz sensibilities then we’ve heard from them before. Their strength is still their strong consistency. At 16 tracks this album still feels like there isn’t a wasted moment, every song is solid in its own right and contributes to the overall arc of the project. My sneaky favorite track is the smooth “3 AM” that sounds like it could be on a Janet Jackson album with it’s soulful and catchy as hell chorus and bouncy beat that get your head bopping and shoulders rolling.

Proof: Gasoline / Don’t Wanna / 3 AM / Now I’m In It

24. PVRIS - Use Me Genre: Rock / Scythe Pop / Alternative

Rock music as a genre has been a bit pushed back from the limelight the last few years. However that doesn’t mean the genre is dying and great acts like PVRIS prove that. Following up their thrilling 2017 album All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell we see the rock group experimenting more with their sound. The 2019 EP gave us a teaser of the ways Synth Pop will infiltrate their vernacular more on this record. That doesn’t mean they are “going straight pop” here as this is still a rambunctious form of rock music. Just more blurry around the edges. PVRIS and lead singer Lynn are able to evoke such strong emotions in ever track, it’s impossible to not feel and sympathize with what her emotion is for that track while listening.

Proof: Death of Me / Hallucinations / Old Wounds / Wish You Well

23. Disclosure - ENERGY Genre: Electronic / Dance

After a decade in the genre and more then a 5 year break from their exhilarating sophomore album Caracal (one of my personal favorite records of 2015), the London DJ duo return with this double album stuffed with euphoria inducing dance tunes. The name of the album is the consistent throughline, every track is bursting with vibes and energy. There’s also an obvious globalization with their already inclusive music with many songs featuring singers in other languages and using themes from that culture in the beat making. It’s quite a thrilling journey that keeps you guessing song to song what will come up next.

Proof: Lavender (w/ Channel Tres) / Douha (Mali Mali) w/ Fatoumata Diawara / Tondo (w/ Eko Roosevelt) / Know Your Worth (w/ Khalid)

22. Deante’ Hitchcock - BETTER Genre: Hip Hop

What an impressive debut from the 27 year old Atlanta rapper. I wasn’t up on Deante’ until this album came out so I don’t have knowledge of his rise but this was a great introduction to him. You can really see the merging of older Atlanta influences from Goodie Mob, Outkast and Ludacris with new hip hop from J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Wale in his sound. Hip Hop is in a funky moment right now as there’s a bit of a struggle on what the dominant sound and style will be. This is a necessary struggle for such a diverse and malleable form of music. For me this is my favorite form of the genre and seeing new artists like Deante’ and JID come in with such vigor let’s me know it’s not going to die off.

Proof: I Remember / I Got Money Now (Feat. JID) / Circles / Angels

21. Alina Baraz - It Was Divine Genre: R&B / Soul

The soothing and sultry vocals of singer Alina Baraz have been some of my favorites since she slid on the scene as the vocalist on Urban Flora EP with producer Galimatias in 2015. Her soft and understated Soul music flows and sways in your head like a mellow gust of wind picking you up and carrying you to a better place. Starting from her previous project, Alina’s partnership with Khalid has quickly become one of my favorite pairings, that I hope they continue.

Proof: Morocco (Feat. 6LACK) / Endlessly / Off The Grid (Feat. Khalid) / More Than Enough

20. Harry Styles - Fine Line Genre: Alternative / Indie Pop

On the first round of albums from the One Direction boys I will admit I was more drawn to ZAYN’s alt-R&B sound. But even with that I still enjoyed and could tell Harry was doring much more musically on his 70’s rock influenced self titled solo debut. It only took him two tries to perfect his sound on this brilliant follow up. On Harry Styles I felt Harry was emulating his influences a bit too much but here he’s perfect keeping that same nostalgic vernacular while modernizing the sound. The 26 year old brit boasts a level of confidence here that is pretty engraved in the music. The R&B banger :Adore You” was my favorite song on the album on the first few listens but eventually the emotionally gripping closer “Fine Line” caught up with me for all the feels.

Proof: Watermelon Sugar / Adore You / Lights Up / Fine Line

19. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension Genre: Synth Pop

Sufjan is an artist that likes to bounce around in styles project to project and this might be his most dramatic bounce as he takes on a more electronic palette then his normally acoustical vernacular. It still is a Sufjan album and very internal and subdued in vibe, but with a more expansive musical landscape that makes his normally intimate and crouched music a bit more of an expansive and sprawling affair. The moments of emotional outburst are mostly through the synths and drums rather than Steven’s words and lead to the tracks all individually wound tight with tension and then carefully crafted moments of erupting release.

Proof: Video Games / Ativan / Sugar / America

18. Krewella - zer0 Genre: Electronic / Synth Pop / Dance

Good things come to those who wait and we had to wait quite a while for the sophomore album from the sister duo of Krewella. zer0 is a burst of danceable pop tunes stuffed with numerous outside influences on the sisters. There’s some general pop influences from artists like Christina Agulaera, there’s electronic backings with notes taken from contemporaries like Alison Wonderland and there’s a definite spine of their Pakistani heritage audibly visible as well. This is quite a confident and exhilarating cannon shot of an album by the duo I feel has been a bit criminally overlooked.

Proof: Good On You (Feat. Nucleya) / Anxiety (Feat. Arrested Youth) / Ghost / Greenlights

17. Jack Garratt - Love, Death & Dancing Genre: R&B / Pop / Electronic

British singer Jack Garratt returns with his bursting soulful vocals over a unpredictably windy electronic pallet. Every track by Jack Garratt takes the listener on quite a picturesque journey with dramatic shifts in tone and pace. In much less deserving hands this can be a recipe for a disastrously chaotic listen but as mentioned before Jack’s smooth vocal delivery is an effective juxtaposition to the kinetic melodies. You never know what the next turn is but whenever you feel lost, Jack extends his voice as a helping hand to reel you back in. Eventually you just know you’re along for a ride and to buckle up and enjoy.

Proof: Time / Return Them To The One / Better / Circles

16. Charli XCX - how i’m feeling now Genre: Synth Pop / Dance

Only 8 months after her third album Charli returns with possibly her most refined project of her career. Made during the first month of the stay at home order from the pandemic, how i’m feeling now is an album about isolation and loneliness. Equipped with her standard unique form of deconstructionist pop and electronic melding with a dash of 0 fucks given, the rushed nature is sort of a vernacular the tracks wear proudly on their sleeves. There’s a stripping of some of the plasticity making the raw emotions of the tracks stand out.

Proof: forever / enemy / i finally understand / anthems

15. Louis The Child - Here For Now Genre: Electronic / Synth Pop / Dance

After a couple EP’s and a speedy rise, the Chicago based Electronic duo Louis The Child release their debut full length album and flex a bit more diversity then we’ve previously seen from them. WIth a sound a bit more geared to expand their audience the group dables more in R&B, Hip Hop and pop then in their more electronic focused EP’s. This expansion is not a dilution at all though. Their unique melding of grooves in unorthodox way is on full display across this joyous album.

Proof: Nobody Like You (w/ Vera Blue) / Don’t Mind / Free (w/ Drew Love) / Fade Away

14. Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure Genre: Pop / Dance / Soul

Needing a reset, UK’s Jessie Ware took a break from music to focus on her family and other forms of collaboration like her podcast Table Manners. Shortly after the birth of her second child, the itch came back but with a new outlook on life it was a different itch. Jessie has been one of the great sad song writers of the last 10 years, on What’s Your Pleasure? Jessie wanted to focus more on the positive love she has in her life and how she just wants to joyously dance in celebration of it. Using Disco as her muse Jessie makes a modern discoteca equipped the listener with alacrity and positivity while promoting they get up and get down. The timing of such an album was quite intuitive and brilliant by the singer. She started recording the album in 2019 but by the time it was ready to release was in the middle of a pandemic. Perfect timing for such a jubilant album.

Proof: Spotlight / Save A Kiss / Adore You / Mirage (Don’t Stop)

13. Buscabulla - Regresa Genre: Latin / Pop / Dance

When Latin synth pop duo Buscabulla returned home they did to a post-hurricane Maria Puerto Rico. After years in New York they were returning to a place they love but that was forced to change dramatically. The married couple came equipped with a new record deal and new found personal stability, but chose to surround themselves in the instability their friends and family were forced to live with after the natural disaster. Despite the chaos their music evokes hope, and joy. My limited and very broken knowledge of Spanish doesn’t give me much of an insight on the song meanings but the vibe of this whole album just gets me up off my butt and moving my feet and hips. The latin based rhythms with an Electronic pop influence makes this project quite an infectious and joyous romp.

Proof: Vàmono / El Aprieto / Mío / NTE

12. Purity Ring - WOMB Genre: Synth Pop

The third album from Canadian duo is a bit of a return to their darker and more brooding sound of their debut from the glossier and brighter sophomore album. Some of these descriptors may sound like a negative but trust me it is not. Now I seem to be in a minority that enjoyed the more electronic and pop focused sophomore album a bit more than their debut but it was still their debut that drew me in to them so this return is not met with any dismay from me. Always fascinated with the human body, WOMB is a coming of age album focusing on the weird things our body begins doing as we mature and how that affects us emotionally. It took them five years for this third album from another eternity but sometimes maturation just takes some time.

Proof: pink lightning / i like the devil / vehemence / stardew

11. Run The Jewels - RTJ4 Genre: Hip Hop

The first track is quite an exhilarating indication that even though this is the fourth record from the duo Run The Jewels, they haven’t lost any of their vigor. Dropped early during the protests going on around the country for police violence, RTJ had impeccable timing for their best project to date. All RTJ albums are quite a whirlwind and this is no exception. Both artists have been in the industry for over 20 years, but their collaboration has brought them both to new heights of notoriety for each of them. With this new stature nothing has changed in their music though, they still want to provide you music to party to and music to revolt to.

Proof: yankee and the brave (ep. 4) / JU$T (Feat. Pharrell WIlliams & Zach de la Rocha) / the ground below / a few words from the firing squad (radiation)

10. Super Duper - HALLELUJAH! Genre: Electronic / Dance

The full length debut from Nashville producer Super Duper is quite an endorphin shot in the ear. I first found out about Super Duper seeing him open for Petit Biscuit a couple years ago without knowing anything about him. I enjoyed his use of electronic backdrops with reverb and echo to create space within it along with the cleaver voice samples and hard hitting drum patterns to inhabit said space. I immediately found his debut EP and eventually his follow up. When his EP Prelude came out earlier this year there was a noticeable uptick in the pop sensibilities in his sound. Sometimes this can be considered a negative but here it added another form of personality. His earlier albums were all expansive landscapes but the increase in pop singers and vocal samples adds a further human element for the listener to identify with as they explore these powerful backdrops.

Proof: We Had Everything / Quiver (Feat. Lonas) / Feel Good (Feat. Bre Kennedy) / All On You / Religion (Feat. Bre Kennedy)

9. Joji - Nectar Genre: R&B / Pop

Japanese singer George Miller has come a long way from his jokester YouTube days to his sophomore album here. Beginning his career in entertainment as an online shock humor performer, Joji is known for being responsible for the “Harlem Shake” meme craze years ago. In 2017 Miller decided to focus on a legit music career dropping off his debut EP In Tongues that year. The EP was a good introduction but suffered a bit of consistency. The kinks were ironed out a bit for his debut album, Ballads 1 which had the gut wrenching “Slow Dancing In The Dark”. There still was a bit of consistency issues present though but those are all but fully worked out on this impressive sophomore effort. Creativity was never an issue for Joji’s music but needed to be channeled more in a cohesive direction across a whole project and it seems he is able to find that focus here. “Run” is up there with one of the most beautiful songs to come out this year. It is pretty impressive the growth Joji has made in four years and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Proof: Daylight (w/ Diplo) / Run / Sanctuary / Afterthought (Feat. BENEE) / Your Man

8. Shallou - Magical Thinking Genre: Electronic / Synth Pop / Future Bass

After a few lovely EP’s over the years, LA producer Shollou dropped off his melodic and ethereal debut full length. Shallou’s form of electronic music is very subdued and modest on the surface yet expansive and encompassing the deeper you venture as a listener. Where the music lacks in flash it does not lack in complexity, emotional depth and infectious melodies. Shollou created worlds of subtlety and sophistication, that double dips as easy listening sounds or music to immerse yourself and get lost in.

Proof: Forget / Mutual Love (w/ Zachary Knowles) / Silhouettes (Feat. Vancouver Sleep Clinic) / Older (w/ Daya) / Good Together (w/ Ashe)

7. The Weeknd - After Hours Genre: alt-R&B / neo-Soul

One of my favorite artists making music today (and one of the inspirations of me making this blog in the first place), The Toronto based singer Abel Tesfaye goes a bit back to his roots while still expanding his musical palette on his fourth full length record here. As the 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy, hinted to us, the neon lighting synth pop of his precious two records are taking more of a back seat for the dark and moody R&B melodies of his first record and mixtapes.The difference is his early mixtapes were a consistent mood but After Hours is a whole experience. Now as a more seasoned artist Abel is able to more effectively mold the atmosphere to his will. And take in previous explorations as well as new ones into his atmospheric sound seamlessly. “Blinding Lights” that would have fit perfectly on Star Boy or “In Your Eyes” equipped with some new jazzy saxophone yet neither standing out in the whole composition of the project show this dexterity off well. The former being possibly the most successful single of 2020.

Proof: Scared To Live / Heartless / Blinding Lights / In Your Eyes / After Hours

6. Jonah Mutono - GERG Genre: alt-R&B / Soul

London based Kenyan singer Jonah drops off a gorgeous debut album here. Jonah, who himself grew up in a very religious family, has been hiding his sexuality and this album addresses how that puts a strain on him and his relationships. GERG is a gripping expose as the singer comes to terms with his own needs and desires and brings to light them for the audience to see and feel. His voice is both commanding and soothing, mostly in a deep somber tone but can get up to some surprising heights when needed. His music sort of sounds like a cross between Kwabs and Frank Ocean. “The Low” which specifically is above loving someone in private from your family is maybe one of the most feels inducing songs of 2020.

Proof: Shoulders / If You Mean It / The Low / Circulation / South Bank

5. Phantogram - Ceremony Genre: Synth Pop

Despite the chaos in the world that is defining 2020, the return of one of my favorite groups in music is about finding the love that will keep you positive and moving through it. It’s been a bit of a journey for the New York duo with some thrilling highs and heartbreaking woes. After the success of their 2009 debut album Eyelid Dreams. The group really took their time on their sophomore effort knowing this will more be what defines their direction and sound then the debut. After a couple EPs to hold fans over when 2014’s Voices dropped it was a triumphant release that pushed their notoriety in the indie pop world to great heights. The next year was a gifted creative experiment collaboration with Oukast’s Big Boi in the Big Grams EP, but later that year tragedy struck with lead singer Sarah Barthel’s sister committing suicide. Three was released in 2016 written and recorded during the morning of this death which led to a much more emotionally charged offering. For their fourth album they could have kept with the darker vernacular of its predecessor but after going through the healing process from their own heart break, Sarah and Josh wanted to instead offer a record of healing and hope to the world in a time we all need it. That doesn’t mean Ceremony is devoid of the impacting sentiments of before. Ceremony is still as much a personal record as Three, but looks more to the future with a hopeful viewpoint then the past looking record before it. A necessary step for anyone to take towards healing from a trauma and/or tragedy. Nothing shows this off more than the poignantly brilliant “Pedestal”, possibly the most passionate and emotionally intimate record of the group’s career, that never fails to leave me in goosebumps no matter how many times I listen.

Proof: Dear God / Into Happiness / In a Spiral / Pedestal / Let Me Down

4. Childish Gambino - 3.15.20 Genre: Hip Hop / R&B

For possibly his final album as Childish Gambino, Donald Glover left us an interesting crescendo of his musical career. 3.15.20 is a conglomerate of his previous albums wrapped up in a concise and cohesive, yet exploratory and eclectic album. The Boom Bap inspiration of CAMP, the spaced out futuristic wonder of Because The Internet, and the nostalgic and funk driven change up of Awaken My Love! are all represented here. The way the album meaders has been something critiqued of this record, but I find it’s part of it’s creative charm. Time being a theme of the album you feel the way time is a bit aimless as it just progresses, which leads to the moments you remember really sticking through. On your first listen you never know what time has in store for you on the upcoming track. Some may think this is peculiar and too subtle of a final statement, but I think it fits the artists perfectly. Donald can be in your face, but as his career in comedy and Television progressed he found his sweet spot at being subtle and rewarding those that pay attention to the margins.Who knows what is next for Donald’s career (he is halfway to an EGOT), but if this is the end of his musical journey I am very glad to be a witness of it.

Proof: Algorhythm / Time (Feat. Ariana Grande) / 19.10 / 42.26 / 47.48

3. Kacy Hill - Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again Genre: R&B / neo-Soul / Synth Pop

It has been quite a journey for the 26 year old singer to this point. After beginning a career in modeling at the age of 16, a venture that she sort of fell into and wasn’t something she was passionate about, Hill also began dabbling in music. While on tour with Kanye West as a backup dancer for the Yeezus Tour, Kanye heard a self released single of hers and immediately signed her to his G.O.O.D. Music label. This is around when she popped on my radar. After a 2015 EP and a 2017 Album, Kacy decided to leave the label which leads us to this self released sophomore album from the singer. It seems the roller coaster of the young singer’s career up to this point has given a clarity for Hill to create her most emotional gripping and cohesive project. Part of the strength of this album was working intimately with Francis and the Lights who is a producer on 6 of the 11 tracks and gives the project it’s common vernacular. Utilizing Francis’ Synth and bass heavy backdrops, Hill allows her sweet falsetto to hit some impassioned locations. There is a sort of yin and yang to her vulnerable lyrics and the darker cavernous production that give each track depth. Kacy is now in full control of her music and we see she is very capable with this role.

Proof: To Someone Else / Much Higher / Porsche / I Believe In You (Feat. Francis and the Lights) / Six

2. Kasbo - The Making of a Paracosm Genre: Electronic / Future Bass

It’s easy to get lost in the lavish and vibrant ecosystems of Swedish producer Kasbo’s immersive music. Kasbo’s debut album Places We Don’t Know was easily one of my favorite and most replayed albums of 2018. For the follow up. Kasbo ups the ante a bit with this lush and cinematic offering; each song is rich with so many layered melodies and bursting with gripping emotion. The coatings of pianos, synths and vocal samples are woven together with an orchestral composition. The tracks all have a form of deep breathes inward and explosive exhilations that lift the listener up in their swirling harmonies. Though the pieces all are vast and expansive they are both introspective and affectionately personal. Kasbo had a very tough time in between his debut and sophomore albums, with an undiagnosable bout of severe hearing loss. Once his hearing returned and he was able to continue where he left off on his music you can hear the sense of leaving it all out there in this project. He doesn’t know if the condition will return so he made sure to make this project one that conveys what he needed to convey; which despite that scary premonition is unbridled hope.

Proof: Play Pretend (Feat. Ourchives) / Blur / Lune (Feat. Vancouver Sleep Clinic) / Staying In Love (Feat. Nea) / Show You

1. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush Genre: Synth-Pop / Electronic

From the opening chopped up and synth-out vocal sample you realize this journey the multi-instrumentalist from Australia is about to take us on is one much different than his previous efforts. It took Kevin Parker 5 years to follow up his mega acclaimed third album Currents. The album pushed him to a new stature selling out large amphitheaters on his own and as a consistent festival headliner. The long wait and meteoric rise proved fruitful for this outwardly exuberant and extroverted yet simultaneously introspective and internal album. The Slow Rush is for anyone that connects with people who while socially at parties or clubs constantly feel hidden to the world. Those who both see the world moving around them at a fast pace yet still feel as if they are moving in slow motion.

Musically, The Slow Rush is a sonic fondue pot of many genres and timelines melted and stirred together. There’s both nostalgia and futuristic aspiration swirled in every track with footsteps in every decade from the 60’s to 2020. Imagine Hall & Oates, Pink Floyd and Daft Punk having a musical orgy while on acid. Despite the sheer vast amount of styles and genres being pressured into this album there is an uncanny level of sophistication by Kevin in this science experiment of an album. The project’s crescendo is the psychedelic thunder cloud of “It Might Be Time”. The track starts out airy, spacious and understated, slowly synth keys start jabbing in, yet still don’t ready you for the bombardment of 808’s, and symbol crashes of the momentous chorus that hits you right in the gut and gets you on your feet.

The Slow Rush is both an album you can put on at a party as well as chill alone and vibe out to. On the surface are the euphoric dance indications but a deeper inspection, should one wish to take on, finds the emotional and gripping crosscurrents that are interwoven throughout. If there’s levels of protection from past pain, and uncertainty for the future holding you back, well “it might be time to face it”.

Proof: One More Year / Borderline / Posthumous Forgiveness / Breathe Deeper / On Track / It Might Be Time

Others:

Good: Abir - HEAT, A Boogie wit da Hoodie - Artist 2.0, AceMo - I Want to Believe, AceMoMa - A New Dawn [HOA007], The Aces - Under My Influence, Action Bronson - Only For Dolphins, Active Child - In Another Life, Actress - Larama & Desire, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad - Jazz Is Dead 001, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Roy Area - JID002, Aesop Rock - Freedom Finger [Music from the Game], Aesop Rock - Spirit World Field Guild, A. G. Cook - Apple, Agnes Obel - Myopia, Alanis Morissette - Such Pretty Forks in the Road, Alaska Reid - Big Bunny, Alec Benjamin - These Two Windows, Alexandra Savior - The Archer, Allan Rayman - Christian, Alicia Keys - ALICIA, Allie X - Cape God, ALMA - Have You Seen Her?, Aloe Blacc - All Love Everything, Aminé - Limbo, Andrianne Lenker - songs, Andy Shauf - The Neon Skyline, Ángela Muñoz & Adrian Younge - Introspection, Angelica Vila - Deception Szn 1, Angel Olsen - Whole New Mess, Anna Burch - If You’re Dreaming, Another Sky - I Slept On The Floor, Ariana Grande - Positions, Armin van Buuren - Lost Tapes, A$AP Ferg - Floor Seats II, Astrid S - Leave It Behind, Atmosphere - Whenever, August Alsina - The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy, The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You, Ava Max - Heaven & Hell, AWOLNATION - Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders Baauer - PLANET’S MAD, Bad Bunny - LAS QUE NO IBAN A SALIR, Bassnector - All Colors, Baths - Pop Music / False B-Sides II, BENEE - Hey u x, Banoffee - Look at Us Now Dad, Beach Bunny - Honeymoon, beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers, Becca Mancari - The Greatest Part, Becca Stevens - Wonderbloom, Benny the Butcher - Burden of Proof, Best Coast - Always Tomorrow, Beyoncé - The Lion King: The Gift (Deluxe Edition), Big Sean - Detroit 2, Bishop Nehru - Nehruvian Tuesdays: Vol, 1, blackbear - everything means nothing, BLACKSTARKIDS - Whatever, Man, Black Thought - Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane and Abel, Blu & Exile - Miles, Blxst - No Love Lost, Bombay Bicycle Club - Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, Bongeziwe Mabandla - iimini, Boniface - Boniface, Botany - End The Summer F(or)ever, boy pablo - Wachito Rico, Brandon - Coming Clean, Brandy - B7, Bree Runway - 2000AND4EVA [Mixtape], Brent Faiyaz - Fuck The World, Bryson Tiller - A N N I V E R S A R Y, Bryson Tiller - T R A P S O U L (Deluxe), Buddy & Kent Jamz - Janktape Vol. 1, Buju Banton - Upside Down 2020, Busta Rhymes - Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God, Burna Boy - Twice As Tall Cam’ron - Purple Haze 2, Cassian - Laps, Caribou - Suddenly, Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B, Car Seat Headrest - Making a Door Less Open, Chelsea Cutler - How To Be Human, Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour, Circa Waves - Sad Happy, Clap! Clap! - Liquid Portraits, Cleo Sol - Rose in the Dark, clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned, Common - The Beautiful Revolution (Pt. 1), Com Truise - In Decay, Too, Conway the Machine - From King To A GOD, CRi - Juvenile, Cults - Host, Cut Copy - Freeze, Melt D Smoke - Bad Habits, DaBaby - BLAME IT ON BABY, DaBaby - My Brother’s Keeper (Long Live G), Daecolm - Figur£$, Dan Deacon - Mystic Familiar, Dave East - Karma 3 [Mixtape], Declan McKenna - Zeros, Dee-1 & Murs - He’s the Christian, I’m the Rapper, Dehd - Flower of Devotion, Delacey - Black Coffee, Delta Heavy - Only in Dreams (Remixes), Denzel Curry - UNLOCKED [Mixtape], Destroyer - How We Met, Diana Gordon - Wasted Youth, Diplo - Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil, Diplo - MMXX, Dirty Projectors - 5EPs, dj poolboi - it’s good to hear your voice, DJ Snake - Carte Blanche (Deluxe), Drake - Dark Lane Demo Tapes, DRAMA - Dance Without Me, Dreamville - Revenge of the Dreamers III Echosmith - Lonely Generation, EDEN - no future, Ekali - A World Away, Ela Minus - acts of rebellion, ELIO - u and me, but mostly me, Ella Vos - Turbulence, Ellie Goulding - Brightest Blue, E.M.M.A. - Indigo Dream, Eric Bellinger - Eric B For President: Term 3, Eric Bellinger - Hor D’oeuvres, Ethan Gruska - En Garde, Everything Everything - RE-ANIMATOR, Everything Is Recorded - FRIDAY FOREVER, Example - Some Nights Last For Days Fana Hues - Hues, Felt (Murs & Slug) - Felt 4 U, FINNEAS - Blood Harmony (Deluxe), Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters, The Flaming Lips - American Head, Fleet Foxes - Shore, flora cash - Baby, It’s Okay, Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans, Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo, Free Nationals - Free Nationals, Future Islands - As Long As You Are, Future Utopia - 12 Questions Gabrielle Aplin - Dear Happy, Galantis - Church, PG-Eazy - Everything’s Strange Here, Gengahr - Sanctuary, Gil Scott-Heron & Makaya McCraven - We’re New Again: A Reimagine by Makaya McCraven, Glass Animals - Dreamland, Good Sad Happy Bad - Shade, Gorillaz - Song Machinem Season One: Strange Timez, GRACEY - The Art Of Closure, grandson - Death Of An Optimist, Gregory Porter - All Rise, GRiZ - Chasing The Golden Hour Pt. 3 [Mixtape], Grouplove - The Healer, GUM - Out In The World, Gus Dapperton - Orca, Guy Sebastian - T.R.U.T.H. Half Waif - The Caretaker, Haiku Hands - Haiku Hands, Hannah Georgas - All That Emotion, HAWA - the ONE, Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor, Henry Hall - Neato, Hinds - The Prettiest Curse, HMLTD - West of Eden, Hudson Mohawke - Airborne Lard, Hudson Mohawke - B.B.H.E., Hudson Mohawke - Poom Gems, Hurts - Faith Icarus - Unfold, Isaia Huron - Libbie J Balvin - Colores, Jacob Latimore - C3, Jacob Latimore - Leo Season, Jack Harlow - Thats What They All Say, Jadakiss - Ignatius, Jade Novah - Stages, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Reunions, Jay Electronica - A Written Testimony, Jean Dawson - Pixel Bath, Jeezy - The Recession 2, Jeff Tweedy - Love Is The King, Jeremy Zucker - love is not dying, Jess Cornelius - Distance, Jessie Reyez - BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US, Jhené Aiko - Chilombo, John Legend - Bigger Love, JoJo - good to know, J Lloyd - Kosmos, Jonah Yano - souvenir, Joyner Lucas - ADHD, JOYRYDE - Brave, Juice WRLD - Legends Never Die, Juicy J - THE HUSTLE CONTINUES, Junglepussy - JP4, Justin Bieber - Changes, Justine Skye - BARE WITH ME (The Album) Kaash Paige - Teenage Forever, Kacy Hill - Just Circling Back Here: Is It Selfish If I Talk About Me Again (Remixes), Kali Uchis - Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otris Demonios)∞, Kamaiyah - Got It Made, Katie Day - Mydata, Katie Gately - Loom, Katy Perry - Smile, K CAMP - Kiss 5, Keaton Henson - Monument, Kehlani - It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, Kevin Morby - Sundowner, Khushi - Strange Seasons, Khruangbin - Mordechai, Kiana Ledé - KIKI, Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon III: The Chosen, Kid Krow - Conan Gray, Kiesza - Crave, Kiiara - lil kiiwi, King Princess - Cheap Queen (Deluxe), Kllo - Maybe We Could, KLOUD - AUTONOMY, K. Michelle - All Monsters Are Human, Knxwledge - 1998, Kodaline - One Day at a Time, Kygo - Golden Hour, KYLE - See You When I am Famous!!!!!!!!!!!!, Kylie Minogue - DISCO Lane 8 - Brightest Lights, LANY - mama’s boy, LA Priest - GENE, La Roux - Supervision, Last Heroes - Finding Light, Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter, Laura Veirs - My Echo, Lauv - ~how i’m feeling~, Lecrae - Restoration, Lewis Del Mar - AUGUST, Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas, Lil Wayne - Funeral, Little Dragon - New Me, Same Us, Little Mix - Confetti, LL Cool J - Authentic, Logic - No Pressure, Long Beach Dub Allstars - Long Beach Dub Allstars, Lonr. - Land of Nothing Real, Louis Tomlinson - Walls, Loyal Lobos - Everlasting, Lucas & Steve - Letters to Remember, Luh Kel - L.O.V.E., Lucky Daye - Painted (Deluxe Edition), Luke James - to feel love/d Mac Miller - Circles, MAITA - Best Wishes, Major Lazer - Music Is The Weapon, Mala Rodriguez - MALA, Margo Price - That’s How Rumors Get Started, Marsh - Lailonie, Marsh - Lost in You, MAX - Colour Vision, Maya Hawke - Blush, Mayor Hawthorne - Rare Changes, Medasin - RIPPLS, Megan Thee Stallion - Good News, Megan Thee Stallion - Suga, Midwife - Forever, The Midnight - Monsters, Mija - Desert Trash, Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts, MisterWives - SUPERBLOOM, Mitch - Better For You, Moaning - Uneasy Laughter, Moses Sumner - græ, The Mountain Goats - Getting Into Knives, Mourning [A] BLKstar - The Cycle, Mura Masa - R.Y.C., mxmtoon - dawn/dusk Nada Surf - Never Not Together, Naeem - Startisha, Nap Eyes - Snapshot of a Beginner, Nappy Roots - 40RTY, Nas - King’s Disease, Nathaniel Rateliff - And It’s Still Alright, The Neighbourhood - Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones, Neon Trees - I Can Feel You Forgetting, Netsky - Second Nature, NIKI - Moonchild, NNAMDÏ - BRAT, No Mana - Secret Level, Norah Jones - Pick Me Up off the Floor, Nothing - The Great Dismal, Nothing But Thieves - Moral Panic Ohmme - Fantasize Your Ghost, Oh Wonder - No One Else Can Wear The Crown, Okay Kaya - Watch This Liquid Pour Itself, Omar Apollo - Apolonio, Omarion - The Kinection, Omar S - You Want, Open Mike Eagle - Anime, Trauma and Divorce, Orion Sun - Hold Space For Me, The Overcoats - The Fight PARTYNEXTDOOR - PARTYMOBILE, PARTYNEXTDOOR - PARTYPACK, Passenger - Patchwork, Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, Petit Biscuit - Parachute, Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot, Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher, Photay - Waking Hours, Pictish Trail - Thumb World, POLIÇA - When We Stay Alive, Popcaan - FIXTAPE, Poppy - I Disagree, Pop Smoke - Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, Poolside - Low Season, Porches - Ricky Music, Post Animal - Forward Motion Godyssey, The Professionals (Madlib & Oh No) - The Professionals, Princess Nokia - Everything Is Beautiful, Princess Nokia - Everything Sucks, Public Enemy - What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?, Pure X - Pure X Quinn XCII - A Letter to My Younger Self, Queen Naija - missunderstood RAC - BOY, Ratboys - Printer’s Devil, Real Estate - The Main Thing, REASON - New Beginnings, Recondite - Dwell, Rhys Lewis - Things I Chose to Remember, Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA, Riz Ahmed - The Long Goodbye, RJD2 - The Fun Ones, Ro James - MANTIC, Royce da 5’9” - The Allegory, Russ - SHAKE THE SNOW GLOBE, Ryan Beatty - Dreaming of David Sad13 - Haunting Painting, SAINt JHN - While The World Was Burning [Mixtape], Sam Lee - Oh Wow, Sam Smith - Love Goes, San Fermin - The Cormorant I & II, Sasha Sloan - Only Child, SAULT - Untitled (Black Is), SAULT - Untitled (Rise), Savannah Ré - Opia, SAYGRACE - The Defining Moments of SAYGRACE: Girlhood, Fuckboys & Situationlists, Sea Wolf - Through A Dark Wood, Selena Gomez - Rare, Sérgio Mendez - In the Key of Joy, Sevdaliza - Shabrang, S.G. Goodman - Old Time Feeling, Shabazz Palaces - The Don of Diamond Dreams, Shamir - Shamir, Shoffy - Flash, Shopping - All or Nothing, Sleepy Hallow - Sleepy Hallow Presents: Sleepy For President, Slowly Slowly - Race Car Blues, Smashing Pumpkins - CYR, Smino - She Already Decided [Mixtape], Special Interest - The Passion Of, Soccer Mommy - Color Theory, Social Club Misfits - Feared by Hell, Songhoy Blues - Optimisme, Son Little - Aloha, Sorry - 925, Spacey Jane - Sunlight, Spencer Brown - Stream of Consciousness, Steve Aoki - Neon Future IV, Steve Spacek - House, Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head, STRFKR - Future Past Life, Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions), Sturgill SImpson - Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2 (Cowboy Arms Sessions), Sub Focus & Wilkinson - Portals, $uicideboy$ - Stop Staring at the Shadows, Surfaces - Horizons, Sweaton Klank - Good Days, Sweet Whirl - How Much Works, Swing Ting - 100 Dances, Symba - Don’t Run From R.A.P. TeaMarr - Before I Spill Myself, Tech N9ne - Enterfear, Tennis - Swimmer, Teno Afrika - Amapiano Selections, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder & Kamasi Washington - Dinner Party, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder & Kamasi Washington - Dinner Party: Dessert, Teyana Taylor - The Album, T.I. - The L.I.B.R.A., Tiana Major9 - Back At Sixes And Sevens, Tiësto - The London Sessions, Tink - Hopeless Romantic, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - Temple, The-Dream - SXTPA, Theophilus London - Bebay, THEY. - The Amanda Tape, Thundercat - It Is What It Is, Thunder Jackson - Thunder Jackson, Tkay Maidza - Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2, TOKiMONSTA - Oasis Nocturno, Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music,Toni Braxton - Spell My Name, TOPS - I Feel Alive, TORRES - Silver Tongue, Tory Lanez - The New Toronto 3, Trey Songz - Back Home, T.R.U. & 2 Chainz - No Face No Chase, Two Feet - Pink, Tycho - Simulcast, Ty Dolla $ign - Featuring Ty Dolla $ign Various Artists - Bad Boys For Life Soundtrack, Various Artists - Birds is Pray: The Album, Various Artists - Ophelia Presents: Advent Volume 1, Various Artists - Ophelia Presents: Advent Volume 2, Various Artists - Promising Young Woman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Various Artists - REPRISE: A Roc Nation Album, Various Artists - Sable Valley Summer Vol. 1, Various Artists - The Turning (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Varsity - Fine Forever, Vic Mensa - V TAPE, Victoria Monét - JAGUAR, Vistas - Everything Changes in the End, Vundabar - Either Light, Vybz Kartel - To Tanesha Washed Out - Purple Noon, Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud, Whitney - Candid, William Black - Pages (The Remixes), WizKid - Made In Lagos, Wiz Khalifa - The Saga of Wiz Khalifa, Wolf Parade - Thin Mind Xavier Omär - if You Feel Yaeji - WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던, Yellow Claw - Never Dies, Yellow Days - A Day in a Yellow Beat, YG - My Life 5Hunnid, Yo Gotti - Untrapped, Youngr - Memories, Yumi Zouma - Truth or Consequences, Yves Tumor - Heaven To a Tortured Mind Zeds Dead - We Are Deadbeats (Vol. 4), Zeds Dead - We Are Deadbeats (Vol. 4 Deluxe) 070 Shake - Modus Vivendi, The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form, 2 Chainz - So Help Me God!, 5 Seconds of Summer - CALM

Meh: ARTHUR - Hair of the Dog, The Black Lips - Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart, Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR, Bruno Major - To Let A Good Thing Die, Cuddle Magic - Bath, Don Toliver - Heaven Or Hell, Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By, Foogiano - Gutta Baby, Frances Quinlan - Likewise, French Montana - CB5, Future - High On Life, Future & Lil Uzi Vert - Pluto x Baby Pluto, iann dior - I’m Gone, Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan, IDLES - Ultra Mono, Jacob Collier - Djesse, Vol. 3, Jason Mraz - Look For The Good, Jaunt - All In One, Jaye Jayle - Prisyn, Lil Baby - My Turn, Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake, Lil Uzi Vert - LUV vs. The World 2, Machine Gun Kelly - Tickets To My Downfall, Masiwei & Higher Brothers - Prince Charming, MHYSA - Navaeh, Nicolas Jaar - Cenizas, RARE Sound & K Camp - Rare Family, Rich The Kid - BOSS MAN, Rich The Kid & YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Nobody Safe, Rico Nasty - Nightmare Vacation, Social Club Misfits - MOOD // DOOM, WHIPPED CREAM - WHO IS WHIPPED CREAM?

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